3274 réponses à ce sujet

[Dreskar]

I loved it, on my second playthrough now.

Complaints:

Copy/Paste level design - This doesn't get on my nerves as much once I get later in the game but there is a part where I just can't help but laugh at how some of the dungeons are setup. (A specific mage quest for instance has the same start point as 7 other quests, yet its supposed to be super secret.)

Minor Unresponsiveness - Sometimes it seems my party has derp moments and forget the command I give them, it also doesn't help commands like use a health poltice can be completely neglected D:

Qunari Mages are Overpowered - Has anyone else noticed the 'omg wtf just happened?" moments when fighting the Qunari Mages... especially if there are 2 and they both drop that AoE void sphere that kills tanks in about 3 seconds, and drops everything else in 1 or 2.

The Camera - This is a very minor nitpick and it has been said before but a tactical camera would have been awesome, especially for Kiting fights because sometimes invisible walls placed so you don't run into debris or boxes on the sides of the battle make it so mouse clicks on the ground to get a character to run so I can switch back to get a heal off on them doesn't work at all or worse I click and it hits an enemy so they stand and fight.

Too short - Ya its a nitpick... I wish the game was longer, I wish we got to do more in it after the current ending, because I want to see what the city of Kirkwall looks like after that!

Ugly hats - Ok the pettiest gripe ever... some of the hats for the mages are god awful... and I wish there was a function where I could have it equipped but not have it show up like it does in cutscenes, Cowl of the Overseer... I am looking at you fugly.

Positives:

Characters - I love the characters we are given, they each are unique and have a good amount of depth to them, even some of the standard NPC's have depth and make the world feel more alive.

Combat - Some don't like it but personally playing as a mage, I love the awe inducing combat when I use the void pull to get all enemies in one place, rush up and use cone of cold to freeze the majority then drop reign of fire on them and right before they break free using fist of the Maker... its so satisfying and gives me a rush.

Voice acting - Some performances are kind of wonky but the voices of your companions and such are wonderfully done and bring some more realism to each one of the characters, some acting slightly deranged, others with a sarcastic flair throughout, and some with a humility that is often forgotten in games.

Story - This has an actually set of storylines I care about, especially the amazing ending I recieved which had a proper plot-twist I should have seen coming but because of the way it was worked into the game through me for a loop and made me go back and think about how it happened, all the warning signs were there.

Black Emporium - Getting the ability to redo all your stats, and all your companions stats from the ground up is a great idea! I can craft the party I need to survive some of the combat and increase the effectiveness of my group overall, the main reason for this though is because on my first playthrough I wasn't aware what was more useful and what was not, now that I know being able to stack to it from a very early start will be a huge benefit.

Being a mage - Its just awesome, and you feel like you have power at your control, where as in the first game... eh I could only suffer a mage to be a healer for the party not much else. Sadly Melee Mage is gone... and so are my funny adventures of it in Origins but I can see why from a gameplay perspective.



Please BioWare come out with some more DLC soon, I want to see what will happen to Kirkwall after the current game, I want to see if the promises I was given by certain people pan out, or if because I did certain things my character becomes rich enough to he- err... do specific things. (Ugg spoiler free is hard...)

[Huntress]

wildcard4542000 wrote...

Stop trying to blame this on consoles. I have DA:O on PC and 360. It plays exactly the same on both platforms. With the exception of no tactical camera and it was just a tad more difficult to order your companions around individually. I prefered to play DA:O on my 360 because as a Network Engineer I work all day sitting at a desk with a mouse and keyboard, watching 8 computer monitors. So when I get home the last thing I wanna do is look at another keyboard or mouse. But I digress.

I find the reasoning that the changes they made, to be more console friendly, a complete crock. There was nothing wrong with the way DA:O played on the console versions, if anything it was a little bit more user-friendly, but that's just my opinion.

There is no denying that DAII was a rush job, from the recycled enviroments, to the inability to change your companions armour. The loss of the skill's tree and the lumping of everything into the Talents tree's, and completely doing away most of the elements that made DA:O awesome. This game was made to draw the casual RPG crowd in, both console and PC, that does not want to worry about inventory, or how much will this armour contribute to my faigue factor or stamina level. Or that dont want to wade thru inventories and skill tree's to get the utmost out of your companions and main PC character.

Basically everything that hard-core RPG'ers on both consoles and PC's want.

I as someone who got the 360 version for the above stated reason, only did so because AUTO-ATTACK was promised to be in the full-retail version. When the Demo was released, I was completely disappointed in the new combat model. Mashing one button over and over with the occasional "Special" button press, watching you character perform the same three animations over and over is mind-numbingly boring. The combat is way to easy now. I remember in DA:O, when an Arcane Horror showed up, he was a beastie to be FEARED and tageted immediately and terminated ASAP with extreme prejudice. Not anymore, he goes down as easily as his lesser brethren.

So in short, Bioware you have done your hard-core RPG fans a huge disservice with DAII. We DA:O fans, on both console and PC, expected a deep and involved adventure on the scale of DA:O with the depth of DA:O the options of DA:O and the ability to customize and outfit our party members in the way that we saw fit. Last but not least we loved the TACTICAL nature of the combat of DA:O. No this half-baked hack'n'slash that DAII is.

I do not think the game was made just to target console players or that the game has been turn down for that cause, but is true some players going to point someone also for mistakes. Is easier and they look smarter.

