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Denver, 2:58 AM
Wed Dec 2
62 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/01/09
"Now who's the badass biotic, bitch?"
[kotaku.com]
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I was only playing to see where the story could go, despite finding all the combat and exploring repetitive and tedious.
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Gordy sighes.
A friend nudges the first, "Ooooh, shit, dude I'm sorry. I totally forgot."
Ever since Gordy gained about 10 tons he's not been able to fit into Jim's. Sad day.
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Incoming...Coming...whatever?
Did I miss it?
12/01/09
at this rate i'm going to suspect EA is going to make Biowake pull a horse armor :/
kidding. and this is a pre-order bonus from non-gamestop outlets? i'm not quite sure.
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Not really.
Mass Effect is easy enough that you can pretty much beat the game on hardcore solo.
12/01/09
How much of Mass Effect did you play?
I never chose the characters based on what I "lacked"
Mass Effect was easy...too easy in fact. However, I felt this was not important because it allowed me to choose whoever I want.
Replaying it now in fact...playing as a biotic...with another biotic...
Now...for other RPGs? Yes, you could argue it is a problem. But even then, just scroll the difficulty slider down(at least for modern RPGs).
12/01/09
Also...one thing Mass Effect did to help this was allowing you to "unlock" new skills to use with whatever charatcer.
Like...unlocking AR skill for a Biotic to use. Helps even more with the easy difficulty.
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Ah...forgot about that...
Well...most of the items in those lockers was pretty crappy...
The main issue I would have would be the few "missions" you find from hacking terminals...
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Alright, I misunderstood.
Well...I had the same issue on my first playthrough...
But personally...I think it makes us choose different party member and have different playthroughs.
As I said in an earlier post, the items were that memorable. You make money quick in that game...to quick some may say. And you have the Spectre shop...with the best weapons and armor...
I feel the loot wasn't as big a deal as the story...
And the few missions/quests I missed from terminal...I just dragged Tali(or whoever) with me to grab the quests as well as do her quests and learn more about her.
I don't think mass effect had this problem as much as other RPGS.
12/01/09
Again..I think this adds to the replayability...albeit...forced I supposed.
Really made ME want to play as a different class...not drag a party member along because of their class.
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Well..if I chose a tech...why would I need to have to choose a biotic/soldier...if the game is easy?
That's the part of the argument I don't understand...since the game is easy. You could play the game with a team of biotics on hard and survive.
I think the one restricting is needing a tech...to open stuff.
But beyond that...I don't think there are many other restrictions.
12/01/09
I obviously needed a healer and a tank, which there are only one of each in Dragon Age (by default). That left ONE empty slot which I chose to fill with an archer.
I hate getting pigeon-holed into choosing my party based on whatever class I've chosen for my character.
It's not nearly bad with Mass Effect because there's no healer or tank.
EDIT: I totally forgot, I was COMPLETELY stuck with this group make-up because I didn't have lock-picking. My 3rd party member, the archer was there just for lockpicking. Healer, Lockpick, Tank & DPS.
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In DA you can customize each character by choosing from many skills as they level. So, I think overall what you're talking about is quite feasible in DA, and any combination of characters could work.
I find that I am guilty of sometimes playing a game like a gamer. What I mean is I will always be min-maxing, and making the choices that I think are what I "should" be doing to get the best perceived rewards, etc. I've tried to break that, in particular with RPGs, and instead focus on the roleplaying. Like making choices as my character should, based on who I'ved decided he/she is. This is really what RPGs should be about, but I I find it easy to forget at times. Then it can devolve the experience to "what did the dev want me to do?" Again, I think Bioware has done a good job in many places in DA by throwing you curveballs, where every choice seems right, or every choice seems wrong, and there are true repercussions on how the story plays out.
I believe this idea extends to what you're talking about. There may be an "easiest" set of characters, but that doesn't mean that it's the correct one for you to choose. Maybe, like me, you have to break yourself of the habit of choosing what you as a gamer think is the "best" choice, and instead just let it roll for fun and let it play out however.
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There are definitely some challenging fights, and there have been a few cases where I have had to try a couple of attempts before I was successful. To me, that's a plus. I don't like the strategic parts of my games to be too easy. If I'm not challenged I'm usually not having fun after a while.
I think it would be realistic to say that someone could build a party out of any combination of characters in DA and be successful. The ability to tailor the characters over time gives a lot more flexibility to fill in gaps. That's not to say it would be easy with any combination, but I'm thinking it really would be doable.
I absolutely know what you mean by making choices that will allow you to see the most. In general I won't replay a game, so I do the same thing to "get the most out of it". But honestly I think this is a sickness we need to get over. DA has been a thought catalyst for me in this regard. I believe that if I roleplay the character and try not to make "gamer choices" like we've been discussing, then it will be a richer, more enjoyable experience. Even to the point that I may forgo other games in order to play again for a different rich experience. You know, like play as a totally different type of character with a different mindset, but again not making choices as a gamer.
I'm at about 75 hours played so far, and I think I'm still less than 50% of the way through. I've read every codex entry, been doing all the side quests, listening to all the dialog, etc. I'm absorbing the game and I gotta say I think a large part of my enjoyment is because of the mindset I'm trying to have while playing. To Bioware's credit, I'm not sure this would be possible in most other RPGs to the same extent (including their past work). I think they've done an outstanding job with DA.
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