My only major complaint with Dragon Age 2 is the fact that you cannot play the game any further once you complete the main questline. One of the things I love about alot of RPGS is the fact that there's always more to do quest- wise, even after you beat the main quest. I'm assuming maybe Bioware will just do an expansion like they did for Origins?
Constructive Criticism
Débuté par
HawXV2
, mars 15 2011 06:50
Retour en haut
#227
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:41
JamieCOTC
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- 6 342 messages
- Cut and paste area maps are a sin. 
Seriously, this was a bad decision.
- Dialogue system should have been a combination of the old and the new. I really didn't get a sense that I knew the companions all that much.
- Combat is too predictable. Cross class combos force tactics as tactics really aren't necessary when you know what's going to happen.
- (PC) Camera angle adds frustration to tedious combat. Please bring back the isometric view. I looked at the ceiling once during the whole game.
- Mage Hawke should have had more "run ins" w/ the Templars.
- Romances felt dull and uninspiring. Part of the culprit is that damnable Awaking style dialogue system. While it works to certain degree in ME, it doesn't in DA. btw, I'm not talking about the wheel.
- A dramatic political thriller ends w/ some of the most ridiculous boss fights I've ever seen.
- The hero disappears at the end, off to find the "True Sith" ... again.
- "Hey, this armor looks cool. I think I'll put it on Aveli -- f*ck!" I said that many times during the game.
While I do like many things about DA2, the story, the subtle intrigue, the unimportant beginning, Lady Hawke, and even the characters, there's so much more that I don't like and it is a shame. DA2 could have been a masterpiece, instead it is an example of man's reach exceeding his grasp.
Seriously, this was a bad decision. - Dialogue system should have been a combination of the old and the new. I really didn't get a sense that I knew the companions all that much.
- Combat is too predictable. Cross class combos force tactics as tactics really aren't necessary when you know what's going to happen.
- (PC) Camera angle adds frustration to tedious combat. Please bring back the isometric view. I looked at the ceiling once during the whole game.
- Mage Hawke should have had more "run ins" w/ the Templars.
- Romances felt dull and uninspiring. Part of the culprit is that damnable Awaking style dialogue system. While it works to certain degree in ME, it doesn't in DA. btw, I'm not talking about the wheel.
- A dramatic political thriller ends w/ some of the most ridiculous boss fights I've ever seen.
- The hero disappears at the end, off to find the "True Sith" ... again.
- "Hey, this armor looks cool. I think I'll put it on Aveli -- f*ck!" I said that many times during the game.
While I do like many things about DA2, the story, the subtle intrigue, the unimportant beginning, Lady Hawke, and even the characters, there's so much more that I don't like and it is a shame. DA2 could have been a masterpiece, instead it is an example of man's reach exceeding his grasp.
#228
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:42
MasterSamson88
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I have one other bit of constructive criticism to say real quick. I think it'd be nice to at some point meet a member of the Tevinter Imperium that wasn't a terrible blood mage, but maybe a mage with good will or reason. Just a good guy Imperial would be pretty neat I think.
I say this because I feel like the Tevinter Imperium is becoming a bad guy dispenser for no good reason when it could be a pretty interesting place where not all mages are evil or slavers. Maybe there's even some kind of civil war in Tevinter, trying to get rid of all these evil magisters.
I just have a hard time believing that everyone involved in the government there is evil.
I say this because I feel like the Tevinter Imperium is becoming a bad guy dispenser for no good reason when it could be a pretty interesting place where not all mages are evil or slavers. Maybe there's even some kind of civil war in Tevinter, trying to get rid of all these evil magisters.
I just have a hard time believing that everyone involved in the government there is evil.
#229
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:42
metalcraze33
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no consistency from the dragon age origins storyline we are supposed to believe all the elves grew long deformed ears after the blight and suddenly have accents?
Or that Merill lost about 50 IQ points and can't find her way in a city she has been in for years?
Merril wasn't naive or dumb in origins. [I do like Merill but wow she needs a clue.]
And we still don't know what is up with Morrigan or the god child which is the main reason I bought Da 2.
All the junk with no purpose annoys me.
WHY DO ELF SHOES NOT HAVE SOLES?
Or that Merill lost about 50 IQ points and can't find her way in a city she has been in for years?
Merril wasn't naive or dumb in origins. [I do like Merill but wow she needs a clue.]
And we still don't know what is up with Morrigan or the god child which is the main reason I bought Da 2.
All the junk with no purpose annoys me.
WHY DO ELF SHOES NOT HAVE SOLES?
#230
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:45
Snelle Jaap
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Man there are allot of posts here that i do agree with.
i cant really think of something else to say, when everything has already been said.well you know.
i cant really think of something else to say, when everything has already been said.well you know.
#231
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:49
meanieweenie
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The biggest "complaint" I have is that I don't seem to really care about any of the companions. It felt like there was more effort put into character development in DA:O. I miss that.
#232
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:51
Kogaion
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wildcard4542000 wrote...
"I would like to add this to my original post:
I miss the elemental effects that would show up on my weapons or armour. I slotted a Flame rune on one of my swords and there were no Flames on my sword, or no magical effect when my Mage has a Party BUFF going. Big disappointment, for me."
you're wrong here ...the wepon elemental buff it shows in combat .. i have a mage using elemental wepons buff and the animation shows in combat
"I would like to add this to my original post:
I miss the elemental effects that would show up on my weapons or armour. I slotted a Flame rune on one of my swords and there were no Flames on my sword, or no magical effect when my Mage has a Party BUFF going. Big disappointment, for me."
you're wrong here ...the wepon elemental buff it shows in combat .. i have a mage using elemental wepons buff and the animation shows in combat
Modifié par Kogaion, 16 mars 2011 - 12:54 .
#233
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:53
sepir
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- 388 messages
These things have probably been said, but I am going to add them in again anyway.
- Enemy waves: Sure I play on casual so it's not like they mean anything, unless the materialise right next to Anders. I'm in Act 3 now, and when the next waves teleports in I just sigh and let Varric explode them all.
- Conversations: I enjoy them. As I said before, I play on casual so the story and the characters are what makes the game for me. I shouldn't need to magically know that they want to talk to me, but not in the Hightown market, only at their "home". Perhaps when they wish to speak to you, they talk to you and tell you that next time you are alone/at home/at their "home"/at an inn they want to speak to you. I think there should also be more conversation options. It's been 7 years and I feel like I don't know anything about some of my "friends". Even the love interest I have chosen for this playthrough, she just keeps wondering if she needs a bath. If she hasn't taken one in 7 years I think she should. I do actually like the intent wheel, even if what is said still isn't anything like what I think it will be.
- Time phases and money. A couple of years pass, surely as a noble there should be some way to make money other than looting each and every trinket you come across. Also the value of money seems very inconsistent. 50 gold will set you up for a couple of weeks long expedition, 3 copper will get you a watered down ale, and you give urchins random amounts between 1 and 5 gold. 5 gold is enough for 16,666 ales. You give a kid a silver coin for some information and he is amazed, yet in the crate behind him there is 30 silver. I know we can't get away from money, I'd just like some consistency with what it is worth and some way to obtain it out of adventuring if the time frame is over a long period.
- Spam mail: I said this for ME2, I'll say it again. I HATE it. I don't want crap like that in real life, I sure as hell don't want it in a game.
- Equipment upgrading/leveling: It is very tedious having to swap out your party members to upgrade their rings/weapons etc. In DA:O, the camp was good as you could go there and do it all. I think we need another place like this. Perhaps a messenger that you talk to in your house who "delivers" the items to those you want to have equip them.
- Maps: I like to explore every nook and cranny. Using the same map over and over again (I do acknowledge that sometimes it is the same building) sometimes I can't remember whether I have looked everywhere this time round. I look at the minimap, ah there's a passage I haven't been down, oh wait, it's blocked by a magically unopenable door. The parts you can't get to should be hidden.
- Quests: Although some quests flow into one another very well, a lot of them feel like they just pop-up out of nowhere and you magically know to go see somebody. In DA:O there was messenger kid who stopped you and told you somebody wanted to see you in the inn. Perhaps this could be implemented, or they run up and tell you a letter has arrived. A lot of the side quests ("here, I think you lost this body of your wife" "oh thank you, I didn't even realised I lost it") could be dropped for one or two more in depth quests, or a "quest board". I know some people don't like the board idea, but it makes more sense. Fetch quests can still be dropped, but the find-the-named-hat quest for example could be on a quest board that tells you who is wanting the item, and where they will be.
I am enjoying the game, but I feel it isn't going to have the replayability of DA:O or ME.
Edit:
- The new look elves: They honestly look like bobbleheads. I get the trying to move away from the smaller human with pointy ears look, but they really look stupid. I'm afraid I can't suggest a way to reconcile both of those.
- Enemy waves: Sure I play on casual so it's not like they mean anything, unless the materialise right next to Anders. I'm in Act 3 now, and when the next waves teleports in I just sigh and let Varric explode them all.
- Conversations: I enjoy them. As I said before, I play on casual so the story and the characters are what makes the game for me. I shouldn't need to magically know that they want to talk to me, but not in the Hightown market, only at their "home". Perhaps when they wish to speak to you, they talk to you and tell you that next time you are alone/at home/at their "home"/at an inn they want to speak to you. I think there should also be more conversation options. It's been 7 years and I feel like I don't know anything about some of my "friends". Even the love interest I have chosen for this playthrough, she just keeps wondering if she needs a bath. If she hasn't taken one in 7 years I think she should. I do actually like the intent wheel, even if what is said still isn't anything like what I think it will be.
- Time phases and money. A couple of years pass, surely as a noble there should be some way to make money other than looting each and every trinket you come across. Also the value of money seems very inconsistent. 50 gold will set you up for a couple of weeks long expedition, 3 copper will get you a watered down ale, and you give urchins random amounts between 1 and 5 gold. 5 gold is enough for 16,666 ales. You give a kid a silver coin for some information and he is amazed, yet in the crate behind him there is 30 silver. I know we can't get away from money, I'd just like some consistency with what it is worth and some way to obtain it out of adventuring if the time frame is over a long period.
- Spam mail: I said this for ME2, I'll say it again. I HATE it. I don't want crap like that in real life, I sure as hell don't want it in a game.
- Equipment upgrading/leveling: It is very tedious having to swap out your party members to upgrade their rings/weapons etc. In DA:O, the camp was good as you could go there and do it all. I think we need another place like this. Perhaps a messenger that you talk to in your house who "delivers" the items to those you want to have equip them.
- Maps: I like to explore every nook and cranny. Using the same map over and over again (I do acknowledge that sometimes it is the same building) sometimes I can't remember whether I have looked everywhere this time round. I look at the minimap, ah there's a passage I haven't been down, oh wait, it's blocked by a magically unopenable door. The parts you can't get to should be hidden.
- Quests: Although some quests flow into one another very well, a lot of them feel like they just pop-up out of nowhere and you magically know to go see somebody. In DA:O there was messenger kid who stopped you and told you somebody wanted to see you in the inn. Perhaps this could be implemented, or they run up and tell you a letter has arrived. A lot of the side quests ("here, I think you lost this body of your wife" "oh thank you, I didn't even realised I lost it") could be dropped for one or two more in depth quests, or a "quest board". I know some people don't like the board idea, but it makes more sense. Fetch quests can still be dropped, but the find-the-named-hat quest for example could be on a quest board that tells you who is wanting the item, and where they will be.
