3274 réponses à ce sujet

[Aziras]

First impression (final verdict have to wait until I get it installed and play more than just the demo):

I have to say, kudos to the trick of having game-critical content as a freebie DLC at launch. That ought to teach the pirates.
Other than that, I am not a big fan of DLCs. I only play games once. So having large parts of the game-time pimped off as DLC is a major turn-off for me.
One that will very likely make me return the game I just bought before I break the seal (in the train waiting to get home to play now).
The more I think about it the more I feel that is the right thing to do. And then wait for an "Ultimate" edition sometime around Christmas or just before DA3. Not only will I get the game discounted, I will also get to buy the "whole" game instead of the version 0.9.

I had expected to get an improved version of DA:O in terms of content. I know some people say 7 years VS 2 years, but as a paying customer I do not give a rats arse for that. I paid more for DA2 than DA:O so my expectation is that I get more as well.

When I played DA:O "vanilla" I enjoyed the game. It was so epic that you never felt it was lacking. I recently bought DA:O-Ultimate edition (because it was cheaper than buying all the DLC and Awakening seperately...) and did a 2nd playthrough plus played all the extra stuff. While some of the DLC stuff seems forced (and the items almost feels like cheating .. hello 300+ G first time you see a vendor) it did enrich the experience.

So my conclusion to the first impression is hold those 50€ for a while and wait for more DLC to be available. Because reading reviews it seems like the game is not finished yet. And being a longtime fan of Bioware games I'd hate to get disappointed. If I can wait 6 months or a year and get more characters, more sidequests (and some balancing tweaks) for the same money I do not see why I should spring now just to play while it is new. I stopped caring about rushing new games years ago.

In today's PC gamespace you get one month of very expansive MMORPG content for 15€. That means that any game with a pricetag of 3x as much should be able to provide at least for 2-3 months of entertainment. Take a conservative average of 1 hour/day and the game has to offer 60 hours of gameplay to match up. And anyone who knows Bioware's immersive storytelling will know that you often lose a whole night's sleep in one go.
I know it is unfair to compare "console designed" action games with MMORPGs, but that is my reality. And from what I read in reviews, the game offers nowhere near that amount of gametime. Unless you play on nightmare difficulty and have to reload each encounter a few times. I play for immersion, so I rarely play on the highest difficulty because it breaks the flow.

[BrianRB]

Skwirl182 wrote...

BrianRB wrote...

Warden-Commander Shepard wrote...

I don't know if I would go that far, Brian. I fully expected the events of DA:O to have a very minor role in DA2. Also, I play on 360 and yes, I could very much tell it was tailored toward my console. Yet, I still have some problems with the game design itself, so I don't think the "misses" are just limited to the PC version. That said, I don't think it missed all expectations, just some. Still playing though. Maybe I'll change my tune?

I agree that the "misses" aren't limited to the PC version. My point is that the PC gamers are the ones making the majority of the complaints because, as you yourself pointed out, the game was essentially redesigned or "tailored" to the consolers.

We on the PC are used to palying a very different style of game, one geared more toward strategy than button-mashing. That's one of the reasons I never bought a console; I want a more in-depth experience than what can be achieved on those little hand-held controllers.

I agree.  I like it when a game makes me think.  Unfortunately this game was more like a never ending sidequest with enemies that spawned out of the woodwork like cockroaches.

Yes! That endless spawning out of thin air is absolutely ridiculous! Where did those guys come from?

In the OC, I could stealth my rogue and scout out the locations of the enemies, then set a trap or lure them into an ambush. That was loads of fun!

Now stealth lasts all of 10 seconds -- what can you do in 10 seconds??? -- so it's useless. You can't scout out or sense enemy locations anymore (remember the heightened awareness you could earn?), so you can't set traps or anything.

The only enemies who could suddenly appear on you were the shrieks and rogue assassins. Now they all just pop out of nowhere in every battle, every type of enemy, without any distinction whatsoever. It's VERY boring.

[Frenrihr]

EffectedByTheMasses wrote...

Reading all of these reviews makes me quite, worried about Mass Effect 3, very worried indeed.

Dont worry, mass effect its aready dumbed!, they cant screw it more =D

[Angry_Baby]

Yes, I do like the game so far (on PC) but every fight having these waves of dudes appear out of thin air is just plain stupid. I'm sure there was a good reason for it but, as a PC gamer and RPG guy, it just doesn't work when used for every single battle.

Lame. Although not a deal-breaker in terms of enjoyment, would definitely be at the top of my list to be removed in any other sequels.

[Frenrihr]

wizard07 wrote...

_ShadowHawk wrote...

Well, this is a head-scratcher; I feel like I’m playing a different game than the one written of by many here.

I thought the storytelling was spot-on, the conversation and user interface a vast improvement over that of the original game, and the artwork brilliant.

I noticed the reuse of level designs and found that annoying, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. I liked not having to micromanage my NPCs’ armor/apparel, and I can’t tell if people who voice their dislike for the new NPC armor system on this forum are in the majority or just vocal. I personally get more bothered when I lose a look I like because better stats become necessary to get through the game without the level of difficulty skewing. Perhaps a checkbox as is done with PC helmet visibility could cater to both tastes.

