Well, it’s always prudent to get a game after the first round of reviews and bug-quashing is done anyway.
I just don’t quite like the trailer music. Here’s hoping that the soundtrack is suitably dark and gloomy and atmospheric instead of being Dynasty Warrior rejects.
I’m in Japan. AFAIK there are no plans for a Japanese release (neither NWN2 nor either of the KOTOR games were released here).
OK guys - I’m interested but I’ve never pulled a game down from Steam. Easy? Hard? Can I move the game to a hard copy in case Steam folds?
I’m eager to get my hands on it. RPGs are my bread and butter and Bioware rarely lets me down.
No, it is hard coded. The good thing about Steam is you can play the game without bringing the DVD with you and installing and going through SecurRom crap. I heard you can copy the game from your hard disk, and transferred it to any computer with Steam. But all executable are encrypted to work with your account only, so someone must log into the account (there’s an offline mode, btw) before they can launch the game.
Strongly suggest getting the DVD as the game features modding. I’m sure the Steam version would work with modding (custom scenarios, new items, new skins and etc.) but there might be complication. Steam patches may be late for a week (Majesty 2’s patch for Steam is out like a week later)
That whole scenario annoyed the hell out of me…
I’m being given what is supposedly a great honour because of my good work, yet I’m being forced to the castle under threat, and none of the people closest to me are allowed to be there for the celebration?
It felt like a very cheap way to try to force the player into “solo” play for no reason other than the devs wanting it (i.e., it didn’t fit well in the storyline). However - NWN2 was put together by Obsidian Entertainment, not Bioware, so I really can’t pre-judge Dragon Age on the basis of NWN2, even though I did enjoy the game for the most part. My primary complaint with DA is that - apparently - the characters are given a fairly detailed background story, which pigeonholes RP. What if I want to make a female City Elf and don’t WANT to have started out by having my wedding day ruined? It’s one thing to have Bethesda say “you’re in jail”, since I can make up whatever background I like (such as false arrest even), it’s another to be forced into that narrow of a story. I’m still looking forward to the game though, especially since it’ll be moddable and there will probably be plenty of alternate start mods made.
Ignore the Manson trailers. Everyone agrees they’re horrible.
Try this gameplay preview instead. The guys talking have zero charisma but its a much better tool to see if you’ll like the game or not.
Also Fallen Ashes still a ‘look how badass you are’ trailer but somehow less annoying than the M Manson Trailers (for me at least).
You can make hard copies of games on Steam. And the company is on record saying that if they were to fold they would release patches to allow the games to be played outside the service. My spidey sense however, says that is not up to them but up to the game publishers.
Regardless, there is no danger of Steam folding any time soon. They are printing money over there catering to PC gamers.
I am tentatively looking forward to it. I am having a hard time believing it, because if this game is what everyone says it is, it is just about my dream game. I am holding my breath though.
My birthday is on November 30th, and if this game does well by then, I think I will get it for my birthday.
One of the previewers at the 2 day event mentioned how the game was universally liked by everyone, which, according to him, almost never happens at these things.
I’m looking forward to it, certainly, although I am bemused by all this talk about your character’s background and actions affecting how the world reacts to you. In Bioware-speak this means there will be an occasional reference thrown in, maybe an extra quest and certain decision points, but the illusion that who you are changes how the world reacts won’t survive a second play-through, and may not survive the first.
The most recent promo vid was amusing, seeing a bunch of people do shit you’ll never actually get to do in gameplay, such as simply bull rushing a bunch of orcs off a cliff or severely discomfiting a dragon with a deadly slice.
But Bioware’s story telling and game design is pretty good over all. I can’t wait for them to tide me over for Mass Effect 2.
I’m not actually judging the game at all, by it’s cover or otherwise. Except to note that the art style does nothing for me, like so many new games, it seems to me to be flirting with the uncanny valley in its quest for realism, rather than trying to be in any way aesthetically pleasing.
The gameplay trailer, so far, is revealing what looks like a polished but extremely ordinary western RPG - though the art looks a little bit better than it did in the other trailer. Still, since, when you get down to it, I haven’t enjoyed a western RPG in years, I’m not really sure why the burden is on me to vigorously investigate and support this title.
Would I like to support games that don’t suck? Sure. But they have to be games I like first. And, well, I don’t bloody well see why I should pre_order it, regardless.
Well I think they’ve already admitted that being a Grey Warden trumps the fact that you’re an elf or whatever and it would piss most players off if huge areas of the questline are cut off because of some racist quest giver. Multiple playthroughs will mostly be about seeing each ‘origin’ story which if the advertising is to be believed is at least 2 hours per character.
I was reading a preview of the mage origin and for the first time ever I think I’m going to have my first playthrough as a mage just so I can see those quests.
Arik, I do feel your pain. Many western RPGs are paper-thin when it comes to plot and story-telling, and with the mechanics thinning, with lots of generic content (Oblivion, Fallout 3). The storyline supposedly place you in the role of LOTR’s rangers, which is more promising than “hey, you, just save the world already”.
I am more excited about the scenario creator, and am quite pleased about the mechanics (so far, from the character editor). Looks like D20 lite to me (every 1 point above 10 gives you a bonus, simplified feat trees, more computer-friendly resources system such as cooldown).
What about achievements? I loved Mass Effect, but I’m now pretty close to my fourth full play-through just to fill out the achievements and I got to tell you that some of the magic has worn thin. On one play-through I picked the asshole option anytime it wouldn’t deny me a quest. Sure, I maxed out my Rebel bar, but I also filled out 3/4 of my Paragon bar. And the replies I got when I told people to shove it was remarkably familiar from my previous saintly incarnation. They didn’t even change their expressions, which in Fallout went a long way toward making neutral dialogue seem like it was being spoken in anger. Nobody since Fallout seems to have picked up on that trick. See, now you’ve got me rambling.
The point is, and this is important, in Dragon Age you can play a bard. What else do I need to know?
I want to look forward to this game, but I have too much gaming going on. It’s horrible!
There’s something like 80 achievements but unlike Mass Effect they don’t give in game bonuses so it’s up to you if you want to go through that pain.
Heh I found the Renegade/Paragon options much more convincing and interesting than the normal good/evil choices. I guess you’re right in that people’s reactions don’t really differ but damn they were fun to pick. Punch out a reporter? Check. Mock the annoying holier than thou council by checking in and then cutting them off? As Joker says ‘boy that never gets old’.
And what is an RPG discussion without rambling and nit picking and digressions?
I honestly didn’t know this was coming to Steam. I’ll have to pre-order once I get home.
It WAS $10 cheaper than the impulse pre-purchase but it’s now back to $65 (for the digital deluxe version)
How spoony a bard, though ?