I am enjoying the game, but I feel it isn't going to have the replayability of DA:O or ME.
Edit:
- The new look elves: They honestly look like bobbleheads. I get the trying to move away from the smaller human with pointy ears look, but they really look stupid. I'm afraid I can't suggest a way to reconcile both of those.
Modifié par sepir, 16 mars 2011 - 01:28 .
#234
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:54
wolvklawz
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My biggest gripe or complaint is how shallow the world feels. When I put in a Dragon Age game, I expect it to suck my life away for weeks to months. The world is huge, expansive, there should be ungodly amounts to do. There should be choices, not just with characters but I should feel as though I have a ton of places to go, things to do.
With DA II its quick. I don't have time to roll my eyes about the reused settings because the quest goes by so quick, that by the time I have that sense of Deja vu, its done. I am just knocking things out left and right and 2 days later I know the entire layout of all the maps. To me DA2 still feels like a lengthy demo. As though I started the RPG, made it to town, had enough time to explore and now its time to move on, yet...that was the game!
I don't care about character armor, thats just cosmetics. The battle system was great, sorry but for me it was. The story was ok, but it also fit the overall setting which was boxed in, small, constrained....nothing "epic".
Honestly this should just be a piece of the pie for you guys. Not the whole pie. I realize time was an issue, but for part 3 put your foot down. Ditch the format of clicking on map sections all together. For part 3 give us Fereldan to play in. Make it an open world.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the game, not going to put up anti Bioware flags or boycott games lol. I just feel and expect Dragon Age to be bigger and badder. It should be the game all other RPG's look up to. Dragon Age 2 feels like an expansion...its like getting served a salad, you think your dinner comes after, then you find out, the salad was your dinner.
With DA II its quick. I don't have time to roll my eyes about the reused settings because the quest goes by so quick, that by the time I have that sense of Deja vu, its done. I am just knocking things out left and right and 2 days later I know the entire layout of all the maps. To me DA2 still feels like a lengthy demo. As though I started the RPG, made it to town, had enough time to explore and now its time to move on, yet...that was the game!
I don't care about character armor, thats just cosmetics. The battle system was great, sorry but for me it was. The story was ok, but it also fit the overall setting which was boxed in, small, constrained....nothing "epic".
Honestly this should just be a piece of the pie for you guys. Not the whole pie. I realize time was an issue, but for part 3 put your foot down. Ditch the format of clicking on map sections all together. For part 3 give us Fereldan to play in. Make it an open world.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the game, not going to put up anti Bioware flags or boycott games lol. I just feel and expect Dragon Age to be bigger and badder. It should be the game all other RPG's look up to. Dragon Age 2 feels like an expansion...its like getting served a salad, you think your dinner comes after, then you find out, the salad was your dinner.
#235
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 12:55
Sweatapodimas
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DA2 combat is definitely more enjoyable than in DAO. I also like the talent tree setup, though the lack of selectable/augmentative skills irks me to a degree. I love the story-telling, the scenery (what little there is), and when nvidia and bioware fix the drivers and bugs respectively, I'll love the graphics upgrade.
I really hope any changes to a, yet to be announced, sequel are not too heavy handed on the actual improvements from DAO. I like that Bioware has the ballz to change and not offer us DAO 2.0.
Not all of the changes are improvements, yet at least they still push the boundaries of that wonderful, but moldy, classic RPG model.
-On the other hand, there is nothing at all wrong with fans pushing back a little, so to speak.
I really hope any changes to a, yet to be announced, sequel are not too heavy handed on the actual improvements from DAO. I like that Bioware has the ballz to change and not offer us DAO 2.0.
Not all of the changes are improvements, yet at least they still push the boundaries of that wonderful, but moldy, classic RPG model.
-On the other hand, there is nothing at all wrong with fans pushing back a little, so to speak.
Modifié par Sweatapodimas, 16 mars 2011 - 12:58 .
#236
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:01
Piecake
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MasterSamson88 wrote...
I have one other bit of constructive criticism to say real quick. I think it'd be nice to at some point meet a member of the Tevinter Imperium that wasn't a terrible blood mage, but maybe a mage with good will or reason. Just a good guy Imperial would be pretty neat I think.
I say this because I feel like the Tevinter Imperium is becoming a bad guy dispenser for no good reason when it could be a pretty interesting place where not all mages are evil or slavers. Maybe there's even some kind of civil war in Tevinter, trying to get rid of all these evil magisters.
I just have a hard time believing that everyone involved in the government there is evil.
You're getting your information about the Tevinter Imperium from Fenris, a former Tevinter slave who loathes mages. Of course he is going to hate the place and think its a ceaspool.
#237
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:06
vanweaver72
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1) THE DIALOGUE WHEEL
For some reason, I felt it just didn't work at all in DA2 and I think this needs to be seriously reworked on. First of all, as many have pointed out, it just does not let you know enough about the answer Hawke is about to give. I guess expanding the description of the response on the wheel should help: instead of indicating (Opps sorry) and have Hawke says (I apologize sincerely, and I promise I will find this artifact foryou) - which you agree is more words than you expected, then maybe the wheel could indicate (Apologize and tell him you search the artifact).
I know this explanation is pretty dumbed down, but you get the idea. The wheel should be more detailed. The second thing that didn't work AT ALL with the wheel was the actual voice acting corresponding to the answers.If you want a coherent character (and therefore story), you just have to stick to one tone. Have you noticed how depending on the answer, Hawke sounds like he has three distinct personalities? What question, I'm sure you have. He either is the brave hero, the smartass, or the tough guy. Only the voice actor was way overacting it when playing toughguy and even smartass. You simply couldn't change the tone of your answers without cringing. Seriously. I tried at the beginning to give answers based on what I would answer (sometimes you wanna be tough, other times you want to be a smartass, and other times you want to be solemn). But I quickly gave up when I realized how different the tones were. It almost sounded like a different person. This was a great immersion killer, as far as I'm concerned.
2) THE COMBAT
Personalopinion of course, and I'm sure plenty will disagree, but I think the combat was great, even though yes, it can feel like button mashing at times. I had the same impression at first, but I think you just need a time of adaptation to the speed and the new system. I am 14 hours in, and I am now playing tactically pretty much exactly like in DAO. Sure, when you're out of stamina, you sometimes are induce into some button-mashing of the basic attack, but overall, I think the upgraded combat is indeed for the best. My opinion: keep it.
3) THE GRAPHICS
Werereally an improvement on 360. I hated them at first, but it is now veryapparent this was the right thing to do. It's grown on me immensely, but again... I also played DAO on 360. I probably can't understand the
PC gamers' rage. I personally think the art is great and you should keepit.
4) THE LEVEL DESIGN:
Variety, Bioware. Variety. Spending a whole game in one city is a no-no. And as for the re-use of the same caves and warehouses... NEVER do that again. At least not that often. I'm sure a lot of us are OK to revisit a map at least once (not all the maps) but clearly, by doing something like that, you're playing with fire and your audience.
5) DISCUSSION WITH PARTY MEMBERS
OneHUGE immersion breaker for me was the fact I could not speak at any time to my party members, like in DAO. This was a huge problem. You haveto bring back this feature: we want to be able to start a conversation anywhere (except during combat). I also understand the party members' personal headquarters, all together, act as a huge camp. Sure, you can visit them and speak to them, only they are in different locations. But guess what: it just didn't work. So many times I would visit them, hoping for a comment or further character development, and NOTHING.
I would visit later, hoping for a romance to initiate, or something to
happen, but nothing was happening. This mechanic needs to be rethought
and reworked, or you need to put more dialogue in it. For DA3, please bring back the option to speak to your party members anywhere you want.
6) STORY AND CHARACTERS
Well, it just just wasn't on par with what we expect from Bioware. The framed narrative was a nice try, but it just took a lot away when coming to personal involvement in the story and immersion. At least, for me. The characters also weren't as interesting as in DAO, and most importantly, the impossibility to chat with them anywhere like in DAO (see previous point) didn't help. They just felt like strangers for most of the game. Idon't know how many times I tried to initiate something more intimate with Isabella, but all she was saying on missions was : have you been ina storm in the open ocean... bla bla bla... And I wanted to answer : shut it already. The last problem I had with the story was the lack of apparent cohesion. This was especially apparent when doing the quests.
5) THE QUESTS
Yes the quests were unfocused and almost random. I know Hawke is rising to power, so he is helping people here and there to make a name. But come on... I'm 14 hours into the game, and I still don't know where I'm going at this point. So yeah, there is tension between factions. But it just isn't very interesting as a plot. And the plot is what motivates playersto play through the end of the game. If the early quests seem unrelated
to the plot, you risk the alienation of the players, who simply won't feel motivated to continue playing. I felt like this quite a few times, to say the least.
6) THE SEX SCENES
Please make them more mature, and don't shy away from showing a bit of skin. I'd take the medieval undies any day over fully dressed ''rutting'', dixit Isabella.
7) REDESIGN THE ELVES
Seriously, at least make the less skinny. They look horrible.
I agree with JL81 on most of what they said and also agree on alot of points that have been tirelessly stated over and over.
How about having to move your character all around just to get on clickable object am I the only one who thought it was a pain?
The romance feature needs to be more than just fluff. I mean if you are going to do it do it right and give it and your choices weight.
Plus in the romances grow some balls and show us some skin like some back or maybe even some side boob. You have desire demons showing us more skin and boob than our characters so why not reward us in the romance area.
I liked isebella cause she was the best looking choice though not the best choice if you wanted to be happy in your life lol. The elf woman and elfs in general UGLY their body was ok long lanky elf like ,but wow those ears are almost horns and the nose forhead area was manly. Give us sexy elves and characters its a fantasy and know one has ugly fantasies.
For some reason, I felt it just didn't work at all in DA2 and I think this needs to be seriously reworked on. First of all, as many have pointed out, it just does not let you know enough about the answer Hawke is about to give. I guess expanding the description of the response on the wheel should help: instead of indicating (Opps sorry) and have Hawke says (I apologize sincerely, and I promise I will find this artifact foryou) - which you agree is more words than you expected, then maybe the wheel could indicate (Apologize and tell him you search the artifact).
I know this explanation is pretty dumbed down, but you get the idea. The wheel should be more detailed. The second thing that didn't work AT ALL with the wheel was the actual voice acting corresponding to the answers.If you want a coherent character (and therefore story), you just have to stick to one tone. Have you noticed how depending on the answer, Hawke sounds like he has three distinct personalities? What question, I'm sure you have. He either is the brave hero, the smartass, or the tough guy. Only the voice actor was way overacting it when playing toughguy and even smartass. You simply couldn't change the tone of your answers without cringing. Seriously. I tried at the beginning to give answers based on what I would answer (sometimes you wanna be tough, other times you want to be a smartass, and other times you want to be solemn). But I quickly gave up when I realized how different the tones were. It almost sounded like a different person. This was a great immersion killer, as far as I'm concerned.
