Why do fanboys hold this game to high standards? Its far from the 9.5, Gamespot gave it.
Inconsistant writing, cliched two dimesnional characters that may be clones of other bioware characters, horrible art design,unfocused plot, one of the most cliched and generic plots in existance, unbalanced combat system, and it no way progresses the genre.
If this is what RPG elitists truly wanted, than I move on.
Lets talk story. This is one of, if not the most generic, WRPG stories. Its basically Lord of the Rings with gore and a bad attitude. Unlike Mass Effect and Jade Empire, which had more inspired plots and universes, DAO's is generic fantasy tripe. Kill the orcs who want to burn everything. And unlike the more intellegent Reapers of ME, there is really no substance to the Darkspawn until Awakenings. Nothing...all they want to do is kill and burn. Then enter Loghain, an idiotic and poorly written villian....his motives are so idiotic and unrealistic its not even funny. Yeah, lets betray the king when he has a chance to win...then take power and concentrate on a entity thats not a threat than the one that is one, while killing the ones that can stop the threat. No where near Jon Irenicus or Master Li quality...Bioware villians that were actually well written. Then the typical Bioware midgame, the 4 planets/locations section, is even more unfocused than past Bioware games. Unlike KOTOR and ME1, which you can see the main conflict in all the planets you go to, in DAO, the midgame is divorced from the main plot other than the plot coupons you get for completing the quests. Some plotlines are great, the elves vs werewolves quest was well done...then you have the dwarven quest...a long borefest into the deep roads with a very underdeveloped conflict between two dwarven nobles.
The characters are pretty poor as well. Leliana is an excellent character however, and she is by far the most three dimensional character of the cast. I am glad she will play a very important role in the future. Wynne and Shale were great too, and Morrigan could be better in later installments, however, the rest of the cast is so one dimensional its not even funny. They are also clones of other Bioware characters. How is Oghren not like Black Whirlwind? How is Zervan not an elven HK-47? Alistair is like Carth and Kaiden...the goody male lead. As much as I like Leliana, she is very similiar to Dawn Star. Then there is the approval/disapproval system that does not work. If they dissprove of an action, don't bring them in the party. And lets not forget how divorced they are from the plot...as only Alistair and Morrigan play key roles in the plot. also, their depth is wasted. Its basically "wanna hear about my past?" instead of being involved in a characters story like KOTOR, or ME2, or DAII.
The gameplay is also busted. Sure there is a lot of "depth"...but there is a lot of garbage and unbalance. There are way too many trash skills and abilities, and way too many overpowered abilities. And the Mage is way overpowered to a point where it is boring to play the other classes. Then there is the "I win" skills...Mana Clash is basically saying "die" to a spellcaster and they die, well most of them...it will devestate a boss however. So much for enemy spellcasters, usually the most dangerous enemies in the game. In Awakenings, there are instant kill skills making the game even more unbalanced. The fights are mostly boring as well...so much for tactics if all the fights are the same, especially in the long slogs of the Mage Tower and the Deep Roads. The Fade section is extremely atrocious. The highlight of DAO's combat is the boss fights, or the more unique fights (same with DAII).
I would actually rank DAO and DAII the same.....highly flawed Bioware games that do not hold a candle to the past classics. In fact, DAO and Baldur's Gate II should not be used in the same sentence. DAO is no where near the greatness that is BGII, and each BGII clone produced only ensures that BGII will not be surpassed. However, I actually enjoyed DAII more. Why? Because it was willing to take risks and not play it safe. It was willing to tell a very unconventional and complex story and actually push boundaries with the dialogue, personality,and friendship/rivalry system. Instead of being Origins II, it did its own thing. It is also FAR better written than DAOand had more complex, more three dimensional characters that do not rely on strict personalities. DAII was rushed out the door and was 6 months too early. The world design was atrocious and still kept the unbalance flaws of DAO (but now for the 2H warrior).
The problem with DAO is it plays it safe, unlike better games such as The Witcher and NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer, which not only had great storyteling, but was willing to take risks and be unique. Its also amazing how those games that came out two years prior LOOK better than DAO. And they ARE better.
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