I just finished the game (Xbox 360) a few days ago, and I have some feedback on the game itself and some ideas for forthcoming Dragon Age games.
Firstly, I should just say I enjoyed the game. I haven't got the DLC yet (bit busy this month with work) but I am sure I will get it and the Awakening follow-up in due course.
Dragon Age Origins Feedback
1. Tactics: Adequate in normal encounters, but generally showed its cracks in the tougher battles.
- There's no 'Dead' party member status.
- No 'Avoid Friendly Fire' tactic.
- Changing from melee to ranged to melee (etc.) A.I. seems none to clever
- Behaviours: Morrigan set to 'Ranged' kept charging in...silly girl.
- No 'If Monsters Immune' switch to different power tactic.
2. Explanation of Game Features: Lots of the game's features are not explained sufficiently to gamers relatively new to that type of game (such as myself). For instance I didn't know you could change characters until I was about 9 hours in (first time main character got killed in fact). Maybe having a 'tutorial' option where the game makes a point of telling you new options as they become available. This could be switched off by more experienced players after the first prompt.
3. Creature Models: Generally pretty good (the Broodmother, Dragon, Revenant, Ogre and many others stand out) but for me there are a couple of real stinkers in there.
- The Wild Sylvan model is terrible. I have never played WoW, but I remember a friend showing it to me on his computer and it had this really cool looking Treant type monster with loads of leaves on its branches and the whole mass is swaying up and down as it stomped about. Basically have the Wild Sylvans look like the trees in the game, not like some fragile twiglet monsters.
- Abominations look cool in the cut scenes, but when on the battle screen they look a bit rubbish. Sometimes when you pull the camera back (and therefore the models are smaller) you need to exaggerate a monsters features to make it stand out.
- The Pride and Sloth Demon models in the game were disappointing. Also what the heck had they to do with Pride and Sloth anyway? The Broodmother would have made a far better 'Sloth' Demon.
4. Difference Between Winning and Losing: I wonder if there is an over reliance on elemental resistances when defeating certain bosses. Bosses such as the Archdemon (to use an obvious example) deal so much elemental damage, that not having a high resistance* is an almost fatal flaw, while having a high spirit resistance makes the fight something of an anti-climax. I haven't played enough of these type of games to know if this 'putting all your eggs in one basket' is an unavoidable feature?
*and as good fortune would have it, a certain Hurlock drops a helmet which grants massive spirit resistance.
Ideas for future Dragon Age games
I imagine Dragon Age: Awakening is all but finished (and sounds and looks great), so I'll make some suggestions for future Dragon Age games. I'm sure lots of these have been suggested before.
A. Character Models: Fat/Thin characters, Long haired characters.
B. New Races:
- (Darkspawn) Hurlock (+3 Strength, +1 Constitution)
- Revenant (+4 Strength, +2 Magic, -2 Constitution)
- Spear - One-handed (Spartan) option row, Two-handed option row, Thrown Spear option row.
- Unarmed Combat (Monk): Tiger style (fast) option row; Dragon style (powerful) option row; Crane style evasive) option row.
D. Shields: Could be made more interesting if you give them specific attacks like "Ice Dragon Shield": Gives the wielder the option of casting Cone of Cold. I was also thinking about the idea of Tower Shields being a 'massive' shield variant.
E. New Runes: Lack of Nature and Spirit runes needs to be addressed. If the rune tiers are being expanded then possibly Archmaster (+6) and Overmaster (+7).
F. New Materials: With Awakening going to Level 35 its likely we'll see 2-3 new equipment tiers in that game.
- Star Metal (Tier 8) - okay not so new.
- Diamond (Tier 9) - Remember Diamonds can come in different colours
- Orichalcum (Tier 10) - 'Gold' looking metal
- Dark Matter (Tier 11) - Black Metal with stars 'in' it
- Neutronium (Tier 12) - 'Mercury' (Chrome effect) looking metal
- Soul (Tier 13) - 'Living' armour made from solidified souls
G. New Companions: A dragon would be pretty cool.
H. Horses: I think these would be great in limited doses (outside environments only). Although they might open up a whole 'mount' can of worms with people wanting Griffons and Dragons next.
I: Artifacts: Based around the Shield idea above on the list. Basically weapons that grant extra special attacks rather than simply statistical bonuses.
J: Animal Models: I think animal models are very customisable (colours, textures, effects, head swops etc.) and I believe the following would be good additions:
- Horse: Aside from Destriers themselves, undead horses (for revenants), ghost horses, unicorns, bicorns, nightmares, centaurs, yales, ki-rin etc. You have tons of options springing from the one model.
- Lion: Again, beyond different hunting cats (lions, tigers, panthers) you could have griffons, manticores, chimera etc.
- Giant Bat: Could double for an eagle with some texture swopping. I think the game does need a monster that is constantly flying. It could be the basis for Harpies, Peryton and various demons.
