8659 réponses à ce sujet

[S-P]

saj791 wrote...

Did anyone other than me find warriors too be way underpowered. I mean, I get that Bioware is trying to make each class/ weapon spec be more specialized, but I think Bioware might have gone a little too far. Playing the demo I found that the two handed warrior didn't do nearly enough direct damage, I mean it had the advantage of being able to hit more than one enemy at a time with normal attacks, but still. Then the sword and shield warrior was just pathetic, sure its tank, but I still believe that a tank should be able to do a respectable amount of damage, not a bunch of tiny bug bites. I mean look at archery, one shot does nearly half of a hurlock's health, and the AOE, forget it, I don't see how Bioware is claiming that mage is the champion of AOEs when the archery talent is clearly the far superior of a two. Actually on that point, archery in general was just WAY to powerful. I understand that Bioware was trying to fix some the the mistakes from DA:O with archery but it seems to me that they might have gone in the opposite direct and made archery far to overpowered. I mean the pinning shot killed hurlocks in basically one hit. rain of arrows did 300 something damage per sec and its duration was 4 seconds, which is waaaay more damage an direct attack talents or spells. And I'm really not trying to bash on people who like archery, because I'm one of them, to me its just annoying when certain classes are so powerful that playing through the game with them is like doing nothing. Anyway the point is, I found the DPS of classes to be quite unbalance, I mean it is only the demo, but I don't believe it bodes well for the real game either.

I thought the same as I completed the Rogue with no trouble, with his ability to dissappear and re-appear behind the enemy.But the Warrior attacks do seem to be pretty weak to say the least. Although I have to say I'm happy they increased the attack speed as in DAO it took ages to swing your 2H sword.

[voad]

Wynne wrote...



The beautifully carved, medieval interface was a bit distracting, whereas the simple one now in place was pretty easy to ignore.

Really? Distracting? What did they distract you from, and for how long? They weren't distracting, they were nice to look at. As opposed to being unpleasant to look at. Would you also approve of them taking textures out of the entire game, and lighting effects, etc? Are those distracting to you too?

The existing abilities--were frankly extremely broken. About half were interesting, not enough were class-specific, some were over-powered (cone of cold, Arcane Warrior) while others were pathetically useless (feign death, Shapeshifter.)

I completely agree, these were BIG issues I had with DA:O.

A static mage... looks pathetic, tossing little sparklies out of its staff. Now they actually know basic self-defense with the staff which anyone could do. They look now as if they've been taught a thing or two, like they have discipline rather than just "spit little cloud which does almost no damage", lather, rinse, repeat. The answer is, "because mages actually moving at all looks about twenty  times cooler than a mage just standing there lamely trying to look as if they're doing anything."

This is just ridiculous and somewhat insulting. So weilding a weapon takes no skill and any joe blow off the street can do it huh? I wonder what professional fighters, fencers, ancient samurai, etc would think of this claim? These people spend many years and even entire lifetimes honing their skills. And then you suggest a Mage who is classicaly portrayed as the wise book worm who spends their time studying for the pursuit of power and knowledge. They should just pick up a sword and be awesome then huh? No to mention the ridiculous acrobatics that were displayed in the trailer. Maybe I missed where they held their tumbling classes at the Circle tower? Or where they had these classes on self defense. Perhaps just any warrior could learn how to use magic? Oh they can't according to the lore right? Where does it say in the lore that just any one can pick up a sword and be good with it? Especially when the majority of their life is already dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and honing their own skills in magic?

The hairstyles--they looked that way in Origins, too, except that the braids were often unrealistic. How is this fixing what wasn't broken?

Don't remember anyone having hair that looked anything like Flemeth's hair here. A small nit pick though really.

By classes, you mean races. The answer is, because this is the story of a human, because most people
played human to an overwhelming degree in Origins, and because limiting Hawke a bit allows them to do more with the story. Doesn't mean this will be every game they do.

Really? I don't remember ME or ME2 doing anything more than DA:O did despite being able to choose a race and having a voiceless protagonist. Maybe you, or anyone could give me some examples of what those games had to gain in the story department that DA:O could not?

