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I haven't enjoyed gaming in a while, to be honest.
Being a fan of pretty much every BioWare game, Dragon Age: Origins is just what I was expecting, if not heaps more.
To be honest I was expecting something like Neverwinter Nights 2 with a different storyline, but I must say now that this game is probably after around 5 hours of playing, the best game in 2009 for me.
The first thing that impressed me was the stability of the game, more often than not you get a new game for the PC and it crashes or lags or is just filled with bugs or annoyances that get patched after a while, but right now this game has me impressed with how fast it loads, how fast the application closes and how fluid everything is despite the intricate detail put into everything, even the UI. Windows don't just pop up... they sparkle and fade and bloom in and out graciously, it just feels great to even use the UI.
Then the plot... seems at first to be linear but things change rapidly and it has been keeping me interested, more than any recent game has, since maybe Baldur's Gate II. And I'm pretty sure that depending on the background you choose the plot will be considerably different... Im a Human Warrior, son of a Teyrn (a sort of Lord). I'm pretty sure I can't be the same person were I a Rogue or a Mage. Or an Elf, or a Dwarf, who both also have their own different backgrounds. There's at least 5 different backgrounds you can choose from, each being defined by your race and class.
Characters are full of life, some of them look a little plastic at times but that is easily overlooked but their defining personalities, you can see a lot of work was put into that side of the game. You can also interact with every playable character like in previous Bioware games, such as NWN and Mass Effect, which will help in building a bond with them, bonding with other characters will help improve their trust in you and in turn there are some good things that can come from that, either battle bonuses, romance, or simply more intricate dialog to explore. Choices you make along the way will define how others view you and with that you can also work towards defining your own personality. This is something were all expecting from future Bioware games though, but its always a nice thing.
Gameplay is more of the same if you've played NWN or Baldur's Gate, nothing too new here. Some nice stuff though, you can counter some spells effects with other spells which is something that seems like it has been put aside for way too long. Someone cast a spell that set the area on fire and is doing damage to everyone, you counter with a cold spell to nullify the fire, simple as that. Other things can probably be done too but I haven't played enough to explore that too much, but I'm expecting a fireball to get rid of a spider web, or oil to be set aflame by casting a simple fire spell. Many interesting things you can do with spells depending on the conditions of the target or the environment, for example one of my Mages has a Horror spell, which will put a target in a state of shock, but if they're asleep it will cause nightmares and do damage, cool.
DA:O borrows the FFXII gambit idea, which pretty much borrowed the idea from Baldur's Gate and improved on it. You can defined tactics for your characters, for example heal someone if their HP is less than %. Or cast silence on an enemy who is a mage. Or taunt an enemy if it is doing too much damage to one of your heroes, etc. Or you can disregard tactics and do everything yourself, suiting both casual players who are looking for a simple run of the game and those who look to take control of every action.
And yes you can pause the game and select battle commands, Bioware's staple pausing system always comes in handy for when you just need to stop and think for a minute. And you will need to think. Engaging a bunch of enemies all at once without planning ahead might be fatal, and has been a bunch of times... for me. It taught me a lesson: look around for enemies at all times, fire a spell or an arrow to draw first blood, every hit counts. Pull enemies away from each other or draw them in for a powerful AOE spell, flank the sides, plan ambushes with traps... all the good things from Baldur's Gate are in this game... the nostalgia is overwhelming at times.
Specialization is also in DA:O, a warrior at least has 4 different specializations and you can also master a number of different talents, be it the use of a shield, ranged attacks, dual wielding or 2-handed fighting. I'm expecting an equally large assortment of specializations for the other classes.
The game has been a lot of fun so far and I'm very surprised at how well made everything is. I especially like how your hero (and other PCs) sometimes jumps at an enemy to deliver the final blow and beheads them or violently tears them into pieces in a gore fest with tons of blood and gore. Oh and you will be covered in blood for most of the game, so get used to it or disable it in the options. In fact there is blood everywhere, you can drown in blood in this game if you're not careful.
