There are mods that fix the technical issues, since the game was designed for really weak 2009 hardware, the game struggles in modern computers and suffers from memory leaks, texture popping, freezing and crashes when played on modern hardware. There is the so called 4gb Patch that fixes lots of issues that you can download here: ntcore.com/?page_id=371 There is the QWINN'S Ultimate DAO Fixpack and the Hotfix on nexus: www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4689/?tab=description There is also this guide on Steam: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233222451 As well as guides here on TH-cam on how to install all of this, I did it and not only fixed the 99% of the crashes I also noted an instant increase on performance
I did search for some fixes to the issues I had but couldn't find anything solid. If you have a link to the mod I'll include it in the description and pinned comment. Thanks :)
@@InfoGuyGaming I will edit my original comment to include the links and the mods in question, awesome review by the way, probably the best I've seen yet
I love DAO, is probably my favourite game. I don't mind the gifts since you can just not use them if you don't want 🤷♀️. I always give the important and story related ones, but Oghren is the only one I actually need to give more gifts to, mostly because I always leave Orzammar until late in the game (hate the deep roads) so the time I have to gain his friendship is more limited that with the others. Until watching this review and reading the comments about the glitches I didn't even knew that was a common problem. It's weird to me because I've been playing the game for years, played in at least 3 different computers and i never had any significant technical issue (DAI on other hand...), makes me wonder why. Maybe I'm just very lucky.
Liked the video a lot, nice humorous touch there, too. Crashes: Now I see that I made the right decision in playing the game on console, I have never experienced any kind of crash, and I have been playing DAO for many years already. Gifts: I really don't think gifts can be considered a flaw when they are not forced on you. It is not mandatory to use them in any way. In the companions that stand out I while also add Shale, she is just fantastic, and personally I have a soft spot for Oghren. I liked how you mention that while at first glance it could look like a generic fantasy game, it actually breaks out from it with its great storytelling. About the remake, I would prefer a remaster, a Remake would surely censor and change many if the good things this game dared to do (and did very well).
The presentation of this video is extremely good from an editing point of view. I can appreciate the professionalism, but I`m mostly down for them jokes :) That furry joke at 13:45... hit the nail on the head, man.
Love it! This game will always be in my top three, along with Morrowind and Thief: The Dark Project. I wish you'd mentioned some of the other origins though; human noble is kind of the most boring. Love your editing though.
Dragon Age was my first ever RPG series I ever played. I remember the stories, the characters, story and gameplay being entertaining. And the movie references, they were good too. This series got me invested in the RPG genre as I tried out new franchises such as Elder Scrolls, Dragon’s Dogma, Kingdoms of Amalur, Greed Fall, Hogwarts Legacy and Baldur’s Gate 3. If the Dragon Age series gets a PS5, I’m playing all 3 games to try out the races, classes and romance options Origins Male Human Noble Champion. Romanced Morrigan Female Human Spirit Healer. Romanced Alistair Male Dwarf Commoner Assassin. Romanced Leliana Female Dalish Elf Ranger. Romanced Zevran Female Elf Arcane Warrior. Romanced Leliana Male Dwarf Noble Berserker. Romanced Zevran
DA takes typical fantasy tropes and adds layer upon layer of depth with its own unique lore. Darkspawn are the perfect example of this. I initially thought they were the most generic and dull demon horde imaginable, and yet by the Awakening DLC they had a complex backstory. Dragon Age takes the generic and morphs it into something interesting. The problem with the game is just the enemy AI and combat difficulty. It feels outdated and semi-broken when you brutally murder enemies, but their allies who are standing nearby just stand and do nothing because they haven't technically been aggro'd yet. Then there's the difficulty spikes. It feels plain unfair when you work your way through a dungeon without a problem and then encounter an insanely difficult boss fight that is three times harder than what you've experienced for the last hour. The game could use a remake.
