Questa discussione ha avuto 1012 risposte

[Methaluan_Sylver]

I just now found this thead, otherwise would have posted sooner.

I enjoy the game very much:

-The many way there are to do the samething, let me wondeing what would happen if I had dont it difrently and with that making me play it again.

-The universe of the game, even if I wanted to see more areas, the backstory of races and places was intressting and engaging.

-The looks of the moviments in combat, like powers and magic look great.

-The idea of following a carather adventure though a large period of time, and be able to adjust the carather to the player will.

About the thing that were not as good:

-The combat system did not appeal much for me as if press X and drink posion every one in a while it would take me that same place as if I when tactical.

-The weapons and armour looked nice, but was hard to truly custumize the carather. A good looking peice was just too weak for example.

Sugestion:

More open and dynamic world.

Opcion to forge the weapons and armours at player will, at least in a cosmetic way.

The combat more diverse, other enemy strategy other than hordes, use of the surrondings as weapons, as those things.


Concluding, I like the game and was enjoyble. I am considering buy DLC and buy Dragon Age Origins if I have the chance. Also looking foward for a future title.

[Helios969]

Late to the party, but generally thought it was a good game.  Definitely darker and thus less enjoyable than DA:O.  Played main campaign and Assassin DLC (which was a nice diversion from an otherwise oppressive theme.)

Graphically crisp, cutscenes very pleasing to look at, thought the combat was bit out of control.  Annoyed the crap out of me that I couldn't easily switch between my bow and dual daggers while playing a rogue.

Probably not saying anything new, but didn't like that I had no influence/persuasion over companions and the paths they took or a capacity to save/protect my loved-ones from their fate.  I understand the need of Anders to follow the path the writers dained given his possession, but not being able to turn Merril away from her dangerous path, change Fenryl's attitude a least a little bit regarding mages, or getting Isabel to come clean about the Quari relic made me feel like a helpless bystander rather than a participant in the game...and that I could never talk with any of the endless stream of mages or rebel Templars who outright attacked me made it all the more weak.  The game might have played more enjoyably had players been able to reason with some of the factions and laid the ground work for more support during the final conflict...it certainly would have provided more satisfaction.  I guess mom becoming a golem of many parts by the serial-killer mage was a necessary counterpoint to Bethany...

Recommendations:  Give more flexibility on companion and third party influence.  Someone like Merril would have either subcumbed to peer pressure of the group or left the party all together.  Isabel might have privately disclosed that she knew why the Qunari had stayed so long depending on friendship/intimacy level, Fenryl would inevitably had his opinion modified somewhat by firsthand experience that not all mages are power-crazed fanatics.  Essentially, give equal priority to story content as graphic considerations.  Baring a MP specific realm, no matter how crisp the graphics and combat, without a strong story the game will be sorely diminished.

Idea:  I really liked the crafting aspect to potions and runes, (and enchantment).  I'd like to see this taken to the next level...with the right materials collected one could go to a master forger...That would open a window where a player could select from a series of weapon models and have control over allocation of points and/or slots for weapon/armor upgrades.  Using a points-based allocation system a player could assign weapon powers ranging from amount of critical %/damage to attack speed to defense bonuses...all points could be assigned in one area or spread out in multiple areas.  For example a rogue might want to assign most or all points to critical %/damage or split it up between that and a lockpicking or backstabbing bonus.  Depending on extent of materials (and rarity) more points are given to work with to create a more powerful weapon or better armor.  Players could pay for this service or get the service by completing a sidequest(s) for the master forger(s).

[Claaaaah]

I'm pretty late, but are you still reading it?

-Story - I really enjoy it. Think that was for more complex that the "black and white kill evil" that Origins was. It was about gray, abou t a political matter. The only thing that may botter is that sometimes you are doing a mission and you think "wait, why am I doing this exaclty?". Also love the fact that is Varric telling the story.
-Companions - Great, just as I thought compaions were awesome in Origins, just wish we could talk to them when we wanted.
-Combat - Far more better than Origins.
-Art - Beautiful. People dislike the elves, but now I do feel they are a different race from humans.
-Locations - Liked to stay in one place because KIRKWALL itself was part of the story, and Hawke was trying to give stability to his family, why would he travel around the world? It was not what the story was but, even though I miss some travels. Re-used maps annoyed me a little bit and I wish Kirkwall had change within the years, sometimes I was like "What? How many years passed?"
Customization - I PERSONALLY don't bother about that, but shouldn't we have this on a RPG?
Ending - Surpring and awesome. It was not a full story on a game that stands for himself like Origins, because Origins talked about de ORIGINS of the Dragon Age universe. Dragon Age 2 ended with the beginning of a huge magextemplar problem. Besides I get so much excited with Leliana appearing at the ending like "it's gone just like the Warden" because shows that something will happen later on.

