I don't get why more people aren't going crazy for Dragon Age: Origins. It stands to reason that the first BioWare game I've been truly excited for is also the first BioWare game that the masses aren't busting a big collective nut over. Their loss, as far as I'm concerned, because this game is hot.
The new trailer sets the scene quite well, preparing players for their battle against the Darkspawn and their entry into the ranks of the Grey Wardens. Check it out, soak in the epicness, and then tell me why you're not that excited!
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It has great potential, considering the history of the developer, but I'm having issues with how stilted and unnatural some of the human characters look.
The graphics aren't exactly blowing me away, either. I don't require super-realism, but something unique that makes this game stand out from the rest of the fantasy games out there would be nice.
I'll probably play it, but I'm going to wait for reviews and popular opinion, first. I owe it to Bioware, considering how much I enjoyed Mass Effect.
I'm not hugely excited for it because so far, its one of the least original games I've ever seen. Hence, its appeal will be in it being a good game, something I can't judge at all until it (or a demo) is released. That being said, it would be nice to have a good classic fantasy game.
I'm definitely getting this game! I've been considering the downloadable collector's edition simply because of its inclusion of DLC that will be charged for otherwise... but then I'm reminded of how fucking dirty it is for publishers to co-develop DLC with a game so that they can charge you full retail price for only a portion of their work, and then show you another price tag for the remainder.
As for my biggest game-related hesitation, I'm pretty far from confident that this will come close to matching the scope or scale of its source inspiration, the Baldur's Gate games.
@Arttemis - I take it you missed the interview where they said that all copies purchased new come with a code for the DLC? Just can't buy it used, unless the previous owner just so happens to not use his code.
Maybe it has something to do with one of the more generic titles of all-time? I mean "Dragon Age: Origins"? Really? It couldn't be more anonymous if it tried!
I'm excited for this game because it's Bioware and because it looks good. If you aren't a fan of Bioware's offerings or you haven't bothered to pay attention to this because it seems like Generic Fantasy Crap, I could see how you might not be excited.
It just throws in too many fantasy cliches. One thing I look for in a western RPG is a sense of discovery, but when I see media of this game, I feel like I've "been there, done that" already.
Not mention, I'm sick to death of crappy dragons. I want fucking huge ass dragons that have teeth larger than my character and kick the shit out of any pathetic little party of humans that is stupid enough to challenge them!
Bioware would have done better to resurrect a more unique fantasy setting (Planescape Torrment, I'm looking at you).
@dtomek - I take it you missed the interview where they said the Warden's Keep DLC will be included only with the digital collector's edition, and every one else will have to pay for it.
There's more DLC than just the Stone Guardian and armor.
Well, it's been awhile since I played a fantasy game like this so I'll be keeping an eye out for this one. Although, I can just fire up my copy of BG and BG2 in the mean time...or Return to Kronder too I guess...
Being Bioware, I'm interested. That said, it does look a lot like other fantasy sword & sorcery style games already out there. The scenes shown look neat but game play samples would be more telling. The Darkspawn seem to look a lot like Orcs and the similarities to LOTR are quite obvious. On the fence here.
I still don't really know much about the game. I don't really get how the story is going to work and that's a big issue for me. I really get into a game if the story hooks me, and based on this trailer, this game isn't doing it for me. It comes across as pretty cliche. I like the stuff I've read about the combat and how blood will splash everywhere and coat your character, but it's just not enough to get me truly excited. I'll probably pass on this game.
You know what I'm sick of? People screaming "LOTR!" ripoff without actually having read LOTR. Lord of the Rings came out in the early 50's and highly influenced English literature in EVERY respect- drama, romance, etc.
But it's greatest strength was where it influenced high-fantasy.
Unfortunately, due to the obnoxiously inaccurate and poorly done (Too many cinematic cliche's and plot holes for me) popular Peter Jackson adaptations, people are very quick to think "Oh man, well because this movies so popular, everyone must be trying to emulate it!".
Lord of the Rings influence was happening in your fantasy far before Peter Jackson's overly popular films. It's just how high-fantasy works. If anything, you could say Peter Jackson stole quite a bit of his source material from other fantasy works.
People aren't excited because it isn't part of a franchise series.
There the mystery is solved.
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By the way, it looks like it's worth it to keep an eye on it, actually.
However, I loved Neverwinter Nights so I might be biased.
@Toucan Gourmand - I'll admit I wish it was part of the Forgotten Realms, but seeing how well BioWare was able to flesh out Mass Effect, I'm sure they can do the same in Dragon Age.
