Is Dragon Age worth the hype?

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I personally have the feeling that it will be.
Though I am not 100 % sure .

Since Baldur's Gate the Saga, I played every other Bioware Game with mixed feelings and had mixed expectations before they were out.

First NWN:
I was very disappointed about this game as I had high hopes in the aftermath of BG. Though in the end I kept playing it as it was still better than the majority of games in this time.

Then KotoR:
Really great game.Different from the feeling of Infinity games but great nonetheless.After NWN I didn't expect this much and was the more surprised for the better .

JadeEmpire:
Still good.Kind of a KotoR in an Asian setting.Didn't enjoy it this much as KotoR.

Mass Effect:
Good game. But it plays more like an interactive movie with shooter elements.Still great though.

And soon Dragon Age:
Will it really be the spiritual successor of BG as Bioware claims?
Or will it inherit too much elements of the financial successful (and good) games like KotOR and ME and thus destroy the unique strategical gameplay a game like BG delivers?

I hope there are a few out there who like me can't wait anymore till DA is out and want to discuss.It's pretty silent here in this sub-forum anyway ^^.

 

I suspect the game will be all about graphics and such, while the game itself is rather short. Crpgs seems to be getting shorter and shorter, now adays.

 

I don't think that it will be all about graphics.
Then Bioware could have simply built upon the Mass Effect engine which looks
better.
Indeed it would be a big mistake if they did a Mass Effect Medieval Edition.
Though a slight chance might be there, sadly, that they implement some elements of the later games that seem to be "modern standarts" by now.

 

Cannot wait until DA is out? Hmm, I have been waiting for this game since 2004, so a few more months is nothing :-). Hard to say what the game will be at this point, since not enough information has been released yet. I am hoping for the best though.

BTW, Mass Effect uses the third generation Unreal engine.

 

That is a loaded question better not asked at the Bioware boards. The forum is going fast, but nowhere. Nobody knows anything. the regulars post and post and post, but nothing comes out. They are bored but faithfull. Critics are not so welcome anymore like i found out. Release date question are system requirements are not humored. I got a friendly warning for it.

I stopped looking at that site but until I did, I was not impressed. Normally I would pre order, but not this time. It looks indeed like a medieval Mass Effect. I fear the worst.

Unreal enigine, well that is a known one, so why the fuss. I think that Bethesda will take over the rpg pedestal. When Bioware falls, it will be a long way down all the way to console land.

The fact that they break up the game into 3 parts says a lot.

 

I'm very hopeful about this game and while the technology doesn't look like anything special (not any longer), they seem to have spent a lot of time on the storyline, world-building and on the RPG elements, such as choices made by the character that affect the outcome of the game. I think it's going to be good, maybe an excellent game. If it makes it out in my lifetime.

 

I think it is hard for any game to live up tot the hype when it has been being developed so long. I will wait and see, surely no pre order for me. That is a first for a bioware game for me.

 

I have no expectation whatsoever, nothing Bioware made since Kotor really interested me anyway.

Flix's Timeline of relation with Bioware

BG / Bg2; (2000): These games kicks ass! Bioware rocks!

NWN (development, circa 2000-2002): I can't wait for it! It'll be BG in 3D! Bioware rocks

NWN (actual gaming, 2002): Uh, well, it's uh... good? *Disbelief and denial to the actual suckness of NWW*

NWN (Both expansions, 2002-2004); Oh well, Nwn sucked, the expansion are better but the engine shows its age, meh .... Loss of faith in Bioware

Kotor (2003) OH.MY.GOD it's awesome ! Regains faith in Bioware

Jade Empire (PC, 2007); Uh, it's uh... well this game sucks. Begins to think Bioware has jumped the shark - It's basically Kotor in China with a annoying and repetitive combat system.

NWN 2 / Kotor 2 (2005-09) Wow, they're even better than the original! Uh? Bioware didn't made them? Longs for the nostalgia of Bioware's glorious past

2008; The news that the next Kotor will be a goddamn MMORPG, why the ****?! Worst. Idea. Ever. What made the Kotors game great? Good Storyline and dialogue! What does a Momorpegueeeee can't have? Good Storyline and Dialogue! What the hell were you thinking Bioware?! It's like making a grilled cheese sandwich without cheese!

So... yeah, in a sense I almost hope that Dragon Age will be a failure. That's the cynical part of me that basically want a Modern 3D Baldur's Gate-esque Single player RPG. I'll wait for it to come out and read review and ask people before investing in it.

PS: Yeah I know I omitted Mass Effect, 'cause I didn't played it.

 

Well, one of the more curious aspects of the release saga for me has been how reluctant Bio has been in making the system specs available. I could be wrong, but I have not seen any system specs (if anyone can correct me, that's fine with me).

It's curious that Amazon has the game for pre-order (3/23/09), but there are no system specs listed this close to a "pre-order" date. I don't think Bio will make that date, but that's beside the point. But is Bio that arrogant to believe that anyone would pre-order the game without seeing if his/her computer can even run it? They have to be running the game on "something" at this point in the development cycle. I have to believe they are that arrogant.

