Dragon Age: Origins

Maximilian

Saw that this was available for pre-order on Steam and then read this preview on Eurogamer.

It looks like classic Bioware and not a console port, which is a rarity these days.

Basically I'm sold. Anyone else getting it?

Rev Hellfire

Yes, but I think I'll be getting it on physical media.

With rpgs I think the manuals etc are big thing, not to mention the fact that its actually cheaper than getting it online.

Bit of a pain though that it seems to not be multiplayer, coop was always fun in those things.

Rev Hellfire

For example:

Play: e35.49

--- Online ---
Impulse: e34.79

Steam: e49.99

Maximilian

how can Impulse be so much cheaper?

Outkast_IRE

I dont think the impulse one is for here though it says
Territory : North America & Canada??

Rev Hellfire

Because they're not bleeding thieves like valve ?

Its a single player game, territory doesn't matter.

Even without that play is still 15 quid cheaper and you get a disc + printed manuals etc.
Its a no brainer really, u buy off steam you need your head examined in this case.

Maximilian

just checked through Impulse itself & it comes up as €45.23

Rev Hellfire

Odd must be my settings, either way I wouldn't have been getting it there.
I can live the week and save a third of the price of the game

Raphael

Huh, that;s cheaper than I expected from Play. Must check if it'll work on my computer, and put down a preorder if twill.

Outkast_IRE

Rev Hellfire wrote: »

Because they're not bleeding thieves like valve ?

Its a single player game, territory doesn't matter.

Even without that play is still 15 quid cheaper and you get a disc + printed manuals etc.
Its a no brainer really, u buy off steam you need your head examined in this case.

Well actually with digital distribution territory does matter for any game, the digital distributor must adhere to the publishers and developers wishes the only company that usually employs this tactic in Digital distribution is guess who EA most other companies let it slide ....... Im not saying you cant buy it on impluse but there has been precedents set by EA where they limited Distribution by territory.

Jilm

Any idea what Game and gamestop will be selling it for in store on release date?

The cheapest that I found it going for online is £26 delivered from dvd.co.uk

Raphael

€31 from cd wow, and they take Laser.

Will check and see if Xtra-vision have a price tomorrow.

grizzly

Good stuff, I had almost picked this up on steam last, ordered from dvd.co.uk, should work out at €29 after currency conversion.

mewso

Review in PC Gamer today:

94% - RPG of the decade they say. Ignoring the hype I think we can assume it's good.

BattlingCheese

looks very very good and just finished BG2 again recently.
Thanks for the heads up Max.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/shut-up-dragon-age/58070

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/deathbed-gameplay-dragon-age/58073

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/dragon-gameplay-dragon-age/58067

Outkast_IRE

where is best to order from if you want it on your delivered on day of release tbh i had a bad experience with play before when i ordered and a week after release they still hadnt shipped so i cancelled.

Rev Hellfire

If I want something on the day of release I typically just buy it in the shop.
Xtravision isn't the worst, nor surprisingly can be hmv. I've found them to be as cheap as play from time to time and always cheaper than steam for a new release.

Creature

Yeah I'm really looking forward to this. The fact that it uses a pause and play system like Baldur's Gate had me sold since day one. You can also download the character creator toolkit btw. It's handy as you wont have to spend ages making one on launch day.

anonymous_joe

I completely forgot about this (stopped following gaming news tbh a year or two ago) and was reminded of it about a week ago.

Really looking forward to it.

Rev Hellfire

Creature wrote: »

It's handy as you wont have to spend ages making one on launch day.

You say that like its a bad thing...

Creature

It is! I hate agonising over stats when I just want to get stuck in and play. Especially since I'm way too obsessive about this sort of thing for my own good and it usually takes me an hour or two to create an ideal character.
I suppose it could be worse. At least DA:O doesn't have you roll for you stats like BG.
"Just one more roll, they'll be better this time. Just one more roll."

anonymous_joe

Creature wrote: »

Yeah I'm really looking forward to this. The fact that it uses a pause and play system like Baldur's Gate had me sold since day one. You can also download the character creator toolkit btw. It's handy as you wont have to spend ages making one on launch day.

What, like you can have your character premade before the game?

