Dragon Age: Inquisition

mewso · 01-03-2013 10:50am

Yes indeed I've backed Eternity and Wasteland 2 with high hopes for both. As I said I just missed out on BG for some strange reason at the time (I suspect for financial reasons). Played KOTOR a few years back and loved it. So our hopes rest with the Kickstarters. Fair enough. For now I'm going to play through the infinity engine games (Bioware or otherwise) I think since I missed them all - BG1 and 2, Planescape, Icewind Dale 1 and 2. That should keep me going

Are the Neverwinter Nights games worth playing from a single player pov?

Kiith · 01-03-2013 11:14am

mewso wrote: »

For now I'm going to play through the infinity engine games (Bioware or otherwise) I think since I missed them all - BG1 and 2, Planescape, Icewind Dale 1 and 2. That should keep me going Are the Neverwinter Nights games worth playing from a single player pov?

You lucky bastard :pac:

Neverwinter Nights is great. Not as good as the BG series, but still enjoyable. NWN2 wasn't as good, but still worth the playthrough. I've never actually played through the Icewind Dale series, as i'd heard it was much more combat focussed, rather then story focussed.

Planescape and BG1/2 should keep you busy for a couple hundred hours though.

mewso · 01-03-2013 12:43pm

Kiith wrote: »

I've never actually played through the Icewind Dale series, as i'd heard it was much more combat focussed, rather then story focussed.

I took a quick look at a lets play of Icewind Dale and it looks to have a lot more combat all right but there seems to be a story in there too. I like the fact that you create your whole party of 6 in the beginning. No more heart-aching over letting someone join and who to drop etc. Might be worth your while heading on over to gog and giving them a go.

nesf · 01-03-2013 12:52pm

Kiith wrote: »

I've never actually played through the Icewind Dale series, as i'd heard it was much more combat focussed, rather then story focussed.

It is. They're harder games to care about if that makes sense but if you enjoyed the "squad based wargame" aspect of BG they can be enjoyable enough.

Icyseanfitz · 01-03-2013 5:42pm

Big Knox wrote: »

Yep it's the only way we are going to see what the old school fans want. Path of Exile is a great example. An ARPG made by a small dev company, funded through donations and supporter packs and it is glorious. The game every true ARPG fan wanted since D2. Even with a true F2P model it's already been a huge success so far and it's still only in open beta so hopefully more success stories can pop up in different genres also.

holy crap howd i miss that, is it good? is it story based or just pure arpg? either way im now downloading

Varik · 01-03-2013 5:46pm

While Dragon age 2 had a lot of problems as a game, I like what it added to and what it changed in the world.

And it's more than the welsh elves.

sin0city · 28-06-2013 11:03am

So, as most of you probably saw, a new trailer at E3.
The 3 is dropped and the game is now called Dragon Age: Inquisition and release date has been put back to autumn 2014, which can only be a good thing.

From the interview with Bioware GM Aaryn Flynn, looks like you'll play the role of an Inquisitor in a more open world setting, where you'll attempt to deal with a fade rift in the sky with Thedas already in ribbons due to the ongoing conflict between the mages and templars

(thanks Anders)

. Thankfully he mentions that the tactical element of Origins is being incorporated and looks like a return for Morrigan and the Qunari.

I thought the trailer and stills look really nice and it's definitely my most anticipated game of 2014. Looking forward to seeing what the new Bioware IP is too.

Pushtrak · 28-06-2013 12:45pm

It'll be getting a proper development cycle, so I'm cautiously optimistic. The first held up to a couple of playthroughs, though I kinda went to town on the playthroughs and don't see myself playing it again, tbh. There are a couple of sequences that are a chore to play through like that one

fade bit

that is etched in my memory from doing it so many times. And that's saying something.

(Admittedly, I more remember the crapness of the section than particulars of the section.)

sin0city · 28-06-2013 1:09pm

Pushtrak wrote: »

It'll be getting a proper development cycle, so I'm cautiously optimistic. The first held up to a couple of playthroughs, though I kinda went to town on the playthroughs and don't see myself playing it again, tbh. There are a couple of sequences that are a chore to play through like that one
fade bit
that is etched in my memory from doing it so many times. And that's saying something.

(Admittedly, I more remember the crapness of the section than particulars of the section.)

Yeah, that section is a bit of a chore alright. I'll be using the save from my original warden that carried on into Dragon Age 2 anyway, whether I play it again before the new one comes out or not. It'll be very cool if your new character gets to meet them in Inquisition.

