Dragon Age: Inquisition

[Bryy]

Well, Gaider is out and Weekes is in as lead writer.

[cirdanx]

Well, Gaider is out and Weekes is in as lead writer.

 

What o.O i had no idea, despite that one little clash i really liked him and he was a good writer most of the time. Hm. don´t know if this is good or bad.

[Bryy]

I hope this means we get far less esoteric stories.

[Valmy]

Gaider is moving on eh? End of an era. This Weekes guy better be prepared to be considered worse than Satan by the internet mobs.

[cirdanx]

I hope this means we get far less esoteric stories.

 

That´s...actually a good point

[Valmy]

Well Weekes is a Stanford grad so...

[Shadeling]

 

So this leads me back to my being pleasantly surprised about DA: I.

 

I´m curious, what did surprise you about DA:I, what did you like? As i said i might buy it, but i´m just not sure...even with low expectations it looks very blant.

 

As for EA, yeah...they are the devil

 

 

 

I think the very first thing about DA: I that pleasantly surprised me is how huge it is.  It's not exactly open world but each area you have to explore are vast to the point where it really feels like it's open world, in contrast to the areas of DA: Origins that were really small and if I were to call them anything, I'd say they were the equivalent of a 'room', nothing to explore but just served their purpose for whatever scene needed to take place at the time.   So this exceeded my expectation of EA in that for the base game itself, there's lots to do and it wasn't partitioned off to sell to us in bits and pieces as I'm certain EA still yearns to do,  if only the majority of us would be agreeable to it.  Thankfully the majority of us are more discerning than that.

 

The crafting system I found to be kind of fun, at least I got a lot of value out of it vs the opinion of Yahztee@Zero Punctuation who didn't give it another thought, according to his review but he did say that he enjoyed DA:I the most out of the other two installments but my impression of him (as much as I love his reviews) is that he's not really a roleplayer, he's more of an action aficionado that wants to get to the end of a game expediently and so all the extra fluff isn't necessary, like mounts which I absolutely loved in DA: I, I was amazed at all the variety and the riding animations put Skyrim to shame.

 

From a roleplayer's perspective, I'd say it's decent, much more involved than a typical Bethesda elderscrolls of late but still, don't expect to be able to play an evil character, you get some leeway to that end but not much.  That's not so much a problem for me because I do tend to enjoy playing the goodly type of character but it would definitely be a minus if I was more interested in the darker side of things.

 

 

Edit: While I do think EA  is very deserving of being called the devil, I think it's even more appropriate to affix that nickname to shareholders and why ultimately, corporate publishers have no invested interest in listening to their fanbases, because what matters most is producing games fast for their quarterly statements.  It's the primary reason I'm a huge fan of crowdfunding because whenever shareholders are in the picture, the expectations and desires of a fanbase take a back seat.  Logic, where art thou?

Edited April 17, 2015 by Shadeling

[Shadeling]

 

Since I can't delete this double post (why is that exactly?  That's typically the norm on other forums I've encountered, even Bioware allows you to hide posts like this...)

 

Anyway, since I can't delete it I'll just use it to comment on the fact that I just realized my previous post didn't mention combat at all.  That's mainly because that's something I'm least interested in as far as roleplaying games go. Unlike my husband and rl male friends who we used to tabletop with, they're complete combat monkeys who get into the very minute details that extend one combat scene into a day, or night, long activity where it's just that damn fight alone complete with bullet time and all the flourishes that would make Yuen Woo Ping proud. And all the while I'm bored to tears because all I'm interested is the story and you know, roleplay...

 

So anyway,  the combat of DA: I is combat that does the job as far as I'm concerned.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Shadeling

[Valmy]

From a roleplayer's perspective, I'd say it's decent, much more involved than a typical Bethesda elderscrolls of late but still, don't expect to be able to play an evil character, you get some leeway to that end but not much.  That's not so much a problem for me because I do tend to enjoy playing the goodly type of character but it would definitely be a minus if I was more interested in the darker side of things.

