1012 réponses à ce sujet

[PizzaThe Hutt]

All in all I found that this game had a lot of potential but it seemed a bit rushed...

Some of the things I didn't like-
-re-used enviroments! It felt like I was stuck in a revolving-door that I couldn't get out of. Going to the same cave 50 times just starts to seem like a punishment for something I didn't do.
-Drab enviroments, after a while of playing everything seemed mud coloured the only thing that stuck out was the characters, not really sure if that was intended but after a while of playing everything seemed to just mush together... I was kinda hoping for some graffiti or a mural or something at the least, well, besides the paintings that Varric had in his room but I'm not counting that.
-Lacking of choices, around the end I was hoping that Hawke and Elthina could slap some sense into Orsino and Meredith but instead we get forced to chose one side or the other and that was it. I never wholly agreed with the Mages or the Templars. I always ended up being neutral because both sides had some pretty major flaws to them. It was also annoying that I couldn't kill the people that deserved to die*coughpetricecough* and just kill the ones that shouldn't have died(such as the arishok if you didn't friend Isabela). I think it would have been pretty interesting to see what happened if Hawke teamed up with the Qunari. It would have also been nice if we could talk Hawkes mum out of seeking "Male companionship", instead she ends up being cut up by some crazy blood-mage which is incredibly messed up even though it could have been avoidable if we were given said option...
-lack of out of quest character chats, oh DAO how you have spoiled me... I missed the discussions you could have with your team out of or during a quest it really seemed to shine more light on their individual personalities and give the player more of an idea of their background as well through dialogue. Didn't really like how talking to a character only counted as a quest...
-lack of dialogue While I did enjoy the dialogue that was there ingame it just seemed lacking, Just because a game has more fighting in it doesn't make it a better game!
-Unnecessary Boss Battles... Again, just because something has more boss battles or just more battles does NOT mean it's a good idea! A good example of this would have to be the Orsino battle, throughout the game I found Orsino to be witty and charismatic, he was trying his best to help his charges while being verbally attacked by Meredith and then by the end of the game he becomes this bastard who uses some crazy blood magic, really?!
-Everyone looked the same, many of the npcs in the game ended up looking the same and/or dressing the same. You'd think that with a big city like Kirkwall there would be many different styles of clothing or armour. It was amazing how it seemed that everyone was buying their clothing from only one clothier no matter if they were high town, lowtown, or darktown. Not to mention that every npc pretty much looked alike, it's like they were all related or something. I was hoping for some difference between the Qunari and Tal'vashoth as well but they looked a like too(though I did enjoy the kossith armour, it was a nice touch). I thought people left the Qun to be their own person or something?
-The Darkspawn! I highly enjoyed their design in DAO and would have liked to see the original design in the improved graphics of DA2. It gave them a look of corruption and intimidation, while the only darkspawn that you primarily see in DA2 are hurlocks and maybe a few ogres, where did the shrieks and genlocks go?

There were some other things but I'm done ranting now
Some of the things I liked about this game
-Graphics, While I did feel like I was playing sims 3 in DA3 I still enjoyed the improved graphics!
-Race redesign, I think I'm in the minority saying this but I loved the elf redesign and what you did to the Kossith though on that note, would have liked to see different skin tones on both The kossith and elves...
-Voiced protagonist, while I did enjoy my mute warden it was a nice change and went in a different direction though perhaps in the distant future we could have voice options? Like maybe something like the angry voice, experienced voice, etc but with full dialogue and proper reactions to said voice. Do want.
-weapon and armour designs, while many were questionable DA2 really did improve in the weapon and armour department. It was awesome when my femHawke put on a suit of armour and it didn't turn into a metal bikini, thanks bioware! Instead it just conformed to a woman's body instead of magically losing pieces like what happened in DAO sometimes.

I still think DA2 was a good addition to the Dragon age series, even with all of its obvious flaws it still makes its own in the series. Can't wait to hear more about DA3! Also, remember not to rush art! Keep up the good work Bioware!

[Xhon12]

Some things I'd like in DA3:

- Making new types of weapons/skills: You know, like staffs (not mage style, like martial arts), throwing weapons like knifes, boomerangs, pure magic and stuff like this. I think it would be more interesting when chosing a class and weapon, aswell as your companions. I know it may sound a bit weird, but well, I've always liked exotic or different weapons. Also, it would be great if you could put more skill trees, like necromancy, light/dark power, summoning... And please put all the specializations back (bard, ranger, shapeshifter...).

-  The main character should be more customizable again. I'd like to be an elf in DA3.

- More dialogue opcions with your companions, we should be able to talk with them any time.

- So, what about multiplayer? They said you were thinking on some kind of arena versus, right? I think that, for DA, it would be more easy and funny to make a co-op play style, with four people fighting together against hordes, or doing some missions, you know, like ME3. Of course, the arena mode would be great too.

[PizzaThe Hutt]

Xhon12 wrote...

Some things I'd like in DA3:

- Making new types of weapons/skills: You know, like staffs (not mage style, like martial arts), throwing weapons like knifes, boomerangs, pure magic and stuff like this. I think it would be more interesting when chosing a class and weapon, aswell as your companions. I know it may sound a bit weird, but well, I've always liked exotic or different weapons. Also, it would be great if you could put more skill trees, like necromancy, light/dark power, summoning... And please put all the specializations back (bard, ranger, shapeshifter...).

THANK YOU!  Would love to have a plethora of weapons also in terms of the companions weapons they might have their own preference like Varric and Bianca.  For example if you pick up a weapon that isn't your specialization then maybe one of your companions who could use it would be like, "Oh hai, I see you have that scythe that you can't use, I could so use that" Do want

-  The main character should be more customizable again. I'd like to be an elf in DA3.

- More dialogue opcions with your companions, we should be able to talk with them any time.

I do believe they said that they would work on this for DA3 or future titles, personally I'd really like to play a kossith.  I don't really care if she's from the Qun or not, I seriously want one :\\...

