spoiler Spiritual Succesor to BG 2 maybe...BUT BG 2 had very little vanilla...

[raistlin167]

Mate dont play BG or BG2... When your lawful good paladin finds out he is actually a son of an chaotic evil god...that is what I call epic....Or when you wake up and see some dude named Irenicus pwnin ur ass so hard.....and you dont even know why he is doing it! After you play this epic saga and pinnacle of RPG DA will be like hello kitty island adventure.... Hey dude look drink this blood and kill the dragon...why? because ur the choosen one.... :P Yea sure

[danscott84]

Ok, I took your advice and started the first BG and made it half way before I got to the point I couldn't play it anymore. It's play style and I just don't get along (never liked top down gameplay). As for the story, it's pretty generic so far. I know some will think I am out of my mind, but this follows a familiar pattern that has been played out in Hollywood since the '30's. So, from a story standpoint, yes, both games are vanilla in their way, but can be enjoyed if taken as themselves without trying to make comparisons. BG may seem pretty original since it was released back in the '90's and very early compared to DAO in the gaming world, but the story has underpinnings of Shakespeare, Arthurian Legends, and (believe it or not) Luke Skywalker. If I continue playing I expect to have a "your'e not my father" moment like LS did in The Empire Strikes Back. And Gorion is Merlin the Magician. The iron shortage deal smells like Thulsadoom searching for the Riddle of Steel in the Conan the Barbarian movie with Arnold.

 

So, to answer the original question posed, does DAO follow the same spirit as BG, yes.

[danscott84]

True DA is very vanilla but I think that things are going to change in DA2. It started with Awakening already, with intelligent darkspawn and it is going to end with something deeper in DA2. Just like the Kotor series (in my opinion Kotor 2 had a way better storyline than Kotor 1) although I wished Kotor 3 world be released instead of TOR.

 

I agree about KOTOR2, too bad it was rushed and released unfinished. Let us hope DA2 does not follow the same pattern.

[Thandal]

So, as I've always maintained, it's all about the writing! Doesn't matter what the plot points are. Not really. Shakespeare cribbed plots from the best sources he had at the time. It's how you put words, and through those words, feeling, into the characters.

 

If I don't care about both my PC and my companion NPCs, then you can stuff your graphics and your "lore".

 

So "vanilla" plot... So what? But "vanilla" characters, and I won't even give the game a chance to impress with the rest of whatever it thinks it has to offer.

 

While I haven't played all the PC RPGs out there, DA is one of the few that has me playing again-and-again-and-again just to see what the various characters do. Even my previoous (now questionably) favorite, Icewind Dale, didn't offer the... flexibility of experience that DA does.

[SpellAndShield]

Ok, I took your advice and started the first BG and made it half way before I got to the point I couldn't play it anymore. It's play style and I just don't get along (never liked top down gameplay). As for the story, it's pretty generic so far. I know some will think I am out of my mind, but this follows a familiar pattern that has been played out in Hollywood since the '30's. So, from a story standpoint, yes, both games are vanilla in their way, but can be enjoyed if taken as themselves without trying to make comparisons. BG may seem pretty original since it was released back in the '90's and very early compared to DAO in the gaming world, but the story has underpinnings of Shakespeare, Arthurian Legends, and (believe it or not) Luke Skywalker. If I continue playing I expect to have a "your'e not my father" moment like LS did in The Empire Strikes Back. And Gorion is Merlin the Magician. The iron shortage deal smells like Thulsadoom searching for the Riddle of Steel in the Conan the Barbarian movie with Arnold.

 

So, to answer the original question posed, does DAO follow the same spirit as BG, yes.

 

Fair enough but BG2 is where it is at... :whistling:

[danscott84]

So, as I've always maintained, it's all about the writing! Doesn't matter what the plot points are. Not really. Shakespeare cribbed plots from the best sources he had at the time. It's how you put words, and through those words, feeling, into the characters.

 

If I don't care about both my PC and my companion NPCs, then you can stuff your graphics and your "lore".

 

So "vanilla" plot... So what? But "vanilla" characters, and I won't even give the game a chance to impress with the rest of whatever it thinks it has to offer.

