First off, I would like to state that DA:O was my very first BioWare game. I had stumbled upon it while looking for a rpg that had a fair amount of customizations (especially armors and weapons) and party based combat. It very quickly became my absolute favorite game - I simply loved every aspect of it.
When I discoved that the sequel was to be released relatively soon (a little over a year from when I discoved DA:O) I was really excited. More Dragon Age was something to look forward to. However, following the discussions on the forums, it became apparent that the DA2 was to under go a series of changes. I was a little apprehensive due to my love of the first but remained excited nonetheless.
I could understand and appreciate that BioWare was trying out something different. As I have enjoyed the other BioWare titles I have played since discovering DA:O and the fact that I would like to see the Dragon Age franchise continue to grow and succeed, here is my feedback:
My critique of the PC version, one full playthrough, female mage Hawke on Nightmare.Character creator:- I found that the character creator seemed to be clunkier than its Origins counterpart. For some reason, I had a difficult time adjusting the feature I wanted and I think it stemmed from the lack of the side arrows on the slide bar. I also thought that the new hair styles were unattractive and generally preferred the older ones. I am not running a DX11 machine so I am unsure if this was the cause but some of the hair styles looked really plastic like. Finally, the female lip shape seemed very formless compared to the full lip shape of the human in DA:O.
The UI:- Although the UI was definitely cleaner looking and had some advantageous changes like the automated hot keyed talents, I found it to be very bland and artless. I prefer the style of the Origin's UI.
- I did not like being able to access the character screen by double clicking the character protrait. I found that it interfered during battle as I often unintentionally opened the character screen with the simple intent of switching to another party member to issue new orders.
- I did not like that the shortcuts for the basic heal, mana/stamina potions were locked. Fortunately, there were not enough spells in the game that required all the slots on the quick bar. I can appreciate that the heal/mana potions were automatically located there as that is where I place them on my characters anyway. However, if I wanted to utilize the slots for something else, I was unable to which was a little annoying.
- I thought that the merchant interface was lacking an important feature that was present in DA:O. The ability to compare items with those of your companions - even if they were not currently in your party. This made shopping/selling for companion accessories a little tedious.
- Not having an ability to access all companion inventory in a central place (namely Hawke's house) was irritating. If this was removed due to story reasons with all of your companions being in their separate locations, there should have been an effort to replace it with something else. Perhaps having the ability at the Hanged Man would have worked since it seemed that the companions would frequent the place. At the very least, an abstraction could have been made that Hawke was sending equipment via messanger from her house.
Inventory, armor, and weapons - oh my! :- While inventory remained essentially the same for the PC, I did not welcome the inability to customize companion armor. I can empathize with those that prefer companions to have unique iconic looks reserved to them, however there are options available that could have catered to both types of preferences. I think it would have been a significant improvement if each companion had alternate armor sets (of various types/styles as well for those that prefer to have Isabella in something less revealing) that were still unique and restricted to them. The upgrade options for companion armor seemed extremely limiting and frankly underwhelming compared to my expectations based on Awakenings' armor rune system. All in all, this was one of the changes that I disliked the most in DA2.
- The look of the armors in DA2 seem to be a mixed bag. Some armor pieces look very nice and others not so much. I think overall, it is an improvement over the armors in DA:O but could still be improved on. Especially the mage armor options. I'm one of those players that don't like to restrict mages to robes only. Thankfully, there were non-robe options available to mages with the mage Champion armor set being the best. I would ask that more non-robe options be considered in the future. In contrast, the robes available in game are just not attractive - just like in Origins. Considering that armor is only available for Hawke, I really did expect far more variations in armor/robes. Note to devs, please make more mage armors that are similar to what Flemeth is wearing.
- Some of the new models of weapons are really nice. I especially like the mage staves looking and being more of a weapon rather than just a giant wand. Even if it wasn't the best staff in the game, my mage Hawke used the one that looked a bladed weapon to give the illusion of not being a mage. I was a little disappointed that the seemingly best staff of the game (from the Black Emporium) looked like a giant wand and that the Staff of Parlathan quickly out grew its usefulness as it was the best looking in my opinion.