- So, what about multiplayer? They said you were thinking on some kind of arena versus, right? I think that, for DA, it would be more easy and funny to make a co-op play style, with four people fighting together against hordes, or doing some missions, you know, like ME3. Of course, the arena mode would be great too.

I keep thinking of how the Fable series used co-op, I'd like to see games bring in a system like what they had there.  Though perhaps have the quest players play a part in the game as well but I don't really understand the mechanics that goes behind something like that but I'm sure they'll figure something out.  Just don't think and arena would work for something like Dragonage, Mass effect yes.

[Xhon12]

That's what I thought when I read Bioware was thinking about an arena multiplayer for Dragon Age 3. It could be nice in Mass Effect, cause it's a shooter, but I always see Dragon Age as a team-working and strategy game, so arena would be quite a chaos.

[Xhon12]

Btw, I think you could do voiced main characters aswell as different races to chose. I mean, Human has two VA (one for male and one for female), elf has two VA (male and female), dwarf, etc. with two VA. I know it's expensive, but it would be awesome

[PizzaThe Hutt]

Xhon12 wrote...

Btw, I think you could do voiced main characters aswell as different races to chose. I mean, Human has two VA (one for male and one for female), elf has two VA (male and female), dwarf, etc. with two VA. I know it's expensive, but it would be awesome

I know that some VAs do a good job at doing multiple voices without people really noticing that it's them doing two different characters in the same series.  It would be nice to have more of that since it saves companies the extra money it takes to hire more VAs(or whatever, I don't really know how that works)  And maybe said VA's voice changes to fit the attitude of the character whether it would be aggressive, snarky, sarcastic, good, neutral, knowledged, etc.  I don't know, I just like having more variety especially with a game that I'd probably replay anyways.

[karushna5]

I have a long message so it may have to be a double/ triple post. I apologize early for this but wanted to get it all done in one go. This will have my Pros, my cons, and what I would like for DA3 as a lot of my opinions turned out to be less of either but more of a hope. I am also writing the combined opinions of both me and my roomate since she does not have a account. We put this list together.

Pros.
I loved the talent trees and how they worked together in DA2 much more than in the first one. I felt how the character was built took more thought and effort and made me actually plan out at level 5 what I wanted to do, then what cool power do I want.

I liked the idea of a family that is not just a cameo. The mother dying was huge for me, and I really think it made Hawke human to have blood relations, and a normal one at that from a black sheep to a condescending mother and all around. Bethany felt less of a real person than Carver but I will do that later.

I loved the change in Isabela. I liked that she was from Rivain and we had a little more… ethnicity to the group. She seemed more saucy as well. Her playful nature was fun and a real treat to befriend or romance.

It was so hard in DA:O to save so much stuff for 9 companions and to juggle it all. It was a relief to not have to get armor for each thing. I could collect things that were bigger and better, and not have to spend hours just going through each person’s stuff and deciding who gets the coarse leather and who the studded and it become obsolete in three more levels.

And the companion quests were great. It allowed me to have an interesting series with each character and it made sense that each character grew to be so important because we helped each other. The friendships gained felt more real because of it.

Speaking of. I don’t know how many times in DA:O that I finished everyone’s dialogue when I got them. Alistair you barely have to go anywhere and you are stuck waiting till Redcliff or the end of the game to speak to them again. Romancing leliana I went through the game thinking that is it? But I am only level 9. It felt good to be stretched out over the whole game. And a lot more rewarding although I think I am in the minority.

I think that the arguing on these forums confirm it. Both sides were corrupt. I like that you went the extra mile to put that point home. Templars and mages were both very wrong and I hope you continue this to the next one. If a future character could walk a middle ground I would be even more pleased.

I know I am also in the minority on this one but I ask that you please don’t take away the symbols on conversation. If nothing else, it keeps me from being ninjamanced which keeps happening to me in Bioware games. If you do change it keep the hearts or I would have taught Fenris how to read every time. I hate being ninjamanced especially when it can have consequences like having to break up and taking major disapproval for something I took as friendly.

I was so glad gifts were special here. The effort to get a companion to like you was destroyed when gifts got spammed in DLCs just a few thoughtful gifts, no real roleplaying. Felt like I was cheating. That there are few gifts and each has a few words or a cutscene was everything I wanted out of a gift and the extra cutscene made it feel special and not like oh here, you like this? Take it, it is a bar of gold. Paying my friends always felt dirty.

Varric is one of my favorite characters in all of roleplay-dom. He is snarky and a lot of fun. I wanted to romance him so badly. But more on that later. I loved he was in here and hope he shows up again.

I am not exactly straight, so having every character as an option for either male or female Hawke made me glad, even an asexual option. It is the inclusivity Bioware is famous for and will keep me buying the games for a long time. That a male or female romance was different even slightly boggled me and made me want to play 8 times male and female with each LI. It is so hard to even be noticed by companies or main stream to be able to roleplay how I like it makes me so very happy. I do want to thank you all for that.


I liked that we worked our way up in Dragon Age 2. We started as a poor criminal striving to make ends meet and always makes a heroic story when done right. It felt great becoming someone great. A nobody to the biggest somebody Kirkwall has seen in a long time. It told a story that felt great to be in.

The Arishok was a great guy to fight, to hate, to ally with temporarily. His way of the Qun made sense, and I loved it. My roommate was overjoyed when she got the Arishok to approve of her. A great character that really felt like a danger.

I thought Tallis is a great character, and I know she breaks what people view Qunari about but her personality matched with her past and hopefully future made me enjoy everything about her. One of the few non caricatures in DA2 please bring her back.

Enjoyed Legacy as well, a lot of fun all around and nice to hear about the father though the connection was so weak it felt weird calling it Legacy. Seeing a warden go too long alive made up for it though.

Crafting was much less of a chore. It was fun and I felt like not tons of backpacks were taken up by ingredients. I found a source I used it. It was one of the most convenient changes in the game.

