1012 réponses à ce sujet

[Kyriani Agrivar]

From just finishing my first play through I'd like to list my thoughts and opinions though I find it difficult to break it down into simple likes and dislikes. I tend to like a feature but i often have a "but" about about it. I'll just highlight what I can.

Unique companion appearances was great BUT i missed getting gear for my allies. I felt like so many items i just vendored could have been useful to the companions. If I had my way I'd have an "appearance" tab so my character and my companions could LOOK how I want them but still use any gear I find.

Player creation and Npc appearance/changes. The new models for the bodies of player and npcs looks much better BUT elves look like aliens now. I prefer the elves of DAO to this sickly looking bug eyed freaks we got in DA2. Player face sculpting was difficult for me to get something remotely pleasing. I often ended up looking "fat faced" much like our esteemed Alistair ended up looking in his new incarnation. I would have liked to see some middle ground between DAO's creation and DA2's.

Combat animations were much improved. BUT The pace at which they were moving made them difficult to appreciate. Fast animations != fast paced combat and in many cases just looked odd and unnatural especially with enemies running towards you. I honestly feel DAO was better in this regard though I know many would disagree. Combat in DA2 is no "faster" in pace than DAO just the animations are faster. It's like everyone is high on crystal meth.

Skill Trees. Overall I have to say I liked the changes to the skill trees. I can't really find much fault BUT locking companions out of specific trees for whatever reason seems silly (like merril not having access to creation or carver not having access to sword/shield) except in the case of Ander's and Merrill's unique skill trees since their personal trees were basically copying defining abilities of the blood mage and spirit healer specializations and it wouldnt make sense for them to have those abilities x2.

Skills and spells. I really liked the spell animations and loved the removal of friendly fire. Not for nothing but having skills I can't use because it would kill me as easily as my enemies left me simply ignoring those skills in DAO. I liked the idea of cross-class combos and upgrading specific skills as well.

GUI... here I was unhappy... DAO gave us a UI that felt like it "fit in" with the world... it had a very parchment and rustic look and feel. DA2 gave us a flat boring out of place techy looking UI that just looked meh BUT I did like that a) the action bar went across the screen and the heal/mana pot quick buttons with their counters.

Dialogue/Interaction. I really like alot of what my companions had to say both walking through zones and in direct conversations BUT I really didn't feel like I could connect with them like I did in DAO. I felt the same way in awakening... not being able to interact with my companions when I wanted to really left a hollow feeling in the relationships. In DAO I loved sitting in camp and having a conversation with my companions... whether it was teasing Alistair about being a virgin, hearing Leliana's stories about the world or even just playing with my dog. DA2 feels like it stripped away those little touches that made DAO so engaging... sure you simplified things but you also gutted the "heart" out of things in doing so. I know it may not be part of the "big story" but kicking back with your friends and hearing about their past, or things that interest them brings them alive and makes you care about them.

Relationships... I can only really comment on Anders but... it felt a little flat. When I romanced Alistair I really felt something for him. When I talked about him to my RL friends I called him "dreamy". I really felt like I got to know him. In Anders case I had little opportunity to get to know him in that friendly intimate way. I only got to see his needy/lonely/raging against the templars side with all my flirt dialogue at awkward places where I felt almost wrong for flirting cause he's talking about something serious and I come off self centered and completely ignoring what he's talking about just to shift the topic to me and how I feel about him. And there's little reason for me to "feel" anything for him since I can't engage him in casual banter. In this case I think DAO surpasses DA2 by far in both how you interact with the npcs, the freedom you have to interact with them and the pacing of relationship development.

Story. I like many aspects of the story... BUT the sword at the end with Meredith really needed some foreshadowing... just pulling that out right at the end with no clues or hints outside of "Meredith is going crazy" being said ad nauseum throughout the game just really left me feeling like I got hit in the face with a cliched deus ex machina. And while I know Mr Gaider and the other writers aren't big fans of "happy endings" there need to be some... I mean how can we appreciate the impact of the bad stuff when there's little to no good stuff? Almost every mage turned to blood magic, Mom got screwed six ways from sunday throughout the whole game. Tragedy upon tragedy just makes you immune to it eventually it really was overkill this time around. DAO gave you some levity and there were a fair number of happy resolutions for many of the situations you found yourself in. In DA2 I found very little in the way of "happy endings" so little in fact that I basically became desensitized to the unhappy endings I kept stumbling across. And that bothered me. I didn't care about the bad stuff happening. I just expected it and expected more to follow. I really feel there needs to be a balance of the positive and negative and I hope that point is remembered in the next game.

Modifié par Kyriani Agrivar, 19 mars 2011 - 03:54 .

[Babi]

 What I liked:

Hawke - The voice acting, particularly for fem-Hawke, is AWESOME. It felt much more cinematic and was generally much more enjoyable to be in conversation because you could see firsthand how Hawke's reaction or expression was.

Conversation Wheel - This made the dialogue much easier to predict and navigate through. Great addition.

Characters - All of your party members feel like well rounded, fully developed characters. The companion interaction with one another is awesome, and the banter is definitely the best I've ever heard in a game. In DA:O it felt like only Morrigan and Alistair were really fully developed... I'm glad that this time all of your companions are of noteworthy personality. Varric is the most loveable character I've ever met. Carver is an annoying little brother that comes around in the end, and made me wish I had a little bro IRL. The family characters were definitely a great addition to the game.

Romances - In DA:O I felt like Zevran and Leliana were pretty boring characters in comparison to Alistair and Morrigan. I'm glad that there are 4 distinct choices in DA2, each with their own good and bad characteristics. The romance scenes were a little shorter then I would have preferred, but their uniqueness from one another was well appreciated. Conversely, I can see people being very disagreeable with the new romance options because none of them are as innocent and charming as Alistair or as sultry and mysterious as Morrigan, (personally, I felt like they were too perfect).

Questing - I felt like the majority of non-main-plot quests in DA2 were a lot more fulfilling than in DA:O. While you had more of a "I am SO important" feel in DA:O during *some* quests, you didn't have as many quests that showed immediate ramifications of decisions. Companion reactions to quest decisions make the experience much richer than in DA:O, overall. The quests with Saarebas and Leanda are particularly touching. I didn't feel any emotion at all during DA:O, except "D'oh" when they mention that a Warden has to die to kill the Archdemon. Aveline's dating quest was epiccaly funny.

Maps - I didn't mind that the whole game centered in Kirkwall. The maps themselves were well designed and rather large. You can tell that whoever made the maps put in a lot of effor to make them as unique as possible. Who didn't think the wounded coast was nice? Made me miss the Carribean islands... HOWEVER.... (see dislike about maps)

Graphics - Well done. The game is beautiful, and you don't need a monster pc to see that. Certainly doesn't hurt if you have one

Character design - I appreciated how females looked much more feminine in this game. Much too bulky looking in DA:O. Partifularly for mages, who aren't physical adepts...usually. 