The looks we see in the demo aren't always the finished looks--the tears Aveline cries aren't even in where they're supposed to be, and Stan Woo has said QA testing improved 2h warrior combat since as well. Not sure how overly attractive characters make a game "not intelligent", I think there's a much better way to criticize this sort of thing.

 


I think that some characters were unattractive in DA:O can add to the game. Older characters looked old, ugly characters looked ugly. Better than everyone walking around looking like a super model. Not sure if DA2 really suffers from this though. I do think the default male hawke looks like he came out of a saturday morning cartoon. His chin is waaayyyyy too pointy, his whole face is too jagged and pointy. Some of the characters look to have a plastic and cartoonish look to them that I don't find appealing.


Now where is my hug?

[Godak]

Eurypterid wrote...

And what does this converstaion have to do with the DA2 demo? 

He did mention something about a dwarf in there...

S-P wrote...

But the Warrior attacks do seem to be pretty weak to say the least.

Yes, the two-handed spec needs a bit of a buff. Just a bit, though. I think the sword and board warrior is meant to be weak. I think they wanted a completely dedicated tanking spec.

[Javanaut]

[PC Player]

My initial review of the demo was more... techinical (for lack of a better term). Now that I've had the opportunity to play through a few times with the various classes I'd like to give my impressions of the game from an entertainment perspective.
Obviously this opinion is based soley on the demo and not the final product. However, I feel demo's are meant to showcase a product.

 {Enemy; Any; Activate Ability; Flame Shield}

TL;DR
I'm not opposed to Bioware taking Dragon Age in a different direction. My problem is that I don't feel like it was executed very well. I feel like I'm being 'teased' with two different genres, but satisfied by neither:

Combat

I enjoyed the tactical nature of combat from DAO, but I understand the decision to make the combat more action based. I enjoy that type of gaming from time to time. However, I feel like the execution of the idea fell short. While it's absolutely true that I can still play DA2 in a tactical way. There really is no incentive to when I can take out 6 darkspawn with 1 Whirlwind and dash several yards to a ranged enemy at the blink of an eye. You don't even need crowd control anymore. I would be completely fine with that and approach the combat with a different mindset. But there are a lot of games in the market already that are so much better at it. The first thought that popped into mind while engaged in combat for DA2 was, "I'd rather be playing Bayonetta. The mechanics are so much better." I don't feel like I really have to work or think to win battles in DA2. I feel like they are just handed to me dimishing the combat experience into nothing more than 'busy work' until I can trigger the next part of the story. DA2's combat leaves me feeling empty and superfluous.

Let me sum that up: Combat in the DA2 demo made me want to play another developer's game. Assuming that the purpose of a demo is to showcase your product, then this one does not succeed.

Combat Animations: 

Livening up the animations was a good idea, but I felt it is done too often. The flashier delivery loses it's value when it's done constantly. It's exciting at first, but after about 15 mins of playing the game it becomes distracting and... forgive me... silly. That delivery style works in games like God of War, Dante's Inferno, Darksiders, the aforementioned Bayonetta; but it doesn't work with DA2. The reason those flashy moves work in games I just listed is because you are only focused on controlling one character. When controlling a group of characters, all employing sassy flair in combat; it becomes very 'busy' almost to the point of sensory overload. After watching the mage wield his/her staff for a short time; I half expected the mage to jam their staff between thier legs like a phallus and thrust their hips hands-free to fire it while giving high-fives to other party members. Again - good idea, poorly executed. In my opinion it would have been more entertaining to increase the flash, but reserve it for abilities and finishing moves.

RPG and the Dialog Wheel

Streamlining the RPG elements worked in Mass Effect 2. Why? Because Shepard, as a character, was already established with a rich and personalized history in ME1. It doesn't work in DA2. It doesn't work, because Hawke is a new character. In order to get a real sense of role playing with a new hero there needs to be more shades of grey. I don't feel like my dialogue has any impact on the people and circumstances around me. I feel like no matter how I act as Hawke the result is the same.

