Dragon Age : Origins (all platforms) Review.

[Art Blade]

Well, Fiach, I think you successfully opened PZ's mind to playing RPGs.  :)

[PZ]

Indeed  ;)

Fiach, I was just in a battle with Leliana and Morriana by my side.  After the battle, they now look like they have a purplish mist drifting upward from their bodies, and a kind of sparkly glitter - is something wrong with them?

[Fiach]

Probably some "sustained" spell on Morrigan or Leliana, I'm guessing. If you select each character you will see on screen little square icons, these are spells that are switched on all the time, if you look at the character sheet of each member, at the top it will show what spells/injuries are effecting them and a description of what it does.

Could be something like Song of Courage (Bard Spell), Could be something from Alister either depending on what kind of melee you made him either. Morrigan has a spell I use that looks like a swirling mist around the whole party, This mist sucks health from all the dead bodies laying around in combat.

Short answer, I dunno exactly, looks like a spell (beneficial I would guess). :)

[Fiach]

Well, Fiach, I think you successfully opened PZ's mind to playing RPGs.  :)

Like most guys here my first love was FPS until a friend of mine BEGGED me to get Baldurs Gate (he worked in a shop called GAME at the time), I eventually got it, opened the big box and saw two freaking manuals, it scared the beejeesus out of me, my first steps were frustrating, made alot of mistakes with party make up and class builds, but after hitting RPG sites for tips etc. I started to find my feet.

Now RPGs are my favourite genre. There is no other game type with the depth of story, combat variety or sense of progressions (other than getting nearer to the end of the game), I just find RPG's more fulfilling to play than platformers or FPS games.

Dunno if you have played the Mass Effect games, they are a pretty good marriage of shooter and RPG.

While I still play FPS games, the only one I respect in the morning is Far Cry 2 :)

[Art Blade]

I played ME1 but never finished it, then again I played "The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion" for months on end with several playthroughs and modded (as in created own mods) the game myself, too. I agree with what you say :) When I play a shooter I just hope it won't be a disgrace and disappointment while I never felt that way when starting an RPG. ME was a little different perhaps as it indeed was a lot of shooting involved, then again, Alpha Protocol was even more so a shooter but at the time an immensely immersive RPG that kept me very, very busy.  ^-^

[Fiach]

I loved AP, only played it twice though, Its a shame it never got the recognition it deserved, shooters hated it, probably because their skills honed over years of Halo/CoD were of no use, due to the RPG nature of the game. I think only RPG players really understood the game.

ME1 and 2, to me, are top notch games, they have a great story, but the characters are really really good and interesting. Dragon Age, to me is kinda like a medieval version of ME.

One thing about DAO that only becomes apparent when you play the game is the immersive world that is created in the game, it has a great storyline of politics/honour/betreyal, but aside from that and even disregarding the different characters/classes/skills etc. is the whole background that has been created for the game, it has a history, religions, customs, literature etc.

The fact that the devs created all of this, yet a player may not even bother with any of it or see any of it, is kind of disheartning, but a tribute all the same to the developers sense of purpose.

As you play the game, you will pick up poems, novels, histories, even love letters etc. these become "Codex Entries" and there are hundreds of them, all you have to do is pick them up, they are then kept in your journal, so you can just open it up and spend a couple of hours just reading this stuff.

I think DAO is one of the most fulfilling games I have ever played, maybe I am wearing my Rose Tinted RPG Nut Glasses (tm), but yeah, I really love the game :)

[Art Blade]

that sort of literature (books, scrolls, letters, spells, you name it, some of them gave you XP just reading them) was also present in Oblivion. I had a whole library created to neatly place all those books I had picked up on my journeys :)

[Fiach]

I dont remember them from Oblivion (played the PC version), but it was a long time ago, I bought the GOTY version for PS3 recently, so now I'm really looking forward to playing it again.

Did you play the DLC's, like Knights of the Nine? I remember one of them where (depending on your character) you were left a house in a will, I'll never forget one of them it was the creepiest freaking place ever! A Great game :)

[Art Blade]

Yes, I got all DLC on disk (DVD) -- available in Spain back then :) That game kept me busy for a very long time, intensely. Loved it :) My favourite part was the Brotherhood (a secret sect of vampires and assassins)  >:D Yay  :-X

[Fiach]

Which was the one where you slept in the bed and became a vampire? I forgey if it was Morrowind or Oblivion... or some other game? Creeped me right out!

[Art Blade]

Oblivion, and it was part of the Brotherhood (assassins guild) "secret option" you could choose but didn't need to  :)

[Fiach]

Cool, now I'm really looking forward to playing it again, cheers :)

[PZ]

My goodness, I was in a tight spot last night.  I have forgotten the name of the mission, but it was to some kind of castle in the snowy mountains.  Arriving there, we saw what appeared to be dead bodies, but then they came to life and started out after us in earnest.  When one set would succumb, another set of the undead would arise.  They looked like skeletons, and had different kinds of weapons - one possessed an ancient crossbow, another a staff that shot blue fireballs, and others.