Anders betrayal was surprising and something that left me in shock. Especially in a romance. The whole thing was shown in a real light and the force that characters have such lives of their own they would betray us was spectacular. It really made a character I felt was a bit of a caricature into a real person.

And the rival=friendship add ons were amazing. I nearly always rival Merrill which I think is better for her and convincing Anders to side for the Templars to make up for his crimes made me love rivaling. Sometimes tough love is better. That we get something for each really sweetens the deal. It was fantastic and a game can change just deciding who to be a friend to and who to Rival. A great addition and hope it will continue.

[karushna5]

Cons:
I know you get this enough but it needs reiterating. Don’t change characters so much they are not recognizable. Anders was great in Awakening but merging with Justice made him into somebody else. It felt off and wrong. I noticed his death was covered up nicely but making a cameo into another character is worse than him never existing at all for we know what happens and it is a death but of the worst kind. At least a new name would have soothed it a little.

Too many of the character’s felt like caricatures. I love them caring about things and conflict, but Anders is for mages. That’s it. He was a grey warden…Ooh, nope he quit that the end. Fenris was better but seemed too similar to Anders to suit as the other main guy, romance able or otherwise. They were both angst adamant cause types. One could have been like Tallis for your cause with all your heart but a light hearted nature. Or one could have been angsty without a cause. Too alike. Isabela was a bit of the female ship captain and little else other than in her romance, which even after made her the same. In origins I saw strength of character a little too, but nothing in that for 2.

Merrill’s romance was sweet, but…there is no interaction at all. I flirt she says oh my. That is not enough. I find myself every time surprised about her dialogue at my house. There should have been some talk of romance beforehand. Not oh gee, to let’s move in. Everyone else talks about it. First time I tried to romance her I gave up for lack of any reaction. Great character though and kind as anything but with a bite.

There should have been something with Hawke in Lothering. It would feel nice if there is something to base your actions on in the prologue. Some sort of running quests, hiding mages. Something, the sudden action is very jarring for a beginning. Even if it had us in Lothering for a few minutes beforehand a calm before storm like ME2. It didn’t start under attack it built up, even a few minutes like that can make a big difference.

Sebastian was such a great character. Warring with his indeciciveness religious man. A type of cause that adds story and character. Would like to see him again. But unless you romance him he seems to have little input or say and feels silent often. His romance was bizarre and while it is my favorite it is also the worst. Not the lovey parts but that why an asexual character has the bawdiest come ons in the game. Why would any Hawke who said such things go in a chaste marriage? It made no sense at all and still baffles me why you choose not to flirt with anyone but the priest you want to get down and dirty with and then are happy not to. Weird. And while I hardly ever say this, seems poorly written.

It would be really nice to go back to the places you have been to get stuff. It was nice in DA:O and it annoys both me and my roommate every time to say oh, and a rogue. I love Varric but sometimes I don’t want a rogue and to always force one into my party or be one is very annoying. Yet I can never go back for items. This seems doubly silly since maps were reused, which I understood was a necessity due to the setting in one place but did get tedious. Staying in one place I should be able to go back and get stuff with a rogue I didn’t want for the quest.

The importing was terrible. I did not side with the architect, seeing that change the one important choice in DA:A was frustrating. Zevran didn’t acknowledge my warden at all. Leliana lived, I killed her in one of my imports, not right. No main characters of characters who could have died. it’s a good rule that was mostly followed in Awakening. In cameos you can control a little if the quest comes up, like Zevran and how Nathaniel is supposed to be. Main characters mess too much with the flow.

Money was way too easy to get in DA2. It felt too easy to get a few gold or 200. I could have anything. DA:O it was there but hard, maybe somewhere inbetween? Also downloadable stuff. Too many downloadable weapons they make all that extra money useless as the merchants have nothing to rival anything I have downloaded. Less powerful please, or just very few of them. It makes it too easy, and any items you get for quests you just sell and makes the game feel less epic.

Perhaps a single idea across an entire game, while I loved each individual act, together it felt as if it wasn’t adding up right. A flow of story jilted quite a bit. Especially with the Qunari and the mage/Templar thing it felt like…and another thing…and another thing. I love the Qunari and follow that thread for anything on their culture but a whole game could be put into it. This game felt like it resolved no story on its own and only set up the stories to come. While sometimes necessary, games are not books and usually a bad idea. Qunari were only solved for Kirkwall. Mage Templar debate just escalates war. Our hero does nothing for the world at large and coupled with the fact they rarely go outside Thedas you have an unheroic hero.

As that. I feel there should have been more impact with our decisions in the game. I understand that is hard because you plan on more games, but at least let them matter in the game we are playing. Nothing we do affects the ending or the story much than the side we pick. Even that matters nothing if you are a templar mage because a mage actually putting a whole circle down inspires people to rebel? Huh?

Of course that could be fixed with a simple epilogue like in DA:O it was perfect. It said what we did and mattered. I know you don’t want to be just like the previous game but please give us an epilogue of what we did, our companions other than they drifted away. They can drift but how? Believe me, many people will forgive many mistakes if they can get epilogues in further detail that make them feel their choice mattered even if it didn’t. Like in DA:O where it only mattered on the armies but little else. It feels like it mattered. Change it based on Friendship and rivalry. Make us feel like we did something and people will overlook a lot of faults.

And while I like Tallis, I liked the Gryphon hunt, there were so many puzzles in Mark of the Assassin I dread playing it sometimes.A few puzzles occasionally placed make an exciting change of pace, but they should be simple and rare. At most one every three missions. But it felt more like a puzzle game than a role playing game there and frustrated me to no end.

Edit: Realized another thing, I understand that characters stories end for new romances or different stories, but! we feel they are less and less our characters every time you throw them away afterward. i thought Hawke would be like Shepard. Coming through it all, epic and growing more fond each story. Without that, fans grow less attached, less fond of their character and in a role playing game that means the whole thing. It is so hard to adjust to a new character in a franchise because you like the old guy more. I hope you make the next hero permament or no one will stay for long. Adapting to someone new will make us opine for the old even if the old game was not as fond as we remember because that was who we were playing with.

