From this thread:Originally Posted by Chris Nahr
Sounds reasonable to me -- at the same time, though, I definitely understand the cause for your suspicion.
Because of the delay for the console ports, the PC game has been ready for a long time - even if they've still been tweaking and cleaning up a few things.
FWIW, the reviewable build I've had for a few weeks is rock solid - in over 80 hours of play, it hasn't crashed once and is very polished. No issues whatsoever aside from a single journal entry that improperly recorded the resolution of a quest (the Conor quest, Bioware guys).
Are you reviewing this for someone? I thought you mentioned that but couldn't find it.
PC Gamer Mag.
Hmm, well, if this review is bona fide, and accurate, then I'm pleased, as I pretty much view all those things listed as cons, as pros.
I wasn't able to follow what their current review candidate policy is, but are they making any effort to get the review out sometime in November since the game has been stable for a while? Or did that deadline already pass?
If you've been looking for a party-based RPG with tough tactical combat, Dragon Age is definitely for you.
Which is not to say it's combat intensive - it's actually very dialogue heavy, and most fights feel like heavily designed, challenging, setpieces. The awarded "achievements" for keeping your character alive in combat are well-earned.
Time to print is much quicker than it used to be - we are saving space for the review in the next issue. I have another week with the game before I have to submit the review and the review will still be out before the game's release in November.
Looking forward to reading your review. I'm buying it anyway, of course...
That seriously sounds great.
Though I think their marketing campaign is now an utter fail. They're going to get folks to pick it up who think it's some light action-RPG, who are going to be really upset when they find out how hard it is lol.
For a while I could decide if it would be better for the marketing to be accurate or for it to be a misrepresentation of the game. Since my wife is getting it, I've decided on the latter; at least she'll be happy. Either way, the marketing makes Bioware look cynical and lacking in judgment.
So cool we are getting a Desslock review! I thought those were all a thing of the past. Pretty much everything I have read has led me to believe this will be the excellent game I have thought it would be since it was first announced. As opposed to the trailers, which made it look bad. Only bad thing for me is that I will not be able to start it on day one as I will still be finishing up Risen. I'm a slow gamer.
How tough? And that review also mentioned hard fights.
I like rpgs, and i like 'tactical' strategy games, but... don't ask me why, i don't like tactical party-based rpgs a lot. When i am playing a rpg, i focus more on story, characters, exploration, dialogue and general immersion feeling.
Should i play this game on easy?
Yes please! Sounds like baldur's gate series to me. Oh and didn't someone come on to say that it was a myth that they were sitting on the finished pc version in order to feast on the dreams of pc gamers?
Yes, probably -- try it on the default setting and go down if you find it too difficult (which has friendly fire, although that makes less of a difference than it would in NWN2 for instance). I think you can adjust it while playing, in case you get stuck or are just annoyed at replaying a battle, but I'll confirm that. I've stuck on "normal" and have spent a long time on some battles to develop better strategies (and, occasionally, relying on BG1-type kiting).
I was on Impulse getting my pre-order in.... US and Canada only. Serious Internet fail.
Yeah, I have been saying that a lot on a few different sites. It made me a little crazy late at night, waiting for a PC build to update and reading comments stating "it is done and on a shelf somewhere and they are just holding it for the console launch." That rumor was really out of control.
I'm sorry to say this, Derek, but you have been making changes for the 0-day patch all along. No one ever told you because someone had to be kept in the dark for honest-sounding rumor control.
Really though, it is nice not really obsessing over a game that was delayed to bake a little longer. I don't have to be disappointed but still get all the benefits of extra polish!
I have to admit though that all the preorder and collector's edition extras really piss me off. Nickle and diming us with all this shit is just getting out of control. I remember when Collector's Editions were just some cool goodies in the box, now it's like if you don't buy it then you are experiencing a different game completely. You miss out on a whole fucking character in Dragon Age if you don't buy these special preorder versions.
I generally dislike the use of ingame bonus content as bribes for buying a particular edition. I think Dragon Age has three bonus items for people who buy the CE. Then that annoyance is taken to the next level by also having ingame bonus items for people who preorder AND having the bonus item vary depending on which store you preorder from! Madness.
From a customer standpoint, that stinks. I want to buy from the store I prefer using the delivery method I prefer--I don't want to decide based on content. And what if I want to buy the whole game at release and get all the content? I can't. Instead of being an incentive, what that approach does is make me want to wait until all the bonus content is available through future patches, at which point the game will probably be discounted as well.
As I understand it, the extra character is available to anyone who buys any edition of the game new. If you buy used, you have to purchase the character as a DLC. As an incentive to purchase a new copy, that actually doesn't bother me.
Congrats, you've found the first German site ending with .pl . ;)
c. 1941?
Freezer has it right. If you buy the game new, any version, you get the extra character and some related quest for free when you register it. As he notes, it's an attempt to deter piracy.
It's probably not an "extra" character. But yeah, if you buy it new, you don't get screwed. It used to be you'd just be forgoing multiplayer or something if you had a used copy.
What distinction are you trying to make, Mordrak? How is it not an extra character? Do you mean that it is intended to be there and people who buy it used will have one less character, so this isn't really extra per se? Either way the effect is the same.
I don't have a problem with it. I would like to support Bioware for making a game like this. At the same time, Demon's Soul and Risen are coming out in the next week, and I doubt I'll be done with either one by the time Dragon Age comes out. What to do? Should I buy it at full price and set it on my shelf? Or wait until it comes down a bit since I won't play it until at least Xmas anyway? Maybe I could wait and buy it in December, and just send Bioware 10 bucks in the mail. Would they accept that and count it as profit?
Also, it's not like it is anything new on their games. Baldur's Gate, IWD and PS:T, i think, all had special merchants only accesible to some versions of the game.
Heh.
I have no problem with the "buy new, get the new character free; buy used, you have to buy the new character" thing either. The different bonus items for each retailer, however, really is a stupid idea and that idea needs to be put to rest in the future.
I saw the last two gameplay movies released (mage combat and fighting some spiders), and man, it looks little better than NWN2. Choppy, slow, typical hack hack hack, miss miss miss, a few special moves, etc. The mage combat trailer was just painfully boring. I'm starting to get concerned here.
I thought nwn2 had good combat for an rpg personally.
Agreed. When I posted earlier that Dragon Age reminded me too much of NWN2, I didn't mean that to be a horrible thing. It is just that in 2009 you'd think this RPG formula would be evolving to a greater extent than it appears to be.
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