The Dragon Age: Inquisition Thread

[Dishonoredbr]

DA:I combat is the worst combat of AAA by far. The animations are clunky and you can't even auto attack moving if you aren't a Archer, the tatical camera is dog shit and the enemies are sponges of damage that after level 13 with any good class aka broken class , becomes hold R , 1, 2, 3 , 4 for each abilities, hold R. I made two playthought recently , one with Knight Enchant and Champion , both i was so overpowered that i defeated , all enemies , all dragons , both all dlcs bosses , got like 130 Powers defeating rifts, all alone while all my companions died. The Barrier/Armor system is really bad. Also no bloodmage?

DA2 is mindless button mash but at least enemies die fast and DA:O is fine but that game is.. just fine too.

 

[Daidre]

At least DAO is fluid in auto-attack to ability use transition. It designed alike to MMOs where timing of weapon swings never affects active abilities ("buttons").

All D&D-ish RTwP games operate in same 6s rounds for all creatures and issue is never prominent, when PoE uses it's own asynchronous cooldown for every actor that depends on shitton of parameters that add up on weapon type/ability using/spell casting speed in most convoluted way imaginable. And trying to enforce D&D like action economy on top of that. In result any command player gives that is not movement only executed at "personal round start" for a character.

This constant unpredictable lag between player input and actual command execution makes both PoEs really weird and messy RTwP compared to IE games that served as inspiration. Even MMO-ish AAA Dragon ages 1&2 look better in comparison in clunkiness department.

Not applied to DAI though that does not have auto-atack per se and treats it more like channeling active ability.

 

[Riddler]

DA:I combat is the worst combat of AAA by far.

I made two playthought recently

 

[Dishonoredbr]

DA:I combat is the worst combat of AAA by far.

I made two playthought recently

In my defense.. I never played DA:I before and was hyped af because i liked both DA:O n DA2. I wanted to play at least once thought Mages and Paladins quest each to see how much the story changed.

 

[DalekFlay]

I haven't played Dark Souls but by all accounts it has actually enjoyable, well-designed combat, so it's not exactly a fair comparison. We're comparing different levels of suck here, not something that sucks to something that doesn't.

Dark Souls having good combat is the point. DA2 and DA3 have a shit blend of RtwP roots but trying to be an aktchun game, and it all sucks because it doesn't excel or even feel competent at anything. DA:O is hardly an amazing RtwP game, but at least it IS a RtwP game and commits to that. It has an over the shoulder camera option, but that doesn't change this fact.

As to "awesome button," no, that's not what it was all about. "Hit a button, something awesome happens!" Nuh. I'm simply talking about the moment-to-moment feel and flow of the combat, not anything awesome happening every time you hit a button. Basic things like movement, camera control, pathfinding, collision detection and collision boxes, UI responsiveness, party AI that behaves predictably and somewhat sensibly. That's just chock full of suck in DA:O, and less full of suck in DA2 and DA:I. That DA:O has better-designed encounters just adds insult to injury.

Dude, I don't how else to explain this... the "moment-to-moment flow of combat" and movement complaints you're talking about are EXACTLY what motivated DA2's changes and EXACTLY what they were talking about in the "awesome button" PR shit. And yes, DA2 feels faster and more fluid in several ways. However it also has shit battles with no real encounter design to them, which ruins it compared to DA:O. How you can prefer DA2's combat over DA:O's just baffles me completely, because any "flow" issue in DA:O is way the fuck better than having completely bullshit encounter design made to feel like a hack n' slash game, but without competent hack n' slash game chops, like DA2 (and no tactical camera either).

 

[YldriE]

At least with DA2 you can just put the game on Easy, spam AoE and get it over with. DAO is going to be a boring slog no matter what.

 

[Prime Junta]

How you can prefer DA2's combat over DA:O's just baffles me completely,

I think we’re talking at cross purposes here. I have only been talking about moment to moment flow, which you just conceded is better in DA2, awesome-button and all, whereas you’re talking about tactics and encounter design, which I’ve never disputed are better in DAO.

 

[DalekFlay]

I think we’re talking at cross purposes here. I have only been talking about moment to moment flow, which you just conceded is better in DA2, awesome-button and all, whereas you’re talking about tactics and encounter design, which I’ve never disputed are better in DAO.

