hey yo RPG dudes, I'm planning on picking this game up sometime this year after it comes out and wanted to know some things.  So as much as I love me some good RPGing, I still consider myself a casual RPG player.  See right now the two RPG's I'm playing are The Witcher, and Bowsers Inside Story.  Not exactly the most hardcore RPG's. (especialy the latter)  Over the last few years the ones I've played are Mass Effect, Oblivion, and uhhhh Fable I guess.  But Dragon Age seems awesome, especially after the quick look so I want to get it, and  was wondering if it's a good choice for my first jump into hardcore RPG's
 
Thanks you dudes.
 
Edit:  And Fallout 3.  I played that too.  Also I don't think it really counts but I played two worlds too human and diablo too.

its not exactly an RPG where you build a character... its like Neverwinter Nights, you go on a journey with a party and accomplish things... 
 
amirite ?

I'd say that if you can take the hit on your ego and put it on "easy" then this truly is a great place to start your hardcore RPG need. Truly.

If you've been through all the games you've mentioned above, you should be fine.
 
Game looks great.

It should be, I'm pretty sure Bioware will have put things in place to ease players like yourself into the experience. I also think the console version will do a better job at doing that.   

If you've played Fable, Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 then you're pretty much a seasoned RPG player. You shouldn't have any problems at all with Dragon Age. Just think it of it as Bioware's fantasy companion to Mass Effect.

" If you've played Fable, Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 then you're pretty much a seasoned RPG player. You shouldn't have any problems at all with Dragon Age. Just think it of it as Bioware's fantasy companion to Mass Effect. "

" @CenturionCajun said:

" If you've played Fable, Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 then you're pretty much a seasoned RPG player. You shouldn't have any problems at all with Dragon Age. Just think it of it as Bioware's fantasy companion to Mass Effect. "

Fable has zero correlation to anything approaching the Dragon Age level of RPGdom. "

" @Matfei90 said:

" @CenturionCajun said:

" If you've played Fable, Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 then you're pretty much a seasoned RPG player. You shouldn't have any problems at all with Dragon Age. Just think it of it as Bioware's fantasy companion to Mass Effect. "

Fable has zero correlation to anything approaching the Dragon Age level of RPGdom. "

Agreed. Though the fable are really good I put them in a category of genre I like to call RPG-LITE. If you really want to know what to expect from Dragon Age then go play Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights.  "

I heard Demon's Souls would also be a great decision.

From what I have seen of Dragon Age, it looks rather difficult. I think you will be fine if you play on easy, but I still wouldn't recommend it as your first RPG.

If you made it through the Witcher and are ready to get more hardcore, Dragon Age seems right, if very hard. I might play on easy.

" @Matfei90 said:

" @CenturionCajun said:

" If you've played Fable, Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 then you're pretty much a seasoned RPG player. You shouldn't have any problems at all with Dragon Age. Just think it of it as Bioware's fantasy companion to Mass Effect. "

Fable has zero correlation to anything approaching the Dragon Age level of RPGdom. "

Agreed. Though the fable are really good I put them in a category of genre I like to call RPG-LITE. If you really want to know what to expect from Dragon Age then go play Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights.  "

 The game will have four difficulty settings, "Easy", "Normal", "Hard" and "Nightmare". Nightmare may or may not be unlocked right off. A few notable differences between the settings are...

Casual	-	No friendly fire. Easy AI
Normal	-	50% damage from friendly fire, traps, and other abilities. Moderate AI
Hard	-	100% damage from friendly fire, traps, and other abilities. Full AI. Opponents hit harder.
Nightmare	-	100% damage from friendly fire, traps, and other abilities. Full AI. Opponents hit harder and additional resistances.

 

Quote: If you're playing on Hard, you will have to use pause and play in pretty much any battle that contains more than just critters. There's just no other way. Believe me, I play on hard all the time, and there is just no way you beat *spoiler* without carefully planning.

On normal, you're gonna be in trouble without pause and play in major battles. *spoiler* ... probably not so much smile smile

On casual, pause and play is optional.

