Fantasy Aficionados discussion

This is one of the video games discussed in the Guilty Pleasures thread. It's also a game I want to try out. I'm going to start with the first one, Origins I believe it's called.

Who's played this game? I have a friend at work who said it was really great. What do you guys think?

I haven't played it but Todd has. Watching him play I have to say it's a great RPG as far as American titles go. There's a lot of story involved, customization for your character and different path to take depending on class, race and other things. Honestly about the only thing holding me back from trying it myself has been a lack of time for it. The only downside he's mentioned is that at least initially it was very geared toward downloadable content that puts quite a dent in your gaming budget.

I really loved it. I'm slow at playing through things, so I've not had to do any of the downloadable content yet, but from what I've seen it's great as well.

My problem is time, too. I'm sure I can find some, though. And keep a journal so I know where I am. LOL

Most of the DA dlc can be skipped imo, because they don't really add to the game and it really isn't worth the money.

The Stone Prisoner and the Witch Hunt do add to the main story. The first by giving you what is probably the most awesome NPC in the game, Shale, to add to your party, and 2 quests (one personal quest and one for unlocking the character). You should finish the Orzammar/Deep Roads main quest at least once with Shale in your party. Witch Hunt puts an end to a plot arc that was left unfinished in the main game.

Warden's Keep is alright, it has some interesting bits.

Leliana's Song is fun if you like Leliana.

Avoid Return to Ostagar and Darkspawn Chronicles. They are Teh Suck.

Overall I was rather dissapointed with the Awakening expansion. It lacked atmosphere and it all felt a bit rushed. Also, the game balance was so far out of wack that I could solo the whole thing with my mage, in contrast to the basic game which I found at parts genuinely hard.

I love Dragon Age. I used to play only Japanese rpgs. Final Fantasy etc. But since playing my first Bioware game, Knights of the Old Republic, I don't enjoy games that I have limited control over anymore. The story of the game really becomes personal the more choices you have and I become very attached to all the characters. I have also tried Fallout, Fable, and Elder Scrolls games but haven't finished any of them. The story doesn't draw me in. The first time I played it I didn't have XBox Live and so had no DLCs and still loved it. So no they're not needed to enjoy it at all. But I actually enjoyed Warden's Keep and Return to Ostagar. They seemed to fit the plot of the game the most. Awakening was okay considering it's an expansion and not a full game. I thought it was a fun quick game. But I have played it through only once, compared to how many times I played the full game that might be kind of telling.

I loved Oblivion--Elder Scrolls 4 (I believe). But I'm looking forward to Dragon Age.

I really enjoyed Dragon Age and I am currently playing Dragon Age 2 on my X Box, for the second time. The latter is a bit more hack and slash, but has some quite interesting political and personal choices....

Origins was just fantastic. The characters were brilliant (including the interpersonal stuff, which is something I felt they just didn't do that well in 2), there was a ton of stuff to explore and do, and the different endings were quite enjoyable.

I sank a ton of time into this game looking at all the origin back-stories and getting the different endings. I didn't look at much of the DLC, apart from The Stone Prisoner, since it came with my copy of the game, but it was pretty good too (the character Shale more than the adventuring bit that went with the content really).

DA2 I found really quite disappointing, mainly because they really skimped on the size of the game world and reuse of things like dungeon layouts. I found myself going through the game purely to get to the next story bit rather than enjoying any of the gameplay, which was a bit of a let down.

Traci, did you try the older Fallout games or just 3? If so I really recommend going back and looking at 2 at least. Graphics-wise it looks really dated these days, but if you can deal with that and sink a few hours into it, it pays off.

I just played Fallout3. And I really liked it. But I found myself stuck trying to find the radio station my dad was at and did a whole lot of side quests. I even found that boat city before I should have. I liked the game play and npc characters. I just felt a lesser connection to my girl. But it definately wins against Bioware in a sidequest battle. In Elder Scrolls I'm obsessive trying to do everything in the first town before I move on and then I get bored. In Fable2 I had so much fun playing it but then my game save got fried near the end and I haven't gotten to that point again. Fable3 I got bored trying to make friends with every character in the game. I'm getting in the mood to pick up Fallout3 and try again. I also agree with the complaints about DA2 but I think it's worth playing atleast once. *slight spoiler for DA* My complaint about it is how do you play the other side without playing a healer character. In DA if you go against mages you can't get your healer and if you're playing a mage why would you go against your own people?( And Morrigan learns Spirit Healer too late)

Traci wrote: "My complaint about it is how do you play the other side without playing a healer character. In DA if you go against mages you can't get your healer and if you're playing a mage why would you go against your own people?( And Morrigan learns Spirit Healer too late) "

I went without 'healer' on 2 of my playthroughs. You just need to pause and use health poultices more. That herbalism skill finally got put to some use!;) Turning Morrigan in a heavy crowdcontrol character also does a lot to neutralise incoming damage.

As for playing a mage and going against mages. My Blood Mage character had the whole tower cleansed and sealed. Their own fault for being sniveling weaklings that let themselves be cooped away in a tower. Morrigan approved. :p

Rob wrote: "Origins was just fantastic. The characters were brilliant (including the interpersonal stuff, which is something I felt they just didn't do that well in 2), there was a ton of stuff to explore and ..."

