Here are my thoughts on aspects of the game after playing through a full game on the PC as a sword and shield warrior on normal. Apologies in advance as this is very long and most likely rambling, and yes a large deal of this is personally preference so take from it what you will.
Firstly the new art design, from the first playable bit during Varric's exaggerated version of the story, I didn't like at all. While I can't pin down the exact factor or combination of factors that made me think of it the first thing that crossed my mind was "Wait, did I load up Diablo II by mistake?". One of the things that really attracted me to Dragon Age in the first place was the 'dirty and practical' look of things. It'd be like shooting an Aliens movie on a Star Trek set...it just seemed out of place for the IP.
Of course the things that bears immediate mentioning is the reused environments. Looking on the forums one of the counter augements that people usually concerning this is that Origins did the same. I never noticed it much when I had played Origins before but I did make it a point to pay attention to that since upon finishing DA2 I replayed Origins from start to finish including DLCs and Awakenings. While most of the reused environments were within DLCs and Awakenings, and as such are a different topic for another time, I did notice reused layouts in both alleys in Denerim and for road encounters on a regular basis. However the reason I think I failed to notice this on prior play throughs was that although each had the same basic design, each featured different static placeables and different types enemy groups attacking from different directions in addition to dialogues, friendly NPCs, and other general set dressing as it were to focus your attention those things instead of realizing that the spider web and cocoon covered forest shared the same paths as the barricaded bandit camp. A little bit of diversity would have gone a long way against some of the complaints about reused maps I think.
As for gameplay, one of things I loved about Origins was the tactics screen and was very pleased to see that it was expanded to give more slots by default and incorporate more advanced features that I didn't remember having in Origins prior to installing the Advanced Tactics mod (though that may be faulty memory on my part). Because one of the gripes I had about stock Origins was that often times, with mages and dual wielders specifically, there seemed to never be enough tactics slots for all of their abilities. I do feel that the tactics could be even further improved upon by allowing multiple conditions for a single tactic, such as things like "Enemy rank is elite and Enemy is using a magic attack". Because for me I like to fight the battle as it comes, pausing only to move my magic users away from physically powerful enemies and switch them to ranged staff attack, so the more that I can set up in the tactics window in advance and let me enjoy the actual fight of the battle the better.
Like many people, one of the things I found off-putting when I entered combat was the magically appearing waves of enemies. While I did see them mid drop from rooftop on occasion, there were plently of times that they would just fade in at the top of a staircase or in front of a "doorway". A better way to do this would be like in the PC FPS Killing Floor, where enemies have multiple spawn points available to them but will only spawn in locations that, at the time of their spawn, any player character does not have line of sight on if they were to do a full 360 degree turn in place. I understand that this is more difficult with a third person view than a first person one but this could be implemented through map designs utilizes multiple blind corners, of which Kirkwall has many posibilities.
Also on the subject of the waves of enemies it would be more interesting if there were indicators to put some story into it to make it seem more natural. While a cutscene for each battle would grow tiresome after a while, having a lone enemy out of an initial group trying to avoid combat and yelling out 'Help', 'To arms', 'Alarm', etc would be an interesting way of illustrating why you've got the full might of the 3rd Mongloian Horde being brought to bear against you. This could even be taken further, letting the player's play style affect the game somewhat. Prehaps the crier enemy could be eliminated quickly enough, similiar to radio operator enemies in Metal Gear Solid 3, that additional waves never arrive or conversely a player could intentionally leave the crier alive to draw more enemies to that battle at the benefit of having less enemies available to that particular group on the map, over the course of the quest, or if very ambitiously coded, the entire course of the game.
Another concern along the lines of the combat as many have already touched on was the way that enemies' limbs and head exploded off of their torso when killed in multiple ways. I personally found this to be rather silly, instead perferring the Origins deathblows. The first time I saw a body explode in DA2, I chuckled and rolled my eyes, after that, I was aware of it happening but it did nothing for me but a different way to signal the death of an enemy. In Origins however, the first time I killed an Ogre and it played the animation? I let loose a "Hell yeah!" loud enough to startel my wife and did a fist pump, it just felt more exciting. And while not every enemy would benefit from the slow motion thing (that would get tiresome after a while), to this day while playing Origins, I still get a wicked grin everytime one of the death blows play. They're like a violent punctuation to end the fight. They just felt more real and brutal, the way that I first saw the Dragon Age universe. One of my most loved Origins mods to this day is one that forces deathblows against all elite and higher enemies, the last enemy to be killed in a group, and ups the percentage of it happening with common enemies.
