380 réponses à ce sujet

[Elhanan]

That final space battle of Mass Effect is short and soulless. It has no dramatic tension, besides that brief moment just before the fleets engage. The actual battle itself is awful. It just rams home how utterly ineffectual the Reapers were as main enemies. As a big horde of baddie space ships, they were just sort of a nothing presence that it was impossible to care about. And with only the Normandy and perhaps the Destiny Ascension being recognizable good guy ships, the battle is just some red and blue ships firing inconclusively at each other, as some explosions happen. There is no drama and no energy to it at all, and certainly no deeper character interest that you might expect in a more personal one on one ship battle.
 
Big battles just don't work in these games. Smaller scale encounters like a couple of pirate ships or Cerberus strike ships attacking, and engaging in hit and run whilst trying to board Normandy etc would be much more in keeping with the kind of game we want. Big battles that we can't have any direct influence on like this (unless they take the terrible decision to stick us behind a turret for a while). add nothing to a Bioware game. If a big battle is going to happen, we need identifiable good guys to root for, and small little stories playing out.
 
Like the Ostagar scene, which I happen to agree with. One of the very rare times when Bioware has in fact got this stuff right. It gave me hope for the main story of Origins, which it then proceeded to squander in almost every scene thereafter. The Landsmeet and Final Battle happen so long after this scene, that it feels like years have passed. They are serviceable sequences, still amongst the better concluding set pieces of Bioware games, but they still feel rushed and undercooked. Both the Archdemon and Loghain were completely underutlised in that game IMO. The Archdemon particularly had no personality and though it was a fairly powerful enemy and the battle against it had a big feel, there was still a big 'Wait... is that all?!' about it. That dragon should just have been one of the Archdemon's minions. The actual fiend itself should have backed off and gone back into hiding ready for the sequel. It would have let the Blight story develop, but still given the heroes and Ferelden a big victory to cheer about.

Must disagree; the final confrontation in ME3 was both exciting and enjoyable, for myself at least. It wasn't until the battle on that final street intersection that it became more mechanical and less immersive.

As for other large battles, the defensive actions taken in Lith My'athar for HotU are among the best I have played in modern games. And like many others, the work in DAO is still amazing for me; no changes for this are needed at all.

[Lebanese Dude]

Some people here expect games to be made with the same quality and depth as written works.

 

I'd love to see them try to design a game. Pretty sure they'd go broke in a month.

[Marshal Moriarty]

Can I just start by saying that I didn't mean to sound like a jerk in that last post. Someone says something complimentary about a post I made and my response is to pick the one thing they disagreed with and start saying 'Ah, but you're wrong because of this, this and this!' Real classy... In my defense, ME3 was a huge disappointment for me and the first game where I felt Bioware were truly starting to go wrong. Its still a sensitive topic with me, but I really should have thought a bit more about the tone of that last post, I think.

 

As to the end of Origins, its the fact that the Archdemon is just a fairly ordinary High Dragon that is disappointing. I know that saying something is 'only' a High Dragon sounds odd, but the Archdemon was built up so much that whilst the Dragon seemed a worthy final opponent, it didn't feel anywhere near tough enough to deserve such a grand title and mythic ancient evil status. The fact that other Blights took decades (at least) to defeat and the fact that it only showed up right before the final missions in Denerim began, leave it feeling like a strange mixture of satisfactory ending (because mostly the seige of Denerim and the final battle are fine as you say), and anti-climax (because when the dust settles, it feels like it really wasn't that hard after all). Big conflicts gain so much more resonance if they span big chunks of time. Wars feel more real and important if they develop and drag on, taking on new dimensions and spreading. These kinds of quick and dirty victories in time for the end credits - Hurrah! victories feel very forced, and truncate what could have been an epic story into a simple 'We came, we saw, we slayed'.

 

My idea of an Archdemon is like a giant, sky blackening dragon, or some kind of shadowy, sinuous creature with a odd, distant, muffled voice that coils round and round the skies in a twlight broken realm. Something genuinely otherworldly and eldritch. Or else something bombastic and huge, like a giant column of flames filling an ancient mountain or volcano or something. A great tidal wave filled with thrashing sea creatures and eyes and tentacles and stuff, rising up to crash into a city. Not just... some dragon.

