Dragon Age Origins: Review. And aaaall the things it did before Baldur's Gate 3 and The Witcher 3
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- 02:11 - Character Creation & Character Progression
13:35 - Gameplay
26:42 - Story & Lore
47:35 - Companions Lorewise
53:20 - Companions Gameplaywise
57:05 - Secondary Mechanics & UX
1:00:28 - Sound Effects & Mix
1:03:11 - Voice Acting
1:06:17 - Music
1:09:04 - Graphics
1:13:16 - Performance & Stability
1:14:16 - Other Considerations & Final Thoughts
Like many of you, I too was ready to declare that I had lived the golden age of video games in the late 90’s and early 2000’s with Fallout, Planescape: Torment, Baldur’s Gate 2, Arcanum, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines and so on and so forth. It’s not that there weren’t any cool games after that. It’s just that those particular titles that were released between 1997 and 2002 felt like peak gaming, like lightning in a bottle in some sense. And I guess it’s easier to face the prospect of adulthood (so to speak) with the feeling that… although you won’t have as much time to indulge in your favorite hobby as you used to, it won’t matter as much, because you were lucky enough to have lived in the golden age of games.
But then Dragon Age: Origins came out to make a strong simple statement. NO YOU HAVEN’T. The Witcher 3 which came out 6 years later and Baldur's Gate 3 which came out just last year might have shaken the gaming world for many. But to me, the last game to do that was Dragon Age: Origins. Hope you enjoy the review!
The Categorized Mod list for DA:O
Essentials and small changes
4GB Patch (you'll need this to allow the bigger mods to work otherwise they'll break)
DABIK (Improves cutscene quality for modern machines)
Theta HD (download it before the next mod)
Retexturing DAO (after the last mod so it can overwrite the things it has in common)
Fade Away (better Fade Colors)
Origin High Cunning Flag Reductions (Makes the impossible checks at the start of the game possible, they have voiced replies so this can't have been an intentional design decision)
Dain's Fixes (Fixes broken non functional skills)
Qwinn's Ultimate DAO Fixpack (So much cut content restored) but it's incompatible with
Morrigan Restoration Patch most of the things in this are in Qwinn's pack except for two small design decisions so decide which one you want.
Advanced Tactics and Even More Advanced Tactics (So the thing said about the Frozen condition is no longer true)
Pineappletree's Vibrant Colors (Only because its a requirement for the next mod)
Dragon Age Redesigned (The first mod from the guy behind New Vegas Redesigned)
Fade shroud unghost (makes an annoying visual effect go away)
Small Gameplay changes
No Starting Abilities (So you have more control over your character and what he can do to begin with)
Advanced Party (Same as above but for your party members)
Character Respecialization (if you want to mess around with respec, the last two mods should mean you don't need this)
Guaranteed Random Encounters
Big Changes
TSM Improved Elemental Damage DAO and DAA (removes the damage cap)
Combat Tweaks (big rebalancing changes)
Improved Atmosphere (All those complaints about Nobles looking like peasants? No more! lots of immersion changes along with gear changes)
Fun but broken mod
Extra Dog Slot (lets you have the Dog as a summon and he works like he's in the party with dialogue and everything. But the mod needs to be turned off before being Captured since it breaks the escape sequence, can be turned back on after escaping)
If you are like me and have played through the game many times and wants something really fresh, the best mod out there is Slinks Ravage. Imo it's the best mod ever for the game. They made a pool of new enemies, and they are randomly spawned with the vanilla enemies (of the same enemy type) which makes the game much more unpredictible and fun.
It also introduces another even better mechanic, randomly generated loot. So every enemy has a chance to drop new randomly generated items and weapons. This is a complete game changer as it makes looting so much more exciting, and it allows some crazy fun builds if you get lucky. For instance, you can get a bunch of items that gives you bonus crit damage, and those stack, so you can make a character that crits for like 400% of damage.
It will make the game harder, but also easier due to the new loot, so I recommend using the Combat Tweaks creature scaling mod to with this.
@@Skumtomten1 oh yes, Slinks is wild. Has some nice Diablo Vibes. 😀
The one great game in the dragon age series that BioWare keeps reminding us they will never be able to make again.
Dragon age origins was my jam back in the day. I've lost count of how many times I've played it start to finish
Hell yeah!
my most played rpg with all my files and dlcs i think iv logged like 5000 hours in it since it came out
One of my favourite games of all time. Cannot believe they haven't remastered it.