Examples:

No matter what I say when discussing what to do with the rest of Hawke's family the response is exactly the same.
Mama Hawke: "Please. Listen to your brother."

No matter what I say when Carver dies, the result is the same.
Mama Hawke: "How could you let him charge off like that?! Your own little brother?!"

This makes the game an RPG on the surface only. It leaves Hawke feeling very two dimentional. There's very little depth to his persona. Good, bad, sarcastic.  Doesn't matter, because reactions to my behavior are static. 

Summary

The concept of merging these two genres was a great idea on paper. However, it's my opinion as a video game consumer that it needed more development. Most likely, I will still play this game. I don't feel like it's worth my money unfortunately. I will borrow a friend's copy, play it once, and forget about it. 

Modifié par Javanaut, 27 février 2011 - 11:42 .

[1Nosphorus1]

voad wrote...
I think that some characters were unattractive in DA:O can add to the game. Older characters looked old, ugly characters looked ugly. Better than everyone walking around looking like a super model. Not sure if DA2 really suffers from this though. I do think the default male hawke looks like he came out of a saturday morning cartoon. His chin is waaayyyyy too pointy, his whole face is too jagged and pointy. Some of the characters look to have a plastic and cartoonish look to them that I don't find appealing.

Let's just say, I will be changing his face like I did with Shepards, the voice (imo) didn't suit it at all.

[Panpsychist]

wulf3n wrote...

Have the people who keep calling it a "hack and slash" even played a proper hack and slash? Just because you have to keep pressing attack you believe its been dumbed down? If anything that's made it more intelligent, because you not only have to worry about commanding your party you actually have to fight while doing it.

From my perspective thats like calling KoToR a Third Person Shooter. You still have to use intelligent tactics, anyone that says otherwise obviously doesn't realise what they're doing when they're playing, they must have played too many old school rpgs for all this to be second nature.

"Just because you have to keep pressing attack" defines having been dumbed down. You not make something more "intelligent" by insisting you pat your head and rub your belly simultaneosly while doing it. This is true even if patting your head and rubbing your belly simultaneosly has become second nature to you.

Modifié par Panpsychist, 27 février 2011 - 09:10 .

[Spirited Treasure]

Hi -waves-

Here is ours. I've compiled mine from another site.



--------------------------------
His:

One dear to me started as a warrior.
could not finish.
died four times with the second Ogre..

Uninstalled.
He says he won't buy it..Doesn't want a game that is too hard to play.

-sigh-

-edit-
also he crashed at the character creation screen. (where you name your char) He also had the dll error. He is on Windows 7. I am on XP SP3.
He could not get the demo to run correctly until he used Steam to download it.

===================
Mine:

Just finished this demo. I like the combat a LOT.
The combat is about 1 million times better. Especially backstab!
The armors are much much better.

Use the force stereo thing to be able to hear the voices.

Isabella needs a new face! (She is UGLY IMO.)

I like! 10 from me.

----

I backstabbed it every time that option was available again.. I didn't like that they took the fourth out so soon.

I liked that Flemith appeared. I wonder if that is the only time we will see her in game.
She looked so different from when she was with Morrigan.

But in game it would have been the same time frame.
It made me wonder if even Morrigan did not know exactly what her "mother" looked like.

I also noticed that your mom in game has the same voice as Mommy Cousland. Not a huge surprise there.

I thought it was a bit silly that I could not save or access inventory..

But whatever.

I died the first time with that ogre.. Then I sorted the sound problem and played it again.

-edit-
I could not hear anything they said. I had to force sterio sound to hear them. I've already reported this here.

---

My potions worked but not every time.
My girl was about to die and I clicked like 4 times and she just would not take one even when she said "using health potion"

----

Well I've played through all three so far and I have to say being a Mage is way better! Warrior not so much when lower levels,. but the higher level warrior kicked ass and took names later.. I'm amped for the game now. But I can't afford to preorder it this month. Other stuff to pay ya know?


----

Warrior is way harder. I don't understand this. It should be the other way around IMO.


That's it from us.

Spirited Treasure and One dear to me

Modifié par Spirited Treasure, 27 février 2011 - 09:19 .

