3274 réponses à ce sujet

[wildcard4542000]

warpelle wrote...

Its like wookies living on Endor it just doesnt make sense.

This made me laugh. Kinda like the direction they took this franchise. It just doesn't make sense.

[Whipstitch]

I wanted to like this game but watching my brother play it has me pretty discouraged. Redesigning an entire combat system only to fall into the "Critters can spawn practically on top of people" trap hits me as pretty bush league. I can tolerate such things in a Neverwinter mod but from an A list developer it's pretty disappointing.

Modifié par Whipstitch, 12 mars 2011 - 04:16 .

[SteelRaptor]

xsgenefuzz wrote...

BiowarEA wrote...


Conclusion. I can't picture myself playing this game any longer. It's uninteresting and plain boring. People that claim this game is to DA:O what ME2 was to ME1 are completely ****ing wrong. ME2 is leaps and bounds ahead of DA2 in every regard. ME2 can be a fun popamole third person shooter if you disregard most of its cliché ridden and weak plot. DA2 is not even fun as a hack-n-slasher as it offers no challenge. 

Could not agree with you more.  As disappointed as I was by ME2, and despite a PC UI that was nearly unusable, it was still compelling enough to keep me glued to my computer for marathon stretches of sleepless gaming, which is typically how I complete my first playthroughs of new games.  I don't even care to finish DA2.

I'd say that the differences between ME1 and ME2 were like a dark foreboding, an evil omen that most of us wished to disbelieve.

I agree with you both. Also, considering that ME had its origins in the console (It hit XBox360 first before it went to PC, if memory serves), I was fairly lenient with my PC version of ME2. In fact, it was a pretty fun TPS, it was fun either picking off people with my sniper rifle, or charging in with my shotty a la Vanguard style.

DA:2, is definitely NOT Dragon Effect. It's definitely on a lower rung. 

[blush]

My review: I haven't felt this disappointed in a game sequel since I pre-ordered Sims 3. I've lost faith in you, EA and Bioware.

[jcat87]

blush wrote...

My review: I haven't felt this disappointed in a game sequel since I pre-ordered Sims 3. I've lost faith in you, EA and Bioware.

LMFAO

I know the feeling... when i bought a replica Coast guard chopper (2k US) and crashed on the first minute of flight... except the chopper could be fixed.... this game cant xD

[Centuries Past]

Bravo...

I for one have been playing the PC version all day, from 9:48 am and it is now 9:52 pm as I write this. My eyes hurt. But still the game is paused and awaits me as I write this. I am pleased to say I have not crossed the finish line yet, and I think I can speak for a lot of folks when I say I was surprised the game wasn't over at a certain spot.
 
1. "Not one crash"
2. The game has not slow down; area transitioning, combat, camera movements, nothing I can detect.
3.  Have only had to load a save game once... from dying! Meaning no reloading due to strange plot issues.
On a side note, I have also been minimizing/maximizing the game all day to check on stuff. Not normally something games can claim to be stable doing.

Again, bravo. I hope the rest of you are enjoying DA2 as much as I am.

[UncleSam92]

I am rather disappointed in all of the negative comments about Dragon Age 2. I just finished it for the first time tonight and I know I am going to go back a couple more times. I liked the more personal story of Hawke over the more generic slay the ultimate evil story of Origins. The story was not perfect and left some longing for more, I really didn't like the cliff-hanger, but overall I was very satisfied with it. I wish there would have been more elaboration on what happened at the end though, it really left me wanting. I really wanted to know what happened to my companions. At least I know Isabela stayed with me! Hopefully dlc or Dragon Age 3 will help fill that void. I really enjoyed the decisions that needed to be made throughout the game, I think the Bioware writers did a excellent job on making the decisions tough and not just black and white. In Origins I kept having the feeling that they were more good vs. evil choices rather than shades of grey. On companions I liked the approach taken this time, even though they could have added more dialogue. It would have been more interesting to talk to them about the backstories more. The romance cutscenes are a little cheesy but I let that slide. For the combat, I think that it has improved. In Origins I tended to find the combat boring after awhile and just tried to rush through to get to the next part of the story. This time around it was much more interesting and I actually found myself enjoying every encounter. The final boss fight was crazy by the way, if you haven't got there yet you are in for a treat. I do not believe the combat or game in general has been dumbed down. What people have called "streamlining" or "dumbed down" is just an appeal to make the game more accessible to more gamers. If you say the game is being dumbed down, what exactly is a standard of how dumbed down something is? Just because something is more simplified does not make it dumb down. I play Paradox Interactive games, know how complex games can get. In those games sometimes I forget I'm having fun and it becomes more like a chore. Sometimes it is better for things to be a bit easier so the game can be enjoyed more and be more fun. This game got me really pumped for Dragon Age 3 and overall dispite it's flaws I am really satisfied with it.  I really hope that Bioware takes consideration of the pros and cons of this game. That way they can really make Dragon Age 3 the best possible game that all will enjoy.

