deathindustrial
Regular
Was surprised there was no existing thread on this game so here goes. . .
http://dragonage.bioware.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonAge
Picked this up yesterday for the PS3 and so far have around 3 hours into it. Initial impressions:
1. best voice acting I have seen in a game for the PS3
Sitting on the couch with my better half it often felt like we were watching an edgy fantasy themed mini-series as much as playing a game. Usually I want to fast forward through dialogue in games but the acting and writing is solid enough to greatly reduce that urge. The approach they have taken to character animation in the close up dialogue scenes is also awesome, very film / TV like, lots of motion capture and nice background activity (to the point of behaving almost like a screen saver).
2. absolutely horrible frame rate when not in dialogue trees
The frame rate in this game is rarely what I would call acceptable. It is not so much that it is low (which it is) but that it is extremely jerky which is disorienting. It might be easier on smaller screens but playing this via my LCD projector (72" or so screen) is really hard on the eyes when moving around in the world or battling. Supposedly the PS3 has better textures but a lower frame rate than the 360 and if true I would say the 360 is probably a better choice if you are playing on a larger screen. In the dialogue sections everything is alright (though the character animations could use more tweening) but in action it is often very poor.
3. absolutely terrible first level / intro
I am surprised that they chose to open the game with such an attrocious looking level. After some cut scenes you are placed in the "Fade" which is an other worldly place. To visually denote this location a very strong radial like blur effect is used which on my screen at least was really quite painful to play through (think of those blurry text t-shirts but applied to the entire screen). This happens almost immediately in the game and I was honestly unsure whether this effect was part of the Fade or if this was what folks meant about the game not being a "looker" (i.e. PS2 level graphics with massive blur to try to hide it).
It takes about 30 minutes to an hour to get out of the Fade and I was very close to deciding that I had been ripped off by EA and trying to sell off the game before I finally made it out of the Fade and away from the eye destroying land of blur. I certainly hope very little time is spent in Fade as I don't feel much like a visit to the optometrist for a new prescription. If large segments of the game take place in the Fade and that blur effect stays, I would consider the game close to unplayable on bigger screens.
4. (possibly) glitchy controls / so so menus
With a stat driven RPG menu layout and structure is extremely important. In DAO I find that there are missing visual cues at times to make it clear things like, "what have I read?" The cursor highlighting is indistinguishable from highlighted entries and the collapsible lists approach used makes it trivial to accidentally "read" something while trying to find it in the first place. The menu system seems to sometimes remember your state but not consistently which is unfortunate since you need to bounce back and forth a fair bit.
I am not 100% sure but it seems like there is some glitching in the controls at times or at least it is easy to get in a state where it is unclear that the system is waiting for an acknowledgment of some sort from the player but there is no indication of what is being asked. I kept finding last night that I would be somewhere in the inventory system and things would seem frozen but then after a period, it would suddenly let me back out. The problem here is that by the point I did manage to exit, I had already started button mashing mode trying to tell what was going on so may have cued up some button hits.
5. mini-map is static, poor implementation of player locator
Personally, I hate when mini-maps do not rotate to the direction the player is facing. In DAO the map is static and there is a cone emanating out from the player which is shows which direction *the camera* is facing. The problem with this is that as the camera and player are independent and the camera is more flexible direction wise than the player, it can be difficult to get yourself walking in the same direction as the camera. Personally I would much prefer standard N/S/E/W markers and a rotating map tied to the direction the player is facing.
6. control of NPCs in party is cool
The ability to switch between party members is cool. I am not sure how it effects things character development wise but it is definitely an interesting dynamic and allows for some fun micro-management when you are in the mood for that sort of thing.
7. loot mechanism semi-broken
DAO includes a loot mechanism in that enemies killed will drop loot. Bizarrely (as in how did this make it into the release version?) it can literally take between 10 and 30 seconds for loot to actually show up. You basically have to sit there and wait around to see if loot will appear or not. Adding to that, choosing an NPC and picking up loot get triggered by the same button. This makes it very common to end up in a dialogue tree instead of your intended action of grabbing some spoils which is twice as annoying after being force to loiter for the drop.
8. spammy pushing of downloadble content
The game has a downloadable icon in the freaking main inventory menu. If you are playing offline (which I have bee due to sporadic issues with my PS3's ethernet port), the game gets paused and forces you to acknowledge a nag dialogue about signing on everytime you inadvertently scroll too far to the right. Not only is this annoying but pushing "downloadable" in the middle of a medieval fantasy RPG messes with immersion. Shame on you EA.
As a side note, in a moment of simplemindedness I bought the game used and forgot to check the state of the downloadable content (they had just bought it a day before so perhaps never made it out of the first blur level). Unfortunately, the prior owner used one of the DLC codes. What I do not know however is what impact this has on the game - am I missing something really important? Is the DLC actually worth $15? The in game description of DLC is weak.
SUMMARY
I have to say that the implementation of everything other than the dialogue trees so far has been at best OK to at times totally gross (framerate, framerate, framerate). Compared to a game like Oblivion, DOA appears unpolished for a big studio game. I have played other games (Sacred 2 for example) with issues of frame rate which while annoying, tend not to interfere with the core gameplay. In DOA however the framerate can make it tiring to explore the world.
Countering that, the dialogue trees are so well done you still very much want to explore the world and so far they seem to be a huge portion of the game which is why this is not already in the sell pile. It is some of the best in game acting and writing I have seen in ages and falls very firmly in the "interactive movie" realm. This feels like a true RPG, the emphasis on "role playing" more than "game". I definitely wish that EA had put more money into the underlaying engine as everything else here seems top notch.
If the frame rate issues were corrected most of my other complaints would slide down to "floor noise" level I expect. But as this is now out the door, I seriously doubt that will happen.