Mickeroo · 28-06-2013 1:17pm

Does your Dragon Age 1 save carry over to the second one? I thought because it was a designated character you're playing that you wouldn't be able to do that.

I know the 2nd one is supposed to suck but I still want to play it to see where the story goes.

Pushtrak · 28-06-2013 1:22pm

Your save does carry over. You will see or not see characters from the first on the basis of the playthrough you bring over to DA 2. DA 2 doesn't feel like a full game. It feels like an introduction to DA 3.

sin0city · 07-08-2013 1:22pm

Large and varied environments, customizable armor, and the return of multiple player races are just a few of the ways BioWare is addressing feedback from previous titles in order to shape a new future for the franchise.

And horses too :pac:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/08/06/september-2013-dragon-age-inquisition-6119.aspx

OrgasmicBaz · 07-08-2013 1:27pm

Cannot wait for this game to come out, only bad thing is i cant carry my save over as im switching from Xbox - PS

Varik · 07-08-2013 4:48pm

OrgasmicBaz wrote: »

Cannot wait for this game to come out, only bad thing is i cant carry my save over as im switching from Xbox - PS

They might bring out another comic thing like they did for mass effect, it gave a brief story and choice of the previous 2 games and then gave you a save.

Xenji · 15-08-2013 12:09pm

A bit more on races

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/08/14/the-return-of-races-in-dragon-age-inquisition.aspx

sin0city · 29-08-2013 10:12am

Varik wrote: »

They might bring out another comic thing like they did for mass effect, it gave a brief story and choice of the previous 2 games and then gave you a save.

Turns out they're going a lot further.

BioWare fans may recall that Mass Effect 3 allowed new players to answer a few questions about their previous exploits, so it could arrange this third chapter to their specifications. It was a nice idea that allowed those who lost their save files along the way to maintain most of their original choices, but it wasn't very comprehensive and failed to let players say that they rescued Wrex, for example. The studio has learned from this, though, and will be offering further options in its upcoming Dragon Age Inquisition via a new service called Dragon Age Keep.

"Within the Dragon Age Keep, you'll be able to customise a Dragon Age historical world state to your exact specifications drawn from Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 story decisions," explained BioWare in its FAQ for this new program. "These include hero attributes, companion details, quest results, and more. Customise as much or as little as you wish... For new players, the Keep will serve as a great way to understand the people, places, and events that shaped the world leading up to Dragon Age Inquisition."

Having read other articles too, the thing I'm concerned about is how vague they are about whether they'll be able to feed in actual saves that carry over from DA:O, DA:2 and the DLC. Be nice to be able to just import it and not have to trawl through all the decisions.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-28-dragon-age-inquisition-allows-you-to-tailor-your-historical-world-state

sin0city · 02-09-2013 12:14pm

Xenji · 02-09-2013 12:19pm

It is shaping up very nicely, IGNs at PAX impressions looked very well http://ie.ign.com/videos/2013/08/31/dragon-age-inquisition-impressions

Xenji · 11-09-2013 1:17pm

Turns out the game is not open world, well not Skyrim esque open world, it is going to be a multi region game on the same continent.

Speaking with RPS, Laidlaw was asked if BioWare considered Dragon Age: Inquisition an open world experience. “Open world” I think is a really loaded term,” he replied, “because everyone immediately thinks of Skyrim and assumes everything will be exactly like Skyrim. In our case, there are extremely large regions you can explore.

“It’s a multi-region game, which means that you’ll travelling with a world map. You’re travelling across this chunk of the continent in which the game is set. And each of the regions is purposeful. It has a reason you would be brought here. It ties back to the story, or at least to the overall themes of the game. “These are my enemies and they’re very active here. I should find out why.”

“That kind of stuff. That means that they aren’t necessarily laden with story, because story is the antithesis of discovery, right? It tends to lead you along. But when you’re discovering things, you should feel like they’re part of the overall game and not random. I would say that it has elements of open world for sure, but it’s something closer to the feel we had in the Baldur’s Gate games or in Origins, even, where it’s larger areas, big spaces, and the chance for you to move around and see a wide variety of different terrains and locales and so on.”

http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/11/dragon-age-inquisition-isnt-open-world-is-multi-region-says-bioware/

Xenji · 30-10-2013 3:57pm

Hopefully it will not get pushed back.

http://www.videogamer.com/xboxone/dragon_age_inquisition/news/uncertainty_over_dragon_age_inquisition_2014_release.html

EA has cast doubt over Dragon Age: Inquisition's autumn 2014 release date, suggesting that though a release next year is "most likely", there's a possibility it could slip.