Modifié par JMU Rules, 12 mars 2011 - 05:15 .

[Harold08]

Disappointed.

This game is not only a major stepdown. It feels like a joke.

It has clearly been rushed out. Why? We could have waited.

Same locations, same settings used over and over. Same rocks, same crates, same dungeons, same rooms. After one playthrough, I couldn't stand Kirkwall anymore.

Terrible voice acting. Boring and insipid.
I couldn't invest myself in the characters, the story.

I hate the feeling of combat, though i understand the direction you tried to take. You just didn't nail it. This is just ridiculously unrealistic. And almost unplayable.

No crafting, no customize party's gear. This is neither an rpg nor an action rpg. It is a fail.

I pre-ordered the game because I was a huge fan of Bioware, all the way since Baldur's Gate. I feel cheated. This game is botched. It is not an AAA release.

And I don't like the way you rip off dlc from the core of the game to charge it (and i didn't even have to pay for it since I pre-ordered, but i really don't like that kind of marketing).

I have lost faith in you.

[Ygolnac]

In tha last months i have been critic a lot with DA Team (not bioware since mass effect 2 is simply a masterpiece).
I didn't like that Awakening was a bug mess and after leliana's song the quality of the dlc dropped down so badly.
With that in mind i had horrible feelings about Dragon Age 2, but after having played the demo i decided to buy it.

Well, i'm enjoyng it a lot.

First of all it's very bug clean, all the plot flags work properly and there are no game breacking bugs, honestly for me it's a surprise.

Second it's not "consolized" or "more actionish": at nightmare difficult mode you have to use the tactical pause very often and every ability counts: death is fast and often otherwise. In this mode the use of keyboard + mouse is still the best choice in my opinion. The introduction of multi-class comboes is also another step in a more strategical direction, and you need them at nightmere mode.
So the ones that want to have their hardcore experience can have it even if the animations are faster: that's only cosmetics.
And then PC gamers can have the High Res Texture Pack that are GORGEUS. (please do the same with ME3!!!!)

If the story is good or not depends on player tastes, i'm liking it and even if we are forced with an "Hawke" the physical and psycological customization possible makes the story very personal.
Honestly bringing my older warden into a second blight would have been A LOT MORE BORING.

The only point is the heavy use of recycled areas, i wished this trend stopped with mass effect 1, and i saw that in ME2 there are no two similar areas in the game, even in dlcs, so i hoped DA2 was the same. This is bad, but not enough to make the experience not enjoyable.

Thedas is there in all its beauty and scum.

I don't why all the hate on the net, my two cents are that the game is very good and solid.
Vote 9.5

[Crimson342]

why is there so many emotes for man on man love? i dont know if it's just how my story came about.. but there is a lot of flirting available on the guys..

[gogatm]

didnt know if i would like this game so much after reading about the changes that were gonna happen. however... i loved it.
the main story is really compelling. at first it was a little bit of shock bc of the differences from origins but soon i got used to it and appreciated the game for its differences in their own right. if i didnt like it anything it was the reused areas and maybe i got tired of some of the ambushes but that didnt matter in the end bc the story was still good.
personally, hawke is superior to the warden. his personal story is more "epic" than the wardens so far... maybe the warden saved the world and the people in it but hawke completely changed the world with his decisions and changed ppls lives on a personal level...
also.. micromanaging is overrated. im so glad im not decided what other characters are going to wear. i like the changes... i really like DA2.

[milkymcmilkerson]

Here's my updated impression on the game after an additional 10 hrs in:

Likes:
- The story - I love that it doesn't follow the standard RPG formula of the, "epic journey to save the world from some great evil," and is instead more of a character drama and political thriller. Also, I think the decision to make the character's background more focused allows fora tighter narrative.
Furthermore, I think the idea of centering the game around the city of Kirkwall was fantastic for the story, though I have issues with the execution.
- Combat - I kind of like it. Honestly, with JUST the combat mechanics in mind, I find it no different (on the consoles) than DA:O, other than the fact that I'm more engaged by the lack of auto attack for the basic attacks.
- Graphics: A step up from DA:O, and the new art style is quite nice.
- Audio: Loving the voiced character. Sorry, but the old choose a line and your toon stares blankly at the screen is just outdated.