I knew the companions were  going to have the same uniforme as you found them, for the hole game, thats very bad in my opinion but, look around! so many people love it, the way I see it however is, the only character that is too well dressed  is the champion's and that should be correted asap, Champions need to show more meats to he enemies.

To hell with what the party members think, just look at them!

All and all I'd like to thank you, am very unsure what to do right now, if i buy it I'll probably be more angry, or just let it pass and hope bioware come back to what DA was all about.. Am probably dreaming but, is very nice dream.

[Euno17]

Khurley wrote...
He (like me) is probably from Australia where that is on the lower end of the price scale for games. We get torn a new one if we buy retail. I import for this very reason.

WHAT??

I didn''t know that?! That's B.S wtf? 80 bucks just for the game? 

I just don't see how that's possible . . . that's crazy . . . I'd ever buy a game if they freaking cost 80 bucks each. Esp. if there was 'DLC' AFTER the 80 bucks. Damn.

[Phoenix319]

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Phoenix319 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Snickl88 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Are you dyslexic?
It's the same as before except you have a separate tab for each "set" or "group" of skills, or specialty, I think it's called. It's not all on one page, and arranged in clusters instead of a grid.
If you are dyslexic, this might be hard for you to process.

Yeah, because that's being sympathetic to a serious learning difficulty - using it as a metaphor for someone who (in your not so humble opinion) cannot understand basic reading. Having dyslexia has nothing to do with understanding of tabs, only reading names. Name which, I might add, you could not even be bothered to quote correctly.

I would continue, but I find the idea of talking to someone who unironically used the phrase 'Tattle Tali' nauseating

My lips curl into a sneer reading your affronted retort! I made a joke. A bad one, but a joke nonetheless. I was neither insulting your ability to read, nor dyslexics in general. We can get into the particulars of the effects of dyslexia in another, more appropriate setting than this forum if you'd like (we could even start a new forum about the treatment of neurological disorders in rpgs), but the point was that in the new skills page all of the same info was available, just in a different visual configuration.
I did not mean to insult you personally- I was trying to make a point that it should not be too difficult to find all of the info you are used to having available to you in the skill tree once you access the menus a few times.
My bad for not conveying this to you more clearly.
As to calling you a "tattle- tale," I feel that you did what I've seen small children do frequently to their siblings or classmates and take something they said out of context, characterizing it a particular way to give someone else the impression that they did something wrong.

You clearly are insulting his ability to read and dyslexics. Snap out of the denial dream and wake up.

Are you really trying to convince me about what I was trying to say and my motives for doing so? Do you fancy yourself a mesmer or hypnotist? Are you a politician, perhaps? I have already clarified this, so lay off.

It is all quoted that yes you are. once again you are in complete denial and showing everyone it in every post you make.

[K1llm1n1on]

Khurley wrote...

This game is totally breaking my heart.

In a bad way.

I didn't care that I couldn't port over my old character. I was glad the graphics were better and the combat was bloodier, but I'm at hour seven or eight and I've had maybe two personal conversations with my companions. I really could give a crap if they lived or died. 

If I wanted *only* a bloody button masher, I'd play God of War. Ragtag team play means you want to be fully invested in your team, and despite the fact that I loved Anders from the expansion, he's boring milquetoast here along with everyone else. The tragedy is that it's not like these people aren't interesting - I'm just never given an opportunity to find out.

I wanted to play an RPG where at the end of it I felt like I'd made a ragtag group of friends, the way it felt in DA: O. I was invested in those characters and their stories. I laughed and cried and chopped off people's heads. It was great.

Not only that, but I felt like I had some kind of choice in my path. In this one I feel like all I've got are a bunch of forced choices that don't change the story much. The dialogue (and characters!) is sub-par when compared with DA:O and the expansion. I didn't have time to notice the monotonous scenery in DA"O because I was too busy trying to figure out character stories and romances. But in this one, it's like every crazy warren looks and feels exactly the same, and the only reason I have a reliable merchant is because I stupidly downloaded some DLC for the bazaar.

And then there's the grinding.

I've just spent the last five of the six or seven hours feeling like I'm just grinding for gold WoW-style. WTH? 

I spent $60 on this game and stupidly bought another $20 in add-ons before I started playing because DA:O was so effing good. I expected another epic story with epic characters and intrigue. Instead, I got WoW-grinding.

I just dropped $80 on a game I'm not likely to finish.

Breaking my heart.

Have you gone to visit your characters' homes in the city? Have you listened to them talk to each other when exploring? Have you done any of their companion quests?
As for the story, the hook is that you don't know what's going to happen- Varric is "telling" what you're playing. Personally, I get it but am not completely convinced it's a good way to tell the story, but I do want to know what happens, so I keep going. I also do feel like I have a hand in the telling, and this is true from the time you create your character, influencing the story Varick is telling. Also, your choices of who to help or ally with, your choies to befriend/antagonize your companions, your choices to take on or bypass any sidequest, all influence the story, just by making that choice. I am definitely interested in seeing how Chapter 1 decisions influence the later chapters, but clearly, you do have a say in what happens.

[Snickl88]

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Are you really trying to convince me about what I was trying to say and my motives for doing so? Do you fancy yourself a mesmer or hypnotist? Are you a politician, perhaps? I have already clarified this, so lay off.