I miss Alistair 😢
YES please remaster it with all the DLCs
@@Ironclad6661 I would if I were a millionaire XD
This game needs a remake. Change nothing except the graphics and UI. Every quest and line of dialogue stays the same.
@@Stonepot113 Throw in Leliana's Song and Golems of Amgarrak as in-game missions. And add a couple of origin specific post-ostagar lengthy missions... and you got the best game ever in your hands XD.
@@YeOldEntertainment 100%. The only thing that turns me off from the game as it is is the graphics and color palette. You said it's so brown in the video, I think it is so yellow. Imagine this game with BG3 graphics.
Hell yeah! DAO is such an awesome game, I have very fond memories of playing it. I really fell in love the moment I realized how they handled the different races, with the elves being looked down upon as a servant class - that was such a cool twist for me back then, and I loved clawing my way out of the ghetto!
Imagine being the Alienage elf who saved Ferelden or the castless dwarf who became paragon!
@@YeOldEntertainment I just read it as „castleless dwarf“ - which is quite fitting, too. XD
"FOR FERELDEN! FOR THE GREY WARDEEEENS!"
This game might be my favorite RPG ever. Just played through it all again a few months ago and it was as marvelous as the first time. The best thing i can say to explain how awesome DAO is is that it made me enjoy listening to Thirty Seconds to Mars 😂
Hahaha. What a weird byproduct
Wow! Love this channel. I’m glad I accidentaly stumbled on the premiere.
Thanks man! Welcome aboard.
Favorite game of all time
In my league it's pretty pretty close to the top!
Dragon Age: Origins is BY FAR my favourite 3d cRPG.
Hell yeah.
Don't know about that, Mask of the Betrayer have a better story. Gameplay-wise though, yeah.
DAO made playing a mage satisfying. Magic and mages having an important role in the game's lore, playing one feels like you are powerful but dangerous if not careful.
Exactly
41:00 I don't think this shows that Duncan is a heartless bastard. Take note that Duncan doesn't draw his weapon until after Jory did. Even then, Duncan didn't strike first. Jory came at him because he assumed that Duncan was going to attack him, which is a fair assumption at that point. However, Duncan shows a lot of remorse for having to do it and clearly doesn't like that he did what he felt he had to do.
Jory most definitely did not come at him. He was walking away from Duncan, not towards him. It is just not true that "when he went for his blade he gave him no choice". If the animation had shown that, then it would've made sense, but that's not what happened.
@@YeOldEntertainment The Grey Wardens have this flaw where they place things like personal sacrifice at a way too high a pedestal, they put so much towards stopping the Blight at any cost they end up justifying even terrible acts as long as it contributes to that goal. It's why Corypheus had such an easy time corrupting them in Inquisition, even sacrificing each other in blood rituals is ok if it means using that sacrifice against the Blight.
@@YeOldEntertainmentOP is wrong about Jory coming at him but Duncan isn't heartless he doesn't like killing the guy and he is saddened by having to do it. But that's how Grey Wardens roll, you're in for life no desertion allowed
Dragon Age: Origins is one of the masterpieces of gaming history. Decades from now, it will stand the test of time.
Oh, you can bet your bottom dollar it will.
Oh my DOG! That dog looks a-ma-zing. Going to play! lend me the disc XD
I've told you a million times about it. Not that I expect you to remember.
The design team of DAO liked to call the dog Barkspawn.
@@kayak2hell Yes. In the Darkspawn Chronicles that's the name of the dog even.
Going berserk in the origin part and then remaining a staunch racist for the rest of the game as a female city elf is my canon.
Reactivity of that game to all: my class, race and yes, choices filled a void that was left behind by Fallout and Arcanum and made me hopeful about the future.
I dare to say it even surpassed them in that regard, which is only natural when you drop the rose tinted glasses and consider how such progress is and was inevitable... but still.
I also vividly remember how blown away I was, when the game allowed me to continue my dialogue while the characters involved remained mobile and kept walking in between (just like real life conversation would). Shame it was limited to very few scenes, but I still appreciate it for how it pushed the envelope.
And that voice acting...
Yes this game was "holy sh1t game" that came when I thought I had seen it all.
