Dragon Age 2 Demo feedback thread
#5951
Posté 25 février 2011 - 03:56
I know that this close to launch there aren't many changes you can make, hell you only have a week but here's what I really DIDN'T LIKE about the demo
:
1)AUTO-ATTACK. I get that you're trying to go for more of an 'action-rpg' feel but it's not working. Mashing X just makes the combat feel repetitive and boring. Just make this a setting; button mashers are happy, DA:O fans are happy, everyone's happy.
2) TARGET LOCK - Now that auto-attack is gone I'm having difficulty keeping focus on the target I want. I frequently use the right-stick to pan around and assess the battlefield but now my guy changes targets when I do so. If you're going to go for an 'action-rpg' than you need some of the basic controls every action game has; target lock.
3) FINISHING ANIMATIONS - Not once did I see a 'finishing' animation in normal combat. Is that intentional? An issue with the demo? Or what? Nothing brought more satisfaction than lopping a darkspawn's head off in the middle of a fight or quartering them up with my swords. That's what made the combat so visceral.
#5952
Posté 25 février 2011 - 03:57
i am SO cutting classes on the 8th.
EDIT: please stop complaining about button mashing - on console you have to option to put back auto attack!!! and finishers were disabled in demo. have a liiiiiiittle bit of faith!!
Modifié par tacopacabana, 25 février 2011 - 03:59 .
#5953
Posté 25 février 2011 - 03:58
#5954
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:01
UI: is way better than DA:O
Graphics: in textures, is great! and the enviroment is awesome, but when i started playing and i go to the part of flemmeth (holy...flemmeth looks so sexy...) i couldnt help but notice that when she was talking the bottom of her teeth looks like there was some black spot...oh and when my hawke was killing avelines hubby (rogue) right before she pulls the knife down her leg looks so bad...like low quality texture...and i have high settings...
but overall is great! the story telling is awesome! i like varric, hes funny as hell!
Modifié par QwibQwib, 25 février 2011 - 04:01 .
#5955
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:01
CReppy wrote...
:
1)AUTO-ATTACK. I get that you're trying to go for more of an 'action-rpg' feel but it's not working. Mashing X just makes the combat feel repetitive and boring. Just make this a setting; button mashers are happy, DA:O fans are happy, everyone's happy.
From what I understand auto-attack is a selectable behavior, but the default is 'press button for each attack'.
#5956
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:03
I would like to see an auto-attack feature though. I did enjoy hacking and slashing with the "x" button in the PS3 demo, but I can tell right now that's going to get old fast, and it might even get frustrating in tougher battles when I just want to concentrate on strategy and monitor my companions' health bars.
Modifié par Regan Cousland, 25 février 2011 - 04:04 .
#5957
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:05
Eurypterid wrote...
CReppy wrote...
:
1)AUTO-ATTACK. I get that you're trying to go for more of an 'action-rpg' feel but it's not working. Mashing X just makes the combat feel repetitive and boring. Just make this a setting; button mashers are happy, DA:O fans are happy, everyone's happy.
From what I understand auto-attack is a selectable behavior, but the default is 'press button for each attack'.
happy that it will be a selectable opinion, my x button is wearing out!
#5958
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:06
Lord Drakkul wrote...
People need to research the game before coming to some of their conclusions. They have stated and demonstrated a few times that Normal difficulty is meant to feel more like an action game for the crowd that isn't into micromanaging, and higher difficulties will force you to go back into pause and be strategic if you wish to win.
Anyone assuming that you can play the game exactly like that of the demo even on higher difficulties without actually looking into it is going to miss out. I look forward to Nightmare, the land of challenge and friendly fire.
Also, the first half of the demo is the beginning of the game, and the second half of the demo is only a few hours in. Did you expect an epic battle that only the most skilled players could defeat? Lest we forget a room full of rats teaching us how to play DA:O. Blind admiration at its finest =P
JFYI, the room full of rats in DA:O is a tribute/homage/reference to the room full of rats in the Prologue/Tutorial of Baldur's Gate 1.. after all, "many epic stories begin just by killing some rats".
-----
And here comes the Imhotep crowd again, trying to desqualify different opinions with the "you don't know what you're talking about" b/s. This is not the "Let's defend Bioware against the haters" thread. Bioware doesn't need you defending them. They are big guys and can take it. They started this thread to receive the feedback from players about the Demo. You don't need to reply to every negative opinion on their behalf.
99,999% of the negative opinions have nothing to do with the Demo being too easy. We all know that difficulty is LOCKED at Normal. Neither with the graphics being lowered by the DX11 not working on the demo (The Demo clearly says that using Dx11 option causes performance issues that will not be present in the release version). Nor even with the auto-attack not being present in the console version of the Demo. It clearly says that retil version will have it functional for the console as well.
