looks fake
Printable View
looks fake
Dragon Age won best RPG and best PC game at the VGAs
Well, it worth it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstBlood
Thanks guys. Just finished the level. Up next, the Landmeet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Error
Just announced - DAO: Awekining - Expansion pack with ton of new stuff (level cap, new areas, characters, skills, and loot) Trailer looks great and has me going woot already.
3-16-10 !!!
Trailer:
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/05/dr...s-he-foretold/
Info and pics:
http://chud.com/articles/articles/22...ION/Page1.html
$40? I'm now even happier with my decision to wait for the Game of the Year or Gold or whatever edition that will be $50 and include all this shit.
tell me about it!
My only solace is that I got it for Christmas, so that takes the sting out of DLC/this $40 DLC labeled as an expansion.
At least Super SF4 is $40 and WILL play without the original disc. L-O-fuckin'-L.
It is steep, but this original game + dlc were best gaming experience for me last year, so I am very excited for the chance to continue.
What Despair said. I ended up getting Dragon Age for $30, so I'm not really able to complain about being price gouged either. Here's hoping that this is a Throne of Bhaal-level expansion, the kind that would be sold as a sequel by lesser companies.
This is where it becomes painstakingly boring.Quote:
Originally Posted by Type Ryan
The end of the game is painstakingly boring?
YEAH OKAY BOSS.
Say WHAT - Landsmeet meeting that leads to huge indoor battle, then to the mano a mano duel, some awesome beheadings, and then to the mad rush gauntlet against the hordes of blight and Huge Ass Dragon - Yeah, just Boring shit.
I read this game launched with an NPC who whines at you to buy DLC. Is this true?
He lives at your camp! One of the dialog choices has (PREMIUM CONTENT) next to it!
There's a guy that stands in your camp that you can talk to. He tells you about the DLC and just like every other quest you can say "okay! I will help you (and pay $X.XX to do so!)", or "no, I do not want to do your quest!"
$40 for an expansion to a $50 game? From Bioware? Unless this is Shivering Isles-like in length, I too will await a GOTY edition. Knowing Bioware, this is 6 hours long and considered an "epic quest."
lol, nice.
Okay, cool, one less game for me to buy. Thanks.
Yes. I couldn't wait to be done.Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstBlood
I paid $12 or whatever for Warden's Keep and felt totally ripped off. Still a great RPG.
yeah, I got the Warden's Keep DLC too on the claims from my friends that it changes the way you play, period. The Warden powers I earned are lame and don't help the character type I'm spec-ing. The quest was interesting but hardly worth the points.
And the chest? Maybe it'd be a big deal if it were in the camp, or I didn't have to travel and hit random encounters each time I wanted to go there. I end up selling off my inventory overflow as it is, and aside from the Blood Dragon armor, have very little stashed away.
I'm glad they gave away the golem and armor DLC though, even though the armor has a super high stat requirement AND you have to buy most of the parts in-game. Since when was it kosher to make people buy/download something, and then say, no you have to buy it now using game currency to get it.
...but, it is a really good game and highly addicting, DLC shenanigans aside. I wonder if the $40 disc can be resold, or if its a one-time use deal?
I have no complaints about Warden's Keep DLC and other DLC pack. I got like 6 hours of gameplay, tank armor set I used until the end of the game, few other nice pieces of equipment, great extra character, and even stories underlying the dungeons in DLC were quite good.
I ended the game first, unfortunately, and the DLC after that is pretty much useless because it's the only fucking place you can go.
I enjoyed Wardens keep but I didn't pay for it.
I suppose it could be worse (at least it wasn't the kind of crap Capcom pulled with SF4 alt costumes). I'm also glad that the game is tough - was playing Mass Effect before I got this, and it's a complete pushover by comparison. Plus FFXII-style gambits are great to have in a pinch.
$40 for DLC is bullshit.
$40 for an expansion is... typical?
Most DLC I've played is like 12 - 20 bucks.
Dragon Age already has DLC in that price range.
This is a $40 Expansion. Whether the content in the Expansion will warrant the price has yet to be seen, but I think the fact that they're releasing it separately tells you it's going to be a bit more involved.
I remain skeptical.
I think anyone who thinks this $40 is warranted while knocking on SSF4 at $40 needs their head checked. Everything I've seen points to this disc needing the original DA to run, whereas the latter only needs the new disc. If it's enough stuff to warrant $40, fine, but that would mean a grip of new content.
So this game is kind of plain vanilla. What's the big appeal I'm missing here?