Well, that theory fails because people were excited about Mass Effect, BioShock, Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, etc., etc. when the first installments of those series came out. It's not like people weren't excited about BioShock because it wasn't a franchise that they weren't familiar with.
I'm optimistic for this game. Mass Effect had every sci fi cliche in the book, but Bioware was able to present it in a way that didn't feel overdone. My only complaint is the graphics, which look kind of old.
Like a lot of people, the fact that it's made by BioWare is the only thing that has me interested. This is one of the most generic looking games I have ever seen. It looks EXACTLY like Lord of the Rings except with some juvenile sex, over-the-top violence and metal music. Yes Mass Effect was awesome despite also being hugely cliched, but it felt more like a tribute to sci-fi than a rip-off, which I can't really see in this case.
You realize crying 'LOTR Ripoff' is like saying the same thing to pretty much every fantasy universe to exist, right? Because crying that makes you look like a dumbass.
Also, hjd uk - you really haven't found any gameplay footage? They've been toting it around for god knows how long. If you haven't found any footage, you must really suck at finding things.
I really don't like their trailers for this game, they don't show the gameplay AT ALL. However, I have seen gameplay videos, and they certainly turned me on.
The connotation I was getting from reading "LoTR ripoff" wasn't about the lore, but the stylistic retelling by the movie trilogy.
Which when you think about it, most this-gen games rip off the movie trilogy. Everything has that brown or blue hue, and if there's gonna be a huge bad guy in a game, it'll look like a close cousin to the cave troll of Morial.
Weird that everyone is so worried about cliches all of a sudden. We can all buy tons of FPS games with the same trite shit, but not an RPG? Everyone can buy the same Madden game for the past 10 years and still be cool with it. It's like saying... well this Madden game is totally filled with football cliches. I find it weird that it only applies when convenient. Anyway, Oblivion was one of the most cliche fantasy games ever and it was one of the biggest games of the generation. If a fantasy game didn't have fantasy cliches, you couldn't very well call it a fantasy game could you?
This is the first Bioware game since Baldur's Gate that I'm not foaming at the mouth for (unlike Mass Effect 1 which was not a known franchise and I pre-ordered and loved). It just looks so bleh. In all their adds it looks like all they are selling is blood, rock, and a few quasi sex scenes. No gameplay, generic story and characters...bleh. I think this is the Bioware B-team just trying to practice. I'll wait until the price drops (as it likely quickly will) then get it new will all the DLC.
@Phantom Spaceman
What!? I'm playing Oblvion right now and let me tell you, in a 21', phat, only two cable colors(yellow and white) it ain't that pretty.
@Arttemis: I don't understand this typical response. Bioware has worked over 5 years on this game, it will provide more gameplay hours that the last 3 games you bought COMBINED, and yet they are selling it for the same price as all other games you finish in 10 hours. And then you complain that they charge 15$ for DLC, and that's *only* for people who buy the game used.
Have you gone back and looked at Oblivion lately?
My memory of Oblivion was grand too, then I went back to play it... and it was pretty terrible in reality. Dragon Age actually looks pretty good if you look closely at the details. Not to mention it looks like it actually has a pretty good character creator, unlike the one in Oblivion that gave you different varieties of what looked like burn victims.
Anyway, like I said... this will be a good game, cliches and all.
I don't really care if it's cliched. That isn't a summary of the actual plot and the character development, it's only a summary of the basic elements. Unless, of course, all of the characters turn out to be cliched and they all do everything you'd expect them to, then yes, I'd be annoyed. But BioWare's done a bang-up job with character development and I wouldn't think that they'd make the characters walking stereotypes.
Besides, there haven't been many good high-fantasy games lately (Oblivion is the only recent one I can remember).
Oblivon's visuals are pretty dated at this point. Beyond that, what does "beautiful" have to do with a decent swords and sorcery RPG? It's a factor, but certainly not the reason to play one.
@Phantom Spaceman
I think the reason this clip isn't "beautiful" is because Bioware has said from the beginning they are trying to make a dark fantasy, not a bright and beautiful high fantasy. Whatever the case with Bioware making a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate series, of which includes the 6th highest rated PC game of all time, we can be sure the game is going to be awesome no matter how many Dragon Age posts you poo poo.
I quite enjoy cliché LOTR ripoff material, because most of the actual games based on LOTR completely miss the point of the books and the RPG genre as a whole. This one looks pretty fun, though.
The only think that would've made me laugh harder at the picture is if the picture huge nuts drawn on in neon green paint on Paint, ya know, like a child did it.
