1012 réponses à ce sujet

[TanithAeyrs]

Constructive criticism for DA2

First, I am a long time Bioware fan (since the original Baldur's Gate) and my expectations from Bioware are much higher than they are for other game companies.  When I buy a Bioware game I expect an excellent story, deep companion interactions and a world that is complex and full of life.

The good

1)Companions feel like real people with lives outside of Hawke and his/her activities.

2)Beautiful scenery - the environments were complex and visually interesting.  Art was beautifuly.  Even the placeables were much more detailed and attractive than in DA:O

3)Combat - the faster pace is fun.  I still pause and play and in boss battles (and I'm sure in regular fights at levels harder than normal) I like to control the actions of each companion.  Rogues were vastly improved in many ways, both as protagonists and antagonists.  Trying to pin down a stealthed enemy rogue added some challenge to the generally easy fight.

4)Consequences- real consequeces - and real tragedy.  I avoided most plot spoilers and didn't metagame at all on my first playthrough.  Emotional points that engaged me in the game: Bartrand's betrayal, Bethany taken to the circle, mother's death, Anders (and I killed him because my Hawke couldn't think of a safe way to keep him alive), Fenris' betrayal and death at Hawke's hand (in a romance no less), Merril's final quest, the final choice between templars and mages.  Lots of choices and frequently none of them good - well done.  Feels more real when there isn't really a good outcome.

5)"Dominant tone" in the dialog wheel.  Not really a fan of dialog wheels, but this might convert me.  Having my sarcastic Hawke's personality come through even when I picked a diplomatic or aggressive option was a great way to keep the immersion.  Still not sure I'd always want this because the amount of VO required limits roleplaying choices but it worked for this game.

6)Hawke having a home (with a storage chest and the ability to order consumables from her house).  Saves lots of  "housekeeping" running around.

7) Companion banter - sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes thoughtful, frequently relevant to where Hawke is in the plot.  Well done. 

8) Returning characters.   Zevran showing up to help my character in the final battle was simple awesome - one of the best moments of my game.  I also had Alistair, Nathaniel Howe and Leliana show up.  Well done, Bioware. 

9)Skill upgrades - I like this - improving your favorite skills feels like a natural progression.


The Bad

1) Not enough companion conversations - we've been in Kirkwall for years - I'm sure I'd have more than two major conversations every 3 years.  All the companions have deeper stories that are waiting to be told, or even little things they'd like to talk about.  I want to hear Varric's tall tales, stories of Isabela's life at sea, chat with Merril about the city more, talk to Fenris about the mercenary work he's doing (it's mentioned in one line of game dialog), have Anders tell me about a patient in his clinic, ect.  More depth please.   Bioware- you excel at creating great companions - don't sell them short.

2)Opening the game- right into combat with no real time to identify with my Hawke.  I'd like to have a day or two in Lothering before we flee the Blight to help define my character - does she help the needy, cheat the other refugees, sit in the tavern and drink?  Even if you want to open with flashy combat in the exaggerated part of the narrative it would work if you went back in the "this is what really happend" portion of the introduction.  Too late for this game, but I'd like to see it in the future (origins did this exceptionally well - lots of character defining moments before the first blade was drawn).  Identifying with my character helps the immersion a lot.

3)The scenery was beautiful but....   I can understand reusing the city locations and even the Wounded Coast, the Bone Pit and Sundermount, but some variety in dungeons would have been really nice.  Enough said.

4)Sneaky rogues - not.  I missed stealthing into a room and being able to take out the most critical targets with my  rogues.  This doesn't work with waves of enemies.  I still used stealth, but much less than in origins. 

5)Friendly fire. I don't really want to play on nightmare to have it back.  Creating skill trees with a nice blend of AOE and single target skills would make this work a bit better.  Archers and mages should have more useful "one shot" skills to destroy lesser enemies without raining arrows and fire over the whole party.  It's immersion breaking to stand in a rain of arrows and not take any damage.  For now I'll just change what skills I take and how I set up tactics.

6)fixed companion armor - the concept is nice and I understand it, but really - I think my companions would be more than happy to wear some of the nice things we've found.  Perhaps one non-negotiable item per companion would serve the same effect - Bianca was awesome and Varric wouldn't be Varric without her.  In origins I left Zev in the Antivan boots and Dalish gloves most games for roleplay purposes.  My Hawke never sold Wesley's shield.  Things like that would allow something distinctive for a companion but still give more customization options to the player. 

7)  Skill trees- hated having to close one branch to look at another one - felt awkward.

8)Inventory:  just felt unwieldy to me.  Oh, I have 10 ornate rings - gee, 5 of them have 4 stars, now I'll have to pick.  Ornate ring of fire or protection or something that gives them some sort of uniqueness would have been nice.  Also would have liked to see item descriptions (not just stats) from the inventory window.

9) Elves - not the Navi.  Shoes please and the facial structure isn't particularly attractive (elves are supposed to be attractive to humans)

10)  I would like to be able to play as an elf or a dwarf again in a future Dragon Age game.  I understand why this game restricts you to human, but I like having more options.  Although I hope Hawke's story isn't over. 


Overall impression, I liked the game.  I doubt it will see anywhere near the number of playthroughs that I already have into origins, but it's fun and hopefully it's just the start of Hawke's epic tale.  It almost felt more like a prelude than a complete tale in itself.

[WarBeast1212]

you left us all hanging so many open ended parts that kept me expecting to see more returning of people but they never showed like things that happened with flemeth i rose her from the dead and that was it come on where did that hag go and why dose she remind me of an orlesian or the arishok never coming back what happened there did you guys get lost in the stiory and go in a differenet direction than you though it was other than that countine the great work can't wait to hear what the the hero of fereldan and the champion of kirkwall are getting them selves in to with the chantry seperated will the maker be paying a visit

[LadyJaneGrey]

Enjoyed

• Art direction: great to have another art influence besides “Western Europe fairytale”
• Music: related to above; sounds less “typical fantasy”
• Story: navigating the different political, religious, and racial factions while protecting the family kept me much more involved than “here's some huge, ugly critter that can have no claim on your sympathies – go kill it”
• Party members' interactions: quite possibly my favorite part; all the party members felt like they had real relationships with one another and the world through the banter, special dialogue choices, and visiting each other; so glad to see it didn't end up like ME2 where all the companions seem to exist in separate bubbles, unable to acknowledge the other person
• Combat: cross-class combos; many of the abilities were just plain fun
• Characters: I may not want to be best friends with some of the them, but each one felt consistent; Carver may be a prat, but his home conversation was fantastic
• Characters again (for emphasis): all the characters keep their integrity; for example, it would have
  felt cheap for Merrill to give up all blood magic or Anders to not blow up the chantry just because I debated or snogged or gifted them into it; it would have felt equally cheap if Meredith changed her position based on some outside busybody who was trying to tell her what to do
• Dialogue: loved that interactions with the characters are spread out through the game; my only wish is
  for more
• Dialogue system: the intent icons are fantastic and should be used for any AAA rpg game from here on out; I only found a few times where the intent icon and the dialogue really didn't match
• Illusion of choice: most of the quests did not feel strictly binary; I helped both mages and templars based on my judgment and it didn't feel schizophrenic
• Romances: the actual scenes are way better than Origins; the build-up to a kiss is much hotter than awkward barbie dolls doing whatever-that-was in their underwear outside for all the other camp members to see

Meh

• Combat: it's a mutt between the tactics of DA:O and the single-person “slashy” Fable; choose a style and stick with it please (preferably Origins)
• Inventory: don't give me awesome armor that I cannot use for my class or equip to a companion
• Romances: if Bioware has decided all their games need romances, could you focus more on the ones that do not involve the player character? Aveline's was darling
• Story/gameplay divide: I didn't get to see many regular, not-slashing-themselves Kirkwall Circle mages to feel a sense of “I must save this group of people I know exists” rather than “if I side with Orsino I hope there actually IS a decent Circle mage to protect”
• Story: really brief epilogue with no details on quest lines or companions' fates; while I enjoyed the slides in previous games, I don't mind them disappearing if it means the writers no longer override the players' choices (cough-Anders-and-Oghren-died-cough)

Dislike

• Bugs: no details necessary
• Combat: no tactical camera for battles that clearly call for the pause-and-play approach
• Combat again: a third wave of enemies dropping through the roof right on top of my poor mage or archer; I gave up carefully positioning them at the beginning of some battles
• Areas: the same ones – over and over again; also, why weren't the inaccessible portions removed from the map? I kept seeing an area to explore...only to be faced with a cement door after trotting over
• Story/gameplay divide: we're living in a world paranoid about apostates and blood magic...and I can fireball the refugees in front of an interactive character to get into Kirkwall or talk to Cullen with a six-foot long staff with a freakin' skull on top and no one bats an eye; it kills immersion
• Story: while I felt a drive to pursue the companion quests and individual faction quests, the overarching story seemed to fall apart in the beginning of the third act; outside of “I have to stay and deal with this to further their story to finish” I didn't feel a push to keep going; my family was gone, I had a huge amount of money and a lot of political clout from defeating the Qunari, I was given dialogue opportunities to say I'd leave, and both the mage and templars were going even more crazy...so why would I stay in Kirkwall? I would have bought a ship for Isabela, invited my friends to join me if they wished, and left

Looking Forward

• I didn't mind playing only as a Fereldan human, but I would enjoy the opportunity to play a dwarf, elf, Qunari, or other human ethnicity
• I enjoy new companions and stories; please don't overload a new game with returning characters to appease sentimentalists; DAII struck a good balance...any more call-backs would have been overkill

Modifié par LadyJaneGrey, 16 mars 2011 - 05:37 .

