Your Dragon Age II Review *NO SPOILERS PLEASE*
#251
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:24
#252
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:29
GvazElite wrote...
Eberict wrote...
To those worried about negative reviews/comments:
Expectation is the fun-killer. Play free of preconception and enjoy the game for what it is. It's fun.
Afterwards, compile what you enjoyed and didn't enjoy and let Bioware know. If you're really lucky and they listen, the next game released may be the one you were really waiting for. If I'm lucky, it'll be the one I'm waiting for. If we're both lucky, we'll have been waiting for the same thing.
Excuse me of being critical of a sequel to a game I enjoyed a lot, and expected that it was going to be more of the same instead of two steps backwards.
You misunderstand me; I think you're letting your disappointment cloud your comprehension.
You should be critical. Like you, I wanted a game that was more akin to Baldur's Gate and DA:O, but I am also having fun with DA2. It isn't as good as it could have been if it stayed more true to its predecessor, but I'm not going to let that make me sour. I got screwed out of my SE (pre-ordered in December, got informed on March 4th that no SE was forthcoming for me), so I spent a bit more than other people on the title, so I'll eke what joy I can from the product and be plenty critical of it without detracting from that enjoyment.
My message was more for people reading reviews and worrying about the negative reviews. I was telling them, especially those who have already purchased the game, to try it for themselves and to form their own opinions--relying on forums is unfortunate business because the general lack of understanding on a forum is mighty.
I'm sorry that you misinterpreted me. Believe me, I wish this was more of a sequel than it has proven to be.
#253
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:30
Modifié par DeadLetterBox, 09 mars 2011 - 02:32 .
#254
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:30
#255
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:34
Actually, it does makes me quite happy I didn't bother with the SE.
#256
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:38
I definitely noticed some changes from the demo such as graphics and lighting and a couple of lines of dialogue, and all the changes were for the better.
If I had any complaint, which it could just be my fault, is the lighting in the character creator is horrible. I can't see anything when creating my character as so many colors looks the same or minimally different in such poor light. I think next time around I will work more with the lighting beforehand...but, I am also looking forward to the Black Emporium. Maybe it's different/better there?
PS3 version, btw - going back in for more!
#257
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:44
kittong wrote...
System: MacPro (Quad Core 2.6ghz, 8gigs, 896mb 448bit video) and PC (Win7Ultimate, Quad Core 3.6ghz, 8gig ram, GTX260 superclocked) and Macbook Air 13" (1.8ghz dual core, 4gig ram, Geforce 320m shared video)
MacPro: Game settings all high. Game runs very smoothly.
PC: Game settings all high. Game runs super smooth.
Macbook Air: Game settings low, details and effect unchecked. Game runs good on 1150x720.
*************************************************************************************************************
When playing the game I realized this was not DA:O and so I have to change my mindset and accepted it as a new game and not having to always gripe about how it is different from the game that I loved. However, I do miss alot from what I have experienced playing DA:O when I play Dragon Age 2.
- Combat is less tactical and less difficult. The DA:O PC version have the isometric view that provided a good way to analyze the battlefield. You can easily position your team as desired based on what you see. In DA 2, the camera still pans up but not so much as you can't clearly see where all the enemies are coming from. Difficulty can be raised though so that is good.
- The new skill tree is a welcome for me since I can focus on which skill I want to master and which skill I just want to have little off.
- I miss the textures and fine details that made exploring in DA:O such a delight. Gone are the details like, table lamps, books, broken chairs, and the like. The NPCs are less talkative as well. In DA:O you can hear bickering, merchant shouting to sell their good, etc. You can also interact with a lot of the NPCs even if it does not have any direct relation to the story - but it is always good to learn new lore, legend and history you can find from the NPC.
- I miss the huge codex. The old codex from DA:O was a real delight to read. Histories, lores, legends, short stories. The interface was also very fitting for the dragon age world. The UI of the codex was so beautiful. Now it's so "minimalist". Like a metro UI.
- I was a bit surprised to find out that I have less control over my party members especially in-terms of equipment and armor. Especially armor.
- The new conversation wheel is ok I guess but it leaves out the mystery and effects of your choices. Cause if I want to be good I pick the top choice. If I want to be bad I pick the bottom one. No need to read the text, just choose top, middle, or bottom. Unlike in the previous game you'll have to read carefully and understand the choices presented to you so you can get the desired result. This was the main reason why I replayed and replayed and replayed DA:O so I can get all the possible outcomes.