Well, I wish I could say more, but pretty much all the positives reviews here say what I am thinking and my english is limited. But I will say this: COMPLETELY LOVE DRAGON AGE 2. For me Dragon Age Origins is 9 or 9.5 and Dragon Age 2 9 or 8.5. I REALLY like your work Bioware, and sometimes I think the bad reviews happened because fans wanted a "copy" of Origins, but I am so happy that it's different, specially when it comes about the story. Great job and I am SO excited to Dragon Age 3!
I see what you guys did, I know Dragon Age 2 is the begin of something big and a bunch of good games. Just don't rush it and everything is going to be fine.

THANK YOU BIOWARE! And greetings from Brazil, you guys have an insane fan here

Modificata da Claaaaah, 19 febbraio 2013 - 10:56 .

[Claaaaah]

LinksOcarina wrote...

 Change is coming to the world. Many fear change and will fight it with every fiber of their being. But sometimes change is what they need most. Sometimes change is what sets them free. -Morrigan.

When Dragon Age II was announced it was met with great rancor that I have not seen since Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was revealed to be cel-shaded. The scope has been reduced, the graphics have been stylized, the world is now totally different and the gameplay has become something unlike it was before. A metamorphosis occurred; change has finally come, and in many ways, it was worth the risk if you ask me.

Dragon Age II is a different beast all together than Origins, but at the same time it is a now more familiar world. The land of Thedas has finally been fleshed out more. The conflicts this time around, while smaller in their focus, are more personal for our player character Hawke, the eventual champion of the city of Kirkwall. Like Mass Effect, Hawke is a single character with a voice, and along with several party companions as the game spans a ten year period, told in a framed narrative. It is in this ten year timespan we see the tale of Hawke play out in its full glory.

I will be frank with you upfront. The storyline in Dragon Age II is the best written video game storyline I have ever had the privlege to experience. And this says a lot because I went through great games like Planescape Torment before. It is dark, tragic, emotional and sympathetic all without it being too pushy into forced territory to twist emotions. We have family issues, a crisis of faith, coming to terms with freedom and going over the edge of paranoia, all in one game. There is humor but it is downplayed and for the most part realistic rather than the random quirks and stereotypical fantasy jibes. Of course that doesn't mean the levity we do see is out of place or referential, but at the same it flows more naturally this way, referencing when it should be appropriate rather than winking at the audience every ten minutes.

The story within a story narrative works wonders here, and while it has been used as a device before in games, it has never been used like this to tell a sweeping narrative. From it a lot of items are framed, but again it also makes sense because of it as well. We also get some of the best 4th wall breaking I have ever seen, anyone who has played through the Varric personal quest knows what I am referring too... 

As I said at the top, world has been fleshed out through the story. The focus is now tighter, but a smaller scale game does not necessarily mean an inferior one. Outside of the bustling city of chains we hear rumors of rebellion and exalted marches on the Chantrys enemies, the lingering threat of the Qunari is ever presant, and the problems facing the young nation of Ferelden are, while no longer in our reach, are still being felt after the blight is destroyed offscreen. Thedas feels real here; refugees fleeing, the people plight in Kirkwall and the rest of the Free Marches from the subsequent influx of transplants, the issues of mages and templars, and the Qunari close to home make a powder keg that can affect even Orlais. In fact, it does...

The world of Kirkwall is varied in it’s own way, despite the familiarity that occurs as time passes. Akin to living in a city itself, people you meet become friends or acquantances over complete strangers. You have events and side quests that affect the city as time goes by, and sides that eventually need to be picked with the growing dissent and fracturing alliances within the walls. You see racism,  the suppression of belief and unchecked greed play out to their extremes, and  those who survive either succumb to what occurs or roll with the changes. And so much happens at once it is difficult to wade through it, but rewarding to see how the story plays out, even when it is not to your benefit. 

And what do I mean by “not to your benefit“ exactly? Well, in the first half hour you lose a party companion permanently in game. There is no way to revive them, no way to save them, no way to sacrifice someone else. They are gone, and it is all because of the choice of character class you play. Think about this for a moment. This is an unavoidable event that occurs, and for the average gamer it would likely upset them to no end. It also helps in setting the stage for drama and even more loss later, a clue to the fact that no one is really safe by your side. It takes a lot of ambition and trust in your audience to permanently kill a character off like that, and whats more is that with the eight possible companions in the game, almost all of them are still at risk  of the same fate if the story demands it so. Characters will leave, often permanently, if certain conditions are not met. Heck, out of the eight companions that are recruitable, I only have five of them left because of my choices in game through my first playthrough.

And you know what, I can accept it. The ten year span the game has allows this type of fluidity to occur. It enhances the storyline immensely instead of it being a stereotypical RPG fantasy epic. There are no loyal warriors that, despite your decisions, will stay with you if you are not careful. There is no unshakable evil to be killed or common cause to be rallied to. Hell, there is no way to even appease everyone in game, unless if you are savvy enough to figure out where everyone’s allegiance lies and try to manipulate events to do so. Even the actions of your comrades and your reaction to them can lead to a grisly end, one that in a narrative such as this makes sense and showcases brilliant storytelling that makes this the best written game thus far. But in game itself, with the gameplay to contend with.….not so much.