 

While I haven't played all the PC RPGs out there, DA is one of the few that has me playing again-and-again-and-again just to see what the various characters do. Even my previoous (now questionably) favorite, Icewind Dale, didn't offer the... flexibility of experience that DA does.

 

So very true. The characters make this game special. Just look at these boards and some people have very strong feelings about the characters in the game. That is the result of good writing. The story for Awakening is good, but the lack of character development has left many wanting.

 

As for Shakespeare, that is very true. In his tragedies, especially, he borrowed a lot from the Greeks. And some of theirs from the Egyptians.

 

EDIT: I am also on the process of writing my own novel, and although the events I am using were real events experienced by my grandfather, I am using fictional characters to tell the story. This game has actually helped me in my writing by showing great character development which right before this game came out caused a block for me as some newer characters I was creating were too one dimensional.

[SpellAndShield]

Mate dont play BG or BG2... When your lawful good paladin finds out he is actually a son of an chaotic evil god...that is what I call epic....Or when you wake up and see some dude named Irenicus pwnin ur ass so hard.....and you dont even know why he is doing it! After you play this epic saga and pinnacle of RPG DA will be like hello kitty island adventure.... Hey dude look drink this blood and kill the dragon...why? because ur the choosen one.... :P Yea sure

 

Bhaal was actually Lawful Evil, whilst Saverok was Chaotic Evil; actually Bhaal was most likely Lawful Evil (Neutral Evil) as he resided in Gehenna....sorry for being so knitpicky, old D&D hand here...

 

Oh and Raistlin is one of my favourites of all time!

[Thandal]

Bhaal was ... Lawful Evil ... Saverok was Chaotic Evil ... actually Bhaal was most likely Lawful Evil (Neutral Evil)

 

But that's all shorthand for: "Are they believable?!", "Do I care about how they behave/respond?!", "Can I leave them, or do I feel naked without them by my side?" (Amoen was the first NPC to affect me that way...)

 

A Neutral/Evil character can be just as cardboard as a Lawful/Good one, (although perhaps better for laughs!) The writing is what distinguishes those we remember from those we don't. Irenicus became, for me, "the tradgedy of what should have been." But if the writers hadn't made me empathize with him, I probably wouldn't have even finished the game.

[SpellAndShield]

Bhaal was ... Lawful Evil ... Saverok was Chaotic Evil ... actually Bhaal was most likely Lawful Evil (Neutral Evil)

 

But that's all shorthand for: "Are they believable?!", "Do I care about how they behave/respond?!", "Can I leave them, or do I feel naked without them by my side?" (Amoen was the first NPC to affect me that way...)

 

A Neutral/Evil character can be just as cardboard as a Lawful/Good one, (although perhaps better for laughs!) The writing is what distinguishes those we remember from those we don't. Irenicus became, for me, "the tradgedy of what should have been." But if the writers hadn't made me empathize with him, I probably wouldn't have even finished the game.

 

I was just being a D&D geek...of course...

 

I even sympathise with Irenicus...a lot actually. Viconia as well....

 

Irenicus is one of the best villains ever conjured up...with really only one tragic flaw: pride. Man, I love that guy!

[Shacary]

I loved Kotor, I did not enjoy Kotor2 as much tho [ sorry] I liked BG, I have never played bg2, yet still I love DAO. I hope that DA2 does not go by the way of DAA to be honest. There was little interpersonal actions. I miss the sniping/ banter, love story aspect of DAO as well as a intelligent plot. All action will quickly bore me out. I liked diablo but Its not like i replay it since beating it... jsut a hack and slash. DAA was disappointing. I hate to sya it btu after it was all finished i had a big rift in my heart like... this is it? worth playing btu i wont replay it much. I have finished it x2 and im totally satisfied there is nothing else to do with it. So, keep the story line fresh, i have read the dragonage books, and takign from their plot line, there is a lot to discover that could be worked into da2 { SPOILER} like that Alistairs mum is the GW elf Maric became involved with after rowan passed. the artichet kept mentioning the baby..... is that Alistair? or Morrigans male without a father God child? would be fun to explore that , with lots of emotional impact a s well as battles imo. each to his own I guess! Diversity is wonderful!