149 réponses à ce sujet

[Almostfaceman]

The reviews vary a lot on the story, but some common ground i found was that it took a long time for the story to start being meaningful.
One review stated that after 15 hours, the bad guy tipped his hand and "stuff got real"
Another said 1/3 of the game.
Others said simular things, including that it takes a long time to start and after that, the plot seems rushed and abrupt.

now, lets no blow this out of proportion... it could be nothing, but usually common things in reviews turn out to be a real thing. What do you think of this? I hate when stories take a long time to get rolling myself.. makes me feel like I wasted 15 hours that should have been better spent on real story.

 

I really hope these reviews are wrong, but I doubt it. :'(

 

 

I keep seeing these "I saw this in every review" threads, and frankly, I'm skeptical. Especially since in each one there's someone posting examples that said problem is not in every review. 

 

I watched the first hour of gameplay, and it was awesomesauce on every level. I think that constitutes part of that "first 1/5th" or whatevers. 

 

Dragon Age:Origins took a while to hook me. I really got goosebumps when i started hearing that poem from Hespith. Even with that though, I was more of a fan of the Mass Effect story than the Dragon Age. It didn't take quite as long with DA:2 (story-wise) but there were ho-hum spots in that story as well. I guess if I rated the over-all story of both previous games as one novel, I'd give it a 7/10. A good read, but not blowing me away like, say, Tolkien or King or Martin. 

 

It won't be hard for DA:I to improve on this story, and the atmosphere is already more immersive. Looking forward to seeing where they take us. 

[Guff]

I, at least, will modify my expectations about the game, based on these reviews. To me, the reviews signal that DA:I will include more MMO open world questing and less DA:O story telling. I like MMOs (and Skyrim too, which had a lot of similar "busywork" quests), but I would prefer the DA:O model. Knowing that the game I'll be getting might not be the one I had imagined is good, and the reviews are helpful in that way. I think it's quite good to discuss what the reviews might be refering to, in order to let each of us form a better picture of the game, based on the information available.

[Chewbacca99]

SIGH.  So this reminds me of some arguments I have with my spouse, which go something like this:

 

Spouse: You ALWAYS leave your clothes lying about (or some such infraction).  CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF

Me (plaintively): Not ALWAYS.  The last 5 times, I put them away!

Spouse: Don't remember you ever doing that.  Sorry.

 

LOL.  Seriously?  You HAVE to account for your personal biases when extrapolating from a limited set of data.  I for one read 6-8 reviews and I do not recall ANY of them saying the story is BUSYWORK for the first 1/3.  Probably my biases at work there.

 

The way to easily solve this scientifically is for someone to put together a spreadsheet with all the credible reviewers (who's credible?  A debate for another time) on the top axis and SYNTHESIZED set of PROS and CONS on the left axis.  No more than 10 PROS and 10 CONS (otherwise too confusing).  One of which is "lots of busywork".  Then tick what each review says.  Go to the row that says "busywork" and count the number of ticks on this row divided by the total number of reviews (columns).  That will tell you whether almost all (> 80%?) reviews state this as a CON.

 

Seriously?  Why do all of that when it's gonna be in our grubby hands in a week's time?  We can decide on our own.

 

And BTW, Origins was full of busywork (e.g. all those quests in Denerim to help clear criminal elements out of Inns and whatnot.  Seriously, am I a Grey Warden or a cop?).  But I still enjoyed the heck out of it.  And I'm sure I will enjoy the heck out of DA:I as well.  

[Sidney]

Well and busy work doesn't mean bad. Face it, BG2 was a lot of busy work trying to scrounge up 10000 gp to go after Imoen. DAO Ostagar and even Lothering aren't much more an busy work - go kill the bandits, spider and bears is about as rock standard RPG busy work as you can get. ME1 has a massive glut of busy work from driving that %}^*< Mako to finding lost writings and things. We won't even try and look at Skyrim, Morrowwind and Fallout 3 in which the entire flippin' game is busy work.

[Eterna]

Do any of these criticisms really matter when the people offering them are still giving the game positive reviews?

[Zoltansbeard]

Hell even if it where that way..wich i doubt

 

Some Previewer  1 or 2 weeks ago said something that stuck with me

 

"DA:I does have a at least to me, refreshing slow pace, it takes its time.. rushes nothing"

 

I think that is propably what some reviewers just dont get, maybe because they have to kinda rush through

 

DA never was the rush through Main Quest in 15 hours RPG.. and i Love it for that

 

It seems the 150 hours if you do Main Quest and 50% Side quests where correct.. and going away from the "1/3" thing i heard 15-20 hours before the Game really starts out...     15-20 out of 150.. i could live with that if it where true

[Zoltansbeard]

Do any of these criticisms really matter when the people offering them are still giving the game positive reviews?

 

Well it looks weird... because if you have serious complains about the Story in any way you cant give a Story based RPG a 85-95

It sounds like a reason to not rate it even higher... because it has to be good enough to not greatly affect the Review Score...so it seems weird^^

[Zoltansbeard]

Well and busy work doesn't mean bad. Face it, BG2 was a lot of busy work trying to scrounge up 10000 gp to go after Imoen. DAO Ostagar and even Lothering aren't much more an busy work - go kill the bandits, spider and bears is about as rock standard RPG busy work as you can get. ME1 has a massive glut of busy work from driving that %}^*< Mako to finding lost writings and things. We won't even try and look at Skyrim, Morrowwind and Fallout 3 in which the entire flippin' game is busy work.

