Not seeing the appeal of Dragon age Origins.

[Solo-Wing]

Ok before I start I should say I love RPGs. I have played the shit out of the Final Fantasy games, lots of hours in The Elder scroll titles, and sunk my teeth into Fallout 3 a bit.

I have been playing Dragon age Origins and I honestly cannot find the appeal to this game. I have met alot of people who have spend countless hours into this game but I just can't bring myself to get that far into it. I can only get to level 5ish before getting bored as fuck.

What is the apeal on this game that just seems to draw people into it? Cause I do not see it. Maybe if someone explained it to me I might have a better time...

 

[DustyDrB]

BioWare makes a different kind of RPG. Just because you like Bethesda games (which just pretty much focus on exploration) doesn't mean you'll like BioWare games. The joy in their games for me is (1) The story and characters and (2) experimenting with different abilities. I know a lot of people hate BioWare gameplay, but I love it. I just love toying around with the variables and making different builds.

Just whatever you do, do not go to the Circle Tower first. It's not hard, but it drags on and leads to one of the ugliest environments I've ever seen in a game. I still have to force myself to complete the Fade, even though I know it like the back of my hand and can do it fairly quickly. Why so much red and brown!?

Play for a while longer, maybe through one main story quest. Then quit if you still hate it. At level five, you barely have enough abilities to make it interesting.

 

[Solo-Wing]

BioWare makes a different kind of RPG. Just because you like Bethesda games (which just pretty much focus on exploration) doesn't mean you'll like BioWare games. The joy in their games for me is (1) The story and characters and (2) experimenting with different abilities. I know a lot of people hate BioWare gameplay, but I love it. I just love toying around with the variables and making different builds.

Just whatever you do, do not go to the Circle Tower first. It's not hard, but it drags on and leads to one of the ugliest environments I've ever seen in a game. I still have to force myself to complete the Fade, even though I know it like the back of my hand and can do it fairly quickly. Why so much red and brown!?

Play for a while longer, maybe through one main story quest. Then quit if you still hate it. At level five, you barely have enough abilities to make it interesting.

Well i didn't say i hate it. From what I have seen I doubt I will hate it by the end. The game is just boring me. so if by the end I am angry or do not like what I did it will be my own damn fault. Not the game. Anyways I guess I will do some more on it.

 

[The Abhorrent]

With all the other RPGs you've tried (assuming that it doesn't extend much beyond the ones you mentioned), DA:O is fundamentally a different beast; in other words, it seems like it's your first Bioware RPG (which could be called a sub-genre of it's own). If you've played Mass Effect, that might actually be a fair bit closer an analogy.

One of DA:O's biggest appeals is that it is a throwback to the Baldur's Gate series, an old PC-exclusive D&D (I believe it had the actual liscence for it) RPG set of games. In other words, there's some nostalgia at play there. The gameplay in DA:O bears more of a resemblance to MMORPGs, if given the benefit of actually being able control your whole party. You're also still quite early into the game; things don't really open up until you've completed Lothering (which is preceded by your origin story and Ostagar), at which point you can go do the four main questlines of the game in any order you wish. At that point, you'll probably get a better idea for why people enjoy the game; not the best start to a game, but there's worse examples out there.

As for the game's other merits, one thing to keep in mind with Bioware's games is that they are just as much about world-building as they are straight-up storytelling (if not even moreso). You're given plenty of chances to delve into the settings mythos in the game's frequent dialogue trees; start asking all the questions you can, and you'll be neck-deep in mythology and codex entries. The central story in DA:O is fairly typical high-fantasy, if given a more political angle than other examples of that genre; still, the game tends to be at it's best when you're learning about why everything is the way it is.... or whenever Bioware's sense of humour starts coming through. They are the masters of snark, and frequently dive into dirty thoughts. If you can think of the perfect response to follow-up a funny line or situation in one of their games, it's a dialogue option.

 

[Aidinthel]

Every time I see a thread like this I feel a sudden urge to list every popular game I didn't like and then make a separate thread for each demanding an explanation from the world for daring to include people who have different taste in games. And then I calm down, and make a snarky post instead.

Seriously, though, is "people have different tastes" really not a good enough explanation?

