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DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION Gameplay Series -- Part Two: Redcliffe Castle

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Hold up....

Did I just watch some main story spoilers?

Smh....

I love the gameplay videos but I wish they used a quest that was meaningless to the over all plot.
 

i-Lo

Member
Looks like the combat options will work out well. I wonder if they'll take the same approach for the next ME game, albeit a tad more streamlined.

Presumably, things will improve (alpha build after all) but the shadow pop-ins are an eye-sore for an otherwise beautiful looking game.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Nope. For this game they are actually working the specializations into the story (ie, one of your party members may not like you much if you choose to specialize in Reaver. Another might take issue with you being a Templar) and since Blood mage is such a huge issue in the DA world the dissonance would have been too great. The three mage ones are Rift Mage, Knight Enchanter....and Necromancer (necromancy is surprisingly tolerated in Thedas).

Balls. That's a shame. I'll have to go Knight Enchanter then.
 

Sendero

Member
I can't be the only one who cringed at the campy dialog.
You are not. But don't think anyone is taken by surprise for that.

Bioware has the resources to have made tremendous improvements in several areas (IA, combat gameplay, writing quality for starters), and instead decided to focus on fixing the major complains received from DA2: Scenario reusage, on-rails gameplay, lack of consequences/impact on the ending, poor customization, zero variety on quests.


Which is ok and commendable (and why I'm interested). But that does not take away the fact that they still have ample space to improve in major elements. On the other hand, if the Dragon keep is as good as they promise, I would give them a pass this time.
 
Looks ok. The facial animations look rough on Leliana. And the walking animations up and down stairs make it look like the characters is moving through quicksand or something.

The brief bit with the tactical mode in terms of setting up the attacks looked really nice yet they were trying to lay out those moves with the camera so zoomed in you weren't able to get any sense of the larger area. I'm still not at all sold on their new tactical camera in that sense. They keep saying you can zoom out and how great and flexible it is yet they have not once yet shown that it can zoom out as far as the farthest it could in Origins.


Boss battle with repeating dialogue during combat.
"VICTORY IS IMPOSSIBLE! THE ELDER ONE WILL DESTROY US BOTH!""VICTORY IS IMPOSSIBLE! THE ELDER ONE WILL DESTROY US BOTH!""VICTORY IS IMPOSSIBLE! THE ELDER ONE WILL DESTROY US BOTH!"
 

Ralemont

not me
You are not. But don't think anyone is taken by surprise for that.

Bioware has the resources to have made tremendous improvements in several areas (IA, combat gameplay, writing quality for starters), and instead decided to focus on fixing the major complains received from DA2: Scenario reusage, on-rails gameplay, lack of consequences/impact on the ending, poor customization, zero variety on quests.

How good the AI is will be determined by how effectively you've set up your tactics slots.

The combat looks amazing to me. What are your issues there?

The writing quality will be fine, for the companions at least.
 

Talon

Member
Looks ok. The facial animations look rough on Leliana. And the walking animations up and down stairs make it look like the characters is moving through quicksand or something.

The brief bit with the tactical mode in terms of setting up the attacks looked really nice yet they were trying to lay out those moves with the camera so zoomed in you weren't able to get any sense of the larger area. I'm still not at all sold on their new tactical camera in that sense. They keep saying you can zoom out and how great and flexible it is yet they have not once yet shown that it can zoom out as far as the farthest it could in Origins.
They showed the high view in the first video that was posted earlier. This was clearly a zoomed-in view in this video.
 

Gothos

Member
That tactical part, rofl... I want them to finally show proper, long combat sequence using mouse and keyboard and fully using tactical view. All this advertising is so far strictly directed towards action oriented players and it's not convincing me, tbh.
 

Moff

Member
do we know if playing a charater directly makes him more efficient than just letting him do what we queed him for in tactical mode? like more damage or less hits with dodging etc.
 

Terra_Ex

Member
Looks alright, certainly better than the trash that preceded it. Definitely geared more towards an action approach rather than tactical (from what I've seen at least) but other devs have taken that torch from bio and are doing a much better job of it so that's a lesser concern for me right now. I haven't been following this closely, what's the final word on the wheel o'hints, have Bio finally deigned to allow me to know exactly what the PC is about to say or it still ultimately a guessing game?
 
I am so fucking torn about this game.