If you need to try and desqualify something, desqualify this:
Nironforever wrote...
Damariel wrote...
RageGT wrote...
Well, I'm still going to buy and play this game. There's nothing better before The Witcher 2 is out anyway. And I'm a 47 yrs old with lots of time who's also been playing most of Bioware's games since BG1.
What I'm really disappointed about is that fanatics will bash anyone with serious critics to the changes made to the DA IP. I have little doubt that the Origins Art director left the company also because he didn't agree with this changes and he said so. It's like the Imhotep crowd following its priest! Don't cross their way!
This is the Demo feedback thread so please stop justyfing and throwing stones at people who disliked the Demo, or telling them to "not let the door hit them in their way out". We can dislike the changes made without saying that everyone who likes them is an idiot! Personally, I don't think people who likes the way DA2 went is an idiot. I will love if the release game version changes my mind about what I don't like in it although I really don't see that happening.
For me DA:O is an unique game made with a lot of passion which is displayed in every single detail, including the art. DA2 is a generic game made with a lot of technique to sell a lot. I don't know if the budget for the production of DA2 was lower than Origin's or not but it feels like it. Perhaps it is just the time spent on the details. It's like comparing an Art movie to a Titanic blockbuster. I do hope DA2 is the Titanic of the video games because I love BW and wish the best to the company.
But I really love the way a small Polish studio took their time and about 4 years to produce a sequel to a game that became a legend and the sequel promises to become epic. God forbid EA to come close to to them... or not! We will always have Piranha Bytes in that case!... I can't add nothing more
You said it....I agree.
I personally was very disapointed about the demo. I don't know why. I do think its the direction dragon age goes.There are so many Hack and Slash games out there.....why follow. Dragon Age was unique and now it apears DA2 is nothing more than the other clone games out there. Thats sad. But i respect that. Its a decision BW made and i think they know about the consequences changing the genre. They will sell enough copies and ea is happy so why bother {smilie} . Maybe Dragon Age 3 is different but i doubt it. Time will tell. My decision is to cancel my preorder. I personal don't like fantasy Hack and Slash games.
#5959
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:10
#5960
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:11
When I start the game, the auto-attack is going on, the inventory wheel is being set to "toggle" and the difficulty is being cranked up to hard.
#5961
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:13
But Aveline is SO dull...
She tackled a darkspawn, punched it repeatedly in the face, and muscled a sword through it's neck. I'd say there's some personality driving that.
#5962
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:14
I never felt like the main characters were in any kind of danger whatsoever during the entire playthrough (it's not the matter of difficulty, but more of the atmosphere) - they not only move like they were killing things their entire lives (didn't know that Feralden was that dangerous and I thought that they were trying to blend in due to their situation, but whatever...), but they are also significantly faster then their enemies (I could literary run in circles around groups of darkspawn, which made the game a little silly when every enemy on the map was running after Aveline and no matter what they did, they couldn't even get close ^^'). Even during the scene in which Flemeth saves group's bacon I was thinking that my characters could take them on, and not about how hopeless the situation was.
Personally I would love a hopeless battle to drive the point home (how I fondly remember helplessness when fighting Desann in Jedi Outcast) - the ogre never felt dangerous, because it simply had a lot of health and not many moves (shame that it can apparently grab people only in cutscenes...).
The second thing, were omnipresent spikes. They are simply everywhere: on weapons, armour, enemies, even decorations on walls of Kirkwall tend to be full of spikes. Also, during the prologue I was thinking that I was running through a domain of some Dark Lord (a little more red light, some lava here and there and I could really believe that it was Mordor and not normal countryside turned to wasteland by the presence of the darkspawn).
The third thing was about how empty locations were - during the prologue it felt like the only things that signalled that humans have ever been to the location beside randomly placed ruins of some towers or guardhouses (I wonder why would anyone bother building watchtowers in this location, since you could barely fit a cart on this trail Ah, well... ) and corpses that felt like they were placed to give the player stock of potions before the mini-boss fight. Kirkwall was also extremely empty and it never felt like a real location (baskets and boxes looked like placed because they had to be placed somewhere). Hopefully, npcs were cut to make the demo smaller and we will be able to see some guards, people return home from an inn or even groups of bandits waiting for some poor buffoon wandering through the city without a weapon or bodyguards(even stationary guards a'la BG would make easier for me to believe that people are actually living in all those buildings around me and don't show up only when they have a quest to offer or want to kill me).
