tibbon played Dragon Age: Origins

I have the xbox 360 version should I buy one for my PC.

I played for two hours and put it back in the envelope. It is now in the mailbox and on the way back to GameFly. Snoozefest.

@ellerkermike If you've already bought the 360 version I'd save your money and buy something else like Modern Warfare 2 (out today!). The UI on the 360 I think is poor compared to the PC, but still offers roughly the same gameplay experience. The PC version is 'better' but really not worth getting in addition to the 360 version.

@Wingman709 I wish the FCC really would get serious about regulating the paid-bloggers and journalists. I have yet to find a major publication that had similar comments. Yet it was a massively advertised game. Connection? I think so.

The internet will probably always be outside the control of the FCC. The best they can do is to tell us that we can't use the phone lines for internet use anymore, and I hope that never happens.

Okay thanks and I hope there's a guide made online since I can't afford the official guide.

I've been keeping my eye on it as something I might pick up used at some point, but I have Borderlands and now Modern Warfare2 to keep me busy. I have bunch of friends who play it and seem to enjoy it.

@LordXenophon Realistically you are correct- although I think that for US-based companies doing 'big business' there probably should be reporting requirements if anything about money spent in this way.

@tibbon You've got to be fucking kidding me. You want the government to start regulating free speech? Are you fucking insane? That is the most peanut-butter headed thing I've heard in my fucking life! Is it completely out of your realm of possibility that maybe, just maybe, people actually like the game? Why would people bash a game they like? Do you rip on your favorite movies? (oh fuck, my head hurts so much, i can barely fucking spell) @ellerkermike I'm going to assume you've never heard of Gamefaqs. No big surprise as they are a tiny little site.

@rgoff31 Yea grab it used in a few months- or rent it. I still want to try out Borderlands as that seems fun (once they patch the bugs). MW2 is definitely going to keep me busy. Just wish it was for PC too (or is it?)

@ellerkermike GameFAQs should probably have everything you need.

@tibbon Ahaha~ Modern Warfare 2 is coming for PC. Ahaha~

@xoaks Nah, I don't suggest they regulate the 'free speech' component (which mind you, is a right of people, not of companies) of anything. I just think there should be proper disclosure if money has changed hands for exchange of positive opinion on a commercial product. They don't have to change what they say, just disclose why they are saying it.

All of the reputable non-mega-corporate bloggers I know do this and its a good practice. Yet the game industry for the past 10+ years has been really dirty about overly positive reviews in exchange for advertising purchases or other payola.

The government did get involved with Payola (and pay to play stuff) in the radio industry, but now its just not as flagrantly out there- yet still strongly exists so you're right it doesn't always work.

Thankfully there's places like gamerDNA where I can find people who hopefully weren't paid to give a perfect review of something.

You're right, people may very well like the game- but there's a few undenyable flaws that prevent the hype around it from being perfectly true.

@xoaks But its another month or something until release right? Or am I thinking of some other game. Time to Google. Would MUCH rather have a keyboard/mouse layout than a damn controller (Which imho just dont' work for FPS or strategy games)

@tibbon You seem to have forgotten Gerstmann-gate. That or your paranoia is absurdly high. There aren't any blowjobs in the bathroom to get that B pushed up to a A. You should pay more attention, or did you not notice the Too Human reviews? The Hype Machine was hardcore pushing that game.

@tibbon And MW2 is out today all platforms (ahaha~)

Too bad you didn't like it. I've been having a lot of fun with it. I like the talent system just fine, and the tactical gameplay is good. The depth of the maps and areas to explore is a lot of fun too. If I had to complain about anything, it's that the dialog is sometimes too long/tedious.

@Tarinth I think its an exceedingly solid 7.5/10. I need to give it a few more hours. It might grow on me, but initial impressions didn't grab me.

The dialogue is a bit tedious at times. One thing I noticed that I didn't like is that while you can turn off the dialogue audio- there is no way to turn on full captions of the dialogue. IF you could do this, it would be amazing because you could just hit a key and skip the audio parts, but still get all of the content quickly. Also very useful for hard-of-hearing players or if you're playing somewhere that you can't have the audio going really. It shows you the last line of a question at the top and that's about it.

While the dialogue in Baldur's Gate way long, you could generally make it go faster and tap through it fairly quickly. At least it isn't FF or Metal Gear style where there's really long dialogue and you must watch it.

