What RPG elements does Dragon Age: Origins contain?

Mario Party 2
-The Mario Party games still aren't on the VC, so I ordered this one from Amazon. It's always been my favorite in the series.

Combat is similiar to Knights of the old Republic and all the Bioware games. While it is in real time, you can pause the game and strategize which actions, skills and spells you want each character to use. I finished the game 2 days ago in around 70 hrs as a male noble and restarting the game with a female mage since each class has their own origin with a different story and cutscene. The game definately has replay value and I dont feel like putting too much spoiler but I did like that I know more about Jowen's history when Im a mage than I was as a nobleman.

Hmmm, looks like I'll be picking this one up next month when I get my PS3 then.

So that's Uncharted 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Demon Souls to get me started.

Haven't finished yet; I don't have as much time to play as I would like... but as this is by the folks that did the Baldur's Gate series, I was expecting complicated plotlines without always good and bad being obvious, and interesting subplots depending on which henchmen I used as well as somewhat realistic romance.

I agree; once I am finished I will play a completely different character, race, and sex and see all the new things that will show up. It may not be as replayable as the Elder Scrolls series are, but you get your money's worth all right.

Dirt 2 - Ever since RalliSport on the Xbox, I've really liked the rally racers. Dirt 2 is by far the best in the genre that I've ever played, which is saying something. Great variety of races, really sharp graphics, and just a lot of fun (if you like that type of thing...). Just might be my favorite game of the year so far. Although, that's not saying a lot this year...

Red Faction: Guerilla - I thought I'd like this one much more as it was made by the Saints Row 2 people. However, from the character to the story to the setting it seems very bland. Mars just isn't an interesting setting for a sandbox game. For a few minutes it was fun playing with the sledgehammer in a destructable environment, but that only lasted so long. It's not a horrible game, but it's feeling very much like a game that I won't care to finish.

Elder Scrolls has low replayability since you can do everything, see every content the game has to offer, in one playthrough. (at least in Oblivion, can't remember how it was in the first 2 and Morrowind i didn't play)

Have i already said that i'm not a big fan of the series? I think i have...

True it may have low replayability but that one time playthrough can last you through 50-80hrs. The world obviously is much bigger than Dragon Age although DA is more dialogue driven than Oblivion. Still Im going through my second playthrough in DA

True but i rather have a shorter game with choices that matter than an offline MMO.

I'm still waiting on my Dragon Age, btw. Ordered it from abroad a week and a half ago. Stupid mail!

Most MMO is mainly a grind section with much less emphasis on quest and npc interaction. Oblivion allowed you to join a number of guilds provided your class meets the requirement. I couldnt join the Knight's guild because it overlaps with my assasin missions. It maybe true enough that sometimes your choices dont really affect the game that much in general but it isnt exactly like mindless Diablo games which alot of MMOs are

As far as i know you could join and become master with every guild.

Diablo has even less interesting NPCs, true.

Got it!!! It was waiting at the local post office for over a week. Looks like the mailman forgot to leave me a message... weird...

Assasin's Creed 2

I prefer the crusade setting from the first game to the Rennaissance period on the new one. Its sort of cool though to imitate the italianno accent. There still seems to be the repetitiveness of the first game. Something I didnt really mind as much but it could have been improved. It isnt as bad as the first game where a sidemission means just racing and stop a harassment from happening. Still killing person A and B only holds your attention so much even though there are requirements on how the deed should be done. As always the graphics look extremely nice like the first one. They can only improve more and more on the sequels. I would put the game at #4 of this year. Not like super top tier but it could be a recommended buy

CoD:MW2

So far pretty good. Seems a bit easier than MW1, which I gave up on about 1/2 through due to it being insanely difficult. I like the shorter levels, even if there may be more of them.

I also like that CoD has the rpg elements for online play (had this in past installments), which sucks when you first start, but feels much better as you go along. Still too many fake racists on Xbox Live which forces me to mute voices.

Haven't played Special Ops mode yet.

A-

I have finally beaten a Final Fantasy Game!!!

Beat Final Fantasy 12 last night after 90 hours, it was one hell of a game...

Left 4 Dead 2. Pretty much a carbon copy of the first game except for a few very minor upgrades. Thats why I didnt understand why its not offered as a downloadable content instead of a full game. It could have easily been done and would have reduced the price of the game itself. The chainsaws were pretty cool though

I only played a couple parts of the first chapter, but so far I agree with you on L4D2, Roid. I like the melee weapons and the daytime setting is a change of pace, but I dislike the mission - like where you have to bring a 6 pack of soda to somebody. Your AI teammates are absolutely no help in that scenario, and it's kind of frustrating. I would've hated to pay $60 for the game, but for $30 it's ok.

Lego Rock Band - Terrible setlist... worse than I expected, and I wasn't expecting anything. Feels like a Guitar Hero sellout game. It has some of the lego charm, like a few funny cutscenes, but overall it is a huge misstep by Harmonix. Grade: C-

The best thing they did on the AI is that they dumbed them down to X-box live random players. The first game the AI players were actually smarter and more coordinated than real life players. This time they do stupid stuff like wander off, misuse health packs, NOT loot health packs when needed, run into witches, gets in your line of sight when shooting. I sort of like it!