On nightmare ... well...

Quote: You will fail. Without understanding the way combat, items, spells and such works, you will die repeatedly to the point where it is not fun, just incredibly frustrating.

Nightmare is there to provide a challenge to experienced players. Even experienced players will frequently die because we are deliberately making Nightmare very very hard. To attempt it as your initial experience is, imo, stupid as it decreases the overall game enjoyment.

People who want to learn to run don't start off entering marathons on their first day, they learn how to run, then once they are comfortable in their skill and abilities, they challenge themselves. I strongly suggest you start on some other setting and work your way up to Nightmare.

Game looks great, if it contains just 20 % of it's spiritual predecessor epicness, I will buy it!

Hey guys thanks for the advice.  And hearing that you can change the difficulty throughout the game makes me feel a lot safer.  I hate when I decide to play something on a difficulty that gets too hard and there is no way to change it.
 
Well guess now I have to choose my first hardcore flight sim.....

I suspect the difficulty is somewhat overstated.  Short of completely screwing up your character build, any game where you can pause to issue orders is never going to be that difficult.
 
I'll probably start out on Hard (for the 'Full AI') and see how it goes.

" I suspect the difficulty is somewhat overstated.  Short of completely screwing up your character build, any game where you can pause to issue orders is never going to be that difficult.  I'll probably start out on Hard (for the 'Full AI') and see how it goes. "

Well, none of us have played it so...

" Well, none of us have played it so... "

I might seem like a pussy, but I'll be playing it on Easy.  I don't really play RPGs (or frankly, any game) for the challenge, and more the experience of playing through it, and immersing myself in the story and the characters.  
 
As for if it's any good for a novice RPG'er, I gotta think Bioware would've made some choices available for the newcomers to the genre - especially on the console versions.

" I might seem like a pussy, but I'll be playing it on Easy.  I don't really play RPGs (or frankly, any game) for the challenge, and more the experience of playing through it, and immersing myself in the story and the characters.    As for if it's any good for a novice RPG'er, I gotta think Bioware would've made some choices available for the newcomers to the genre - especially on the console versions. "

Judging by the Quick Look, it seems like a game I'd want to play, but probably on Normal, maybe Easy. There's a difference between being challenged and screaming-at-the-TV frustrated.

Agreed. I often find myself playing games on Easy simply so I can get through them in a timely manner. Only if a game is really good will I go back and take the effort to play on a higher difficulty.
 
Well, that or there's an achievement for it. :)

"I'd say that if you can take the hit on your ego and put it on "easy" then this truly is a great place to start your hardcore RPG need. Truly. "

" @Jimbo said:

" I suspect the difficulty is somewhat overstated.  Short of completely screwing up your character build, any game where you can pause to issue orders is never going to be that difficult.  I'll probably start out on Hard (for the 'Full AI') and see how it goes. "

Ya.. I'm not sure what to say of it. The developers have honestly said that even though they say "Hard" is the way the game was made to play (as in brutal and giving the AI their near full capability) - Hard is also a good descriptor of the gameplay. I'm inclined to think, as I've now seen three reviews and one preview and every single one of them comments that the combat is tough... it's not going to be a slouch.  So I'm sure the aptly named Hard will be just that. Which will be a welcome challenge. I will start at Hard and hopefully not need to turn it down from that. Bottle-neck, bottle-neck! And use that terrain - hiding behind pillars and trees have been stated to been an effective use. Do not just keep your mage standing in clear eye-sight of an Archer. He will go down quickly. "

Wouldn't be the worst decision for your first hardcore RPG. A few difficulties and it's pausable so you can think out your moves. If you want a difficult RPG to go with, try Lords of Magic. That thing knocked me on my ass the first several times I attempted that.

It's supposed to be more similar to games like Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights, which were quite challenging and required a lot of thought and strategy.  It's not going to be like Fable, Oblivion or even Mass Effect where you can pretty much breeze through the game with little difficulty.

This game's probably going to be easier then Demon's Soulses, at least.