Dragon Age: Origins

[HybridSquirrel]

I'm 60 hours into the game and it hasn't crashed at all. Rock solid stable.

By the way, how would anyone beat this game in 30 hours?! The treaty quests alone are probably that long.

idk but i did. with most of the sidequests complete too....

 

[s44]

I guess if you skip the codex entries, do a minimum of loot fiddling, and don't listen through conversations it wouldn't be that hard.

Also, you could play on Easy so you don't have to pause much to win battles.

 

[TheUnk]

I have 50 hours in this game and I still haven't gone to Redcliffe.

I can only imagine those beating it so fast are skipping dialog.. Which is really sad because IMO the voice acting and quests (even most side quests) are what makes this game so great.

 

[Mem]

The game seems more then long enough,I'm around level 13-15 and still have plenty to do,I'm really disappointed in warrior which takes more then a back seat to mage,when you look at BG2 etc all classes were balanced pretty well,however with DA its like well just make mage great and forget about the rest which are not needed,its a shame since we all like to play different classes.

Anyway game is still good but could of been improved in a few areas,still no crashes for me which goes to show DA is excellent on stability .

 

[JoshGuru7]

My first playthrough took me 68 hours on Normal mode moving at a brisk pace. That included both DLC areas but just under 50% of the sidequests. IMO finishing it under 60 hours would require skipping stuff - cutscenes, gaining influence with companions for the companion quests, codex entries, dialog, dlc, etc.

 

[TheVrolok]

My first playthrough took me 68 hours on Normal mode moving at a brisk pace. That included both DLC areas but just under 50% of the sidequests. IMO finishing it under 60 hours would require skipping stuff - cutscenes, gaining influence with companions for the companion quests, codex entries, dialog, dlc, etc.

How do you know you missed 50%+ of the side quests? I didn't see a completion % for that anywhere and I was hoping for it. I did my first playthrough in 38 hours with as many side quests as I could find completed. I only managed to unlock/do 4-5 companion sidequests, but I did all the DLC content/watched all the cutscenes and read what I could. Played on Hard. I really don't see how it could take an extra 30 hours unless I skipped an absurd amount of side quests .. but I did get 92% of areas explored.

 

[RaistlinZ]

My game came today!!!!!

Can't wait to get home after work and load it up. Should I go with a mage as my first character, or would a tank be easier to learn the mechanics? I plan to just use regular difficulty for my first run.

 

[exar333]

just beat the game in 30 hours
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/4074/screenshot2009112016403.jpg

LOL, I guess that means the game should have a lot of replayability since you barely scratched the surface of whats available.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Why does my Arcane Warrior attack so slowly? He has Combat Magic active and that second passive talent that boosts his stats, but it seems like he attacks twice as slow as Alistair does, for example. Alistair is using a 1H Axe and my AW is using an AW-exclusive 1H sword that I found.

 

[snikt]

I'm taking my sweet, damn time! And lovin' every minute of it.

I keep getting my ass handed to me by the Back Alley Thugs. LoL

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Why does my Arcane Warrior attack so slowly? He has Combat Magic active and that second passive talent that boosts his stats, but it seems like he attacks twice as slow as Alistair does, for example. Alistair is using a 1H Axe and my AW is using an AW-exclusive 1H sword that I found.

Weapon speeds do differ. Borrow Al's axe, and see if you attack faster.

 

[NoSoup4You]

What armor is that Arcane Warrior wearing? I know I was playing for a good while at first with an archer in heavy armor before realizing heavy armor greatly slows down an archers attack speed unless they have the 'Master Archer' skill unlocked.

Maybe Arcane Warriors have a similar limitation? Not sure though, haven't tried out an AW yet...

 

[KMFJD]

I like the game when i can play it, only complaint is cutscenes, to many of them and they take way to long..

 

[you2]

I don't have a complaint with the cut-scenes; I think the acting/presentation is rather good for a game of this sort and you can skip them by hitting escape. My gripes will be lack of replay value (game is a bit 1 dimensional); dumbing down some of the mechanics (esp pick and search); and rather uninspiring combat. I'm not a big fan of strict dnd rules but overall ('cept for graphics) I would rate bg 2 or even nwn2 the better game (though nwn2's camera drove me mad).

Don't take me wrong with the strong npc character development and story telling I think this game has strong entertainment value and i do not regret buying it (though I'm a bit unhappy with having signs in the game requesting that you purchase dlc); from a strict game perspective I think it is a bit of a weak offering (or could have been much much better). As a counter example; consider king's bounty legend. From a 'game' perspective I think it was rather strong; but the story telling and similar were very weak (just trying to give examples to help explain what I wrote).
--
My first character is a rogue; and I am probably around 60% complete with over 40 hours (not at home so can't check). I will probably play a second time (eventually) as a mage and then put the game away (until some decent user content comes along).

If there was an expansion or da2 I would like to see the combat greatly improved and perhaps more tactical (toe, bg2, kb, da journey, even wizardry 8) have some possible directions; though none of these scale well for epic fights that da strived for (but imho failed to deliver).
--
Btw it seems to me that in recent years many of the highly rated non-rts games have had very good presentation but not so great game mechanics (or great combat mechanics).

