Combat in Kotor and Dragon Age: Origins

[DaHeckIzDat]

I'm in the middle of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and I'm enjoying it. However, I'm enjoying it IN SPITE OF the combat. The story is what's drawing me in, and nothing else. It was the same way with Dragon Age: Origins, another game by Bioware that has very similar mechanics. I just can't for the life of me understand the appeal of combat like this.

For anyone who doesn't know, Kotor and Dragon Age combat is fully automatic. You select a target, and your character fights them entirely on their own. You can tell them to perform special moves, but it's still THEM doing it, not YOU. You can only control one person at a time, so while you're able to switch between party members, whoever you aren't controlling will continue to fight on their own. These games feel like they're trying to be strategy games, but I don't see any opportunity to strategize in this automated, noninteractive fustercluck. These are games you HAVE to play on easy, because higher difficulties will pound you into the ground while you can't do anything but watch it happen.

That isn't to say that this type of combat is bad in and of itself. Xenoblade Chronicles does something very similar, and much better. The fighting is automated, yes, and you still choose special actions from a menu rather than perform them yourself. But now you have freedom of movement during combat, and the fact that certain attacks work better or have special effects if you perform them from a certain position let's you feel like you're actually taking part in the fight rather than watching a video game play itself. Strategy is now possible because you can actively learn what the best way to take down every enemy is, what attacks they're weakest against, and coordinate with your AI controlled teammates to take them down.

So it's not that I hate this type of combat, I just don't think the aforementioned games do it very well. I'm curious, though: am I alone in this? Is there anybody here who actually enjoys the combat in Kotor and Dragon Age? If so, what am I doing wrong to not see what makes it fun?

[ActRaiser]

It's probably been 15 years since playing through KOTOR 1 and 2. But, I don't remember the combat being all that hard.

Check out a game faqs for tips. The faqs should get you going.

[DaHeckIzDat]

It's probably been 15 years since playing through KOTOR 1 and 2. But, I don't remember the combat being all that hard.

Check out a game faqs for tips. The faqs should get you going.

I'm not having trouble. I've got it set on easy, so all the enemies go down pretty quick. I just don't see how people can play on any setting higher than that.

[ActRaiser]

It's probably been 15 years since playing through KOTOR 1 and 2. But, I don't remember the combat being all that hard.

Check out a game faqs for tips. The faqs should get you going.

I'm not having trouble. I've got it set on easy, so all the enemies go down pretty quick. I just don't see how people can play on any setting higher than that.

My hunch is you're not optimizing your choices based on your character selection.

Check this out for tips on how to optimize your character selection and playstyle to make it easier. No offense, but I think you're doing it wrong. I would encourage you to read through it to get an understanding of how everything works.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/xbox/5565 ... faqs/36365