1012 réponses à ce sujet

[highcastle]

Let me preface this by saying I just beat the game about 30 minutes ago, and I definitely enjoyed it for the most part. The overall impression was positive, though not perfect.

CHARACTERS
It's a BioWare game, so strong characters are always expected. In this case, DA2 delivers. I felt a strong bond with my family right away. I played as a mage, and the inherent rivalry between the brothers was very believable. I also thought Leandra was a great supporting role. Her death in Act 2 came as a legitimate shock to me and it was emotionally depleting. So, well done. I also liked how my romantic interest came to my house to comfort me afterwards. Great touch. One thing that bugged me in Origins was how romances/companions had little reacitvity to the PC's personal life (such as a human noble slaying Arl Howe).

The downside to this, of course, is the new conversation system. One of the things I liked about Origins was the immense number of talks you could have with your followers. I really felt like I was getting to know them. I cared about them. In DA2, I cared more about Anders because I already knew him from Awakening. Aveline and Varric also made an impression on me (probably because there are so many reactions to them in quests and I tended to drag them around with me quite often). I love that the companions can and do speak up in quests, but this presents a problem if you never bring them many places. For instance, I hardly ever brought Fenris with me because he didn't suit my play style. As a consequene, I could barely get to know him.

I'm sure there are some who say this is more realistic. You get to know people by doing things with them. But you also talk to them. I wish there were more opportunities to talk to companions, not just during quests or their own personal crisis moments. This is definitely the biggest flaw of the game, in my opinion. Though you must be doing something right if the criticism is: I want more.

As far as the romances go, I liked how they were implemented for the most part. Obviously since I romanced Anders, I got a little bit of a curveball during the conclusion. Even as a mage who'd been pretty resolutely pro-mage, it was hard to support him. But no one said romance couldn't end in tragedy.

GAMEPLAY
Gameplay felt very similar to Origins, which is a good thing since I personally love pause-and-play for the balance between action and tactical. My biggest problem with it was the difficulty. Normal was very, very easy. Now, I'm normally not one to complain about difficulty. I like a challenge, but I don't like to get slaughtered all the time. I think Origins' difficult level was great. Yes, I had a few full-party wipes, but once I figured out tactics and crowd-control, very few fights gave me pause.

I understand there were complaints about the difficulty level of Origins. Yet I don't think the solution is making things easier. As I said, once you mastered Origins' combat, it was quite well-balanced. The main problem was that the game never offered any kind of tutorial or introduction to ease into advanced tactics and crowd-control. There was a pretty sharp learning curve, too. My first time through, I made it through one main quest line before I ran into trouble. In DA2, I never ran into trouble on Normal. I even turned it up to Hard without much of a difference.

What I noticed in DA2 is that enemies were easier, there were just more of them. And they continually spawned, so clearing out one wave just brought the next. This got old fast. They were easily dispatched, so combat became a matter of waiting for the next wave so you could just finish the encounter already. Origins, on the other hand, had smaller mobs but tougher individuals. You had to use tactics, you had to micromanage at times. I rarely felt the need to switch from Hawke to my other companions during battle, at least on Normal.

I suppose my recommendation for the future would be to go back to the Origins level of difficulty, but wean players into it better. Maybe do something like the DA2 prologue, where you allow players to look at how the game plays at higher levels. But give them access to ALL spells or abilities, thus allowing them to see which work and which they like.

INVENTORY
This is probably my second biggest problem with the game. I miss Origins' inventory. I liked dressing my companions, I liked fitting them with the best gear, seeing what the different armors looked like, etc. I get the reason for unique armors, but I wonder if there can't be more of them. Perhaps instead of just purchasing upgrades from merchants, we could buy dyes or accessories for personalization.

I also disliked how the game spawns oodles of loot you can't actually use. The junk items have fun names and act as flavor, but the proportion to anything of actual value was pretty overwhelming. My feelings on loot have always been: make it mean something, or don't include it. All those junk items serve no purpose, so they're just fodder for the merchants. At that point, just give us the gold and save the time.

Another thing I noticed was the lack of item descriptions. This is a small thing, but I liked it in Origins. I actually read the descriptions for everything. They added color and context, and they made cool items even cooler. Another feature missing is the ability to compare loot you find on a body or in a container with the items already equipped (at least on the console; I believe the PC demo version had this feature).

Lastly, I really have to lament the lack of good mage robes again. Until the iconic champion's set becomes available in Act 3, the robes are pretty bad. Why can't more mage robes feature mail? Or pants. Pants would be nice. Most of the robes looked identical. There weren't even recolors, so I'd find a new set, get all excited to see what it looked like, only to find there was no change. Talk about disappointing.

OVERALL
Despite my nitpicking and complaints, I really did enjoy the game. The story was incredibly engaging with a couple nice plot twists throughout the game. I love the focus on family, and the dynamics between the relatives seemed real and engaging. I wish companion interactions all met the same standards. They were nowhere near as standoffish as the ME2 characters could be, though, so points there.

Others have pointed this out, but I think it bears repeating that the environments got old fast. Every cave and warehouse looked exactly like the last, down to the layout. Not fun. I wish we could've seen the city change a bit more over the years, too. Like new shops opening up, new map sections or the closing of old ones. It didn't feel like as much time had passed because the city physically remained the same.

That being said, I liked the style of this game lots. I liked the personal focus, I liked the characters, I liked how the choice between the mages and the templars was gray versus gray rather than black and white. I could honestly see both sides of the issue, and that's a rarity in most media, not just games. I actually think I liked DA2's story even better than Origins. I just wish for more character interaction. The game is really good, and I look forward to playing through it again.

[Keladis]

I will start off with my likes as it is a much shorter list.

I really like the combat, you guys done an amazing job. The rogue, and mages was a huge improvement compared to Origin. I love that you made it feel more action packed by making the player have to hit the normal attack button each time they want to attack.

I loved that you made the mages shot orbs of energy as a normal attack when the enemies are out of melee range and when the enemies come into melee range they whale on them with the staff. (same with archer rogues)

I loved that the rogues felt much more like a rogue and was probably the most major change done to the classes combat.

I loved the graphic other then the elves (whoever decided to revamp them made a very poor decision)

I love the dialog system and a fully voice main character.

I really like that you guys add a lot of new weapon and armor style and the option to hide helms.



That is about all I can think of right now on the likes, so on to the dislikes.



I was disappointed right off the bat with character creation.

I was hoping to be able to customize the default hawke face when I noticed it had 2 of them and them in the demo. Then I come to find out that I cant touch up anything on either of them.

I was disappointed to see no new tattoos


I was disappointed with the beginning of the game.

I was sad when hawke's brother or sister was killed. Not because that was what I was suppose to feel, but because I didn't feel anything other then a face palm when he/she decided to take on the ogre alone.  I really think that we should of started with some game play in Lotheren and a chance to get to know your family before jumping into them fleeing and then killing one of them off and expecting people to feel sad cause it was your brother/ sister.

It would of also been nice to have gotten to see the darkspawn actually attacking Lotheren.

I thought it was a weak beginning and a poor job on trying to add emotional moving cut scenes at the start of the game.

I was disappointed in the story.

The story was kind of lacking for a bioware game! first off the into was weak. You guys didn't give us a chance to spend any time in Lotheren, which I feel was a mistake, because you could of used that time to let use get to know hawke's family and start with a strong impression and emotional attachment. Instead we jump right into fleeing the darkspawn, and no chance to talk to any of you family, other then a couple short replies to cut scenes. Which left most people not really feeling anything when your brother or sister is kill a few minutes into the game.

I didn't know anything about them so big deal you might as well just made the game to give you a warrior brother if you was a mage and a female mage sister if you was a warrior or a rogue and cut the other family out the third child all together.

Next the story was a little hard to follow because the game feel like it was quest based and had now main store cause the main stories plots got mix into a bag with the secondary quest, companions quests, and the side quest, so you had to check your journal and make sure you done all the non main story related quest before doing the main storyline quest to get the most sense out of the main story.

I was also dissapointed with the lack of conversation with your companions.

I found it hard to get to know or like any of the possible companion character because you decided to go with more of an awakening style of talking to them and only allow us to talk to them at their home, one or two time an act and the conversation was rather short.

Which really made it weird when towards the end of the game they talk to you like they have known you forever and are your best-friend or lover (which most have known you for 10 years) but you get left feeling like damn did I hit my head and forgot all those years I have known you because I barely remember who you are.

Now on to romances

All I got to say is wtf, we have 4 companions we can try to romance and we only get to do it with the few chance we get to talk to them. REALLY??? BioWare I expected a lot more from you... The game is suppose to take place over the course of 10 years yet all we get to do is talk to our each companions maybe 8 times and we got to pick the heart option every time we get a chance which isn't even once every conversation and then you basically only allow us to  have them fall in love with us and bed them one time over the course of 10 years. A lot of couples that are together for 10 years are either married or at have a child together. Hell and I don't know any couples that are together for 10 years and only have sex once and we don't even the option to have sex more then once.

Even Origin allowed use to bed all the love interest multiple times. Very disappointing in all companion interactions.

Disappointed that after the first act it felt like all the quest used the same maps for all their quest and the lack of doing anything outside of just kirkwell

I think that most of my disappointment, so I will leave giving the game a 6.5 possible a 7 out of 10 rating and the thought that maybe the fears that EA buying Bioware out really will end up having an impact on the quality of their games. Hope that isnt the case.

Modifié par Keladis, 11 mars 2011 - 06:02 .

[ziloe]

Story:

I felt like this game was so linear, like when I could face the Arishok, no matter what, I would have to fight him. The only difference was in how, alone or with friends. There was no way to avoid a fight all together, no matter how much I played the peace keeper.

You guys claimed a frame narrative and that barely even happened. Even Prince of Persia did a better job, including when the "Game Over" happened and he went all out to say, "No! No! No! That isn't right..." etc.
I was totally looking forward to this game and all these promises you made of improvements and though some of them were admirable and I enjoyed the game, I couldn't help but see too many paralels to the Mass Effect series. You guys kept going on about the Qun being of one mind and I was like, "God, what are they, the Geth?"

Gameplay:

When it comes to the levels, I was fine at first with a bit of the repetition, but my gawd, you used the warehouse build for the sewers? C'mon! Where's the dirty running water and the cool dark atmosphere, like in games such as The Witcher? I understand its a long game, but I thought Mass Effect 1 learned from this mistake already, so why are you guys making the same mistake over again? If you guys could learn from the Mass Effect conversation wheel, you could take some other pointers as well to learn from when it comes to the complaints. 

Despite all that, you also claimed the world would change and grow over the years and it didn't. A couple places were removed like the Qunari base, some level maps forced the same map, but didn't allow you access to certain areas because you were visiting "another" place, despite it being the same. 

Origins and Graphics:

As for Hawke, he never once needed to be the role of a human. You could have had options of your origin continuing and like in Origins, it would have barely affected anything if you played an Elf or a Dwarf, albeit a few minor comments. It's not like you'd need a new voice actor either, it could have remained the same and I doubt it would have bothered anyone to do so.

I have a high end computer and even with its specs, I still saw Origins style. Even the hair options were barely there, everything was the same, minus a few tweeks. 

The Ending:

I posted this in my own thread, though I believe it's appropriate enough for here too. After finding out about what Anders does and playing through that last bit over again, which mind you I expected more after, since this was ONLY the SEVENTH YEAR and Bioware stated TEN! I decided to go through my saves again and this time deny helping Anders enter the chantry covertly. 
Then, right after that, I went directly to the chantry to activate what was supposedly the last part. I honestly believed maybe I missed something to make it go further into the story. However! SOMEHOW, Anders though being with me the ENTIRE time, had time to blow up the chantry. Seriously?! 