And that is Dragon Age II’s biggest weakness. The story takes precedence over the gameplay. Normally this is not a problem. For the most part, the gameplay in Dragon Age II is adequate yet frantic, but lacking in many departments. Not the initial mechanics, which have been revamped. The new talent tree system is amazing, and lets customization be a primary concern for character building. You can specailize in one area of mix and match around five or six different talent trees, being a jack of all trades or a master of none. The gameplay is more action based, but the ability to be tactical still remains as in Origins, and the revamped  friendship and rivalry system is the most realistic way of dealing with the differing group dynamics in game. It makes the paragon/renegade system in Mass Effect look like a joke in comparison, allowing you to have rivals in your party who will fight for you even if they hate you.
 
But even these changes are mired by setbacks. The item inventory is still cluttered and your companions cannot equip any new armor, leaving a lot of the games armor useless to all but Hawke. The side quests are often unannounced and it is possible to miss them if you are not careful, missing out on possibly important story elements in game or just some sweet extras that may pop up from time to time. The map system is still too obtuse, although adding the mini map in the right hand corner does help a bit. The use of talents and items are also limited; turning into fetch quests to find the ingredients for potions, poisons and rune crafting, the only holdovers from the previous talent blocks.These minor things add up, compounded with the story elements that many gamers will hate if they don’t enter Dragon Age II with an open mind to how it should work, rather that what they expect will work.

Dragon Age II also changed with it’s artistic style. The races are more distinct and defined than before; sometimes to the extreme like the retcon of the Qunari in game. The art style is more fantastical, in the territory of Warcraft III almost, with more color and exaggerated features this time around for the enviornemts and the races, although hints of the original art style remain in placeovers such as armor designs, hairstyles, and  weaponry. Since this is a more personal story than a sweeping epic, the environments are less varied and will have a lot of back and forth to them to complete quests; although since you are in a major city, it does make sense to go to and from place to place in a familiar setting. Of course, backtracking through the 20 or so areas in-game does leave a bitter taste for some.

Graphical problems still occur though, at least on the 360 version. Hollowed NPC’s litter the streets leading to no collision detection, and sometimes in cut scenes the game jumps between two different aspect ratios, at least on a normal television without HD. Even the text is a bit tiny and difficult to read at times, which is pretty much inexcusable because people like me who have little money or interest in HD miss out on some neuanced details and descriptions. There is also a lot of canned animations in the game. It’s not a problem with something as big as this, but it is noticeable when you see the same twenty or so motions when characters are talking to one another. 

As for the sound, it enhances the game immensely. Inon Zur composed the soundtrack and pretty much hit it out of the park, creating his best work since Men of Valor in 2004. From sobering soliloquies to triumphant symphonies, the music ranges the gamut of emotions that the story demands, has an other-worldly edge to it’s familiar instrumentation and compliments the events of the game perfectly. The sound effects are well, despite some repetition and simplicity to them. Finally, the voice acting is fantastic, rivaling the work in Biowares other epic, Mass Effect 2 in both quality, quantity and weight. But at this point, Bioware pretty much gets a pass in that anyway, so very little has to be said. I would like to give special mention to both Gideon Emery and Brian Bloom for their portrayals of Fenris and Varric though; easily they stood out for me amongst Hawkes co-horts.

So change has finally come, but are you ready to accept it? Dragon Age II is as close to a legendary game one can really get. It changes how stories can play out in-game immensely, having a fluid narrative that is able to take itself seriously and it is not afraid to make tough decisions  that would rip apart the very fabric of the gameplay based on your own actions. It is not afraid to deem someone to death if you don't actively stop it, nor is it afraid to make you go through a horrible choice in the end that could become a building block to the whole Dragon Age world in future installments. The gameplay takes a backseat here, and that is a turnoff that may hold it back in terms of it’s pros and cons, but don’t let this hinderance stop you. This is a game that stands with recent works like Heavy Rain and Bioshock, it is a game that must exist for us to move forward, ushering in change in more ways than one.
 

This! i agree 100% with you.

[Lucerian56]

Okay, I REALLY REALLY hope I'm not to late because you guys
make it really hard to even find this thread let alone make an account and post
on it! As a DIE HARD Dragon Age fan I have LOTS of thoughts, mind you I only criticize
only because I love. I actually was a very stout defender of this game and I
totally over-reacted when I heard GameInformer simply bring up the faults in
it. The Dragon Age series is EASILY 1 of my favorite franchises and Origins has
a place dear to my heart right amidst all my childhood classics(some of which
are considered utter masterpieces and some of the best in their genre)So I'm
gonna go out on a limb here and say I’m 1 of the biggest DA fans and this is
all coming from the heart in hopes that it helps improve the series, so here I
go!!(Please forgive the sloppy categories)

 

   Things I liked:
(although I wouldn't recommend doing it twice) I remember at the end of Witch
Hunt in DAO Morrigan said "Great change is coming to the world." and
instantly my thoughts were "Oh please don't tell me. Hey there's another
blight, oh well time to go kill the devil in an epic journey." So in a
really good way the story and point of view was pretty surprising. I think that
city based theming served the story very well(although again, I wouldn't
recommend it twice).