People(in this case the Reviewers) have completly delusional expectations

 

If you where to fill a World this Big with Cutscene driven fleshed out Side quests only, with no smaller side activites at all... you would need to add another year to development..

 

You just cant fill such a huge world without "busy work quests"... if it where only the fleshed out side quests.. the Maps would be almost empty

thats not the purpose of a "open world"

[Almostfaceman]

 

Seriously?  Why do all of that when it's gonna be in our grubby hands in a week's time?  We can decide on our own.

 

 

 

Yup. 

[kipac]

Defending a town and choosing a king are as much busywork as killing ten boars. There is no difference, only in the number given and how the quests are formed.

You are just taking the word "busywork" too literally and are missing the point.
Choosing a king, defending town, etc are significant events/works that actually makes sense for a leaderboard be taking as his/her role.

Killing 10 boars on the other hand, is a grunt work that should be taken cared by grunts. Inquisitor is supposed to be a leader of some sort of the group, is it not? There are plenty of grunts in his/her organization that can do that kind of chores in his/her place.

[Deco03]

ME2's story didn't add anything too the ME Franchise if ya ask me. Still, It was a pretty good game to play, I enjoyed it greatly.

[Googleness]

http://www.eurogamer...uisition-review

 

eurogamer... disturbing

[pdusen]

http://www.eurogamer...uisition-review

 

eurogamer... disturbing

 

How insightful and eloquent this post is. My whole view of this game is shifting thanks to your enlightened commentary.

[AcidRelic]

http://www.eurogamer...uisition-review

 

eurogamer... disturbing

 

 

Well 1/5 of the way through is better than 1/3    Like I said earlier it makes sense to take it slower and have smaller quests to start as that is what's building your power and influence. 

[LordParbr]

this point is wrong.

DA:O was 99.5% building an army. but it was not boring, or busywork.

No, it had a lot of busywork...

I just hope it isn't the kind of busywork Saints Row 4 had... Most of the missions in that were the optional activities.

[DuckTheSecond]

It's the total package that counts to me.

 

I'm sure the story isn't horrible, but maybe not as good as some earlier works. But again, as long as I still enjoy it I see no problem.

[SomeoneStoleMyName]

My biggest concern is if the story pace quickens too fast at some point. Because taking breaks from the main story to rest, interact and enjoy your keep - is diminished in fun if you feel you are in a state of forced momentum.

 

It will wreck the fun of exploration if you suddenly have quests like:

"Quickly go to X location to face Y" 

or 

"Save your companion X before its too late"

or other main quests that gives a sense of urgency plummeting your playtime to the point where you suddenly are left with "Oh crap I finnished the game!".

[Snorka]

Don't worry about it 

The fellowship of the ring started off slow... A talented halfbit named Brumby son of Bilby once removed from his mothers side, was the youngest cousin of Bobsy of Bourbonbeer lake. It was said that Bobsy's uncle Bilby, had a son named Brumby that was quite talented!

 

The 1st few chapters of that book were BUSY work, but it came good in the end.

[azarhal]

My biggest concern is if the story pace quickens too fast at some point. Because taking breaks from the main story to rest, interact and enjoy your keep - is diminished in fun if you feel you are in a state of forced momentum.

 

It will wreck the fun of exploration if you suddenly have quests like:

"Quickly go to X location to face Y" 

or 

"Save your companion X before its too late"

or other main quests that gives a sense of urgency plummeting your playtime to the point where you suddenly are left with "Oh crap I finnished the game!".

 

You can still play the game after you are finished with the main quest though.

[SomeoneStoleMyName]

You can still play the game after you are finished with the main quest though.

Most people can. I cant. 

Cant say why without heavy spoilers.

[Al Foley]

I might actually prefer it this way and it should be a really interesting way to do the game.  As long as the entire game is not busy work I really should not mind tooo much.  After all the biggest problem with me and RPGs is getting acclamatized to the new controls, displays, settings, changes.  Etc, etc.  Even two games in the series can have vastly different feels to it.  Learning new combat, utilizing your new abilities, making plans what you are going to do, getting a feel for your character.  I hate to admit it, and its largely my own fault for not paying attention but it took me three playthroughs to get 'acclimatized' to DA O.  But if, say, the 'kill the ten bears quest' allos you to get comfortable with the game/combat before the proverbial **** hits the fan then it could be welcome.  

 

And as others pointed out in stories the first few chapters of any epic are often busywork.  Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars.  Luke was a moisture farmer you know.  

[Sylentmana]

I'll say what I've said before and 100% believe: Never trust someone else's opinion. Rely on your own perceptions when it comes to games.

[simpatikool]

I am pretty sure that if the story was to strong or too pushy then the same reviewers would be making some sort of statement about how linear the story is.

 

This is still a video game that is inviting us to explore and do our own thing. I like story, I love it in fact, but having more freedom to chart your own course is more compelling to me than story.

[Joe Barnin]

I had the busywork problem with DAO. E.g., I'm urgently trying to build an alliance to halt the darkspawn invasion that threatens everyone, and I'm supposed to waste time looking for nugs, or helping a young dwarf study magic, or even look for a lost son in the deep roads? It didn't make sense; I had to roll play it like "well, I need to get the lay of the land before I can jump in and do the big tasks". But that was somewhat unsatisfying.

 

At least with DAI, there is a built-in reason for the smaller quests - you're trying to build up as much power and as many alliances as you can, so every little thing you do helps.

[Kel Eligor]

Origins had a metric ton of busywork for the PC to accomplish.

 

Act I of DA2 was literally just busywork.