Immediate reactions

[Ned Flanders]

first impressions

The install was quick and painless. got going quickly as I had read enough about the game and knew for my first playthrough I wanted the role of a vindictive common elf rogue with the intent to stab the human race in the back as often as possible. My experience with these games is that the dark path is usually narrower in scope and most side quests involve 'good guy' roleplaying. So, I eschew the side stuff and drive the plot line for my first playthrough which yields more variance on subsequent runs.

The common elf 'origin' was formulaic but entertaining enough, especially consistently picking the rudest dialogue choices. Got as far as advancing the plot following the origin story and just ready to go on that first adventure.

I've got an 8800GT and the graphics cranked up presently, they need to be toned down or I need a new card.

Things I like

While the graphics might not be top notch, they're good, and I love the ease of swapping from tactical view to over the shoulder. Additionally, the rotational capabilities of the cameras are stellar, especially with the vertical.

Group inventory is great and the tabbed system of viewing items by type provides great ease of use.

The combat tactics are intriguing and I hope they are useful. I like the aspect of investing in combat tactics (skills or talents???) to increase how complex you want to get. Between the quickbar and the tactics, I'm hoping to get good enough where the game doesn't become a pause fest during combat.

Little things as well: As a rogue, I like how when you're trying to flank an enemy, you continue to face them while moving

more on stuff later

All in all, I'm pretty pleased.

[Crenshinibon]

Am I correct in understanding that there is no real point in connecting to the server? From what I gathered, the only things you get from it are the ability to download DLCs and to have your character page updated on the social site.

[fable]

Am I correct in understanding that there is no real point in connecting to the server? From what I gathered, the only things you get from it are the ability to download DLCs and to have your character page updated on the social site.

You can also buy additional content, but yeah, otherwise that's it.

[Crenshinibon]

Thanks for confirming that.

[endboss]

I've been checking the Dragon Age forums and apparently there's a huge problem with installations, possibly related to faulty DVDs. There also seems to be a problem with ATI cards. Maybe I'll hold out a bit until a patch.

[fable]

The combat tactics are intriguing and I hope they are useful. I like the aspect of investing in combat tactics (skills or talents???) to increase how complex you want to get.

Do you mean the ability to program additional if/then statements into your party AI? Because if so, I have to question whether it's a good expenditure to buy something that should be free to players in order to tweak their party behavior most effectively. It's as though Bioware were telling me, "We'll give you a better interface if your lead character buys it as a skill."

[Crenshinibon]

Some of the AI really needs work.

SPOILER:

Spoiler

I just had my first boss fight, the ogre. I did have trouble engaging him up right as he kept resisting my curses, but when I had my character run around in circles, with others firing ranged weapons at him... he actually followed, for half of the battle. That is something that should not happen in a "high class" game.

[fable]

Some of the AI really needs work.

SPOILER:

Spoiler

I just had my first boss fight, the ogre. I did have trouble engaging him up right as he kept resisting my curses, but when I had my character run around in circles, with others firing ranged weapons at him... he actually followed, for half of the battle. That is something that should not happen in a "high class" game.

Could it be the exception, a case of an unusually stupid creature?

[Curry]

Could it be the exception, a case of an unusually stupid creature?

No, the AI in this game is a disaster

[fable]

No, the AI in this game is a disaster

Please elaborate if you're going to put up a quick thumbs down like this. Do you mean that enemies don't fight back, and use the worst spells possible, on the highest difficulty level? That they run into one another, and ignore your team?

[Ragin Cajun]

I'm running a mage and can't disagree more. I have the Grey Warden as my tank and have his taunt skill set up if anyone attacks me. Yet I continually pull aggro off the tank (no aggro meters so hard to tell).

Now, I haven't played with a tanking character so possibly it's dialed it to where mobs are just more "attracted" to the main character?

[Ned Flanders]

Do you mean the ability to program additional if/then statements into your party AI? Because if so, I have to question whether it's a good expenditure to buy something that should be free to players in order to tweak their party behavior most effectively. It's as though Bioware were telling me, "We'll give you a better interface if your lead character buys it as a skill."

That is how I'm interpreting it, but I'm just getting started and as a rogue, have other skills of higher interest.

I certainly see your point though. Not sure of the motivations behind this or if my thoughts on how it works are accurate. But reading the combat tactics skill description sure makes it sound that way. Level 1 and 2 add one additional slot while levels 3 and 4 add two additional slots each. So, investing in all four levels will create six additional if/then statements for each character, bringing the total to nine.

I'm not going to question if it is a good or bad thing, because it is optional. Similar to a review I read where the reviewer was knocking the gift giving system as a way to cheat the game. It's not as if the game is requiring one to use the gift system. I see it as a way to fall back if something you do creates the opposite reaction you were expecting and it is going to be a game changer.

[Aqua-chan]

I had the same issue Crenshinibon had - though given my main character was down to a minuscule amount of health at that point, and had been spamming special abilities throughout the entire fight, I'd just assumed either my Rogue had generated more Threat than Alistair or the creature's AI was to pursue a target that was near-death. Eventually it did lay off, though why I can't say.

