3274 réponses à ce sujet

[Finrod0214]

I'm kinda disappointed with the gameplay, Dumbing it to down was really bad. This game is so easy now, kinda took the fun off. The game is sooo linear that pretty much where you go is the EXACT same palce and its gets hella boring. The game is fun but kinda ruined the first Dragon Age Origin feeling. Next time i'm gonna wait how the gameplay is before buying Dragon Age games again. i say don't buy this game just rent it.. In my opinion its a good game But not a Great game like DA:O

[Morgora]

I haven't read this entire thread so not sure if I'm repeating other reviewers' statements. That being said, I will update my post if necessary.

My thoughts on DA2 (for the PC):

(1) I wish there was a central location to hand out weapons/accessories to party members (like Party Camp in DA:O).
(2) More mobs need to drop coin, items, or junk. After killing 20 mobs, there should be more than 4 to 6 mobs that drop loot.
(3) Boss mobs should drop way more loot. 26 silver off a boss mob is miserly.
(4) While I understand that selling an item will result in less coin received than the resale value of the item, the buy/sell ratio needs to be a little more favorable to selling.
(5) When holding down the [Tab] key to reveal items in an area, the text description is not visible if the item is behind a ruin / building / rock formation, etc.
(6) The rogue's detect trap radius is too small. This is with Cunning at 40.
(7) While going thru the Tactics menu, some tactics options disappear. For example: I have a mage set to Controller. If I scroll thru the options of Damager, Healer, and Custom, the Controller option is no longer there.
(8) The rating system for weapons and armor is not consistent. For example: I have a 3% physical damage belt. My character finds the exact same belt on a mob. Comparing the two identical in description belts, the one my character wears is rated 3 stars. The one my character looted is rated 4 stars.
(9) In order for my mage healer to actually heal a party member, I have to set the condition to greater than or equal to 50% health.
(10) While I understand that certain stats carry more weight than others, having items drop that require a respec is a bit disconcerting. For example: I have a 2H warrior with 35 strength. A very nice 2H weapon drops and requires 41 strength to wield.
(11) In DA:O, runes were reusable. In DA2, runes are one-time use only. That being said, I'd like to see more armor/weapons with rune slots or more armor/weapons with defenses/resists built-in. Prior to Act 3, I can't give my character or any party member a good combination of defenses/resists that covers all stats. Because of this, my character and party members get a whole new set of runes with each new boss fight.
(12) When my character dies and I'm switched by the game to Aveline, I notice that all her sustained abilities are off. This makes me wonder if her tactics are actually working as intended.
(13) My own personal pet peeve is that I wish character customization and NPC faces had more variety.
(14) My character is currently in a romance. And, well, it seems that romance in DA2 is not as involved as in DA:O. I can't initiate romance chats; and, the one time they supposedly had sex, there was no well-placed nudity or sex act.
(15) My character can't initiate any "get to know you better" non-romance chats with party members.
(16) Within the Tactics menu, I'd like an actual Save button with confirmation to save as Custom (like in DA:O).

All-in-all, if it's not listed above, everything else about the game is just fine.

Modifié par Morgora, 16 mars 2011 - 11:25 .

[Chairon de Celeste]

I agree with the pro and cons
up and downsides pointed out,
so I will not  repeat them.
The overpresence of inavertable personal Hawke and companion
tragedy is what saddens me most, not to mention the deaths of
a lot of da o npc and fractions, wich where only to a smasll extent
avoidable.

A campsite somewhere in Nevarra:
'Warden, I just dunno, ever since the Wiobare brothers kicked out
their consultant Varric, their Thedas novels haven't been the same.
Started when they inherited that stoneforsaken windy old castle
from their grandpa, you knew him - the former Esoteric Arms owner.
All the miasma from those cursed ole walls can't create a good
atmosphere for writing...'
'Yep, Ohgren' (throws book into the fire), 'if I wanted something gothic,
I'd rather have a bowl of Sten's qn'ari cheese pie...'

Kind of a review on it's own right: epilog by  by Aimo:

http://aimo.deviantart.com/#/d3boyoc

Modifié par Chairon de Celeste, 15 mars 2011 - 05:28 .

[cimerians412]

Lets just say that I hated the demo and I was one of those people that was very upset at the direction DA2 was going simply based off the demo. Lets just say that after I got the game and played it, (and I am playing it now) my attitude has completely changed (for the most part). An email I sent to a friend says it best:

"
The game is much better than Origins technically. Story-wise so far Origins has a bit of an edge but everything else is much more quicker to manage
and just simply accomplish. Like switching between the map and
inventory and all that. Really quick and easy. The ONLY thing that I do
miss is equiping armor for companions. Still, you can find unique runes
to put into armor for people so that kind of makes up for it. I think
what they were trying to do was cut way down on item management and
inventory and just play the damn game, speed it up cause it was slow. I
agree. I kind of feel bad being pissed from the start but thats what
demo's do to you. 