Dislikes:
- Combat - Yup, I have a love/hate relationship with the combat. While I feel the new mechanics are fine, I feel that the enemies are too much of a pushover, even on the harder difficulties. Also, the tactics thing needs reworked. I shouldn't have to program my party members to take a potion when they're low on health. And I noticed some wonkiness with the targeting system. I'll often not be able to target an enemy unless I pause the action and issue the attack command from there.

Completely HATE:
- Level design - I'm really, REALLY frustrated with the level design. For as much time as we spend in Kirkwall, it needs to be much more alive, bigger, more diverse and seamless. Bioware, take a clue from all the great sandbox games out there, because Kirkwall should have mirrored.
Additionally, since Kirkwall is the anchor to the game, every other place you visit outside of the city should be completely unique to balance the repetitiveness of the city. There is no excuse, especially in this generation of gaming, that the SAME EXACT DUNGEON should be used more than once in the game.
And I was really offended that the designers tried to hide this by placing me at different starting points, as if I wouldn't notice I WAS JUST THERE FOR THE LAST THREE QUESTS. No, every place I visited outside of Kirkwall should have been specifically crafted for that quest. Or, in the least, each major quest should have had it's own, handcrafted play spaces while minor or side quests could have used randomly generated dungeons.
Bioware, it's quite embarrassing, especially with such a distinguished gameography.
Though it's not enough to make me stop playing this game, it is bad enough to make me wait on picking up ME3 until the reviews are out, and I honestly never thought I'd say that about any Bioware product.

Modifié par milkymcmilkerson, 12 mars 2011 - 05:48 .

[-Skorpious-]

Not finished yet, but some things are worth mentioning -

Recycled Environments - I find it ironic that, after dissing FO:NV a while ago over its excessive use of recycled environments and textures on this board, I find out that DA2 is worse in this aspect than Obsidian. Seriously, what were you guys thinking here? Very, very, disappointed.
Weak Intro - We were never given the chance to "familiarize" ourselves with the characters or setting. As a result, the struggles of Hawke and his/her family are meaningless.
Where Did the Plot Go? Granted, I'm at the end of the first act, I still find it odd that Hawke is an errand boy/girl for Kirkwall's citizens. At least in Origins the Warden was actually doing something important while carrying out sidequests.
Combat Animations - Hit and miss. Some animations are cool, but some are ridiculously excessive and unrealistic (backstab, hail of arrows, the warriors "closing" move). Plus, the new killing blow (note the non-pluralization) of exploding bodies is quite lame compared to Origins finishers.

However, not all is bad. What I liked so far -

Combat - While some may lament over the flashier combat, I found it quite familiar to Origins (albeit much faster) and much more enjoyable.
Difficulty - While I can't speak for levels 10 and beyond, I found nightmare to offer a much more satisfying difficulty level than the pitiful Origins interpretation of the word "challenge". Definite plus here.
Merrill - Even if my Hawke will not romance her, I will not deny how adorable she is. Yes, I feel slightly embarrassed admitting this, but I can't help myself.
Loading Screens - Very beautiful. However, part of me wonders why so much detail went into the loading screens when the game suffers from some of the issues I mentioned above.  

Overall DA2 is similar to Mass Effect 2 in my opinion. The focus of this game appears to have shifted from plot and story to a more meatier combat system (as with ME2). This current trend that Bioware have developed recently does indeed have me worried, but that is another discussion for another time, and will have to wait until I at least finish DA2.

Modifié par -Skorpious-, 12 mars 2011 - 06:06 .

[RinpocheSchnozberry]

I just finishing my first play through.  Mage on casual difficulty based off a DAO mage with a "dark" playthrough.   Completed as many quests as I could find.  DA2 maintains a =far= better ratio of prep time to play time than DAO.  DA2 is a far better game because of it.  It's late, so this will wander between impressions and wishlist.

TLDR:  I loved it.  I'll see you in 18 months for Dragon Age 3.


