Dragon Age 3: Inquisition

[Hiromi]

Most people can get about two real play throughs of DA2 before the flaws really start to get to make it difficult, how bad it is is largely exaggerated when compared to actual bad games, it mostly suffers from not being as good as a lot of people wanted it to be(which considered that it was rushed as Hell and was Bioware's third development banana with Mass Effect and SWTOR having the majority of the support at the time is understandable). But really DA2 is a dead horse at this point, you either like it or you don't, no use beating it with a stick anymore.

Anyway the game comes out in two days. Keep is now Live and seems to work even better than the Beta version did so Kudos.

[simbob4000]

Most people can get about two real play throughs of DA2 before the flaws really start to get to make it difficult, how bad it is is largely exaggerated when compared to actual bad games, it mostly suffers from not being as good as a lot of people wanted it to be(which considered that it was rushed as Hell and was Bioware's third development banana with Mass Effect and SWTOR having the majority of the support at the time is understandable). But really DA2 is a dead horse at this point, you either like it or you don't, no use beating it with a stick anymore.

Anyway the game comes out in two days. Keep is now Live and seems to work even better than the Beta version did so Kudos.

DA2 is an actual bad game. It's one of the most lazy games put out by a major developer/publisher last gen, it looks terrible, customization is awful, the story was a disjointed mess that isn't even trying to do what they say it is, (it's not a little story, it's the same "epic" stuff as before, just all in one town) and the actual gameplay is just horrible. I'm having a hard time thinking of much I played on the 360 that was worse...and I played a lot of stuff.

I don't know, maybe it all depends on you're tolerance for crap, and what other RPGs, ARPGs, and action games you've played? If DA2 at least did something good then I could get people saying it's not that bad. But DA2 does nothing good, and does many things very badly.

[Endless_Legend]

DA2 is an actual bad game. It's one of the most lazy games put out by a major developer/publisher last gen, it looks terrible, customization is awful, the story was a disjointed mess that isn't even trying to do what they say it is, (it's not a little story, it's the same "epic" stuff as before, just all in one town) and the actual gameplay is just horrible. I'm having a hard time thinking of much I played on the 360 that was worse...and I played a lot of stuff.

Have to voice a hard, 180 degree disagreement with you there, and I bet so do lots of other people.

Dragon Age 2 wasn't perfect, but it was really, really good. It had fast, fluid combat, a streamlined interface that was wonderful both on PC and 360, terrific voice acting and dialogue (much better than DAO's), fairly good graphics for it's day, and an interesting, and personal plot.

It *wasn't* the same epic stuff as before. Instead of being an overarching Lord-of-the-Rings style plot, it was more like a series of seperate but linked chapters in the life of the Hero of Kirkwall. It wasn't about the world, Darkspawn, evil, etc. It was just about you, your friends, and your enemies. The only connection to the larger world seems to be that it catalyzed the Blood Mage revolt that we see come to full force in "Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker"

The *only* major thing that was wrong with it was that it re-used settings way too much. I got tired of raiding the same warehouse/cave a zillion times. That was definitely annoying. But that's about it.

Everything you said leads me to believe that you didn't actually even play the game, because you aren't describing the game that resides on the Dragon Age 2 disk.

[simbob4000]

Have to voice a hard, 180 degree disagreement with you there, and I bet so do lots of other people.

Dragon Age 2 wasn't perfect, but it was really, really good. It had fast, fluid combat, a streamlined interface that was wonderful both on PC and 360, terrific voice acting and dialogue (much better than DAO's), fairly good graphics for it's day, and an interesting, and personal plot.

It *wasn't* the same epic stuff as before. Instead of being an overarching Lord-of-the-Rings style plot, it was more like a series of seperate but linked chapters in the life of the Hero of Kirkwall. It wasn't about the world, Darkspawn, evil, etc. It was just about you, your friends, and your enemies. The only connection to the larger world seems to be that it catalyzed the Blood Mage revolt that we see come to full force in "Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker"

The *only* major thing that was wrong with it was that it re-used settings way too much. I got tired of raiding the same warehouse/cave a zillion times. That was definitely annoying. But that's about it.

