Okay my likes: the graphics are much better. The combat is better overall. The voice acting is excellent on all fronts, nice new enemies, the night day maps,I liked the dialogue wheel
Now for the dislike: the art style overall (the new darkspawn are funny looking), the small feeling of the game, a lot of recycle environments, the whole serial killer killing Hawke's mother was I can't even think of word to describe it but yuck and then losing the brother sister for much of the game another yuck. But the worse part to me is I couldn't speak to my companions, that to me is the most terrible part of this game. A la Awakenings, I could not interact with any of my companions. Therefore I'm not really that connected to any of them. Those interactions, stopping to speak to Alistair or Morrigan etc are how most RPG players feel connected to them. It's how we feel connected to the game. That was a terrible mistake(in my opinion).
Is the game good? Yeah it's okay. I would give it a 7.5/10. I'm trying to decide how many of my DA:O characters I'll even bother to bring through this game. Probably not all. It certainly does not have the replay ability of DA:O.
Dragon Age II Fan Review thread
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Chris Priestly
, Mär 09 2011 06:54
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#52
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 03:08
LordShrike
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Just finished DA2 few hours ago. So let's have at this while it's in fresh memory.
Let's start with the stuff i considered good.
-Story as a whole.
-Combat system was to my liking, and it looked awesome. (GORE!)
-Conversation symbols and the amount of it.
-Love what you have done with world and all the races in there, scenery was beautiful and well made if a little repetitive. Elves and Qunari actually looked like some other race and were well written.
-Whole leveling up affair was good and intuitive and offered wide array of options.
-Side chars were well written and actually managed to get some actual responses from me.
-Plethora of side quests and exploration opportunities.
-There was loot, it was W00T.
-New item creation, i actually relied on that. Did not use it in DA-O.
-Voice acting across the board.
-Where were all the bugs? Did not run in to any. Many praises to the QA team. (one or two minor ones, nothing serious.)
Bad stuph.
-Seriously BW? A fvqking DLC at release? I can deal with DLC being released now and then, but at the release date? MAKE A FVQKING EXPANSION! Do not soil a good product with meaningless trifle and pointless 15 minute point to point quests. DA-O got it self grounded to no-play box because of those. And ME 2 is about to do the same.
-There was a lot of loot in the game but somehow the whole system felt too rigid for my tastes. Altough i liked the companion armor system in it's entierity it meant that most (if not all) of the armor i picked up was useless and gave me nothing but useless gold. That had no other use than to purchase better weapon for Hawke now and then. Or maybe i missed some thing since i had 200 gold in the bank at the end with nothing to spend it on.
-Minor nitpicking about conversation options, Not enough of them....
-Why cant i change my weapon with out going to the inventory? I got so used to this that i threw out all my bows instantly. (Since there is no second weapon slot.) I died atleast five times directly because of this. Please fix if possible. Pleees?
-Blatant paving for sequel, what wrong with stand alone games?
There are other things that might warrant inspection. Let's leave it at that.
Overall a solid performer that i will enjoy playing many times more. It had everything i expect from a good game and many things more. Discounting ME2 it was THE BEST game i have played in the last year.
9.5/10
Let's start with the stuff i considered good.
-Story as a whole.
-Combat system was to my liking, and it looked awesome. (GORE!)
-Conversation symbols and the amount of it.
-Love what you have done with world and all the races in there, scenery was beautiful and well made if a little repetitive. Elves and Qunari actually looked like some other race and were well written.
-Whole leveling up affair was good and intuitive and offered wide array of options.
-Side chars were well written and actually managed to get some actual responses from me.
-Plethora of side quests and exploration opportunities.
-There was loot, it was W00T.
-New item creation, i actually relied on that. Did not use it in DA-O.
-Voice acting across the board.
-Where were all the bugs? Did not run in to any. Many praises to the QA team. (one or two minor ones, nothing serious.)
Bad stuph.
-Seriously BW? A fvqking DLC at release? I can deal with DLC being released now and then, but at the release date? MAKE A FVQKING EXPANSION! Do not soil a good product with meaningless trifle and pointless 15 minute point to point quests. DA-O got it self grounded to no-play box because of those. And ME 2 is about to do the same.
-There was a lot of loot in the game but somehow the whole system felt too rigid for my tastes. Altough i liked the companion armor system in it's entierity it meant that most (if not all) of the armor i picked up was useless and gave me nothing but useless gold. That had no other use than to purchase better weapon for Hawke now and then. Or maybe i missed some thing since i had 200 gold in the bank at the end with nothing to spend it on.
-Minor nitpicking about conversation options, Not enough of them....
-Why cant i change my weapon with out going to the inventory? I got so used to this that i threw out all my bows instantly. (Since there is no second weapon slot.) I died atleast five times directly because of this. Please fix if possible. Pleees?
-Blatant paving for sequel, what wrong with stand alone games?
There are other things that might warrant inspection. Let's leave it at that.
Overall a solid performer that i will enjoy playing many times more. It had everything i expect from a good game and many things more. Discounting ME2 it was THE BEST game i have played in the last year.
9.5/10
#53
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 04:03
Asch Lavigne
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I'm in the beginning of Act 2 and so far, even if it is different from Origins, I quite like the game so far.
It is easier to list my dislikes though.
1. I'm playing on the 360 and the text is terrible, I have to site up close to the TV to read it.
2. Cooldown times for spells and items are too long, namely healing.
3. Why Anders is the only one with healing I don't know. Unless you are mage you are forced to take him with you. Even if you have Bethany, well I won't spoil it.
4. It is way too annoying to get everyone to like you. Rivalry system is interesting but everything you do in the game half your party likes and half hates. I keep having to swap party members for every quest depending on which way I want them to go instead of just not worrying about it and then making up for it in camp or with gifts like in Origins. Yes, I get it in terms of the plot, but it is still a pain in the butt.
It is easier to list my dislikes though.
1. I'm playing on the 360 and the text is terrible, I have to site up close to the TV to read it.
2. Cooldown times for spells and items are too long, namely healing.
3. Why Anders is the only one with healing I don't know. Unless you are mage you are forced to take him with you. Even if you have Bethany, well I won't spoil it.
4. It is way too annoying to get everyone to like you. Rivalry system is interesting but everything you do in the game half your party likes and half hates. I keep having to swap party members for every quest depending on which way I want them to go instead of just not worrying about it and then making up for it in camp or with gifts like in Origins. Yes, I get it in terms of the plot, but it is still a pain in the butt.
Bearbeitet von Asch Lavigne, 10 März 2011 - 04:04 .
#54
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 04:38
TheRevanchist
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I felt the plot lacked any direction at all until halfway through the game. Also there was a number of inconsistencys with my Warden that bothered me...considering we were promised a "large summery list" of our import this is very bad...considering I found no list and my warden ended up actually spareing the Architect...somthing I KNOW I didnt do...also throughout most of the game everyone knows my Warden is dead...yet at the very end when Cassandra walks out into the courtyard she says "gone...just like the Warden." Um....hello? SHES DEAD! She didn't walk off into the freakin sunset! I also found Alistairs cameo totaly pointless. I felt companion interaction was very much reduced and by the end of the game...I honestly didn't really give a crap what they cared about. No resolution with any of them and by the games end the only people I even remotely liked was Varric, Bethany and Aveline...overall no opinion on any of the others...I could care less what happens to the them as I felt no reason to give a damn. Cept the fact Anders is the King of douchedom...but thats more an observation then an opinion. More so I wanna know how the hell he did that even though I refused to help him sneak in there.
I felt overall the ending made little sense and seemed to lack anything short of just more questions without answers....seriously Bioware we could fill a several dictionarys with the amount of unanswered questions you keep sattleing us with....how bout answering some of them for once? End of the day I still felt a sense of accomplisment and think overall this was much better then Origins. Cept for the party members...honestly most of them were a complete waste of potential. Although I love Leliana's apparently large role in the overall story of Dragon Age...as my favorite Origins companion this brings man squees to my soul.
I felt overall the ending made little sense and seemed to lack anything short of just more questions without answers....seriously Bioware we could fill a several dictionarys with the amount of unanswered questions you keep sattleing us with....how bout answering some of them for once? End of the day I still felt a sense of accomplisment and think overall this was much better then Origins. Cept for the party members...honestly most of them were a complete waste of potential. Although I love Leliana's apparently large role in the overall story of Dragon Age...as my favorite Origins companion this brings man squees to my soul.
#55
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 05:18
Escaperer
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Just beat the game, and overall I find it very dissapointing. I didn't dislike the new direction in terms of gameplay per se, but the story was just absolutely awful. It's seriously one of the worst RPG storylines I've ever encountered. Anyways, on to the pros and cons.
Pros
- Graphics are quite good. I can't say how good the hi-res texture pack is but even on high the game is looking better than the console versions.
- Music and sound in general is very well done. The music never feels forced, and blends in well with the environment, whether you're fighting or exploring. Fighting sounds are also great. Voice acting could be a little better, but I'll fault most of that with the writing.
Neutral
- Gameplay. I'm pretty neutral about actual gameplay. It is a lot more of an Action RPG, and the sped up combat will be appreciated by some, but it all feels useless when playing on Nightmare. You're trying to speed up a tactical game. I'm gonna spend a very large amount of time paused anyways, I don't need faster gameplay if I'm actually trying to slow it down to resemble some sort of tactics. It does feel like the controls are designed with the console in mind, so they are a bit stiff, but nothing too major.
Cons
- Story is very very weak. I can't even begin to describe how dissapointed I am with the storyline shift from DA:O, for a number of reasons.
A) None of your decisions matter. It makes no difference if I'm an angry person trying to kill everyone who blinks at me the wrong way or if I'm the good guy trying to please everyone and stop people from fighting. In the end, I'll either side with the mages or templars, but the end result is the same. The First Enchanter goes crazy, Meredith goes crazy, and you kill them both. That's it. Remember how DA:O had a ton of options? You could sacrifice yourself, or have Morrigan save you, along with other endings. You could side with certain factions during the game, such as the werewolves or the elves. You have none of that in DA2. No choices, no variation. Replayability down the drain.
You're evil. Yes, the Champion of Kirkwall is undoubtedly evil. How did I come to this conclusion? Well, if you never got involved with anything and just stayed out of trouble, Kirkwall wouldn't be destroyed and the world wouldn't be at the brink of war. I help Bertrand get an evil idol which curropts him, I incite the Qurani rebellion because I help Isabella get the idol from the Qurani, and then I end up having the mages revolt against the templars and start a war. I'm not a good guy, I don't save the world from the Blight, or do anything heroic for that matter. I...start...a...war....seriously.