[CronoDragoon]

PS3 Review:

Dragon Age II feels like a very different game than its predecessor, and for the most part I liked the risks it took both in story and gameplay.

1. The real-time system plays out much better on console  than point and click, auto-attack, etc. Warriors felt like unstoppable beasts, rogues felt like quick-strike attackers, mages had a variety of interesting spells to choose from. The classes were done very well, and battles were exciting.

2. On higher difficulties, Anders feels like too much of a necessity for healing. The healing options for Bethany and Merrill were not sufficient, so I was often forced to use characters based on their unique abilities and not which characters I liked. If this was the intent, it succeeded, but I ended up reverting to normal difficulty just so I could use whatever combination I wanted.

3. Stamina/Mana regeneration being upped compared to DAO is greatly appreciated. Much less time spent chugging potions, more time doing stuff.

4. It would have been better game design to have longer quests more relevant to the main story and political developments in Kirkwall than the 5 minute sidequests that make up 75% of the game. Even if you can't travel to new locations like in DAO, I think having involved, 3-4 hour long quests with multiple characters, twists, alliances, betrayals, etc, would have been better served to develop the personality of Kirkwall and it's main players. Included in this is another gripe: Saving the introduction of Meredith and the First Enchanter for the end of the 2nd act was a big mistake, I think. As a general rule, the more time spent with important characters, the better. Instead, we get no more than a few cutscenes with them, and they feel very shallow as a result. Wouldn't it have been interesting to see Meredith's personality slowly mutate over the years as the relic corrupted her? And what about the First Enchanter and the research he ultimately used to become the monster he did? It doesn't matter whether or not Hawke was "important" enough to meet them earlier; it would have been quite easy to write in developments that at least made Hawke important enough to them.

5. This is really my most important complaint about the game since it is the most objective: GLITCHES GLITCHES GLITCHES. This is by far the glitchiest videogame I have ever played. 4-5 freezes per night, but even worse Merrill as a character is assaulted by glitches. I had a quest shown at the beginning of Act 2 where she's crying, saying "she's gone, they're all gone!" At the time, I had no idea what was going on; it only became apparent later when the quest was SUPPOSED to be shown. I didn't even get to see her "Mourning" quest because it was completed before even opened. As a result, I have no idea whether or not I actually saw all of her quests. I hope not, though. Is her last quest before the endgame really just her crying about the Dalish and me consoling her? No closure on her whole questline? I don't know. It's a bit embarrassing how often I felt like there was no test play done.

6. I like the feeling of risk associated with your choices in this game. in DAO, you made choices, but for the most part there were certain "safe" zones. Unless you did something really bad, for example, your party members would stay with you, and their lives weren't at risk during the course of the game. In DA2, the Deep Roads and Bethany's fate shocked me and suddenly made me very nervouse making choices in the future. Similarly, I thought Isabela was gone for good when she got the relic, and was awesomely surprised when she turned up at the Keep. But if I had chosen differently during the game, and not made a good friend of her, I get the feeling she would have stayed gone. Your mother and Anders' ultimate fate was similar. To summarize, I felt that the gravity with which the game design held your choices made me feel as my character did. When something went wrong, I felt regret and wondered whether or not I could have done anything to change the outcome. And when something went right, like Warden Bethany showing up to help you at the end, it made me feel more justified and grateful for the choice I had made.

7. Your characters have much less to say. I spent hours in DAO learning about apostates from Morrigan, or listening to Leliana's tales, or Zevran's assassinations. In DA2, the dialogue is so rare that it is represented by quests. Why do I have to read the codex to know what my characters have been doing between Acts? That can't be represented in a scene where we reflect?

8. Despite this, I actually felt there was a deeper connection between Hawke and his companions than the Warden had with his. The Blight forced the Warden and co to stick together, but in DA2 they stay with Hawke because they want to, because he represents something for each of them that they can't find anywhere else. Little touches help to hint at the passage of time and the bond between them as well, like Isabela carving her name into your mansion's railing. The interactions between your companions is much better, too. I know how Anders feels about the danger Merrill represents, how Aveline disapproves of my association with Isabela, how Merrill sees Isabela as a sort of big sister and Isabela cherishes the innocence that she represents. The banter is fantastic, as well.

9. DAO cameos are great.

10. What is with the ending? This is the second, which makes 2/2, Dragon Age game that sacrifices its ending for the promise of future development. In the first, this was much less of a problem but still existed in the form of Morrigan's story, which has no closure and only a *wink wink* this will be important later! In this game, we get Leliana saying, "He disappeared like the Warden, can't be a coincidence, this will be important later!" This works in weekly comics, but not in games that can take years to come out. It's annoying. Additionally, Varric says that everyone except Isabela ending up leaving Hawke. What the heck? Why? No idea. Why doesn't Varric know where Hawke is? What was the whole point of him telling the Seeker all this if it just ends with, "I don't know where he is, and neither do all of his closest friends that left for some unexplained reason"? I don't get goodbye scenes with my companions? I don't even know what happened to Kirkwall? Thanks for setting up a third game when you haven't finished the second.

11. Get rid of this junk category. In DAO, everyone complained about picking up useless weapons and equipment just to sell, and BioWare heard us and patched enemies to drop more money and less crap. Now, in DA2 they have doubled the painful experience that we had pre-patch in Origins. Junk does not have a point. Get rid of it. More money instead, since that is what is going to come of it anyway.

Overall: A great but glitchy game that pulled on the heart strings but didn't have enough content.

[Shadow Wing]

Just had to add this, I already gave my review already but I just finished the game. I got the helm of champion playing a roque and I have to say, the hood was awesome. Finally, a proper head gear, I finally happy to wear my headgear around, I know its probably irrelevant to most people but yeah the hood was nice touch. Made your character look more bad ass in his champion armor which in turn makes him look more like a champion.

[Zenstrive]

Like:

Better, more lifelike characters and sharper visual overall. Dragon Age:Origins was a mush on my machine.

Characters really feel like friends adventuring now.

Streamline inventories and crafting.

Better skill systems independent of attributes.

Cross class combos magnified.

Much more malleable attributes.

Epic Battle that actually accentuates pause-and-play tactics more.

Awesome main characters voice.

Varric, the Paragon of Manliness

Cassandra

Dislikes:

Random freezes that cut the enjoyment of watching cutscenes and dialogues. UGH!

Blood Mages. EVERYWHERE!

Templars in full armors and long skirt doing flip kick. REALLY?

Some plotholes and unexplainable items. How did Meredith reforge/combine the idol with her sword and able to animate the golems and even reconfigure them into flame spitting grotesque?

[addu2urmanapool]

I feel sad about what this game could have been. There were some great moments, but they were buried in shoddiness and lack of vision. Bioware, I hope you read these comments and take them to heart for Dragon Age 3.

[addu2urmanapool]

I feel sad about what this game could have been. There were some great moments, but they were buried in shoddiness and lack of vision. Bioware, I hope you read these comments and take them to heart for Dragon Age 3.

[Sresla]

PC review.

What I didn't like:

• The elven re-vamp. To everyone even remotely involved with this change and thought it was a good idea: You are terrible. According to game lore, elves are supposed to be considered beautiful by humans. Last time I checked, I was human and outside of Fenris (who was attractive, thank the Maker), I found nearly every other elf in the game nauseating to look at. Merrill and Varania (Fenris' sister) also fall into the "not bad" category but... urgh. The 'no shoes', while great for concept art, feels silly in practice. Every time Fenris did his 'look at the bottom of his feet' idle animation, I imagined him spewing some sort of latin epitath at me for not buying him footwear. Personally, I don't feel it's too late to reverse this change - you man up and admit that it doesn't work and just go back to their DA:O design, but keep Fenris and Merrill as they are. Their difference in apperance is easily explained - some elves are going to look different due to which tribe they decended from.
• Changing the appearance of established characters. You know, I get that we're seeing everyone ten years later but Hawke doesn't change, none of the DA2 companions change, so why in the world would you change the way all the cameo'ed characters look? Alistair, Bann Teagan, Nathaniel Howe and Zevran (oh Zevran, THE HORROR) are all varying degrees of ugly unrecognizable, compared to other characters who look very close to their Origins appearance (Anders, Leliana and Cullen). You could have saved the modders the trouble and just left them all alone - because you know the first thing nearly everyone's going to do when the toolset is updated, is mod the characters back the way they were. (Can I lump in with this whoever is responsible for some of the horrible female make-up in the game? That woman with the white lipstick... or eye shadow that goes all AROUND the eye. Or Merrill wearing nail polish...?)
• Edited to add: Cameos. I both like and hate these. Using Zevran specifically as my example (and going under the assumption that his import stuff is bugged and he isn't supposed to flirt with Hawke if previously romanced), seeing him again reminded me how much I'd rather be playing as my Warden and playing this game with Zevran by my side. I know it's got to be a tough balance - who do you bring back, who do you leave behind, especially because everyone has their favorites and you're unable to please everyone (I like Zevran, the guy after me prefers Leliana, and so it goes). I know that there's the whole mentality of "You fear change and that's why you want to retain the familiar" but I don't think that's an accurate statement. I don't mind having new companions (heck, that's all we've had since Origins, is new new new, with the exception of Oghren and Anders) but some of the old ones (for me, that'd be Zevran) are so good that it makes me wistful and sad to see them and know there's probably never going to be another Origins-like experience with him. I guess what it boils down to is that I don't want to see Zevran running around with a "new hero" but would love to see him along if (when???) the Warden returns. After all, Hawke gets the: We eventually split up and went our seperate ways... well, except (insert love interest's name). I think most of us would like that sort of semi-closure for our Wardens, too.
• After playing through DA2, I found myself wondering, "What would my Warden have done in this situation?" because I am simply more involved and attached to him. That's probably due to how DA:O was structured, because a lot of the scenarios lent themselves to the "unlikely hero" role (even though you could also play it as an already strong leader). In general, though, playing through Origins as my Warden, I felt that the character grew (not all of it necessarily GOOD growth, but changed as he went along, shaped by his experiences). I felt none of that with Hawke - I didn't feel any different starting the game than I did ending it, and after a supposed 10 year span, I'd like to have felt something akin to the Origins experience. Maybe it's because I feel more strongly that the Warden is "me" playing and Hawke is just someone I'm watching go through the motions. Would some more introduction prior to the flight to Kirkwall have helped? I don't know.
• Bugged imports. I really can't believe this wasn't a priority to get fixed. Also bugged quests - Merrill's personal quest bugged, Fenris' personal quest bugged, NPCs not spawning, or spawning and not being able to be interacted with... and let us not forget, having to turn on and off sustained abilities every time you zone, to ensure everyone's getting it (not an out of range issue).
• I was so excited when this map was released to promote Dragon Age 2. Minrathous! Val Royeaux! Par Vollen! And ten years to travel Thedas! Oh wait, no. We only get to visit Kirkwall, Sundermount and the Wounded Coast (about 500 times each). I can't decide if I think the spelunking achievement is meant to be some sort of tongue-in-cheek nod to the unchanging scenery of the caves.
• Combat. I know a lot of people like the change in combat and in general, I'll give that the animation changes (aside from the leaping around ones - like the teleport to backstab or Fenris' leaping cleave) are mostly good - Sebastian kneeling to shoot a volley of arrows, Isabela stabbing backwards with her dagger, all positive stuff. Oh, and the UI placing everyone at the bottom left corner - upper left people! But the negatives outweigh the pros - bad camera, lack of NPC health bars, meaningless tactics because everything is happening so quickly... including the over the top spinning of the staff mage Hawkes do (you guys might want to consider having that animation be something Hawke works up to, because it seems silly that you just start out this tremendous badass and you end the game... as a tremendous badass...) This leads into...
• Healing. It's boring. I know this is the curse of like every game on the planet - how do you make playing a healer class compelling but amazingly you managed to do this in Dragon Age: Origins. As a healer, I felt engaged in battle - I was constantly buffing, regenning, healing, stamina boosting, knocking enemies back, freezing enemies, protecting allies, and even throwing the occassional Stinging Swarm around. In Dragon Age 2 I... am a glorified battery. I've got like 4 sustainable abilities I toggle on and I'm basically done. It got so to keep myself interested in the fights, I'd throw down one of those petrification glyphs and then use one of my force mage abilities to try to see how many enemies I could knock into it, suspending them in mid-air. By making everything so fast-paced, you've made healers obsolete/unnecessary.
• Armor. Wasn't a big fan of the "never change armor" for companions. I also miss the flavor text associated with even normal items. I will say that unlike a lot of people, I didn't mind the junk if only because I saw some Origin nods in there (Antivan Brandy, Rod of Fire Request Form, Small Gold Bar, etc) which made me smile. Also, if felt strange, when playing as a mage, to have all this warrior and rogue armor dropping - why do that? Up what the "junk" items sell for and unless an item is codexed (since we don't get flavor text anymore), just don't have it drop if it can't be equiped by the main character (obviously rings, necklaces, etc are an exception). Along with this  - and this leads into a gripe about the story - if you want to immerse me in the story, don't have me playing a mage in a city where mages are actively hunted and imprisoned - and me only able to wear robes. I wore three things during the entire game - the mercenary tunic I got in Year 1, the Robe of the something Pirate (which was pants and a vest and shirt) in Act 2 and the Champion Armor in Act 3. Because, nothing screams: Arrest me, Mr. Templar, I'm a mage, like a freaking robe. Until I become the Champion, it's pretty obvious I'm at least TRYING to fly under the radar, which I can't do in a robe. And please, PLEASE give us something to wear at home besides the Hugh Hefner outfit. I'd rather wear my armor, than that horrible outfit - when Fenris came over to spend the night the first time and I pushed him up against the wall... it looked so cheesy.
• Story. As Merrill says: It's a nice story, but it's got a lot of holes. Playing as a mage!Hawke seems almost silly, given how mages are treated in Kirkwall. What makes you so special (prior to the end of Act 2) where you can walk around in defiance of the Templars? Why hasn't paranoid Meredith hauled your ass in? It doesn't stop her from apparently taking your sister while you're in the Deep Roads. Also, despite my mage sympathies, I couldn't help feeling that near the end - Meredith was right. Kirkwall is apparently hip deep in freaking blood mages. Go find these mages: Oh wait, blood mage, hostile, attack!. Are these people conspiring? Yep, all abominations. I understand it's supposed to be a vicious circle - Meredith squeezes, and the mages react, but all we ever see are either extremists or incompetents. There's no one trying to really mediate - not even the First Enchanter who is complicit in some atrocities his own self. The Grand Cleric SHOULD have stepped in prior to this - you know, when the Divine was threatening to wipe everyone out? Setting this story to take place in somewhere like Aeonar (not to be confused with Azkaban... or should it??) might have made more sense. Too, I feel quite strongly that Act 3 and Act 2 should have been reversed. Meredith goes crazy, First Enchanter goes crazy, city decends into chaos, city guard can't keep order, people converting to Qun left and right, it'd make sense THAT'S the crisis point for the Arishok. You kill him, it sets the stage for a qunari invasion in Dragon Age 3. Not to mention that the Chantry is looking for both Hawke and the Warden to help unite/unify everyone before Thedas goes into the crapper - that's an either/or import opportunity that should be snapped right up (and the Warden can be unvoiced and Hawke voiced! EVERYONE IS HAPPY)
• I want to add to this that playing as a mage feels... I don't know. Wrong. Like, the story wasn't written with that class in mind at all. You have to figure that being a mage, I'm going to have pro-mage sentiments or else why don't I turn myself in to the nearest Circle immediately? And as a mage, it's silly for you to be running around openly in Kirkwall - because, hello, you're an apostate. Anders has to hide, why don't you? It's not until Act 2 ends/Act 3 begins that you have a legitimate reason as to why you don't have to skulk around. Yet, here you are, strutting around the city and there are no consequences. Even the companions completely ignore it, yet discuss in front of you, turning Anders in to the Templars (although you do get I think a little extra attitude from Fenris about being a mage, at least at the start - I know he relents later and basically comes out and says you're one of the good ones). You do magic in front of dozens and dozens of people - and no one ever turns you in, even the people you betray (without killing). Varric doesn't have that kind of money to pay EVERYONE off, and neither do you. Now, if they'd made it so you could only play as a warrior or rogue (yes, I know, this would rage people up, probably, but still), it'd make more sense that you could either be pro-mage or pro-templar (and it could be rng which sibling you get, heck, make both Bethany and Carver mages and still kill one of them off at the start). Carver can still resent you, because you're the sibling without magic and he probably thinks that's a better life than hiding in the swamp. I've never gotten Bethany but everyone says she's a sweetheart so... Heck, at the very least, there could have been a "Captured" like sub-plot where you DO get nicked by the Templars and your buddies have to break you out.

What I did like:

• Companions. Most are well done (still not on par with Origins, though - well, I think Fenris surpassed Leliana as a LI but I wasn't overly fond of her anyway), and left me wanting more 1 on 1 interaction. That you could romance nearly everyone no matter what gender - thank you, Bioware. Just... thank you. The few cutscenes we get for the personal quests weren't enough. The banter is great between companions - I loved learning Fenris likes to play cards or Merrill wants Isabela to teach her how to strut. The personal quests are good, when they don't bug out. Some of the hate banter seemed a little extreme however (Merrill: He acted like I was a monster! Fenris: You are.) Also liked the love token adoption (Fenris with his red bandana and Amell crest, would have LOVED that in Origins, although I suppose theoretically, Zevran's Earring, Morrigan's Ring, Alistair's Rose all qualify as such, but it wasn't a visual representation). The flipside is that the two characters I disliked (Carver and eventually Anders) I REALLY disliked. Carver's steadfast hatred of me up until the zero hour in the game made absolutely no sense, especially considering he was in the friend zone with me - honestly, I wish I'd let the guy die in the Deep Roads - and he's supposed to be my FAMILY. Anders was probably the saddest transformation - I understand why it was done (sort of) but it became apparent pretty early on the guy was a militant nutter and I just couldn't stand having him around. I brought him anyway, just to listen to him and Fenris fight. Anyone who didn't see him blowing up the chantry or some similar extremist act was deluding themselves. Ser Pounce-a-lot hates you Anders, I hope you know that.
• Voice acting. Overall, good stuff, although I would have been fine with Anders having his same voice (and voicing Cullen as well). I'm still not really into the voiced protagonist - it was fine for some things, but other conversations ended up sounding awkward and forced. There were times where I could actually picture someone in the background whispering: Sound mad! Sound sympathetic!
• Talent trees seemed pretty interesting, all except healing. Maybe I'll just slug potions if I play again and go DPS.
• I thought there was more stuff I liked, but apparently I'm not at my most lucid at 2:30am. Maybe there wasn't.

