>turn-based combat
LOL

>>3972779
Agreed, kino game, good expansions, good everything.

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>>3972787

>>3972779
>original setting
I actually like Dragon Age a lot, especially Origins, but it's essentially just aping ASOIAF. I guess nothing's truly original nowadays, though

>>3972808
What? No? Not even a little bit. What are you even on about?

The combat is dogshit. Not because it's RTwP but because it's basic as fuck

>>3972808
>aping the fat pederast grrm
how so? if DA:O apes anything, it's LOTR, except that it gives its own tweak to the races. dwarves have a lost empire like in LOTR, but instead of being truly honorable, they're cunning and have fake honor. the elves came first, but instead of being a last remnant of the magic of old, they're just gypsy servants.

and then you've got the not catholic church chantry, which preaches original sin, and an apocalyptic black death that spreads across the world every few centuries. these seem original.

>>3972852
And the way mages work. It's kind of a little like the Warhammer Warp, but it's definitely distinctly different.

>>3972779
Origins is somewhere in top 5 western RPGs

>>3972779
>>create original setting
It's lord of the rings but edgy. Everything from the battles to the music. I know a lot of retards like to misuse generic Tolkienism as a put down but it's really apt in this case.

>>3972779
I'm choosing to ignore the rest of the thread.
DA:O is a solid 8/10 game that's great.
Westoid kino, kamige if you will

>>3972808
>but it's essentially just aping ASOIAF. I guess nothing's truly original nowadays, though
>>3972852
>if DA:O apes anything, it's LOTR
Probably both, along with Dungeons and Dragons, Conan, other fiction, real world history and religion, and what have you.

LOTR had a variety of influences, just not from popular nerd culture that we're so deeply familiar with today.

Btw pointing your finger at the one source you recognize just makes you look stupid.

Ive been trying to play it for the first time but the opening is so fucking boring i just cant sit through it. Im at the part in the mage origin where they make you fight spiders in a cave and i just cant bring myself to keep pushing through these boring monotonous tasks. When does the story start getting interesting? When does this game actually get good?

>3973086
JSID

>>3972779
>whether or not you like this game is how you separate the pretentious losers (ie RPGcodex and bedfellows) from true RPG enthusiasts
true, you codexfags loved this shit game and its mmo combat and gay sex and blood splatters, called it a "return to form" for bioware, exposing your awful taste as bg babbies.

>>3973064
And LOTR comes from Henrik Ibsen and Walter Scott. What's your point?
>>3973057
LOTR was extremely tame so an edgy version of it works very well

>>3973164
I get Scott's influence, but Ibsen? He never wrote anything remotely approaching fantasy besides Peer Gynt, which in turn is very similar to the second part of Goethe's Faust.

>>3973170
Ibsen introduced an interest in Nordic folklore and mythology in Europe. 90% of the fantasy elements in LOTR come from that

>>3973172
No? The construction of national romanticism started more than a generation before Ibsen was even born and the guy is literally known for spearheading realism in theater.

>>3973181
ah yeah bro I forgot about all those famous scandinavian plays with gnomes and trolls that were popular in europe before ibsen

>>3973185
Yeah, not as if Jena romanticism and the European counter-enlightenment were full of that kind of thing nearly a century prior to Ibsen publishing his first play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaBNUzVSnj8

Dragon Age was fantasy slop that ripped-off what was popular at the time. Whedon, A Song of Ice and Fire, that Witcher thing they were introduced to when those Poles licensed their engine.

>>3973201
>be a complete ripoff
>be better than the material you ripoff
still quite an accomplishment

equipments looks like shit. towns look like shit. engine struggles to run a small square level. the choices are typical bioware illusions.

>>3972831
it was directly inspired by it, faggot.

>>3973222
>can kill almost your entire party
>8 different landsmeet outcomes
>4 different archdemon outcomes
>unique endings based on origin
cope

>>3973201
>that Witcher thing
you mean the ripoff of elric of melnibone?

>>3973223
he thinks asoiaf is a tv show, anon.

Unpopular opinion: I think Dragon Age 2 was an alright game. Not great, not awful. I appreciated how restrained it was, focusing on a family saga instead of a saving the world epic.