Unlike Origins, you've limited our options entirely and though you might have brought in a wider audience, you've in fact stamped on those who were here the entire time. I honestly felt cheated with how severely you severed my paths, making only two or three viable options, in spite of none really mattering because it all leads you down the same road.

[Roachbugg]

Overall I liked the story it was chaotic well written and twisted. But i had many gripes with it.

The ending was a total cliffhanger whether you sided with the mages or the Templars I can understand leaving it open like that but i felt like the story was no were near an ending at the ending point, I mean i still had 3 to four years of the supposed 10 year story to go and it feels a little cheap. I also felt that there were far to many no win situations and quite frankly it was frustrating. You can't save your sibling at the beginning if you take them to the deep roads the either die or become a warden. If you don,t they get taken by the Templars. Just some examples.

The charecters.

I must say most of them i liked by far Anders was my favorite and he had a very well written romance with a hell of a heart breaking twist at the end even though i stood by him even after that what can i say i was in love.

Varric Was a great character very funny and over all awesome not to mention it was amusing to watch him weave and elaborate lie to save Hawke's ass a few times. Was only disappointed i could not romance him stupid charming dwarf stop being so sexy.

Isabella I did not use much and hence she abandoned me both playthroughs when i tried to get her to give the relic to the Arishok.

Bethany/Carver

These two felt the weakest to me i did not get the feeling like i should give a damn about them Carver is a utter brat And i just didnt care much for Beth, Honestly i would have like to seen carver and beth flip personalities.

Sebastian

I felt he was very meh. I hat that he was a religous chantry brat. He was not funny. He was not Awesome he was just Meh. Id rather have Shale's humor or Sten's awesomeness and occasional goofy and softness.

Merrill I did not get to into in my first two but she made a very good first impression and could be quite funny but she just kinda turned all hard headed blood mage on me so it was neither here nor there.

Fenris Ignored him completely first play through but am currently romancing him and and finding i like him overall he is a good character.

Aveline i spent a lot of time with Aveline and she was another meh comp[anion she had her moments but mostly she was not deep enough for me.


Game play.

Was greatly improved though i was a bit cranky that you took away my arcane warrior bad bioware no BISCUT! Combat was much more fluid and action packed i did find some things to be a bit silly like all the monkey flips the rouge does.


Art style I like and dislike many things here

Darkspawn

Hurlocks looked OK bit to much like zombies or skeltor but ill live
Genlocks: were did they go?
Ogres: Liked the blue better but the did look more fierce and less dopey

Dwarves: Not much change honestly they look better
Elves: Look absolutely stupid with the exceptions of zevran and fenris.
Humans: hard to foul up
Qunari: They were the most disappointing change the went from big ashen dreadlocked giants to goat men? I don't get it just completely killed my Qun love,

Environments:

Honestly the Wounded coast looked like it had been pulled from mass effect art work was little sad. Kirkwall was fine now complaints.


Voice work.

Male hawke was grand actually i can not complain about any of the Voice overs Great job!

[Gilsa]

What I liked:

1. Aveline -- I loved, loved, loved her character. She was so well-written. I love how she's a strong woman with some shortcomings. I really liked how her inner strength was just a part of her personality and how there wasn't this underlying current of "proving herself as a woman in a man's world." She was simply a strong person, period. Her personal quest in Act 2 was my favorite in the entire game. I was laughing and facepalming at the awkward attempts at courtship. I really liked seeing love blossom like this. I may have enjoyed watching her romance develop more than Hawke's own romance! She's a solid character. I responded very well to her. She was a joy to visit. I liked how she spoke her mind and didn't skirt the issue. Direct and to the point.

2. Rival/Friendship -- This worked out great. I was able to stick to my principles without feeling like I had to brownnose to keep people happy. Merrill was the sweetest girl in the party, but wow, I went full on rival with her because I didn't agree with her goals. I wasn't a jerk to her, just firm in my position. So I definitely dug this new system.

3. Long term friends --  I liked how 10 years really had all the companions feeling like friends/acquaintances. I was pleased they had personal quests in each of the Acts instead of just an one-time thing. I romanced Fenris in the first game and I liked how it developed slowly. I like that it was paced by plot points rather than achieved quickly in camp with fast gifts and conversations. I loved how the love interest came to comfort Hawke when tragedy struck so Hawke is not quite stuck as the primary mama bear looking out for everyone.

4. The ending -- I liked how it both hinted at something great looming on the horizon and at the same time, wrapped up Hawke's story. I don't know if Hawke will return or not, but the game definitely feels complete so I got my closure. There was no "for a time ..." epilogue nor vague promises of the protagonist returning down the road.

5. Exiled Alistair -- I appreciated him not being written off as a complete joke for DA2, that he did have a chance to start over again when Teagan got him. I liked all the cameos, actually. I thought we'd pass by the old companions in a marketplace or something, but I definitely appreciated the tip-of-the-hat quests we got in being able to see Zevran or Leliana or Nathaniel Howe again, however briefly. I was very pleased.

What I didn't like:

1. There were times when I was a little exhausted by the sheer amount of waves of enemies to fight. Just when I thought I was done clearing out a room, more would spawn and just keep on coming. It wasn't BAD, but there were times when I considered switching to easy mode just to speed it up so I could get to the story faster.

[Sable Rhapsody]

I just finished the game a few minutes ago too. Here are my thoughts.

THE GOOD

Characters: You guys are getting pretty damn good at this. Once again, as in ME2 and DA:O, I am hard pressed to find a party member I didn't adore. Even the ones who turned on me. They all had depth, intelligence, and real heart written into them. Carver's bitterness, Sebastian's almost painfully naive piety, Anders' anguish...perfect. As always in BioWare games.

Atmosphere: Really nailed the "dark fantasy" this time around, guys. I didn't buy dark fantasy in DA:O. I got off with what I consider a pretty damn happy ending. But in DA2, I could literally feel the tension as the city slowly tore itself apart, mostly because that conflict appeared within my own party. It's not good in tabletop to have the party turn against one another, but it makes for delicious dark fantasy and wonderful CRPG experiences. I felt like everything really was spiraling out of control, that my own group of friends were destroying themselves. In short, a perfect s***storm. Nailed it.

Emotional resonance: Kind of goes with dark fantasy, but this time, you guys made me care about the setting and the characters. I played a mage Hawke, and I felt the injustice and rage that she and Anders felt. I felt Merill's torment. I felt for my family--I felt helpless when Carver was tainted, furious when Leandra was taken...and I literally got up and cheered when my brother came back to my side. Lots of sucker punches too. This is IMO the most important element of an RPG--connecting with the player emotionally. It was kind of meh in DA:O--ok, but not all there. In this game, it was present in spades.

Combat: It's fun now! Less inventory management, prettier interface, faster combats...fun! Good.

Art: Kirkwall is beautiful. A bit empty, but very very pretty. I'm not an art person, so all else I can say is that I was particularly impressed with the 2D art.

Cameos: Creepy Leliana is creepy. Almost makes me wish I hadn't let her stay in the Chantry in the first game. Awesome Zev is awesome, and I wish I'd taken a screenshot of bro!Hawke and Alistair. Epic win.

THE "NEEDS WORK"

Pacing: This was the #1 thing that kept me from loving this game to bits. The pacing is terribly awkward. I barely get to use this character, then BLAM! She's lived in Kirkwall a year. The time skips weren't too bad, but I never got a good sense of plot pace during the playable segments. I couldn't tell if I did everything in one very tiring day or over months or what. I had very little sense of the overarching plot, and when it did move along, it moved in fits and spurts. It was the worst in Act 1--also the longest. Act 3 was ironically the best paced, and it was the shortest.

Party management: Would it kill you to let us swap out party members in Kirkwall while we're wandering around? Just saying. Biggest pet peeve.

Looting: I should not have to spend 10 hours picking through every corner of every cave and every chest just to get things like companion upgrades and gifts. I'm not saying they should be handed out willy nilly, but I took my time and still missed about a third of the stuff.

Music and sound: This was disappointingly weak. Not the quality, but the scarcity. Mass Effect 2 felt full of people and life despite having probably fewer interactable NPCs than DA2, but it achieved the illusion through background hums, conversations, murmuring...really gave areas like Omega lots of bustle. It feels like DA2 tried to do the same thing and didn't do it enough, which just draws attention to how sparse Kirkwall feels.

Plot: This is the elephant in the room. I'm more of a character person than a plot person, but this plot had just too many neat coincidences. The lyrium idol just happened to end up in Meredith's hands? Isabela just happened to have the qunari relic? At a certain point, my suspension of disbelief goes and I start to think you guys are just trying for surprise. Simply put, the plot here was on the weak side. The problem was that the mage/templar thing felt like it was SUPPOSED to be the overarching plot, but all of its goodness got crammed into act 3 and acts 1 and 2 ended up poorer for it.

On the whole, I'd give this about an 8.5/10. Solid and engaging, but it lacks the polish I'm used to from you guys.

[Bryy_Miller]

CHARACTERS
I thought the character creators in both DA1 and ME1 were pretty weak. ME2 was a vast improvement, but still far from amazing (especially in the age of Spore and EVE Online's new creation system). I could actually make my face in Oblivion. The closest I ever came in DA1 was a Herp Derp avatar of ages past (the stillborn Danny Cousland). So I was very happy that the characters  created in DA2 (all twelve of them) look really good. The hair moves in the wind, which was a fun improvement over Origins' static haircuts. The different hair colors are also really cool. I liked being able to make an actual redhead and an actual whitehead.

STORY
The story structure is, at times, rickety. For a game that boasts ten years of a dude or dudette's life, I expected it to be more stable. While it is true that most of the boring stuff happens in montage, it still would have been interesting to play all ten of those years. I'm also not a fan of "oh, here's an established character you - the player/audience - is just meeting"; no matter how elegant it is executed, it still feels lacking. I really would have liked to see Lothering. I also wanted to hang out on the deck of the Gwaren-bred ship that takes you to your new home.

I'm happy that I got to experience it, but I'm also happy that this kind of unique storytelling is unique, and won't be back for DA3.

As for the importing, it's a *bit* more active than it was in Mass Effect 2, but it's also a lot more behind the scenes. So, I mean, it's not to see BioWare getting bolder in their steps. It's things like that which make me continue purchasing their wares. The amount of choices and sub-choices in Act Three alone is mindboggling.

I also love Drunk Alistair. 

It's a fairly human cast of party members, which works for the story, but I'm not sure it was all that important for Hawke to be limited to one race. It seemed like the Warden kept basically the same job in Origins, and while a lack of "origins" would be a good idea, limiting Hawke's race really has no affect on the overall story. Other than your main PC, Varric is a Dwarf and you have two teammates of the same species, but it never feels lacking in the diversity field. While a Qunari would have been nice, again, it doesn't quite work for the overall story DA2 is telling. I'm also a little sick of the bad guy party member (I did not like Legion at all, and Loghain I could only tolerate).''

TECH JUNK
The new tactical camera actually made it feel more immersive instead of "boardgamey" or "chessy". As for the differences between Ferelden and the Free Marshes, you have to remember that there is a flood of Ferelden refugee families pouring into this city that sits fairly close to Ferelden's city of Highever. So of course some styles and cultural thingamabobs overlap, but Kirkwall also feels... like a portal to the rest of the world. It is grand, vast, and wealthy. A giant contrast to the twig houses of Lothering. Ferelden, after all, is the country that everyone else facepalms at. 
Hawke's voice is not the best thing ever. That said, combined with the new "non-static" animations, it's very, very far from bad. It's certainly better than Male Shepard, and more alive than FemShep. The voice has fluidity to it, breath. It's definitely a step in the right direction, regarding a voiced PC.

There were a plethora of bugs and glitches though. Which, granted, Origins had as well. But it's still odd and annoying when Bethany suddenly moves as fast as an Anne Rice vapire, or a flash of blue streaks across Varric's face without any lighting in the area.

