21 réponses à ce sujet

[Januaria]

After 3 years of SWTOR I decided to take a break from that title and try another highly-rated BW game. So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to pop $19.99 on DAO and give it a try.

 

Sad to say that I'll never see that $19.99 again -- what a HUGE disappointment.   

 

I love the companion system, the opening race/class story lines, and the graphics are decent, but everything else is ungood. This is not a complete list, but I thought I'd highlight the most prominent disappointments with this game:

 

(1) yellow/brown teeth: really, BW, your developers thought this was a good idea?

(2) your character has NO active dialogue during any of the cut scenes (see SWTOR - which DOES have them) -- why was I given the choice of picking out a "voice" for my toon in the character creation module? Mind boggling...

(3) The Fade: dull, tedious, has more grinds than your local Dunkin Donuts -->hate this part of the game; after I completed this on my first toon; I stopped playing the game for all my other toons, thinking, "oh crap, I have to do this again?!"

(4) no decisions make a difference: once Duncan shows up: you HAVE to become a member of the Grey Wardens -- ALL the story lines are IDENTICAL once the initial race/class intros have been played out. See SWTOR where you get EIGHT unique class story lines. That  means for all your toons you have to go through the identical dull, boring, tedious, overly-talkative cut scenes. Yak, yak, yak --- I practically broke my [Esc] key trying to get through the 100th time I've heard the EXACT same dialogue.

(5) hey, BW, you might want to give your NPC's rags to clean the floors. Laughably awful - even in SWTOR (see all the cantinas) -- all the NPCs who are on their hands and knees cleaning the floors are using their bare hands. What, no mops or rags can be programmed? Brilliant, BW, job well done!

 

I'll try another go at my Elf Mage -- really love this character when she was in the Mage's Tower(?), but the minute Duncan showed up I literally said out loud, "OH CRAP, YOU AGAIN!!!" And sure enough, none of the dialogue options allow you to reject the Grey Wardens.

 

Now I understand why some peeps on the SWTOR forums refer to BioWare as BioFail.

 

Can I have my $19.99 back?

[Bixillarla]

1) the teeth look white on my system.  Don't know what to tell you.

 

2) there is no voice over for the cut scenes but you do hear your character making comments during combat and other activities.

 

3) If you are playing on the PC there is a mod to skip the fade, it teleports you to your companions to free them then to the final battle.  You get all the codexes, skill points and exp that you would have by playing through it.  It is my #1 must have mod.  I hated the fade as well, after the 3rd time through it I dreaded it on any new character.

 

I have many characters to try out all the different skills and combos and am enjoying the game immensly.  Different strokes for different folks I guess.  

[Kynare]

Brah. I've done the Fade quests through 4 playthroughs now. I can speedrun that quest like MLG--okay, no, I'm not gonna go there.

 

Sorry you don't approve. I got DA:O for free on Origin and have enjoyed a good 400 hours of it so far.

[mousestalker]

OP #1. There is a mod for that.

#2, The voice you chose is the voice your character uses for odd bits of dialogue during combat.

#3, Linky to the mod Bixillarla mentioned.

#4. Actually there are bits later on in the game. The dwarf origins each have differing receptions in Orzammar, for instance. The Dalish react quite differently to a Dalish Gray Warden. If you are a city elf, the city elves will actually fight for you at the Battle of Denerim. And so on.

#5. The Chant of Light places a high emphasis on both clean floors and personal sacrifice. Just FYI.

Hope that all helps!

I also have some SWTOR related fanfic

[Jeremiah12LGeek]

1. I think this is your settings, possibly.

 

2. There are advantages to that, but it is obviously a matter of subjective opinion.

 

3. I didn't mind the fade as much as some people did. It didn't seem like more of a grind than the other areas. I'm a completionist, mind you, so I exhausted all side missions in all areas. If you do that, the Fade isn't actually longer than the other areas, it's shorter.

 

4. You decided no decisions make a difference after a single playthrough? Well, you have no basis for that statement, and you're completely wrong. The beauty of DA:O compared to other recent BioWare games is that it's the last time they had a game where your decisions actually do significantly impact the story. In fact, the endings are determined by your decisions.