I think this may be the longest video you posted and I had to watch it in chunks, but I can 100% tell that it was a labor of love. I played this game only once, and while I did enjoy it quite a bit, I don't remember it as fondly as you describe it. Despite that, it's in my replay list, and will most likely be its turn after I finish ME: Legendary edition (so probably in a few months), and this video is making me very eager to replay it!
Haven't been present on Discord lately, but should be back in a week or so!
Keep up the excellent work, man!
Thanks! I hope you love it a but more this time
it's discounted heavily on steam till the 13th
@@accade_acaso You're the real MVP!
What an amazing game !
I played it back in the day and some times later ( and plan to do again ) .
Great story, characters , music - an exceptionally strong first game to start a series .
I would love that every CRPG get origin stories for their characters !
For me the series started and ended with this one (and its expansion).
One thing I realized when leveling up is that constitution is a waste to improve since leveling increases your health anyway. putting those points into dexterity dramatically increases my survivability in insane difficulty
True. And the fact that a lot tank & shield have dexterity as a requirement is a dead giveaway (not immediately of course, had to play a few times to come to this realization)
Enchantment? Enchantment!
I do remember the anti-Bioware people back during its reign. They had some points that seemed salient when oldhead rpgs were just Iron Tower and Spiderweb games.
But oh boy they were wrong. The fact that every rare Bioware-like epic is a huge hit says something.
They were THE kings back in the day.
David Gaider, the lead writer and creator is now living in my city woo hoo, need to have a couple of million dollars to ask him to develop DAO successor
Yes. We should go to his house trick or treat style but with a pumpkin full of money.
I'm still waiting for George Ziets (Writer of Mask of the Betrayer) to announce whatever game he's working on (If his studio isn't just a walking corpse at this point)
Omg, you actually showed me a scene I’ve never seen before. I’ve played this game over 15 times and never had that scene with Sten at the boat to the Tower.
AHA! I was hoping someone would say that! That's from my secret select DAO that most people missed!
When Reordan says he "listened in" I assumed he meant to hearing the arch demon who communicates telepathically, not that he was physically close enough to hear them speak.
As for Duncan, he's definitively a darker character than most of the people who talk about him realize. But he killed Ser Jory because the initiation ceremony is secret. (Although arguably it shouldn't be, because then you wouldn't have people assuming the grey wardens are unnecessary).
It should also be pointed out that Duncan didn't draw his weapon until after Jory did. Duncan almost certainly would have tried talking him down but Jory escalated the situation by drawing his sword.
Nah. It is true that at some point Alistair said "some of the older grey wardens say they can understand the Archdemon, but sure can't". But in that awful Riordan passage, they were clearly talking about the horde, NOT the archdemon. he later says that he has a "another piece of news that is even of greater concern". I think it was just clumsily written. If they wanted to make it clear that he listened to the archdemon. He would've said so explicitly, something along the lines of "The Archdemon has shown it self... I heard the call... the horde is headed towards Denerim". But that's not how it went.
As for Duncan. What you say may be true. But we know that at least Alistair witnessed how he killed Jory there and then and he... had nothing to say about it. In fact he very cooly says "Only one person in my joining died but it was horrible". As a player I was like... "Bro... this dude just killed one of the recruits!! Do you have nothing to say about it???".
Watch that cut scene again man. Jory drew his blade first but he started to walk away not towards Duncan. And even if that had been the case he could've said "Put your blade down" that didn't happen.
@@YeOldEntertainment Yes, but the arch demon telepathically talks to the horde. I'm not saying Reordan is physically sneaking around it, either. That's why he says he went close enough "to listen in, as it were" not "to overhear them talking" or something to that effect. The older wardens also start to hear the arch demon more clearly.
Alistair is the worst judge of Duncan's character because he idolizes him. He doesn't actually know him as a friend or equal, and he won't hear or see anything critical of Duncan. Alistair also knows that the ritual is secret.
@@YeOldEntertainment Or Duncan was smart enough to realize that Jory wasn't going to listen to him, no matter what he said, because he was starting to panic. And if Jory had run away, he almost certainly would have gotten either taken down by someone in the Ferelden army or they would have captured him and would have scheduled him for execution later for desertion. And in that case, he likely would have spilled what was happening during the Joining and Duncan absolutely could not risk that getting out.
People don't want to admit that the plot for bg3 is a literal repeat of DAO
This was the CRPG that got me into the genre.