NPCs - HUGE improvement here. Most NPCs in DA:O looked the same. While the clothing is still not much of a variable here (I can't count how many times I saw Anoras dress... it's like everyone is shopping at a Dragon Age Ambercrombie or a Dragon Age Walmart.) The facial differences on NPCs was definitely a plus.

Less Variation on Main Character - While playing different starting stories in DA:O was fun, I knew there were too many variables that came with it to continue the Warden's story extensively. As a programmer, I know it takes forever to create what people may think are simple things. It's more than a full time job at times. It's my thought that with less variation on Hawke's origin/race/etc., any following content can definitely be more fulfilling than it was for DA:O. Unfortunately, people who played DA:O are going to be upset by the lack of x or y in comparison because they are used to huge amounts of variability. 

Skills - I liked how companions had special abilities/skills. I would love to see this element in future games.

Combat - I liked both the old and the new systems for this. Overall, I think I prefer the new system because it can be both very casual or challenging. 

Story - I'm not sure where to begin here. There are many twists that I honestly didn't see coming. Never expected that Isabela's relic was the Qunari's and that Anders was "Ima firin mah lazer!" when that particular moment came up. Good and evil is debatable, and no choice is the 100% right choice. I think that is a great set up for much more to come.

What I did not like:

Maps - While the maps that were available were great looking, the things like tunnels were recycled WAY too much. You'll eventually get used to it, but then you'll be making mental notes of how many times you've been in this tunnel/cavern or on Saarebas' suicide spot being next to where the ironwood will be. Adding a few more would have made a big difference. 

Armor/Clothing - I didn't mind that I never had to change my companion's armor. Less work for me, right? However, it would have been nice to see more skin variations with robes and such. Almost every robe that wasn't the Spiral Eye robe or Champions armor was sea green with the fluffy stuff on the sides. Having different looking stuff would've been nice. Same goes for the staffs all looking the same.

Length of Game Time/Content- I can understand the game ending where it did... But I feel like there could have been an Act IV and Act V somewhere in there. I really enjoyed playing the game, but it felt like there should have been more. Perhaps I'm spoiled and I think this should be 5 Acts long like the Witcher. DA:O was arguably 5 parts long as well, since you have to deal with Dwarves/Elves/Mages/Redcliffe/Archdemon. If there were 2 more parts to this... I am sure everyone would have been much happier with this aspect of the game. 


What I would like to see in the future:

Romances: Adding at least  2 more dialogue sessions with your LI would have made a world of difference. Like... a couple of nights out at the Hanged Man or an evening at the Blooming Rose with Isabella. Just a little more stuff to make the fans enticed and giddy. We love that stuff, and we'll eat it up. Gifts in Act 1 would have helped set the stage a bit.

Additions to the Dialogue Wheel - There were moments when I couldn't help but feel like it would have been perfect to have one of those ME2 sudden paragon/renegade choices with the mouse click. Like when you are telling the Bone Mine Workers to get back to work, a funny renegade kind of click-thing would have been to punch the drunkards and tell them get back to work..or else! 

Better DLCs/Expansions than DA:O. I expect them to be much improved given the new game design. 

[Marcy3655]

I love the fact that you can be ambushed by enemies at anytime, it happens mostly during the night, but that makes it fun for me.. the battles in DA:O were a bit predictable after several of them, and this is a nice change from that... I love both games, they both have their respective flaws but I never expected perfection so am not worried about it... no game is perfect and some are far less perfect than others... lol

bioware games are always more fun in my book, and all in all DA2 works for me just fine... I could name off flaws in the ME series too, but what would be the point? These games, while not perfect, are worlds better than the others I've played and always enjoyable, so for me it's a win.. great game once again guys!

[Tempest]

As detailed as possible.

Disliked: 

• Random enemies in numerous random waves.  Killing a wave or two of random enemies forseeable.  Killing random waves of enemies that come out in 3+ waves gets tiring fast.
• Tank abilities are very poor.  Aggro management crucial as a tank but made too difficult because the abilities range is too small and as a tank who is not Aveline you get tossed around more often than need, which equal loss of time to get more aggro.  Not good as a tank.  In the end I was tanking as a 2 hander throughout the entire game as a far more copetent than a sword/board tank.
• Nearly every enemy plus their mother can disappear or knock allies back.  Wouldn't be an issue if a tank's aggro abilities weren't so frustrating.
• Have companions become maliable.  They shouldn't have to stick to one specific weapon/build.  If I want to be a tank, I wanna bring Aveline along because I like her character interactions with Isabella without losing dps.
• Repeated Dungeons:  I understand the city being the same, but did every dungeon in the free marshes have the same architect?  We were all kinda joking in a way that the dwarfs deep roads were all alike, but this takes it to another level.

Liked:

• Hawke's Story:  Very personal.  Everything was chosen as a "just another day" choice instead of a "Your the chosen one with huge responsibilities." choice.  I loved the personal feel of it.  Right to the end where they stared at me to chose a side.  Neither side was really wrong, nor did chosing one side favor "good/purity" like other WRPG's do it.  It was VERY personal and I LOVED it.
• Companion banter:  I LOVED it in the game.  The jabs, the aggreements, the **** talk about another companion who is in the party as well and the response of that 3rd companion to the other two talking..I LOVED that.  Made them feel VERY real.
• Companions in another companion's cutscene:  My GOD why isn't that done more often?  I really loved the touch of seeing merrill talking to isabella when I thought I was going to speak to isabella alone.  It gave me the immersion feel of believing they talk to each other when they are not in my party.
• DA:O cameos:  My god, I cried tears.....but where was morrigan...expansions?....you clever bastards...

[Marcy3655]

I didn't have the emotional connection in this one as I did in Origins, I actually cried a few times in Origins which is a first for me in a video game, which really shows how groundbreaking Origins was as a game.. but this new game is a very dark story and it makes sense I guess but I still wish there would have been a little more companion interaction because I think that would have made the difference right there; even in a really dark story there are places for emotional connection...

[Big_Choppa]

Marcy3655 wrote...

I didn't have the emotional connection in this one as I did in Origins, I actually cried a few times in Origins which is a first for me in a video game, which really shows how groundbreaking Origins was as a game.. but this new game is a very dark story and it makes sense I guess but I still wish there would have been a little more companion interaction because I think that would have made the difference right there; even in a really dark story there are places for emotional connection...

The only time I was even close to getting emotional in DA2 was when I chose the path of helping Merril kill her clan (Intense) and also killing Anders. Otherwise....I didn't feel much else.

[Marcy3655]

I didn't even know you could kill Anders... amazing, I'll have to see how that plays out on another playthrough... lol, I've avoided killing Merrill's clan at all costs on the first 2 playthroughs, for some reason I just can't bring myself to go there, perhaps her tragic backstory is the reason...