Overall, I didn't really feel that my choices mattered much at all - with or without me, things were going to end badly. Side with the mages, side with the templars - who cares? Everyone's going to die. I never got very into Hawke or why he was so important, outside killing the Arishok - beyond that he seemed like a glorified delivery boy or mercenary. Small parts of the story were good (mostly those heavily involving the companions or the Qun - oh and the white lily killer) but I also never got those "!!!" moments like I had in Origins. I don't really anticipate playing DA2 more than 1 more time, and then only once it's been patched to fix the import bugs, which puts it about on par with Awakenings. Origins was a 10+, and I'll give DA2 a 6 - with most of that being credited to the companions (Aveline, Fenris, Varric, Merrill, Sebastian, oh all right, Isabela too... I salute you). If they hadn't been as good as they are, it would be closer to a 4.

Modifié par Sresla, 17 mars 2011 - 08:45 .

[getnitdunn]

What I liked.  Gameplay.  Characters. Graphics

What i didnt like. The Story, or at least how it was carried out.  Repeated dungeons, houses, mansions, caves etc.  Only stayed in one city.  I would have liked to explore different areas of the free marches, like we explored alot of Ferelden (spelling).

[Lirea Dragonage]

Pros:
I became emotionally involved in the story, the politics and the characters. I laughed, cried and felt sick - sometimes all at the same time.
The companions were fantastic. I felt they were much more real and believable than the DA:O companions (even though I love them all). They had vices, weaknesses and beliefs and felt like Hawke's friends/aquaintances rather than Hawke's followers.
The choices were truly heart-rending. Sometimes I just didn't know if what I was doing was right no matter how hard I tried to be good.
The family aspect worked wonders on me - I've never cared so much about fictional people!
Basically the writing gripped me and never let me go. I can't praise it enough.
Loved the new look of the elves and the Qunari - they look like truly diverse races now rather than simply humans with bigs ears or heavy brows.
The voiced Hawke was brilliant (although only played female so far). I used mainly "nice" answers but swapped in funny for casual convos with some companions and some harsher replies for people I didn't like. It worked brilliantly, I never heard my Hawke speak and think - balls, that's not what I wanted at all! In DA:O I reloaded now and again when convos didn't go the way I wanted, I was expecting to have to do that in DA2, but I never did. (voice acting is brilliant from everyone tbh)
The combat was fun (and visually looked great - I played a mage, felt awesome) and the skill trees were nice but I actually could've done with even more upgrades. I don't know if that would unbalance things but I was around level 22 by the end and everyone just had too many powers still (it was worse in DA:O for sure though) I guess though it's just me wanting to max out some favoured powers. Force Mage btw was bloody epic. Generally being a mage felt amazing, I'd rain down lightning, slam people into the ground like they were dolls etc. I think I went slightly mad with power by the end lol
"Haunted" was one of my favourite quests because there was no combat lol (well until the end) I kept thinking some demons would pop up and ruin the creepy mood but thank god they didn't. It reminded me of the Gauntlet in DA:O which was also my favourite quest just because it was suddenly about something other than stabbing everything in sight. Please please keep making interesting and unique quests like this!
Length was good - probably similar to my ME2 play length. Not too short at all but not so long that you can't really face trudging through another playthrough (DA:O lol)

Cons:
I miss the overhead camera a little. Especially with all the massive mobs in the game it can all get a bit busy.
A few quest bugs but nothing that got in the way of the main plot.
Wish we could've changed our companions weapons etc while at the Hawke home.
A few bugs where my companions would go out of combat mode while the fight was still going on. I'd see Carver walking nonchalantly by with his two-hander on his back while the rest of us were fighting for our lives.
Reusing areas was done sort of cleverly but it was still ... just reusing areas. I didn't mind too much but when I'm running round a warehouse/sewer only to realise it's actually the "Foundry" area where my mother was brutally murdered and died horribly in my arms tends to kick me in the gut a bit.
I liked when a companion commented on the situation/quest at hand (when exploring) but I don't think it was done enough. Probably just my desire for more companion stuff but yeah ...
Minor personal annoyance that's totally silly on my part but ... Justice used Anders voice and battle cries in the fade during combat, it was odd.
A bit more companion talk would have been nice. There was enough in the quest conversations and such to get a feel for each of them but it would've been nice to have a regular "talk" option if they're at home. Just to ask them about things like in DA:O I often stopped at camp and asked Alistair about the Grey Wardens or asked Leliana for a story. It got a little ME2 (sorry Hawke I'm calibra- uh I mean busy yeah ...) when I hopefully clicked on people only to hear "Your support means the world to me" a hundred times. I would have loved to just turn up, sit down and listen to Varric tell me one of his tall tales, or play a card game with Isabela, or discuss Ferelden with Aveline etc (but then I can never get enough of the companions lol)

Verdict:
Compared with DA:O this was a thoroughly depressing ride but I loved it. If this had been a non-companion RPG I think I would've slit my wrists it was all so tragic. I played the game for my companions and, unlike in DA:O where I just made everyone like me, I revelled in my companions' rivalries and betrayals.
While my Warden got as close as possible to a happy ending while my Hawke got her heart ripped out and stomped on. People do make a big deal about romances in Bioware games ... but it's because they're so damn compelling and they add to the drama significantly (my Hawke ran off with a mas-murdering terrorist at the end for Maker's sake! I was sat there going - why couldn't I say no to you Anders????). I gotta say by the end I didn't feel like a champion - I felt like someone who'd let things get wildly out of hand and it was all my fault. My Hawke was ready to just jump off a cliff at the end of Act 2. I imagine my epilogue would've been Nirina Hawke quietly weeping in a cave somewhere ...

[Pathim]

I found the game less interactive then DAO and very limiting on what the player could do in it.  Many points of the game seemed to have been dumbed down.  If this game had been put forth before DAO when DAO came out I would have gone WOW what an improvement DOA is. 

There are many things that make me feel this way.  The inventory bit may as well not exist.  99% of the inventory you can't use, as you can't equip your companions or use the items on your own character.  So you get a lot of items that would be nice if you could use them but they are of absolutely no use.  The game takes this from you so you are in a big way crippled in your ability to outfit your companions with the best available.

The map system, although I can see the reasoning in having a daylight and night switching of the maps.  But the map system itself seems made by a four year old with childish drawings and not a proper map.  I could almost see some kindergarden teach saying, "Now children, move your little slipper to where the mouse is in a circle."    Plus ever single map is just the same.  That is extremely boring.  You go into one cave then the very next and the next and the next are all the same.  Same with buildings all basically the same.  "Here children draw your idea of a map.  Johnnie's is the one we will all use.  Only draw Johnnie's map.  I want 30 copies of it on my desk."  Dull, boring and without imagination.

The interaction between companions is almost not there.  The little they do is very poor.  That plus the fact you have to run all over the place to see your companions, and once you go to see a companion the interaction is extremely limited.  So that part which added so much to the story of DAO is not there.

The storylines for the companions are very poor also.  as is the one for the player.  I mean think about it!  In DAO you could start a character picking a wide range of back ground and nationality, and have that character start in a totally different area then another character you've made.  With this game there are no options at all.  You have to be the human Hawke.  You have 3 options in on what the character will be, Warrior, Mage or Rogue!   That is it!  All characters have exactly the same back ground.  Exactly the same family.  Very boring.  Not only that but you can't change the appearance of a character to suit your taste.  The only option on the appearance is a few, very few, preset heads.  Nothing in the appearance can be changed, just popping on someone else's idea of a head.

The over all story line is vague and sort of shoved in like a last moment thought.  To tell the truth, I'm still not even certain there is one.  You have brief interactions here and there with the Qun.  Then there is the, just as vague, references to slaves.  The character seems to have no real goal or objective.  He/She is just fumbling along without any real reasoning.  At first I even thought maybe the goal of the game is to free the mages.  But that too is just a muddled bit here and there with no real solid goal in mind.  It seems that the only thing that runs throughout the game is that everyone is a thief or slimeball.  You just can't get that good feeling that your are in fact accomplishing something that you had in DOA.  The whole thing is dumbed down from DOA.

One last comment.  That is on crafting....  what crafting.... pretty much all has been said.

[Ardinal]

 THEY PUT A MAN IN ANDERS AND TOOK AWAY HIS ****! My Review of DRAGON AGE II

I have not finished the game. This is feedback mostly for the staff of Bioware and the Dragon Age II development team.


Game Aesthetics.

I was really impressed with the art direction; the world has really come alive and conveys a more definitive and recognisable style. The art design is sleek and accomplished, conveying a real sense of culture. The NPC’s
reflect this sense of culture via their detailed and unique garments. I didn’t feel like I had seen [insert generic garb here] over and over. The garments are tailored to race with an adequate blend of cultural symbolism and colour. This is also true of the buildings, city and landscapes portrayed in DA:II.

The in game themes and their implementation are fantastic. Repeating motifs i.e. drawings of slaves throughout both the game and menu/loading screens, create a smooth transition and supports a feeling of immersion. The
design for the loading screens also caters to the idea that this is a retelling of Hawke’s story through Varric and reminds me of a truly legendary tale.

I loved recognising the concept art outfit on one of the elvan girls at the Blooming Rose. It’s an example of the little personal touches that I have enjoyed stumbling across in the game. In conclusion I feel that with DA:II Bioware has delivered a truly refined and accomplished fantasy world style.

I do, however, feel that due to other games like Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher, where levels are not just paths laid out with a few scattered NPC’s are what we are becoming used to and will come to expect of RPG’s.


I think Bioware may inevitably need to jump on that train. Having night and day and giving companions their own home bases is a start along that path of making the world feel more plausible and alive. You may need many NPC’s instead of a couple of dudes hanging out in a corner to help with immersion problems.

