revisiting Dragon Age after a long hiatus. started by trying to go back and play the original neverwinter nights and then neverwinter nights 2. both of those old games are okay. actually 2 is probably the better of the two. the problem i had with them is their interface. the interface sucks really. D&D rules kindof suck too for a computer based RPG. i mean if you played a lot of D&D by the books back in the day you'd probably love it. but there are just certain things about having to rest, having to memorize spells, and the well... let me just say it! D&D has been around a long time. and like the evolution of any other cult classic players invariably ask the creators of the game to add new options, classes, weapons, worlds, rules, abilities, skills, options, etc etc until the game is so complex and broad that you can have a dark dwarf assassin working with a lawful good planetouched-tiefling cleric on a search for a stolen magical unicorn horn that belongs to a fairy gnome princess.  O.o  Point being it's hard to create an immersive setting when the lore litterally fills a small personal library.Â
the next annoying thing about neverwinter nights and D&D in general is that stories typically stem from 'storybook' methodology - and by that i mean they typically flow right out of a fairytale narrative. and if you're sitting around the table with people playing D&D and the DM can successfully pull off a fairytale narrative it's pretty impressive. but when you're approaching NWN and NWN2 from outside of this tradition it sounds corny as hell.Â
in the technological age of games like Dragon Age we are spoiled by great stories like Bioshock, Halo, Half-Life, and a whole host of other great games that do a great job of pulling us in. but after playing some Dragon Age right after a decent sized dose of NWN i am in awe of the quality that went in to creating DAO.
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