[Mountie]

I'll try not to compare to much to previous work. Been a customer of yours since your first game, this is the first one I really felt didn't live up to the standards I feel you set for yourself.

Companions: Just not enough interaction to really make me care all that much. If I had to pick one thing that really resonates through all your games this would be it. In each game you put out there was a tremendous amount of work put in to make the characters feel real. It felt glossed over in this game. There are flashes of brilliance here and there, but just not enough of it on the whole. The best example I can think of is having Bethany die. This should have been an epic moment in this game. The sister, companion through the story to that point and a person who literally was influencing my decisions in the game. In fact, my siding with the mages at the end could be primarily attributed to Bethany's role in the beginning. I literally changed my mind about my path in this game because of this character. And when she dies it's done in a very fast, 'moving-right-along' way. My memory of this event is one of disappointment when it could have been unbelievable and one of the top moments in a game ever. I mean, she never even took a shot from a darkspawn in my game. The method of the death and the lack of caring in the cutscenes afterwards really just left a sour taste.

Bugs: Not something I expect in your games, and perhaps it was the timing and not the quantity. I seemed to run into quite a few bugs while playing, but far and away the most damaging was the Orsino fight bug. I was staying up a bit late to finish the game when I encountered the bug with Orsino. Rather than re-load and continue I just shut down and picked it up another day. largely ruining the experience. It seemed every bug I encountered was very jarring. Fenris' quest bug where I forgot to bring him was a good example. As I'm preparing to fight the last battle and talking to my companions for their final thoughts, Fenris is asking me when I'll be going to find Hadriana. A nice reminder to be sure.

Silly acrobatics: I know style is a good thing, but it is no match for substance. By far the worst offender to me was the meredith fight where she vaults and spins and lands above the battlefield to summon some help. I get the intent of what you were trying to do, but it just looked laughably absurd to me. This is the kind of stuff I expect to see in games like Star Ocean or similar action jrpgs. Just like in those games the move winds up taking you out of the immersion of the moment to remind you that your playing a game. The in-combat stuff I didn't mind too much, it wasn't jarring enough to break my focus during the combat sequence. But during story moments this type of stuff just seems silly.

All in all the game wasn't bad, but it was pretty average. By the end I was just plowing through the story to see how it would end and finish the game. I mean, it's not really a bad thing, I've just generally come to expect more out of the company over the years. A lot of my favorite games have been made by you guys and gals after all. This game is mostly forgettable and I'm not sure I'll play it again. It was a nice playthrough once, but (ironically given some of the comments in the past) my first comparison would be to final fantasy 13. Decently fun but not something I'll be returning to over and over to experiment with and re-experience like some games (both) companies have put out before.

[nude_gabriel]

Hallo!

Just finished first run of DA2 the overall feel is very different from DAO;a hero fighting to save the world vs hero of Kirkwall conspiracies.

Likes: The interface and graphics were significant improvements, the dialouge wheel wasa nice touch. I like the design of the inventory as well. Makes it alot easier to browse. Plot wise I liked the twist at the end (i sided with the mages)  and wellll I didn't anticipate Meredith having that idol, (actually there were clues but  i didn't catch 'em) 
 I enjoyed the jibes among the companions too. Most of the dialouges made sense, given the companions' background stories and alignments.

Dislikes: the limitation of armour for companions. Not sure why armour is restricted, it does make the game its easier...but it takes the AD & D aspect down a notch.  The interactions between my character and the companions were sorely missed! Especially physical interaction. The scenes were so tame I not sure if they actually happened.(It's a wonder the Blooming Rose is still in business..)  I missed having the campsite where I could talk to everyone, without paying them home visits.  The maps were far too recycled and distracted from the fun of the game. It's hard to feel the thrills of political intrigues / slashing at bloodmages when you are running through the same streets and rooms for 6 years. (I would think that citizen would run screaming at the sight of the hero than stay and fight. hurhur...) I'm not particularly into conspiracies, so the main storyline was passably good. (DAO was very good....)

Overall...my heart still lies with DAO...technically DA2 is better, but as a story it comes across as too well planned, and playing it seems like executing a massive preplanned plot. (Which may be its intention, since it's a retell by Varric) It is a good game, but it ain't got my love.

[Big I]

After recently finishing my first playthrough, these are my impressions of Dragon Age 2.

Story


The main plot was not compelling except in Act 2, where it's made so by a strong antagonist in the Arishok. I spent most of Act 1 asking myself questions: why was Hawke running around getting money for the expedition? If 50 sovereigns is enough to become an equal partner in a business venture, shouldn't it be enough to support their family? Why do they want to stay in Kirkwall, aka templar central, anyway? Why not go back to Fereldan? Why is Bartrand betraying everyone? Is it the whole expedition or just Hawke and co.? The list goes on. Conversely, I spent all of Act 3 already knowing what to do; kill Orsino or Meredith. It was so clear that's what needed to be done that it became a source of frustration, just as with Sister Petrice in Act 1. Act 2 was by far the best, with a clear goal, sympathetic characters in the Viscount and the Arishok, and plot twists that were both unexpected and interesting.


The Act 3 plot was probably my least favorite part. From what Anders did ("let's blow up a building! For Justice!") to Meredith's and Orsino's reactions ("a random stranger has destroyed the Chantry! Kill the Circle!" vs "I must now become a flesh golem and go on a rampage!") the whole thing seemed almost farcical. When I reached the Gallows after siding with the mages and found that I was not immediately attacking Meredith, but was instead going off to "prepare" (i.e. fight Orsino) I was astonished. It made no sense for Meredith to allow them to prepare, at all. Prepare could mean summoning demons, or sacrificing the Tranquil for blood magic. Compared to the confrontation with the Arishok, the whole thing felt anti-climactic. The ending, without a definitive end for Hawke or Kirkwall, was also disconcerting.


Family


I found it odd that a game the developers said was in large part about family then preceded to take that family away from you. The first sibling death in Lothering lacked all emotional impact, the second sibling loss felt forced, and your mother's death was just bizarre. I'm not even sure what her death was meant to accomplish. Make mages unsympathetic? Whatever it was, I only really responded to the shock value of seeing Leandra's fate. That said, I found the interactions between siblings interesting in Act 1. It's a shame that all subsequent interactions were so flat.


Companions


Although interesting and well written, I often found their motivations and circumstances hard to fathom. I found myself asking why did Aveline follow them to Kirkwall? Why did Merrill leave her clan? Why is Isabella sticking around? That  most things are explained in Act 2 is something, but it's still a long time to leave a player wondering. I was also deeply unhappy with the rail-roading of Anders, both because it makes little sense based on the characters of Anders and Justice from Awakening, and made even less sense if you had 100% rivalry with Anders and forced him to reconsider his actions.