 

5. At this point, I assume you're looking or excuses to nitpick. And how is a criticism of SWTOR relevant when you are complaining about DA:O, anyway?

 

If you could refuse to become a Grey Warden as a Mage, or any other origin, the game would immediately end. That would have been a waste of your money.

[HTTP 404]

you spent 20 bucks on it?  it was free not long ago.  Also how old is that game now?  If you want to play classic bioware try out Baldur's Gate 2 and KOTOR.

[Januaria]

Peeps, many thanks for your feedback!

 

This obviously isn't the game for me. As an accountant in RL, I'll just have to write-off that $19.99 and brown-bag my lunch for a few days to recoup those lost funds. Of course I ALWAYS brown-bag it, so I'll need to come up with some other cost-saving idea.   

 

Happy questing, y'all!   

[Yulia]

yellow teeth? I've never seen that before (although this age would be somewhat like the medevil era so they had no way to clean their teeth back then and rotten teeth was common). Anyways, I I'm not bothered quite as much as you are by some of the things (the Fade gets tiring once in a while if I'm not in the mood) but I don't mind a silent protagonist, it does help keep my interest if they talk but I'll say this, I much rather prefer a quiet protagonist if the voice actor they were to use was bad lol. Also this specific Dragon Age isn't to some of the fan base likings. Some like DAII and DA:I better than DA:O because this one is more "boring" in there terms while the others are more action. Not saying you prefer more action or not but that's what helps others pick which of the games in the series they like. As for the decisions well you'll have to actually play the entire series to see that decisions do matter of fact carry over, some of them major and some not. They can't have you evade Duncan and not join the Wardens as that defeats the purpose of the game in the first place but I see what you're saying (like I said, decisions do carry over into the sequels). Number 5, many games made in this time frame lacked many graphical things. Look at Halo CE 2001 to the 2012 (I think it was 2012? not sure that or 2013) remastered version. You can for sure tell the difference between the technology they had back then compared to what they have today. Other games are noticeable too, Resident evil early 2000s compared to the remastered that came out like a month or two ago. BIG Difference in technology in todays world to back then. We can add much more things now compared to back then, they had to make sacrifices and I don't mind a few rags missing to the actual game itself. Now, as to the second half of number 5, this is a matter of opinion, some despise BioWare, some worship them, and then there are those who are neutral and wait it out and get reviews before buying their products. (honestly I would've waited for DA:O to go on sale, I got mine for $5) as $20 is a lot (to me IMO) for a game that old.

[Januaria]

OP #1. There is a mod for that.

#2, The voice you chose is the voice your character uses for odd bits of dialogue during combat.

#3, Linky to the mod Bixillarla mentioned.

#4. Actually there are bits later on in the game. The dwarf origins each have differing receptions in Orzammar, for instance. The Dalish react quite differently to a Dalish Gray Warden. If you are a city elf, the city elves will actually fight for you at the Battle of Denerim. And so on.

#5. The Chant of Light places a high emphasis on both clean floors and personal sacrifice. Just FYI.

Hope that all helps!

I also have some SWTOR related fanfic

FWIW: my fave toon in SWTOR was a Sith Warrior named Dark-Athena. I absolutely ADORED Vette -- she was my most beloved companion.

[Sarcastic Tasha]

There's something I don't understand if you wouldn't mind clarifying. Have you completed the game? Or are you part way through with a bunch of different characters?

The origin stories at the start are different but the rest of the game is essentially the same no matter what origin you pick. There are a few differences and obviously it's nice to roleplay different characters but it's not like playing through six separate games. I tend to give myself a break after completing the game before going for another play through.

[Callidus Thorn]

Dd you not try and find out a little about DA:O before you bought it? Because from what you say, part of which is just being annoyed at the existence of a plot, I have to assume you didn't. In which case it's hardly surprising you found the game disappointing.

 

Though I'll be honest, I fail to see how numbers 1, 2, & 5 contribute to a "HUGE disappointment". As for 4, there are little bits here and there that are different based on your decisions and origin and everything, nothing huge, but I like them.

 

But, to each their own.

[cJohnOne]

I take it that you don't like being a mouse.