 

[DustyDrB]

Well i didn't say i hate it. From what I have seen I doubt I will hate it by the end. The game is just boring me. so if by the end I am angry or do not like what I did it will be my own damn fault. Not the game. Anyways I guess I will do some more on it.

Might I ask what you're playing as? Whatever it is (except mage, they are allowed more freedom in terms of build), don't try to be a jack-of-all trades. If you're a Warrior, you want to be just sword-and-shield or just two-handed (or archer...but rogues are much better for that). If you're a rogue, you want to be just a dual-wielding rogue or just an archer. Also, make sure you know what the attributes do.

But really, don't feel bad if you're continually underwhelmed. It happens.

 

[xvbones]

What is the apeal on this game that just seems to draw people into it? Cause I do not see it. Maybe if someone explained it to me I might have a better time...

The story.

The characters are extremely well-written and interact naturally with each other and the storyline is rich and complex without ever being convoluted.

The combat becomes nicely strategic very early on (if you are bored with combat, bump difficulty up to Hard and all of a sudden just letting all your doods do whatever is no longer a viable option) and you're given a tremendous degree of choice with the creation and development of your character, both in terms of build and personality.

That is the appeal.

 

[Zhukov]

I enjoyed the game for the characters and the 'tactical' combat.

The characters were varied, likeable, somewhat complex, well written and well voiced.

I found the combat pleasantly challenging (once I kicked the difficulty up a notch) while the give-order-while-paused prevented me from getting overwhelmed or frustrated. Admittedly, it did get rather repetitive by the end though.

Story and setting were well presented, but rather bland and unimaginative.

 

[Solo-Wing]

Well i didn't say i hate it. From what I have seen I doubt I will hate it by the end. The game is just boring me. so if by the end I am angry or do not like what I did it will be my own damn fault. Not the game. Anyways I guess I will do some more on it.

Might I ask what you're playing as? Whatever it is (except mage, they are allowed more freedom in terms of build), don't try to be a jack-of-all trades. If you're a Warrior, you want to be just sword-and-shield or just two-handed (or archer...but rogues are much better for that). If you're a rogue, you want to be just a dual-wielding rogue or just an archer. Also, make sure you know what the attributes do.

But really, don't feel bad if you're continually underwhelmed. It happens.

I tried being a Rogue with pure Archer cause that is what i genially choose in RPG's and such. But I ended up hating it and am now a Mage.

 

[Sassafrass]

Everyone I've spoken to who have played DA: O have all said the same thing.
"It was boring at first, but after I stopped playing for a month or so and went back to it, I enjoyed it."

I'm the same, played it for a bit, got bored, played other games, went back to it, thoroughly enjoyed it. It takes a while to get going though, it's a real slow burner I find.

But yeah, the appeal of DA:O is definitely the story and the characters you met through out the world. Seriously, on my last (Aborted) play-through, I spent more time talking to them then I actually did focusing on the story. As for the combat, it's OK. I liked it but I didn't really feel like I was doing too much so it was pretty boring after a while. I've heard it's more fun on PC though but I'm not sure about that.

So yeah, the appeal is in the story and characters, seeing as almost all of the characters[footnote]Go fuck yourself, Zevran. Oh wait, you already have![/footnote] are likeable and have a good chunk of back-story to them and the story is, once you get into the meat of it, pretty bloody good.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I liked the combat, but the characters were so boring and uninteresting. There was no spark.

 

[4RM3D]

I liked the combat, but the characters were so boring and uninteresting. There was no spark.

I liked the characters, but the combat was so boring and uninteresting. There was no spark.

@Solo-Wing

Final Fantasy and The Elder Scrolls are a completely different RPGs than Dragon Age. It may just be possible that you don't like that kind of RPGs.

Out of curiosity you should try Dragon Age 2. Dragon Age 2 is nothing like its predecessor (which made a lot of fanboys angry). So, maybe you will like Dragon Age 2.

Also you can try the "father" of Dragon Age called: Baldur's Gate 2 (and Throne of Baal). The Baldur's Gate series might be old, but it is still better than Dragon Age.

 

[Xerosch]

I can understand the OT. In my case it was the same. 'Dragon Age Origins' takes time to unravel its story/world, but gets quite interesting once your companions start warming up to you and you see how things you do are connected to each other.