Modifié par karushna5, 17 juillet 2012 - 09:29 .

[karushna5]

What I would Like to see for any future Dragon Age Installment:

I love cameos and am always confused why Morrigan the only character not able to die I believe in Origins is not a main character instead of Oghren in Awakening or Leliana being made one in DA2. More side cameos. Not only of major characters but side characters. Cullen or any Dryden would make a great addition to a future installment.

I liked that one person said give us an origin based on class. A mage, a warrior, and a rogue each have a different start. It gives a backstory and allusion of choice without changing too much. Although I love playing my pro Templar mage and others will want to play ex templar pro mages. Give us a backstory but let us choose a side. Perhaps the rogue could be a grey warden

The politics of Antiva and thus the Antivan crows fascinates me and my roommate. More on them please or even a future story there. Maybe even another crow but female or dark personality to contrast Zevran.I love that what makes Antiva special is it’s crows and what makes the crows different from any other assassins are their patriotism. Other assassins in stories go to highest bidder so are no effect as much in politics, but the Crows love Antiva and serve her which is why no army can invade. I love it. More Antiva!

Female characters seem to follow a certain line. Someone like Aveline was a great change. I know a lot of people loved her, some hated, but you find that with every character. A different sort like her did well, and I hope more like her maybe.

Strangely enough I have been on the edge of my seat since being a dwarf commoner and it got worse with Varric. I would like to romance a dwarf. Any dwarf that isn’t disgusting like Oghren. Male, female, really doesn’t matter. I loved how in the least stereotypical dwarves culture in a fantasy world I have seen Oghren is the most stereotypical I have ever seen. Love the dwarves, but maybe a lower caste companion, maybe even a servant like Gorim or a duster. Doesn’t matter, I just fell in love with DA dwarves and how they are.

Speaking of romances. I was cut to the quick when I noticed in Mass effect 3 it was unequal whether you are male or female. Very unequal, in every meaning of the word. It was so frustrating and sad that the most inclusive name in gaming was stopping just that so some immature guys posted threads saying they should be catered to…because they were men. The first games in both franchises did just well being equal before. I hope we will continue to see all open to either sex, and that more females will not be open for romancing than males.

We love the Qunari as I said earlier and the base of the encampment in Kirkwall was a vast disappointment. I hope for the future we can see how they interact and how their settlements really work and grow. Or even a Kossith not developed to the Qun or ever has and what that does to their personality. I would pay a great deal to find a happy Kossith.

More on what we found in Legacy. How Tevinter really was and whether they did cause the blight. More on why the chantry cages the mages, and so forth, on a similar note I just wanted to ask for the fraternities to come up again. They made so much sense and I can see each forming a different faction. Maybe even a mage who is pro templar or visa versa

There is a thread about a future game being about the civil rights of elves. I think this is a great idea and hope there is one at some point. It is a great future conflict. And hope it has the option to be an elf but never make the main character an elf or a dwarf as much as I love other races I know a lot of people who would never play a non human. Sizable amount of people dislike each race too much for it to be a main character without fuss.

More on the taint we learned more about at soldiers peak.

No game would be complete without Sandal and I would like to learn what he is and what that means, but please never make him a companion no matter his power. It would seem to silly.

The mirrors have been part of a origin story a download content, and a main side plot. I think at some point we need to learn what they are and what they can do. Another world? Transporters into the past or future. Just plain teleporters? I am curious and a good answer soon would be lovely.

Edit: Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think an inclusive group like bioware might add a bit ethnicity to the world as well. In a fantasy world where sexuality doesn't matter. It should be alright for the same fantasy world to have different ethnicities while not normally common in medieval France, England, Spain. i put this in a thread but thought to add it here. a bit more color all around would be a nice touch even on dwarves or elves. if our main characters can why can't the world? i liked Isabela appeared differently and much more dusky than originally. Maybe all shades and even a few random asian NPCs? That would be really cool but no pressure.

Modifié par karushna5, 17 juillet 2012 - 09:45 .

[PizzaThe Hutt]

karushna5 wrote...

Edit: Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think an inclusive group like bioware might add a bit ethnicity to the world as well. In a fantasy world where sexuality doesn't matter. It should be alright for the same fantasy world to have different ethnicities while not normally common in medieval France, England, Spain. i put this in a thread but thought to add it here. a bit more color all around would be a nice touch even on dwarves or elves. if our main characters can why can't the world? i liked Isabela appeared differently and much more dusky than originally. Maybe all shades and even a few random asian NPCs? That would be really cool but no pressure.

I think most people want a bit more ethnicity and variety in the game, I remember going into the Qunari compound and hoping to see some non-kossith qunari and some different coloured kossith qunari since Sten was bronze-ish while those guys in the compound were all silvery.  It might just be me but whenever I try to make a different ethnicity Hawke or shepard I find it hard to.  Perhaps it's just me failing at faces lol..

[Panamah]

As a woman gamer...

I haven't read the 40+ pages of response but just let me summarize by saying... in DA2 the romances were just terrible. As a heterosexual female, I was hoping for someone like Alistair, Zevran or Loghain (yes, I crushed on him). Someone heroic but a little flawed. Instead we got emotional cripples that were slightly heroic (sometimes). 

I know some women like fixer-uppers when it comes to men, but I prefer mine a little less likely to climb a bell-tower and start shooting at passersby, blowing up edifices, or otherwise im- or explode in a pyrotecnique display of self-destructive angst.

The romance cut-scenes in DAO were wonderful! The ones in DA2 were disappointing, and so few that they were hardly worth waiting 6 or so years for. Bleh... Poor Lady Hawke, she must've been a Chantry sister to live so chastely.

So, give me hotter romances and love interests that aren't escapees from local mental institution and I'll be much, much happier.

Other than that, having everyone explode into abominations every time they got a papercut was rather tiresome. 
It seemed like DA2 missed the nuanced bad-guys that DAO had.

