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Here you all go, The Latest Dragon Age Video!!
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ok..ok... that was Biowares April Fools... ;-)
Check this out though, A game play trailer
Dragon Age: Origins Official Trailer 3
Wow!!! that looks fun!
I can't wait for this game. I'm checking the website a few times a week in the hopes of seeing some new background, some new characters, anything. And the good thing is that they update a lot more often than Blizzard and the Diablo 3 website. The fact that your character will have a background that effects the story is awesome. I want to use some of these ideas in the game (the "Dark Heroic Fantasy" tone, for instance) and apply it to a homebrew setting. It looks great and I'm hoping it'll be the Baldur's Gate fix that I've been missing.
Bioware and Green Ronin to Publish Dragon Age Pen & Paper Role-Playing Game.
http://greenronin.com/2009/05/bioware_and_green_ronin_to_pub.php
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Black Isle did not make Baldur's Gate 1 or 2. Bioware did.
Meh - Black Isle "assisted" in the development of Bauldur's Gate, and were the publishers.
It's not "D&D" in the name sense, but they got the most of the gang from Black Isle (they did Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 for the PC) to do Dragon Age. So it's going to be a "spiritual successor".
I guess I should've been more clear in that I really meant that it's not "D&D["/b] (emphasis on the quotes), but I understood that it was meant to be a spiritual successor.
Either way, my only concern is the lack of character versatility and variety that we see in a D&D game - it's only going to have 3 classes, with some limited customization possible within each one.
I will sorely miss:
Barbarian
Bard
Druid
Sorcerer
Monk
Paladin
Ranger
Cleric
Man this game looks sweet. Mass effect was pure awesomeness, so I can't wait for this to come out.
I'm so excited for the game, but cgi sex scenes are creepy. Even if they aren't graphic or anything, the character models occupy that "not fake enough to be cartoony, not real enough to be human" grey area as demonstrated on 30 Rock.
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I'm so excited for the game, but cgi sex scenes are creepy. Even if they aren't graphic or anything, the character models occupy that "not fake enough to be cartoony, not real enough to be human" grey area as demonstrated on 30 Rock.
Uncanny Valley. People really started making a big deal out of it in the context of the videogame industry when the tech demo for Heavy Rain came out and creep everyone the hell out. IIRC, it's also a big part of why all-CG movies for kids have veered towards stylized instead of going for realistic again after The Polar Express gave children nightmares.
I distinctly remember being bothered after a run through Epcot Center's animatronics area...
I think it's the eyes that really make or break it.
I wonder if Dragon Age will have a dryad character that male and female PCs have an equal chance at romancing.
Maybe a dryad Dragonconic creature?
Seriously, I didn't like the romance all that much. They're cheesy, uninspired, and a waste of space.
I also seen the preview of Mass Effect 2 for E3. I also can't wait for that game to come out.
Interview at GameBanshee about the Dragon Age tabletop game.
It's not "D&D" in the name sense, but they got the most of the gang from Black Isle (they did Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 for the PC) to do Dragon Age. So it's going to be a "spiritual successor".
Black Isle - who are now Obsidian - haven't got anything to do with Dragon Age. They're putting the finishing touches to Alpha Protocol before they start work on Fallout: New Vegas. Since Black Isle did create Fallout 1 and 2, there's a lot of excitement that (most) of the original designers are going to be working on a new Fallout game, which will be published by Bethesda next year.
Meanwhile, BioWare are doing Dragon Age with a lot of the same team-members who did Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 (the ones who are still there, anyway), and have labelled it a 'spiritual successor' to BG1 and 2. They are citing the more modern, 'gritty' fantasy novelists such as George RR Martin as major inspirations on the game.
It looks awesome but I don't think my PC will be able to handle it. Still, that gives me six months to save up for a new one.
Thomas Jane is the Grey Warden (ok not really but it does lok like him to me anyways.)
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-dragon-age/49796#comments_top
Dragon Age looks great, but marketing the game with a death metal soundtrack, not so good.
Six page preview from Gamebanshee. I like it a lot because they talk about the system and actually playing the game.
Preview
Yep. I like it a lot. My only criticism is that combat feels a little strange. It's not quite like an action rpg nor is it wholly turn-based. I'm kind of used to micro-managing my party and taking my time to make choices but it's a little hard to get used to playing like that on the Xbox. Especially since the camera only pans out so far.
So far, that's my only complaint, though.
Yep. I like it a lot. My only criticism is that combat feels a little strange. It's not quite like an action rpg nor is it wholly turn-based. I'm kind of used to micro-managing my party and taking my time to make choices but it's a little hard to get used to playing like that on the Xbox. Especially since the camera only pans out so far.
So far, that's my only complaint, though.
James, just a side note: I find it hard to take you seriously when your not a foetus floating in green liquid
James, just a side note: I find it hard to take you seriously when your not a foetus floating in green liquidYep. I like it a lot. My only criticism is that combat feels a little strange. It's not quite like an action rpg nor is it wholly turn-based. I'm kind of used to micro-managing my party and taking my time to make choices but it's a little hard to get used to playing like that on the Xbox. Especially since the camera only pans out so far.
So far, that's my only complaint, though.