I don't understand why in the world someone would say the strategic
element was removed on the console version. It wasnt! Its all there if you want to do it. Its
just "slower" and of course nobody explained it so everyone panicked.

L2,
Select things to do
L2  (everything takes effect!)


I was thinking....damn if they had this engine with Origins I would have finished the game in half the time!  :)"

[Silver Rathalos]

a

[Silver Rathalos 90]

b

[Ulfros]

I'm split in half.

One half of me hates what they've done to the series, and would be much happier if they had picked up where Origins left off instead, both gameplay and story wise. I hate the lack of customisation, the lack of a home base for your party, and the fact that you aren't out in the world on an epic adventure but rather just hanging around in some filthy village in the middle of nowhere solving the local issues of idiots.

I do love certain elements of the story. I like how it was all tied up in the end, I like the many companion quests, and I really like the companions; especially Isabela and Merril. Merril's character is insanely well written for the most part, and all her funny little anecdotes and loud monologues really made me smile. She's adorable!

What I hate about these companions is the fact that we can't talk to them whenever we wish, and the desire to talk with and interact with your friends again forced you through even more content; content that you didn't always enjoy. It's ridiculous. Romancing Isabela was a gigantic anti-climax for me. I was expecting her to actually behave like my girlfriend in game, not just give a couple of really vague indications spread around other dialogue that it was so. She should have done like Merril and moved in with me for the time being, and I should have been allowed to interact with her in my house whenever I wished (not just sex, mind you).

The same thing goes with other companions, even the ones you don't romance. What on Earth is the point of getting so close to them if there is nothing you can do? Sex? Kisses? Interesting conversation? Jokes? Talk about their story? Nothing! I loved that in Origins, and even in that game it could have been taken even further, but Bioware seem determined to go the other way and neglect the people's wishes.

Another thing that bugs me is the way Bioware chooses to fill the game with content, to make it longer. Rather than doing like Bethesda (the KING of RPG for the past few years) and give the player a massive, open, living and breathing world to take part of, they choose to put their time into designing a gazillion of boring and seemingly pointless side-quests that you only do because you want to make sure you don't miss out on anything cool.

This was bad enough in Origins, but hey at least there you could stroll around in Denerim to some extent or have a change of scenery now and then by going somewhere else in Ferelden -- whereas now you are stuck to the same boring Side-questwall.

Additionally, the important boss fights were pretty boring and flawed. Fighting the Qunari leader forced me, as a warrior, to kite him around those pillars; strike, heal, and kite while waiting for potion cool-down. The last fights where you fought the mage leader and commander of the Templars (sorry, I forget names easily) annoyed me because there were such changes in character, and so many stupid actions performed. Why would the mage leader transform into a demon right at the very end, and then attack Hawke even though he said it was a last resort to win against the Templars? And why would he do it at all? It ruins everything he's fought for and every point he tried to make about mages! That entire battle felt like a clone from the Origins finale.

By the way, did anyone hear the song from the initial teaser trailer in which we saw the Hawke/Qunari fight from the end of act 2, anywhere in the game? I've been looking but all I hear is a generic and very disappointing ambient soundtrack. That song was a major contribution to get me hyped many months back, because I thought the game would break new grounds with some unexpected music to go with the rather rock n' roll Hawke. I guess I was wrong.

Edit:

Let me just point out that I did enjoy the game and I don't regret purchasing it, but if there is a Dragon Age 3 (or Origins 2) I expect them to listen to me as a paying customer a lot more, and at the very least bring back all the good features in Origins, attach them to the new good ones from Dragon Age 2 (however few), and give us one bloody epic adventure that ties together all the lose ends.

I want to continue my adventure and relationship with Morrigan as the Grey Warden, AND I want to travel around with Isabela as Hawke. Perhaps split the gameplay in two stories that eventually tie together, or have you play as one of the characters and make the other one an important ally? I do recall Alistair mentioning something about the Hero of Ferelden returning home. I wonder if this means after he (my Warden) went away with Morrigan through the mirror, or before Witch Hunt even began? 

Modifié par Ulfros, 15 mars 2011 - 06:29 .

[Bl0dbathNBeyond]

A couple things I forgot -

LIKED:

* Simplified crafting. Crafting in most RPGs is a tedious, unchallenging clickfest. This got simplified in a good enough way (basically now it is a gold-fueled scavenger hunt). I work with dull, abstract spreadsheets in my day job. I basically ignored the crafting process in the first one as a result.
Now, as someone else mentioned, The Witcher was example of one of the most interesting crafting systems in the genre, but that is a side note.

MEH:

*Death stylization. I understand that the game is Varric's embellished tale, but the messy kills were too common/over the top. I kind of miss the old finishing moves.