Looking forward to DLC and an expansion. For the expansion I offer the suggestion of an Act 4 and 5 for the storyline and two or three new level designs retroactively added to the earlier acts to minimize repetition. I’ll leave it to DLC to add more Deep Roads and wilderness adventures.

I’m enjoying this game immensely; it’s well deserving of any praise it’s garnered.

I completely agree and feel the same way. I dont know what every one else is playing but all I have to say is I cant wait for DLC and dragon age 3 as well as Mass Effect 3

PFFF "i love the game bioware milk my money more yeaaah oo yeaaa thats it dooo it ooohhh god yeahh !"

"Keep making **** games yeah! im enjoyin this **** o yeah, take all the **** you want and feed me with that!"

XDDDD

DrMatta wrote...


- Homosex everywhere (you can "heart" almost any male NPC, but i've barely seen the option for the female ones)

Yeah... i hate that too, now EA are not only money farmers that ruin games but now they are GAYs too...

I want to make a good friendship with anders but i cant, he misunderstand friendship with love...so i have to act with him like a son of a **** just to make sure im not loving him ¬¬ THATS STUPID... and the options with females?, i rarely see them... SO EA its a stupid making money machine that ruins games but also its full of ****ing maricas(gays).

Modifié par Frenrihr, 13 mars 2011 - 04:12 .

[AL-istaria]

To me, this game feels more like an expansion pack than a fully fleshed-out game. And not because of the cameos from DA:O characters. It's because the story has too many holes in it, too much rushing through plot points that otherwise would have been the most moving and interesting.

I'm a published romance author. I have 30 books in print, all available at your local bookstore. I've been on the New York Times bestseller list numerous times. In other words, I feel pretty confident in saying that I know how a romance is supposed to play out. In DA:O it was done beautifully. The two characters conversed, gave small gifts to one another, kissed, teased, and THEN fell in love.

I know that DA:2 isn't DA:O. But it IS a game where the creators advertised the romance and the character interactions. When you advertise something, you need to deliver it. And while frankly I'd forego most of the battles (though I did like assigning weapons and armor to my people) in favor of the characters and the journey, I'd settle for a nice balance. This wasn't it. Yes, it's still a cut above most RPG's, but why would I want to replay it when I know all I need to do is click the 'heart' button and I get a declaration of love, two kisses, somebody with whom I can't have conversations supposedly moving in with me, and nothing new to learn about any of the other companions with whom I didn't have a supposed romance?

If you're making an action game, say you're making an action game. If you're making a character-driven RPG with meaning and interaction, you'd best deliver. And Bioware didn't.

[STiAT]

Okay, since I'm through, I can write a review about DA:2, quite putting all the things in.
Played the PC-Version of DA:O and DA2, so the review targets the PC architecture. Besides most people, I have not had any graphic problems, maybe because my PC is bad enough not to display a lot of effects (2.46 ghz dual core, nvidia 460gtx, quite a 5 year old boy with a newer graphics card).

Party and characters
I liked the "special" trees of my companions. That was a good thing, but it came for the downfall of something very important: The Spirit Healer tree. If I wanted to play a Force Mage / Blood Mage, I was basically forced to take Anders with me, which is the only one with some decent healhing abilities.

The "split-up" party, means that everybody is in a seperate location at town was definitely sad. Traveling all around for question and answering... not a too good idea. I rather liked to discover the tales, and talk to the party in the camp, than having a journal entry for my companions.

The characters in game seemed not too deep at all. Rarely a lot of talk, no real tales of them. I remember talking my old party members, where I had a lot of joy with their unique style of answering, their understanding of the world. This time, it seemed pretty straight-forward without many options.

The RPG or Non-RPG Part
What I especially loved in DA:O was the unique feeling of a good RPG made single player.
Well, with the ME2 wheel, you probably destroyed all of it. If I play an RPG, I want to be quite sure what answer I give somebody, not just judging by icons. In DA:O it felt as if you could influence (and you could) by choosing a slightly different answer.

Also the playstyle, It was mostly Hack&Slay, without too many tactical components. The lack of crowd control in example as a mage made it feel worse. You had some options with cone of cold and speccing force for throwing guys around and slowing them (yes, that was quite fun), but the lack of explicitely taking out one target for a period of time "for sure" made it hard.

That I could not really customize my party members outfit was more than just sad. I loved to have Alistair running around in robes (as he mentiones it in the camp at some talk about templars )!

Game Modes (Casual / Normal / Hard / Nightmare)
Well, since I played DA:O in nightmare after playing though on normal once, I must confess: I played a mix of normal/hard this time as well (wouldn't know how to beat the guy in deep roads otherwhise, that guy was definitely a bit too hard for my taste, like The Harvester on nightmare). But well, that's the definition of hard and nightmare - isn't it?

Skill-Trees
Skill-Trees I definitely loved. Being able to leave some parts out (non-linear trees) is a great feature. What I felt is as if I had too less skill points to waste for the mage I want to play (a mix of Elemental / Spirit / Creation / Force and Blood mage - okay, probably asked a bit too much, but well, at level 21 I had all skills I wanted to have).

Like/Dislike System
This one really hit me. How could you implement something like that, needing some reputation at somebody to get certain skills?
Well, for the likes-dislikes system, the rest which basically was bad is, that all this socializing in the camp was dropped. Sad one for a RPG.