Dang. My image consultant told me to go for something "less creepy" and "more friendly"; seems I've only lost some of my gravitas.
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For those that have and are playing this ...
Talk to me about the Rated M, sex and nudity angle. I have a 15 year old that has expressed interest in this game, but, as a parent, I don't know how I feel about that.
Some games have an M rating, but are mostly just for realistic combat etc. This game seems to pretty much list everything you can imagine (sex, nudity, violence, alcohol etc)
So, what are we actually talking about here. Is this appropriate for a young teeneager?
Thanks!!!
The game is pretty damn violent.Heads are chopped off, and after any fight your characters actually spend a good deal of time afterwards covered in blood. Sex is pretty much just like Mass Effect. Intimate music playing while two characters shown in their underware spooning, and then showing only from the shoulders up when they go beyond that. There is alcohol in the game, kind of, I guess. I mean to say I once gave a bottle of wine to a party member as a gift, so yes booze exists in this world of Biowares, but I have yet to come across a beer chugging mini game (but I'm still holding out hope :P)
All that said, yes it earns it's M rating, but I certainly think it's nothing a 15 year old couldn't handle. We'll nothing I couldn't handle at 15 anyways.
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So yeah, I've been going through the various Origin Stories while I'm staying at my mothers house, just to get a taste of the various origins, before playing as my main character back home. One problem..
The Dwarven Noble origin is bloody brilliant. I may have to change plans and play a Dwarf now. It is just that good. I'll say no more so no one is spoiled. But I think even Mr Jacobs would approve of this one.
I love the game, but it's terribly frustrating. While I like that things you do and choices you make are important and have consequences, it drives me nuts that the auto save feature is so.. spotty. Other games, if you leave an area it always auto saves. Something changes, auto save. Important scene coming up or just resolved: auto save. If you don't take it upon yourself to constantly save the game, you end up replaying large chunks of it. For example:
So save nonstop every five minutes or else you're going to pull your hair out.
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I'm playing it at the moment, and for now I'm getting a lot of deja vu from Mass Effect. Also I have a problem with overuse of "sudden but inevitable betrayals". Video Games should have a Sense Motive skill, because when someone has a voice that sounds like Tim Curry, and they aren't in my party, I know they are up to no good.
Then again, it could just be the human noble origin and once I finish my assessments for the semester I might restart it as a Dwarf Noble, or a mage of some description. Maybe even cross-play for once.
Edit: The Voice IS Tim Curry, well that's just gravy!
So save nonstop every five minutes or else you're going to pull your hair out.
F5 is your friend in this game.
I'm enough of a Bioware fanboy that if I have to replay 10 or 20 minutes of game play because I got too engrossed to save the game and then had to reload that I am actually pretty okay with getting to play the game that "extra" 10 or 20 minutes of course. It's a feature!!!
Heh, well said.
So save nonstop every five minutes or else you're going to pull your hair out.
[Grumpy Old Gamer]Back in my day, we didn't have any fancy auto-save. We had to save the game ourselves and we liked it![/Grumpy]
(Of course, don't get me started on Nethack! When you died you start a brand new character at the beginning!)
Just got it today and here are a few thoughts.
I was expecting the combat to be closer to KotOR which allowed you time to ponder action and powers to use instead of the non-stop combat. The non-stop combat isn't a bad thing but requires a lot of camera control during combat so you don't miss any monsters.
I started on casual, whatever happened to easy, to get a feel of how hard the combat is and found out even at the higher levels the combat is fairly easy once you figure out the controls, IMO.
I have only played as a human noble so far and only up to the point of getting accepted into the greywardens but there don't seem to be any heavy moral choices in the dialog. You have choices to be the good son, the I want to see combat right now type and an a&#&~*~. Hopefully more complex choices and dilemma come up as the game progresses.
I'm enough of a Bioware fanboy that if I have to replay 10 or 20 minutes of game play because I got too engrossed to save the game and then had to reload that I am actually pretty okay with getting to play the game that "extra" 10 or 20 minutes of course. It's a feature!!!
I must scrounge my pennies together and get this game. All this good buzz and I can't play it yet! Argh!!!! ;D
I have only played as a human noble so far and only up to the point of getting accepted into the greywardens but there don't seem to be any heavy moral choices in the dialog. You have choices to be the good son, the I want to see combat right now type and an a@%~%~%. Hopefully more complex choices and dilemma come up as the game progresses.
You won't be disappointed on that front, in my opinion.
You won't be disappointed on that front, in my opinion.
I have only played as a human noble so far and only up to the point of getting accepted into the greywardens but there don't seem to be any heavy moral choices in the dialog. You have choices to be the good son, the I want to see combat right now type and an a@%~%~%. Hopefully more complex choices and dilemma come up as the game progresses.
You are right, almost all dialog choices are ambiguous to the point of having to guess what response is the best one.
A little tip:
SERIOUS SPOILERS
If you haven't gotten past your origin story and into the gray warden stuff, then don't look!!!
I want a bigger inventory!
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I want a bigger inventory!
Two things - buy all the backpacks. Most vendors in each of the cities have a single backpack that will add 10 slots to your inventory.
Second, is get the Warden's Keep DLC ($7 or free with Collector's Edition). Once you complete it, you have a lock box that you can store crap in.
