Dragon Age: Origins, Bioware original fantasy RPG

A number of us have been waiting on this one for a while. Well, the release date is TODAY. I repeat, the game should be out right now. My copy is still in the mail, pending delivery either today or tomorrow (I expect tomorrow, because they just love torturing me like that). But I figure the release is good enough news to warrant a thread anyway, and I'm sure people are going to want to discuss it. So. Has anyone managed to pick it up yet? Can you drag yourselves away from it long enough to give us some early opinions?

I think Steam preloaders should get it in like, 5 minutes.

Meanwhile I just got a copy of Borderlands (lol) a couple days ago so I've been enjoying that. No hurry for me.

But yea, too many games, no time to play them.

I will be home in five hours. The rest of the evening will be spent on the game. Expect impressions tomorrow, since I sincerely doubt I will be able to pull myself away long enough to write about it while I could actually be playing it.

The Metacritic score is currently sitting at 92 for the PC version based on 14 reviews, so if you want some (good) impressions head over there.

Over on Gamebanshee I'm seeing a number of reviews. The scores all lean towards the upper end of things, with several 9/10, 9.5/10, 97/100, 5/5 etc type scores, but there are also some 8/10s and even a 7.5/10. So the "best RPG ever" opinions aren't universal.

Just picked up my CE for the 360. Can't wait to dig into the game. I hope Bioware comes through with the extensive DLC plans they've mentioned in the past for both this and Mass Effect 2.

DA:O is on my X-mas wish list but I'm just like Omo, too many games and so barely little time to get through them. (plus I have two more other games pre-ordered this month alone).

Also I saw from Kotaku's review the game is good but fairly buggy and from the review done by Gametrailers.com the PC version has more of an old-skool Baulder's Gate style with a more top down view, but the console versions don't zoom out.

I haven't had much time with the game, but I do enjoy Baldur's Gate III, I mean uh, Dragon Age.

Playing a rogue, I'm actually very disappointed that as a human I am limited to a single frickin backstory though =/

And I don't care for the right click to go somehwere, hold right click to move the camera controls. I'd much rather right click somewhere to move and hold left click to move the camera.

Also, the game looks like garbage on low and medium settings, been having to play on GF's PC so I don't get distracted by the weird facial colors.

You can play a mage. Humans can be mages. The origins are an enormous amount of work, so I can't blame them for not wanting to throw in any more.

On a scale of one to ten Daggerfalls, how buggy would you say this is? I'm betting no more than .012.

This post has been edited by Random Wanderer on Nov 4 2009, 12:30 AM

Just spent about the last 6 or so hours playing the game. I think that's enough to tell you that it's COMPLETELY AWESOME!

Ok, maybe exaggerating with the emphasis a bit but that sums up my opinion rather well.

All it took was my origin story (Human Noble) to completely suck me into the game.
Oh yeah, human nobles get a war hound you can name and that you can get to find you stuff and tear your enemies apart.
It brought me a cake it found. Which was awkward because it carried it in its mouth.

The combat system takes some getting used to. You're usually very outnumbered in every fight, so you have to plan strategically or you'll fail miserably. Get your rogues to backstab, your warriors to damage and stun, and your mages to use the right spells.

My one complaint is that only rogues can pick locks. Usually you'll encounter locked chests, even in your origin story, that can only be picked because bashing does not exist in the game. As I'm playing a warrior, I'm unable to pick them because only rouges have the necessary skills unavailable to warriors or mages. So for the first hours, I was forced to abandon the chests and whatever treasure lay hidden inside forever out of reach because of a small wooden box with a lock. Even the temp-rogue you pick up in the beginning has no ranks in lockpicking and can't level up, so that gets you nowhere either. Luckily, I managed to recruit a certain red haired, musically inclined, shoe obsessed, religious rogue into my party so this is no longer a problem.

My one regret so far is that I must stop playing so that I can actually get some sleep.
I just want to finish it before the plot spoilers come out.

Oh dear god this game is awesome.

I'm playing an elven mage, and it is FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. The mage origin is badass and unpredictable - unlike other Bioware games, your actions often do not have predictable consequences.

I am currently very happy with the fact that I leveled the crap out of Magic - Blizzard is insanely powerful. Persistent AOE that freezes everyone? YES PLZ. Of course, there's friendly fire so you have to be careful about that, but given how you are often outnumbered, this makes controlling hordes of enemies SO MUCH EASIER. I really cannot recommend the freezing effect enough, it is lovely.

