11/10/2009

Party of Four


**Dragon Age: Origins Spoiler Warning**

Last things i've done in DAO: retrieved the Urn of Ashes
Currently travelling with: Alistaire my sword&board templar, Shale my defensive tank golem (ty 'free' dlc), Leliana my archer-but-i'd-rather-melee-all-the-time bard (she's only around b/c she can lockpick)
Must remember to: press the H button to allow my members to move after i've positioned them correctly and have agro-ed a room full of baddies, otherwise they just stare and wave at baddies as they cut me down


Rawr and stuff

The Good and Great things of DAO

Vast party selection -
duck duck duck ..goose!
- i'm hoping for more, but currently, there is your human templar(warrior), human shapeshifter(mage), elven assassin (rogue), human bard(rogue), dog, golem (dlc), male qunari warrior; i'm guessing there should be atleast 1 or two dwarves.. maybe a healing mage.. or a pure archer (the bard kinda is)


Crafting - is smitten with delight
- it makes sense, its simple (you need 1 of this, this this, and you get this), no need for a certain skill number( 1,2,3,4....etc), but a skill lvl (basic, advanced expert, master); merchants carry the materials you need and not at an unlimitd supply (except flasks) to not make the game easy; i haven't played as a trap maker yet, so I dunno about those materials

Finishing moves - Finish him!
- baddies don't always just limply fall to the ground after the last attack that drops their health to zero, they might cut them up a few more times or slice the head clean off

Puzzles - Thinking hurts
- interesting puzzles, not too simple like marvel ultimate alliance 2 (move something here), you have the puzzle like this: ****


Gifts - If you want unconditional love get a dog.. oh wait you can!
- you pick up gifts you can give to your party members which will increase your influence with them (i dunno the impact it has right now), its a cool idea which sometimes opens up special dialogue sequences

Skills -
Taste the rainbow
- there are so much to do when one lvls, increase your stat points, add a class skill (coercion, trap making, combat training), add a class talent (a spell, fighting skill); for my mage, i will have to play it a few times, or play with Morrigan, otherwise i won't get to see all the spells! there are far too many

Graphics - insert snappy comment here
- looks great; i was expecting neverwinter nights type of graphics... this looks fantastic.. tho the blood specks that appear .. ALL THE TIME.. is a bit unnerving.. we are too lazy to wipe it off :P

Stability - Like a rock!
- only 1 crash so far; knock on wood, and logical autosaves

Shale.. he reminds me of evil Rhinox from Beasties

Sandboxy - Without the sand in bad places
- freedom to do whatever you like within the confines of the main storyline; sure there IS a main quest line, but there are tons of side quests


The Bad and sometimes Ugly

Screenshots - I iz snap-happy
- my kingdom for screenshots (how can i keep your attention without them?)... i dunno what is the reason for auto screenshots for certain areas of the game (ill need to turn that off), but when pressing my hotkey for a screenpint *cough* print screen... it doesn't work.. but it worked once..


Skill Usefulness - a confused panda
- the jury is still out whether all skills are useful; survival: i haven't used it yet with a main char/teammate.. don't see the benefit..; i liked how in NWN2 expansion Storm of Zehir, if one person was better at talking than others and NOT the leader, you can choose the speaker to talk instead; i don't think thats the case with DAO

Camera - Half a sad panda
- its good, but also cumbersome sometimes (at the slight point between over the shoulder and overhead it'll cause you to pause), but sometimes it works correctly

User interface - One full sad panda
- the health, mana and stamina bars are TOO small and thin, at the beginning i couldn't tell even how much health i had and even at 15+ hours into the game, i have to concentrate more on the health bars than the actual gameplay

Puzzle difficulty -
Brb Panda is looking for the answer online
- one puzzle i encountered was extremely hard, even if i really concentrated and took notes, it would take me quite a while to figure it out (i just searched on the forums)

First time around, this orge was too hard to kill... so I decided just to kite it... silly ogre..

Quest rewards - Everyone likes money.. .. i guess..
- from side quests, i've found you always get money and nothing extra; i'd like to see like in any mmo a choice of item reward; atleast it seems that when you do main quests, the npcs know you're a mage and gives you a mage staff (and hopefully when i'm a rogue, they'll give you a dagger or armor)

Alot of side quests - It just keeps coming, i can't look away!
- alot alot.. overwhelming all the time.. but atleast it gives you things to do and a way to get money

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