Anyways I personally would not consider DA game of the year and I think EA should be ashamed for throwing things in the retail game that are dependent on paid dlc (this aspect of the game has me a bit concern not so much because it is predominant factor in this game but that it is a marketing test and will likely set a trend with increasing intrusiveness - my guess is ME2 will take it to the next level (though it will be a small step) and games after ME2 will take a significantly larger step).

I like the game when i can play it, only complaint is cutscenes, to many of them and they take way to long..

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I like the game when i can play it, only complaint is cutscenes, to many of them and they take way to long..

Dragon Age is a story driven RPG...and you're complaining about too much story?

Nice.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is that way --->

BTW:

To:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/to

–preposition
1. (used for expressing motion or direction toward a point, person, place, or thing approached and reached, as opposed to from): They came to the house.

Too:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/too

–adverb
2. to an excessive extent or degree; beyond what is desirable, fitting, or right: too sick to travel.

I mean, this is first grade English stuff here...

 

[Mem]

I get to deep roads and start fighting and had like 3 crashes in different areas of deep roads,I wonder if its a memory leak of some kind?....the game was 100% crash free until I got to this area.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I get to deep roads and start fighting and had like 3 crashes in different areas of deep roads,I wonder if its a memory leak of some kind?....the game was 100% crash free until I got to this area.

I've had a few random crashes, but they just seem to be random. Once I start the game again and reload my last save, everything goes fine. I haven't run into an area yet that will just "break" the game.

 

[KMFJD]

Dragon Age is a story driven RPG...and you're complaining about too much story?

Nice.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is that way --->


snip

Sorry for having an opinion, you are right as always....

 

[exar333]

Sorry for having an opinion, you are right as always....

I have to agree here with RPS. This is a story-driven RPG, so it should be expected. There are plenty of "action RPGs" around that have less story and more hackin'.

IMHO, the cutscenes are not lenghty for an RPG. I have played both good and bad RPGs with VERY long cutscenes (10-15 min+) and DA:O doesn't really come close to this.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Sorry for having an opinion, you are right as always....

Sorry that your opinion is ridiculous. You buy a story-driven RPG and expect it to be non-stop, guns-a-blazing, pedal-to-the-medal action from start to finish? Seriously? "I like the game when i can play it, only complaint is cutscenes, to many of them and they take way to long.."?! Horrible mangling of the English language aside, that's like buying the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and complaining that there is too much talking and not enough explosions.

Like I said, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on XBOX Live is probably more of your pedigree, and it is that way --->

 

[KMFJD]

Sorry that your opinion is ridiculous. You buy a story-driven RPG and expect it to be non-stop, guns-a-blazing, pedal-to-the-medal action from start to finish? Seriously? "I like the game when i can play it, only complaint is cutscenes, to many of them and they take way to long.."?! Horrible mangling of the English language aside, that's like buying the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and complaining that there is too much talking and not enough explosions.

Like I said, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on XBOX Live is probably more of your pedigree, and it is that way --->

i dont have an xbox, only pc

 

[coloumb]

I don't have a complaint with the cut-scenes; I think the acting/presentation is rather good for a game of this sort and you can skip them by hitting escape. My gripes will be lack of replay value (game is a bit 1 dimensional); dumbing down some of the mechanics (esp pick and search); and rather uninspiring combat. I'm not a big fan of strict dnd rules but overall ('cept for graphics) I would rate bg 2 or even nwn2 the better game (though nwn2's camera drove me mad).

Try playing the other races [and classes] - so far the mage and warrior seem to have their own back story. I'm betting the dworf, elf, and rogue probably have their own as well. And from what I saw at PAX, if you're an ELF - a lot of the human npcs will treat you like crap.

But yeah - the ultimate goal will always be the same no matter what your choices are - however it's what you do in between that will affect what you can/can't do - or possibly open up a quest you might've missed.

Once I've finished the first run through - I'll go back and try playing a different race/class and see how the game plays as if my group doesn't give a damn about the world - I suspect the game will probably go by faster as I'll have fewer quests or be killing anyone who doesn't agree with me

edit- just finished - 78.5 hours game time - awesome ending. Think I will hold off on replaying at a later date though - too much DA and I've got other games to play. Maybe when they release another DLC/Add-on.

 

[Spoooon]

Hmmm, I alt-tab out semi-frequently and have never had it crash while doing so. Game seems very stable in that regard, I'll consider myself lucky I guess... so far.

The game has only crashed once for me and that was when I alt-tab out (somethint was running in the background and I thought I would stop it). Once I upgraded to 6GB of ram, alt-tab out no matter what and no problems.

Is there a way to start a new game and import your old characters? I finished it a few days ago, but haven't gone back to see.

 

[TheUnk]

Finally beat it.. Took 68 hours. I don't feel like I missed much as there was only a few quests that I was unable to complete.

Awesome game.

 

[mooncancook]

Sometimes the AI can be furiously dumb. The knights in Redcliff village do not have enough common sense to realize it's not a good idea to walk into your own fire trap to fight the undeads. Made me reload a few times.