>>3973258
da2 is indeed underrated, also it at least feels like it takes place in the DA universe, something cisquisition and veilguard definitely failed at

>>3973258
>>3973274
Yeah I really like 2, especially the art style. If we could get a remaster that reduced the constant, long loading screens, and somehow change the enemy spawns so combat wasn't getting ambushed by 14 waves of enemies that appear on top of you, you'd have a solid game.
Even as is, DA2 is so much better than 3. I played Inquisition lately and was shocked at how bad it was. That shit didn't even have d-pad support.

>>3973326
The art style was okay, though you can already see things starting to look weirdly overdesigned, like Sebastian's armor. Obviously they ran with that in 3 and 4. Origins was more gritty and realistic.
Cisquisition is just a bad Ubisoft game with a thin veneer of Dragon Age paint on it.

>>3973274
>da2 is indeed underrated
It's a piece of garbage.
>>3973341
>Cisquisition is just a bad Ubisoft game
It's a bad game but still better than DA2. And you can ignore almost all of the shittiest parts of DAI while you have to interact with the worst parts of DA2.

>>3973413
but DAI doesnt have any good parts
all the main story content is trash, all the side content is trash, all the companions suck besides cassandra

>>3973431
>but DAI doesnt have any good parts
And neither does DA2, but DAI is mostly skippable.

>>3973433
DA2 has a few good companions, and the Arishock is a good antagonist. And more importantly, it doesn't eviscerate the setting as much as cisquis does

>>3973462
>DA2 has a few good companions
Varric is the only good companion.
>Arishock is a good antagonist
He is boring as fuck and the fact that the qunari are squatting for years is beyond retarded.
>it doesn't eviscerate the setting as much as cisquis does
It does. Anders alone is the most offensive part of the initial three games.

>>3973433
Dragon Age II is something that could have been pretty decent if they had been given more time for polish, whereas Inquisition is a big polished pile of nothing.

>>3973469
>could have been pretty decent if
Cope and incorrect besides. There is nothing good about this piece of shit of a game. You could give them 5 extra years and it would be less bad at best, never good.

>>3972779
>original setting with a focus on tawdry sex appeal and grimdark edginess
Lol no
That would be Witcher
That's why Witcher 2 destroyed Dragon Age 2

>>3973469
Both games had development problems, unfortunately. Well, Bioware as a whole had problems ever since, and I don't think you can even call it the same company anymore.

>>3973466
>and the fact that the qunari are squatting for years is beyond retarded.
Didn't you play the game? They can't return home empty handed or they'd probably be executed by the theocracy. It parallels how Sten couldn't return home without his sword.
>>3973492
The Witcher 2 is an action adventure game, hardly a CRPG

2 was better. The setting was much more unique

>>3973495
>Didn't you play the game?
I did. Nothing indicated that they were actively searching for the book or did any sort of diplomacy and then they sperged out because the plot demanded it. Speaking of Sten, he was far more interesting in Origins than every qunari in DA2 put together including ooga booga Arishok. Just one more thing that DA2 flanderized.

>>3972779
The Mother level and boss fight shook me so much I had to put the game down to let sink in wtf I just saw and did and I could never pick the game up again because I wasn't ready for whatever coyld come after that.
Truly a holy sh*t moment if there ever was one

>>3972831
>>3973064
>Darkspawn = Others/White Walkers
>Cailan's Death and the Ferelden Civil War = Robert's death and the War of the Five Kings
>Grey Wardens = Night's Watch

I remember when this trailer came out and everyone was freaking out about it, but it was then that I knew this game would be something special. The new shit indeed, Marilyn.
https://youtu.be/MYPNc8LUBWM?si=YPsdNhlBb0IQDPeI

>>3972800
N'wah

>>3973737
>>Darkspawn = Others/White Walkers = Orcs
>>Cailan's Death and the Ferelden Civil War = Robert's death and the War of the Five Kings = History
>>Grey Wardens = Night's Watch = Rangers of the North

>>3973756
this one is better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkZUNJVb8jI

>>3972787
you can turn it off and play in real time

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>>3972779
the moment that got burned into my memory the most is from one of the starting sections
when you get a key for some chest, and I successfully sneaked to the chest to open it
and the game just triggers a dialog with some doode telling you you can't open this chest
0 player agency out of 10
a dogshit game from an era of dogshit lowest-common-denominator targeting games curated by suits, which only x360 kiddies praise because that's what their childhood was
and because of succubus model titties, which are pretty good

but you all aren't ready for this discussion

>>3973838
least schizo da:o hater

>>3973835
That anon's retarded, there's nothing turn-based about Dragon Age. It's a real time game where you can issue orders while paused.