Lately, I've been throwing a bunch of games against the wall to see what sticks the best. Besides L4D2, here's what's hit the wall:

Wolfenstein - Not bad so far. A little on the generic side, but its pretty straightforward and easy to play.

Brutal Legends - Started off pretty cool, but am not wild about the direction its taking when I left off. I like it when it's just Jack Black's character and a hack and slash type game. I don't like it when I have a group of minions that I have to give orders to. The music is great so far.

Guitar Hero 5 - The more it copies from Rock Band, the better it gets, and this is the best GH since GH2. Decent setlist, but about 1/2 the songs are on RB already. I like the challenges and the career progression is laid out nicely. The music genre desperately needs a new twist, though... even to its most diehard fans (like me), it's starting to feel moldy.

Out of those, I think Brutal Legends is the most intriguing, and probably the one I'll focus on for now, but am definitely not sold on it yet.

Finished Brutal Legend. Tough game to rate. I hated... HATED... the stage battles (RTS parts), and pretty much the entire last 1/2 of the game was drive to a spot on the map and engage in a stage battle. A person who likes RTS games will probably feel differently, although I have trouble believing that BL was a good RTS game as they go. Halo Wars (also not my thing), was at least a lot more intuitive.

Outside of the game mechanics, the story and characters were good and kept me slogging through RTS parts, which really says something about how good that aspect was, because I have never finished an RTS game before. The music was good too.

I was iffy on the environment. It often felt like more of a pain to get from point A to point B and it didn't really make me want to explore it. In the end, I'd give the game a C+ just for the story and characters alone. It was an engaging game from that aspect.

Need for Speed Shift (360) - Very early on, but appears to be a very fun game. I like the mix between arcade and sim. Definitely a good direction for the series.

Mario Kart Wii - The Wii-mote works really well with this game and steering is better than I thought it would be. It's clearly the same winning Mario Kart formula, and should be a fun multiplayer game. I'm just disappointed it looks exactly like the GameCube version.

Wii Cooking Mama (Wii) - Probably the worst Wii game I've played yet. Not very intuitive and the controls don't always do what you want them to do. I got it because I thought it would be a game the wife would enjoy, but she hated it too.

Squeeballs Party (Wii) - A cheapo impulse buy. It basically feels a little Wii Sports-ish, but with funny characters (the squeeballs) and full motion video. The videos are kind of funny, and the mini-games passable.

Deal or No Deal (Wii) - Another cheapo impulse buy, because the TV show is a guilty pleasure. It feels like an Xbox Live arcade game, except a lot uglier. The Wii is generally ugly graphically, but this game takes it to a new level. Even though my eyes were bleeding, the wife and I still had fun playing it and debating when to walk with the money.

Wii Play - Hit and miss with the mini-games. Most are pretty lame, but I did kind of enjoy the pong style one in a weird way. Then again, I only got it for the extra controller, so I can't complain.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 - 7.5/10
-The Wii really lacks fighters, and this one is pretty solid. Impressive roster (40 characters), each with their own controls and abilities, keeps the repetitiveness minimal. The story mode however blows. It might be an hour long if that. But hey, it's not meant to have much of a story mode. The graphics are decent, and while I haven't played the other Clash of Ninja titles, judging from videos I've seen of them, this one appears to be a step up. This one also is the first Naruto title with Online Play, and it's not bad. Sometimes the lag can be very annoying, but 3/4 of the time it's not a problem. One of the better online modes I've experience on the Wii. There are also several fighting modes with rankings, which along with online, and having to unlock like... 80% of the content, keeps the replay value high.

Oh yeah, Tony and Korrgan, I know you guys play Silent Hill, and I just checked the debut of the series on the Wii (Shattered Memories) on gamerankings, and so far it's getting solid reviews. Almost an 80% average (would be low/mid 80's if not for GameInformer's 6.25), making it one of the better reviewed games in the series in quite some time, if you guys were interested in the game.

CANNOT stop playing MW2 man...I feel like my life is passing me by with all the time I spend online haha

I'm having trouble finding a game to really get into at the moment. All the ones I'm trying lately feel "meh"-ish. Wolfenstein is pretty bland, and the achievements are horrible to boot. Prototype is almost decent, but feels overly complicated and RPG'ish - there are too many upgrades, moves, and instructions - it's like Oblivion, and I'm not in the mood to "study" a game. L4D2 is passable, but feels too much like I'm just playing L4D1 over again. I started Far Cry 2... it's not bad, but feels generic sandboxish, and isn't really grabbing me.

I need a Bioshock 2 or Crackdown 2 ASAP!

I've been playing some Zack and Wiki. It's been about a year since I last player, and it's still loads of fun.

Hopefully getting Phantom Brave in the mail before Christmas. Really looking forward to that one.