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[Axis Swordarm]

I will admit I was already lukewarm on the propsect of Dragon Age 2 after hearing the marketing drone about every button doing something awesome and some of the writers attempts to generate excitement through describing characters as gigglesquee.

However, I was still surprised to find that Dragon Age 2 simply was not enjoyable to me for two major reasons. 

Design Flaws

When you set a game in a City over the span of ten years, and the entire focus is on that city, and the lives within, it needs to be interesting.  Kirkwall was grey and brown and I won't even go into commenting on the reuse of areas.

There was no atmosphere in this game, there was no sense of moving through a city you love or hate, it was just there.  A few hundred square feet of nothing with the exciting names Hightown, Lowtown and Darktown.  NPC's simply stand around gossiping as you slaughter wave after wave of people with no reason to attack you, especially not in such numbers.

They'll state, casually, how boring a night it is as you use your magic sword to blow up 20 guys with the name Fake Guardsmen.  A sense of mystery and wonder is just not possible in this place and I saw NWN Persistent worlds with greater depth to a city.  The design strategy for this game makes pretty much no sense, it's pretty much Courier Quest 3D for fifteen hours.

Why do you believe that this decision was a good one?  Why do you believe that it should make for a gripping experience on a tactical, emotional and atmospheric level?

Writing Flaws

Even more obvious is the terrible writing on display in every aspect of the game.  From overall plot to simply holding a conversation the writing fails to generate anything approaching immersion or invitation to care.  Hawke is as charismatic as a cinder block and his absolute lack of purpose shatters any real meaning in the game.

You need motivation, you don't need a world shattering evil to craft a story and I appreciate this was an attempt to do just that but it's either incompetence on the writers part or a conscious decision not to have any form of hook for the story.  Your companions simply say they'll stick around, in most cases there is no reason for you even to be friends except to play the suck up minigame that guarantees a poorly thought out romp in your rumpus room.

The dialogue was poor on a number of levels, leaning toward exposition over actual engagement.  Why should I give a damn about NPC 289676 When their first act is to start describing in monotonous detail the circumstances that led them to one of 3 reasons for needing help from Kirkwalls resident pizza boy?

I genuinely want to know what the writing process was and whether you will actually evolve and learn anything from this? 

Why do characters talk about the Templars with fear and worry because they're mages as they stagger through the streets blowing fire from their gigantic permanently on display Wizard Staffs in full view of their apparent ennemies? 

Compiling hooks for each character that are logical and make sense along with a narrative that entertains is the central part of the writing process. You can do either on their own, but it works best when matched together.  There has been very little logic in DA2 and even less sense, worst of all there is no true narrative or depth to any events.  The greatest issue is that it's boring, there is no investment, it's simply going through the motions without any drama or real change.

There's no drive here, there's no power to anything that happens.

What are you going to take away from this to improve future games?

[Stanley Woo]

Believe me when I say that we do look at many different threads in our community, and unlike some of the threads we've been reading, we don't automatically dismiss opinions and thoughts that disagree with ours. We are human, however, and we can only take so much "sensationalist hyperbole" with the criticism. Well presented thoughts and opinions like this thread and a few others I've been reading are a good way to present your likes and dislikes.

We believe many of the concerns are legitimate. We would prefer to hear them without the conspiracy theories, name-calling, insults, spam, and posturing. Thank you for presenting yourselves and your opinions well. We appreciate it.

EDIT: I would also prefer good threads to not be hijacked or sidetracked by internet memes and folks who think the posted forum rules do not apply. Again, thank you.

Modifié par Stanley Woo, 14 mars 2011 - 03:48 .