 

And nothing will sway me on that ME3 battle. Its short, its boring and there is no weight behind any of it. The battle for the Citadel in ME1 knocks it into a cocked hat. Seeing the Normandy leading the fleet into battle, seeing Hackett and Joker saving the day whilst you take care of business inside. That was much, much better than the flashy but empty battle in ME3. There were no stories being played out, nothing to get excited about, just a lot of Michael Bay explosiony space war porn. It did nothing for me.

[Heimdall]

As to the end of Origins, its the fact that the Archdemon is just a fairly ordinary High Dragon that is disappointing. I know that saying something is 'only' a High Dragon sounds odd, but the Archdemon was built up so much that whilst the Dragon seemed a worthy final opponent, it didn't feel anywhere near tough enough to deserve such a grand title and mythic ancient evil status. The fact that other Blights took decades (at least) to defeat and the fact that it only showed up right before the final missions in Denerim began, leave it feeling like a strange mixture of satisfactory ending (because mostly the seige of Denerim and the final battle are fine as you say), and anti-climax (because when the dust settles, it feels like it really wasn't that hard after all). Big conflicts gain so much more resonance if they span big chunks of time. Wars feel more real and important if they develop and drag on, taking on new dimensions and spreading. These kinds of quick and dirty victories in time for the end credits - Hurrah! victories feel very forced, and truncate what could have been an epic story into a simple 'We came, we saw, we slayed'.

I didn't have a problem with the Archdemon, but I've been saying for awhile that DAO should have been about fighting a Blight that had already been raging for 1-2 decades.

[Marshal Moriarty]

It certainly needed to go on longer than it did. Bioware keep placing in these 'impossible' situations, and having us start out with nothing but a corkscrew and a few rusty nails to fight with. Yet you in the space of a couple of months or a half year amass a force mighty enough that your armies' first major encounter with the enemy is enough to destroy it.

 

To be clear, I don't have a problem with the final battle itself. In fact in the greater scheme of things, its probably the best final battle of any of Bioware's games. Its just the fact that what was a fairly mundane (big, but still mundane) encounter was supposed to be these ancient horror that everyone is scaring themselves to death even thinking about. The fact it had no personality at all, and was apparently unable to work out that if its being shot by a big arrow chucking machine, it would probably be a good idea to destroy that machine. Its just a simple case of 'Good fight, but where's the *real* opposition?!'

 

For me, a big monster battle is all fine and well, but having it be the final boss, and having a creature that is supposed to have been worshipped as a God (and not by ordinary folks either - the Old Gods were worshipped by the Tevinters, who were pretty serious stuff themselves, and who wouldn't bend the knee to just any old drake who flapped past). I know its a corrupted form of the Old God, but still... it wasn't much considering all its build up, was it? It was a great encounter, and I was happy to have that be the end of that game. But for the Archdemon, I wanted something grander, something much bigger, much more profound than just a big monster mash.

 

Its horses for courses naturally, and like I say this is actually one of the times and one of the games where I felt Bioware came closer than they usually do to getting the main story right (Origins and Mass Effect 1 have the best main stories and set pieces IMO, striking the right balance between spectacle, character involvement, enough realism to give it credibility, enough gung ho adventure to make it exciting etc etc). This is more a case of how an already great product could have been even better (for me anyway). Let's also remember that I am only talking about the quality of the set piece sequences also - the issue of the middle of Bioware games sagging and the main story completely vanishing, the world never really feeling under the threat they claim is happening etc etc is a whole other argument and is very much still present in both Origns and ME1).