I am generally grateful for things they didn't put into the game however that sometimes do lead to overload and too much depth. Daggerfall's system that you made your own spells was just nuts and so far I haven't found 20 factions that I have to join and fulfill all of their quests to rise to the top yet.

I think that some of the PC game feels slightly limited because they didnt' want to have to change the PS3/XBox versions too too much, so they just left a few small things out to keep the parity a little better.

@tibbon I agree with you. I knew what you meant with your first post about regulating the bloggers. If everyone recalls, we just saw this sort of corporate quid pro quo between Eidos and GameSpot just about a year ago. Jeff Gerstmain (Hope I spelled his name right) ended up leaving/losing his job over not giving out a great review to Kane & Lynch.

Over at www.thisxboxlife.com (shameless plug) we do reviews but we don't get paid for them. We don't get free copies from the companies (with the exception of Wheelman) and we give our honest reviews of the games. Even with Wheelman, I gave my honest opinion of the game despite getting a free review copy.

The crew at that site is just a group of normal guys (one student and three IT guys) who have normal day jobs, but do the site and podcast as a hobby. So we give you our honest opinion and I wish that Professional sites would do the same. Reviews should be unbiased and given out regardless of what the company pays you for advertising, etc.

I like Dragon Age and I was NOT paid by anyone to say so. I think it's the closest we will get to a new Baldur's Gate game and I feel like we kinda lucked out that we even got a next gen game that comes so close. You, sir, have set your expectations WAY too high.

I think you need to step back a little bit and appreciate whats there, instead of holding this game up to a Mass Effect standard. Just one example, you want the main character to speak his lines like Shepard in Mass Effect. Do you understand how much of an undertaking that would be? You can play the game as 3 diff races, and each race and gender has about 5-6 different voice options, so thats 30-40 different voice actors voicing the bulk of the game dialogue. Thats like if they hired 30 different voice actors to voice Shepard and handed them all a script that was 4x longer than Mass Effect.

The graphics are pretty damn good for a game with such a long narrative. I would agree that the textures and the FMV segments aren't as good on the console version, but it all runs smoothly on my PC with high settings. Even though a trained eye can see how the engine has evolved from NWN, The battle interactions alone are MUCH better than NWN. I've seen some pretty impressive spell effects and facial animation that just isn't in any other game of this size. Just the fact that you gave the facial animation a leg up on Oblivion goes to show that Dragon Age is THE biggest RPG since Oblivion and it still isn't good enough for you. Keep chasing that Unicorn, dude.

turn on full captions on dialogue? my 360 already does that (its an option somewhere to tun on captions and it gets everything the character says)

Graphics? i liked them

Baldurs Gate 3? Yes your opinion is going to not like DA:O considering it was to be a spiritual successor to that series (Iplayed that series awesome games). I can see actually alot of humor and party conversation (abeit more often) in DA: O. Sometimes your party interacts while your running around such as Morrigan and Leliana / Alistair to same 2 people who do

how many random encounters are you getting? nothing on my game feels like its scripted. Never pans out twice the same way for me (unless its a persaude or intimidate check)

Crushing diffculty? play normal in certain parts or hard (or Nigghtmare if your insane) then come back and say that it has none

Tactics? I use them all the time (diffculty setting MAKES me use them) and it helps with the ally AI.

I get sucked into this game for hours and to prevent that i have to check the time constantly

I loved the voice acting also why is everyone slamming faces! they look good to me (Yes i liked the oblivion faces) because they look good! I dont care that its not 'next gen' face graphics

my 2 cents on this game = P

@highprioritymale yeah agreed on the expectations to high = S

There's no guide made yet for the xbox 360 version.

@ellerkermike you just use the PC one, there not that diffrent besides controls and the odd graphics and modding capablilty

silly xoaks

I myself think that Dragon Age: Origins is the best rpg played all year. Of course, I was paid a good grilled cheese sammich to say so. I was paid an extra half a sammich to also say that the console version is a very dumbed down version of the pc version.

I have no opinions of my own at all! What can I say, I like grilled cheese sammiches!

the 360 version is awesome thank you very much *looks posh*

@Mishy It's still a good version, and it's better than nothing, but the pc version has so much more going for it.

