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[syllogism]

Gametrailers has uploaded three gameplay videos. Posted today. Looks nice.

Dragon - HD | SD
Shut Up Tree - HD | SD
Deathbed - HD | SD

Game doesn't look good in cutscenes but, in gameplay, it looks very nice overall. May be it is because of small screen. We'll find out soon.

The elder tree conversation was pretty good

 

[Fredescu]

But you could queue actions in Kotor.

edit: hmm, you can only queue one action.

 

[Nyx]

But you could queue actions in Kotor.

And in Dragon Age too supposedly, GB just didn't tick the option to let the game stay on pause when queuing actions.

 

[benny_a]

And in Dragon Age too supposedly, GB just didn't tick the option to let the game stay on pause when queuing actions.

I'm sure there is a difference.

As I understand it from the video and the comment of the DA:O guys on their forums the following is possible:

Hold Radial trigger, select action. Switch party member, select action. Switch party member, select action. Release radial trigger.

KotOR allowed this plus the following:
Switch party member, select action, queue action, queue action, queue action. Switch party member, select action, queue action, queue action.

So DA:O does technically fulfill the criteria of selection up to N actions per pause state. (Where N is amount of party members.)

KotOR allowed to queue up to N actions. (Where N is party members multiplied by 5.)

The GiantBomb guys didn't have the hold radial function ticked off, so they could only select 1 action per pause.

 

[fanboi]

How is the exploration? Is it open maps like BG2? Or a to b like NWN?

 

[ksimm]

That tree... looks familiar - like Saren merged with Treebeard.

 

[Truant]

And in Dragon Age too supposedly, GB just didn't tick the option to let the game stay on pause when queuing actions.

So selecting a new action with the same character won't just ovewrite the last one you ordered?

 

[Taurus]

Pre-ordered this yesterday, less than two weeks to go.

 

[bengraven]

Could it be Rahesha or whatever that girl's name was you were thinking of? You know, the Matale and Sandral quest on Dantooine?

I was actually thinking that "Juhani" was named "Jaheira". I don't know why, but even after playing through KOTOR 3 times, I swore her name was Jaheira and always told fellow fans "yeah, they used the name Jaheira in both games". I fact checked myself and was wrooong. And slightly embarassed.

Almost as embarassed as how it took me 5 years to realize that C.R.E.A.M stood for "cash rules everything around me", despite having listened to the song hundreds of times. :lol

You have to beat this stupid flash game THREE TIMES to unlock the final achievement and get the third item?

That's some great design there.

I better get to playing. I'm such a loot whore, I even grind loot before the game is released by using their Flash game.

Man, i really wonder if the game will be as long as Bioware says. They have said things like this about Jade Empire which was really short.

Go by reviewers, not Bioware. And reviewers are swearing you'll put in at LEAST 40-50 hours in. GI said if you're thorough it's 70 hours; Tycho Brahe said he put in 50 hours before he could even blink while playing through.

(also, if you have a great rig, do NOT pick up the 360 version, especially if you already own Fallout 3. I know, I know, "The mods" are what PC gamers will push on you, but trust me on this. The mods are worth it. Get Project Beauty, first of all, and every single NPC looks more realistic and attractive. Then get the Mutant Mod project and there are 4x the amounts of bizarre creatures in the wilds...

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

I was actually thinking that "Juhani" was named "Jaheira". I don't know why, but even after playing through KOTOR 3 times, I swore her name was Jaheira and always told fellow fans "yeah, they used the name Jaheira in both games". I fact checked myself and was wrooong. And slightly embarassed.

It's been awhile since I played kotor, but if I remember correctly her voice sounded quite like Jaheira's.

 

[Caspel]

hooray! Received my 360 review copy today. Looks like my weekend (outside of the UFC PPV) is now going to be committed to DA:O.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

I'm kinda happy that the PS3 version is not coming out for a while. Between MW2, the GOW collection, & maybe Assassin Creed 2 I've got wayyyyyyyy too much on my plate ATM. That, plus the fact that I can wait and see the reactions for the 360 version before I jump in. I'll never forget the terribly mediocre Jade Empire.