- Mages are all evil. Every mage you encounter is a blood mage, not to mention Merill causes me to wipe out her entire Dalish clan and Anders destroys the chantry, not to mention the bazillions of blood mages you encounter throughout.
- All the areas are reused heavilly, and it signals lazyness. There are like 3 cave layouts and 3 hideout layouts, and they keep getting used over and over and it gets really boring throughout the game.
- Extremely liner. That is the best way to describe this game. No variety, just go through this predetermined path, fight generic wave of bad guys, go turn quest in. Boring, boring, boring.
- The characters are bland and unmotivated, not to mention I can only talk to them once every 3 years. Make companion interactions more frequent, and make the characters themselves have more than one motivation in life.
- Let us change the armor of our companions. Seriously, no reason why we should only be able to change Hawke's armor.
There are a few more things I could write about, but this sums up my major faults with this game. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope BioWare can take the constructive criticism and make DA3 amazing.
Pros
- Graphics are quite good. I can't say how good the hi-res texture pack is but even on high the game is looking better than the console versions.
- Music and sound in general is very well done. The music never feels forced, and blends in well with the environment, whether you're fighting or exploring. Fighting sounds are also great. Voice acting could be a little better, but I'll fault most of that with the writing.
Neutral
- Gameplay. I'm pretty neutral about actual gameplay. It is a lot more of an Action RPG, and the sped up combat will be appreciated by some, but it all feels useless when playing on Nightmare. You're trying to speed up a tactical game. I'm gonna spend a very large amount of time paused anyways, I don't need faster gameplay if I'm actually trying to slow it down to resemble some sort of tactics. It does feel like the controls are designed with the console in mind, so they are a bit stiff, but nothing too major.
Cons
- Story is very very weak. I can't even begin to describe how dissapointed I am with the storyline shift from DA:O, for a number of reasons.
A) None of your decisions matter. It makes no difference if I'm an angry person trying to kill everyone who blinks at me the wrong way or if I'm the good guy trying to please everyone and stop people from fighting. In the end, I'll either side with the mages or templars, but the end result is the same. The First Enchanter goes crazy, Meredith goes crazy, and you kill them both. That's it. Remember how DA:O had a ton of options? You could sacrifice yourself, or have Morrigan save you, along with other endings. You could side with certain factions during the game, such as the werewolves or the elves. You have none of that in DA2. No choices, no variation. Replayability down the drain.
You're evil. Yes, the Champion of Kirkwall is undoubtedly evil. How did I come to this conclusion? Well, if you never got involved with anything and just stayed out of trouble, Kirkwall wouldn't be destroyed and the world wouldn't be at the brink of war. I help Bertrand get an evil idol which curropts him, I incite the Qurani rebellion because I help Isabella get the idol from the Qurani, and then I end up having the mages revolt against the templars and start a war. I'm not a good guy, I don't save the world from the Blight, or do anything heroic for that matter. I...start...a...war....seriously.- Mages are all evil. Every mage you encounter is a blood mage, not to mention Merill causes me to wipe out her entire Dalish clan and Anders destroys the chantry, not to mention the bazillions of blood mages you encounter throughout.
- All the areas are reused heavilly, and it signals lazyness. There are like 3 cave layouts and 3 hideout layouts, and they keep getting used over and over and it gets really boring throughout the game.
- Extremely liner. That is the best way to describe this game. No variety, just go through this predetermined path, fight generic wave of bad guys, go turn quest in. Boring, boring, boring.
- The characters are bland and unmotivated, not to mention I can only talk to them once every 3 years. Make companion interactions more frequent, and make the characters themselves have more than one motivation in life.
- Let us change the armor of our companions. Seriously, no reason why we should only be able to change Hawke's armor.
There are a few more things I could write about, but this sums up my major faults with this game. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope BioWare can take the constructive criticism and make DA3 amazing.
#56
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 05:35
jorvaljr
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Let me tell you a little about my experience with Dragon Age. I found DA:O by mistake and what I mean by that is that I traded someone locally my Batman A.A for it on C.L. At the time I didn't know who Bioware was or what games they have made. I'm a casual gamer. But, once I played the game I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. I played 8-12 hours a day. (I've been unemployed.) I loved it. So once I heard that this game was coming out the first day I pre-ordered it at my local Gamestop.
Ok here is my opinion so far... I'm only in the second act. ( I know my grammar and writing sucks please bare with me)
Ok here is my opinion so far... I'm only in the second act. ( I know my grammar and writing sucks please bare with me)
- The cutscenes are really good and awesome, much better than the first DA.
- The battles feel a little chaotic. You can't focus on the overall group because enemies are just spawning all over the place. I've lost companions because I'm so busy mashing the x button (PS3) that I can't advert my eyes to the lower left hand corner to see how my peeps are doing.
- The cooldowns on stamina, mana and health are rediculous. Seriously, not many of you are saying much about that. I really hate the cooldowns.
- Inventory is a real problem for me. The managment of the inventory and the items in it seems like it was an after thought. There was no need for the junk pile that you can't use and get very little for. I like having the menu on the main wheel in DA:O. It was easy to use and worked very well. I liked having and collecting armor sets and applying them to my companions in the first DA. I current don't understand all the added values of the armor or weapons ( +400's and and +260's). In DA:O it was simple with the percentages and single digit increments instead of triple digits. I still don't know what I have collected so far, I'm using Hayden's Razor still and Blood Dragon Armor and I'm probably 2/3 of the way through. It's so complicated. You don't have the simplicity of seeing what you get and the description of the item and the history behind the item. I soooo loved that in DA:O.
- The graphics are good. In some cases the graphics are soo much better and improved than DA:O, but there some that are not so great. There are evironmental pieces that seem to have gone a step back with than made improvements on. Like for example are boulders flat and have sharp 90 degree and 45 degree angles? I noticed that alot of the environment seemed weird with sharp flat edges in stead of rounded edges.
- During normal gameplay and running around the armor that Hawke has seems weird. The coloring and graphics of it seem flat. I noticed that right away. Playing DA:O I loved the look of the armor and the weapons on the Warden and his companions. But in this game it almost seems that the graphics should have been a little more detailed this time around. This part of it seems like a step back to me.
- Using the same caves, rooms, dungeons and areas. WOW!!! I can't get over this part. Every battle area is almost exactly the same or is the same. This is so evident through out every encounter I can't believe it. I would have expected this out of an expansion, but not the main game. I watched the webcasts from the Mike laidlaw and how he said the environments were worked on and this and that would be larger and better. I'm still waiting to see that. Sure Kirkwall is bigger than Denerim and Red Cliff and the other places we have visited in DA:O, but to reuse the same rooms in every combat environment is really BAD!
- The story is ok. I but to have to travel to each of the companions homes to try to talk with them is not so great. I haven't done much of it. It seems so tedious. I haven't even come close to romancing anybody. I don't even know how. I knew in DA:O right of the bat, it was very evident with the flirting and the interacting while traveling, but here I don't know if my companions like me, respect me, or even hate me.
#57
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 05:51
aluanira
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I'm about halfway through Act 2 right now and am enjoying the game so far. Here are my thoughts on things...
Positives
+ Art is wonderful. I love how the character faces look so much better than in DAO where everyone looked related. Here, the NPCs look different. The Qunari look spectacular! I like the look of the new elves too.
+ Combat movement and actions are far more cool than in DAO. They're perhaps a little too fast and arcadish but I like them.
+ Party banter is fun. I always stop to listen to what they're saying. Love the writing here.
+ Some of the personal quests I've really enjoyed, like Aveline's personal quest in Act 2 - very cute.
Negatives
- I don't feel especially connected to my companions. The wheel is ok and the voiced PC is fun but I do miss the more extensive interactions we had with companions in DAO. We spent more time talking to DAO companions and could do so whenever we wanted, not at certain game points as with DA2. The loss of control and the decreased interactions take the companion fun out of it for me. I'm in a relationship with Merril but we've barely talked (and I did every conversation / flirt available so far) and then she moved in (except she didn't really!). I don't mind the wheel but I'd like to see way more conversation under player control (like in camp), even just banter and background info. A handful of conversations per act is way too little for me.
- Inventory. I REALLY miss armoring my companions.
- While I don't mind the Kirkwall setting and story (and I am enjoying it), I miss the epic, huge feel of DAO. The Champion's story isn't nearly as compelling as the Hero of Ferelden's story.
- Reusing environments. This got old in Act 1.
Overall, I have a much stronger preference for DAO (10+/10) but this one is fun too (8/10). I'm enjoying the game and looking forward to my next playthrough.
Positives
+ Art is wonderful. I love how the character faces look so much better than in DAO where everyone looked related. Here, the NPCs look different. The Qunari look spectacular! I like the look of the new elves too.
+ Combat movement and actions are far more cool than in DAO. They're perhaps a little too fast and arcadish but I like them.
+ Party banter is fun. I always stop to listen to what they're saying. Love the writing here.
+ Some of the personal quests I've really enjoyed, like Aveline's personal quest in Act 2 - very cute.
Negatives
- I don't feel especially connected to my companions. The wheel is ok and the voiced PC is fun but I do miss the more extensive interactions we had with companions in DAO. We spent more time talking to DAO companions and could do so whenever we wanted, not at certain game points as with DA2. The loss of control and the decreased interactions take the companion fun out of it for me. I'm in a relationship with Merril but we've barely talked (and I did every conversation / flirt available so far) and then she moved in (except she didn't really!). I don't mind the wheel but I'd like to see way more conversation under player control (like in camp), even just banter and background info. A handful of conversations per act is way too little for me.
- Inventory. I REALLY miss armoring my companions.
- While I don't mind the Kirkwall setting and story (and I am enjoying it), I miss the epic, huge feel of DAO. The Champion's story isn't nearly as compelling as the Hero of Ferelden's story.
- Reusing environments. This got old in Act 1.
Overall, I have a much stronger preference for DAO (10+/10) but this one is fun too (8/10). I'm enjoying the game and looking forward to my next playthrough.