@bettadud the fuck?

like what? besides the mods (the interface i find is much more fluid on the 360)

@xoaks what?

actually scratch that, better I didn't know

Anyway the PC version has better graphics and gives you time to think, and has a lot more strategy to it. That's why everyone likes it more.

@bettadud Why the fuck am I "silly"?

@xoaks Because you are a rabbit and you tried to eat the Trix.

@WILDMAMMOTH Not talking to you, go die. kthxbai

@xoaks It wouldn't be entertaining if you were talking to me.

I find it funny how you're pretty much saying since you didn't like it, every reviewer that says they did, you pretty much implied they're filthy liars, who were bribed into giving it a good review.

You may not have noticed, but you're in the seemly very small group of people who didn't like it. Not saying you're opinion is wrong, but most people seem to like this game, and they weren't paid to say that.

@EarthboundX The real question is if he is in any way related to a certain Lamia?

@xoaks ROFL

I felt the same a few of you did until I installed the Hard Core Mod and it adds a good bit of challenge. If you find it easy and to snooze then before you uninstall it try the HC mod. http://social.bioware.com/project/493/

@xoaks because you were owning on tibbon with a nice little ahaha~ at the end of your posts, and he just ignored you

I thought it was funny

@EarthboundX I didn't totally dislike the game, but I felt it was a little overhyped.

The professional reviewers are supposed to offer fair, balanced, and objective opinions and point out both the good and the bad- regardless of it they like it or not. They did a great job in highlighting the good, but my issue is that they didn't highlight the bad at all, which I felt was fairly easy to notice. Maybe I have overly high standards.

Games that I consider groundbreaking (Chrono Trigger, Baldur's Gate, Final Fantasy VII, Zork I, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past) had flaws surely, and worth mentioning- but most reviewers to tried to put this game on a pedestal similar to the ones I just mentioned and it simply doesn't belong there. A good game certainly, but lacking in a few areas.

I'm going to sink some more hours into it, but I've also gotta work through Modern Warfare 2 soon and I haven't had time to even install it.

Maybe I'm just jaded over many "modern" games. I percieve the hype engine being MUCH larger than it was 20 years ago and I really don't like it. Even if the game is good, it seems to taint it a bit for me. Fable 2 got bit by this. Decent game, but not some revolution.

@tibbon Yeah, but something being bad is very subjective, you could consider something bad, that I could love myself.

*cough* Fable 2 ending for instance *cough*

@Mishy Seriously- WTF was Peter thinking with the end on that? My CAT could have came up with something better for an ending than Fable 2 had. I didn't even care about 'choices' as much as something fairly epic. Instead it was about the same as the ending on a 1995 CD-ROM "Multimedia" game that was mostly FMV and had little real interaction.

Not to spoil it, but you don't even really fight or act against the bad guy. It just- ends, and then you make a stupid choice about your reward at the end, and the choices are stupid and obvious. Such a bad ending. I was 'into' the game until that, but after then I was like- screw it.

Thats why Earth's point is valid, i liked the ending

Yes you heard me

I LIKED FABLE 2'S ENDING!

*bows*

blasphemy!

And for any Trekkies out there

I LIKED WESLEY CRUSHER TO!

Good review. These have been the only bad words I've seen about this game so far (was hoping Zero Punctuation would have reviewed this game by now).

It's good to have a counterpoint rather than having everyone singing praises... even though this is Bioware we're talking about (I love you, Bioware. This changes nothing)

@sleepcrash Well, Game Informer remarked on its flaws.

IMO, professional reviews are mostly garbage. I prefer my reviews be written by someone who isn't paid. There's a lot more incentive for them to be honest.

@WILDMAMMOTH Which is a huge win for sites like gamerDNA, because you get to see what real gamers are playing and saying.
@Fallout2Forever And I'm glad they noted it. I wish some others had been more objective.
@EarthboundX You can think its good, but flaws are still flaws.

@tibbon Like I said, someone could consider something a flaw, while another doesn't, it's all subjective, and dependent on the person.

@EarthboundX I agree. Just because you don't like something about a game doesn't make it bad. Others may like exactly what you don't like. I've found DAO to live up to the "hype". That being said, an opinion is an opinion and I applaud you for writing about it, because that's what gamerDNA is all about.