Battles are fun, if very hard (I once aggroed two bandit camps at once when the first one was already kicking my ass - this ended poorly), and the first boss fight is a bitch and a half (and dear god I am not looking forward to doing it without a mage). But it is, like the Baldur's Gate series, a very enjoyable challenge to figure out how to use abilities and tactics to make your way through each encounter. I heartily recommend the pause button.

The world is amazing - read through some of the codex entries, they're really worth it in this game. I need to read more myself - I've just had such a hard time tearing myself away from the rest of the game. And the story hooks you from the start - being a Gray Warden means something (the initiation ceremony is... wow), and you're very quickly thrown into a situation gone horribly, horribly wrong. And with the gray morality system, where there isn't a linear black/white path, you're afforded much more opportunity to roleplay your character's path in this world - you don't have to go threaten random people on the street just for the dark side points, so even if you want to play a darker character the choices feel more interesting.

And let's hear it for the characters! I've only really gone into depth with two of them - Alistair and Morrigan - but I am tremendously impressed with both of them. Alistair is tremendously funny, and I love his jokes, but there's a very interesting (and insecure) guy underneath the shield of humor, and I found myself much more interested in delving into that than being a dick for the sake of being a dick (especially given how hard he takes an early plot event).

Morrigan is, bar none, my favorite Bioware romance ever. And it's not particularly close. A sarcastic atheist voiced by Claudia Black? Be still my heart! I've already put a ton of effort into romancing her (my approval is up to 92, and I've only just finished the first town after the origin/tower/beacon section). She will admit she loves me yet, oh yes.

And the banter! My god, I love the banter. Seriously, put Morrigan and Alistair in your party at all times, if only to hear them go off on each other. It is completely hysterical. I'm currently going around with a Morrigan/Alistair/Liliana party because I also get a major kick out of the religious arguments between Morrigan and Liliana (oh, Morrigan, I adore you so).

I'm looking forward to exploring the other characters, though I can't see how Liliana could possibly surpass Morrigan in my heart.

Also, I named my dog Irenicus. Yelling 'Sic 'em, Irenicus!' at the screen never fails to amuse.

I have encountered no bugs at all on the PC version, and the graphics actually look very good on max settings.

I've played about seven hours, and I can already tell that this is going to go down on the short list of 'best games I've ever played'. As a hardcore Bioware fan, it really is that good.

(although, yes, having no rogue to deal with locked chests in the beginning of the game is silly)

This post has been edited by Xellos on Nov 4 2009, 05:45 AM

;____; I think I want to play this but I won't have the monies for it until the 22nd. qq

... Fuck you Xellos. Fuck you in your tiny little a-hole. You may have just sold me on this game.

But I won't even get to touch Borderlands again until probably next week due to finals... Q_Q

Yeah, because I should have to play a particular class I don't care for to have an origin other than the noble background, amirite? The dwarf and elf rogues have a choice of two backstories, I just don't see why humans couldn't have 2 =/

I'm exceptionally disappointed, frustrated and annoyed with the game. I regret purchasing it.

The root of my problem is DLC. The very paradigm bothers me deeply to start with -- on release date, there are two DLC already? That's not a good sign. On top of that, you have to buy a fictitious currency to purchase it, and this is on the PC -- I'm not talking XBox Live Points. They've made their own for the PC, "BioWare Points". Disneydollars, hooray.

The meat of my issue: I spent $65 to preorder this game, which is supposed to include release-date DLC content (An extra character, and another chapter of the story [Why isn't this part of the original game again...?]) Except I absolutely cannot access the DLC. It seems, from reading the forums, a huge swath of problems exist, with all different issues. Basically, I redeemed my codes, registered my game, start the game, login and click "Downloaded Content" and... Nothing. The three tabs have absolutely nothing listed. Apparently -- for me -- Downloadable content doesn't even exist. I don't even have the option to buy Bioware Fun Bux Tokens to buy content. Content doesn't even exist. Well, I should contact customer support, right? There is no customer support for this game.

Basically, I regret having bought this game. It was a day of frustration for me, and I will not support BioWare financially again following this purchase. It was a mistake.

As a side note: You know the reason they did this release-day DLC, right? Two things: [a] It teaches you to be okay with/get used to micro-transactions (Although $15 is hardly "micro" in my estimations...) and [b] It's to try to destroy the reselling market. EA and BioWare hate Ebay and Gamestop, so this is their way to remove content from the game and gimp anyone who buys used.