 - Another thing was
the characters. They were almost all very deeply fleshed out and unique (I
remember 1st playing through I had a tough time deciding which utter badasses
to bring with me). And like the city based theming I think the story would've
been far worse without these characters, I might actually have lost interest
where it not for them.

- The letter receiving. Although it was one of the things
basically imported from Mass Effect, it was the only good thing. It lets you
know the results of you actions in a very well integrated way. I'm not saying
DAO's method was bad AT ALL I just think it helped with the city based theming!
It was also very immersive hearing people pour their hearts out to you for
doing all these heroic things for helping them(I was never a dick though so I
don't know if it works the other way )

 - Giving Hawke a real
voice was also really cool but that leads into 1 thing I like & 1 I
dislike(I'll get to what I  disliked way
later). Having the symbols show the tone of your response was wonderful because
there were many times in DAO I was trying to be a smartass but I had no clue my
guy was being serious or I thought I was gathering more info but I was
advancing/finishing the conversation.

- The skill trees were great!! I love that they replaced
those awkward as hell skill.. paths(?) with the skill trees, but sadly they
replaced far more than they should've(but this is the likes section so, again,
I'll get to it later)

 - The character
animations and expressions were far better and less puppet like. It was really
hard at times to take things seriously like for example the Brood Mother's 1st
appearance in Origins had brilliant pacing and build up but as I came around
the corner and saw it attempt to fiercely wriggle its apparently prosthetic
arms it killed the moment and the other wise horrifying creature! so that
really made the world feel much more alive and realistic.. uhh I'll get to the
subject of realism later though

 - The way the elves
were redesigned to be a bit more like the orignal elves was awesome because
before they seemed a bit more like pointy-eared nomadic humans. But what FAAR
out does that

was the Qunari redesign !!! I had some trouble believing
they could bite through leather wood and sometimes steel.. but with that
redesign ohhohoho BOY. It was perfect just in general, but especially for how
threatening the Arishok was supposed to be!!(That leads incredibly well into my
next point!)

- The Boss fights! The normal bosses like the dragon in the
Deep Roads were alright enough but when you get to the chapter bosses holy
****! The weird thing in the deep roads was pretty fun to fight(although it
kinda came out of nowhere which is odd because you guys are masters at creating
build up when needed), but it doesn't compare to the fight with the Arishok.
When you duel him it's seriously 1 of the most intense moments in whole game
only bested by the fight with Meredith!! That whole fight had so much going for
it, the build up, the crazy **** shouting/arguing with Hawke the whole fight,
having the demented statues come alive each with unique move sets testing your
different abilities and strategic planning, just to naming a few! After the
fight that utterly satisfying kick ASS fight is one FACE MELTER of a death
scene for that psycho **** that caused you so much suffering!! God just
remembering it gets me pumped! There is 1 thing that I'm sure you've heard many
many times tho that brought my mood down(I'll get to that in a minute).....
:',( now for the bad stuff

 

   Things I disliked:
:'(

 

- You guys made amazing outfits for the characters but
making it the only thing they can wear and only letting you get upgrades for
them(I believe to be more like Mass Effect) really didn't fell right especially
since you find all this superior armor a lot of which you can't even use,
because class restrictions. I think if u want the characters to look a certain
way you could make their new armor look different on them or(a bit more of a
restricting, and I think worse, solution) make different armors only equip-able
by certain guys to suit their style.

- The way that the only way to start a relationship was by
flirting.. that's just unrealistic people develop crushes all the time just
talking to people they know(and of course find attractive but who isn't
attractive in fantasy games ) it just felt dumbed down.

 - The other thing I
didn't like in the conversations was the lack of variety in personalities to
choose from. I would've said that Hawke had a predetermined personality but the
way everything else was just converted to fantasy Mass Effect I'd say that
wasn't it(but I can sort of understand why you couldn't have a myriad of
different fully voiced personalities).

 - The actual ending
. I understand it was supposed to leave you in the dark and make you crave
answers and more.. crave the sequel. But it just confused the HELL out of me! D:
Okay let me share my experience cus I doubt most of the others clarified why
they didn't like it.

   Okay in DAO my
ending in both Awakening and Origins it said my Warden stayed traveling with
Leliana. So when I saw her all alone and say Hawke was gone just like the
warden, my brain jumped to this: "Oh, I started Witch Hunt with this char.
but didn't finish it. So by default it must've made me leave with her!" So
I went back to my save before the Archdemon beat it again I made sure my warden
survived and didn't start witch hunt and restarted based on that save. I beat
DA2 again.. gone like the warden?? She was with you!! "Maybe it defaulted
me to go with Morrigan again." So I went through awakening with my DAO
file(mentioned before), beat that, made sure it said I stayed with her
then(after forgetting to beat witch hunt & beating DA2 again(that 1 was all
on me ) I beat witch hunt didn't go with Morrigan and beat DA2 1 final time
with ALL that done........ Gone like the warden......(critical facepalm)

 - I can't think of a
"clever" way of naming this but it encompasses some of the things I
said I'd bring up later

   I really really
didn't like the way Dragon Age was remolded as "Fantasy Mass Effect."