 

My problems with more recent titles run much deeper. ME3 was extremely disappointing, and DA:I is simply a bad game IMO. For reasons which I have expounded at great, great, length with much, much, much too much verbosity already So I won't repeat it, but I will stand by my earlier posts on various threads. I don't claim to have the one opinion that is right and correct above all others. I do however (as we all do) have the opinion that matters the most to me. Because whilst we can (and should) respect other's opinions, we cannot deny how we really felt about a product. So I'll sum up and leave it at this:

 

I didn't like ME3 very much at all, and was sorely disappointed with it, even moreso than I had been with ME2. I wasn't wild about Jade Empire and haven't played that much either. But until DA:I, I had never actively *hated* a Bioware game. But I do hate this game, and if that upsets anyone, then sorry but it just my opinion (and hell, it upsets me, because I haven't stopped being a fan of the series, or of Bioware and I certainly didn't want to feel this way about the game!). I tried very hard to like it, but more than just being a disappointing game, I felt it was actually a *bad* game.

[Lebanese Dude]

It's shocking that two entire countries were capable of being rallied by the Inquisition in short order to fight that which wishes to destroy them, once their internal struggles were resolved?

[Marshal Moriarty]

Trust is a difficult thing to foster, particularly between old enemies. Add in that no great power ever believes it can be defeated, and that no crisis ever seems as bad or as obvious as it should be, because they believe they will weather it as they always do (the Dwarfs are still taking this atttitude to the Darkspawn for example, even given the fact they have been reduced to just 2 cities and a handdul of outposts against an eternally multiplying and resurgent horde - not to mention that Kal Sharok has further distanced itself from Orzammar over perceived betrayal).

 

Common sense is not common to everyone. Espcially not in the face of old hatreds, As bad as Ostagar was, Loghain still refused Orlesian help, because he believed in his bones and his heart that they were still the greater evil after his experiences in the occupation. Old wounds run deep, and pride will always gnaw away at the powerful, who believe they need no help. Nor will the weak ever trust the powerful, because they always betray them and try to exploit them. Its just the way of things.

 

Mutual co-operation for self interest and survival seems like an obvious choice, as does the benefits of peaceful co-existence with those around you. Yet it never ends up being the case. Particularly not when it is being offered by an organisation who have only existed for a couple of weeks, who have only just graduated from having the equivalent of a treehouse in their parent's garden, who are considered heretical by the established religion of the day, and contain a great many rogue and even criminal elements. All led by some cobbled together rumors of a great Messiah, with magic fingers or somesuch.

 

It doesn't matter how sensible your plan for compromise is, or how respected the person saying it might be. Some hatreds and disagreements persist, because the people simply know no other way to relate to each other. Look at Israel and Palestine - even the Pope, who is pretty much the only universally respected world leader right now (by most nations anyway - I suspect Islamic State don;t set much store by what he says), couldn't get them to stop fighting or even to talk to each other seriously.

 

Bioware try to force these world ending catastrophes on you, so they *have* to see reason, but its still like trying to hold back the ocean. You spend at least 80% of all Bioware games trying to convince impossibly stubborn people to realize something obvious..

[robotnist]

uh-oh, someone here is a "RULES LORE-YER"....

and meanwhile, OP is nowhere to be found!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!!!

 

so here's the deal.

 

some freshness-

DAO is STILL my #1 all time fave game.

it was the right game at the right time and that won't likely change until bioware just times everything perfectly again. its VERY hard to do.

no we judge ALL games they make based on ME1 and DAO, which they really are fugging great games!!!

 

but if you want to enjoy DAI, its all about your approach!!!

 

for me, i love open world games, and yes DAI didn't hook me at first, and yes i was a lil bummed...

but after i realized i had more control over story flow by starting certain quests, i was able to bolster my opinion of the games story and its ability to get its juicy story hookers into me.

 

the way i play DAI, because i'm a lil ADD, i explore till my hearts content, could be lots some nights, and very little others...

 

but here's the MOST important thing for me, i like to focus on role playing my character, by the decisions i make, and my interactions with others.

 

and i really enjoy this games combat, only one other games combat is "better" than DAI this year and its batman//shadows of mordor.

 

because NO GAME EVER, especially an RPG has made such a fun combat system. and not to be mean or redundant, but you might actually be playing wrong. 

there are MANY skills that the button needs to be held in in a certain strategic format, and how you decide to use those skills and when are important. 

 

each class has their very own strategy and style!!!

 

1. 1H wep and shield has great defensive capabilities, maybe some of the best active tanking since FF11!!! with a great sub-system of raising your guard meter to influence your tank-ability.

