Saturday, December 31, 2016
Random Thoughts About "Dragon Age: Inquisition"
I play Dragon Age: Inquisition a lot. While I've already reviewed it (and the two DLCs I have) I have many other musings and comments, so this post is for them.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
"Strange Adventures In Infinite Space" Review
Publisher: Digital Eel Games
Website: http://www.digital-eel.com/sais/
Genre: Simulation
Summary: Thanks to a shady business deal, you have ten years to explore neighboring solar systems and hopefully bring back enough loot to make the trip viable.
Gameplay: Each space sector is randomly created at the start of each game, so every game varies, although races, items, and weapons remain the same. Sometimes you're dealt a bad hand, sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you have to defeat star-destroying invaders. Games go quick enough if disaster befalls you can easily just start another game.
There is some combat, which can be surprisingly slow while waiting for ships to get close enough to shoot each other. Often combat jumps quickly between impossible and too easy, depending on what you've managed to find in your adventures.
Exploration is more fun--trading with aliens, making a guess about whether the inhabitants of a solar system will be friendly, deciding whether to try to visit one more star...
Style: The interface and graphics are simple, but overall get the job done. I could use some more description (and maybe larger text) in some places.
Story: Any story beyond the summary is up to your imagination, which can certainly be stirred anew each game thanks to the random new arrangement of everything.
Website: http://www.digital-eel.com/sais/
Genre: Simulation
Summary: Thanks to a shady business deal, you have ten years to explore neighboring solar systems and hopefully bring back enough loot to make the trip viable.
Gameplay: Each space sector is randomly created at the start of each game, so every game varies, although races, items, and weapons remain the same. Sometimes you're dealt a bad hand, sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you have to defeat star-destroying invaders. Games go quick enough if disaster befalls you can easily just start another game.
There is some combat, which can be surprisingly slow while waiting for ships to get close enough to shoot each other. Often combat jumps quickly between impossible and too easy, depending on what you've managed to find in your adventures.
Exploration is more fun--trading with aliens, making a guess about whether the inhabitants of a solar system will be friendly, deciding whether to try to visit one more star...
Style: The interface and graphics are simple, but overall get the job done. I could use some more description (and maybe larger text) in some places.
Story: Any story beyond the summary is up to your imagination, which can certainly be stirred anew each game thanks to the random new arrangement of everything.
Saturday, December 10, 2016
"Dragon Age II Mark of the Assassin" DLC Review
Publisher: Bioware/EA
Genre: RPG
Summary: A thief invites Hawke to help steal a jewel from an Orlesian noble's remote fortress.
Gameplay: Combat is the same as the rest of the game, save for new monsters ghasts and wyverns. There is a new stealth system for your burglary involving timing and careful angling to avoid or properly knock out guards. There are also several optional logic puzzles within the fortress for extra treasures.
Style: Although the style is the same as the rest of Dragon Age II, the lush, green forests of these Orlesian mountains are a welcome reprieve from the ever-same brown streets of Kirkwall.
Story: This DLC largely centers around Felicia Day's character Tallis. If you don't like Felicia Day, or if you don't end up liking her character (a possibility, given certain later twists), then you probably won't like this DLC. There are not a lot of options regarding how to deal with Tallis.
But if you do like Felicia Day or Tallis or don't care (I didn't know much about her when I first played this) then this DLC has something to offer. There's lots of funny lines to enjoy. The mountain meadows (despite the wyverns) are a welcome change of location.
I don't much like the ghasts, however. They don't seem to fit in well with the Dragon Age lore. This might change if more is learned later, but the fact that they haven't popped up again makes me wonder if the game authors want to forget them too.
I also enjoy the opportunity to briefly chat with Orlesian nobility, and the sneaking is a nice change of pace, if sometimes trying. There are enough small choices to keep every playthrough from being the same even if there isn't a lot of variation. All in all, Mark of the Assassin is a fun diversion.
Genre: RPG
Summary: A thief invites Hawke to help steal a jewel from an Orlesian noble's remote fortress.
Gameplay: Combat is the same as the rest of the game, save for new monsters ghasts and wyverns. There is a new stealth system for your burglary involving timing and careful angling to avoid or properly knock out guards. There are also several optional logic puzzles within the fortress for extra treasures.
