Dragon Age: Inquisition

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Well the other 50% was about killing Darkspawn in tunnels.

Which is why Monte speaks of it highly.

[prodigydancer]

Dragon Age: Origins was about the invasion of Uruk-hai orc horde... I mean Darkspawn.... controlled by Sauron Archdemon. It was channelling every fantasy cliché.

 

*Yawn*

So if there are robots in a sci-fi game it's a cliché?

[IndiraLightfoot]

Well, GMG sent me the DA:I code two hours ago, and it worked like a charm.

Now, it says preload Nov 17 18:00 CET, and then play Nov 20 00:00 CET.

 

Apparently, I got a code for those lovely flaming weapons too, while not buying any Deluxe version. Nice.

 

I am so amped for this!

[Fighter]

So if there are robots in a sci-fi game it's a cliché?

 

I get what you're saying and usually I agree. But that's how I feel about DAO, it feels generic and for a company which puts so much emphasis on writing they could do better.

Edited November 14, 2014 by Fighter

[prodigydancer]

a company which puts so much emphasis on writing they could do better.

Maybe they couldn't. It's people who write stories, not companies. AFAIK most if not all of BG2 story was written by Lukas Kristjanson. For DA:O he wrote "Leliana's Song" DLC (a nice but very short module) and he also co-authored "A Paragon of Her Kind" quest. Which is probably why Orzammar subplot is considered the strongest part of the game story-wise.

 

P.S. Notably, almost nobody has heard of Kristjanson but everyone knows Hepler and Gaider. It seems that the ability to troll the community doesn't necessarily coincide with writing talent.

Edited November 14, 2014 by prodigydancer

[Bryy]

So, I'm pre-loading even though it tells me I cannot pre-load until 9pm.

 

Makes me think I can launch the game at 9am Monday.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

 

Dragon Age: Origins was about the invasion of Uruk-hai orc horde... I mean Darkspawn.... controlled by Sauron Archdemon. It was channelling every fantasy cliché.

 

*Yawn*

 

So if there are robots in a sci-fi game it's a cliché?

I think it's what you do with the tropes that make it cliche. DAO had some good points, but I feel that the ancient organization vs. ancient evil wasn't executed in a particularly original manner. I would've also liked more consequence for certain quests, specifically the mage circle, werewolves and elves, and the noble's possessed kid.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Good luck to anyone trying to defend DAO "originality". There are some aspect of that game that deserve praise but story and setting aren't among them.

[Drowsy Emperor]

 

a company which puts so much emphasis on writing they could do better.

Maybe they couldn't. It's people who write stories, not companies. AFAIK most if not all of BG2 story was written by Lukas Kristjanson. For DA:O he wrote "Leliana's Song" DLC (a nice but very short module) and he also co-authored "A Paragon of Her Kind" quest. Which is probably why Orzammar subplot is considered the strongest part of the game story-wise.

 

P.S. Notably, almost nobody has heard of Kristjanson but everyone knows Hepler and Gaider. It seems that the ability to troll the community doesn't necessarily coincide with writing talent.

 

 

Interesting about Lukas. He's senior writer now on DAI. We'll see if he's still got it soon enough

[Orogun01]

 

 

a company which puts so much emphasis on writing they could do better.

Maybe they couldn't. It's people who write stories, not companies. AFAIK most if not all of BG2 story was written by Lukas Kristjanson. For DA:O he wrote "Leliana's Song" DLC (a nice but very short module) and he also co-authored "A Paragon of Her Kind" quest. Which is probably why Orzammar subplot is considered the strongest part of the game story-wise.

 

P.S. Notably, almost nobody has heard of Kristjanson but everyone knows Hepler and Gaider. It seems that the ability to troll the community doesn't necessarily coincide with writing talent.

 

 

Interesting about Lukas. He's senior writer now on DAI. We'll see if he's still got it soon enough

 

Interesting thing about the romance footage, is the most cringy thing that I ever seen. Who wrote that?

[Drowsy Emperor]

Haven't seen that, don't wanna.

 

Terrible romance and "I like whatever you have in your pants" companions haven't been necessary to bash a Bioware game into the ground for a while now. They're usually just the final nails in the coffin.

[Tale]

 

 

a company which puts so much emphasis on writing they could do better.

Maybe they couldn't. It's people who write stories, not companies. AFAIK most if not all of BG2 story was written by Lukas Kristjanson. For DA:O he wrote "Leliana's Song" DLC (a nice but very short module) and he also co-authored "A Paragon of Her Kind" quest. Which is probably why Orzammar subplot is considered the strongest part of the game story-wise.