2. i just started my 1st play through of a 2 handed warrior recently, and they are a blast!!! you can play them like conan and bull charge mofos, or hang tight with your group and focus on one enemy at a time. (and yes i mean conan obrien)

3 & 4. rogues BOTH dual wielders and bowman are both very different as well. you might think that damage dealers like 1h wep//shield war, 2 hander and dual wield rogue might play the same, as in, press button to do damage, THAT'S NOT THE CASE.

you have to fight differently as all classes... 

5. and then of course theres the mages. DAO mages were "meh", DA2 2 handers and mages were much more fun... in DAI, they have some of the most fun skills to employ and strategies that can intertwine differently depending on which skills you choose...

 

and guys this goes for ALL classes.

depending on how you build your character dictates the types of strategies u might use in combat!!! i really do think its worth paying a little more attention to the combat and give this game another chance...

 

and then that leaves us with loot.

thats the other side of my happy fun time DAI shape i'm attempting to work with here.

there are nights that i can log into DAI, i can craft, check the war table and play for 2 hours and NEVER get into one fight!!!

 

and the loot is very random, visually as well as statistically. it kinda reminds me of how loot in ME1 made me love the game all that much more, in that kind of PSO way.. if you played PSO, then you know what i mean.

 

so let me wrap this up, if you are hellbent on not liking DAI, or you really just aren't into it, i'm not trying to sway you out of your decision, but if you wonder if you're missing something and it doesn't feel as addictive as DAO felt, you're not wrong, but you can focus on some things to help change it.

 

sorry for wall o' poo.

cheers and good luck.

[Marshal Moriarty]

The best combat system ever?!

 

I know everyone has their own opinions and all, but... what on earth?!

[Legion of 1337]

Here's the breakdown:

 

Beginning: Good

Hinterlands: Good if smaller, but too large. Everything south/southeast/southwest of Valamar could have been cut.

Storm Coast: Boring, empty, badly designed.

Fallow Mire: Good linear side-mission map design, but too long and no interesting quests. Boring.

Forbidden Oasis: Ok, too much busy work, not enough hidden secrets stuff.

Val Royeaux: Terrible. Too small.

Champions of the Just/In Hushed Whispers: Amazing

In Your Heart Shall Burn: Amazing

Skyhold: Amazing

Crestwood: Very good

Western Approach: Pointless, but has a couple interesting bits.

Here Lies the Abyss: Great

Exhalted Plains: Terrible. All busy work, nothing interesting going on. Not relevant to the story.

Emerald Graves: Bad. A few interesting locales, but mostly empty and full of pointless busy work. Not relevant to the story.

Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts: Amazing

Emprise du Lion: Ok. Has one fairly good quest it focuses on, rest of the map is smaller and doesn't have too many sidequests (though still more than it needs).

Hissing Wastes: Mostly just a bunch of rift closings. Not terribly relevant. Doesn't need to exist.

What Pride Had Wrought: Bad. Exposition, Well of Sorrows was cool, but how it handles the enemy and the narrative is terrible

Ending: Terrible. Rushed, out of nowhere, plot holes, unsatisfying.

 

So basically, the parts of the game I like playing are the Beginning, the Hinterlands, the Mages/Templars, Haven, Skyhold, Crestwood, Adamant, Hillamshiral. The other areas I don't like playing, and the remainder of the main plot is garbage. I never feel incentivized to finish.

[Legion of 1337]

 >Ignore

[Marshal Moriarty]

The Forbidden Oasis was the worst level for me. Needlessly convoluted layout, considering there was hardly anything worth finding there. Hugely disappointing 'Temple of Doom' which can only be accessed at all by engaging in the most boring fetch quest known to man or beast. And when you finally do get to the center, its just some enemies you've fought gazillions of times, no interesting lore, no big end to this unbelieably tedious quest and no super amaxing loot to at least compensate you for the grindy hell you've just been through.

 

I've played this game more than once, because I believe in giving things a fair chance. Love of the series may one day compel me to play it again against all my instincts, but hell will freeze over before I ever do the Forbidden Oasis again.