Do I play on PC for permanent isometric goodness and minor mods, or ps4 for lovely ds4 compatibility, trophies, no Origin and remote play on my vita??

This is hard :(
 

beltan

Neo Member
I really have a difficult time liking DA1 as I'm playing it again. But this is looking pretty amazing. I don't know if I should still make it thru DA1 and DA2 before this one comes out. Its sometimes painful, DA1 is.
 

Cidd

Member
Have they mention anything about being able to increase difficulty setting?

At the moment it looks kinda too easy. Also wish the combat was a little more like Dragon's Dogma but I'll still be getting this day 1.
 

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
Looks alright, certainly better than the trash that preceded it. Definitely geared more towards an action approach rather than tactical (from what I've seen at least) but other devs have taken that torch from bio and are doing a much better job of it so that's a lesser concern for me right now. I haven't been following this closely, what's the final word on the wheel o'hints, have Bio finally deigned to allow me to know exactly what the PC is about to say or it still ultimately a guessing game?

It's never been a guessing game since they've always been color and symbol coded with very explicit attitude markers, but yes in certain situations where you have to make a decision they will show a little blurb explaining exactly what will happen if you X, Y or Z. Other than that the dialog is still short form everywhere else with accompanying symbols and colors.
 
They showed the high view in the first video that was posted earlier. This was clearly a zoomed-in view in this video.

If that was their full on tactical view in the first gameplay video then they have issues cause that is no where near what was available compared to Origins.

That tactical part, rofl... I want them to finally show proper, long combat sequence using mouse and keyboard and fully using tactical view. All this advertising is so far strictly directed towards action oriented players and it's not convincing me, tbh.

I agree- its annoying because they keep talking up how you can play in tactical view and how great it is, yet they show it for about 10 seconds then go back to real time where it looks like a really slow and clunky action game where you're just spamming attacks and chipping away at giant health bars.
 

Xander51

Member
In this and the first one, are they forcing the camera angle with the right stick to showcase the environment or something because it's pretty bad watching the camera drag behind at the height of the player character's ankle.

This drove me completely CRAZY in the first video. Sad to hear they did it again in this one, almost don't want to watch it now.
 
I was pretty impressed with the dialogue? It doesn't sound anymore campy than your average Game of Thrones episode I reckon.
Plus it's Dragon Age. It's not exactly top tier fantasy. It's a mirage of all other high fantasy worlds. A lot of what Dragon Age is, is generic. But at least unlike Dragon Age 1 the art is now pretty distinct and its own. The UI also looks surprisingly competent for a Bioware title. Going all the way back to KOTOR, their menus, inventory systems, weapon/item selection, levelling pages, journals - All that shit have always been annoying and cumbersome. KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. It seems better in this one. I like how X Y B, and the LB and RB are designated move buttons.

The question is now; Do they have the balls to make the standard difficulty, so difficult that the player is forced to use both the tactical and the action combat? I hope so.
I think many Bioware fans are conditioned to be just STORY STORY STORY, but I think more engagement and thrilling immersion is achieved when the player is also being pushed. If died many times trying to get into the courtyard of the fortress in this video because you didn't properly aligned your party, the reward is all the more sweeter when you finally get united with your party member (in the video, Lillianna).


I also liked the characters. Dorian and Iron Bull seems like characters I would want in my party. I thought most characters in Dragon Age 1 / Mass Effect 1 was boring.
In Bioware games I like the characters that stand out, have distinct VO and some drama and character development to them.
In Dragon Age it's primarily been Morrigan, Alistair, the beardless Dwarf, Pirate Woman, Shale and clumsy girl elf. The rest of them pretty much sucked. In Mass Effect, the Solari Doctor, Mordin, the philosophical assassin Thane Krios, James Vega, Miranda. The rest - Basically all in Mass Effect 1 were piss poor. Liara, Tali, Rex, Garrus, and especially Ashley and Kaiden - Screw those guys.


Lillianna was always one of those boring characters who were paper thin and two dimensional in all areas. From bland design to weak voice acting and annoying exposition. They took an Ex-Chantry devotee turned Assassin. It was great on paper but she was always just crap and annoying. The small snippit I saw here was her being more better than at any point in the other games. When I play the game I will be sure to let her be the one who gets tortured so she will finally be a character of personality instead of that bland good/evil archertype that fits so many of the boring characters.
 