2) THE COMBAT
Personalopinion of course, and I'm sure plenty will disagree, but I think the combat was great, even though yes, it can feel like button mashing at times. I had the same impression at first, but I think you just need a time of adaptation to the speed and the new system. I am 14 hours in, and I am now playing tactically pretty much exactly like in DAO. Sure, when you're out of stamina, you sometimes are induce into some button-mashing of the basic attack, but overall, I think the upgraded combat is indeed for the best. My opinion: keep it.
3) THE GRAPHICS
Werereally an improvement on 360. I hated them at first, but it is now veryapparent this was the right thing to do. It's grown on me immensely, but again... I also played DAO on 360. I probably can't understand the
PC gamers' rage. I personally think the art is great and you should keepit.
4) THE LEVEL DESIGN:
Variety, Bioware. Variety. Spending a whole game in one city is a no-no. And as for the re-use of the same caves and warehouses... NEVER do that again. At least not that often. I'm sure a lot of us are OK to revisit a map at least once (not all the maps) but clearly, by doing something like that, you're playing with fire and your audience.
5) DISCUSSION WITH PARTY MEMBERS
OneHUGE immersion breaker for me was the fact I could not speak at any time to my party members, like in DAO. This was a huge problem. You haveto bring back this feature: we want to be able to start a conversation anywhere (except during combat). I also understand the party members' personal headquarters, all together, act as a huge camp. Sure, you can visit them and speak to them, only they are in different locations. But guess what: it just didn't work. So many times I would visit them, hoping for a comment or further character development, and NOTHING.
I would visit later, hoping for a romance to initiate, or something to
happen, but nothing was happening. This mechanic needs to be rethought
and reworked, or you need to put more dialogue in it. For DA3, please bring back the option to speak to your party members anywhere you want.
6) STORY AND CHARACTERS
Well, it just just wasn't on par with what we expect from Bioware. The framed narrative was a nice try, but it just took a lot away when coming to personal involvement in the story and immersion. At least, for me. The characters also weren't as interesting as in DAO, and most importantly, the impossibility to chat with them anywhere like in DAO (see previous point) didn't help. They just felt like strangers for most of the game. Idon't know how many times I tried to initiate something more intimate with Isabella, but all she was saying on missions was : have you been ina storm in the open ocean... bla bla bla... And I wanted to answer : shut it already. The last problem I had with the story was the lack of apparent cohesion. This was especially apparent when doing the quests.
5) THE QUESTS
Yes the quests were unfocused and almost random. I know Hawke is rising to power, so he is helping people here and there to make a name. But come on... I'm 14 hours into the game, and I still don't know where I'm going at this point. So yeah, there is tension between factions. But it just isn't very interesting as a plot. And the plot is what motivates playersto play through the end of the game. If the early quests seem unrelated
to the plot, you risk the alienation of the players, who simply won't feel motivated to continue playing. I felt like this quite a few times, to say the least.
6) THE SEX SCENES
Please make them more mature, and don't shy away from showing a bit of skin. I'd take the medieval undies any day over fully dressed ''rutting'', dixit Isabella.
7) REDESIGN THE ELVES
Seriously, at least make the less skinny. They look horrible.
I agree with JL81 on most of what they said and also agree on alot of points that have been tirelessly stated over and over.
How about having to move your character all around just to get on clickable object am I the only one who thought it was a pain?
The romance feature needs to be more than just fluff. I mean if you are going to do it do it right and give it and your choices weight.
Plus in the romances grow some balls and show us some skin like some back or maybe even some side boob. You have desire demons showing us more skin and boob than our characters so why not reward us in the romance area.
I liked isebella cause she was the best looking choice though not the best choice if you wanted to be happy in your life lol. The elf woman and elfs in general UGLY their body was ok long lanky elf like ,but wow those ears are almost horns and the nose forhead area was manly. Give us sexy elves and characters its a fantasy and know one has ugly fantasies.
#238
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:07
solidsmooky
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This is my background, before I say this, please understand that my opinion or experience (or lack thereof) doesn't make me a better or worse gamer than you, I just wanted to lay down some foundation.
I love RPG games, I've been playing them since I was a wee little boy in the early 80s. I also love CRPG games. I am a huge fanatic for them. In fact I have bought and played every RPG (or most that have been translated to English!) in my life.
I loved Dragon Age: Origins. It was the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, which I felt was sorely needed because I think that was the era where CRPGs reign supreme. I have over 150 hours logged in on DA:O and its expansion packs and DLC.
I also loved the first Mass Effect. It tried something new but wanted to be more actiony. I respected that. When Mass Effect 2 came out, they went with more actiony type of gameplay, and I respect that too... because I felt:
The Mass Effect Series was for people that wanted to have more Action-RPGish like gameplay and the Dragon Age Series was for people that wanted more traditional CRPG gameplay.
It was a good compromise. Gamers got the best of both worlds and there was peace in the lands.
However Mass Effect 2 was really popular. Which is good! I enjoyed it. Personally I wish it was more traditional RPGish, but this was the direction they wanted to take so I took it with them.
However, The Mass Effect 2 puddle got mixed in with the Dragon Age series, lo and behold Dragon Age 2 was born. Because success breeds copycats, and this isn't a bad thing. Bioware felt they had a winning formula so they made DA2 more like ME2.
However, the compromise was broken. Dragon Age would become more Action-RPGish, leaving many traditional CRPG fans like me wondering if the success of Mass Effect 2 put the final nail in the coffin of CRPGs.
The people that are a bit unhappy with DA2 wanted it to be a more traditional CRPG. We love playing with others inventories. Real tactical combat (with pausing!), a tactical camera to zoom, Planning, and hours and hours and hours of gameplay.
The direction that DA 2 is taking is more like Mass Effect 2. People are worried that this will turn into Mass Effect with Dragons, and I don't think no one wants that, not even the developers, because they want their product that they are proud of (and have a right to be proud of, DA2 is a good game), to stand alone.
Here are the things I like about Dragon Age 2:
1) Combat is better. I wish it was a bit slower so pausing made a difference, but it is a near revolution in CRPG combat.
2) Skills presentation: I really really like how it is done this time. I like the trees a lot better than DA:O. It's tighter and more focused. I feel like I can clearly plan how I will make my character.
3) Introduction of a main character, aka the Shepard route: This is not to say that character creation is going the way of the dinosaurs. It still is very fun in CRPGs, however it is a good storytelling device if you want to have a main and focused character.
Here are the things I do not like about Dragon Age 2:
1) Please don't take offense at this phrase, but it is "dumbed down". Combat is too fast where I can see where button mashing accusations can be seen. I can't talk to my companions anymore when they're in my party, which I miss. There is hardly any inventory to manage, and one of the best things about RPGs is finding nifty loot, like in DA:O, to find and equip your characters with.
2) You skip over the parts that I want to experience: After Flemeth rescues you in the tutorial mountain, the narrator says I reach this town and then sail on a boat! Yeah but... I'd rather experience that for myself, I don't want to be told about that. I want to live the adventure. I want to get to know my sister and mother more. I want to experience the quests in those towns. During your year of servitude, the game skips over that too. But I want to know exactly what I did during that year. I want to know more about who I chose to pick.
Simply put, you're skipping over the good parts.
Think of it like a dinner. You took out everything on the plate except one piece it feels like. So I have a chicken leg, but I sort of want the mashed potatoes you've been telling me about.
3) That epic feeling. I don't feel like I am this awesome amazing person. I'm just a dude or dudette (FemHawke is canon, like FemShep is), trying to make a living. I DO hear about an epic person however, the Grey Warden. I sorta end up wishing I could be that person instead.
How to fix this for Dragon Age 3? Tilt it back towards the traditional CRPG experience. Give us our inventories back. Make cool and exciting gear like the old CRPGs such as BG1 and so! Make the game longer. I understand you wanted it to be replayable like Mass Effect 2, but this game isn't Mass Effect, it's Dragon Age. You have your own voice. You make trends, you don't copy them. You're Bioware. Other companies follow what YOU do.
Make the game less actiony, and instead the bring back that Spiritual Successor to BG again.
And finally, work on the PR stuff. This http://i.imgur.com/ifoKD.png is now making the rounds and you're going to take another hit again.
Anyway I hope someone from Bioware reads this. I enjoy the game but it does feel like a step backwards unfortunately.
I love RPG games, I've been playing them since I was a wee little boy in the early 80s. I also love CRPG games. I am a huge fanatic for them. In fact I have bought and played every RPG (or most that have been translated to English!) in my life.
I loved Dragon Age: Origins. It was the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, which I felt was sorely needed because I think that was the era where CRPGs reign supreme. I have over 150 hours logged in on DA:O and its expansion packs and DLC.
I also loved the first Mass Effect. It tried something new but wanted to be more actiony. I respected that. When Mass Effect 2 came out, they went with more actiony type of gameplay, and I respect that too... because I felt:
The Mass Effect Series was for people that wanted to have more Action-RPGish like gameplay and the Dragon Age Series was for people that wanted more traditional CRPG gameplay.
It was a good compromise. Gamers got the best of both worlds and there was peace in the lands.
However Mass Effect 2 was really popular. Which is good! I enjoyed it. Personally I wish it was more traditional RPGish, but this was the direction they wanted to take so I took it with them.
However, The Mass Effect 2 puddle got mixed in with the Dragon Age series, lo and behold Dragon Age 2 was born. Because success breeds copycats, and this isn't a bad thing. Bioware felt they had a winning formula so they made DA2 more like ME2.
However, the compromise was broken. Dragon Age would become more Action-RPGish, leaving many traditional CRPG fans like me wondering if the success of Mass Effect 2 put the final nail in the coffin of CRPGs.
The people that are a bit unhappy with DA2 wanted it to be a more traditional CRPG. We love playing with others inventories. Real tactical combat (with pausing!), a tactical camera to zoom, Planning, and hours and hours and hours of gameplay.
The direction that DA 2 is taking is more like Mass Effect 2. People are worried that this will turn into Mass Effect with Dragons, and I don't think no one wants that, not even the developers, because they want their product that they are proud of (and have a right to be proud of, DA2 is a good game), to stand alone.
Here are the things I like about Dragon Age 2:
1) Combat is better. I wish it was a bit slower so pausing made a difference, but it is a near revolution in CRPG combat.
2) Skills presentation: I really really like how it is done this time. I like the trees a lot better than DA:O. It's tighter and more focused. I feel like I can clearly plan how I will make my character.
3) Introduction of a main character, aka the Shepard route: This is not to say that character creation is going the way of the dinosaurs. It still is very fun in CRPGs, however it is a good storytelling device if you want to have a main and focused character.
Here are the things I do not like about Dragon Age 2:
1) Please don't take offense at this phrase, but it is "dumbed down". Combat is too fast where I can see where button mashing accusations can be seen. I can't talk to my companions anymore when they're in my party, which I miss. There is hardly any inventory to manage, and one of the best things about RPGs is finding nifty loot, like in DA:O, to find and equip your characters with.