- You guys remember when Alistair and Morrigan bicker? Or Lelianna and Sten talking while you are exploring? Yeah, I miss that in Dragon Age 2. Heck the mabari hound is nothing more that a summoned creature now instead of the loyal companion from the first game.
- Story is a bit "scattered" that leaves me guessing where it is leading me to. There seem to be no particular "end game" price except to have a name and title and become "champion."
+1
dont forget the copy paste sets, and always revisiting the same places. 25 h gameplay and 50 missions in the same places time and time again.
Not being able to customize the armor of the companions is very lame, just as lame as removing some abilities like steal or even intimidation-coercion from dialogues.
I just hope the learn from all these mistakes, and do not repeat them in future games, like ME3.
#258
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:45
Modifié par The Shadow Broker, 09 mars 2011 - 02:48 .
#259
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:49
#260
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:49
#261
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:50
#262
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 02:51
The combat is a bit boring. I am switching between nightmare and hard without much thought. The FF is irritating with a melee heavy party (2H swords FFing everything isnt that fun) but without it the combat is downright boring to be honest.
The biggest disappointment however is the tab key on the PC. I REALLY miss the old function of observing enemy and friendly health bars. I dont need it as much since the combat is easier,but I dont understand the change.
Despite my negative-nancyism, I do like the game. I criticize in order to improve, but I am quite pleased with the game. I cant comment on the story, nor am I that far into it, but I do like what I see.
Fix the tab key, pretty please BW?
#263
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:01
Paying 60 dollars for this game then turning around and paying another 16 or so for the DLC content because I didn't "Pre-order quick enough for EA's liking" is a little ridiculous.
I'm sure there will also be more DLCs so odds are to get the whole story that's about 100 dollars down the drain.
Bioware, EA, Sony, Microsoft, you wonder why piracy and custom firmware usage is at such an all time high?
Why do youthink you make so much money off DLC content? Because the DLC content is all they pay for after the pirate the game since on most consoles you cant pirate region specific dlc content...at least not the ps3
The price of games needs to be lowered, and this nickel and diming for DLC content needs to stop.
With that said, I can't really blame anyone who chooses to download this game over buy it..
The game definitely isn't TERRIBLE but it surely isn't Dragon Age Origins either.
It has been dummed down unfortunately for the console market and profits. It may appeal to a larger casual market but do you really want to make that sacrifice? Trading an complex great game for the possiblitiy of grabbing some other audience? If you'd stay true to your niche I'm sure you'd do just as well and made a better end product.
Bioware should have stuck with its old business model, "if you want to play on a console fine, but you get a lesser version of the game...buy a pc and get over it" - I liked that much more.
Granted, I am playing this DA on my ps3 but only because I've heard there is no difference...I'd much better be playing a more complex game on my PC.
I haven't beat it but I can say I'm probably farther in than most people, I have a friend who works at a game shop and I've gotten quite a head start and about 20 hours in I was thinking "when am I going to leave this stupid city, is there anything else!?" very sad to see here that Kirkwall is the only city in the game, whos genius idea was that?
Half the fun in a game like this is exploration.
I have to say, I was disappointed when you dummed down Mass Effect 2, I still played it and liked it buy only for the story mainly but still that was a newer age RPG and wasn't like DA:O in any way and I accepted it...I'm more disappointed when you dummed down an old school RPG like DA:O I see what you were trying to do...mix ME2 and DA:O and have an awesome baby..maybe you didn't have enough time and EA was rushing you, it sure seems like it.
Here's some advice...More DA:O less ME2 in the mixture...maybe it would have come out better?
Too late to see now I suppose.
Removing features isn't ok just because you label it "streamlining" it isn't ALWAYS "streamlining"...most of the time you're just taking things out and being lazy and calling it some positive name like "streamlining" to appease the naive consumer who doesn't know enough to tell the difference.
Easier isn't always better.
Modifié par sech1243, 09 mars 2011 - 03:24 .
#264
Guest_Nadia73_*
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:14
Guest_Nadia73_*
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
then
OMGGGGGGGGGG I'm not going to sleep anytime soon!!!
XD
#265
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:14
Shuti wrote...
No, thats 1 year 11 months so almost the same
as the 2 years and 2 months between 1 & 2. Also engines need less
and less work when you develop a franchise, especially if you manage to
release all the parts during one console generation so it is to be
expected that the development cycles get shorter. For example Assassins
Creed 2 and AC: Brotherhood had only a year between them and they still
managed to get a huge quality product out with even more content than
before.