The dungeons tend to feel more like movie sets. I sometimes imagine myself knocking over a shrub to find a stage hand name Bob trying to find Simon the sound guy. The rock sometimes looks like the rocks you see on
rides at theme parks.

 
Gameplay

The gameplay and controls are amazing in DA:II. I really feel that all the kinks from the first game have been ironed out via the interface.The menu is easy to access and utilize. Elements such as the inventory have been slim lined offering helpful identifiers such as specifying whether an item has been viewed yet or not.Equipping your character has been made a lot easier by the instant comparison options between items. I also like the fact that I don’t have to spend hours working out the best armour for all my characters. It has allowed me to focus on my Hawke’s build and in turn allowed me to work out the best roles/tactics to apply to my companions more adequately.

When engaging enemies I feel that my characters roles are more easily defined, which allows for smoother combat. The only problem I have encountered is that sometimes I can’t see all of my foes over some the AoE spells i.e. the fire looks awesome but can sometimes obscure the battlefield if forcing me to pause and take a more strategic stance.

The character movements and animations are slick and unique. I enjoy seeing the mages use their staves more like a weapon than just a large, nicely decorated stick that they are prodding their enemies with from afar.I have noticed that the finishing moves are less of a sceptical this time round which aids in keeping combat lucid. I guess having enemies explode into showers of giblets makes up for the slow motion action sequences.I love how goons appear from behind and drop down from buildings. It’s exciting and opens up the battlefield.

There have been times when some of my party members have become stuck in a doorway which once again forces me to utilize the ability to pause combat in order to move them away from the goons that have idled up behind them. I should remember to select the entire party in order to move them all out of danger, for some reason I forget when using the PS3, although I doubt I would forget to select them all with a mouse in hand. I’m not sure what that means, maybe it’s my PC heritage coming through and endless hours playing strategy games.

At one point I had my entire party frolicking happily through a blazing inferno which according to the tip that flashed on my screen was meant to be a trap I could utilize by standing on a plate. “What plate?” I proclaimed out loud before noticing that Merryl had innocently stumbled onto the contraption and was happily roasting herself along with everyone else.I’m guessing that if my Hawke had been a rogue I could have used the plates more proficiently, having a tank ward off the onslaught of slightly disgruntled demons.Apart from that I have been very impressed with the gameplay in DA:II.

Race Design

I have slowly become accustomed to the new design for the elves. I feel that the xenophobia of the humans in the world seems a little more believable (not justified mind you) but I think it reflects the connotations of racial prejudice instead of feeling that the humans of Thedas are simply giant jerks to their smaller pointy eared counterparts.

I think the Dalish are meant to be welsh or something, but I still think of them as nomadic Native American Irishmen. They’re all like “I LOST ME CULTURE AND FIDDLE LE DE POTATOES!”

I do like the fact that the Dales are defined by an accent and that other elves use the accent of whatever homeland their Alienage resides in.

The Qunari look fantastic. They’re markings and horns really reflect their culture and ideals. Yes they look completely different to their origin counterparts but my OCD seems to coping ok. My OCD did have its way the pronunciation of Qun. I don’t recall it being ‘kyuuuun’, I remember ‘kun’ which to me sounded a lot better. However, this is truly a petty grievance on my part, but it does have me imagining the most demented, frothing at the mouth with cute anime girl shrieking FOR THE KYUUUN!

Humans no longer look akin to Spare Marines in their armour which I approve of. Not that I’m not hot for 40k, they just looked a little too chunky in Origins, especially Templars. I also adore the fact that not all mages are running around in robes and or mu mu’s. Mages can wear pants?! JUSTANDERS HAS PANTS!? I was just as shocked as the next person.

The Dwarves feel pretty much the same. I do like Varric’s shaven chin though. It was as if his fine Gimli locks had crawled away and made their home on his exposed Dwarven chest. Actually, now that I think of it where are the Dwarven women at? I don’t recall seeing any of them thus far and I’m up Act II. Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough.

 

Characters and Dialogue

I am one of those who are quite content to have my PC fully voiced. I’m glad she isn’t some mute who stands there wide-eyed and confused while an NPC waits patiently for her to read through the dialogue options which
are supposedly in her head. It’s lucid and natural and I love it. I don’t need to be in control of absolutely everything when playing an RPG. I like to feel like I am watching a story unfold instead of being its writer. That’s what the
writer’s are there for. If I wanted that much control I may as well write the whole game and then go off and GM with myself.

Which brings me to Anders, or Justanders as I like to call him.

I recall that David Gaider was the original writer for Anders i.e. in Awakening. Anders appeared to be a real ladies man, a dandy and a fop. Now I understand that Anders has become one with Justice in DA:II but I truly believe that the portrayal of the character would have benefited from having the same writer.

I also feel that Bioware have offered him as a sacrificial lamb to fandom instead of presenting a natural and well developed character. Evidence of this is in his melodramatic reaction to my Hawke’s first attempt to flirt with him. It’s as if he knew the hordes of romantic fangirls would be set upon him from the start. The melodramatic tripe that falls from his mouth sounds forced and like a complete farce.

It didn’t sit well with me and I don’t know if this is simply how the writers wanted the character to be presented but to me there is a difference between developing a character to fulfil your own creative needs to presenting a character based on what you ‘believe’ the audience will want. There was a lot of pressure on this character to perform well as a companion and it just seems to show. I know the character is meant to have changed due to having merged with Justice, but I think a more natural and gradual change in the character’s demeanour instead of jumping straight into the tormented lover would have been better.

I know this is a controversial topic here on the forums but I think I have a right to express my concerns regarding Bioware’s decision to make all the main romance options bisexual. I know that it is a fantasy and people wish to play a game where for example the Anders of their universe is gay/bi. It’s a valid argument but to me it suggests that people’s sexual orientation is a flexible thing instead of something that is innately part of who they are. Having a characters sexuality presented as an interchangeable option implies that people can be forced to change their sexuality at will.

I think Bioware has broken enough barriers in creating characters that are not all heterosexual. It was diverse enough and now the act of trying to be more diverse and accepting has to me made it impossible to just
accept the sexuality of a character and respect that character’s choice (or be it the creators choice) to make them heterosexual without being accused of homophobia.

However, I have to accept that in role playing we do customize the characters abilities so why not customize other elements of the character?

I personally don’t want to play and RPG where I have complete control. I want there to be consequences
to my actions and I want an NPC to have the right to express their like or dislike of something, including my intentions to bed them. That is what I love about Bioware’s brand of RPG’s, in the sense that ever choice falls into a grey area and my choices may not be for the best in the long run.

It’s like finding a baby and not having to resort to the either

a) eating the baby or

lactating and raising the baby as my own...

 I like the option to let the little guy run free only to realise that years later he has grown up and become Keyser Soze.

Fenris, now there is a believable and well developed character. He could have been the stereotypical softly spoken, arrow shooting Legolas but instead we have a tall, angry and gruff warrior slave who rips out
people’s hearts while he glows gentle sky blue. The flirting and conversation with Fenris did not feel forced in the slightest. I’m not sure if this is due to the voice acting or if it is David’s writing but I didn’t feel that the character was being pushed to meet certain expectations.

Merryl is simply adorable. Varric and Isabela are insatiable. I guess my only real qualms were with Justanders.

I didn’t like Aveline’s hair.

Having dog as a summon was an excellent idea and to me more useful than having him as a companion.

Once again the banter between characters is fantastic. I also love it when a third companion or even Hawke decides to butt in.

Well, back to playing. Thank you Bioware. I hope my feedback is helpful and not too offensive.

 

Modifié par Ardinal, 16 mars 2011 - 01:47 .

[defiantwolf]

55 hours to finish my first playthrough as a warrior, and here are my two cents...


Liked:

Good storyline and plenty of quests to complete.

Combat is fast-paced and fun, much more satifying than in DAO.

Graphics are greatly improved. I like the redesigned armor. In DAO, Blood Dragon armor for example, always made my character look fat, in DA2 it looks great. I also like the Qunari's new look, and I love what you've done to Flemeth. She looks pretty awesome now for an old hag.

Voice acting is very good, although I must admit it took me a few hours to get used to Lady Hawke's voice. The music is beautiful as well, which was to be expected from Inon Zur of course. I actually like DA2's soundtrack a little better than DAO's.

NPCs are well-written. Varric, Aveline and Isabela were my favorites (Aveline's quest "The Long Road" was
absolutely hilarious).


Disliked:

While I am perfectly happy with the romance arrangements, the lack of character interaction bothered me. There
seemed to be plenty of playful banter between the companions themselves, but very little dialogue between Hawke and companions (especially between Hawke and LIs). In DAO you could start conversations with your companions anytime, anywhere, and they almost always had something to say. I miss that little detail in DA2, just as I missed it in the Awakening expansion. I don't mind the dialogue wheel, but please consider adding more opportunities to talk to companions in DA3.

Inability to equip my companions with different armor. So much equipment, and all of it restricted to Hawke. Why?

Areas, despite the higher graphic quality, were re-used far too often. Common BioWare, a little more variety next time please?

The ending seemed a little abrupt; I just felt like there should have been more (or is it just my imagination...?).

No music for the end credits? Or is this just a console glitch? (I have not played my PC version yet)


Undecided:

Dalish elves' new design: I'm not sure if it is their eyes or their ears, but something about their facial features seems slightly 'off'. Oddly enough, Zevran actually looked better redesigned, and I think I'm starting to get used to Merrill. Maybe after a few more playthroughs...