- The inclusion of junk items was confusing and seemingly pointless. If the intent was not to confuse new players to the genre with what looted items can be kept and what can be tossed, would it not have been much simpler to exclude junk items altogether and just replace it with the petty amount of money they can be sold for? My issue with this ties into the changes to the crafting system but essentially, it diminished the enjoyment of finding a seeming innocuous item and trying to figure out if it's something that will be important later. Since it is immediately labeled as junk, I know its importance is nill. As to how this tied in with with crafting system, in DA:O since the crafting system was more complex, ingredients found during adventuring could easily fill in the role of seemingly "junk" items. It could either be horded to be used for crafting later or sold to merchants for coin towards that nice shiny sword of destruction. Anyway, in the effort to streamline and simplify, it has lessened the adventuring appeal a little bit that I personally love about rpgs.
Combat:- I really enjoyed the combat of DA:O and it was one of my favorite things about the game. That said, I also really enjoyed the combat of DA2 overall and found I was able to utilize the frequent pause and play method I favored in Origins. However, there are some hit and miss things about the changes made to combat in DA2 from the perspective of a pause every two seconds, assume direct control, and issue orders (with absolutely no use of the automated tactics) type of player that I am.
- The increased speed of the basic attacks was a welcome change. The increased speed coupled with some of the attack animations however, seemed a little too disjointed and jerky. The way the basic attack animations were rendered looked almost as if a frame was skipped during the attack - like the motion started and finished in the same moment. Where it became jerky for me was that after the attack was completed, there was a visible pause and then accelaration into the next attack. It did not look smooth and flowing. In comparison, all of DA:O's basic attack animations flowed smoothly (albeit significantly slower). I think the improvements to smooth out the animations with a slight reduction in speed would eliminate the jerky effect.
- Some of the animations seemed a little over the top and I personally prefer the ninja like movements of the rogue toned down. Specifically the whirlwind like kicking when moving to a different target and the flask kicking. In contrast, I really enjoyed the changes to the mages attack and spell casting animations. Especially, the addition of melee animations for mages and archers when enemies close in - those were a nice touch.
- I was disappointed with the death blow animations and thought that I had not come across any during the early parts of my playthrough. I later realized that the exploding body parts were the death blows. While I think a body being rendered into chunks would work for the shattering effect from DA:O and definitely for the end of Walking Bomb, it just was not as satisfying as the melee decapitations or even the finishing poses in Origins. I am definitely happy that death blows were given to various spells and ranged attacks, however I would like to see something more creative than just exploding body parts.
- I found that the much vaunted "responsiveness" did not quite live up to the hype. The combat was indeed very responsive, much more so that it's predecessor. However, I quickly found that I had to constantly click on the target for my melee party members to immediately close in or intercept enemies. If not, then the shuffle dance that was supposed to be eliminated occurred more often than not. Other than that, talent execution was near immediate except in cases where the character was finishing one of the basic attack animations. It took a little bit of trial and error with timing certain CCC attacks because of this and it frankly surprised me given my expectation of immediate responsiveness.
- Somewhat related to how responsive party members are to orders, I found that the hold position command was virtually useless. If the currently controlled party member moves to far from the position of the rest, they tend to follow which completely defeats the purpose of the hold position command. It was very irritating.
- I definitely liked the concept of the web system for talent progression, but there were times where I was frustrated with the talents themselves. It seemed like the upgrades needed to be taken in order for some of the talents to be effective - especially when comparing to its counter part in Origins. Fireball and Cone of Cold come to mind.