Everything you said leads me to believe that you didn't actually even play the game, because you aren't describing the game that resides on the Dragon Age 2 disk.

The combat was awful in that game. Yeah it's more action oriented, but it wasn't exactly executed well. The graphics were not "fairly good" for the time, they were just better than the first game, and the first game was ugly

It was the same epic stuff, it's just all localized in Kirkwall. You're still the most import character in the town and then the world. You're still dealing with giant threats. You're still fighting gods and high dragons. And you still have to deal with both the Templars and Circles of Magi. That game really isn't about your friends and family...even if that what BioWare says to sell the BS reason why you're in one town the whole time. It would have actually been interesting if they had made the game they said it is.

I would say a bigger flaw was that the gameplay wasn't any good. It's pretty inexcusable that such a small place, with so little in way of design reused so many different things. But I could deal with it if the combat was good, the dialogue system hadn't been so dumbed down, and the choices and consequences felt like they even mattered

I played that whole game when it came out. It didn't seem too bad at first. But it's a long series of disappointments, the game just reveals itself to be worse and worse until it all collides into a crescendo of crap.

[Endless_Legend]

I played that whole game when it came out.

*shrug* well, I've got the same evidence you do, but I say the opposite. It was an absolutely excellent game, with great combat, dialogue, characters, and setting. The re-used areas were the only major bad spot.

I've played the game through twice, as male and female hawke, love it both times. Sorry that you didn't, but that's no reason to go poisoning the well for other folks who have not played the game yet and are thinking about giving it a try.

You sound like somebody who's succumbed to the reddit-internet groupthink of hating every new release that comes out and being dissatisfied with every new release. You know what? It's ok to like things. Hating everything doesn't mean you have good taste or that you're more discerning. It just means you've forgotten how to have fun and enjoy games.

[Nyssane]

Blah, I got Inquisition for 360 and... I just don't know if I can play it. The graphics are wonky as hell, characters vanish out of cutscenes, and lip syncing lags like nobody's business. I really should've just waited for Xbox One...

Also, the hairstyles are worse than any prior Dragon Age game. I don't know what they were thinking.

[simbob4000]

*shrug* well, I've got the same evidence you do, but I say the opposite. It was an absolutely excellent game, with great combat, dialogue, characters, and setting. The re-used areas were the only major bad spot.

Well, I don't know what to tell you. Have you ever played a good RPG to compare DA2 with? Have you played other action games before?

I wish the reused areas were the only bad spot. I would have loved it if DA2 didn't become progressively worse as the game went along.

I've played the game through twice, as male and female hawke, love it both times. Sorry that you didn't, but that's no reason to go poisoning the well for other folks who have not played the game yet and are thinking about giving it a try.

The well was poisoned by BioWare, telling someone not to drink from it isn't bad.

You sound like somebody who's succumbed to the reddit-internet groupthink of hating every new release that comes out and being dissatisfied with every new release. You know what? It's ok to like things. Hating everything doesn't mean you have good taste or that you're more discerning. It just means you've forgotten how to have fun and enjoy games.

Reddit internet groupthink? That's pretty funny. You know, not liking DA2, which is one horrible video game, isn't "not liking everything". If it makes you feel better, the next year Dragon's Dogma came out, and that's the best hack and slash RPG I've ever played. Now that game, that game has a fantastic combat system. Your AI partners are also shockingly more useful then your group in DA2. You know, The Witcher 2 came out in 2011 too, and that game does what DA2 is trying to do...only it does it well. The combat isn't all that great in The Witcher 2, but it's still better than the combat in DA2. Two Worlds 2 was also better than DA2.

[Endless_Legend]

Blah, I got Inquisition for 360 and... I just don't know if I can play it. The graphics are wonky as hell, characters vanish out of cutscenes, and lip syncing lags like nobody's business. I really should've just waited for Xbox One...

Also, the hairstyles are worse than any prior Dragon Age game. I don't know what they were thinking.

