Dragon Age Origins Fatal Flaw

[Jordi]

I have stopped playing Dragon Age Origins, and I'll tell ya' why. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with gameplay, graphics, story, ect., it has to do with a fatal glitch that many of the game owners encounter. At the "Final Onslaught at Redfield" level, even after killing all of the darkspawn, the waves will not appear. It won't spawn any of them, nor the Alpha Ogre needed to defeat the level. I did some research and 25% of players get this glitch, and roughly half of that are not able to continue. Neither EA or Bioware have attempted to fix thus game-breaking problem thus far, and I, like many others, will have to accept reality and stop playing.

I thought I ran into a similar glitch as you did in the first Redcliffe battle. I also searched the internet and lots of other people had the same problem. The cause was that some of the enemies can get stuck, which will prevent them from coming to where the main battle is. In the case of this first battle, they were near the docks I think, but I had a similar thing in the last battle. I just went uphill to where they had been coming from all the time and sure enough, there were two guys stuck. Perhaps you could try searching around for them. They can be pretty hard to find though (I think there should also still be battle music playing if you haven't killed all enemies).

If you really think the gameplay, graphics, story, etc. are so good, you should try to keep playing (although the other good people in this topic have likely already spoiled the rest of the story for you).

 

[Denamic]

The ending was predictably boring, DA is like lord of the rings without a Sauron, what happened with the memorable villains like Jon Irenicus or even Sarevok?

The archdemon certainly was the immediate threat, but I don't think any archdemon is the 'main villain' in the DA universe.

 

[high_castle]

I've played through the game completely about 6 times, and I've never gotten this glitch. I've gotten others, though. But it's only made me reload twice in all that time. It's all a matter of saving compulsively. That's why there are no save points, so you the burden's up to you, and so if it glitches, you won't lose much.

 

[Pink_Pirate]

I just generally cannot stand games with stun effects, if I loose control of the protagonist, I don't feel like I'm playing a game at all, more like I'm watching a bloody movie.. and the movie generally blows...

pretty much this, i gave up on DGO when i had to fight 15 skeletons, all with stun attacks... when the AI plays cheap, the only way to beat it is to play cheap and it just ruins all the fun for me...

 

[KKDragonLord]

The ending was predictably boring, DA is like lord of the rings without a Sauron, what happened with the memorable villains like Jon Irenicus or even Sarevok?

The archdemon certainly was the immediate threat, but I don't think any archdemon is the 'main villain' in the DA universe.

Yep, precisely my point, a hundred hours of play to beat an average joe fiend with a generic name "really big bad demon". Im not saying its a bad game, at all, i wouldnt have endured playing through it this much if it was, it certainly has its moments. For me the best parts were the dwarven and the mage tower questlines, it merely bugged me that the main story and wasnt that good.

But now i know i wont be giving the next Bioware games the same attention the ones from Black Isle deserved. I'll still play them ofc, ill adjust my expectations and cut right through the fluff, a more casual approach will probably be more enjoyable in the end.

 

[postzit]

i liked dragon age and completed it twice but the idea of doing it a third time just bored me and after playing mass effect 2 a lot faster game i just could not handle that combat any more was just to well boring

 

[high_castle]

The ending was predictably boring, DA is like lord of the rings without a Sauron, what happened with the memorable villains like Jon Irenicus or even Sarevok?

The archdemon certainly was the immediate threat, but I don't think any archdemon is the 'main villain' in the DA universe.

Yep, precisely my point, a hundred hours of play to beat an average joe fiend with a generic name "really big bad demon". Im not saying its a bad game, at all, i wouldnt have endured playing through it this much if it was, it certainly has its moments. For me the best parts were the dwarven and the mage tower questlines, it merely bugged me that the main story and wasnt that good.

But now i know i wont be giving the next Bioware games the same attention the ones from Black Isle deserved. I'll still play them ofc, ill adjust my expectations and cut right through the fluff, a more casual approach will probably be more enjoyable in the end.

The Archdemon had a name: Urthemiel. He was the Tevinter god of beauty. This can be discerned simply by reading the Codex. Playing through Awakenings gives you additional insight into who he was.

The information in Origins requires you to look around for it. It's not quite a case of All There in the Manual, but it's close. And keep in mind, you're not supposed to know everything about the Blight or the darkspawn just yet. You know they're a threat, but you're not sure why. Awakenings provides some answers, but also raises questions. The key to this game is that everything's not quite what it seems to be. The darkspawn are not quite so mindless, the information you have on them comes from sources with something to gain by controlling the flow of that knowledge. So in short, you can't take everything in Origins at face value.

I get that not everyone likes this game, I just think it's a lot deeper than most people realize. If you're not willing to root around for the lore, then I'm sure it can appear quite shallow. But there's a lot going on. The supplementary novels are great sources of info, too.

 

[KKDragonLord]

Yeah, silly me to expect the game to have an engaging confrontation with a well characterized villain while playing through the game without having to "read about it" in journals or wait two years for the expansions to clear it all up eventually. If only i had bought and read the novels, then i would have discovered that the actual game was better than it seemed.