- While I enjoyed the CCC system and understand its intent to encourage class cooperation, from a mage perspective, it seemed too heavily reliant on a CCC attack in order to be effective damage wise. The rogue can easily still put up big damage numbers on it own, the warrior does aoe damage with just basic attacks and still has talents to do burst damage. In those instances where I found my mage Hawke alone confronting an enemy with a ton of hp, I wished that there was the ability to perform a limited CCC type of attack as a single mage character akin to the spell combinations from Origins.
- The Nightmare difficulty was definitely a step up from its counterpart in Origins. The funny thing almost of the changes to Nightmare, I had added to Origins via difficulty mods. Although, I have to say that the melee friendly fire damage was an interesting touch. However, I have to say that some of the more notible boss type enemies seemed to be less dangerous in DA2. Revenants were not punishing to melee characters, Ogres didn't grab, the Pride demons were a joke, Desire demons even more so, dragons didn't overwhelm, and even the High dragon didn't bat around my melee characters like in DA:O. It was definitely apparent that emphasis was put into overwhelming the party with reinforcements. What happened to these bosses? They were just disappointingly weaker. Even the enemy lieutenant/commander types just stood around until all of his troops were dead and then decided to attack - sort of. On the other hand the assassin types were an interesting challenge and it was nice to see enemy blood mages actually use offensive blood magic on my party.
- Giving some enemies a means to heal themselves was a nice touch. The waves of reinforcements I actually enjoyed for the most part but to have that occur in every single encounter did get a little tiresome. I didn't quite like how some enemies had an unnatural immunity to certain elements. Random bandit gang # 5 being completely immune to cold just didn't make any sense. Shades being immune to spirit damage did.
- Now the most damning thing about the combat in DA2: the lack of a free roam and/or an overhead camera. Since I played most of Origins close to ground level, the announced limited zoom locked camera didn't concern me much. As long as I still had the ability to zoom out somewhat it should be ok. Well it wasn't ok for me. It was more so that the camera was locked to the character and not free roam that hindered me. Playing in Nightmare accurate targeting was especially important and in DA2, it became an excercise in frustration. While indoors and in cramped spaces, aoe targeting was almost impossible and the zoom out was useless. This was a poor design choice and is completely unacceptable for a PC version. In addition, I also found that targeting aoe talents did not have the fidelity of DA:O. The targeting circle tended to want to center on a target rather than accept the space I wanted targeted.
RPG elements:- The removal of the automatic increase in hp and mana/stamina per level definitely was an interesting move and left me considering my spenditure of attribute points a lot more carefully. What seemed to be counter productive to this was the two attribute requirements for many armors. It limited to how I wanted to build my character and even those of my companions if I wanted to utilize a particular piece of armor or weapon. Aveline ended up using the Fade Shear the entire game due to never having one particular stat requirement for other swords in the game due to how I wanted to utilize her. It left me wanting.
- Removal of armor fatique did not make sense to me. I watched the live demo where Mike Laidlaw explained the reasoning behind it and I just do not agree. One can have the strength to wear a piece of armor but it does not diminish the onset of fatigue of wearing it for a length of time during an exhaustive battle. I can be strong enough to wear a loaded 15 kg backpack but my endurance will be effected by it. It just seemed to be designed this way so that one does not have to consider the advantages and disadvantages of heavy, medium, and light armors.
- I found that crafting system was too simplified. It was definitely convenient but I didn't like how nothing needed to be done in order to gain this ability to have potions, poisons, etc. crafted. I understand that the story element dictated that Hawke was having these things made by others and Hawke simply located the resources and recipes. However, it was just given to Hawke with no effort, unlike in DAO, while not having the most robust crafting system, did entail that a skill was attributed to it. And on a related topic, it seems like those that like to play trap laying, pick pocketing rogues are out of luck in DA2.
- The rune system was a little disappointing for the simple fact that you lost the ability to unenchant an item and gain the rune back. I also thought it was not as robust as the rune system in Awakenings and found the rune options in DA2 rather limiting. I admit that I may not have found all the rune recipes but what happened the different stat increasing armor runes? What if I wanted to concentrate on specific stats not just have +1 to all that can only be applied once to a particular piece. Not an improvement in my opinion.