 

[Truant]

My review copy is the PC one, and they're not sending me anything until at least a week from now

 

[Caspel]

My review copy is the PC one, and they're not sending me anything until at least a week from now

sorry to hear that. I just finished up downloading the two DLC inclusions. Time to play now. Hopefully the 360 version is as good as the 10 hours I put into the PC iteration.

 

[bengraven]

It's been awhile since I played kotor, but if I remember correctly her voice sounded quite like Jaheira's.

You're right in that regards. That's one thing I missed from ME; BG, NWN and KOTOR used many of the same voice actors. Other than Cam Clarke, who is in every single Bioware game and played a grunt in ME.

hooray! Received my 360 review copy today. Looks like my weekend (outside of the UFC PPV) is now going to be committed to DA:O.

And while you owe your company a review, you're still going to answer all our questions over the weekend.

Right...?

 

[Caspel]

And while you owe your company a review, you're still going to answer all our questions over the weekend.

Right...?

LOL, maybe. I have yet to receive my embargo details so we'll see.

 

[bengraven]

How is the exploration? Is it open maps like BG2? Or a to b like NWN?

From the GT forest videos, it looks very Fable-ish. :/

LOL, maybe. I have yet to receive my embargo details so we'll see.

I'm keeping my eye on you.

 

[Kinan]

Anyone beat the flash game yet? How long is it? Will have time to play only today, didn't manage it yesterday.

 

[TheFightingFish]

Gack! The huge spiders in that first GameTrailers video creep me right the heck out. I'm going to have to call in a friend to pinch-play for me to get by some of those parts.

 

[syllogism]

Anyone beat the flash game yet? How long is it? Will have time to play only today, didn't manage it yesterday.

Wasn't really looking but maybe 30-50 minutes (it's only chapter 1 after all) depending on how fast you are and how much time you waste exploring. Not a bad game but not really worth playing either unless you want the looooot

 

[bengraven]

Gack! The huge spiders in that first GameTrailers video creep me right the heck out. I'm going to have to call in a friend to pinch-play for me to get by some of those parts.

Wow, that seems to be the norm around here. :lol

 

[mrgone]

That flash promo game is a pretty cool thing. Kind of hug-based marketing. I like

 

[MirageDwarf]

LOL, maybe. I have yet to receive my embargo details so we'll see.

Can you at least tell when review embargo ends?

 

[Slaylock]

Gamestop has the PS3 version scheduled for an 11/2 release date: http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?Product_ID=72892.

Maybe this is the PS3-related announcement?

 

[Owzers]

Would stilll like to see how the PS3 version compares to 360 though.

 

[MirageDwarf]

Gamestop has the PS3 version scheduled for an 11/2 release date: http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?Product_ID=72892.

Maybe this is the PS3-related announcement?

Yeah, it's confirmed. All three versions on Nov. 3rd.

 

[Loudninja]

Mike Laidlaw:
Yep! There is an option to tone down the gore in the game, yes. You can disable the persistent gore, so that your characters aren't blood spattered after battle.

I know some of you might care.

 

[truly101]

I'm kinda happy that the PS3 version is not coming out for a while. Between MW2, the GOW collection, & maybe Assassin Creed 2 I've got wayyyyyyyy too much on my plate ATM. That, plus the fact that I can wait and see the reactions for the 360 version before I jump in. I'll never forget the terribly mediocre Jade Empire.

So yeah....about that. What is your definition of "for a while"

 

[MirageDwarf]

Ray Muzyka:
Dragon Age: Origins is incredibly rich and deep - the game is approximately 60-80 hours for the average player, but the critical path could be as short as 40 hours - speaking personally, on one playthrough it took me about 120+ hours to go through about 95% of the game. And it was totally awesome! It actually got better and better the further I progressed, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Great news is, the adventure doesn't end when you finish since we're planning a ton of high quality post-release downloadable content too!