Dude, we do this for a living. You won't win. Also sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

To give a somewhat more constructive post though, I do agree that some people are taking a sick, sad pleasure in watching the reviews of DA2 come in. I myself can't see where they're coming from, it only marks another nail in the coffin of Bioware among a selection of it's fanbase. While I'm sure you feel the need to defend the company you like so much, remember - they have your money. They don't need you defending them on forums. Name calling and sarcasm won't lend weight to your arguments, and the best way to drop a point you are loosing ground on is just to stop talking about it.

[andy180084]

from what i hear its a huge downgrade to Dragon age Origins and a clear console port designed for mindless xbox fanboys. I'm extremely disappointed, I have played all of your finest games from baldurs gate, kotor, and mass effect 1+2 to dragon age and would rank all of em in my top 10 fav games. Sorry, but I'm not buying DA2, please make DA:3 like DA:O

[kr33g0r]

Euno17 wrote...

Khurley wrote...
He (like me) is probably from Australia where that is on the lower end of the price scale for games. We get torn a new one if we buy retail. I import for this very reason.

WHAT??

I didn''t know that?! That's B.S wtf? 80 bucks just for the game? 

I just don't see how that's possible . . . that's crazy . . . I'd ever buy a game if they freaking cost 80 bucks each. Esp. if there was 'DLC' AFTER the 80 bucks. Damn.

Haha yeah! Even with our dollar doing so well at the moment we are still charged the same. It doesn't only affect retail games but also steam games. For some reason the publisher's think that because we have less people in our country they should charge us more to make up a regional sales quota or some crap. It is really stupid. I am talking about PC games mainly, console games can cost upwards of $100 in some circumstances. 

[contown]

The RPG elements are extremely simplified, (you can only get a couple pieces of armor for your companions...) the main plot has no sense of direction, rising action, or pacing until the last hour of the game, every character is entirely forgettable, and the dialogue is very hit or miss. The combat animations were as ridiculous as a chinese action movie. (Which is a bad thing, in case that wasn't clear.) Hawke's male voice is awful. The graphics are no better than DAO's.

Oh, and dry humping in underwear in the romance scenes again? Very classy, bioware.

This was a huge dissapointment.

[Euno17]

Khurley wrote...
Haha yeah! Even with our dollar doing so well at the moment we are still charged the same. It doesn't only affect retail games but also steam games. For some reason the publisher's think that because we have less people in our country they should charge us more to make up a regional sales quota or some crap. It is really stupid. I am talking about PC games mainly, console games can cost upwards of $100 in some circumstances. 

.... wth.

That's retarded. I'd never be able to afford 100 bucks per game . . . that totally sucks ass. I'd be afraid of buying games unless I was 100% sure it'd be worth it. To me I want to play AT-LEAST 1 hour per dollar spent for it to be worth it.

I've only played 100 hours on a couple of very select games so I'd cry if I had to pay that amount for the majority of games on the console systems.

What PC games do you have? Just curious.

Modifié par Euno17, 10 mars 2011 - 01:40 .

[Snickl88]

kr33g0r wrote...

Euno17 wrote...

Khurley wrote...
He (like me) is probably from Australia where that is on the lower end of the price scale for games. We get torn a new one if we buy retail. I import for this very reason.

WHAT??

I didn''t know that?! That's B.S wtf? 80 bucks just for the game? 

I just don't see how that's possible . . . that's crazy . . . I'd ever buy a game if they freaking cost 80 bucks each. Esp. if there was 'DLC' AFTER the 80 bucks. Damn.

Haha yeah! Even with our dollar doing so well at the moment we are still charged the same. It doesn't only affect retail games but also steam games. For some reason the publisher's think that because we have less people in our country they should charge us more to make up a regional sales quota or some crap. It is really stupid. I am talking about PC games mainly, console games can cost upwards of $100 in some circumstances. 

Did you hear about that same issue with the European digital release of the Witcher 2? The company is charging the same but giving the customer back the difference caused by the exchange rate. If CDProject can afford this, why can't EA, one of the worlds biggest developers?

[Phoenix319]

Bioware is a respected developer with a history of producing quality games. DA:O was wildly successful, great critical AND commercial reception. DA2 was supposed to be everything that DA:O was and more, and it turns out to be half-assed rush job that fails to deliver on any of its promises, and Bioware even had the nerve to include day 1 DLC. Rather than admitting their mistakes or even playing it cool and riding out the initial ****storm, Bioware puts their forums on full lockdown and starts pointing fingers, trying to blame 4chan, of all places, for their awful **** game. This is gonna be a big black smear on Bioware's record, and I think it stands as a testament to the terrible state of the game dev industry today.

[Nightnight]

frocutio wrote...

Okay, so... this post got really long. Hopefully it's not too tl;dr.

Platform: PC
Difficulty: Hard
Character: Female Mage Hawke
Gameplay time: ~5 hours (so a lot of my impressions are very tentative at the moment!)

I played a shortened version of the demo at San Diego Comic Con where the developers explained some of their design decisions, so the changes that people were complaining about after the demo was released were not a surprise to me. I'm honestly baffled that people are saying this isn't a "true" sequel. Recently I played through Fable 3 and was ultimately disappointed in it for various reasons, including the fact that it was pretty much just Fable 2 just slightly different. If I wanted to play more DA:O, I can always just replay it or play a mod. When a sequel comes out, I expect the gameplay to be improved, and I think that's just what Bioware did. Is it perfect? No. But it's pretty damn awesome. Is it an old school RPG? Not really. But does that mean it's inherently bad? Not at all. I love old school RPGs but that doesn't mean I can't love new ones too.

