Dragon Age Origins: 95% talk, 5% actual gameplay

[RaistlinZ]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but I just got DAO the other day and have about 15 hours invested into it so far (currently lvl 8). So far I am disapppointed in how little actual gameplay there is. You're not so much playing a game as you are watching a movie it seems.

I was hoping the game would be more open where you could just roam around the world freely - kinda like an Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. But that is not the case. You're pretty much pushed along a linear storyline where boundaries exist in every small zone/town. Wanna go explore what's over that hill? Forget it! Zone wall. Even trying to just leave major towns doesn't work because you're taken to the world map and forced to pick a location the game will automatically transfer you to in order to continue the story - there's no opportunity to just roam about the world.

Everything else about the game I really enjoy like the battle tactics, spells and whatnot. I just feel let down because this game doesn't offer the one thing I enjoy most about RPGs...just being able to explore without being pushed along a story line every two feet. Of the 15 hourse I've played I think I've only spent about 2 hours cumulative of actually doing fun stuff like enemy battles and exploring around on my own.

Hopefully things will change a bit later in the game, but it doesn't seem that way. :\

 

[TheUnk]

I'm glad they didn't do an open world like Oblivion. What a borefest that quickly became and you ended up quick traveling anyways.

95% talk is very exaggerated. There is a lot, but the story is a big part of this game and IMO, any good RPG.

 

[zerocool84]

OMG an RPG with lots of storyline?!? WOW that's a first!!!

 

[CurseTheSky]

That's the impression I got when I watched my brother play Baldur's Gate / BG2 / etc. It didn't look fun to me at all, but he swore by it.

To this day, I still haven't played it because I thought it looked too linear and too restricted. Hearing everyone here rave about how awesome the game is makes me curious, though. Perhaps it's just not a style that appears to me (after playing Oblivion, I felt that the Witcher was too linear and too restricted as well, but still loved it), or perhaps I just need to give it a shot for myself.

 

[DangerAardvark]

The dialog is part of the gameplay. It's pretty much been that way for every Bioware RPG. Your dialog choices affect the rest of the game, the rest of the game affects the characters' dialog. It's basically the R in RPG.

 

[Ackmed]

MGS4 routinely had 1+ hours of cut scenes at a time. I liked it, others didnt. Story driven games like these are great, imo.

 

[Scouzer]

I love cutscenes and dialog. They make the game for me, I wish games had more of it. It's like an interactive movie with a killer plot, love it.

 

[zerogear]

Mmmmm.... Morrigan.....


Ending spoiler alert!

Spoiler

So does anyone predict that the devil child in Morrigan's belly is going to be the main character in DAO2 -- or at least play a very important part

 

[msi1337]

I like it. reminds me of final fantasy series..half movie, half game

 

[Udgnim]

if you don't want the talk, either read fast and press escape and then choose dialog options or just press escape and wing the dialog options

game isn't forcing you to sit through every single word

 

[Dumac]

Have you never played a Bioware game or something?

Any Bioware game is much better than Oblivion, in my opinion, with it's bland, generic world, boring characters, mind-numbingly stupid AI, I-want-to-drill-though-my-ears voice acting and shitty leveling/scaling/fighting system.



I have yet to play DAO, but I've though every Bioware game I've played was at least decent.

 

[Chriscross3234]

The amount of unique dialogue in the game is rather refreshing, it gives you the option of further immersing yourself into the world. Notice I said option, the game does not force you to read through the codex or to talk to every person you see. You can get along just fine without all the excess and miss nothing important to the storyline. I liked the effort that Bioware put into creating immersion with the codex in Mass Effect, however, I think it is was executed a lot better in Dragon Age. In fact, DA actually explains wtf mana is and how it's used. I don't think I've seen that in a game and it's very intriguing to read all the background information and story. My hat's off to Bioware for a job well done on DA.

 

[coreyb]

what the hell are you talking about?

there is far more gameplay then dialogue first of all. and why complain about that when thats what good rpgs are all about. this isnt a random fps with no storyline, duhhh

 

[Kalmah]

The problem is, too many games have been stamped as an RPG over the years that weren't actually roleplaying. Building a character and killing things isn't exactly roleplaying.. unless you are roleplaying a psychotic killer. That's more like an action adventure game.

Roleplaying itself, stemmed from stuff like table-top dungeon and dragons where you actually talk and 'roleplayed'. I'm not sure who originally brought roleplaying to computer gaming, but Bioware was definitely one of the major firsts. And they tend to keep with that tradition.

I enjoy other so called 'rpgs' but like I said, most of them don't really have any roleplaying where you have to make choices.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The balance shifts more to combat after the first 15 hours where they are introducing you to your character, the world and the Gray Wardens.

But it'ss not a sandbox game like Oblivion or GTA, it's a story-based RPG. To tell a real story (instead of the paper-thin main quest in Oblivion) it needs to be more linear. That's just the way story-based RPGs are.

 

[Jesusthewererabbit]

Head to Orzammar after 15 hours. You'll get plenty of gameplay without much chatter (at least once you get on the Deep Roads), and get your ass handed to you on a platter.

 

[dighn]

I'm not gonna flame you because everyone's got different tastes, but the reasons you hate this game are exactly why others like it. Sounds like you bought the wrong game and should stick to Action RPGs. All Bioware games are like this.

 

[JSt0rm]

"choose your own adventure book" lol. I like action rpg as well. I'll read a book if I want to read a book.

 

[Red Storm]

Dialogue is a staple of Bioware PC RPGs. That would be like buying an RTS game and complaining about having to build units. You just bought the wrong game if you were looking for something else.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Hm, perhaps. There's just no way to know if a game will be to one's liking until after you load it up and take it for a drive I suppose. I'll keep with it though and see where the story-line takes me. Hopefully, it'll take me to some self-driven action and exploring.

 

[Arglebargle]

Go to Denerrim when you can: seems to be a wider range of activities based out of there.

Though if you had read up much on the game since it was released, it should have been clear that it has a lot of dialogue. It's not all filler though, as your choices there affect things just as much as any mini-game. I'm actually very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the voice work and characterization.

Though I will give you that wandering around the lands of Oblivion, sightseeing, was pretty much the best part of the game. But I don't want to hear another word about mudcrabs....

 

[Red Storm]

Go to Denerrim when you can: seems to be a wider range of activities based out of there.

Though if you had read up much on the game since it was released, it should have been clear that it has a lot of dialogue. It's not all filler though, as your choices there affect things just as much as any mini-game. I'm actually very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the voice work and characterization.

Though I will give you that wandering around the lands of Oblivion, sightseeing, was pretty much the best part of the game. But I don't want to hear another word about mudcrabs....

Mudcrabs can't hold a candle to the dreaded cliff racers. D:

 

[coreyb]

people these days, no attention span!

 

[Mem]

Games like DA are refreshing compared to the usual typical mindless hack and slash RPGs,storyline makes it interesting and YOUR choices in dialogue can change events/ outcome,anyway wait until you get to Deep Roads if you want more then a few fights and some real exploring .

 

[ayabe]

This game has some of the finest voice acting in any game I've ever played, to me it is a crucial part of why this game is so great.

Even the most inconsequential NPC's have something interesting to say.