Dragon Age 3

[Sjofn]

Can anyone summarize the differences between DA3 and the previous 2 games for me? I honestly know nothing about this one.

I don't know what you mean by "differences."

Stuff that's the same: The setting, you get followers, you level up, you kill things and take their stuff, chatting (or making out with) with your peeps and solving other people's problems are both still a focus, combat has tactical view again and you can still pause to issue orders, etc. Oh, and you're saving the world again.

SPOILERS FOR RASIX

[eldaec]

Can anyone summarize the differences between DA3 and the previous 2 games for me? I honestly know nothing about this one.

tbh I think most people are still projecting. My guess is it is a Bioware style game, and everyone who likes them will like it and everyone else will point out that EA sucks. But from what the internet says...

Code:

                                DA1            DA2                 DA3
Origin Only                     No             Yes                 Yes
Copy Pasta Scenery              No             Yes                 No
Consolitis Combat               No             Yes                 EA claim you get to choose
Non-Humans Allowed              Yes            No                  No EDIT : Oh, apparently yes
Part of game cut for day 0 DLC  Yes            Yes                 Yes
Claudia Black                   Yes            No                  Yes
Cast out from your home, join secret order, 4 planets in any order with arbitrary alignment choice at end of each, TWIST AFTER THIRD!, finale
                                Yes            Less than usual     Probably

[Sjofn]

There ... wasn't a twist after the third planet in DAO.

Anyway, chart must be old, they announced non-human races for DAI ages ago. 

[eldaec]

Doesn't that guy get revealed as the king after the third planet?

[eldaec]

It's not like you turn out to be Revan I grant you.

[Trippy]

Are you voiced now (yes I'm being lazy)?

[Sjofn]

He gets revealed as a bastard when you wander into Redcliffe if he's in your party (so as early as the first planet) or after you wake up the Arl (so ... as early as planet 1.5). So early enough it doesn't even feel like a twist, just Alistair being like, "Oh by the way, we're still getting to know each other, here's a thing."

And Trippy, they added voiced protagonist in DA2. So yes. Although I guess the NEW thing about that is you have two choices for each gender. One of the lady voices is Traynor from ME3.

[Pezzle]

Not even Claudia Black voice acting can get me to buy another EA game.    

[eldaec]

Well *I* went to Redcliffe third!

[Sjofn]

I think I went there second, but I can't really remember. I just remember it not feeling like much of a twist.

There was one playthrough I left Redcliffe for last, didn't have him in my party, etc, so I basically "found out" when we were about to leave for the Landsmeet. I finally felt justified taking all the WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME EARLIER YOU ASSHOLE dialogue options.  Turns out he'll dump you if you're a giant bitch about it. 

[tmp]

tbh I think most people are still projecting. My guess is it is a Bioware style game, and everyone who likes them will like it and everyone else will point out that EA sucks. But from what the internet says...

Code:

                                DA1            DA2                 DA3
Origin Only                     No             Yes                 Yes
Copy Pasta Scenery              No             Yes                 No
Consolitis Combat               No             Yes                 EA claim you get to choose
Non-Humans Allowed              Yes            No                  No EDIT : Oh, apparently yes
Part of game cut for day 0 DLC  Yes            Yes                 Yes
Claudia Black                   Yes            No                  Yes
Cast out from your home, join secret order, 4 planets in any order with arbitrary alignment choice at end of each, TWIST AFTER THIRD!, finale
                                Yes            Less than usual     Probably

There's apparently no Day 0 DLC for this one, if I remember right what BioWare person posted on their forums when this subject popped up. Either they've learned their lesson, or the schedule was too tight to cut some bits into "separate but not really" package.

[Trippy]

Claudia's apparently not a follower in 3 though

[Merusk]

My Steam copy takes issue with DA2 being "Origin Only"  They didn't start that until after DA2 was released.

[Sjofn]

True, my copy of DA2 was through Steam as well.

[Tannhauser]

I liked Hawke MUCH more than DA1's mute hero.  Also, if they wanted to make Kirkwall a claustrophobic slave city that's fine, but the copypasta wasn't.  The open areas sound really good, but I'm still highly suspicious there's much in them.

Roll for random monster.

My copy is thru Steam also.

[Engels]

For me its not so much that Claudia Black isn't a follower but that Morrigan isn't :P

[eldaec]

tbh I think most people are still projecting. My guess is it is a Bioware style game, and everyone who likes them will like it and everyone else will point out that EA sucks. But from what the internet says...