The World
All over repeating dungeons and maps? You can not be serious about this? Implementing a few locations, playing all those parts there is quite a bad one.
And even if the location was different, it still had the map of a place where you have been before. Just look at the estates, all look exactly the same. Sorry at the lead designer, but for me as an employer, that's a reason to get you fired.

The Gameplay
Well, I liked the bloody part. Though, I could not find the skill which was in the "preview movies" where the fire hands pick an opponent and just crush him. Sad... very sad.

To the rest of the game, the combat was streamlined, and quite boring. This changes fast switching to a harder mode, though, there is not too much you could change in your combat. It's often luck, sometimes there are stupid mistakes done... but well, it still is incredibly boring even on hard. It's only hard because the monsterst stand longer, not because you need different tactical elements. So you fight the same way, just for longer than on other modes (except for bosses, there your mana can be soaked up quite fast, because no bodies dropped for my mana to regenerate - yes, the spirit part of my skill trees). It's most likely about bringing the right party to a fight and positioning them properly and issue some commands - even works on nightmare.

Well, to the boss-combat: On normal it is okay, on hard it's just taking long. Very long, but it was not really harder except for the guy in the deep roads (did you ever test this guy on nightmare? If you made it, I'm impressed). Same goes for the high dragon, an incredible hard fight.

The Story
I happen to like the story. Although, compared to DA:O it was very linear. In DA:O you could choose when to go to Redcliffe, or when you will head to the Circle of Magi.
In DA2 it was putting one step after another, without any choice at all (as influencing the storyline as you could when going to redcliffe before the circle or the other way round in DA:O). 

Overall:
DA2 was a decent AddOn with better graphics for DA:O, where the story was not disappointing, but not as good as the DA:O story, where the map-makers were on holidays, and the game designers chose Hack&Slay combat over tactical combat, and exchanged RPG for crappy dialogs with the ME2 Dialog-Wheel.
I'd say it is rather a 15-20 euro revamp or DLC for DA:O with nicer graphics and effects than a full and steady RPG in BioWare style.

That's my opinion. Rating: 6/10, it's fun, but could and should have been better.
Going for an assassin as my next character, missed some achievements :-).

Modifié par STiAT, 14 mars 2011 - 12:35 .

[NinaDA]

I just completed Dragon Age 2. This is the first time I write a review for a game, probably because like many here I have been a massive Bioware fangirl for a long time and both DAO and Mass Effect 2 are in my top 5 favorite games. As context for this review, I should say that my taste in games is quite varied, but what hooks me to a game is, first and foremost, the story and the level of interaction with the environment depicted in the game.

Pros:

Graphics: on my PC, the graphics look superb. The colors are vibrant and the level of detail and textures is a vast improvement over “brown” Ferelden, particularly in Kirkwall.

Character Design: I liked the character redesign. I thought it was a good call to make the 3 races look different. It’s a lot more credible to me to have humans, elves and qunari look very different from each other. Don’t mind the darkspawn redesign either.

Combat: Again, I had no problems at all with the changes made to combat. It was fast and fluid, micromanagement is definitely possible and the combat animation are varied and fun to watch. For area of effect spells and talents, it would have been useful to have a top-down camera view, though. Combat can be challenging as often waves of enemies are thrown at you. It kept me mostly on my toes except for filler fights like the “random” encounters (e.g. at night in the city).

Companions: there’s a good mix of companions to pick from. I played as a combat mage, mostly with a tank (Aveline), a rogue (Varric) and a healer (Anders). They all have interesting back stories and personalities. I loved Aveline and Varric. Anders was as he should be: passionate and tortured and a lot more reminiscent of the snarky Awakening Anders than I had anticipated, which I was happy about. There’s a lot more companion banter and that’s great. It’s not as funny as in DAO but I’m glad the frequency was increased as it gave me more opportunity to get to know my companions beyond the set interaction times.

Voice acting/Voiced protagonist: in short: loved it. Kudos to Jo Wyatt and the rest of the cast. It definitely is more immersive to have a voiced protagonist that you actually see talking – especially if like me you can spend an hour creating a character.
Choices/Ending: the ending definitely stayed with me. I had a choice to make about a companion that literally tore me apart and kept me grumbling for hours. What DAO did so well was kick you in the gut out of nowhere depending on your choices and DA2 definitely follows suits.

Cons:

Companion Interaction/Romance: if there is only one thing out of this review that I’d like to leave Bioware with, it’s this. The amount of times you can interact with your companions has been drastically reduced, and that is a shame, as for me, that’s the element that made DAO great. In DAO, I grew deeply attached to my companions, more so that in ME1 and 2, which DA2 seems to be modeled after in that respect. I played the game in about 30 hours, and I seem to remember that I could only have dialogues with each companion about 8 times or so, for no more than a couple of minutes at a time and usually involving quest-giving. I want MOAR! Didn’t mind the loss of camp, it’s a nice touch to be able to see companions in their environment with intro scenes, but I’d gladly trade that for a static camp with more casual dialogue. On the romance note… I romanced Anders. Kiss scene: best ever. Sex scene: rubbish. The sex scenes have really taken a step back from DAO. I think a lot of people are drawn to Bioware games because of the romance options. I wish this was better exploited with more dialogue and realistic bedrooms scenes.DAO was as it should be. Mods, please!