Some random thoughts:

Hawke cannot seem to get drunk at the Hanged Man, no matter how hard she tries. I remember Shepard downing
three or four drinks, and the room was spinning... Hawke is still standing after ten. 


Overall, DA2 is a very enjoyable game with plenty of replay value. 9/10. I loved it. That being said, I'm off to play a
couple more games as rogue and mage. Nicely done, BioWare.

[Star]

I haven’t posted a game review before but there were so many things about this game that felt like “misses” that I wanted to add my voice. I’ve played BW games for a long time; my first Bioware game was Baldur’s Gate and I’ve been a fan ever since. As others have said, BW has a reputation for having the ability to produce games with truly excellent, consistent and compelling characters and stories. This isn’t one of them.
 
Pros:
 
I enjoyed many of the things others have mentioned including the improved combat and graphics, references to DAO and the dialog wheel. Overall the story was generally enjoyable but more like having a diet soda when you’re really craving a full-sugar experience.
 
Cons:
 
Overall Story – good elements that potentially make for a moving and exciting story. But in this case the plot seemed to go for the cheap and easy.   Mage/Templar/politics make for a really compelling story – lots of RL examples of oppression and its impacts to draw from and yes, many such stories have dark and violent endings. However, such stories have many shades of gray.  Many civilizations have responded to oppression in a variety of ways and a Guy Fawkes solution is certainly one of them.  Ander’s solution and Meredith’s compulsion by a magical object were presented in very black and white fashion. 

And all the foreshadowing – Ander’s change into black clothing, his search for “ingredients’ that were clearly components of a fertilizer bomb gave away the ending long before we reached the conclusion. Still, given current world politics I was horrified by BW’s bad taste and lack of judgment in using this. Can anyone say 9-11 or Oklahoma City? Ander’s solution and Meredith’s “change” felt like tacky gimmicks to force me into the end game.

Lack of consistency – one of the positive elements of BW’s games has been their consistency and ability to show the consequences of past actions. However, with DA, the playbook seems to have been thrown out the window. It’s one thing to bring a character back in a believable way – use of the Harry Potter Horacrux solution for Flementh is one example but to declare nothing is canon? Makes it difficult to believe in the story.

Returning character cameos – very enjoyable although some (like King Alistair’s) seemed oddly out of place. The Alistair one in particular was more cheesy than charming; attempts at humor felt stretched and out of context. (“Swooping is bad” was adorable in it is original context; face-palm worthy in the DA2 context).

Banter– DAO’s characters were engaging, humorous and charming even in the depths of danger and despair. The only character in DA2 who seemed to have a sense of humor besides Hawke was Varric. Even the darkest story benefits from humor. I would also point out that in RL people often use humor for emotional relief. A bit of wit and humor would have gone a long way to engage me in the story.

Characters/Relationships: It took a lot of time to travel from place to place to talk with people for no particular reason. I missed the group camp and the ability to talk with my comrades regularly. Even in ME you can talk with your comrades to a greater extent on board ship. Part of DAO's charm was the ability to learn more about your comrades. The original game took time to develop the characters, give us glimpses into their backstories and understand the events and circumstances that had made them who they are. It also allowed you to become engaged and care about your party. 

Anders: The original character as voiced by Greg Ellis had a great deal of somewhat angsty charm which completely vanished with Anders 2.0. Yes, I get the “Help! Help! I’m bein’ oppressed,” but usually people who use humor as a way of dealing with life’s difficulties don’t lose it. I could see him becoming darker and snarkier but not humorless and less charming. The charm, in fact, would go a long way towards helping his cause.  Also, much was made of the Anders-Justice merger but we certainly didn’t see much of Justice’s influence beyond the dour outlook and one or two instances of “glowy eyes”. So what was the point again?

Love stories: It doesn’t bother me that all the LIs are bi. In RL, people come in all flavors – based upon percentages of the population, most report themselves as straight, some experiment and some prefer both or their own sex. While it would be nice to have that reflected more realistically in the game’s LIs, I’m not getting my panties in a twist over BW's decision to pander for $$$.  What I dislike more is the continual dumbing down of relationships. This didn’t feel like a relationship, it felt like a quick hook up. There was little opportunity for interaction and true relationship development. The romance was rushed – you went from friendly to “I love you” without any real interaction.  I missed being able to flirt with my character's LI. 

In addition, the kisses and love scenes felt clunky and forced.  Part of this was programming. In DAO, Alistair and Zevran’s pre-kiss conversation were romantic, charming and engaging and the kisses looked natural and graceful. And what the heck has happened to the love scenes? We’ve gone from a gorgeous and incredibly sexy nude love scene in ME1 to underwear sex and now fully clothed sex? This is a game for mature adults. The last time I checked, we took our clothes off to make love. 

Redesign of elves/returning characters: In nearly every story I’ve ever read, elves are supposed to be beautiful. These elves were among the most unattractive ones I’ve ever seen. And returning characters – Zevran and Teagan for example, were nearly unrecognizable and truly hideous.  None of the returnees fared well under the artist’s pen and that’s just sad. Give me back DAO elves!!!!

Recycling of environments – Most posters have commented on this. I get that DA2 was quickly produced but this just added to the boredom.
 
DA2 wasn’t a bad experience but it wasn’t my favorite either. I only managed to get through Awakenings fully one time. My subsequent attempts to play Awakenings were primarily because I enjoyed Anders and Nathaniel but the lack of interaction with them generally lead me to drop the game long before the end. While I think I’ll play DA2 at least a couple more times all the way through I doubt it will get much more play than that. I’ll go back to DAO instead. And I’ll think twice about purchasing future BW titles.
 
 

Modifié par Star58, 16 mars 2011 - 02:46 .

[Seratina]

Disliked: It felt short compared to DA:O and also lacked the depth of the original.  There was not nearly enough dialogue and some of it wasn't that well written.  In fact there were a couple of times I didn't even know what the other person was talking about.  The camera didn't pull back enough and it was sometimes hard to get a good angle to see all of the battle that was taking place.  Also, sometimes I just couldn't click on anything while I was in battle for a few seconds.  No Sir Pounce A Lot and a different Anders' voice.  Everything was just a bit too fast paced.  One quest of finding someone's daughter or wife or something in the last act was broken.  It wouldn't even show there was a quest on the map and when I walked all around the coast I found a thug captain I think that just stood there and I could not interact with him.  That was really the only technical issue I had.  Lack of quests where there weren't hordes of enemies jumping out at me.  Didn't really like how the inventory was changed so that I couldn't see it until I whatever it was on me. At least there still was an inventory unlike ME2, which really irritated me.  There was a lack of decent looking rogue armor. 

Liked: It was fun.  The second act was really good.  I had the high texture pack installed so it looked really good.  The companions were well done and the voice acting was really good.  I liked my character's voice.  It was funny, especially that one person I was talking to and he was telling me about the disappearing pigeon population in
Ferelden and who could do that to those poor defenseless birds.  I spit soda on my monitor.  I play more for the roleplaying than micromanaging battles and was happy that in normal mode the battles weren't so bad.  The inclusion of characters from the original (though I kept forgetting I was me (champion) instead of me (warden).  The storyline was decent, but it was told really well. 

All in all I liked the game quite a bit, but I didn't love it the way I did the first one.  I really would have liked more interaction with my companions.  Also, every quest does not need to involve fighting a zillion enemies, which I already stated above, but I just wanted to reiterate that.   I don't know what I'd give it I guess an 85%.  That might be a little high though.  I'm trying to be generous.  I would give DA:O faults and bugs and all close to 100%. 

Modifié par Seratina, 16 mars 2011 - 04:41 .

[Mordar88]

Hey all, this is my review based on one
play through I did as a 2H warrior.

I was only partially
impressed with this sequel. There were several problems I had with
the game, so If i had to put a number to it, I would say 7/10.


First, for stuff that I liked, I thought that the new dialog
system was great, I enjoyed that you could be a serious, down to
business type guy and not be labeled as an evil person. Furthermore,
I liked the new graphics system that made everything seem much more
real. The story overall was palpable, I didn't find myself getting
engrossed as much as I did with dragon age origins. The character
design was good, and I really liked that the main character can talk
now, rather then selecting through a series of text bars. The
companions were alright, tho not as remember-able as the ones from
origins.

Now for the stuff I thought could have been
improved. I thought that the romances were sorta tacked on with no
real impact on your other party members, I actually had 2 LI's
(Merril and Isabella). And neither of them seemed to care. Speaking
of which, I didn't like that there was a lack of ability to be
friends with someone in your party, it seemed that the only two
options were to be a LI or rival (hence why i had 2 LI's). I thought
origins party interaction was better, being able to have party
members react to things you do with different dialogs occurring
depending on whether they liked you or not.

The story as I
said earlier was meh, It seemed to be lacking the depth that origins
had. For one, you only really run around one city in the game,
whereas in origins you went through basically 4 (Circle, Denerim,
Orzimmar, and Red Cliff). I didn't like that at the end of the game
when given the option to join with the mages or the templars I didn't
seem to matter as you ended up fighting both leaders anyway. That was
the impression I got from the overall story as well, nothing really
seemed to matter at all, Kirkwall seemed to just go on despite what
you were doing. I got the feeling that the writers were just going
for shock and awe with the story with having your entire family die,
and Anders becoming a terrorist, the Qunari attacking despite your
efforts to come to some agreement. it just became over-saturated.