Taking a step back and realizing that with an ever-widening gamer audience....all games are not going to appeal to all people, and some of us older gamers may even be getting...dare I say....jaded? Back in the day it was easier to have a game that everyone loved, simply because there were so many fewer games coming out at a time.

For instance, @tibbon, you seem to love Modern Warfare 2, while I don't. Doesn't mean it's a bad game that is over hyped....just means it's not my cup of tea. As they say, to each their own.

"The graphics, while I don't consider them to be a huge part of the game, are dated and weak- although the faces of people are far better done than Oblivion (And I'd hope so, the game is several years old!). " - but you didn't play the Xbox360 version by accident, yeah? :D

What the hell is with the graphics hate? its good to look at? can't you people deal with that! >_>

Oblivion faces were fine! (Yes i went there!)

There was nothing wrong with Oblivion faces, idk what you guys are talking about (except I felt wood elves needed to be smacked)

@Mishy I'm not a graphics-must-be-perfect person. They can be low-fi, or have a specific aesthetic. In fact, I love playing games that have nearly no graphics. Zork, Nethack, King's Quest, or Passage are all ok by me. I didn't think that Braid needed to be photo-realistic either. Its style was ok.

Yet when you say that you keep liking things that no one really liked, I've gotta wonder if you're just trolling. Could you tell us about the good parts of the ending of Fable 2? Can you tell me how the end battle was good, exciting, epic, challenging, or difficult? Was the 'decision' you made at the end the hight of moral decisions as Peter M. said it was?

The faces in Oblivion (and quickly the voice acting) were sub par for being an otherwise excellent game. They went for a 'realistic' aesthetic, and for the character movements and faces got it all wrong.

Does this look like a well rendered human face to you?
http://www.pibweb.com/review/images/oblivion_emp.jpg

Now compare that to Metal Gear Solid 4:
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/651/651322/metal-gear-solid-4-20050915072843356.jpg

Its not because of a different rendering engine or better hardware- its simply that Oblivion's face rendering wasn't good.

Or try the women in Oblivion:

http://www.notmydesk.com/npc/necro.jpg

That definitely doesn't compare to a well rendered face.

In Oblivion's defense, it did come out years before MGS4. It never really lowered my opinion of the game because I hardly even noticed it.

@tibbon You're an odd person, you seem to think if you don't like something, it's not possible for someone else too.

Did you just call Mishy a troll because he said he liked Fable 2's ending?

@EarthboundX Yea I did. @Mishy seems to be saying he likes things- not out of wanting to display things he actually thinks are high quality, but either to show that he has no standards, or just to mess with the rest of us and try to be antagonistic. If he honestly thinks that Fable 2's ending is fantastic, or that the faces in oblivion are the highest example that humanity has ever seen for in game rendering of a human face- then he should expound on that.

I'm waiting for him to say that he liked ET on Atari or thought Daikatana was flawless.

Somethings are definitely up for debate, but he seems to be making the "all art is good art" argument, which is rarely productive, well backed up or has much merit.

Whatever, you're just turning into Lamia, I'm gonna unfollow this, I got tired of her arrogance, and I'm not gonna bother with yours.

People have different opinions then you do, and you don't seem to care, so goodbye.

@EarthboundX I respect that people have different opinions. Your opinion seems to be that there is no overall judgement that can be made is a game is bad or good, and that it is impossible to make observations about specific design elements.

I've said probably 5 times that the game isn't bad. It's 7/10 imho. Not perfect, and certainly not what most of the 'professional reviews' lauded it as- but still a pretty good game and worth playing. If it was complete rubbish I'd probably not written on it at all. I wanted it to be the game that they claimed it to be- but it simply isn't.

I think there could have been improvements to the game- but its rather clear that they were trying to push it out before Christmas for holiday sales. I can't stand it when a game does that, although I understand the economic arguement. I'd MUCH rather play a game like the upcoming Final Fantasy that doesn't care what holiday is coming up- it will release and knows that it will sell well. Not all companies have that luxury of course- but the game felt that even another 6 weeks of testing and refining would have helped.

There is ZERO chance that all of the design team had all issues off their issue tracker before shipping it (although this is pretty much all products).

I didn't read all the comments, so I hope I'm not just repeating what someone else has said, but to me this game is just another Bioware title. Bioware never wows me, they don't let me down either though.

