Dragon Age Legends Preview/Review

Goozer Nation is offering up a hands-on preview/review of Dragon Age Legends, the forthcoming Facebook RPG from EA2D that’ll directly tie in with BioWare’s Dragon Age sequel. Some interesting info about the microtransaction system is contained within:

Dragon Age: Legends is overall a cool concept, but it lacks all of what makes the Dragon Age games noteworthy. The story is easily forgettable, which is why I haven’t mentioned it. I honestly can’t remember what the story was about, and that’s due to how the story is told, which is through long paragraph dialog boxes. Ultimately, the story doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day all you do is enter encounters, kill monsters, rinse, and repeat. You’ll find when playing there are very few weapons and armors to be found; most have to be purchased, which means you basically use the same weapons and armor through most of the game.

Dragon Age: Legends was really made for FaceBook users who can’t stop playing games like Farmville. Farmville’s success seems to have made the people at EA jump on the social games bandwagon. The underlying currency in DA:L are Crowns, which are not awarded to the player, they can only be purchased with real dollars. Prices range from $4 to $20, and the fact that most weapons, armors, perks and such are only purchasable with crowns means you’ll be dropping real money in game to customize your character. The carrot on the stick to make these purchases are come in the form of unlockable items for Dragon Age 2. For anyone not a Dragon Age fan I can’t recommend this game, but if you’re a diehard fan you may get some enjoyment from Dragon Age: Legends, and the public release should be out soon.

I can’t help but be a little concerned at the concept of spending $20 on “crowns” that’ll unlock items in Dragon Age II, particularly since it didn’t cost a dime in Dragon Age: Journeys. So it goes, I guess.