We have some footage showing off Bioware’s newest fantasy role-playing game, Dragon Age: Origins, after the jump. The game is being lauded as the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, which is certainly one way to set some high expectations.
Dragon Age is looking good so far, but also doesn’t seem to particularly stand out. That’ll probably change once we see and hear some more about it, though. It is being developed by Bioware, after all.
Just as an aside, but one thing I found interesting was how Bioware president Dr. Greg Zeschuk said that they were trying to get away from Dungeons and Dragons (and yes, I know he was talking about the game not being set in Abeir-Toril) yet, what they show of the tactical, frequently-paused for planning combat, makes it appear to be incredibly close to a standard pen and paper D&D encounter. Heck, Dragon Age even has a four person party, which is the recommended size for a D&D party.
I may not exactly be on the hype train right now, but I’m sure I’ll end up getting more and more excited for the game as time goes on. Dragon Age: Origins isn’t coming out until sometime in 2009, so Bioware still has plenty of time to woo me with the game’s (hopefully) exciting features. How do you feel about it so far? Do you think Bioware has another guaranteed hit on their hands, or is the (apparently) generic fantasy setting not really grabbing you?
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Contest:
10:29 PM on 07.16.2008
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on my Crotch.
That said, I hope that:
1. It doesn't include DRM as bad as even the neutered version that was included in Mass Effect PC.
2. It includes a plot deeper than the usual stuff Bioware has put out. Mass Effect made some progress on that front, but nothing I've seen has yet equaled the depth present in Fallout, Torment or even NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer.
@ohhai
No. It's fine as it is.
Baldur, my friend. Baldur. As in the god, Baldur, who...did stuff. Can't remember what he was the god of, but I'm pretty sure it involved either kicking ass or scoring chicks.
Other than that, holy crap, DO WANT!
It's looking like a game that Neverwinter Nights was meant to be, not too much in common with KOTOR here, and no, Beth's Fallout is not fine. Far from it.
By 'getting away from Dungeons and Dragons' they meant themeatically. Obviously they wouldn't create a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate that was different in every way, but they've gone on record saying it's going to be a low magic world, 'inspired' by George R R Martin's Song of Fire and Ice, amongst other things.
I'm neutral on it right now, Forgotten Realms is a tad on the cliche side sometimes, but as it's a published campaign setting, it's got more backstory and lore and better backstory and lore than pretty much any other fantasy series. Still, Mass Effect was fairly well fleshed out, maybe Bioware can pull it off again.
Also, what I have seen so far of the combat system looks exactly like the combat system in the aforementioned Baulder's Gate, and its successor Baulder's Gate II: Shadows of Man. Also, Baulder's Gate: Tales of the Sward Roast and Baulder's Gate II: Mon of Tikal. Certainly not an innovation, but I love it and am certainly happy to get it back, at last.
The initial trailer was terrible, but once this one and the screenshots showed up I was reassured. I've been waiting years for something like this and I'm damn glad to see it. Until it's released, though, I'll be giving Baldur's Gate 2 another playthrough.
PC roleplayers will finally get another game worth playing since The Witcher and NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer last year.
I'll also add that it's good to know isometric top down view is pretty much alive and kicking, good to have Bioware bring it back again, unlike the "oh-so-awful" poor shooter that Bethesda have planned.
I am very glad though to see that the isometric camera choice is in, since it's the bees knees for this kind of game.
I'd much rather wait for a fully polished game than have one rushed out any earlier than they would have prior to the assimilati... I mean "merger" or "acquisition".
The subtitle "Origins" also has questionable aspects...
I have yet to play the PC version of Mass Effect, though I'm positive I'd prefer it because of the UI, teammate, and loading improvements.
That port doesn't, however, address the slightly lacking size compared to the sheer amount of space to explore as found in their earlier RPGs like Baldur's Gate.
Will this game have a similar scope, or will it be more like my favorite RPG series of all time and this game's inspiration?
And like always it will acclaimed as great "storytelling" with "character progression" and "choice". In short it looks to be KOTOR but with dragons, not a spiritual successor of Baldur's gate.
Show me 200+ hours of gameplay and I might buy it, otherwise pass.
I blame that mishap on my state of mind. I was really tired when I wrote this last night. >.>