The last thing was the fact that I was attacked entire time by an army of clones - darkspawn are one thing but it looks like being a Raider in Kirkwall is a family business, since I was swarmed by a horde of ginger attackers. Felt extremely weird.
I also encountered some path-finding problems (when ordering my rogue to attack darkspawn bolters on the elevated ground more often then not the character would try to close the distance by jumping to an enemy and land somewhere in the middle or get stuck or slowed down trying to cut the corner), but other than that, I liked the combat a little more than during my first playthrough (still felt a little too fast and silly - exploding enemies looked better during the time of BG, but there will probably be mod for that) - even if waves upon waves of enemies make me feel like I'm depopulating Kirkwall every time I'm hitting the streets.
Still, will wait for some reviews before buying the game, but I'm not as sceptical as I was before.
Modifié par aakunen, 25 février 2011 - 04:16 .
#5963
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:14
Yrkoon wrote...
I never said it was different. Just that 1) it exists in DA2 (you asked for examples) and 2) that there are more of them. Mike and Peter have both flat out said there's more combos and more cross class combos in DA2. This last one is significant, because the only cross class combo in DA:O was Shattering. Now we've got more.Tommy6860 wrote...
Yrkoon wrote...
Spell combos, stagger combos (for example, if a warrior staggers an opponent, your mage's lightning attack will do 6x damage.) Watch the live stream. Mike laidlaw explains it, and IIRC, demonstrates it.Tommy6860 wrote...
Yrkoon wrote...
Well, lets see. More combos. More cross class combos. Healing pots
are now under a shared cooldown. There's a new stagger system.
There's 3 additional warrior trees.....
You generalize , what combos?
Or do a search of Peter Thomas's various posts.... he goes into great detail about the tactical, cross class synergy in combat.
I can see that point being made, but how is that really any different? If I had Morrigan use crushing prison on an enemy and their health is being drained quickly, and then I launch a sweeping sword attack, the damage being done cooperatively is still about the same. It is simply the same amount of damage done in a different method. But as far combo moves, they are sorely lacking in DA2's demo that I see so far (I know, I shouldn't judge this package, it most certainly will be different in final release). Where are the finshing moves?? I hope they kept them because those were awesome. Even if I just attacked as a rogue in Origins, I could stab the stomach with my dagger, then kick below the belt and then a sweeping sword, choppping off the head as part of a kill. This isn't happening from what I see. This game, if going by the demo, is very watered down for animations and differnt looking enemies as they all look the same.
The rogue moves so fast that I feel like I am playing FF's Rikku or Dante from DMC or one of the Ninja Gaiden games, or even Bayonetta. I also don't like the way you have to click on a dead body as a rogue to choose using swords/knives or a bow. I hope that isn't standard in the game like that. Switching between the two in Origins was a snap.
But it exist in DA;O as well, I don't see the point, you make it sound as if it is different when you just stated that you never said it was, so what's the difference in its ultimate effect anyway? It actually looks better in Origins when performed.
As far as the cross-class combos, I guess you must not have played Origins very much, because I can see them as I am looking at it right now in Origins, and there are 24 cross-class combos between warrior and rogue classes that are the same.
Now, if I am misunderstanding what you mean by cross-class combos, please elaborate. I am looking at talents. As far as I can see in DA2, you have attributes, abilities (called talents in Origins) and tactics. In Origins you have attributes, skills, talents and tactics. I see an advantage with Origins right there. Look, I am not trying to knock the game, it isn't even out yet, but it clearly changed in looks (not that it is a bad thing, that remains to be seen), combat style and removed the different race choices, then added the Mass Effect style dialogue system, where it appears you no longer have to figure out the personality of your squad member.
#5964
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:18
Balvale wrote...
But Aveline is SO dull...
She tackled a darkspawn, punched it repeatedly in the face, and muscled a sword through it's neck. I'd say there's some personality driving that.
I didn't say she wasn't tough as nails, but every time she spoke her voice was like background noise to me. Don't get me wrong, though: I'll still spend ages talking with her to see how she ticks.
#5965
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:24
I know it is probably too late to fix this before the game comes out, but for future games (like ME3) can you please take this into consideration? Or, at the very least, put a block of color behind the text so it is easier to see? This worked really well in Dragon Age: Origins IMO
I really find myself frustrated and unahappy playing ME2 because of this, and I would hate to end up with the same anger for DA2 so I'm pretty sad
#5966
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:25
What game am I playing? All my greatsword needed was a chainsaw on the blade and hog throttle and my PC could have been named Dante. I get the intent: spruce up the action while preserving the core of the game. And I certainly don't blame the devs for trying. I guess we'll see how this translates into the full game come release. In the meantime...