 

I'm thinking DA will live up to many of the more reasonable expectations. They've already said it will be noticably shorter than BG2, but BG2 was an insanely long game (all told) and I never expect to see it's like again. Much of the world development, plot, and dialogue is being written by the people that wrote the BG series, including THE David Gaider, himself, who's even written a book set in the world (or at least gets the author title). They said they spent the first year just writing about the world, without even knowing where the story would take place yet, or what it was, just filling out the world.

I'm a little surprised they haven't said anything about the system specs, or anything more about the release date at this point, but then if the ETA is the very end of Q1 2009 Bioware financial, then that could be six months away yet (I'm pretty sure Bioware's financial year starts in April).

Chandos, from what they've said about similar pages when asked (and I quote, "Unfortunately I can't tell you just how wrong that page is right now."), I don't think this is an endorsed setup. I'm guessing distributors are setting this up now because they know they can get money now for something they don't need to deliver until later (always a good deal).

 

Still, we are supposed to know something about the specs by now. Only one reason they might be stalling is to prevent a massive nagging, swearing and cursing rant of 100+ pages.

It is ridiculous to see how much messages are posted on the Dragon age forum every day. The speculation alone is enough for 3 games.

 

Here are two trailers I find pretty promising.
In case some of you don't know them, because they are exclusives to some sites:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage/video/6202452
and
http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/previews/35731/All_Access_Preview_Dragon_Age_Origins.html

This gives me the impression that DA will indeed have some elements of gameplay not present in modern games since the glorious infinity days ^^.
I hope my view is not shadowed by my hyped state of looking forward to this game .

 

Merlanni, what makes you say we're 'supposed' to have heard something about system specs? Everything I've heard said, 'when we're ready we'll talk' and that's it.

 

Merlanni is correct in my opinion. Either that or Bio is still pretty far out from completing the game. It could be, maybe, that they are not that close to the end yet, and they know they are in for some heat becuase they have started hyping the game to such a high level over the last several months. I don't think I have ever seen such a ordeal to release a game before (and it still may be a year away from completion). If they are close, then they already have a pretty good idea of what it takes to run the game properly.

This is starting to remind me of that "Mysteries of Westgate" bull. What a jacked-up deal that was. I never was that jazzed about that one anyway....

 

It's looking like no more than 6 months from here, and please remember that 'a general idea' is far from 'detailed system specs'. In fact, one of the community coordinators (Bioware Employee) on the Forums just started talking about his first full playthrough of the game. He said there are still bugs to fix, things to update, etc. so it isn't ready yet, but we're close. I can taste it.

By the way, it tastes like zombie kitten fur. I need to wash my mouth now.

 

In the way Bioware was responding I got the idea that something went wrong. Thankfully Bioware is the kind of company that postpones instead of cutting content. Still it keeps nagging me what went wrong.

They started this game before they were embraced into the loving arms of EA. The namechange into Origins and stating the game to be part of a series of games made me feel suspicious. Well I am negative and suspect that they had only one game in mind whit some expansions and downloadable content, and Atari decided to cut the game in pieces.

Games follow a fixed road to release but this one does not. Not only us but some gamereviewers are wondering what is keeping them. To be positive, they are to far to cancel it. We will know all the ins and out after release.

 

Just some minor correction, Merlanni.
Bioware belongs to Electronic Arts now, not Atari.
Obsidian Ent., who developed NWN2 is attached to Atari.

This fact doesn't put your view of things into perspective, though ^^.
As in my opinion EA is one of the greediest game companys out there.

 

I'd rather put my hate into Atari for rushing game like, all the time. Remember Temple of Elemental Evil?, it could've been awesome if « they » haven't cut some stuff to get a T rating, and if the thing wasn't so bloody buggy.

 

That was who I meant. Silly me.

 

I agree with Ofelix. I don't really look up to EA or anything, but Atari makes EA look like an angel.

I'm still not sure what Bioware responses prompted this. They've been highly secretive about the actual game the entire time. Basically, all I'm saying is that their behaviour has been consistent. Something indicating a problem, to me, would mean a change in behaviour.

There was rampant speculation that the DA universe would be used for a series and not just a single game for a long, long time before EA got involved. Considering the investment BioWare put into it, it makes sense, too. They'd be fools not to make it a series. Now, exactly what a 'series' entails is unsure. In most game series, a sequel takes place in the same world, but most if not all of the characters and locations are new, frequently with generations passing between game 2 and 3. This means DA would become a game setting akin to one of the D&D universes, in which a multitude of games could be set, but none need to be related. BioWare kind of twisted that with BG and seems to be doing the same with ME, so who can say what DA2 will end up being.

I see this merely as this road to release being out in the open the entire time, whereas for msot games you only see the last few miles of it. You're seeing DA treated differently than you've ever seen another game treated, not because DA is so different or anything unusual is happening, but rather because you usually don't see this stage of game development.

Actuallly, now that they're moving into the publicity stage, things are looking more familiar. We've seen the kind of stuff they're doing now before.