In conclusion, fuck you BioWare. This might be a lobster dinner, but it's encrusted in feces. I probably need to fucking pirate the game I bought to get the content I paid for.

This post has been edited by jw on Nov 4 2009, 09:36 AM

Wow. You should totally return the game in protest, and play a bootleg. Show those fuckers who they're messing with. kekkekekekekek

No seriously, this game is awesome. It's like living out a (Good) Robert Jordan novel.

This post has been edited by daesim on Nov 4 2009, 10:07 AM

PC controls are really getting on my nerves, feels like the game was built for consoles and ported to the PC as an afterthought.

No, the reason is that the DLC and the main game were being worked on by separate teams. The content for the main game was locked back in the spring, and from that point on that team was working solely on playtesting and bug fixes. The DLC teams continued their work, and managed to finish Stone Prisoner and Warden's Keep in time for the release of the main game. The DLCs were NOT part of the main game, nor could they have been made into part of it without a great deal more work, which would have resulted in them postponing the release date AGAIN. They have explained this in detail on their forums multiple times in response to comments like yours, so this is not something that is still in question.

I don't know why you're having trouble downloading the DLC content. But I suggest going here. That is the offical help and support section for Dragon Age. The user technical assistance forums are here, and may also have some helpful advice.

I would suggest you not go in calling them money-grubbing whores, making accusations that they refuted months ago. It really won't make people want to help you.

This post has been edited by Random Wanderer on Nov 4 2009, 10:57 AM

It was the other way around.

Really, I'm surprised you're having so many problems - I find the game much easier to control than, say, NWN2 with its terrible fucking camera (though I guess that wasn't Bioware).

Also, jw, you wouldn't happen to be running Windows 7, would you? If so, you might look at this thread.

This post has been edited by Xellos on Nov 4 2009, 11:45 AM

Money-grubbing whores, money-grubbing whores, dirty, filthy, money-grubbing whores.

I don't need to placate them with adulation to make them want to help me. The money I paid to purchase the game should. Their customer support doesn't exist.

I have a similar problem to the one (I had previously read) Xellos posted. That solution -- from some guy who ISN'T a BioWare / EA employee, but is doing more fucking work than they are -- didn't work. Do you really think the little automated "Is your PC monitor turned on?" wizard website is acceptable support?

And get off their dick. They didn't "refute" the argument, they merely gave an excuse, a poor one at that. A game disc doesn't go gold eight months before its release. The DLC is a cash in to try and create a steady revenue stream via micro-transactions.

BioWare doesn't deserve another dime from me ever again. I'll vote with my wallet and take my business elsewhere.

The irony of this is that obviously they should've delayed some and QC'd the DLC portion as well, lol.

Damn.

Well, I'm sorry you ran into this problem. Your rage reminds me of my problems with The Witcher (the copy-protection was fucked up enough that I was literally not allowed to play my legitimately bought copy of the game... and trying to pirate around it bluescreened my computer). I have never been angrier at a game than I have at The Witcher, and pretty much refuse to buy anything that is supported by TAGES copy-protection ever again.

But I did finally end up playing it months later when I built a new computer, and it was a great game. I hope that someday you get a chance to play out DA with all the content you paid for, even if you never spend money on Bioware again.

For what it's worth, I agree with you that their release-day support was a goddamn mess. But the quality of the game, and the fact that I'm lucky enough to have had no problems with it, mean that's not a big deal for me. Best of luck figuring it out.

I appreciate your sympathy, Xellos. I really wish I could play the game too. Really, I am probably just gonna knock it out without the DLC when my UNCONTROLLABEL RAEG calms down, but the game just makes the spittle and bile that rises up in the back of my throat impossible to choke down at the moment. Sorry you had similar problems with the Witcher. =/

I just hope that, when it does get fixed, all the cool shit doesn't get zomg spoilered for me because I can't fucking play the game now.

Sup.

Gotta love automatic screenshots.

WTF is that?

Anyway. My copy has arrived, downloading the last bits of content as I type. It'll probably be several hours before I come back up for air, so I'll be back... oh... some time after midnight (Eastern) probably.

jw, I wish I could offer some helpful advice, but if there's nothing useful at the support sites I linked before, then I'm out of ideas. I wish you luck, and I do hope you get things worked out and can play properly soon.

Anyone playing this on a console and how is that? I'm leaning heavily towards the PS3 version since my video card's a little on the cheap side.