I needed a second playthrough to see how dynamic some things in the story are and now I really apprechiate what BioWare did there.

 

[Random Fella]

ORIGINS IS AMAZING AND YOU SHOULD HATE YOURSELF FOR SAYING OTHERWISE
Ahem* Sorry about that
But maybe you just don't enjoy the idea of playing four characters? Many people that enjoyed RPGs' and played Origins found it boring and annoying, whereas I found it oh so great and a vast amount of tactical... Stuff.
Anyway maybe the game just isn't your cup of tea?
I liked it over other RPG for these reasons:
Easy to follow story with well thought out Characters
Multiple person combat, and the ability to have allies act how you wish while not controlling them
Great and actually challenging ending
The fact that your character could follow many moral paths to see how other reacted to them and the idea of relationships in the game between your character and other characters
Also a great way to style the map of a potential linear RPG game.
And no really gay trophies that are boring to get.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

I liked the combat, but the characters were so boring and uninteresting. There was no spark.

I liked the characters, but the combat was so boring and uninteresting. There was no spark

Huh. And here I thought the characters and the combat were boring and uninteresting, and I usually like BioWare's games. I stuck with it for a while to see if it would eventually grab my interest, because a lot of people I know had a great time with it, but I just couldn't get into the game for some reason. The combat mostly felt tedious (and this is coming from someone who likes things like turn-based strategy games that take hours and hours), and the plot and characters never seemed appealing enough to me in the first couple dozen hours to make it worth trudging through any more dungeons to find out what happened next. When I got to the Fade and had to deal with that crap, I finally uninstalled it and never looked back.

 

[TilMorrow]

Well I think I enjoyed the game due to it's story at first. Then I got to level 15 became a badass Rogue with warrior subtype and felt like a boss as my character charged through the game. Armour of the Juggernaut + Blight Bane + another epic weapon? How is that not enjoyable?

 

[beniki]

The story.

The characters are extremely well-written and interact naturally with each other and the storyline is rich and complex without ever being convoluted.

I agree with you about the characters and some of the origin prologue stories. Those were neatly paced and had some fresh flavour to the standard model.

I just found the plot grinding to a halt after the Battle of Ostigar. I get that the side questing was necessary to gain allies, and to explore the new world they created, but after such a focused and well directed opening, the sudden shift to meandering adventure was a little jarring.

With each of the main quest locations, you lost the threat of the darkspawn. There was no real tension to get things done fast, and it just felt like filler. Good filler, but frustrating all the same.

I never actually finished Origins... I can see why people liked it, but my overall impression was like the OP. I just got bored of it quickly.

I think it could have been scripted a bit better. Keep the plot lines as they are, but make it part of the general retreat from the Darkspawn horde. Instead of just a small party, you're leading a group of refugees to safety, hoping to get help at each stop. Maybe you'll have to fight some desperate rear guard actions, or watch hopelessly as your allies fall under siege, finally ending up at Denerim with an army at your back, and nowhere else to run.

Buuut, that's just personal choice. Kind of wish there was more coherency between meta-plot and each stopping point. Overal, it felt like a coincidental bad week across the whole country, even without the darkspawn invasion...

 

[Kahunaburger]

Do you usually like RPGs? If so, what kind?

 

[4RM3D]

I liked the combat, but the characters were so boring and uninteresting. There was no spark.

I liked the characters, but the combat was so boring and uninteresting. There was no spark

Huh. And here I thought the characters and the combat were boring and uninteresting, and I usually like BioWare's games. I stuck with it for a while to see if it would eventually grab my interest, because a lot of people I know had a great time with it, but I just couldn't get into the game for some reason. The combat mostly felt tedious (and this is coming from someone who likes things like turn-based strategy games that take hours and hours), and the plot and characters never seemed appealing enough to me in the first couple dozen hours to make it worth trudging through any more dungeons to find out what happened next. When I got to the Fade and had to deal with that crap, I finally uninstalled it and never looked back.

Dragon Age is indeed a mediocre game. The combat was unbalanced and with a spellcaster it was way too easy. The story is a generic fantasy flick. But the thing I did like were the characters. I wouldn't say they were great or realistic. But it is still better than most games that try to give you character interaction. I think the characters were the highlight of Dragon Age.