Combat


The lack of an auto-attack function was initially very frustrating on console. Once I adjusted to that by constantly pressing the attack button, another problem came to light; targeting. Targeting was terrible. There wasn't a battle in the game where I didn't at some point attack someone other than who I wanted to. Having to find one particular targeting "x" in a screen filled with enemies and more waves approcahing was neither fun or easy. My last combat frustration was the legth of time the last mage combat animation took. It often a) allowed an enemy to close with me and attack before I could do anything, and was used against an enemy that was already dead by the time it had finished.


Inventory


I understand why companion armor was restricted, but it was still annoying receiving so much equipment that no one in my playthrough could use. I also found the star grading system confusing. I remember on several occasions comparing two accessories with the same bonus but different star ratings. What's the point of that? Lastly, the enchanting system took a step back when it made runes be destroyed instead of replaced. It made runes a constant drain on your money as you acquired new rune patterns and new weapons.


Things I Would Have Liked to Have Seen


1. A Lothering Origin. Make me care about Hawke's life and family before you take them away.
2. More explanatory set up, even if only in letters. At least the Loose Ends quest explained why Hawke didn't have a job.
3. The ability to influence the personality of all companions, not just some, with sufficient friendship or rivalry.
4. Have the qunari crisis be Act 3 instead of Act 2, and have a choice to convert the city to the Qun.

Modifié par LookingGlass93, 19 mars 2011 - 10:05 .

[Talogrungi]

Just finished my first playthrough. Male Diplomatic Rogue/Archer, Allied to the Mages and romanced Merrill.

Things I loved:

• Hawke. I felt he had much more personality and depth than "The Warden" I played in DA:O.
• Hawke's Voice. Building on the above point; having Hawke voiced added a lot to to the game.
• Varric. Funny, irreverant and just downright cool.
• Merril, a.k.a Welsh Liara with added Demons. Every Hawke should have one. Adorable.
• Combat. Much less clunky than the orginal, archery especially.
• The story; as I mentioned above .. much more "human".
• The "junk/sell all" system. A subtle improvement, but nice.
• Crafting. Didn't enjoy having to run around buying reagents and sacrificing skill points in DA:O.

Things I was disappointed by:

• The family angle. As a Rogue, Bethany lived through the prologue .. I was happy as she would have been my choice, but I wasn't happy that I didn't have the choice. I decided to leave her at home when I went to the Deep roads to respect the wishes of Hawke's mother, so when I found out she'd gone to the circle upon my return it kinda felt like Hawke didn't have any real familial interaction at all for the bulk of the game.
• The romantic subplot. Merril the adorable yet mental blood mage, or Isabella the ****ty pirate. I haven't romanced Isabella yet (Beyond sleeping with her early on - it was rude not to) but Merril's romance felt somewhat stunted and I was disappointed that there was pretty much zero interaction aside from when I found gifts for her or had a quest pop up in my journal direct me to her. I'd have liked the option to romance Aveline too, just to have a less extreme romance option.
• Archer Cross-class combos. As an Archer, one of my skills (like Pinning Shot) was able to cause Disorient, but it just never felt like it worked consistently. It frequently failed to do anything except hit a bit harder than an auto-shot and almost never seemed to either immobilize or Disorient the Elite mobs against whom it would be useful. Staggering enemies with Aveline was much more effective.
• The GUI felt rather .. unfinished. The potion icons for example, just felt like placeholders.

Bugs I encountered:

• In the epilogue, Varric mentioned that the companions eventually all left the Champion's side, "except for Isabella, of course". I'd slept with Isabella early on in the game, but she left with the relic in Act 2 and I'd romanced Merril.
• There was a quest that I was unable to complete called "Who needs rescuing?" .. I believe that it was a ruse in order for Emets to ambush me, but it bugged me that the quest still stuck in my journal afterwards.

Overall, I much preferred DA2 to DA:O; especially the Mage vs Templar conflict. Having a Mage sister yet battling Blood Mages at every turn put an interesting slant on my Hawke's choices. Even though I ended up allying with the mages, there was definately a part of me that was thinking "Bugger, have I done the right thing here?".

I understand the necessity of having -a- mage in the Hawke family for story purposes, but I'd have preferred it to be a non-companion one like Hawke's mother. Knowing what I do now, I'm  going find it weird playing a pro-Templar run while having a mage sister or being a mage myself. I suppose I'll have to let her die in the Deep Roads. :S

Modifié par Talogrungi, 19 mars 2011 - 01:49 .

[blood.rage]

I just finished the game yesterday and.. it was good. Not perfect, but still good. That's why I don't understand why there is so much hate for DA2.

I like:
+ gameplay (the combat was a nice experience, especially playing as a mage, much better than in DAO)
+ the story which was very personal for our character (also it was really touching for me and this is kinda important for me in games)
+ difficult decisions we have to make
+ the ending was satisfying for me (i know some people will disagree, but still), but i wanted to play a bit longer
+ voiced Hawke (aside from that i do not mind that we can choose only one race, because I've always played as a human anyway)
+ interesting companions (apart from.. one thing ) and their quests


I don't like:
- repetitive environments (I had a nasty feeling like „hey, I've already been here!”, of course it doesn't have anything to do with Kirkwall as the setting)
- there should be more interactions between our character and the companions (and LIs especially) as it was in DAO, unfortunately in DA2 it felt quite shallow for me
- some music from DAO (it made me sometimes think about the previous game too much)
- the acts should be more explored (unfortunately they seem to lack something)
- each companion is bi (especially I didn't like Anders to be... bi lol what have you done to him? I remember he was different in general :/ Isabella and others could be explained, but not him anyway it just made me think that it was super unrealistic for everyone to be bi :/)
- sometimes enemies come from nowhere (not saying about skeletons and demons)


I'd give it 8,5/10.
As I said before, the game is not perfect, but good. It was rushed and this is the main problem I think. DA2 just needed more love There are some things that I can't stand, but well.. Hope, they'll be fixed in the next DA. Also, I'm looking forward to DLCs that will close the story of my Hawke properly. I still trust Bioware. Still.

[Bmeszaros]

I have enjoyed Bioware since KotOR. I still play both Mass Effects and love them both. While I had a few issues with DAO, I loved the immense world and lore.

Despite continuing to Play DA2, I'm saddened by what I was led to believe would be a truly "interactive" framed narrative.

Let's face it, I pre ordered and got DA2 not because it was DA, but because it was a bioware product.

I thought I would be playing as this legendary warrior or mage that changed all of Thedas by his/her actions, when all the Champion was was a "bit player", dragged along for ride in a city that was doomed before my ship had even come ashore.