ITT: Lots of people who haven't played previous BioWare expansions like Throne of Bhaal or Hordes of the Underdark, which were larger and better than a lot of full-price games.
Excellent tactical combat, a nice deep storyline that can change dramatically based on what you do, interesting characters and intra-party dynamics, and a well-realized world. Of course, all of this won't appeal to people who aren't smart enough to appreciate depth.Quote:
Originally Posted by YellerDog
So when's the story get interesting? Or do I need a tattoo in elvish to like this bhoul-shit?
Lord of the Rings: The Elves Are Black People Edition
I found the story interesting from the get-go. But then, I don't need the ADD-influenced pacing of a game like Left 4 Dead 2 to retain my interest. Perhaps you are different.
Perhaps!
Lord of the Rings: Nobody's Gandalf Edition
OR
Generic Fantasy Island
Yeah, the game grabbed me as soon as I finished my origin quest and went gladiator all over Orzamar's ass by sneaking into their sacred tournament and beating all of their noble fighters.
The next part with the grey wardens might be a little slow, but once you fight the ogre in the tower and everything goes to shit the game takes off like a bat out of hell and never stops being awesome.
also, more like
Lord of the Rings: Gandalf dies in the first hour
If this is generic:Quote:
Originally Posted by YellerDog
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...8&d=1261291112
Then I don't want to be inspired. Some characters' ears are long, yellerdog. Look at the spectrum of colour ranging from brown to rust.
Surely these subtleties are not lost on an aesthete such as yourself?
Did this thread really need another "I have selectively chosen a screenshot and declare this game Quake 2!" post?
I should say it did!
Granted I really like the combat, the skill trees, the conversation trees, the fact that you don't "grind" for good-guy/bad-guy points, the armor design...but...
The story really isn't much you haven't seen/read from other Bioware games or fantasy novels. Feels very RR Martin (good!) and notsomuch Robert Jordan (better!), but hardly waaaay original. LOL religions are evil. LOL humans are evil capitalist pigs. Yada yada yada. Now, the interactions between characters in this generica fantasy make it totally worthwhile, along with the actual gameplay, that's about as fun as KotOR and FFXII rolled into one.
BUT!
For real, the color range it brown. Straight brown. That's all I've seen, save the slate gray/dull blues in Warden's Keep and the Ruined Temple. To believe that someone Just Doesn't Get It because they don't care for a limited palette or generic fantasy backdrops is pretty narrowminded. It's a phenominal, engrossing game but let's not pretend they're breaking any ground in aspects where it's just the same ol'.
PS - What the fuck at having to strip down for the Urn Ashes? For a game people are touting as oh-so serious and mature that's a move straight out of 12-year old fan fiction. And rendered camel toe? Double WTF and 2x LOL at anyone who kids themselves into thinking this is High Class Shit. Good game? Oh yeah. But not High Class Shit.
It's not just Bioware, it's fucking everyone and it's annoying as shit that people keep making Dog-shit brown the color of choice for games. FPSes? Yep, Fantasy RPGs, god yeap. It's ugly and stupid and fuck developers for being so lazy. yes Fantasy world buildings are kind of ugly, that doesn't mean the trees and people have to be.
This was a great game and one day I'll finish reading through it. Nothing breaking, but everything done right. Well, almost everything.
You know what really pisses me off? My character is level 19.75 and I can't get to 20 because I didn't think you wouldn't be able to finish off the side quests later on. I hate poor choices like this - at least have a fucking warning saying you won't be able to go back after this. FUCK.
Exactly. The fact that Bioware is releasing it as an expansion means there's going to be a shitton to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by bVork
I guess for a game, this is pretty good stuff. But I agree with you, it doesn't really touch any of the epic fantasy. I recommend Steven Erikson's A Tale of Malazan Empire... By the time you get to book 3, it will blow your fucking mind how deep and crazy the universe he created. It literally makes The Middle Earth like a grade-school project.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero
That's awfully hyperbolic, especially when there are some significant chronology issues in that series. Lots of backstory doesn't necessarily equal depth. Meanwhile, Tolkien had reams of history for Middle-Earth that never made it into The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion. I don't think anyone can make a judgement call on the depth of Middle-Earth until they read a significant amount of the The History of Middle-Earth series.
Or, in internet speak, TOLKIEN >>>>>>> ERIKSON AND ESSLEMONT
How about you eat a dick. Left 4 Dead 2 may be fast paced, but it's a fucking masterwork in blending storytelling with gaming action.Quote:
Originally Posted by bVork
Good for you, that you enjoyed L4D games. To me they ARE what bVork described.