I was going to write about how I thought the Night/Day Toggle would be horrible, but it isn't. But it's really late at night and I have a busy day tomorrow.

So, I mean, I give it an 8.5 out of 10. 

Modifié par Bryy_Miller, 11 mars 2011 - 10:59 .

[Netzach]

Overall great game, nice change in bioware cliche chart (story). Played a rogue and it was so much fun i couldn't stop playing during 3 days (also the story).

I'm a huge fan of BioWare since Kotor and, specially, since i found MDK2 was made by BioWare (i was a kid when i played the game, i didn't care at that time), also i'm admin of swtor-esp (Netzach in the spanish fansite) and moderator in "games" in mediavida (one of the greatest game communities in Spain)

Next time:

- Don't be cheap. Make variable dungeons. It was a flaw in Mass Effect 1 (and for me Mass Effect is the Star Wars of videogames) and it is a flaw in Dragon Age 2.
- If you are going to make a city, it needs to be alive not just people in some corners with a few npcs moving around (patrolling). And make them good. not just a basic texture because no one will stare at them, we will and we care. We love rich worlds, rich cities, even when we are talking about minor details
- I don't care about isometric view, but it wouldn't hurt.

In my opinion, it's without doubt an improvement of Dragon Age Origins (specially in game combat fun and in story), but it could be better. I just know some changes were mandatory, because there are people who enjoys BioWare games but has no idea about somethings (like speaking with companions sometimes, so it's a good idea to warn them in the journal).

Modifié par kanuvis, 11 mars 2011 - 11:19 .

[Miserysky]

Likes

Improved interfaces - Map, inventory and craftables upgraded interface is great. Quick travel is very convenient, as is having grey junk filter to junk.

Combat Pacing - Warrior and rogue are extremely fun to play and watch.

New companions - Fenris, Aveline and Varric were extremely awesome.  Aveline, I felt like she was my best friend by the end of the game.  Her companion quest in Act 2 was well done and heartwarming.  Varric, he had my back and had a wonderful sense of humor and charm.  Fenris, took the broody elf thing seriously and had me swooning for him the whole time.  I hope Aveline and Fenris return!

Improved graphics in some places - Detail was very smooth and nice and the fight animations were superb.

Voice Acting was top notch.

Dislikes

Annoying inconveniences

• Inability to zoom out from the small map while in a location
• Inability to change party members while wandering around.  Those stupid change stations are dumb.
• Junk loot.  I'd rather there be no junk loot so the important loot is not overlooked.

Old companions -  Isabella I rarely talked to, so I have no idea how her dialogue is, but I know I didn't care when she left, at all.  Same with Anders.  The change to his personality from Awakening is dramatic and not believable.  It strips everything charming from him and his new VA did not capture the cheekiness of Anders at all.

The Great Mage Nerf - Long cooldowns and lackluster gameplay overall.  New staff attack animation is good, especially because it's what I'm doing 75% of the time while I wait on the ridiculously long heal spells to come off cooldown and heal for a tiny amount.  Also, the auras restricting spells being cast is not fun or great to manage. 

Curse of the Linear - Buildings, Caves, Mountainsides....I'm guided along one little path and it's boring.  Previously, all doors were open unless you needed a key so you could wander around and explore.  Being driven down a singular path makes me feel like a rat in a maze.

Regurgitated environments - Again, buildings, caves and dungeons are literally copy pasta.  Feels very lazy.  Honestly, I felt like I was playing Fable sometimes, being told to venture into the Hobbes cave for the 15th time.

I SCREAM LOUDLY IN COMBAT! - This makes me want to rip my hair out.  Why do they all scream so loud?  I literally stopped taking Anders anywhere because he grunts constantly.  Male Hawke does too!  *mute*

My Dialogue Choices Have No Impact on the Outcome and Only Matters for Rival/Friend Meter Points - Regardless of what I say, the NPCs reply invariably the same.  One or two words might change, Flemeth might say "I see" instead of "Of course" and just continue on her diatribe with the same exact outcome.  If I'm nice or an a-hole, the Qunari still attacks, the blood mages still go nuts, my mom still whines about her kid dying, and Anders still wont shut up about being oppressed.  It makes no difference whether I'm nice, mean or a smartypants, except for rivalry/friendship points.

I Want to Talk to My Companions, Dammit! - Ok, I loved the personal quests spaced out along 3 acts, and I liked how romance evolved, however, if I want to go up to my companion and ask them how's it going, I should be able to without a little arrow above their head at three convenient plot point moments.  Especially romances.  There was such a huge gap in Fenris' romance that I wish at least some midpoint was there between when he storms off after the first romantic night and when his personal quest comes up in the next act...3 YEARS LATER!  I loved the romance, but jeez!  Sometimes I wish we could just walk into the Hanged Man and see party members there randomly and at least get to chat if we want.

The Ending: Harvester, lolwut?? - Anti-climatic and unessesarily shallow. There are many factions of thought presented, not just two.  There are the logical templars (Cullen), zealot templars (Meredith) , Circle loyalists, freedom fighters, crazy blood mages.  You could have had allegiences here.  Even the Qunari could have been a faction in the end.  instead it was a shallow option and every single mage besides Bethany (she's not bright anyway) resorts to blood magic which leaves no grey area at the end to support circle freedom, which is needed for a really meaningful choice.  Somehow, I sided with the mages at the end even though I thought I played pro templar, I think simply because I refused to hand over my sister.  Makes no sense.  There were so many parties involved at the end, having a this or that choice between two options seems very strange. 

Pre-Ft Drakon Talks: Pt 2 - I kept hoping that my little talks with my party members out front was not the pre-Ft Drakon talk, but it was.   I was under the impression we'd have a pre-battle preparation window where we could go talk to our party members about the upcoming battle, with something personal and in private.  I should have accepted that when I saw Sandal surrounded by demons, the end was neigh.  And why in the world did that dude turn into a harvester, which was a flesh golem painfully constructed over time in a magical cavern, not what some random mage can turn into.  I was never under the impression it was a demon.  To me, the ending just fell flat.

Carver and Bethany - He's a brat and she's so naive it hurts.  Shallow characters I could have done without.  Carver was much more solid than Bethany, although he was much more annoying.

Modifié par Miserysky, 11 mars 2011 - 12:27 .

[fantasypisces]

 Alright, I'll take a stab at this:

LIKES:

Combat: The new combat system felt better overall, reacting to things quicker instead of shuffling was a big boon.Overall things were much more smooth and responsive.  That siad, this is also a slight complaint because cooldowns were much longer. So in the end, you are attacking faster and more dynamic like, but it is all flash and no bang (especially with mages who mostly just twirl their staff around 70% of the time, just like in Origins).

Graphics: Not much to say, they got better, it helped a lot for immersion.

Abilities/Talents: The revamped system offered much better choice by taking out a lot of the redundant or simply bad abilities from Origins. The changes to some things were nice to make them more readily useable rather than really strickly situational.

Writing for the Companions: When I was actually able to talk to my companions, they had good dialogue, that was believable and brought their emotions to a good focal point.  Nothing really seemed out of character (even Anders as a result of justice/vengeance) and they were interesting to listen to.

The Music: Ace 

NEUTRAL:

Dialogue system: Honestly, sometimes I liked it because it helped with the voice-over, which was a bit of a nice touch, and other times I completely hated it. There were many occurances of me seeing the "jist" of what I would say, clicking it, then being apalled/confused/indifferent about what Hawke actually said. I would then reload and pick something else. During these times I much preferred the older system, where I knew what I would say.

DISLIKES:

Lack of Choice: In Origins we made an abundant amount of big decisions. Which Dwarf, mages or templars, elves or werewolves, warden dies - self sacrifice - Dark ritual, and they had a large impact on the game. In Dragon Age 2 there is very little choice overall, with there only being two big decisions. The first involves your sibling and the deep-roads, the second involves mages or templars. But in the end, neither of them make a difference. Your sibling still plays almost zero part in the story, and a giant war starts regardless of which side you take.

The Story: Honestly, I didn't like it. Act 1 was doing nothing but side quests for 15 hours while you try to get 50 gold to go on the expedition. If I had not been a fan of the series I might have thrown the game onto the shelf right then and there. Act 2 you play diplomat, with the main storyline only taking a couple of hours, the rest is once again side-quests that play very little part in the further story. At the end of act 2 you become Champion. The story was centered around how you became champion, or at least that is what the developers and trailers said. But when I became champion I just thought: "umm, ok, so I kill some bandits, for a year, discover a lost thaig that makes me rich, and then be the only person in a city-state that has the balls to do anything about the Qunari. Wait, so a hundred or so Qunari can sack a city-state? Wait wait wait, the Qunari actually play very little part in the story, even though beating them is the reason I became champion, and becoming champion was the storyline, the whole "rise-to-power gig?".

Then you have the ending, which was so fast, and so abrupt, that all I could think is "wait, what?" What just happened? What happened to the companions, to Anders, to the city, to my character? Oh Wait, my character disappeared. "Gone, just like the Warden". That's what Cassandra said, and now makes me 99% sure Dragon Age 3 will have yet another new protagonist. I love how the Dragon Age setting is based around thedas, but you can't just keep switching main player characters, it creates a huge disconnect from sequel to sequel.

Lack of Options: I was of the opinion when Hawke was first announced that a pre-defined character was not good for the series. Afterall the developers have said the series is about the setting, not a particular person or group of people. So then why pidgeon-hole us into one predifined character, because Dragon Age II officially became about Hawke and his rise to power. Which then ties back into the story part, his rise to power was boring as snot.

The Setting and Map re-use: It sounds like an interesting idea, having the game based in one city-state, but it was executed very poorly. The city never changed, people never moved, cave #2 stayed the exact same even though you have now gone into for the fifteenth different time on a fifteenth different quest. Kirkwall was just boring and plain, if you are going to pull of the "entire adventure takes place in one city" bit, then that city needs to feel alive... and much much bigger.

Lack of Companion Interaction: It was a HUGE complaint from everyone on the forums when you did it in Awakenings, only allowing us to talk with companions back at base, and then having the conversations be short. But for Dragon Age II you took that complaint and magnified it so it was even worse. Now companions can only be talked to at their homes, and only when you get a quest to go talk to them. And then the conversations are often-times even shorter than they were in Awakenings. Now I said the writing for the companions was good, but the availability of them was so ****** poor I can't even really describe it well enough. I miss Origins where talking with the companions would add up to hours and hours of time. In Dragon Age II it was almost like they were non-existant, like little hirelings who would submit a ticket ala "tell me how I'm doing" pamphlets.

This also ties into not being able to access your companions stats and equipment unless they were in the party, that was aggrivating. I would prefer if while hawke is at his/her house you can access all that information through the character screen.

Siding with the Mages: I have a huge thread about it somewhere on the forums, but this was very poor. The entire game hawke lives by the mantra "don't judge the many based upon the actions of the few". But then during the final battle I fight more undead, demons, and blood mages then I do templars. Then to top it off the first enchanter randomly out of nowhere turns into a harvester. It really killed any emotion I had for my choice. After I defeated all the templars I wanted to immedietly turn around and kill all the mages. Simple solution, just add the occasional non-corrupted mage in there who helps you fight, give us the illusion that siding with the mages doesn't make you a complete idiot.

Imports: Nathaniel said the Architect was alive. Ahh yeah no, I killed the Architect first chance I got.

Anyway, I ranted a bit and probably forgot stuff (it's six AM, I've been up all night), but overall:
Dragon Age II:  8.3

To compare I had Origins at: 9.2
Awakening: 7.0

Modifié par fantasypisces, 11 mars 2011 - 01:34 .

[Wolfetears]

they should have made this a side quest for DAO not a new game

[AloraKast]

Apologies for a second post in this thread, I simply wish to add some more of my impressions after completing all of the quests I could possibly find before venturing into the Deep Roads (my Hawke's purse contains over 100 gold, if that is any indication).

