not sure if crpg fatigue has just set in for the moment, but as much as i appreciate seeing how this is an evolution in presentation and interface from baldur's gate, neverwinter nights, and kotor, i am finding myself bored to tears by its writing. more hampered by the limitations of its switch to full 3d than it is empowered, there has (as of several hours deep) been nothing approaching the wonderful depth and complexity of exploring athkatla in bg2 and i just feel like i'm being pushed from place to unremarkable place by a bog-standard fantasy campaign... and, uh, i'm sure that i'll enjoy that plenty some other time. perhaps i'll revisit later in the year. for now, moving on.

Reviewed on Apr 19, 2023


5 Comments


1 year ago

Personally I like the world-building in DA:O but I also think that Bioware got into a deep rut starting with KotOR from which they have yet to emerge. Everything since then has just felt like "KotOR + " to me.

1 year ago

Er, that was supposed to say "KotOR + =gimmick="... shouldn't have used angle brackets.

1 year ago

@cowboyjosh: i don't doubt that there's plenty i'll come to appreciate when i feel a bit more drawn in by the immediate game. i'm sure i've barely scratched the surface in that regard, but i think it's better that i wait until i'm vibing with it... and for the moment that's not really happening, so i don't wanna force it.
the key with Bioware is that they've been using a one-trick pony even since their inception, it's just that the quality of said pony ranges from really good to really bad

1 year ago

The least compelling Bioware game imo. The campaign and even the art direction are just so unremarkable. The characters are well written and the combat is fun for maybe the first half of the game but there isn't much here to justify the huge time investment it asks for.