I'm really hoping that some of the prestige classes allow for my old NWN build of a rogue/ranger with shadowdancer and assassin prestige classes which allows you restealth whenever you want and sneak attack again. Was just evil.

Creature

Yup just like that. You import it in when you get the game.

Here you go, this should be it.

Hody

Does anybody know where I can buy the Collector´s Edition of Dragon Age: Origins off the shelf in Dublin or somewhere else in the ROI?! I asked at Gamestop but they only do the normal one... :eek:

Please help, thank you

Outkast_IRE

Well the stardock guys on the impulse forum are saying you cant buy it from them outside us&canada !!

Hody

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Well the stardock guys on the impulse forum are saying you cant buy it from them outside us&canada !!

GAME are selling it actually....

Outkast_IRE

Hody wrote: »

GAME are selling it actually....

No you dont understand IMPULSE/stardock provide a digital download service which is cheaper than bricks and mortar shops (usually) EA have restricted them to sell only to US customers ......... i know you can buy it in game or any other real shop. We mentioned it further back in the thread

Hody

I have some goodies for you guys - enjoy

Manuals in different languages (Zip File)

Some links from a walkthrough site that were being discussed at the lesbian relationship topic:

dragonagewalkthrough.com/companions/ - information about all companions, their side quests, personalities, romances, etc.
dragonagewalkthrough.com/supporting_cast/supporting_cast.php - little information about secondary ones
dragonagewalkthrough.com/bestiary/bestiary.php - monsters in the game
http://dragonagewalkthrough.com/classes/ - well, about classes in general

They were the main ones I found, and for those who like spoilers, enjoy!

Maximilian

8/10 lackluster review from Eurogamer. Mind you, I find their reviews dodgey these days, so I'm still confident it will be great.

Creature

Wow I'm surprised it even got an 8. The article was incredibly negative, the reviewer didn't seem to like anything about it.

SK1979

Hey guys

Looking to get into a decent single player RPG. I'm a little concerned with the Eurogamer review slating the difficulty settings, I've not seen this mentioned too much elsewhere though.

Do you think this is an issue?

Maximilian

Don't really think so. I'm glad its challenging.

If you look elsewhere, the game is getting great reviews. PC Gamer UK gave it 94% and called it RPG of the decade for example. Every other review I've seen so far has been 90+

SK1979

Thanks for the re-assurance. Ordered it anyway from Amazon and just confirmation of despatch. Should have it monday / tuesday, cant wait!

I think the fact that the difficulty can be changed on the fly is good, I just hate the idea of playing a game on a real easy setting, feels cheap or something!

anonymous_joe

PC Zone moaned about the difficulty too, saying that on normal, certain parts of the game require you to drop down to easy.

Still gave it in the 90s.

Shall almost certainly purchase this Monday morning.

mewso

Got it today in game. €39.99 for standard, €49.99 for collectors edition. I crumbled and got the collectors edition mainly for the making of/soundtrack not for the free in-game items and extra quest.

SK1979

Anyone got any first impressions yet? No spoilers please!

mewso

Played since post above. Loving it so far. A real time sapper. Better eat some food.

RCNPhotos

Playin a while, meh. Graphics are dier. But I have been reading reports on other boards that its a slow burner and once you're a few hours in it hooks you pretty badly so I'm going to persevere, fingers crossed.

Tragedy

People still quote PC Gamer reviews?

Don't have high hopes for this, just looking for something to kill a weekend

mewso

Tragedy wrote: »

People still quote PC Gamer reviews?

Yeah because lets face it if they were honest they would only give the game 30% in their review but like all magazines they are bought off long before the game comes out.

A magazine review is a guide like anything else. For example if they give a game 5% I suspect even if I am extremely different to the reviewer in my tastes it's still unlikely I would find the game in question to be a classic.

If they give a fantasy rpg 95% then since it's an rpg by a dev with a very consistent record in that area and I love a good rpg then theres a good chance I'll enjoy the game even if the journos are on a paid trip to Barbados to review the game.

Tragedy

mewso wrote: »

Yeah because lets face it if they were honest they would only give the game 30% in their review but like all magazines they are bought off long before the game comes out.

If they were honest, they wouldn't call every hyped game the game of the decade. Which they do. Hence why quoting them lends less than no credibility

A magazine review is a guide like anything else. For example if they give a game 5% I suspect even if I am extremely different to the reviewer in my tastes it's still unlikely I would find the game in question to be a classic.