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DAO was a 5/10 game carried entirely by the fact it was a big studio with a big budget which naturally means you'll get a certain amount of content, polish, and graphical fidelity.
The story is edgy because that's what was in at the time. There are probably zoomers who weren't alive for the 2000s reading this but fantasy stuff gained a lot of popularity after LOTR movies came out as well as GRRM's schlock and whatever other shitty fantasy books flooded the stores. DAO is just the inevitable edgy kneejerk reaction to the popularity of fantasy at the time; it tries for a more mature tone with dark themes, violence, sex and it isn't even unique in this.

What does it have really? MMO tier combat? A bunch of origin stories that really only amount to a different tutorial section + a mediocre quest later on. Perhaps some of the most bland selection of characters put to wrpg's? People remember Morrigan because she's with you from the beginning and she pretty much runs around with her tits out. All the backstory and "lore" is retarded, worldbuilding like that is probably one of the biggest red flags in any medium because no one gives a shit about that detail to read through your wikipedia article. The reason games like Elder Scrolls gets away with having "deep" lore is because they've had 6 mainline games + spinoffs to introduce different settings that layer on top each other to create "lore"; Dragon Age has none of that so it just come off as awful, boring, and in your face.
Personally I handled the underground dwarf bit fine but I can see why people thought it was the worst bit of the game because it does turn into a slog. You could go on forever talking about how much of this game was a waste.

Now that we're far enough away from its release and the conditions that created it people rightfully realise it's thoroughly mediocre. DA2 was shit and people knew it was bad even at the time. DAO tried to launch a new rpg fantasy series and delivered us pure shit instead.

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>>3973968
Many of us knew at release how bland it was.

>>3973968
How thoughtful of you to sign your own post, and with an image no less.

>>3973936
only THAT anon?
my man they very certainly both are

>>3973756
I hadn't seen this until after finishing DAO. It feels like a trailer for a completely different game.
>>3973832
Kek at least the speech is good.

>>3973974
You have 0 rebuttal because you know how bland and mechanically shit it was. It's indefensible.

>>3974009
I don't have a rebuttal because I'm not interested in engaging with someone with such a vacuous take, but that doesn't make you any less retarded.

>>3974059
>>3973903
buthurt fanboy says what

>>3974408
Extremely insightful and high-quality post. With an intellect like that, why aren't you working for Bioware?

>>3974408
>buthurt
But hurt? What about and hurt?

>>3972779
Should I play the ultimate version of this game or just the standard one? I have both

>>3974445
No

>>3974445
Ultimate is just the base game plus all the DLC, so that.

>>3974445
Are you retarded?

>>3972792
Dunno, found Awakening a bit.."not enough", and the companions there kinda suck. Anders and Howe are nice though.
Leliana was around, just unbalanced as fuck, Witch Hunt was kino and Golems is whatever, didn't touch it since it use the assets of the worse landscape of the game (The Thaigh ruins)

>>3973086
Play a better lineage, non ironically.
City Elve, Human Noble, the two dworf origins, are bretty gud.
The only thing that Mage has, is the fact that Irving stick around for the rest of the game, and he's basically your magic godfather

>>3973226
You can kill your whole party actually
>Leliana: Cum Chalice event
>Wynn: Cum Chalice event
>Alistair: Exile him, Execute him, or make him pissed at you during the Landsmeet
>Zevran: Kill on first encounter
>Shane: Kill during the forge event or refuse to recruit
>Stenn: Leave him rot, or allow him to leave after getting his sissy sword back
>Dog: Let it die
>OGO: Kill him while he's drunk at the camp
>Loghain: If not executed, make him slay the archfiend
>Morrigan: Only possible at Witch Hunt. Can also expell her before the archfiend fight

>>3972837
As long as you only use one mage I think it's well balanced and actually requires tactics. The fact that three mages and a tank is just objectively the best party comp is a problem.

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>>3973968
>"its bad because its bad"

>>3972779

If only they´d never sold out... DA should get a remake to update graphics and mechanics and a clean slate to erase the rest of the games from the continuity and fulfill the original promise of a changing tailored world state across games.

But yeah, Bioware is gone now, it´s been gone for a while too so that´s not happening.

>>3973226
that's not much for an rpg. most dialogue is obfuscated thing where no matter what you choose you say the same thing and the outcome is the same.

>>3973226
>you can get a different text message displayed on the screen after you do something
>OMG WHAT A RICH CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES
The genre imploded on its own but Bioware ruined what was left of it.