The main reason encompasses 3 things.

 - Attempted ME2 style
simplification. You guys had such a stroke of utter genius that worked wonders
for the series so(I assume) you thought to bring that simplification to the
already similar Dragon Age but taking out skills to bring in the weird resource
collecting done like.. well fantasy ME2. The simplification of stats so that
you only need to put your points into 2 stats or maaaybe 3(which doesn't make a
lot of sense to me) and replacing lockpicking and persuasion with thresholds in
Cunning(making rouges waay more over-powered). While replacing persuasion with
an already in place mechanic worked well for Mass Effect it just isn't the same
with Dragon Age. They on the surface are similar but its things at the core of
the game that make them so different. This goes for all the....... Mass
Effect-ifying(??) in the game!

 - The removal of
strategy. I mentioned before that skill trees replaced more than they should
have and this is it. It's actually a bit more a kin to the ME2 simplification
but it was waay too big to fit there.. Okay, again, you guys had a stroke of
genius in simplifying ME but that same kind of simplification can not be done
for such a deep strategy based combat system. Here let me give you an example
why that type of revamp is unsuited for DA: Ok I remember trying to help
Isabella the 1st night you meet her but the guys attacking her were too much at
the time and Hawke was the only 1 standing fighting the boss dude(idk his name)
one on one in DAO when you're overwhelmed like that you have to change strategies
and most likely go into guerrilla war-fare mode laying traps, using salves,
bombs, etc. but what cud I resort to there? Running around him like a
cotton-headed-ninny-muggin until I cud use a potion whenever I was hit  3 times then turning around to use one of my
powers only to get hit a few times and repeat. I had to resort to this
basically every time I was overwhelmed in combat!! And how the fortitude &
mental save checks being just based on enemy rank and being reduced or
increased by percentages accordingly was just shallow and barely helped or
added anything to the strategy. Think about it almost everything you got in
Origins was for strategic in-battle use, even using different armor types
helped open windows for other strategies or at least made executing a few of
those a bit easier!

 - (This relates to
the subject of battle to a degree and right up there with it in my biggest
gripes for the game) I mentioned that the awesome animations movements, and
facial expressions made the game feel more realistic but for me :',( it was all
shot by this crazy over the top anime-esque fighting style. I love over the
topness at times but only where it's due like the fight with Meredith like
seeing her fly into the air and make mini craters upon landing I felt it was
kinda called for. Since the relic was supposed to be this horrible
re****ulously powerful artifact and seeing the effect it had on everyone who
possessed it and even the places that held it instilled the feeling "Holy
****!! This thing is not to be ****ed with!" Yet seeing these ordinary
people right from the start swinging a great sword once every second, splitting
a few things in 2 with a swing, hitting people so hard all that's left are
chunks of armor, seeing Templars in ful plate back-flipping 6' in the air &
vanishing(just to name a very very few things) is totally hard to take
seriously especially when you and your friends totally annihilate all kinds of
critters monsters and people alike and nobody(not even your innocent loving
mother) even addresses it.

   So please I beg you
guys  to tone it down to, I'm not asking for ultra-realistic or anything, just
atleast to believable levels. And if you're worried about continuity there's
already an easy answer why it was said. Just say sometime in DA3 the seekers
meet up with Hawke and say "You don't fight at all like Varric told
us." Hawke replies "He was embellishing my stories again wasn't he,
the little bastard ." Since DA2 was a story being told by Varric and
he's an infamous bull****ter it makes perfect sense that he was totally over-embellishing
the story(DA2) (and if you want to be really clever he could say he embellished
because he was afraid some people wouldn't like it otherwise). I know you guys
really want to reach a wider audience with this type of action so if you REALLY
can't part with it or have worked to hard on those battle animations you could
keep them and give the players a choice between realistic combat or the
gruesome over the top combat(I assume DA3 is gonna be a story being told like
the others were you can call the option "give it to me
straight"(realistic) or "embellish it"(over the top) and give
the description when you move over them, or something like that). Really that
would reach a waay bigger audience than one or the other and you definitely
wouldn't lose any fans!! So I beg you above all my other requests please please
at least put in the option for normal combat!!!

[Scelous]

I don't know if Biowarians still check this thread out. I'd write something more lengthy if I knew that they did.

Regardless, I just replayed DA2 for the first time since buying it when it was first released. I remember when I played DA2 when it came out, the combat felt kind of off-putting to me.