[BloodsongVengeance]

i'm sure all the big points and opinions have been covered.  so i'll be brief.


what i LIKED about DA2:----------------------------

--better graphics. this is obvious.

   for not-so-obvious, i did notice that the blood in the opening sequences was very dark; it was supposed to be darkspawn black blood?  because darkspawn blood was never black in DA, everybody/thing had red blood.


what i DIDN'T like about DA2:-------------------------

--the video-game-izing of the thing.

   that is, the flashy fancy moves, the whirling twirling weapons, the mondo anime jumping.  what i liked about DA was the realistic, gritty look and feel of the whole thing.  more like real people and less like super mario brothers.  or mortal kombat or whatever.



--the dumbing-down of the conversations.

  seriously, 'angelic goodness' response, 'bad devil' response, 'greedy purple diamond' response...??  and short summaries of your actual response, instead of... THE actual response.  i'm fully literate, you know.  i can read conversation choices and select the one my character would say.



--limiting conversation.

   just when i thought it couldn't get any worse than Awakenings, where you had to find secret, hidden, magic conversation triggers just to talk to your companions.  now you want to talk to them, you have to go to their home.  wha?
   yeah, you can do better, more complex cinematic stagings.  but how realistic is that?  honestly.  do it to start major plots, okay.  but to just INTERACT with your companions, at the drop of a hat. 




  well, i was *trying* to make this short :/


   you know, i don't care how 'big' or 'grand' the story is; i'm not real hung up on story (unless it is REALLY stupid).  it would be better to have multiple possible outcomes of quests, and multiple paths to take to get there.  living in one city and revisiting the areas didn't even bother me.  that makes sense when you live somewhere.
   for me, it's all about character interaction.  that's why i fell in love with dragon age.

  seriously, i let anders come live in my house.  i told him no, i wouldn't help him separate from justice.  all he EVER says to me for the ENTIRE REST OF THE GAME is, 'don't worry, i won't ever ask for your help again.'  my god people, my mother just DIED HORRIBLY, and when i come home all distraught and need some comforting, all he has to say is that!  just.... gah.


  i don't care if it takes 3 years.  or however long diablo iii took.  do not rush out something just to rake in some short term bucks. it's just not worth it.

[sUiCiDeKiNgS13]

Good game. Felt extremely different but overall pretty good. Don't get the dramatic Qunari change but the elf change was pretty cool. Just tie everything up in DA3 and we'll be good.

Ending kinda pissed me of with Orsino and everyone turning into a blood mage.

Overall, I enjoyed it enough to buy all the DLC. Good luck with DA3. More Dragons.

[Kingdhanny]

What I love about DA2 is that your character seems like your character (if this makes since).Everytime I played I felt like hawks greatness was determined by the build I set up.

I like the companion play aswell (even if Anders annoyed me).I felt like I had controll of a badass group most of the game.

The game could really seem Challenging at times.the way you had to tactically decide how you would Approach a battle was really something I enjoyed.

Dislikes

Well besides what 99% of the community stated about reusable maps.

My number 1 dislike has to be the way skill points are used, there are a lot of skill trees that just seem useless. I can understand 1 skill in a tree being useless but a whole tree being utterly useless really took away from the games potential.

Also the specialization trees should make more of a impact on the builds,a good example is the Beserker tree.it really made you change your build as far as attribute go,but the change off seemed worth it.

Another thing I didn't like was the running around downtime,sometimes I just wanted to fight without having to load each city at night to hope a bandit jumped out on me.

I also beg that in da3 to pls pls pls after the game is finished don't leave me standing in my house with no where to go but the black imporium.

That's all from me

[Renmiri1]

Like:
Theme - Mages x Templars was a really interesting story arc. On Origins we gloss over the horror that Tranquil mages are submitted to. On DA2 we see it full force. We also see how bad a Circle of Magi can be, if Templars are not good people like the ones in Ferelden

Nuanced characters - Even the final boss - Meredith - is not entirely evil. You can really see where she comes from and even be tempted to agree with her. Same for Anders, Orcino, Fenris, Merril, etc.. There are no pure evil or pure saints. Well except for Bethany if she stays a mage. Pretty much every character feels real and Hawke is no Mary Sue.

Nuanced Plot - I sided with the Arishok pretty much all the way to the point he beheaded the Viscount. My Hawke dueled him to the death and lamented having to kill him. Bartrand's betrayal, Anders' betrayal, the Templars zeal are all things you can understand. There are no easy answers and easy choices. Each side has a point. Even Elthina's inaction is understandable.

Foreboding/ Tension - You can clearly see the moving train of a mage x templar war coming and all characters being utterly unable to stop it. Same for the Qunari crisis. The Viscount says he has been trying to turn (off) a stampede. That is how you feel most of the game. Things are always getting worse and conflicts escalating and your Hawke scrambles to keep all her friends safe.

Isabella / Allistair / Fenris wrapup - Loved how I was able to get Isabella her ship, talk to Alistair and help Fenris through the betrayal by his sister.

Varric - Best bro ever! And funny and wise

Romance - I just adored the Anders romance, though it felt rushed in act 3. Fenris Romance and Sebastian Romance are also awesome. I haven't tried the female romances but I think Isabella and Merril are really great LIs. Aveline is a bit boring but her loyalty is appealing. All in all, I think romance was great in DA2.

Disliked

Blood Mage Fest - Way too many blood mages going insane on Kirkwall. Is it something in the water ?

Uncle Gamlem - Was under utilized, I think. He should have either been written out as a worthless scum or developed better as a father / uncle figure for Hawke considering she loses all her family.

Act 3 - Felt rushed and short. Not enough missions, all the Bone Pit miners you saved on Act 2 die on Act 3, the Qunari you spared still get massacred and your "Champion" status doesn't help you at all to get Meredith to slow down or Elthina to act. And seriously, all that crisis for a search of the mage tower ? Orcino was clearly over reacting there. That should not have been a big deal. The big crisis was very anti-climatic. It should have been over making Bethany / Orcino tranquil or some well loved mage tranquil or mass killing of mages.. not a mere search.