[Gastrian]

Is the PC demo actually representative of the final product because if it is I would like to know before the release so I can contact my eTailer and have my pre-order changed to the Xbox 360 version.

I'm sorry but the PC demo was awful, its not only a dumbed down version of DA:O but its a console port. The tactics menus are setup as if you are using a control pad not a keyboard and mouse, the skills tree is also designed in a way that makes it perfect for controllers that work in straight lines and that don't have the freedom of a keyboard and mouse. The GUI has the barebones design of most console games and none of the embellishments that are part and parcel of PC games.

The combat style and camera restrictions play towards a consoles limitations not a PC's strengths. Its hard to play the game tactically because you can't position an archer too far away from your main character without swapping them, letting the camera focus on the archer, position them in real time and then revert back to your main character which completely removes the ability from all previous RPGs of this ilk, including DA:O that gave us a zoomed out isometric view that allowed us the freedom to position our characters over the entire map quickly and efficiently.

I have no problem with Bioware wanting to make a 3rd Person Hack and Slash game with RPG elements but it should be a sping-off title, not a direct sequel and they should've told us from the start and should've released the demo before the end of the pre-order phase because there is going to be a lot of PC gamers like myself who are looking to be seriously annoyed with their pre-order and won't buy another Dragon Age product because of it.

[Chaosje]

dunno if it is in here alrdy (and cba to go over 300 pages to check , so if it has been posted alrdy, sry )
but when i tried to play as a rogue archer i noticed that the range of the darkspawn archers are bigger than mine... i wanted to hit an archer that was shootin me, but had to ran towards him first :S
is this intended?

also: probably since its only the demo and they wanted it to be easy, but every time i tried the pinning shot, it killed my target instantly, so couldnt really see if it did what i expected Xd

[Killjoy Cutter]

1)  I really hope that with the full inventory system, you're not stuck with a single weapon set on the character, as would be implied by the dead refugee weapon switcher if you're playing the demo as a rogue or warrior.

2)  Area of effect attacks are aimed very poorly unless you do it yourself -- Bethany kept casting at charging enemies with her fireball, and missing entirely. 

3)  "surrounded by" in Tactics evidently means "they're on the minimap somewhere".  See also, either mage with the mind blast spell casting it as soon as combat started no matter where the enemy is.

4)  Far too easy to have your commands to the characters negated by something interupting them.  Tell your warrior to Pommel Strike a target, and anything that interferes in any way won't just delay the strike, it causes it to never happen.  Sometimes, you have to click over and over on it to make the character actually do something.

5)  Speaking of which, potion use might be broken in the demo.  Tell a character to use a potion, and it simply may or may not do so.  Whatever attack sequence it's in seems to take complete precidence, and if it ignores you for the moment, as above, it ignores you completely.  Again, a flurry of clicks is often needed to make it happen.

6)  Sometimes, a character will just run away from the fight and stand somewhere, until you issue a command. 

7)  If you've selected a target for one character, and then switch to another character, your "target focus" does not switch to the target that the new character is fighting, it stays on the first, so that it's very easy to accidentally have that new character use a skill or spell on the wrong target, go running across the battlefield, etc.

Modifié par Killjoy Cutter, 27 février 2011 - 10:04 .

[AgroDan]

On 360 looks great. However idk y u needed to change the formula. I hate tap tap taping A and the whole thing feels cartoony. Get the god of war combat out of my dragon age. Its a frieken RPG not a slasher. Must say i like the mass effect dialouge style.
<_

[Amioran]

1Nosphorus1 wrote...

It wasn't really clarification since most of the points that you've pulled people up on were just matters of opinion and not statements/facts.

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...
And people's opinions of the demo are definitely wrong if they say only
idiots will like DA2. I, for one, am no idiot and I liked it.

This is an example of an opinion, everything in that sentance is a debateable subject.

Wrong.

"Everyone that does like DA2 is an idiot"

Statement, and, as in your definition before, it can be wrong, and, in fact, it is.