Anyway, if you are still disappointed that it's a different game than DA:O, maybe you should try to play it without thinking of it as a sequel and maybe you'll find you like it better when you don't frame it in that light.

Anyway, my review:

Likes:

+The game feels more brutal and darker. People complained when the demo came out that the setting wasn't "interesting" but I think the starkness of a world ravaged by the Blight is fascinating.

+I love the friendship/rival bar. I hated having to sit on my hands and play nice with characters on DA:O when I didn't agree with what they wanted me to do, and now I don't have to. I'm having fun being a dick to Carver I'm still playing Hawke a lot nicer than I ever played Shepard though, lol. I'm interested to see how certain relationships may actually be better as rival relationships (if that makes any sense). Like, before, it only benefitted me to be friends with everyone, but in some cases, I think in order to do push another character to do the "right" thing, I will have to be rivals with them. Not knowing how my interactions with characters or decisions will affect the rest of the game is exciting--I like it when things aren't so clear cut.

+While I acknowledge that Bioware didn't have to listen to fan's "demands" about romance options, I'm absolutely thrilled that all 4 major romance options are bisexual. As a bisexual chick, that makes my life a lot easier Going into DA:O without any spoilers and not realizing that I could hit on Morrigan as a chick was a huge disappointment lol. It's nice to know that the developers are trying to be more inclusive with their game design choices. (Now, could we get some more characters that aren't white?!)

+I'm loving the framed narrative. I love trying to figure out what elements of the story Varric has most likely changed (lol Bethany's bust size).

+The characterization is great. I feel like no more needs to be said on that--Bioware lived up to my usual expectations in this department

+This is the first game ever that's made me decide to have my first run through be as a mage. Just normally it's not my thing and I prefer to hack and slash. But playing a mage is *so much fun* in this game.

+I really like that you can tell what your character is trying to express when you pick a dialogue option. A lot of the time, I would accidentally say that wrong thing in DA:O because I misunderstood what the dialogue option was implying.

+I actually like that the game was more streamlined. Just as I liked that ME2 was more streamlined. I guess I can understand that people are upset but I think it's kind of a superficial thing to complain about. I don't really see a *downside* to streamlining, except that supposedly it makes the game less complicated. Seeing as a lot of the interaction dynamics are more sophisticated and I feel like the combat is even more fun than the first one (which was already really fun), there are no complaints here.

On a less serious level:

+ Anders is back! And a romanceable Anders at that. I was pretty disappointed that you could only flirt with him in Awakening

+Isabella

+MORE GORE I am having fun brutally slaying people. Maybe people who are upset about that shouldn't be playing a Mature rated game…

Neutral things:

*The game seems easier. I know a lot of people complained that DA:O was too difficult, so I guess for those people the toning down of difficult in DA2 is a good thing. I decided not to make the same mistake I made with ME2 (which was playing it on normal) so I just started DA2 on hard, although I'm tempted to go up to nightmare since I'm not actually having any problems with it. I'm pretty sure hard would actually be hard without the DLC equipment, though.

*Although I was initially disappointed that I couldn't make my own character, I've grown to like Hawke. Ultimately, I can more or less make ~my own~ character since I can control Hawke's appearance and personality. By having Hawke be the main character, I feel like it allows the story to have a stronger narrative, although I'm not that far into the game yet so I can't say for certain.

*I'm indifferent about the graphics. I probably should have installed the game on my desktop instead of my laptop, but as it stands, I can't play the game on very high quality settings on my laptop anyway, so it's kind of irrelevant to me that the graphics be amazingly better. I do like the racial redesigns though (maybe not so much elves, but I've never really been a fan of elves anyway…) I'm not someone who is wildly concerned about graphics though, seeing as I regularly play SNES games and interactive fiction games…

*Still making my mind up about the talent tree, but I think I like it.

Negative things:

-I'm not too far yet in the game, but so far it feels like the choices I made in DA:O haven't really impacted the game all that much. Granted, there wasn't that much impact from ME to ME2 either, but I feel like there was a bit more. It's not a huge deal, but I had to replay some DLC in order to have a save that had the DLC in the right order, so I was kind of hoping that time investment would have payed off a little more.

-Not digging the inventory and companion equipment management. (Although the "junk" function is kind of nice). It seems needlessly restrictive.

-I'd be nice to be able to talk to the companions more. :/

Now, I realize this review is kind of lopsided, and I'm sure I'll find more negative things as I go along. I haven't had a real chance yet to see how repetitive the dungeons are, so I haven't commented on that yet.

Also, with regards to romance: I don't think it's that silly that people are focusing on it. Part of what people expect from Bioware games are dynamic, interesting characters that you wish were real and that you knew in real life. Seeing as a romantic relationship is arguably one of the deepest connection you can have with someone, it doesn't seem unreasonable to find that to be an exciting part of the game. It also helps make Hawke feel more like a real person. If you don't like romance in your RPGs, then just keep Hawke celibate, problem solved.