DISLIKED:
Item descriptions were removed for no good reason. I like reading in-game lore about items.
Finally, the junk item mechanic is a waste of time and effort, adding nothing (especially without lore descriptions).
*

[lusence]

the ending was kinda lame imo. they needed one more main quest chapter. maybe with no side quests etc. just to wrap things up. and no boobs, I mean not even a nipple.... boooo. Id pay extra for a nudity download just to see a topless female char in you little love scenes etc, well all of em, cept your sis... I call it realism... not enough gore, sure the chars are blood covered and bodies expload etc but im talking about horrific enviorments. Couple of areas i was expecting especailly gory areas but nothing but the generic dead body, with a sword in the back or something like that.

besides that loved the game, spent way way way to much time playing it straight through. just like i did on the first one. so i give it a 5/5 just based on the fun factor, im sure if i didnt play it so much i would of found it more intresting.

well make that 4/5 cause of no nude, and not enough gore.

Modifié par lusence, 15 mars 2011 - 06:27 .

[templar706]

A great game in my opinion. I dont really have much time to write a full review, but I think it deserves a 9.5. Things I dislike is that the plot in act 1 is a bit loose, although it gets better. Also it can be sometimes difficult to predict what you are about to say with the paraphrasing.
However, pros include much better combat than origins while still difficult, good story for act 2 and act 3, interesting characters, interesting twists now and then, the family storyline was good and the game generally made me shocked sometimes. This is coming from someone who would give Baldurs Gate 2 a 9.5, DAO a 8.9, Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 a 8.8 and KOTOR a 9.0. I dont like Jade Empire though.

[Uidori]

Liked: The combat seems to flow more smoothly. Load times are quicker. Having a voice for the main character.

Disliked: What Ulfros said as far as interaction with companions. I don't like that the made it similar to the ME series where sorry, can't talk to them and actually have a conversation until you've reached this goal in the game. It really doesn't feel like these characters were fleshed out as much as the companions in DA:O. This feels more like a hack and slash game than a RPG.

I miss the epic slow mo when killing an ogre or dragon and one of the characters would jump up and finishing move it.

For some reason it also doesn't work with my desktop graphics card even after a drivers update, something that one of my friends ran into as well.  We both had to install our copies to a laptop to get it to work.

With the bar set so high with DA:O, this falls pretty short when it comes to the story aspect. Everything seems very linear and the sets are repetitious. I understand this isn't the EPIC that DA:O was supposed to be as an origins story is supposed to have a sweeping story that's larger than life. But still...the characters and story are bland. This is like drinking a light beer after having a Guinness.

When I played DA:O I played for about 20 hours straight at a time, had a butt so sore I had to start playing standing up, and when I came home from work jumped back on to play it and played through it several times.  With DA2 I've had it since release and I can easily shut down my system and walk away after a couple of hours. 

Modifié par Uidori, 15 mars 2011 - 07:00 .

[fchopin]

My impressions of DA2 playing PC version.

After the disappointing demo i decided to buy the game as the combat looked playable.

The beginning of the game was very average but it gets much better after.
The longer i play the game the better it gets.

I am giving the game a 9 out of 10 so far but only played about 41 hours, but this could change depending on the ending.

I was very critical on Bioware before the game was out on some decisions like the short dialogues text and i am still critical but the game is good even if i have no idea what my character will say.

I will write a more detailed post after i complete the game.

[Altasi]

As an avid lover of DA:O, I feel like my opinion is worth a read to anybody at Bioware wondering where they went wrong.

First of all, The story is boring. It is. Near the very end of the third act i was finally starting to feel my choices spill over into the narrative, and before i knew it the game was over. On a cliffhanger no less. I don't even know how you CONSIDERED that was acceptable, but i wont be finding out how the cliffhanger ends because i wont be purchasing another Dragon Age product after pointless, overpriced DLC for Origins followed by this.

Second, The complete stripping down of your party characters.
They had more things to say this time around, but at the cost of being unable to choose their outfits beyond weapons, less spell and talent customization and the inability to have a conversation with them outside VERY linear progression in their little house-zones. Way to suck your fans out of the experience.

Third you have the combat.
You claimed that it was more action based with the strategic options still being avaliable, but that is a flat out misdirection to con sales out of DA:O fans. The strategy is still there, sure. But anything beyond the Normal and Casual difficulties are completely boring. Bosses with over-tuned health bars to appeal to the hack and slash aspect of the game really messes up any chance of strategic placement and ability use being effective beyond a tiny chance to get a crit. Dissapointing .

And while i could go on about issues with this game, I'll finish with the another of the most prevalent problems.
The world.

Sure, its prettier this time around.
But throughout all the aging in the game world you STILL end up exploring the SAME AREAS on EVERY side quest and often alot of the main story! 3 Main areas outside the city that never change other than a cart here and a merchant here is not acceptable after the world we had at our fingertips in Origins. Such a step backwards and i honestly could not get behind it at all. Took me right out of the experience when every quest was taking me down the same path only backwards or with a little pile of flaming logs blocking the path in every non-linear direction.

