Author Topic: Dragon Age: Origins  (Read 7513 times)

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Offline Newby

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Dragon Age: Origins
« on: November 05, 2009, 11:13:09 am »
I picked it up (legally) as I'm a huge fan of Bioware RPGs (Neverwinter Nights series, Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series, KOTOR series, Mass Effect, etc.) and 8 hours in I have not been let down. It is huge and awesome so far.

More to come when I get bored enough to post/don't have studying to do. 8)
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Quote
[17:32:45] * xar sets mode: -oooooooooo algorithm ban chris cipher newby stdio TehUser tnarongi|away vursed warz
[17:32:54] * xar sets mode: +o newby
[17:32:58] <xar> new rule
[17:33:02] <xar> me and newby rule all

I'd bet that you're currently bloated like a water ballon on a hot summer's day.

That analogy doesn't even make sense.  Why would a water balloon be especially bloated on a hot summer's day? For your sake, I hope there wasn't too much logic testing on your LSAT. 

Offline deadly7

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2009, 02:32:25 pm »
Quote
I picked it up (legally) as I'm a huge fan of Bioware RPGs (Neverwinter Nights series, Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series, KOTOR series, Mass Effect, etc.) and 8 hours in I have not been let down. It is huge and awesome so far.

More to come when I get bored enough to post/don't have studying to do. Cool

I want to play this game by computer's graphics and processor are definitely not up to par with what they need (my computer is about 10 years old) so yeah.. It's very sad. I need a new comp and I really wanna play this game.
[17:42:21.609] <Ergot> Kutsuju you're girlfrieds pussy must be a 403 error for you
 [17:42:25.585] <Ergot> FORBIDDEN

on IRC playing T&T++
<iago> He is unarmed
<Hitmen> he has no arms?!

on AIM with a drunk mythix:
(00:50:05) Mythix: Deadly
(00:50:11) Mythix: I'm going to fuck that red dot out of your head.
(00:50:15) Mythix: with my nine

Offline Newby

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2009, 03:48:13 am »
40 hours in, and I can safely say this game is awesome. There may or may not be spoilers in this description, read on if you're feeling brave. I didn't care to put spoiler tags around things that may ruin it. =P

My favorite part of the game is that the game is very hard. Not impossible, but it definitely makes you play tactically. It's no hack-and-slash, and it requires a lot more tactical thought than Baldur's Gate ever did. I had to turn down the difficulty for one boss fight early on, but the rest have been manageable and nothing takes more than a dozen reloads to beat. When you beat some parts in the game, you feel really really good about yourself. Or at least I do!

Potions early on are very scarce, and it's nice to have someone in your party to make potions from the just-as-rare materials (early on) required to make them. Potions are your best friend in this game. And a healing mage, too. You'll find that shops in this game don't usually carry more than one or two items you need, so you'll find yourself spending a majority of your money on potions. Or at least I did.

I ran into a bug that set me back an hour at one point ([spoiler]I picked up a key in a Ruined Temple where I was trying to find an Urn of Sacred Ashes and it vanished[/spoiler]) and the game does crash on occasion. Luckily, quicksaving takes 2-3 seconds tops and it's hotkeyed nicely.

Graphics-wise, the game isn't that special. It looks like Neverwinter Nights 2. On my computer, the game definitely lags a bit during cutscenes.

But oh man, gameplay in this game is the cake, and the storyline and twists are the icing on that delicious cake. Choice plays a huge part in the game. There are six unique beginnings (and I'm sure there are unique endings too) and every choice you make shapes the story somehow. I can't give you the story of the beginning because the beginning depends on the class/race you pick. And if I tell you any more, I could be incorrect, as I haven't tried the other 5 beginnings!

Oddly enough, moral behavior choices, while everywhere in dialogues, doesn't seem to play a huge role in the game. You can steal with absolutely no worry (just like in NWN2... which always frustrated me) and evil/good decisions only shape your relationship with your teammates. Nothing with your looks. No karma bar or anything like in KOTOR. And the relationship changes only occur with people in your active party -- if you're the greatest most honorable person in the world, the evil people back in your camp couldn't care less. If they're with you, they care.