[Monica21]

After 3 years of SWTOR I decided to take a break from that title and try another highly-rated BW game. So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to pop $19.99 on DAO and give it a try.

Sad to say that I'll never see that $19.99 again -- what a HUGE disappointment.

I love the companion system, the opening race/class story lines, and the graphics are decent, but everything else is ungood. This is not a complete list, but I thought I'd highlight the most prominent disappointments with this game:

(1) yellow/brown teeth: really, BW, your developers thought this was a good idea?
(2) your character has NO active dialogue during any of the cut scenes (see SWTOR - which DOES have them) -- why was I given the choice of picking out a "voice" for my toon in the character creation module? Mind boggling...
(3) The Fade: dull, tedious, has more grinds than your local Dunkin Donuts -->hate this part of the game; after I completed this on my first toon; I stopped playing the game for all my other toons, thinking, "oh crap, I have to do this again?!"
(4) no decisions make a difference: once Duncan shows up: you HAVE to become a member of the Grey Wardens -- ALL the story lines are IDENTICAL once the initial race/class intros have been played out. See SWTOR where you get EIGHT unique class story lines. That means for all your toons you have to go through the identical dull, boring, tedious, overly-talkative cut scenes. Yak, yak, yak --- I practically broke my [Esc] key trying to get through the 100th time I've heard the EXACT same dialogue.
(5) hey, BW, you might want to give your NPC's rags to clean the floors. Laughably awful - even in SWTOR (see all the cantinas) -- all the NPCs who are on their hands and knees cleaning the floors are using their bare hands. What, no mops or rags can be programmed? Brilliant, BW, job well done!

I'll try another go at my Elf Mage -- really love this character when she was in the Mage's Tower(?), but the minute Duncan showed up I literally said out loud, "OH CRAP, YOU AGAIN!!!" And sure enough, none of the dialogue options allow you to reject the Grey Wardens.

Now I understand why some peeps on the SWTOR forums refer to BioWare as BioFail.

Can I have my $19.99 back?

You're surprised that you're a Warden? Really? That's "ungood" to you? Come on, man.

[Januaria]

There's something I don't understand if you wouldn't mind clarifying. Have you completed the game? Or are you part way through with a bunch of different characters?

The origin stories at the start are different but the rest of the game is essentially the same no matter what origin you pick. There are a few differences and obviously it's nice to roleplay different characters but it's not like playing through six separate games. I tend to give myself a break after completing the game before going for another play through.

I created four toons (two Human, two Elves -- would not play Dwarves as they are ugly and I NEVER, EVER play ugly toons). Once my highest level toon made it past The Fade I was so burnt out and annoyed that I created a new toon and realized that all the storylines are IDENTICAL once you get past the initial "race/class" beginnings. 

 

I could not bear to plow through The Fade again -- not for money -- took me three nights on Moderate difficulty setting. I was a miserable puppy. I play games to be HAPPY, not miserable. If I want to be miserable, I just need to go to work -- there's plenty of misery waiting for me, but I get PAID for that misery. Now if BW wants to PAY me for playing, okay, then let's talk.  

[Januaria]

Dd you not try and find out a little about DA:O before you bought it? Because from what you say, part of which is just being annoyed at the existence of a plot, I have to assume you didn't. In which case it's hardly surprising you found the game disappointing.

 

Though I'll be honest, I fail to see how numbers 1, 2, & 5 contribute to a "HUGE disappointment". As for 4, there are little bits here and there that are different based on your decisions and origin and everything, nothing huge, but I like them.

 

But, to each their own.

I actually did do a little research on this title before I purchased it off Steam. It received amazing reviews -- both from professional critics and (more importantly) actual players. 

 

Truth to tell, I found Duncan's self-righteous, smug attitude so off putting that I wanted to join the Dark Spawn hordes. Then when I realized on my 2nd toon (after abandoning my first right after that awful Fade quest chain) that ALL your toons do the same exact quests and interact with the same NPCs and have to plow through all that dialogue (ESC, ESC,ESC,ESC...), I decided it was time to cut my losses.

 

Guess I'll have to renew my sub to SWTOR -- it really is the far superior game (if more costly).

[Januaria]

You're surprised that you're a Warden? Really? That's "ungood" to you? Come on, man.