Recycled maps/revisiting places:

Day/night switch is a nice idea, but I was growing a bit tired of having to run through the exact same areas at day then at night during all 3 acts to loot crates and make sure I wasn’t missing a random quest. And also, if you are going to recycle locations, please amend the maps to remove inaccessible areas. The locked doors are frustrating and make it difficult to navigate the map so that you cover every nook and cranny.

Quests:

There are a hell of a lot of side quests in DA2. As a matter of fact, I spent the first 8 hours of the game after arriving in Kirkwall doing nothing but secondary/side/companion quests. That’s a bit long to wait for the story to progress in one way or another. The reason I kept the plot quests for last is that, because I knew the game spanned 10 years, I was afraid that by doing the plot quests I’d miss out without warning on side quests that would have been left behind.

Conclusion: I enjoyed DA2 – but not as much as I did DAO. The improvements, because they were mostly technical, did not outweigh the step back on companion/story development and interaction - and consequently immersion.

[jjkrogs]

After experiencing some ridiculous technical issues before I could even begin my adventure,  I'm now almost finished with DA2, and I've played enough to form some editorial opinions.  Is it a fun game?  Yeah it is, but it's not nearly as good as previous BioWare installments, and sadly, I expected this would be the side effect of their new union with EA.
 
Despite rabid defense by forum moderators and others associated with this project in the face of accusations by some fans, it seems the "Dragon Effect" punchline turned out to be true.  DA2 tries too hard to be Mass Effect in a fantasy setting, a console-focused, dumbed-down game that achieves little and seems appropriate considering the drastic hard-left in concept taken by the franchise which all but forgets about the 'origin'al plans for this once-epic series.  Now, I love Mass Effect 1/2, but they are completely seperate universes and need to be treated as such.

Dragon Age is (or at least should be) an RPG, whereas Mass Effect is a hybrid shooter as far as I'm concerned.  Many people, myself included, want an RPG to be an epic, turn-based (or at least MORE turn-based) combat system, with total character customization and a huge explorable world, memorable characters and a damn good story.  Sadly, DA2 struggles to accomplish these, and instead gives us a cartoon-like, action-oriented choose-your-own movie.
 
There's nothing wrong with that, because as I mentioned in my opening paragraph, it IS a fun game.  It's just not what I expected from a BioWare RPG, and it surely isn't what I wanted as a followup to Dragon Age: Origins.  It's what I expect for Mass Effect.  Get it?  Just because I like it in ME's universe doesn't mean I want it in DA's.
 
But clearly this is the direction BioWare is taking under the watchful eye of Electronic Arts, so we have to look for other companies now to fill what is, admittedly, a niche in gaming.  I couldn't help but miss D&D-based games of old when I was playing DA2, and that's unfortunate.  After seeing what is becoming of the Dragon Age franchise, I'd kill for a company to fire up, say, Neverwinter Nights 3...

There's nothing wrong with cinematics.  They're great in games, actually.  But if you're going to pump out sequels every 2 years, something's gotta give, and clearly substance took the hit over style in DA2.
 
Will I continue to buy Dragon Age games?  Of course I will.  But I won't ever again expect them to be epic RPGs, but instead a fun distraction while I await other games that will scatch that itch.

Modifié par jjkrogs, 13 mars 2011 - 05:27 .

[Nuke1967]

NinaDA wrote...


Cons:

Companion Interaction/Romance: if there is only one thing out of this review that I’d like to leave Bioware with, it’s this. The amount of times you can interact with your companions has been drastically reduced, and that is a shame, as for me, that’s the element that made DAO great. In DAO, I grew deeply attached to my companions, more so that in ME1 and 2, which DA2 seems to be modeled after in that respect. I played the game in about 30 hours, and I seem to remember that I could only have dialogues with each companion about 8 times or so, for no more than a couple of minutes at a time and usually involving quest-giving. I want MOAR! Didn’t mind the loss of camp, it’s a nice touch to be able to see companions in their environment with intro scenes, but I’d gladly trade that for a static camp with more casual dialogue. On the romance note… I romanced Anders. Kiss scene: best ever. Sex scene: rubbish. The sex scenes have really taken a step back from DAO. I think a lot of people are drawn to Bioware games because of the romance options. I wish this was better exploited with more dialogue and realistic bedrooms scenes.DAO was as it should be. Mods, please!

I totally agree. I would have preferred more interaction with the characters, seems a lot less time devoted to talking to them and getting their back stories than in Origins. I would loved  to been able to talk to them while they are in your party.And the romance scenes have been really watered down since the outcry by conserative groups from what you saw in Mass Effect which I thought was well done and was no more than  PG rated if that. The ones from DAO was great except for the really bad looking underwear lol.  

[FearCain]

I was extremely disappointed with the development route they took, however its not a terrible game. I can't complete the game, its on hold till I get some patches, and some new drivers I guess.

I don't feel like I am playing a well polished Bioware title I have come to expect from them, and this game was bought before even playing the demo, as I considered Bioware titles instant buys prior to this. I have played everything they have ever released.