- I question the lack of having some sort of skill or attribute not being able to contribute to how successful my character is with dialogue choices. A notible encounter was with convincing Karras that the Starkhaven mages had escaped. Evidently, I have to rely on Varric for that to not turn into a blood bath.
- One of the changes introduced in DA2 that I was most apprehensive about was the voiced protagonist. My experience with ME and ME2 coming from DA:O was that Shepard did not feel like my character where as my Warden(s) felt like mine. I can readily admit that Hawke comes off as more alive compared to the silent Warden. However, the trade off for me is how I'm limited to how I can roleplay the Hawke character. Fortunately, the voice actor for female Hawke did a very nice job and I could identify with how she delivered the lines. This is one of the inherit risks with having a voiced protagonists for if the player cannot identify the voice with the character they are trying to play, the experience will not be enjoyable. I think both approaches have merrit and have their own sets of disadvantages. It seems like the voiced approach is the direction that the DA franchise is headed. I just simply hope that it does not hinder BioWare with making another game on the scale of DA:O.
- My first experience with ME's dialogue wheel was frustrating at the beginning and then slowly eased to mild annoyance whenever an unexpected response came from a paraphrase choice. It was jarring at times and required more than a few reloads to go over the conversation again. DA2's system is an improvement on the system with the intent icons but the side effect to me was that I felt like I was being hand held through the conversations. I also noticed that more often than not, I only had 3 choices for a response not including the investigate option. Whereas in DA:O there seemed to be more than just 3 choices for a particular response to any given conversation excluding an investigate option. I realize that DA:O conversations never had more than 6 choices and that the dialogue wheel is capable of fielding 6 during the investigate dialogue route. However, there is a very strong perception that 3 options is what you'll have most of the time - nice, sarcastic/funny, and not-so nice. Is seems limiting.
Thanks to a suggestion that a dev made on the forums (I believe it was John Epler) I internalized Hawke saying the paraphrased text first before what she actually says when the dialogue option is choosen. It made a lot more sense and the spoken line was never jarring or came off unexpected. It flowed a lot better. This poses an interesting point, that if this is the direction BioWare is to go, why not just have the paraphrased text actually be included in the spoken line. It seems to me like a solution to those that find the discrepency between paraphrased text and spoken line to be wide. The entire line wouldn't be available to the player to satisfy the cinematic experience and the character says exactly what the player chooses along with additional lines that flow better with the initial text included. At the very least, perhaps that dev's suggestion should be included in the game manual so that other players can get a better experience out of the dialogue wheel/paraphrase system.
Companions:- Although I did enjoy the companions in DA2, I think overall they were significantly weaker in the bond I built with them compared to the Origins companions. I attribute this to being limited in my ability in converse with them outside of plot points or personal quests and the amount of interactions I could have with them given the scope of the time the story is being told. In Origins, I could ask Leliana about the area we just entered to see what she knows or if she has any stories to tell about. I tried that with Varric expecting a conversation about the ins and out of Lowtown but instead I get some random response with no ability to converse. This was a step back in my opinion. If this limitation is the trade off for a more cinematic conversation, I would gladly go back to the talking head syndrome. However, I have to believe that there is another way of avoiding the talking head syndrome while not being limited to specific areas for companion conversations to fulfil the need for a cinematic presentation.
- My mage Hawke romanced Isabela or at least she thought she did. It never really felt like there was any type of romantic relationship between them. One act it finally seems like the flirting paid off and Isabela and Hawke have a passionate night, talk about feelings and then barely anything else until after Hawke helps Isabela with Castion. It just seems that again given the scope of time that supposedly passes, very few notible interactions occur for a pursuing romance. Definitely not as good as my first DA:O romance - Leliana.