You started with one of the best!
Here it is, the OG (with all its memory-leaking glory). One of the biggest complements I can give to BG3 is that it came the closest to replicating that DA:O feel. The writing and the lore are bar none the best I've seen in gaming, and that lore still carries through to the development hell that Dragon Age Dreadwolf is in, being pretty much the only upcoming AAA game that I'm interested in. But, while it seems a pretty unpopular opinion, I agree that while DA:O's soundtrack is good, DA:I's soundtrack is by far the best in the series, Trevor Morris did an outstanding job and he will be missed in DA:D.
Thank you for watching my man!
I think they totally butchered the IP beyond Dragon Age Awakenings. Dragon Age 2 is squarely at the top of the list of most disappointing games I've ever played. I detested almost everything about it . The Qunari invasion story was decent. Varric and Merrill were decent companions and the idea of your companions developing developing different skills depending on whether they loved you or hated you made disapproval count. And this was especially good to make the most out of characters you detested (Fenris for example, worst companion, it belonged in a JRPG, not in Dragon Age). I detested everything else to no end.
Dragon Age Inquisition wasn't as bad, but it was not great either. It has a great companion (Blackwall) with an absolutely fantastic companion story, the Dragon fights were pretty freaking cool and it had a few interesting moments here and there. Then there was the music, of course, which was absolutely killer, from the epic set pieces to the unaccompanied bard songs at the tavern, it was aces all the way through. But it had also had too many awful moments and characters that made me dislike the experience too much in too many moments.
I really do not care about Dreadwolf. This IP is dead to me, but I will always treasure the masterpiece that was the OG game, its DLCS and its expansion.
@@YeOldEntertainmentDAI might have been better than 2, but with they wokeified the Qun, all I could think was "look how they massacred my boy" it also had the misfortune of releasing around a much better game. After I played Witcher 3 I couldn't see DAI as anything other than inferior.
I'll give DAI one thing, it's crafting system is almost perfect (the only way it could be better is if design/schematics didn't affect stats)
@@cyberninjazero5659
yeah, it's so weird that the "ultra-religious but technologically advanced" Qun became something else past DA2
it's almost like the devs (heck, most people; look at Villeneuve's Dune) are afraid to make people inspired by the Middle East fundamentalists or intolerant
You got me with muscle mommy
Can't go wrong with those.
Dragon age origins is leagues ahead of games like baldurs gate, arcanum, and vampire the masquerade.
It has a lot of bugs and issues that should have been fixed, and the sequels were disappointments.
But the tactics system carried this game hard.
Still one of my favorite games of all times, along with Mass Effect 1 and 2, Witcher 3, Assassins Creed 2 and Odessey and many other great games. Currently playing The Dungeon of Naheulbeik. Best game in this style I have ever played.
Interesting choice. (Dungeon of Naheulbeik)
DAO was fantastic. I remember vividly the excitement while playing this game upon release, and only a few games that came after were close enough in that regard. I tried the sequel only for a limited time (less than an hour of playtime) but since I'm aware of the general backlash I will probably sooner replay DAO in stead of retrying DA2. With that in mind I'll probably never get to Inquisition :>
Yes it was!
I've played this game more times than I'm proud of hehe, both on PC and the console version.
It is still enjoyable today in the middle of 2024, and even more so if you spend some time learning how to install mods of which there are some that you wonder why they were not included in the base game (Yes, I'm talking to you Dog Slot... ).
The biggest flaw that I can find in this wonderful game is the following, there should have been 8 origins instead of 6.
Let me explain:
On the part of the elves you have the Dalish and the City Elves.
On the part of the dwarves you have the Noble and the Outcast.
But... from humans? We only have the Noble, it hurts not to have a contrasting human origin, perhaps a warrior of ash for example.
And the same thing happens with the mages, we only have the one from the Circle when we clearly could have had an apostate one.
OK, saying that DAO has some of the best questing of any RPG requires a major caveat, which is that there's a massive gulf in quality between the main story quests and side-quests.
I remember there were a few times when I talked with an NPC, got a single dialogue option, and ended up completing a quest that I had forgotten even taking. Now, I suppose that's kind of to be expected; you don't generally expect notice-board quests to be particularly deep or interesting in any game not called The Witcher 3.