I have had several of graphical issues within this game. The majority of problems relates to having nVidia based hardware for your GPU, although there is plenty of proof of 58xx, 68xx, and 69xx having terrible frame rate issues on Very High (DX11), despite fanboys claiming conspiracy.

Of course I could play the game on High with 80% of the visual eye candy, but I shouldn't have to, considering the money invested into my hardware is 2x more what most would spend. This makes the game feel untested and unpolished. AMD partnership or not, there isn't any excuse for this level of performance on the high-end competitor vendors.

My computer should quite easily play this game on Very High settings on my computer, and although its playable at 40 fps, it does have some stutter and graphical glitches (shadows are sometimes wrong and/or black blocks of graphical corrupted shadows when there are spells being cast). Not to mention the lag input issues (running with the keyboard makes you feel like 10 fps as opposed to feeling solid running with the mouse.)  I love the fact that I am in Gamlen's House, and there are windows above the door and windows perpendicular in the next room, yet both are casting the same source of light the same distance.  As if there were two Suns or two Moons both shining down on the house.

The forced "dynamic" shadows are also a treat, as apparently a onyxly dark shadowed corner, some how causing a large shadow from my character to form despite having no source of light.  Whats really happening is the sunlight or moonlight seems to shine through walls and buildings onto characters, but not the light just the ability to produce a shadow.  So essentially your shadow is casted even when your character stands in the shadow of buildlings/walls, without a source of light.  This isn't a major issue, once you notice it, you can't stop noticing it.

My personal favorite are the generic mobs you kill in the streets, when you cut their heads off, or make them explode, all the helmet wearing guys seem to turn bald and helmetless, even change armor types, or even change sex.

So much is recycled and the reason for this was so that there could be more content fitted.  This is entirely excuse, and I don't like being lied to.  You had a deadline, and you did your best to meet it.  Just tell us the truth.  You had more content in Baldur's Gate II (similar focus on Amn) then anything in DA2, for 1/5th the size.  The only time you "re-used" content there was for random incursions between destinations, everything else was unique.  In DA2, you use recycled caves, beaches, and settings for key plot movements.

All of that really shows to me a rush to deadline, much of it can be "addressed", the industry term to appeasing to the fans, instead of being "fixed" which it really should be, via patches and correspondent with AMD/nVidia.

Once you overlook the graphical issues, you have to deal with quest bugs, and atypical bugs the game (or any new game) will have. Its just too much gone wrong for me already to even sit down and just enjoy this game.

I feel I made a bad purchase on STEAM for $60. I will never buy Bioware without applying the scrutiny I apply to every other game developer now.

This game is not much of an RPG from an older PC-RPG standpoint. Its an action game thats customizable in some classes, and some gear. This game has been made more approachable to what feels like a younger (more mainstream) audience, which also corresponds to being simplified for consoles and their limited input design as well. If the game continues in this direction, I am simply not interested. Good story or no.

The dialog has improved with the added voicing, however it feels fluffy, rather than choosing dialog I want to choose, I feel like I am personally pushed towards choosing what is said next, based on the outcome of party politics. Sometimes I choose Hammer if want to kill the guy, I choose Joker for what appears to be mostly atypical neutral options, or Olive branch for passiveness, or passive aggressiveness in some cases. Combine that with specific NPCs and you get some unique conversations or actions but again it feels like rather than playing with the ability to say whatever I want, I feel often times there is a wrong way to answer questions or to move the plot forward.

Bug after bug, a crash here and there, and performance I would expect from an indie developer or a mod, has left me unable to enjoy this game in all of its glory. I keep in mind most peoples reviews are based off of the performance of the game, or the inability to play the game for several days after its release. It does make people biased of course, myself included.

Feedback on the graphical/performance side from Bioware on these forums are lack luster at best, and there is no way to attempt Beta patches on Steam (according to them.) In regards to the minimal community information about the graphical issues, we were essentially suggested to turn down our settings.

The handling of bug submissions seems to be archaic, and the forums have the feel of disarray about them. I personally would like a one on one with Bioware support.  I am playing the game, I am recognizing various design problems that a proper QA job would have noticed, with models, graphical corruption during spell casting, combat, lighting, incorrect shadow alignment, incorrect lighting in levels, obvious tessellation problems in the ground, back ground rendering problems, visible wire frame in rendered 3d environment etc. There is too much wrong, for me to enjoy the game, so far I just play to find new problems that I have been jotting down.

I will eventually expand on this review of the game when I get more into the game (with the aid of patching and drivers.)

I am playing from a very expensive computer:
i7 980x @ 4.25 GHz
24 GB DDR3 @ 2000 MHz
SLi GTX 580 (900/900 2200/2200)
Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) + SP1

Modifié par FearCain, 13 mars 2011 - 07:28 .

[MegaBadExample]

Well I never thought that I would say this but...I enjoyed the game. It had more action which was needed. I didn't like DA2 as much as Origins though.

The first 6/7 hours is a drag.
I felt that the companions were deep but not deep enough. Having Hawke's family play a role in the game was fun too, made it far better. Gosh I miss them! I wish we could of been able to interact with them more.

Hawke needs to ask more questions! The warden could ask more.