[Elhanan]

The Forbidden Oasis was the worst level for me. Needlessly convoluted layout, considering there was hardly anything worth finding there. Hugely disappointing 'Temple of Doom' which can only be accessed at all by engaging in the most boring fetch quest known to man or beast. And when you finally do get to the center, its just some enemies you've fought gazillions of times, no interesting lore, no big end to this unbelieably tedious quest and no super amaxing loot to at least compensate you for the grindy hell you've just been through.
 
I've played this game more than once, because I believe in giving things a fair chance. Love of the series may one day compel me to play it again against all my instincts, but hell will freeze over before I ever do the Forbidden Oasis again.

I dislike Jumping puzzles, but wished to remind all that this is optional material. I also skipped most of it for my first two Inq's, then chose to return with my first and complete it because of the greater need illustrated in JoH. While I dislike spiders, I adore the desert canyons, cliffs, and tactical advantages that height can give in this new engine.

[Marshal Moriarty]

No, no, no, its not the jumping that's the issue (although that isn't great by any means, I don't rage about it like some do). I just don't like its this big warren of paths that you can easily get lost in. Now ordinarily, that might be a good thing actually, as you explored and I'm quite into mazes in fact. But this has nothing actually worth finding, so you just wander about a lot... for no real reward. Its the same empty feeling as all the other locations, but with the added tedium of a convoluted layout.

 

But even that is small potatoes compared to the sheer lunacy of going through all those damn Occularia, finding the shards, then gathering the shards, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over..And over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. All in service of getting into a short, incredibly boring Temple, with one of the most outrageously anti-climiatic final rooms ever for such a long and sanity taxingly boring quest. When I finally finished it, my cries of THAT'S ALL THAT'S HERE AFTER ALL THAT WORK????!!!!!!' could be heard in the next county.

 

 

Saying content is optional, that the more tedious collection quests etc don't have to be done etc doesn't hold much weight with me. You see, I don't actually mind doing this kind of grindy, repetituve nonsense. I don't exactly *like* doing it, but it usually doesn't bother me. RPGs have been forcing me to do this kind of crap forever, if I want to get to the secret dungeons, find the secret bosses, get the best weapons etc etc. I can usually sit down and bore myself into a stupor doing stuff like the Gold Chocobo breeding in FF7, and do so without complaint. Because that's just what I expect from video games, quite frankly and its always a pleasant surprise when developers actually do something interesting instead.

 

But DA:I is nothing *but* this kind of thing! I don't play Bioware products for the gameplay (frankly, I'm amazed anyone would), The story and experience of taking your character through the world etc is why I play. Even if certain elements of gameplay are bad or tedious in any RPGs it diesn't generally matter to me, because it won't tend to affect my overall impression of the game, which will be almost completely based on how I connected with the world, the atmosphere, the characters, the story etc. But even I have my limits, and this game's insistence on deluging you with this kind of thing broke even my cast iron patience! The Forvidden Oasis was simply the pinnacle of what this game represents - the huge amount of joyless, repetitive, grindy nonsense for some far off hope of eventual payoff, gritting your teeth and just getting on with it, because it is what it is. Whilst other gamers cried and moaned about the planet scanning in ME2, I shrugged my shoulders, agreed that it absolutely sucked, but did it anyway with no complaint because if you want the best upgrades (as of course you do), then you just have to get on with it.

 

But God Almighty, there are limits! And this game was never giving me any breaks from this. The character interaction was feeble, the story was awful, the whole premise surrounding your character was so ridiculous and the Voice acting so even, unemotional and neutral all the time, that I couldn't establish any rapport with them. It was just fetch, fetch, fetch all the damn time. Tedious combat that required no skill at all, beyond the biological ability to press R1 with your finger and leave it there, the lack of any substance at all to the side quests, the never ending tide of miscellenea which had no importance...

 

What chance does a mortal man have when faced with such hellish evil as this? When sheer love of this series beats my soul into submission and forces me on througg all this crap, hating all of it? It was an unutterably miserable experience, the worst I have had from a Bioware game, and all joking aside if they make another game like this, then they can forget it. People are entitled to their opinions, and if they like it then fair enough. Good for them. But for me and many others, this game was a catastrophic misstep. 