 

P.S. Notably, almost nobody has heard of Kristjanson but everyone knows Hepler and Gaider. It seems that the ability to troll the community doesn't necessarily coincide with writing talent.

 

 

Interesting about Lukas. He's senior writer now on DAI. We'll see if he's still got it soon enough

 

He wrote Sera and most videos floating around with the character are delightful.

[Agiel]

A shame Daniel Erickson had left Bioware. He wrote the City Elf and Dwarven origins that were in my opinion by far and away the best of DA: O.

[Halaster]

Good luck to anyone trying to defend DAO "originality". There are some aspect of that game that deserve praise but story and setting aren't among them.

I dunno, I never get bored of curry or beer or vanilla flavor ice cream. I don't need a different variety each time. /poor excuse.

 

One thing often missed out by those who talk of 'generic' and 'cliches' is that a story (imho) stands 5% on what it's about (synopsis) and 95% on how it is told (delivery). In the latter area DA:O does very well. Outstandingly well by game standards.

 

Another thing often missed out is that DA:O was probably not about the big evil orc and dragon invasion, but the much more sinister Morrigan angle. Flemeth planned the whole thing by Morrigan's own words, and they care little for the Blight. They want the soul of the Old God. That's why your PC refusing the request and therefore dying at the end is a huge ending with vast cutscenes and epilogues. If it were not for the rape and pillage of the DA franchise in rencent comics and cartoons, this could have been one of the biggest plot twists/reveals in recent gaming history. Sadly I suspect Morrigan will make some silly cameo and kiss the inquisitor for old times' sake, but that lovely plot hook will never see the developement it hinted at and which - if my reading is correct - the franchise would so desperately deserve.

Edited November 14, 2014 by Halaster

[Halaster]

A shame Daniel Erickson had left Bioware. He wrote the City Elf and Dwarven origins that were in my opinion by far and away the best of DA: O.

A shame Brent Knowles and Dan Tudge left BioWare - they actually wanted to design RPGs.

 

By the way, MiG29's and F-15 can co-exist. My local Polish airfoce is currently doing joint training of their Fulcrums with a pair of US F-15's. So far both aircraft appear to be getting along like a house on fire.

[Drowsy Emperor]

 

Good luck to anyone trying to defend DAO "originality". There are some aspect of that game that deserve praise but story and setting aren't among them.

I dunno, I never get bored of curry or beer or vanilla flavor ice cream. I don't need a different variety each time. /poor excuse.

 

One thing often missed out by those who talk of 'generic' and 'cliches' is that a story (imho) stands 5% on what it's about (synopsis) and 95% on how it is told (delivery). In the latter area DA:O does very well. Outstandingly well by game standards.

 

Another thing often missed out is that DA:O was probably not about the big evil orc and dragon invasion, but the much more sinister Morrigan angle. Flemeth planned the whole thing by Morrigan's own words, and they care little for the Blight. They want the soul of the Old God. That's why your PC refusing the request and therefore dying at the end is a huge ending with vast cutscenes and epilogues. If it were not for the rape and pillage of the DA franchise in rencent comics and cartoons, this could have been one of the biggest plot twists/reveals in recent gaming history. Sadly I suspect Morrigan will make some silly cameo and kiss the inquisitor for old times' sake, but that lovely plot hook will never see the developement it hinted at and which - if my reading is correct - the franchise would so desperately deserve.

 

 

My perspective was different. At the time they were looking for a way out of restrictive and expensive intellectual IP rights (restrictive they may have been, but they still made Baldur's Gate 2 with them... so whatever). That's fine. They had their own money to do with as they pleased within the other limits of game development. And they went out of their way to make the setting as generic an epic fantasy as possible. That was the first letdown. Now I wasn't expecting something as alienating (to the masses, or so the money people say) as Torment but honestly, there are a lot of possibilities in between.

 

The second letdown was the story. Not only was the setting basically Greyhawk, the story they came up with was as archetypal fantasy as you can possibly get. Individual segments of it had some flavor but overall it was pretty underwhelming.

This was Bioware playing it safe to the absolute maximum.* It stunk of the money people calling all the shots, railroading everything into a product that would be all things to all people. Another Peter Jackson's LOTR.