The re-use of maps over and over again gets annoying. Also I felt as if there wasn't enough armour and weapons in the game.
The game wasn't long anough for me too...I completed DA2 under 18/19 hours. Felt like an expensive expansion.
I really only started caring about the game at the end...mainly because of the companions, and now it's over...Damn you...

DA2 Rating. 8/10.
Origins. 9/10.

EDIT: THE LACK OF FLEMETH AND MORRIGAN BLEW. I WAS LOOKING FOR JUICY DETAILS. COME ON BIOWARE! I'M WAITING FOR THESE WITCHES TO FIGHT IT OUT.

Here's to DA3?
Remember that continuation is important!

Modifié par MegaBadExample, 13 mars 2011 - 05:44 .

[jjkrogs]

"Remember that continuation is important!"

Um... I think they already blew that all to hell.

[Polemists05]

This my 360 review.


So I've tried to read a handful of reviews, so I'll make this short to not just repeat everything.

PROS:
Interesting Characters (Love Aveline)
Good Dialogue (nice voices, wide range of tone)
Interesting Dynamics (Was nice to see a character have more influence over time, vs Warden who basically had it from the beginning.)
Nice Areas (This is not recycled content but rather the art style, I liked the coast, it was peaceful and a nice change of pace from dungeons and dark caves)
Good Boss Fights (Far more interesting bosses in DA 2)

Major Complaints
It's been said before but, console needs a auto attack.
Content Outside Kirkwall could stand to be more dynamic, basically I'd like to see the other areas evolve over time same as the city.
Miss final attacks. Yes they paused combat, and some did lock your character, but they looked cool.

DAO 8.5/10
DA2 9/10

Loved it, look forward to DA 3.

[Rhaigun]

 Overall, I like the game as a whole. I'll just highlight areas pro/con syle.

PROS:

• I like the new art direction. It serves to seperate different characters and races better. Important chacacters look to be just that...important. They don't look just like everyone else.
• I like the combat system. It feels more active and viceral. I understand some arguments on how it seems to leave less room for strategy. However, you can still pause by opening up the wheel and using "move to point" and "hold position" commands. Also, charaters have twice as many tactics slots opened up. Meaning you can program far more scenarios into the system, and they'll account for them.
• I like having a hero with a voice. It was the one thing keeping the Hero of Fereldan disconnected from the rest of DA:O. It felt generic. Like you could plug anyone in there, and nothing would change. At least here, Hawke feels important.
• There is an insane amount of side quests here. Some feel a little more tedious than others, but overall good stuff.
• I like the new quick map system. Highlighting areas with active quests keeps me from having to pour over text in my journal just trying to figure out where the quest even takes place.
• The characters. All of them are great. Usually I find one I dislike, eg: Carth, Kaidan, Alister. Not here though. They're all great.

CONS:

• The loot system. I understand wanting to create a larger system, but a lot of the items aren't really worth having. If I have a ring that adds +25 attack, I don't want to have feel like I need to switch when I find a ring that adds +26 attack. It really doesn't make much of a difference. I don't want to micromanage items.
• Lack of environments. I understand that the story takes place in Kirkwall, but it makes the game feel more like an expansion than an actual game.
•  Not having a party camp. Trying to accomplish companion quests is a pain in the butt. Too much back and forth. Anders is in my party. Why do I have to go to Darktown just to speak with him?
• The narrative. I understand wanting to create a unique expierience, but I have no idea what the main objective is supposed to be. In DA:O, I knew what I was working towards.
• No real connection to DA:O. Despite a few references here and there, DA 2 is a standalone game. It should not be titled as a sequel.

8.5/10

[Grandchamp1989]

BrianRB wrote...

Skwirl182 wrote...

BrianRB wrote...

Warden-Commander Shepard wrote...

I don't know if I would go that far, Brian. I fully expected the events of DA:O to have a very minor role in DA2. Also, I play on 360 and yes, I could very much tell it was tailored toward my console. Yet, I still have some problems with the game design itself, so I don't think the "misses" are just limited to the PC version. That said, I don't think it missed all expectations, just some. Still playing though. Maybe I'll change my tune?

I agree that the "misses" aren't limited to the PC version. My point is that the PC gamers are the ones making the majority of the complaints because, as you yourself pointed out, the game was essentially redesigned or "tailored" to the consolers.

We on the PC are used to palying a very different style of game, one geared more toward strategy than button-mashing. That's one of the reasons I never bought a console; I want a more in-depth experience than what can be achieved on those little hand-held controllers.

I agree.  I like it when a game makes me think.  Unfortunately this game was more like a never ending sidequest with enemies that spawned out of the woodwork like cockroaches.

Yes! That endless spawning out of thin air is absolutely ridiculous! Where did those guys come from?

In the OC, I could stealth my rogue and scout out the locations of the enemies, then set a trap or lure them into an ambush. That was loads of fun!

Now stealth lasts all of 10 seconds -- what can you do in 10 seconds??? -- so it's useless. You can't scout out or sense enemy locations anymore (remember the heightened awareness you could earn?), so you can't set traps or anything.

The only enemies who could suddenly appear on you were the shrieks and rogue assassins. Now they all just pop out of nowhere in every battle, every type of enemy, without any distinction whatsoever. It's VERY boring.