[Elhanan]

Personally, I quite enjoy the lore behind the Occulariums; one of the RP reasons for why my Inq's ceased using them initially. Mechanically, it was my lack of skill using Jumping and other reflex mini-games that made this collection a lesser experience.

As a reward, for my gameplay, it leads to one of the better permanent boons found in the game. This is a factor why my first Inq returned to them, as the reward was quite needed to aid completion of the greater goal seen in JoH. And for RP, it could be completed for the higher priority observed in the events of JoH.

I prefer the Astrariums, and loathe the Bottles; all optional and up to each Player whether to complete them or not. Same for most sidequests. But it is not up to one Player to decide for others what should be enjoyed. If they do not like it and have their limits; skip it, and move on to what is enjoyed.

[Marshal Moriarty]

But with a quest as long and boring as that Shard quest, you actually have to complete every last interminable moment of it, to finally learn that the Quest has *no* payoff! That I would suggest is not good game design! This game is already easy enough that I don't consider some permanent element buffs adequate compensation, because that is just a gameplay mechanic which I don't care about anyway. But I did think that this heavily *heavily* locked up and sealed tomb would have something worth seeing. Even if it was just an unique boss or something, or a short throwaway cutscene that referenced some old line from the earlier games,

 

Just something, *anything!* But to just say 'Here's a couple of stat buffs. Thanks for coming', After all that effort... it was too much. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The moment when I realized that I didn't simply intensely dislike this game, or wasn't simply heartbroken and disappointed at how bland it was. It was the moment I realized I actually did hate it.

 

Like I say, I have an almost unshakeable tolerance for crap like this. I've played RPGs for decades, and been through every kind of hundreds of hours, grinding, fetch and carry rubbish you can name. So long as the game has other redeeming features, I'm cool with putting up with all the nonsense too, so long as I get to have the best gear and see all the secret stuff in the game (assuming I like the game enough to bother). The issue here is that my love of the DA series, was keeping the torch lit in my rotting, crushing, numbed heart, forcing me on with this game, because I just couldn't believe a series that means so much to me, was this awful and that surely *surely* it would get better at some point.

 

The fact that it didn't (for me anyway), was just the poisoned icing on the cake of toxic death. Time wasted, boredom absolute, expectations which were already low dashed. All in the first Bioware RPG for about 2 years (and that last game was also a crushing didappointment to me). Despair set in, and it lives in me still... Especially as even through all this agony, after a game where I enjoyed almost literally nothing about it, I still love this series enough to come on here and express any sort of opinion on it.

[Elhanan]

And those that completed it earlier may have been OK with the final encounters shown in the Shard quest. While some may dislike it, other like myself are good with it.

And the rewards are enticing, though I prefer to cease acquiring Shards almost immediately after discovering the lore (when playing as a honorable Inq), or gaining access a couple of the smaller doors. It is rather obvious what the pattern holds for continued progress, and we are still uncertain what unlocking all doors will unleash; more may appear via DLC. I also do not find the quest boring; only difficult due to my own limitations.

The Bottles of Thedas bother me far more than this quest, and I do not believe I have completed a Mosaic tile set yet. While I do not care for them, others may like them, or at least enjoy collecting sets; not for me to say these should be removed as they are optional. Don't like them; do not do them. Easy Peasy....

[Aren]

I didn't have a problem with the Archdemon, but I've been saying for awhile that DAO should have been about fighting a Blight that had already been raging for 1-2 decades.

Which blight?I have never fought any blight in DAO,after Ostagar the darkspawn army mysteriously disappeared from the face of Ferelden.

[andy6915]

I do not believe I have completed a Mosaic tile set yet.

 

Me either. I've done about 4 characters now (not all of those characters had me complete their playthrough though), and I haven't ONCE completed one. If they were at least marked on the map or something I could try. But no, they're not. And they're so hard to find that I definitely never have completed one sodding set so far.