Thats my 2 cents, And i'd like to finish by saying this is the ONLY game i've ever bought, that i know i will never play a second time. I didn't rush, and i took breaks up to 3 days between my playtime to TRY and get into the game.
I gave this a huge chance and i really wanted to love it like i loved Origins and Mass Effect.. But i just cannot.

Never thought i would say it, But i wish i hadn't wasted my money.

[Chibi020]

Dragon Age has come a long way in combat. I found it was superb in terms of sheer "blow away" factor. Infact, my only gripes with the game is the click combat which meant I kept moving towards the enemy accidentally (I just use r to keep attacking so that's fine), the lack of customisation for the main character (race/colours of hair and eyes/styles), the general horror that is the "mage robe" (the person who designs mage robes should really abandon that waist cinch fur feather thing, ugh!!!!)...

All relatively small really and easily fixed with fan mods and whatnot. Also the game is so short but this is understandable as it was made so quickly so I'm hoping for huge expansions. Some people do complain the storyline is quite choppy in comparison to the first as there isn't a huge mainplot. I am inclined to somewhat agree...

My main criticism for the game which is what made me (and many others I guess) enjoy DA origins is the lack of character interaction. If expansions really delved into characters and romances (for both girls and guys of course), it may satiate the hunger of those hardcore rpg'ers.

I didn't encounter any bugs or problems but the storyline could have done with a deeper psychology. I felt the main character got rich far too easy! But this is probably because I quite like the idea of following Fenris' storyline...being a slave in his master's mansion and having to live with that psycho would have been so interesting!...or an apprentice who meets Anders and escapes the circle...or a betrayed templar...plenty of ''or''s....I just wish it had more of a connection between game to player. The only part I felt emotion was the mother bit (which was very good mind you!).

Oh..and if I could throw a certain character off a cliff, I would. I don't like society, so I'm going to blow up the most important building. Total jihad and fail *shakes fist*..that part was very unexpected I have to say.

P.S. Yes Fenris does look like he belongs in the ff series but considering how many people have played ff...it's not necessarily a bad thing. The overall concept is very attractive to females but considering what he went through (what fangirls would call "Bishies" - very attractive  males)...his character is psychologically unrealistic and unattractive. If I had been carved up with "Dragon age Crack", I'd have come across as being incredibly difficult to talk to/control and probably a complete psychopath. Any woman would take a long time to try and understand him. Equally Anders is far too aggressive to the cause to the point where you just want to kill him yourself...I saw absolutely no appeal in him and I'm surprised if anyone would, he's a complete fanatic with little substance other than being possessed. Alistair had such boyish charm which is what attracted a lot of people to the game and he felt like your partner in crime.

So my review...

Characters

• Main character - Ok so he/she is a refugee. Traumatising, not really. Not the impression I got at all. Perhaps it's because its difficult to make people evoke emotion from that situation as not many of us have had our homes blown up and had to move. I say a story such as Fenris' past should have been the main character and had such a disturbing beginning. We all know the pain of having a cut and shudder to think about being carved up like a turkey. We all understand oppression as most of our parents have "controlled" us in one way or another. It'd also make us feel like we're a much more substantial character within the story. The main character got rich so easy and nothing really bad happenned to him/her. I'd expect continual turmoil and general persecution; really being hunted down by groups or factions. 

-Needs to be many more scenes of getting to know the character, confrontations or just talking with choices- I say get some psychologists to play the game...I'm sure they'd bring up all the unrealism points in the characters. I'm no psychologist myself but this was the main impression I had.

• Fenris - Needs to be more psychotic and colder, takes a very long time to befriend him, nevermind sleep with him. It is ok to look final fantasy as elves are suppose to be exotic but he can't be an emo Cloud. He just can't! He's very appealing to the female population (I'm sure I'm not the only one) until I got to know his character, far too normal.
• Anders - Perhaps a little toned down with the fanaticism? Womanizer..??? Anything! He's so 2D!!
• Merrill - Adorable. The most realistic and well voiced of all characters. She's stubborn to the point where you want to throttle her but she has an individual personality. Maybe she could have multi interests too alongside her desire to restore her clan's history.
• Aveline is natural. It's nice. Her appearance is masculine and suiting but I'm guessing she's not very appealing to the male populations. Perhaps slightly more feminine?
• Isabella - Wow, over the top. There's bold...then arrogant...then just plain suicidal.
• Carver - Nice. Like to see more hatred coming from him. I'm no expert in sibling rivalry but he was tame in comparison to some brothers I know.
• Varric - Fine. Overinvolved though.

