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[RetroStu]

Am i the only one who struggled a bit with 'Origins'?. I love Bioware rpg's and i love DA2 but i'm half way through Origins and i'm struggling to finish it (i have actually started playing Mass Effect again now), the map and item screens etc are really hard to read imo, its all cluttered and the quest points hardly show up at all on the map (if they actually show up at all). I also hate the fact that the main character doesn't talk even though everyone else in the game has a ton of dialogue, why?.

The game feels really old like it belongs in KOTOR era and i much prefer DA2 and Mass Effect.1

EDIT: Also why is the combat so god damn SLOW!, i have like 50 strength and its still slow as hell.

 

[Zaventem]

Not hype since announcements from BioWare are somewhat bloated

People got burned badly.

 

[gillty]

Am i the only one who struggled a bit with 'Origins'?. I love Bioware rpg's and i love DA2 but i'm half way through Origins and i'm struggling to finish it (i have actually started playing Mass Effect again now), the map and item screens etc are really hard to read imo, its all cluttered and the quest points hardly show up at all on the map (if they actually show up at all). I also hate the fact that the main character doesn't talk even though everyone else in the game has a ton of dialogue, why?.

The game feels really old like it belongs in KOTOR era and i much prefer DA2 and Mass Effect.1

EDIT: Also why is the combat so god damn SLOW!, i have like 50 strength and its still slow as hell.

fml ;_;

 

[Deified Data]

Gonna let everyone play test this one for me before I commit. Bioware lost day-1 privileges long ago.

 

[SerRodrik]

Gonna let everyone play test this one for me before I commit. Bioware lost day-1 privileges long ago.

Yup. Did the same thing with Mass Effect 3 and it saved me a lot of money.

 

[Arcteryx]

No thanks. DA:O is the only DA.

 

[Nirolak]

Am i the only one who struggled a bit with 'Origins'?. I love Bioware rpg's and i love DA2 but i'm half way through Origins and i'm struggling to finish it (i have actually started playing Mass Effect again now), the map and item screens etc are really hard to read imo, its all cluttered and the quest points hardly show up at all on the map (if they actually show up at all). I also hate the fact that the main character doesn't talk even though everyone else in the game has a ton of dialogue, why?.

The game feels really old like it belongs in KOTOR era and i much prefer DA2 and Mass Effect.1

EDIT: Also why is the combat so god damn SLOW!, i have like 50 strength and its still slow as hell.

While there were a lot of people who really loved the game, BioWare also had a ton that quit very early in the campaign, which is why they made so many changes for DA2 in the first place.

They're not usually the kind of people you run into on the forum frequently, but they definitely did exist.

This is also why you hear them talking about fusing 1 and 2 a lot, since they know they ended up catering to different audiences that didn't necessarily overlap.

 

[Eighty Deuce]

Not falling for it bioware, this game is redbox only based on principle.

 

[PinkCrayon]

Sounds good on paper, anxiously awaiting gameplay.

 

[MartyStu]

For the curious, Patrick Weekes is actually from the Mass Effect side of BioWare and moved over for DAI.

You will remember him for characters like Mordin and Tali and scenarios like Rannoch/Tuchanka.

I remember him. Good guy,

Am i the only one who struggled a bit with 'Origins'?. I love Bioware rpg's and i love DA2 but i'm half way through Origins and i'm struggling to finish it (i have actually started playing Mass Effect again now), the map and item screens etc are really hard to read imo, its all cluttered and the quest points hardly show up at all on the map (if they actually show up at all). I also hate the fact that the main character doesn't talk even though everyone else in the game has a ton of dialogue, why?.

The game feels really old like it belongs in KOTOR era and i much prefer DA2 and Mass Effect.1

EDIT: Also why is the combat so god damn SLOW!, i have like 50 strength and its still slow as hell.

Your post, it hurts my soul.

 

[Mustainium]

Am i the only one who struggled a bit with 'Origins'?. I love Bioware rpg's and i love DA2 but i'm half way through Origins and i'm struggling to finish it (i have actually started playing Mass Effect again now), the map and item screens etc are really hard to read imo, its all cluttered and the quest points hardly show up at all on the map (if they actually show up at all). I also hate the fact that the main character doesn't talk even though everyone else in the game has a ton of dialogue, why?.