#58
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 05:59
Edge2177
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Liked: Random armor generator, and shopkeepers regularly replenishing. Appearance of fully upgraded sets and armor as well as companions. (Anders and Merrill looked amazing)
Disliked: Difficult to put together a full set of gear, say for example, a full suit of elven armor nearly took me to the end of act 2 just to get something piecemeal that looked halfway decent. Failed to put my second act set together when I didn't pick a fight in the Hanged Man for the rogue chest piece. Need more sexy outfits, yes.
Liked: Companion interaction.
Disliked: Need to buy most of the 'gifts' to get said interaction, should have been acquired randomly like the other half of the influencing equipment.
Liked: Overall storyline, plot progression. Ending left me wanting for more from the series.
Disliked: Once it's over, it's over, no epilogue, no closure. You just have this vague sense that the story will continue in DLC and new expansions.
Liked: Combat. Great, wonderful, bloody. PC version excelled in this category. Storyline, and plot had this growing 'sense' of chaos slowly consuming the entire world. Companion quests, events, dialog, and romance.
Bugged comments: Some minor glitches, but the flow of the game and lag was low. Found a random bandit type leader on the beach non hostile close to the entrance, and never did find that kidnapped girl in act 3 on the same beach(related?)
Final Conclusion: The end was epic, I got the girl, and killed both individuals I wanted to kill off. I managed to keep my party together, except Sebastian also which was impressive. Overall I had fun, and it's an excellent legacy to the original Origins.
Oh the musical score... best part, without question it totally painted the scene and adding to the suspence and emotion of the game.
Disliked: Difficult to put together a full set of gear, say for example, a full suit of elven armor nearly took me to the end of act 2 just to get something piecemeal that looked halfway decent. Failed to put my second act set together when I didn't pick a fight in the Hanged Man for the rogue chest piece. Need more sexy outfits, yes.
Liked: Companion interaction.
Disliked: Need to buy most of the 'gifts' to get said interaction, should have been acquired randomly like the other half of the influencing equipment.
Liked: Overall storyline, plot progression. Ending left me wanting for more from the series.
Disliked: Once it's over, it's over, no epilogue, no closure. You just have this vague sense that the story will continue in DLC and new expansions.
Liked: Combat. Great, wonderful, bloody. PC version excelled in this category. Storyline, and plot had this growing 'sense' of chaos slowly consuming the entire world. Companion quests, events, dialog, and romance.
Bugged comments: Some minor glitches, but the flow of the game and lag was low. Found a random bandit type leader on the beach non hostile close to the entrance, and never did find that kidnapped girl in act 3 on the same beach(related?)
Final Conclusion: The end was epic, I got the girl, and killed both individuals I wanted to kill off. I managed to keep my party together, except Sebastian also which was impressive. Overall I had fun, and it's an excellent legacy to the original Origins.
Oh the musical score... best part, without question it totally painted the scene and adding to the suspence and emotion of the game.
Bearbeitet von Edge2177, 11 März 2011 - 01:47 .
#59
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 06:15
adneate
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Dragon Age 2 is both a good game and a bit of a lackluster follow-up to a better game. There are a great deal of things in it that are different but not many that are genuinely better than similar elements in Origins.
The biggest thing I have to talk about in DA2 is the “Streamlining” that has been done to the game. Streamlining is good when it empowers the player and makes it easier for them to play the game and get lost in it. Streamlining is bad when it’s attempting to fix problems that are just inherent in the medium of video games. The conversation system is a great example of this not working out to a net gain for the player. In Origins you could talk to a companion whenever and wherever by selecting from a list of topics. This is the standard system for interacting with an NPC since the days of text based computer games. The problems with this system are very “gamey” problems, like talking about something mundane while your in the middle of the darkspawn infested deep roads covered in blood and guts. It can be off putting if you’re the kind of person who really likes to nit pick on this, in general a simple fix would be to only allow the conversation tree to pop up when your at their home or in the camp. Another problem of the “old” system is that you can get into circular conversations with NPCs and have them talk about the same thing over and over again it’s immersion breaking . . . to a point. A simple fix would simply be to not allow the player to ask something again after they already have unless like Leliana’s stories you know your asking the NPC to repeat something for the player’s sake. The problem with both Mass Effect 2 and now Dragon Age 2 is in attempting to eradicate these two relatively minor issues they have thrown the baby out with the bath water. In trying to eliminate these very “gamey” problems the player ends up losing the ability to interact with the Major NPCs on their time. The companions will only talk if they want to otherwise they say nothing and just spout some generic lines. It’s just not working, I get what you guys are trying to do but it’s not working on the player’s end. Without the ability to just walk up to a party member in the off time and ask them something they just don’t feel like complete characters. Interactivity is the unique feature of video games, the ability for the player to choose and experience the world first hand and feel like they are a part of it. This new BioWare dialogue system is limiting interactivity and that should be a mortal sin for any developer, you should strive to make your games more interactive not less.
The other elephant in the room is the art style it’s not a clear improvement over Origins. While Origins might have been a bit “Dull and Drab” it had a very believable look. Love it or hate it Lothering, Denerim and even the Circle Tower looked like they might be places that could exist in the real world. Kirkwall doesn’t it looks like a city that could only exist in a video game where you don’t have to concern yourself with things like gravity or practicality. For everything that looks better in DA2 there is something that looked better in Origins. Special mention of the elves who for me are too far, your two races are human derivatives Dwarves are just short stocky humans and Elves are just skinny pointy eared humans. Please just accept this, I beg you. The change to the Elves in this game is awful, it’s not unique and it’s hard to even look at them now. They are nightmare versions of JRPG elves, their facial structures and proportions are downright terrifying with their pushed in faces, tiny eyes, massive corneas and floppy ears. I may only be something of a amateur face designer but there are times where you just have to admit to yourself that you screwed up and you should go back to what use to work rather than just keep pressing forward in hopes the problems of the new design will just go away. Sometimes bad is bad and the Elves are bad in this game.
Combat has a good flow to it similar to Origins in many ways, the skill and spell upgrade system works well in practice and keeps your talents and skills from being a bit too unwieldy. Specializations feel much better this time around and your choice of them can really change how your character interacts with the party in battle. The spawning enemies however aren’t a real improvement, in Origins a mob of enemies was there before you and you had to figure out a way to get through it. The average grunt was pretty tough and the fun was in finding the best way to carve your way through the encounter. With enemies coming from spawn points and many of them being weak enough to kill in one hit there is a real question as whether this adds anything other than a really bad and annoying mechanic to the series. They’re more a annoyance than anything else since you have to break away from the main fight to wipe out a bunch of peons and take some cheap hits in the process. Which with healing being as it is in this game is just the Dragon Age equivalent of throwing a YMIR mech at the player. It’s not interesting or challenging it’s just tedious and quite a few fights I found myself just wishing it would be over because I was bored to death of beating on this guy and slaughtering these faceless enemies who just keeping appearing out of nowhere.
The story is good, after the first time jump though game pulls the drag chute and slows to an absolute crawl which is a really odd design choice. It gets the player into some very compelling side quests which can be good but it’s such an obvious padding mechanic that I have a hard time defending it. The voice acting is as to be expected by now, excellent, the actors for Hawke and the companions do a great job. There are quite a few really powerful moments in the game and critical decisions to make and the actors really carry it through which is commendable. The time jump mechanic however isn’t all that good it’s not as compelling or as interesting as one would hope and the framed narrative does rob the story of some suspense. Since Varric is telling it you know he lives so you know that in a round about way the big choice at the end isn’t going to result in your death regardless of what you choose. So the ending is both climatic and anti-climatic at same time kind of disappointing in a way. The ending is abrupt and the game just brings up more questions than it answers, it doesn’t resolve it’s own issues and adds new issues to Origins story in addition to the elements that were already unanswered by that game’s ending.
Dragon Age 2 is good game but it’s not as good as Origins was, admittedly Origins is a tough act to follow everything in it was new had you no expectations and no pre-conceptions. When compared to it’s predecessor Dragon Age 2 comes up short, it’s obviously a rushed product that stubbornly insists it’s way of doing things is better despite the fact that a number of elements just aren’t working from the player’s point of view. They say to make a work of art takes and artist and someone to hit him on the head when it’s done, which is what the Dragon Age team and BioWare in general need. Someone to tell them that they make video games and not movies, embrace the medium and it’s flaws and do what you do best which is make a good story. Too much focus is being placed on BioWare games being “Cinematic” and “Innovative”. Cinematic elements work great in movies but games are a different medium and those elements don’t translate as well. Innovation is great if it’s for the right reasons which is to empower the player and make their experience better not to change the look of everything so you can theoretically market it better or to set yourself visually a part from your competitors. That is innovation for innovation’s sake and with so many games it just doesn’t work out right, there isn’t anything wrong with sticking with what works especially when the alternatives introduce more problems than they solve.
If I was to give a grade to DA2 I would put it in at about 65% it’s an above average game with some really strong moments but there are a number of elements that BioWare has introduced that really drag the game down. I only hope BioWare is humble enough to admit they have made mistakes and try to return focus on what their true strength is, writing and characterization.
The biggest thing I have to talk about in DA2 is the “Streamlining” that has been done to the game. Streamlining is good when it empowers the player and makes it easier for them to play the game and get lost in it. Streamlining is bad when it’s attempting to fix problems that are just inherent in the medium of video games. The conversation system is a great example of this not working out to a net gain for the player. In Origins you could talk to a companion whenever and wherever by selecting from a list of topics. This is the standard system for interacting with an NPC since the days of text based computer games. The problems with this system are very “gamey” problems, like talking about something mundane while your in the middle of the darkspawn infested deep roads covered in blood and guts. It can be off putting if you’re the kind of person who really likes to nit pick on this, in general a simple fix would be to only allow the conversation tree to pop up when your at their home or in the camp. Another problem of the “old” system is that you can get into circular conversations with NPCs and have them talk about the same thing over and over again it’s immersion breaking . . . to a point. A simple fix would simply be to not allow the player to ask something again after they already have unless like Leliana’s stories you know your asking the NPC to repeat something for the player’s sake. The problem with both Mass Effect 2 and now Dragon Age 2 is in attempting to eradicate these two relatively minor issues they have thrown the baby out with the bath water. In trying to eliminate these very “gamey” problems the player ends up losing the ability to interact with the Major NPCs on their time. The companions will only talk if they want to otherwise they say nothing and just spout some generic lines. It’s just not working, I get what you guys are trying to do but it’s not working on the player’s end. Without the ability to just walk up to a party member in the off time and ask them something they just don’t feel like complete characters. Interactivity is the unique feature of video games, the ability for the player to choose and experience the world first hand and feel like they are a part of it. This new BioWare dialogue system is limiting interactivity and that should be a mortal sin for any developer, you should strive to make your games more interactive not less.