For everyone who isn't into modding. The technical difficulties like crashes can be avoided by lowering graphic settings. As Cefiro De Winter pointed out, the game struggles on modern systems. A friend of mine, who started LPing the series on a decent 2020 PC had problems with graphic infidelity (inverted colours, missing textures) and frequent crashes. When she reduced the graphic's settings, the game worked just fine without modding. For reference: I'm playing on a 2010 PC (with a 2013 GPU) and the game crashes app. once per playthrough and has never crashed in Awakening or the DLCs. I love DAO and the whole universe because it is not black and white but has different shades of grey. E.g. the crisis in Orzammar. On one side there is the dirtbag of Bhelen, son of the late king, who killed his oldest brother and framed his other sibling with the murder. He plots and plays the nobles (including framing his opponent with invented frauds). Yet, he genuinely wants to open Orzammar to the outside world of Thedas and wants to improve the situation of the dwarfs without caste, who are treated worse than dirt by the dwarfs with caste. On the other side, there is Harrowmont, a noble dwarf who was suggested as the successor by the late king. He is upright and righteous, so much it almost hurts. He tries to convince the assembly and plays fair (no plots, no frames). So, is it a no-brainer to support Harrowmont? No, because he wants to isolate Orzammar even more (though Orzammar can't survive without trade with the surface) and the casteless are but a nuisance to him. No way of resolving the election crisis is perfect, there is no way to get a happy ending, it is always flawed. And one could make similar arguments for the conflict between mages and templars in the tower, elves and werewolves, and even Loghain as the main antagonist - everyone who read "The Lost Throne" knows exactly what I mean. It's my #2 RPG after The Witcher 3 and before The Witcher 2.
Good reviews of interesting games ... that also have Legacy of Kain and Metal Gear Solid references? Yep, that's a recipe for a Subscribe, right there!
Kinda odd comparing 2009 game to for e.g. DOSII. Whenever I play older game, Im able to see how it influenced future game/s. I do not see most of your flaws as flaws. What bothers me the most is lack of encounters variety or the most immersion breaking moment of this game. So at one point of the story you can let Loghain men capture you. You are transported to the prison and have no equipment. Well thats a problem if u are not a mage. Then U can use all the spells. So what is the point of striping the person form eq? They know all along U are a mage. There is nothing that protects guards from prisoner mages... I could point some other flaws but anyway this game is one of my favourites of all times.
I'm playing this right now, on hardware less than a year old, and it's running perfectly. You and Mortismal both seem to have issues with this. Very odd
There is no such thing as "too much lore" lol. I don't know if you noticed but Dragon age is just a simplified more accessible version of DnD. They mixed in some LOTR, some warhammer and voila, a perfect beginner friendly game for new RPG fans, as well as a great standalone story. Edit: Tyranny is an amazing RPG, you might want to check it out.
Lore is great to binge on but I might have a addiction problem with it. I don't know if you know channel called Luetin but I've maybe watched his 40k lore video's like a million times...lol. Yeah Bioware definitely nailed making DnD more approachable with this game. I really like the premise of Tyranny and it is on my list, will get to it one day but can't promise when.
@@InfoGuyGaming While watching Luetin videos it occured to me that mages from Dragon age are basically psychers from 40k and Fade is just The Warp. His videos are insane with detail and atmosphere. Keep in mind Tyranny is shorter than the likes of Pillars of eternity or Divinity OS, but it is much more re-playable since it has 3 distinct paths you can take and each leads you down a different questline. It is a game made to be replayed, but you can beat it once in 20ish hours. Lore of that game is superb *chef kiss*
They are pretty similar. DA: Inquisition's main quest to close the rift, is kinda like a mini Indomitus Crusade but with less scale lol. I have heard the lore is pretty good in Tyranny, that will be another rabbit hole to fall down for me. Will keep the re-playability in mind when I do get around to it. :)
There are mods that fix the technical issues, since the game was designed for really weak 2009 hardware, the game struggles in modern computers and suffers from memory leaks, texture popping, freezing and crashes when played on modern hardware.
There is the so called 4gb Patch that fixes lots of issues that you can download here: ntcore.com/?page_id=371
There is the QWINN'S Ultimate DAO Fixpack and the Hotfix on nexus: www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4689/?tab=description
There is also this guide on Steam: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233222451
As well as guides here on TH-cam on how to install all of this, I did it and not only fixed the 99% of the crashes I also noted an instant increase on performance
I did search for some fixes to the issues I had but couldn't find anything solid. If you have a link to the mod I'll include it in the description and pinned comment. Thanks :)
@@InfoGuyGaming I will edit my original comment to include the links and the mods in question, awesome review by the way, probably the best I've seen yet
Thanks I appreciate it.