>>3972779
This was pretty fun. I played Dragon Age Inquisition years later though and it was absolute garbage. I don't know how that happens. Do studios forget how to make games?

>>3974639
that's the general curse of fully VA dialogs
but yeah, in DA specifically it's VERY obvious that most NPC replies are intentionally written to be good for any of the 3-4 options the player could choose

other games of late 00s and early 10s greatly suffer from this as well, Witcher 2 for example
I think it's because the studios wanted to do full VA but had to squeeze into relatively tight budgets by today's standards

>>3974639
>>3976114
What game without voice acting has impressed you with its amount of different responses and outcomes?

>>3976164
Fallout

>>3976164
>please allow me to save face with some whataboutism
lol
You have to be retarded to see [at least every other] NPC reply in DAO and not immediately understand that such a reply fits any of the previous dialog options.
pre full VA games don't have this issue at all, at least not a single noteworthy one.
even some full VA didn't have this issue like DE or VTMB
Even low budget crpg renaissance kickstarter wave didn't have this problem.

>>3976175
>a reply fits any of the previous dialog options.
>pre full VA games don't have this issue at all
Perhaps because other games didn't bother having multiple dialogue options for the same outcome.

Only have one dialogue option = your "problem" is solved. No expectation of multiple outcomes.

>>3976178
>because other games didn't bother having multiple dialogue options for the same outcome.
LMAO
you are absolutely clueless about the things you are trying to talk

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>>3972779
I don't like the gay stuff, anti-religion stuff, and MMO combat.

>>3976189
>LMAO
>you are absolutely clueless about the things you are trying to talk
A very compelling argument.

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>>3974493
>>Loghain: If not executed

the game makes seem like it's a hard decision but I always went down the path of executing this traitor.

Which was shown to be a good thing in later games

>>3976200
well what more can you ask for?
you've been given specific explanation of the problem and specific examples of games that don't have this problem
and instead of at least taking a look at gameplay vids you start pulling shit out of your ass about what these games you know nothing about might lack (they don't)

>>3976233
>what these games might lack (they don't)
>>3976178
>multiple dialogue options for the same outcome
So the games you mentioned have the same issue of different dialogue options receiving the same reply?

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>>3976238

>>3976247
>>3976178
>Perhaps because other games didn't bother having multiple dialogue options for the same outcome.
>>3976233
>you start pulling shit out of your ass about what these games you know nothing about might lack (they don't)

>>3973968
>MMO tier combat?
Is your geriatric brain blending DAO and DAI together? There's nothing MMO about the first one.

>>3976258
nta
cooldowns were an MMO thing back in the day

>>3975843
In a sense. The employees either die, retire, get fired or quit, and new people are brought in. This happens at all levels.
After 5-10 years, any company is a different company.
You ever heard the gay old addage "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." It kind of fits here.

I will never understand what about this dull ugly boring game hooks so many people

>>3976407
it has threat mechanics, which originated in mmos. the other thing they copied was gambits from ff12. bioware have been hacks forever, they actually can't design game systems.

>>3976596
It’s odd. I played and finished it once, back when it came out, and thought it was almost completely forgettable. I can barely remember any of it

>>3976596
It's a very character driven game. The plot is standard high fantasy, the design is generic high fantasy, the combat is ass by modern standards, and there's really nothing unique about the classes. What it excels in though is companions, characters and voice acting. The voice acting is top fucking tier. I haven't played the game in a long time but there are many voices I can still hear very clearly. This is important in a game where you spend a lot of time talking to people.

>>3976617
The voice acting is very good but the characters aren't anything special. They all feel pretty bog standard, even for the time.

>>3976596
It was the best CRPG on the market for over a decade, til BG3 came out.

>>3977262
Bait used to be believable

>>3977262
>>3976596
Origins is the worst selling DA game, actually. It just has a cult following.

>>3977262
If you mean a party control RPG.. yes Origins was the GOAT.

>>3977315
Dragon Age: Origins sold 3.2 million units.
Dragon Age II sold 2 million units.
Dragon Age: Inquisition sales reached 6 million units.

>>3977289
Name a better crpg

>>3977342
Name a crpg

>>3977350
Forgotten Relics of Radiance

>>3977342
Easy, Pathfinder WOTR. Blows BG3 out of the water.

>>3977358
Lmao
>>3977363
Lmao

>>3977323
it was 271k max