327 réponses à ce sujet

[b10d1v]

It's reviews like that or   possibly the need for additional air conditioning when it's misbehaving that has dropped the price.  

[In Exile]

We sort of had Blight stuff with the Deep Roads part of the Orzammar arc, and the broodmothers were one of the darker parts of DAO. But generally, I would agree. The Blight played a minimal role in Origins. It was mostly background for other things to be set against.

 

I wouldn't count that as "Blight" so much as "blight". I don't really have a good way to differentiate but what I'm trying to get at is that there's a difference between a plot that focuses on darkspawn - sort of how the first part of the Deep Roads in DA2 focused on them - while not really focus on "Blight" with a capital B (i.e., the horde of darkspawn under the command of the AD ravaging the land). 

[Panda]

I don't know if DAI is less dark than DAO, I can't quite see that. But I think it lacks apocalyptic feeling. It should have had similar feeling as ME3 (except ending), beginning of the end, everything goes wrong and lot of people die. I don't think DAI quite captures feeling of desperation and how Inquisitor is only one who can save the world.

[SnakeCode]

I don't think Dragon Age was ever Dark Fantasy. It's always had more in common with Lord of the Rings than it has with ASOIAF (sorry Laidlaw, but it's true.) The Witcher games have kind of had a monopoly on Dark Fantasy for the last few years. Dragon age went in a different direction much like each Saints Row game becomes so much more drastically different to GTA than the last.

 

That's not to say Dragon Age doesn't have dark elements, it does. It's the execution that's lacking. It breaks the "show, don't tell" rule constantly. It's incredibly cheesy and cartoony, breaks the fourth wall too often with pop culture references/jokes and nods to the fanbase. It's like a dark, adult story that's been condensed to be made into an epidode of Scooby-Doo (yes I say that a lot, but it's what it reminds me of most)

 

Dragon Age: Origins is somewhat exempt from this due to a number of reasons. It shows a lot more of whats happening in addition to reading about it, the art style, colour scheme etc. was a lot more dark/gritty. It was also before the writers became obsessed with adding a tidal wave of corny jokes/humour into every conversation, so the atmosphere wasn't constantly being broken. 

[Ganalysis]

I shudder to think what Dragon Age 4 is going to look like. I'm all for more female gamers though, I just hope Bioware puts up a disclaimer this time for straight men and warn us first.

[Andraste_Reborn]

I shudder to think what Dragon Age 4 is going to look like. I'm all for more female gamers though, I just hope Bioware puts up a disclaimer this time for straight men and warn us first.

 

... what does that have to do with weather Dragon Age is a dark fantasy or not? Is there any evidence that women like dark fantasy any less than dudes?

[jlb524]

There's still darker stuff you don't see, you read about it or get told about it more often. Example:

 

 

That doesn't make the game dark.  Instead, the game needs moar demon boobies and less minorities.

[BSpud]

I just hope Bioware puts up a disclaimer this time for straight men and warn us first.

 

Lolwhat

[Ashaantha]

That doesn't make the game dark.  Instead, the game needs moar demon boobies and less minorities.

Boobies just adds adult, naked content, and has nothing to do with a dark fantasy setting.

 

That codex was about mages threatening refugees, templars showing up, mages burning everyone, templars killing everyone and then a templar going to rape and instead getting shot by the hunter who wrote this journal entry. Honestly I'd prefer to actually see that codex happen on screen rather then read, but the dark fantasy setting is there in text and dialogue. I could find even more examples I just prefer this one.

[AresKeith]

Lolwhat

 

Just a troll on his 5th alt account 

[Gileadan]

If Origins were like DA:I, we would have read about the wounded guy we find in the Korcari wilds in a codex entry. They seem to move ever more to a "tell, don't show" approach of storytelling and reactivity. 

 

While I found DA:I's writing definitely entertaining, especially the companions, I couldn't help but feel that it was sanitized, driven by a near paralyzing fear to offend anyone.

[Lumix19]

Just ignore the trolls people.

[Isaidlunch]

I didn't like DAI's tone much either but never once did I think "I sure wish this game had misogyny and racism in it!". I like how the Witcher handles both topics but there's plenty of ways to make a game feel dark without them (look at Obsidian), and honestly, I'd get bored of having to deal with it if every fantasy RPG had it.

[Jedi Master of Orion]

If Origins were like DA:I, we would have read about the wounded guy we find in the Korcari wilds in a codex entry. They seem to move ever more to a "tell, don't show" approach of storytelling and reactivity. 

 

While I found DA:I's writing definitely entertaining, especially the companions, I couldn't help but feel that it was sanitized, driven by a near paralyzing fear to offend anyone.

 

I remember feeling that the codex entry about the "Mother" demon that caused the woman to fall from a cliff in the Emerald Graves should have led to us investigating the cause in a quest and putting an end to the evil.

[Innsmouth Dweller]

@Isaidlunch

child murdering, lynches of people following eccentric ideology, and hanging of sick is better than "misogyny and racism". good to know.

 

on topic:

and no i don't think any of DA games was dark enough. but DAO was way more disturbing than DAI: a codex entry doesn't have visuals nor audio to shake me as Hespith's poem did. some letters in pixelated hunter's hut being raped by a templar? who cares? not me, i'm gathering blankets in shiny-land! a bloody Mario on a unicorn!

[MattH]

Dragon Age's villains (particularly Inquisition) can sometimes feel a tad ''Mwahaha''. I mean, you see Cory looking evil and stuff, but there was never a point where I was like 'damn, I want this guy DEAD' because of all the horrific stuff he had done. I don't know, perhaps it is to do with tone.

