Dragon Age: Origins

I'll be on it like white on rice. Or ass-rape. Or whatever it is you kids are into these days.

Been following this one pretty closely. Should be pretty kick ass. Sort of surprised we haven't seen any articles about it yet here though.

I've not seen a single article or trailer describing the combat system, and my interest in the game hinges on that. Bioware tends to make new, intriguing combat systems, but I haven't really found any of them very appealing of a decent length of time.

Funny, working on an article about my experience with the combat system right now. Will be up later today if all goes well.

I'm interested simply because it is from Bioware however everything they've shown so far seems exactly like LOTR.

And this is why you are better than the "big boys", Alex. You know what the Chewer desires.

Yeah, this is pretty much a sight-unseen buy for me, owing to BioWare being the developer. Just like Jade Empire was, a few years back. Wasn't disappointed with that one, either.

Even if it completely sucks (unlikely), it makes a nice appetizer for the main course of Mass Effect 2 after the holidays.

The game allows me to have the sex with Claudia Black (from Farscape, voicing one of the romantic interests). I'd probably have to buy it regardless of whether it was my most anticipated game of the fall (which it is)!

Between this and one of the potential romantic interests in Mass Effect 2 being voiced by Yvonne Strahovski (from Chuck), Bioware is ensuring that at least my -virtual- sex life will be a roaring success!

But what if you've always wanted to have the sex with Michael Hogan?

You may or may not have to play through the game as female Shepard for that action.

I won't ask. Please don't tell.

On one hand, yay RPG with a party of NPCs.

The other hand, that marketing campaign has been atrocious.

I'm not going to by this one on release, it will be one for later me-thinks, on discount.

I've got a bad feeling this is going to be a steaming pile. It's not getting a fraction of the attention that ME2 receives and it comes out in 2 months.

Wasn't Alex going to do an article on his impressions? Maybe he can shed some light.

Discarding the marketing campaign, everything I've heard about the actual game from people who have spend good time with it has been completely positive. I don't why some misguided ads should affect my opinion. It's still a day one blind buy for me.

Hmmm, I was in no way interested in this until the one-two punch of Alpha Protocal being delayed and finding out this is by Bioware just made me thoroughly interested.

ETA: So will this kinda be a fantasy Mass Effect or something else entirely?

It'll probably be more of a fantasy Baldur's Gate. Wait. Dammit. A BG mixed with some of the combat tweaks from KOTOR is the word I've been hearing. Or, like, a less action-y, more tactic-y Witcher.

As for the marketing...well, it's the same problem Bioware has for awhile. Motherfuckers over there just need to get laid. It's all about tits and gore and HARDCORE MOTHERFUCKERS YEAH!!! and that might get some of the Halo players and Gears players and CoD players in, but it is a bit off-putting to people who were already sold with the words "Bioware RPG."

But, hey. A non D&D, fantasy based RPG in the vein of The Song of Ice and Fire. Shit's pretty cool in my book.

I really don't like how everyone is "sex, eeew" when it comes to games. Either with The Witcher or this. If video games are to mature as a medium sex has to somehow become a part of them since it pretty much is the biggest signifier for someone's transition to maturity.

And I think that it is only natural if the first steps in this direction seem immature or awkward. Since this is a film forum, remember how immature and awkward sex in movies is a lot of the time. And that is after a century of the artform not just a couple of decades.

I think the lack of enthusiasm from the general public towards the game can probably be attributed to the fact that this is an old-style PC RPG, and that's not exactly super exciting to most people. I mean, I'm excited and really looking forward and expecting it to be pretty good, but I don't think "THE SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR TO BALDUR'S GATE!" is going to get too many gamer panties wet these days.

Bioware probably feels the same way. Hence this misguided ad campaign.

I would like to hear Alex's much delayed impressions, though.

Well, originally it was announced as PC only and then eventually they decided to make it available on consoles as well. I haven't read anything where people actually played the console version yet so I don't know how decent the controls and graphics will be. Especially for the PS3 version which, as is often the case, will probably be a glitchy mess (especially since this is their first time developing a PS3 title).

Yeah, and I'll definitely be buying this for PC. I can't imagine playing this on 360 or PS3.

I'm still looking forward to this, but after trying (and failing miserably!) to like The Witcher recently, I'm not sure I'll be able to play another fantasy RPG for a while. Especially after Demon's Souls.

The Witcher is a really difficult to like game. The first time I played it, I got about five hours in and just hated it after that.

Then, I re-downloaded it (bought it off Steam) and gave it another shot one boring weekend, and it just clicked with me where it didn't before.

I think Dragon Age is going to play differently though, being as it's party-based whereas the Witcher has you controlling only one character the whole time.

How did The Witcher end up clicking for you? After spending what felt like days fighting ghost dogs in the village, I was excited to finally make it into the walled city. Then I spent the next few days being the world's most boring detective. The high point was saving some hookers from bandits. Does it turn around?

I demoed Dragon Age on the 360, and while this is definitely built in the mold of an old school RPG, the combat, movement and spell casting were all relatively effortless on the controller. I didn't play it long enough to get a sense of the story or how it will play out as you progress, but from the little I played it swayed me from indifferent to pre-order.

Dunno, it just felt right the second time I played it. If you haven't gotten into it by now though, I doubt you will, so I'd just call it a wash.

Loved this particular video:

IGN: Dwarven Noble Hands-On

This is going to be either my first or second origin.