Overall, I feel like this sequel was a diluted version of
origins, it seemed more akin to being an expansion for origins then
its own stand alone game. Of course this is just my thoughts and
feelings based on one play through, I may feel differently after
more. But its still a great game, and I can't wait for more.
../../../images/forum/emoticons/happy.png

[CakesOnAPlane]

Just finished a playthrough as a 2H warrior and I loved it.

Really liked the new combat/visuals/most changes + I thought the companion dialouge system was handled alot better than origins, though it would have been nice to just talk more for the sake of it rather than only talking when they needed help/etc. The characters themselves were brilliant.

Yes there were recyled dungeons and I began to get a bit sick of Kirkwall's streets, but this was overcome by the intensity of the great (imo) storyline. The plot itself was alot more interesting than Origins and each act had a great climax (I liked that the idol returned) rather than Origins where it felt more that it was building up to only one moment.

Most of all it felt alot braver. There were serious choices that had tangible and personal concequences - companions werent separate from the story (Anders' act and the choice to deal with him, following a discussion with Sebastian, was stunning). Isabella just ran off for me even after I helped her, and I really felt betrayed - nothing like that happened in Origins. Origins felt like loyalty was almost a given, only in extreme chances did something big like a companion leaving happen - this was a great improvement imo.

So overall I would give it 9/10. It was let down by recycled areas and minor things, but as a whole it took the epicness of Origins and distilled it, losing the scope but gaining the intensity. It really felt alot more personal, and thats a good thing for me.

[Quarz666]

I just wrote a long review in the nonspoiler section so just a list of pros and cons here with spoilers:

Pros:

When fairly new as i am to the DA games i think it was the best game ever, really amazing how epic it made me feel.
Gameplay was what i really liked, im more of a "im gonna charge in prolly take this guy before that guy and that guy is more important than this guy so i kill him first." but in DA:O its more like "so.. *pause game* im gonna put up a trap here, make him stealthed and go over there, she is gonna trap this dude, and i will focus all my attack keeping this guy on me.", i dont like that kind of gameplay makes it much less real, makes me feel im playing a game of chess versus a very stupid opponent, ofc i havent played the game DA:O more than a couple times but i always thought it wasnt a great game because it lacked action, and you certainly gave us action here, ofc you can still pause the game, which i needed at some points to make my characters heal eachother and take potions and stuff but else it was just awesome. Graphics are A+++. I really like the companion questes but wished i could take romances one step further. So beyond that, epic awesome game that i will play alot more and wait for Add-Ons (please give Add-Ons instead of Add-Ins!!!)

Cons:

First things first, the game itself isnt a failure. As you see above i really like it. Buut at some points i disliked it and here they are:
1. The bossfight with "Ancient Rock Wraith" was a giant spike of difficulty, i had not even had practice on how to take on foes like that, and i guessed from the beginning what the tactic would be since i played ALOT of games, and i knew he would be vulnerable after the lazer, but the minions he spawned was a little overdoing it, I mean i thought and hoped it would be more like "tank tank, dodge, hide from lazer, then attack attack attack, and repeat." but i tried 7 times before i took him down, since i was a rogue i did luckily alot of dps to the adds but their damage was waaaay to powerful even though they had low health. The boss itself could have had a little less health aswell. Also the fact that i play on pc and my friend play on xbox, on xbox atleast when he charges lazer youre companions goes out of combat making it easier to get them behind pillars. On computer for me they never went out of combat made me pause the game, move each companion individually behind the pillars (and they took alot of damage when i did that). But at seventh try i got him killed and felt a great feeling of achievement!

2. The companions need more. Theres only a couple of companion questes in the game, most of them is just checking up on how they are doing instead of having maybe a long talk because the have a problem or something, that would be great. Also it is allowed to chat with eachother alot when walking around instead of in dead silence, i know they talk to eachother while were travelling every now and then, but i can stop and click chat on them and then enter a conversation. It would also help with a little more options and maybe the romances could go further like maybe up to and including a proposal? From either the player or npc i dont know what would work best.

3. I am a person that never takes sides with anyone unless its really good against really evil, or good motive and bad motive. But i was stuck in the scene where u choose to either side with mages or templars. The things that went through my mind at that point was "the mages should dispose of blood magic because thats stupid, and the templars shouldnt take it out on every mage just for one mages doing." + i really liked the templar armor, it looks awesome!! But i ended siding with mages and then to my surprise the "first enchanter" goes insane and uses blood magic becoming an evil boss! ZOMG unexpected even though i enjoyed it because it was a nice fight and loved the loot! Then i at that points guessed how the game was going to end, and i guessed right, i come out and meredith desides to attack me even though i just killed the mage boss. Then again great idea of getting her to have the lyrium idol. Meredith fight really was cool! All my hopes was fulfilled

4. Last bad thing. Whats up with the fact that stealth is completely useless!? I got it as one of the first things for my rogue, since ive played aion and wow i know that u start using stealth to gain the advantage, nothing like that in DA2, stealth was only good when i got aggro from the boss and needed to get away. Other than that it was completely useless, if i chose to stealth into enemies my companions follow me and alert the enemies, if i choose to have them hold in the distance, they are out of range and wont come to my aid quick enough. Thats a major flaw.

Okay so that wraps it up, this game still remains my favourite, and i
will play it through with my mage then i just need the warrior and then i
will wait for dlc's and addons, still i pray and hope AND YELL
for Add-ONS not INS! I hate the idea of having to start a game all over
to experience the new content! Just maybe make the addon add a entirely
new region like "the mountains" or "ferelden" or make us able to walk
around kirkwall again. I purchased the prince sebastian dlc after i
completed the game for the first time which angered me cuz i couldnt
play further even tho i got more content. So im playing my mage now and
will experience the story of sebastian. But i never will on my rogue.
(sadly) So i will be waiting bioware. Trust me, until i can play further
on my rogue!

[Quarz666]

Shadow Wing wrote...

Just had to add this, I already gave my review already but I just finished the game. I got the helm of champion playing a roque and I have to say, the hood was awesome. Finally, a proper head gear, I finally happy to wear my headgear around, I know its probably irrelevant to most people but yeah the hood was nice touch. Made your character look more bad ass in his champion armor which in turn makes him look more like a champion.

Dude... you said what i had been thinking this whole time, hood was awesome, maybe next time a hood WITH a cover that goes up to youre eyes! Or maybe its just because i like that sorta thing.

[ThisBrown Man]

Dude Bioware man, You guys pulled a Kane & Lynch 2 ending on us man! NOT COOL, NOT COOL.

[Jaldaen]

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to put this all in one place.

My Thoughts on DAII

Mechanics
Character Creation

I liked the simplicity of the character creation/customization screen. Once you get used to it, it was intuitive enough to figure out without much trouble.

However, I did not like that you could not alter the base Hawke. In fact in my first game I saw I couldn’t change anything and simply assumed the other presets were un-customizable, too. However, I eventually realized that if I wanted to customize, I need to choose one of the other presets. A minor point, but I wonder if anyone else choose the default Hawke just because they didn’t notice the other presets were customizable. Another dislike I had was not allowing us to choose our first class ability. It doesn’t seem like it would have required much to do so, but some of the choices would not have been my choice. Lastly, I thought the placement of the customization screen was a bit off-putting. This was because the legendary Hawke could look nothing like your customized Hawke. I assume there were reasons for this placement, but it didn’t do anything for in-game immersion.

Character Screen
Attributes: I liked how these were handled. I had a clear picture of what each attribute did for my derived stats, DPS, attack, defense, and armor. I also like how you broke down the last three by normal, elite, and boss enemies.

The one thing I wish Bioware had done was give me a better understanding of the tradeoff between Dex and Cun with regards to my rogue’s DPS. I think it would have been nice if they’d included this trade off in the DPS calculation so that I could know which one would have been better to concentrate on. Is Dex better for DPS or Cun?

Abilities: I liked the non-linear nature of the ability trees. This allowed for some dabbling in other trees. I also enjoyed the variety of the trees and the unique ones for each character. This made each character feel unique, which was a nice touch.

On the down side, I understand the desire to keep each tree to ten choices, but sometimes this felt a bit odd. For example, the Elemental tree allows you to choose pyromancer, but not a cryomancer ability. It would have been cool if you could’ve chosen one or the other, if you wanted to keep to 10 choices (or both if you just like elementalists!).

Tactics: I had no problem with this area. It seemed to be just as robust as DOA. However, I still wish that my companions would automatically activate their sustained abilities outside of combat. It might only save a few seconds, but it’d be nice to not have to do this for them. For example, if I want Merrill to always have her rock armor on, then there should be a tactic that will automatically do this as soon as she is chosen as a companion as opposed to me having to activate them.

Resistances: Not much to say, this was pretty straightforward.

Inventory

I liked how items were separated out into categories and how all the sell-me-now (Junk) items were in one category. I also didn’t mind not having access to my follower’s armor... choosing weapons and accessories was enough for me.

However, I hated Junk items! They were a waste of inventory and not worth picking up. They also slowed the game down and made me wonder why the Champion of Kirkwall would even bother picking up the stuff.
Personally, I’d prefer it if the Junk category was scrapped and replaced with a “Valuables” category. The only thing we should be picking up is valuables. If it’s considered junk, it’s a waste of time in my opinion. Valuables would have a certain minimum sell value (any reward less than that amount would be given in coins). If there was a need for collecting quest related-items, then instead of putting the item in the Valuables section, I'd put it in the "Quest Item" section that didn't count toward inventory space and couldn't be sold (This wasn't a problem with DAII since the only collecting quest I remember was the Qunari swords).