However, and this is particularly disappointing for a Bioware game, even most of the companion quests were pretty lacklustre. I remember only Morrigan's and Leliana's feeling meaningful; the rest were either too short or too basic to really feel like they added much to the characters. Wynne's in particular was not great...especially if you already did the Dalish segment of the game.
DAO is fantastic. Too bad the sequels couldn't live up to it, because they had such a solid foundation in Origins.
I read the song of ice and fire at the time I played my sword and board human... daaamn good times. Should play through it again..
This game is ridiculously awesome... I see what you did there... That's zebran quote when you end a fight and he still has good health if i remember correctly.
That "we are ridiculously awesome" and the way the voice actor said it was A-mazing
THANKS!!! sometimes I think like these little Easter eggs are lost forever. Thank you for noticing!
I don't usually replay games, but this is definitely on my replay list. I just hope BG3 and ME:Legendary replay won't take too much time... :)
Skip to DA:O :P
I love mixing glyphs
It was awesome
Great video 👍🏾
Thanks!
I fu-king love your channel cuz Im probably the biggest crpg nerd I know of and just have the same love and passion to the same games like you.. it's quite astonishing. BG2 and DAO are also my highest rated and most often replayed rpg of all time aswell (fallout 2 next lol)
Really great review, absolut blast watching it.
Thanks my man. I thought of starting Enderal. Maybe I'll do a spree of runs of games with mods that are a complete overhaul soon (Icewind Dale 2 enhanced edition, Mount & Blade Bannerlord with the Clash of Kings mod, Enderal, etc).
@@YeOldEntertainment It's really good, way better than original skyrim xD
Altough it is a first/third-person arpg, so something quite different than our usual taste.
I really like to replay my games with mods, exspecially gameplay mods that make the game more challanging, fun or balanced and funnily enough when I replayed DAO like 2/3 years ago for the 6th time I tried out some gameplay improving mods and found out that the game original balance and skill system was really bad^^
archery is straigt out bugged and the talents are useless, some melee talents (exspecially dual wield) are not working correctly and magic is simply OP in this game, which is somewhat funny given we have only 2 mage companions :D
Would be cool if every now and then you did a video of a particularly popular mod, could be its own playlist. I am wondering about the icewindale 2 one and hearing that Neverwinter Nights mods(Swordfight) is well done, but worried it's too hardcore
@@chrisbauer5905 I'm pretty sure there will be a video about the Icewind Dale 2 EE mod
I'm not even done the video yet, but I really want to play this again now.
I remember you saying you liked the 2nd one first. I couldn't believe my ears XD. I hope you like it more this time around! (Plus the dog is the best!)
Wish they would put the on the PSstore for ps4 (I don't own a PS5) always had dog in my party,, it's one of only a few games I've actually bought dlc for.
I thought the Stone Prisoner was especially good for its price
I thought it was a but pricey at first, but after a few runs, I think I got my money's worth.
new content !!! YEEEEESSSSS
Took a while, but here it is.
@@YeOldEntertainment I am so happy, was a pleasure to watch
@@whinegummi6329 Thanks man! I'm glad you liked it!
it is definitely very high up in my top 10 of rpgs :) late 90s till about 2010 was a great time to be a bioware fan!
It is in my top 10 too.
My top - 1 game of all time.
Like Flemeth says: "There's a smart lad".
Oh, I was asking it for so long and you didn't disappoint.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks a lot for reminding me why I love this game so much, probably my favorite cRPG with Deadfire. I just wish there was a bit on Awakenings, a great if too short expansion.
Thanks. There will be a video about the expansion soonish.
I really need to give this one another try at some point. I never liked it much, but going in with the right attitude might help.
The main reason why I have never managed to finish it is that the pacing in a number of areas is awful. The second half of the Brecilian Forest, the Deep Roads, the Haven area with the Cultists and probably some others areas; they all suffer from mostly pretty bland environments and hours and hours of samey combat encounters. Granted, a lot of RPGs have issues with encounter design and combat bloat, but somehow it felt particular bad with DAO. There wasn't much in terms of sidequesting and especially those areas I did mention were just so empty of any meaningful conent that it was often hard to know why I was bothering putting any time into it at all. The context did often just disappear below the endless wave of combat encounters for hours. It didn't help that I barely remember any interesting or aesethetically pleasing environments. Same for the soundtrack. I honestly couldn't tell you anything about it. And no, I'm sure I didn't have it turned off. (I gave it a quick listen on youtube and I can see why I don't remember any of it. It's surprisingly generic, especially considering that it's supposedly by Inon Zur?!?).