@@InfoGuyGaming Done
Memory leaks have nothing to do with the hardware.
I love DAO, is probably my favourite game.
I don't mind the gifts since you can just not use them if you don't want 🤷♀️. I always give the important and story related ones, but Oghren is the only one I actually need to give more gifts to, mostly because I always leave Orzammar until late in the game (hate the deep roads) so the time I have to gain his friendship is more limited that with the others.
Until watching this review and reading the comments about the glitches I didn't even knew that was a common problem. It's weird to me because I've been playing the game for years, played in at least 3 different computers and i never had any significant technical issue (DAI on other hand...), makes me wonder why. Maybe I'm just very lucky.
Liked the video a lot, nice humorous touch there, too.
Crashes: Now I see that I made the right decision in playing the game on console, I have never experienced any kind of crash, and I have been playing DAO for many years already.
Gifts: I really don't think gifts can be considered a flaw when they are not forced on you. It is not mandatory to use them in any way.
In the companions that stand out I while also add Shale, she is just fantastic, and personally I have a soft spot for Oghren.
I liked how you mention that while at first glance it could look like a generic fantasy game, it actually breaks out from it with its great storytelling.
About the remake, I would prefer a remaster, a Remake would surely censor and change many if the good things this game dared to do (and did very well).
Yezzir
That Metal Gear ending was legendary.
The presentation of this video is extremely good from an editing point of view. I can appreciate the professionalism, but I`m mostly down for them jokes :)
That furry joke at 13:45... hit the nail on the head, man.
Such a great and fun review! I laugh out loud on the "bioware magic" thing!
Glad you enjoyed the humor. :)
Love it! This game will always be in my top three, along with Morrowind and Thief: The Dark Project. I wish you'd mentioned some of the other origins though; human noble is kind of the most boring. Love your editing though.
Thanks, I did want to talk about the other origins (especially the mage origins harrowing) but ran out of time.
Dragon Age was my first ever RPG series I ever played. I remember the stories, the characters, story and gameplay being entertaining. And the movie references, they were good too. This series got me invested in the RPG genre as I tried out new franchises such as Elder Scrolls, Dragon’s Dogma, Kingdoms of Amalur, Greed Fall, Hogwarts Legacy and Baldur’s Gate 3. If the Dragon Age series gets a PS5, I’m playing all 3 games to try out the races, classes and romance options
Origins
Male Human Noble Champion. Romanced Morrigan
Female Human Spirit Healer. Romanced Alistair
Male Dwarf Commoner Assassin. Romanced Leliana
Female Dalish Elf Ranger. Romanced Zevran
Female Elf Arcane Warrior. Romanced Leliana
Male Dwarf Noble Berserker. Romanced Zevran
So much nostalgia in this game, love your editing! Earned my sub.
Thanks for the compliment and sub, did have some fun editing this video.
wouldn't call it generic though
DA takes typical fantasy tropes and adds layer upon layer of depth with its own unique lore. Darkspawn are the perfect example of this. I initially thought they were the most generic and dull demon horde imaginable, and yet by the Awakening DLC they had a complex backstory. Dragon Age takes the generic and morphs it into something interesting.
The problem with the game is just the enemy AI and combat difficulty. It feels outdated and semi-broken when you brutally murder enemies, but their allies who are standing nearby just stand and do nothing because they haven't technically been aggro'd yet. Then there's the difficulty spikes. It feels plain unfair when you work your way through a dungeon without a problem and then encounter an insanely difficult boss fight that is three times harder than what you've experienced for the last hour. The game could use a remake.
For everyone who isn't into modding.
The technical difficulties like crashes can be avoided by lowering graphic settings. As Cefiro De Winter pointed out, the game struggles on modern systems. A friend of mine, who started LPing the series on a decent 2020 PC had problems with graphic infidelity (inverted colours, missing textures) and frequent crashes. When she reduced the graphic's settings, the game worked just fine without modding.