Remember early in the game, right after your quests in the Korcari Wilds and you get the Grey Warden initiation from Duncan by drinking the blood of the Dark Spawn (I think that's the story  line)? I was pissed that Daveth (the Archer) who accompanied you and rendered good ranged DPS was killed by the poison. Even worse, when Ser Jory is killed by Duncan, well, I was just royally pissed off. Poor Jory just wanted to get back to his wife and unborn child.

 

I tried every dialogue option to not join the Wardens to no avail. There should at least have been an option to kill Duncan at that point -- maybe then I would have joined the Wardens with Duncan's blood pooling around by boots while I was initiated.

 

Duncan =  self-righteous, sanctimonious, sociopath -- I would've preferred the honest, in-your-face evil of the Dark Spawn.

[Monica21]

Remember early in the game, right after your quests in the Korcari Wilds and you get the Grey Warden initiation from Duncan by drinking the blood of the Dark Spawn (I think that's the story line)? I was pissed that Daveth (the Archer) who accompanied you and rendered good ranged DPS was killed by the poison. Even worse, when Ser Jory is killed by Duncan, well, I was just royally pissed off. Poor Jory just wanted to get back to his wife and unborn child.

I tried every dialogue option to not join the Wardens to no avail. There should at least have been an option to kill Duncan at that point -- maybe then I would have joined the Wardens with Duncan's blood pooling around by boots while I was initiated.

Duncan = self-righteous, sanctimonious, sociopath -- I would've preferred the honest, in-your-face evil of the Dark Spawn.

The entire point of the Game is that you're a Warden. Your surprise is rather baffling.

[caradoc2000]

I take it that you don't like being a mouse.

Considering the amount of cheese lying around in DA games, being a mouse should be very appealing.

[Sarcastic Tasha]

I think maybe part of the reason the game was tedious to you was that you started again a few times instead of completing one playthrough. Seeing as you've finished the fade with one character it would make sense to just continue from there.

As for Duncan I like him, he's pretty ruthless but he has to be. My favourite warden is a city elf, if Duncan hadn't conscripted her she would have been executed so she owes Duncan her life. I did feel bad for Daveth, not so much for Ser Jory though. It seemed like he wanted to join the wardens more for status than anything. I think it would have been cool to have the option to say no to the joining at that point and being killed by Duncan and getting an alternative game over screen. Duncan can't let a recruit back out by that point, the joining ritual is a secret, once you've learnt about it you either become a grey warden or you die. Also there's a blight so he needs more grey wardens so once he's recruited someone he's not going to let them change their mind.

[Callidus Thorn]

I actually did do a little research on this title before I purchased it off Steam. It received amazing reviews -- both from professional critics and (more importantly) actual players. 

 

Truth to tell, I found Duncan's self-righteous, smug attitude so off putting that I wanted to join the Dark Spawn hordes. Then when I realized on my 2nd toon (after abandoning my first right after that awful Fade quest chain) that ALL your toons do the same exact quests and interact with the same NPCs and have to plow through all that dialogue (ESC, ESC,ESC,ESC...), I decided it was time to cut my losses.

 

Guess I'll have to renew my sub to SWTOR -- it really is the far superior game (if more costly).

 

Firstly, if you weren't expecting the game to have a story that you play through, you clearly didn't do enough research.

 

Secondly, comparing a single player game to an MMO? Two fundamentally different types of game, built with different priorities from the beginning? You might as well compare DA:O to a hamburger at that rate.

[Elhanan]

While I enjoyed my time on SWTOR completing three class stories as solo, I have far more time invested in DAO.

* The yellow teeth are distracting, but one gets to use to it in a setting without dentistry, or may use a mod to whiten smiles.

* Voice selected will interact on many occasions. Avoiding the Violent VO is recommended unless you like jokes about ladders.

* I like the Fade myself; have a personal best of finishing with all Fonts in just under an hour. Not as fond of all the backtracking one must do in the Brecillian Forest, but do enjoy the many interactions.

* There are many decisions of choice in DAO. But no RPG will ever be able to control every choice; bad things happen.

* Cleaning floor supplies are found in DA2 as loot. Patience....