First off, I'm starting with what I felt was wrong with the game, this is my opinion, but it's fresh in my mind & is the shorter of the two. These are in the order I felt was the worse to least worse.
1. Bugs/Glitches, I do not know how many are truley effected by these issues, you read the forums, seems like everyone, but thats more perception askewed. But I have come across several, though thankfully not to extent as many have. This is Single Player RPG, keyword being Single Player, we as gamers have let the industry convince us it's ok for games to come out buggy/glitchy, they'll get around to fixing it. We shouldn't, I have degree of sympathy & understanding when it comes to anything with the "MMO or Multi-Player" tag on it, there are more factors there then a single player game can fanthom for things going wrong. I am just very ashamed we accept these as a common thing & when we shouldn't.
2. The plot flag issues & finding out they do not have the flags turned on for the DLC's of DA:O.
3. The fact I feel like I payed 70 dollars, to beta test a game, I know I know, but this how I felt. I did not feel that way with Mass Effect 1 & 2, DA:O/A(but I didn't join the franchise till Ultimate Edition back in December), KoToR, etc.. This one I feel I am.
4. The Black Emporium should of been the DLC, not Sebastian Vael, just having him there I knew & felt he was built origianally for the story & was taken out for more money, It felt wrong & dirty to me.
5. Final Fight with Meridith, I thought I was playing Dragon Age 2, not Dragon Age: Revenge of the Sith Lords. It just didn't feel right to me.
6. I felt so much was spent on trying re-vamp the combat system & point out the new shinies, so much was left behind & the rest of mechanics did not catch up(certain story elements, maps, specific artwork, the game testers apparently being distracted by porn, etc..)
7. Beserker is the new Reaver.(Reaver in DA:O was meh & not well liked)
8. Artwork(Not as a whole but specifics), specifically on DA:O characters, I was fine with all characters I never saw before, Merrill I thought was well done, but other's, like Allistar & Zevran, I just cringed. Beyond that I actually liked the the new look they are doing, just fine tune it a bit more.
9. Re-use of Maps, though I don't want to really add this to list, thus it's dead last, reason being, I fully understand we are in Kirkwall & said surronding area's of Kirkwall. I accept that & have zero issue with that, I just wish they had 2-4 seperate versions of the coastline & 2-4 different versions of warehouses. I would been fine with that, sewers system won't change much, city shouldn't change much, Sundermount won't change much, Bone Pit, etc.. etc.. Really it's just Coastline & Warehouses.
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My Positive Reviews of the Game.
1. The combat system I actually liked, minus some glitchy moments(I saw shuffling & standing around butt picking!). I really did enjoy the change to combat, I was excited by it, It felt fresh. I felt they wanted to go Mass Effect 2 direction for combat upgrades, they did a great job at it. I applaud you at the effort you took to do this.
2. Character development I enjoyed, I will admit I wish some of it was fleshed out tad bit more, but overall I enjoyed it, especially with Aveline & Varric. I wish some glitches in the game(Merrills stuff is out of order, etc..) would of been fixed before hand, that would made many more feel better, but I still have at least 2 more play sessions to explore others better.
3. Music was very nice, sound effects felt great, & voice work & writing interaction amongst your companions was very well done. I love every line involving Merrill(I think she may become the Fanstay Tali). She was adorable & funny. But everyone had great lines, even gloom & doom duo, Fenris & Anders.
4. Crafting, my god I thank you for this, as someone who hates crafting, I despise it with every fiber of my being, I love you guys for doing what you did. I would love to see more uses for it, perhaps chuckable traps, tossing down a clamp trap or what not.(if there are, great, I haven't done a rogue yet, 1st play session was 2H Warrior).
5. Story, I know folks are dogging it, but I liked it. I liked the options for endings how War started, etc.. I just wished for a more neutral stance or even more Qunari involvement, though I expect how the game ended that is a possibility, only the ending I was grumbly about. I love the direction it's going, I just wish the ending was a bit longer & fleshed out. I enjoyed some tough choices we had to make, there was some horror elements, dark humor, macabre elements sprinkled here & there, So thank you for that. For giving us options, but at some point's you become so invested in something, you rip away, it adds to the story(but don't you ever do that to companions again!(sorta kinda) They are like pokemon to me!)
6. Reaver is the new Beserker(YAY, but poor zerker)
7. Archery, I played as Varric quite a bit(perhaps it's my love for Bianca). I enjoyed it 300x more then DA:O/A, only reason I would play Leliana or Howe in those roles, was to tactically watch the fight better & direct, now I still do that, but I like, Biff Zap Boom Bang Whiz Pow! Poor Hawke was looking at his 2H Weapon at getting Bianca envy I think.
8. Bianca I love you.
9. Talent tree's I enjoyed, I will admit I miss some older spells, how can I make Captain Stop In the Name of Love, without Paralyze, Glyph of Paralyzation, & Mass Paralyze. Sigh.., but beyond that I enjoyed the tree's, though I am not aware if there are more specialization options(again warrior first, all I saw was Beserker & Reaver). Beyond that, still enjoyed it quite a bit.
10. No overhand awkward rogue stabbing.
11. Gameplay in general was more focused & cleaner, Interface was very nice, I really enjoyed how the bar was setup, over all just was nicer. The models for the new Qunari I thought where quite nice, I just hope Sten doesn't become uglier then Allistar/Zevran.
Final Thoughts.
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I feel Dragon Age took a step in the right direction, but I felt they where trying copy ME2 success, problem with that even though they are bioware games & many of us play both series, they are still a completly different mindset amongst the players who play them. I think they jumped a tad too quick that way, but I still felt it was the right direction. I dislike the Get X item this, get X item that, that they did,(Promo Stuff). It really turned me off DA Franchise, I really tried to stay away from boards because of it.
As you see, my issues with the game are more about the game issues themselves(bugs/glitches) & way marketing handled said game, I liked many of changes they did to the game, I expect better evolution of the game, I felt the game was short though, I logged in 34 hours exactly(Steam). Only missed 6 Quests, 5 of which where find X thing, I didn't really feel up to wandering around & looking just yet.(Tomes of Evil for example), One was glitched(a rescue). I felt this game was a filler game or built to to funnel us more DLCs, which bothers me, I love DLCs, but when you make a game to specifically do that though, then charge the price you do, I just don't like it, thats just my opinion.
So kudos to the Dev's for what you did do(the positive reviews). I still enjoyed myself for 34 hours, probably will enjoy it more, but will not touch it agian until I know many of the game issues are fixed(so sad). The biggest thing you are known for is story, choices, & consequences, when your system that allows that to continue doesn't work right, well..
But thank you for making this game, thank you for putting up with folks freaking out, thank you for reading our posts & making schmarmy comments, I do get a laugh from them. I will rate Dragon Age 2, solid 7 out o 10. I felt it could be easy 8, had not so many issues seem to slip through to gold release.
Thanks again!
JJ
Modifié par JJDrakken, 12 mars 2011 - 04:06 .
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