Very nice first post! I like how your review is structured. It is very informative and professional! May I ask what do you do for a living? With writing skills like this, I think you will do well in certain company's marketing department. Probably a company that starts with a "B"? How long did it take you to write that review? More than an hour or two? 

PR damage control amidst a **** storm of user complaints. 

[K1llm1n1on]

Phoenix319 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Phoenix319 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Snickl88 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Are you dyslexic?
It's the same as before except you have a separate tab for each "set" or "group" of skills, or specialty, I think it's called. It's not all on one page, and arranged in clusters instead of a grid.
If you are dyslexic, this might be hard for you to process.

Yeah, because that's being sympathetic to a serious learning difficulty - using it as a metaphor for someone who (in your not so humble opinion) cannot understand basic reading. Having dyslexia has nothing to do with understanding of tabs, only reading names. Name which, I might add, you could not even be bothered to quote correctly.

I would continue, but I find the idea of talking to someone who unironically used the phrase 'Tattle Tali' nauseating

My lips curl into a sneer reading your affronted retort! I made a joke. A bad one, but a joke nonetheless. I was neither insulting your ability to read, nor dyslexics in general. We can get into the particulars of the effects of dyslexia in another, more appropriate setting than this forum if you'd like (we could even start a new forum about the treatment of neurological disorders in rpgs), but the point was that in the new skills page all of the same info was available, just in a different visual configuration.
I did not mean to insult you personally- I was trying to make a point that it should not be too difficult to find all of the info you are used to having available to you in the skill tree once you access the menus a few times.
My bad for not conveying this to you more clearly.
As to calling you a "tattle- tale," I feel that you did what I've seen small children do frequently to their siblings or classmates and take something they said out of context, characterizing it a particular way to give someone else the impression that they did something wrong.

You clearly are insulting his ability to read and dyslexics. Snap out of the denial dream and wake up.

Are you really trying to convince me about what I was trying to say and my motives for doing so? Do you fancy yourself a mesmer or hypnotist? Are you a politician, perhaps? I have already clarified this, so lay off.

It is all quoted that yes you are. once again you are in complete denial and showing everyone it in every post you make.

So you keep insisting. This doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. What do you want? do you want me to say, "Oh, Phoenix319, you're right! I don't know how I didn't see it sooner! Even thoug I thougt I was making a bad joke to illustrate a point about the layout of the skill screen, I was really being malicious and insulting not only Snickl88 but also every dyslexic in existence! How could I have been so foolish to think I really know what I was trying to say when clearly you, Phoenix319, are the true controller of my mind! You are like an author writing in third person omniscient and I am like your humble subject. As a matter of fact, I don't really exist, do I? I'm just a construct of your mind!"? Well, I'm not going to say that. Additionally, you are the one who (very quickly) resorted to a pejorative, based only on Snickl88's accusation based on his willing misunderstanding of my previous statement. Therefore, you have no grounds from which to accuse me of bad intentions.

[XXXIGORXXX]

What a complete downer!!! Dragon Age 2 is completely and utterly dumbed down so Bioware/EA can cater to a larger market. Give me a break...people are finishing the game in a day. Did you get that with Oblivion and Origins? No, people wanted to complete every little task and sidequest imaginable. Where is the character and story development? What happend to outfitting the whole party? Glad I got the Dragon Armor, because now I can't use it because I'm a Rogue. Forget giving it to any of my party...they are eternally retrofitted with the same stuff throughout the game. All I can say is that Bioware and EA are SELLOUTS!!!! I guess I should be happy because I've already seen and played Mortal Kombat, now I don't need to buy it when it comes out.

[xxVeritas]

I honestly don't know why there's so much hate floating about the forums over the game. It's a little melodramatic, really, or at least it is to me. I've enjoyed the game so far and I might as well share as to why:

Platform: PC

Likes:

• The story is absolutely one thing I am enjoying. Contrary to DA:O, we're not tossed into the fray and all of a sudden become a hero because we have no choice. We get to experience how some common people manage to ascend through the ranks over the years. I personally find stories like the one DA2 tells far more riveting than what DA:O had to offer. The framed narrative is also a nice touch; there aren't enough game that use it.
• The character's feel more alive than before. In DA:O, not one person managed to grate on my nerves simply because the second they disapproved... that was it. A small little segment floated making note of their disapproval. Now, characters begin to respond differently with the friendship/rivalry system. The backstories that quite a number of them have also draw me in. There really is no comparing the new characters to the old; they're each different, and that's a good thing.
• The combat managed to surprise me. I honestly expected it to be easier than in Origins, but I've had a couple of situations where I have had to try and try again to succeed in some portions of the game. Origins didn't challenge me to use tactics as much as I have so far. I like the challenge, and the animations are definitely catering to what I like (except when you have more than one mage with the animations synced up...).
• Day and Night toggle. I don't think this needs to be explained, really.
• The voiced protagonist is something I find myself liking. I have to congratulate BioWare for getting such a good VA for M!Hawke. The romance lines in particular have a certain.. ring to it that the MAss Effect series was missing.
• There are some other things, but really, I can stop here.

