[ContrarianMalazanReader]

I'm frankly surprised that a topic dedicated to this game series hasn't already been posted, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and post one.

[Aptorian]

Well now...

 Screenshot_20211227-065420_copy_432x699.png (96.11K)
Number of downloads: 0

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Aptorian, on 27 December 2021 - 06:02 AM, said:

Well now...

Screenshot_20211227-065420_copy_432x699.png

That's weird. Whenever I searched for such a thread I got no results found.

[Aptorian]

The forums search engine isn't great but generally you can find threads easily by using single keywords and only searching for thread titles in specific forums.

Did you want to discuss the upcoming Dragon Age game in production?

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Aptorian, on 27 December 2021 - 06:52 AM, said:

The forums search engine isn't great but generally you can find threads easily by using single keywords and only searching for thread titles in specific forums.

Did you want to discuss the upcoming Dragon Age game in production?

Sure, amongst other things.

Since this is the Malazan forums, I find some similarities between Malazan and Dragon Age, such as the Eluvians being somewhat analogous to the Warrens, Laseen's ban on magic similar to the tight restrictions imposed upon mages in many parts of Thedas, the Blight's corruption which resembles the Crippled God's corruption, Thedas having a fragmented history akin to the world of Malaz, and so on and so forth. Maybe I'm just seeing things that aren't there, but I find it surprising that nobody at BioWare has ever acknowledged to at least reading the books since I myself perceive common threads.

[Gorefest]

Ooh, wait, there is a new Dragon Age game coming?

[Aptorian]

Dragon Age 4 has been in some kind of production for at least 5 years now. At one point it was put on hold while BioWare focused on Anthem.

Afterwards they've supposedly been redesigning the game because they originally wanted it to be a live service game but after Anthem tanked, they've supposedly reconsidered and are making a more straight forward RPG.

I suspect Dragon Age 4 will probably come out within the next few years but they've yet to show any gameplay I think.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

So far all that has been shown is concept art and one voice acting line of dialogue.

[Avatar]

Looking forward to a next Dragon Age myself. Great fan of the series, especially 1 and 3. (For both games I bought a new pc at the time.) Not sure if the next one is about to be any good, after how Bioware seems to have changed a bit. But I definitely will follow a coming release very closely.

[Aptorian]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 27 December 2021 - 07:22 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 27 December 2021 - 06:52 AM, said:

The forums search engine isn't great but generally you can find threads easily by using single keywords and only searching for thread titles in specific forums.

Did you want to discuss the upcoming Dragon Age game in production?

Sure, amongst other things.

Since this is the Malazan forums, I find some similarities between Malazan and Dragon Age, such as the Eluvians being somewhat analogous to the Warrens, Laseen's ban on magic similar to the tight restrictions imposed upon mages in many parts of Thedas, the Blight's corruption which resembles the Crippled God's corruption, Thedas having a fragmented history akin to the world of Malaz, and so on and so forth. Maybe I'm just seeing things that aren't there, but I find it surprising that nobody at BioWare has ever acknowledged to at least reading the books since I myself perceive common threads.

Game writers obviously get their inspiration from all over the place but I'd assume the core inspiration is the Dungeons and Dragons lore that also inspired Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights.


It's been far too long since I played the Dragon Age games for me to remember specifics but I generally just thought it was very generic fantasy stuff. Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, etc.

[Tiste Simeon]

I also figure there's still tons of money to be made from Mass Effect and as such they'll be focusing more resources in that direction? That's pure speculation of course.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Aptorian, on 27 December 2021 - 06:13 PM, said:

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 27 December 2021 - 07:22 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 27 December 2021 - 06:52 AM, said:

The forums search engine isn't great but generally you can find threads easily by using single keywords and only searching for thread titles in specific forums.

Did you want to discuss the upcoming Dragon Age game in production?

Sure, amongst other things.

Since this is the Malazan forums, I find some similarities between Malazan and Dragon Age, such as the Eluvians being somewhat analogous to the Warrens, Laseen's ban on magic similar to the tight restrictions imposed upon mages in many parts of Thedas, the Blight's corruption which resembles the Crippled God's corruption, Thedas having a fragmented history akin to the world of Malaz, and so on and so forth. Maybe I'm just seeing things that aren't there, but I find it surprising that nobody at BioWare has ever acknowledged to at least reading the books since I myself perceive common threads.

Game writers obviously get their inspiration from all over the place but I'd assume the core inspiration is the Dungeons and Dragons lore that also inspired Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights.


It's been far too long since I played the Dragon Age games for me to remember specifics but I generally just thought it was very generic fantasy stuff. Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, etc.

Admittedly the first game had a very generic look, but the series started to develop its own visual identity with the second game, and based on what I've seen from concept art they are appearing to be letting their imagination run wild.

This post has been edited by ContrarianMalazanReader: 27 December 2021 - 07:34 PM

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Bioware announced for Dragon Age Day yesterday that a "full reveal" will be made in summer next year, including a release date.

Fingers crossed.

Also new "Thedas Calls" trailer confirms Rivain, Antiva and Weisshaupt as new locations.