Glad we agree on that, but I guess I'm saying well designed battles and combat scenarios are a fuck lot more important in a RtwP RPG than "moment to moment flow."

 

[Prime Junta]

Glad we agree on that, but I guess I'm saying well designed battles and combat scenarios are a fuck lot more important in a RtwP RPG than "moment to moment flow."

Oh I agree about that too. Thing is just that IMO the battles and combat scenarios in DAO weren't well enough designed to make up for the shitty combat flow. Moreover, shitty combat flow really gets in the way of enjoying combat, no matter how well the battles and scenarios are set up. It's, like, I can't really enjoy driving a Mercedes if it has flat tires, you know?

As I said earlier, I can put up with shitty moment to moment gameplay if the game has something that's genuinely outstanding to make it worth it; VtM:B is one of my all time favourites and it's just made of jank, but the characters and dialogue and atmosphere make it worth it. Or like NWN2 makes up for it with the really rich spell system and character building.

 

[DalekFlay]

Oh I agree about that too. Thing is just that IMO the battles and combat scenarios in DAO weren't well enough designed to make up for the shitty combat flow. Moreover, shitty combat flow really gets in the way of enjoying combat, no matter how well the battles and scenarios are set up. It's, like, I can't really enjoy driving a Mercedes if it has flat tires, you know?

Fair enough, I just don't think DA:O is anywhere near that flawed. I haven't played Baldur's Gate in a long time but a ton of it's encounter design is "enemies running at you!" and it has some pretty clunky mechanics. DA:O is very much that game in a modern engine, and I think its encounter design is a highlight in the genre. There are some battles in that game that reach almost strategy game level thinking, on higher difficulties anyway. What can I say, I dig it. DA2 I was just super bored because it's all trash mob spam.

As I said earlier, I can put up with shitty moment to moment gameplay if the game has something that's genuinely outstanding to make it worth it; VtM:B is one of my all time favourites and it's just made of jank, but the characters and dialogue and atmosphere make it worth it. Or like NWN2 makes up for it with the really rich spell system and character building.

I do think DA:O is painfully generic, which along with the Deep Roads trash mobs and MMO style cooldown spells is its biggest problem. It definitely needed a fuckton more personality and atmosphere. I actually dug DA2's animation look to some degree, and DA:I is one beautiful fucking game despite its flaws in damn near every other area.

 

[Prime Junta]

I haven't played Baldur's Gate in a long time but a ton of it's encounter design is "enemies running at you!" and it has some pretty clunky mechanics.

BG1's encounter design is no great shakes (oh look! more kobolds!) but ToTSC, BG2 and IWD have some real standouts.

And, once again, I was referring to the moment to moment flow. This is excellent already in BG1 -- it's a simple, small, and in many ways flawed game, but because of that moment to moment flow it's still a hell of a lot of fun to play, kobolds and all.

 

[GreyWardens Rock]

It makes Dragon Age 2 look like a masterpiece.

god no
lets not go this far
pls

It's not going far, Inquisishit makes Legends Of Amalur seem fine; whatever 2 is, it doesn't tie story progression to fucking collectibles or spongy enemies.

 

[Delterius]

It makes Dragon Age 2 look like a masterpiece.

god no
lets not go this far
pls

It's not going far, Inquisishit makes Legends Of Amalur seem fine; whatever 2 is, it doesn't tie story progression to fucking collectibles or spongy enemies.

No it doesn't since Amalur is terrible, DA2's enemies are also spongy and on top of being a completely misguided effort DA2 was shittily made.

 

[GreyWardens Rock]

The time traveling quest is pretty darn good tbh. If you didn't take the mage route then you really missed out.

Except they can barely convey its effects on anyone effected besides Lelliana (same as the flashbacks with the pc).

 

[GreyWardens Rock]

As much as we pretend it doesn't happen in our fav RPGs, running errands is the staple of RPGs ffs

But are any of them as painful and dull as this?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

since Amalur is terrible

No, it's perfectly mediocre.

 

[GreyWardens Rock]

DA2' Story is amazing compared to this shit. Trepasser's ending is quite good tho.