I'm only part way through that mission - man, I need better weapons, better skills, more spells, and a whole lot of luck.  :-()

[Art Blade]

I know one word for all that, PZ..

Spoiler

modding.  :-()

[Art Blade]

Cool, now I'm really looking forward to playing it again, cheers :)

Welcome mate, enjoy :)

[Fiach]

Thats called Wardens Keep, its a DLC mission, but it shouldnt be that hard, what difficulty are you playing on, because thats like a pretty easy mission made to basically get DLC gear. If you are having difficulty at the start, it only gets harder mate. I just played it last night just did the courtyard and entered the building, so its pretty fresh in my mind and it was a cakewalk.

What class are you playing? If a Warrior, maybe thats the reason, I dont play that class so I cant advise you, but I have played it with Mages and Rogues and tore through it really easily.

If you have modded XP that might make a difference because if you go there with enhanced XP the enemies gear as well as their levels will be enhanced, but you will have noob gear. Other than that I cant offer any explanation.

The mission has really good gear, Warden Armour, that crossbow you mention, some cool mage gear at the end from Avernus, plus it becomes your base, where you can get your blacksmith to make you cool gear like the Starfang Sword. Also you get a storage chest for storing excess gear, so your INV wont be annoying you so much.

If you do complete it, dont leave before activating the glowy picture and recite the Wardens Oath for a secret chest to appear, as you cannot enter the building after completing it.

You could go to Hornleath first, there is a pretty cool helmet and belt there that would help your stats.

[PZ]

Art -  you know me well - will soon have the mods flowing!

Fiach, yes, the name sounds familiar, and I think that I am a human warrior (don't recall), and Sten, Morrigan, and Leliana are with me.  When I switched to Morrigan, it was much easier because I had spells with which to w@&k.

One question though, because the action was occurring so fast.  How exactly do you apply a spell - do you pause the game and then cast it, or do you need to be in the middle of action?

Also, do you cast a spell by dragging the icon to the intended victim?  If not, how do you direct the spell toward a specific victim?

[Fiach]

I never used Sten, I think he's an a$$hole, so I dont know anything about him.   :-\\

The 360 controls are totally different to the PC controls mate, I'm afraid I cant help you. 360 uses a skill wheel for slow/powerful spells that you will use once in a blue moon, It pauses the game and there is a reticle for aiming, the spells you use alot are assigned to the face buttons on the controller, so you just press the buttons as you need them.

I have no idea sorry to say.

[PZ]

No worries Fiach, I'll get it figured out.  Sten turns out to be a good ally so far, and a good fighter as well.  >:D

[Fiach]

I've honestly never used him, not even quite sure what he does. His attitude is really annoying, I always just leave him in the cage.  :-D

[PZ]

   he does have a strange attitude.  However, I'm intrigued by his mysterious situation - claiming to have killed that family, then waiting for the authorities to come and arrest him - he gives no reason why either.  I'm hoping there is a back story to this chap.

[Fiach]

He started all that crap with me, I spoke to the chick in the chantry, only way I could resolve it was by having a fight with her, I figured his attitude wasnt worth it, so i left him there.

Only reason I ever used Oghren was because I thought I had to bring him on the Paragon Quest. Once i fouund out it wasnt necessary, I benched him.

Zevran will betray you if you dont have a good relationship with him, but at least he is really funny and when it comes to the betreyal, if he  likes you, it turns completely on its head in a really cool way.

Wynne is too awesome to not have, Morrigan and Alister are so important to the plot, iits kinda pointless not to use them.

Leliana, I only use if I'm not a rogue, her voice /accent bugs the crap out of me. :)

[PZ]

Fascinating - I managed to convince the old woman in the Chantry to give me the keys to his cage - she was willing to do so as long as I took responsibility for his actions.  So far, he has been a loyal fighter.  You certainly are correct when saying that there are many potential outcomes.  ;)

[Fiach]

Oh, pro tip, always save before talking to a team member, some of the conversation topics seem innocent enough, then suddenly out of the blue you will be presented with a choice that will annoy them and cost you "approval".

If you look at their character sheet, you will see a -.............+ scale, if you get that "+" really high, it adds significant damage output to the character. For example Zevran will get 4 levels of massive dexterity. If you get to do a personal quest for Morrigan, you will get a special armour for her.

[Art Blade]

Hehe, I can second that pro tip  :-D Different game, Mass Effect 1, I got involved in an apparently harmless conversation that evolved to a situation which gave me several choices (branches of conversation). One of which ended in me whipping out my side arm and shooting a guy straight between the eyes  ??? And no, it's not what I do every day anyway in real life.  :-()