- I find that my favourite party set up for my femHawke rogue, is Varric, Anders and Fenris. Varric, cuz I really like him as a character, lots of LOL moments there, as well love his abilities. Anders, well, cuz again, love him as a character and he's just badass, what with whatever abilities Vengeance provides. And Fenris, because, again, he's an interesting charactger, an intriguing one and my femHawke just wants him around, since she decided to romance him this playthrough. And I enjoy the arguments between him and Anders, as well as Varric.

- Because of the choices that my femHawke is making, I keep scoring rivalry points with Fenris, (i.e. be either sympathetic to mages, while not doing much to side with the templars or trying to find some middle ground between the two groups). It's actually kinda fun to see Fenris's bar slide close and close to Rival.  I just hope that, as Mike Laidlaw has pointed out, Fenris disagreeing with my opinions/choices doesn't negate his respect for me and , thus, he doesn't leave my party. He is a very fun character, even more so when put together in a group with Varric and Anders, and I would simply hate to lose him... especially considering that my femHawke has some special plans for him.[smilie]../../../images/forum/emoticons/love.png[/smilie]

- The first part of the game felt long, probably because I was running around and completing quests long after I got my 50 gold and because I wanted to make sure I completed everything I could before venturing into the Deep Roads.  Which is good, it adds to the feeling of an adventure. However, I must say that the recycled dungeons, caves, coasts, even rooms, etc. are starting to depress the heck out of me. I find that instead of the first part being this epic adventure, it's simply an adventure. Pick up quest, go here, kill lots of stuff, loot lots of stuff, go get your rewards. Rinse and repeat. It all feels very linear, as opposed to some of the quests in DA:O where you had to formulate a plan of some sort, where you couldn't complete the quest immediatelly, that sort of thing. I find that while DA:O was an epic adventure with everything from the main quests to the side quests, thus far DA2 is feeling like a more restrictive, repetative adventure... and after a while that can and will get boring vey fast.

- Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying some of the storyline, although I  must say I am finding it difficult at times to follow what's going on, or what's the gripe of this person in this situation, and it's a bit confusing.  I just try to stay true to my character as best I can, sometimes throwing in sarcastic lines whenever the occassion calls for it (and I want to add that extra level of fun - as the process is becoming repetative). I simply find that the whole design of these quests is repetative and starting to drag after a while.

- The more I play, the more I am convinced that this game was, in fact, rushed out to meet this one year deadline and I  find myself wishing that this product was allowed to remain in development for another year longer. Like I said, the recycled caves are depressing. Also, having limited access to my companions by not being able to talk to them whenever I wish to is something that takes away from the gaming experience. Please Bioware, do not sacrifice quality in order to make a quick buck. You are better than that!

- Which brings me to my finaly point and, again, my biggest issue. Playing as someone whose first experience with DA:O was as a Dalish Warden... it was a truly painful and absolutely horrendous experience venturing into the Dalish elf camp in DA2. This was supposed to be a kind of homecoming for me, for I spent as much time as I could exploring every nook and cranny of my Dalish Warden's origin and it proved a wonderful experience; the lore, the look, the sounds, the bearing itself of the elves gave the player that impression of ethereal and proud creatures of legend, who are possessed of this otherwordly calmness borne of their wisdom that humans, as the younger race, seem to lack generally. While this... this was very much like having to plunge into a pool of some kind of a toxic sludge. The elves look horrible (see my previous post in this thread on the topic of looks), they sound just wrong - Marethari, in addition to being totally squished, sounded really wrong, compared to when I met her in DA:O -  (not sure why they all sound like they are from the British Isles - forgive me for not pinning down the exact accent), even their voices are too high pitched, giving the impression of a squeaking mouse than of a proud, etheral creatures of legend. Even their whole demeanor and behaviour is totally wrong - they simply lack the calmness of their race, which only adds to the mysticism of the Dalish. Compare the Merrill we met in DA:O and this creature. I refuse to include Merrill in my party and try to limit my interactions with her as much as possible. I refuse to go back to the Dalish camp and simply zoomed through the whole quest as quickly as I could, just to get as far away as possible from that vision. It was a very painful experience for me, practically I felt it like a physical slap, to see those characters I came to know as my initial family in DA:O and this new incarnation, which is totally
wrong.

I urge the Bioware devs to pop in a copy of DA:O and play through the whole Dalish elf origin, exploring every area, interacting with every elf, just immerse yourself in the lore and this beautiful, beautiful world you have created... and then play the part in DA2 where you venture to the Dalish Camp for the first time. Like I said, the whole experience was like having to plunge into a pool of toxic sludge... it felt just... horrible. [smilie]../../../images/forum/emoticons/sick.png[/smilie]

Edit: Had to fix weird paragraph spacing.

Modifié par AloraKast, 11 mars 2011 - 03:23 .

[AmarisX]

Pros-
*The graphics seem to be a nice improvement.
*I like the new conversation system, lets me know what I am saying instead of just blindly guessing how its supossed to be taken.
*love the combat
*Also, Love the familiar faces =) They should have had bigger parts I loved the original characters, nice to see some of them are still alive
----
Cons-
*I seem to be lagging/freezing up ONLY during conversations and it happens every now and again. Doesn't seem to be a problem on my end. I think its actually the game.
*The maps are sooooo boring it made me wanna play DA:O.
*The story line is flat.
*I wish I could talk to my party and indulge in conversations but I can't because I need to be in quest mode.
*Romancing is kinda lame, now is Fenris Gay or am i just not choosing the right dialogue? (Female character)
*Playing so much of the game in that small area drives me nuts and it gets boring.
*I didn't get to make as many messed up decisions as the first one. Unlike the first where you could kill the demon boy or sacrafice the mom. Lack of options.
*No written epilogue? A piddly ending without a discription of what happened to all my companions. The ending was a HUGE dissapointment.
----
You should have taken time, I could have waited another year, it would have been WAY better off. I hope you plan on making like more maps/quests and continue with the story, that would be awesome. And fix some technical issues. If you added more installments of the game I would buy them for like 20-40$ depending on length and what not.
Can you please try and fix the ending atleast? That made me wanna cry =(

[Caruu]

Everyone else points out the cons and pros quite well, as a sound designer, I'll just add that I think the audio was well done. The sound design for DA:O was terrible, it is fantastic in this game however. Foley is also less annoying, good job.

Music however is either okay or downright midi terrible, like someone just bought a new yamaha keyboard and decided to test out the new presets and then put it in the game.

But, I might as well add a visual comment: Someone at Bioware been watching too much Avatar. The elves look like the Navi. Dragon Avatar: The Kirkwall Chronicals.

[Pinkjello]

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 creation

• 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.

2. Uninspired introduction to game (I didn't care about Hawke's family)

• 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

3. Playing an entire game in 1 city... is failure.

• 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?

4. Companions were much weaker than in DA:O or ME1 or ME2!

• 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

5. The Story is...where?

• 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. 

The best part of playing DA:II is the comfort that at least I have Elder Scrolls: Skyrim to look forward to. 

[*]This sounds about right, what a kick in the balls Bioware. I love you guys but a 30 hour act one is not that much fun. Also the difficulty somehow went from hard in the deeproads to a joke by the end.

[Mallika Surana]

I finished the game in about 30 hours, playing on normal - PC version.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and couldn't wait to see what happened at the end.  I went so far to skip a few quests because I felt I couldn't be bohered to do them as they seemed very tedious or they were outright bugged.

The Good:

I love the new combat.  It's very fast paced and I love all the flourishes and flipping around.  I realize that it's not that realistic BECAUSE of the flourishes and flipping around, but it felt fun and it just looked cool.   Throwing around fireballs and such was fun, but I think if I do replay, I will be playing a higher difficulty and will have to scrap the aoe :\\

I was really interested in the main plot of the story throughout the entire game.  I couldn't wait to get to the deeproads, I couldn't wait for that confrontation with the Qunari and I couldn't wait to beat up Meredith (I was a mage).

I loved getting the letters (which apparently is not something new, I did not play the Mass Effect series because I have no interest in the genre, so I was pleasantly surprised).

I was so excited about all the cameos my Origins party made and I enjoyed hearing about the deeds my Warden did throughout the game.  I wish it could have been more though.

You guys did good with merchants upgrading as time went on.

I liked the dialogue wheel, though at times some of my choices did not really reflect what was said.  I like that things were labeled fairly clearly so I had a good idea of my tone of voice and such.  I like the voice acting, but I have a feeling that the VA limited quite a bit in the way of interacting with my party.

Anders, Varric, Aveline, my party of choice, I cared about their stories, but as far as the other companions...

The Bad:

I didn't care too much about the other companions in the game.  I didn't use Isabela, Fenris or Merrill.  In fact, I can say I don't know much about them beyond what I read in my journal because I simply didn't care.  The character interactions in this game seemed god awful.  This is my biggest complaint about the game and it's really taken away any motivation to replay this game.  In Origins, we had our camp where we could talk to our party members and get to know them.  I felt like I barely knew any of my companions, I felt like my romance (I went with Anders) was rushed and hollow, THERE WAS NO INTERACTION.  It really sucked having to play through an entire story arc with very few companion quests along the way only to be able to talk to them once every 10 hours or something ridiculous.  I think you guys really failed at this part of the game and can only hope that DA3 will be different.

Not being able to manage party inventory due to lack of camp style gathering place for my companions, it was a real PITA.

I'm on the fence about this, but I liked and hate the companion armor.  I liked that they had a distinct look, I hated that I couldn't change it if I so pleased.  Ah well.

I don't like the new look of the Darkspawn or the Elves.  A poster above me mentioned that the old darkspawn you felt they were closely tied to their respective races because they retained traits, with the exception of the ogre, it did not feel like that in this game.  I thought the Elves looked like martians, I really hated everything about them.  Everytime I saw Merrill's face, I felt like I was looking through a fishbowl at a guppy.

I did not enjoy the recycling of areas, same caves, same houses, same everything it seemed like.  While I can get past the fact that we did not venture too far from Kirkwall, all I could do was sigh when I had to go back out the Coast or Mountain.

I had a lot of problems with the game "stuttering", especially during cinematics.  The game chose highest graphic settings based on my machine specs, so it's disappointing when those things happen and I feel like I missed something important and my imersion was broken.  This can be fixed by playing on lower settings I'm guessing, but meh.

Anyways, this is getting too long.  I had a good time playing the game but there were a lot of disappointments.  I'm just hoping that if there is a DA3 (or even an expansion) that you guys will have it perfected!

[kaiki01]

Regarding the Preset morphs at character creation. It is cool that Hawke's family has different morphs based on which presets you choose. It gives a Fallout 3 feeling which adds immersion. My problem is that some of the presets do not look like your family members, even with their morphs. For those that do not have the Black Emporium it is frustrating to choose a preset and look like an adopted daughter/son =( Preset 3 does a bad job with this. You start up the game and wonder "Why am I the only blonde?" Going forward I would encourage Bioware to continue in this type of immersion. But, be more mindful of having presets look like the corresponding morphs.

Most of the other matters I can think of may be bugs. Examples include locked mage targeting reticules for AE spells, how romances work(see Merrill), is disorient real, NPCs ignoring set tactics, etc. Given 1-2 patches I will be able to see what is working as intended and what was a bug and have a better idea on what works or doesn't work in DA2.

[maselphie]

(This is a reposted review, so it may sound weird like I'm talking to a bunch of people who haven't played it yet.)

I'm hearing a LOT of anti-DA2 feedback going around. Frankly, I can't understand it. It seems merely out of a fear of change, rather than if the change was a good or bad thing. When I first played the demo, I was freaked out by many things, but after finishing the game, none of those things held water anymore. It was simply me being "whoa different game is different" and none of it made it a bad game in the end. I know the quick phrase to describe the changes is "dumbed down" -- and trust me, I hear ya. They dumbed down Mass Effect from game one to game two, and I was totally pessimistic about DA2. But you know? "Streamlined" is honestly the better term for it all. 