Quests

• A lot of quests made me raise my eyebrow. I'm bored but rich so I'll go find some crazy blood mage in the worst part of town who is actually...insane! In real life I'd actually probably respond, surely templars are far more equipped than me, a simple vigilante? On top of that, I'm an apostate? Why are you even trusting me?! I could be a blood mage myself for all you know! One of my party members IS a blood mage...and we're carrying around these whopping staffs!
• I'd understand the quests if I was forced aka templars blackmailed me or mages tried to kill me at every opportunity or killed one of my compansions etc...
• Fights were good! The fact people were saying "amag this arishok is boning me!" is all good news.
• Companion quests were good but could have been longer with more stages.
• I think a general aim is easy to have and engages the reader...for example...the main character's father is murdered and you suspect your uncle has a dark motive...and possibly arranged it? And all the possibilities go on...a clear cut aim throughout the whole game would be good. And if it lead to an epic battle between the first enchanter and the lead templar, all the better! Need an emotional connection somewhere.

World

• Come now, you didn't think we wouldn't notice the recycling! Such a small world...in many ways.
• Lack of people to talk to
• Hardly any items to buy

Combat

• Fantastic. Could get rid of click to move though. 

Best Scenes

• Mother being killed in such a crazy way. Excellent and emotional.
• Aveline's romance scene. Realistic and everyone can relate to a similar situation.

Generally, the two best scenes are something which the audience can relate with. The loss of a loved one and helping a friend to get a man/woman in one way or another.

Clothes/gear

• I'd happily take the designer of the mage robes to a gothic "mage kind of" shop and show him or her what mage robes should look like. Elegant and academic. Not stuffed pig wrapped in coloured paper with fur trimming.
• Nice gear for the companions. All of them looked superb. Shame I looked like I'd shoved a tea cosy over my body.
• I think the size of the weapons is fine but perhaps a little bit smaller would be good for the purists out there. Swords should be big though, alwayyys big.

Customisation

• It is acceptable that only the human race can be chosen. If this is the case, change the height or body build of the main character. The mirror of transformation claimed to do this but I couldn't do it. If someone could point out how that'd be good. I doubt it however.
• More customisation colours and styles. The presets are hideously unattractive.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm praying the expansion packs will solve the issues above! I originally editted this as there was a spoiler somewhere but instead I added more. Bah!

Modifié par Chibi020, 16 mars 2011 - 08:52 .

[jillyfae]

I loved DA2. I thought they did a great job, though graphic glitches and having a quest never trigger made it less than technically smooth.

I liked the streamlined combat, though was less than thrilled with every single identical cave and mansion. I liked the multiple triggers for companion interaction, though there should've been a lot more of them, (and more ways to interact with them in their home bases, even if you didn't have a cut scene trigger) and they should be triggered in order... getting them out of order is rather awful for the story.

I loved that it was a personal story about Hawke, rather than a QUEST. I liked that they let the Warden alone, and hope they don't bring Hawke back in future installments either. I like getting new protagonists and new perspectives for each game. (As an added bonus, then they can't force a plot that wouldn't fit on my particular Warden or Hawke in a later game.)

[blueruin]

 I had been looking forward to this game and placed my pre-order in November.  I didn't follow much of the news or hype surrounding the game until when the demo was released, and although I was apprehensive based on the demo -- I elected to keep my pre-order.  I'm not one of those people who expected everything to remain the same, but regardless of changes that were made I simply expected to get my money's worth in story and game depth as I had with previous Bioware titles.  I really wanted to like this -- but the flaws to Dragon Age 2 far outweigh any positives.

- The Kirkwall environment didn't look bad, but it's so very empty.  One would expect a more vibrant environment since the entire game takes place in Kirkwall.  What was most telling was that Bioware didn't even bother to populate the city with solid models.  The clusters of low resolution "ghost people" that you can walk THROUGH was disheartening from the get-go.  The poor level design and repetitive dungeons have already been mentioned numerous times and there isn't anything more to say about that.

- Elves look horrid; I can understand trying to go for an original look but this is not it.  They look like the Na'vi from Avatar.  The design of the darkspawn is also vastly inferior to Origins.  In DA:O the darkspawn looked gruesome and truly monstrous but here, the hurlocks look like spazzing monkey zombies on meth.  However, I do like the Qunari redesign, and Flemeth's new look is memorable.

- I really have nothing to say about the story.  It is what it is.  After the first time skip, when every merchant I spoke to made sure to say: "Oh, you sure made a name for yourself over the past year", my heart sank a little at how sparse and underdeveloped the frame narrative began to feel.  Even though there were some good moments throughout, that feeling never left, and at least it fully prepared me for how empty the ending was.

- Perhaps it looks better on consoles, but on PC -- I'm still baffled by the graphic design choices.  The space-age theme and pitch dark menus are a poor replacement for the wood and parchment feel of the old GUI.  The font is especially ugly.

- The conversation wheel worked well for Mass Effect, and could have worked here -- but the quality of some of the dialogue was often stilted and lacked real depth.  Even Mass Effect 2 had significant companion interactions you could pursue between missions.  In DA2, I would visit Fenris at his mansion or Anders at his clinic and all I get is a "We should move on."  I don't even know what to say about the "romance".  There were just far too many moments where it felt like a bad B movie rather than a AAA video game title.  Given their past accomplishments, I find it hard to believe that the writers at Bioware are actually satisfied with the quality of work they put out with this game. 