Other than that it mostly takes place in a pretty generic Fantasy setting while also going for the grimdark angle instead of having fun with the typical cliches. It's not that that couldn't be good, but I believe it's much harder to do well than the more classical, usually more lighthearted approach. It mostly lacked the charming characters, memorable or interesting encounters and such. Tooltips are another failure on Bioware's part. There is basically no information in them. Subclasses should probably not have been hidden away in the environment. It was unreliable and made early classbuilding less interesting. C&C and reactivity were of little consequence from what I remember. Having some basic reactions is nice, but with full voiceacting, relatively involved presentation and a mostly predetermined story, it seems unrealistic to expect too much here. It's just that it was a pretty big selling point back then. There is little choice about how to do quests though. You'll definitely be slaughtering hordes and hordes of enemies, no matter what the dialogue sometimes pretends at.
Ultimately DAO is hurt by being a good 40-hour-RPG pretending to be 80 hours worth of content and it's all the worse for it. I'm pretty sure I would have liked it more if the game had been more honest about that and cut a few dozen pointless combat encounters.
39:40 there is an explanation, it's said in the same sentence you cut off to early, the darkspawn can sence Grey Wardens IF in many numbers, if you just have 1 or 3 they won't notice you unless a smart one or a magic user is present
They would detect Riordan just as easily as they would Alistair. And one can only assume that the horde going to Redcliff would be even more numerous than the group hanging about in the wilds. But the fact that we are even having this conversation means that Riordan's passage "requires explanation". If it had been well written, there would be no argument as to why something happened or didn't happen. If the horde had attacked Denerim directly... instead of this red herring of going to Redcliff and then "oh no we were, wrong, we have to go back to Denerim" they wouldn't have needed to introduce Rioran patchy answer to the player's "Why did we think they were coming here in the first place?" (which is a dialogue option that was included there because that's a question the audience would have) . The battle itself gameplaywise could've played out in a similar way to The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC... only one would be the defendants instead of the invading army.
Pretty good video mate
Thanks!
Dragon age origins is the closest a game has ever gotten to the feeling of lord of the rings
I think it's much more high fantasy Game of Thrones.
Gray Wardens - Night Watch
Old Gods - Night King
Dark Spawn - white walkers
Don't forget... Bastard that's the legitimate heir to the throne rising up to lead the world against the big evil guys. I made a video about this before I even had the channel but it's way too cringe. Maybe I'll re-edit it for this one.
It's not hard to buy that Morrigan is perfect.
DA:O is amazing, even years later. Which is why DA2 and DA:I were such disappointments.
Xactly
The video is amazing! but why have you put battle music when talking about companions? 51:30
This game felt like Baldur's Gate 2 if it grew up. It played to Bioware's strength in the best possible way. There are few things more off-putting than playing a game that thinks it's about one thing when it's really about something else, but DA:O knows exactly what kind of game it is, and exactly what you want out of it. It's so rare to find games like that today, with a perfect harmony between writing and design.
Oh for sure. DA:O know it's an RPGish game that's first and foremost about the story. And it nails almost everything it tries to accomplish.
Grew up? I think DA:O's gameplay is probably more fun (I definitely enjoy being a mage in DA:O much more - although less nuanced and varied), and the graphics are obviously "better" (Baldur's Gate 2 has much better environments, that shit holds up) but DA:O is much more uncomplicated high fantasy than BG2.
Here I go installing again...
Mission accomplished.
You fear barbarians will swoop down upon you
Yes, swooping is bad
A masterclass of a game. The sequels are, unfortunately, a mere shadow of Origins.
True.
Great stuff as usual! Very influencial game and a classic that's held up very well!
Hugely influential.
I think there are like 15 people who think that DA2 was superior. Character writing, even story writing. In cramped environment you can wiggle only so much. Sure, repetitive environments are downgrade, but all in all, it made story tighter and more immersive, at least for me.
Not that DAO was bad game, far from it.
@@RudolfSikorsky I detested DA2 to no end. To me the story in DA2 was so bad... that it wouldn't have felt out of place in a modern JRPG (except the Qunari, plot, that was the only decent thing about it).
