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Dragon Age Journeys The Deep Roads Review
EA expands the Dragon Age universe in another direction with this free-to-play Flash game which integrates with the full Origins.
Written by Dave Taylor, 28 October 2009
With our first review of Dragon Age: Origins due in 360Zine tomorrow, we thought we'd take this opportunity to review Dragon Age: Journeys, the browser-based Flash game that accompanies it. The level of sophistication that we are now seeing developers and publishers bring to game launches is pretty great news for gamers as it means we get more from the games that we want - here with Dragon Age we have a browser game to keep us occupied until launch with in-game items as a reward, and we know were have DLC coming at launch to expand the game.
Play Dragon Age Journeys enough and you can unlock items for use in Dragon Age: Origins. That's integration!The real question with Dragon Age: Journeys though is whether we were going to feel obliged to grind through a sub-standard game in order to win our rewards for the main game. The good news, and we'll break it here, is that Journeys is the most accomplished, well rounded and sophisticated Flash RPG we've seen. One of the developers for this "EA 2D" game previously created Monster's Den, the very accomplished Flash RPG. The experience shows here in Journeys, with similarities in approach to combat, for example, but there really is no comparison in terms of quality - this is clearly an indication of what Daniel can achieve when he's given a decent budget!
Combat in Dragon Age Journeys is a turn based, grid affair. Simple enough, but effective.The interface borrows heavily from Dragon Age: Origins and what a blessing, because it is incredibly well realised and easy to use. If you've played any Bioware RPG, you'll feel at home straight away. The inventory and character screens are the familiar drag and drop to equip, the same for selling items at a shop. The Quest log is simple but effective, and the spell book is easy to see the progression and to unlock and add spells to the toolbar.
Shops in Dragon Age Journeys are easy to use: just drag and drop between sides to buy and sell items.Unlike the Monster's Den game, in Journeys you have a game world to walk around, rather than simply dungeon crawling room by room. It feels like a 2D Baldur's Gate in terms of quality, and we mean that as a compliment. One niggle to mention here though is that when you have a party, the members all walk around in exact unison, with the same underlying animation, even if the characters look different. It makes it look like you are controlling clones and just a slight off-set on timing so they didn't all move as if locked together with a steel bar would be enough to improve the aesthetic.
You walk around the game world in Dragon Age Journeys, just as you would in any RPG. No room by room, "2D" approach here.When you enter combat, the action changes to a turn based grid-system that's familiar, but improved. You need to move around the grid to be able to get in range and then use your skills to defeat the enemies. It works well, with you having to manage offensive and defensive/healing actions in order to succeed.
PCGZine Issue 40
For our latest Dragon Age coverage, click here to download PCGZine Issue 40 for free.After a time playing, you can't help but feel that two minor improvements could be made.
Firstly, there's no automatic mana or hit point regeneration out of combat. It's easy enough and cheap enough to carry around a barrow full of potions, but since that's all you need, it would be better to allow heal over time. Instead, there's several heal spots of one sort or another in each area, which is a direct import from Monster's Den, and just feels like a dated idea here.
Secondly, levelling up is time consuming. While not advocating making the game easier, RPGs rely on the gamer feeling attached to their character and this mostly happens when you level up and make your own personal choices on what skills you are going to develop. The space between level 2 and level 3 is so long, that it's likely some people will abandon the game, because they haven't been hooked into their character enough.
When you do get to level up though, there's quite a choice of skills, so there is a real depth to this game. It just needs to let you experience it more - there's a reason why RPGs always manke levels 1-10 quick and easy, it's to capture the gamer, and Journeys would be improved if it did similar.
The graphics in and out of combat are superb and the feature set of the game is so advanced for a Flash game that you start to draw comparisons with "real" games and begin to wonder, for example, why you can't move around with the map up, or click on the map as a means of navigation. We have other niggles - why can't we stack purchases at a store, for example? Given that you need to buy lots of potions and they're cheap, give us a "Buy 20" option. More importantly, as with other, older RPGs, a level is empty of all enemies once you've cleared it, which makes it feel artificial and some re-spawning or random elements would improve the gameplay. Given the Flash technology used, why is there no Fullscreen button?
The story itself is fairly linear, but it's engaging enough, and it feels a part of the Dragon Age universe, so it's hard to see Journeys as anything other than a qualified success. The nitpicking we've found is nothing more than that, and simply because we like it so much, we want more. Journeys is a real RPG in your browser and with its Unlocks and Achievements is a must-play for the Bioware faithful waiting on November 6th.
Dragon Age coverage available in PCGZine Issue 40 - click here to download it for free!
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