Awesome! Usually official length is exaggerated and ends up less for most players. So even if we take out 30-40 hrs, it can be 70-80 hrs easily to complete it 100% and around 30 hrs to finish main story going from point A to point B.

 

[Caspel]

Can you at least tell when review embargo ends?

Launch day here in the U.S. -- November 3.

 

[MirageDwarf]

Some tidbits from PS3 chat session:

DoktorZee_BioWare: For Nick - right from the beginning of the development of Dragon Age: Origins we tried to capture the magic of the Baldur's Gate series (one of our first sets of games). Many of the same team members worked on Dragon Age: Origins and Baldur's Gate, so this gave us a bit of an opportunity to really drive a similar experience.

Mike Laidlaw: We had an awesome cast, 144 voice actors in total spread between the US and U.K. Working with folks like Tim Curry and Kate Mulgrew is always a blast. They're consummate professionals, and it was really encouraging when they dug into their character and starting asking for more motivation and details on the history of the world.

DoktorZee_BioWare: For WormFOODx - User created content is a big part of the game on PC (as the tools launch at the same time as the PC version) and we are exploring the options for taking across the best user-created content from PC to PS3. Obviously this is something we need to work out with Sony, but we're hopeful it can happen as it would be super-cool.

Mark Darrah: There are 800,000 words of recorded dialog. So in hours... A lot.

Mike Laidlaw: The difficulty scales based on how hard you want it to be. The nightmare mode is in the same realm as Demon's Souls, while you can crank the difficulty right down to easy. The best part is that you can adjust on the fly. Feeling like the game is too easy? Go ahead and set it harder.

The best thing about Origins's combat, I think, is that it rewards you for player smarter. You learn how to use your party and their abilities as a coordinated strike team, and it's not long before you're demolishing your opponents.

Mark Darrah: We've got the following famous voice actors:
Kate Mulgrew
Tim Curry
Tim Russ
Steve Valentine

Mark Darrah: People will definately react to you differently based upon your gender. Some origins, in fact, will play out VERY differently. I won't reveal more now.

Mark Darrah: We draw inspiration from a variety of sources. From the combat side, we draw upon the tactical richness of Baldur's Gate. Additionally, the action wheel from Mass Effect is a great influence. From a lore perspective, we have drwn from books like the Goeage R. R. Martin series.

Launch day here in the U.S. -- November 3.

Why the fuck publishers do this? Why block reviews until release day if you know game is getting good previews and favorable reviews?

 

[AgentOtaku]

Just watched a couple of the GameTrailers vids

Ugh....

This is why I adored the Gambit system so much. Can't stand constant pausing.

 

[Kintaro]

Why the fuck publishers do this? Why block reviews until release day if you know game is getting good previews and favorable reviews?

Seems like EA has been doing this a bit more often. Happened with Brutal Legend as well.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Just watched a couple of the GameTrailers vids

Ugh....

This is why I adored the Gambit system so much. Can't stand constant pausing.

Then you're in luck!

Why the fuck publishers do this? Why block reviews until release day if you know game is getting good previews and favorable reviews?

Yeah, seems a pretty bad way to go. They should end the embargo by at least the friday before release. Especially a game like Dragon's Age that had retched marketing, but is apparently an actually really good game. They should get the positive reviews out there more timely.

 

[garath]

Just watched a couple of the GameTrailers vids

Ugh....

This is why I adored the Gambit system so much. Can't stand constant pausing.

Then you are in luck. It has a similar style system for AI scripting.

 

[manofmandango]

So yeah....about that. What is your definition of "for a while"

I believe he means, "the same day as the rest of them."

 

[Shins]

Some tidbits from PS3 chat session:






Why the fuck publishers do this? Why block reviews until release day if you know game is getting good previews and favorable reviews?

When they have a spineless enthusiast press on hand that will never, ever stand up to them, why not?

They can control the conversation almost entirely with postive previews and heaps of PR hype without a hint of negativity going into the launch. Even the most glowing review will contain a few "but this" statements since it's impossible for the enthusiasts to write something not following the formula, so why allow the smallest dark clouds in when you don't have to?