@@YeOldEntertainment That's crazy to me. I think the story is really interesting; telling a smaller, more personal concurrent story was brilliant. And the combat went from "good" to "great". Combat is probably the 4th most important element in an RPG (2nd tier; top tier is the 3 most important) but it *is* a really big part of gameplay, so that helps.
To me it was more that it *felt* small, and a large part of that was the environment, to me. DA:O being as linear for an RPG was okay because that's a pretty high fantasy, good vs evil story; I don't think the writer(s) really found the tone of DA2's story, there was too much of DA:O's high fantasy feel to it. (And I think the characters were really hit-or-miss for a Bioware RPG... although I felt much the same about DA:O's characters.)
@@SchulzEricT DA2's story is interesting in theory, but in execution it didn't deliver.
Didn't like DA2's combat either, since seemingly every single fight had multiple waves of enemies, making it tedious and not as tactical as Origins'.
I would say BG3 carry on and build on DAO legacy, more than the old isometric crpg tradition
Yeah... too bad BG3s writing isn't as good, but it is king in reactivity
Can anyone tell me what the differences are when we play as human female rogue? I mean of course we can become queen. Is that it?
yeah, that's all
Its a masterpiece.
Yes it is!
shame that the devs decided to have a hard-on for ancient elves, making the lore more boring
I found the Dickens-inspired city elves, ASOIAF-inspired dwarves, and the civilized Darkspawns far more interesting
I could never get into this game. I thought it was boring. I'm excited for you to prove me wrong!
Well, different strokes for different folks. It's one of my all-time favorites, for sure. It is a story-fist game though.
I finished it, and it was a slog. There isn't a single thing sticking out. Boring, linear classes, linear maps, unoriginal narrative premise, boring combat, stereotypical companions, loads of fetch quests. Outside of presentation, I can't think of a single thing it does better than other games.
great video! thank you
And thank you for watching it!
First game was the best, third one was dogpoo.
Both DA2 and DAI are 💩
Yes, the second one is squarely at the very top of my list of most disappointing games evah!
My ranking is inquisition>da2>dao, lol.
@@Discovery2024-rn8kn DA2 is good. DAI is dogshit.
DA2 should've been a spinoff, the personal story of Hawke is actually interesting
no comment on Inquisition
42:16 what about rogue elevates the experience?
I get the bit about playing as a human noble female... but what does being a rogue add to the outcome?
One more game that we have similar taste. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. Played through the different prologues, enjoyed the combat, the story, everything, but I have to agree that the game is quite brown 😂😂
Great review man, keep up the good work
Thanks my man! Cheers!
I bought this game's collectors edition and played day one way back. Absolutely despised this game, it was the last bioware game I ever bought. When DA2 came slithering along on its belly I felt very vindicated.
I find it difficult to look at this review passively, I remember doing redcliff and some other area, reaching the dwarven ruins before I got so disgusted I just dropped the game completely.
So, is it better than NW2 - Mask of the Betrayer?
By a smidge 🤏 Play both if in doubt!
As a game, yes
story-wise, no
gameplay-wise, yeah
Used to play DA:O, BG3. Don't care for them. PoE 1 & 2 is where it's at (Pillars of Eternity)
As much as I hate to sound like the guy who complains about graphics in a game with content so brilliant, I gotto say, I hate the graphics in DAO. This sepia filter on everything, brown enemies on orange ground in yellow mist.. and just the color scheme of everything, down to skill icons... uurgh. Also the faces, the main cast of companions and notable npcs is great, althu repetitive, but most other npcs are sooooo bland, and worst of all, the fact that I couldn't make a look for MY own character that I'd enjoy and it was really difficult to invest, immerse myself fully with that in mind. Lots of armors also look very silly, the way weapons are sheethed is silly, I could go on and on.
And I get that some of theses "flaws" came from a decision to make the game a fantasy grounded in "reality" and so on, but still.. So yeah, graphics is my one big gripe with this game, that keeps me from coming back to it more often. Btw I love arcanum and how that game looks, just to give some perspective
Arcanum has a distinct artstyle, this game was a victim of its time. It was a time where grime, gray, and brown were popular.
The Fade is the most egregious example.
Well you were that guy who complained about the graphics. But you're not wrong, brown takes over making whites yellowy and reds orangey. Hehe.
We won't see its like again.
And no, bg3 is not on the same level.