[Rawgrim]

The bits with the Broodmother, and that bit with Connor was pretty damn dark in DA:O. Nothing like it at all in Inquisition. Inquisition feels very PG-13 Michael Bay'ish.

[Innsmouth Dweller]

The bits with the Broodmother, and that bit with Connor was pretty damn dark in DA:O. Nothing like it at all in Inquisition. Inquisition feels very PG-13 Michael Bay'ish.

that's the thing, there is dark stuff in DAI. but in the codex or a war table mission - it's writing, not the game itself. game forces you to do meaningless quests in cartoon land and kill evil incarnate/save the world. the imbalance of game design vs setting lore is frustrating.

[BabyPuncher]

'Dark' is generally something that's very sloppily and clumsily defined in fiction.

 

Does it mean gore and blood? Lord of the Rings has plenty of that, i certainly wouldn't call it dark.

 

Does it mean a grimy and more 'realistic' atmosphere and setting? There are stories like that still have successful and triumphant heroic characters.

 

Does it mean 'good' characters are failures and the bad guys win? Then Origins certainly wasn't 'Dark.'

[Gileadan]

that's the thing, there is dark stuff in DAI. but in the codex or a war table mission - it's writing, not the game itself. game forces you to do meaningless quests in cartoon land and kill evil incarnate/save the world. the imbalance of game design vs setting lore is frustrating.

It feels like one of the design guidelines in DA:I was "keep the players busy for a maximum amount of time with a minimum amount of effort on our part". Showing all this dark stuff in game would require animations and cinematics - something all parts of the game except the main quest are extremely light on. Almost all conversations outside of companions and main plot related NPCs are done without any camera work, let alone custom facial expressions or gestures.  BioWare's choice concerning quality vs quantity combined with the game's general sanitation leads to this colorful world where apparently all those horrible things happen... when you aren't looking.

[Undead Han]

The Dragon Age series has never been particularly dark or gritty. I do think it is fair to say however that Inquisition feels much more sanitized and cheery than Dragon Age: Origins. The retconning of the Qun is one example of this. They went from being misogynists who strictly enforced gender roles to bastions of tolerance in the space of three games.

[Dieb]

I dodged a train there, since I'm not smart enough to appreciate darkness properly.

[philippe willaume]

'Dark' is generally something that's very sloppily and clumsily defined in fiction.

 

Does it mean gore and blood? Lord of the Rings has plenty of that, i certainly wouldn't call it dark.

 

Does it mean a grimy and more 'realistic' atmosphere and setting? There are stories like that still have successful and triumphant heroic characters.

 

Does it mean 'good' characters are failures and the bad guys win? Then Origins certainly wasn't 'Dark.'

 

It is sloppy because it is as much a matter of game setting as it is a matter of ambiance.

For example, There were a few  WWII turn based game about a decade ago that felt much darker, IE  the game was quite hard you loose troops that had been with you since he onset and even if you win the battle, you then  learn that the enemy had crossed the river you defended somewhere else.

and those game felt darker than  Bound by flame. Because the game difficulty does not really scale that well, from act two you are really mincing through the opposition.

despite being a relatively dark settings and story, it only really feels dark in act I, when you are learning the combat system, So fight are hard, your are short on resources and options.

 

 

In DA:I i never felt under pressure by the choice i had to made, the situation i was in, the creatures/people I had to fight, the situation any antagonist put us into or the reaction of the supporting cast. 

So sure there a big green slash in the sky, a demon propping up and baddies bound on destroying the world, and we got our arse kicked at the end of act one and some story line leads to interesting choices but as far as game play it all honky dory.

 

It is like playing the Zombie infestation game  with an MG42 and unlimited marking ammo. So sure your are living in a world infested with zombies and where resource are scarces and there are difficult decisions to make but you know that when it come to the crunch you will have infinite 1200 rpm of explosive ammunition and that does put a massive dent in the foreboding.

 

phil

[Seraphim24]

I don't think Dragon Age was ever Dark Fantasy. It's always had more in common with Lord of the Rings than it has with ASOIAF (sorry Laidlaw, but it's true.) The Witcher games have kind of had a monopoly on Dark Fantasy for the last few years. Dragon age went in a different direction much like each Saints Row game becomes so much more drastically different to GTA than the last.

 

That's not to say Dragon Age doesn't have dark elements, it does. It's the execution that's lacking. It breaks the "show, don't tell" rule constantly. It's incredibly cheesy and cartoony, breaks the fourth wall too often with pop culture references/jokes and nods to the fanbase. It's like a dark, adult story that's been condensed to be made into an epidode of Scooby-Doo (yes I say that a lot, but it's what it reminds me of most)

 

Dragon Age: Origins is somewhat exempt from this due to a number of reasons. It shows a lot more of whats happening in addition to reading about it, the art style, colour scheme etc. was a lot more dark/gritty. It was also before the writers became obsessed with adding a tidal wave of corny jokes/humour into every conversation, so the atmosphere wasn't constantly being broken. 

 

I agree in a general sense but also I'd say is the difference between Origins and 2 was an extremely sharp a difference in any game I've seen. DA:2 was like the most extreme pure generic power high fantasy land from my perspective anywhere in media anywhere not just gaming, Inquisition was this whole "Oh we're still like Origins" sorta of attempt that I guess had some aspects to it.

[Kulyok]

(reads) Not wanting to play as a non-white protagonist makes one racist? Oh, please. And if I'm a woman and I don't want to play as a man, what am I, a sexist pig? Ugh. The article is trash.