"We were highly conscious of the fact that, if Battlefield is as successful as we believe it'll be, that that sets ourselves up for a challenge next year," said EA CFO Blake Jorgensen during the firm's Q2 2014 financial call last night. "But remember, we're introducing NBA this year. We're introducing UFC next year. We have Sims next year, we would most likely, possibly have Dragon Age next year."

2Mad2BeMad · 30-10-2013 7:30pm

Xenji wrote: »

Hopefully it will not get pushed back.

http://www.videogamer.com/xboxone/dragon_age_inquisition/news/uncertainty_over_dragon_age_inquisition_2014_release.html

drop nba and the sims
then bam you have it released

nba live looks awful from videos and the sims.....

nesf · 31-10-2013 8:17am

Pushed back is fine so long as it isn't a steaming pile of poo like DA II. (See that rhymed!)

Zillah · 31-10-2013 12:42pm

nesf wrote: »

Pushed back is fine so long as it isn't a steaming pile of poo like DA II. (See that rhymed!)

They can take three more years for all I care, just don't give me a half-baked beta as a release. I've run entirely out of patience for games being released before they're ready.

I'm looking at you Rome 2.

nesf · 31-10-2013 1:09pm

Zillah wrote: »

They can take three more years for all I care, just don't give me a half-baked beta as a release. I've run entirely out of patience for games being released before they're ready.

I'm looking at you Rome 2.

Ah now, to be fair, Creative Assembly have been releasing betas for many, many years now...

Kirby · 31-10-2013 8:45pm

Zillah wrote: »

They can take three more years for all I care, just don't give me a half-baked beta as a release. I've run entirely out of patience for games being released before they're ready.

I'm looking at you Rome 2.

nesf wrote: »

Ah now, to be fair, Creative Assembly have been releasing betas for many, many years now...

This is the drawback of working with most publishers. It was SEGA's decision to release the game when they did.

Companies like Blizzard and Nintendo develop and publish their own games so the "It'll be released when its ready" mantra rings true.

nesf · 31-10-2013 9:22pm

Kirby wrote: »

This is the drawback of working with most publishers. It was SEGA's decision to release the game when they did.

Companies like Blizzard and Nintendo develop and publish their own games so the "It'll be released when its ready" mantra rings true.

No argument there. That said, CA do fix things and give the community enough scope to sort out issues versus say EA's approach with the latest Sim City.

shruikan2553 · 01-11-2013 12:35pm

More than 1 area? Already sounds better. Disappointed they didnt make the exalted march expansion as I liked the mage-templar story but this looks like it will continue to story nicely.

Pushtrak · 01-11-2013 3:22pm

shruikan2553 wrote: »

More than 1 area? Already sounds better. Disappointed they didnt make the exalted march expansion as I liked the mage-templar story but this looks like it will continue to story nicely.

Well, that much was pretty obvious. Dragon Age 2 just felt like a poor expansion to Origins. I'm hoping this'll be as good as Origins, because lets face it, DA2 isn't even remotely ambitious as a target for quality.

Xenji · 12-11-2013 3:55pm

30 minutes of leaked off screen footage

Mr Freeze · 12-11-2013 4:06pm

Please don't have a "Fade" or "The Deep Roads" section in this game.

I was stunned that you had to return to The Deep Roads in DA2, the worst part of the first game.

Zillah · 12-11-2013 4:39pm

I liked the deep roads.

Mr Freeze · 12-11-2013 4:42pm

Zillah wrote: »

I liked the deep roads.

I think it would have been ok, if it didn't go on as long, I felt I was half the game down there.

Dave_The_Sheep · 12-11-2013 4:47pm

Well, they are deep.

I didn't mind them, actually. I've only played the first game, now.

sin0city · 12-11-2013 4:54pm

It was long but I thought the fade was the real grind.

I think the gameplay footage above looks great. The armour detail is impressive, the environment looks really, really good and the combat looks quality.

Kiith · 13-11-2013 12:01am

Gamepley footage does look good. Tactical view is in there, and the combat looks enjoyable. As much as everyone always says DA:O was the best, the combat in it was awfully slow. Especially as a melee character. Took ages for skills to activate, and the enemy had usually moved away by the time it went through. Hopefully we'll get a nice middle ground between DA:O and DA2.

nesf · 13-11-2013 5:43am

Mr Freeze wrote: »

Please don't have a "Fade" or "The Deep Roads" section in this game.