[Lee80]

Ditto on the Mosaic tiles.  Even in my playthroughs where I do almost all the sidequests and collect the shards-I still am missing a few pieces or more on all of them.  I have to assume some of them are hidden in the ass end of maps where no quests take you, which is a very poor design choice for something so pointless.  

 

As to the main topic though, I love Dragon Age Inquisition.  It's my favorite DA game yet.  I do agree though that the open world aspect was mostly painful though.  I've never been a fan of making a huge map just for the sake of it being huge.  (The Wastes map being the worst offender by far)  If you need extra space to fit in the things you want to utilize great, but does anyone really need vast spaces where absolutely nothing of interest is about?  

[Elhanan]

Ditto on the Mosaic tiles.  Even in my playthroughs where I do almost all the sidequests and collect the shards-I still am missing a few pieces or more on all of them.  I have to assume some of them are hidden in the ass end of maps where no quests take you, which is a very poor design choice for something so pointless.  
 
As to the main topic though, I love Dragon Age Inquisition.  It's my favorite DA game yet.  I do agree though that the open world aspect was mostly painful though.  I've never been a fan of making a huge map just for the sake of it being huge.  (The Wastes map being the worst offender by far)  If you need extra space to fit in the things you want to utilize great, but does anyone really need vast spaces where absolutely nothing of interest is about?

Personally, I love the nighttime serenity felt in the Hissing Wastes. And while I am somewhat annoyed at tripping over vines and roots in the Emerald Graves, this is so immersive to me based on my own experiences in the deep woods that I endure it. However, I am somewhat biased as I lived in Arizona for several years, and adored the scenic vistas of the desert during hikes.

[Al Foley]

Some people here expect games to be made with the same quality and depth as written works.

 

I'd love to see them try to design a game. Pretty sure they'd go broke in a month.

One day perhaps.  One day.  

[Elhanan]

Some people here expect games to be made with the same quality and depth as written works.
 
I'd love to see them try to design a game. Pretty sure they'd go broke in a month.

In my opinion, these interactive stories occasionally exceed written works. DAO hit me this way, as did the writing that went into Cole in DAI.

[Marshal Moriarty]

I don't think its unreasonable that if a quest asks me to get 100 (or however many it actually is) keys to open this place, and when those keys are spread over multiple areas, and invisible until you find other items and peform a little mini game *dozens* of times... that I want there to actually be something in there at the end of it! Passive Stat increases are all well and good, but they don't satisfy the need for payoff after such a lengthy quest. That room should have had something in there to justify all the hard work. A special cutscene, a genuinely unique boss, a passage to a secret location, an encounter with an NPC, a cutscene that gave us important lore information.

 

You can't just say it doesn't matter - thw quest is too much work and goes on for far too long, to justify such an anticlimatic ending. Like I said, I'm willing to put in the hard yards on this stuff, but the game has to work with me! There's got to be some Give and take on this, for crying out loud! If I get through all thsoe areas, and find all those shards, which are scatted throughout all the zones, both easy and hard, does it really seem like I need some stat increases?! They're always welcome of course, but after a quest that protracted, I expect a little extra something in my pay packet! And the only currency I'll accept is lore, a new boss or a new area - because those are rewards that are equal to the effort expended.

 

As to the locations, I doubt many people have problem with those as such. Its not how they look that is at fault - its how empty they are, and how awful and lacking in substance the quests are. The whole game is just too distant and mechanical, and this applies to your connections to your party members too. It just doesn't have that natural feel that the previous 2 games had.

[Elhanan]

Gaining a perm boost is worth more to me than most rewards, plus we also gain other items to further increase the boost. Considering that the doors are not likely to all be opened at one time, one could kind of guess what to expect after a visit or two; no false expectations were received here. And personally am grateful that this quest did not have added cut-scenes, though I will agree that the final encounter could be more powerful; maybe even scaled to the character level unlike most of the opponents.

Personally, I enjoy DAI more than DA2, though I like the entire series. Prefer the slower pace of combat, single specializations, potion restrictions, and character of most NPC's. I do not feel emptiness; prefer exploration and discovery to that of static areas performed in a linear method. But I also enjoy DAI more than SWTOR due to the absence of other Players in the various areas; played solo exploration there, too.