Inventory --  Fantastic!  Not having to worry about gearing up my companions really cut down the dull, tedious aspect of getting them outfitted.  After a major section of the game, I could line up trinkets and just roll into the next story part.  Well done!  With that said... junk loot.  Come on...  Please get rid of it.  I cannot see any justification for it.  It adds nothing at all to the game.  In DA3, I do not ever want to see another glowing baskets with Enchanted Lapels worth 2 silver in them.  All it does is slow me down since I have to check to see if there's a quest item in there or a sidequest trigger or something.  Just add the 2 silver to another item and I'll get it that way.

Companion inventory --  I can't gear up all my companions from where my storage box is?  Argh!  :-)  I love that we have storage, and I LOVE the housing, but I should be able to manage all companion inventories from the same place I store my gear.

Crafting  --   I'll admit it...  I crafted 2-3 runes in all my play throughs of Awakenings.  It was painfully boring to click and click and click and check and double check and do the math... bad.  Very bad.  Crafting in DA2?  Perfect.  I enchanted the crap out of my gear and I loved the system.  This method has to stay.  I was actually annoyed when I saw items without sockets.

Character sheet UI ---  Very well done.  I like the derived stats and the tool tip window.  Also keepers.  I would have liked to see inventory merged in there, but it's not all that hard to just hit another key I guess.  :-) 

Skills --  Very happy skills were eliminated.  I have always loved playing cunning linguists, so I was disappointed to read that speechcraft was gone from the game...  Now I see that stuff as just one more layer of crap between preparting to play the game and experiencing the story.  In general, it seems like a lot of the tedium oriented skills (crafting)
were "extrapolated" out of the individual character and move into the
group.  That's excellent.  The dialogue system made up for the speech change.  Could lockpicking be one of those skills moved out?  I would like to see some kind of "pass through
lockpicking" though.  Instead of having to switch characters, just use
the highest cunning of a character in my active party and have them say something about how they can handle it for you.  It would be so much
quicker.

Abilities --  Good balance of broad effects without burying the best stuff way at the end of the trees.  Everything seemed useful, though I did pile everything into Fire/Ice and Earth/Electricity.  WIth a little left over for blood magic and arcane.  I never felt like anything was wasted.  With more play throughs, min/maxing might change that that, but for now it looks good. 

Animations and cut scenes -- Excellent.  Action sections were great!  I loved watching darkspawn and demons get slapped all over the battlefield.  There were places where I essentially had targets getting hit repeatedly and they looked like they were struggling to do anything but keep taking the hits.  Knock backs were great, knock downs were great.  It had a great ninja/action movie feel to it.  The cutscenes were also very well done.  One of the final cutscenes has one character speak briefly, then many characters moving around.  Almost no dialogue there yet I knew exactly what everyone was thinking from their expressions.  Loved that.  The facial expressions were well done through out the game.  It seemed like battles were mixed up more with cut scenes.  Great touch.  Also, the "camera work" was very well done.  Maybe a touch too extreme in a couple places where insanity or something odd is being indicated, but that's about the only complaint.  Otherwise, it was easily the best "camera" I've seen in a game.

Story -- DAO was billed as a dark fantasy where the choices were grey, not black and white.  Much as I enjoyed DAO, I never really felt that.  No matter what you did, you were doing it to save the world.  Which is cool!  I like the world.  DA2, I think, really nailed the grey choices.  There's no real "right" choice in the story ultimatley.  It's really what the character thinks is best and if they can (or want to) arrange a compromise or utterly exterminate the other side.  The characters were really well done.  Each one stands out on their own and there were a few segments where I couldn't decide who I wanted to take.  Some missions it was easy through, because I knew how the character felt about certain subjects.  There were some actual emotional moments in the game.  I almost never get that from games.  In general, the writing kicked ass.


Character import -- I uninstalled DAO after the last DLC and after messing with some mods.  So I had to recreate the path to my character folders and copy my saves into there.  Slightly annoying requirement when I'm impatient to start my first character.  :-)

Screenshots -- JPEGS.  :lol: Screenies made my screen flicker in DAO.  In DA2 I didn't even notice it.  Same rig too. 


EDIT:  Mage Pants Kick Ass.  No more robes, please!

EDIT 2:   In party banter is better than ever.  Not just amusing this time, it also did a ton of character building.  Great!


Ok, I'm done for now.  Crazed ramble: completed.

Oh, and putting her in the game?  As a potential adversary for some plot paths...  OH **** YEAH.   <3<3<3   I nerdgasmed.  Pure and simple.

Modifié par RinpocheSchnozberry, 12 mars 2011 - 07:00 .

