Dragon Age: Origins thread II

[Galactus]

Since when is 8/10 "not impressed"?

[Eurytus]

The 2 complaints I see time and again is that the plot is boring and the setting is generic and bland. Those for me are probably the 2 biggest problems when it comes to RPG's (outside of constant random encounters). I can cope with glitches, I can cope with basic graphics, I can cope with the fighting system not being to my taste but if the plot and setting don't engage me then its simply a no-go.

From some of the videos I have seen, from the reviews and from the adverts the blandness is looking ominously correct.

[Eurytus]

Since when is 8/10 "not impressed"?

If you're talking about the Eurogamer review I would suggest reading the review rather than simply reading the score. The text of the review is almost completely negative.

Games sites can and do kowtow to publishers with regards to scores. I think when you read the review its pretty damn clear that they are far from impressed. In fact it reads as a pretty bad game, more like a 6 at best.

[Galactus]

If you're talking about the Eurogamer review I would suggest reading the review rather than simply reading the score. The text of the review is almost completely negative.

Actually I thought it was a very odd review in general. The message was, let's say very mixed. It says "Oh, I really liked the characters BUT THEY SUCKED and they were excellently voice-acted BUT SOUNDED WOODEN." Seems about half the review says one thign and then the next sentence contradicts it. How can something be both well-acted and wooden at the same time, for instance?

Also, a summary that says:

you'll discover a polished, thoughtful and flexible party-based RPG that will undoubtedly please fans of the style.

Hardly sounds negative either. Heck, the only thing the Eurogamer review seems to really complain about is "It's not Oblivion" which I mean, DUH. I mean, i hate loading times as much as the next guy, but seriously?

[Eurytus]

Actually I thought it was a very odd review in general. The message was, let's say very mixed. It says "Oh, I really liked the characters BUT THEY SUCKED and they were excellently voice-acted BUT SOUNDED WOODEN." Seems about half the review says one thign and then the next sentence contradicts it. How can something be both well-acted and wooden at the same time, for instance?

Well the review didn't say that did it. It said the SCRIPT was wooden and that the voice actors did well obviously despite that.

[Erlend]

The Baldur's Gate series was set in the most generic setting ever, and I still enjoyed that quite a bit, so I'm not sure how worried I am about that complaint.

It makes me wonder what kind of reception a possible Game of Thrones TV series would get. How many would take a quick look at images and trailers and dismiss it as standard medieval Europe inspired fantasy?

[Galactus]

If anything I think the universe reminds me of a less humorous take on the Warhammer universe. (which, incidentally, I'd love to see Bioware set an RPG in)

[saint777]

I have no idea why this game is on consoles. This is a hard as fuck squad based tactical rpg. In other words just like the Balder's Gate games. I'm playing on hard and the game is awesome but I turned off the AI and control all the actions of the party. This isn't the action based rpgs that Bioware has been putting out like Mass Effect, Jade Empire, KOTOR or even Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2. This game is for the Balder's Gate, Icewind Dale beer and pretzel grognard set that doesn't get made anymore. Thank you Bioware. Thank You.

[gyp casino]

I'm going to buy it on the Xbox360. Unfortunately I spend so much time on the computer for work, I find it incredibly unappealing to play computer games. I want the comfort of a sofa in front of a TV with a controller. Keyboard+mouse is just uncomfortable for me.

NWN1 is perhaps my fav game of all time. I tried to play BG2 recently and...it's difficult to go back to earlier eras of video games. It looks very rudimentary. I think these reviews of Dragon Age are idealizing Baldur's Gate and have set an unreasonably high bar for this game. Even Oblivion, which was fun, is not perfect, and I have a feeling Dragon Age will be better than Oblivion, even if its reviews are less favorable.

[Trebla]

I'm going to buy it on the Xbox360. Unfortunately I spend so much time on the computer for work, I find it incredibly unappealing to play computer games.

Ditto. I already play LOTRO and do all my work on the pc so I'd rather be able to lie down, ice my back, and play this on my xbox360. Got it this morning and I like it a bunch. I've been playing RPG's since FF2 on the NES yet I was rather moved by the early human prologue. Story does flow like KOTOR 1, as much a compliment as I can give.

[oneeye]

had to download some stupid EA download manager to get it to work.

[Max the Mostly Mediocre]

NWN1 is perhaps my fav game of all time. I tried to play BG2 recently and...it's difficult to go back to earlier eras of video games. It looks very rudimentary.

Is your complaint re: BG2 primarily graphical, then?

[Durckad]

Is your complaint re: BG2 primarily graphical, then?

Even to this day, BGII looks pretty damn impressive. Way, way better than the crap graphics of NWN1 to be sure.

[Relic]

Even to this day, BGII looks pretty damn impressive. Way, way better than the crap graphics of NWN1 to be sure.

Wow, i dunno bout that. I playe dit a year or so ago and it looked pretty crappy. Pixelated and muddy is how id describe it.

[Durckad]

Wow, i dunno bout that. I playe dit a year or so ago and it looked pretty crappy. Pixelated and muddy is how id describe it.

I had the resolution cranked and it looked fine.

Either way, still better than NWN1 ;)

[Slurktan]

So is anyone else besides me actually playing this yet? I'm actually impressed it runs pretty well on my almost 3 year old computer and doesn't look too bad.

They story so far seems kind of standard for the most part. I've tried two of the prologues. The Dalish one was just...... ugh. Like a bad fantasy novel. The city prologue was much better if a standard revenge type, I almost expected someone to yell out "FREEDOM!". Lots of interesting options to try out though and I'm curious what would have happened if I went the darker path.

[Galactus]

Wow, i dunno bout that. I playe dit a year or so ago and it looked pretty crappy. Pixelated and muddy is how id describe it.

The big deal with the Infinity Engine is that it's not tiled: There are a few houses that are copy-paste, but all important areas are actually unique. So yes, it's pixelly and of course it's 2D... But the actual environs are still rather impressive I think. NWN on the other hand, is (obviously) built using a tile-set, and it shows.

[Jon AS]

You can also ramp up the resolution in BG2 (there is even a mod for widescreen support that lets you set it to pretty much whatever value you want) to make it look less pixelly. The disadvantage of this is that it makes the game feel smaller, as a lot of the indoor areas easily fit on one or two screens in 1680*1050.

[Third Knight on the Left]

I've only been able to get a couple of hours again, but I like it. I've just done the Mage origin sofar and a touch of the second area. Only bad thing is that for some reason if I play in any but lowest graphical detail everything is blurred out, which considering I have a 1 gig graphics card and the level of graphics I'm seeing I just don't understand.

[Altherion]

Only bad thing is that for some reason if I play in any but lowest graphical detail everything is blurred out, which considering I have a 1 gig graphics card and the level of graphics I'm seeing I just don't understand.

This sounds like a bug, but just to make sure: exactly what graphics card do you have? There are a few 1GB graphics cards in which the memory is a trap to make it look a lot better than it really is -- the memory is no more useful than 8 GB of RAM would be to a machine with a 5 year old processor.