Everything in combat is based upon dice rolls and you need to pause the game and micromanage your party after nearly every attack. This makes combat feel more thought out and the pace is a bit slower.
Bingo, that is it's downfall, combat is not supposed to be slow in this type of game! If you are a big fan of this type of game play then by all means go for it. I have some friends here that love that game play but also hate the game because of mentioned reasons above in my rant about the game. No doubt the story is excellent but I'm sorry, DnD games unless its the paper and pencil game have run their course. We have the technology for much better game play abilities, there have been way to many of these DnD/NwN games. Lets move on to something different. IMO Mass Effect kind of reinvented that type of Action RPG. Dragon Age could of had similar game play and have been much better. Sorry but pausing the game play and then planning out your next move ruins a game for me. Mass Effect had that ability, I never used it once and conquered it on its hardest difficulty. Quote from one of my buddies who bought the game and regrets his purchase.
"The game takes its self to seriously. It's quests are poorly thought through, repeatative and so over used I feel like I just threw up, ate my vomit and then threw it up again. Wheres the wit? Wheres the creativity? Wheres the epic trailer we all drooled over? Lets save this type of game play for final fantasy tactics or shining force and other turn based games. Hey Todd, I bet if they botch up this supposed new introduction to this new battle system in Mass Effect 2 I can expect to read in the news paper that an American was arrested in Canada for the mass murder of Biowares staff?" Me: "You know it! I'll make them suffer too!"
You could say that even First Person Shooters have run their course given its in first person view and we are indeed shooting! The unique thing about that though is that FPS's have evolved in so many different ways of game play and still continue to evolve. These DnD/NwN type games are the same goddamn thing over and over again. They have hardly evolved and still remain completely the same! Pick your stats, pick your skills, choose your party and mash 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ect...
Another example and I am going as far to make my point about fun combat is to compare it to the Diablo series. Specifically D2. Yeah D2 has you pick stats and pick skills and you do the same thing over and over again. Why did people continue to play it for so long and still do play it? It was fun. Clear and simple, fun.
Now before you run to my CoD MW2 post and see that I play for story and not difficulty. I was simply illustrating a point that in ME, the option to pause the game and plan my moves was there. I just simply never used it and still managed to conquer it on its hardest setting. I do play for story...just not when its the same game I have played before....it just looks different.
Its really not fair of me to bring in Mass Effect given they are two different games but just so you know I am not being a little fan boy about it, I hated a lot of aspects about Mass Effect. The fact that my decisions being made through the game did not have the "Mass" effect the game so deceivingly implied. I think there was two missions that decided wither some people would live or die. One about 3/4ths through the game and another in the end. In the end it was Mass Effects game play, mostly its battle system, and its story that kept me interested in the game. Some elements of ME's role playing made me hate it.
If you are planning on buying Dragon Age I highly recommend you to wait for the price drop. It's an over rated game. All you see in it has been done before many, many, many, many, many, many times. All you are buying is a story. It's WoW re-skinned with some minor changes and computer controlled party AI. That's it. $50 for a story. Oh and the graphics I may add...ummmm...what the hell? My machine ran everything on max settings....ummm...really? That is all they put into it?
Dragon Ages story: Epic
Dragon Ages game play: Boring, slow and overused (hot dog through a hallway!)
Dragon Ages Marketing Team (EA): Evil, deceiving, Evil, more evil and evil.
-Mongoose out-