 

I know that as game developers they read fantasy RPG books, pnp systems and settings, watch movies for inspiration etc. etc. I know they know what a wealth of ideas begging for in game adaptation are available. There's 30+ years of material just waiting to be used. DnD and LOTR, to name the basic influences behind DA are the most vapid, most abused and most deserving of the trash heap of history of them all. And I hoped, and keep on hoping that we could move beyond them. Bioware seemed like the company that could do that. There were even moments of that materializing (regardless of the outcome) like Jade Empire, or the potential Mass Effect had. But Dragon Age never moved beyond that point and they don't seem to have an idea of what to do with the series, it just keeps on plodding along in the shadow of ME which at least knows what it is, even if at times, that isn't very much at all.

 

*Its still Shakespeare compared to the likes of Elder Scrolls, Gothic and other "there's a story there?" type games, that's not even a comparison worth making. 

[Bryy]

 

A shame Daniel Erickson had left Bioware. He wrote the City Elf and Dwarven origins that were in my opinion by far and away the best of DA: O.

A shame Brent Knowles and Dan Tudge left BioWare - they actually wanted to design RPGs.

Yeah, it's a shame anyone in any profession wants to move on to do something new.

[RodWarrior]

Am I the only one here that think they should go the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning way in combat?

 

I mean, if you want me to fight in 3rd person, make it a little more than click this and that. Just embrace this casual thing and make it really fun. Put some different styles and skills and thats it.

 

Just dont give me this MMO combat and call it tactical because i can pause...

 

If you want a real tactical combat, it would be better if you have a lot of options, not just walk here and attack him in the same way until he dies...

 

Other way to go would be turn based but like xcom. I dream of a fantasy game with xcom combat.

 

Anyway...

[Bryy]

Am I the only one here that think they should go the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning way in combat?

 

I mean, if you want me to fight in 3rd person, make it a little more than click this and that. Just embrace this casual thing and make it really fun. Put some different styles and skills and thats it.

 

Just dont give me this MMO combat and call it tactical because i can pause...

 

If you want a real tactical combat, it would be better if you have a lot of options, not just walk here and attack him in the same way until he dies...

 

Other way to go would be turn based but like xcom. I dream of a fantasy game with xcom combat.

 

Anyway...

... I don't know what you're trying to get across. Pausing makes it tactical.

[Qistina]

I have trouble even remembering what Dragon Age: Origins was about. The good will it garnered was more due to tactical gameplay than the storyline. 

 

Actually, Dragon Age is a bunch of stories piled up together, i even asked them what Dragon Age is really about, no convincing answer. They just give a general answer like "it's about Thedas", is that a satisfying answer? For me no it is not. Well, i can make a story about my country or any countries, but will that be interesting?

 

In DA:O, they just give you a threat, no depth about what the treat really is, you being told about darkspawn and then the Archdemon, but the game is not really about those monsters anyway. You being recruited into an order, but the game is never about the order it self. You just wandering around Ferelden, recruiting allies, solving problems and then face the threat. It's called "dragon Age" is because its the age where dragons have returned, but you only see two dragons in the game, the high dragon and the Archdemon. Flemeth is a dragon if you fight her. That's Dragon Age

 

That's fine, it's ok for an introduction for a series, i expect in the next series they would get in depth of what being established in previous game, but no, they make new story frame, detached from the previous one. They just use the same universe with some retcons. They also going into Mass Effect influence. And now they completely going far from what being established in DA:O.

Edited November 15, 2014 by Qistina

[Bryy]

Guys.

The soundtrack.

It's terrifyingly excellent.

[SadExchange]

If I buy the Deluxe Edition from the Playstation network, how do you suppose I get the soundtrack?

[Qistina]

i have watched Angry Joe preview, so it's a story about the main character is the one who can close the gate, using some kind of power. Meh...seen that.

 

In DA:O the main character is just a normal person who become a Grey Warden, in DA2 the same, a normal person who become a noble, but now we have a "Dragonborn" who can close demon gate...

 

[Halaster]

Yeah, it's a shame anyone in any profession wants to move on to do something new.

If it for that reason then I agree it's fine. But I believe that just as much as I believe politicians resigning "to spend more time with their family".

 

If people in reality (ie behind the press release bs version) want to stay on at their employer and make "nice things" such as deep conventional RPGs, but their employer has decided to stop making such things for corporate strategy reasons and instead go for shallow action games to appeal to the widest common denominator...  then I believe it is a shame.

[Volourn]

I just heard a major spoiler. Let's just say those whining that decisions in past games are meaningless are gonna be proven wrong (if the spoiler is proven accurately). HOLY HELL WHAT A TWISTTTTTTTT!!!

 

(damn internet  for spoiling stuff r00fles!)

Edited November 15, 2014 by Volourn