2) You skip over the parts that I want to experience: After Flemeth rescues you in the tutorial mountain, the narrator says I reach this town and then sail on a boat! Yeah but... I'd rather experience that for myself, I don't want to be told about that. I want to live the adventure. I want to get to know my sister and mother more. I want to experience the quests in those towns. During your year of servitude, the game skips over that too. But I want to know exactly what I did during that year. I want to know more about who I chose to pick.
Simply put, you're skipping over the good parts.
Think of it like a dinner. You took out everything on the plate except one piece it feels like. So I have a chicken leg, but I sort of want the mashed potatoes you've been telling me about.
3) That epic feeling. I don't feel like I am this awesome amazing person. I'm just a dude or dudette (FemHawke is canon, like FemShep is), trying to make a living. I DO hear about an epic person however, the Grey Warden. I sorta end up wishing I could be that person instead.
How to fix this for Dragon Age 3? Tilt it back towards the traditional CRPG experience. Give us our inventories back. Make cool and exciting gear like the old CRPGs such as BG1 and so! Make the game longer. I understand you wanted it to be replayable like Mass Effect 2, but this game isn't Mass Effect, it's Dragon Age. You have your own voice. You make trends, you don't copy them. You're Bioware. Other companies follow what YOU do.
Make the game less actiony, and instead the bring back that Spiritual Successor to BG again.
And finally, work on the PR stuff. This http://i.imgur.com/ifoKD.png is now making the rounds and you're going to take another hit again.
Anyway I hope someone from Bioware reads this. I enjoy the game but it does feel like a step backwards unfortunately.
#239
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:13
What a Twist
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I wish the main plot of the game had painted Hawke as a more pro-active champion. It seems like the story just happens all around him/her, and doesn't revolve around him/her. There were too few templar vs mage, and Qunari vs Kirkwall quests. These were really memorable moments that made me feel more connected with what was going on.
I didn't like the big time skips. The time lapse wasn't really taken advantage of to show how your choices effected the world, it all just seems to happen the same way no matter what. The time skips could have been avoided entirely, or vastly shortened so Hawke didn't fall into a coma for years at a time and forget to go help people.
I didn't like the big time skips. The time lapse wasn't really taken advantage of to show how your choices effected the world, it all just seems to happen the same way no matter what. The time skips could have been avoided entirely, or vastly shortened so Hawke didn't fall into a coma for years at a time and forget to go help people.
#240
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:15
Mariquis
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I gotta say I loved the game, but if you want constructive crit you'll get it!
Reuse of maps. That one cave, the mansion, sometimes they were attired differently which helped (i.e. the brothel, I didn't even realize it was the generic mansion until the very end of the game). Not too big of a problem on their own since they were smaller areas, but when coupled with being restricted in Kirkwall/Wounded coast most of the time it made everything feel very samey. This is probably my biggest gripe about this game, and it hinders replay value for me since.. well I've already seen every single place so many times. Excepting the deep roads nothing feels fresh for me in the game location wise. I think this is such a huge shame because the environments themselves are so much improved over origins, I was wowed every time I walked into a new area. But after wandering around the area a good 50 times over the course of the game it loses it's charm.
Respawns. I don't mind the wave mechanic but it was woefully overused. Especially since so many of the enemies were so weak. It felt more like a burden than a battle. I'd much rather see fewer stronger enemies than a ton of canon fodder. Also sometimes the respawns didn't make sense, like people popping out of thin air in an enclosed area. Rapelling down the walls I can see, corpses bursting from the ground sure, shades appearing from thin air yeah, but some things just seemed odd and excessive.
Lack of Purpose. I hesitate to put this in because I really like 'stuff' in my games. But I also like having a purpose (even an insignificant one). I always dreaded walking around at night because I knew I'd run into 15 arbitrary gangs that usually didn't have any significance to the plot. If there was a quest (like in Origins, where that guard asks you get rid of some certain gangs) you feel like you're accomplishing something, but in this it mosty just felt like..a silly obstacle preventing me from getting to point B. Also those strange fetch quests where you'd psychically know that person x in location y wanted object z that you just picked up. This would have been good for the chanters board or something. As it were they felt random and tacked on. Also near the end I felt I was just slaughtering certain people without purpose, I kept walking up expecting them to initiate dialogue - only to run into combat. For quite a while I thought maybe I'd selected the wrong option and that's why I was killing everyone I thought was my ally, but.. nope! I apparently disagreed with their methods, but I didn't even know this until one of my last fights with them. It would have been nice to have this purpose at the beginning (maybe I just missed it?).
Clunkiness. I'm referring mostly to the character equip and interaction. While it was awesome that they had their own places and such, I would have really preferred being able to store stuff/equip them all/enchant/buy/sell/chat from a central point. If I wanted to do that as an aside from doing quests and such I needed to go through a LOT of loading screens and a good amount of walking to do so, it made the whole thing feel tedious to me. That said I appreciated knowing exactly when someone had something to say to me, so I didn't walk over and intiiate a useless dialogue a million times like I did in origins.
Glitches. I had some recurring gliches in my game especially with cutscenes. I'll be lowering the graphics on my next playthrough to see if that's the issue, but it's still an issue regardless. I experienced a good handful of cutscenes in the game which the image would freeze while the audio continued in the background (or both cut). When it unfroze the cutscene (or audio AND cutscene) would be over. I missed some dialogue this way at a few points. There was also a quest far later in the game where the cutscenes glitched so badly I don't actually know what happened during the fight. There was partial cutscene then suddenly I was fighting, then another partial cutscene (with two people's voices that I couldn't even identify/realize what they were talking about before they cut) then fighting again, then another partial cutscene, then a repeat of the fight section I just did before it finally ended. That seemed like it would be one of the most impactful cutscenes of the game but I ... missed it all. There were also some side quest glitches (not activating and such) which weren't as prevalent but still problematic. Tactics also worked improperly at times.
Those were the main issues I had. Next up, minor gripes:
Lack of exposition. I mainly saw this at the very beginning. I think the game would have been well served by having a very.. ordinary starting cutscene. Maybe the family sitting down for dinner. Then all of a sudden screams in the distance, and you and your siblings go out to investigate, only to find lothering under attack. THEN cue the dramatic escape and fleeing through the wastelands. The beginning felt kind of lackluster to me. This could have also been used for the first time jump (when getting into kirkwall). Even if it was just one longer quest, perhaps with some intrigue to make it interesting and could have made you aware of some of the characters you meet later on (that your character 'recognized'). After that first quest Cassandra could have burst in and been like "get to the point, I don't care about this." Both of the time jumps as well were just massive gaps in time with no explanation, so it felt kind of forced and empty. Even a small cutscene would have sufficed. Maybe start the new act with Hawke in a bar with his/her buddies telling tales about what happened during those years or something.
Map issues. I missed the ability to just mouse over an icon on my mini map to find out what it was, in DA2 you have to open up the full map which is irritating. Also, you can't 'quick travel' out of areas anymore. For example in Origins once redcliffe was cleared out and safe I had to walk all the way to the bottom to drop off a quest for the chanter, but then I opened my map and quick travelled out and elsewhere, so I didn't have to walk all the way back up to the exit. I didn't notice this feature in DA2 (although I suppose I might have missed it). Really annoying when visitng Anders for example, where you could quick travel to him, but then had to walk all the way around to the exit to leave the area. This is not so much an issue as something I'd like to see implemented, but the ability to choose what entrance point you go to would be nice. I once had missed one small quest on the furthest side of the wounded coast, and had to walk all the way there from the opposite entrance, which was frustrating.
Weirdness with Potions. I never actually figured out why this was (I've never really looked into it) but it seemed to me that the quick potions bar didn't work properly. It was very often greyed out, even when my characters could use potions (I'd just have to go all the way into the inventory to do it). Also in the inventory the fact that there was no acknowledgement at all that you'd given someone a potion, even just a small noise or blink of light or something would be great. I think I preferred the origins method where you could just put them on the quickbar, because it only ever showed health and mana potions, not.. say, elfroot potions which worked as a health potion too, and you couldn't change it. Also was I reading right that you could use Elfroot potions to cure injuries? I thought it could, but It never seemed possible to use it that way.
Reuse of maps. That one cave, the mansion, sometimes they were attired differently which helped (i.e. the brothel, I didn't even realize it was the generic mansion until the very end of the game). Not too big of a problem on their own since they were smaller areas, but when coupled with being restricted in Kirkwall/Wounded coast most of the time it made everything feel very samey. This is probably my biggest gripe about this game, and it hinders replay value for me since.. well I've already seen every single place so many times. Excepting the deep roads nothing feels fresh for me in the game location wise. I think this is such a huge shame because the environments themselves are so much improved over origins, I was wowed every time I walked into a new area. But after wandering around the area a good 50 times over the course of the game it loses it's charm.
Respawns. I don't mind the wave mechanic but it was woefully overused. Especially since so many of the enemies were so weak. It felt more like a burden than a battle. I'd much rather see fewer stronger enemies than a ton of canon fodder. Also sometimes the respawns didn't make sense, like people popping out of thin air in an enclosed area. Rapelling down the walls I can see, corpses bursting from the ground sure, shades appearing from thin air yeah, but some things just seemed odd and excessive.
Lack of Purpose. I hesitate to put this in because I really like 'stuff' in my games. But I also like having a purpose (even an insignificant one). I always dreaded walking around at night because I knew I'd run into 15 arbitrary gangs that usually didn't have any significance to the plot. If there was a quest (like in Origins, where that guard asks you get rid of some certain gangs) you feel like you're accomplishing something, but in this it mosty just felt like..a silly obstacle preventing me from getting to point B. Also those strange fetch quests where you'd psychically know that person x in location y wanted object z that you just picked up. This would have been good for the chanters board or something. As it were they felt random and tacked on. Also near the end I felt I was just slaughtering certain people without purpose, I kept walking up expecting them to initiate dialogue - only to run into combat. For quite a while I thought maybe I'd selected the wrong option and that's why I was killing everyone I thought was my ally, but.. nope! I apparently disagreed with their methods, but I didn't even know this until one of my last fights with them. It would have been nice to have this purpose at the beginning (maybe I just missed it?).
Clunkiness. I'm referring mostly to the character equip and interaction. While it was awesome that they had their own places and such, I would have really preferred being able to store stuff/equip them all/enchant/buy/sell/chat from a central point. If I wanted to do that as an aside from doing quests and such I needed to go through a LOT of loading screens and a good amount of walking to do so, it made the whole thing feel tedious to me. That said I appreciated knowing exactly when someone had something to say to me, so I didn't walk over and intiiate a useless dialogue a million times like I did in origins.
Glitches. I had some recurring gliches in my game especially with cutscenes. I'll be lowering the graphics on my next playthrough to see if that's the issue, but it's still an issue regardless. I experienced a good handful of cutscenes in the game which the image would freeze while the audio continued in the background (or both cut). When it unfroze the cutscene (or audio AND cutscene) would be over. I missed some dialogue this way at a few points. There was also a quest far later in the game where the cutscenes glitched so badly I don't actually know what happened during the fight. There was partial cutscene then suddenly I was fighting, then another partial cutscene (with two people's voices that I couldn't even identify/realize what they were talking about before they cut) then fighting again, then another partial cutscene, then a repeat of the fight section I just did before it finally ended. That seemed like it would be one of the most impactful cutscenes of the game but I ... missed it all. There were also some side quest glitches (not activating and such) which weren't as prevalent but still problematic. Tactics also worked improperly at times.
