41 replies to this topic

[Darziak]

News:
Witch Hunt Impressions @ RPGWatch [Spoilers]

I agree with this article, another disappointing DLC.

It's better off keeping your money and reading a spoiler to morrigan's story.

Edit: Oh and the codex seems to be bugged causing major lag when viewing it.
Edit2: On my nightmare playthrough I didn't have that bug.

Spoiler

Dog was used to make some puppies while your player was in awakening.
There will be a huge change happening at some time in the future
Flemeth seems to be some sort epic being.
If you had a child with Morrigan it seems to affect the change that's coming.

Edited by Darziak, 08 September 2010 - 10:58 AM.

[Philiposophy]

I've noticed that it's getting very negative feedback and complaints that nothing was answered. Also seems to have bugs and not recognizing what actually happened in Origins. I'll have to mull over whether to buy it. Actually I'll probably follow Darziak's advice: read a spoiler and then see if I want to buy it.

Edited by Philiposophy, 08 September 2010 - 08:55 AM.

[Cal Jones]

The bug occurs if you use a post-campaign save (the on the road one).
I've never used that save - I've always used the Post Coronation save to import into Awakening and have then successfully imported two Wardens into Witch Hunt from there.

My first Warden was a female who was friends with Morrigan but refused the ritual.
The second was my Cousland prince consort who was Morrigan's lover but then married Anora. The game acknowledged the relationship and child.

Bioware are working on an emergency patch to address this, but for now, just use your Post Coronation save.

My impressions: it seems fairly thrown together - recycled levels, and so forth.
However, there are some nice touches. The new companions have some good banters (Anders gets a mention) and are fairly amusing.
Dog is back with an explanation for his absence in the codex (and a nice one for Dog, too).
Sandal is also back - although his voice is different. I don't know why they just didn't use the voice they had in Origins. It's a little weird.
The circle tower library books are fun to look through - laughed at a few of them (and the apprentice banters as well).
The difficulty isn't, well, very difficult. I played first time through with a level 35 warden on normal (my usual level) and me and my companions barely touched a heal poultice. Next run I tried hard and it was still pretty easy. For a level 35 warden, I think nightmare is likely the only challenge you'll get if you actually want it to be fairly challenging.
The ending was...abrupt. There are different endings, and for Morrigan romancers, one of these will be very satisfying. The others leave more questions than they answer.

Overall: It wasn't bad. It could have been better. But I guess they wanted to get things wrapped up so they could move on with DA2.
If you found Return to Ostagar worthwhile then you'd probably like this. If you're expecting something more then you'll be disappointed.

[Archmage Silver]

I'll give it a go on Friday I think, that's the earliest I'll have any time for it the way work is keeping me busy. By the way, can you import from Golems of Amgarrak, or do you have to stick with Awakening saves?

[Darziak]

Well I imported both my character's from GoA DLC, and storywise it makes sense to go from there.

I don't know if it depends on your level (I'm lvl 35) but I got a 4th specialization to pick.

Edited by Darziak, 08 September 2010 - 04:16 PM.

[Cal Jones]

You can import from Golems, yes, but the main thing is that you need to have exported your character from the throne room, not post-campaign into whatever module you did next. Otherwise it'll think you refused Morrigan's ritual.

[Archmage Silver]

You can import from Golems, yes, but the main thing is that you need to have exported your character from the throne room, not post-campaign into whatever module you did next. Otherwise it'll think you refused Morrigan's ritual.

Ah, that's all right then. I imported my mage into Awakening from the throne room save, and into GoA from my last Awakening save, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I had finished Origins when RtO was released though, but I never used the post-epilogue save to play it - instead I loaded a save game prior to entering Redcliffe Castle for the final time, finished RtO, and then finished Origins again, gaining a throne room save with RtO completed, so I was able to import from that save. At least I got something out of the effort now.

Edit: I almost forgot this...

Hi everyone,
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the Witch Hunt DLC pack. As everyone here knows, Dragon Age: Origins is a huge game with a lot of choices for each individual player. Unfortunately, there is a continuity bug that is causing issues with a subset of our player base. While this issue is not affecting the majority of people, it is still a significant issue that we will address. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing anyone.

Clearly, it was our responsibility to catch this sort of issue in the interaction of Witch Hunt with Dragon Age: Origins.
Our team is doing everything we can to fix this in a timely manner so those who are affected can go back to enjoying Witch Hunt as soon as possible.

Stay tuned here for an update soon and thank you for your continued support.
Thanks,
Mark Darrah
Executive Producer

We're also investigating the fact that a save game is not being properly created at the end of Witch Hunt.

BioWare is taking applications to test the beta patch.

Joystiq pens a negative review for Witch Hunt.

Edited by Archmage Silver, 09 September 2010 - 06:39 AM.

[Darziak]

IGN Review of witch hunt

[Archmage Silver]

News:
Impressions: Witch Hunt @ Grey Wardens

Reviews:
Spawnkill [1/10] (!)
GameSpot [5/10] (!)
Grey Wardens [No Spoilers]

Edited by Archmage Silver, 11 September 2010 - 02:04 PM.

[Kulyok]

Surprise! A positive "Witch Hunt" review: http://nightmaremode...unt-dlc-review/

I haven't played this DLC yet, myself, as 1) I heard of bugs; 2) I would have to play the whole DA:O campaign to make the demon baby choice, and possibly Awakening, too; 3) too many negative reviews. But after that last review I think I might play it sooner than I thought.