K. Monster Features: Rather than list all the monsters I'd like to see (that would be a heck of a long list - the more the merrier in my opinion), instead I'll list some ideas for features monsters could possess.
- Mounted Enemies: Revenants on Undead Horses, Knights on Griffons, Warlords on Dragons, Genlocks on Ogres etc.
- Slain Enemies Rise as Undead, either on Unhly Ground or perhaps animated by a Spellcaster.
- Demon Possessed: As above, when dropped to 0 health, the possessed demon is released.
- Splits into Multiple Monsters: Either at the start of battle, or at the end of battle when its defeated. You could even have these smaller monsters split into multiples assuming the core monster was large enough.
- Guardian Monsters: Monsters 'soul-bound' to a master, he cannot be injured until they are destroyed.
- Two-sided Monsters: Creatures which are totally different depending upon which side you face them on. One side might have different resistances or attacks to the other.
- Monsters with Auras: Punishing melee attackers.
- Reflecting Missiles: Monsters which punish ranged attackers.
- Disease Inflicting Monsters: Half Health and Stamina limit and Half Damage until healed.
- Shape-Shifting Monsters: Like Gaxxang, but their shifting is tactical rather than simply timed.
- Mutant Darkspawn: Think of an Ogre, but with the upper half of a Hurlock General growing out of the top of the Ogres head. Once you kill the Ogre part, the monster drops to all fours (resembling a weird centaur at this point) and you still have to kill the Hurlock General. A three stacked version might resemble a caterpillar in a way.
- Summoned Monsters: Either through a portal, or by an enemy spellcaster. Players don't gain Experience (or loot) for these monsters so it pays to shut off the source quick before you are overwhelmed.
L: Missing classic Monsters: The game covers a lot of bases, but I do think it was missing...
- Big Winged Demon: Yes I was upset when the Archdemon turned out to be a Dragon? I was hoping for a big Balrog type winged demon beast. I mean okay, I'm not necessarily suggesting rip off the Balrog itself, but I think you need a big winged demon model in there whether flaming or not. Its a staple of the genre.
- Vampires: Who doesn't want to see vampires?
- Zombies: Clawing their way out of the ground and shambling towards you en masse.
- Grim Reapers: Ash Wraithes are okay, but I miss the classic scythe-wielding undead baddies.
M: Prisoners: A (temporary?) feature in the game (possibly a powerful magic item) which lets you either subdue a unique enemy or raise them as undead and bring them back to fight for you in one battle. You can only have one such enemy at a time.
N: Solo Play as Secondary Characters: Much like in the Fade, except you play characters other than the main character for a short time. This would help give you a better insight into their powers and character.
O: Locations: Pretty varied so far, but with a few environments missing such as Deserts, Swamps, Moors (Foggy/Misty), Crystalline Caves, Graveyards.
P: Fifth Tier Spells/Talents: Beyond spells like Blizzard/Inferno, you could have a spell that attacks all enemies but avoids friendly fire (Meteor Strike, Ice Age). Or spells which cast their own spells (for the duration of that battle) - ie. Volcano - casts fireball on enemies. Or how about a spell like Disintegrate, which can kill a target provided you have enough mana. A Mirror spell which creates a duplicate of an ally (or enemy). Shapechange into Dragon etc.
Q: Hazardous Environments: We see this briefly in the first game with the poison gas trap. But you could have avalanches, lava eruptions, tombs/coffins which if disturbed by an area of effect spell release additional foes.
R: Interactive Environments: Environments that react to certain spells (Wood burning) or even just being attacked (attack pillar to collapse roof etc.)
S: Cloaks: Flowing cloaks (as a new item) would be a great visual. Perhaps in place of a cloak a character with sufficient strength could wear a shield over their backs (yet still fight two weapon style)?
T: New Magic: What about a group of spells based on the Fade or Demons in general? With summoning and controlling abilities. Or maybe even an illusion based set of spells that punish creatures with low mental resistance.
U: Cursed Uber Weapons: I'm thinking that some weapons and armour might have powerful bonuses but also have major flaws. Like a large damage bonus but a penalty to armour etc.
V: Hammers: There are no 1-handed hammers (as far as I am aware). Spare a thought for those of us who like to play God of Thunder.
W: Elven Darkspawn: We have seen corrupted Dwarves (Genlocks) and corrupted humans (Hurlocks) but what of corrupted Elves?
X: Day/Night Cycle: Would give a much greater sense of atmosphere. A turnover of about an hour could work, with inns where you can stay to quick change the cycle. Naturally some quests could only be completed at certain times of the day.
Y: Monstrous Hazards: How about things like flies (spreading disease) attracted to corpses (forcing you to get the loot soon). Or swarms of locusts crossing the battlefield attracted to whomever makes a noise at that point (attack or cast a spell and the locusts attack you).
Z: Diamonds: For every 100 gold pieces.
Okay, I'm about done. Bit longer than I anticipated. Thanks for staying the distance.
Modifié par Upper_Krust, 15 janvier 2010 - 08:48 .
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