But to the point of DA2. Having only played the demo so
far i got excited about it. It felt responsive and flashy still having a
tactical aspect to it. It is a bit bizarre why the companion equipment
managing has been taken off and some other streamlinings feel a bit
weird and totally unnecessary. Still, im excited about the game cause
Bioware has a great record on character writing and storytelling. But
we'll see.
The reaction here from some people feels waaay
overblown though. Im not saying that you should like the game. I might
not even like the game but im still not gonna rant about it being the
bastard child of Lucifer of something, even it it was a horrible game.
Unfortunately civility is something not often found in teH interwebses.
Bah,
Thanks for not being an ass when it comes to pointing out my mistakes.
It's been a while since I've talked about the Bioware games. Personally,
I didn't like the direction they started to take with their games when
they released ME 2. Was it a good game? Hell yeah, I'll even say it was a
really good game. I was scared that EA would start putting their hands
on everything and so far it looks like i was right. The faster gameplay
was fine with me but that shouldn't have carried over to DA 2. The pace
and feel of the games should have been kept seperate.
lol and
those other two posts . . . I actually wasn't even supposed to be
writing the posts (since I should have been doing homework) so I rushed
it.
In any case - you would be right if Bioware wasn't
changing so much game to game. By shorting the development cycle just by
3 months it's a huge difference considering everything they've added
and removed in ME 2. The same can be said about DA 2. Why change the DS
art? they did alot of changes and added onto the fact that it was an
even short development cycle then ME . . . what could we really expect?
#266
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:20
Don't judge the combat difficulty from the demo (especially if you haven't heard anything about the game from the devs: i.e. that the first portion IS INTENDED to be overpowered as it's a myth about a super-powered Champion), and don't judge the graphics when you have it set to Medium without the Hi-Res textures.
For all of you who are saying 'This sucks, DA:O was so much better, why did you change anything? I wanted a clone of DA:O!", I have one word for you: Reactionary.
Actually, I have a few more: you will still play the game until your fingers are ready to fall off, so why QQ and complain in the heat of the moment when the game will eventually grow on you?
To make a comparison, I loved the album 'Downward Spiral' from NIN. When 'The Fragile' came out I was shocked and disappointed because IT DIDN'T SOUND EXACTLY LIKE THE LAST ONE. You know what happened the next week? I actually listened to 'The Fragile' for what it was: a different album. And, once I shut down my reactionary disappointment, I could hear how the album was actually amazing.
Does DA2 have flaws? Sure. I for one was disappointed at the character customization options (hair selection seems even worse than last time, if that's possible, and no matter how I rework a face it ends up looking too similar to the presets), but people who complain about there being 'no tactical combat' and the game being 'too easy' should try a higher difficulty setting: Mike Laidlaw has said numerous times that Normal on DA2 is easier than Normal on DA:O but that Hard and Nightmare ratchet the difficulty up quite a bit.
Encounters with multiple waves of attackers being 'lazy design'? Seriously? So it's *less* lazy to plop 7 enemies in a room and once you clear those it's all over? The game is different, but instead of trying to count the ways in which you're disappointed or in which Bioware failed to duplicate the experience of DA:O, maybe you should try to play the game for what it is and find what elements of it interest you.
Or stop playing it and quit complaining. After all, it's just a game.
#267
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:22
Voice acting is great across the board, and I love the dialog system. The icons are a smart addition. The dialog between party members is just as good as it was in DAO, and there is plenty of NPC dialog and life where there should be.
The visual shifts between each area are well executed and the ambient audio adds a nice level to each area.
Storywise I feel like I haven't really gotten much of anything, but there have been some really nice character moments and the setup is moving along well. Can't wait to see how it explodes.
So, all in all, a very strong first impression.
#268
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:24
Let me say first off the game is still great but i think its pretty obvious they just did the exact same thing as they did with the me1 to me 2 transition and with dragon age i think it lost a lot of its lust. the reason that me2 succede was becouse it litterally just picked up after the other game with the same charecter etc dragon age 2 dosnt work that way it kind of takes a fable narrative aproach and the story begins parallel to the events at ostagar.
Things that bug me:
-The intro is dull and for a bioware game thats pretty pathetic especially with mass effect 2 love/ hate 15 minute intro that looked friking real instead they just give you a black ops interigation intro.
