Agreed. And too bad there wasn't any +3 defense bras or panties you could switch on (..or off).

I kinda agree with most of marker's points. Since I'm a huge Oblivion lover I miss the freedom elements a lot:

- I wanna be able to go wherever I want
- I dont want dungeons and areas feel like MMO instances
- I wanna be able to kill anyone I want
- I wanna jump and swim
- I hate invisible walls!!
- If I wanna jump off a cliff, let me do it!

But the game is linear in design, and these things are always lacking in linear games. I knew it would be this way.

A more 'serious' criticism is the dungeon design though. Now that you mentioned it markers, I realize too how the dungeons are extremely obvious. No surprises. Everything is placed in such obvious ways that it feels very artificial, too much like a game rather than an immersive experience.

But I still love the game because the presentation and overall atmosphere is awesome, the story, music, voice acting and all that is so interesting and sucks you in. It's a fairy tale world that I love. All the characters are so adorable (and when they are repulsive it's in a good way) and the dialogues are intelligent. Battle gameplay is fun, and the leveling and skill/spell system, items etc - the basic 'RPG-stuff' is well made and addicting.

I also like the graphics mostly, so therefore it sux even more that I can't walk wherever I want.

Easily my GOTY.
(although I haven't played Assassin's Creed II yet, so I can't be entirely sure).

For what it is, DA:O is great. You have to enjoy the type of game it is to really appreciate it. Was it flawed? Yes. Was it the best thing since sliced bread? No. Did I love it? Hell yes I did.

The story (while mildly retarded at times) is a good one.

The animation is surprisingly bad at times (tho if you like most Biowares games this is ok).

The only glitch my g/f has ever complained about on the ps3 is the occasional lost audio during character convos (never had this problem on my pc)

And Ill give you the hands. Looks like Biowares took every character in the game and had them steal money in Vegas. Later, the mob boss decided to break all their bones with a rubber hammer.

Well I don't think DA Sucks. I've only played a few hours then I pretty much got bored. Theres technically nothing wrong with the game from Bioware. The problem is that's it's already been made. The game feels to be a remake of their prior works into this game.

Is it a spiritual successor to Baldurs Gate. Only if you have been waiting. The game has pretty much the same level of attachment that KoToR has as a successor. I think Bioware wants to recapture BA, but clearly they don't know what made BA so good. Bioware has moved towards telling a better story and away from it's RPG ish game play that made BA and NWN so grand.

Is it a good game. Yes. Just not BA succesor and certainly the company is moving away from my tastes. Fortunatly if Bethesda keeps Fallout style RPG coming out I will be in their camp. I'm hoping Interplay however manages to bring back the level of Fallout and Planescape again though.

Yes the story is vast with plenty of options to warrant atleast 3 playthroughs with any single race. It is the exploration as sc has stated.

No. No, it's just you. Given what you want it to be, your opinion is obviously bad.

I don't see why it's a bad thing to have learned a thing or two from Oblivion and become a better game because of it. Time and time again I go back to a game that I loved and cherished and put up on a pedestal as some amazing experiance but then when I go back it's hard for me to have fun with the game anymore because of all the improvements that have been made in gaming today. DA:O plays like a last gen game. I expect better. Games should grow, learn from games that push gaming forward and become a better game because of it. People defending Bioware's unability to grow and evolve with this title only remind me of racist old white people in the south fighting change when african americans were fighting for their rights. It's survival of the fittest and I refuse to spend my money on crap that play like a game that was good years ago and which I just can't turn back to and enjoy anymore. I'm really hoping ME2 is as incredible as I'm hoping it is because Bioware has done nothing but dissapoint me this generation.

gaming PC is relatively cheap these days, people buy a console just for one game all the time, and I don't see why not for a PC, not to mention it has more potential as a multimedia machine too.

Given all the replies and conversations in this thread thus far, I do believe it is actually...just you.