[Max_Hazard]

jacobdg wrote...

I havent got it yet, but I'm pretty sure its going to be epic.
I'm annoyed with all the potheads that keep saying DA:O is better.
Heres a fact;
DA:O Was made in 7 years
DA II was made in 2 years
Of course it would be more dumbed down but that doesnt mean you wont enjoy it!

Spoken like someone who hasn't suffered through this dumbed down rpg / broken hack n slash.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not angry, I'm just pained and disappointed that my favorite game franchise peaked on game number 1.

[Barefoot Warrior]

I'm done with this one

This is the biggest let down I have ever had and saying I'm disappointed is putting it mildly. I'm not even going to finish this game. I can't believe I pre-ordered this and waited so long (as well as many others out there) for this. Bioware...you lost me and I'll think twice if not more before I look at another game from you folks. Being a middle aged player I buy games of this genre to forget the real world issues and just get lost for a while. This has been total frustration. Origins was a game that you could get lost in, and even with some of the issues, was totally enjoyable. Origins is a classic or epic if you will and I have played it many times and will again. Not this one, I'll be using this one for yard sale fodder. Sixty bucks down the tube. That being said, and trying to be objective as I can...

pros (very little)
-graphics look better even with some of the seaming issues on my character.
-My character having a voice
-Good texture work
-Good vocals (for the most part)

cons:
-No connection with my character, or no personality like in Origins
-Inventory, not able to really use it on my team members
-Not able to use armor on my team members or clothing or even dress down
-Not able to switch weapons with a shortcut
-Useless mini-map
-Combat is way to fast, at least have a way to control the speed. Origins was fun because you could watch what your character was doing. Not here, it just happens. I like watching the animations and you really can't see that here.
-Story line...what story line? If there is one, I sure don't see it, not so far anyway.
-Reuse of maps. I've heard of recycling but this was getting ridiculous.
-Targeting system kinda sorta works. Most of the time my character would just stand there.
-Not really able to customize your character (or anyone else for that matter)
-The new look of the Hurlocks, etc, and I do not like the new design of the Elves. This story is suppose to be starting at the same time as Origins, does it make sense to change look of them?
-Freeze ups. Not crashes, but everything would freeze then move on. I did have a couple of crashes but I can't say for certain it was the game.
-Difficulty levels, did not like the 'casual setting or easy. I saw no difference from the Normal setting.
-I could not move my team as a group, I had to 'hold' and then move them to a position. I am not into micromanaging each team member. I looked at the manual and could not find this feature. if there is a way I could not find it.
-Not able to 'craft' my own health potions, etc.
and many more...

I feel that this was a 'rushed' project and it just looks and feels of it. I have read many of the reviews here and I know that many will disagree and if you liked the game, my hats off to you. For myself, I'm going to have to let this one sit for awhile because right now I have no desire to finish it. I do know that I will think twice about another game from BioWare. Hate to say that, but there you have it. oh well....

Asus Crossfire IV Formula motherboard
Phenom II T1055 six core AMD
Vengeance DDR3 1600 RAM / 8 Gig
GeForce GTS 250
Win 7 64 Ulitmate

[oldmansavage]

The combat is similar to God of War so from the git go it was a button mash-a-thon.  You can't equip armor on your characters which is absolutely ridiculous.  Its very linear for a supposed RPG, very similar to FF13 in how it feels.  Its like a western JRPG mutant with a dialogue wheel.

The only pro is that my character had voice acting which was kind of neat.

Needless to say I returned my copy.

Heres hoping that Dragon Age 3 goes back to its roots

Modifié par oldmansavage, 12 mars 2011 - 07:08 .

[Jimmy008]

Dragon Age Origins got watered down, repackaged and sold. 

It's still a good game because the fighting and graphics have been more entertaining.

My brain shutoff after awhile of playing because you're in the same areas for three entire acts.  At least you never miss looting a monster since you'll be right back to deal with the next set of spawned monsters.  Perhaps this was done on purpose so that my brain is still in standby mode to not notice the same bosses copied and paste from a different act. 

The story is held together with one liners understating those forgettable years.  You can sense where the writer himself just stopped caring as you stop paying attention.  In Dragon Age Origins, the story started out scattered and was wrapped up nicely throughout gameplay.  Dragon Age 2 is like talking to some old guy with Alzheimers who keeps fumbling on different stories only to realize he had no point to begin with. 

Dragon age 2 is a good game that's worth my money.  However these drops in quality should make you more hesitant next time when considering DA 3.