- It no longer feels like a medievel/lord of the rings tale which killed the setting for me especially since the npc unless they are important all wear hoods
- The gore omfg the gore is horrible i mean the first games blood effect was over kill but come on bioware my enemies apperently blow up when i hit them with a sword and their entrails appear on the ground
-No origins story of anysort or "intro"
- The dialague is now voiced BUT at the cost of the infamous paraphrased responses instead of an actual full responce option that made it feel like you where imersing in a conversation.
- The darkspawn apperently are now a hord of skeletons instead of orc looking creatures as for the rest of the charecter reskins i am happy
- The story dosnt really make you feel all that mighty or anything no epic quest or anything.
- the charecters are so easy to move on that when a loved one dies they barally shed a tear and move on. in the first game i decided to play as an evil charecter and immediately found it emotiannaly hard to make the evil choices for example killing the earls son in this game in this game everything seems to turn into a fight regardless of what you choose to say.
-sandal has a terrible new voice actor:((((((
I still reccomend the game as a stand alone expansion game but dont go in expecting me2 game quality sequal other than that its a well rounded game
#269
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:32
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I have played computer RPG's since Secret of the Silver
Blades. I loved Baldur's Gate and really enjoyed the sequel Baldur's Gate
2. Never Winter Nights was and still is a good game to play. Dragon
Age Origins is by far one of the best of all time.
The good:
The graphics are great and the play on the PC is smooth as butter.
The Oh my goodness what were you thinking???
I understand you want to appeal to more of the general
public, but please don’t forget about
the true fans on this type of game. Heck, I’ll spend 30 minutes just trying to decide
whether to pick an elf, human, dwarf, etc… and should it be Rogue, Mage, fighter,
etc….. Then as the game would play on, I love to
tweak the character to my likings. And where is the basic import my character
from the previous game, good grief. And why cannot I not have more control of the armor,
weapons, etc….on my party members? We
need the “advanced” button in a game such as this that would allow us (true
fans) to tweak and change our characters and party members at will. I could go
on and on…. But right now, I’m so disappointed as I was very excited about playing
Dragon Age 2, a sequel to one of the best games of all time. I
believe this will be a good game, but it is not worthy to be called Dragon Age
2, this is no sequel, you should have come up with a whole new name for this
game.
#270
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:33
Blades. I loved Baldur's Gate and really enjoyed the sequel Baldur's Gate
2. Never Winter Nights was and still is a good game to play. Dragon
Age Origins is by far one of the best of all time.
The good:
The graphics are great and the play on the PC is smooth as butter.
The Oh my goodness what were you thinking???
I understand you want to appeal to more of the general
public, but please don’t forget about
the true fans on this type of game. Heck, I’ll spend 30 minutes just trying to decide
whether to pick an elf, human, dwarf, etc… and should it be Rogue, Mage, fighter,
etc….. Then as the game would play on, I love to
tweak the character to my likings. And where is the basic import my character
from the previous game, good grief. And why cannot I not have more control of the armor,
weapons, etc….on my party members? We
need the “advanced” button in a game such as this that would allow us (true
fans) to tweak and change our characters and party members at will. I could go
on and on…. But right now, I’m so disappointed as I was very excited about playing
Dragon Age 2, a sequel to one of the best games of all time. I
believe this will be a good game, but it is not worthy to be called Dragon Age
2, this is no sequel, you should have come up with a whole new name for this
game.
#271
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:35
1. Why did you guys skip Hawke's first year in Kirkwall? The Red Irons seemed like an interesting bunch. Why does Hawke become famous because of them?
2. I am really disappointed by the lack of focus in the story. At least for the first few hours, we are running around killing dudes for seemingly little reason.
3. Kirkwall is such a lifeless place! There is literally no one to talk to.
4. I do love the fact that we have a voiced protagonist now. The female VO is great.
5. Hawke's family still looks purplish if you make a dark-skinned character. Bethany's hairdo is out of whack.
6. How your character looks in the CC looks far different what he/she looks in the game.
Overall, this game is worse than Origins but still a good game in its own right.
#272
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:41
Visuals: Love the lighting. Dislike the overall visual style. While it may be unique, it doe not feel 'real'. It resembles cel-shading and I really find difficulty with associating anything in-game with its real-world equivalents. Environments look low-res, even with the hi-res textures, whose effect I could not notice at all, to my dismay. Still don't like the UI.
Story: Barely any story so far, just random sidequests. It would be nicer to have them have some kind of visible interconnections. They just feel random right now.
VA and Characters: Brilliant. I disagree with Fenris all the time, but he's currently my fav. Also, the Arishok has the best voice EVAR.