- I realized quickly that the sarcastic option was always the most entertaining way to go.  However, when a sarcastic response is paired with the "diplomatic" or "hardass" response, Hawke sounds like he is mentally unstable and has a serious mood disorder (this seems to more be the fault of the voice actor rather than the writers). 

- The "side quests" were absurd.  Picking up random items from crates and immediately knowing who they belonged to.  Going back to the owner, right clicking on them and saying "Oh hey, I don't know you, but I know this random object must belong to you and you misplaced it."  There isn't even a dialogue cutscene to give a little flavor on why the item was important.  You don't even need to pay attention to what the item was, or read about where the item goes.  Just follow the arrow on the minimap and right-click, voila and done.

- There isn't any point to the trash loot.  Why put it in at all?  None of it served any purpose whatsoever.  Equipment and items no longer have art icons, descriptions or even unique names.  I don't see any benefit in removing companion armor customization, and it is far more a glaring affront here than it was in ME2.  In ME2, at least it made sense within the confines of the new loot system.  Here, we're still getting armor drops, but they are all limited to Hawke (this is not an argument for an even more simplified looting system, by the way).  I have a difficult time believing that anyone actually thinks these things are streamlining -- rather than lack of development being passed off as "streamlining".

- I'm fine with combat changes to make it faster and more responsive, as well as the removal of the isometric view (I rarely used it in DA:O), but some elements were too laughable.  Enemies moves just a little too fast when combat begins, skittering across the screen at inhuman speeds.  This is fantasy, yes.  However, aside from magic, am I wrong in assuming that something akin to the laws of physics should still apply in Thedas?  There was also no option to turn off the ridiculous corpse explosions, which became tiresome very quickly.  As flawed as combat in DA:O was, I missed the deathblows of Origins.  Somehow, they just felt more substantial and satisfying.

I never played Baldur's Gate, but I've been a big fan of your company from Knights of the Old Republic through Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1 + 2, and Dragon Age Origins.  From buying all these games over the years, I really felt like I had a grasp on what level of quality and depth to expect with your games.  Dragon Age 2 was a serious disappointment, and as a consumer, I do feel ripped off.

This whole game seemed like it needed a lot more development time and resources.  If EA really won't be giving you that in the future, then I won't be buying your games until the Ultimate Editions hit the bargain bins (if I buy them at all).  I sincerely hope that giving your fans a rushed and mediocre game for 60 dollars is not the new normal.  

The promise of "beefier" DLC for sale in the future is no consolation, and a little amusing.  I'm not going to fork over more money in the hopes of making DA2 a less shallow experience.  Also, peddling DLC that really should have been included in the core game -- on the day that the game is released -- is shameless and scummy.  I bought all the DLC for ME2 and DA:O happily, but I can only overlook how crass this business model is if the core game is well-developed and impressive. 

I'm sorry for subjecting you to a whole essay, but I really have loved your games in the past and I want to continue to be a customer and a fan.  I hope that the quality of this game is not indicative of the quality of your future titles.

5/10

[Drago Brooks]

 My favorite moments were when cast from DA:O & A made an appearance or were mentioned. So yeah... 

[Chris046]

These are my thoughts on Dragon Age 2; going into DA2 my expectations, having played Dragon Age: Origins and Awakening were set fairly high. I have now completed the main story and additionally a lot of the side quests.

Overall I thought the game was good. However it wasn't the standard I was expecting from a Bioware game; titles that come to mind BG2 and KotR1. The game failed to impress me on a number of areas:

-The side quests; while playing I collected a number of quests and went from one area to the next just following the gold arrow, half the time I didn't know what quest I was doing. I simply followed a methodical approach to doing these quests; one area at a time, when all the gold arrows had gone I moved to the next.

-As many people have already said; the reuse of maps for the dungeons/areas.

-The use of gear among companions was not what I was expecting; I like to be able to focus on the few party members and deck them out in gear just like the main character. Having all the mage/rogue gear and selling or storing it in the storage chest because I couldn't use it on my warrior, especially when it was a good item made me sad . It wasn't until the second act that I realised what the marks below the companions armour meant upgrades :/

-NPC’s that spawned in waves I didn't like. Before in Origins, positioning was a challenge; placing the "tank" and
ranged/healer so that they didn't get focused was difficult. It’s not cool when the "tank" goes in first grabs, then kills a few and they respawn behind next to the healer so half the time, I’m not in the combat I’m moving my ranged from the enemies that spawned behind and moving my warrior melee/tank to try and pull them off.