Eeexactly. Up this game to hard or nightmare and it's a PAIN    IN    THE    ASS!

Here's the Scenario:

You move out and see there's 7 enemies up ahead. Being on hight difficulty you know they'll kick your ass going toe to toe so you set it up:

1. You place your party at the end of a small pathway (like a staircase) so their number is useless

2. you attract the enemies and make sure you get their numbers down as they come to you with your powerfull spells and tank

But... What's this?  Suddenly as you're about to win this battle 7 new enemies spawn from BEHIND your mage taking her out immediatly. You try to run with her but is interrupted when they hit her and you have to accept she's gone.

Now it's 3 against another 7 and you try to use your abilities but realize now there's a 1 minute cooldown on them! So you battle it out at finally you take'em out after using a health potion or two..

But what's this? a third wave!! You try to battle it out again but what's this... a cooldown on health potions too.. They kill you after spawning out of the blue for the third time and you start to curse out Nightmare mode.

So much for strategic victories.

[Lee337]

Looking at the metacritic, the PS3 user score is 3.6 out of 10, PC and XBox has a score of 4, so I don't think it's mainly PC users that have the issues.
This is the first Bioware game I have played and didn't like.
Not a fan of the combat in Dragon Age to start with, only did one playthrough on hard in DA:O, the rest on normal or easy, just to play the story.
DA2 was felt way more combat based than story based, I only remember a story starting just before the game ended. If there was more story somewhere I must have got it confused with the sidequests containing waves of magically appearing enemies.
The amount of them is staggereing. And it's all the time. You can't go 20 seconds without someone trying to kill you. Usually for completely unfathomable reasons.
And the way the companions were handled was awful, especially the romance. There was barely any chances to talk to them, I always loved the conversations in DA:O. DA2 conversations were sort of Mass effect style but ME did them well.
The one city idea may have been ok, but for an entire playthrough i expected more diversity and to find recycled enviroments was like a man slapping me in the face with a fish and running of chuckling with all my money.

[Cathey]

I have the 360 version of Dragon Age 2. I love the game and I loved Origins. The things people have been complaining about (new combat, recycled areas, etc...) don't bother me in the slightest. I would rather have more side quests in repeat areas, than less overall because everything is unique.

My favourite things about the game:

• Better romance scenes (as in actual SCENES. Not romances in general. See bottom of post)
• Funnier companion conversations
• Friend Rival system
• Combat
• New art style
• Companion home bases

The only negative comment I have is the way the romances progress. I think that for people to roleplay their characters better they need to be set out like Origins (you can do things as and when you want) rather than the current set up which reminds me an awful lot of Mass Effect (things only happen at specific points and outside of those points you cant do aything, not even talk to them properly).

However, when I come onto these forums I feel like i'm not allowed to
like the game. All I can see is negative comments and that makes me feel
dirty for liking the game...as though i'm doing something wrong. I've been visiting a lot less lately because it's just not a nice place to be anymore.

For DA3, I think BioWare should maybe consider taking the best parts of DA2 and the best parts of Origins and mixing it up a bit.

Modifié par Cathey, 13 mars 2011 - 06:35 .

[DarthTelvanni]

This isn't a review, just "thoughts so far"

The absolute weakest cast of characters I have ever seen (so far) in a Bioware game. Elven redesign seems to have consisted of watching Pan's Labyrinth and saying "lets do that!" On a personal note I don't know how I feel about them having Irish accents now though Merrill is Welsh for some reason, our accents aren't interchangable Bioware. Also how are any of the redesigns justifiable in lore? Ok, you wanted to make the races more visually distinct, you could have done it through clothing and weaponry now we just have to accept that the Qunari have spontaneously grown horns. Also why the Dark Spawn redesign? They now look far more like a generic army of the dead.

There is a kind of subdermal blandness so far, the sense that beneath the quality of of presentation this is game about uninteresting people doing uninteresting things. Well at least thats how it has been so far.

I hoping to run into at least on character with snappy dialogue, some interesting character quirks and a sense of humour, though I think I might be disappointed. Time will tell.

Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of straight political and social drama, I'm just saying there is almost no one in the games industry with the writing talent to pull it off.

Modifié par DarthTelvanni, 13 mars 2011 - 07:02 .

[Grandchamp1989]

xYOSSARIANx wrote...

I've just completed the first act as a rogue.

Not being able to switch weapon sets is not very good, I have to go into the inventory screen to manually equip my daggers if i want to swap from a bow , how is this progress ???

Not be able to compare a non equipped weapon set at vendors is rubbish. I have to exit vendor screen, open my inventory and remember the stats then go back into the vendor screen. How this could be called progress is beyond me.

Not being able to set up my companions weapons and like from home. I have to travel away from home with the NPC in my party to re equip them. How is this progress ???

No auto attack on consoles, combat is spamming the A button waiting for skill cool downs, how is this progress ??? It's certainly NOT 'awesome'.

Being told to 'move my group to fight tactically' only to find enemies spawn in waves from every direction, how am I supposed to make a tactical formation. How is this progress???

Dreary level design that gets reused and reused and reused. Remember I'm only at the end of the 1st act, how bored am I going to be revisiting the same places in the 2nd and 3rd acts. Exploration is my number 1 thing to do in RPG's* but DA2 is probably the worst RPG* I have ever played in this respect. How is this progress ???