IMPROVEMENTS: 
Here's what was wrong with DA:O, and how they fixed it.

• The length of the missions were too long. There were about four locations on the map that you could go to, and the mission there would last about fifty hours. You got cabin fever. You got tired of the Deep Roads and the Fade and basically every place you went to. The most interesting map in the game was Denerim, because it never made you mindlessly grind a boring dungeon, and just existed as a place to explore.**** Quest tracking is remarkably easy, and no one quest ever frustrated me or felt like grinding. Even when you'd think "okay here we go, five hour quest time", the quest would be over two maps from when I started ... and I would be "huh. oh. wow. cool!!" That honestly was a GOOD thing. Padding is something I detest. All that they did is make what you do have of the dungeon worth it, never overplay the enemies to where you want to cry from how bored you are, and the boss fights at the end of them make it a memorable experience. The world map also uses quest tracking in the best possible way, so you can easily see where you need to go and at what time. It's awesome.
• Shuffling around the battlefield. Giving an order to a party member, and they have to jaunt over to the target, perhaps getting damage done to them along the way. Friendly fire made using spells and bombs and such so hazardous, you would barely use them because it took too much work having to move people out of the way before you could. Mods had to fix several imbalances, including the Archer.**** I'm surprised by how many mods became official. For one, you can call on your warhound as a pet JUST LIKE the mod for DA:O. This really, really made my day. As a ranged character, I needed the dog in a lot of cases to tank for me, though weak. But more importantly, they FIXED ARCHERS!! I had to use a speed mod so that archers didn't suck in DA:O. Now, archers are quite possibly the most badass characters in the game. Friendly fire is now an optional difficulty in the higher settings, and doesn't prevent you from using your skills without killing your friends left and right. I consider this an improvement. Above all, the game should be fun. If you think Nightmare mode is fun, awesome! To me, what's not fun is accidentally killing myself with basically no way to revive me within battle. And as much as I disliked the speed of battle and the characters jumping to enemies supernaturally in the beginning, I STILL felt like the characters took too long to get to the enemies!! And when they finally got in range to pounce on them, it was very satisfying.
• Leveling up was very linear, forcing me to take crappy skills and in their order. Characters ended up looking like each other because they all took the same skills.**** Skill trees allow you more freedom, which I liked. There are still some spells you can't get your mitts on until certain restrictions are met, but that's how RPGs work. You can't get super-awesome-spell right off the bat, and that's not what I had a problem with. I had a problem with having to invest in a bunch of sustatined mode spells to get to that one active spell I wanted to use. I hated following a certain specialization but not being able to get anything other than (whatever) because it was the only one available, and the specializations were often weapon related to where I COULDN'T choose to invest in something else while I waited. I never had that problem with this game. There was always something interesting to learn. Also, if you have the Black Emporium, you can get a potion that lets you reset your skill points to rebuild. Nifty!
• Inventory was a MESS and I was constantly buldging on the max items I could carry. And I had to constantly compare every article of clothing I got to the companions, which I could really only do from the camp.**** While I still suffered inventory space problems, that's mostly my fault for not selling my junk when I had a chance. They now clearly mark what is just merchant fodder, in a category called "junk". You can even move items to the junk folder by marking it junk. There's a nifty "sell all junk" button at stores, so this is a painless process overall. I still had to futz with weapons and my party members, though. But it was refreshing to look at my armor and not freak out about whether so-and-so had a few points lower bonuses than the new one. If it wasn't for me, it got sold.
• Branching and choices barely made a difference until the text-only epilogue. There weren't many branches to have: you picked who ruled the kingdom, you decided who to kill along the way. Any differences were in the NPCs responding stockly to your race or gender. I rarely felt I had influence over anything but the order in which I did things. And most of all, I often felt I had NO influence over my companions themselves. The only person who would react different depending on a relationship was Zevran, I believe.**** Wow. The amount of replayability *I think* the game has is astoundingly high. By the end of the game, I was already deciding all the things I would do differently next time, because I want to know if I can stop A, B, or C from happening. The game gave me honest REGRETS. And not in the "oh, lol, oh well" kind of unexpected way that I don't care about because the game is over, like with Orzamaar. I had chances to stop killers and not help certain people out. Now, I'm not sure if I can stop inevitable things from happening, but I can certainly try, can't I? If the entire makeup of your family can branch, then so much other things. In fact, I'm almost sure there's tons of things I could have done different just from the amount of characters that just up and left me midgame (unclickable in the party screen).
• Character conversations were restricted to the party camp, and were just you standing with the character, and you could explore the entirity of a character's dialogue in one go, leaving them speechless for the rest of the game.**** Character conversations are now plotted against time and quests you take. Instead of just grilling the characters to a point that they have nothing to say, your journal will tell you when they have something new to say, and you learn about their past slowly over time. The amount of dialogue has increased, but you don't have control over when you get it, which leads people into thinking it's something that is worse than the original game. When in reality, moderation has always been better than gorging on all the good stuff, because then when you do it it matters more AND you're never left with nothing to learn later. Characters rarely had much to say in DA:O, especially in refernce to events, so I consider this an improvement. I wish I could talk to the party members whenever, but all that would do is make the same problem DA:O had, which was clicking a topic and nothing was inside of it, forcing you to say good-bye. And then you do this twenty times throughout the game, hoping they have something new to say, but they never do. Do we really want that again? "Fenris, tell me about about Tevinter. (no options to click) ... I should go." x times however antsy you are to talk to him? That's a chore. No thanks.

CHANGES:
What was removed from the game and aren't considered improvments? Did it affect gameplay? Is it a bad game now? STAY TUNED, THE ANSWER MAY SURPRISE YOU!

• Origins were removed! You can't be a dwarf or elf!**** This was done to tell a more personal story. And let me just say, that it was completely and utterly worth it. The personal story was so ... well done. It simply wouldn't have worked were a generic character. Sometimes you got to make sacrifices to have a better story, and it was very worth it in this case.
• Stealing, persuasion, etc were removed!**** Yes, those skills aren't the same, but they're not removed. Chests can't be opened by anyone, and often the rogues couldn't! It was directly tied to your DEX stat, which is way more clean than having yet another page of skills you had to manage. Also, I never ever robbed people like mad in the other game. That seemed like something they threw in because they felt they had to, and it likely took way too much of their time to code for every NPC in the world. I see why they didn't do it again, because they wanted more NPCs standing around to make the world seem like a full place. Persuasion still happens, based on on the "tone" your character has predominantly had in the game, and depending on knowledge you have. Stuff like the wilderness skill doesn't have any importance in a city-only game, traps are basically restricted to hexes now, and the crafting system is independent of companions. I never, ever, ever missed these skills while playing. What needed to be there was there, and there were no holes to speak of.
• Crafting was removed!**** You still have to find igredients, and not just ONCE, you need a certain amount of Elfroot, and even then you can have all the elfroot ever but if you don't have the RECIPE for potions, you still can't make them. They still cost big bucks! There is no mess about a gradient of potions, and the generic "health potion" now does the same healing no matter your level. This is good, people. You don't need fifty hotspot bars dedicated to potions, and you don't need to use only the crappy ones because you can't possibly make any other. BEST OF ALL! NO running around to locations to mass buy ingredients and bottles. Damn, I hated that about the first game. And the huge loading times to get places discouraged travel in the first place, so it was like the game's own annoyingness is what they used to moderate potion ussage. But you know what? I still did it. I still went to the Circle and the Dalish for my potion ingredients, and it was annoying as hell. The developers recognized this and just didn't give you a chore. If you prefer MMORPGS, then I guess you like chores, grinding, and grueling work, but in my single-player games, I don't!
• Re-used maps and environments!**** Guess what! DA:O did the same damn thing! Battefields were the same in random encounters. I guess because these maps aren't random encounters, it felt odd that they would look like other places we've been, but think about it. Did that even matter while playing? Did knowing the layout of the dungeon matter? Not in the least. And they were often short and they would change up the angle you played them in. These dungeons were actually varied, but you simply recognized similarities, and you think you're smart or something for "catching on to them." This is not news, really. You sometimes have to reuse resources, and this is something they've established that they do in the first game, whether it's wrong or right.
• Exaggerated parts are unnecessary!**** Not really. It's an interesting game mechanic, so they're allowed to take advantage of it. The first exaggerated part of the story is to hook you in; to show you how awesome your char could be with time. Any other time it is used, it is for a personal reason of Varric's. It's great, frankly. It adds depth to the story, to Varric, and allows for a convienient scapegoat when making things fun makes them unrealistic.
• You can't change the party's outfit!**** Thank god! That was ridiculously tedious in first game. Please don't tell me you MISS that. You can still get your micro-managing fix with a belt, amulet, and two rings, and of course, all those damn weapons. What they're wearing is fine, and works great for the game. I personally love their outfits! Swapping them out to something generic and fashion-retarded is not fun for me, stat bonuses or not. I had enough problem trying to not make my mage char look silly without having to worry the same for everyone else. It's fine if you don't like this, but I get why it was done and completely agree. I have often left my char in a weaker outfit simply because it looked good, and if you're way more focused on stats, that's a personal decision you're allowed to have.
• Gift giving is gone!**** But so is the negative affects of people diagreeing with you (in the short term). The game rewarded the characters liking you with char bonuses, so, obviously, having them like you meant you were winning the game. So every time Morrigan hated something you did, which was often, it felt like you were doing badly at the game. This time around, there is a rivalry/friendship meter, and they will stick by you no matter which spectrum they fall on. For instace, the companions may want to do something that's really not a good idea. In DA:O, you'd have to help them to get them to like you. But in this game it is YOUR decision whether to help them. And if they don't like that, they can still respect you. Gifts are not needed to reverse slips of the tongue. It's okay to play the game how you want. By the way, gifts DO exist. There's just one really cool gift for each character, and giving it to them really helps. If you hadn't, they might have turned on you at certain points in the story. And that whole mini-game of trying to find out who likes what gift was tedious. Seriously, guys. You get one ambigious gift, and you're stucking reloading your game until someone remotely liked it.

Any other complaint I've heard is just a personal interpretation you're allowed to have. I've been avoiding the topic of the plot since it's the most important thing this game has. It's okay if you didn't like it, but in my playthrough, it blew me away. Talks about whether it's better or worse than DA:O is your choice to make. Whether or not the characters are more interesting is up to you, too.

STORY:

The bottom line is that this is one of the most involving RPGs I have ever played. I would go so far as to say it was the most emotionally involved I've ever been with a video game. I was so drawn into the companion's and my family's plight. I felt like I had to defend my character's integrity and rights as much as my own. The choices I made were truly role-playing. I honestly felt every desolation and victory that my character did. I playfully said the phrase "**** JUST GOT REAL" several times when a new plot point came up, but that is basically the theme of everything, especially the ending. The phrase "**** hit the fan" never seemed more appropriate than for this game's plotline.

When they said that they wanted to tell a personal story, they honestly and truly did. DA:O pales in comparison. If you are an appreciator of RPG stories, you will love DA2. No, there is no main villain like the archdemon. No, you don't know what the ending will be from the beginning like DA:O. No, it is not your typical medieval fantasy plotline. You have to look at it as it is: the personal rise to power of Hawke. The explanation of why he/she took the actions they did to lead the world to the place it is at the end.

The time jumps were necessary and added a lot to the game. There is some suspension of disbelief needed for character development, since people don't need ten years to become friends, but you do need ten years to get devoted enough to each other to stick it out through to the end. We start from nothing, and become one of the most important people (in the world) but in the beginning, we know that we are missing. How and why is completely up to the player, but it NEVER felt like a cookie-cutter result of "you selected ending X! be nicer next time and you can get ending Y!" No, the game is completely tailored to your character and how you played.

