Dragon Age: Origins: Why Put This Shit In?

[Shycte]

I agree with the OP, but a major downfall of the game for me was the extreme lack of items and weapons, well, rather not the lack of, but the fact that you always end up picking the same shit at level 15, that you do at level 1. There is no variety in weapons or loot at all in Dragon Age =/

"OMG A BIG CHEST I BET IT HAS SOME GOOD GEAR YOU GET 1 ELFROOT."

Seriously though, in Bioware's defense the story revolves around a huge army of those enemies and you fighting that army - so it's understandable that... you know... you fight an army of them. For my DA has bigger problems than that. Like the approval system that doesn't seem to matter?


I mean I've been giving gifts to this rogue to beef up his approval of me then he betrays me in a RANDOM ENCOUNTER? whereas the guy I've been acting like a total ass to sticks with me till the end?

The approval system does work. It is just very complexed.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Thank you. I understand why others may well like this game. But I, personally, found it severely lacking compared to BioWares previous work, and I do ascribe a lot of these issues to EAs involvement (the DLC money bilking being chief among them).

For me, this is the deal killer. I will not be purchasing anything more from BioWare.

You just made another excellent post cuddly! I truly admire you and your views and I can't for the life of me see how anyone could possibly think stripping content out of a game before release, then selling it back to them after they buy the game, could be considered ethical by anyone except screaming fanboys.

Yeah I know. It sucks that they only allowed a chunk of the game to be played by people paying extra for the "limited edition". I suppose it is their perogative to treat their customers like fools in search of the almighty dollar, but they won't be getting my almighty dollars as a result.

 

[badgersprite]

Well, in the case of Dragon Age, each quest area is under attack from something specific, so I have to wonder how much sense it would make for you to be fighting random sets of enemies when the questline is, say, specifically about cultists. oO "How did all these other monsters get in here?!"

Besides, it's not like Bioware hasn't suffered from repetitive enemies before. Does the word 'Geth' ring a bell?

Different things are going to get under the skin of different people, I guess, but variation in enemies and a lack of grind wasn't really something I was expecting from Dragon Age. I don't think it's intentional, I think it's just that there were more important things they were focusing on first. It's not like building the game is something they did overnight.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

You purchased an rpg and expected instant gratification? Go buy MW2.

Now, now. There are RPGs and then there are RPGs. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is a survival RPG where pretty much every enemy in the entire game appears ONCE and NEVER respawns. You're always working forwards and hardly ever revisiting the same places. The battle system is fast, fluid and strategic, but also legitimately difficult to master.

Granted, it's rather unique in the genre, but there are other RPGs which also eschew conventional RPG design decisions.

Oh, so you're the other guy who bought that game...

I think there are about six of us, actually.

 

[Bigsmith]

to be perfectaly honest here, ur annoyed about fighting loads of cultists?! I did that chain last and found it fun and challanging... but if your annpyed about the cultists wait untill you get to the end of the game... more drakspawn then gamers at blizcon.

I would reckomend that when u get to the point where they want to reason with you, do it... trust me its worth it. Also I have a question! has anyone (apart from me) played a male character and made Morrigan fall in love with u? its quite funny.

Also its worth getting thew DLc, Shale is the most awsome character you can get and retaking the keep has a lot of back story plot to it... and since the game without any dlc is 20gig i don't think they could have supplied it with the game.

 

[DarkRyter]

"OMG A BIG CHEST

This is a pretty good reason to play Dragon Age Origins.

 

[Swaki]

the combat is quite bad, after awhile i played on easy and just stepped it up on boss battles, awesome boss battles in this game by the way, which makes it even weirder that the canon fodder is so boring, seriously just get blizzard as fast as you can and you invincible.

 

[Swaki]

I mean I've been giving gifts to this rogue to beef up his approval of me then he betrays me in a RANDOM ENCOUNTER? whereas the guy I've been acting like a total ass to sticks with me till the end?

really he does that to everyone?, i thought it was because i still had +2 whit him (i played as a rogue on my first play through) that he didn't feel that it was worth staying whit me when he had the possibility to join his old friends/guild, but that just sucks, what if you get freaky whit him does he just leave you then too?