At first, I liked the stars system. It seemed to give a good idea of the power of the item. However, I started to notice that the stars had more to do with sell value, then they did with power level. And because all the DLC items had a sell value of 1 copper (which btw... you never receive if you try selling them!). Because of this, I had numerous instances when an item would be 4 or 5 stars, but have worse stats then a 0, 1, 2, or 3 star item. I’m pretty sure I made the mistake of selling off some good items because I was paying attention to the stars as my guide for half the game.

Personally, if you aren’t going to let us choose our companion’s armor, then I’d prefer it if there were no random armor drops for the classes our character isn’t. So if you choose mage, then there wouldn’t be any warrior or rogue armor drops except for important NPCs. Also, I think that the gift items for each companion should be very, very nice items that level up with them. Like Bianca.

Crafting and Runes

I think the stream-lining of this system was a great idea! I have no real complaints about it. The only problem I have is that runes were not interchangeable in this game as they were in DOA. At the very least, there should have been a pop-up warning before placing your first rune that made it clear that doing so was a permanent thing... until you replaced it with another rune. You do get a warning when you try to replace the first rune, but by then it’s too late. Of course, I could have missed something on my first play through.

Map

The map legend was very useful and made this much easier to find than in DOA. The maps themselves were well done. However, the repeated maps were a bit disappointing. Sometimes I couldn’t tell they were repeated, but other times it was pretty obvious. As a side note... I liked how there were a couple hidden caches on the map that didn’t show up as rooms. This was a nice touch for those who were paying attention.

Rivalry/Friendship

Awesome addition in my opinion! It was interesting to see both sides and how they effected the characters throughout the story, especially the ending.

Combat


I enjoyed the more cinematic combat a lot. There were a few technical issues with Isabella and Seb’s friendship bonuses slowly killing my character’s attack speed and damage reduction, but overall. I enjoyed the pace of the game... although I was playing on casual for my first play through so that I could get through the storyline faster. The cross-class combos were fun and added to the idea of party tactics. I'll have to play more to see if the difficulty scales well. I know some people didn't like enemies appearing out of thin air and there is some merit to that, but I liked the idea of waves of enemies attacking you.
Story
Prologue

I loved the idea of fleeing Lothering, but the beginning didn’t really draw me into the story as much as DOA’s origins did. Perhaps this was because the Champion was already fleeing Lothering... there was no sense of loss of his former life. He’s already lost it, but none of us know what it was like. Also we don’t really get a chance to connect with both our siblings... especially the one who dies. I think a little bit more build up to that death scene would’ve been nice to give a greater sense of loss for both Lothering and your sibling. I would have liked to have had a “good” way to pay our way into Kirkwall, but desperate times can make even good guys go rogue or mercenary (still didn’t like it though).

That being said, I thought the rest of the prologue was pretty good. We got to know Aveline’s character and Flemeth’s scene was a great one! She’s one of those antagonists that make you take notice and hope whatever they have plan... doesn’t involve you (which of course it does).

Act I

This was an nice set-up section leading to the Deep Roads expedition (and the first main plot point that sets everything into motion). I liked that your choices in this section had some far reaching effects in other acts, especially with Friendship and Rivalry points. The introductions of the companions were memorable. The only thing I could say is that I would have liked to talk to my companions a bit more and got to know them better in this act. I know the total amount of dialogue was the same compared to DOA, but the companions felt thinner in this act (though they got deeper as the story progresses). I also I do wish the Isabella companion quest was something announced in your quests and not something you randomly stumbled into after finishing Tranquility and deciding to go to the Hanged Man. The expedition was fun and I liked how your choices of companions had an effect on what happened down there. Speaking of which, I enjoyed the special character actions you could take when you brought the right characters along for a quest.

Act II

This was the best act in my opinion. The Qunari’s Arishok was another good antagonist and I hated killing him (but he wasn’t going to let him harm one of my companions). I also enjoyed the buildup of the templar/mage conflict. I hated losing my mother to that madman (and wished I could have saved her... even at the cost of something/someone else). Lots of good character development in this act. I honestly wish I could have met Meredith and Orsino sooner. They seemed like interesting characters and it would have made the coming choices much more personal if I’d come to respect or dislike both of them earlier in the game. I would have also liked to have seen the conditions within the Circle with my own eyes... but I understand the need to keep it hidden. I’m capable of imagining every kind of horror inside it, especially knowing what the Band of Three claims is beneath Kirkwall. Still... I wanted more of these two antagonists earlier in the game.

Act III

After the Arishok, it felt odd that three years would pass with no viscount. I would have thought that becoming viscount (or finding someone else to be viscount) would’ve been a main plot point of this act. I understand Meredith holding the power and not wanting to let it go, but I honestly would have enjoyed a bit of politics in the game at this point. There is a power vacuum and it needs to be filled. Meredith steps in, but what about the Champion? He saved Kirkwall... it might be something he could claim after doing that. However, the option is never offered (except when you side with the Templars). Too bad, because it would have been interesting having the city guard on your side at the end of the battle. Also, it felt odd to jump ahead 3 years after the battle with the Qunari.

Anyway, this act had some more good character development of your companions and made me feel like at least some of my choices paid off. However, I really wish that being fully a rival of Anders would’ve had some effect. I know in Act II, he mentioned not wanting to harm innocents, after I kept him from killing that one mage. It would have been nice if he’d done something to minimize collateral damage if you full rivaled him. Still, it was clear throughout the story that he was building up to his fateful decision.

The last battle was good, but as others have pointed out, it seems that almost every mage turns to blood magic/possession by the end (excepting one or two groups of them and Bethany). Even Orsino goes crazy... and this seemed very out of character to me. I know he felt desperate, but I would have liked to see some emotional trigger. This is where getting to know Orsino earlier would have been nice. Perhaps we could have helped him in some way that revealed his love for another mage. Then in the middle of the last battle, she could die and he could become a Harvester as a result of that emotional blow. As it was the scene didn’t make sense because we were “winning” the fight. yes, some of his mages were dead, but he didn’t need to go Harvester at that point, especially since he’d been level-headed up to that point. Why prove the templar’s point further without a truly emotional reaction.

Finally, Meredith... I loved how the lyrium idol was tied back into the story at this point. Very well done and the hints were there for people looking for them. Again... I’d have liked to have seen her pre idol days just so we could get to see the progression of her character. The last battle was cool, but I think it was odd that the aftermath didn’t give the Champion any choice. If you side with the mages, you leave, end of story, show cutscene, roll credits.
It would have been nice to have some epilogue actions to take. Claim the Viscount, flee the city, etc. Also I missed the little blurbs at the end about each of your companions and how your actions had helped or hurt others.

Overall: I enjoyed the game even in spite of my dislikes for some of the mechanics and story choices. What I look for from this type of game is an interesting storyline, engaging characters, and fun gameplay. This had all three. Overall, I’d give it an 8/10. It was good, but it could have been better, especially in regards to the main storyline’s progression.

Modifié par Jaldaen, 16 mars 2011 - 08:39 .

[Romudeth]

I wrote a full review for DAII but here is the last paragraph and the likes and dislikes.

Dragon Age II was an ambitious attempt to reinvent the RPG formula but sadly came up short in many key areas. Although there are things that are great about the game, too many of them feel as though they were not given enough time to completely develop.  Despite these shortcomings DAII is still a great RPG that will provide you with many hours of gameplay.  If you are considering purchasing it make sure to lower your expectations slightly since this game is not all that it was striving to be.

Liked
Engaging and interesting characters
Great dialogue, writting and voice acting
Graphics were very pleasing to the eye

Disliked
Repeating dungeons and building interiors
Hitting the attack button for hours eventually becomes tiring
Frustrating and long boss battles made worse due to button mashing
Most of the game felt rushed

I gave the game the equivalent of a 4/5.  

Please read my full review here http://coolstufftheb...-dragon-age-ii/

Modifié par Romudeth, 16 mars 2011 - 08:11 .

[someon7x]

What I liked:
The voice acting was top shelf. It delivered a mediocre story with aplomb.

What I disliked:
The idea of shaping a character (Hawke) instead of a story (The Blight) through gameplay. Hawke's emotion range of 3 notes is too narrow for this to be engaging.

[Bondy1981]

I just felt like only played half a game. Everything was build up and then nothing, the credits roll, Florence and the Machine sings and I was left wondering if my Steam account failed and only downloaded Act 1 of the game. There is a way to do cliff hanger endings as seen in ME2, you have to end the story you setupat the start, conclude more events than mysteries you create. Honesatly this felt like it should have been a second expansion pack for Origins setting up the story for DA2, not DA2 itself.

Its a horrible thing to say but I can't really think of many pssitives, I think because I replayed DAO before this came out to get me back into the world again. Bioware you're also damned by your brilliance, all the wonderful dialogue, characters history and culture I kind of expect from you guys, I assume its going to be there so its hard to sing praises for things you did just as well in every game you've ever done previously, instead you just see the thing you did poorly, things you have never done before, all the way back to Baldurs Gate, Identical instanced areas to fight through kills any sense of place, I was really excited by the idea of a game set in one city, I kept waiting for Kirkwall to open up like Athkatha did in BG2 but never happened.

In short in DAO you created a worls with life and culture and historty, all the little things such as amusing merchants right through to thr biggies like whether to annilate the circle  breathed life into the game. DA2, was a very small amount of areas to fight endless waves of similarly skinned bad guys through and a story which you ultimatley cannot influence in any way.

Having said that helping Averline pull Donnick had me laaughing out loud at a gamee for the first time since a Lucas Arts Adventure Game. Anyone who reads this, when you get to that quest have Isabela with you.