DA2 base plot is even better than Origins', most other narrative aspects not though

I'm not gonna sit here and say DA:O is some amazing thing, but seriously what the fuck are you talking about? It has MMO style cooldowns and other quirks, but at least it's a real tactical RPG. You can pull out the camera, issue orders and plan placement, and on harder difficulties a lot of encounters actually require strategy and proper use of powers/equipment. The battles are actually designed well a lot of the time, outside the slog that is the deep roads. In contrast DA2's battles feel barely designed at all, they just spam bullshit at you, and DA:I is mostly an action game with MMO fodder battles. I'm seriously baffled how any PC gamer could prefer the combat of 2 and 3 over 1.

Can't brofist you enough,

No it doesn't since Amalur is terrible, DA2's enemies are also spongy and on top of being a completely misguided effort DA2 was shittily made.

Anybody actually enjoying Inquisishits combat over almost anyother game I've seen in my life so far (only worse example I remember is Inversion), must have some sort of a problem with their brain

 

[Delterius]

its simple logic

da2 = shit that was shittily made

dai = shit that was polished until it shone its brown filttered colors

therefore da2 is even shittier than dai

 

[Falksi]

DA:O's combat, on Nightmare, is - quite frankly - fucking great for a RtWP game. Some of the strategic layouts of the battles, Deep Roads especially, are very well thought out and miles ahead of the likes of DA:2.

I think to appriciate DA:O's combat you have to be a fan (or at least tolerant) of the system, and notice it's finer points. I can see why some might struggle with this, as it's not really that noticeable on a first playthrough on lower difficulties. The only downer for me is that the Warrior is boring as fuck, lacking the tactical scope to do much interesting with. In Awakening they added a few AOE attacks and that made a difference.

In DA:O there's a real foundation of something spectacularly good. It just needed it's sequels to embrace it's CRPG roots, instead of shitting all over them.

 

[Falksi]

On a side note, I went to finish DA:I last night, and it became apparent I needed another 20 power to activate the last mission, so spent 90min shutting rifts etc. instead, and still require another 8 power tonight.

What an absolutely God-awfuly fucking stupid system. Bioware's worst designed game by a country mile. DA:2 might be as shit if not shitter, I'll let you decide that, but DA:I created a whole new standard in bad design.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

DA:O's combat, on Nightmare, is - quite frankly - fucking great for a RtWP game. Some of the strategic layouts of the battles, Deep Roads especially, are very well thought out and miles ahead of the likes of DA:2.

I think to appriciate DA:O's combat you have to be a fan (or at least tolerant) of the system, and notice it's finer points. The only downer for me is that the Warrior is boring as fuck, lacking the tactical scope to do much interesting with. In Awakening they added a few AOE attacks and that made a difference.

In DA:O there's a real foundation of something spectacularly good. It just needed it's sequels to embrace it's CRPG roots, instead of shitting all over them.

Then DA2 shit all over it with enemies randomly dropping out of the sky in endless waves.

 

[Frozen]

DA:O combat is peak BioWare combat. On nightmare you have to eliminate casters asap and then micromanage the rest to stay alive (if you don't brake the game with OP weapons/mods)
Its far superior than BG crap.
DA:O combat system was then stupefied in DA:2 and completely broken in Inquisition. You have to be a specific retard to enjoy gameplay in Inquisition, i think its impossible to do so on Nightmare, it just takes forever and commands doesn't work, no tactic just left click spam.

 

[Alpan]

DA:O's combat, on Nightmare, is - quite frankly - fucking great for a RtWP game. Some of the strategic laouts of the battles, Deep Roads especially, are very well thought out and miles ahead of the likes of DA:2.

I think to appriciate DA:O's combat you have to be a fan (or at least tolerant) of the system, and notice it's finer points. The only downer for me is that the Warrior is boring as fuck, lacking the tactical scope to do much interesting with. In Awakening they added a few AOE attacks and that made a difference.

In DA:O there's a real foundation of something spectacularly good. It just needed it's sequels to embrace it's CRPG roots, instead of shitting all over them.

DA: O's combat is let down by terrible balancing. Mages totally dominate the other two classes. Warriors are additionally shafted by the joke Two-Handed tree. Archer Rogues gimp themselves due to mechanics bugs and need a specific party member to be effective.

 

[Delterius]

Mages totally dominate the other two classes.

and all is balanced that way

 

[Alpan]

Mages totally dominate the other two classes.

and all is balanced that way

And if that wasn't quite enough, a specific Mage spec (Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage) shits on every other Mage spec.