Story: I thought the overarching story, the war and its build up, was a great idea, in theory. However, with the framed narrative and the "story within the story" jumping several years at a time, it made it seem less engaging when I'm running around, looking for missing shawls and human remains instead of being up close and engaged with the main plot character constantly.

The Framed Narrative: I bought the excitement around the Framed Narrative. I was excited to see how my choices would effect what was the overarching theme, which was a brewing war between mages and Templars. I was sadly disappointed when I realized that despite End Result, which I was expecting with the framed narrative, that my choices, the interactive portion I feel I was promised, amounted to nothing on the finished story. Why play the game if I know I am going to become Champion? Well the question is: What is a Champion of Kirkwall? After playing this game I can say that its hardly the figure that I imagined he would be, I was promised "One of the Most important people in Thedas" and instead, it turns out that the Champion felt more like a piece of Flotsum in the Wind, another bit player on the stage where Kirkwall was the real main character and the Champion was just a stage extra.

Characters: I loved Merrill. I liked Aveline, Varric, Sebastian, and Bethany. Beyond that, the rest of the characters seemed to be completely opposite of what a Champion thats for the people would want at his side. I disliked how you were repaid with a fight later for every mage you chose not to kill.

Environments: Painfully limiting would be the best way I could describe it. The New Stylized art direction seemed like more of the same from DA:O then I was led to believe. Every Alley looked the same, Almost every mansion/manor looked the same.

Combat:  I liked the new direction here more than I thought. I felt like it was more natural, which I liked as a console gamer, but I didn't like the way the "Wave Fights" were handled. Enemies seemingly appearing out of thin air or dropping down from high buildings was utterly ridiculous. Was it would of the realm of possiblity to have them just come out of the adjacent buildings? or at least appear by the doors?

Inventory:  For someone who liked Mass Effect 2's streamlined inventory system, you would think I would like the DA2 inventory, but I didn't. Instead of chasing down these specific "upgrades" maybe thejust should have made them group general, I.E. like in ME2, when you found/researched an armor upgrade, it applied bonuses to all applicable team members, which I liked. I found in DA2 that I had more junk and my inventory filled up faster because I simply couldn't use 75 percent of what I collecting, forcing me to stop off and sell loads of useless items several times over, seriously, how many pairs of Torn Trousers can I find?? 

Extras: Disappointing. As an XBOX gamer, I probably have 6 acheivements that have failed to unlock despite 2 full playthoughs. I'm not someone that holds a gamer score in that high of regard, but Its been nearly two weeks and I can't believe this was an issue that was missed, especially since I ponied up the MS points for the DLC day one. 

As a fan of Bioware, it hurts that this finished product is what they rest on, Despite preordering this game, I feel like it was billed as something it wasn't, An Interactive Framed Narrative where your choices have real impact on the game. Sure you could kill Anders, but only after he blew up the Chantry, sure you could turn Isabela over to the Qunari, but only after the Arishok had ordered the death of pretty much half the city. One of the most WTF moments I had was when I worked so hard to get a Full Rivarly with Merrill only to have her apologize and sleep with me despite her saying that I no doubt have joy that she couldn't finish the mirror (I denied her the tool she needed to fix it)

I will still buy Bioware games and support them, but I have lost a little bit of respect due to what I believed I was getting and what I actually got with DA2.


5/10

[RyuAzai]

I already posted in another thread, constructive criticism. But I thought of a few more little things, that would have been neat.

The game overall I enjoyed, the story seemed to have less luster then Origins, but the companions truly did beat out what was going on with the Origins companions.

What I would have liked, is more upgrades for your companions armor. And more gifts. But gifts that actually mean something like the sword of mercy. Or maybe you give them something and surprise they are wearing it because you gave it to them. Then for the armor, I liked how they were unique models. I really did. I would've just liked more upgrade options to it. And it would change with the certain upgrades you gave it.

One thing that I hope sticks is the voice. It made everything more real, and really made me enjoy my character Hawke. I could actually speak, and it just seemed I could do a lot more because of it. Then finally, keep Sandal. I want to see him in every game

[fecakovacs]

Liked: Graphic and the new companion personalities (all except for Hawke's siblings), toggle helmet option, main character talks (like in ME). Combat effects (not the combat, only the effects!), the story is not about darkspawn (but still not epic...see below)
Disliked: Combat system was too simplified, story lacks the power of the original (the whole story is like a sidequest to DAO1). Major event bugs (at the end of the game Varric tells Isabella remains with the Champion but in the game first I had a relationship with Isabella though but in the end I chose Merril). Repititive locations and combat. Richer RPG elements was promised but it is less as in DAO1, Redesign of Quanari and Flemeth (they look cooler but still for me this was unnecessary). Spell/Skill friendly fire only on highest possible difficulty (this was a really dumb idea, lost all the tactics). No armor change for companions.

Modifié par fecakovacs, 19 mars 2011 - 11:25 .

[djsuha]

first i wanna tell that i met with dragon age :origins to late just 2 months ago it was wonderful exactly that is directly how must be a game because of that i wait for DA2. but that is really disappointment about story there is nothing to do we visit every place min 3 times it makes boring .. game looks like a demo

STORY is big 0 ... sorry

and armor of the champion : many people wanna play with that armor i guess!! ( i want like that ) but we can take all armor pieces after finish game %80 also we can't use it for second game

which is i liked :

Hawke that is really great character
Combat style is good
Crafting that is really good idea if you have something u can use it always
Graphics is nice i love that (with directx 11 has problem)
Sounds and effect and musics that is my best

and i wanna tell u some bugs which is i see;

1. Sometimes box of the shop ( in hightown) we cant see it there is just empty place, but still can shopping
2. in the combat some enemy attacking but they don't have a weapon in hands (exatcly archers)
3. there is a side quest in ACT 3 " WHO NEEDS RESCUING?" we can't finish that quest go to Wounded Coast there is only one person "Leader of Bandits" and nothing more .. ( also i cant fing that quest in Official Game Guide !!!
4. for Aveline armor upgrade part 4 in quest " Favor and Fault " it must be on the Jeven body there is not !!!

i hope in the future about story everthing gonna be right still i have support about DA and BIOWARE thanks for game
Greetz

[monopoly1888]

I just beat DA2 literally 10 mins ago and this is what i think: I loved it. i thought it was a good game with a good plot. I also loved origins. I would have to say there were some improvments and some unimprovements.

I like not being able to talk to compainons outside of their homes. in origins Sten always got in the way of trying ot get loot etc and i would start a convo, which got annoying. But i would have loved to be able to talk to them in their home about things that have occured and how they feel.

I loved how we could customise armor in origins. now I feel weird selling top notch rouge armor because my warrior cant wear it.

I dont know what everyone is complaining about, i liked the companions. i think because we couldnt talk to them people thought they were dull.