 

[Uilleand]

really he does that to everyone?, i thought it was because i still had +2 whit him (i played as a rogue on my first play through) that he didn't feel that it was worth staying whit me when he had the possibility to join his old friends/guild, but that just sucks, what if you get freaky whit him does he just leave you then too?

Nope...he doesn't. He even offered to stay with me at the end of the game...whether I got with the freaky or not...

 

[Naheal]

Enchantments?

Enchantment!

 

[Kikosemmek]

there is a a concept called enemy localization. this means that if you fight in a biker bar, you will most likely fight bikers. why? because your in a BIKER BAR, NOT A ZOO. your fighting in a cultist temple, so you better expect to fight cultists. the entire temple is DESIGNED TO BE A GAUNTLET if you paid attention to what to what brother genitivi said at all. it is designed to test people who wish to see the ashes. The cultists are also trying to stop you from getting a holy relic tied to their religion, so they will go to hell and back to make sure you dont get it. what holy relic do you know that is just sitting there and you can waltz right in and take it? not including indiana jones movies? none. if you don't like the game you stop playing and move on, NOT make a thread bashing it.

I can't see how this is relevant. I'm not arguing against the presence of cultists in a cult temple, or that there would be a great number of them guarding a holy artifact of theirs.

I believe I was clear enough that it was blatant grind that was the problem, here, and the overt uniformity of the whole temple. I don't like grind; I don't think it belongs in a good RPG, and I certainly will criticize its presence at my discretion. DA:O is not a bad game, but it also isn't what it could have been: the best RPG in the last ten years.

I encourage you to do better than illustrate my choices for me. Telling me to stop playing the game or to avoid posting on the forums is needless, and the closed-mindedness of your ultimatum belies only an inelegance when it comes to critical thinking. Public forums, such as the Escapist's, are there for opinionated expressions, yes? I'm sure you know that. Censorship is not a welcome ideal.

 

[Knight Templar]

There is the blatant Lord of the Rings rip off opening.

There is the Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball gift giving minigame.

A: I don't recall the part in LOTR where all Elves were once slaves to humans, or the institutionalized church that regulated magic through drug addicted Zealots.
Yeah it takes cues from LOTR but you make it seem as if it is just copy&paste, which it is not.

B: I figured they put it in so you can disagree with a person, and still have a way to regain respect even if they are "out" of conversation.

The loot is very depressing, and since I have not downloaded the Wardens keep (another good point) my loot is hard to keep track of. Who you fight and what they drop is a let down, I won't dispute that either.

 

[DracoSuave]

Now, now. There are RPGs and then there are RPGs. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is a survival RPG where pretty much every enemy in the entire game appears ONCE and NEVER respawns.

Of course, Dragon Quarter is also a game that you're supposed to play over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again so you can get the Dragon Quarter rating...

...so... it just traded in one repetition for another.

 

[DracoSuave]

Also its worth getting thew DLc, Shale is the most awsome character you can get and retaking the keep has a lot of back story plot to it... and since the game without any dlc is 20gig i don't think they could have supplied it with the game.

Given that Shale and the Blood Dragon Armor DLC is Free until april... I'd say it's very much worth it.

The only paid DLC that they've had so far was the Warden's Keep, the rest has all been -free-...



...if you bothered to pay for the game.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Now, now. There are RPGs and then there are RPGs. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is a survival RPG where pretty much every enemy in the entire game appears ONCE and NEVER respawns.

Of course, Dragon Quarter is also a game that you're supposed to play over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again so you can get the Dragon Quarter rating...

...so... it just traded in one repetition for another.

Optional repetition =/= required repetition.

Not to mention the story changes as you replay the game. And you can keep most/all your stuff. And the combat never gets old. And there's an optional post-game dungeon.