Parallels with WoW... the interface. The ! over shopkeepers and people w/ quests. The little mini map in the upper right. Button mashing when it comes to fighting (you have the little bar for spells just like in WoW) easy mobs (when it comes to hard mobs, a little more tactical strategy is required). Little things that make me miss WoW.

And there's already downloadable content out there to increase the already-gigantic 80 hours of gameplay.

Overall, really really awesome game. 4.5/5 stars.
- Newby
http://www.x86labs.org

Quote
[17:32:45] * xar sets mode: -oooooooooo algorithm ban chris cipher newby stdio TehUser tnarongi|away vursed warz
[17:32:54] * xar sets mode: +o newby
[17:32:58] <xar> new rule
[17:33:02] <xar> me and newby rule all

I'd bet that you're currently bloated like a water ballon on a hot summer's day.

That analogy doesn't even make sense.  Why would a water balloon be especially bloated on a hot summer's day? For your sake, I hope there wasn't too much logic testing on your LSAT. 

Offline MyndFyre

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2009, 09:49:54 pm »
I have to agree.  However, I'm pretty bummed about how my progress gets reverted because I die because autosave isn't as good as it is in Mass Effect or Halo.  I'm pretty sure I lost about 45 minutes of gameplay last night. :(

Still, it's a very compelling game!
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Offline Newby

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2009, 10:12:47 pm »
I have to agree.  However, I'm pretty bummed about how my progress gets reverted because I die because autosave isn't as good as it is in Mass Effect or Halo.  I'm pretty sure I lost about 45 minutes of gameplay last night. :(

Still, it's a very compelling game!

I gave up on autosave. It randomly autosaves before events that aren't important. Luckily, F5 is the hotkey for quicksave, which is what I instinctively push after every fight!

(Although I ran out of room on my Windows partition once... so long story short, "this save game could not be loaded due to corruption" ruined a half hour of my gameplay. T_T)
- Newby
http://www.x86labs.org

Quote
[17:32:45] * xar sets mode: -oooooooooo algorithm ban chris cipher newby stdio TehUser tnarongi|away vursed warz
[17:32:54] * xar sets mode: +o newby
[17:32:58] <xar> new rule
[17:33:02] <xar> me and newby rule all

I'd bet that you're currently bloated like a water ballon on a hot summer's day.

That analogy doesn't even make sense.  Why would a water balloon be especially bloated on a hot summer's day? For your sake, I hope there wasn't too much logic testing on your LSAT. 

Offline MyndFyre

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2009, 11:38:55 am »
I experienced my first repeated bickering between Alistair and Morrigan last night.  :(

The approval system is interesting but is totally cheapened by the gift system. 

And I can't tell whether Leliana wants my PC or Morrigan more....
I have a programming folder, and I have nothing of value there

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Offline Newby

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2009, 01:48:07 pm »
And I can't tell whether Leliana wants my PC or Morrigan more....

I've got Leliana at like.. 60, and she won't do anything with me. Morrigan kissed me at like 10 approval. lol.

I stopped carrying Alistair in my party a while ago. Once you pick up [spoiler]Sten from Lothering or whatever that town early on is[/spoiler] you have a serious DPS machine. My main guy is a tank, and I carry two mages with me as well. :)
- Newby
http://www.x86labs.org

Quote
[17:32:45] * xar sets mode: -oooooooooo algorithm ban chris cipher newby stdio TehUser tnarongi|away vursed warz
[17:32:54] * xar sets mode: +o newby
[17:32:58] <xar> new rule
[17:33:02] <xar> me and newby rule all

I'd bet that you're currently bloated like a water ballon on a hot summer's day.

That analogy doesn't even make sense.  Why would a water balloon be especially bloated on a hot summer's day? For your sake, I hope there wasn't too much logic testing on your LSAT. 