Those were the main issues I had. Next up, minor gripes:
Lack of exposition. I mainly saw this at the very beginning. I think the game would have been well served by having a very.. ordinary starting cutscene. Maybe the family sitting down for dinner. Then all of a sudden screams in the distance, and you and your siblings go out to investigate, only to find lothering under attack. THEN cue the dramatic escape and fleeing through the wastelands. The beginning felt kind of lackluster to me. This could have also been used for the first time jump (when getting into kirkwall). Even if it was just one longer quest, perhaps with some intrigue to make it interesting and could have made you aware of some of the characters you meet later on (that your character 'recognized'). After that first quest Cassandra could have burst in and been like "get to the point, I don't care about this." Both of the time jumps as well were just massive gaps in time with no explanation, so it felt kind of forced and empty. Even a small cutscene would have sufficed. Maybe start the new act with Hawke in a bar with his/her buddies telling tales about what happened during those years or something.
Map issues. I missed the ability to just mouse over an icon on my mini map to find out what it was, in DA2 you have to open up the full map which is irritating. Also, you can't 'quick travel' out of areas anymore. For example in Origins once redcliffe was cleared out and safe I had to walk all the way to the bottom to drop off a quest for the chanter, but then I opened my map and quick travelled out and elsewhere, so I didn't have to walk all the way back up to the exit. I didn't notice this feature in DA2 (although I suppose I might have missed it). Really annoying when visitng Anders for example, where you could quick travel to him, but then had to walk all the way around to the exit to leave the area. This is not so much an issue as something I'd like to see implemented, but the ability to choose what entrance point you go to would be nice. I once had missed one small quest on the furthest side of the wounded coast, and had to walk all the way there from the opposite entrance, which was frustrating.
Weirdness with Potions. I never actually figured out why this was (I've never really looked into it) but it seemed to me that the quick potions bar didn't work properly. It was very often greyed out, even when my characters could use potions (I'd just have to go all the way into the inventory to do it). Also in the inventory the fact that there was no acknowledgement at all that you'd given someone a potion, even just a small noise or blink of light or something would be great. I think I preferred the origins method where you could just put them on the quickbar, because it only ever showed health and mana potions, not.. say, elfroot potions which worked as a health potion too, and you couldn't change it. Also was I reading right that you could use Elfroot potions to cure injuries? I thought it could, but It never seemed possible to use it that way.
#241
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:16
kingbob123
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I would like to see blood magic given a make over. Kind of along the lines of vampirism in morrowind, its an awesome boost, but everyone hates your guts and templars are gonna go wild at you.
Also i greater sense of impact, there were alot of times on my first play through i thought, crap could I have changed that??, only to play again and find it was preset.
the time scale allows for big changes so why not use them? for example if you finished a quest in a certain way in act 1 why not have it say, prevent a death, or cause a death depending on your reaction. Most of the differences felt fairly superficial. make the choices matter more.
Also i greater sense of impact, there were alot of times on my first play through i thought, crap could I have changed that??, only to play again and find it was preset.
the time scale allows for big changes so why not use them? for example if you finished a quest in a certain way in act 1 why not have it say, prevent a death, or cause a death depending on your reaction. Most of the differences felt fairly superficial. make the choices matter more.
#242
Guest_DSerpa_*
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:18
Guest_DSerpa_*
Guest_DSerpa_*
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I finished the game yesterday. Took me about 65 hours. Sorry if this runs a little long.
Story/Characters/Dialogue/Cinematography
I loved the new characters. Varric is perhaps the best character in the entire series so far. I couldn’t stop laughing during his rendition of Scarface. The other characters were also well written and voiced. I couldn’t help but think “D’awww” every time Merrill said something oblivious in that cheery voice of hers. The cutscenes are much more detailed, animated, emotive, and engaging—a great improvement over the awkward staring and occasional stiff shoulder-rolling from the cutscenes and conversations in Origins. When I played the demo, I was immediately impressed by the cutscene that introduces Aveline; Hawke kills a darkspawn in the foreground while Bethany ducks a swing and kills another darkspawn in the barely visible background.
The story was intriguing, but it didn’t really have a hook to hold the three acts together. Acquiring wealth and fame is too vague of an idea to be the anchor of an entire game. What I mean is that the three acts were self-contained stories that Hawke just sort of stumbled into. Good stories—stories with plot twists and “Oh, ****!” moments, but stories that didn’t really fit together. I do appreciate the attempt to break away from the cliché of “The world is ending! You must gather allies and save it, oh chosen one!”
I think the Warden’s story is more interesting, but Hawke’s story is better told. I would like to have the Warden return as the protagonist of a future game. Sorry, just wanted to throw that out there.
Friendship/Rivalry
The friendship/rivalry system is a great deal better than the approve/disapprove system of Origins, but it still doesn’t work out very well. The characters are too touchy and bipolar when it comes to friendship and rivalry. For example:
I kill a slaver. Fenris friendship +10.
I let an apostate escape the Templars. Fenris rivalry +10.
Both actions I justify under the general banner of “everyone deserves to be free”, but Fenris reacts differently to each. Consistency in the character of Hawke doesn’t mean consistency in a companion’s perception of that character. It still feels like the approval/disapproval system. When Anders hits on you, for example, the only “No thanks, I prefer the ladies” option results in rivalry. Am I to be penalized for something as simple as rejecting a romance? Unless I min-max the same way I did in Origins, I’m stuck in the middle. I think that’s a problem and I hope you guys can find a way to fix it in future games. But it’s definitely a step forward.
Romance
To be honest, I’ve never cared that much for the romances in any video game. Yeah, they’re a neat side quest, but it’s not something to obsess over. Some of the fans obsess over the romances. I wish you didn’t take those fans seriously.
I have no problem with homosexual or bisexual romance options, but I think it’s cheesy when everyone is bisexual, because then it becomes like Torchwood. Captain Jack Harkness is an awesome character who also happens to be bisexual (I don’t think that’s really the right term, as the guy also bangs robots and tree-aliens from the future, but I digress). The trouble is that everyone on Torchwood is bisexual. As much as some people would like to pretend otherwise, sexuality is very much a part of a person’s character. When all characters share that same trait (in more ways than one in the case of Torchwood), it trivializes that aspect of their character. But video games are a different medium than television shows, and I understand that when you’re trying to appeal to the largest number of people possible, it’s probably more cost efficient to make all of the romance options bisexual. I can live with that.
My biggest complaint, though, is with Anders. As I’ve said, I don’t mind gay or bisexual romance options, but I do mind retconning for nothing more than blatant fan service. Anders was the definition of a womanizer in Awakening. A few months later, he’s also into dudes. What the hell happened? Justice? I don’t want to get into an argument and I don’t mean to offend anyone, but retcons bother me. It’s like Morrigan stepping out of the Eluvian and hitting on Leliana, despite being visibly uncomfortable with Leliana’s affection in Origins.
Maps
I think this is probably the most common complaint you’ll get. The recycled maps aren’t that big of a deal in Act I, but during Act II and Act III it just becomes an eyesore and a source of frustration. It doesn’t matter how ‘artfully’ you place a broken cart in front of a cave entrance, it’s still the same place I’ve visited two dozen times before.
Art Direction
Overall I like the new art direction. I'm not sure what the quasi-animation thing that you use for the beginning of Origins, Awakening, and throughout DA II is called, but I like it. It's...distinct. I also like how the main theme is a variation of the theme from Origins. I hope future DA games continue this pattern. It creates consistency between the games, sort of like the Elder Scrolls theme.
The qunari are more interesting with horns and perma-scowls than they were as tall humans. I wish they would have kept Sten’s accent, though.
I’m glad that effort was made to make the elves look distinct from humans, but I think they still need a little bit of work. Elves looked like humans with pointy ears in Origins. They look like pale, anorexic Na’vi in DA II.
I really, really wish that Fenris didn’t look like he stepped out of a Final Fantasy game. Maybe that’s where those Eluvian mirrors lead to…
Music
I’m aware that Inon Zur composed the soundtracks for both DA II and Origins, but I thought I’d mention that I enjoyed the music of this game much more than I did the music of Origins. Then again, I love a good string quartet piece. Schubert is my favorite composer, after all. It seems to me that the game transitions from one track to another in the middle of combat based upon the situation (number/type/strength of enemies, number of allies remaining, health, etc.). If this is actually the case then I think that it’s brilliant.
Combat
I expected the new combat system to be one of the best changes in DA II. I was disappointed.
I like that the new animations are fluid and fast and aesthetically appealing instead of *shuffle shuffle stab*. There are still a few quirks—for example, a rogue will continue to cartwheel-shank the enemy if it is moving towards another target—but overall it’s much more responsive and entertaining. I play on the Xbox 360 so the loss of the isometric camera on the PC doesn’t bother me in the least. What does bother me is the lack of an auto-attack feature. The cooldowns for most of the abilities are too long to warrant a push-to-attack feature. I spent most of the time spamming the A button. It gets tedious after a few hours. The fortitude system also did not work very well. Some of my characters are stunlocked if an enemy so much as sneezes on them.
I did not like the enemy wave system. I understand that the additional waves were meant to be reinforcements, but I think that it was poorly implemented. Some of the fights in Origins involved enemy reinforcements. A few shades or a rage demon would spawn in the middle of a fight in the Circle tower; or a few darkspawn archers would come to the aid of the Broodmother in the Deep Roads. This is good. All of the fights in Dragon Age II had enemy reinforcements. This is bad. There was no point in setting up tactics or in positioning allies because new enemies would simply spawn at random locations on the battlefield at random times. There was a quest in Act I where you had to defend the Viscount’s son from waves of mercenaries. Each wave had a brief cutscene that showed the new enemies running out from behind a hill. This is the sort of thing I’d like to see if reinforcements are to be used in the future. It also would have been nice if a patrolling guard would jump in and assist you every now and then when you got attacked in Kirkwall’s streets at night.
The boss fights were fun and unique. My favorite was probably Sonic theHedgehog Rock Wraith. However, I think that the bosses had far too much health. I enjoy a challenging boss fight. I don’t enjoy 45 minutes of whittling down a bosses health while occasionally moving out of the fire.
Leveling/Abilities/Specializations
I really like the new ability tree system, especially the upgrades. No complaints there. I suppose that the cross-class combinations were alright, but they’re a bit of a pain in the ass to set up. I still prefer the spell combinations from Origins.
I didn’t like the additional stat requirements for equipping armor and weapons. For example, the Champion Robes require 31 Magic and Willpower to equip, but if I’m building a Blood Mage I have no use for Willpower.
I’d like to see specializations play more of a role in the next game. I’d much rather have two or three detailed specialization trees and a single specialization point to spend than the smattering of specializations we obtain in Origins and DA II. It would be fantastic if people changed their behavior based upon your specialization. A farmer might fear a Blood Mage but respect a Spirit Healer, a mage might be nervous or aggressive when conversing with a warrior trained in the skills of a Templar, etc.
