breakdown

Complaint DA:O

If I had to make one major complaint about Dragonage, it’s probably this.

There’s simply not enough big, nasty, bad guys to fight. Far too often you’re left killing random wolves, bugs, standard Darkspawn or otherwise. I love being stuck against an Ogre type creature (or above) but they seem so far in between.

I’m pretty sure the reason behind that is so every area is accessable as a starting point but to be fair, grinding away at the Dark Spawn in the Deep Roads is bordering upon boring for me currently.

I need something nastier to fight, that at least causes/evokes an emotion or reaction within me when I see it.

Ow :( DA:O

NPC Demons kick my ass.

NPC Mages ain’t much better.

Only way I’ve found to deal with them is to quite literally run my casting NPC lass up to them, cone of cold them, pray it hits, then get my Rogue or 2hand Warrior NPC to perform a crit strike on them for insta-death.

Harder than it would seem though when it involves running your squishiest class forward!

A second glance at DA:O

I now own all the DLC available so far.

My copy of DA:O came with the Stone Prisoner and the Warden’s Keep only cost me £5 - which considering the game only cost me £25 wasn’t too bad on the deal front.

Had to purchase half the Blood armour though via in game currency but it wasn’t as steep as it could of been.

1. Fighting is ‘better’ now. I seem to have more control over what happens and am able to issue tactics etc. properly, even if it does require me to manually run alot of the tasks.
2. Not having a healer is tough - I’m just glad I have a mage-npc with the Herb skill. Next run through will defo. mean I go as a mage and spec myself towards healing, 100% sure on that. At the moment my mage is spec’d around Ice and freezing although I tend to look at Shapeshifting as she levels up further.
3. Alistar sucks. He’s a bad tank and an awful DPS. My character, who happens to be full sword n’ board, does both better than him. I dropped him as soon as I got a 2handed warrior NPC and frankly, the Dog is not only cuter but arguably as strong as him. His only redeeming feature happens to be his wit.
4. I don’t quite get the female rogue NPC as a storyline based hero but truth be told unless you’re a rogue she’s a bit of a must for your party. A decent shot with a bow helps and she’s spec’d as a Bard so again, songs buff you, but the unlock chest skill is a must have in this game. It’s even nice having someone who can stop traps.
5. Rogues appear to be exceptionally weak though at the moment in comparison to the other classes - meaning I’ll probably be a Dwarf Rogue on easy setting once I’ve done the Elf Mage thing on Hard.
6. Although currently there’s so many options open to Mages in comparison to other classes that frankly I could probably be a mage two or three times through.
7. DLC is surprisingly easy to get hold of and onto your game, which is a nice plus.
8. The graphics are still awful. In fact they remind me very much of Mass Effect, but unfortunatly that doesn’t work for the medival setting. Has anyone actually noticed how the weapons sitting on the back are a bit of a cop-off of how the ME system works?
9. The storyline is a bit… so-so, and I guessed a good chunk of what was asked of me, but the side quests are proving interesting and time worthy - heck, even the fights are a real fucking challenge. I have to try to NOT get my arse kicked. Some of the fights in the Warden’s Keep are solid.

Sort o' spoilers. Dragonage: origins

My thoughts on Dragonage: Origins so far.

1. Warriors/Rogues appear to be fairly ‘weak’ at the start. I’ve not seen any real mage play so far (my character is a sword n’ board warrior), but from hearing how powerful mages are I presume it’s down to the above mentioned classes requiring skills to become ‘good’, whilst a mage simply requires spells.
2. It’s a shame the Dog can’t be given skills or abilities, nor does it make sense why he’s removed when you join up with the Grey Wardens joining quest.
3. You can’t tab between the characters and quick selects are awkward. Combine that with the annoying system of macro-ai, seen in the latest FF games, frustrates me somewhat.
4. Some skills simply aren’t explained very well and lead to some confusion as to the use/purpose/point.
5. My elf wench got killed at the start without me being to do anything. Not impressed :(
6. The graphics close up are… bad. Some of the cut scenes are awful. It feels like we’ve gone back 4-5 years in time. Light reflecting cloth? There’s also a bazillion shades of brown.
7. I currently feel overwhelmed with skills I simply havn’t chosen due to being given 3 other characters to contend with, none of which I truthfully like, in personality or play style.
8. The way Elves are treated by Humans has me curious and makes me want to replay as an Elf. Hmmm…
9. I’m missing so far that ‘thing’ that makes this game a bioware game. It feels like an EA game oddly enough. Here’s hoping it’s just early start jitters.