* Not sure I should even use RPG with respect to DA2

Loot is AWFUL. Spend some time clearing a cave, have my inventory full of rubbish like 'Torn Trousers', then only getting 1-2 silver for the entire lot when I go to sell it all after. Half the fun of RPG's is in loot and looting. How is this progress ???

There is LOTS of other things I could mention but seeing a Laidlaw and Bioware tell us the real reason I don't like DA2 is because I can't deal with change rather than they have badly designed this game means there is no point.

6/10 so far. I'm not expecting it to get any better in act 2 and 3. If plays and feels like the rushed turd it is.

Worst Bioware game I've played. I will not be buying DA3 and I'll wait to see what the community has to say about ME3 before I buy that. My days of pre-ordering and eagerly awaiting Bioware games are over.

lolol, I co sign this guy to the fullest. Pretty much wrote my review for me.

Only thing I would add:

Bioware, hire someone who can design proper hands!! My so called sister in this game got long nasty scary curvy hands like she's a nasty old witch!

[0x30A88]

xYOSSARIANx, I found Act II to be more immerse than the first as you're not as much of a stranger to them now. It's due time to get to know the comanions better too.

Graphics: 8/10
The textures were an improvement on what was in DA:O, and the high-res pack made it even better. The bump maps and specular maps were decent. The water was improved and the enviroments looked nice. The reasson that keeps it from 9 or 10 is the lighting. The shadows is always in one direction and well, there's only one game I know of which excell at this and that's ArcaniA: Gothic 4. The models -- expecially the weapons -- were not that good and don't get me started on Hayden's Razor...

Gameplay 7/10
It was indeed a good idea to quicken the combat, but sadly, it went too far for some weapons. A solid plus is that the skill trees are far better organized and we can easily tell if it's an abillity/spell, sustained and so on. The hordes and waves were a solid minus.

Story and characters: 9/10
Despite the hate, I like the characters. They keep to their character in dialogue. I could not forsee many quests' outcome. Some surprice. A moment in the game had an emotional impact and I could feel what the protagonist felt. The dialogue wheel does not makes taking choises easy as some might expect and moral ambigiouty is rather common -- sometimes DAII seems darker than DA:O. The "party balancing" in the beginning is rather bad placed and would have made more of an impact later into the game.

Overall 8/10
It's a great game, but seconds Origins -- though that game is hard to beat in terms of quality and with only 2 years of developement. The crafting system is not good at all, but it's far from game breaking.

I would recommend it for those who are not too conservative on the traditional elements. **** reviews... there's a demo to play to get the feel. Remember that not every enemy is like the clown--*cough* darkspawn.

Modifié par Gisle Aune, 13 mars 2011 - 07:02 .

[Lee337]

Spuudle wrote...

MegaBadExample wrote...

The game wasn't long anough for me too...I completed DA2 under 18/19 hours. Felt like an expensive expansion.
I really only started caring about the game at the end...mainly because of the companions, and now it's over...Damn you...

Under 18/19 hours?? dont understand how u can have fully completed the game in that time?  I have managed to get about 24hours in so far, and still have a way to go.  I have done all the quests found in my journal sure, but have just followed my quest marker, thus, missing loads of areas that need exploring. Didnt want to exhaust everything in one playthru as it cost me £45 or around $60.  Did you just follow the main quests??

I completed it in 25 hours, doing almost everything I could. Skipped about 5 or sidequests that I thought were shady and I was playing nice. Caused me to miss Fenris though. Not sure if I can stand another playthrough to get him though.

[jmburne]

Everyone seems to agree that DA:2 is a "good game" or "fun to play"

-My problem is that i bought DA:2 with the desire of playing a RPG, not an action/RRG.
in attempting to streamling certain parts of the game it lost much of the feel and customization from DA:O.

-RPGs are the type of games that I like to play the best. If I wanted an action game there are many out there to choose from.

-Before DA:2 I had never written a response about any of the games I've played. I was just dissapointed. I find myself getting bored, and am about 17 hours in and considering taking it back to the store and trading it in for some credit. I say credit b/c there isn't much out there I am interesting in playing at the moment.

-I prepaid months in advance and just felt letdown.

[Lee337]

jmburne wrote...

Everyone seems to agree that DA:2 is a "good game" or "fun to play"

-My problem is that i bought DA:2 with the desire of playing a RPG, not an action/RRG.
in attempting to streamling certain parts of the game it lost much of the feel and customization from DA:O.

-RPGs are the type of games that I like to play the best. If I wanted an action game there are many out there to choose from.

-Before DA:2 I had never written a response about any of the games I've played. I was just dissapointed. I find myself getting bored, and am about 17 hours in and considering taking it back to the store and trading it in for some credit. I say credit b/c there isn't much out there I am interesting in playing at the moment.

-I prepaid months in advance and just felt letdown.

I don't agree that it was a good game or fun to play!

The graphics were better, I don't care that they weren't epic because I'd not have been able to runthe game, and leaving out combat since I don't like the DA combat in either games, I play for the story and companions and the like, of which I didn't find any of. I did however find lots of waves  of magically appearing bad guys and random demons who turn up usually for no reason.