DA2 is very centred on the politics and lacks the epic sweep of the original. I am mildly optimistic if they produce a third as I think it could be more epic and expand on the story of certain characters such as the dragon witch.

I thought I'd mention there are two books that were writen in the Dragon Age world. I read both before the game came out and they give insight to two characters, Loghain and Duncan. The Stolen Throne and The Calling. I enjoyed both in the same way I enjoy books like Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. The Mass Effect books are pretty decent too. Better than most Star Wars fiction I have read.

I loved that game.

That's very cool, Traci. Thanks for sharing that.

I really enjoyed Origins. Alistair was my favorite character with Shale a close second. I really need to go back and play it some more, as I only did 3 of the 6 origin stories.

I really like Dragon Age Origins, but haven't gone back to play it as more than two or three characters. I love the artwork, but end up a little disappointed at the scale of the world; you end up porting from location to location as you discover them rather than actually "running" through the countryside. Like book world building, I get into the game world building as well--in that way multiplayer online games have been more satisfying. Once I caught on to Origins' fights being more like a chess game-pause, switch character, plan move, switch character, plan move-the fight dynamics were pretty dealable.

I greatly enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins. My first play-through was a DPS Rogue/Assassin, and I'm midway through a second game as a Mage.

I greatly enjoyed all the world-building, and the mythos surrounding the darkspawn, Templars, etc. Very good stuff. In fact, Bioware RPGs are my favorite kind, both in terms of gameplay and storytelling. I would contest that Knights of the Old Republic is better most Star Wars movies.

I haven't touched any of the DLC or sequels, aside from the free Shale DLC. The reviews for DA II made it sound like it was vastly inferior.

I liked DAII but I did only play it once, usually with Bioware games I start a new game right after finishing my first play through. Part of my problem with the game was it takes place within a seven year span. It's too long for some of the character developements. Most of the characters don't seem like a part of the over all plot. There's no good vs evil. More like evil vs evil. Gameplay is funner to me but the area maps are the same repeated layout, like sidequests in the first Mass Effect. But it's still better IMO than alot of games.
I love KOTOR!!! Just had to put that out there. :)

I don't play the games, but I watch hubby play, and one of his biggest complaints was the same - about the area maps being the same over and over again.

From a spectator perspective, I really liked DAII better than the original. One of the things I liked was that your character actually talked when you picked their lines but just, overall, I liked the second one better.

Not that I disliked the first. I mean Morrighan was pretty awesome and all, but Hawk and Merrill wins it for me.

DA was fantastic, period... got me so invested in my party and some other chars... and the battles were splendid, e.g. I will never forget the final battle, just plain epic

awakening has less grand story, more partial plot lines, more game of thrones haha, and more combat, which is fine with me

At the end when you've chosen your last party and everyone says goodbye...yeah I cried a little. My Warden romanced Alistair and I was heading toward the non ritual ending. Its hard not to get attached to characters you spend up to and over fifty hours with.

I'm expecting to be very emotional with Mass Effect 3. I've played the first two countless times. I love those characters.

Traci wrote: "At the end when you've chosen your last party and everyone says goodbye...yeah I cried a little. My Warden romanced Alistair and I was heading toward the non ritual ending. Its hard not to get atta..."

***can be spoilery if anyone want to avoid spoilers***

My first and only playthrough was exactly the same and I became pretty attached to Alistair. After the battle, accepting congratulations and being announced as a hero was painful when he is not with my Warden to see what he achieved. I couldn't bring myself to play another story for a long time.

I'm looking forward to your comment on ME3 because I was very dissatisfied with the ending, particularly with its last 10 mins. or so, because it felt like that was no ending and game was shipped half finished.

Spoilers ahead...I hated ME3!!!! Lol. Okay. It wasn't that bad. But the whole game is just way too dark and hopeless. I didn't like the trimmed down RPG elements. It reminded me way too much of a game more along the lines of Gears of War. And then the end....have nothing to say good about it. With a better ending I could've overlooked the other problems. Plot holes. Deus ex machina. My ground team died in front of me and showed up at the end...yeah. Everyone you know either dead or exiled. I really feel like the reapers win whichever path you take.
Yeah, I've been pretty vocal elsewhere about this...Lol.

Mass Effect 3 was definitely a let down. Like you said, the ending was crap. In addition to what you mentioned, it was also thematically inconsistent with everything that came before. It really soiled the series for me--I had been looking forward to an uber-run making optimal decisions for the best ending. But there was no best ending. The forced multiplayer was another annoyance, but at least the multiplayer was kind of fun.

The extended cut ending did make it a little better. There's still no "best" ending. But I was actually okay with the one I chose afterwards.

I could bring myself to clear off any hard drive space on the 360 for slightly less disappointing endings. I keep forgetting to youtube the new ones. I should get on that.

I finally managed to resume my adventures, and, this in no way being advertisement, I finally can thanks to Origin... entered my codes and downloaded the Origin versions and wualla I can play without DVD, yaaay :)))