Different guides have different credibility. For me, RPS = lots of credibility. Same with Tom Chick/QT3/Fidgit. PC Gamer? Zero!

If they give a fantasy rpg 95% then since it's an rpg by a dev with a very consistent record in that area and I love a good rpg then theres a good chance I'll enjoy the game even if the journos are on a paid trip to Barbados to review the game.

Like Mass Effect! A huge snorefest of a game too heavy on exposition with only one interesting area in the whole universe.

mewso

I'm not arguing the credibility of PC Gamer. I guessed it might be a good game and I'm loving so I guessed right, PC Gamer lies regardless, so I'm happy. If you didn't like Mass Effect then fine. I did. It wasn't perfect but it was perfectly enjoyable. If you want to talk about reviews you trust then go ahead. I can't remember the last time PC Gamer called a game the game of the decade but I'm sure you can set me straight.

Sarky

My brother is thoroughly enjoying it, and I trust his opinion on games more than any magazine. He hasn't played an RPG in ages and says it's good to have a proper dark dritty one to sink his teeth into. Lots of political stuff to balance out the combat, lot of blood, swearing, good and evil.

Based on his own experiences I'm going to pick it up.

anonymous_joe

Really enjoying this one.

Downloaded the patch and found that it does make the game more playable. Without the patch the difficulty is, at times, simply impossible to cope with.

nesf

Best RPG I've played on the PC, ever. And I've been playing them since the old AD&D based releases of SSI back in the late 80s/early 90s!

zekiel

RCNPhotos wrote: »

Playin a while, meh. Graphics are dier.

I really cant agree with this, I've only been playing it a few days but from what I have played I think the visuals are excellent from the spell effects to the landscape and surroundings.

The game just takes me back to BG1/BG2 and even reminds me of the fun I had when like previous poster pointed out playing the SSI games, pools of radiance, curse of the azure bonds etc..

That said I do wish they had a co-op mode.

Sarky

nesf wrote: »

Best RPG I've played on the PC, ever. And I've been playing them since the old AD&D based releases of SSI back in the late 80s/early 90s!

You, sir, have sold me on this game. I'll pick it up first chance I get.

Spear

I've been caught out unhappily now by some of the sudden spikes in difficulty. I won't give precise examples to spare people from spoilers, but essentially I'll be cheerfully carving my way through lesser enemies to be suddenly faced by a red nametagged enemy hero who proceeds to rather forcefully sodomize my party.

nesf

Spear wrote: »

I've been caught out unhappily now by some of the sudden spikes in difficulty. I won't give precise examples to spare people from spoilers, but essentially I'll be cheerfully carving my way through lesser enemies to be suddenly faced by a red nametagged enemy hero who proceeds to rather forcefully sodomize my party.

Just take a step back from the fight and think about tactics. Is kiting them an option? (Grab aggro with the tank and run around the room letting ranged dps nuke the target) Can you pull them around a corner so you can get rid of some of the melee dps before the boss mob can get to you. Have you tried getting Force Field for your Mage and casting it on the tank after the tank has aggro?

And so on.

The game is so much fun on Hard btw, I'm looking forward to Nightmare!

Tragedy

Finding the story meh(well written for an RPG, but there's certainly been better written) and a bit annoyed by how small and linear each seperate zone is.

Enjoyable, but no revelation.

nesf

Tragedy wrote: »

Finding the story meh(well written for an RPG, but there's certainly been better written) and a bit annoyed by how small and linear each seperate zone is.

Enjoyable, but no revelation.

It's no Morrowind in terms of openness of zones but to be honest this doesn't bother me in the slightest. I don't mind some railroading in RPGs, it's necessary to keep things narrowed to keep the main plot moving. That said, some prefer the open-ended type of game so I can definitely see why they'd not find it ground breaking.

Honestly, it's the successor to Baldur's Gate so I wasn't expecting Morrowind so I guess that's why I was so happy with it (I was expecting a fairly linear main quest with little side quests off of that so I wasn't disappointed when it turned out this way). Then, I preferred BG and BG II to Morrowind, but then I'm a bit of a fan of dungeon crawling in pen and paper stuff so unexpected really.