Anders wrapup - Anders changes abruptly from loving partner to pushing Hawke away and being obsessed with bombing the chantry. I usually leave his mission for last on a replay because it annoys ne that all he talks about is the need for Drakestone and sella-petrae. UGH. We never see him being aware that Meredith called for the Right of Annulment, we never see Justice taking a grip on him. One day he just wakes up going from "it would kill me to lose you / break your heart" to "I told you I would break your heart, kill me now please".

Merril wrapup - I happened to agree with Merril that the eluvian was worth repairing. Instead we get her choice completely erased by the keepers actions. Yet everyone sides with the keeper. I wish we could at least have seen she restore the mirror and be attacked by the demon so we could see first hand how her choice was wrong. Or see her retrieve some Elven history. Felt the keeper's death was pretty much in vain.

Sebastian - Annoyingly brainwashed by the chantry. Was fun on Act 2 and Act 1 but on Act 3 ending his cries ring hollow. I think the voice actor dropped the ball there. His voice was more like a kid seeing his icecream fall on the floor then a man seeing his mentor murdered in cold blood and his best friend waffling over punishing the culprit. There was no rage in his voice or face.

Reusable dungeons - UGH

PS: I want to add that I loved DA2 and I even prefer it to DAO. The story and combat system rock!

Modifié par Renmiri1, 05 août 2012 - 08:40 .

[Teddie Sage]

Just a quick note: I want to thanks Jennifer H. for writing Legacy's plot. It was pretty good, I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed her version of Anders. She did a pretty good job. Ms. Hepler, don't let the bullies get to you because you know you have a bunch of fans to support you. Don't let the haters win, I hope you come back for the sequel(s). I can't wait to see what Mr. Gaider planned for the rest of the series, too.

Modifié par Teddie Sage, 26 août 2012 - 11:07 .

[Khayness]

So, 1,5 years, 2 story DLCs and 4 major patches later I've decided to have another go at it.

I played on Nightmare at release, it was repetitive and boring as hell, each suspiciously similar encounter taking up to 3+ minutes. Sometimes you got wiped because of the ridiculous parachute platoon zerging your DPS/healer in a heartbeat, and you had to try again. The only strategy it involved was remembering the spawn points. Not to mention that I got a serious bug I didn't know about at the time, the Sebastian -dmg resistance stacking. Hawke was the tank, so that made things a lot more difficult in the end.

The combat is bad. What makes it more ironic that the skillset got a massive overhaul which improves it graetly, but then the stupid encounter design/lack of enemy variety makes it a chore. Since combat takes up like 80%+ of the game, it was a huge issue at the time.

Take 2, let's go Casual! Oh boy, it was fun. I had the chance to experiment with ridiculous builds, and every encounter was over in 30 seconds or less. It still gets old quick, but atleast it's over just as quick. It shows the duality of Dragon Age 2 very well. Some things got improved, and the rest suffered because they rushed the game out of the door.

The DLC bossfights are interesting and fun to go through, some encounters were well designed (thanks to the variety of  maps to be honest).

I went through the first playthrough in one go, took me a week and a half. Now I just picked up DA2 whenever I felt like it, I think it took me 2 months, so the reused areas didn't bother me that much. They still shows how rushed this game is.

The story. Oh yeah. Up to Act III it was pretty good, the take on the Qunari was, and still is the highpoint of this game. Interesting "villains", motivations and atmosphere. Then Act III comes and shows you what's this game really is. A rushed out filler episode railroading you to the conflict they want to tell in Dragon Age 3. Stupid characters, facepalm worthy moments (Best Served Cold, still makes no sense). Atleast you can go through it in a few hours. Another playthrough and 1,5 years didn't change my opinion on that.

The DLCs: Legacy was a nice throwback to Origins, Mark of the Assassin get points because of the stealth section, puzzles, distinctful characters, locations and another meaningful insight into the Qunari.

I liked Legacy better, playing with your sibling is the best part of the character interactions. Mark of the Assassin was a bit of a lacluster, I think it focused on Tallis waaaay too much, it was nothing but a glorified way to make Felicia Day fans happy (she's cool, but not that cool).

The characters are the only thing what makes this game worth it, I tried a few different approaches to them this time, swapping rivalry/friendship from the first playthrough, not to mention I got to keep Isabela after Act II for a change. They are the only reason why I'm planning to carry over my another two DA:O saves and do multiple playthroughs.

In conclusion: Dragon Age 2 is a fun little game, if you aren't looking for a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins. You just fire it up and roll with the flow. It obviously didn't get the time and effort it deserved, so neither should you try to invest that much in it, you just end up jaded like I was the first time I picked it up.

Most of my issues were gameplay related, so playing it on Casual really made me believe I'm playing an over exaggerated heroic tale, not the trial and error repetitive borefest I remembered. I will definetly play it again in the future, and have high hopes for Dragon Age 3. Just not Day 1 purchase high hopes.

Modifié par Khayness, 15 octobre 2012 - 10:04 .

[emeraldtrader]

well, this is a loaded question! Personally, when I first played DA2, the character design was visually disturbing, not as smooth as DAO. The men of DA2 all look the same, the elves look like goat people and everyone looks like they have been riding a horse for a week. Oh, and don't get me started on the hair!
The abilities tree was confusing. There was a lack of interaction options with ones companions. Having way to many mages becoming blood mages (OMG you have to be kidding me). The ending left me scratching my head. Also, see Panamah's coments.
The story takes place, what, over 6-8 years? However, the characters never develop past the first year/act one.

[Gulaman]

Bioware confuse me. On one hand they give us a near perfect ending with Origins. But with DA2 they give us a half-assed ending with no closure. Sound familiar? Why, same crap they pulled with ME3 of course.
Do Bioware just not care about endings any more? Seriously, this is a pathetic way to end a game, left me totally dissatisfied. Bioware need to really spend more time when it comes to the ending of a game, at the moment they are really screwing with the gamer by giving us such rubbish to end an otherwise decent game.