The other elephant in the room is the art style it’s not a clear improvement over Origins. While Origins might have been a bit “Dull and Drab” it had a very believable look. Love it or hate it Lothering, Denerim and even the Circle Tower looked like they might be places that could exist in the real world. Kirkwall doesn’t it looks like a city that could only exist in a video game where you don’t have to concern yourself with things like gravity or practicality. For everything that looks better in DA2 there is something that looked better in Origins. Special mention of the elves who for me are too far, your two races are human derivatives Dwarves are just short stocky humans and Elves are just skinny pointy eared humans. Please just accept this, I beg you. The change to the Elves in this game is awful, it’s not unique and it’s hard to even look at them now. They are nightmare versions of JRPG elves, their facial structures and proportions are downright terrifying with their pushed in faces, tiny eyes, massive corneas and floppy ears. I may only be something of a amateur face designer but there are times where you just have to admit to yourself that you screwed up and you should go back to what use to work rather than just keep pressing forward in hopes the problems of the new design will just go away. Sometimes bad is bad and the Elves are bad in this game.
Combat has a good flow to it similar to Origins in many ways, the skill and spell upgrade system works well in practice and keeps your talents and skills from being a bit too unwieldy. Specializations feel much better this time around and your choice of them can really change how your character interacts with the party in battle. The spawning enemies however aren’t a real improvement, in Origins a mob of enemies was there before you and you had to figure out a way to get through it. The average grunt was pretty tough and the fun was in finding the best way to carve your way through the encounter. With enemies coming from spawn points and many of them being weak enough to kill in one hit there is a real question as whether this adds anything other than a really bad and annoying mechanic to the series. They’re more a annoyance than anything else since you have to break away from the main fight to wipe out a bunch of peons and take some cheap hits in the process. Which with healing being as it is in this game is just the Dragon Age equivalent of throwing a YMIR mech at the player. It’s not interesting or challenging it’s just tedious and quite a few fights I found myself just wishing it would be over because I was bored to death of beating on this guy and slaughtering these faceless enemies who just keeping appearing out of nowhere.
The story is good, after the first time jump though game pulls the drag chute and slows to an absolute crawl which is a really odd design choice. It gets the player into some very compelling side quests which can be good but it’s such an obvious padding mechanic that I have a hard time defending it. The voice acting is as to be expected by now, excellent, the actors for Hawke and the companions do a great job. There are quite a few really powerful moments in the game and critical decisions to make and the actors really carry it through which is commendable. The time jump mechanic however isn’t all that good it’s not as compelling or as interesting as one would hope and the framed narrative does rob the story of some suspense. Since Varric is telling it you know he lives so you know that in a round about way the big choice at the end isn’t going to result in your death regardless of what you choose. So the ending is both climatic and anti-climatic at same time kind of disappointing in a way. The ending is abrupt and the game just brings up more questions than it answers, it doesn’t resolve it’s own issues and adds new issues to Origins story in addition to the elements that were already unanswered by that game’s ending.
Dragon Age 2 is good game but it’s not as good as Origins was, admittedly Origins is a tough act to follow everything in it was new had you no expectations and no pre-conceptions. When compared to it’s predecessor Dragon Age 2 comes up short, it’s obviously a rushed product that stubbornly insists it’s way of doing things is better despite the fact that a number of elements just aren’t working from the player’s point of view. They say to make a work of art takes and artist and someone to hit him on the head when it’s done, which is what the Dragon Age team and BioWare in general need. Someone to tell them that they make video games and not movies, embrace the medium and it’s flaws and do what you do best which is make a good story. Too much focus is being placed on BioWare games being “Cinematic” and “Innovative”. Cinematic elements work great in movies but games are a different medium and those elements don’t translate as well. Innovation is great if it’s for the right reasons which is to empower the player and make their experience better not to change the look of everything so you can theoretically market it better or to set yourself visually a part from your competitors. That is innovation for innovation’s sake and with so many games it just doesn’t work out right, there isn’t anything wrong with sticking with what works especially when the alternatives introduce more problems than they solve.
If I was to give a grade to DA2 I would put it in at about 65% it’s an above average game with some really strong moments but there are a number of elements that BioWare has introduced that really drag the game down. I only hope BioWare is humble enough to admit they have made mistakes and try to return focus on what their true strength is, writing and characterization.
#60
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 07:24
thepayne78
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- Members
- 67 Beiträge
I am only 3-4 hours into so this isn't a full review but it is a review of my experience with DA2 so far. I am playing it on the 360
Pros: Obviously the graphics, it looks great on 360. Personally I didn't use the tactics from DAO so I am glad that you can play it like an action rpg that being said the tactics are still there if you want to play it as a more strategy rpg you can.
Also like the revised talent\\trees very nice not getting pigeon holed into one particualr skill set. The enviroments are nicely detailed and the city does feel like it has some hustle and bustle to it. The musical score and the voice acting is top notch, Very nice to hear your MC reacting to what is going on around them and not remaining mute.
Cons: My only con so far is the very begining of the story where you have to choose to side with the Mercenaries or the thieves. Instead of actually having to work for them for a year and perform quests and make decisions you get it narrated to you by Varric that you made a name for yourself with said group.
I understand that DA2 is told via frame narrative but I still would have like to actually played making the name for myself since the game was billed as being able to make a name for yourself as Hawke. Instead I meet people who say "oh Hawke remember when pulled that job" "Or Hawke remember that time we met." Well no no I don't because I didn't get to play it. And maybe the game explains what exactly happened in more detail but I still would have liked to play those events myself because after all I am supposed to be shaping my Hawke.
Bottom line so far: Not my favorite Bioware rpg so far but after will save my final judgement until I actually play it all the way through.
Pros: Obviously the graphics, it looks great on 360. Personally I didn't use the tactics from DAO so I am glad that you can play it like an action rpg that being said the tactics are still there if you want to play it as a more strategy rpg you can.
Also like the revised talent\\trees very nice not getting pigeon holed into one particualr skill set. The enviroments are nicely detailed and the city does feel like it has some hustle and bustle to it. The musical score and the voice acting is top notch, Very nice to hear your MC reacting to what is going on around them and not remaining mute.
Cons: My only con so far is the very begining of the story where you have to choose to side with the Mercenaries or the thieves. Instead of actually having to work for them for a year and perform quests and make decisions you get it narrated to you by Varric that you made a name for yourself with said group.
I understand that DA2 is told via frame narrative but I still would have like to actually played making the name for myself since the game was billed as being able to make a name for yourself as Hawke. Instead I meet people who say "oh Hawke remember when pulled that job" "Or Hawke remember that time we met." Well no no I don't because I didn't get to play it. And maybe the game explains what exactly happened in more detail but I still would have liked to play those events myself because after all I am supposed to be shaping my Hawke.
Bottom line so far: Not my favorite Bioware rpg so far but after will save my final judgement until I actually play it all the way through.
Bearbeitet von thepayne78, 10 März 2011 - 09:19 .
#61
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 07:52
AloraKast
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- Members
- 288 Beiträge
Now that I've had the chance to play for about 7+ hours (approx. 40 sovereigns into funding my Deep Roads expedition, doing all of the side quests I come across, while trying not to progress with any of the main quests too quickly), I wanted to post my thoughts here, in this forum, as there may be spoilers. I play on a PC with the high res pack installed. This is in addition to my initial thoughs found here:
http://social.biowar...3491/18#6430012
- Anders - I am very happy to have Anders back as a companion. It's awesome to have this strong connection to my Warden's adventures in Awakening. The only issue I have is that it's a different actor doing the VO for Anders in DA2. I absolutely love Greg Ellis's accent and his voice in general, found that it created such a wonderful dimension to the Anders that was presented to us. And while Adam Howden uses his skills in such a way that the outcome is similar, so the jarring effect is minimized somewhat, there is something missing that is just noticeable enough... perhaps the depth of the accent? Not sure. But overall, I am very happy to see Anders back and am definitelly looking forward to discovering all the facets of this new incarnation.
- Justice/Vengeance - I was very much looking forward to catching up with an old friend (well, new to Hawke, but not to me) with Justice, as I spent quite a bit of time adventuring with him and getting to know him in Awakening. However, I was somewhat disappointed with Anders's explanation that it's not, in fact, two beings sharing one body, but that Justice has become a part of him. I did experience that feeling of mourning the passing of a dear, old friend... Which may have been the intent, as the Justice I knew is no more, and has become Vengeance, warped by Anders's anger. It definitelly adds so much to this "new" Anders character and, again, I am looking forward to discovering the many layers of my new companion.
- Dog - as I am sure has already been reported, I have been experiencing some issues with my Dog. In two separate dungeons, he simply stayed in the same spot where he was cast and refused to come to my Hawke's aid. Recasting him didn't fix the problem, he simply did not feel like attacking that very moment, I guess. Hoping that there will be a patch to address that.
- "Camp" party inventory - I am wondering whether there is a way to have access to every companions' inventory while at home base? I.e. when I enter my home, I would love the option (which I haven't found yet, perhaps I missed it) to be able to cycle through ALL of my companions' inventory, so that I could swiftly juggle around the accessories, like rings and belts, giving the mages the mana rings and the warriors the HP rings or whatnot. To have to exit my home, pick 3 companions and play around with their inventory, only to have to get back in the house, exit again, pick another 3 companions and shuffle the items that way is... cumbersome. In DA:O, while at Camp, I was able to cycle through my entiry party and juggle the inventory this way, without having to leave the Camp area, which was great.
- Speaking of the Camp - I do find that I miss the feeling of the Camp or one common area where all of my companions are found. You know that feeling the Camp provided, at night with the fire and everyone in its general vicinity... that feeling of, I don't know, camaraderie, of family... Here, everyone is scattered all over the place, everyone has their own home base... which is fine too, I just find that I miss that feeling of adventuring with your family and friends that the Camp provided.
- Oh, I have yet to experience what Mike Laidlaw described as being able to visit companions in their home base and witness other party members having a conversation with them - does anyone know how that comes about? I.e. do I have to simply NOT pick any companions, and visit each companion home base along in order to witness such an encounter?