Dislikes:

• Really? You mean I bought that really cool-sounding armor/robes with amazing stats only to find it looks the same as the one I had about four levels ago? The armor designs are too few for my liking. I want better armor to look better, not look identical if that makes any sense whatsoever. I mean, there are plenty of weapon designs.. am I just unlucky or is it scarce for the armor?
• The repeated level designs are a bit.. annoying sometimes. Tolerable, but annoying nonetheless
• I'm iffy about the limited dialogue with companions. I'm not too fond of only being able to talk to them after certain points in the plot, but I suppose interacting with them during quests will do (like allowing a companion to do something for you) .
• The occasional hiccup when giving out commands can be frustrating. Particularly if that command meant having to start over or not.

Overall, I'm more than satisfied with how DA2 is turning out. I don't think I was stuck on DA:O for as many hours as I have with DA2 so far. <3

Modifié par xxVeritas, 10 mars 2011 - 01:53 .

[otafest]

http://www.metacriti...c/dragon-age-ii whose right whose wrong?

[iEscaflowne]

K1llm1n1on wrote...

So you keep insisting. This doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. What do you want? do you want me to say, "Oh, Phoenix319, you're right! I don't know how I didn't see it sooner! Even thoug I thougt I was making a bad joke to illustrate a point about the layout of the skill screen, I was really being malicious and insulting not only Snickl88 but also every dyslexic in existence! How could I have been so foolish to think I really know what I was trying to say when clearly you, Phoenix319, are the true controller of my mind! You are like an author writing in third person omniscient and I am like your humble subject. As a matter of fact, I don't really exist, do I? I'm just a construct of your mind!"? Well, I'm not going to say that. Additionally, you are the one who (very quickly) resorted to a pejorative, based only on Snickl88's accusation based on his willing misunderstanding of my previous statement. Therefore, you have no grounds from which to accuse me of bad intentions.

I think what we want is for you to stop ****ting up a discussion when valid, legitimate concerns are being made, by people just as dedicated to the games they play as you are. You attacking everyone with an opinion that differs to your own only serves to harm both sides of the argument, and cause valid points to be ignored.

I ask you, do you think a ****storm this big would have spread if people like you didn't have the mentality of "STOP DISLIKING WHAT I LIKE"?

Modifié par iEscaflowne, 10 mars 2011 - 01:55 .

[Phoenix319]

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Phoenix319 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Phoenix319 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Snickl88 wrote...

K1llm1n1on wrote...

Are you dyslexic?
It's the same as before except you have a separate tab for each "set" or "group" of skills, or specialty, I think it's called. It's not all on one page, and arranged in clusters instead of a grid.
If you are dyslexic, this might be hard for you to process.

Yeah, because that's being sympathetic to a serious learning difficulty - using it as a metaphor for someone who (in your not so humble opinion) cannot understand basic reading. Having dyslexia has nothing to do with understanding of tabs, only reading names. Name which, I might add, you could not even be bothered to quote correctly.

I would continue, but I find the idea of talking to someone who unironically used the phrase 'Tattle Tali' nauseating

My lips curl into a sneer reading your affronted retort! I made a joke. A bad one, but a joke nonetheless. I was neither insulting your ability to read, nor dyslexics in general. We can get into the particulars of the effects of dyslexia in another, more appropriate setting than this forum if you'd like (we could even start a new forum about the treatment of neurological disorders in rpgs), but the point was that in the new skills page all of the same info was available, just in a different visual configuration.
I did not mean to insult you personally- I was trying to make a point that it should not be too difficult to find all of the info you are used to having available to you in the skill tree once you access the menus a few times.
My bad for not conveying this to you more clearly.
As to calling you a "tattle- tale," I feel that you did what I've seen small children do frequently to their siblings or classmates and take something they said out of context, characterizing it a particular way to give someone else the impression that they did something wrong.

You clearly are insulting his ability to read and dyslexics. Snap out of the denial dream and wake up.

Are you really trying to convince me about what I was trying to say and my motives for doing so? Do you fancy yourself a mesmer or hypnotist? Are you a politician, perhaps? I have already clarified this, so lay off.

It is all quoted that yes you are. once again you are in complete denial and showing everyone it in every post you make.

So you keep insisting. This doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. What do you want? do you want me to say, "Oh, Phoenix319, you're right! I don't know how I didn't see it sooner! Even thoug I thougt I was making a bad joke to illustrate a point about the layout of the skill screen, I was really being malicious and insulting not only Snickl88 but also every dyslexic in existence! How could I have been so foolish to think I really know what I was trying to say when clearly you, Phoenix319, are the true controller of my mind! You are like an author writing in third person omniscient and I am like your humble subject. As a matter of fact, I don't really exist, do I? I'm just a construct of your mind!"? Well, I'm not going to say that. Additionally, you are the one who (very quickly) resorted to a pejorative, based only on Snickl88's accusation based on his willing misunderstanding of my previous statement. Therefore, you have no grounds from which to accuse me of bad intentions.

Denial is everywhere in your posts. You are getting way too serious and literal over my comments. You are obviously trying to trick yourself that you are not in denial by typing in such huge replies of seriousness to every post I make.

[kr33g0r]

Euno17 wrote...

Khurley wrote...
Haha yeah! Even with our dollar doing so well at the moment we are still charged the same. It doesn't only affect retail games but also steam games. For some reason the publisher's think that because we have less people in our country they should charge us more to make up a regional sales quota or some crap. It is really stupid. I am talking about PC games mainly, console games can cost upwards of $100 in some circumstances. 

.... wth.