The game feels really old like it belongs in KOTOR era and i much prefer DA2 and Mass Effect.1

EDIT: Also why is the combat so god damn SLOW!, i have like 50 strength and its still slow as hell.

You're not alone, though I did manage to slog through it. Thirty hours of DA:O really does feel like thirty hours.

 

[Night Hunter]

Am i the only one who struggled a bit with 'Origins'?. I love Bioware rpg's and i love DA2 but i'm half way through Origins and i'm struggling to finish it (i have actually started playing Mass Effect again now), the map and item screens etc are really hard to read imo, its all cluttered and the quest points hardly show up at all on the map (if they actually show up at all). I also hate the fact that the main character doesn't talk even though everyone else in the game has a ton of dialogue, why?.

The game feels really old like it belongs in KOTOR era and i much prefer DA2 and Mass Effect.1

EDIT: Also why is the combat so god damn SLOW!, i have like 50 strength and its still slow as hell.

THIS! SO MUCH THIS!

DA:O had so many problems but because DA II in many ways was even worse (and in some ways much better if you ask me) people choose to ignore them.

For example: Press A to Awesome wasn't a problem in and of itself, but the implementation and all the things around it sucked (hard), so people thought it was a problem. But I for one really hope they keep the more fluid combat animation and pacing and just bring the rest of the thing to a point of quality, so no more waves and deeper mechanics again.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

THIS! SO MUCH THIS!

DA:O had so many problems but because DA II in many ways was even worse (and in some ways much better if you ask me) people choose to ignore them

For example: Press A to Awesome wasn't a problem in and of itself, but the implementation and all the things around it sucked (hard), so people thought it was a problem. But I for one really hope they keep the more fluid combat animation and pacing and just bring the rest of the thing to a point of quality, so no more waves and deeper mechanics again.

Eh, its apples and oranges really.

BioWare, or at least modern BioWare, never seems to challenge themselves by fixing problematic aspects of past games when they do a sequel. They just completely rip up whatever they deemed not to have been working and do something completely different. Look at the lack of inventory in ME2, the totally different combat in ME2, the voiced protagonist and dialogue wheel in DA2. BioWare isn't very good at iterative design in taking something flawed and improving it. If they think something isn't working or they don't like it, they just shitcan it completely.

With DA2, they didn't fix many of the problems that Origins had (mediocre encounter design, bland visuals), they just elected to do something completely different. Maybe that fixed some things for some people, but not for me.

The "A for Awesome" combat is a bad idea if you're trying to make a party based tactical RPG. The second you have twitch based combat, you're gutting the full party, tactical control aspect you had in older RPGs like Baldur's Gate, which Origins was trying to emulate. You're stuck controlling just one character in combat as opposed to pausing and playing, moving people around and putting them in position.

 

[vareon]

Am i the only one who struggled a bit with 'Origins'?. I love Bioware rpg's and i love DA2 but i'm half way through Origins and i'm struggling to finish it (i have actually started playing Mass Effect again now), the map and item screens etc are really hard to read imo, its all cluttered and the quest points hardly show up at all on the map (if they actually show up at all). I also hate the fact that the main character doesn't talk even though everyone else in the game has a ton of dialogue, why?.

The game feels really old like it belongs in KOTOR era and i much prefer DA2 and Mass Effect.1

EDIT: Also why is the combat so god damn SLOW!, i have like 50 strength and its still slow as hell.

Well, if you see from the reactions around here, it's clear that there are a lot of people liked Origins. In fact Origins got my (and many other's) attention because it was supposed to be a modern representation of the slow-paced, tactical RPG they loved. Which is why they don't like DA2, it's fixing things that they don't think need to be fixed.

Because of the decisions made in DA2, Inquisition is kinda caught up in the middle of two different audiences right now.

 

[Nirolak]

Eh, its apples and oranges really.

BioWare, or at least modern BioWare, never seems to challenge themselves by fixing problematic aspects of past games when they do a sequel. They just completely rip up whatever they deemed not to have been working and do something completely different. Look at the lack of inventory in ME2, the totally different combat in ME2, the voiced protagonist and dialogue wheel in DA2. BioWare isn't very good at iterative design in taking something flawed and improving it. If they think something isn't working or they don't like it, they just shitcan it completely.