I liked the new art style and i likd that Hawke could talk.

i wasnt a huge fan of each companion having their own house. maybe a hotel where they all lived would have been better. i found it a hasle to go to each place to give a gift or get a quest etc.

I got pissed off at how all the mansions, caves, etc were the same map. try some originallity.

i didnt mind the acts and how there were different plots in each act (sort of) but i didnt like how it skipped three years. i would have like to see how the city recovered from the qunari, etc.

i didnt like how all the lot to collect was either very little moneey, or junk. i loved the origins loot and was always finding myself with a full backpack. in DA2 i didnt care about looting.

I LOVED the new style of talent system. it made it better. however i missed the abilities like coercion. i thought that was cool to intimidate or persuade enemies, but to have to have a certain level to do it.

i missed not beinf able to weild daggers as a warrior or be able to dual wield or archer. i liked being a sword shield with a few archer talents in origins for some ranged, but DA2 takes that away.

this doesnt really pertain to the game itself but i didn t like the strategy guide for DA2. the origins guide was fantastic, having the quest and maps next to each other and giving detail on the quest. DA2 guide had maps in one section and quests in another and the walthrough in a different section, it was to confusng.

I wish there would have been a few more decisions in the end, rather than just simply side with mage or templar because you kill orsino and meridith either way.

I missed the epilogue. in origins it said what happened to everyone and other significant character and location. DA2 ends in mystery. i wanted to know why everyone left and where they went

i also would have loved another dwarf companion (NOT OGHREN)

i didnt like the whole friendship rivalry much. good idea, better than origins, but it has to be improved.

a little bit in the begining before we flee would have been nice. get to know the family asnd lothering so u actually care when you have to leave.

Overall, i liked the game.

[Demetra11]

I totally loved Mage Champions Armor. I loved more but i have the need to say thank you
to whoever designed it. And the house, one mustnt forget the house.
And Fenris, allthough i wished i could have had more time to speak with him.
He was not Alistair, but i think no char can reach him anyway^^ ( i am hopeless i know).

I am all in all content, it may not been as epic as the first game,
but it was fun to play nevertheless.
I was  feeling betrayed by  Anders ( yes people change but this was a bit much imho)
and started to play a Mage to be able to kill him ( Partyhealer) and when i did i felt bad.
No easy choices and i want to thank you for that too.

I even liked looking at my females walking, while in the demo i was not so happy
with it. I wanted to put everyone in the house, i wanted to help ferelden people
in general, i wanted to chat more with my new gang, i wanted to know them better and i wanted to play more.
And what? Both heros are missing? I want ... yeah.. i know i am one predictable costumer....

So now, when will we get an dlc to fix this need? ^^
( sorry for english mistakes, it is not my native language)

-----
Techniks:
Grafic: Well done, Maps: well done, but more and different ones would have been better
New Interface: okay... Dialog Wheel:okay...
Story : I want more, New fight and skill system: Okay!! Liked it, i am an easy mode player
Fights are not my main focus.
Waves of Enemies: Sigh... good i am playing on easy mode
------
General: I laughed a lot in Sebastians Quests. Generally the game had its
touching moments, but i feel i was not as much into it as in Origins.
But i have a feeling i could be, if i get more DA2 caught me, differently than
Origins. But it is up to Bioware to make the flame big now.<3

Modifié par Demetra11, 19 mars 2011 - 06:05 .

[pikledpunk]

I want to start by giving my overall feeling of the game.  I have played and finished KOTOR 1 & 2, Mass Effect 1 & 2, DA:O & Awakening, and DA2.  Origins is one of my favorite games of all time across any genre.  I've finished the game multiple times and will play it again, which is a rarity for me.  The only reason I finished DA2 was out of respect of DA:O.  I thought the game was not very good and if this is the direction of the series, I will be done with it.  Now on to more specifics.

Story - Liked

• Seeker dragging Varric into the room and demanding information on the Champion felt like this was an extremely important story
• Escaping Lothering with the tie into DA:O felt like you were really jumping into the story
• Standoff with Qunari and the talks that lead to them taking over the city and the resulting battle with them
• The Arishok asking what Hawke would do, even as he was taking over the city gave the feeling that he was indeed just following the Qun, and would consider suggestions if it held to the Qun
• The events leading up to the final battle with Meredith

Story - Disliked

• Majority of the side quests were just boring and there seemed no reason to do them other than money and loot
• Little opportunity to know your companions and family members made quests involving them not really matter to me
• Much of the story was the side quests, there was little buildup to the main events leaving me not really caring about the city or Hawke or anyone in the game.
• The sword of Meredith having somethign to do with the idol.  Where did that come from?  No foreshadowing.  Is the sword the idol?  Did it get enhanced by the idol?  Felt like you needed a villain and you cobbled together this story about her and the idol.
• Story was short in comparison to DA:O.  You had 4 main parts to DA:O, after Ostagar and before the buildup tot he final battle (Redcliffe, Dalish, Mage tower, and Orzammar).  The entire story of DA2 seemed like just 1 of these parts of the DA:O story.
• Linear story.  In DA:O, you end at the same place, but you can choose the order you do them (Redcliffe, Dalish, Mage, Orzammar)
• No feeling you were being hunted by opposition, even though several times they said "You have enemies".  In DA:O, there were several times when assassins, guardsmen, etc would stop you as you were traveling to some place, or just meet you at your destination and try to take you down.
• How quicly did Bartrand leave town?  Why did we not confront him earlier?
• Seemed like bringing in some of these characters from DA:O was forced.  Anders makes sense.

Companions - Liked

• Most of the companions seemed to have unique personalities.
• The banter between companions as you walk through areas.  Adds some humor and sometimes some clues to how they feel about things.

Companions - Disliked

• Hardly any opportunity to talk to them and get to know them
• No way to view their status/weapons/jewelry when in home
• The quests for companions did not seem as big a deal as in DA:O (taking out a dragon, handling assassins, searching for oghren's wife in the heart of darkspawn underground)

Combat - Liked

• I liked the large scale of some battles with reinforcements (waves) arriving.  Gave the feeling of going against the odds
• Extra speed of battles wasn't a huge deal for me, but I didn't dislike it so I put it here.

Combat - Disliked

• With very little skills available, combat was mostly button mashing, even as a mage.
• The horrible aggro control of warrior types combined with so many interruptions in using skills became more of an annoyance than a battle strategy to overcome.
• The battle with Meredith seemed a bit over the top like it was the end boss of a platform game.  Just created a bunch of abilities for her to seem cool, but where did she get these abilities?  Did the idol give them to her?  Are these templar abilities that elite templar can aqcuire?  I just don't get that whole battle.
• Because there were so few skills to get (you needed to spend points to upgrade them or they weren't worthwhile skills), battle was the same every time.  no real strategy, just fire off your few skills and then button mash.

