Dragon Age!

[Super Buu]

Daaamn, didn't expect it to be out so soon. I will definitely get it eventually, but in the meantime I still have Mass Effect 2 and FFXIII to keep me busy. I also might be getting a new PC soon so I can finally install and play all modded-up, but that'll mean I won't be able to continue onto the expansion my 360 character. Ah, decisions.

Also what the fuck, they still haven't released the Dexterity fix on consoles.

[Rem-13]

Dudes. Havent quite finished it yet, but if you liked Origins, get Awakening.

[Psyren]

cant afford that ish

[Rem-13]

Finished it. Pacing sped up too much towards the end and it came to a close rather abruptly but I still recommend it.

[Juno]

I just got it. So far I like the story, but I was bit more enthralled by the original. Not to say it isn't good, it just... hasn't wowed me yet.

And only having met three familiar faces doesn't help my fanboy desires either.

Needless to say, the graphics have improved much; I'm very happy with them, and the gameplay is just as good if not a bit better. It is definitely fun.

[Super Buu]

Both Oghren and Anders have such great entrances.

[Rafael]

I just hope in 2 they bring back the ability to have conversations with your allies. Awakenings just...eh. I didn't care at all about any of the comrades because they were all just "Givemegiftsuntiligiveyouquestkkthxbai" and then, after setting up their tactics, I forgot about them altogether and I might as well have been by myself.

Coolest thing about Origins to me was the in-depth conversations you had with everyone, and Awakenings had none of that. Not to say that I didn't enjoy Awakenings, but I did miss that.

[Jonathan Meer]

I'm 101% certain they will have companion conversations in 2.

And that's without checking any of the documentation.

[Super Buu]

I've only just started on Awakenings, so I kinda figured they'd get more talkative down the road. That sucks though.

[Alexander Trafford]

DAO2 Tuesday. Already paid for. Hope it's more challenging than the first.

[Rafael]

Meh, Origins is as hard you want it to be really. Different classes and difficulties should fit whatever you want. Too easy? play as a warrior(other than spirit warrior archer haxx) Too hard? Archers!

[Alexander Trafford]

I played through as a 2H Warrior/Reaver Spec on Nightmare, and, yeah, obviously it was difficult, but it was not as difficult as I expected or in comparison to other similar RPGs on their highest difficulty. It was a lot of fun though.

[Super Buu]

Yeah Dragon Age has this problem that RPG developers seem to be terrible at nowadays, which is that it gets easier as you go on because enemies don't QUITE scale with you. So towards the end, even Nightmare's not -THAT- hard. I always have problems at the lower levels though.

[Rafael]

Yeah, game scaling doesn't seem to work so well for most games. My main thought is the fact that, in addition to gaining stats you gain tools. An enemy that simply hits hard at lvl 1 suddenly doesn't meant jack when you have 4 characters all giving and receiving multiple buffs and using tons of special attacks. Enemies don't really get new powers that I've noticed based on level. Difficulty yes, but not level.

[Kaden]

Like most Bioware games, the enemies scale just fine in terms of base power, but they don't/can't account for how geared your team can be. Part of that is just a "flaw" in the game design and part of that is necessary.

If you spend an extra ten hours running around collecting/buying/crafting/whatever some badass weapons and armor for all the characters you use regularly, you SHOULD absolutely stomp faces. There has to be a pay-off for the work you're putting in. However, those extra ten hours should be exactly that: extra. Sidequests and bonus missions and all that stuff should always be there to enhance the gameplay experience, not define it, and that's what Bioware does. If you just want to burn through the story you absolutely can and it will definitely be more difficult than if you scour the cities for all the sidequests you can find, but you'll be able to do it.

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that if you went through the game using fairly mundane armor and weapons then you would see a very constant difficulty throughout.

To contrast this, play through a game like Mass Effect 2 on the hardest difficulty and see how the difficulty remains relatively constant the entire time. Compared to Dragon Age, Mass Effect has very definitive stat caps. A Soldier, for example, can only get so much +% weapon damage, so the developers know what the absolute maximum damage is they can get out of any weapon/ammo/squad combinations.

With all of the different stat bonuses and persistent auras and spells and equipment set bonuses, there's no way Bioware would have been able to pace the difficulty appropriately without requiring every person to go through all the extra stuff for every playthrough.

[Super Buu]

Most of the best gear in Dragon Age doesn't require a whole lot of exploring, the problem is more just in overlevelling. Not a huge problem in the game since you can change the difficulty at any time, but it's also not that hard to fix.

[Rafael]

>.> Argh, just realized I preordered the game...and so did my girlfriend, but hers is getting delivered tomorrow, I.E. it's too late to stop. Maybe someone will be happy to get that during the midnight release.

[Tyr]

HEY GUYS IT'S OUT GUYS DID YOU GET IT GUYS?

Enchantment!

[Super Buu]

A few more days for the UK still. =|

[Rafael]

Should get delivered early today. 3 hour test beforehand is gonna be rough, but I got all but one of the unlockable items outside of Legends,which I'm working on.