brickarts295
Member
Any word/news on Dragon Age Keep?
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Dragon Age: Inquisition | E3 2014 Coverage
- Thread starter Enduin
- Start date
BananasWithGuns
Member
It's in closed beta right now and there seems to be a fairly strict NDA so there hasn't been all that much info. I'm not in it personally but I'm hoping I'll get an invite in the next couple weeks.
Darkstorne
Member
I started another DA2 play through recently - all this Inquisition hype is too much to handle!
It's so strange how the combat itself feels so damn good, responsive, action-packed yet still tactical, yet the encounter and level design is so frickin' awful. It's this weird experience of loving and hating the same thing at the same time. Really hoping I can finish the game this time - I completed my first playthrough but lost the save. I've tried a second playthrough countless times but given up before the Deep Roads every single time.
It's so strange how the combat itself feels so damn good, responsive, action-packed yet still tactical, yet the encounter and level design is so frickin' awful. It's this weird experience of loving and hating the same thing at the same time. Really hoping I can finish the game this time - I completed my first playthrough but lost the save. I've tried a second playthrough countless times but given up before the Deep Roads every single time.
All I'm really hoping for is a bit of a description for the background behind choices. For example, the two rival Dwarf factions in Dragon Age: Origins. The save-file program I used before just asked me to tick a box next to a name, it didn't say what each Dwarf had stood for and I couldn't remember which was which.
Sure, it was just a trip to a wiki to solve it, but it would be useful as a quality of life feature to not have to exit/alt-tab out of the program to do so.
They have made mention that there will be a large codex included, that will help new and old players learn about most everything in the DA world. Plus we don't have any clue as to how the various choices are presented to us, if it's just boxes we check or more interactive questionnaires or both and everything in between.
Nice. I also read a Tweet from Mike Laidlaw saying that we will not learn specializations from companions nor from simply leveling up, so I'm assuming it will be like many from DAO where we learned them from exploring the world and quests. Stuff like learning Arcane Warrior from the Elven spirit or Reaver from the Andraste cultist, or duelist from Isabella.
I'm glad she specifically mentioned the Werewolf outcome in that. The scenario she described is exactly what happened in my DAO runthrough but for some reason I got the trophy for siding with the elves.
Good deal. I'll be tuned in.
Slackbladder
Member
I have a feeling it'll be story related as the specialization you take effects the story. So it'll be a big deal when it happens.
You definately see her (back) and Cullen and the Inquisitor in the trailer. May just be a cutscene though. It'd be interesting as she and Leilana certainly have a history. But I can't help thinking she's somehow involved in what's going on.
I'll cross my fingers for being able to cheese the Blood Magic specialisation thanks to a glitch again. It's hard to roleplay a "good" Blood Mage if you've actually done a deal with a demon.
But there isn't a Blood Mage specialization...
*looks at relevant page*
Damn it. I'd misremembered what I read. I suppose the Necromancy route might have the option, I certainly hope so. It's had such a focus on it the past two games that you'd expect it to turn up as an option again, especially as a potential point of contention with certain members of the Inquisition for drama purposes.
That's kind of the problem, Blood Mage never made sense in DAO/DA2 because it was pretty much ignored outright despite being a huge issue in the world. To do it right would require a substantial amount of additional work on the game to reflect that player choice, which just isn't possible.
Moff
Member
it was still cool to be a blood mage in origins, just picking the skill in DA2 was very stupid.
so there wont be blood magic? thats a shame, would have loved to do that again, its the greates kind of magic in the dragon age world, of course it would have been better if people actually reacted to it, but even just in secret would have been better than nothing for me.
so there wont be blood magic? thats a shame, would have loved to do that again, its the greates kind of magic in the dragon age world, of course it would have been better if people actually reacted to it, but even just in secret would have been better than nothing for me.
It could be a secret unlock for all we know.
Blood magic is supposed to be this horrible thing that ruins you, but in gameplay doesn't really have any downsides. People don't treat you very differently although you are clearly oozing blood from your ears.
Last Hearth
Member
What I wished they did is that every time you use blood magic you suffered a wound that would require a poultice to heal, so that blood magic is always costly and cannot be used but sparingly.
This sounds similar to an idea they were playing around with regarding the use of Lyrium potions and addiction in Origins, but they said it never really panned out gameplay-wise. Still, I think it's an interesting idea.
pantsonhead
Member
Would it have worked like Stim addictions in the early Fallout's?