Skills - Liked

• Companions having unique skill trees
• Each "fragment" of the Firestorm spell having its own area of damage instead of constant damage from anywhere in the Firestorm's affected area.

Skills - Disliked

• I missed the discovering or unlocking of specializations.
• switching to a different "mode" to use those abilities is just an annoying mechanism when you can easily switch between them when needed
• not all base class trees available to all companions of that class (ex: Creation tree for Merril)
• Using only about 1/4 of the skills in DA:O made for having very little skills which reduced combat to a lot of button mashing.

Game World - Liked

• Kirkwell seemed like the large city it is

Game World - Disliked

• The contstant reuse of areas made the game world seem tiny and boring in comparison to DA:O
• All dungeons were fairly linear.  In DA:O there were some places where you could take multiple routes or skip certain areas.  I personally liked to explore as much as possible.

Dialog System - Liked

• The circle system like in ME series made it quicker to get to selections and harder to accidentally choose an option since there is no default answer.
• Being able to ask for opinions of the group or defer the dialog to a companion

Dialog System - Disliked

• The dialog options did not always seem to match what was really said
• The friend/rivalry rewards did not always match up with what you chose

Equipment - Liked

• Trash loot marked as trash and automatically sent to trash inventory section.  I like having the trash loot because it gives the impression that you must take items, trinkets and sell them to make money instead of only having coin and usable equipment drop.

Equipment - Disliked

• Armor not changeable on companions
• Nearly all equipment had generic names like Ring or Superior Robes
• No progression in equipment.  I was still using some armor I got from early on because it had % fire damage or frost damage.  Only reason I upgraded my staff was because of the attack damage.  The effects were the same as the other staves I had.

Crafting - Liked

• Discovering "nodes" for crafting instead of the individual pieces.  Although I am fine with the system in DA:O as well.

Crafting - Disliked

• Should be able to craft in the field like DA:O
• Where are the traps?  I liked being able to make and use traps in DA:O
• I didn't find a reason to use crafting at all.  Seemed more trouble than it was worth

Overall I couldn't wait to get this game finished so I could trade it in for something good.

[GreasyDogMeat2]

Pros
-The main Hawke character, male or female, is voiced, has a good voice and a great default appearance.
-The story takes dark turns.
-The new trash system, limiting companion armor. I get tired of sorting equipment and that is one less thing to deal with.
-The new art design for Elves & Q'nari. They actually look like different races opposed to people with pointy ears/large grey people.
-The look of Kirkwall.
-The new combat system and animation. Much flashier and more exciting.
-Good choice & consequences as the story progresses.

Cons
-Having to mash the A button during a fight. My hand was sore after the final boss battle. Please patch game and add an option for auto-attack like the first game.
-Waves of enemies popping in from nowhere. It looks bad.
-The Prince DLC costing money. Obviously was finished and should have been included instead of nickel & dimeing the customer.
-Glitches. The Merril questline is absolutely messed up. Cutscenes play in improper order and you end up having to do things that shouldn't have been required based on choices. One side quest to rescue someone's daughter along the Coast didn't work.
-#1 biggest complaint about the game: Using the exact same damn maps for every cave and house in the game. I visited over 10 different caves, they all looked the same. If you list every unique map in the game there are about 20. That is inexcusable in a 45-50 hour RPG that has as limited a scope as DA 2. The game only takes place in Kirkwall and a few surrounding locations. This made me feel absolutely ripped off after paying $60 for this game. If the game were patched and one new variation of a cave were added it would double the cave variety in the game.

[G_Admiral_Thrawn]

Two problems. First, this game had little to no beta testing done, and second, the cavern maps tend to be reused a lot...

[JulianoV]

Engine: Runs aberrationally on good rigs on DX11, hiccups when it shouldn't. Some textures are wonderful, some are barf-inducing. Bystander character models are painful to see.

Gameplay: Much better, way more fluid. Companion positioning needs tweaking, they act like total morons, jumping on top of trap switches and kiting miserably. On Nightmare one needs to babysit constantly or, having a warrior, use taunt and keep them on Hold. Balancing beetween difficulties is completely off, Hard is too easy due to lack of Friendly Fire, Nightmare gets monotonous at too many situations. Putting a note that one can change the difficulty at any time doesn't make it any less unbalanced.

Hawke:Brilliant voice acting, motivations a bit too selfish, albeit credible and relateable. Doesn't really feel like a Hero by the end.

Companions: Banter is wonderful, the fact you may see them interacting beetween one another is so satisfying one can't help but wonder not only why it wasn't done before like that, but also why it's so rare in the game. Motivations are iffy at times and justifications for sticking around a bit on the weak side, not to mention reasoning behind teaming up for starters. "I heard you are real good" and "Hey, you, help me with something" seems a bit far-fetched. Not a game breaker by any chance though.

Area repetition: You see the entirety of the areas the game takes place in a quarter in it. That says a lot. Nothing to be added that hasn't been said before. Laughable, annoying, feels cheap, makes everything a chore. Lamentable time optimization choice.

Quest Glitches: Hey, it's a big game, patching up is around the corner, I'm OK with that.

Story: The "HE HAS GONE MAD" coin is tossed around waaaaaaay too often. Save for the Arishok, EVERY single major problem in the game comes from either Blood Magic or THe Lyrium Idol, that allows connection to the Fade or something, corruption not quite like Demons, but I digress.

[JulianoV]

Oh, and the ending in particular, which leads me to...

Ending: Everyone goes nuts. Total wacko nuts, doing stupid, disproportional stuff all over. There are dumb revelations being tossed around just because, a lightsaber wielding maniac orchestrating a bunch of bronze statues that would break before doing the Thriller dance in front of me, as I had to endure. I myself doubted my sanity as the game's story suddenly became so laughable and dumb, with Deus Ex Machina resources being tossed all over. It felt like the conflicts were determined in half a minute. As I said, everything relies on "YOU'VE GONE MAD". "ANDERS, YOU'VE GONE MAD!" "ORSINO, YOU'VE GONE MAD!" "MEREDITH, YOU'VE GONE MAD!"

When you overuse it like so, the whole "It may have all been a Varric's lie" seems even comforting.

The ending was awful, no matter how I look at it. It was abrupt, its catalysts AND results were pulled out of thin air and the ending cinematic was painfully unsatisfying. Mages ending in particular being a bit depressing, while the Templars one was "Ok, why am I not playing this? I truly believe I should be rewarded with a coronation sequence for enduring such a stupidity storm".

I'm not one to bash, but I REALLY want to stress out that, as a fan, that ending really broke a lot of my good perception of the game.

Modifié par JulianoV, 19 mars 2011 - 10:18 .

[XX-Pyro]

 Here's my personal opinion, after 2 playthroughs (both mage characters) and an act into my rogue.