Well, I just replayed Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 back to back, and I have a newer, much better appreciation of Dragon Age 2. The combat in Dragon Age: Origins feels very clunky and too slow. Dragon Age 2's combat feels much more fluid and, quite frankly, bad ass. I like that the main character is voiced in Dragon Age 2.

The companions didn't wow me in DA2, and I probably liked them the least out of all Bioware games. Also, while I liked the combat system in DA2, the whole enemy ninja thing, with enemies constantly jumping down from above or popping up somewhere, the whole "enemy wave" system feels kind of tedious. So I'm not a fan of that.

Anyway, as a fan of both Dragon Ages, it's my earnest hope that DA3 will be more like DA2, and not the first one.

[Picchia]

I just finished Dragon Age 2 and I'd like to review it. This review contains major spoilers.

The first arc was intended to make you feel that you were at the bottom, working for others and getting that little bit of gold so you could make a difference. The idea of it was good, although it felt as a very slow start. Especially when your objective is to acquire 50 gold then it starts feeling like a choir.

The second arc was my favourite. The Qunari are interesting and I enjoyed the increasing tension between the groups. Intrigues are intriguing. Altough the ending was very anticlimatic considering I killed them seconds after they made their move.

The third arc came a bit out of the blue to me. Arc 2 and 3 could have been two different games for as far as I'm concerned. The overarching story of your growth links the different arcs, but your adventure barely does. The steady corruption of meridith could've been shown much more gradually over the course of different arcs.

The NPC's were interesting and enjoyable. They had their interesting back stories as well.  I liked how it contained several unique party members, such as the Anders and his spirit and the pirate. The characters didn't feel too cheesy.

I was a female mage and I did not enjoy how irrational carver reacted to having to stay behind, even if he's the adventourous type. I can't imagine anyone holding a grudge for so long against someone for being succesful and protective. In fact, the game was filled with irrational characters. The pirate lady was barely afraid of the Qunari chasing her, but she was afraid of others chasing her. In the end I thought everyone was crazy in this game.

I liked the skill tree. The skill tree was clever and worked well, but at the end of the game my action bar was filled  so I lost interest in picking more skills.

The gameplay was fine. I enjoy these kinds of RPG's and I have little to add to that.  The visuals were fine as well. It looks okay and the game ran smooth. The new combat animations were glorious. And I especially enjoyed the areas with ships and such in the background.

The maps could've used some more work though. Rehashed areas. Having to return to the same areas fits the plot, but it's not very exciting either.  But that wasn't my biggest gripe with the map design. I think it would have helped a lot if we had a bit broader streets, as that would make navigating the city and the surrounding paths a bit easier. It also gives a less linear and claustrophobic feeling.

I enjoyed the game and the story could have been good, but I believe you guys should've thought a bit longer about the execution of the story. Having a good story is not good enough, as you also have to tell it in a coherent fashion. The game could have been a lot better if you had just tested the flow of the game a bit more.

Modificata da Picchia, 25 agosto 2013 - 06:12 .

[Sc2mashimaro]

 First of all - I don't know why I am awake and writing this right now. I really ought to be asleep. But I'm not tired and I have been wanting to throw my two cents into the ring since finishing Dragon Age 2 for the first time yesterday.

I am amazed that Dragon Age 2 got so much backlash. It is far from a perfect game, but it certainly did not deserve the kind of poisonous rage I have seen a few loud individuals take up. There are a few weaknesses in the game, spots where it fell short of Origins, but there are also parts of the game that are clear improvements over Origins.

The bad first: Dragon Age 2 re-uses environments, textures, and places many quests in identical locations as previous quests. This can make quests feel like reheated leftovers instead of feeling fresh and interesting. However, the crime isn't as great as some have made it out to be - many older Bioware games did this, and MMOs like World of Warcraft have as well. It does make it feel like grinding in some places, but the practice was fairly common until recently in many, many games.

More obnoxious was the spawning enemies. Another crutch of older games, but more annoying in DA2 than it was in DA:O, because the combat is better. In Dragon Age 2 the combat is quick and fluid, which made me want to pay more attention to it. However, paying more attention to it meant that I noticed things like unit spawning, because it interferes with properly anticipating and planning an encounter. Again - not as big of a deal as it has been made out to be, even though it was obnoxious.

Forced combat - Some missions had combat when, really, it didn't seem needed. Not every quest/mission should have combat. Change it up, keep me on my toes. Let me see what I can do when I can use other tools in the game aside from the hammer.

Lastly, I know many have complained about not being able to change companion armor. It's a small detail and it never really bothered me. I could take it or leave it.

The good:

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT - the "junk" feature in the inventory was fantastic. Goodbye awful hours spent trying to manage and unweildy inventory and remember what I wanted to sell and what I wanted to keep. Great addition.

COMBAT/CLASSES - These two elements go hand in hand. Every class is now very fun and engaging to play in combat and it *feels* more like each class is contributing to the overall way the battle plays out. Combat is more fun and fluid than in DA:O without feeling overly dumbed down. Class trees and leveling is less confusing and more rewarding. Improvement in basically every aspect here.

