Dragon Age was finally released this week! I’ve received and installed my copy — and after playing it for a while, I have to say that so far the game exceeds my expectations. Since my expectations were pretty high, that’s saying something.
First, for those who may have missed my earlier posts: I was honored to have been asked to participate in both the Dragon Age Toolset Beta test and “Builder Event” this summer. I was one of about a dozen experienced “modders” from the Neverwinter Nights game-building community who were invited to come to Bioware Edmonton this summer to test out the adventure building toolset that they’ve developed for the game. That amazing experience was covered in the Bioware Blog a few months ago (Dragon Age Toolset: Builder Event II, Part 1, and Part 2), and in a pair of articles in Gamespy Magazine (Build Your Own Adventure: An Exclusive Look at the Dragon Age Toolset, and Voices of Creation: The Dragon Age Builder Interviews). Our team did the mod with the cat described in the last article. And I just noticed that the “Toolset Video” on the Collector’s Edition Bonus disk includes some footage from the Builder’s Event, including some showing me sitting in the front row. 🙂
Dragon Age has already been receiving some amazing critical reviews. For example, Gamespot gave it a 95, saying that “Incredible storytelling, great characters, and exciting battles are just a few of the things that make this fantasy role-playing game so extraordinary.” The latest Bioware Blog post (Dragon Age to the World!) lists a number of other rave reviews as well.
The game system is simplified and very easy to understand and to play, compared to the awkward and cumbersome D&D ruleset of the Neverwinter Nights series. That’s something that I was hoping would be the case, and that I have to say that I very much appreciate. It’s also incredibly fast and efficient, smoothly delivering quality graphics and extraordinarily detailed animation with short load times. But what’s impressed me so far is the quality of the cinematic storytelling that the engine makes possible, and that the game builders at Bioware have demonstrated with the Dragon Age: Origins campaign.
I’ll have more to say about the game once I’ve had time to play some more of it, and to take a look at the final version of the game-building toolset. Suffice it to say, though, that I’m positively salivating at the idea of starting to build adventure modules using this incredible new engine. 🙂
I just had a good look at Dragon Age yesterday and will be getting my copy soon. It looks quite impressive, and I can’t wait to give it a go.
But, oh, please don’t give up on the Sanctum series for the delights of the DA toolset! Many a story remains unfinished in the NWN module world as it is, and it would be a shame to not see how the Sanctum series ends.
Uirebhiril: Thanks for your feedback! Trust me, though: if I move to Dragon Age, it’ll be to finish the Sanctum series. Either way, you’ll find out how it ends. 🙂
I’m torn personally. On the one hand the production values are several light years ahead of NWN. It’s graphically superior without replicating the unintuitive, processor munching mess of NWN2, and the small foray I’ve made into the toolset has looked extremely interesting. I also absolutely adore the customisable AI that instantly restores the depth and complexity I originally thought had been stripped from the game. That being said, I have reservations about the effects that poor balancing and character building have upon the long term prospects.
I’ll admit, I’m in a sulk because character building has moved closer to games like KoTOR and become so simplified. You make one of two decisions in the early game about which paths you’re going to follow and after that you’re done. Most of the “prestige classes” add extremely little, and I found very few of them have had any major effect on the way I play the game. (Obvious exception for rangers and spirit healers)
Unfortunately, although most of the class decisions are arbitrary, there are a few balance shattering exceptions. At higher difficulty levels a character dedicated to healing (preferably a spirit healer) becomes more or less essential, and I think that this will really get in the way when it comes to choosing henchmen.
That being said, since Sanctum has a fixed cast of four, thrusts magery upon you with the story and trends towards the massive set piece battles (something DA does very well) I can certainly see why you would be drawn to the transition. I’d have no problems there, but I think in the long term it will be Neverwinter Nights that retains the permanent place on my hard drive.
Coo, rambling again.
Well after a few weekends intense activity (boy do I need a life!) I finished Dragon Age last night. My impressions are far more positive than negative, as Savant says on his blog the game feels very “consoley” and I do miss some of the nerdy features of an AD&D rules based game. I really enjoyed that it gave you 6 different beginnings (yes I’ve played through each prologue!) but I feel that the character building initially seemed more narrow in terms of skills and talents.
I’m just not sure if you could create for example a L1 Bard or would be forced to start as a generic rogue? Similarly for a cleric just starting as a generic Mage/Spellcaster. It may be of course that this was needed to fit the requirements of the story and providing options for different prologues instead of ” you are a [class] hanging around in a tavern looking for adventure…
Anyway, here’s hoping that DA will generate the same wealth of modules and author talent as NWN1 and not be as unappealing for developing as NWN2 seems to be.