Well, you bought it for a last-gen console. That's pretty inadvisable these days. 360 and PS3 are basically abandoned at this point, any cross-platform games released on them are going to be low-quality ports only there to take advantage of the large remaining install base.

The only game I can recall that had *good* last gen ports was Destiny. Basically every other... has suffered from the same issues on their last-gen version that you're describing.

[Endless_Legend]

Well, I don't know what to tell you. Have you ever played a good RPG to compare DA2 with? Have you played other action games before?

Mmm hmm. I've played all of the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games, all the expansions to those, every Divinity Game, every Neverwinter Nights main game and expansion, every console-spinoff game of those properties, every single Fable, every Elder Scrolls title, all the old gold-box D&D games... the list goes on. Would you like me to just copy/paste pictures of my Steam library list, or my shelf with every Box/CD on it?

You thought Two Worlds 2 was better? That game was a train wreck.

[simbob4000]

Blah, I got Inquisition for 360 and... I just don't know if I can play it. The graphics are wonky as hell, characters vanish out of cutscenes, and lip syncing lags like nobody's business. I really should've just waited for Xbox One...

Also, the hairstyles are worse than any prior Dragon Age game. I don't know what they were thinking.

I forgot that game was even coming out for those systems. How different does it look, I don't think I've seen anything of those versions?

[simbob4000]

Mmm hmm. I've played all of the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games, all the expansions to those, every Divinity Game, every Neverwinter Nights main game and expansion, every console-spinoff game of those properties, every single Fable, every Elder Scrolls title, all the old gold-box D&D games... the list goes on. Would you like me to just copy/paste pictures of my Steam library list, or my shelf with every Box/CD on it?

You thought Two Worlds 2 was better? That game was a train wreck.

Elder Scrolls, I asked what good RPG you've played.

Two Worlds 2 is far better. The combat isn't that great, but that game isn't up it's own ass like DA2; it's a nice, funny (sometimes unintentionally) and fun game. It's also got a good crafting system, a good magic system, and a nice world to dick around in. At times it's a mess, but it's an enjoyable mess. It's a fun game, which is what a video game should be.

[Endless_Legend]

Moving along...

So far Dragon Age Inquisition is a real treat. It has blended the combat style of DA2 with open-world movement and exploration. It's also gorgeous looking. Everything feels extremely expansive. Running pretty stable even on my ancient video card, although there are some occasional frame-drops, but I'm blaming that on having 4-year-old hardware in my computer.

They also brought back the rather silly thing from Dragon-Age Origins where if you dual-wield your knives just sort of float behind your back. I dunno if that's an intentional callback to that game or not, I suspect so because the other weapon types don't do that when sheathed.

Leliana's french accent is not nearly as strong, also. I kind of miss it, not it only shows up as a very faint inflection in the way she speaks.

[LoneNecromancer]

I forgot that game was even coming out for those systems. How different does it look, I don't think I've seen anything of those versions?

It looks awful, though I'm pretty sure it'd have looked much more...acceptable if they'd optimised better.

[LoneNecromancer]

Mmm hmm. I've played all of the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games, all the expansions to those, every Divinity Game, every Neverwinter Nights main game and expansion, every console-spinoff game of those properties, every single Fable, every Elder Scrolls title, all the old gold-box D&D games... the list goes on. Would you like me to just copy/paste pictures of my Steam library list, or my shelf with every Box/CD on it?

All that and no Planescape Torment?

Elder Scrolls, I asked what good RPG you've played.

Come on, they said every single Fable. That's a way better target. Fable 3, Jesus, a fantasy RPG all about real estate.

[Nyssane]

Guys, cut the snark.

I'm definitely so regretful for buying the 360 version instead of just waiting for Xbox One. The beards and stubble look like blotches of color on the character's face. The cutscenes are all sorts of choppy. I'll be walking along and something will appear on the ground right next to me. I honestly didn't even finish the first "quest." I'll probably sell my copy and use that money for an Xbox One version. Target doesn't return games when they've been opened, right?