Anyway I miss the game already, gonna go back and play some moar
Here's some screenshots I took so far:
Being a fan of pretty much every BioWare game, Dragon Age: Origins is just what I was expecting, if not heaps more.
To be honest I was expecting something like Neverwinter Nights 2 with a different storyline, but I must say now that this game is probably after around 5 hours of playing, the best game in 2009 for me.
The first thing that impressed me was the stability of the game, more often than not you get a new game for the PC and it crashes or lags or is just filled with bugs or annoyances that get patched after a while, but right now this game has me impressed with how fast it loads, how fast the application closes and how fluid everything is despite the intricate detail put into everything, even the UI. Windows don't just pop up... they sparkle and fade and bloom in and out graciously, it just feels great to even use the UI.
Then the plot... seems at first to be linear but things change rapidly and it has been keeping me interested, more than any recent game has, since maybe Baldur's Gate II. And I'm pretty sure that depending on the background you choose the plot will be considerably different... Im a Human Warrior, son of a Teyrn (a sort of Lord). I'm pretty sure I can't be the same person were I a Rogue or a Mage. Or an Elf, or a Dwarf, who both also have their own different backgrounds. There's at least 5 different backgrounds you can choose from, each being defined by your race and class.
Characters are full of life, some of them look a little plastic at times but that is easily overlooked but their defining personalities, you can see a lot of work was put into that side of the game. You can also interact with every playable character like in previous Bioware games, such as NWN and Mass Effect, which will help in building a bond with them, bonding with other characters will help improve their trust in you and in turn there are some good things that can come from that, either battle bonuses, romance, or simply more intricate dialog to explore. Choices you make along the way will define how others view you and with that you can also work towards defining your own personality. This is something were all expecting from future Bioware games though, but its always a nice thing.
Gameplay is more of the same if you've played NWN or Baldur's Gate, nothing too new here. Some nice stuff though, you can counter some spells effects with other spells which is something that seems like it has been put aside for way too long. Someone cast a spell that set the area on fire and is doing damage to everyone, you counter with a cold spell to nullify the fire, simple as that. Other things can probably be done too but I haven't played enough to explore that too much, but I'm expecting a fireball to get rid of a spider web, or oil to be set aflame by casting a simple fire spell. Many interesting things you can do with spells depending on the conditions of the target or the environment, for example one of my Mages has a Horror spell, which will put a target in a state of shock, but if they're asleep it will cause nightmares and do damage, cool.
DA:O borrows the FFXII gambit idea, which pretty much borrowed the idea from Baldur's Gate and improved on it. You can defined tactics for your characters, for example heal someone if their HP is less than %. Or cast silence on an enemy who is a mage. Or taunt an enemy if it is doing too much damage to one of your heroes, etc. Or you can disregard tactics and do everything yourself, suiting both casual players who are looking for a simple run of the game and those who look to take control of every action.
And yes you can pause the game and select battle commands, Bioware's staple pausing system always comes in handy for when you just need to stop and think for a minute. And you will need to think. Engaging a bunch of enemies all at once without planning ahead might be fatal, and has been a bunch of times... for me. It taught me a lesson: look around for enemies at all times, fire a spell or an arrow to draw first blood, every hit counts. Pull enemies away from each other or draw them in for a powerful AOE spell, flank the sides, plan ambushes with traps... all the good things from Baldur's Gate are in this game... the nostalgia is overwhelming at times.
Specialization is also in DA:O, a warrior at least has 4 different specializations and you can also master a number of different talents, be it the use of a shield, ranged attacks, dual wielding or 2-handed fighting. I'm expecting an equally large assortment of specializations for the other classes.
The game has been a lot of fun so far and I'm very surprised at how well made everything is. I especially like how your hero (and other PCs) sometimes jumps at an enemy to deliver the final blow and beheads them or violently tears them into pieces in a gore fest with tons of blood and gore. Oh and you will be covered in blood for most of the game, so get used to it or disable it in the options. In fact there is blood everywhere, you can drown in blood in this game if you're not careful.
SPIOLARZZZ
Anyway I miss the game already, gonna go back and play some moar
Here's some screenshots I took so far:
Attached Files
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