Blogs Mass Effect 2 vs Dragon Age: Origins

It’s curious that two similar games from the same games studio differ so much in how enjoyable they both are.

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/12/19/mass-effect-2-vs-dragonage-origins/

 

The problem with Dragon Age was that, well, it was a fantasy game. The whole D&D genre is so worn out and predictable that it's very hard to think of something new, and DA:O certainly wasn't innovative. ME2 was good by default, simply because of the lack of good sci-fi games in the last few years. It wasn't overwhelming though, had good moments but on the whole it was like a mainstream movie - attempting to be deep and meaningful, but in a dumbed-down, american way.

 

I have to say I felt the complete opposite with regard to ME2 and Dragon Age.

I just finished Mass Effect 2 this weekend and feel no inkling to play it through again. I thought quite a few missions were a simple tiresome slog to get through and the collection of minerals for the upgrades was a dull waste of time adding nothing extra to the game. Dragon Age on the other hand I enjoyed every minute, the story, the setting, the inventory system, the characters etc I thought were far superior in every way to ME2. The second I finished Dragon Age (after 75 or so hours) I immediately started a new character.

I've mentioned this before, but the Mass Effect story line reminds me so much of Babylon 5 (even the collector Harbinger looks like the shadows) that I didn't think it was particularly new or novel.

This is my opinion and I'm sure most people here will disagree, but overall I was very disappointed with Mass Effect and was blown away by Dragon Age!

 

I saw Dragon Age as a modernised classic, bringing together many familiar elements from the fantasy genre and combining them in one game with a few small but important twists.

Yes, I've seen Elves living in a forest before, but I can't remember ever having such an in-depth conversation with one before I played Dragon Age. There's nothing wrong with revisiting a familiar setting and exploring it in greater depth than has ever been done before, as Bioware did here.

The Elves in Dragon Age travelled through forests as nomads not because it was their traditional home, but because of racial tensions between them and Ferelden's far more numerous humans. The mages were not all-powerful rulers of the world but virtual prisoners, under the oppression of a militarised religious organisation.

The world Bioware created for players to explore might sound done to death on first description, but in fact it I find it to be more refreshing than any "we're making great efforts to avoid copying Tolkien" fantasy world I've ever experienced.

In fact, I would go as far to say that amongst all the tributes to the work of Robert Jordan included in this game, this is the greatest of them: the re-working of classic material into something that feels both familiar and completely new at the same time.

If you found yourself unable to remember what had brought you to a location in the game in the first place and completely emotionally removed from the act of murdering an innocent child I suspect that you broke the golden rule of playing RPGs. It's a Role Playing Game; you have to give something back. If you're not "in character" as you play, you're missing the point and more than likely letting the game wash over you rather than drinking it in as the writers intended.

 

Lets face is, ME2 was awesome as proven by this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxrO5-HPIAw ^^

 

ME1 was better than ME2 - the scanning game almost stopped me playing, so so poorly done.

But both ME's overall were brilliant games - but they were very similar to the KOTOR mold, and KOTOR games were better and more original.

But i have to say I felt more immersed in Dragon Age, yes ME was probably the better game to pick up and play, but Dragon age had sooo much going on with NPC's and characters, the game was very very in-depth in that sense and humerous and just very well done.

 

What bugged me the most about DA:O was a lot of the game mechanics felt broken (or at least not how I imagined they should work). My healer was always out of mana, my tank couldn't do any threat and it generally degraded to my mages setting everything on fire including themselves.

Gear felt poorly itemised and created on a whim rather than planned out in any way.

Even in the turn based mode the combat always felt completely random with the NPCs doing the wrong thing.

ME2 on the other hand the combat left fluid and the NPCs generally backed me up with what ever I was trying to do and could use there commands on the fly quite easily.

The only real problem I had with ME2 was I kept ending up with odd skill points left over that I could either pretend didn't exist or put in the first tier of a skill tree that I'm never going to use.

 

I loved DA.

But just could not get into ME2, after two goes at trying. Just didnt get me hooked.

 

I loved both!

I think the cast of ME2 was stronger, but it felt more 'on rails' than DA:O where you could have major impact on situations. Although the endgame was MUCH better done in ME2 than DA:O, in fact for me it was a straight flip!

 

Played BG2 at least 6 times through.

Played ME to completion 4 times.

Played ME2 to completion once.

Can't play more than 8 hours total in to a DA:O save without getting bored shitless.

 

Completely the opposite loved Dragon age played it a lot and restarted many times and got all the DLC and tyhourougly enjoyed it i was more drawn into the story mass effect 2 just bores me haven't even played it for 3 hours after owning it for 6 months

 

Really didn't like Dragon Age. Found it very disappointing.

ME2 on the other hand, I can't keep myself out of.

 

Mass Effect Wins! Fatality!!!

 

I enjoyed both ME and DA:O. Both however felt flawed.

My main gripe was with DA:O, and I had to "sit" on the healer to progress at a higher difficulty so she didn't blow all her mana doing stupid things and generally not healing (even after playing around with the action/casting options for more time than I cared to).

 

Was hooked on Dragon Age the first time through. Tried to replay it recently and it just wasn't worth it. Got bored in tens of minutes, gave up after an hour.

Played Mass Effect all the way through - hooked throughout, with the exception of the final boss which was very poor. On a replay it's almost as good.

Mass Effect 2... struggled with the story, and to care about the 'new' characters. Completed it but have no desire to go play it again.

On the other hand, I've replayed Planescape Torment and Baldurs Gate I & II enough times combined that I've lost count - and they never seem to get boring. I'm not so sure it's a fantasy/sci-fi thing, so much as it is that story and gameplay seems to have taken a back seat to the double curse of 'graphics' and 'ease of play'.

 

I played and enjoyed DA:O, although it took me ages due to university work and getting married getting in the way! I've also got ME1, and I'm about four hours in and totally not gripped. I'm hoping that by persevering I'll get through it and on to ME2, which most people say is superior...

 

I definitely have a preference for Mass Effect over Dragon Age (just finished ME1 again, half way through yet another ME2 replay - I'm a massive sci fi fan) but, as others have said, they both lack the detail and richness of earlier BioWare offerings.

Both are nice looking, smoothly running games (I just haven't seen any of the issues you've referred to with Dragon Age, even when running it at 5040 x 1050) and I can see myself replaying them for a time yet just not after the next 10 years, unlike Planescape Torment (which, incidentally, I'm seriously tempted to buy from GOG even though I still have my original copy just because they've tweaked it for Windows rather than needing to run it under DOSbox).

 

DA:O is so boring, after 2 hours i just gave up on it...

 

I loved them both.

 

I liked Mass Effect more than Dragon Age, but I liked DA more than ME2. All three are truly excellent games in my opinion.

I guess the reason I really liked Dragon Age, as trite and clichéd as some people seem to think it is, might have something to do with the fact that I never played the original Baldur's Gates. I can see how a Baldurs Gate veteran might view DA as recycled content, but as someone coming "fresh" into the whole fantasy RPG thing, to me DA really feels like an epitome of the genre.

I've been meaning to mend the hole in my general knowledge and play the old Bioware RPG's, but I'm afraid the dated graphics might get in the way of the experience. Once you've seen the likes of Mass Effect 2, it's hard to go back to pre-rendered isometry.