 

[GloatingSwine]

Yeah, silly me to expect the game to have an engaging confrontation with a well characterized villain while playing through the game

Loghain says "Hi", by the way.

 

[TPiddy]

Played through it four times, never had a problem like that... just your luck I guess.

 

[SpireOfFire]

i stopped playing because its the same game over and over again. no new treasure, no new tactics, same old, same old.

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

I have stopped playing Dragon Age Origins, and I'll tell ya' why. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with gameplay, graphics, story, ect., it has to do with a fatal glitch that many of the game owners encounter. At the "Final Onslaught at Redfield" level, even after killing all of the darkspawn, the waves will not appear. It won't spawn any of them, nor the Alpha Ogre needed to defeat the level. I did some research and 25% of players get this glitch, and roughly half of that are not able to continue. Neither EA or Bioware have attempted to fix thus game-breaking problem thus far, and I, like many others, will have to accept reality and stop playing.

i got it on my 1st play through basicly i moved my party away from the gate few times and they appeared, it was annoying but hey i have encountered worse.

 

[Amnestic]

Yeah, silly me to expect the game to have an engaging confrontation with a well characterized villain while playing through the game

Loghain says "Hi", by the way.

God I love Loghain's voice actor <3

 

[GloatingSwine]

Yes, although he really did remind me somewhat of this:


I mean I know Cailan was dim, but was it so hard to spot?

 

[KKDragonLord]

Yeah, silly me to expect the game to have an engaging confrontation with a well characterized villain while playing through the game

Loghain says "Hi", by the way.

Oh you mean that guy that sat in the corner moping while his henchman did all the work? (or tried at least)

it was all so pathetic i didnt even feel anything but pity for the bloke.

 

[Gh0st1y_H]

Loghain was a rather average villain. Throughout the game, you are fully aware of the fact that the Archdemon is your greatest enemy. The game tries to make it seem that you're after Loghain, but you know for a fact that this isn't true.

Spoiler

The game finally acknowledges it with the fact that you can recruit Loghain.

Sure, Loghain might have had more development than some turd from a bad slasher flick, but he's no Liquid Ocelot.

 

[Amnestic]

Loghain was a rather average villain. Throughout the game, you are fully aware of the fact that the Archdemon is your greatest enemy. The game tries to make it seem that you're after Loghain, but you know for a fact that this isn't true.

Spoiler

The game finally acknowledges it with the fact that you can recruit Loghain.

Sure, Loghain might have had more development than some turd from a bad slasher flick, but he's no Liquid Ocelot.

I guess that means that

Spoiler

Sarevok wasn't a villain because you could recruit him (albeit a game and an expansion later, but still...)

 

[Gh0st1y_H]

Loghain was a rather average villain. Throughout the game, you are fully aware of the fact that the Archdemon is your greatest enemy. The game tries to make it seem that you're after Loghain, but you know for a fact that this isn't true.

Spoiler

The game finally acknowledges it with the fact that you can recruit Loghain.

Sure, Loghain might have had more development than some turd from a bad slasher flick, but he's no Liquid Ocelot.

I guess that means that

Spoiler

Sarevok wasn't a villain because you could recruit him (albeit a game and an expansion later, but still...)

Sorry, I didn't make my point clear. I meant that, throughout the entirety of the game, Loghain doesn't look or feel like the main villain. And, lo and behold, he isn't. He's fairly well designed, but his lack of impact on the story just makes him seem like a rather mediocre villain.

 

[KKDragonLord]

Loghain was a rather average villain. Throughout the game, you are fully aware of the fact that the Archdemon is your greatest enemy. The game tries to make it seem that you're after Loghain, but you know for a fact that this isn't true.

Spoiler

The game finally acknowledges it with the fact that you can recruit Loghain.

Sure, Loghain might have had more development than some turd from a bad slasher flick, but he's no Liquid Ocelot.

I guess that means that

Spoiler

Sarevok wasn't a villain because you could recruit him (albeit a game and an expansion later, but still...)

Spoiler

Sarevok was the main villain for BG1, the one that killed your father figure, the one behind everything, the one who actually knows your name and wants YOU dead because you are siblings. Not the guy that killed the father figure of your new ally that you barely met, through a collateral side effect of a betrayal meant for the king, and who doesnt really know or care who you are.

Besides, Sarevok didn't hold a candle to Jon Irenicus, he was a low pick, but even he was better portrayed than Loghain or the "big bad mean demon".

 

[Paulie92]

The choices and their consequences come of as rather forced though. The choice-play system shouldn't be that self-serving, it should enhance the story, not force it to bend into less than believable twists just to give you your daily Big Choice.

Making the choices stops being fun when it is just for the sake of having a choice.

I felt it gave the other NPCs a will of their own and motivation rather than just following you around doing your bidding. A different take I guess.

Who knows what Morrigans motivation is, selfish cow, but I felt Alisters response was quite resonable. Like they are going to be best friends after everything that happened.

I liked the fact that it was forced, but it felt a bit clunky and not quite as well done. I think these moral choice games work best when it's not clear what the good choice is and you stand to lose something either way e.g. just after the landsmeet