There isn't an overarching plot throughout all three acts, in that you have a main villain you're trying to fight, but you'll find out at the end that it was there all along. You've been deciding it all along. This is LIFE. We don't live our lives in the shadow of a main villain, we live and make choices. And sometimes the **** hits the fan.

After finishing the game, I had to go lay down I was so shaken up. I think we will ALL be taken off guard. We are expecting a very straight-forward fantasy battle, like with the Archdemon in the first game. We'd pick a side and fight the hordes of the opposite side and then a dragon would come down, and then we'd pick up where Varric and Cassandra started. But you know what? That would have sucked so much. They chose to do something important, controversial -- topical, even. Yes! You can very much making real-world connections. And above all, my actions in the game MATTERED. Hearing everyone's different endings, I'm just blown away with all the things that happened for THEM that didn't for me, even though we made the same end-game choices. That is so much more satisfying than reading an epilogue script about whether your choices mattered or not. You actually have to face them in this game. You felt the consequences. It disgusted you. It made you angry. Your world was doing exactly what Cassandra said it was, and you didn't even realize how or why until that moment. Even the goddamned DLC char made me want to cry. It. Was. Emotional.

Good or bad, if you felt STRONGLY about DA2's ending, then IT DID ITS JOB. My sister can tell you how much I was still harping over the events even after they were over. She wasn't even following the game, and she was sucked into the ending. All I can say is that I'm very, very happy I did not spoil the game for myself. Soooo happy. If I had known certain things would have happened, I wouldn't be feeling this way; the EXACT way the developers wanted me to feel.

GRAPHICS:

I played on medium, since I can't do DirectX 11, and the extra high-res texture pack wouldn't have done anything, so I can't say if it was bad or good. It wasn't amazing, but then I was on medium. Take what you will from that. The art design was fantastic, though. The characters looked awesome! The outfits were awesome. The level design was awesome. Hell, even the LOADING screens were pure awesome! The only thing, graphics-wise, that I hatehatehate is the GUI. It's over simplified, and the dark background makes the dark things disappear, including the character's hair and the health potion's bottle icon. And the GLOW on everything! UGH THE GLOW KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! I hate it. But then, I'm anal about interfaces.

MUSIC:

AMAZING! The moment I heard the exotic tango-esque battle music in my street brawl upon arriving in Kirkwall, I was sold. It was so delightful to hear. The music remained at its best for the entire game. It perfectly accented the scenes and moods, and even the tone of the battles you were in. I was kinda "meh" about a downloadable soundtrack being included in the Signature edition, but man. I totally take that back. Beyond that, I am disappointed as there wasn't a credits theme for my game. In the PC demo, the credits sequence (accessed from the "Extras" menu) had a lyric song and everything. After I finished the game, I had to search on Youtube for this song again, because I needed to unwind with the song's sentiment. Listening to it again ("I'm not calling you a liar" by florence and the machine, remixed), it is ... just ... perfect. I wish it was in the main game. I needed that meditation time.

CHARACTERS:

Wonderful. I love them so much more than DA:O ones. In the first game, I was never too keen on Morrigan, Leilana, or Sten. I always got Ohgren last, so I barely got to know him. With this game, you get all the characters in the first act, so it's not dependent on which huge chunk of the game you wanted to complete first. You just complete the char's quest, and you have them to drag around for the entire game, which is a good thing. I can't say why I wasn't interested in those characters I just mentioned, I mean, I didn't hate them. In fact, I quite enjoyed talking to them. I listened to all of Leilana's stories and kept poking Sten for more conversations, but I think the problem was that they weren't engaging or memorable. A lot of what made Aveline interesting, for instance, was how the cutscenes handled her. She could have easily been a generic warrior woman who was strict and blahblah, but I never giggled so much as I did in her character quest. The same for Merril. I went into the game completely "meh whatever" about her, because I was playing a mage and didn't need another. She also didn't seem remotely interesting ... and then I met her. She WAS cute. She WAS interesting. The developers were totally right. Is she my favorite char? No, not really. Probably the opposite, but she was far from unmemorable, or boring, or insulting or anything bad. I was genuinely intrigued by her and involved in her cutscenes. Fenris, baby ... I'm sorry! I was going to go after him, but then Anders stole me away. I'll go after him in my next playthrough. xD I was really against Anders being in the game, because I wanted a new guy, damn it! But he WAS a new guy. There was still a lot to learn of him. My expectations were turned on their head so often, I feel really bad about voicing any concern before actually playing. All of the characters were VERY memorable, and the direction of the cutscenes was nothing short of brilliant.

ROMANCES:

For one, I love how tastefully the "sex" scenes were done. In that ... from what I experienced ... DIDN'T EXIST! No awkward naked chars rubbing up against each other with creepy smiles. They emphasized the best parts: the confessions and the kisses. My least favorite part of the DA:O romances were those sex scenes, and now they're tastefully gone. I'm very, very, very happy with how well they handled it this time around. Flirting is still very awkward and I dislike it. With flirty characters, I can see it as appropriate, but my goody-goody mage sounded really OOC when she would flirt, which is the ONLY way to tell the game you're interested. Not to mention that the times at which she could do it were really awkward in themselves. And clicking the flirt line would often just make the char laugh nervously, meaning even THEY thought it was awkward, so I was wondering why it was even put in the game. Well. Play the char anyway you want, really. That's why. 

But as far as initiating romancing go, I would have LOVED to see way more "I care about you" lines than sex-predator-in-training lines. I would hate it if a guy would constantly do that to me, so why would I do that to someone else? Why do ALL my characters have to be huge flirts? I would think there should be another way to start a relationship with someone than winking and making a double-entendre. But anyway, back to the good stuff. The cutscenes are ... very well done. You get kissed more than once, and in different ways from what I hear. I've only gone through one romance, and let me tell you ... I was torn between the 2 guys for a long ass time, and in the end, I felt I made the right decision. "Right," in relation to the impact it gave me when I finished the game.

The romantic cutscenes are appropriate, though they don't give you too much warning before they'll happen (sometimes, that's a good thing). Just save before you talk to every character, and if they mention meeting you at night at your house, it's your sexy scene. If you don't flirt in certain conversations, however, it will go very platonically. Some of my conversations with Fenris later in the game felt cut short and I assume because I hadn't established him as the romance by flirt spamming. So I'm really interested in what I'm missing. Because the guy I did date had various cutscenes acting like my boyfriend (consoling me, not like actual dates or anything), that made the relationship feel rather real. And per usual, the party banter and characters may reflect the relationship.

The characters are also all bisexual. If that kinda creeps you out, just to let you know, the only char that is openly bisexual is Isabela, I think (haven't played her route). Outside of that, the characters will NEVER make references to their sexuality. If you are playing as a heterosexual girl, the men will never talk about their gay adventures or anything. But if you played as a gay man, they might mention being with a man before. It really feels like an alternate universe that way, so you don't have to go through the game thinking "I'm dating a bisexual" if you have some sort of phobia regarding that. I think it's rather beautiful that it doesn't matter what gender you are, the characters will just fall in love with you.

That said, you can flirt with EV-VER-RY-BOD-DY. Everybody. But they will just turn you down if not one of the main four romances. I haven't played through Sebastian's flirt lines, but it is alluded that he might have a chaste romance somewhere in his dialogue tree. Which leads me to ...

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT:

Sebastian: Is it worth it? Yes! I think so. I've seen worse crap sold for $7. And if he DOES have a romance, that's worth way more than $7 to the ladies. But he does have a vibrant quest line, good cutscenes and character development, and he is seamlessly integrated in the story line and party banter. In fact, it was easy to forget he was ever DLC. He filled in a gap that Leilana filled before, which is the overly religious guy. Considering how important the Chantry is to Kirkwall, it was great to have a guy in the party who could directly talk about the church when it came up. Recommended!

Black Emporium: It's pretty, I'll give it that! The place is just a fun little area, and the voice that guides you is pretty funny and interesting. You get a chest full of free equipment, a store that sells awesome things, a crafting table that sells rare and Black Emporium-only potions (including the anti-death potion and a potion that resets your stats), and the best thing: a mirror that let's you change your appearance at any time! That was awesome. I found I went back to the mirror after the time shifts to mess with the char's hair so that it looked like time passed. Which made it an overall more fun experience. I'm planning on doing the same for all my characters, to make it look like they aged. Also, you get the dog, which I would terribly miss if he weren't there. He really helped me in battle, and the companions would occassionaly interact with him at your home (make sure to click him).

I sometimes felt the DLC items overpowered me in the beginning. Of course, that feeling didn't last a long time, just for a few hours of game play.

CONCLUSION:

In the end, it is an amazing game. One of the most memorable RPGs I have played in a while. Is it worth it's selling price new? Yes! This is a $60 game. There's so much crap out there selling for the same price and is just a huge disappointment. This is not one of those games. Please, ignore reviews and just play it for yourself. And I am not talking about just the demo. The demo is in no way indicative of the tone or experience of the main game. Look to Denerim in DA:O for a better idea of how it might feel.

If you find you skip dialogue scenes, it might be just an okay game, because you're skipping the best part. If you're just watching your family's cutscenes with a "okay okay I'm getting a quest" attitude, then it's not going to work its magic on you.

It's a shame that it will take too damn long for people to find that out, since everyone is going to take one look at the negative reviews and decide to wait until bargain bin day. Or worse, the developers will see the negativeness and not make DLC for it. Christ. I've never wanted DLC more for any other game before. I don't want this game to be over.

Modifié par maselphie, 11 mars 2011 - 05:55 .

[Tundrya]

Finished the game last night and have sat thinking things over.  Overall it was a decent game, but as a sequel it is impossible not to compare it to it's predecessor. When done it falls short in a lot of places, and improves in others. Is the game satisifying though? Ultimatly, no, not for me.

The reasons why, and there will be the traditional pros/cons later but for now I'd like just to monologue, can be traced to the games time in development.  Many people have pointed out the re-used locations that are differentiated only by unopenable doors as being 'lazy'. I don't believe this was lazyness but time constraints.  Bioware had to take short cuts to get the game out so fast. It would not have been so galling if the map hadn't shown these areas.  In Sundermount, the first place I encountered the regurgitated dungeons, I spent a few minutes pondering one such un-openable door rather than continuing with my quest. Ultimately I figured that the door would later be un-locked. To my dismay this was not true.

Okay, so lets head into those Pros/Cons now.

PROS

Party Banter; This is as a whole well done. I always enjoyed Anders lecturing Merril about bloodmagic or Varric telling her not to wander the streets at night as it is costing him a small fortune in bribes for her protection. The party felt and meshed nicely, even things like the rivalries at times.  Note; I am talking only about the wandering banter, not the conversations between Hawke and companions.

Skill Trees; I felt the skills trees were better than the linear method used in Origins. Still, the could have used more flexibility. As in, being able to get the final passive from the Fire/Ice tree for mages without needing both Cone of Cold and Firestorm for example.

Side Quests; There is a plethora of side quests in Act 1 and often have threads further explained in acts 2 and 3. The writing on the quests is generally good, though the locations leave much to be desired. See the afformentioned regurgitated locations I mentioned in the opening.

Locations visuals; This ties into the overall improvements to the graphics. The areas are a nice improvement over Origins VISUALLY. As in the little bits and bobs adorning the walls. The textures. Things of that nature. This extends on the whole to characters. Models are nicer. Texture quality improved.

Sounds/Music; I love the sound effects in the game. I can not speak highly enough of them. From fireballs explosions to archery it all sounds great. The music from Origins returns with some new additions. All perfect.

