I'm not a big fan of dogs, but when a fantasy RPG from BioWare includes one as a major character, Isit up on my hind legs and prick up my ears. If nothing else, Dragon Age: Origins will be the first game Iknow of that'll allow you to level up a canine in the same way as a wizard.
I'm still not sure I was meant to find the dog while sitting in the corner, far from the prying eyes of various PR people observing the collected throng of journalists attempting to defeat an evil, insane wizard. Naturally, I'd mopped the floor with him with a minimum of fuss and was busying myself trying to explore as much of the game as I could before EA tore the mouse from my bloodied stump of a hand.
And that's how I discovered that, among the various wizards and warriors, a huge bulldog-type creature who, when included in your four-man (OK, creature) party, was just as capable of gaining experience and levelling up as his bipedal colleagues.
Apparently he's just called Dog too, which I suppose is as apt a name as any. But enough of that. One of the main worries about Dragon Age is that since the game has gone cross-platform, all the initial "We're making a PC game for PC gamers" bluster would turn out to be just so much hot air. While we only obviously got a limited run through various aspects of the game, my impression was that Dragon Age: Origins is a cross between Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect. That isn't big news really, but it might help qualify what you should expect from the game come winter.
Combat was the focus of our hands-on, with the aforementioned mad mage needing to be put in his place. First of all, a conversation was had that was straight out of the Mass Effect playbook. The facial animations and conversational style were so similar, so while we shouldn't expect the same level of sophisticated storytelling as shown in The Witcher, BioWare's usual high standards in terms of acting and writing will shine through.
After the inevitable "Actually, you know, I won't just give up" conversation finishes, you get ready to rumble. This is where BioWare have, surprisingly, managed to keep the new and old RPG fans happy.
For those used to Mass Effect and its ilk, you can fly right in and look over your character's shoulder while you fight. For those of the Baldur's Gate school, you can keep the view zoomed out and go old school. Combat is pausable, so you can consider your strategy and queue up spells and attacks, just like in the good ol' days of top-down goblin slaughtering. Certainly for those worrying about Origins being dumbed down, this notion has been blown out of the window for the combat at least. You can even zoom out outside of combat too, so instead of using WSAD to move about, you can click around the screen instead. It is, as they say, up to you.
As for what is going on behind the scenes, it's all reassuringly dice roll-y and the number of skills, spells and so on are a far cry from more recent streamlined RPGs. While I won't go so far as to say the game mechanics are as in-depth as the Baldur's Gate series, it certainly shouldn't be lacking in options.
The main problem that still persists is whether the game's storyline and its universe will be interesting enough. Other than being described as a "mature fantasy" Dragon Age: Origins doesn't seem to have much of a hook, some key ingredient that will get people rushing to the shops to buy the game. One imagines that BioWare are gambling on their name alone being enough to guarantee sales, which is probably true, but there is definitely a "meh, whatever" attitude amongst a substantial percentage of the PC gaming community.
From what we've played so far, the actual gameplay won't be a problem, pleasing as it should veterans and newbies alike. Whether the core story and characters will be good enough, well, we'll just have to wait and see.
Yes, because we just get so many great games nowadays. :roll:
People who like RPGs, and more specifically old BG fans, are excited for this game. I would also say that the "hook" is the fact that this RPG appears to be far deeper than the water downed and simplified RPGs we have been getting for the past several years. And is more akin to the old school rpgs. Not to mention there is the Origins part, where depending on what origin you play you will have a few hours of completely unique gameplay at the start of the game compared to any of the other 5 origins. And then your character is treated differently based upon which one you chose throughout the game.
@voad, you're happier than me because you sound like you didn't notice two worrying comments - and I quote:
i) "... my impression was that Dragon Age: Origins is a cross between Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect..."
ii) "... While I won't go so far as to say the game mechanics are as in-depth as the Baldur's Gate series..."
Now look at those two comments and the fact that for the second time the media were shown only the fighting bits of the game, and I think it's fair to say we will have a game that is 70% action and 30% roleplaying, versus the 80% action and 20% roleplaying we saw in Jade Empire and Mass Effect.
I still get riled that Mass Effect is always talked about as an RPG, because for the life of me, in my PC gaming days of the late 90's no RPG ever had only linear, action only quests! The mark of an RPG was that you're experience was different than mine because RPG's were open world with deep stats and multiple ways to play the game. We all had different experiences in BG1 and 2, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights, Morrowind and on and on. Same goes for the Fallout's and Ultima's. Yet with Mass Effect, there was no point talking about the quests, because we all played the same one's, just as though we had all played a corridor shooter! That's no RPG in my book. And it doesn't look like this one will be either. The console crowd are still having their impact in PC gaming. Better known as dumbing down.
I've said it before, and i'll say it again: No wonder retro PC gaming is taking off, because whether you're into flight sim or adventure or deep RPG'ing, that's the only place you can go to now!
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