Sanctuary
Member
The combat is what was the game's major saving grace for me. There were a lot of "old school" CRPG gamers acting as though if you actually liked anything about it (especially the combat) that you were just some kind of brain-dead "modern gamer" or some nonsense; and that you're only a real gamer if you enjoy archaic and done to death "gameplay".
You're right though. ANOTHER WAVE!!!! was easily the worst part about the encounters. It threw all sense of positioning out the window if you were playing it blind for the first time.
Blood Magic was my favorite aspect in regards to specilizations (or any of the magic routes for that matter) from the first two games. Ever since DA:O, I've always tried to play a caster that can do some form of ritualistic/self-sacrifice magic, or at the very least drain the life force of opponents in various other RPGs. Reminds me so much of the EverQuest Necromancer. I've always liked the idea of being immensely powerful, but at a very high cost so that it's not completely broken. Vanilla casters are just so... vanilla.
Hardly. You just had to have a complementary school to go along with it.
But it was dumbed down. Friendly Fire was off, your mana regen was through the roof and it became a spamfest with very little positioning or tactics involved like the previous game. It was also insanely fast with jerky animations and overall looked like shit. Whereas tactics could win in the previous game, attrition wins far more often in the latter... And that's a crying shame, and it ruined the combat for me.
You could argue responsiveness but the problem is that DA:O wasn't unresponsive. The wave-based approach to combat is cheap, unrealistic, and tiring; again a sharp drop in quality.
I'm not thrilled the more I see of DA:I's combat, but I'll give it a chance. I don't have a problem with some streamlining, just not if it rips the guts out of brawls.
Sanctuary
Member
No, it was just almost exactly like every other game used on the Infinity/Aurora engines ad nauseum. You either blow up the screen with screen filling spells and end the fights before they've begun, or you sit there auto attacking, getting to use a skill every 5 - 10s (exciting!!!). Responsive? Okay, if you like watching more than interacting maybe. I also don't really agree that the "tactics" were all that deep either in the first game compared to the second. Crowd control the toughest enemy, then either focus fire down everything else, or just have your casters fill the screen while keeping health levels up.
Really deep stuff.
It's too bad that the tactics commands barely worked at all, even setup properly. Even with the advanced tactics mod, they really were not all that useful aside from setting up when to use a mana or health poition and when to cast Force Field or Crushing Prison. Final Fantasy 12 came out years prior and already had a similar, and vastly more functional system in place, so it's not like it couldn't have worked.
Moff
Member
hm, not so sure if I agree. with anything here.
first of all, I wanna say I finished both origins and DA2 on the hardest difficulties and loved the combat in both.
there was friendly fire in DA2, just not on the lower difficulties I think, like the console version of origins. but friendly fire, even on pc origins, was neglectable even on the medium difficulty, because it was only like 25% which could be basically ignored.
with the no positioning in DA2 I have to strongly disagree, if you placed your mages in the wrong spot, they were instantly dead and the battle was lost. the problem with it, was that the enemy spawns were completely unforeseeable, which led to a lot of trial&error. but that was often the case in origins, too. just like the wave based encounter design.
I don't understand how you can criticize this in DA when it was already in origins.
although the encounter design, including the waves, was certainly worse in DA2, but that has nothing to do with "dumbed down", but with a very limited development time. I don't feel DA2's combat was dumbed down at all, if you played it on the harder difficultes
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
So nobody gives a fuck about the completely devoid screenshots/videos of PS3/Xbox360 versions except me.
So let me just cry alone in the corner then.
So let me just cry alone in the corner then.
Darkstorne
Member
That's something I completely agree with, and I believe that makes it worse than DAO's combat overall. However, I loved the responsiveness in DA2, the fact that skills and items were used the instant you commanded, and movement was a lot faster with a greater sense of urgency. In Origins, it sometimes felt like your squad couldn't be bothered, took ages to execute skills or use items (often leading to death because they didn't act when you asked them to), or walked really slowly to an enemy instead of getting their asses into gear because, HEY! PEOPLE ARE DYING HERE! MOVE!
From what I've seen of Inquisition it looks like the pacing is somewhere between Origins and DA2 (perfect), the waves are gone meaning we'll get a return to tactical combat at last (positioning meant nothing before, and I was forced to group everyone together - Can't leave a mage or archer on the sidelines or those magically appearing waves will screw them over on harder difficulties), and hopefully it remains just as responsive as DA2 was.