-Way too many frivolous animations in combat, to the point of distracting for this kind of game.
-AoE spells difficult to cast with precision in certain scenarios (target at range, on an elevation, etc)
-Some non-combat animations were clunky, like walking (which will likely be cleaned up in retail version, I know).
-Want more frequent finishers! I love those things. (trivial)
-Controlled characters seemed to run too fast in non-combat. (trivial)
-Despite my comment above, the animations looked better overall than in Origins.
-Environment wasn't bad. Lothering felt barren and hopeless, which paralleled with that point in the story: you're on the run from the horde after your hometown was sacked by darkspawn.
-Contols were more responsive.
-Women look like women, which is always a plus.
-Overall, I had fun playing the demo... which is why I buy video games. Conversely, that is why I seldom buy games anymore. Oops, I used the "f" word.
#5967
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:28
BULL. You simply haven't read the comments on this thread. There are dozens upon Dozens of people here who have utterly damned the game (not just the demo) for being too easy. Why would they do such a thing if they Knew the difficulty for the demo was locked on normal, and that the full game wouldn't be?RageGT wrote...
99,999% of the negative opinions have nothing to do with the Demo being too easy. We all know that difficulty is LOCKED at Normal. Neither with the graphics being lowered by the DX11 not working on the demo (The Demo clearly says that using Dx11 option causes performance issues that will not be present in the release version). Nor even with the auto-attack not being present in the console version of the Demo. It clearly says that retil version will have it functional for the console as well.
And Dozens upon Dozens more have began their posts by harping on the graphics and flat out saying: "Um, ok, I had everything set on high, I had Directx 11 checked... yet the graphics look terrible! (one guy even posted a closeup shot of Hawke and mocked the game for containing no AA on high settings. again, why would these people say stuff like that if they knew that the high settings were disabled for this demo?)
No, man. As much as you WANT to portray 99% of the gripes here as 'valid criticism', the fact of the matter is that a HUGE chunk of them WERE NOT.
Modifié par Yrkoon, 25 février 2011 - 04:49 .
#5968
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:28
LIKES:
1.making the rogue and mage feel like the powerful classes that they should be
2.voice acting lets you connect with the character you are playing more then reading text and listening to your own thoughts
3. the style they have done the game in tho different from the first dragon age does not in in my opinion make the game any less dark and gritty as for the demo and what people have said about lothering being a waste land remember that at the point that the demo is playing out the darkspawn have just sacked the area and destroyed lothering in the first game
4. finishing moves in dragon age 2 may not happen in combat and be played out as in game cut scenes but look and feel bigger and more epic
.5 gifts mean something to the story as they have said ya not that creepy guy in the pub plying the girl with drinks
DISLIKES:
1.two-handed sword feels like a hack and slash if they slowed down the animation a little bit i think they would get the effect they were going for it feels like the hits lack the power that a two- handed weapon would have hitting a body
2. why must hawk be human ?
3.there should be a way to play were flemith is dead or at least a better resone for here being alive like she took another body or morrigans body not it never happened !
4.give more tavinter !
5.crafting pls ? p.s NOT RUNES
thats me done btw reading dragon age books at the moment there epic also would love to see some feed back from david on what ive posted here
#5969
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:30
The voice acting seems fine so far, Isabela’s is particularly good. I like FemHawke’s voice, it is a nice change from FemShepard (who I liked) to hear something a bit more feminine. I think the dialog wheel is effective with what Hawke says matching the intent of what is shown on the wheel. It would be nice to be able to play a different race but I think the way a voiced character can engage with the rest of the game more than makes up for it.
The combat seemed slightly confusing at first but I soon got the hang of it, it does seem much more vital now and I have no problem with the stylised animations. I really like the way your health regenerates very quickly after a fight as I must have spent quite a bit of time standing about in DA:O in between fights. The new skills tree is better as I did find myself using the same few favourite spells in DA:O so to be able to concentrate on those abilities will be good. One thing that was quite annoying was Bethany wasting her fireball by casting it way behind the running darkspawn, I did read somewhere that AI is fixed for the real game though, so I hope that won’t be happening.
#5970
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:34
Eurypterid wrote...
CReppy wrote...
:
1)AUTO-ATTACK. I get that you're trying to go for more of an 'action-rpg' feel but it's not working. Mashing X just makes the combat feel repetitive and boring. Just make this a setting; button mashers are happy, DA:O fans are happy, everyone's happy.
From what I understand auto-attack is a selectable behavior, but the default is 'press button for each attack'.
i dont see why people complain i like hitting the button over and over it makes it feel like im more involved than just hitting it once and having them do it all by themselves
#5971
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:39
I play on the Xbox 360 =)
#5972
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:41
c0wb0ycliche wrote...
