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Dragon Age 3 to mix the best of both DAO and DA2

Discussion in 'Dragon Age 2' started by Beren, Oct 2, 2011.

  1. Beren

    Beren Lovesick and Lonely Wanderer Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    At least according to this:

    http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/08/21/dragon-age-3-mix.aspx

    I loved DAO, especially now that I'm discovering new strategical and tactical nuances to the combat system. This was what scared me from DA2, and my fears judging by all the commentary on other forums was apparently justified.

    But I wonder ... Just what do they mean by blending the best of both? I sure as hell hope it doesn't mean a few token changes to what amounts to an action game to still try and capture a broader market while alienating the niche market that fueled the success of DAO.

    Hopefully, we'll have a quality RPG again.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2011
  2. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    I wonder what they will consider being "the best of DA2" though. I am hard pressed to find anything in it thats good.

    Every cave uses the same map

    Every house uses the same map

    Can`t customize companions at all

    Can`t ditch companions or kill them. all are forced on you

    Choices don`t really matter. Even the ones from DAO.Leliana and Zevran both died in my playthrough. Yet they were still in DA2 when i imported my save.

    Elves look like the elf from Harry Potter (Dobby was it?)

    All non-combat skills removed. Making it an action game and not a roleplaying game.

    Everyone is bisexual

    Extremely lame combat talents. Like Varric firing 100 arrows into the air with one shot (even if the ceilling is 10 feet above him. The arrows hangs there for a few seconds, and just rains down onto his enemies. miraculously avoiding anyone friendly to him.

    Not getting to create your own character. You got a premade human. The only thing you got to pick was what kind of weapons he used to kill his enemies with.

    Huge spotlights on the screen, spoonfeeding you where to go and what to do.

    Manual combat.

    Huge oversized, stupid-looking weapons. Like some damn anime hero wielding a 12 foot sword that aparantly weighs no more than a feather pen.

    Rogues being ninjas.

    Rogues having an unlimited amount of smokebombs at all times.

    Warriors can`t use any ranged weapons at all, even though in Ferelden they could?

    Companions running around in their clothes, because it makes them distinct. Distinct meaning Isabela`s shirt is fantastic protection vs a greatsword to her belly.

    Nobody changes clothes during a ten year (wich is actually 7 years) period. Except for the ones you have sex with. They change clothes after sex. Wich I guess is logical, since they have sex while wearing clothes in DA2.


    Rant over.

    And yes: If someone was wondering. I am still bitter about how DA2 turned out.
     
  3. Munchkin Blender Gems: 22/31
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    I agree with you 100% rawgrim. DA2 and DAO are two completely different games. DAO provided you with as close to a BG experience in gaming as you can get with improvements in graphics.

    In DA2, we got modified and improved graphics, but they look more like a Japanese anime more than a dark fantasy RPG. EA also removed any appeal to most old school RPG gamers, because they made the game simple and easier to follow if you don’t like the complexity of a good RPG.

    If DA3 is going to be a good game they need to improve upon all the falts of DA2 and incorporate the goodness of DAO, which means they have to trash the DA2 engine and start anew, but that won’t happen as they already said they plan to use the engine in DA2.

    This means more Japanese graphics with little to no enhancement in inventory, etc…

    I have heard that DA3 is going to be a new story that does not include Hawke or the Warden. If that is the case, what does Bioware have in store. I really want to know what is going to happen with Hawk and the the Warden.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2011
  4. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    I can understand why they are ditching the warden and Hawke, though. They have said all along that Dragon Age is about the world, not single characters. also: i wouldn`t want to star DA3 as a level 30 warden or Hawke. Every boss fight in the game would make the archdemon seem like a very small threat, and removing the epic feeling I got from defeating it in DA:O.
     
  5. Munchkin Blender Gems: 22/31
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    I did hear the Warden and Hawke may make cameo appearance in DA3. I wonder if the new character will be Morrigan's child?
     
  6. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    If its Morrigan`s child it would be yet another thing to add to the list of choices being ignored. I didn`t even have a child with her in most of my playtrhoughs. I heard rumors of DA3 being set in the Anderfells or Orlais, though. Probably just rumors, but it does seem that they like to use a different area for each game. If its in Orlais, I am guessing DA3 will have alot to do with the chantry vs mages. Given the stuff that happened in DA2, and the fact that the head of the chantry is located in Orlais (I think).
     
  7. Munchkin Blender Gems: 22/31
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    I heard the game is going to cover more ground than DAO. You will travel to quite a few of the larger cities in the game world. The choices made in DAO and DA2 are suppose to impact DA3 moreso than any of the prior series.

    I sure hope both of those are true... I'm keeping my fingers crossed. They should give the game 2-3 year development time and not 18 months. This way they have 2 years or so to finish off Hawk's story and improve upon the DA2 game experience; maybe an expansion with improvements to the original game. That would make me want to play DA2 again, maybe.
     
  8. Tassadar Gems: 23/31
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    DA:O with the flashy graphics, animations and responsiveness of DA2 would do me fine. Essentially what I want is DA:O with the graphical upgrade of DA2 and none of the dumbing down. Even Diablo feels less simplistic than DA2 - at least you could outfit your hireling with your choice of armour!!
     
  9. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    Everything hinges on the elves with me. In DA2 they look like the elf from the Harry Potter movies. I cringed everytime I met an elf in DA2.
     
  10. Munchkin Blender Gems: 22/31
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    You do realize that there were two other Wardens that could have slept with her. So they could go 1 of three possibilities with Morrigan having a child.
     
  11. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    Quite true. But if my character is female and she is Alistair`s gf, that pretty much leaves Riordan. I suppose he could have slept with Morrgian sometime during the night. Still. It would make the player`s choice in the matter pretty much pointless.
     