- I liked the cameos I have thus far experienced and very much appreciated their inclusion. Personally, it helps make this story more relatable to its predecessor. Alistair and Nathaniel were expected but Leliana and Zeveran were a very pleasant surprise. King Alistair's appearance seemed a little forced, as did Zeveran's but regardless I'm glad I got to seem them again.
Story:- The framed narrative was an interesting approach but I question whether the time span had to be a decade long (well we only saw up to year 7). It almost felt as if the length of the time skips detracted from the story.
- Despite supposedly seeing the consequences of Hawke's actions after each time skip, it just did not feel as reactive as Mike Laidlaw claimed it would be. Given the potential of utilizing the framed narrative, I really expected a far more reactive world.
- Subjectively, the decisions presented during Hawke's adventures just did not seem to contribute to the climax of the story. At least with Origins, each of the main quests had tangible results and depending on some decisions and relationships, various resources and characters may or may not be available to help you in the final battle. Objectively, I realize that the story in both DA:O and DA2 are linear and choices are limited to how much impact it can have on the overall story. However, the decisions in DA:O definitely seemed to shape the world far more that in DA2.
- The build up and the decision to side with either the Templar or Mages during the climax really ended up lacking in execution. There was barely any opportunity to interact with Orsino or Meredeth which was confusing as these two characters represent the central conflict in the story. In contrast, Hawke had more interaction with the Arishok during Act 2. It felt really rushed and kept thinking to myself that this could not be the finale. That there had to be more to it that just this.
- Overall, while DA2 was attempting to avoid a common story of fighting a big bad evil, the story itself was not nearly as satisfying as defeating the Blight. Having said that, it was interesting to experience how Hawke contributed to the revolution between the mages and the Chantry. I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out in Thedas because of this.
Graphics/environment:- I find the graphics to be solid but then again I thought the same way about Origins too.
- The new character models are a vast improvement over those in Origins. Most notible for me was Meredeth. I thought she was excellently designed. I thought her armor was cool too.
- The constant recycling of the maps have been criticized in numerous reviews. I must add my displeasure to this design decision as well. I realized the Origins had its share of recycled maps but it was nowhere near as extensive as in DA2. It completely ruined the sense of exploration and discovery expected in an rpg which was already challenged based on the story setting of being predominantly in Kirkwall. This was probably the worst design decision for the game since it leads to the perception that the game was simply rushed.
To conclude, there were a lot of things in DA2 that I had issues with when comparing to DA:O. Ultimately, it falls short of its predecessor. I even experienced that attack animation slow down bug that nearly ruined my playthrough until I found a fix on the forums.
However, regardless of all the things I took issue with, I still relatively enjoyed my playthrough of DA2 and I'm in the middle of a second. Again, I appreciate BioWare trying different things out. My hope is that the next installment of the franchise brings out the best of both DA:O and DA2.
Modifié par RifuloftheWest, 21 mars 2011 - 06:42 .
I was happy with the Origins combat system, but I guess the new combat system is ok although I did have some gripes... Fast-paced combat, I have no problem. It works, pumps the blood up, but it does get old fast...
I loved Aveline and Varric. Too bad he wasn't a romance. I actually cried "No Anders!" to my monitor as he bombed the Kirkwall Chantry (and I killed him for that. Heh.). And shed a bit of tears when Leandra died. I still love the characters.
. It would have made the combat system perfect for me. It would have made my skirmishes much easier. Yeah, I miss the camera from DA:O. I've been hearing that it was for the consoles, but I bought DA:O for PC because of the camera. It made combat so much easier for me.
The story was darker, combat more viceral, and characters more defined. I still stand by when I say I enjoyed the game. I really did. Also on my opinion that the story was more darker (more gray area choices), combat more viceral (even though no more numerous finishing moves), and characters more defined (I liked the characters).
Retour en haut
Warrior and Rogue combat animations. They are just stupid.
A little rotation would have been nice - example, using a different armor when they are taken outside the city. Or having an armor for the night, one for the day? Changing the design of the armors throught he acts as well?