[oldmansavage]

Jimmy008 wrote...

Dragon Age Origins got watered down, repackaged and sold. 

It's still a good game because the fighting and graphics have been more entertaining.

My brain shutoff after awhile of playing because you're in the same areas for three entire acts.  At least you never miss looting a monster since you'll be right back to deal with the next set of spawned monsters.  Perhaps this was done on purpose so that my brain is still in standby mode to not notice the same bosses copied and paste from a different act. 

The story is held together with one liners understating those forgettable years.  You can sense where the writer himself just stopped caring as you stop paying attention.  In Dragon Age Origins, the story started out scattered and was wrapped up nicely throughout gameplay.  Dragon Age 2 is like talking to some old guy with Alzheimers who keeps fumbling on different stories only to realize he had no point to begin with. 

Dragon age 2 is a good game that's worth my money.  However these drops in quality should make you more hesitant next time when considering DA 3.

Thats a good way of puting it.  As the story drug on I cared less and less.

[Nimtai]

My opinion of DA:2 is like most of the others here. I did enjoy the game, there were wonderful elements, I just can't overcome the lack of social interaction and immersion into the plot. It didn't feel epic.

In DA:O: From the very beginning we felt a strong kinship with our character and their plights (That's what excellent character creation options do for you). All of the origins stories delivered real emotion that got you fired up about your new persona.

Along comes a man named Duncan to pick up the pieces of your life and offer you a new one in a mysterious and elite brotherhood of sorts. Friggin awesome, right? You meet your peers, and immediately start your struggles. Struggles that feel so real because they're artfully crafted that way. A battle hits, and you end up losing someone who is already very dear to you (Was anyone else floored by Duncan's death the first playthrough? Wow.), and the king of your home, whom you feel allegience towards already because everything else is so emersive.

This is how DA:O begins. You're thrown into this world, and immediately you empathize with its struggles. The people and circumstances seem so real. Why? Because it wasn't rushed. You meet Alistair and then you have hours worth of playtime before you even meet your next companion (Not counting Mr. Doggie). You cultivate a bond with this other lost soul who's in the same boat as you, long before your witchy friend comes along. You have time to acclimate yourself to the settings and your new friends before being thrown into something, or someone, else.

In Origins, your romances are slow but steady. You get many little tidbits throughout the game at unexpected times, which is a heck of a lot better than three-ish (very predictable) love conversations the whole game and a mediocre "sex" scene. Also in DA:O, you had to actually work to get them to like you, none of these "HEART: Tee-hee, I think you're cute" options to initiate romance. I liked figuring out what my companions wanted, not having the option laid out before me like some simple-minded 2nd grade "do yuo liek me? chck yes or no { } { }" note.

As a female Warden, I felt real heartache when I allowed Morrigann to preform the ritual with Alistair the night before the fight with the Archdemon. I didn't feel ANYTHING like that this time around.

And for the record? In DA:2, I romanced Anders, and our first "kiss" made me straight up cringe. I actually cringed I like Anders a lot, it really has the potential to make fan-girls squeal. But just didn't deliver. Going to try Fenris if I decide to do a second play-through.

Social interaction in DA:2 felt cheap and rushed. The plotline to a lesser extent did as well.



TLDR:
What I don't understand is, when you have such a strong fanbase begging for these characters and situations, why you would think it wise to just throw us into this completely different storyline?

It's like Tolkien taking out Aragorn, Gimli, Frodo, Legolas, and Gandalf, and leaving us with only Merri and Pippin to take the one ring to Mt. Doom.
Only it's not actually Mt. Doom, it's the Shire. Over and over and over again.

I want my Grey Warden back.

Modifié par Nimtai, 12 mars 2011 - 07:46 .

[IRMcGhee]

I've played as far as the first time jump (about 15 hours, skipping a few sidequests, but I'm going to restart since I messed up a few times). Quite enjoying it so far, some great characters (esp. Varric and Merril) and a few WTF ? moments (in a good way). Combat's a bit faster than I prefer and some of the death animations are a bit too over the top, but most of the other changes are improvements IMO.

No opinion on the story as yet, not really far enough into it, but the political and personal elements make a nice change from the usual "farmboy kills the big bad and saves the world" stuff.

Very impressed technically, run for 10 hrs straight (DX11, hires pack and all the bells + whistles toggled on) at an acceptable frame rate (my PC's slightly under spec to use maxed out graphics) without any slowdowns or crashes. Looks really good too. Only issue I had is that occasionally the targeting stopped working until you switched to another character and back.