[Avatar]

Yes, very curious, hope that it will be good.

[Maark Abbott]

I have low hopes for it. Largely because modern Bioware, and also largely because of the course of the last two games.

Enjoyable gameplay, but 2 had that one DLC that led into Inquisition, and because I didn't play DLC, Coriphytits was a giant space flea from nowhere with zero context. And having to BUY the ending to Inquisition left a hugely sour taste in my mouth.

I would very much like to be wrong, mind you.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Confirmed release date for The Veilguard of 31st October.

The release date trailer really does beg the question why on earth they didn't lead with it rather than the weird first look one that upset/confused so many people.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

So, I'm 55 hours into Veilguard and I'm not finished (suspect I'm about 2/3rds of the way there).

I'm really enjoying it, although I'll disclose my bias that this is my favourite game series so they'd have to screw up on an incredible scale for me to not enjoy a DA game.

Will pop more detailed thoughts in spoilers below, just because it's hard to discuss without details:

Spoiler

My biggest problem with it is it feels disconnected from the rest of the series in tone (and yes, I appreciate the series has changed with each game and Inquisition was definitely lighter in tone than its predecessors, so you could argue it's a continuation of the same trend). But all the things that used to be sticking points characters disagreed over are gone - the mage and templar conflict, the nature of spirits and demons, the differences between religions and cultures etc, and whilst it doesn't stop me enjoying Veilguard for what it is, it does bring a very noticeable lack of depth. All seven party characters are essentially nice people, and that's it. The game keeps telling me that Davrin and Lucanis are at each other's throats and that this is threatening team cohesion, but aside from the odd slightly barbed comment there's been no evidence of it whatsoever.

Lucanis is a great example of this - he's a demon possessed assassin. In any of the other games this would have been a major plot point every character would have had a strong opinion on. When you think of how such as Vivienne and Cassandra (initially in her case) react to Cole, who is a helpful spirit - the pair of them would have been doing their best to murder Lucanis in his sleep as a dangerous abomination. But nobody so much as really raises an eyebrow at it. It's... jarring to say the least.

Thus far, the odd bit has felt like more vintage darker DA - the Hossberg Wetlands is a great area, and the later part of Davrin's personal arc with the griffins is good for this - but it's slim pickings.

Also, the whole vibe of the party is a bit too MCU for me, lots of "we've got this" and pep talks which some of the more prickly previous game party characters would have thrown you out of the room for trying. Can anyone imagine trying to give Morrigan a pep talk, and how hard she'd laugh at you?

There's a lack of subtlety in the writing and story which makes me feel a bit handheld and like the game doesn't trust me to see the points its making... not sure if that's to make it more accessible for new players. The lack of subtlety does bleed over into the real world stuff its making a point about as well, which is a bit jarring but not enough of a problem to spoil things. There's some very poor dialogue writing where characters sound so modern that it throws me out of the game briefly as well. That in itself feels very odd in a series which has always held the writing to be one of its strengths.

On the positive side though, it looks gorgeous, I like the combat, and I'm enjoying how it's handling Solas' continuing story so far as well. It's dropping all sorts of lore and answering a lot of previous questions, and as much as Bioware have said this won't be the last DA game, it is feeling like the story as it progresses is a bit of a farewell to the series so far. I'm definitely invested to see how it all ends.

In summary - flawed, you sort of have to switch off your "but previous DA would have..." brain and go with it, but overall still very enjoyable. It's not going to trouble Inquisition for being my favourite DA outing though.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 05 November 2024 - 06:55 AM

[Maark Abbott]

I was on the fence but on balance given above it's one for me to avoid.

The main draw storywise for me was the fact that you can't please everyone - and whilst that was still sort of true in Mass Effect, you COULD leverage everyone into sort of getting along. Dragon Age? Do something someone dislikes enough and they'll try to outright brain you. The combat looks far too hack and slash for me as well, and I don't like how doughy the characters look in this engine (I think it's the shading? The qunari characters especially look far too soft given how jagged and angular they've always been). A shame personally but it's cool that you're having fun with it.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Maark Abbott, on 05 November 2024 - 07:52 AM, said:

I was on the fence but on balance given above it's one for me to avoid.

The main draw storywise for me was the fact that you can't please everyone - and whilst that was still sort of true in Mass Effect, you COULD leverage everyone into sort of getting along. Dragon Age? Do something someone dislikes enough and they'll try to outright brain you. The combat looks far too hack and slash for me as well, and I don't like how doughy the characters look in this engine (I think it's the shading? The qunari characters especially look far too soft given how jagged and angular they've always been). A shame personally but it's cool that you're having fun with it.

I think that's fair about the combat - I'll be honest, I'm a whack it on easy and play for the story sort of person so combat isn't something I really pay attention to much.

[Garak]

Agreed with your assessment about the game. I told some friends who were on the fence to maybe wait for a sale to pick it up. It is a flawed game and I'm sorry we will never know what was mandated by corporate, what was the writers, what got lost in development hell.

But I'm willing to forgive it it's flaws and have fun with it. The lore stuff going on is really awesome for me, so much stuff I want more details on but will probably not get.