CONS

Bethany/Carver; Now, I liked both Bethany and Carver as characters. I want to make that clear. Yet, they are very poorly handled.  By that I mean one is killed off too soon and the other after Act 1 vanishes the rest of the game practically. This frustrated me no end particularly as Bethany is one of only 2 mages capable of having the Heal spell. This then ties into a large gameplay problem of practically having to take Anders as he is the only healer after the deep roads. The missteps are so many when it comes to your siblings I don't know what to say.  I had really only just started to like Bethany when she was whisked away after act 1. Carvers death meant nothing to me in the prologue.  Both events should have been pushed back. As in one sibling leaves the party after act 1 then the other after act 2.  They need not neccessarily die either.   There is no narrative advantage to having Carver or Bethany die in the prologue then a moment later Wesley dies. As a player I've not had the time or dialogue to build a connection to my sibling. It's almost like Bioware is trying to bludgeon us with the sibling connection to feel an emotional impact at that scene.  It doesn't work and is poor writing. In fact, this goes into my next 'Con'...

Lothering; The only people who are going to have any emotional stake in the loss of Lothering and the prologue as a whole are the players from Origins.  Now, I feel Lothering isn't in the game due to time constraints as the advantages narratively are phenomenal to having the start of the game be Carver and/or Hawke return to Lothering. Gathering the family. Rushing out the door. Do you stop to help other refugees (sidequests!) or ignore them, those npcs being able to show up later down the line. It would also allow more time to become attached to Bethany and Carver for when they die.

The Story and choices; Ultimately you as a player have little to no control over the story. At the end credits no matter which side you pick things will be the same. The First Enchanter and 99.9999999% of mages shown will have become Blood Mages. Meredith will have gone insane from the ancient dwarven relic you found in the Deep Roads. The only decission that had any impact on me was what to do with Anders, but this was in no small part as I had chosen him as the romance option for my first character. Everything else, and I do mean EVERYTHING, felt more akin to a FPS on-rails story than a classic Bioware story.  There simply wasn't that feeling of being empowered over the narrative as the player in Act 3.  To compare to Origins, I never felt like there was a choice like there was with Andraste's Ashes. There were two clear and divergent endings to that quest line. In DA2 it didn't matter wether I chose Mages or Templars. 

The Zones; By Act 3 I've been running around Kirkwall so long that the zones are so blah and samey. Oh wow, I'm back in this warehouse again. Or, this cavern again. Le Yawn. How many times do you go through the same wearhouse or cavern layout with just a few doors locking off some paths? This is a huge problem I found.

Bugs and Polish; It's not up to Bioware's normal standards I am afraid. One quest is one quest to many to be broken. This is symptomatic of an underlying drop in overall polish.

Combat; I didn't like it in the demo, and I still don't like it.  2handed swords are swung like they are made of foam. Spells have long cool-downs. Potions have long cooldowns, which is double galling as Anders is the ONLY healer in the game other than a Mage Hawke or Bethany. So, if you play a Rogue or Warrior be prepared to drag Anders everywhere. In Origins I could make both Morrigan and Wynne into top notch healers. In DA2 there simply is not the option to make Merril a healer.  Which doesn't even make sense from a story perspective as Keepers are also the healers for the clan, or so I thought. And there is STILL the 'Shuffle', though it is worse now! I was forever pausing to re-tell my character to attack a mob after the mob was knocked back, other wise I'd stand there like a dolt.  Ultimately the style of combat, as a 2handed weapon weilder, felt like I was watching an Anime. It didn't square up with Origins or World.  In the end I wrote it off as Varric taking creative liscense.

Company Character Dilogue; This is such a step backwards from Origins I don't know where to start. You only get short conversations occassionally at the companions home. Having some conversations, ones related to quests, at the home base is a good idea. Having conversations, brief ones at that, at the home base of the companion is not a good idea.  This is a step back from even ME2. There at least you could converse any time with the companions. In DA2 they'll just brush you off if there is nothing new to discuss.  And then there is the Rival/Friend system.  The points are really inconsistant on how they are given out at times. There were several times I ended up scratching my head why I got points and others why I didn't. Sure, the gift system in Origins felt like bribery at times, but it also had a much nicer and more logical addition or subtraction of points while out adventuring.

The Elves New Look; Do not like. First thing that popped into my mind; when did the Navi arrive on Feralden? Their facial fetures are extremely simular. I'm not an elf-look purist, but I want internal world consistancy. Origins had the elves looking far far different than their DA2 brothers. The same with the Qunari. At least now we can see where the Ogres got their horns. But it is a stumble in world consistancy. A sequel is not the place to be re-doing the looks of a race so broadly. The body paint alright. The horns, no. Ultimatly this would not detract from the game in any way for someone new to the setting. It's going to bother some people more than others and as a writer who strives for consistancy between books this struck a nerve of mine.

And now for some number ratings because everything can so easily be broken into numerical values (/sarcasm):

Sound: 9/10
Graphics: 8.5/10
Story: 6/10
Gameplay: 6/10

Overall: 7.5/10

=. .=

[Omiii]

We all know nothing will beat the story of Dragon Age: Origins,


but I was rather dissapointed with the story of Hawke and his family. I
didn't really care much about climbing the social ladder so to say, I
wish there was a clearer meaning to the story - like there was in DAO.
From the start you knew that your mission was to free Ferelden from the
darkspawn. In DA2 however there is really no clear path as to what you
are going to do.


+ The new combat system.  It doesn't get as boring as DA:O could get in the long run.
+ My character having a real voice.
+ The graphics are better.
+ I like the day/night difference.
+ No more random encounters on the road, unless they have a real purpose.
+ Much faster loading times.
+ I love the new qunari, they're awesome.


-  The story was weak.
-  Not able to speak with companions on the run.
- The new looks of the elves, they look like aliens. I'd never play one again if I was able to.
- The new looks of the darkspawn.
- The recycled caves and hideouts. Really? It is fine to recycle the cave a few times, but I'm sure I was into the same looking cave atleast 20 times throughout the game.
- Having to go to the full map in order to look what quest is on your minimap. (Instead of just hovering over it on the minimap)


Sound: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 910

Overall: 8.5/10

Modifié par Omiii, 12 mars 2011 - 05:10 .

[Cenwyn]

 I am about ¼ of the way in the game and thought I would give my impressions so far. I am a huge DA addict and absolutely love Origins and Awakenings. My addiction has become even worse with getting the PC version and discovering mods.  Here are some things that I am really liking and not so much liking.
 
Good:
 
1.     Thank you for finally giving our character a voice! It is so nice to hear my character talk instead of making little comments during combat or picking locks if you are a rogue.  I would have loved to have had an actual voice in Origins while talking to my companions especially when I was in a romance with them. 
 
2.     Combat system is pretty awesome and some of the skills in each class have been tweaked a bit. Nice to see new skills open up for all classes as well. I am loving being a mage and rogue. Next game setup is warrior. Mage however is fast becoming my favorite.
 
Not so good:
1.     The elves, oh what did you do to the elves? They look like the Navi from Avatar and are quite frankly ugly. Who’s idea was it to redesign the elves? I am one of those who feel that when creating sequels one should stick with the original design of the races. The elves in Origins are to me, how elves should look. Not a butchered copy of a box office hit movie. The bodies alone are hideous, no form, no curves just this skinny, ugly straight up and down blah look. The faces, ugh, horrible, almost alien as well. Very, very bad idea changing the way they look. Other folks may like it but this look but this obsessed fan certainly does not.
  
2     The darkspawn look nothing like darkspawn  we are familiar with at all. When I did the demo I thought maybe they way they look is because of the demo. But when I got the game, ugh so not what I was expecting.  They are a cross designs of Orcs from LOTR and the Disciple darkspawn from awakenings.
 
3. The way we talk to our companions reminds me of Awakenings but at least we can converse with them more. One of aspect of why Origins was such a big hit was how much you could interact with your companions. Perhaps if you put future games out for DA to consider having the same amount of interaction that origins provided.


My question is why tinker with a race when the looks just fine to start with? If elves and darkspawn appear in future DA games I hope you put the back to what they look in Origins.  I don't really feel like I am Thedas anymore with the above said changes that have been made. Actually in one of the forums someone posted it should be called DragonAge 2: The Kirkwall Chronicles. I am inclined to agree with this statement.
 
I will be posting more thoughts as I get further into the game. But for now these are the things that I have observed. I look foward to doing some hardcore playing of it this weekend. ) 

[maxbarton]

I only recently joined these forums after having played DA2.  I've been a longtime fan of Bioware, but some of their recent development moves are distressing me. However this is for a review of DA2, so here goes.

Story

By far a weaker overall plot than its predecessor.  It lacks a strong plot other than "I'm Hawke, I live in Kirkwall.  Oh yeah when stuff goes to crap I get involved, kill stuff, and then sit around for 3 years.  I also 'mysteriously' like to leave right after changing the fate of a city."

This is merely a rags to riches tale.  It does have some good moments, the lead up to the Arishok fight was well done.  If the game had been front loaded and this were the ending I'd have been more pleased. 

Instead we get to deal with the Templars and Mages.  Ok, cool I have the chance to play the mediatore.  Nope, the templars are led by a completely insane woman being screwed with by an artifact.  Ok... can I reveal her for the tyrant she is or rally people against her?  Nope.  Ok, so the mages aren't too bad right?  Well there are apostates everywhere and other than one very 'sheltered' mage they're all blood mages.  After all, nobody lives by principles or honor in a medieval fantasy setting.  <_<

Ok, well I still think oppression is bad, so I'll help the mages.  Crazy lady finally snaps and her boss the Grand Cleric sits by saying "Getting involved will make it worse."  Also Anders has had an extreme personality shift because of Justice and decides that terrorism is a great solution even though you've spent time talking to him about finding a comprimise.  Well I completely maxed my friendship so that'll stop him right?  Nope.  Anders is crazy he just wants to blow people up.  Anders blows up building and feels good about himself and Meredith thinks "Yay a mage killed the Grand Cleric.  Now I can kill them all!"  Oh yeah, she also says it to your face.  So I can stop her right there correct and end this ordeal finally?  Nope, she needs to go gather minions so you get to watch her walk away.

Well I've now gone and hid in the circle's tower to prepare the defense.  You get to slaughter waves of templars until Orison has had enough and goes all harvestor on you.  Sure you find a note addressed from "O" so he was the jerk talking to the guy that killed your mom.  But I thought harvestors were a construct?  Nope, totally a demon creature. Ok... so Orison dies.  Now to go outside and finally kill Meredith.  Why is the building full of demons and blood mages?  Remember, no honor or principles.  It's ever man, woman and child for themselves and since blood magic no longer is a 'trained' skill all mages can do it.

Fine fine fine.  So I leave and kill Meredith and defeat the templars freeing any mages that may not be masochists.  Well you're partly right.  You do kill Meredith... then you walk off all brooding like, leaving the city in flames.

Wait what?  So I kill Meredith then apparently 'side' with the templars no matter what?  I don't go on killing templars?  Yep.  It does apparently start revolutions around the country.  So if I play as a templar supporter what changes.  No very much... congratulations, no matter who you support the endings are almost the same.  Really you've been given the illusion of choices for 30-40 hours only to realize that other than some minor differences most of it doesn't matter.  In the end Hawke walks away and mysteriously disappears with the Hero of Ferelden.

Characters

I've seen a lot of bashing on the characters and some of it is rightfully deserved, but not as much as people have done.  Varric, Isabella, Merrill, Aveline, and Fenris are all interesting to me.  I'd almost lost hope in Aveline until her... relationship problems.  That was a beautiful move on Bioware's part.  Varric is just a great character all around.  Isabella's comments are priceless no matter who she's paired with.  Merrill is a bit of a lesser Leliana, but still passable.  Her blood magic quests are somewhat interesting if not a bit linear.  Fenris really shined as a deep character.  It's unfortunate though because I believe they lost it near the end.  Fenris became too much the one track mind.  Even playing the righteous mage does nothing to convince him mages can be good, instead he simply calls you the expection to the rule.  Granted in Kirkwall this does seem to be the case <_<

Anders... he's a different story.  I loved him in Awakening, and it makes me upset at how changed the character is and that he has no chance of redemption no matter what you do.  It makes any subsequent playthrough annoying in doing anything with him.  He'll eventually betray everyone and blow crap up.  A chance to change his actions and create an alternative reason for the ending conflict to still happen would have been an excellent move.  Instead we were given an insane terrorist we have to play with.