- I'd like to address being confined to the city and surrounding area. While the map works essentially on the same principles as it did in DA:O, it feels very different. It feels different only because of the fact that instead of rolling out that world map and seeing a larger area (i.e. roads, lakes, mountains, etc. - akin to a regular, old fashioned map) which gives us that feeling of a "world", we ARE limited to the city and it's surrounding areas and so it feels that much more confining and restrictive. This impression may still change as we get further along in the game. And of course, the argument could be made that while we don't get to explore vast areas of land, we do get to explore a pretty large chunck of time itself.
- Fenris - I find Fenris to be a very intriguing character. I will admit that initially his voice did give me pause, but I find that as we adventure together and I get to know him better, well, his voice suits his character more and more as time goes by. It seems that my rogue femHawke has decided she will be romancing him, so I'm just going with the flow here. Alas, he is SO slender/slim... almost like a twig... and since I like my men with at the very least SOME meat on their bones... well, guess my second playthrough will be as a femHawke mage who will definitely be taken by Anders, I have no doubt about that. Seriously, how am I supposed to even hug a frikken twig? It's the one aspect of Fenris's character that is totally disturbing for me. I can accept anything he throws at me, just can't get over how... squishy he looks! Visions of my dreamboat Zevran from DA:O keep flashing in my mind like an insistent beacon... THAT is be body type that Fenris is supposed to be sporting people! He is developing into such an awesome character... and seeing how he is a warrior type (well, with magical abilities, but still) and not specifically a rogue... yes, definitely, give him Zev's body type, for all that is holy! *sigh*
(speaking of dreamboats, Ser Gaider, are you absolutely, positively and unequivocally SURE that Sebastian is NOT romanceable? I mean... that voice! *swoon*
Come now, Ser Gaider, work your beautiful magic for us. Pleeeeze? After all, you just KNEW that was coming 
)
Which brings me to my final point, which is also my BIGGEST gripe with DA2 thus far:
- Elven art style - all I can say is THE ELVES HAVE BEEN SQUISHED! There's slim/slender and then there's totally squished! The first elf I met was the smuggler gang leader and she was extra, SUPER squished! As I kept looking at her, all I could think about was finding SOME WAY to grab each side of her and just PULL until she fills out. Then I ventured into the Alienage, I saw two elves shirt-less, with a grey complexion and bald (well one was bald and the other had a head wrapping, but I am sure he was bald too under the wrapping) and I swear, their body type looked EXACTLY like little green (or in this case grey) men. Check out the body type below... the elves of DA2 HAVE THE SAME BODY!
I absolutely DETEST the way the elves are portrayed in this game. Elves are supposed to be mythical, graceful creatures of legend with etheral beauty (yes slim/slender but not frikken SQUISHED), extremely appealing to humans (and not only humans)... I don't know about you but I personally do not find the above body type appealing. I am beating my head against the wall (well, my computer desk to be exact) trying to suspend my disbelief or rather get past this art style... but OMFG, all that my brain is doing is screaming how very wrong this is. Gha, whomever green-lit this art style ought to be dumped squarely in the middle of the Deep Roads with no maps and no provisions of any kind. *fumes*
*sigh* Looking for an un-squish elves mod, anyone got one, please???
PS. Oh, one more thing I remembered. Has anyone noticed the HANDS? When Bethany or my femHawke brought their hands into view (mainly to scratch at their brow or whathaveyou), anyone else think the hands look... just atrocious? They look like skeleton hands and it's a very horrible experience when my young Hawke (or even Bethany) show me their hands. *shrudders*
Thanks so much for letting me vent about elves guys. I really do find that this is my biggest problem so far. *sigh* Really wish this art style was not approved nor it was allowed to go anywhere NEAR Fenris. He is such an intriguing character! *sigh*
Edit: Not sure why, but the forum filter decided to bleep out shirt-less. Must've forgot the r in there. *blush*
http://social.biowar...3491/18#6430012
- Anders - I am very happy to have Anders back as a companion. It's awesome to have this strong connection to my Warden's adventures in Awakening. The only issue I have is that it's a different actor doing the VO for Anders in DA2. I absolutely love Greg Ellis's accent and his voice in general, found that it created such a wonderful dimension to the Anders that was presented to us. And while Adam Howden uses his skills in such a way that the outcome is similar, so the jarring effect is minimized somewhat, there is something missing that is just noticeable enough... perhaps the depth of the accent? Not sure. But overall, I am very happy to see Anders back and am definitelly looking forward to discovering all the facets of this new incarnation.
- Justice/Vengeance - I was very much looking forward to catching up with an old friend (well, new to Hawke, but not to me) with Justice, as I spent quite a bit of time adventuring with him and getting to know him in Awakening. However, I was somewhat disappointed with Anders's explanation that it's not, in fact, two beings sharing one body, but that Justice has become a part of him. I did experience that feeling of mourning the passing of a dear, old friend... Which may have been the intent, as the Justice I knew is no more, and has become Vengeance, warped by Anders's anger. It definitelly adds so much to this "new" Anders character and, again, I am looking forward to discovering the many layers of my new companion.
- Dog - as I am sure has already been reported, I have been experiencing some issues with my Dog. In two separate dungeons, he simply stayed in the same spot where he was cast and refused to come to my Hawke's aid. Recasting him didn't fix the problem, he simply did not feel like attacking that very moment, I guess. Hoping that there will be a patch to address that.
- "Camp" party inventory - I am wondering whether there is a way to have access to every companions' inventory while at home base? I.e. when I enter my home, I would love the option (which I haven't found yet, perhaps I missed it) to be able to cycle through ALL of my companions' inventory, so that I could swiftly juggle around the accessories, like rings and belts, giving the mages the mana rings and the warriors the HP rings or whatnot. To have to exit my home, pick 3 companions and play around with their inventory, only to have to get back in the house, exit again, pick another 3 companions and shuffle the items that way is... cumbersome. In DA:O, while at Camp, I was able to cycle through my entiry party and juggle the inventory this way, without having to leave the Camp area, which was great.
- Speaking of the Camp - I do find that I miss the feeling of the Camp or one common area where all of my companions are found. You know that feeling the Camp provided, at night with the fire and everyone in its general vicinity... that feeling of, I don't know, camaraderie, of family... Here, everyone is scattered all over the place, everyone has their own home base... which is fine too, I just find that I miss that feeling of adventuring with your family and friends that the Camp provided.
- Oh, I have yet to experience what Mike Laidlaw described as being able to visit companions in their home base and witness other party members having a conversation with them - does anyone know how that comes about? I.e. do I have to simply NOT pick any companions, and visit each companion home base along in order to witness such an encounter?
- I'd like to address being confined to the city and surrounding area. While the map works essentially on the same principles as it did in DA:O, it feels very different. It feels different only because of the fact that instead of rolling out that world map and seeing a larger area (i.e. roads, lakes, mountains, etc. - akin to a regular, old fashioned map) which gives us that feeling of a "world", we ARE limited to the city and it's surrounding areas and so it feels that much more confining and restrictive. This impression may still change as we get further along in the game. And of course, the argument could be made that while we don't get to explore vast areas of land, we do get to explore a pretty large chunck of time itself.
- Fenris - I find Fenris to be a very intriguing character. I will admit that initially his voice did give me pause, but I find that as we adventure together and I get to know him better, well, his voice suits his character more and more as time goes by. It seems that my rogue femHawke has decided she will be romancing him, so I'm just going with the flow here. Alas, he is SO slender/slim... almost like a twig... and since I like my men with at the very least SOME meat on their bones... well, guess my second playthrough will be as a femHawke mage who will definitely be taken by Anders, I have no doubt about that. Seriously, how am I supposed to even hug a frikken twig? It's the one aspect of Fenris's character that is totally disturbing for me. I can accept anything he throws at me, just can't get over how... squishy he looks! Visions of my dreamboat Zevran from DA:O keep flashing in my mind like an insistent beacon... THAT is be body type that Fenris is supposed to be sporting people! He is developing into such an awesome character... and seeing how he is a warrior type (well, with magical abilities, but still) and not specifically a rogue... yes, definitely, give him Zev's body type, for all that is holy! *sigh*
(speaking of dreamboats, Ser Gaider, are you absolutely, positively and unequivocally SURE that Sebastian is NOT romanceable? I mean... that voice! *swoon*
Come now, Ser Gaider, work your beautiful magic for us. Pleeeeze? After all, you just KNEW that was coming )Which brings me to my final point, which is also my BIGGEST gripe with DA2 thus far:
- Elven art style - all I can say is THE ELVES HAVE BEEN SQUISHED! There's slim/slender and then there's totally squished! The first elf I met was the smuggler gang leader and she was extra, SUPER squished! As I kept looking at her, all I could think about was finding SOME WAY to grab each side of her and just PULL until she fills out. Then I ventured into the Alienage, I saw two elves shirt-less, with a grey complexion and bald (well one was bald and the other had a head wrapping, but I am sure he was bald too under the wrapping) and I swear, their body type looked EXACTLY like little green (or in this case grey) men. Check out the body type below... the elves of DA2 HAVE THE SAME BODY!
I absolutely DETEST the way the elves are portrayed in this game. Elves are supposed to be mythical, graceful creatures of legend with etheral beauty (yes slim/slender but not frikken SQUISHED), extremely appealing to humans (and not only humans)... I don't know about you but I personally do not find the above body type appealing. I am beating my head against the wall (well, my computer desk to be exact) trying to suspend my disbelief or rather get past this art style... but OMFG, all that my brain is doing is screaming how very wrong this is. Gha, whomever green-lit this art style ought to be dumped squarely in the middle of the Deep Roads with no maps and no provisions of any kind. *fumes*
*sigh* Looking for an un-squish elves mod, anyone got one, please???
PS. Oh, one more thing I remembered. Has anyone noticed the HANDS? When Bethany or my femHawke brought their hands into view (mainly to scratch at their brow or whathaveyou), anyone else think the hands look... just atrocious? They look like skeleton hands and it's a very horrible experience when my young Hawke (or even Bethany) show me their hands. *shrudders*
Thanks so much for letting me vent about elves guys. I really do find that this is my biggest problem so far. *sigh* Really wish this art style was not approved nor it was allowed to go anywhere NEAR Fenris. He is such an intriguing character! *sigh*
Edit: Not sure why, but the forum filter decided to bleep out shirt-less. Must've forgot the r in there. *blush*
Bearbeitet von AloraKast, 10 März 2011 - 07:58 .
