This really is a very good game. It's not perfect, no. But it's about as
perfect as you're going to get in this day and age. Normally I'm wary of games
where every review proclaims it as “The Best Game EVER!” But in this case
the accolades are mostly well deserved.
A big part of the game is role playing your character, talking with NPCs and
particularly your party members. Each is a fleshed out and interesting person in
their own right, and you can spend a lot of time talking with them and forming
quite strong bonds with them. It's like NWN 2 in that respect. You can even
romance a couple of them. The dialog is professionally writen and professionally
acted and this greatly adds to the game's quality.
I've read reviews that say the graphics are passable but average, but
I really liked the graphics and the look of the game. I particularly liked the
architecture and the stone work (yes, the stone work). I loved the grand castle
halls and ancient ruins with huge vaulted ceilings, where dust motes play in the
light beams that stream through the windows. The only things I didn't like
about the graphics were the female bodies (the arms looked too thin and
spindly), and the fact that you can't turn the rings at the characters feet off.
It's debatable whether you need these rings or not, or whether you need all of
them all the time, but I for one would have appreciated an option to disable
some or all of them.
It's a little bit too focused on combat and dungeon crawling. And many of
the quests are things you would sort of do anyway as you made your way through
the game. But I like that fact that quests take you back and forth between
different areas.
The loot is balanced very well in DA. I don't like games where every chest
or box you open contains a high end weapon or piece of armour and you have
thousands of gold pieces or credits by the time you're level ten. Loot in DA is
quite sparse and it's not easy to make money. You can afford to buy a few big
purchases but you have to be careful because you're never going to be rich. This
is great.
The rate at wich you level is very well balanced. In most RPGs I find
I level much too quickly, and sometimes it's a case of “Ho hum, more skill
points that I don't really need.” But in this game the skills and talents
make a big difference to many aspects of the game. And it takes quite a long
time to level up so you're constantly looking forward to it. This is a feeling
I though died long ago with games like Fallout 2 and Gothic 2 and I can't
tell you how pleased I am to experience it again.
I was a bit hesitent to buy the game because I couldn't see how the
360 controller could handle such a complex game. But it handles it pretty well
I must say. There's a fair bit of flipping back and forth through screens to
find the one you want but it's easy and quick to learn. There are a few
drawbacks to the 360 version, mainly you can't zoom the camera in and out,
which I didn't mind, and there is no Go To command. The combat is very
challenging and in may areas if you rush in you'll find yourself overwhelmed.
What would really help if you find you've bitten off more than you can chew is
to be able to order your party to disengage and fall into formation with you.
Then you could fall back to a more suitable position. But there is no such
command. There is simply hold your position, or rush in and attack. And
that's all.
The combat is very challenging, and I found it a bit too hard here and there
on Normal, but fortunately you can change the combat difficulty at
any time.
I got a good ninety hours of play time with this game, which is great.
It's one of those games that you could just keep playing and playing and not
want to ever stop. I didn't want it to stop, and will certainly give it at
least one more go through so it definitely has value for money. What's more it
runs sweet on the 360.
Basically if you're tempted to buy this game I can't think of a reason why
you shouldn't.