Style: Although the style is the same as the rest of Dragon Age II, the lush, green forests of these Orlesian mountains are a welcome reprieve from the ever-same brown streets of Kirkwall.
Story: This DLC largely centers around Felicia Day's character Tallis. If you don't like Felicia Day, or if you don't end up liking her character (a possibility, given certain later twists), then you probably won't like this DLC. There are not a lot of options regarding how to deal with Tallis.
But if you do like Felicia Day or Tallis or don't care (I didn't know much about her when I first played this) then this DLC has something to offer. There's lots of funny lines to enjoy. The mountain meadows (despite the wyverns) are a welcome change of location.
I don't much like the ghasts, however. They don't seem to fit in well with the Dragon Age lore. This might change if more is learned later, but the fact that they haven't popped up again makes me wonder if the game authors want to forget them too.
I also enjoy the opportunity to briefly chat with Orlesian nobility, and the sneaking is a nice change of pace, if sometimes trying. There are enough small choices to keep every playthrough from being the same even if there isn't a lot of variation. All in all, Mark of the Assassin is a fun diversion.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
"Dragon Age II" Review
Publisher: Bioware/EA
Genre: RPG
Summary: Fleeing the Blight, Hawke settles in the troubled city of Kirkwall. As Hawke's power and influence grows, so do the city's problems. Tensions grow with stranded Qunari, and the relationship between the mages and templars becomes ever more anxious.
Gameplay: The combat is somewhat streamlined from Origins in several ways. There are less ability trees, including one for each weapon. And only rogues get to use bows (lucky ducks.)
Overall I don't have a problem with the simplification, but combat still lasts way too long because of the many waves of enemies. As soon as one bunch of enemies is defeated, more appear. I think this is because of how several stamina-or-mana recovery abilities work, but the effect is to make each fight feel two or three times longer than it needs to be.
There aren't that many locations in the game, which gets a little tiring, but it would be less tiring if there wasn't a fight every five feet. I think they threw in an encounter whenever they feared the story was getting too thin. This, again, makes the game just drag on unnecessarily.
Speaking of locations, few though they may be, I enjoy exploring the city of Kirkwall and its environs. I wish there was a bit more interaction, however. People in Kirkwall's streets often casually wander through your fiery battle with thugs unconcerned.
In non-combat gameplay, crafting now involves finding elements and using them to make runes or poisons or potions. At the easy level of difficulty, I never really used this system much.
Conversation options are now labeled diplomatic, snarky, or harsh (with occasional additional options for further questions, romantic flirts, or opportunities for a party member to have their say.) This is helpful shorthand, and Hawke will start making asides based on one mood or the other if you use it more often.
Friendships (and romances) with party members now have possibilities at both high friendship and high rivalry ratings. Also, the only way to increase or decrease this rating is interacting with that character or having them react to Hawke. This actually causes me a lot of problems, since the character has to be in the party for this, and I choose my party based on combat distribution, not who would like to save mages. Thus lots of my party members get points in both directions and end up vaguely in the middle, sometimes with sad consequences. It's a system that sounds good but doesn't work out well in practice.
Style: Although recognizably related to the previous game, Dragon Age II's art is much more stylized and angular. I like it a lot. It's very striking and the colors are rich. Lighting effects are particularly good as well. Fire and lightning and skies all look gorgeous.
I don't like the changes to elves, however (those ears are going to poke someone's eye out) and I miss being able to change party members' outfits a surprising amount. The menus are good and straightforward. I especially like the maps' listing of what quests are where.
Story: If Dragon Age: Origins is a tale about duty and Inquisition is a story of fear and faith, Dragon Age II says that sometimes, no matter what, things are going to suck. Which is true, but it's not the most inspiring or cheerful theme, and it's one of the reasons I don't like the game as much as others.
Hawke has choices, true, and can make things better (or worse) here or there for this or that person. But there are always certain dooms awaiting. Sometimes the game is well-written enough that these do feel justifiably inevitable, but sometimes they don't.
Hawke's story is told via the framing device of their friend Varric's narration as he is being interrogated. There are several amusing moments when he lies (which are unfortunately less amusing when you have to fight through them again on replays.) It's an interesting device but I think it ultimately hurts elements like the ending.
The game takes place over eight or so years, which is a great idea but lacks in the execution. Characters don't talk about things for years on end for no particular reason. The game's three acts are nicely broken up, but there is no change in Kirkwall after time passes between them beyond the Hightown sky drawing ever closer to night (admittedly a nice touch.)