[Soulfire72]

Good things about DAII:
Graphics are much better and smoother, all combat is more intensive (except being a tank with Shield Defense on - so boring)
Voice-acted PC. The variation in Hawke's dialogue based on how you've acted previously is also pretty good.
The amount of quests relating to your companions. I would say it's over done a little bit, but I like how much interaction you can have with your companions and with each other.
The rating system in regards to equipment. For Hawke, the rating system makes it easier to decide whether you've found something worth using or not.
The friendship/rivalry system is a bit more flexible in terms of your choices, but you still have to make sure you go in one direction in order to get the maximum benefit.
The skill tree is a bit more streamlined and easier to understand.

Bad things:
The character designs.
For elves, they're too scrawny. It's ok for female elves, but it makes the males way too girly. Even though they're supposed to be like that to an extent, they're still too small and scrawny for my taste.
The darkspawn look like a bunch of clowns now. Why they had changed the design to this makes no sense to me.
Oversexuality. A couple of times during the game I've found myself forced into homosexual encounters when I had no wish to, aka. Anders and that weird elf in the blooming rose. Not to mention Anders seemed straight in Awakening. And so many bi characters! The only viable romance option to me in the entire game is female Hawke's, since Isabela is kinda distasteful to me, and I hate Merrill, especially after the end of her subplot.
The treatment of dragons has degraded into DAII. In origins, they were just powerful monsters you encountered, and a corrupted one as the main enemy at the end, but there's not so much disrespect and contempt for them, despite the occasional cults. However, their main involvement in this plot is a species of noxious pests that keep attacking a mine I couldn't care less about! Not to mention the dick who hires you WANTS you to kill them all, aka 'extinct', and there's not a thing you can say against it! I wanted to punch his face in, or at the very least OBJECT to the notion of genocide. But maybe he's just too airheaded to understand what extinction means. Haven't the Nevarrans already tried to kill them all? If dragons aren't going to be treated like the powerful monsters they are, leave them out.
Also, the treatment of wyverns lin the DLC confuses me. The thing that stood out to me was that duke's taming of Leopold. This gives me a message that these creatures aren't all trying to kill you, and some can be non-hostile towards humans. But guess what? They stomp all over it as meaningless in the end. I mean, Leopold was my favourite thing from that entire DLC (apart from Leliana) and he just gets thrown aside.
Combat's pretty good, but there are two problems. One is playing as a tank. It is so boring. The attack animations is constant poking an enemy the same way, if you have shield defense active, which is a fundamental tank skill. The simple lifting off this animation to attack normally would have been enough to alleviate this problem. Also, the enemies have a tendency to kill off your mages without being smart about it. They simply pop up out of nowhere, and it's impossible to manually move your mages every time. Varric moves by himself, but this sometimes becomes a problem when the enemy is in one direction. The mages are fine when the enemy is in one direction but get killed when the enemy surrounds the group, and it's impossible to stop the enemies from doing this. Also, Taunt doesn't work for more than a second, so there's no sustained crowd control, which makes the longer battles in the game near impossible.
Oh, I haven't even mentioned the ending. It wasnt' as bad as ME3's (intially) it was still half assed and purposefully set up as a cliffhanger. We're smart enough to know when it becomes a selling iniative for the next game. It does little but create badwill between the fans and you, remember this.

Modifié par Soulfire72, 12 janvier 2013 - 12:27 .

[EChatty]

This is from a casual gamer's perspective since that's what I am. I haven't read this whole thread since most pros/cons are pretty much the same and I agree with a lot of them.

What I didn't like:

Going through the same areas numerous times on different quests. The same cave, different routes, almost the same bad guys.

Picking up all that cool armor and not being able to use it because it's 'restricted' to your character (no matter what class you are). At least you could change weapons with most characters (within their class [except Varric, who 'LOVES' Bianca]) Want to swap Fenris from a greatsword to a battleaxe? Great. Want to swap Aveline to a waraxe? Go ahead. Daggers or cleavers for Isabella? Dandy. (one of the rogue weapon sets does look like cleavers, the other axes)

Conversing with your companions. Only by traveling to their dwelling, and only during certain times in each act? Terrible decision. As with others, I liked the camp banter (or wherever you choose to banter with them) of DA:O. It wasn't too bad in Awakenings, though finding banter spots in each place to visit isn't easy, so fail there as well in that respect.

The Elves were really ugly (as one put it-they looked like fish), why did you make them so golderned ugly?

(Oh, you don't have to kill Merrill's clan if you can talk them down, if you manage that, they'll allow you to leave, but won't let you come back.)

That's about it on the dislikes. I know, short list, but I'm a casual player so I'm fairly easy to please.

Likes:

Well, just centering the story around Kirkwall/surrounding area was okay, that never bothered me as much as visiting the same cave layout time and time again (you could have at least changed that up for different caves)

I liked the fighting style, even if it was more slash n dice than anything else. I read one review that didn't like the spinning staffs of the mage, but I actually liked that, and that the mage staffs actually looked different and deadlier with the pointy/sharp bits that could be used if enemies got too close, so kudos for making unique staffs that could be used melee-style. (especially the special ones in the mage packs-uber-cool). It made mages less vulnerable to melee attack than in DA:O

I liked the different armor sets Hawke could find during his travels (though the stuff in the different packs was even cooler and I used that a lot)

I actually liked the sidequests (though not visiting the same locations time and again when I went on them). That's one reason my friend told me that I'd like this game, it's nothing but sidequests. I also enjoyed tromping around the city and getting rid of the three groups of gangs that you encounter at night.

There are pros and cons to this game, as there are to every game, and since I really play for the story, I did find the story weaker than DA:O's story. And I couldn't bring myself to care very much for Kirkwall, especially during the last act. For those I read about elsewhere who played the Templar ending just to get to be viscount? PFFFT! I was ready to run away from that hole by the endgame.