Quests
I think that the quality of the quests improved greatly over those in Origins. The ‘Companion’ and ‘Secondary’ quests felt just as cinematic and integrated into the story as the main quests. While out for a stroll in the Wounded Coast in Act II, I came across a guard patrol pinned down by marauders. I had a brief but lovely chat with the Lieutenant, set up a quick battle plan, and helped them resolve the situation. This is the sort of side quest I would like to see in future Dragon Age games. The ‘Side Quests’ weren’t interesting and just felt like cheap filler. They were also sort of immersion breaking. For example:
(Speaking of a corpse I found in the sewers)
Hawke: I believe you misplaced this.
Random Citizen: Oh, thank you for returning it.
I would gladly have sacrificed all of the quests in the ‘Side Quests’ tab for one or two additional ‘Secondary Quests’.
Inventory
I realize I’ll probably be skewered by one of the roving bands of forum trolls for saying this, but I liked the lack of companion armor customization. It always felt weird to me that all of my traveling companions were fine with playing dress up. It’s also nice to be able to focus on managing a single character instead of 7-9 characters. I still want to be able to customize stats and abilities, of course, but I’d just prefer to let my companions dress themselves. That being said, I’d like to see a little more of a lean towards the Mass Effect 2 companion inventory system. To use Aveline as an example:
Aveline is a guardsman proficient with swords and shields. I’d like for her to have two or three “weapon sets” that I can equip and then cycle between as tactics necessitate: I can start a fight with ‘Sword & Shield set A’, and then cycle to ‘Sword & Shield set B’ when a new type of enemy appears. I’d like for Aveline’s armor to be a single item (no accessory customization) that I can purchase/find upgrades for and enchant, but I’d also like to be able to cycle the appearance of her armor. Aveline is a guardsman and should obviously have guardsman armor, but surely a guardsman also does the occasional sting operation or undercover work? Why not have a set of mercenary armor? I could then change her appearance without changing her stats or equipping her with something that visually doesn’t match her character.
Quality Control
This is generally my biggest complaint about any Bioware game. The story is great, the characters are interesting, the combat is (usually) fun…but there are just so many bugs. Some of them make the game unplayable and take weeks or months to get patched. By the time I finished my first playthrough of Dragon Age II, Hawke was basically a useless statue in combat because of the attack speed bug. I’d greatly appreciate it if you guys could take a little more time for bug testing before you launch your next game.
Story/Characters/Dialogue/Cinematography
I loved the new characters. Varric is perhaps the best character in the entire series so far. I couldn’t stop laughing during his rendition of Scarface. The other characters were also well written and voiced. I couldn’t help but think “D’awww” every time Merrill said something oblivious in that cheery voice of hers. The cutscenes are much more detailed, animated, emotive, and engaging—a great improvement over the awkward staring and occasional stiff shoulder-rolling from the cutscenes and conversations in Origins. When I played the demo, I was immediately impressed by the cutscene that introduces Aveline; Hawke kills a darkspawn in the foreground while Bethany ducks a swing and kills another darkspawn in the barely visible background.
The story was intriguing, but it didn’t really have a hook to hold the three acts together. Acquiring wealth and fame is too vague of an idea to be the anchor of an entire game. What I mean is that the three acts were self-contained stories that Hawke just sort of stumbled into. Good stories—stories with plot twists and “Oh, ****!” moments, but stories that didn’t really fit together. I do appreciate the attempt to break away from the cliché of “The world is ending! You must gather allies and save it, oh chosen one!”
I think the Warden’s story is more interesting, but Hawke’s story is better told. I would like to have the Warden return as the protagonist of a future game. Sorry, just wanted to throw that out there.
Friendship/Rivalry
The friendship/rivalry system is a great deal better than the approve/disapprove system of Origins, but it still doesn’t work out very well. The characters are too touchy and bipolar when it comes to friendship and rivalry. For example:
I kill a slaver. Fenris friendship +10.
I let an apostate escape the Templars. Fenris rivalry +10.
Both actions I justify under the general banner of “everyone deserves to be free”, but Fenris reacts differently to each. Consistency in the character of Hawke doesn’t mean consistency in a companion’s perception of that character. It still feels like the approval/disapproval system. When Anders hits on you, for example, the only “No thanks, I prefer the ladies” option results in rivalry. Am I to be penalized for something as simple as rejecting a romance? Unless I min-max the same way I did in Origins, I’m stuck in the middle. I think that’s a problem and I hope you guys can find a way to fix it in future games. But it’s definitely a step forward.
Romance
To be honest, I’ve never cared that much for the romances in any video game. Yeah, they’re a neat side quest, but it’s not something to obsess over. Some of the fans obsess over the romances. I wish you didn’t take those fans seriously.
I have no problem with homosexual or bisexual romance options, but I think it’s cheesy when everyone is bisexual, because then it becomes like Torchwood. Captain Jack Harkness is an awesome character who also happens to be bisexual (I don’t think that’s really the right term, as the guy also bangs robots and tree-aliens from the future, but I digress). The trouble is that everyone on Torchwood is bisexual. As much as some people would like to pretend otherwise, sexuality is very much a part of a person’s character. When all characters share that same trait (in more ways than one in the case of Torchwood), it trivializes that aspect of their character. But video games are a different medium than television shows, and I understand that when you’re trying to appeal to the largest number of people possible, it’s probably more cost efficient to make all of the romance options bisexual. I can live with that.
My biggest complaint, though, is with Anders. As I’ve said, I don’t mind gay or bisexual romance options, but I do mind retconning for nothing more than blatant fan service. Anders was the definition of a womanizer in Awakening. A few months later, he’s also into dudes. What the hell happened? Justice? I don’t want to get into an argument and I don’t mean to offend anyone, but retcons bother me. It’s like Morrigan stepping out of the Eluvian and hitting on Leliana, despite being visibly uncomfortable with Leliana’s affection in Origins.
Maps
I think this is probably the most common complaint you’ll get. The recycled maps aren’t that big of a deal in Act I, but during Act II and Act III it just becomes an eyesore and a source of frustration. It doesn’t matter how ‘artfully’ you place a broken cart in front of a cave entrance, it’s still the same place I’ve visited two dozen times before.
Art Direction
Overall I like the new art direction. I'm not sure what the quasi-animation thing that you use for the beginning of Origins, Awakening, and throughout DA II is called, but I like it. It's...distinct. I also like how the main theme is a variation of the theme from Origins. I hope future DA games continue this pattern. It creates consistency between the games, sort of like the Elder Scrolls theme.
The qunari are more interesting with horns and perma-scowls than they were as tall humans. I wish they would have kept Sten’s accent, though.
I’m glad that effort was made to make the elves look distinct from humans, but I think they still need a little bit of work. Elves looked like humans with pointy ears in Origins. They look like pale, anorexic Na’vi in DA II.
I really, really wish that Fenris didn’t look like he stepped out of a Final Fantasy game. Maybe that’s where those Eluvian mirrors lead to…
Music
I’m aware that Inon Zur composed the soundtracks for both DA II and Origins, but I thought I’d mention that I enjoyed the music of this game much more than I did the music of Origins. Then again, I love a good string quartet piece. Schubert is my favorite composer, after all. It seems to me that the game transitions from one track to another in the middle of combat based upon the situation (number/type/strength of enemies, number of allies remaining, health, etc.). If this is actually the case then I think that it’s brilliant.
Combat
I expected the new combat system to be one of the best changes in DA II. I was disappointed.
I like that the new animations are fluid and fast and aesthetically appealing instead of *shuffle shuffle stab*. There are still a few quirks—for example, a rogue will continue to cartwheel-shank the enemy if it is moving towards another target—but overall it’s much more responsive and entertaining. I play on the Xbox 360 so the loss of the isometric camera on the PC doesn’t bother me in the least. What does bother me is the lack of an auto-attack feature. The cooldowns for most of the abilities are too long to warrant a push-to-attack feature. I spent most of the time spamming the A button. It gets tedious after a few hours. The fortitude system also did not work very well. Some of my characters are stunlocked if an enemy so much as sneezes on them.
I did not like the enemy wave system. I understand that the additional waves were meant to be reinforcements, but I think that it was poorly implemented. Some of the fights in Origins involved enemy reinforcements. A few shades or a rage demon would spawn in the middle of a fight in the Circle tower; or a few darkspawn archers would come to the aid of the Broodmother in the Deep Roads. This is good. All of the fights in Dragon Age II had enemy reinforcements. This is bad. There was no point in setting up tactics or in positioning allies because new enemies would simply spawn at random locations on the battlefield at random times. There was a quest in Act I where you had to defend the Viscount’s son from waves of mercenaries. Each wave had a brief cutscene that showed the new enemies running out from behind a hill. This is the sort of thing I’d like to see if reinforcements are to be used in the future. It also would have been nice if a patrolling guard would jump in and assist you every now and then when you got attacked in Kirkwall’s streets at night.
The boss fights were fun and unique. My favorite was probably Sonic the
Leveling/Abilities/Specializations
I really like the new ability tree system, especially the upgrades. No complaints there. I suppose that the cross-class combinations were alright, but they’re a bit of a pain in the ass to set up. I still prefer the spell combinations from Origins.
I didn’t like the additional stat requirements for equipping armor and weapons. For example, the Champion Robes require 31 Magic and Willpower to equip, but if I’m building a Blood Mage I have no use for Willpower.
I’d like to see specializations play more of a role in the next game. I’d much rather have two or three detailed specialization trees and a single specialization point to spend than the smattering of specializations we obtain in Origins and DA II. It would be fantastic if people changed their behavior based upon your specialization. A farmer might fear a Blood Mage but respect a Spirit Healer, a mage might be nervous or aggressive when conversing with a warrior trained in the skills of a Templar, etc.
Quests
I think that the quality of the quests improved greatly over those in Origins. The ‘Companion’ and ‘Secondary’ quests felt just as cinematic and integrated into the story as the main quests. While out for a stroll in the Wounded Coast in Act II, I came across a guard patrol pinned down by marauders. I had a brief but lovely chat with the Lieutenant, set up a quick battle plan, and helped them resolve the situation. This is the sort of side quest I would like to see in future Dragon Age games. The ‘Side Quests’ weren’t interesting and just felt like cheap filler. They were also sort of immersion breaking. For example:
(Speaking of a corpse I found in the sewers)
Hawke: I believe you misplaced this.
Random Citizen: Oh, thank you for returning it.
I would gladly have sacrificed all of the quests in the ‘Side Quests’ tab for one or two additional ‘Secondary Quests’.
Inventory
I realize I’ll probably be skewered by one of the roving bands of forum trolls for saying this, but I liked the lack of companion armor customization. It always felt weird to me that all of my traveling companions were fine with playing dress up. It’s also nice to be able to focus on managing a single character instead of 7-9 characters. I still want to be able to customize stats and abilities, of course, but I’d just prefer to let my companions dress themselves. That being said, I’d like to see a little more of a lean towards the Mass Effect 2 companion inventory system. To use Aveline as an example:
Aveline is a guardsman proficient with swords and shields. I’d like for her to have two or three “weapon sets” that I can equip and then cycle between as tactics necessitate: I can start a fight with ‘Sword & Shield set A’, and then cycle to ‘Sword & Shield set B’ when a new type of enemy appears. I’d like for Aveline’s armor to be a single item (no accessory customization) that I can purchase/find upgrades for and enchant, but I’d also like to be able to cycle the appearance of her armor. Aveline is a guardsman and should obviously have guardsman armor, but surely a guardsman also does the occasional sting operation or undercover work? Why not have a set of mercenary armor? I could then change her appearance without changing her stats or equipping her with something that visually doesn’t match her character.