#62
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 09:51
Squintysnake
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LaughingDragon wrote...
Hi Chris, thank you for this opportunity to provide meaningful feedback.
I am a fan of DA:O, ME1, ME2 and KOTOR all of which I give strongly positive reviews.
I am displeased with DA:II on PC (below are the negatives) it was not fun for me. The low budget and the approach of gearing the game toward consoles produced an epic fail. (no Tool set wtfOMgFAIL)
1. Shockingly disappointed beginning with character creation2. Uninspired introduction to game (I didn't care about Hawke's family)
- Recycled hair styles from DA:O used in DA:II character creation (this is especially awful because the modding community has already produced a vast number of beautiful hairstyles for DA:O available through mods)
- Tattoos from DA:O were re-used in DA:II and not improved upon
- -No freedom to choose race
- Only 3 classes
- Unable to customize default Hawke face (can't even change his eye color)
- I went from my first playable experience as hawke being totally awesome, high level with skills/spells/armor to being 100% useless and weak in a span of 2 minutes...this approach made me feel like playing my low level pathetic hawke was lame.
3. Playing an entire game in 1 city... is failure.
- Hawke's family didn't seem interesting to me, at all, except for bethany who was actually kinda hot and interesting but my sister...so yeah awkward...
- Hawkes mom has the same voice as my human noble mom in DA:O...wtf?
- DA:II failed to capture my interest from the get go, leaving me feeling unmotivated to play the game, and disinterested. Whereas, ME1, ME2 and DA:O all managed to capture my interest early and in a powerful way
4. Companions were much weaker than in DA:O or ME1 or ME2!
- Playing 80% of the game in the same city removed the feel of exploration and adventure (it would be like removing every location from ME2 and forcing Shepard play the entire game on the citadel, epic fail)
- Re-used dungeons, locations etc, this is so beyond fail for many reasons but when I think back to diablo 1, even way back then they had an awesome randomized dungeon/location concept working so you never felt like you were in the same spot twice, why not use this approach?
5. The Story is...where?
- Maybe you set the bar too high with Morrigan, Leliana, and Alistair and shot yourself in the foot? Because these DA:II companions just don't cut it, by any standard.
- ME1, ME2, DA:O companions blow DA:II companions out of the gaming universe
- DA:O chatting with companions was vastly superior and more personal to DA:II approach.
- I hated not being able to dress my companions and change their items
The best part of playing DA:II is the comfort that at least I have Elder Scrolls: Skyrim to look forward to.
- Hawks story is a bit uninspiring. I don't really care about Hawke or his rise to power. It feels insignifcant to me.
- Poor story, especially compared to DA:O, ME1, ME2 etc.
[*]Agreed couldn't have said it better in my opinion.
#63
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 10:56
Bad Gamer 83
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I haven't finished. So far, I haven't been disappointed =)
I'm loving the art style of the game. It's a step up above the brown 'n dreary feel of Origins. The graphics themselves are much improved (I'm playing on the 360... thank you for making us equals...) the animations are fun and the spells are satisfying to cast ("ooh, pretty" comes into my mind a lot, especially with the fire animation). I installed the game on my 360, so there're fewer hitches, I reckon. There're a couple of animation glitches here and there but nothing compared to Origins.
Actual gameplay is a big step up. I liked the combat in Origins, but love the combat here. It's definitely more heart-pounding knowing that you have to orchestrate every sword stroke and keep an eye on the rest of the party. I guess my main gripe in this is if you forget to tag a spell to a hot key, you either go radial or you don't go at all.
The narration style and questing definitely works for this tale. The moody narration has a more serial feel to it than that of an all out epic and, with the art style, it definitely works. Each quest feels like its own story, yet not, making it seem something like a comic book series or series of short stories, etc. It definitely works. It makes the world feel more alive and you see the step by step processes taken to get that "Champion" title you're so sought after for.
The complaints are very few. Some of the recycled areas are a little redonco. You're in a different cave/ cavern that looks just like the last one, yay! I don't mind going to the same locales for series' of quests, but there could have been 2-3 different cave maps to help vary things (infamous spider cave #12). Also, the difficulty spikes dramatically, especially in the Deep Roads. It literally goes from killing dark-spawn thugs (goons?) to a dragon that kills everyone within 2 minutes. It's not an awful problem, but it definitely catches one off guard (huge WTF moment for me). This was in Origins as well, but, again, it's not a huge problem, just an annoyance.
I'm liking the characters and increased chatter among your party. Even Varric pulling a Gimli during battles is oft-hilarious. The characters to me are just as memorable as those from Origins.
Overall: great game with a spread out story, that's quite different from Origins, but that's a good thing. A couple of tweaks here and there and it'd be that much more polished. Not much complaining here.
I'm loving the art style of the game. It's a step up above the brown 'n dreary feel of Origins. The graphics themselves are much improved (I'm playing on the 360... thank you for making us equals...) the animations are fun and the spells are satisfying to cast ("ooh, pretty" comes into my mind a lot, especially with the fire animation). I installed the game on my 360, so there're fewer hitches, I reckon. There're a couple of animation glitches here and there but nothing compared to Origins.
Actual gameplay is a big step up. I liked the combat in Origins, but love the combat here. It's definitely more heart-pounding knowing that you have to orchestrate every sword stroke and keep an eye on the rest of the party. I guess my main gripe in this is if you forget to tag a spell to a hot key, you either go radial or you don't go at all.
The narration style and questing definitely works for this tale. The moody narration has a more serial feel to it than that of an all out epic and, with the art style, it definitely works. Each quest feels like its own story, yet not, making it seem something like a comic book series or series of short stories, etc. It definitely works. It makes the world feel more alive and you see the step by step processes taken to get that "Champion" title you're so sought after for.
The complaints are very few. Some of the recycled areas are a little redonco. You're in a different cave/ cavern that looks just like the last one, yay! I don't mind going to the same locales for series' of quests, but there could have been 2-3 different cave maps to help vary things (infamous spider cave #12). Also, the difficulty spikes dramatically, especially in the Deep Roads. It literally goes from killing dark-spawn thugs (goons?) to a dragon that kills everyone within 2 minutes. It's not an awful problem, but it definitely catches one off guard (huge WTF moment for me). This was in Origins as well, but, again, it's not a huge problem, just an annoyance.
I'm liking the characters and increased chatter among your party. Even Varric pulling a Gimli during battles is oft-hilarious. The characters to me are just as memorable as those from Origins.
Overall: great game with a spread out story, that's quite different from Origins, but that's a good thing. A couple of tweaks here and there and it'd be that much more polished. Not much complaining here.
#64
Geschrieben 10 März 2011 - 11:16
Celtic Latino
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I haven't completed the whole game as of yet, but I'll still offer my two cents. : )
Liked:
-I absolutely love the voiced protagonist and dialogue wheel and hope that will be kept for future DA (and other Bioware games). The dialogue wheel actually TELLING you what your intent was and sticking to it was a great addition.
-Mages are not static. In Origins I found mages to be boring since they just stood there, but in DA2 my first character is a mage so far and he's a blast (pun intended) to play. The new combat animations are excellent and as a console player I feel much more involved in the game.
-The friendship/rivalry system. It's not perfect, but its definitely a start. You can play in character and make your decisions and keep your party members (for the most part). Anyone whose hated sucking up to party members and making decisions outside of what you want know what I mean. That system would have made Origins so much better (especially with characters like Morrigan).
-Being able to spec companions early and having the Black Emporium to respec when needed. That's what made Awakening playable, and it allows for different team set-ups while being able to keep your favorite party members with you. It's nice having viable roles not limited to one party member.
-All party members are useful instead of some and that male party members are given due credit. Most other games its the female party members that are overpowered or overneeded (Miranda, Bastila, Morrigan, Wynne, Leliana) and its nice to see the game become more even to those who prefer male party members and just those who want to take their favorites along.
-The romanc e system is much better and feels more real this time around. I love how the romance scenes are handled tastefully yet you can see passion and love between characters.
-Family matching your skin tone and presets. I do wish that hair could have matched (I deleted my blonde rogue and changed to a dark haired mage because it looked more natural) but its a step I give credit for.
-Isabela. Its nice to have a dark skinned party member thats a love interest, goes outside the box which is something I appreciate.
-Feels much more involving and more character driven. I liked how the story told is more personal this time around.
Disliked:
-The beginning exaggerated sequence before character creation. It feels like default Hawke is being pushed on us (much like Sheploo is pushed on people instead of encouraging player creativity).
-Needs a brighter background during character creation, especially on consoles.
-A way to select eye color through some sort of separate screen, its still hard to see eye colors on characters unless you're playing PC version (if you need a good idea, look at Saints Row 2's character creation, they keep eye color from a list)
-Fixed armor on companions. I think I speak for many when I say I preferred Origins system of equipping, sure it may be the 'same few armors but different colors and points', but I liked it that way the same way I liked Mass Effect 1's armor and weapon equipment deal
-Quests feel cluttered, like there's too much going on at once. (It's probably just me too).
-The personality system was fantastic, but I would've loved to see a softer aggressive side, more like an anti-hero than a complete jerk all the time. I give credit how the anti-hero came out at times, but I would've loved to see flirting and being able to show that soft spot while maintaining a gruff edge. It feels too much like aggressive = jerk all the time
-Graphics can be a bit buggy and skip sometimes. Can be fixed with a patch but still.
I can think of so much more, and I'm not even done playing (in fact, I'm about 30-40% into the game) and still on my first run. But so far I think this game is fantastic and I'm glad my optimism has not been challenged yet. Great game Bioware and thank you to all the writers, devs, and everyone who worked so hard to deliver such an awesome game.
Liked:
-I absolutely love the voiced protagonist and dialogue wheel and hope that will be kept for future DA (and other Bioware games). The dialogue wheel actually TELLING you what your intent was and sticking to it was a great addition.
-Mages are not static. In Origins I found mages to be boring since they just stood there, but in DA2 my first character is a mage so far and he's a blast (pun intended) to play. The new combat animations are excellent and as a console player I feel much more involved in the game.
-The friendship/rivalry system. It's not perfect, but its definitely a start. You can play in character and make your decisions and keep your party members (for the most part). Anyone whose hated sucking up to party members and making decisions outside of what you want know what I mean. That system would have made Origins so much better (especially with characters like Morrigan).