I haven't played Dragon Age yet, but I expect it'll have elaborate freedom to go anywhere and do anything and thus focus less on an amazing story and deep challenging adventuring *cough* Mass Effect *cough*

It's not to say they're not good games, it's just lacking what I've been craving, which is a little bit of linear deep story. Still awaiting FFXIII...

@tibbon Fair enough you want to know?

Fable 2 - Old guy, straight from the start and people wanted to have an epic boss battle? Sorry ain't happening. The ending was fun for me as it allowed me character to develop more as a character (Yes listening to a raving madman is fun)

Oblivion - You say you don't mind the graphics however you are talking about how the faces are sub par for an excellent game? Then you compare it to a game that was launched at a later date. Doesn't that seem a bit odd? The faces were fine the way they were, im failing to see how people can go on and on how bad they were when in all fairness for the time period they look pretty decent.

(NOTE: If a game is released later then im sure it has better rendering and things like that

And all art IS good art. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

The game didn't seem to be pushed for a christmas released hell they even pushed it back. I somehow don't think Bioware is so much like that after all its Bioware, more likely that they would have been forced to if anything.

o and I never played ET or Daikatana

You know what game had bad facial movements but I still didn't mind? Arkham Asylum.

@Mishy I think there's actually something weird with the Oblivion engine. Fallout 3 had some of the similar, "everything looks amazing except faces" issue. Something between the lighting, movement and texture mapping. It oddly seems to be something that could have been tweaked to look 10x better with few engine changes.

@tibbon Well, Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect are where you wanna go for extremely detailed faces.

@all You people are so fucking lucky I was out to sea when this was popping.
@tibbon You, sir, are a fucking idiot. I would rip your asinine, paper thin arguments to shreds, but I doubt someone of such obviously low intellect would even begin to comprehend. And I like Fable 2's brilliant ending as well.

Go fuck yourself in the ass with a sandpaper condom.

And don't insult my friends.

@xoaks *laughs* Sandpaper condom? Now that is freakin creative. Then again, I shouldn't be too shocked. You are pretty much the most awesome person I know here(other than my brother of course.)

Sandpaper condom? Creative? Not really if you watch youtube at all and Kelly. It's actually just stolen jokes. Like Krusty the clown!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPDl2g8Upvk

I believe it's in this video that the 'fucking of something long hard and sand-paper-y' comes in. Really funny video by the way.

What's with all the anger anyhow? I should probably read all these comments and pin point it... Later though.

@Roxas-UrBoxas I'm just a bitch. I'm not actually angry.

I'm Ami from Toradora! if she cursed.

@Roxas-UrBoxas Dear god that video was annoying. Completely gave up on it about a minute in.

Hahaha, it doesn't get good until the song starts, annoying yes, hilarious at times, a little. Skip to like 3 or four minutes in when the song kicks in.

Also, good to know you're just a bitch I think? Hahahaha! At least you can admit it, I commend that!

@Roxas-UrBoxas I'm not *just* a bitch. I'm Queen Bitch. Kneel and worship, human.

Kinda like Zod from superman eh? We're living in tangent city right now.

@Roxas-UrBoxas Ahaha~
Kneel before xoaks~<3

Can do.

/kneel before Zoaks

I did it once i'lldo it again = D

All glory to the mighty hypnoto- I mean Xoaks

:<

@xoaks I'll kneel alright! Hail Queen Oaks! Queen of all that is awesomesauce on the gamerdnanets!

Can you please masturbate to each other somewhere else?

^ That just made my day. Hahahaha!

I think the comments are the new forums. This topic is more lively than most in the forums!

Keep it going. I like the trolling and conversation :)

You know what? I agree with this. I have been enjoying the game so far, I don't think it's bad or anything, and will play it through to the end. But it seems awfully over-hyped. People are treating it like the best game EVER, and it's not. It's good, as I said, but... Some of the things the reviews etc. are touting as revolutionary were done in other games previously like The Witcher, Fallout 3, I could go on. Mostly the Witcher, though, with it's morality system. Also, as an artist who studied animation, I have to say some things about the models and animation really bug me, probably bugs me more since i play a female character. the man-hands on the female models, (as well as the 'default' position which looks very unnatural) they didn't do separate animations (well, motion capture, i suspect) for male and female models, an just, some of the animation seems rushed, and there is a lot of clipping that looks horrible. clipping happens, i get that, but some of it is really bad, and makes it seem unpolished.