CHARACTERS - Overall, improvement from DA:O. Origins had good characters, for the most part, but there was some lack of dimension and growth here and there. In DA2, almost every character displays complexity, depth, and undergoes some kind of growth. There is more interaction between NPC party members - becoming friends, disliking each other, even finding their own romances in the absence of Hawke's advances. Fantastic work.

And finally, STORY: Origins had a fun story, but somewhat cliched. DA2 is a massive improvement on that front. The story is rich and varied. It moves from triumph to heartbreak to horror effortlessly. Cliche is not as readily used as a crutch, so the story feels less predictable. Ultimately, choices feel impactful, regardless of the actual scope of their impact and this also helps support the story. The lead-up to the third act and the ending of the game are done excellently and definitely leave me wanting to know what happens next in the *bigger* story arc of the games.

Story and characters are ultimately why I play the Dragon Age games, so this game gets an overall positive rating in my book. Is it better than Origins? No, the flaws make it feel much too grindy at times to be a better experience than Origins. However, I would hesitate to say that it is worse either, because it does many important things better than Origins.

[Benjmn]

It's been a while since I played Dragon Age 2, but I just now ventured into the forums and saw this thread.

I enjoyed Dragon Age 2.  It wasn't without its flaws, but on my first playthrough I was engrossed enough in the story to not mind.  I enjoyed the smaller scale of the story, the idea of rebuilding your family's fortunes, and the way it was spread out over a longer time period.  I even saw the reuse of locations as just an extension of the concept, rather than a flaw.  I disliked that the combat became more action game and less strategic rpg, but it was still enjoyable, if a little mindless.  The combat animations were definitely nice to watch.  Some of the DLC did have encounters where a bit more thought was required, which I saw as a good development.

On my second playthrough, I chose generally different dialogue options, played a different class and gender, and so expected a very different experience.  And it was in many ways, but not as much as I'd hoped it would be.  I still enjoyed it, but not enough so for me to play it a third time (I played through DAO 4 times, and may play through it again one of these days.  I never did become king). The sudden switching of many of my companion's sexual proclivities came as an unwelcome surprise, and I was disappointed to find that most of the quest outcomes remained the same regardless of how I acted.  Given that the areas were already repetitive, lack of variety in possible story outcomes made for a much less engrossing experience the second time around.  For minor sidequests I didn't so much care, but I was hoping that differnet player choices could have more of an impact on companion and the main quests than they did.  The linearity of the main quest especially disappointed me, though I realize that it can be viewed as just another aspect of the smaller scale of the story. 

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the game both times, or feel I didn't get my money's worth.  Two playthroughs of a game of DA2's length is a pretty good bang for the buck.  It's just that after playthrough number 2 the flaws I perceived in the game (mainly lack of differing outcomes to play through) began to outweigh the things I enjoyed enough to sap any interest I had in further play.

A big gripe I had with the game has more to do with the overall tone of the setting of Dragon Age rather than with any specific gameplay choices, and as such is largely a matter of taste.  I read a lot of scifi/fantasy, and one of my favorite aspects of those genres is the different settings authors create.  I don't particularly care for this one.

DAO introduced a pretty hopeless world.  It gave a feudal, medieval society, with all the nasty brutishness that entails (except as regards sexual mores, which makes little sense for a society with a high mortality rate and no apparent means of effective contraception), but then decided that wasn't enough.  The elves, rather than being something of a light amongst all that medieval dark, are an oppressed, displaced, shattered wreck of a people who live either as nomads seeking to reclaim a lost heritage or as an oppressed minority, living in ghettoes and subject to murder or rape at the whim of their human overlords.  Magic, another source of occasional hope in fantasy fiction, in Thedas is a dangerous practice that can result in demon possession and total loss of humanity.  Demons abound, looking for a moment of weakness, in man or in "the veil" to inflict more pain and suffering on the world.  Positive supernatural forces, often embodied by priests or clerics or paladins or somesuch in fantasy, have been replaced by rare and relatively ineffectual spirits of justice, hope, etc., and a corrupt and violent church who cages magic users, embarks on holy wars against elves, dwarves, qunari, etc., and ensures the loyalty of its strongest warriors via drug addiction.  The dwarves did not escape this trend, and exist as a mere remnant of their former might, engaged in a constant fight for survival, and as a society are trapped in a rigid birth based caste system that is nigh-impossible to escape.  As if that weren't enough, existential threats exist to all that wonderful society in the form of the darkspawn, who apparently want to eat everyone, and the vague threat of the technologically advanced qunari, who want to enslave everyone to a philosophy that leaves no room for freedom of any kind.  Assuming the rampaging and apparently omnipresent demons don't rip open the veil and kill everything first (which is apparently the plot of the next game!)  The great hope against one of these threats, the darkspawn, is an order that induction into leads to either instantaneous or early death.

