Just played through as a female rogue (going with the archery talents) on the PC. Probably not going to say anything that hasn't already been said, but here's my opinion for what it's worth, along with apologies for the wall o'text:
Specs (in case they're of any relevance) :
i7 975 EE processor
2x 295 GTX 1 gig
12 gig RAM (DDR3)
Windows 7 Premium 64 bit
Running Directx11, though a 295 is only a Directx10 capable card, I think.
Visuals
Character models - Faces are great. I was surprised at how well they registered even small expressions, such as a smirk. When Wesley died, the look on Flemeth's face as she appeared to almost sympathise with Aveline, was just Fantastic. But all the characters (Flemeth in particular) look like they're wearing waaaaaaaay too much hairspray. A tad static in the barnet department. LadyHawke is lovely, I really enjoy making faces and custom characters but she really tempts me to play the default. I also like the way she runs, I find it less jarring than in Origins, I always thought my Warden moved a bit like a bloke.
Love some of the new effects. the hail of arrows graphic is great fun especially. Bethany's fireballs also looked nice, nicer than in Origins, I thought. Textures etc don't seem to be different from DA:O, (this isn't a problem for me since I liked them well enough then) although I did like the golden statues in the area where we fought Hayden - they had a nice metallic sheen to them. Graphics in general seem a little sharper overall, without being drastically different.
The new art direction is interesting. Can't say I liked it more than Origins, but it wasn't horrendous by any means, and was certainly distinctive. Darkspawn seem a little more
alien looking, which I liked. Blight-ravaged Lothering outskirts (or wherever we were) really was barren, wasn't it? Personally, I prefer environments to be a little less sparse - remains of houses dotted about (rather than just what appeared to be the occasional tower and a stray corpse or two), a gutted shop or merchant caravan with a few bits and bobs to loot, the site of a small battle where a group of refugees fell prey to a bunch of darkspawn, but maybe took one or two down with them. In my opinion (obviously), these things would add more to visual storytelling (from a 'human tragedy' perspective) than a totally desolate landscape, and would maybe have provided a more emotive set-up for the death of the Hawke sibling.
Audio
Music and environmental sounds both good. Intro music as lovely as it was last time, but then I'm a sucker for that kind of voice.
Thought the voicework was excellent. Kate Mulgrew stands out (as always), also thought the woman voicing Isabela was marvellous, more nuanced than I was expecting. LadyHawke herself was easy on the ear, and neutral enough to be unobtrusive, which I think is a great thing for a voiced protagonist. One thing that gets me bizarrely annoyed is actors who place the wrong emphasis on words within a sentence, especially when they're responding to someone else. Jo Wyatt (right?) got it spot on - now if she can just do that for the rest of the game, I'll be happy.
Story
Such as it was for a demo, anyway. The somewhat clipped response to Carver's death kind of made sense to me. The fact that their grieving was left unfinished added a greater sense of urgency, especially in LadyHawke's response; I would, however have liked to see something a bit more extreme from Bethany (they were twins, weren't they? Must have been close). Wesley's death seemed to have more 'punch', though I suppose they had the luxury of a powerful shapshifter watching over them at the time. I hope that there is more reaction to Carver's death after the family reaches Kirkwall.
Gameplay
Great. I'm currently running through Origins as a dual-wielding warrior (still a short way into the game) and have been dismayed to find that its pretty much identical to a dual-wielding rogue, just with better armour and no lock-picking. Not anymore. I
adore jumping nimbly around and darting in for a bit of a stab then rolling away (though Varric looks hilarious doing a barrel-roll!), while Carver and Aveline swing about more slowly. Rogues are now made entirely of cool. Mages seem able to handle themselves a lot better at close quarters, as well as having some good spells. I remember groaning inwardly when the statement was made that 'when you press a button, awesome happens'. But actually, that's not too far from the truth. Combat responses are much more immediate and fluent, but I can still do my thing where I pause and rearrange my people and order them about and so on.
Issues
No crashes, small amount of lag in cutscenes, and even though Carver died, it was he who appeared in the first Kirkwall cutscene. Couldn't choose Directx10 in the graphics drop-down menu, only 11 or 9. Will this be different in the actual game?
I admit, I was already looking forward to this game, so Bio's preaching to the converted. But the gameplay is more fun than I was expecting, and my (few) concerns are diminishing. Think it's safe to say I'll be buying the full game.
Jeez, if anyone actually bothered to read that gigantuous bit of wordage I am both impressed and grateful
Modifié par AllThatJazz, 23 février 2011 - 02:20 .