Offline MyndFyre

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2009, 02:46:11 pm »
And I can't tell whether Leliana wants my PC or Morrigan more....

I've got Leliana at like.. 60, and she won't do anything with me. Morrigan kissed me at like 10 approval. lol.

I stopped carrying Alistair in my party a while ago. Once you pick up [spoiler]Sten from Lothering or whatever that town early on is[/spoiler] you have a serious DPS machine. My main guy is a tank, and I carry two mages with me as well. :)
Maybe that's my problem.  I don't include him since I'm a rogue and I needed a tank, so I keep Alistair in.

I find the game too difficult to play because I don't want to do the pause shit that it wants, so I kicked it down to Easy.  Criticize me if you want, but I didn't want to waste all this time pausing the game every two seconds to execute my next move.

Also, you never talk to me on IM anymore. :(
I have a programming folder, and I have nothing of value there

Running with Code has a new home!

Our species really annoys me.

Offline dark_drake

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2009, 03:04:48 pm »
Bastards! I wanted to get this last week, but have had no time to do so. :(
errr... something like that...

Offline warz

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #9 on: November 22, 2009, 01:00:42 pm »
i just bought this game on steam. it's about 90% downloaded. hopefully it owns.
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Offline warz

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #10 on: November 23, 2009, 09:54:24 am »
well, i've played it for a couple of hours and it's pretty good. i turned the difficulty down to easy because i didn't feel like pausing it every time i saw bad guys. i can already feel the great storyline emerging. there have already been plot twists and it's just kind of building the background details, i think.

the graphics are amazing - i've got them turned all the way up, and the cutscenes look probably the best of any game i've ever played. i have found that my party consist mostly of the chicks in the game because they look so damn hot.

the combat is ok. i basically just run in and spam buttons until shits dead. it's not the most interesting combat, but that's probably because i have it on easy mode.
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Offline Newby

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #11 on: November 23, 2009, 10:58:50 am »
i turned the difficulty down to easy because i didn't feel like pausing...
...
it's not the most interesting combat, but that's probably because i have it on easy mode.

Correct. The tactical part of the game is incredible. An entire battle can slip out of your hands with one single hit from an enemy, and you can sway the tide of battle with one well-placed spell. It's a ton of fun!
- Newby
http://www.x86labs.org

Quote
[17:32:45] * xar sets mode: -oooooooooo algorithm ban chris cipher newby stdio TehUser tnarongi|away vursed warz
[17:32:54] * xar sets mode: +o newby
[17:32:58] <xar> new rule
[17:33:02] <xar> me and newby rule all

I'd bet that you're currently bloated like a water ballon on a hot summer's day.

That analogy doesn't even make sense.  Why would a water balloon be especially bloated on a hot summer's day? For your sake, I hope there wasn't too much logic testing on your LSAT. 

Offline deadly7

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Re: Dragon Age: Origins
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2009, 03:08:16 am »
For those interested in purchasing this game but thought $60 was too much, Amazon's got a deal for you!
http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=409566&ref=vg_bft&ref_=pe_65840_13681920
$34.99+S&H for 11 mor ehours for XBox 360 or PS3.

Edit: And the PC link ($37.95)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/s/bbn%3D409566%26n%3D409566,229575/ref=vg_nav_deals_pc?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r=139HQ3VXAHETA75MTZ1V&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=501571791&pf_rd_i=409566
« Last Edit: November 26, 2009, 03:09:56 am by deadly7 »
[17:42:21.609] <Ergot> Kutsuju you're girlfrieds pussy must be a 403 error for you
 [17:42:25.585] <Ergot> FORBIDDEN

on IRC playing T&T++
<iago> He is unarmed
<Hitmen> he has no arms?!

on AIM with a drunk mythix:
(00:50:05) Mythix: Deadly
(00:50:11) Mythix: I'm going to fuck that red dot out of your head.
(00:50:15) Mythix: with my nine