-Being able to spec companions early and having the Black Emporium to respec when needed. That's what made Awakening playable, and it allows for different team set-ups while being able to keep your favorite party members with you. It's nice having viable roles not limited to one party member.
-All party members are useful instead of some and that male party members are given due credit. Most other games its the female party members that are overpowered or overneeded (Miranda, Bastila, Morrigan, Wynne, Leliana) and its nice to see the game become more even to those who prefer male party members and just those who want to take their favorites along.
-The romanc e system is much better and feels more real this time around. I love how the romance scenes are handled tastefully yet you can see passion and love between characters.
-Family matching your skin tone and presets. I do wish that hair could have matched (I deleted my blonde rogue and changed to a dark haired mage because it looked more natural) but its a step I give credit for.
-Isabela. Its nice to have a dark skinned party member thats a love interest, goes outside the box which is something I appreciate.
-Feels much more involving and more character driven. I liked how the story told is more personal this time around.
Disliked:
-The beginning exaggerated sequence before character creation. It feels like default Hawke is being pushed on us (much like Sheploo is pushed on people instead of encouraging player creativity).
-Needs a brighter background during character creation, especially on consoles.
-A way to select eye color through some sort of separate screen, its still hard to see eye colors on characters unless you're playing PC version (if you need a good idea, look at Saints Row 2's character creation, they keep eye color from a list)
-Fixed armor on companions. I think I speak for many when I say I preferred Origins system of equipping, sure it may be the 'same few armors but different colors and points', but I liked it that way the same way I liked Mass Effect 1's armor and weapon equipment deal
-Quests feel cluttered, like there's too much going on at once. (It's probably just me too).
-The personality system was fantastic, but I would've loved to see a softer aggressive side, more like an anti-hero than a complete jerk all the time. I give credit how the anti-hero came out at times, but I would've loved to see flirting and being able to show that soft spot while maintaining a gruff edge. It feels too much like aggressive = jerk all the time
-Graphics can be a bit buggy and skip sometimes. Can be fixed with a patch but still.
I can think of so much more, and I'm not even done playing (in fact, I'm about 30-40% into the game) and still on my first run. But so far I think this game is fantastic and I'm glad my optimism has not been challenged yet. Great game Bioware and thank you to all the writers, devs, and everyone who worked so hard to deliver such an awesome game.
#65
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 12:14
jw782
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Loved the game! Glad you guys are taking time to ask our opinion. That makes me feel really good about DA3. Keep up the good work guys!
Likes:
-GRAPHICS: self explanitory
-COMBAT: Combat is fast and furious. I really enjoyed fighting in DA2. I love the improvement to the Mage and Two Handed Warrior classes.
-VOICED HERO: I felt much more attached to my character in DA2 than I did in DA:O. The voice acting added another dimension to the champion.
-DETAILED COMPANION STYLE: I really loved the careful detail put into the individuality and costume design of each companion. They each had a very distinct look that I really enjoyed.
-ARMOR/WEAPON STYLE: I loved the look/style of the different weapons and armor sets in the game. I wish I could change armor more often, but I can't because it's hard to unequip a powerful piece of armor for a good looking weak piece. I would like to see a ton of armor with comparable effects. This way I can pick and choose the look of my outfit.
-REMODELED BODY: The build of the Men/Women looks great. Much better than DA:O. It's pretty nice watching female Hawke walk through Kirkwall.
-STORY: I liked the story, but didn't love it. It's hard to follow the epic tale of DA:O, so I give this one a pass. The story is very good considering it takes place in one city. I hope DA3 will be more of an adventure.
-CINEMATIC STYLE: The cut-scenes and conversations are very well directed. I greatly enjoy this style of storytelling. It works very well with the DA world.
Suggestions for improvement:
-TIME LEAP APPEARANCE: It would be cool if each character had a new unique set of armor after each time leap. It's silly to assume they would wear the exact same clothes after three years. Also, I wouldn't mind an option to grow Hawke's hair/beard a little longer after a time leap.
-SEX SCENES: If you're going to put sex in the game, do it right. Ditch the underwear and give us some nudity. DA:O can be sexy at times, but a few really good sex scenes would make it a huge payoff to bed a companion or hooker.
-ENDING: I understand there will probably be an expansion pack, but I would have liked to feel a little more resolved with the completion of my game. I feel like I'm just waiting for an expansion pack so I can finish my campaign.
-IMPACTFUL DECISIONS: I would like to see DA:3 directly affected by the decisions made in the first two DA's. DA2 had a few "wink wink" moments, but I honestly didn't feel like it mattered what I did in DA:O. Lelianna's cameo was one of my favorite moments in DA2. This stuff really matters to me.
-ARCHERY IMPROVEMENTS: I really enjoy playing an archer, but it seems that this is the only class that didn't get a huge upgrade in style. I would suggest creating some new talents and styles to make this class more enjoyable.
Likes:
-GRAPHICS: self explanitory
-COMBAT: Combat is fast and furious. I really enjoyed fighting in DA2. I love the improvement to the Mage and Two Handed Warrior classes.
-VOICED HERO: I felt much more attached to my character in DA2 than I did in DA:O. The voice acting added another dimension to the champion.
-DETAILED COMPANION STYLE: I really loved the careful detail put into the individuality and costume design of each companion. They each had a very distinct look that I really enjoyed.
-ARMOR/WEAPON STYLE: I loved the look/style of the different weapons and armor sets in the game. I wish I could change armor more often, but I can't because it's hard to unequip a powerful piece of armor for a good looking weak piece. I would like to see a ton of armor with comparable effects. This way I can pick and choose the look of my outfit.
-REMODELED BODY: The build of the Men/Women looks great. Much better than DA:O. It's pretty nice watching female Hawke walk through Kirkwall.
-STORY: I liked the story, but didn't love it. It's hard to follow the epic tale of DA:O, so I give this one a pass. The story is very good considering it takes place in one city. I hope DA3 will be more of an adventure.
-CINEMATIC STYLE: The cut-scenes and conversations are very well directed. I greatly enjoy this style of storytelling. It works very well with the DA world.
Suggestions for improvement:
-TIME LEAP APPEARANCE: It would be cool if each character had a new unique set of armor after each time leap. It's silly to assume they would wear the exact same clothes after three years. Also, I wouldn't mind an option to grow Hawke's hair/beard a little longer after a time leap.
-SEX SCENES: If you're going to put sex in the game, do it right. Ditch the underwear and give us some nudity. DA:O can be sexy at times, but a few really good sex scenes would make it a huge payoff to bed a companion or hooker.
-ENDING: I understand there will probably be an expansion pack, but I would have liked to feel a little more resolved with the completion of my game. I feel like I'm just waiting for an expansion pack so I can finish my campaign.
-IMPACTFUL DECISIONS: I would like to see DA:3 directly affected by the decisions made in the first two DA's. DA2 had a few "wink wink" moments, but I honestly didn't feel like it mattered what I did in DA:O. Lelianna's cameo was one of my favorite moments in DA2. This stuff really matters to me.
-ARCHERY IMPROVEMENTS: I really enjoy playing an archer, but it seems that this is the only class that didn't get a huge upgrade in style. I would suggest creating some new talents and styles to make this class more enjoyable.
#66
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 01:26
DieHigh2012
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I really like the game game overall. The story is a great one, as always, and the combat is vastly improved.
The feeling I got from this game after completion wasen't nearly as good as the one I got from DA:O however. In Origins I saved all of Thedas, while in DA2 I just screwed over everyone in Thedas. There was no sence of making things better as a real hero does. I Just feel like nothing I did really benefited anyone. Then it was over, with me sitting there thinking "wow, I really messed Thedas up badly".
Origins felt complete, you could have not made DA:A and no one would have cared. DA2 lacks that feeling, makes it feel a little like you didn't concluding any thing srtictly for the money grab.
If this is just some ploy to make us buy DLC, I'll be very disappointed. Please tell my EA dosen't have their hooks in ya'll that bad.
The feeling I got from this game after completion wasen't nearly as good as the one I got from DA:O however. In Origins I saved all of Thedas, while in DA2 I just screwed over everyone in Thedas. There was no sence of making things better as a real hero does. I Just feel like nothing I did really benefited anyone. Then it was over, with me sitting there thinking "wow, I really messed Thedas up badly".
Origins felt complete, you could have not made DA:A and no one would have cared. DA2 lacks that feeling, makes it feel a little like you didn't concluding any thing srtictly for the money grab.
If this is just some ploy to make us buy DLC, I'll be very disappointed. Please tell my EA dosen't have their hooks in ya'll that bad.
Bearbeitet von DieHigh2012, 11 März 2011 - 01:33 .
#67
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 02:09
Killagame
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Two things.
1. The ending left me unsatisfied to be honest. Was kinda expecting to come out of nowhere are varric was done or something...
2. Second playthrough as a mage. Love the rivalry between carver and hawke
1. The ending left me unsatisfied to be honest. Was kinda expecting to come out of nowhere are varric was done or something...
2. Second playthrough as a mage. Love the rivalry between carver and hawke
#68
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 02:35
atheelogos
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I love the game, but I have to say that you guys still haven't gotten the difficulty right. Some fights on normal are still way too hard.
#69
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 02:54
Bad Gamer 83
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atheelogos wrote...
I love the game, but I have to say that you guys still haven't gotten the difficulty right. Some fights on normal are still way too hard.
I don't see this as a problem. A) You can change the difficulty
It requires you to use your noggen to try and overcome such obsticlesThough I do agree that there are moments that the difficulty sky rockets leaving you in a WTF moment. Maybe they just want to keep our egos in check
#70
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 02:56
casldfjieafdsc
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I was very dissapointed with this game after all the build up for it. What I saw wrong with it was:
-One race, humans... come on! No one wants to be a human, we go to games to escape our lives
-No choice in back story for Hawke or her family members
-stuck in one place and copies of environments strewn throughout the game. A little variety would be nice
Why be stuck in one city??
-Character interaction is sadly missed!!!! This is the one reason I keep returning to Bioware games. I love Bioware because the characters, dialogue, and interaction with them is always so well developed that I lose myself in the game. For the first time I got a new video game and was able to walk away from it without thinking about it constantly as soon as I left it.
However, the visual are aesthetically pleasing and I appreciate them soooo much! Very beautiful and very captivating people, environments, and music.