And upon reading some of the comments, some people sure do seem to be having trouble grasping that 'good, but was over-hyped and has some problems' does not equal 'omg, it SUCKS!'

@RayeGunn I'm glad some other people understand this. I'm still enjoying the game and plan to finish it. Hell, I'll probably buy some of the DLC packs too. I just doubt that this is a game that I'll compare others to in 10 or 20 years.

Yeah, I just picked it up, good, but not breath taking. :-)

I got some education on the topic now.

@RayeGunn I don't give a fuck whether people love or hate the game. I take issue with the fact that in Mr. tibbon's headspace, "I like this game = Thank you for the phat-ass check, Mr. EA". I still believe in journalistic integrity among the enthusiast press.
@tibbon
Ahaha~
I'm not tro~lling~ yooooou~

@xoaks Well, I think he has a point. There are quite a number of flaws/weak spots with the game, which should have been picked up by reviewers. period. A lot of the flaws aren't subjective things, It's not like it's a case of 'i don't like RPG's' I LOVE RPG's, it's not a case of finding the story dull, on the contrary, i find the story to be fairly interesting so far. But these are flaws no matter how you slice it. technical issues, and the like. A lot of them also showed up very early in the game, so 'didn't have a chance to play all the way through' isn't really an argument for not spotting them. Some people may not care about some of the flaws, but they should have been noted nonetheless, and they weren't. Instead it was gushed about endlessly. It wouldn't be the first time a game company has paid off reviewers. There have been incidents in the past where they have been exposed doing just that.

Picky picky....your flaws may be something that others don't care about, or don't consider "flaws". No game is perfect, and this was a long wait for many people. I didn't get paid to write a review, and I stand by my feelings on the subject.

I think why everyone got upset was that Tibbon was sort of saying that what he thought was bad, or flawed, that everyone should think is bad, or flawed (or that people were paid to say they didn't exist). Even though his tone changed later on, the original post was aggressive. The game has just gotten the praise that most high budget, big name games get. I love it and haven’t noticed anything that pisses me off enough to get up in arms about.

Some of us enjoy bugs, flaws, and glitches. Humans made the game, falling off the towers down into the 2D sprits fighting below at Ostagar was fun for me, and I wasn't upset at all. Reviews, at least in general, are about the overall feeling of a game. Getting down on your hands and knees....you are going to find "flaws" with anything and everything.

Oh...and the only thing that annoyed me about Oblivion faces was that on most characters...one eye was higher than the other and after I noticed it, I couldn’t take screenshot anymore...but I still loved the game and played the hell out of it.

Sorry the above is not very organized, I was sort of typing as the thoughts came. @Tibbon, nothing against you mate, as I said earlier, to each their own. Your original post was just a little aggressive, in my humble opinion.

"that everyone should think is bad" - as stated above, it's a reviewer's jobs to be rather explicit about the downsides of the product being reviewed.
Seriouslyyyyy Oblivion faces were damn awful. Especially females.

I find it funny that everyone seems to have a bug or glitch ir whatever with DA:O but the worst i have ever got it managing to get on the tables.

Oblivion faces actually didn't look to bad i liked looking at them

I think why everyone got upset was that Tibbon was sort of saying that what he thought was bad, or flawed, is what everyone should think is bad, or flawed (or that people were paid to say they didn't exist).

The above is how the start of my second paragraph should read, I wasn't very fluid there.

I'm not sure what side of the fence to sit on this one. I agree with tibbon that DA:O was hyped to something like that of MW2. It's a great game with it's flaws and annoyances (boss fights harder than trash). Suppose no one has picked up Divinity (360 title) and played that hmm?

Realisticly reviewers need to be more ... hmm ... open minded maybe? about the game they are reviewing. Possibly put themselves in both seats of a gamer, say one of an rpg addict to that of a rpg hater. Not a good example I know but it's early and I can't think exactly my best.

Games are made for leisure and entertainment. If there's a big hype over a game and you see ads everywhere that "you'd be a clown not to have this game come summertime" you feel somewhat compeled to buy the game if it's a genre that your into. What makes it worse is when you finally get the cash, run down to buy it, stick it into your machine ONLY, only to find out the thing the ads are raving about in your opinion is slightly above that of a coaster. MW2 is a good example for anyone who's played it recently. Actual gamers are prefering COD4 over MW2... shock horror.