Code:

                                DA1            DA2                 DA3
Origin Only                     No             Yes                 Yes
Copy Pasta Scenery              No             Yes                 No
Consolitis Combat               No             Yes                 EA claim you get to choose
Non-Humans Allowed              Yes            No                  No EDIT : Oh, apparently yes
Part of game cut for day 0 DLC  Yes            Yes                 Yes
Claudia Black                   Yes            No                  Yes
Cast out from your home, join secret order, 4 planets in any order with arbitrary alignment choice at end of each, TWIST AFTER THIRD!, finale
                                Yes            Less than usual     Probably

There's apparently no Day 0 DLC for this one, if I remember right what BioWare person posted on their forums when this subject popped up. Either they've learned their lesson, or the schedule was too tight to cut some bits into "separate but not really" package.

If true, my guess it is because EA no longer need it to screw you out of right of first sale, since Origin does that anyway. But I'm still a bit surprised they aren't doing it simply to get players used to DLC.

[Sjofn]

Pretty sure we're used to DLC having replaced real expansion packs at this point already.

That said, my recollection is not that there's no day 0 DLC, but that there's not going to be any DLC that has a companion in it like Shale or Sebastian. But I haven't really paid much attention, as day 0 DLC does not angry me up like it does other people.

[tmp]

That said, my recollection is not that there's no day 0 DLC, but that there's not going to be any DLC that has a companion in it like Shale or Sebastian. But I haven't really paid much attention, as day 0 DLC does not angry me up like it does other people.

Yeah, I meant that sort of sizable DLC thing, that has part of the cast and/or story from the main game. There's still stuff like the horse armour and the funny looking weapons and such, but these are so minor they don't really register for me at this point.

[Falconeer]

New video about combat? Maybe I'm in a bad mood but I'm so unimpressed.

[Trippy]

Animations still look they are made by a bunch of students.

[Sjofn]

New video about combat? Maybe I'm in a bad mood but I'm so unimpressed.

It looks like DAO and DA2's combat had a baby, and that is pretty much exactly what I wanted, so I am pleased (it also looks like people finally learned how to attack and move AT THE SAME TIME, the sky is the limit now). The animations are a little derp, but that doesn't surprise me at all and I will be able to tune them out within a half hour, I'm sure.

[Tannhauser]

It looks good to me.  Combat and the skills weren't my issue with DA2.  Really like obsessing over skill trees and attack order.  Probably my favorite part of DA2.

[Merusk]

Camera doesn't zoom out far enough.

[Sophismata]

Animations still look they are made by a bunch of students.

It's very… I guess "XTREME" is the most suitable adjective. Like it was made by 10 year olds in the late 90's.

[tmp]

Animations still look they are made by a bunch of students.

It's very… I guess "XTREME" is the most suitable adjective. Like it was made by 10 year olds in the late 90's.

I think the word they go with is "AWESOME"  And yeah, this exaggeration to the point where it becomes silly hurts them rather than helps, imo, and the quality --while higher than Bethesda offerings-- could've been better.

But whatever, I was too amused/distracted by Sera's portrait being literal trollface in a wig to pay much attention to what was going on screen.

[Phildo]

The consolized commands in the bottom right are really distracting, too.  Is that what the previous games were like on consoles?

[rk47]

BUT GUISE WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE STORY! BIOWARE DOES BEST STORY GODDAMIT!
*chugs on dorito* I can't believe you guys turned into graphics whore overnight!
BETRAYALLLL!

[Phildo]

My concern was more along the lines of what it meant for the gameplay.

[Ingmar]

Yeah the console version of both prior games had that thing in the corner, replacing the long taskbar at the bottom of the screen on the PC version.

[rk47]

You're right. Even the still frame for the youtube snap made me crack.

Grrrrrr....I'm a shield. Grrrrr!

[Ingmar]

That same shield is in DA2.

[calapine]

It annoys me that such things even bother me, but I still can't get used to the mage 'do 360 degree spins and wave staff around like it is a dual-lightsaber in the Star Wars prequels' caster animations.

Similar thing with the UI: I can't list an objective reason why the consoleized look is bad, but it's justnot appealing.

[rk47]

Sorry, master race.
You're just not our top selling platform.

[Ingmar]

The PC interface is likely going to be the same as it always was. DA1/2 had different UIs on the console from the PC, this will probably be no different.