That's retarded. I'd never be able to afford 100 bucks per game . . . that totally sucks ass. I'd be afraid of buying games unless I was 100% sure it'd be worth it. To me I want to play AT-LEAST 1 hour per dollar spent for it to be worth it.

I've only played 100 hours on a couple of very select games so I'd cry if I had to pay that amount for the majority of games on the console systems.

What PC games do you have? Just curious.

I have quite a collection but I import most of mine from the UK or US where they are cheaper and while the exchange rate is awesome. I haven't bought a game in a shop in Australia for over 5 years now  and never ever preorder. The crappy pre order items you get don't make up for the fact that my hard earned money might go on a game that sucks.

From what I have read, Australia also has a higher rate of piracy than other developed countries! Gee I wonder why? Torrents are a great guage for testing out a game to see if you like it because, like you said, $80 to $100 is a lot of money to spend on a game that might be crap.

Snickl88 wrote...

Did you hear about that same issue with the European digital release of the Witcher 2? The company is charging the same but giving the customer back the difference caused by the exchange rate. If CDProject can afford this, why can't EA, one of the worlds biggest developers?

I did. They also released the Enhanced Edition for the original Witcher for free. It was a massive patch with new voice acting, texture's, extra content etc etc. CDPRojekt care about their bottom line. Every company should but they also have a great deal of care for their customers. They aren't so small that they can't make good games or provide a good service and they aren't so big that they just churn out tonnes of crap and don't care about their customers. EA are too big, they take over developers and squeeze the last ounce of soul out of them to churn out game after game so they can make money.

I just fear that Bioware games will suffer from this. I think DA2 is a great example of a rushed game that appeals to the masses and as a result has a lot of the subtle details missing that show the developer cares.

This is just my opinion though.

[Pandaman102]

Enjoying the game at the moment, animations and colors are nicer now (DA:O on max settings made everything look like a greased pig), gameplay is serviceable, loving my sassy female rogue's dialogues and monologues, and noticing how future dialogue choices seem influenced by previous decisions, but...

1) Companion loadouts simplified like in ME2. I'm a collector (just not of human colonists), so this is purely personal preference, but I loved grabbing every unique magic item and having my companions wear what I can't. I understand this change may benefit people who don't like inventory management, but I can't hate it enough. No, wait, I can if maxing out their Friendship/Rivalry unlocks alternate skins. That would complete my day.

2) Weapon categories now oddly restrictive. So apparently it's taboo in the Free Marches to dual wield maces, or wield a dagger and shield, or go with the classic longsword and dagger combo... little wonder things are so harsh in Kirkwall. "Oh, Maker! The bandits are coming! Arm yourself!" "Let's see... sword, sword, mace, sword, crossbow... oh, a knife! Do you have another one? No? Oh well, commencing cowering."

3) Haven't really bothered keeping exact count, but I think I've visited about five or six dungeon locations now and seen only TWO maps. Literally. The dungeon down by the beach is the exact same dungeon up in the mountain with the only difference being some gray stone slabs blocking off select doorways. Replay value is plummeting pretty fast when my first playthrough already feels like multiple replays.

4) DX11 issues. I have problems as well, but I won't beat this well-tenderized horse when there's a whole thread dedicated to it.

5) The new art. I'm actually ambivalent about this: I like the art and I understand the product has to be visually distinct from its predecessor, but retconning the Qunari race, Flemeth's jaunt through Extreme Makeover: Medieval Edition, etc. seems too much, too soon. It's more like some new studio got the IP and started "reinterpreting" things rather than the same studio upgrading some visuals.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment. None of this makes DA2 a bad game, it's perfectly enjoyable in its own rights, just that with every release there's less and less that I'm particularly enthusiastic about Bioware's games.

[Apostian]

My first impressions...

Am I the only one who really doesn't like the look of the UI or the menus? Tiny squares for portraits with equally tiny life bars. The menu screens have WAY too much dead space. It's like they forgot to add art. I loved the look and feel of the original - it looked like a dusty old tome with blood stains but in this one...there's nothing. I remember playing the demo and thinking "this feels like a beta..."

On the plus side, I enjoy the combat, though I feel I may have regretted going warrior when I saw how much fun mages are. The characters, while at first I was kinda like "who are these people and why should I care" but they grew on me. And I could have sworn I saw a facial expression at one point!

All in all, the game just feels...rushed. It's not as bad as people are saying, but there's definitely room for improvement.

[NeoVassal]

I like:

1) Fast-paced combat
2) I love the characters' little comments for each place you visit/go into/etc. and the general character banter
    a. I don't miss the DA: O camp-style conversations when walking around outside of camp. It lead to some moments that were out-of-place. For example, I accidentally talked to Alistair with my female mage who was romancing him in the deep roads and the first kiss scene was activated while we were covered in blood and glowing thanks to Leliana's bard powers. And I hadn't saved in like 2 hours so I didn't feel like restarting it.
3) The loading screens are beautiful
4) The new art style (haters gonna hate)
5) Less long, boring areas (the Fade and Deep Roads are not pure torture anymore)
6) The characters, their voices
7) A lot of tough/interesting choices
8) I can see playing this game a lot more than I played DA:O  (replayability)

Disliked:

1) Unless it's my TV (Vizio 32" HDTV)...the characters in backgrounds and against white/sky/tan building backdrops get fuzzy and the edges of their bodies look very bad on the Xbox 360. It is very distracting at times.
2) Switching equipment on characters can be a pain - you have to keep switching your party around to equip them with the stronger weapons/accessories you just found instead of having all the characters in one place.
3) I wished there were more areas to explore, but at least going back to the same places wasn't as horrible as I thought because there are always new quests to do in them.
4) I would've like Longer/more interesting character quests (for example: Bethany's - go inside a building, fight, get something, leave and then she's your best friend ever). I know DA:O's character quests were short too, but most of DA2's character quests followed the same pattern.
5) The dialouge wheel was misleading a lot of times....and there was a lot of awkward dialouge (especially the romantic dialouge)

My score: 8.5/10
I have been playing it non-stop and having a lot of fun (and a lot of laughs at the character banter)

Modifié par NeoVassal, 10 mars 2011 - 02:09 .