Though, I'm disappointed that we don't know what happened to our characters, except that they ran away, sometimes with their LI (if they had one). I did spend a fair amount of time with my character so I'd like to know more than that they just 'disappeared'.

I still like the buildup to the mage-templar war that I actually saw coming in DA:O during the Broken Circle quest. I wasn't surprised about the Chantry going up since I like reading spoilers, and so read a lot of them before I even played the game. I actually agree about the target since it's the Chantry that's enslaved mages for the last 700 years (700 years-I think it's about time they rebelled for their freedom myself)

However, as I said before, becoming the Champion of Kirkwall is not a trophy I'd like to hang on my wall. Although I will play the game again because, despite its flaws, it is still fairly fun and not too boring (except for the never-changing scenery, which I can overlook)

Modifié par EChatty, 17 janvier 2013 - 08:07 .

[EChatty]

Purely characterwise:

Isabella. I admit she's prettier in the face than she was in DAO, but she grew bigger breasts, which someone else said is counterintuitive to being a duelist, to which I agree. And she's the most disloyal of characters (I have yet to be able to get her to stay past finding the relic)

Meredith: She should have never, NEVER, been put in charge of the Kirkwall Circle. Her hatred of mages should have had her put somewhere that she would have no contact with them. But, by the same token, I'd bet everything I own that her hatred of mages is why she got the Knight Commander's job since the Chantry as a whole also hates mages.

Orsino: Very bad writing. If we're siding with him to protect the mages, why have him turn into a Harvester? Otherwise, his personality rubbed me the wrong way, I guess is my biggest gripe.

That's my biggest gripe with the whole ending. No matter which side I choose, I have to kill both Meredith and Orsino. The only difference is in how Hawke is viewed and how many mages escape to freedom (They're all killed if you side with the Templars [except for three who turn themselves in and are highly likely made tranquil after and Hawke's name is not a rallying cry to their cause] and a lot escape if you side with the mages and Hawke's name becomes a rallying cry for the mages in their war.

The other characters I either had no problem with or tolerated. My favorite has to be Varric because I really like that kind of personality. Yes, I even liked Fenris and understood his hatred of mages (if you had the same things done to you by a mage that he had done, you wouldn't like or trust them very well either.) All I could do was to show him that not all mages were like that (and I think I did romancing him as a mage)

[Maniccc]

I will begin by saying that I just finished my first playthrough of DA2 last night.  I expected to hate it based on all the negative comments I had seen online, but I actually loved it.  It is one of my favorite BW games thus far.


Likes:

1)       All the companion focused quests.  Characters are the story, and having more companion quests is always a good thing.
2)      Inter-party/companion dialogue.  There can never be enough of this stuff
3)      I liked the more personal scope of the story.  It really seemed like PC was at first trying to make a new home for his family, then trying to keep friends and family safe….  The whole story was much more character focused and personal for the PC and the companions.
4)      The way companion quests were in some cases tied to the main story (Isabela, Anders) was very well done.  More of this is better.
5)      I preferred DA2’s combat to DA:O’s combat overall.  DA2 was faster paced and did not drag on, and no one was skating around on ice like in DA:O.
6)      Tighter quests.  For example, Orzimmar in DA:O was horribly tedious.  Quests in DA2 were generally shorter or broken up into stages allowing players to move to some other task/quest for a change of pace or scenery
7)      7)  Non-combat quests like hooking up Avilene and Donnic (names?) make for a great change of pace and can be very funny.  It also doubles as helping to create a more personal, character oriented focus to the story, which I think is essential in all story-telling.

Dislikes:

1)       Animations were better than in DA:O overall (I thought) but they were still quite lacking.  Some were robotic, others were just awful (female run animation, walking animations, etc.)
2)      Side quests.   I HATE side quests.  All quests should be story related or companion related, and I might go as far as saying that all quests should be inter-related to some degree.  Side quests make no sense to me.  I get that they are filler material, but I’d rather have story and companion meaningful filler than irrelevant junk.
3)      Some boss encounters were just too long.  Long encounters should be broken up with various stages.  A good example of what I mean is something like the Meredith boss fight, where we go from pounding on her to dealing with her summoned statues.  Different stages in boss battles or other long encounters helps mix up the action and pace, and helps alleviate or eliminate tedium than can form in those longer battles.
4)      Lack of character customization and the dim lighting of the face preview in the creation screen.  More hair options would be great, and a beter job avoiding clipping with some hairs would be good.
5)      An inability to color or better customize armor/robes.  I played a mage and she was wearing white robes and a blue hood…it was awful.
6)      What’s with the insanely ugly robes and such?  I feel sorry for mages, especially the females, but they all get shafted in this department.
7)      Re-used areas.  Given the fact that this game takes place in one city and its outskirts, re-used areas are necessary.  However, there could have been some additional variety, and some changes.  For instance, Fenris’ mansion stays littered with corpses years after he moves in….  Really?

Modifié par Maniccc, 25 janvier 2013 - 12:39 .

[Missy_MI]

Really late to the party on this one, but I finally finished my first playthrough of DA II yesterday.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game and the Mark of the Assassin and Legacy DLCs. Repeating the same locations for questing did cause burn out by Act III (had to take a break for awhile), but I loved the storyline and the companion characters.

It was fun experimenting with different party combinations both for the combat and also to hear all the dialog between characters as they run around together. I'm looking forward to another playthrough with a different class.

[kavox]

What i liked: Party banter. Graphics improved.

What i disliked: dumbed down dialogue. Button mashing combat. Major scaling down of the atmosphere, ie in Origins we were fighting across a whole country DA2 takes place in one city. DA2 would've been a sublot in Origins.
Lack of customization. Recycled environments. Redesigning of the darkspawn, Sersiously WHY DO THIS?
Fighting is horrible, not to be too harsh, but it is seriously ridiculous. Fighting in Origins was organized and gritty. In DA2 it's like playing Dynasty Warriors, a button masher with limited customization.

I know, a LOT of negatives, but the whole game felt like a huge step back, like it wasn't even made by the same company or something