Dragon Age IV: The Veilguard

[Rath Darkblade]

Fair enough. *nods* Shrieks (the Darkspawn version of assassins) already have access to some assassin skills and cause additional damage with their hook hands, so there's that. Ogres have loads of hit points and all kinds of skills (e.g. picking up boulders and throwing them at you); I remember being a little scared the first time I saw one.

Hmm. Probably the scariest thing in Dragon Age are dragons (gee, big surprise ), especially the Adult Dragons. In DAO, you can fight one on the way to the Temple of Andraste, but you don't have to. The Archdemon is also one heck of a tough dragon. There's no need to make them tougher or scarier, in my opinion. After DAO dragons, the Skyrim dragons are frankly a bit wussy.

What did you think?

[Tawmis]

Fair enough. *nods* Shrieks (the Darkspawn version of assassins) already have access to some assassin skills and cause additional damage with their hook hands, so there's that. Ogres have loads of hit points and all kinds of skills (e.g. picking up boulders and throwing them at you); I remember being a little scared the first time I saw one.
Hmm. Probably the scariest thing in Dragon Age are dragons (gee, big surprise ), especially the Adult Dragons. In DAO, you can fight one on the way to the Temple of Andraste, but you don't have to. The Archdemon is also one heck of a tough dragon. There's no need to make them tougher or scarier, in my opinion. After DAO dragons, the Skyrim dragons are frankly a bit wussy.

To me, Dragons shouldn't even be considered a part of it. Because Dragons exist, they should be terrifying and a !@$% to fight.

What I want is that sense of dread when I see a specific Darkspawn - the way the Matriarch/Beserker does in GoW.

[Rath Darkblade]

What about the Broodmother? She's definitely pretty damn terrifying when you see her for the first time (and revolting, too).

What about alpha darkspawn (e.g. the really tough ogres, etc.), who drop special treasures? IIRC, there's a special alpha hurlock in the DAO Deep Roads who has one piece of an ultra-special sword. He only shows up if you find the other two pieces first, though. Then you take the pieces to the grave of the guy who owned the sword, and voila -- ultra-special sword is yours!

[Tawmis]

What about the Broodmother? She's definitely pretty damn terrifying when you see her for the first time (and revolting, too).

What about alpha darkspawn (e.g. the really tough ogres, etc.), who drop special treasures? IIRC, there's a special alpha hurlock in the DAO Deep Roads who has one piece of an ultra-special sword. He only shows up if you find the other two pieces first, though. Then you take the pieces to the grave of the guy who owned the sword, and voila -- ultra-special sword is yours!

See, loot shouldn't matter. Like, it's cool, if they drop stuff. Great. But if the encounter doesn't get my heart racing, and I think, "Oh, it's one of you - you move over here, do fireball. You move over here, backstab. You go over there, sing songs to heal us. I will use my guy to go hit in the face." And it's the same fight, just different health bars, meh. I want them to have abilities that make them frightening. Like Beserkers are immune - yes, IMMUNE to guns, chainsaws, etc - you need to basically use ONE weapon to take them down. Or they're - like the Matriarch - only exposed in ONE spot - that you need to trick them into stepping into something so you can shoot it.

Dragon Age didn't have any of that.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. But if a monster is immune to all weapons except one, and you don't have that weapon ... isn't it really unfair? I mean, your guys will just be mincemeat. The monster will just laugh at you and beat you down. It'll be worse if every hit it makes causes 1 HP of damage. Basically, the monster will be like those munchkins who play D&D. "Ha ha! I am unbeatable! UNBEATABLE! And you can't do nuthin' about it! Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah, phhhbbttt!"

People who play D&D like that just make me mad.

It's true, loot shouldn't matter. But it's cool to solve the puzzle of how that loot shows up.

As for fear factor ... come on, admit it. Wasn't it terrifying the first time you fought an ogre, on top of the Tower of Ishal (just after another ogre snapped King Cailan in half, like a twig? Poor Cailan). And wasn't it horrifying (and disgusting) to see the Broodmother for the first time, deep in the Deep Roads? Oh, and wasn't the fight against the dragons -- e.g. Flemeth-as-dragon, the High Dragon, the Archdemon -- quite scary? (Not as pants-pissingly scary as the one against the Matriach, OK, but...)

[Tawmis]

As for fear factor ... come on, admit it. Wasn't it terrifying the first time you fought an ogre, on top of the Tower of Ishal (just after another ogre snapped King Cailan in half, like a twig? Poor Cailan). And wasn't it horrifying (and disgusting) to see the Broodmother for the first time, deep in the Deep Roads? Oh, and wasn't the fight against the dragons -- e.g. Flemeth-as-dragon, the High Dragon, the Archdemon -- quite scary? (Not as pants-pissingly scary as the one against the Matriach, OK, but...)

The Broodmother was the only time; and it was more disgust than fear.
And yes, the dragons were scary - but for the most part, you don't have to fight them. They're "if you wanna" fights.

[Rath Darkblade]

Fair enough. *nods*

I think we can agree, though, that Dragon Age and Gears of War are very different games -- especially DAO. There's so much humour in DAO, I thought I would die (especially the party banter, and so many other things).

Admittedly I don't know much about GoW, but from that little snippet I saw with the Matriarch, GoW doesn't strike me as a game with too much humour. Of course, I could be wrong. But can you imagine GoW with this guy in it?



Or this exchange?