Bethesda is amazing at world building. Or at least building that one world. But they are horrible at writing dialog and having involved plots. I certainly enjoy it in small doses. It leaves me wanting more after awhile though.

[Valmy]

So anyway,  the combat of DA: I is combat that does the job as far as I'm concerned.

I want combat to be fun and challenging. So I do want a hard mode that is actually hard and forces me to use those potions and gear I crafted, those abilities I learned, and those tactics I experimented with in order to win. I am not sure DAI will provide that but, like you, I can still enjoy it even without that if the rest of the stuff is fun. Just if I am going to do combat I want it to be entertaining.

[Christliar]

Regarding DA2 - It's actually the best Bioware game in term of narrative. It was completely by accident, I know this because of their track record, but it was basically OK. It didn't have the usual bioware-isms to weigh the game down. Cue the Bioware cliche chart. The Arishok worked as an antagonist, because he had coherent motivations and we had a battle of ideologies. Meredith kind of worked too (barring the ending she got), she was a great example of how vigilance can turn into excessive vigilance and excessive vigilance can turn into paranoia and witch hunts. Both of these things were completely by accident, as I said, since Bioware don't have good writers. Or it wasn't by accident, but we are so bogged down with the same-y crap they release on a regular basis that we don't have any evidence to suggest it wasn't by accident.

The lack of overarching narrative was also a strength which allowed the characters to be more important than some random plot about saving such and such. Also Hawke, as influential as he was, couldn't simply declare his opinion and end the mage/templar thing. This is good, because it makes the world feel natural instead of a playground for the overpowered PC.

DA:I is **** on every level imaginable - don't play it. I wanted to end my post there, but I realized something horrible. This is Bioware's best selling game... which means they are going to make more games just like it. It is a cursed situation from the very beginning, because DA2 sucked according to popular opinion -> both the popular opinion, Bioware and EA totally missed the point of why it sucked -> EA decided to whip them into writing the same ****ing bull**** they always do -> Hyped DA:I to oblivion to ensure good sales -> Good sales happened despite the game being utterly drab and **** -> They are going to continue making the same ****ing game with the same ****ing MMOish gameplay, with the same ****ing storyline -> I figuratively slit my wrists.

[Hurlshort]

I disagree.

[Bryy]

DA:I is **** on every level imaginable - don't play it. I wanted to end my post there, but I realized something horrible. This is Bioware's best selling game... which means they are going to make more games just like it. It is a cursed situation from the very beginning, because DA2 sucked according to popular opinion -> both the popular opinion, Bioware and EA totally missed the point of why it sucked -> EA decided to whip them into writing the same ****ing bull**** they always do -> Hyped DA:I to oblivion to ensure good sales -> Good sales happened despite the game being utterly drab and **** -> They are going to continue making the same ****ing game with the same ****ing MMOish gameplay, with the same ****ing storyline -> I figuratively slit my wrists.

1) Too late, you're in a 14-page long thread. I think we're playing it.

 

2) More bad news: this is the kind of game BW has wanted to make since forever. "GTA meets RPG" has always been the MO.

[Riva]

I didn't much care for DAI myself. I played it and finished but found it lacking on many levels. TEDIOUS sort of sums it up. Sure it was a pretty game and you had lots to do but the hand holding dumbed it down for all the dumb people who cant figure stuff out using their brain. quest markers are so lame....

 

Check out bioware forum and see how the PC community feels about the game..Over 650 negative posts and still counting

Edited April 21, 2015 by Riva

[Bryy]

A forum is nowhere near a good sample of your audience - financially or otherwise. Are you implying that DA:I only has sold a few thousand? How many of those 650 are the same person?

Edited April 21, 2015 by Bryy

[Hurlshort]

Even if you have a thousand posters complaining, that's a very small percentage of the millions that buy the game.  

[Stun]

but I realized something horrible. This is Bioware's best selling game... which means they are going to make more games just like it.

Oh, I wouldn't be too worried about that. First, it doesn't work that way. If it did, then Bioware wouldn't have changed the DA:O formula, because IT was the Biggest selling Bioware game when it came out. But we know what did happen, don't we. DA:O sold so unexpectedly well that they decided to.....reboot the franchise and give us something utterly different. (a 180, to quote Mike Laidlaw).