It's like Titanfall. They'll advertise the current gen versions because it helps drive adoption for the betterment of the industry, and it simply makes their game look better. Want to know how it'll look on last gen consoles? Take any current screenshot, squint your eyes so it looks all blurry, and imagine it running at 20 frames per second.
I don't see what's wrong with it. I'd honestly prefer it to old school turn based.
Moff
Member
origins had RtwP, too, and honestly its among the best party combat in any RPG ever
These are decent arguments, but they don't convince me after having played both games. There's no denying the style of battle is very different in the sequel. Either you like it or you don't.
It's still a spamfest and the goal is still to whittle HP away as quick as humanly possible in DA2. I found that boring compared to DA:O.
Moff
Member
the point I'm trying to make is, that pretty much all the flaws of DA2 were because of its ridiculously short development time, and not real design decisions or "dumbed down", which is why I have still high hopes for inquisition.
DA2 combat system is better, as long as you:
1) play on PC
2) crank up the difficulty.
The wave of mobs encounter design let it down though, but the overall system was markedly improved. There are better class combos and synergies.
Admiral Woofington
Member
This might be like a sin to say in this forum but I kind of feel like playing dragon age 2 again.
Darkstorne
Member
Nah, that's normal. If you manage to get further than Act 1 before quitting - that's abnormal.
Yeah, I hope that Dragon Keep deal is extensive and/or has good background explanation because lord knows I don't remember a lot of my choices from DA1. Some of the big stuff sure, but I cant remember if I sided with the werewolves or not.
Seeing this thread pop up over and over has me itching to buy the dlc.
I did another go around about a month or so ago. The environments still drain the life from you but the meat of the game, the story stuff, is entertaining. Aveline and Varric are some personal highlights with Anders being the big screw up.
Seeing this thread pop up over and over has me itching to buy the dlc.
The general consensus is that today we will see Scribe Girl, aka Scribbles, revealed today. She appears to be Rivaini and is most likely a Mage since Cullen is a Warrior and Leliana a Rogue. Other than that we have pretty much no clue as to who she is and where she is from.
Legacy is a pretty good piece of content, interesting premise, great addition to world lore and some decent additions to combat, and is generally regarded as a worthwhile by most. Mark of the Assassin is a technically good DLC, but I think hinges on how you feel about Felicia Day since she plays a new companion that is central to the plot. I don't care for her too much at all really, but I still enjoyed it more or less. Otherwise it's a few solid hours, has nice environments and cast of characters.
Legacy is a pretty good piece of content, interesting premise, great addition to world lore and some decent additions to combat, and is generally regarded as a worthwhile by most. Mark of the Assassin is a technically good DLC, but I think hinges on how you feel about Felicia Day since she plays a new companion that is central to the plot. I don't care for her too much at all really, but I still enjoyed it more or less. Otherwise it's a few solid hours, has nice environments and cast of characters.
I was just thinking about picking up Legacy I saw a walkthrough of it years back and always enjoyed the interesting bits of lore that it brought to the game.
santeesioux
Member
Any idea when we'll find out what the PC requirements are? I'm debating getting this for the PC or Ps4.
ScepticMatt
Member
I would assume Battlefield 4 will would be a good barometer of what to expect from DAI. If you can run that you should be able to run this.
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This may need a new thread tomorrow.
Forgot about that. Probably won't be all that great though. QAs are always a waste, it's just gonna be a bunch of assholes asking about stupid shit like romances or things we already know well about and never anything substantial like gameplay mechanics and changes. Hopefully because it's submitted questions Raptr will choose the good ones and not the many crappy ones.
santeesioux
Member
Aw good,i can probably play it then, figured that would be the case since it was on the old consoles too.
Last Hearth
Member
Is there a level cap in this game?
Good question. That would be a good thing for the QA tomorrow. I'm guessing there is though seeing as there was in DAO and DA2 and ME series as well. Though in DA2 the cap was 50 instead of 25 like DAO, 35 in the Awakening Expansion. So most people never even reached 25 in DA2, let alone 50, so the meaning of a level cap wasn't exactly as meaningful.
I don't see the issue. They are often hard to achieve, even by completionists, plus it's good to have a framework for the balance of the game. Especially since they've stated that there won't be any level scaling of enemies.