Oghren: Ah, Wynne... Care to partake of Oghren's fine homebrew? It's the drink of the gods.

Wynne: Mm, ale, is it? And I hope it's brewed hygienically?

Oghren: Of course! I may not know clean from a beggar's arse when it comes to most things, but I don't mess around with my ale.

Wynne: Very well, let's have a taste.

Oghren: Well? Well? What do you think?

Wynne: Very nice.

Oghren: You like it? Hehe. Well, I never...

Wynne: Attractive amber color. Nutty flavor, slightly sweet, just a hint of toastiness. There's some spice to it... I'm finding hard to place...

Oghren: Yes? Yes?

Wynne: Is it... cloves?

Oghren: Cloves! HAR! By the stone, you're a lady after my own heart. if I weren't buckled into this armor, I'd take you round the corner and... well, you know.

Wynne: Give me more ale?

[Tawmis]

Fair enough. *nods*
I think we can agree, though, that Dragon Age and Gears of War are very different games -- especially DAO. There's so much humour in DAO, I thought I would die (especially the party banter, and so many other things).
Admittedly I don't know much about GoW, but from that little snippet I saw with the Matriarch, GoW doesn't strike me as a game with too much humour. Of course, I could be wrong.

There's humor in Gears of War - especially between the two characters "Cole Train" and Baird - mostly one or two liners, but still quite hilarious.
And I actually don't see GoW and DAO as being much different.
It's you as the main character - DAO (you make them) in GoW you're Marcus.
You have companions. They all have banter. All very well fleshed out with depth.
You control the characters to where you want them to move - or they auto move. DA has the advantage of you can directly control the character during combat the entire time, rather than tell them where to go.
You have to make choices in the game - choices that often have consequences - and may lead to a character's demise. (Gears of War 5 did this and it gutted me)

Difference -

DA has levels you go up. GoW does not. So DA is more "CRPG" in that regard.

But much of the rest of the game? Not all that different.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. OK -- well, I understand there's lots to see in GoW. But which one would you recommend? There are five of them ... *shrug*

[Tawmis]

Hmm. OK -- well, I understand there's lots to see in GoW. But which one would you recommend? There are five of them ... *shrug*

Despite my praise - based off what I know about you, from the forums - I doubt Gears of War would be up your alley.
But, I would naturally say Gears of War 1 (Ultimate Edition). Because it provides the main story of the world, what the enemies are, why they are, etc.
And it also has the Beserker - which to me, had the same exact impact of the first time I played Diablo and I heard the Butcher shout, "Fresh meat!"

Gears of War 2 and 3 are pretty similar. Gears of War: Judgement, gives some really good backstory. In Judgement, you don't play as Marcus (first time).

Gears of War 5 has Marcus' (main character of the other games) son as the main character.

I will say this, if given a choice - for myself - if asked which game I'd rather be stranded on an island with Gears of War or Dragon Age... Gears of War will win every time.

[Rath Darkblade]

Well, er -- it's true I don't like shooters (mainly because of my experience with games like Wolfenstein 3D, the first Doom, Team Fortress 2 and so on). Those games made me nauseous because of the constant spinning around to see what was shooting at me.

I think I've gotten used to the first-person perspective now, after years of CRPGs like Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim etc. But in those games, no-one is shooting at you non-stop.

What's GoW like? If it's a click-fest like Doom 1, TF2 etc., I don't think I'd enjoy it. OTOH, if you have the time to study the environment and properly line up a shot (a la playing rogues in the Elder Scrolls games), I might enjoy that.

[Tawmis]

Someone did a whole play through of Gears 5. Starts with the recap of Gears 4.



Actual game play begins here:




You often do not have time to line up shots, unless you stealth - but even then, a lot of areas, they're waiting for you to ambush you.

You are typically not looking everywhere - unless you run out into the open - the enemies are usually in front or to the side of you. Some areas, you will be in an open field, and taking shots.

[DeadPoolX]

Well, er -- it's true I don't like shooters (mainly because of my experience with games like Wolfenstein 3D, the first Doom, Team Fortress 2 and so on). Those games made me nauseous because of the constant spinning around to see what was shooting at me.

I think I've gotten used to the first-person perspective now, after years of CRPGs like Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim etc. But in those games, no-one is shooting at you non-stop.

What's GoW like? If it's a click-fest like Doom 1, TF2 etc., I don't think I'd enjoy it. OTOH, if you have the time to study the environment and properly line up a shot (a la playing rogues in the Elder Scrolls games), I might enjoy that.

GoW is a third-person cover-based shooter, like the Mass Effect games. They're very different from first-person shooters.

[Tawmis]

Well, er -- it's true I don't like shooters (mainly because of my experience with games like Wolfenstein 3D, the first Doom, Team Fortress 2 and so on). Those games made me nauseous because of the constant spinning around to see what was shooting at me.

I think I've gotten used to the first-person perspective now, after years of CRPGs like Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim etc. But in those games, no-one is shooting at you non-stop.

What's GoW like? If it's a click-fest like Doom 1, TF2 etc., I don't think I'd enjoy it. OTOH, if you have the time to study the environment and properly line up a shot (a la playing rogues in the Elder Scrolls games), I might enjoy that.

GoW is a third-person cover-based shooter, like the Mass Effect games. They're very different from first-person shooters.

OoOoOoOo! YES! Mass Effect is a perfect game to associate it to be like. But GoW is better.

[Tawmis]

And back on topic - the trailer.