No one to blame for this but people willing to accept it. I would protest if I thought the reviews from these people would be worth reading. They won't be, so fuck it.

 

[garath]

Well we already have reviews from Euro sources. I really don't understand why, in the age of the internet, they would have territory specific review embargos. It's not like we can't get the Euro internet over here and see their reviews.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Then you are in luck. It has a similar style system for AI scripting.

Yep, that's why I'm so excited for this!

 

[Caspel]

When they have a spineless enthusiast press on hand that will never, ever stand up to them, why not?

They can control the conversation almost entirely with postive previews and heaps of PR hype without a hint of negativity going into the launch. Even the most glowing review will contain a few "but this" statements since it's impossible for the enthusiasts to write something not following the formula, so why allow the smallest dark clouds in when you don't have to?

No one to blame for this but people willing to accept it. I would protest if I thought the reviews from these people would be worth reading. They won't be, so fuck it.

Anybody have that article from Gamesradar or Gamedaily where they pointed out the "but this" method of reviewing?

 

[syllogism]

Posted 10/23/09 17:33 (GMT) by Nathan Frederick, lead quality assurance

There is no ability to import your character and restart the game with them. If you are playing on Nightmare, you are starting at level 1.

The PC version is also somewhat harder than the console versions.

I highly reccommend that you do NOT play your first playthrough on nightmare unless you enjoy pain. I mean "REALLY" enjoy pain.

Of course, if Pain is your thing... by all means, play on Nightmare.

I made the mistake of playing IWD2 on heart of winter difficulty first time through so I've probably learned my lesson and will play on hard this time around. Heart of winter was meant for new game+ though so you could import your old party. You can imagine it was rather painful with a level 1 party.

e: but it had new looooooot so it was totally worth it

 

[Trojita]

I'm still up in arms about what copy of the game to get.

My friends are mostly on the 360 and it is hooked to my 50 inch Pioneer Plasma, plus I played Mass Effect on it. Louder than PS3 though.

PS3 - Hooked up to my 50 inch Pioneer Plasma, potential for mods but harder overall.

Both consoles are hooked to a pretty good sound system.

PC- I have a pretty good specc'd gaming rig but it is up on my room on the third floor, no couch, and I get kind of bummed out playing on it too long. Only a 24 inch screen but will have the best graphics on it. Potential for great mods, but who knows how far that will go, it is up to the community.

 

[Fredescu]

Hook your PC up to your 50 inch plasma and pretty good sound system.

 

[KaYotiX]

Just pre-ordered on Steam (Digital CE) and cant wait to jump into this game. If you have the PC to run it dont bother with the console versions.

 

[B-Dex]

Does anyone know if EB Games/Gamestop in Canada will still take pre orders on the CE? On their website it is no longer listed.

Same with amazon.com, but .ca has it but no mention of a pre order bonus :S

Does anyone have any info?

 

[NIGHT-]

Have the 360 CE version pre-ordered. Cant wait

 

[Durante]

I can't understand how anyone with a capable PC can consider getting the console version of this particular game. It's better in every area, and it's cheaper as well.

 

[kafka rock opera]

I can't understand how anyone with a capable PC can consider getting the console version of this particular game. It's better in every area, and it's cheaper as well.

If i had to guess. Id say these people dont own a comfortable office chair. This is KEY in a good game experience for me.

 

[Minsc]

If i had to guess. Id say these people dont own a comfortable office chair. This is KEY in a good game experience for me.

I don't know, to me it sounds like this game will be much more enjoyable through a keyboard and mouse, than a gamepad. Everything I've read of playing it with a controller just sounds so damned confusing, but it's probably fine. I'd take KB+Mouse over a controller any day for this type of game, even if all else was equal, which it isn't.

 

[Caspel]

Shale is an awesome addition to the party. Glad I was able to use the free DLC to obtain his services. He adds great humor to the party and is a tank!