-One race, humans... come on! No one wants to be a human, we go to games to escape our lives
-No choice in back story for Hawke or her family members
-stuck in one place and copies of environments strewn throughout the game. A little variety would be nice
Why be stuck in one city??
-Character interaction is sadly missed!!!! This is the one reason I keep returning to Bioware games. I love Bioware because the characters, dialogue, and interaction with them is always so well developed that I lose myself in the game. For the first time I got a new video game and was able to walk away from it without thinking about it constantly as soon as I left it.
However, the visual are aesthetically pleasing and I appreciate them soooo much! Very beautiful and very captivating people, environments, and music.
#71
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 02:57
Kyosukedei
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I love the game, however I wish it was longer, with more Areas to travel to, and more Cities or towns or w/e. Also more freaking gear and hair styles.
What I hated most was I felt restricted in my dialogue options, and I don't think the Circle Conversation Wheel works for Dragon Age, imo. It tend to not let you understand why a certain choice turns out a certain way, like you have no idea what option lets you or get you a try at being the King/Ruler/Viscount of Kirkwall.
What I hated most was I felt restricted in my dialogue options, and I don't think the Circle Conversation Wheel works for Dragon Age, imo. It tend to not let you understand why a certain choice turns out a certain way, like you have no idea what option lets you or get you a try at being the King/Ruler/Viscount of Kirkwall.
#72
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 03:21
Viper 029
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Perhaps I'm not the best judge as I've only played about 7 hours and I'm still in Act 1, but I'm really enjoying the game.
Dragon Age: Origins was an interesting game and I put plenty of hours into it, however I detested the challenges in the Fade while in the Mage's Circle. At the same time I thought the story was nothing AMAZING like Mass Effect 1 had been to me, or even Knights of the Old Republic.
In Dragon Age 2 however, I'm thoroughly enjoying the combat especially since my character truly feels like a powerhouse, something I never experienced in Origins. The story is quite interesting as well, I don't think I've played too many framed perspective RPGs before (if any). While many people complain about the lack of a story, I disagree, I think "Hawke" is the story, and it's a good one at that. I'm convinced that Hawke disappears at the end of the game from one line that Varric said in the beginning of the game, so I'm already hoping that there's a Dragon Age 3 some day, whether or not my assumption is correct.
Quick question, does anyone know if you can keep playing after the end of the game?
Dragon Age: Origins was an interesting game and I put plenty of hours into it, however I detested the challenges in the Fade while in the Mage's Circle. At the same time I thought the story was nothing AMAZING like Mass Effect 1 had been to me, or even Knights of the Old Republic.
In Dragon Age 2 however, I'm thoroughly enjoying the combat especially since my character truly feels like a powerhouse, something I never experienced in Origins. The story is quite interesting as well, I don't think I've played too many framed perspective RPGs before (if any). While many people complain about the lack of a story, I disagree, I think "Hawke" is the story, and it's a good one at that. I'm convinced that Hawke disappears at the end of the game from one line that Varric said in the beginning of the game, so I'm already hoping that there's a Dragon Age 3 some day, whether or not my assumption is correct.
Quick question, does anyone know if you can keep playing after the end of the game?
Bearbeitet von Viper 029, 11 März 2011 - 03:22 .
#73
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 03:31
jheise4321
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Story was awesome! The ending makes me want to see what will happen! The Warden and Champion are linked in some way? (According to Leliana) Awesome Awesome!
Combat was fast paced and way better.
Graphics were awesome!
I didn't see any non robe mage outfits other than some battlemage something that just looked like regular scale mail (boring) and of course the champion armor and that stuff you start with.
The reused areas were starting to make my eyes bleed. Even the Fade copied the Templar Hall, just more blury.
The camera was herendous. When your back was to a wall getting an AoE off was impossible.
I really liked having a talking character! Gave him a lot of personality. I am more of a fan of following a character though. The personal relationships with other characters is just more meaningful.
Bugs bothered me of course. There is one for revival. When you use it, the character is ressurected but the tactics turn off and you have to click for every attack like the spamming A for Xbox. They have unlimited health and stamina too unless they take massive damage. I think the Spirit healer aura is stacking on or something. I don't know. Basically Revival is as broken as can be.
The new Qunari looked awesome. The new elves looked god awful.
The Force concept is kind of stupid. You cam't do anything without a butt load of fortitude as a mage. I got that from the Force Mage tree.
I loved all the cameos! You got all the good ones included!
The battle with the Arishok(sp?) was kind of anti climactic for me. I expected a big spectacle with the Destiny trailer and all that.
Overall I had a blast and would buy it again if I were given the choice. I won't be doing replays though because I got really bored with all these extra quests that were totally unrelated and not many quests that kept the main plot moving. I didn't really get interested until the end. Now all this stuff is tieing together and I'm stoked!
Combat was fast paced and way better.
Graphics were awesome!
I didn't see any non robe mage outfits other than some battlemage something that just looked like regular scale mail (boring) and of course the champion armor and that stuff you start with.
The reused areas were starting to make my eyes bleed. Even the Fade copied the Templar Hall, just more blury.
The camera was herendous. When your back was to a wall getting an AoE off was impossible.
I really liked having a talking character! Gave him a lot of personality. I am more of a fan of following a character though. The personal relationships with other characters is just more meaningful.
Bugs bothered me of course. There is one for revival. When you use it, the character is ressurected but the tactics turn off and you have to click for every attack like the spamming A for Xbox. They have unlimited health and stamina too unless they take massive damage. I think the Spirit healer aura is stacking on or something. I don't know. Basically Revival is as broken as can be.
The new Qunari looked awesome. The new elves looked god awful.
The Force concept is kind of stupid. You cam't do anything without a butt load of fortitude as a mage. I got that from the Force Mage tree.
I loved all the cameos! You got all the good ones included!
The battle with the Arishok(sp?) was kind of anti climactic for me. I expected a big spectacle with the Destiny trailer and all that.
Overall I had a blast and would buy it again if I were given the choice. I won't be doing replays though because I got really bored with all these extra quests that were totally unrelated and not many quests that kept the main plot moving. I didn't really get interested until the end. Now all this stuff is tieing together and I'm stoked!
#74
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 04:16
namedforthemoon
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- Members
- 2.529 Beiträge
My Review
Pros are in regular text, Cons are in italicized text.
I played the PC version.
I played as a Female Rogue.
Art Direction: I really like the new art style. Kirkwall wasn't bland, with all the different splashes of color here and there. One of my favorite places was the Elven Alienage, just for how it was decorated. The outlying areas were nice, too. I really liked how the new armors looked, and the redesign of the elves and the Qunari. I love the new Character Creator, you can make really good-looking characters. Although I miss the braided double bun hairstyle (the one Anora wore). New tattoos would have been nice.
Combat: It's so much more fun! I liked how my rogue would leap into the air and strike her enemy when launching an attack. Also, her spins and kicks, somersaults... I have no complaints about combat. It was just a lot of fun.
Homes: I liked having my own house. Although it seemed there was a lot of wasted space.
Romances: I felt let down by the romances, they didn't seem as in-depth as what they were in Origins. I didn't feel as if there was any affection between my character and Merrill. I didn't feel anything for the romance... When I was with Alistair in Origins, I felt like I was really in love with him, and I believe that's because he called my character pet names, I could kiss him whenever I liked, we could have flirtatious conversation... The romance in Dragon Age 2 left me wanting. I would say either do romances well, or don't do them at all.
Companion Quests: I liked that there were multiple companion quests for each companion. What I didn't like is that at the end of Merrill's quest, after she had killed her entire clan, she didn't say a single word about it. No mourning, no cut scenes of sadness like Hawke had with her mother dying... Maybe it was a glitch? I felt like there should have been more to that.
The Story Overall: It was good. A conflict that was a long time coming. I'm sure the Qunari will be back, based on what Fenris said about them. It appears there's a huge war going on. I'm really excited to see what DA3 brings!
Pros are in regular text, Cons are in italicized text.
I played the PC version.
I played as a Female Rogue.
Art Direction: I really like the new art style. Kirkwall wasn't bland, with all the different splashes of color here and there. One of my favorite places was the Elven Alienage, just for how it was decorated. The outlying areas were nice, too. I really liked how the new armors looked, and the redesign of the elves and the Qunari. I love the new Character Creator, you can make really good-looking characters. Although I miss the braided double bun hairstyle (the one Anora wore). New tattoos would have been nice.
Combat: It's so much more fun! I liked how my rogue would leap into the air and strike her enemy when launching an attack. Also, her spins and kicks, somersaults... I have no complaints about combat. It was just a lot of fun.
Homes: I liked having my own house. Although it seemed there was a lot of wasted space.
Romances: I felt let down by the romances, they didn't seem as in-depth as what they were in Origins. I didn't feel as if there was any affection between my character and Merrill. I didn't feel anything for the romance... When I was with Alistair in Origins, I felt like I was really in love with him, and I believe that's because he called my character pet names, I could kiss him whenever I liked, we could have flirtatious conversation... The romance in Dragon Age 2 left me wanting. I would say either do romances well, or don't do them at all.
Companion Quests: I liked that there were multiple companion quests for each companion. What I didn't like is that at the end of Merrill's quest, after she had killed her entire clan, she didn't say a single word about it. No mourning, no cut scenes of sadness like Hawke had with her mother dying... Maybe it was a glitch? I felt like there should have been more to that.
The Story Overall: It was good. A conflict that was a long time coming. I'm sure the Qunari will be back, based on what Fenris said about them. It appears there's a huge war going on. I'm really excited to see what DA3 brings!
#75
Geschrieben 11 März 2011 - 04:57
KillerYeh
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- Members
- 93 Beiträge
Dear BioWare, you've just made a new AWESOME game. I won't write much... Just +/-:
+ Great storyline
+ Great artwork, design
+ Nice soundtrack
+ Super characters, each of them has it's story...
+ Great graphics, it looks super on maximum settings!
+ Awesome action, not so boring as in DAO
And now...
- A wait? I can't remember any!!!
10/10. You're getting better and better in development. I admire your last games!
+ Great storyline
+ Great artwork, design
+ Nice soundtrack
+ Super characters, each of them has it's story...
+ Great graphics, it looks super on maximum settings!
+ Awesome action, not so boring as in DAO
And now...
- A wait? I can't remember any!!!
10/10. You're getting better and better in development. I admire your last games!