I've seen images of that from DA:O on the PC and I'm shattered now. I know what the xbox is capable of and yet we are reduced to the graphics of something baulders gate style.

End of the day really there is always something we are going to hate about the games that we like to play. For me it's the shine in Fallout 3 when the sun rises in the morning (god damn the amount of times I've walked into scorpions or deathclaws is ridiculous!!) or the ending in Fable 2 (a 2 second fight with something that could have been more like the Jake of Blades isn't an ending I'm sorry @Mishy .... it's like eating a cream donut only to find when you get to the end there's no cream left).

Hopefully I've made my point clear. I'm not sure sometimes as I tend to ramble and things get jumbled in my head.

@Darniius I'm just glad you gave me a half decent reason and not the generic it just sucked!

Hmm that's an interesting review for this game, never thought of it like that...personally I kind of agree but of course it's all opinions.

and that's pretty much how it works in the gaming industry, you review something good and make a company really think you like the game a lot and wouldn't dare put it down, they'll give you special previews/reviews and whatnot which in turn boosts your website for people who are looking for info on that particular game. There's nothing horribly wrong with it and it shouldn't be stopped but it is very deceiving to people who have no idea how all that works and have no idea the game they're waiting for 8 hours in line for and paying 70 bucks to get is not going to give them the same exact experience as what was described to them, it never does, and that is what I find wrong with game reviewing magazines/websites/etc.

Dragon Age has an excellent story, and I feel the depth of the characters is where this game really excels.

I agree that the player's character should speak... the blank stare is a bit awkward.

@Mishy - No worries. Like I said before that's just my opinion.
@korncob - I'm a one man army so far but I'm hoping to turn that all around. I've explain to my employer that I'm not about to con someone into something that I know personally is crap. Latest leisure suit larry should be an example. Greatest thing about telling them that is they were more than willing to back me on my decision. If the customer still wants to buy it knowing that, that's their choice.

It's really up to the gamers to have thier views & opinions voiced about the games they play. Developers will always bring out something they think people will like. Somewhere along the developing, whether it's the director, the sales team or the beta testers I think something goes wrong. Maybe the people they bring in are too one sided.

I know I'd run things differently if I had a chance to change things but that's just me.

@xaxx Silent protagonists are my favourite. Crono never spoke, main characters don't need to speak. A simple head nod or shake was all that was ever needed.

@Roxas-UrBoxas I see your point, but I think as games become more and more immersive, you want more realistic dialogue. You want to empathize with the character you are playing as, you want to understand them.

Could you imagine if you'd never heard Snake's voice in MSG:4? Him just walking around and nodding his head would have made for some (even more) tedious and really lackluster character interactions. He would have just been a quiet, uncomplex goon in a weird suit.

@Roxas-UrBoxas Maybe it was just that my character looked really confused whenever the camera was focused on her. If she spoke, at least I'd know she understood. Haha.

@tibbon I wish I'd never heard Raiden's voice in MGS 2...

@tibbon The silent protagonist works better in RPG's, not cinematic realistic dramatic games like MGS. Zelda has done just fine for years with Link only nodding and gasping.

I thought that was because there was a different link in every game, and they wanted to save money on voice acting :P

@bettadud The part of the Zelda mythos that many people don't know is that every link is born without a tongue.

@WILDMAMMOTH that explains all the crap they eat from the bottles

@Roxas-UrBoxas INCORRECT. Crono does speak :3

In ONE alternate ending... give me a break.

@Roxas-UrBoxas Really? What ending, and what does he say?

The Lucca and Marle slide show ending. He comes out and says one sentence along the lines of "Are you guys done yet, let's go."

I believe you had to power up the necklace using the mammon machine, but not open the door leading to Dalton. Instead leave Zeal, go all the way back, and take the trash can and defeat Lavos. The timing was very crucial on that ending.

In any case, that's the ending where he says one line. And given the fact that it's a secret ending, I think he's still legit in being a silent protaganist seeming as there's no way to get that ending in your first play through of the main story.

I will state that I was incorrect though xoaks... but it's kinda a technicality. Like when Mulder and Scully made out in that alternate universe. Alternate Universes don't count! (hahaha, undergrads)

@Roxas-UrBoxas Hmm, guess I never noticed that. Thanks!