1.  Story-

• Framed Narrative- This is something that I really enjoyed, but I don't feel was implemented as strongly as it could have been, which really saddens me because I don't see it as being a future implementation in the franchise. Sometimes you lose yourself in Hawke's world, which all in all is great, but I shouldn't forget that this is an interrogation. Basically, I really wish that they went back to Cassandra and Varric a few more times, and developed Cassandra's character a bit more than they did. In the demo, she turned soft right away when Varric asked "Aren't you worried I'll make it up as I go along?" Cassandra was too hard-headed the entire game, and I feel that she didn't open up to Varric's story enough, nor did Varric open up enough to her. I thought that the part where Varric said "I want this story to be told, Seeker" could have been so much better than it was. The entire world is at war, Varric could have put a bit more emotion espescially towards the end. "Same to you Seeker, same to you" that simple line could have been so much better of an ending for Varric if you gave him 10 seconds more of a cutscene just browsing through the book that Cassandra had, with reflection or sadness or emotion in his eyes.

• Mood/Tone- You really impressed me with this BioWare, so props for that. This was more of a Dark Fantasy than Origins ever was, and I have to give you a massive amount of respect for trying a new more personal story instead of the fairy tale ending. The story was great, barring the first act. Hawke said (him/her)self that if he had 50 sovereigns, that (he/she) wouldn't need to go on the Deep Roads expedition. A more enticing reason for that would have been great, and so would showing how he had become someone in Kirkwall after that. The opening was also rather weak, a slightly longer interview between Varric and Cassandra would have been better, along with a more touching scene of Hawke's home being destroyed or some such, to gain a feeling of loss, instead of annoyance. The dark mood of the story however, coupled with the personal feel was great, I knew from the begginning how it would end, and through reading many spoilers prior to the release I knew more about the game than I would have liked to, but I remained stunned at the ending and the way many things happened, so great job with that BioWare.

• The Ending- Mentioned briefly above, I love how stunned it left me sitting on the sofa, although it could have been a little bit better if the camera moved a little closer to Hawke, similar to how after the Warden killed the Broodmother in Awakenings, he walks away, and looks back ever so briefly, before the game ends. As for Varric's ending, I wrote about how I felt it could have been done better by making Varric a bit more emotional, a bit more willing to help tell the Champion's story, to help end a war.

2.  Environment-

• Graphics/Art Style- First off let me say that I play DA2 on the PS3, however I have played Origins on all 3 systems, and in my opinion the Art Style in DA2 far outdoes any artwork Origins had by 9 miles. I'm really pleased with the look of everything, and how the races actually look different now, instead of it just being a height difference, great job on the artwork! The graphics were great as well, maybe not as good as other games however they worked quite well with the Art Style we had, so I am not at all slighted by thinking other games may have slightly better graphics.
• Recycled Environments- Please, please, please, please, please, please, do not do it at this level again. This makes me dread doing sidequests, and in all honesty the only word that describes it is pathetic. I understand resource and time/money constraints, but for heaven's sake at least delete the areas off the minimaps. The areas themselves looked fantastic, however seeing the same area over and over again is a serious issue.

3. Combat-

• Fluidity- This is very different tailored to classes, rogue's getting the short end of the stick (haven't fully played warriors yet, I know 2H warriors score rather low in this department as well.) First off, great job on the mages and how they adapt to melee combat and attacks! Although some of the attacks are too flashy, in the end it does look great and is a huge leap forwards from the 'pew pew' from Origins. Very pleased in that regard. Mages score 100% for me in combat fluidity, nothing that I could see that was an issue  to me personally. Rogue's on the other hand, have serious problems. Both dual wielding and archer rogues are seriously choppy in the way they go about combat, and it looks (and feels -console) very strange. As I said before, I can't judge warriors just yet, might edit that in when I get around to playing as one.

• Specializations, Companion Specializations, and Ability Trees- This was done well, but not perfectly by any means. I am a strong supporter of the now non-linear ability trees, so that's a big plus for me, however the Companion Specializations trees were just, too specialized I guess. I dislike how we were practically forced to take on Aveline as a tank, and that only one healer was available. A much better solution would have been to keep those Companion Specialization Trees, and use them to replace the tree that the companion lost from the regular set. An example being Aveline's guardian tree replacing her 2H ability tree. Then, allowing you to specialize your companions with the 3 specializations for each class would have been a big plus, giving us more customization along with the ability to make characters who we want able to tank, DPS, heal, etc. As for the specializations themselves, they were great, only thing that I found seriously annoying was the no offensive spells when healing.

• Combat Responsiveness/New System- I like it much more than in Origins, I feel more into the combat and would really enjoy seeing the same (or a very similar) system in future  titles. I think it works quite well for the game.

4. Companions/Dialogue-

• Romances-While I really liked the variey of companions and how they intereacted with each other, the romances were really unsatisfying. The romance scenes were PG rated, and the companions didn't seem to treat Hawke any differently throughout time. 

• Companion Dialogue- Really crappy in this game. There are only a few instances when you can actually interact with your companions, which really irked me. The origins system was much better in terms of frequency and availablility of dialogue, and character background overall was much better.

• Dialogue Wheel- This was good, but could have been so much better. The overall choices in DA2 were not black and white, like in Origins, but grey, which was great. Why then, must the dialogue wheel have only black and white options? Is there no inbetween? This could have been improved upon, as well as the paraphrasing system. Try to devote a bit more time to this for the next title! 

-Going to watch hockey game. Will finish upon arrival back! 

[Siduri]

Some notes after reaching Act III on a second playthrough:

Map reuse didn't bother me on the first playthrough (I just made a joke to myself that apparently the real money in Kirkwall lies in selling prefab warehouses and McMansions) but it seriously dampens the replayability of the game. I *loathe* the Wounded Coast at this point and I'm not even all the way through my second game.

That said, the game does have real depth. I'll probably play at least one more time through just to see all the classes, and I'd *like* to play up to eight times to get all the romance combos (friend and rivalmance)...but I really don't know if I can deal with going through the same areas that many times. Still, there's enough differences on a second playthrough to keep me interested: I keep getting new banters (the party banter is wonderful, just like everyone says) and new perspectives on the situations.

The random crashing *is* annoying (especially during the battle with the High Dragon, grr!) but the most serious bugs are Merrill's quest and the saved-game import bugs, as the epic sweep of the story has always been Dragon Age's great strength. Anything that destroys that needs to be fixed pronto.

I'm not sick of the characters yet. They're really great, and I love how none of them are entirely right or wrong. (Except for Varric. Varric is made of pure, unadulterated win.) The voice acting is excellent. The quests and stories are really engrossing. The moral choices feel *hard* in a way they mostly didn't in the first game.

Basically, I'm still playing and still enjoying, although the map reuse really is kinda overboard, and I hope the worst bugs get fixed quickly. But I'm totally eager for more DLC!