I was stunned that you had to return to The Deep Roads in DA2, the worst part of the first game.

Gah no! The Deep Roads section was nice in the first game. It was the Fade that did my head in and was the only part I dreaded on a replay.

Kiith · 13-11-2013 5:50am

No need to worry about it the Fade, at least when replaying it on the pc. Nice easy mod to skip it entirely.

http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/816

mewso · 13-11-2013 2:16pm

Kiith wrote: »

No need to worry about it the Fade, at least when replaying it on the pc. Nice easy mod to skip it entirely.

http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/816

I can never figure that out. I remember two times having to go to the fade but that helps you skip only one part of it?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 13-11-2013 2:17pm

the other time is when you reach the end of the mages tower
but that's only a short trip[ in the fade. take 5 steps, fight enemy. repeat 4 times. exit fade.

Kiith · 13-11-2013 11:30pm

Yeah, as above it only removes the really **** Fade section, that goes on for a while. And it give you all the items and exp you would have gotten going through it yourself.

Kind of similar to removing Irenicus' dungeon in BG2, or skipping the Endar Spire in KOTOR.

Mods are great.

Xenji · 06-03-2014 5:36pm

Looks fantastic.

Kirby · 07-03-2014 7:59am

johnny_ultimate · 07-03-2014 12:37pm

Looks like the same hopelessly bland and clichéd fantasy setting as the other games with better technology. Think this is one series I could be destined to never really get.

Mickeroo · 07-03-2014 12:39pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Looks like the same hopelessly bland and clichéd fantasy setting as the other games with better technology. Think this is one series I could be destined to never really get.

Well they were hardly going to change the setting tbf :pac:

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 07-03-2014 12:47pm

Mickeroo wrote: »

Well they were hardly going to change the setting tbf :pac:

dragon age 3: journey to the center of the zone

actually I would ****ing love that

johnny_ultimate · 07-03-2014 12:56pm

Mickeroo wrote: »

Well they were hardly going to change the setting tbf :pac:

I've seen a few publications online waxing lyrical about the trailer, but IMO it just doesn't offer anything we haven't seen a thousand times before. Prettier, yes, but many successive fantasy games are prettier than the last :pac:

Obviously it's not suddenly going to be set in a distant future dystopia, but this series IMO suffers from a fundamental lack of imagination and originality. Certainly plenty of things that could be done even in a generally fantastical setting with dragons etc... This trailer could easily be for a Game of Thrones or Elder Scrolls game!* I do confess to having a general lack of interest in these sorts of worlds, but I'm sure I'd be interested seeing something fresh done with this sort of world. Maybe visiting a part of the world with different cultures or inspirations - World of Warcraft, which I haven't played by the way, has done something along those lines with several of its expansions. Hey, who knows, maybe Dragon Age 3 will do something really interesting when we actually see the finished product.

*Yes, I'm sure giants couldn't exist in Westeros or something

sin0city · 07-03-2014 1:02pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Looks like the same hopelessly bland and clichéd fantasy setting as the other games with better technology. Think this is one series I could be destined to never really get.

Couldn't disagree more.

I think it's an incredible feat of world building.
Different races, fleshed out world and lore that's already seen 2 games and numerous books. Hopefully an excellent story and characters with gameplay that so far looks excellent. All immersed in an interactive* world that looks that good?

That's all I really want from a game to be honest.

* "The world's population is based on an emergent system that adjusts what you'll encounter based on how your actions tip the balance in the area. You'll see towns attacked by bandits, deer fleeing from wolves, giant's feeding on bears, and countless other scenarios."
Producer Cameron Lee.

sin0city · 07-03-2014 1:04pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

fundamental lack of imagination and originality.

GTFO!
To be more specific, I don't think a series that rich in history and story can seriously be described as having a fundamental lack of imagination and originality. Fantasy is a genre and you generally have overlap.

degrassinoel · 07-03-2014 4:06pm

i eh.. thought it was a bit bland too, but the video itself is just detailing the environments rather than the complete game, so i reckon i'll reserve judgement of it til i see more of the actual game.

Some of the water effects leave a lot to be desired..

tbh, i thought skyrim looked more detailed, and that's what? 3 years old now?

Kiith · 07-03-2014 4:11pm

I thought it looked good. Again, all we saw was environments, and we'll need to see how they look when they are more populated and from the players perspective. Certainly doesn't look bad looking.

It'll be the story and gameplay that'll decide the game though.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

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