Quality Control
This is generally my biggest complaint about any Bioware game. The story is great, the characters are interesting, the combat is (usually) fun…but there are just so many bugs. Some of them make the game unplayable and take weeks or months to get patched. By the time I finished my first playthrough of Dragon Age II, Hawke was basically a useless statue in combat because of the attack speed bug. I’d greatly appreciate it if you guys could take a little more time for bug testing before you launch your next game.
Modifié par DSerpa, 16 mars 2011 - 01:39 .
#243
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:19
wildcard4542000
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solidsmooky wrote...
This is my background, before I say this, please understand that my opinion or experience (or lack thereof) doesn't make me a better or worse gamer than you, I just wanted to lay down some foundation.
I love RPG games, I've been playing them since I was a wee little boy in the early 80s. I also love CRPG games. I am a huge fanatic for them. In fact I have bought and played every RPG (or most that have been translated to English!) in my life.
I loved Dragon Age: Origins. It was the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, which I felt was sorely needed because I think that was the era where CRPGs reign supreme. I have over 150 hours logged in on DA:O and its expansion packs and DLC.
I also loved the first Mass Effect. It tried something new but wanted to be more actiony. I respected that. When Mass Effect 2 came out, they went with more actiony type of gameplay, and I respect that too... because I felt:
The Mass Effect Series was for people that wanted to have more Action-RPGish like gameplay and the Dragon Age Series was for people that wanted more traditional CRPG gameplay.
It was a good compromise. Gamers got the best of both worlds and there was peace in the lands.
However Mass Effect 2 was really popular. Which is good! I enjoyed it. Personally I wish it was more traditional RPGish, but this was the direction they wanted to take so I took it with them.
However, The Mass Effect 2 puddle got mixed in with the Dragon Age series, lo and behold Dragon Age 2 was born. Because success breeds copycats, and this isn't a bad thing. Bioware felt they had a winning formula so they made DA2 more like ME2.
However, the compromise was broken. Dragon Age would become more Action-RPGish, leaving many traditional CRPG fans like me wondering if the success of Mass Effect 2 put the final nail in the coffin of CRPGs.
The people that are a bit unhappy with DA2 wanted it to be a more traditional CRPG. We love playing with others inventories. Real tactical combat (with pausing!), a tactical camera to zoom, Planning, and hours and hours and hours of gameplay.
The direction that DA 2 is taking is more like Mass Effect 2. People are worried that this will turn into Mass Effect with Dragons, and I don't think no one wants that, not even the developers, because they want their product that they are proud of (and have a right to be proud of, DA2 is a good game), to stand alone.
Here are the things I like about Dragon Age 2:
1) Combat is better. I wish it was a bit slower so pausing made a difference, but it is a near revolution in CRPG combat.
2) Skills presentation: I really really like how it is done this time. I like the trees a lot better than DA:O. It's tighter and more focused. I feel like I can clearly plan how I will make my character.
3) Introduction of a main character, aka the Shepard route: This is not to say that character creation is going the way of the dinosaurs. It still is very fun in CRPGs, however it is a good storytelling device if you want to have a main and focused character.
Here are the things I do not like about Dragon Age 2:
1) Please don't take offense at this phrase, but it is "dumbed down". Combat is too fast where I can see where button mashing accusations can be seen. I can't talk to my companions anymore when they're in my party, which I miss. There is hardly any inventory to manage, and one of the best things about RPGs is finding nifty loot, like in DA:O, to find and equip your characters with.
2) You skip over the parts that I want to experience: After Flemeth rescues you in the tutorial mountain, the narrator says I reach this town and then sail on a boat! Yeah but... I'd rather experience that for myself, I don't want to be told about that. I want to live the adventure. I want to get to know my sister and mother more. I want to experience the quests in those towns. During your year of servitude, the game skips over that too. But I want to know exactly what I did during that year. I want to know more about who I chose to pick.
Simply put, you're skipping over the good parts.
Think of it like a dinner. You took out everything on the plate except one piece it feels like. So I have a chicken leg, but I sort of want the mashed potatoes you've been telling me about.
3) That epic feeling. I don't feel like I am this awesome amazing person. I'm just a dude or dudette (FemHawke is canon, like FemShep is), trying to make a living. I DO hear about an epic person however, the Grey Warden. I sorta end up wishing I could be that person instead.
How to fix this for Dragon Age 3? Tilt it back towards the traditional CRPG experience. Give us our inventories back. Make cool and exciting gear like the old CRPGs such as BG1 and so! Make the game longer. I understand you wanted it to be replayable like Mass Effect 2, but this game isn't Mass Effect, it's Dragon Age. You have your own voice. You make trends, you don't copy them. You're Bioware. Other companies follow what YOU do.
Make the game less actiony, and instead the bring back that Spiritual Successor to BG again.
And finally, work on the PR stuff. This http://i.imgur.com/ifoKD.png is now making the rounds and you're going to take another hit again.
Anyway I hope someone from Bioware reads this. I enjoy the game but it does feel like a step backwards unfortunately.
A+, I agree with you 100%. There are plenty of Action RPG's out there. Keep the DA franchise in the CRPG format.
Modifié par wildcard4542000, 16 mars 2011 - 01:20 .
#244
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:20
Lux
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In a sentence: In this experiment, they neglected a good measure of smoke and mirrors.
"Enemy encounters"
At least have them spawn in an area of the map where we don't see that happen, and then have them rush towards us. You know, the whole smoke and mirrors thing.
"Linearernessed...uh...Linearreerrr...It feels too one-track minded"
Frame narrative is an interesting device, but it exposes the linearity. If think that can work well in a DLC format, not in the main game.
"The feel"
Angry Joe's review put into words what I was having trouble expressing. The graphics are improved, but the art style is lacking. Especially so when compared with other games (Origins included). There's a limited play area that lacks detail. The atmosphere is static; the same gloomy feeling all over; always cloudy outside.
"Enemy deaths"
They explode often, and they get dismembered in neat pieces, like lego. Yes, ludicrous.
"Companions"
When it comes to romance, companions are pretty straightforward in their sexual appetites this time around. I felt irked as a dude when Anders came out the way he did in our very first dialogues. I did not like to have to dispend rivalry points towards him right from the start (by eliminating further romancing), and I did not like being forced to intolerance and disgust towards a preference that many good people have in RL.
As for Isabela, she oozes personality and that's a good thing. Why then, the need BioWare felt in borrowing pop-star trends in her lack of clothing? In the game, at least, that's not cool at all. She's just too ****ty and easy for my taste.
Merril, as well as the rest of Elvenking suffers from a Na'avi complex. What's with the blatant borrowing of trends and ideas? Anyway, the elves are now more distinct from human and that is passable... up to the moment when the other only romance option left for me is what looks to be a 13 or 14 year old girl.
So... I'm either a sexual maniac or a pedophile...? O.o
I thought romancing was optional in BW games up to this moment. Now, the innuendo and illusion of choice in romacing have faded considerably to a more "graphic" feel.
"Enemy encounters"
At least have them spawn in an area of the map where we don't see that happen, and then have them rush towards us. You know, the whole smoke and mirrors thing.
"Linearernessed...uh...Linearreerrr...It feels too one-track minded"
Frame narrative is an interesting device, but it exposes the linearity. If think that can work well in a DLC format, not in the main game.
"The feel"
Angry Joe's review put into words what I was having trouble expressing. The graphics are improved, but the art style is lacking. Especially so when compared with other games (Origins included). There's a limited play area that lacks detail. The atmosphere is static; the same gloomy feeling all over; always cloudy outside.
"Enemy deaths"
They explode often, and they get dismembered in neat pieces, like lego. Yes, ludicrous.
"Companions"
When it comes to romance, companions are pretty straightforward in their sexual appetites this time around. I felt irked as a dude when Anders came out the way he did in our very first dialogues. I did not like to have to dispend rivalry points towards him right from the start (by eliminating further romancing), and I did not like being forced to intolerance and disgust towards a preference that many good people have in RL.
As for Isabela, she oozes personality and that's a good thing. Why then, the need BioWare felt in borrowing pop-star trends in her lack of clothing? In the game, at least, that's not cool at all. She's just too ****ty and easy for my taste.
Merril, as well as the rest of Elvenking suffers from a Na'avi complex. What's with the blatant borrowing of trends and ideas? Anyway, the elves are now more distinct from human and that is passable... up to the moment when the other only romance option left for me is what looks to be a 13 or 14 year old girl.
So... I'm either a sexual maniac or a pedophile...? O.o
I thought romancing was optional in BW games up to this moment. Now, the innuendo and illusion of choice in romacing have faded considerably to a more "graphic" feel.
#245
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:25
Coldest
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I love Origins, I like DA2, which is a letdown.
DA2 improved on some things while going two steps back on other things. My biggest gripes are reused maps, main game being too short (filler side quests don't qualify for a longer game), and the lack of adventure which is essential in an RPG.
Speed of combat is also overkill to the point of Origins' combat being better. It was slow, yes, but it was also more tactical and didn't make me feel like I'm a 5-year old.
What I like about DA2 on the other hand is the voiced protagonist, refined skill trees, and companions retaining their unique look though it'd be nice if their appearances would change every time skip. Right now visual changes to them are minimal.
DA2 improved on some things while going two steps back on other things. My biggest gripes are reused maps, main game being too short (filler side quests don't qualify for a longer game), and the lack of adventure which is essential in an RPG.
Speed of combat is also overkill to the point of Origins' combat being better. It was slow, yes, but it was also more tactical and didn't make me feel like I'm a 5-year old.
What I like about DA2 on the other hand is the voiced protagonist, refined skill trees, and companions retaining their unique look though it'd be nice if their appearances would change every time skip. Right now visual changes to them are minimal.
#246
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:48
Niel_75
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I have read alot of good points and have to agree on most of them
What stood out in the game for me personally, was the language, compared to DAO, modern slang like, ****, Son of a ****, booty !!
This is a fantasy game in a fictitious world, what are moden day slang doing there?
What stood out in the game for me personally, was the language, compared to DAO, modern slang like, ****, Son of a ****, booty !!
This is a fantasy game in a fictitious world, what are moden day slang doing there?
#247
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:50
Alcobob
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Ok, seems like this is the right place and time for me to give some feedback:
Combat:
This is the part i have most gripes with for a number of reasons. For once the respawning enemies just make no sense in this game. I just can't see why every single encounter features at least 1 backup group of enemies.
I played on easy, so that might be one reason for it, but it just felt tendius to mow down another wave or 2 when the mayor threat in the encouter was allready defeated 2 seconds into the fight. ( Played a dual wield rouge, backstab, dual stab, explosive strike, dead)
Where does the backup come from? Why does the backup join the fight when their leader is dead and the first group has been wiped out? Either all enemies should join the fight from the start or the backup group should flee if their "commander" and the rest of the first group has vanished. No need to fight a lost encounter right?
