melmer

Nobody expects the Dragon Age Inquisition

Recommended Posts

dragon-age-inquisition-header.jpg

Releasing October 7th

Interesting fact: I was quite shocked to find out recently that this game is also coming out on last gen consoles.

It seems like the type of game I'd really dig, but DA origins really didn't click with me and I had quit within a few hours. Looking back now I realise it was cognitive load that ruined it for me, the game just presented far too much information and choice concerning levelling and skill trees that I just had a brain fart and turned it off. Hopefully this time round the levelling is a little more streamlined.

There's a few gameplay videos on their youtube channel https://m.youtube.com/user/dragonageofficial

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I liked DA:O, but I hated DA:2.

 

You, me, and most of the internet.

 

I'm cautiously optimistic that Inquisition will turn the series around, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up after the feeling a bit burned by DA2 and The Old Republic.  With Inquisition, it seems like they're going in a really....Skyrim-y direction.  That's not really a direction I want to see the series take.  Oh well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It seems like the type of game I'd really dig, but DA origins really didn't click with me and I had quit within a few hours. Looking back now I realise it was cognitive load that ruined it for me, the game just presented far too much information and choice concerning levelling and skill trees that I just had a brain fart and turned it off. Hopefully this time round the levelling is a little more streamlined.

It sounds like you may want to skip Origins and go straight into Dragon Age 2. They streamlined the inventory and the skill tree combat so that you can play it like an action-RPG if you so desire. I played the game very cautiously by determining the actions of each party member, pausing and playing, navigating through the skill-set radial menus for every hit. Battles would take five to ten minutes. But I know someone who just put that shit on easy, stuck with one character and just played through like it was Golden Axe.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Basically everything else is better about origins though. I didnt hate da2 but it definitely was not as enjoyable.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I liked both games. I certainly enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins more, but they are both great games IMO. I wouldn't not play Dragon Age 2 just because I didn't like the mechanical demands of Dragon Age: Origins. Maybe by playing Dragon Age 2 Mington will decide that it's worth dealing with the complexity of Origins so they can find out what is so great about this "Hero of Ferelden" they keep hearing about.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You can put me down as a fan of DA2! I think complaints about the sameness of the certain zones to be totally valid, and implied some slipshod work. Like the architecture of every mansion, and ruddy basement in this cobbled together city is identical, even if the decor can change a little? 

 

I really liked the concept of years spent in this city, building that as a main character. Again, I wish there was some more simple variance, like the paths of the main outdoor area grew over and changed. I think people who dig on fantasy RPGs prefer the "grand journey" aspect more, so I can see how DA2 came up quite short in that regard. 

 

The combat was particularly tight, and strategic, more than the first. On harder difficulties I was excited for every gained level, as I needed every point right up until the end. The changes to the healing made potions more rare, and healing precious, and difficult to use a lot of in a single fight. It was let me use the assorted debuffing skills I usually just ignore.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure if I'd say it was more strategic, but abilities were mapped out a lot clearer.  The one big improvement was threat management though, much easier to drop threat as a damage dealer and let the tank take hits in da2.  Beyond the epic story stuff,  I think DA: O just did even the smaller stories better.  Much more interesting political/racial stuff.  There was just a lot of DA2 story that felt sloppy, the fanservicey stuff was really obvious too which didn't really gel with me at all.  I'd like to add that if you do play DA: O, also play the expansion as it's pretty good too, that's where they start to improve the skill trees as well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You can put me down as a fan of DA2! I think complaints about the sameness of the certain zones to be totally valid, and implied some slipshod work. Like the architecture of every mansion, and ruddy basement in this cobbled together city is identical, even if the decor can change a little? 

 

I really liked the concept of years spent in this city, building that as a main character. Again, I wish there was some more simple variance, like the paths of the main outdoor area grew over and changed. I think people who dig on fantasy RPGs prefer the "grand journey" aspect more, so I can see how DA2 came up quite short in that regard. 

 

The combat was particularly tight, and strategic, more than the first. On harder difficulties I was excited for every gained level, as I needed every point right up until the end. The changes to the healing made potions more rare, and healing precious, and difficult to use a lot of in a single fight. It was let me use the assorted debuffing skills I usually just ignore.

 

It's really great to hear someone else bringing out all of my defenses of Dragon Age 2 before I do. I always say that it's a really ambitious and interesting game that happens to fail in a lot of ways, but also that the discussion space for gaming doesn't really have a space for good games with problems unless they're Obvious Masterpieces Tragically Crippled by Bugs.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I liked the combat in Dragon Age 2 but it was also plagued by repetitive encounter design. It didn't feel as strategic as Origins in large part because of that lack of variety. I was so sick of fighting spiders in caves by the end of that game. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's really great to hear someone else bringing out all of my defenses of Dragon Age 2 before I do. I always say that it's a really ambitious and interesting game that happens to fail in a lot of ways, but also that the discussion space for gaming doesn't really have a space for good games with problems unless they're Obvious Masterpieces Tragically Crippled by Bugs.