Combat: While I can now see the dice rolling behind the screens, it feels a lot less interactive. My abilities take so long to recharge that I use them at the start of a fight and then continue to whack away using auto-attack. I enjoyed mages in DAO because they could do a bazillion different things, and not because they did the most damage or controlled crowds really well. Leveling is really slow and abilities are much fewer and much more 'classified', which makes it hard to get ability points and harder to spend them on diverse skills, especially it you want to stay alive in combat.
#273
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:43
I prefer the Xbox version. There, I said it. I've never been fond of controlling a game with a mouse, unless its simulation. I also prefer the rougher textures, I do! Theres something "plasticky" about the the characters faces and expressions. Plus, compared to DAO on the console DA2 is inmensely superior in the graphics deparment. The only thing I miss is antialiasing, but not a whole lot. I've compared PC vs 360 and Bioware really did a great job this time around on the consoles. They should have included an Auto Attack option for the more old-school gamers but Im actually enyoying the button smashing, so screw em. Definitely should have put it into 2 DVDs to avoid the area recycling, if it wasn't for this the game would make a 10 in my book. So it is 9.8. Peace out Bioware junkies!
#274
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:44
Bad:
Flimsy story line, the first 2-3 hours of gameplay (after you run from the darkspawn) have almost no story line, I feel like Im running around town doing somebodys chores, and a video game should NEVER EVER EVER be a chore.
Extremely limited charecter interaction: In DA:O you really got to know your team, over the game they shared their stories, their fealing and their opinions with you. Now in DA2 all my charecters sister sais is "We shouldn't talk here." Yea, we get to talk to the NPCs, if your lucky.
Shallow Charecters: This may relate to the lack of charecter interaction but, the only reason I know half the people on my team is because I played DA:O so much that I knew all the carry over NPCs. The rest of the NPCs have 0 emotion, 0 connectivity (the plot could kill them off and I wouldn't care at all) and more importantly 0 developement.
Graphics: Saddening, how does a sequel have worse graphics than its original?
The UI: Looks filthy. Honestly its terrible, DA:O had a beautiful UI that was easy on the eyes. DA2's UI is like rubbing your eyes on industrial sand paper.
Hawkes Voice: This may be small but it annoys me to no end, Hawkes voice fits few c ustom made charecters, It just sounds wrong.
There are a couple other things, but i figured I would do the things that i noticed first. All in all, i will be sad when I go to sleep tonight, all the waiting for nothing.
ot=SUBMIT&AQE=1 HTTP/1.1
#275
Posté 09 mars 2011 - 03:52
i like this 1 better than the orginal,but thats just my opinion. everyone has their game style.
while some love the lacklusting slow paced action,i like the fast paced action better. i love the fact that i dont have to take 5 minutes to kill 1 damned darkspawn, that was just horrible.
I LOVE THE COMBAT STYLE,no longer do i have to watch my character move arouns slowly just to attack an enemy even slower. now i move my character where ever i want,attack any mob i want in any direction, or simply use a spell/skill half way through my combo,then finish my combo after.. loving it
i could care less about the graphics, i like it,but the graphics dont make the game any funner or worse,its the game it self.
i always hated and still will hate cooldown on skills,but this is somewhat of an rpg game,so im with it,but now when i upgrade my skill,it takes away cooldown seconds
the new skill tree is cool, i have no complaints,although in origins it was more visual but it makes no difference,all we're concerned about is what the skill does,not what it looks like on the skill tree.
story line is beautiful,sidequests are awesome, human enemies > darkspawn anytime.
if only there's a DLC for an item that lets us gain EXP ALOT FASTER and gold as well....... im just saying..
i really have no problems with the game,i rather play this than origins anytime, origins is just too slow paced for me and is hella boring when it takes for ever to kill 1 mob,especially after i run out of mana/stamina after pouring down everyone on that 1 mob and its still alive... BORING!
you still need to use tactics and strategy in this game,its just easier to do and ALOT FUNNER.
again,everyone has their play style, some people love the lacklusters slow paced games while others enjoy the fast paced action in which you are in control of your character,rather than the computer.:innocent:
mages are badass in this game,and are extremely more fun to play (anyone that thinks otherwise must be on crack)
rouges are also fun as hell,will never get tired of this class:ph34r:,and archers destroy anything:devil:
2 handed warriors are extremely improved here,i compared the ones in origins and this 1, and finally,having a dual-sword makes them deadly.





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