For reference: I'm playing on a 2010 PC (with a 2013 GPU) and the game crashes app. once per playthrough and has never crashed in Awakening or the DLCs.
I love DAO and the whole universe because it is not black and white but has different shades of grey. E.g. the crisis in Orzammar. On one side there is the dirtbag of Bhelen, son of the late king, who killed his oldest brother and framed his other sibling with the murder. He plots and plays the nobles (including framing his opponent with invented frauds). Yet, he genuinely wants to open Orzammar to the outside world of Thedas and wants to improve the situation of the dwarfs without caste, who are treated worse than dirt by the dwarfs with caste. On the other side, there is Harrowmont, a noble dwarf who was suggested as the successor by the late king. He is upright and righteous, so much it almost hurts. He tries to convince the assembly and plays fair (no plots, no frames). So, is it a no-brainer to support Harrowmont? No, because he wants to isolate Orzammar even more (though Orzammar can't survive without trade with the surface) and the casteless are but a nuisance to him. No way of resolving the election crisis is perfect, there is no way to get a happy ending, it is always flawed. And one could make similar arguments for the conflict between mages and templars in the tower, elves and werewolves, and even Loghain as the main antagonist - everyone who read "The Lost Throne" knows exactly what I mean.
It's my #2 RPG after The Witcher 3 and before The Witcher 2.
Good reviews of interesting games ... that also have Legacy of Kain and Metal Gear Solid references? Yep, that's a recipe for a Subscribe, right there!
Kinda odd comparing 2009 game to for e.g. DOSII. Whenever I play older game, Im able to see how it influenced future game/s.
I do not see most of your flaws as flaws. What bothers me the most is lack of encounters variety or the most immersion breaking moment of this game. So at one point of the story you can let Loghain men capture you. You are transported to the prison and have no equipment. Well thats a problem if u are not a mage. Then U can use all the spells. So what is the point of striping the person form eq? They know all along U are a mage. There is nothing that protects guards from prisoner mages... I could point some other flaws but anyway this game is one of my favourites of all times.
Yas
Very great review, a shame you don't have more viewers
Glad you liked it. If I keep at it I think I'll get more, thanks for the support. :)
The level of storytelling in dragon age(all the games) is beyond reach for any other game ever made except Mass Effect.
Looking forward to your thoughts on inquisition.
If you want to see more reviews, here's a playlist.
- Review Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLtiuHW2Sjl_7-g6kcP64unhSdqBSYDtya.html
It keep crashing and lot of glitches in 2021
I'm playing this right now, on hardware less than a year old, and it's running perfectly. You and Mortismal both seem to have issues with this. Very odd
Really solid, in-depth review. Might need to fire it up!
Thanks. :)
That isometric view is NOT isometric.
Subbed
remake, remaster!
There is no such thing as "too much lore" lol. I don't know if you noticed but Dragon age is just a simplified more accessible version of DnD. They mixed in some LOTR, some warhammer and voila, a perfect beginner friendly game for new RPG fans, as well as a great standalone story.
Edit: Tyranny is an amazing RPG, you might want to check it out.
Lore is great to binge on but I might have a addiction problem with it. I don't know if you know channel called Luetin but I've maybe watched his 40k lore video's like a million times...lol. Yeah Bioware definitely nailed making DnD more approachable with this game.
I really like the premise of Tyranny and it is on my list, will get to it one day but can't promise when.
@@InfoGuyGaming While watching Luetin videos it occured to me that mages from Dragon age are basically psychers from 40k and Fade is just The Warp. His videos are insane with detail and atmosphere.
Keep in mind Tyranny is shorter than the likes of Pillars of eternity or Divinity OS, but it is much more re-playable since it has 3 distinct paths you can take and each leads you down a different questline. It is a game made to be replayed, but you can beat it once in 20ish hours. Lore of that game is superb *chef kiss*
They are pretty similar. DA: Inquisition's main quest to close the rift, is kinda like a mini Indomitus Crusade but with less scale lol.
I have heard the lore is pretty good in Tyranny, that will be another rabbit hole to fall down for me. Will keep the re-playability in mind when I do get around to it. :)
game looks like dwarf 4$$