And anyway opinions on things that are based on appurable parameters can be wrong, no matter how subjectively they are presented. If you don't have enough knowlege of a thing, it doesn't matter if what you think about it is posed as subjective or not, if it is wrong on those objective parameters then it is wrong.

Example: "FF removes all the challenge from the game in my opinion". Wrong opinion, because FF is obviously a context change in a gameplay, so it doesn't change the specific complexity of the same.

Example 2: "On my opinion the animations sucks". Both, it depends if you talk more about the aestethics or the technical aspect of the animations. In the former case it *can* be a matter of taste (also if in many - most - cases it isn't because it is tied also to some objective parameters), in the latter it is obviously a wrong opinion.

Example 3: "I don't like the look of the darkspawns". In this case it is a subjective opinion because a judgment is not made and so objective parameters aren't touched upon and cannot be confuted.

Modifié par Amioran, 27 février 2011 - 09:54 .

[operageek]

Ok, I realize everyone is focusing overwhelmingly on the new combat style... so I am going to mention something else!

The music. It’s fantastic... I particularly liked the thematic material that seems to be associated with loss/death, and what seems to be the “Hawke” theme. However, in terms of the sound editing, there is a problem with smoothly transitioning between the different music which plays during cutscenes, loading screens, and gameplay. Music is key adding that epic, cinematic feel, so when the sound is cut off prematurely it is jarring. Probably the most notable example for me is when we meet Aveline and Wesley. There’s this beautiful touching moment as she says “Not while I breathe”, but before the fiddle can finish that lovely theme, bam! the much more abrasive combat music interrupts, ruining the moment. Unfortunately it’s a very simple way to undercut the emotional power of the scene. That said, I’ve never played a demo before, so I have no idea how representative of the quality of the actual game this is. I’m guessing, not extremely.

And everything else?

Combat is being discussed to death.. so all I'm going to say is that innovation is a good thing, and while a lot of people have legitimate complaints there is a strong knee-jerk "different = bad" attitude coming out on these forums, and it is limiting/disappointing. I only hope that the Bioware employees are taking it as a compliment; I think that the strength of the reactions show the level of investment and ownership people feel they have in this game. There hasn’t been a lot of time for character development yet, but the voice acting seems excellent as per usual. The ME style dialogue wheel is definitely not my favourite... I really like knowing exactly what you are going to say, rather than just the general sentiment of it. Maybe I’m a bit of a control freak. On the other hand, having Hawke voiced is a treat. I anticipate epic speeches and increased awesomeness.

Basically, the main result of the demo has been making the time before DA2 arrives at my doorstep suddenly seem torturously long. In fact, that is the reason that I am actually posting on these forums, for the first time ever. So... thanks??

[Kide]

Javanaut wrote...


RPG and the Dialog Wheel

Streamlining the RPG elements worked in Mass Effect 2. Why? Because Shepard, as a character, was already established with a rich and personalized history in ME1. It doesn't work in DA2. It doesn't work, because Hawke is a new character. In order to get a real sense of role playing with a new hero there needs to be more shades of grey. I don't really feel like my dialogue has any real impact on the people and circumstances around me. I feel like no matter how I act as Hawke the result is the same.

Examples:

No matter what I say when discussing what to do with the rest of Hawke's family the response is exactly the same.
Mama Hawke: "Please. Listen to your brother."

No matter what I say when Carver dies, the result is the same.
Mama Hawke: "How could you let him charge off like that?! Your own little brother?!"

This makes the game an RPG on the surface only. It leaves Hawke feeling very two dimentional. There's very little depth to his persona. Good, bad, sarcastic.  Doesn't matter, because reactions to my behavior are static. 

This is so true. To me they could have just as well already made him talk like in Drake's Fortune. If it really does not matter at all what you say, or you do not actually even know what "your" charachter is going to say, why could they not just make him already talk a certan line. This "small" change in different dialogy, at least does not make me happy, and does not add to the immersive nature of the game for me. If I have to listen how he talks and watch his actions I think he could already choose what he says as well, it is going to be just as much my "decision" now, or at least almost not at all my decision. To me it is not at all hard to imagine my charachter with a voice (I have a voice myself, I can say the lines if I need a voice), if I want a RPG game, to imagine an existing voice away and imagine more options you can say thought is quite impossibly/hard.