First of all, the bodyguard-dude's voice sounds friggin' awesome, and I love the power you wield. I like how he just leans against the wall and crosses his feet at the end of the intro video. Shows that the characters can do more than just stand around and talk, and that the game has some realistic body language.

It sounds like BioWare are going out of their way to craft some genuinely new, actual, honest role-playing opportunities for people who are into serious RPing, as opposed to mere, WoW-style level-grinding. I don't know if I could make myself be enough of a douche to make use of that particular feature in-game, but just the fact that it's there is awesome.


I'm buying this one on Xbox 360 (the $75.00 Limited Collector's Edition), but if the interface (somehow) sucks and I hear decent word of mouth about the PC version, I'll go with that one instead.

Reportedly, the big reason for the Sony delay is because BioWare's never made a PS3 game before, and it's taking them a little longer to acquaint themselves with the system architecture. The console's a nightmare to develop for, but at least everyone still gets their version in 2009. It's the same reason Bethesda took so long with porting the Fallout 3 DLC for that system.


From what I've seen, it'll probably play a bit like WoW, if you controlled your entire party simultaneously. The big difference is that DA:O is not a PnP conversion, so there's no "turns." Casting a spell might not take as long as making an uber-spinning maneuver with two axes, but might take longer than a dodge -> backstab trick, and almost as long as running eight feet, instead of everything taking an arbitrary "one turn" to complete.

(Also, because it's not PnP, your opponents don't have to play by the same rules as you. Just because your Dalish Elf can't fly, doesn't mean the NPC is wingless.)

Well, I'm pretty sure that at least 6 months of that was MS buying exclusivity (even on the PC I think you had to buy the DLC through Games for Windows Live). But yeah, I'm expecting the PS3 version of this to have some issues.

I'm just hoping that they use this experience to figure out how to get Mass Effect 2 onto the PS3. I probably won't be buying it on that system but I know tons of people who would love a chance to play it even if it weren't quite as good as the 360 or PC versions.

I think i've flip-flopped on this game enough, and will indeed buy this one on release.

Lack of Alpha Protocol being one reason, the other being the hands on impressions have been rather good.

Okay I just watched a video of the character creation screen. Is it wierd that the fact that you finally have an actual selection of voices for your character to choose from has me more excited about this than anything else so far?

Cause it really does.

I'll admit, I've gone from zero interest to pretty fucking excited about this in the space of 24 hours.

Same here and my gaming friend has been all over this. I was thinking of just borrowing it from him but it seems like the kind of game you ought to own.

Well, if you've got a friend who is going to buy it, you can play his copy and then pick it up when it inevitably drops to $15 the following summer.

Alex, your impressions please. I am trying to keep a cool head on this game, but the videos are downright orgasmic. Please give me your trusted first hand account so I can adjust accordingly.

New trailer, showcasing the city of Denerim.

The fact that this game looks far more "Dragonlance" than "Elder Scrolls" has me excited for some weird reason...and I seriously loves me some Elder Scrolls.

Maybe it's all the Dwarves. I dunno.

Everything I see about this looks pretty sweet. IGN has done several write ups of the different beginnings you get based on your race and such and it all looks really deep. I still havent seen much in the way of gameplay though except for these really brief cuts mixed with that inexplicable Manson song. Looking forward to reading Alex's take on it.

First review is up

Vague, but promising. They don't mention a platform that I can see, but I assume it's a pc based review.

Says Dragon Age Origins - PC right in the browser title.

The game still contains stuff like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5hwznpjtUE

So, um... yeah, so bad it's good dialogue?

But I digress, i'm liking the unspoken dialogue for the Player character for some reason. Though i will miss hearing lines like "Because he's a stupid big jelly fish!!"

Well I just ordered the prequel novel for the game written by the head designer online, which is officially the geekiest thing I've done in many a year.

Hoo boy I hope that facial animation isn't final. Hell KoTOR had better lip-sync than that. Not that it matters much I suppose. I'll play the crap outta this game either way, but I'd rather not sit through "dead eyed flappy lipped doll theater" every time the dialog starts flying.

Was that Sean Bean as the human lord?

Sounded like Cam Clarke.

My mistake.

Okay as much as Im really enjoying watching the videos for this on the main homepage for the game, the nu-metal soundtracks that kick in with them 9 times out of 10 are SHITTING me to tears. That better just be a fucking god-awful marketing decision. I don't want that excerable try-hard wrestling music anywhere near a game like this when I'm playing it.

I've already pre-ordered the 360 version. Bioware is the videogame equivalent of the Coen brothers for me now. When they come out with something, I buy it.

I'll just put together one of my standard film score playlists. Some Howard Shore and Basil Poledouris should clear that problem right up.

Actually Im not too worried, after Mass Effects score (which I enjoyed enough to never turn off) I have a fair bit of faith that there should be a good orchestral backdrop for this one.

I think I'm going to be ordering the collectors edition of the game too. This fucking thing is bringing out my inner fantasy geek for the first time in many years with a vengeance.

Fuck I hope it's worth it.

Dragon Age: Origins was scored/is being scored by Inon Zur. I loved his scores for the Prince of Persia games, so I expect Dragon Age to have some kick-ass music.

Also, under the reviews linked earlier, a comforting quote exists. In the side panel, under "Sound", it says, "Lots of quality voice acting and an atmospheric soundtrack. Thankfully, none of the crappy metal from the trailers made the final cut".

Okay, everyone. You can breathe a sigh of relief now.