Drew is more right than the russian.
It's a retarded argument altogether. YOU DON'T LIKE A GAME I PLAY SO FOR NO REASON YOUR GAME SUCKS NOW AND HERE IS SOME STUPID REASON WHY. He failed to explain why the game had merit in any way in regards to Yeller's candid critique from hands-on experience. Left 4 Dead 2 has nothing to do with it at all.
I liked Left 4 Dead but I did dislike the pacing of the game. It was either "being attacked" or "about to be attacked," which is great in small doses but gets wearying after a while. I don't think I ever played more than one of the campaigns in a single sitting, because I got sick of being forced to rush rush rush.
I made a trite response because Yellerdog made a trite comment. How the fuck is one supposed to seriously respond to "the story is boring" with anything beyond "I disagree"?Quote:
Originally Posted by Drewbacca
Nobody cares this isn't the Left 4 Dead 2 thread. We should talk more about Dragon Age and how awesome it is. Or in Yellerdogs case how disappointed and duped he was by TNL in to buying it.
I think Yeller should start over with a different race. He might enjoy a different origin.
I think he just saw it in my "recently played" list??Quote:
Originally Posted by Drewbacca
That would be correct.
Luckily, it was a rental! Fucking TNL. Others won't be so lucky. They will buy this shitty, shitty game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drewbacca
I don't really think the game is That Bad, or that it is infact "Dragon Aids". It's just not for me. Girlfriend likes the game! I mostly just got bored and tried to get characters to get their bone on.
It was obvious he just got all butt hurt you didn't like a game he did and tried to take one down you did.
Funny thing is I actually like Dragon Age. But because I've been so far removed from the fantasy setting cliche for many years now that it's kind of a blast from the past in a way. I like the game and strategy going on. The +3 swords and elven-kin shit. That being said I don't think anybody can really refute that the game is really derivative and maybe even needlessly complicated. I think they did a good job of putting out the game they intended to put out.
I like it because I don't have a D&D group anymore now that I moved and this is a great replacement.
Holy shit. When did you move to Michigan? And how does a Texas girl like the winter?
The more I play this, the more I'm realizing that every game BioWare makes is just Trying to Make a Better KotOR. Not that that is bad (I <3 their games), but it's kinda true. MAss Effect was Sci-Fi sans lightsabers. DA is Star Wars with Elves. Sure the story details are seperate, but it dwindles down to:
1) Some starter segment story
2) The 'choose your own adventure' freedom of tackling 3-4 'main' quests, each of which must be finished before the Final Showdown.
3) LOTS OF SIDEQUESTS
4) Getting into someone's pants LOLOLOLOLOLOL
5) Until DA, a quantifiable jackass::goodguy quotient.
6) The Final Showdown, where (I'm guessing on DA) someone's gonna die, or your're gonna have to make some Ultimate Choice.
If nothing else Dragon Age is derivative of BioWare's past..
Yes, BioWare is pretty much all about perfecting their own formula, though I notice you left off the Baldur's Gate games and Neverwinter Nights, which inconveniently deviate from the formula. You also missed Jade Empire, but that follows the intro -> 4 hubs -> showdown formula fairly well. Also, Mass Effect can't really be compared to KOTOR since Mass Effect is science fiction while Star Wars is just fantasy in space.
The thing is, BioWare is getting really good at this formula - and they're continuing to tweak it. In Dragon Age, decisions you make in one hub (and the order in which you go through them) will affect other hubs, while in their previous games like KOTOR, hubs were pretty much independent of each other and nothing you did in one would affect or be referenced in another.
I bought it and resold the game and the DLC card for armor/Shale separately for more than I paid originally and so wound up making money to have this game in my possession for 5 weeks.Quote:
Originally Posted by YellerDog
Was a good deal imo
I left em out because they came out before KotOR (right?) and since THAT game, everything BioWare has done has been to make a better KotOR. So at least Bioware is cognative of what their money making formula is.Quote:
Originally Posted by bVork
I wish Bioware would give us a good console Baldur's Gate.
This game fucking sucks. Fucking brown games.
You just can't handle the awesome.
I just love these "brown game critics". STFU if thats all you can say about the game.
Q: why do moral choices in games basically come down to "listening to a bunch of boring garbage and being very affirmative = GOOD GUY" vs. "pick the dick-ish dialog option and don't do everything an NPC wants you to do = BAD GUY"?
Because Bioware is lazy?
Fallout 3 is doing this a lot too!