I would not feel this as such a bad thing if this game was not adverticed as a RPG game and "sequal" (yes it still bears 2 same words from DAO) for DAO. Because all of these changes really make it feel like a completly seperate game, and they could have brought it out like that and not like a sequal. I rather play a good action game than a action/RPG game that tries to do everything and actually for me fails badly on both things, when trieng to please too many people. But of course this propbaply will still succeed as a game for the masses. And make a lot of money for BW.

[Kathrad]

Javanaut wrote...

[PC Player]

My initial review of the demo was more... techinical (for lack of a better term). Now that I've had the opportunity to play through a few times with the various classes I'd like to give my impressions of the game from an entertainment perspective.
Obviously this opinion is based soley on the demo and not the final product. However, I feel demo's are meant to showcase a product.

 {Enemy; Any; Activate Ability; Flame Shield}

I'm not opposed to Bioware taking Dragon Age in a different direction. My problem is that I don't feel like it was executed very well. I feel like I'm being 'teased' with two different genres, but satisfied by neither:

Combat

I enjoyed the tactical nature of combat from DAO, but I understand the decision to make the combat more action based. I enjoy that type of gaming from time to time. However, I feel like the execution of the idea fell short. While it's absolutely true that I can still play DA2 in a tactical way. There really is no incentive to when I can take out 6 darkspawn with 1 Whirlwind and dash several yards to a ranged enemy at the blink of an eye. You don't even need crowd control anymore. I would be completely fine with that and approach the combat with a different mindset. But there are a lot of games in the market already that are so much better at it. The first thought that popped into mind while engaged in combat for DA2 was, "I'd rather be playing Bayonetta. The mechanics are so much better." I don't feel like I really have to work or think to win battles in DA2. I feel like they are just handed to me dimishing the combat experience into nothing more than 'busy work' until I can trigger the next part of the story. DA2's combat leaves me feeling empty and superfluous.

Let me sum that up: Combat in the DA2 demo made me want to play another developer's game. Assuming that the purpose of a demo is to showcase your product, then this one does not succeed.

Combat Animations: 

Livening up the animations was a good idea, but I felt it is done too often. The flashier delivery loses it's value when it's done constantly. It's exciting at first, but after about 15 mins of playing the game it becomes distracting and... forgive me... silly. That delivery style works in games like God of War, Dante's Inferno, Darksiders, the aforementioned Bayonetta; but it doesn't work with DA2. The reason those flashy moves work in games I just listed is because you are only focused on controlling one character. When controlling a group of characters, all employing sassy flair in combat, it becomes very 'busy' almost to the point of sensory overload. After watching the mage wield his/her staff for a short time; I half expected the mage to jam their staff between thier legs like a phallus and thrust their hips hands-free to fire it while giving high-fives to other party members. Again - good idea, poorly executed. In my opinion it would have been more entertaining to increase the flash, but reserve it for abilities and finishing moves.

RPG and the Dialog Wheel

Streamlining the RPG elements worked in Mass Effect 2. Why? Because Shepard, as a character, was already established with a rich and personalized history in ME1. It doesn't work in DA2. It doesn't work, because Hawke is a new character. In order to get a real sense of role playing with a new hero there needs to be more shades of grey. I don't really feel like my dialogue has any impact on the people and circumstances around me. I feel like no matter how I act as Hawke the result is the same.

Examples:

No matter what I say when discussing what to do with the rest of Hawke's family the response is exactly the same.
Mama Hawke: "Please. Listen to your brother."

No matter what I say when Carver dies, the result is the same.
Mama Hawke: "How could you let him charge off like that?! Your own little brother?!"

This makes the game an RPG on the surface only. It leaves Hawke feeling very two dimentional. There's very little depth to his persona. Good, bad, sarcastic.  Doesn't matter, because reactions to my behavior are static. 