With DA2, they didn't fix many of the problems that Origins had (mediocre encounter design, bland visuals), they just elected to do something completely different. Maybe that fixed some things for some people, but not for me.

The "A for Awesome" combat is a bad idea if you're trying to make a party based tactical RPG. The second you have twitch based combat, you're gutting the full party, tactical control aspect you had in older RPGs like Baldur's Gate, which Origins was trying to emulate. You're stuck controlling just one character in combat as opposed to pausing and playing, moving people around and putting them in position.

I would argue that with Mass Effect 3 they actually did iterate on Mass Effect 2, it's just that by that point they were iterating primarily on the shooter gameplay and the inventory/ability system that tied into that shooter gameplay.

 

[Quentyn]

Gamespot finally posted the recording of the panel. It's only on Gamespot right now it should be on Youtube later.

http://au.gamespot.com/mass-effect-...-down-under-panel-pax-australia-2013-6411947/

 

[_Clash_]

Yep,

This game is in the no-go zone. Even a 90+ metacritic and 9 from Edge won't get me anywhere near this. On principle pass.


Dragon Age 2 is the worst game I have ever bought- and I believed I would be playing a modern Baldur's Gate 2 so i built a PC. Can you imagine? Series and publisher can fail and I wouldn't shed too many tears.

 

[Benhur]

I remember being put off by all of the changes I saw before the release of DA 2 and ended up not even buying it until it was in sale many months later. However, I am VERY excited for the release of DA 3, and the reason is that DA 2 wasn't really as bad as I was expecting. I suppose I have lowered expectations brought about by seething internet hate to thank for that.

I've been playing though both Origins and DA 2 at the same time and I really like both but for very different reasons. The combat in DA:O is much better than DA 2. In DA:O, positioning is so important and pausing every second is a must in order to get out of each encounter in one piece. With DA 2 I simply click on a monster and wait for the second wave to appear. I get no sense of strategy or tactical maneuvering and the limited camera has a lot to do with that. However I find myself enjoying the character design (graphics and story/personality) more in DA 2 than I did in DA:O. As far as level design goes, I'm not thrilled with either, to be honest. I think the levels are too dang big in DA:O (I almost quit during the Deep Roads) and too small in DA 2.

I'm hoping that DA 3 can address my complaints with the series, but I honestly feel Dragon Age has been a worthy successor to the old Baldur's Gate games. The world building is fantastic and I really love what the producers have done with fleshing out Thedas.

 

[Nirolak]

Gamespot finally posted the recording of the panel. It's only on Gamespot right now it should be on Youtube later.

http://au.gamespot.com/mass-effect-...-down-under-panel-pax-australia-2013-6411947/

Unfortunately they don't seem to be showing the screen.

 

[tea_and_crumpets]

They are making the right noises which is at least a good sign. I'll wait until we see some actual gameplay impressions and some footage though.

 

[RedSwirl]

- Patrick, Cameron and Chris (I think Chris was involved) talked about the proposal of using random numbers in determining the outcome of dialogue options or choices, and said they've basically rejected doing this. Players like seeing the consequences of their choices, and seeing a cause -> effect relationship, and introducing an element of randomness to choices/dialogue could be seen as unfairly punishing them. Also, players would reload if they "randomly" got a "bad" outcome, or something they didn't want, and anything that forces the player to constantly reload their saves isn't very fun gameplay.

This displays a pretty big difference between BioWare and CDProjekt if you ask me. TW3 previews have already confirmed that CDPR isn't afraid to have unintended consequences to a moral choice show up 20 hours after you make them, whereas BioWare seems to still like more immediate payoff.

 

[TalesOfWin]

what engine did DA2 run on? Going from that to frostbite 3 should ease their work a lot.

 

[TrueMenace]

The combat better be a lot like Origins where you use your brains. I don't want that hyper jumpy combat in DA2...so bad.

 

[Sothpaw]

http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/111...ails-emerge-playable-races-make-a-return.html

Can play as a dwarf again!

Game will probably still be terrible, but this is good news at least.

Edit: Missed the other thread srry!