Anyone else looking forward to Dragon Age? (Spoilers and plot discussion here)

[Martinus]

I now want to restart as a high-persuasion, high-intellect city elf rogue (bard).

[grumbler]

Got the game, and am enjoying it, but not finding it in any way groundbreaking yet (I've just finished the opening as a human noble).  It reminds me very much of The Witcher, in that you get the feeling that you are in a movie in which everyone knows the lines and the plot but you, and your job is to figure out what you are supposed to say and to whom.  No freeplay yet; I have been doing everything as instructed ("go there immediately and do this!") and discovering that this is a stupid way to play, as you miss all of the opportunities to explore and loot.  Clearly, this is a game that will take a couple of playings to get "right."

The unrealistic anatomies and bad camera controls remove any chance for suspension of disbelief for me, though this may change as I get more familiar with the tactics system and can set my party NPCs on "automatic." I am frankly surprised that the human models are so awkward and ugly.  Voice acting, as many have noted, is superb.

The fighting is moderately challenging and by far the most fun thing in the game.  It took me forever to find a bow, though - must have killed 25 bowman, not one of whom was actually armed with a bow, as it turns out!    I think I missed the chance to loot the one bowman who dd have a bow earlier in the first series of combats.

I like the way you find out during your initiation that the Grey wardens are not "good guys."  That was probably the only event in the game that actually surprised me.  The rest of the initial story was absolutely predictable.  I knew as soon as I heard the battle plan and got assigned to go to  the top of the tower what would happen on the way there and what would happen when I got to the top.  It is what seemingly happens in every game like this.

So far, I would rate this game so far as a 7.  It has its moments, but in none of them did I feel any emotional commitment.  It is all far too predictable and the presentation and graphics are not nearly good enough to be immersive.  Fun?  Yes, but in the way that War in the Pacific was fun, not in the way that Morrowind was fun.

[Tamas]

Yeah I agree with grumbler

[Caliga]

The rest of the initial story was absolutely predictable.  I knew as soon as I heard the battle plan and got assigned to go to  the top of the tower what would happen on the way there and what would happen when I got to the top.  It is what seemingly happens in every game like this.

Agreed.  It was so painfully obvious that I think they must have made it so on purpose.  Maybe the writers think people like having their egos stroked when they "figure out" what's going to happen in advance due to the foreshadowing.  I know nothing about writing theory so I dunno if this is something writers strive to do on occasion or what.

[Tamas]

  Maybe the writers think people like having their egos stroked when they "figure out" what's going to happen in advance due to the foreshadowing.

I had that feeling during the mage test when the other mage guy started to convince me to help him out of there. Was painfully obvious from the second sentence, so it was not a big riddle or anything.

[Caliga]

Yeah, I had the same reaction... I do think the thing with the Tower of Ishal was more obvious, though.

[Syt]

I like the way you find out during your initiation that the Grey wardens are not "good guys."  That was probably the only event in the game that actually surprised me.

I expected something bad to happen, and while #1 was fairly obvious, #2 took me actually more by surprise.

[Tamas]

Yeah, I had the same reaction... I do think the thing with the Tower of Ishal was more obvious, though.

Yeah, the betrayal was intentionally "leaked" though, when the plan-discussion finished the betrayer dude turned away and said something like "glorious indeed" or something like that. That was so obvious and so villainy, you knew what was going to happen.

[Martinus]

I don't have a problem with foreshadowing and predictability, to be honest. I see this as a conscious design decision for at least two reasons:

1. Roleplayers are jaded. We have seen it all - undead innkeepers putting poison in our oatmeals or comely wenches turning into demons from hell. So unless you really go out there (in which case people would bitch it is a stretch or deus ex machina or unrealistic), you can't come up with the story that will be surprising to everybody. The way I approach such stories, I roleplay my character and whether he would be surprised by the turn of events.

2. If you had totally unexpected turns of action, this would actually make the game un-replayable.

[saskganesh]

The rest of the initial story was absolutely predictable.  I knew as soon as I heard the battle plan and got assigned to go to  the top of the tower what would happen on the way there and what would happen when I got to the top.  It is what seemingly happens in every game like this.

Agreed.  It was so painfully obvious that I think they must have made it so on purpose.  Maybe the writers think people like having their egos stroked when they "figure out" what's going to happen in advance due to the foreshadowing.  I know nothing about writing theory so I dunno if this is something writers strive to do on occasion or what.

in games, foreshadowing can be heavy handed, because some gamers do not pay that much attention to stuff like story and plot.

I don't think it's about ego stroking, it more like making sure the player doesn't lose track of what you are supposed to do next.

wrt Grumbler's comment about about sidequests, I would say since its Bioware: "do them all and put off the main plot as long as possible." never hurts to level up some more, and time-sensitive storyliness are usually not an issue.

[Caliga]

The side quest thing is Bioware's MO... it's like that in every one of their games.

"OMG it's urgent that you go kill this guy and save the universe! ... But if you first want to find Farmer Joe's lost cow in the forest, that's cool too."

[saskganesh]

The side quest thing is Bioware's MO... it's like that in every one of their games.

"OMG it's urgent that you go kill this guy and save the universe! ... But if you first want to find Farmer Joe's lost cow in the forest, that's cool too."

exactimundo. finding that cow will give you needed quest experience. and maybe some cool loot too.

[Martinus]

Well, that's the standard fantasy game fare, anyway.

[grumbler]

I expected something bad to happen, and while #1 was fairly obvious, #2 took me actually more by surprise.

Exactly.  The second event was nicely done, because it completely changed your view of the Grey Wardens and the extent to which even your own involvement was voluntary.

[grumbler]

Yeah, the betrayal was intentionally "leaked" though, when the plan-discussion finished the betrayer dude turned away and said something like "glorious indeed" or something like that. That was so obvious and so villainy, you knew what was going to happen.

Yes, but you knew even before that.  The whole plan was so illogical that you knew it had to be done that way to set up another bad guy.  There is no reason why the guys in an impregnable castle need to attack the Rnotorcs except as part of a plot device.