DAO did have a few rays of hope though.  You stop the darkspawn invasion, can do the elves a good turn or two, the Ashes quest , Wynn's spirit pal and Justice all indicate that maybe there's some positive supernatural forces out there, you have numerous positive interactions with mages who successfuly resist the temptation to turn into abominations, there are templar who treat mages like human beings, there are indications that some darkspawn may not be purely mindless monsters, you can manage to get along with at least one qunari, and you can set up a relatively benevolent monarchy.  The dwarves are screwed no matter what you do, which was one reason I never particulary cared for their story arc.   You can also make things worse (except for the darkspawn), but that also was something I liked, as it gave other outcomes to play through and see.

Not so much in Dragon Age 2.  It was like the "darkness level" from my least favorite part of DAO, the dwarf/underground section, was applied to all of the game.  I can't off the top of my head think of a single named mage (outside the Hawke family) you run into in DA2 who does not at some point employ blood magic and/or become an abomination (not saying there aren't, just that I can't think of any).  Those positive supernatural forces that "good" spirits like Justice made me think might exist?  Turns out they just make a different type of abomination when they get into a mage's head.  The overall plot is the story of a civil war starting, and for my tastes there weren't nearly enough bright spots to balance the darkness of that concept.  It wasn't enough to keep me from enjoying playing the game, but the parade of horrors did start to get old, especially the second time around.

[TopcatPlayer]

My old review before the Inquisition announcements. http://social.biowar...3846/5#10684541

[themikefest]

I guess I'll add my review

 

I was frustrated we couldn't have Merdith live if we chose to side with the Templars or have Orsino live if we support the mages.

 

I'm not a fan of Merril and Anders or as I like to call them dumb and dumber. One is too lazy to use lyrium so instead calls on demon for help and the other merges with a spirit. I still would like to know the timeframe on how Anders ends up in Kirkwall and the events of Awakening.

 

Varric was ok. I don't know what the deal with the chest hair thing is since he doesn't have that much at least compared to my chest hair.

 

Aveline I like since she, like Meredith, is head strong and believing in duty first and everything else second

 

Fenris wasn't bad except the overkill of saying mages are bad thing.

 

Isabela I liked, but I prefer her look in DAO than what we have now

 

Carver/Bethany I liked unfortunately one has to die at the beginning. It would've been nice to have him/her throughout the whole game

 

I would've liked to of got to know Meredith better since she is my favorite character in the game. It must be her VA.

 

I tried playing as a maleHawke and after a few hours I deleted the character and went back to playing femHawke. I like Jo Wyatt's voice.

 

The dlc's I enjoyed especially Mark of the Assassin.

 

Sebastian was ok. Curious to know what happens with him and Starkhaven after DA2

 

Overall I enjoyed the game and currently playing the game right now.

 

For the amount of time Bioware had to develope the game, they did a good job

 

For now I look forward to DAI when it comes out.

[darin2183]

Your Arishok 1 vs. 1 Boss fight at the end of Act 2 is an amazing example of exactly what not to do in a boss fight as a developer.  Yes it should feel epic.  But please let me stand and hack and slash with him for more than .04 seconds before he throws me to the ground again.  And again.  And again.  And again.  The fight takes a steaming dump on everything you did correctly with the dramatically improved combat system in Dragon Age 2.

Did you fire the people who theory-crafted and designed the Sarevok and Irenicus fights or something?

Seems like the gameplay lesson has been learned for Inquisition though.  I mean, one wonders how the Iron Bull even maintained his footing at all and wasn't behaving as though he were swagsurfing on his waterbed with Hannah Monfuckingtana when he was fighting a High Dragon, "the apex predator" (), if as Hawke, I'm entirely unable to maintain my footing against an overgrown musclebound humanoid Qunari like the Arishok for barely half a second at a stretch.


Terrific game in most aspects.  All the way down to naming the quests with allusions to what is actually happening in the city of Kirkwall.  Namely the powderkeg, or Blackpowder, between the Chantry and the Qunari with Hawke stuck in the middle of it all.

The color schemes of the backdrops in maps is bland, looks rushed, and not even half as gorgeous as it ought to look.  But BioWare is known for its story so you get a pass on something as piddling and pedantic as graphics.  I'll assume you, or the unpaid intern reading this drivel, watch The Angry Joe Show on YouTube.  It's at least likely that someone there does.

I part company with many of my fellow BioWare-adoring friends here when I say I think the story of Dragon Age 2 is compelling, thought-provoking, and altogether worthy of the BioWare name.  Its obvious you worked hard to create the intricate plots between the Qunari, the Chantry, this new red lyrium, the Circle, and the Templars.

A staff-less Hawke, and even a staff-less Mage/magic user option should be available in future games.  You could just write up an option to turn the staff off the same way you do with helmets.  Granted that new animations would need to be made to accommodate this option but it would really help to give an authentic mage-y type of Baldurs Gate/Forgotten Realms feel to the games.  At the very least it's an idea.  You've clearly taken into account the idea of spellbooks in the game for Wizards/Mages/Magic users.