[Archmage Silver]

I've been busy, so I haven't been able to play Witch Hunt either, but I'll try to make time for it next weekend. I'll post my thoughts on it then.

News:
Witch Hunt Walkthrough @ Grey Wardens
Witch Hunt Walkthrough & Item Database @ GameBanshee

[Kulyok]

I finished it yesterday night (spoilers, slight and not, below).


I started a new Origins game as a Dalish female elf and immediately imported that character into Witch Hunt. So the game acknowledged the origin but pretended the Dark Ritual never took place(naturally). I never picked the dog in Origins, so the game got an explanation for that, too: the dog was a present from Teyrn Fergus Cousland for slaying the archdemon. "Slayed an archdemon, did you? Good elf! Here, have a puppy."

Anyway! I was warned about the recycled locations, so I kind of braced myself for these. Except for the very beginning in Flemeth's hut/Mage Tower, and the very end with Morrigan, the game is a straight dungeon crawl in recycled areas, and only companion banter/remarks help survive it.

Companion banter was WAY better than in Golems of Amgarrak(and more copious than in Warden's Keep/other DLC), so it was a big plus. Unfortunately, it seems like most of it was written by Sheryl Chee, since it wasn't very, well, character-revealing; mostly funny filler. I never found anything deep about the Dalish girl, and very little about Finn the mage, though I liked them both, ultimately.

Morrigan comes with few answers(I refused the ritual, so she didn't say much), but I'd say she said more than enough to shed some light on the plot of the next game.

I got all the achievements(enough healing potions this time, so it was easy), and imported all the items into Awakening. Let's just say that a beginning character is VERY well equipped now.

(spoiler!) Another mystery disturbs me, though: when we went to the Mage Tower basement and spoke to the statue, she told Finn that they would never speak again. This was never explained: after our adventure was over, Finn was still alive and presumably ready to return to the tower. Maybe all Tevinter artifacts would go extinct after Morrigan would do what she was going to do?

Anyway! I liked the DLC(maybe not so much because now I know that whatever happens, Morrigan would leave forever and my male char would never find her, and that's sad), and I only wish I was able to 1) read the books Morrigan gave me; 2) have some sort of "final save"; 3) know whether I would be able to play my Warden ever again, or would he/she play a role in DA universe.

[Kulyok]

"If the Warden romanced Morrigan and plays their cards right, they may be able to accompany her."

Oh, oh, oh! Am replaying the game. Now.

[Darziak]

Let's Play Dragon Age Witch Hunt

[Archmage Silver]

News:
Witch Hunt Micro Review @ Kotaku

Patch:

Witch Hunt version 1.1[/size]

Witch Hunt version 1.1 is now available for the PC. This updated version contains the following changes:

• When importing from a post-game save, your conversation with Morrigan in the Witch Hunt module will properly reflect the choices you made in Dragon Age Origin's "Dark Ritual" plot.
  
• The game will automatically save after Witch Hunt's final cutscene.

This new version can be downloaded from your Entitlements page on the Dragon Age social site (http://social.biowar...ntitlements.php).

To install Witch Hunt version 1.1:

• Log in to your Entitlements page on the Dragon Age social site (http://social.biowar...ntitlements.php) using the same account you used to purchase Witch Hunt.
  
• Find Witch Hunt in the list of Titles and click the More Info link for your platform.
  
• Right click on the download link and select "Save Target As", or the equivalent in your browser. Save the .dazip file to your computer. If your browser tries to rename it to a .zip file, rename it back to .dazip after download.
  
• Find the daupdater.exe application. It is usually located under \bin_ship in your Dragon Age folder (for example C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\bin_ship\daupdater.exe). Double click on it to open it.
  
• Click on "Select DAZIPs". Navigate to where you have saved the .dazip file and open it.
  
• Now the .dazip file will appear on the Install tab. Select it on the list and click "Install Selected."
  
• Once the installation is complete, you can return to your Witch Hunt playthrough wherever you left off. Morrigan will now respond correctly to your choices in the Dark Ritual plot and a savegame file will automatically be created at the module's end.

We are also working on a stand-alone installer, which can be used to install the update from Windows without using the DAUpdater utility. We will let you know when this install method is available.

Thank you for playing Dragon Age: Origins and the Witch Hunt DLC Add-on!

[Cal Jones]

Note that, until they make an installer, you have to do it manually. If you download the file, chances are your browser will rename it as a .zip. You then have to go in and rename it as a .dazip. To do this you must have file extensions visible. Go to Tools > Folder Options > View and uncheck the radio button to hide extensions. You can now rename the file.

[Archmage Silver]

Ah, good point. I've never had that problem since I always have extensions visible.

[Darziak]

I forgot to mention a positive side from downloading Witch Hunt for me is that it only takes 2 seconds to verify my DLC now instead of the several mintues I had to wait before.

So somehow Witch hunt dislodged the long loading for me.

[Archmage Silver]

I just verify everything once (first install basis), log out, disable Dragon Age: Origins - Content Updater from services, and then I can play as much as I want without ever needing to verify/log in/be online at all.

[Cal Jones]

@Darziak - yes, same. It's almost instant now.