-Something that I had a big problem with was the redeem code. I got the Signature Edition, since it was bought for me for a early Christmas present. Thinking that I would get some awesome stuff at the start, I put my code in while I was installing the game. It accepted, and I checked my list of registered content for the items that I was entitled too, nothing... I spent the next two hours searching the forums if anyone else was having the same problem and I found them and the response was a tutorial on how to put the code in. I've got a few Bioware games and I know how to put a code in. That wasn't a good start. It wasn't until I found a thread that said that EA have a live chat that could fix the problem. They did give me most of the items and DLC but even now I still don't  have them all.

-The chat wheel felt dumbed down; while I like the transition to how the Mass Effect guys do it with a short phrase on what the main character is going to overall say but, adding a simple "nice", "joking" and "evil" response made
it feel like a no-brainer. I would of liked the intimidate and diplomatic type of responses to show that I’ve invested into my character in a manor that gives me rewards for investing in something that isn't just whack and smash.

-The length of the time was shorter then what I had expected. When playing Orgins I was honestly shocked by the length of the game, sinking a small portion of my life into it as I wanted to explore and find as much as I could. I think I’ve spent somewhere around 40 - 45 hours to completion I spent a lot of time looking for extra items, monsters and quests.

-The a lack of birds eyes view for a tactical overview.

-The items that were found in game that started a quest that belonged to NPC’s to return the item to them made me confused. I had only just started and I had no idea who these people were. I get that Hawke has been
there for a time, but to say "this is whoever’s I should return it" and it being the most obscure item how would he know who it belonged too... Or maybe he's just very observant.

-Some of the boss fights were mixed, some good some bad. In
particular what Ulfros says, sums up what I thought about these fights:

Additionally, the important boss fights were pretty boring and flawed. Fighting the Qunari leader forced me, as a warrior, to kite him around those pillars; strike, heal, and kite while waiting for potion cool-down. The last fights
where you fought the mage leader and commander of the Templars (sorry, I forget names easily) annoyed me because there were such changes in character, and so many stupid actions performed. Why would the mage leader transform into a demon right at the very end, and then attack Hawke even though he said it was a last
resort to win against the Templars? And why would he do it at all? It ruins everything he's fought for and every point he tried to make about mages! That entire battle felt like a clone from the Origins finale.

I’m not sure if I thought the game was dumbed down, as that’s down to personal preference, but for me, I would say that the difficultly and the ability to convince people out of anything because of the chat wheel did make it feel less then that of Origins.


Some of the good things I liked:


-The improved combat, it is a lot more streamlined with some nice combat animations

-The story, it really kept me in the game, with some nice twists and any changes being effected by the choices I made in previous quests/acts.

 -The companions, their stories and banter amongst themselves and other NPC's were good especially Averline and Merril. However like Ulfros said:

What I hate about these companions is the fact that we can't talk to them whenever we wish, and the desire to talk with and interact with your friends again forced you through even more content; content that you didn't always enjoy. It's ridiculous. Romancing Isabela was a gigantic anti-climax for me. I was expecting her to actually behave like my girlfriend in game, not just give a couple of really vague indications spread around other dialogue that it was so. She should have done like Merril and moved in with me for the time being, and I should have been allowed to interact with her in my house whenever I wished (not just sex, mind you).

-Touches of humour in the game is similar in my view to that of Origins, not over the top

-Linking all of the classes together so they benefit from each other through the talent trees was cool:)

 I know I’ve written more for the bad points, but some really bothered me and additionally I’m getting tired of writing, as I’m sure you're getting tired of reading I'm sure there are some other good points but I can't think of them currently.

I would give Dragon Age 2 a 7/10

I hope that Mass Effect 3 doesn't disappoint like this did as hyping it up only makes it worse

Modifié par Chris046, 16 mars 2011 - 05:31 .

[achinet]

thanks bioware.
this fraud game. There is the note Metacritic .. a four out of ten 4/10

[RedWelsh]

 Dragon age 2 hmm let me think, 

If you like running around the same place over and over again then is for you.  Repetitive is not the word, acutely it is the word.  I have been a fan of Bioware since Baldur's Gate, when you where allowed to wander freely not sticking to paths that the limited map dictates.   I hoped this would be more that dragon age 1, a few tweaks and a repackage that is all this seams to be.  
Score out of 10 if you are new to this type of game, as  I belive it was aimed at the console market at a push 6/10 If you are use to this genre and have played the games that come before it 3/10 .

[Innocent Erendira]

I've been reading the posts here and I agree with most of the criticisms, oddly enough though, I still loved the game and have addicted about four people to it.

So here it is, THE PROS:
-Most of the characters were great, especially Fenris and Varric

-I loved the companion quests
-Graphics look a lot better, call me weird but I fell in love with Fenris' facial expressions

-Love the new battle system, I am a fan of both rpgs and games like dynasty warriors though so that could be why it was up my alley. Every time Fenris activated Lyrium ghost I couldn't help but sing "can't touch this nanana"

-I liked the story being the story of conflict in a city, the whole mage/templar thing was very interesting

-No absurdly long quests, no sense of being in the deep roads forever..and ever..and ever..and ev-

-The ending. I liked it, okay??? Dont hit me. Im ready for part three.