Reckon the 8/10 mark most reviews were coming out with is about right. Good, but not as good as DA:O. Certainly good enough that I'll run through it a number of times.  

Modifié par IRMcGhee, 12 mars 2011 - 07:34 .

[ImperiaulGuard01]

I find that I'm kind of the opposite to most of you. I actually have really enjoyed my time in this game. Do I feel that there were some things that Origins did better? Yes. Namely party equipment and armor choice. I really don't feel that party equipment made Origins what it is, for me it mostly bogged down to tossing the best of what I wasn't wearing onto my party members. Do I also feel that Bioware may have overdone some things? Yes. I love the combat, but the exploding enemies are a bit over the top. Story wise, I'm almost the complete opposite. At the beginning, I was skeptical, I didn't really care about Hawke, but as the game moved on, I felt more and more drawn in. Now I actually find myself taking sides, actually rooting for one side or the other. And in this game, there actually are sides! In DAO, it all pretty much boiled down to good and evil choices. Look at the Dalish elves, slaughter the werewolves, evil. Slaughter the elves, evil. Appease both parties. Good! This game, I find my actions having unforeseen consequences, which surprise me, and make the game that much more meaningful to me. The biggest flaw that I agree with you all on is the recycled maps, but I can deal with that, considering I dealt with Oblivion, which, regardless of what you say, I find is worse, because at least this game justifies it by sending you into areas that could be similar simply due to proximity/construction. In Oblivion, every cave on the face of the planet was copy/pasted. Overall review: 9.5/10. It has it's flaws, but I feel that DAO had flaws too, and I was willing to look past them for a great game, which I am more than willing to do here.

[OneEntity]

I like the game, I wanna love it I can't.

I've been a fan of Bioware games for a long time, going back to Baldur's Gate and everything since. I always loved the epicness of their games, their stories, their characters. I was skeptical at first at Mass Effect, a ... shooter RPG, dumbed down to suit the masses but they convinced me. Yes, the character system etc. was nowhere near as complex as in the other games but DAMN! the story, the characters, they were freaking epic and very well done, and that's probably what I want most in their games - a good story and everything that entails, an interesting character to play and also interesting characters to play with, the companion NPCs.

I was never disappointed with Bioware in the past..... then they started the DLCs, some of which sucked, most of which where mediocre at best, only Shadow Broker was truly awesome. Witch Hunt was an insult.

But those were only DLCs, not the games.

Then came Awakening and it felt... wrong. The characters were no longer "persons" you could talk to but just walking jukeboxes, always playing a shuffle of the same five sentences except the few times they actually had something to say. At those times you'd have one, maybe opportunities to actually choose a conversation option with them, after that, back to "hello, how are you?"

But that was "only" an expansion, not a full game.

Along comes DA2....

I'm actually sorta fine with a lot of the "dumbing down" they did, most of it makes the game feel faster, less clunky, I don't have to fuss over my companions like their damn mothers (quite so much).
Every piece of Armor being locked to Hawke? Weird, but I can live with that, the companions got nice suits of armor and in some cases they get upgraded to something cooler looking with time. I still have to fuss over them for rings, belts, amulets, weapons but that's fine.

Making the crafting less tiresome? Fine with me, I was always annoyed at having to spend points upgrading skills that helped me neither in combat nor in conversations. While it made the character feel more .... "whole" (not just a fighting machine but he/she knows something besides how to swing a sword) let's be honest, 90% of the game is combat and 4 points in Alchemy or whatever are 4 points you lack in Persuasion or Intimidation or First Aid or whatever.

But the characters being those walking, talking jukeboxes full of one-liners except on special times? Big, big mistake and it tarnished my image of Bioware. That they *chose* to use this cheapskate system for a supposedly epic all-around game tells me that something about the company changed - big time.
Even so many of the characters are well-done, they could actually eclipse characters like the well-done Alistair, if they were "persons" like their NPCs in every their every other game except DA2 (even in ME, ME2 ffs..). Yes, he was whiny but that was his character, we know him and he was very well done.

I DO like the caster combat and I DO like the new abilites system.I'm fine with a bit less options but having the available options be more meaningful. In DA:O there were many abilities I had to choose to get the ones I actually wanted and in the end I did not use a sizeable portion of my abilities. I actually use pretty much everything I get in DA2.
Like it.