It's really hard to discern with my having encountered just one of them. Since then I've been fighting mobs of human enemies that seem to share a generic AI that I haven't had trouble countering... However, Morrigan doesn't seem to get much flak even when enemies come from behind, and I would presume that she'd have a pretty significant amount of Threat under her belt as well.

[Ned Flanders]

I had the same issue Crenshinibon had - though given my main character was down to a minuscule amount of health at that point, and had been spamming special abilities throughout the entire fight, I'd just assumed either my Rogue had generated more Threat than Alistair or the creature's AI was to pursue a target that was near-death. Eventually it did lay off, though why I can't say.

It's really hard to discern with my having encountered just one of them. Since then I've been fighting mobs of human enemies that seem to share a generic AI that I haven't had trouble countering... However, Morrigan doesn't seem to get much flak even when enemies come from behind, and I would presume that she'd have a pretty significant amount of Threat under her belt as well.

Interesting point about the enemy AI targeting a PC 'near death'. I wonder if moving the taunt feature higher up on the tactics page would influence this. Or for that matter, how the order/priority that tactics are stacked for your character(s) can influence the behavior/AI of our enemies.

[Nightmare]

I'm currently exploring the Wilds outside of the first Grey Warden camp, after playing through the Human Noble origin with a Rogue. The origin was...predictable, but still enjoyable and had some nice touches.

I'm occasionally finding that the overhead camera view isn't as useful sometimes, especially with enemies are attacking you with ranged weapons. Ranged weapons have ranges beyond the view distance of the overhead cam, so to see/target them, its necessary to scroll into a more over-the-shoulder view. Thankfully, its simple and smooth to change in and out of the views.

I like dialogue and conversations so far. In the human noble origin, I could be the nice, respectful boy, or a completely foul, spoiled rich kid. Or a combination.

More as I progress.

[Revi]

Mixed impressions.

Playing a dualwielding fighter as my first character, and quickly discovering the uselessness of this build. But at the same time I am already completely hooked. The visuals, the music, the voice acting, the way everything and everyone reacts to your character and heritage... everything is so beautiful and immersive. It has me really immersed in the story instead of wondering why I forgot to spend that 1 point in Dexterity.

When I met my mother (as human noble), I expected her to be bland and annoying, as old people tend to be in RPGs. But quite the contrary was the case, she actually turned out to have a wry sense of humor, and a short while later turned out to also be able to deliver quite an asskicking when armed with a mace!

The dog is also a riot. His dialogues and the way you can understand perfectly what he means when he barks is really funny!

Alistair is also worthy of mention, I think. For a 'generic human male sidekick,' he is definately the friendliest and most intelligent guy I've met in an RPG so far. His voicing is funny in a non-annoying kind of way, his dialogue varies between funny and very serious, and his skills as a tank and impressive stats make him one of my most useful party members. I must say I like him a lot more than Morrigan.

I believe at the moment the biggest loser in my party is my main character! :laugh:

Every character you meet in this game is going to do something with you, annoy you, make you angry, or make you love them. Really, excellent character and dialogue writing I haven't seen since BGII.

This is the deep RPG experience I was hoping for when I bought NWN2, and contrary to that game, this game really delivers!

The only downside I've run into so far is the lack of actual 'use' of physical damage talents. Unless you're packing a whole lot of stamina to keep up some of the more powerful ones consistenly, most of them seem don't really seem to deliver. Maybe I'll speak differently by the time I've increased all my melee stats well over 25, and have obtained talents like Whirlwind.

[Ragin Cajun]

I'm noticing that the fallen cleric turned rogue that joins you early on is pretty useless. I like keeping a rogue in the group. I was unable to disarm traps because the guide says to right click on them. Well, right clicking makes her walk to that spot...not disarm a trap. Doesn't appear to give a "disarm" option either.

Also, she's gained one level but was unable to open about 70% of the chests in the mage tower quest line due to insufficient skill. Being that this is the very first chain quest you do...and she's not up to snuff...not a good thing.

[endboss]

A cleric/rogue sounds like the worst possible class combination.

[fable]

A cleric/rogue sounds like the worst possible class combination.

I'd kind of be interested to see if it could work, but it doesn't sound as though they're giving it a chance. I mean, think about it. What would it look like? Several different ideas spring to mind:

Friar Tuck type. Amiable, sincere, hardworking cleric, but good with a weapon and able to do basic rogue-like activities.

Rotten child: Brought up in the gutter, she's a pickpocket, a thief, a snitch, someone who distrusts everybody but has developed good control. She has basic clerical spells because the only person who ever treated her nicely was a priest, with whom she stayed and learned from for a year. Only to find his throat slit one evening when she came home from her pickpocketing rounds.

Falstaff: Jolly, fat, good-natured, a cutpurse, amoral thief who will stoop to almost anything. Imitated a cleric for a while when the heat became too great and he joined a monastery; discovered a talent for blessing and healing. Found it hilarious.

...and you could go on. But not in DA:O.

[FireFox2000]

I find it enjoyable but it has too much of an MMO feel for me...The story is good and the characterization is what is to be expected of Bioware (excellent). However I feel that the classes and spells and such are too..limited. DnD allows you to customize so much more.