 

I don't know if that's quite fair.  I think there is plenty of discussion of games like that, the problem is something with DA2 comes with a triple whammy. It's a AAA game, a sequel to a damned fine game and it was one of the first games whose production started after the EA purchase, leading people to wonder if EA mandates to speed up production and cut costs were leading to Bioware quality slipping.  The combination of expectation tempered with concerns set up a reaction for DA2 that was a lot harsher on its problems than another game might get. 

 

You've also got stuff like the ridiculous publisher hype machine setting expectations too high and leaving people somewhat dissatisfied with games that they might have loved if they hadn't been convinced it was going to be mind blowing, ground breaking, and ign-blow-you-away good.  Take something like Deadly Premonition, where it's fans admitted that this was a game that was graphically dated and a bit ugly with shitty combat.  But if you could get into it, there was a heart and soul unlike any other game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I liked the combat in Dragon Age 2 but it was also plagued by repetitive encounter design. It didn't feel as strategic as Origins in large part because of that lack of variety. I was so sick of fighting spiders in caves by the end of that game. 

 

To me this distinction is really how each game represented and interacted with the world.  DA:O seemed like a game that was somewhat indifferent to the fact that it took place in a 3D world (magic goes through walls, characters must stand a specific distance apart before attacking, etc), while DA2 remedied these issues but had quite frustrating encounter design.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

All i want is DA:O in an open world setting, I hate being railroaded around in games, especially RPGs

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm pretty excited for this game. I loved DA:O. I think I played all the opening sections, and made it through the campaign a few times. I never touched DA:2 though, probably a mix of it being released during a period of exams and also having terrible reviews. From the sounds of it, it probably was pretty mediocre, so it wasn't a big thing to miss.

 

What I've heard from DA:I is that there's a lot more control over the synergistic spells/special moves they included in DA:O. For example freezing people with a mage, then shattering them with a warrior. I liked the idea of that stuff, but it was pretty hard to do. 

I hope they fix the healing system too. I found myself playing as a healer more often than not, simply because they were so important to have exact timing, while the dps/tank classes could be sufficiently controlled by the AI. The system to set up levels of "if player is below X health, use X spell" was a nice idea, but in practice it didn't really work. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just watched whatever the 15 minute or so newish gameplay trailer last night. They do have the real camera, right? As in, not a swoopy cinematic 3rd person camera, but a real party camera for real parties with circles around my party and little numbers coming off of them when they're poisoned?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I found myself playing as a healer more often than not, simply because they were so important to have exact timing, while the dps/tank classes could be sufficiently controlled by the AI. The system to set up levels of "if player is below X health, use X spell" was a nice idea, but in practice it didn't really work. 

 

I had to turn all the AI off, because in practice it was "blow your most important stuff up front on anybody, whatever, just do it"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I started playing Dragon Age: Origins last night and as soon as I got out of the tutorial area I just started dying constantly. I can normally get through a fight after loading my game a few times but it's still frustrating. Any tips for someone who has no idea what they're doing? My dude's a mage.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I started playing Dragon Age: Origins last night and as soon as I got out of the tutorial area I just started dying constantly. I can normally get through a fight after loading my game a few times but it's still frustrating. Any tips for someone who has no idea what they're doing? My dude's a mage.

 

You have to give instructions to your entire party. Tell one of them what to do, pause it, switch to another, tell them what to do, ad infinitum. At first it will feel tedious, but it eventually makes you feel like you, the player, are team-work incarnate (which is a pretty cool feeling if you ask me).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Also try to monitor people's health constantly.  In my experience, all of my characters will spend the majority of the fight at 100% health, but then suddenly start to drop incredibly fast once they start getting attacked.  For the weaker bard-like characters, they can go out in just 2-3 hits.  So once you see that health bar drop, poultice up immediately, because there's no mid-fight revive.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You, me, and most of the internet.

 

I'm cautiously optimistic that Inquisition will turn the series around, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up after the feeling a bit burned by DA2 and The Old Republic.  With Inquisition, it seems like they're going in a really....Skyrim-y direction.  That's not really a direction I want to see the series take.  Oh well.

 

I actually didn't really ever get into any of the Dragon Age games - played a few hours of Origins and then lost interest - but like the Elder Scrolls model of RPGs... still I've played a lot of them and don't necessarily want everything to be coming up Skyrim.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I sincerely hope every RPG won't be like Skyrim. Although after its (confusing) success, I'm sure most will try to ape it. Still, if people can make a Skyrim-like game, that is good in the ways Skyrim sucked then we should be getting some fantastic RPGs. Zelda-Skyrim - fucking yes please. Dragon Age-Skyrim - probably awesome. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks pretty good. The tactical view was missing from the console games in DA:O, so I hope it's left in this time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now