This --> "bg3 is not on the same level" is not even remotely suggested in the video. Every time BG3 is mentioned in the video has the context of "DA did it first and/or better" Plus the scores I gave to these games were BG3: 8.5 DA:O: 9.4. So no... they are not on the same level and I would never say that ever.
@YeOldEntertainment that comment was for the viewers/casuals. Not you, Alex.
@@patrickclark9430 Justin Case
@@YeOldEntertainment I love DAO but BG3 is better in almost every way imo. Only thing Origins does better is in the name; having unique storylines for different classes.
@@matternicuss the writing in BG3 is way way worse. The story is really not that good. The game nails gameplay and reactivity but players who are looking for story are better off with majority of other CRPGs including this one.
BG3’s companions are also not very well written compared to DOS2’s, BG2’s, and DA:O’s. Writing has never been Larian’s strong suit it seems.
Also BG3’s UI/UX is ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS.
Pretty good video honestly. But is it bad my favourite is inquisition?
You like what you like, man.
Still the best ttrpg video game adaption ever. At the time I was blown away. Today, I’m still chasing the dragon.
I was not impressed by bg3 because of the combat (and I’m a dungeon master.)
But it's not a ttrpg adaptation. Dragon Age Origins is an original system which makes it even better!
I don't know if it's possible to simp harder for a game than a muscle mommy...
For Ferelden!
For me this game is more BG3 than BG3
Great video again. Morrigan was my favorite companion, her voice actor is amazing and walks like Morrigan. Hands down one of the biggest reasons I loved this game so much. All the voice actors are amazing. This game created a huge following. Then the money peope came and we got Dragon Age 2 and Dragon 3 ... both subpar games, one barely enjoyabe, and the other a lackluster that still inspired others to make great art themselves. The only people the money makers disappoint, are the fans that are inspired by their work, everyne else love them. They never made more money, and they cna never stop telling us about it.
ua-cam.com/video/3MVqdYcbDp8/v-deo.html
Thanks for watching man!
@@YeOldEntertainment I greatly enjoy your videos.
I don't think there is an RPG I hate as much as this one.
If I may ask... why do you always play dwarf characters bro?
dwarf noble origin best origin
Dwarf commoner is my favorite but the Aeducan Origin is not far behind.
@@YeOldEntertainment
still find it funny how happy your family is knowing you're dead but became a Paragon post-mortem, elevating their position
Why is Jory in his underpants?😂
I always sell the clothes and equipment of everyone who's going to leave the script or die.
Nice game. Loved it when I played it back then but don't know if it lives up to my modern standards since nowadays i prefer skill based Eastern RPG games like nioh2, monster hunter and soulsborne games over clunky western RPGs
Except those are ARPGs, and Dragon Age Origins is more a CRPG. It's like comparing F1 and Nascar, they have some things in common but they appeal to different audiences.
@@YeOldEntertainment when i was younger i cared more about the story in video games and now that I'm older i seek gameplay
That's why i vastly prefer Japanese Arpg games because you can get way better stories and side quests than any Crpg by just playing a good board game or reading a book but you can't experience anything like a good Arpg In any medium but video games. They're unique to video game medium and rely solely on what video games can offer: gameplay and you can play these games thousands upon thousands of hours and just enjoy the great gameplay
While Western RPG games lack deep gameplay so they tend to stick with writing and that stuff.
@@alariaaurora8456 But CRPGS and ARPGS are not only different in the fact that the former lean more heavily into the story. They also challenge the player in different ways. Nioh 2 for example (which isn't really an ARPG, it's more an action game with RPG elements) and Bloodborne challenge the player's thumb-eye coordination and reactivity (parry, dodge, taking advantage of windows of opportunity, etc) but their tactical dimension is not as deep as it is in CRPGS. When I beat Bloodborne and Sekiro, I did so by mastering combos and using the right weapon at the right time. But that was it. It was super challenging, but not the type of challenge I like the most. CRPGS require you to think of tactics and overarching strategies a lot more but they purposefully tone done the thumb-eye coordination challenge to a minimum.. They are just different. Also CRPGS aren't exclusively western and ARPGS aren't exclusively eastern, though eastern games tend to be more streamlined, more about combat and less about emergent gameplay (with a few very notable exceptions).
Baldur's Gate is still better.
"Spe CIAL Iazation" STOP PLEASE STOOOOOP
hell yeah
Yo go!