Laconic

Banned
This is literally the only Western game company that compels me to buy their wares.

This is a hard day-one. The connotations are multiple.
 
I really have a difficult time liking DA1 as I'm playing it again. But this is looking pretty amazing. I don't know if I should still make it thru DA1 and DA2 before this one comes out. Its sometimes painful, DA1 is.

Dragon Age 1 has aged poorly for sure, but it never was that great of a game. I say that as someone who was excited when I first played through it.

The story was as bread-and-butter as they come in video games, and the combat was too redundant. Everyone praised it back then, but I suspect it was because everyone was hungering for a strategy based RPG, like Baldurs Gate. It was even sold as a spiritual successor to those games.
 

Laconic

Banned
Dragon Age 1 has aged poorly for sure, but it never was that great of a game. I say that as someone who was excited when I first played through it.

The story was as bread-and-butter as they come in video games, and the combat was too redundant. Everyone praised it back then, but I suspect it was because everyone was hungering for a strategy based RPG, like Baldurs Gate. It was even sold as a spiritual successor to those games.

Baldur's Gate 2 makes it almost impossible not to forgive them DA2.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Skipped the cutscenes but this environment looks great. Mages just love unleashing Fade Demons on Redcliffe, don't they?
 

Sendero

Member
How good the AI is will be determined by how effectively you've set up your tactics slots.

The combat looks amazing to me. What are your issues there?

The writing quality will be fine, for the companions at least.
I'm well aware about the tactics scheme (said as much in a previous post here). But simple things like positioning and reaction to attacks seems a bit too barebones for a "default" behaviour.

Combat looks entertaining (as I said), but both too twitchy yet demanding no skill to the player, and also "weightless". The movement of the companions during the fight is quite robotic. Also, an action RPG is a perfect opportunity to use a physics engine to a large degree - something that may be too costly for smaller companies. But all we get here, are some pretty graphic effects (freeze, rocks jumping from floor, scorched marks, space bubble) but there is barely any creative interaction with the environment.

Examples? Kinetic powers to use objects and debris as projectiles, trigger pre-planned environment destruction, mixing elemental attacks beyond oil+fire, different recoil animations depending on what type of weapons hit you, etc. All simple ideas for a large company. I'm not even asking something special like Dragon Dogma combat.
 
Game is looking really really good. Loving the art direction so far with all the different colors and such. They're really bringing it on that front. This is also the first time I got a good look at Iron Bull. Guy looks awesome.

Whatever they were alluding to at the end ain't happening in my playthrough not if I can help it. Noooope.
 

Terra_Ex

Member
It's never been a guessing game since they've always been color and symbol coded with very explicit attitude markers, but yes in certain situations where you have to make a decision they will show a little blurb explaining exactly what will happen if you X, Y or Z. Other than that the dialog is still short form everywhere else with accompanying symbols and colors.
I feel that's arguing semantics - I think you know exactly the point I was driving at, but thanks for the clarification nonetheless.
 

nnodley

Neo Member
Hot damn, this game looks amazing to me!! I wish october wasn't so packed with games, but this is most certainly a day 1 for me.
 

Parch

Member
Have they mention anything about being able to increase difficulty setting?
At the moment it looks kinda too easy.
Probably just the easy setting for demo purposes. Bioware has always had a wide spectrum of difficulty levels. Easy is a casual walkthrough. Hard is friggin' hard.

That's also where the tactics come in. Unnecessary on lower levels. An absolute necessity on harder levels. Plus unlike Mass Effect where it's more of a twitch skill requirement, Dragon Age difficulty is really about the RPG tactics. At least that's what I've always thought.
 

ANDS

King of Gaslighting
Can't please everyone. Personally there was nothing in that video that suggests this isn't going to be a great game.

I also didn't see any bad AI. In combat, including during the boss fight, AI was always doing something. The only time they were idle, was then they couldn't attack.
 

ANDS

King of Gaslighting
The character animations during cutscenes, facial animation in particular, is very poor. And the HUD is ridiculous.

The only confusing element of the HUD is why the boss health bar appears twice. The rest of the UI is pretty much exactly as it's been for the last two games.
 

koji

Member
Yeah, I think they are still tweaking the PC interface as they haven't revealed it yet. Thus far all the info has been controller-based.

I always disliked the fact that you couldn't use a controller in ME, while that game works great with a controller. Nice that they have it in DA:I.
 
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