 

Second, DA:I is NOT Bioware's biggest selling game. Not Yet at least. The only information EA has released was that DA:I was Bioware's most successful LAUNCH. This is double-speak, designed for stockholder consumption. Translated to English, what EA is saying here that DA:I had the most pre-orders of any Bioware game, and it had the biggest week 1 sales of any Bioware game. But most gamers know what that really means: Nothing. DA2 had a much better launch than DA:O, but ended up only selling half as many copies in the end.

 

In order to be Bioware's biggest selling game, DA:I would have to break 6 million. Because that's what Mass Effect 2 did. And I'm pretty sure it's not there yet.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Stun

[Sarex]

This is going to be the first game in a long while that I didn't finish, let alone 100%. I stopped playing it a month ago, but I recently realized that I have no wish to go back to it. I think I was even near the end (2 main missions away).

 

The game is way too long, for the gameplay it offers. The most detrimental thing for it, in my case, is that I like to finish all side quest/challanges before moving the main plot forward.

 

What got me the most was the lack of the auto-attack function, I would have sludged through the tedium that is the combat, if it had that option. (I have done it many times in many games, DA2 being the obvious example)

 

As far as the story is concerned... well I guess it wasn't good enough to cover for the abysmal combat.

 

I really hope that PoE is not a repeat of the same issues (bad combat and a story not good enough to cover for it).

[Luj1]

First DA was the only good one

 

The last DA (inquisition) is utter trash

 

Only people with low standards think its good (AAA trash crowd)

[Christliar]

 

but I realized something horrible. This is Bioware's best selling game... which means they are going to make more games just like it.

Oh, I wouldn't be too worried about that. First, it doesn't work that way. If it did, then Bioware wouldn't have changed the DA:O formula, because IT was the Biggest selling Bioware game when it came out. But we know what did happen, don't we. DA:O sold so unexpectedly well that they decided to.....reboot the franchise and give us something utterly different. (a 180, to quote Mike Laidlaw).

 

Second, DA:I is NOT Bioware's biggest selling game. Not Yet at least. The only information EA has released was that DA:I was Bioware's most successful LAUNCH. This is double-speak, designed for stockholder consumption. Translated to English, what EA is saying here that DA:I had the most pre-orders of any Bioware game, and it had the biggest week 1 sales of any Bioware game. But most gamers know what that really means: Nothing. DA2 had a much better launch than DA:O, but ended up only selling half as many copies in the end.

 

In order to be Bioware's biggest selling game, DA:I would have to break 6 million. Because that's what Mass Effect 2 did. And I'm pretty sure it's not there yet.

 

Huh, I didn't know this. Then why did they change the DA:O formula in the first place? Seems counter-intuitive. Its story and companions were boring, repetitive and average, but otherwise it was OK. I do hope that they don't make something like DA:I ever again, but hope is a cruel mistress.

[HoonDing]

First DA was the only good one

 

The last DA (inquisition) is utter trash

 

Only people with low standards think its good (AAA trash crowd)

[Bryy]

Ah yes, the prerequisite "if you like what I don't, it is a mark on your character" post.

 

We get it, you don't like the game. Constantly posting in the thread isn't going to make other people like it any less.

[Hurlshort]

Ah yes, the prerequisite "if you like what I don't, it is a mark on your character" post.

 

We get it, you don't like the game. Constantly posting in the thread isn't going to make other people like it any less.

 

What's weird is he doesn't even seem to like anything Obsidian has done.  Not sure why he hangs around if that is the case, most of us regulars have at least one Obsidian favorite.  

[Luj1]

You have no clue . I love Kotors I-II. Be more assumptive plz

[Hurlshort]

You have no clue . I love Kotors I-II. Be more assumptive plz

 

You like long walks on the beach, have blue eyes, and smell like the ocean.  You were once trapped in a terrible storm, and all hands on deck were lost but you.  They haunt your dreams.