My theory is a general rule it doesn't always work that way.
People also seem to have high expectations of Bioware games.
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I wish people weren't excited about Assassin's Creed or Dead Space...but that's another story.
I just want some nice HUD and gameplay footage. I enjoy Bioware games, and look forward to jumping into a dark, medival-ish world. Still quite interested, I just need more info and such, before jumping this to 'Must have, ASAP' status.
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Contest:
11:00 AM on 08.19.2009
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The graphics aren't exactly blowing me away, either. I don't require super-realism, but something unique that makes this game stand out from the rest of the fantasy games out there would be nice.
I'll probably play it, but I'm going to wait for reviews and popular opinion, first. I owe it to Bioware, considering how much I enjoyed Mass Effect.
As for my biggest game-related hesitation, I'm pretty far from confident that this will come close to matching the scope or scale of its source inspiration, the Baldur's Gate games.
I'm excited for this game because it's Bioware and because it looks good. If you aren't a fan of Bioware's offerings or you haven't bothered to pay attention to this because it seems like Generic Fantasy Crap, I could see how you might not be excited.
Not mention, I'm sick to death of crappy dragons. I want fucking huge ass dragons that have teeth larger than my character and kick the shit out of any pathetic little party of humans that is stupid enough to challenge them!
Bioware would have done better to resurrect a more unique fantasy setting (Planescape Torrment, I'm looking at you).
There's more DLC than just the Stone Guardian and armor.
Is it just me or does it kind of look like ass though? Maybe it's because I watched the Heavy Rain trailer then this though.
But it's greatest strength was where it influenced high-fantasy.
Unfortunately, due to the obnoxiously inaccurate and poorly done (Too many cinematic cliche's and plot holes for me) popular Peter Jackson adaptations, people are very quick to think "Oh man, well because this movies so popular, everyone must be trying to emulate it!".
Lord of the Rings influence was happening in your fantasy far before Peter Jackson's overly popular films. It's just how high-fantasy works. If anything, you could say Peter Jackson stole quite a bit of his source material from other fantasy works.
There the mystery is solved.
------------------------------------------------------------------
By the way, it looks like it's worth it to keep an eye on it, actually.
However, I loved Neverwinter Nights so I might be biased.
Well, that theory fails because people were excited about Mass Effect, BioShock, Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, etc., etc. when the first installments of those series came out. It's not like people weren't excited about BioShock because it wasn't a franchise that they weren't familiar with.
The worth of this game will all be based on the combat. If it's fun, I'll bite.
Also, hjd uk - you really haven't found any gameplay footage? They've been toting it around for god knows how long. If you haven't found any footage, you must really suck at finding things.
Which when you think about it, most this-gen games rip off the movie trilogy. Everything has that brown or blue hue, and if there's gonna be a huge bad guy in a game, it'll look like a close cousin to the cave troll of Morial.
Weird that everyone is so worried about cliches all of a sudden. We can all buy tons of FPS games with the same trite shit, but not an RPG? Everyone can buy the same Madden game for the past 10 years and still be cool with it. It's like saying... well this Madden game is totally filled with football cliches. I find it weird that it only applies when convenient. Anyway, Oblivion was one of the most cliche fantasy games ever and it was one of the biggest games of the generation. If a fantasy game didn't have fantasy cliches, you couldn't very well call it a fantasy game could you?
This game will be rad.
What!? I'm playing Oblvion right now and let me tell you, in a 21', phat, only two cable colors(yellow and white) it ain't that pretty.
The Internet is the land of the whiners.
Have you gone back and looked at Oblivion lately?
My memory of Oblivion was grand too, then I went back to play it... and it was pretty terrible in reality. Dragon Age actually looks pretty good if you look closely at the details. Not to mention it looks like it actually has a pretty good character creator, unlike the one in Oblivion that gave you different varieties of what looked like burn victims.
Anyway, like I said... this will be a good game, cliches and all.
Besides, there haven't been many good high-fantasy games lately (Oblivion is the only recent one I can remember).
I think the reason this clip isn't "beautiful" is because Bioware has said from the beginning they are trying to make a dark fantasy, not a bright and beautiful high fantasy. Whatever the case with Bioware making a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate series, of which includes the 6th highest rated PC game of all time, we can be sure the game is going to be awesome no matter how many Dragon Age posts you poo poo.
My theory is a general rule it doesn't always work that way.
People also seem to have high expectations of Bioware games.
------------------------------------------------------------
I wish people weren't excited about Assassin's Creed or Dead Space...but that's another story.