Isn't that what it is, though?Quote:
Originally Posted by YellerDog
"Hey, wanna fuck?"
"Hey, want to go for a cup of coffee?"
Who needs it to get more convoluted - we have enough of that in real life.
I'd rather they not try to shoehorn it in there half assed in the first place, honestly.
The "evil" option here is the honest one?Quote:
Originally Posted by haohmaru
Seems like it should be "My arm is broken, can you please help me move a couch into my van?"
More like that's the "evil" option in the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Compass
Morrigan, you're an evil bitch and I don't trust you or Morrigan, that makes a lot of sense. Neither is really evil...
You can't say it isn't evolving. In Dragon Age your actions don't fall on a strict good/bad continuum; rather, they affect people differently who have different sensibilities. For example, if you are a stereotypical "good guy," you will often lose points with Morrigan. Defending love or taking up a do-gooder side quest are quintessential hero choices, but they will cost you points in this case. And those points have an impact on Morrigan's value as a teammate.
And there are other times where you can get off the good or bad path with no noticeable repercussions to your popularity or power. It's an improvement over Fable II or Mass Effect, since it allows you to play the game more naturally and not as an ongoing calculation.
Still, pretty clunky! There's something about that method of storytelling that really doesn't connect with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick
It's the closest thing to real life I've seen in a game. But, then again, some of us might have trouble understanding real life as well.
(YellerDog's response caused a -2 approval.)
That method of storytelling where your actions have direct consequences with those around you most often instead of arbitrarily affecting how the entire world reacts to you?
Yeah, real clunky.
I'm sorry if it really does it for you or whatever. Shit takes me right out of the game every time.
It is exactly a "choose your own adventure" style of storytelling. As opposed to a novel/film/good format.
Because that is how the huge raging dorks that buy these games view life?Quote:
Originally Posted by YellerDog
looks boring as fuck too? Story sucks?Quote:
Originally Posted by Despair
how do those strike your fancy?
The game gives you so many different choices for handling every situation, so I don't know what the fuck he's talking about.
In KOTOR & Mass Effect, sure. But Dragon Age is the first Bioware game to stray from the formula. Yes, there's usually a "NICE" option and a "ASSHOLE" option but there's also the "sort of nice but looking out for myself" option and the "favoring one group but being kind of dickish to the other" option.
who cares. The story itself sucks. I don't care how many options you get if they are all about dealing with furry wolf people.
Let's talk about soup. You have a nice chef prepared soup on one hand. Top of the line, really thought out, savory, really nice soup. But you can only have the soup exactly how the chef makes it. Then on the other hand, you've got four hundred thin, brothy, watered down soups. The chef also made these, but took a lot less care in the making of 'em. Chef gives you a bunch of condiments and spices you can throw in there if you like. You can even go back and have seconds and season the soup slightly differently!Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstBlood
Which do you go with? and yes, sometimes you want shabu-shabu. if you like that sort of thing.
If the choices and their outcomes weren't well developed I wouldn't defend them.
Vehemently.
This thread makes me want to kill myself more than the realization that I will never be able to visit Pandora.
All this soup tastes like fucking pepper.
This soup makes me want to kill my soup more than the realization that I will never be able to soup soup.
Soup da whoop.
Hey, there are no Anime faggotry here. This MUST SUCK !!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Fe 26
I don't know. Helping elves date each other is pretty "anime faggish"
I laughed when I put it in the elf rogue's butt.
So, anyone get the DLC on 360?
LOL
Say what you will, but most of that = FANTASTIC IMPROVEMENT. LOL Bear Party
I might buy it if that is real
I'm kinda in agreement with Yeller on the "choose your own adventure" arguement. I like that I get to have choices in DA and BioWare games, even if it results in giving me a story that's sorta lacking, pedestrian, and safe but hey, I get to decide how to react to those and see characters react to my reactions.
Kinda like how, yes, I liked Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. Looking back I'd still say they were fun, but dammit all if they were well written literature.
Which is how I view BioWare games. Fun, but not epic, serious-businees, art-like ambrosia. And if nothing else, I'm a bigger fan of their game mechanics. I like the stat building, skill tree, flexible within a certain tolerance backend to their RPGs. I wish devs, fans, and publishers would get away from "games are movies" though, and focus on making games do what games do best.
I don't buy a movie expecting a thourough novelization, nor do I get a book and complain about a lack of special effects. So as long as a game brings on the Game Entertainment and not the Story or Movie Envy, it's all good.
i want an all bear party
That's kind amazing, it's like a bunch of fathers got together to do music.