And sadly, THE CONS
-The recycled environments were absolutely unacceptable, please Bioware take note, we do not want to hike through the same cave 20 million times. Okay???

-Not enough companion interaction-this made me a very sad panda. Bioware you have great writers who write great characters and fans who love building relationships with these characters, so please for the love of the maker give us more conversations. We are GREEDY.

-Lack of choices-no matter what you do certain things happen anyway (like a certain character being unavailable for act 2)

-Anders. This is just personal opinion though, I was eagerly anticipating him but then he went all schitzophrenic on me. I felt that his whole situation would have been more endearing  if I had gotten to have any dialogue where he wasn't being broody mcbrooderson. The old Anders very rarely shone through.

OVERALL: Loved it.
Sorry if this is kind of long

[jma049]

It is an okay game, but is in noway in the same class compare to DA:O and bg2

pro and cons!

pro:
combat animations

Party interactions, but not enough and boring romance.

cons:
the reuse of maps for the dungeons/areas

History was linear, and had no epic feeling about it The story did not end here, I wanted to play more . The story in DA:O was epic, and that made me love the game, but her the story is boring.

To easy, no riddles and pussles.

Short game, on the fist play thou I used only 30 hours and did every quest I found.

I would give Dragon Age 2 a 6/10!

[HappyDeviant]

I really liked the combat in this game, much smoother and faster than DA:O. I also enjoyed the fact that Hawke is voiced, made me warm to my character a lot more.
A vast improvement on character customisation, I had just finished Mass Effect 2 before playing this so it was nice to have an attractive female character that also walked like a woman instead of a man! (albeit in a very excessive wiggly way, but definate improvement)

Unfortunately thats pretty much it for pros.

As plenty of people have said already, this game feels far too rushed and linear. Very little variety between areas and npcs. I like exploring! Thats why I play RPGs!

The whole game feels more like an add-on instead of a fully fleshed game. Very disappointing.

With the exception of Merrill, I found the characters to be so whiney and boring. What happened to Anders? I have no problem with giving him more depth or whatever but at the cost of his humour and likability? I have a sneaking suspicion that this may have a lot to do with the change of voice actor, his voice and tone was just so bland compared with Awakening.

Part of DA:Os appeal for me was the many conversations I could have with my companions, its such a shame that so much of this has been removed for DA 2. Although I will say I like the idea of the conversation wheel but it does seem a little stilted and disjointed.

All in all the game is playable and if it had been made by anyone else I would have said it was a good game. But from Bioware I expected so much more and I feel completely cheated.

[Pcrews]

I'll just tell you what I did not like.

The insane amount of map recycling. Going through the same cave/estate/sewer/factory felt extremely rush really ruined the immersion for me.

Act 1 was felt pretty disjointed and was boring. That wouldn't be such a terrible thing if Act 1 wasn't the longest act in the game. I think after completing all the side quests, act 1 took me 18 hours on hard.

[ArchAngel1337]

Game is not epic. Fereldon was a province of the Orlisians, and we explored EVRYTHING. Im stuck in a town all game pretty much. Not so fun.

Mobs apear in groups and waves, so you always feel like your sitting in a spawn spot in an MMO waiting for the next plot point to happen.

Great storyline.
Great voice acting.... though Im not sure I like the roguish quality of my characters voice. As a warrior it doesnt really fit.

They needed to make it so your path as a bussiness owner or noble... whatnot, actually mattered in the game. Very few of the choices played through in the first 15 hours of play make you feel like you matter to the system in the city at all, other than NPC's saying... good job, or I hate you.

The fighting looks impressive.  But the exploding bodies... Im not Kretos and this isnt Ninja Gaiden.

Music and visuals is OUTSTANDING. But again, There is about 14 zones, and the city is the same scene and architecture over and over. And only 6 inside zones. The game begins to feel like im trapped.
The Free Marches is HUGE. GIGANTIC! Give me somewhere to run and fight. Let me see the huge area and its history. Freldon was nothing in size compared to the Marches and yet, Im in a city the size of Denerim.. Im the champion of Kirkwall, thats like being the champion of a dot on the map. Big deal.

Overall the game feels a bit rushed. Good intent, so so delivery. Great actors, visuals, and story, just not enough of a connection with the characters for the first 10 hours of play to really feel like I am connected with them on any level. My sister and mom want their estate back... Im sitting there like, "You spoiled women. You got in the city while others waited. I hate you..."  lol

Dragon age: Origins was a much more epic game. Much more completed.
To me it feels like maybe Bioware took its better designers and resources and attached them to maybe ME3 and The Old Republic, and kinda wanted this as a filler project.

Good, but not great. Too bad. I liked Dragon Age a lot. I hope the expansions they release are HUGE..... and open up this story and world much more.
I give it a 7 out of 10.