How do these things go? Ah, yes. I have to build my credentials in order to build a rapport between readers and myself. Consider myself a tradtional BW fan. I bought (and still play on occasion) BGII way back
when. I bought and enjoyed NWN, NWN2, and have recently caught up with the ME series on the Xbox (which has become one of my favorite RPG series).
I played the original DA:O several times through, but unfortunately the 1.04 patch broke the game for Win7 users so that it crashes at seemingly random intervals.
Because the 1.04 patch was months and months ago, without a peep from BW on a fix, I swore I wouldn't give DA:2 a try until they at least gave some word on the issue - yay or nay. After all, it's not much fun owning a prequel you can't play, and incredibly frustrating that there isn't a solid "fix" discovered by hundreds of members of the community who have posted on the problem.
However, the Demo changed my mind. I pre-ordered it on Steam the day the Demo came out, and just in case a BW lackey stops by; here's some feedback.
What I really enjoyed:
I enjoyed the more dynamic action of the game. Yes, I realize it's less realistic. I do think it's a little silly that the Rogue can jump 8' in the air and land on his target, and the "jerky" motions remind me a lot of puzzle-platformers from other series.
However, I'll also admit that the combat in DA:O was like most tactical RPGs - that is to say,
bland. It wasn't particularly bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. I continuously choose Mage characters throughout RPGs because they add pizzaz to a battle.
The combat has been jumped up a notch, particularly on the Xbox version (which I also downloaded). I can
see the "Smash A until it's dead" practice getting old eventually, but at the same time the PC's auto-attack didn't thrill me either. However, despite the repetitive nature and non-interactiveness of the respective versions, the visuals do drag me in quite a bit. As long as the abilities open up often enough (which it looks like they will, judging
by the later levels of the Demo) and I'm not blocked too often by running out of Stamina/Mana, I can see myself enjoying the DA:2 combat more than the DA:O significantly.
Part of that is the new visual style, which I really do enjoy. DA:O had one of the blandest visual styles in recent memory. When DA:O details started to emerge, I wasn't particularly thrilled that the Dragon Age IP was BioWare's "own entry into the Fantasy setting." Frail elves, drinking dwarves, golems, mages, hunters, warriors, and nether-demons... For fantasy, that's about as exciting as oatmeal. The visual style didn't exactly enliven the world, either. With the realistic approach taken, once again, I was so rarely impressed by the humanoid characters I would often rush through parts of the game instead of exploring. Everything was stereotypical in its presentation, and that's not what BW needed for the IP - they needed something to really distinguish DA:O from other games.
I think they found that in DA:2. No, it's not realistic. Yes, the weapon acrobatics can seem silly - as I said before, but I'll tell you the honest truth.
The moment I saw Flemeth in her human form, I was sold. She looked exactly how she should have looked. Elegent, powerful, teetering on the line of friend and behind-the-scenes manipulator. I wasn't particularly interested in her FedEx quest for the Demo, but as a character I am now a hundred-fold more invested in her than in DA:O where she was another bland hag with only a hint of personality hiding behind rags.
The "dialog wheel" from the ME series might have been seen as a bit of a gamble, but I enjoy its implementation here. Dialogs have always had just 4-5 options that you choose from, but with the added center picture to give an idea of the tone... Brilliant. For over a decade I've occasionally been vexed by choosing what I thought would be a witty reply, only to harshly berate a partymember. I'm positive I'm not the only one, and I thank you for allowing me to choose the tone of the conversation - even if I don't know what's going to be explicitly said. Could you tell the ME team about this? I'm sick of Para-Shep being such a wuss.
I'll address the rest of the UI later, but it's also worth mentioning that setting the entirety of the game in a single city was mildly concerning for me. I wasn't as worried as others, since I remember BGII had enormous cities filled with dozens of quests that were wonderful - but DA:O was such a far cry from BGII that the magic could've dulled over time. After seeing the quest or two we have in the city via the Demo, I believe I'm going to enjoy the setting as long as we keep visiting different parts of the city.
What I didn't like so much:
I said I'd address the UI, and here it is. I didn't like it. It seemed like a minimal custom UI from my WoW days. Granted, DA:O had a very minimal UI - but since I've already expressed my displeasure over DA:O's blandness, it's not a point in DA:2's favor to be compared to the DA:O UI. I would like to see some sort of art or elegance injected into the main screen. The other screens - character/level up/journal/etc. I'm fairly indifferent about for now, but I wouldn't mind more art being displayed in them as well.
The quests, for the most part, were run-of-the-mill. Beat off a horde or two, a FedEx quest (without an entirely convincing reason behind it - by the way), and a revenge quest. The revenge quest was the strongest in the Demo, for me, since it brought me back a bit to BGII - but I definitely didn't expect a FedEx quest so early, and fighting through so many Darkspawn in the beginning was par for the course.
I still think a few of the feminine models are ridiculously proportioned, but in the current gaming environment I can understand why. Lucky you, BW, I'm more of a face man. This isn't really a complaint, but thank you for injecting some more individuality in the faces of the companions. I don't find any of the two female companions in the Demo, but I found them to be individuals for now.
Summing up:
Kudos, BW. You got me to buy your game. I hope it fullfills its potential.
Now, could you please fix DA:O for Win7? You're the ones who broke it with 1.04.
Thanks.
Modifié par Scimal, 24 février 2011 - 05:20 .
Retour en haut
I like new graphics and fresh look of the game but, as a longtime fan of DA, I must admit that:
where have you been??? lool