[Hezulkai]

About 7 hours of play into it.  I'm enjoying it, but I haven't yet gotten the soul stealing hook of DA:O.  I think that's mostly because the story type is so different.  DA:O you start with a crusher of an opening scene (family murdered!  brother betrays you!  wedding ruined!) and get thrown into the Wardens.  It's gut punch to gut punch to gut punch and you start off with a world at war, you at the center. 

This time around, you're some peasant doing odd jobs.  That's pretty much it.  You deliver stuff, you find stuff, you return stuff.  You help people.  You do odd-jobs for poor people.  It's not that epic.  Realistic, maybe, but not epic.  I haven't finished playing it by a long shot, so I'm pretty sure there will be epic, but DA:O was more of an unfolding story and I played the hell out of it because I wanted to know what was going to happen next.  So far, I feel like I'm killing time waiting for the movie to start.

That being said, I am still enjoying it, but not in the same way, or for the same reasons.  I'm tanking and I love some of the sword and board moves.  DA:O was the first game to get me really hooked on a tank class and DA2 marks the first time my first character has been a tank.  I like the AOE effects that warriors get and looking at some of the 2H weapon (the only variant I didn't like playing in DA:O) I have a feeling I will be trying 2H this time around (Scythe, woo!).

My companions feel a lot more powerful than I am.  I'm hitting for 15, they're hitting for 200.  I think it's the slow build up because I am seeing new abilities becoming a lot more powerful.

Doesn't seem to be very talkative this time.  I have managed one conversation with one of my companions in 7 hours.  This was my main complaint with DA:A.  My companions talked to each other, but rarely to me.  They felt more like employees than the true companions of DA:O.

Unlike some, I actually like Kirkwall.  I like the day/night changes.  I like the scope and scale of the city as well as all the nooks and crannies of it.

On my fourth return to Mount CantRememberTheName.  With the Dalish and Qunari.  Fourth time.  Seriously?  FOUR TIMES because apparently the last 3 times I was there I failed to notice the warband in the middle of the road?

I love the new Dalish models, though a little too "Avatar"y for me at first glance.  Rather than awkwardly postured anorexics, they look slender, otherworldly.  I support retconning those in a graphics patch into DA:O.  The Qunari are a little odd, but okay.  The ogres make more sense now I guess.  I like the female models too, though still the only age differences are from the neck up.

Game is clunky on my PC in DirectX 11.  Played medium on both 11 and 9, and 9 runs better though looks much worse.  Got sick of the micro pauses.

Very happy the long load times of the beta did not make it into release.  I don't mind the constant cutscenes though, I am here for the story as much as the game.  I love, love, love having my character talking this time around rather than dead-eyed stare into the distance.

Bethany, dearest... you're an apostate.  Please stop telling Every Person We Meet that you are an apostate.  If you want to stay alive in a city full of people who hunt mages, stop explaining in painstaking detail how goddamn tormented you are over the fact that you're a MAGE.  You know?  An illegal mage?  An APOSTATE!  Did I mention she's an apostate?  Because she's TOTALLY an apostate.  I wanted to play with Bethany in my party.  We're sisters, dude!  But RP-wise I can't take the chance on Blabby McTormentedPants spilling the beans constantly.

Improved lightning magic?  Yowza.  looking forward to a mage playthrough.

Not sure I like having all my companions spread out.  I miss having the camp and talking to them.  Yes I can minimap to them, but it's a different feeling.  Again, realistic for this campaign, but still...

The skills are different but not bad.  I can find my old favourites (holy smite, assault, shield bash) and that makes me happy.  Hello Tremor!  I'm glad we can speed up the cooldowns, because that was a little painful.  It's different, and simplified but not bad. 

Overall, much more positive than negative.  I'm enjoying it as a totally different game than DA:O.  Some things I like more, some I like less, but still want to play it through a couple times. 

[TheUnderdogEffect]

You know, from where i am, paying for games is not really an option for most humans, if they still want to eat, but even with that, i bought most of Bioware's games that i played, and some duplicates also, for some of my friends ... because it's worth it ....but this? ...i have no problem with dragon age 2, if it was marketed as "action-rpg" ...i liked Dungeon Siege, Diablo, whatever ...it's a good game DA2, but it's joke for old Bioware's RPG fans ...it should have a Warning sticker or something ,,,"This is not old school, this is for Facebook kids"...every company makes mistakes now and then, i just hope this is not the main path Bioware will follow, i mean, hell, if they get good money out of it, it's perfect, but "throw" a true RPG for your's humble old fans in the meantime...is this EA's stinky smell catching up?