Any game to compare to Dragon Age: Origins?

So I recently purchased DA:Inquisition GOY on PC and…. Well, why I see it is a good game on its own, in comparison to DA:Origins, it just sucks imo. I really find it hard to play and have shelved it again; I had previously bought it on day of release on the PS4 and did not like the controls. I saw some videos of the PC controls and how it would be easier to direct the party, but really, in practice it is not that good and feels restrictive compared to DA:O.

There is something about DA:I that means you feel like you just do not have control of the battlefield. In DA:O it was the complete opposite. Each encounter on that game used to turn into a real-time battle where I felt I had complete freedom. My main was a rogue which I would send to scout up front to see what I was up against. I would then set up traps, get the rest of the party to hold and arm them all with a bow (despite what class they were. Heaven forbid I try to get a healer to hold a bow nowadays!). I would then agro with my rogue or and AoE spell, get my rogue back to the party, pulling most of the enemy back as well, pulling them through the traps, more AoE spells for them on the way back as well as the rest of the party pelting them with arrows. By the time the enemy actually got to my party, half would most likely be gone and then it would be a case of managing the agro, crowd control, specials and heal. This made you feel powerful and in control, working as one unit. It was ace.

I ploughed over 100 hours into DA:O , the expansions and DLC. I loved it. DA2 destroyed this strategic mechanic with magical appearing enemies so recon and setting up traps became pretty much useless, and in DA:I it just feels like I cannot do it due to the restricted camera movement making it hard to see what is going on.

Are there any other games that will give me the same sort of strategic experience as DA:O? I see that GOG have Neverwinter Nights 2 complete on offer; will the combat and party mechanics work in a similar way? Does it feel as free as DA:O did?

I will leave you with a picture of my seven member party from DA:O with loads of abilities in the action bar, all of which are useful. Can you get that in DA:I??!?!?!??!?!

Knights of The Old Republic?

I did enjoy Inquisition, but yeah.. Origins was something special.

Watching this thread! I've played Origins through 4 times at 100 hours plus every go round. I feel like playing it again now but my baby is nearly here so me thinks I may not get to finish it any time soon.

NWN 2 is well worth picking up (actually going through it again at the moment). It comes with the expansions too so you get a lot for your money, easily 100 hours worth of gaming.

It will feel different due to the ruleset (its based on D&D 3.5, but that appeals to me as I play a lot of Pathfinder) but you can control each character whilst the others do their thing. I would say its a harder game than DA:O but more enjoyable with its humour, lore and story.

Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 are essential purchases on GOG imo. Absolutely great games and you can use the modding tools to make your own scenarios as well.

If you've never played them you might also want to check out Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 as well. Another great RPG series as well. The enhanced editions are probably worth picking up.

I agrees (mostly). I did really like DA:I, but it lacked depth and options compared to DA:O for sure.

Divinity: Original Sin might scratch your itch as well. It's an excellent party-based RPG set up around the concept of battlefield control using magically-created and naturally-ocurring elements and terrain features.

Highly recommend baulders gate and divinity is also a good yarn.

Wasteland 2, possibly?

Love that screenie but where did you get the skeletons from? Maybe one of the expansions as I've not played them.

Drakensang and Drakensang River of Time are worth a try!

Unfortunately this won't be easy as I thought DA:O handled combat very well, I liked the fact you could heavily customise the tactics etc so that you could rely on your healers to operate efficiently without needing to micro-manage them (but still having the ability to do so if you wanted to for certain situations). To be honest party RPGs aren't that common anymore full stop.

As mentioned KOTOR is excellent and is usually available on the cheap in sales, I think there is some sort of updated patch to make it work better on modern systems and also restored content with KOTOR2. However whilst KOTOR possibly has a better story I'd say the combat still isn't quite up to DA:O standards.

To be honest I'm not helping really, as DA:O is actually the best RPG I've found for combat tactics etc.

divinebeetle said:

Drakensang and Drakensang River of Time are worth a try!

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I second this. Loved the first, not so much the second. Get prepaired to learn a whole new system, that is very fun. Once you get the hang of it its very close to d&d.
Also try Divinity Original sin as mentioned above. Just as good as DA:O in its own right and more so since spells interact with each other. i.e. throw down some oil to flounder enemies, but then set it on fire to burn them.

Theres a spiritual follow up to Planescape Torment about to drop, it looks like it could be phenomenal.

Pillars of Eternity.

HangTime said:

Unfortunately this won't be easy as I thought DA:O handled combat very well, I liked the fact you could heavily customise the tactics etc so that you could rely on your healers to operate efficiently without needing to micro-manage them (but still having the ability to do so if you wanted to for certain situations). To be honest party RPGs aren't that common anymore full stop.

As mentioned KOTOR is excellent and is usually available on the cheap in sales, I think there is some sort of updated patch to make it work better on modern systems and also restored content with KOTOR2. However whilst KOTOR possibly has a better story I'd say the combat still isn't quite up to DA:O standards.

To be honest I'm not helping really, as DA:O is actually the best RPG I've found for combat tactics etc.

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All of this.

Recently played through KOTOR 2 with the restored content mod. The game still holds up today and HK47 is still my favourite droid.

Undesirable said:

Pillars of Eternity.

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This and also Tyranny. Both are new but are done in the style of the old isometric games, both made by Obsidian who are well regarded for RPG games too.

Cheers for the response!

In regards to the suggestions

KOTOR – played, Loved, completed. This game got me into RPGs
KOTOR 2 – I am sure I have a copy of this somewhere. I have started this numerous times and thought that the start compared to the first is SLOWWWWW, so never really played very far into it. But I know I will love it, so good suggestion. Probably the closest to DA:O from the list of suggestions?
Balders Gate 1 and 2 - I am going to say something that means most of you will hate me…. I cannot get into this. I think it is too old for me, graphics wise and gameplay wise. But I may try again as I have a copy of BG1 enhanced
Divinity Original Sin – good suggestion! It is installed and I have out about 15 hours into it before I left it for some reason. Been meaning to start this one again as the party combat is ace. Take away the turn-based and this is very like DA:O in terms of setting up traps and tactics imo.
Wasteland 2 – Again, have this and installed, have played around two hours and yea I like it. Should give it more time.
Pillars of Eternity – Have this and recently gave it another try before Christmas, found it hard to get into really. Got the village near the start with THAT tree, got a few quests and have not yet journeyed out to do them yet. Very text heavy which I am finding hard to get on with
Tyranny – Have not got this and thought I have enough games of similar ilk, that I would hold off until I have finished a few

Will have a look at the Drakensang games; have not really heard much about these

I think I will pick up NWN2. I actually have a boxed copy, but will buy from GOG for the convenience. I remember the performance when it came out was terrible (believe it was on an un-optimised engine) but should be better on my rig now I am guessing.

In regards to the skeletons; this was in the expansion Awakening but I don’t remember much, but you could specialise further and so I had three party members with the ability to get pets; Wolf and enemy res to get the Skele’s. Loved it! You have to get the expansion Awakening and the DLC, all are amazing quality.

Give Drakensang a go. Nwn 2 is OK but the maps are small.