The characters are, as usual, an interesting bunch. I find several of them particularly irritating, if not unrealistic. Some might find their foolish decisions and ornery opinions a plus, and favorites will certainly vary.
Conclusion: Dragon Age II is one of my least favorite Bioware games. Many of my issues are born of a short production time. Some are innovations that didn't quite work. And some things I just dislike. But for all I dislike, there is still plenty I like about Dragon Age II. It's a mixed bag, to be certain.
Genre: RPG
Summary: Fleeing the Blight, Hawke settles in the troubled city of Kirkwall. As Hawke's power and influence grows, so do the city's problems. Tensions grow with stranded Qunari, and the relationship between the mages and templars becomes ever more anxious.
Gameplay: The combat is somewhat streamlined from Origins in several ways. There are less ability trees, including one for each weapon. And only rogues get to use bows (lucky ducks.)
Overall I don't have a problem with the simplification, but combat still lasts way too long because of the many waves of enemies. As soon as one bunch of enemies is defeated, more appear. I think this is because of how several stamina-or-mana recovery abilities work, but the effect is to make each fight feel two or three times longer than it needs to be.
There aren't that many locations in the game, which gets a little tiring, but it would be less tiring if there wasn't a fight every five feet. I think they threw in an encounter whenever they feared the story was getting too thin. This, again, makes the game just drag on unnecessarily.
Speaking of locations, few though they may be, I enjoy exploring the city of Kirkwall and its environs. I wish there was a bit more interaction, however. People in Kirkwall's streets often casually wander through your fiery battle with thugs unconcerned.
In non-combat gameplay, crafting now involves finding elements and using them to make runes or poisons or potions. At the easy level of difficulty, I never really used this system much.
Conversation options are now labeled diplomatic, snarky, or harsh (with occasional additional options for further questions, romantic flirts, or opportunities for a party member to have their say.) This is helpful shorthand, and Hawke will start making asides based on one mood or the other if you use it more often.
Friendships (and romances) with party members now have possibilities at both high friendship and high rivalry ratings. Also, the only way to increase or decrease this rating is interacting with that character or having them react to Hawke. This actually causes me a lot of problems, since the character has to be in the party for this, and I choose my party based on combat distribution, not who would like to save mages. Thus lots of my party members get points in both directions and end up vaguely in the middle, sometimes with sad consequences. It's a system that sounds good but doesn't work out well in practice.
Style: Although recognizably related to the previous game, Dragon Age II's art is much more stylized and angular. I like it a lot. It's very striking and the colors are rich. Lighting effects are particularly good as well. Fire and lightning and skies all look gorgeous.
I don't like the changes to elves, however (those ears are going to poke someone's eye out) and I miss being able to change party members' outfits a surprising amount. The menus are good and straightforward. I especially like the maps' listing of what quests are where.
Story: If Dragon Age: Origins is a tale about duty and Inquisition is a story of fear and faith, Dragon Age II says that sometimes, no matter what, things are going to suck. Which is true, but it's not the most inspiring or cheerful theme, and it's one of the reasons I don't like the game as much as others.
Hawke has choices, true, and can make things better (or worse) here or there for this or that person. But there are always certain dooms awaiting. Sometimes the game is well-written enough that these do feel justifiably inevitable, but sometimes they don't.
Hawke's story is told via the framing device of their friend Varric's narration as he is being interrogated. There are several amusing moments when he lies (which are unfortunately less amusing when you have to fight through them again on replays.) It's an interesting device but I think it ultimately hurts elements like the ending.
The game takes place over eight or so years, which is a great idea but lacks in the execution. Characters don't talk about things for years on end for no particular reason. The game's three acts are nicely broken up, but there is no change in Kirkwall after time passes between them beyond the Hightown sky drawing ever closer to night (admittedly a nice touch.)
The characters are, as usual, an interesting bunch. I find several of them particularly irritating, if not unrealistic. Some might find their foolish decisions and ornery opinions a plus, and favorites will certainly vary.
Conclusion: Dragon Age II is one of my least favorite Bioware games. Many of my issues are born of a short production time. Some are innovations that didn't quite work. And some things I just dislike. But for all I dislike, there is still plenty I like about Dragon Age II. It's a mixed bag, to be certain.
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