Summary

The concept of merging these two genres was a great idea on paper. However, it's my opinion as a video game consumer that it needed more development. Most likely, I will still play this game. I don't feel like it's worth my money unfortunately. I will borrow a friend's copy, play it once, and forget about it. 

  My thoughts exactly.

[Tpsmith78]

I played through the demo again today after taking some time and replaying DAO. I played as a 2H Warrior and found it much more exciting than my 2HW in DAO. While the animations are different and make it more "action oriented", I didn't think it changed the combat system all that much from the original. Now, I am a little bit more of a casual RPG player, but I found I was able to set tactics and switch between companions in the same fashion as DAO.

I agree that the dialogue should have different circumstances. Hopefully with this just being a demo build the dialogue will have more far reaching impacts down the road. I am probably going to be flamed for this but I kind of like the new system. In DAO I would pick a dialogue option that seems benign, but when utilized it went the opposite way I wanted it to go. At least this way you know the intent. I also hope the party dialogue while traveling improves.

[Kileyan]

Killjoy Cutter wrote...

Three observations:

1)  I really hope that with the full inventory system, you're not stuck with a single weapon set on the character, as would be implied by the dead refugee weapon switcher if you're playing the demo as a rogue or warrior.

It was confirmed by a dev in another thread that, if for example you want to play and archer rogue with a couple cool dagger abilities. When forced to melee you will have to pause the game, go to inventory and switch out weapons to use your daggers.

[redelephant]

I've played the demo around six times now, and probably not for the last time. This automatically implies I enjoyed it enough, and still look forward to this game like nothing else.

I do have a few issues with it, however. The exaggerated opening combat was rediculously cool, I *loved* it, and thought to myself; "if my hawke will end up as fast and cool as this, it'll be a awesome."

"Then let me tell you what really happened.."

The Hawke family came running scared for the darkspawn... but fought just as fast and skilled - minus some overpowered moves - as before. Rogue can jump in and hit twelve times per second at level one, her little brother swings his super heavy sword around faster than a samurai pizza cat, and little sister does all of that, and more. I was actually expecting Cassandra to start yelling her bullsh*t line again. And when she did, the witch of wilds was the part she complained about? This was not a depiction of a helpless family on the run, it was the story of an already-champion on the run all over. If all those combat moves were a depiction of the family's ability at that point, they could've taken out Flemeth right there and then, walk back to lothering and stop the blight once and for all.

I would've thought that the speed and animation that goes with it, was something to be learned, and trained. That the combat speed would drop 20 levels after the exaggeration part.

Then, one thing I hope is that the majority of the game does not have these wave-after-wave style enemies. I don't mind fighting hordes of Darkspawn [caridin's cross/dead trenches ftw], but I do like to spot them from a distance, asses their numbers and formations, and base my strategy on this. Now the baddies were just there after each cutscene. Isabela's quest was slightly better with this, but having to follow her, you run right into the fray anyway. This will work fine in the demo, prologue, sure, but I hope it's not a depiction of how it all is.

Then, finally; I don't mind the art direction, voiced character or dialogue wheel whatsoever. In fact, I like all of it. Armors this time around actually look like something people can wear, Women walk and stand like women, arms are at the length you'd expect them, your character finally looks like a person during cutscenes and interactions. So much more fun then silent warden interaction with say, Loghain at the landsmeet. If anything, I don't think I agree completely with the design of Hurlocks, they're.. not scary. They're goons, orderly and uniformed. But this is a minor taste thing.

On a side note: I laughed loudly when the first shot of the three Hurlocks came on screen though.. this was a direct homage to Encounter at Farpoint, where the Hurlocks were the Ferengi. I'm sure of it.

[chris1110022]

Yes, Dragon Age 2 seems to have taken what worked with Dragon Age: Origins, discarded what didn't and added a little bit of Mass Effect 2's fluid and thrilling combat. What I loved about the demo was first the revamped look (Origins was an awesome game but well behind ME and ME2 in looks, DA2 seems to have closed that gap) and the quick hitting combat. The only complaint I have right now is the lack of a block button or parry or maybe a dodge (since in DA:Origins wielding sword and shield clearly was superior to two hand specialists). I also loved how the powers were revamped...I felt like Origins was a bit stiff and sluggish in that regard. Also, while I liked the origins stories, they were mostly vestigial and felt like demos to learn how to play the game, once you became a warden the Origins portion melted completely away in importance (except the human noble does get to slay Arl Howe...that was cool). DA2 starts fast (at least the demo does) and keeps up the pace throughout. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the full release on the 8th.