So I just played through the 360 demo, waiting for the PC one since that's what I have it pre-ordered for (played DAO and all DLC for PC) and my thoughts are more positive than negative, but a little mixed.
The new combat is amazing. The pace is frantic and makes combat seem a lot more exciting (not that I had an issue with the DAO, it's probably my favorite game of all time.) Like a couple people said, it will take some getting used to the changes, but I think they are for the better. I feel like I've been waiting forever for a fantasy RPG with real time, visceral combat, and this has it. Which is amazing.
The graphics... mmmeeehhh. I love the new art style, but the character models lack detail, and the environments (at least in the demo) are unimpressive. I don't understand how Lothering is suddenly a vast wasteland. Kind of silly. And I don't understand how people are saying the faces and animations are better... I feel like they are the same. One scene the mom did the whole "cardboard cutout putting prayer position hands over face" and I was like ugh. But I will reserve judgement until the full game. The interface is, while very Mass Effect-y, a huge improvement, the level up screens are great.
The sound is kind of meh as well. The music is great, some of the voice acting is amazing (Hawke, Isabella) but the rest is pretty crappy, especially in the longest section of the demo with his family. This paired with the akward movements is hopefully an issue only present in the opening parts. But as with the graphics, we'll see.
So this probaly seems really negative, but it's not lol. The new combat is great, the new interface is great, the music is great, art style great etc.... the graphics and voice work, not so much.
Fortunately I wasn't really worried about the graphics or voice work, I was concerned about the gameplay changes, so the demo eased my mind. I just wasn't blown away as I was maybe expecting.
Can't wait for the actual game to come out, and when the PC version goes live I'll post my thoughts on that if they are any different.
Oh, and I feel like a couple times speech skipped. Like Flemeth said something and before she finished saying it she started saying her next line.
I also had dialogue that was not completed, but clipped off at the end of sentences. Then the dialogue would continue, and the next sentence would be fine. This happened a lot in the scene with Flemeth, and then again in the Chantry near the end. Audio levels varied a lot throughout, which I found irritating. Characters could hardly be heard at times, even when the music was turned almost off in Settings, while voiceover narration in the bridge/back story segments was blasting. Very sloppy production values. Never had any audio issues in DAO, so hopefully this will be fixed in the game.
Graphics were acceptable to me, even with the “cartoonish” lack of textures on the characters. It would be nice to have some skin texture; Flemeth hardly looked like the “old” witch of the wild, although it was nice to hear the same actor doing the voice acting that we had in DAO.
Combat is fantastic; I was blown away by the speed. And my rogue’s Backstab ability is really impressive! It definitely left me wanting more, and isn’t that what a demo is supposed to do?
Modifié par gravelvoice, 25 février 2011 - 04:45 .
#5973
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:41
CReppy wrote...
2) TARGET LOCK - Now that auto-attack is gone I'm having difficulty keeping focus on the target I want. I frequently use the right-stick to pan around and assess the battlefield but now my guy changes targets when I do so. If you're going to go for an 'action-rpg' than you need some of the basic controls every action game has; target lock.
That indeed would be nice.
#5974
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:41
There's more of them in DA2.Tommy6860 wrote...
But it exist in DA;O as well, I don't see the point,
I never once said anything about them being different. I never once claimed they were different. And saying that they're different would be pointless to this discussion anyway, because you didn't ask us to point out how DA2 is tactically different.you make it sound as if it is different
Really? There are 10 combos in DA:O. Only one of them (shattering) is a cross class combo. All the others involve only one class (mage). If you're going to make up your own personal definition of what a combo is in DA:O, then fine. But that's not AT ALL what we were discussing, and you know it.As far as the cross-class combos, I guess you must not have played Origins very much, because I can see them as I am looking at it right now in Origins, and there are 24 cross-class combos between warrior and rogue classes that are the same.
#5975
Posté 25 février 2011 - 04:43
culletron1 wrote...
I found myself constantly pausing the DA2 demo to issue commands and fiddle with the tactics. Perhaps becuase I didn't have the most efficient tactics mapped out yet but still...
why? u can run the demo just attacking with main character and spam abilities that have (nearly) no cooldown, excepts for the heal (wich is quite ETERNAL)
i play the 3 classess on pc, and the 3 again on xbox.... on xbox is like devil may cry... that is NOT an rpg
the game is mass effect 2 with mages... BUT mass effect is sci-fi, shooting rpg, and action it's ok... dragon age would be a FANTASY game
bioware (or Dioware, as i call it (dio is italian for god)), please: abandon electronic arts... PLEASE





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