Cheers
http://dragonage.bioware.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonAge
Picked this up yesterday for the PS3 and so far have around 3 hours into it. Initial impressions:
1. best voice acting I have seen in a game for the PS3
Sitting on the couch with my better half it often felt like we were watching an edgy fantasy themed mini-series as much as playing a game. Usually I want to fast forward through dialogue in games but the acting and writing is solid enough to greatly reduce that urge. The approach they have taken to character animation in the close up dialogue scenes is also awesome, very film / TV like, lots of motion capture and nice background activity (to the point of behaving almost like a screen saver).
2. absolutely horrible frame rate when not in dialogue trees
The frame rate in this game is rarely what I would call acceptable. It is not so much that it is low (which it is) but that it is extremely jerky which is disorienting. It might be easier on smaller screens but playing this via my LCD projector (72" or so screen) is really hard on the eyes when moving around in the world or battling. Supposedly the PS3 has better textures but a lower frame rate than the 360 and if true I would say the 360 is probably a better choice if you are playing on a larger screen. In the dialogue sections everything is alright (though the character animations could use more tweening) but in action it is often very poor.
3. absolutely terrible first level / intro
I am surprised that they chose to open the game with such an attrocious looking level. After some cut scenes you are placed in the "Fade" which is an other worldly place. To visually denote this location a very strong radial like blur effect is used which on my screen at least was really quite painful to play through (think of those blurry text t-shirts but applied to the entire screen). This happens almost immediately in the game and I was honestly unsure whether this effect was part of the Fade or if this was what folks meant about the game not being a "looker" (i.e. PS2 level graphics with massive blur to try to hide it).
It takes about 30 minutes to an hour to get out of the Fade and I was very close to deciding that I had been ripped off by EA and trying to sell off the game before I finally made it out of the Fade and away from the eye destroying land of blur. I certainly hope very little time is spent in Fade as I don't feel much like a visit to the optometrist for a new prescription. If large segments of the game take place in the Fade and that blur effect stays, I would consider the game close to unplayable on bigger screens.
4. (possibly) glitchy controls / so so menus
With a stat driven RPG menu layout and structure is extremely important. In DAO I find that there are missing visual cues at times to make it clear things like, "what have I read?" The cursor highlighting is indistinguishable from highlighted entries and the collapsible lists approach used makes it trivial to accidentally "read" something while trying to find it in the first place. The menu system seems to sometimes remember your state but not consistently which is unfortunate since you need to bounce back and forth a fair bit.
I am not 100% sure but it seems like there is some glitching in the controls at times or at least it is easy to get in a state where it is unclear that the system is waiting for an acknowledgment of some sort from the player but there is no indication of what is being asked. I kept finding last night that I would be somewhere in the inventory system and things would seem frozen but then after a period, it would suddenly let me back out. The problem here is that by the point I did manage to exit, I had already started button mashing mode trying to tell what was going on so may have cued up some button hits.
5. mini-map is static, poor implementation of player locator
Personally, I hate when mini-maps do not rotate to the direction the player is facing. In DAO the map is static and there is a cone emanating out from the player which is shows which direction *the camera* is facing. The problem with this is that as the camera and player are independent and the camera is more flexible direction wise than the player, it can be difficult to get yourself walking in the same direction as the camera. Personally I would much prefer standard N/S/E/W markers and a rotating map tied to the direction the player is facing.
6. control of NPCs in party is cool
The ability to switch between party members is cool. I am not sure how it effects things character development wise but it is definitely an interesting dynamic and allows for some fun micro-management when you are in the mood for that sort of thing.
7. loot mechanism semi-broken
DAO includes a loot mechanism in that enemies killed will drop loot. Bizarrely (as in how did this make it into the release version?) it can literally take between 10 and 30 seconds for loot to actually show up. You basically have to sit there and wait around to see if loot will appear or not. Adding to that, choosing an NPC and picking up loot get triggered by the same button. This makes it very common to end up in a dialogue tree instead of your intended action of grabbing some spoils which is twice as annoying after being force to loiter for the drop.
8. spammy pushing of downloadble content
The game has a downloadable icon in the freaking main inventory menu. If you are playing offline (which I have bee due to sporadic issues with my PS3's ethernet port), the game gets paused and forces you to acknowledge a nag dialogue about signing on everytime you inadvertently scroll too far to the right. Not only is this annoying but pushing "downloadable" in the middle of a medieval fantasy RPG messes with immersion. Shame on you EA.
As a side note, in a moment of simplemindedness I bought the game used and forgot to check the state of the downloadable content (they had just bought it a day before so perhaps never made it out of the first blur level). Unfortunately, the prior owner used one of the DLC codes. What I do not know however is what impact this has on the game - am I missing something really important? Is the DLC actually worth $15? The in game description of DLC is weak.
SUMMARY
I have to say that the implementation of everything other than the dialogue trees so far has been at best OK to at times totally gross (framerate, framerate, framerate). Compared to a game like Oblivion, DOA appears unpolished for a big studio game. I have played other games (Sacred 2 for example) with issues of frame rate which while annoying, tend not to interfere with the core gameplay. In DOA however the framerate can make it tiring to explore the world.
Countering that, the dialogue trees are so well done you still very much want to explore the world and so far they seem to be a huge portion of the game which is why this is not already in the sell pile. It is some of the best in game acting and writing I have seen in ages and falls very firmly in the "interactive movie" realm. This feels like a true RPG, the emphasis on "role playing" more than "game". I definitely wish that EA had put more money into the underlaying engine as everything else here seems top notch.
If the frame rate issues were corrected most of my other complaints would slide down to "floor noise" level I expect. But as this is now out the door, I seriously doubt that will happen.
Cheers
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