Then there's how combat works in term of strategies. For me it really felt like i was playing an MMO, in that in every encounter i used the same basic tactic / order in which the abilities are used.
Also, (i was playing on PC) the control in combat didn't feel right, sadly i can't really put into words what was off.
What i have seen on how combat looks on console however i feel that it would work really well with controller input.
Quests and Consequences:
At first i thougth that some quests and the consequences in how i dealt with them were really nicely done.
Like if i take i certain someone into the deep roads or how i dealt with the mage in the serial killer quest.
I really liked the idea that constantly playing the nice guy would sometimes have dire consequences, and continued the game with those consequences.
But when i replayed those missions later and got the same consequences for a completly different set of actions it annoyed me a great deal. Because then those weren't consequences of my actions but simply cheap drama.
Equipment, Items and Stats:
The whole inventory and item system felt kinda half stuck between Old School RPG and Action RPG.
While we do have all those nice effects on that piece of armor/weapon and we have a great selection of items, but at the same time there is no information on what specific things mean.
Like +423 nature resistance on rings. +423 compared to what? What will i gain from that if i use it. And i don't mean general information like "It increases your resistance to nature magic", i want to know excactly what that translates into in terms of damage reduction. For my complete first run through the game i didn't even once equip items with one of those unclear effects. (Damage resistance, chance to evade traps, drop better loot,......)
But on the other hand we have to many items that serve no purpose whatsoever.
I don't just mean "junk" items, i also mean armor that your main char can't use. 2/3 of all armor that you find serves no purpose since your main character can't equip it. Why is it even listed in the armor section of the inventory instead of going directly into the junk category?
Currently the inventory system is neither streamlined nor classic enough. Pick one of the two, a mix between both doesn't work.
Abilites:
Might just be me, but after i finished distributing points into all upgrades in 1 talent tree (Dual Wielding) i felt like my hero has reached the peak of his development. All points distributed after that felt unimportant/made no difference, and i was only half into the game at that point.
Camera and Movement:
This is another point where i think it would work really well with controller input but not with mouse and keyboard. I played all Bioware games back until NWN and was really used to click where i wanted to go with a nice big overview over the battlefield. Since i wasn't able to zoom out as much as i liked, instead i lowered to angle to see really wide at least in one direction, but when you right click to go somewhere the camera constantly changed the angle at which i was looking over my hero. So basicaly i had to constanly countersteer/fight the camera.
In the end i stoped giving move commands with my mouse and used WASD so i could keep the right mouse button pressed at all times...
I think that's enough feedback for now. There was more to write about (like reuse of locations), maybe i'll edit my post later...
Combat:
This is the part i have most gripes with for a number of reasons. For once the respawning enemies just make no sense in this game. I just can't see why every single encounter features at least 1 backup group of enemies.
I played on easy, so that might be one reason for it, but it just felt tendius to mow down another wave or 2 when the mayor threat in the encouter was allready defeated 2 seconds into the fight. ( Played a dual wield rouge, backstab, dual stab, explosive strike, dead)
Where does the backup come from? Why does the backup join the fight when their leader is dead and the first group has been wiped out? Either all enemies should join the fight from the start or the backup group should flee if their "commander" and the rest of the first group has vanished. No need to fight a lost encounter right?
Then there's how combat works in term of strategies. For me it really felt like i was playing an MMO, in that in every encounter i used the same basic tactic / order in which the abilities are used.
Also, (i was playing on PC) the control in combat didn't feel right, sadly i can't really put into words what was off.
What i have seen on how combat looks on console however i feel that it would work really well with controller input.
Quests and Consequences:
At first i thougth that some quests and the consequences in how i dealt with them were really nicely done.
Like if i take i certain someone into the deep roads or how i dealt with the mage in the serial killer quest.
I really liked the idea that constantly playing the nice guy would sometimes have dire consequences, and continued the game with those consequences.
But when i replayed those missions later and got the same consequences for a completly different set of actions it annoyed me a great deal. Because then those weren't consequences of my actions but simply cheap drama.
Equipment, Items and Stats:
The whole inventory and item system felt kinda half stuck between Old School RPG and Action RPG.
While we do have all those nice effects on that piece of armor/weapon and we have a great selection of items, but at the same time there is no information on what specific things mean.
Like +423 nature resistance on rings. +423 compared to what? What will i gain from that if i use it. And i don't mean general information like "It increases your resistance to nature magic", i want to know excactly what that translates into in terms of damage reduction. For my complete first run through the game i didn't even once equip items with one of those unclear effects. (Damage resistance, chance to evade traps, drop better loot,......)
But on the other hand we have to many items that serve no purpose whatsoever.
I don't just mean "junk" items, i also mean armor that your main char can't use. 2/3 of all armor that you find serves no purpose since your main character can't equip it. Why is it even listed in the armor section of the inventory instead of going directly into the junk category?
Currently the inventory system is neither streamlined nor classic enough. Pick one of the two, a mix between both doesn't work.
Abilites:
Might just be me, but after i finished distributing points into all upgrades in 1 talent tree (Dual Wielding) i felt like my hero has reached the peak of his development. All points distributed after that felt unimportant/made no difference, and i was only half into the game at that point.
Camera and Movement:
This is another point where i think it would work really well with controller input but not with mouse and keyboard. I played all Bioware games back until NWN and was really used to click where i wanted to go with a nice big overview over the battlefield. Since i wasn't able to zoom out as much as i liked, instead i lowered to angle to see really wide at least in one direction, but when you right click to go somewhere the camera constantly changed the angle at which i was looking over my hero. So basicaly i had to constanly countersteer/fight the camera.
In the end i stoped giving move commands with my mouse and used WASD so i could keep the right mouse button pressed at all times...
I think that's enough feedback for now. There was more to write about (like reuse of locations), maybe i'll edit my post later...
#248
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 01:52
Rann
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- Members
- 163 messages
I already posted my frustrations about what to me feels like "Lego Dragon Age" combat in the old thread on the other forum, and can't add much more than what people reiterated before. I literally cannot continue playing this game because my initial dislike of the combat changes has turned to utter antipathy towards it. There's a lot of good in the game, but not enough to overcome my character leaping about like a grasshopper and dicing bad guys into jam-covered manniquin parts, and new bad guys popping in from thin air (making any try at tactics utterly useless).
But, oddly enough, it was one of the quests that really sent me over the edge. I won't spoil it, of course, but without giving specifics, it basically involved having to make a hard choice between attacking or letting the (sympathetic) enemy go free, with repercussions no matter what choice I made -- a no-win situation either way. Sounds good, yes? Very dramatic. But the choice was taken away from me when an unambiguously evil character was introduced into the mix to force a fight and, ultimately later on the whole incident was "hushed up" afterwards. And that, folks, was a missed opportunity in the story to break it out of linearity.
But, oddly enough, it was one of the quests that really sent me over the edge. I won't spoil it, of course, but without giving specifics, it basically involved having to make a hard choice between attacking or letting the (sympathetic) enemy go free, with repercussions no matter what choice I made -- a no-win situation either way. Sounds good, yes? Very dramatic. But the choice was taken away from me when an unambiguously evil character was introduced into the mix to force a fight and, ultimately later on the whole incident was "hushed up" afterwards. And that, folks, was a missed opportunity in the story to break it out of linearity.
#249
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 02:06
kingbob123
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- Members
- 2 messages
Also another idea i liked was hawkes personality moulding to suit your choices, so if you were sarcastic all the time you would spout those one liners.
I think they could expand on this more to create a full personality. for example in a scene where hawke would have to deal with grief perhaps, if you were you sarky type of character you would have bitter grave-humor, compared to the angry rage-grief of a person who always picked the angry choices, just to flesh the character out a bit more.
I like the more human aspects of the characters that they put in, for example in mass effect 2 i thought the Lotsb was awsome for the part where shepard could express his doubts about the mission.
it would add alot of dynamism to the character but i suppose would be tricky to do as it would mean three different permutations for a large number of scenes.
I think they could expand on this more to create a full personality. for example in a scene where hawke would have to deal with grief perhaps, if you were you sarky type of character you would have bitter grave-humor, compared to the angry rage-grief of a person who always picked the angry choices, just to flesh the character out a bit more.
I like the more human aspects of the characters that they put in, for example in mass effect 2 i thought the Lotsb was awsome for the part where shepard could express his doubts about the mission.
it would add alot of dynamism to the character but i suppose would be tricky to do as it would mean three different permutations for a large number of scenes.
#250
Posté 16 mars 2011 - 02:18
Rooksarii
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- Members
- 26 messages
I think this is a good idea to culminate all our critiques. I love Bioware, and love the potential of the Dragon Age franchise, but as already mentioned, things like reused maps and a rushed feel trend towards the monotonous.
I'll throw my 2 coppers in, granted it has been covered.
Minimize the copy and past in pretty much everything. Gear is bland, and I finished my first play through with hundreds of "rings" and "amulets" of only minor difference from each other, and I found the in the depths of caves that were all the same exact shape with only minor areas blocked off to give the very shallow feel of difference.
Expand the world we see. We didn’t see a huge amount of Denerim, but it also was not the central focus of the story in DA: O. Kirkwall is great, but to be frank it feels like we spend the entire game in a starting city reliving the same streets over and over, not the metropolis game setting that it should.
Make a year feel like a year, let alone 10 of them feeling like a few months. If I could make money by tending resources like the mine, or farmland, or stores, etc, that would be great. We become a prominent member of Kirkwall society through hack and slash and not so much political or financial maneuverings. There could have been so much more time spent on the full 10 years instead of "skip 3 years, so something, skip 3 more."
Saying yes in 3 flavors does not make for deep dialogue choices.
This is all from someone who fell in love with yet another Bioware storyline in DA:O, and I say the following not at all as a demand, but more of an urgent plea: If you make an Awakenings-like expansion(s), heed everything in this thread and simply blow us all away with both the size and scope of things to come.
I'll throw my 2 coppers in, granted it has been covered.
Minimize the copy and past in pretty much everything. Gear is bland, and I finished my first play through with hundreds of "rings" and "amulets" of only minor difference from each other, and I found the in the depths of caves that were all the same exact shape with only minor areas blocked off to give the very shallow feel of difference.
Expand the world we see. We didn’t see a huge amount of Denerim, but it also was not the central focus of the story in DA: O. Kirkwall is great, but to be frank it feels like we spend the entire game in a starting city reliving the same streets over and over, not the metropolis game setting that it should.
Make a year feel like a year, let alone 10 of them feeling like a few months. If I could make money by tending resources like the mine, or farmland, or stores, etc, that would be great. We become a prominent member of Kirkwall society through hack and slash and not so much political or financial maneuverings. There could have been so much more time spent on the full 10 years instead of "skip 3 years, so something, skip 3 more."
Saying yes in 3 flavors does not make for deep dialogue choices.
This is all from someone who fell in love with yet another Bioware storyline in DA:O, and I say the following not at all as a demand, but more of an urgent plea: If you make an Awakenings-like expansion(s), heed everything in this thread and simply blow us all away with both the size and scope of things to come.
