Why so much hype and acclaim for a game that is underwhelming at best ? No new ground has been broken with this title, it's a poorly done rehash of tired old material regurgitated hastily simply to profit from jaded, nostalgic fanboys/girls.
Roleplaying games are in my opinion, the most rewarding type of game with massive potential for immersive free-world exploration, character development and storyline. They are also the type of game next to shooters that i have played most of in my time as a gamer both single player and MMO, so i consider myself somewhat of a gourmet, able to judge finely between them. Unfortuately Dragon Age plays like a Disney movie spin-off designed for 5-10 year olds "including the violence and sexual suggestion which IMO are too dumbed down to warrant an 18 rating"
Let's use Oblivion on the Xbox360 as a comparison, although flawed it is one of the best excecutions of a this-gen RPG and equalises most console vs PC and market type vs hardware arguments.
World and Camera
Oblivion is a massive free-roam, open world experience that can be played in either first person or in a zoomable third person camera.
Dragon Age is a closed linear environment where characters move between insular, locked-boundary zones at particular points in the storyline while observing only through an unzoomable third-person camera.
Race and class
Oblivion has 8 starting races and the option to build a character however the player chooses using all or none of the skills available.
Dragon Age has the tired and unimaginative traditional 3 races, 3 preset job classes and is designed around an inflexible, cookie cutter level-up system with minor later sub-specializations. Also the stats used to build a character are badly designed, not interacting properly and we are still waiting for a patch to fix this two weeks after release.
Loot
In Oblivion loot is not only found on NPCs but also hidden in a huge amount of containers and placed in the world in the form of freely growing plants, food on tables and other realistic placements providing massive variety and a challenge to find.
In Dragon Age no loot is placed directly in the environment, plants and containers are at a frequency of maybe 1% the amount found in Oblivion and all loot is marked with large glowing graphical sparkles removing all immersion and difficulty of aquisition involved in the RPG loot-finding process.
Combat and Movement
In Oblivion combat can be conducted in either of the above-mentioned camera modes, enemies can be engaged or disengaged from at will, attacks, jumps and stealth are in real-time and caused physically by the player hitting buttons.
In Dragon Age enemies automatically engage with no option to disengage, attacks occur automatically with no option for the player to influence accuracy via controller skill, there is no jump function, stealth is so badly implemented as to be almost useless. Combat immersion is weak due to a poor control system interspersed with pauses, AI failures and the familiar huge glowing retard-proof targets around enemies.
Summary
In summary only in one area does Dragon Age come close to equalling Oblivion and that is in terms of the characters a player meets and the storyline that evolves through interaction with them, this factor is impossible to quantify due to personal preferences but is one facet that in my opinion Bioware does do well.
Admittedly these two games do have one large difference and that is in the system of permanent accompanying party characters, Dragon Age has to be said to be superior in this regard simply due to the fact that it contains them while Oblivion does not "without quest exploiting" but i feel the party system and the way the classes interact is so badly implemented in DA:O that it is not a benefit.
Reasoning
I originally conceived this essay simply as an excercise to put my thoughts in order and justify to myself whether i even wanted to continue playing Dragon Age or just take it back to the shop and get back to Oblivion which even after several playthroughs still entertains me greatly. Obtusely enough im actually going to keep playing Dragon Age for a while because even with all its flaws there is just enough in terms of action gameplay and more than enough storyline to keep me interested. If this was back in the day when i played KOTOR "Kreia is still the best video game character i've ever encountered" then the combat and exploration simplicity, glitched quests, simplistic stat system and graphical failings wouldn't have bothered me so much because they were the best on offer but in this day and age i expected a lot more polish from a company with such a track record.
Disclaimer
Posting this essay here is more an opportunity for me to vent frustration than anything else but maybe some replies will help me see aspects of this game in a more favourable light though i doubt it because i'm a stubborn, opinionated bastard. Please don't bother replying if it's only to flame or roleplay a grammar enforcer from the DICtion universe as after years on MMO forums i'm immune to it all although i'm betting someone will in which case i'll hack your system and send a intercontinental anthrax missile redirected thru pentagon central command to incinerate and disease your entire locale you pathetic little turd burglar, thankyou.
Yours sincerely
Troll
PS: Why does internet always have problem just as i hit the "submit" button lol ? Had to copy/paste, reassemble and hastily re-write portions so full appreciation of my post may not be possible, please send donations for new router to babyjesusatemymodem@crapnet.com
Edit: Spacing, stupid website >.<
Modifié par mathewgurney, 18 novembre 2009 - 08:02 .
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