Regrettably you don't have free open opportunities to have conversations with party members and are instead only open to brief conversations at quest points.

Most NPCs are rather forgettable and the ones that aren't die by the end of the game.  Well I did like the Vicount's aid in Act 3.  Your mother was an interesting character, a bit annoying at times no matter the choices you make, but he death felt a little forced.  It didn't pull me in very well since at that point it wasn't a tradegy but more of a "You're the dark hero so all your family has to die!" plot move.  Still seeing her turn around was a bit shocking.  Yet again no matter your actions the event occurs.

Romances

I have three complaints here.

First Bioware needs to move toward the Mass Effect 1 romances.  Sweet and tender comes across much better than rough and dirty... especially because the graphics just make it look downright awkward.

My second complaint is this.  Everyone is bisexual, which wouldn't be a complaint if it weren't done in such a shallow way.  Anders is all over you apparently with flirting options when you meet him, you have to immediately beat him down with a stick.  Apparently Justice really changed his personality since Awakening.  At least Fenris isn't nearly as bad and it feels nice to develop a strong relationship with him.  I haven't had the chance to do my female playthrough, but I'm sure Isabella will be just as irritating.  Also I can't imagine doing a relationship with Anders and he still betrays you.

Also Varric and Aveline should have been choices.  There was no 'nice girl' or 'happy guy' choices.  Isabella is ranchy (no matter how you put it) and Merrill while nice is a blood mage.  From a good guy character perspective I can't see much of a reason to romance either other than "I want to change them."  I feel even worse about the male choices.  Fenris just hates the world and Anders is a terrorist.

Pacing

I honestly enjoyed the pacing of the game.

Combat

Very action RPG.  Bioware has clearly made the switch of making games with PC gamers as their core and trying to appeal to console gamers.  I'm not a huge fan of the move, but as a console gamer I did enjoy the combat.  I actually bought DA:O on both 360 and PC because in the end I wanted to play combat on the PC version much more than 360.  I can't really fault them too much here.

Battles do seem less strategic though.  As a mage with enemies spawning everywhere in waves it was impossible to stay out of melee.  Half the time I'd have to kite enemies around until my allies were free enough to help or I could blast them with ice.

Inventory

Not too much to complain about here.  Companion armor isn't horrible except for one fact.  The game throws tons of armor at you.  Half of the gear you can't use because you're the wrong class and the stat requirements would make for a horrible character.  Better to have the games random armor generator based on what class you play.  Also I sacrificed better armor so I could wear the champions armor and it would have been nice to at least get some use out of the amazing armor on one of my fellow mages.

Also the junk stuff that drops seems pointless.

Exploration

I'm fairly certain I missed out on a couple of quests because I didn't check every square inch of the map during each time period.  However the game didn't give me incentive you.  There may be a total of 20 maps in this game and then they are constantly reused.  I wasn't in the mood to explore the same cave and same coastline I did a couple hours ago.  Being limited to a single city and surrounding area was a mistake in my opinion.  They should have at least given a few 'special quests' that took you to far away locations.

Overall

Even with all my complaints DA2 is not a bad game, but it wasn't an improvment on its predecessor.  The game also leaves you with tons of unanswered questions that you won't be answered until you buy DLC or DA3.  Graphics and sound were quality enough for me, though a few texture problems did occur for me.  My only other complaint is the amount of bugs.  Several quests have bugs and I even had to replay the final battle because my post campaign autosave was glitched.

Still the game comes a way with some beautiful and colorful characters like the Isabella and Varric, while maintaining an edge of seriousness with Merrill and Fenris.

Unfortunately the game feels far too linear to be a Bioware game and falls flat in comparison.  However if you take it as a linear game it has a decent dark storyline.

Story: 5/10
Characters: 8/10
Romances: 6.5/10
Pacing: 8/10
Combat: 8.5/10
Inventory: 7/10
Exploration: 3/10
Overall: 6.5/10

Original DA: 8.5/10 (need to replay it to truly evaluate it, but this would be the ballpark)


EDIT: To be honest it felt like I was playing a very long expansion pack and not a really fleshed out game.

Modifié par maxbarton, 11 mars 2011 - 10:51 .

[gallenger]

I've been a die-hard fan of Bioware since it first made marks back when it worked with Black Isle/Interplay. Obviously, I'd prefer if they just made games they way I'd like them to be made, but unfortunately, they just wouldn't catch the kind of money they need to keep producing games like this.

What I liked:
-Intraparty interactions while walking around were much increased and more colorful. It reminded me a lot of Baldur'ss Gate 2 - back when it was hard to script tons of "heart to hearts" like those in ME and the KOTOR series.
- Fancy attack graphics
- The premise of the story was really interesting, and the setting of Kirk' was nice.
- It kept me playing.
- PLOT twist - classic Bioware style.
- I liked the addition of junk items - it's fun.
- I grew to love the dialogue wheel in ME. Lists of "This is exactly what I say" are things of the past methinks, and that's not a bad thing.
-Varric narrating the story was a VERY cool addition - probably the best part of this game.

What I Did Not Like:

- Greatly reduced personal party interactions - all reliant on completing tasks for the character - hopefully the days of just hearing Thane's thoughts on life, or twisting the handmaiden are not gone forever - a major disappointment.

- I hated the new camera. Perhaps, this game is meant to be played with the WASD/control stick and I'd have had a more satisfying time not being hell bent on using my mouse all the time. Maybe I'm just stuck in my ways of seeing swords in a Bioware game and assuming I can always point and click. The camera also did not perform well in tight spaces (becoming trapped up against walls and against various sprites). The camera also did not zoom out far enough - I understand trying to capture a different audience, but it took away from my fun.

- I disliked the new art styles. Maybe I just don't like change - and I admit the Qunari changes were ok. But I much preferred Flemeth as the unassuming, grubby, old lady without all the high-fantasy crazy hair and leather. The elves are just freaky. Merill is the only aesthetically pleasing one in her whole race! Changes to darkspawn of all kinds were also less detailed and less interesting.

-Combat difficulty due to large amounts of trash enemies. The majority of the fights in the game were not hard because of unique monster powers, but because you had to fight tons of garbage enemies at once. As a result fights just become a repetative grind. I can reminisce endlessly about the fights in all the great RPGs - this game, only a few fights will stick with me, because most of the time I was just wading through heaps of trash enemies hoping that the "hunters/assassin" types didn't come after anybody important.

-The same cave 15 times. I really didn't mind it that much, but it was just so glaringly obvious. At least change some textures or something. The true diablo monster trick - I swear it's a different thing if it's a different color!

-While the classes are somewhat simplified, I miss the old format.

-Not so obvious spell combinations were cool, and for some reason omitted from this game.


On the whole, this game felt like something Bioware was taking some license to experiment with, and then realized they had a deadline and just puked it out as fast as they could with some parts of the game being well fleshed out and others being, well, incomplete, and some of the hallmarks of Bioware productions being completely absent.

It wasn't worth 60$ to me. On a scale of 1-5 I'd give it a 3. It's not something I regret playing, and it was fun. But it wasn't great or life changing or anything. Lots of room for improvement. Nowhere close to as satisfying as KOTOR or Mass Effect 2, or the legendary (pre-Interplay death) productions Bioware was involved in. If this had been released by another firm I'd say "what a shabby Bioware knock-off."

Give me:
-Characters I can talk to all the time
-A camera that zooms out more
-An ending that wasn't clearly "Umm we need an ending if we're gonna release this" (everybody is a blood mage!?)

[AustinKain]

First off overall I love the game and the story.

That being said there are somethings that I think they should have never changed.

1. I should be able to have a "cineamatic" conversation with my companions at anytime, and not just at given points. That is what made the DA:O NPC party memebers more accessible, and easy to develop a real love or hate for.

2. After giving a full go I would rather be able to fully equip my party with whatever armor I see fit. While it was easier to get into some parts of the story otherwise, this also added to the immersion feel in DA:O. At least let me put the armor STATS on them I want you can keep the looks stactic if you want.. The armor changes over the game were kewl and nice to see.

3. There is a difference in pure linear and open linear. Which DA:O is the latter and DA2 is the former. I prefer open linear as in let me choose when and where i go do something. Not that the pure linear style that is DA2 is bad the quests and "other areas" keep if somewhat fresh, but not as much so as in DA:O.

Those are the only big things I would like to see different. In my opinion if Bioware could combine the combat, and art/graphics style with the above listed items into the next game in the series/expansion pack then they will have gotten the formula perfect. Of course add in auto-attack for consoles, and button mashing on PC to get the EVERYONE happy thing going.

For DA3 Bioware if you were to follow my advice(and yes I know they arent going to do something for just one person) you would have the perfect storm, and have created a new genere in RPG.

OVERALL I love the game and the story, with the imports is AWESOME just some minor tweaks are needed.

BTW having a 3some with Isabela and Zevran was great, as was Zev telling me to go ahead and loot the camp then come talk to him.

8.5/10 from me.

[Merci357]

Just a few thought after I finished the game about 30 minutes ago, while my memories are fresh. Took me about 35 hours (incl. Sebastian DLC), which is about ME2 length and fine by me, since I haven't read that much codex entries, at least not those about topics I knew from Origins.

I like the departure from the silent PC a lot - and I enjoyed the sarcastic option a lot. Voice actors in general did a fine job, especially Jo Wyatt (FemHawke), Eve Myles (Merrill) and Brian Bloom (Varric). However, while there was tons of banter -well done!-, dialogue options with companions feel quite limited compared to Origins.

The story... well, I enjoyed act 1 and act 2, the frame narrative was a nice twist from the usual, but the end was disappointing. While Hawke's story in Kirkwall might be resolved, it's just a huge cliffhanger without any resultion to the greater picture. So many questions are still open. Might be fine for a tv series, where the next chapter is a week, at worst a year away. But not in a game series that moves at a comparatively slower speed. So, "my" Warden and Hawke are MIA, and it's no coincidence? And I've to wait years now? -.-

Companions where great, with two exeptions. Fenris is possibly interesting, but I had no place in my party, so I can't judge him so far. Anders, however, was quite disappointing. Not only a different voice actor made it difficult to relate to him, he had nothing at all in common with the Anders I know of DA:A.
I was quite surpised to realise that my female Hawke could romance Merrill, so some praise for opening up quite a few options, including s/s relations, is due.

Gameplay was, well, basically Origins on speed, a tad to fast for my likes, so I had to pause quite often. That said, please, use these waves of trash mobs not in 95% of all encounters. It's a great element to spice up some fights, to make boss fights more interesting, but it's so overused, it was just annoying and felt grindy. The low variance of possible enemies added to the grinfy feel. Shade number 357, greetings to you. Yawn.
Speaking of boss fights. Orsino turning into a harvester. Really? Meredith jumping around like Superwoman? Ridiculous.

Kirkwall as setting was fine - looked impressive, but to reuse dungeons and beach segments for like twenty times over and over felt cheap and unworthy of an AAA title. And I'd wish we've seen a little bit more of the Free Marches. DA is supposed to be about Thedas? Then show the land...

In conclusion, I enjoyed the game, and I'll definitely replay it, but it was the weakest BioWare title in a long time, and felt somewhat rushed. It's no upgrade to Origins, just a sidegrade. For me, the weakest BW one since Jade Empire. Coincidentaly, both felt like they had an younger audience in mind. But I'm still interested in future installments of this series, may it be DA3 or DA2 (story!) DLC.