I picked this up for the PS3. It was £14.99, including free redeemable codes for the "Blood Dragon Armor" and "The Stone Prisoner" downloadable content. I was considering waiting to see if a Game of the Year edition ever saw the light of day, similar to Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition (not that it's anything other than a bug riddled hex) but, I figured I'd take the plunge and snap up a copy of the regular release before the reedemable codes expire (on April 30, 2010).
I created an Elven Rogue with the City Elf origins. I wasn't sure whether I was going to play as an Archer or go down the route of Dual Weilding. I've ended up becoming more the latter. I spent one point in Archery; Pinning Shot, which actually comes in handy, tactically. I can pop off a few arrows or bolts and pin a few meanies where they stand. I've been contemplating going with Dexterity or Cunning as my main attribute. Apparently, on the consoles there is an error with Dexterity in that it does not contribute to attack damage (it should; at least for daggers) so I'm leaing towards Cunning (in tandem with the Lethality skill).
I hear a lot of complaints about frame rate but, I can't say I've had any major problems. Yet.
It took a few hours to get to grips with playing such a game on a console and with a controller. The lack of camera zoom or any different overhead angles (to view the entire party and all enemies) was quite foreign, too. But I've gotton used to switching between characters while the game is paused, to survey the situation from each of the available view points. Opening the radial wheel pauses the game and enables targeting of specific enemies.
There are combat tactics where one can assign how characters behave in combat and what skills they call upon, and in what situation they are to do so. But I use such sparringly. For the likes of (everyone in the party) Target Self; Health > 50%; Quick Heal, and (Alistar or Mabari Hound) Target Morrigan; Being Attacked (Melee); Take Action, or (Mabari Hound) Target Nearest Enemy Mage; Attack; (Skill) Charge, etc. It's too chaotic to completely forsake the pause and ponder style, which I honestly enjoy. And although the combat commands are well done, it can leave you in a spot of bother if every character has spent their entire quota of effective skills on the nearest visible whomever, leaving you to plug away while they (the skills) recharge. Thus I think it's of more reward (and more fun) to use the combat commands for the simple things, such as keeping health up, and protecting your mage, etc, while taking charge of everything else where and when you see fit, rather than at every situation the commands closely describe.
I'm absolutely loving the story, as well as the combat (now that I've learned how to harness the console gameplay mechanics) and look forward to a few quieter days of work, not to mention a day off so I can relax and play away.