[TEWR]

Godak wrote...

Question: can Isabella shoot missiles from her breasts?

I'm just thinking that, you know...she has enough room, so why not?

this comment reminds me of Dante's Inferno, where Cleopatra as a boss has unbaptized babies with scythes for arms crawling out of her nipples.

anyway, to make my point yet again, demo was awesome. Haters gonna hate.

[CloudOfShadows]

Javanaut wrote...


RPG and the Dialog Wheel

Streamlining the RPG elements worked in Mass Effect 2. Why? Because Shepard, as a character, was already established with a rich and personalized history in ME1. It doesn't work in DA2. It doesn't work, because Hawke is a new character. In order to get a real sense of role playing with a new hero there needs to be more shades of grey. I don't really feel like my dialogue has any impact on the people and circumstances around me. I feel like no matter how I act as Hawke the result is the same.

Examples:

No matter what I say when discussing what to do with the rest of Hawke's family the response is exactly the same.
Mama Hawke: "Please. Listen to your brother."

No matter what I say when Carver dies, the result is the same.
Mama Hawke: "How could you let him charge off like that?! Your own little brother?!"

This makes the game an RPG on the surface only. It leaves Hawke feeling very two dimentional. There's very little depth to his persona. Good, bad, sarcastic.  Doesn't matter, because reactions to my behavior are static. 

Summary

The concept of merging these two genres was a great idea on paper. However, it's my opinion as a video game consumer that it needed more development. Most likely, I will still play this game. I don't feel like it's worth my money unfortunately. I will borrow a friend's copy, play it once, and forget about it. 

Yeah. Well. This has been the case for all Bioware 'RPG' games. They never made one where they truly gave you the ability to say what -you- wanted, you always picked from some predefined choices. I remember cursing Baldur's Gate because no matter what I chose, more often than not it simply didn't matter. The next line of the NPC was always the same.

I for my part think that DA2 actually has more responsiveness than that. Even Mama Hawke from your example has a modified line in there, depending on your choice, afaik.

I think smoeone already pointed it out, but if you want free-form dialogue where you can choose what your character says, you might have to go back as far as Wizardry 7. Oh. Or you could demand to have voice-input, for the dialogue. That could be the future, I wonder if it then automatically reacts to a male sounding female character.. that would make me LOL

[Terror_K]

I can see how things are going to go in the near future at this branch of the forums, so here's a little advice from somebody who frequents the Mass Effect side of the forums for those who are, shall we say... less than pleased with Dragon Age 2.

* If you speak out against it you will be a "hater" no matter how valid your points are.
* If you even hint remotely at it being dumbed down on the PC because of the console audience, etc. you will be an "elitist"
* If you just generally speak out against it at all, no matter how constructive your criticism, you will be a "troll"

That seems to be the ways of these forums from my experience.

[Cambium]

cant stress enough how dissapointed i am that one of the last bastions of slower paced story driven rpgs has become this hack slash pile of waste. this is liek the dynasty warriors of tommorrow.

[TheRealIncarnal]

I'm an elitist bastard, and it's definitely looking dumbed down from where I stand. Mind you, I'm not actually blaming the consoles or the console gamers for this though, I'm going to blame developers for deciding for the console gamers that they wanted their games dumbed down. We the people who buy Bioware products are not stupid! 

Seriously Bioware developers, you've made it this far by making games that don't appeal much to the lowest common denominator. I know on paper it looks like appealing to the LCD is more profitable because there is more of them, but they're a saturated market! Meanwhile, fewer and fewer people are making games for us, including apparently Bioware now. 

Modifié par TheRealIncarnal, 27 février 2011 - 10:19 .