  12. Nanook Gems: 1/31
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    I, too, am hoping for a DA3 that hews closer to DA:O.

    Like Rawgrim, I expect the story to turn to a brand new character, though it is possible to start over with an existing one.

    Mass Effect 2 did a fine job of allowing the main character to begin anew, even while keeping his personality and choices from ME1. DA:O had such a wide range of possible endings, though, it's hard to a game incorporating them all.

    So even if it's a new story, here's hoping for more of the 'feel' of DA:O. Munchkin Blender is right: it's as close to a BG experience as we can get with updated graphics and engines.
     
  13. Marceror

    Marceror Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Let's be realistic Rawgrim. Many players want to explore the fate of Morrigan's child, but based on your logic we can't do that because in some of your playthroughs you turned down Morrigan's offer. That makes little sense to me.

    I can get behind the idea of smaller choices needing to matter within the context of a single game. But these choices can't realistically ALL be taken into account from one game to the next. That said, an awful lot of those choices were reflected in DA2, which was a pretty nice touch. The amount of development effort to reflect every single little choice from the last game (or worse, last couple of games) would be enormous. If this is what game designers focused on, the next game would include even less content, and would suffer immensely.

    My advice, be happy with the number of choices that do carry over, but give the developers license to choose a few of these themselves in the next game, so they can, you know, create a halfway cohesive game.

    I mean seriously, Baldur's Gate 2 starts with Jaheira, Imoen, and Minsc, with Khalid and Dynaheir having been recently killed (i.e. killed after the confrontation with Sarevok in BG1). Many players in Baldur's Gate 1 never adventured with those party members, and several of those characters died in a lot of players BG 1 playthroughs. But no one complains about the "cannon" party that is present in BG2. It's a new game, and the developers had to start somewhere.

    So it is with Dragon Age.
     
  14. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    What I meant was this: If you didn`t have a child with Morrigan, the god-child shouldn`t be in your imported savegame into the next game. If you did have the child, sure. Let it show up and whatsnot. But if a brand new game focuses on one possible outcome of a previous game, the developers are pretty much telling those players that took different desicions with the god-child, played the game wrong, and are therefore being ignored. DA2 is full of these things, and it made me feel as if I had made alot of mistakes while playing origins. Leliana and Zevran still being alive - for example.
     
  15. Marceror

    Marceror Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Again, I can agree on some of the smaller details. But with Leliana, for example, I got the impression that the developers were setting her up for a more important role later on. They shouldn't have to assume that any character that could have died in a player's game is just totally not available for a key role in future entries in the franchise. Sometimes there are more compelling factors to include such a character later on.

    Leliana was extremely popular, and I think far more people would be bummed not to see her again, than those that would be bothered to see her because of the continuity of their play through. Or to put a finer point on this, I feel that you're taking a rather myopic view of things, and placing your personal play through choices as more important than the larger direction the franchise.

    A lot of people want to know what happens with Morrigan's child. A lot of people want more Leliana. We don't want our games to be options to be minimized because you left Leliana behind. If you're so bothered by the continuity issues with your own game, than you could always replay Origins (there are worse fates out there than to replay this awesome game) and make a few different choices. Or you could sulk about the continuity issues, but again, you might as well complain about how Baldur's Gate 2 started with the wrong party members from Baldur's Gate 1. I don't think you'll get very far with that.
     
  16. Munchkin Blender Gems: 22/31
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    Leliana is a fighter and simply leaving her in Lothering does not mean she is dead. Zeverian on the other hand; you can kill him, but it doesn't mean someone came along and revived him.

    As stated earlier; Morrigan child can occur even if you did not sleep with her; there are logical ways to work around the choices you made to make the story valid. Simply put; no matter the choices you made the developers in the end have control of what is to come in the next game.

    Marceror you make an excellent point about the BG games; the funny thing is I played BG2 from beginning to end only twice and both times the end party matched the party that started in BG2; however, when I used other NPC I did not play BG2.
     
  17. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    The poitn with Leliana is that i chopped her head off. I saw her head leave the body in a spray of blood, and it bounced away (she attacked me when i defiled the sacred ashes). And then she shows up in DA2 as if nothing had happened. But since she was popular, she aparantly survives that. Meaning anyone I chop the head off would be able to return in future games. This also contradicts the Lore in the DA universe, where its clearly stated that "death can`t be healed". Except for with popular characters it seems.

    So far Zevran, Leliana and Anders makes an apearance in DA2 even though they clearly died in my previous playthrough. So killing off someone, including enemies I suppose, has no effect whatsoever on wheter or not they will be alive and kicking later. It won`t surprise me at all if I see Anders in Dragon Age 3, even though I clearly killed him again in DA2.
     
  18. Marceror

    Marceror Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I think you might be taking your game a little too seriously. I would venture to say that for every person who kills Leliana, many, many more do not.

    So your killing of Leliana was little more than a "Scooby Doo" ending. Yeah, sure, it could have happened like that, but obviously that's not what actually happened, or she wouldn't still be alive.

    Bottom line, DA2 is a different game than DA Origins. The developers have to make some decisions about what actually happened so they can write a cohesive game. Trying to accomodate every possible decision every player might have made in the previous title isn't realistic. Do you not see this?
     
  19. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
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    Yes, I do see this. But they shouldn`t have added the options in the first place then, if they are to be blatantly ignored anyway. Whats the point in importing a savgame if the only thing that matters if is Alistair ended up as a king or a drunk in DA:O?. Could have just added it as a couple of questions the player have to answer why creating a character (meaning picking what class Hawke is).
     
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