Rolling skills like Lockpicking etc. into the attributes? Wow, did not see that coming but... while takes away quite a bit from the complexity we expect I'm actually fine with it. In this case a rogue will actually always be able to pick locks, to detect and remove traps, depending on how good a rogue he is. It always felt a bit weird that you could have a rogue that actually does not know these basic things we expect from the class, if you chose to spend your points otherwise.

The recycling of maps/areas, especially caves, was a bit overdone in DA2 yes, but that's still one of my lesser concerns. Not gonna complain too much about that.


Another BIG problem - the story. Yeah, *only* the story.

First of all, in all the previews, behind-the-scenes videos etc. they always talked about the story going 10 years. Actually it's only 7. And those 7... I didn't really *feel* them. Still at the end of the game, being in year 8, I kept waiting for another jump in time, to the final year.
It never felt like time actually passed after the time jumps. Yes, I was in another house and people kept referring to the "last few years" or whatever but it never felt right.
I was looking forward to the story spanning 10 years but I was afraid it would not work out right and imho it did not. And that's a real goddamn shame, it had so much potential.

And - there's no.... BIG thing. In PS:T there was getting your Mortality back. In BG2 it was rescuing Imoen first, then defeating the one you who ripped your mortality from you. In BG it was surviving first, like in DA2, but then finding out about who you are and defeating Sarevok, the big baddie, in the end. In Mass Effect, well, only saving the Universe... ^^
In DA2 .... you struggle in the beginning, survive, look at new place for yourself in Kirkwall. All good and well. But then the expedition, time jumps, the "story" goes on but I never felt it went anywhere. You keep running errands for this party and that party but there was no BIG goal on the horizon. Even the Qunari conflict feels like a sidequest for most of the game, until it erupts, and then it's over too quickly. The very thing that makes you the CHAMPION OF KIRKWALL feels... cheap.

And the major conflict of the game, between mages and templars, you just get "pushed" into the middle. Hell, I was a mage and I didn't feel like I could side with the mages, or even wanted to were I given a choice. And of course the same, even more so goes for the templars. Both sides had their douches, the templars in their leader and some over-zealous templars, the mages in all those idiot mages who went immediately to evil blood magic. My mage kept using Blood Magic all the time without turning into an abomination or even using it for something evil.

And finally - the ..... choice... *laugh*. Choose the templars, choose the mages, in the end you kill both leaders because.... because. I chose the mages even though I kept wanting to ****slap all those apostates etc. all the time. Orsino always seemed reasonable until in the end he gave into Blood Magic FOR NO GODDAMN REASON! He didn't even use it to fight Meredith, no, I, his ally, had to fight him!

One of the few things I just LOVE about this game is the identity of Hawke. Yes, we get locked into human and can't choose elves or dwarfs or whatever but I'm fine with that because we get so much in return. My dwarves, elves, humans in DA:O never felt as important to me as Hawke in this one. I like having a real *character*, a voice, being adressed by my name by the people I talk to.
Only thing to critize there.... it just feels weird to be adressed by my surname even by my friends, lover, family. Mass Effect had the same problem. Not gonna complain too much about it though.


And of course... the trailers misled us again. The one showing us the fight against the Arishok had Hawke alternating between magic and actually sword-fighting... something that's just not possible ingame. I really hoped in this game we would not be locked into the mage/rogue/warrior scheme quite so much, unfortunately we are very much so.

If I were to give it a score.... I hate doing it but only ~7-8 out of ten, nowhere near 9.

I'm actually dreading what they'll change with ME3 now...

[ImperiaulGuard01]

Not to sound like a total dick or anything, but you just posted a ton of spoilers in a no spoiler thread... Thanks...

[Malhavek]

When I played the demo, I initially thought the "PACE" of combat was an improvement..... But thats as far as you guys should  have gone on changing the winning formula which was DAO. Listen, there are'nt alot of devs you can depend on for a thinking mans RPG.  And it feels like you are trying to tarnish your own legacy, by stripping out so much of what makes a good rpg. The minutia of comparing armor and gearing up the entire squad, the elaboate dialog options are all dumbed down.  PLEASE, In the name of Loric Prince of Elves, forget the unholy word "STREAMLINING".  iT IS KILLING THE GENRE SLOWLY. When making a game like this, the ONLY glasses you should be looking at this through are Baldurs Gate 2 goggles. You can say what you want , But since EA acquired you guys I feel like they are corrupting your quality standards.