One thing I heard a lot of people both for and against concerning DA2 is the speed and how stylistic the combat is, but me personally? I wouldn't know. Playing as a sword and shield warrior with Shield Defense active? I had ONE attack animation. A weak looking straight thrust. That was it. It feels less a like a defensive warrior in a semi-organized melee and more like I should be in a phalanx formation with a spear. In Origins sword and shield characters with shield wall active, warriors actively used both weapon and shield as weapons in animations that looked the way I would expect an actual sword fight to look, slow and slightly clunky but with blows that looked down right devastating. Practically the only way I could take down even the weakest enemies in a hurry was through using the special skills. After I ran out of stamina? I could either disable Shield Defense, throwing the whole point of that build out of the window or go grab a drink and hit the bathroom while my character inflicted the death of a thousand paper cuts against an enemy. I understand that rogue players want their character to look like something out of a John Woo movie, it's not my cup of tea but I can understand that. So instead of having the combat pander to one class, have it cater to all. Let warrior's look clunky and hard hitting, have rogues be nimble and working for that one perfect strike, and have archers and mages play like modern infantry, darting from cover to cover, constantly trying to manuever to the enemy's flank or a higher vantage point.
After each of these fights I would go around and collect the loot, which for me was rather wasteful, though there were a few hidden gems in the new inventory. Firstly of course would have to be the new junk loot feature. I remember one time that my inventory was completely full of junk that I had dutifully collected as spoils of war I sold it all off and didn't even make a single gold soveriegn out of it. After seeing that? I didn't bother picking up anything unless it was a piece of equipment or a plot item. Now there might've been great potential in this type of system if some was in-fact, not junk. The example that springs to mind is a book your given as a reward for a quest that is immediately is classified as junk and doesn't fetch you any price worth discussing. But what if that book had played a major role in resolving a later quest in an alternate fashion? Or its absence created a point of friction with someone? The reason I mentioned the latter is because the design team earned some serious respect from me when Aveline mentioned spitefully that I'd sold her husband's old shield. That was an amazing small bit of excellent characterization and realism that I was not expecting, especially with how the game was playing out up to that point. If only it was not the sole example of that I'd seen. And even most of the gear didn't matter as since you couldn't equip your teammates there was no point to finding mages robes as a warrior despite the fact the game could clearly generate class specific gear.
Concerning the interactions and story however, a polarizing issue it seems is the dialogue wheel. The way I've always thought of things is that games can be designed to either go more towards letting you experience your own adventure or more towards showing you the story they want to tell. My opinion is that a list of choices like that in origins is the former while dialogue wheels are the latter. While my preference is a verbatem list with an unvoiced protagonist, I feel that the current dialogue wheel could be improved upon if the focus of the series is shifting towards a more cinematic experience rather than a personal one. I believe that dialogue wheels, used as they are in Mass Effect and DA2 hinder themselves because while they're designed to give conversations a more cinematic feel, they still stop even the most intense conversation cold which hobbles what was likely the desired effect. I feel that if a company chooses to go with a dialogue wheel as opposed to a list of full text dialogue that they should make it interrupt the conversation as little as possible. For example the dialogue wheel in Alpha Protocol has a time limit for user input with the extact limit varying depending on the situation in the game that really adds a sense of urgency and a need to think on your feet to the dialogue. Also a good integration if the dialogue wheel is a route to be used in the future would be Mass Effect 2 style rengade/paragon interrupts though instead of displaying an icon of the alignment type, use a simplistic animation or word to clarify what extactly would be done 'slap', 'execute', 'rescue', 'embrace', etc.
Moving on to companions, I'll cover their armor system first as it is also something I've seen much debate about. Both sides of the arguments usually have valid points between characters needing to retain individuality and wanting a uniform or at least utilitaritian look. While I am firmly a fan of the latter, I do think that there is middle ground opportunity that could be taken advantage of. If the intent of the designers is for companions to still appear distinctive, instead of locking them into a single outfit for the rest of the game, have it upgrade or have options available. Similar to how companions that are romanced successfully use a second mesh for Act 3, expand upon that idea. Have the armor upgrades actually upgrade the armor. If character starts out wearing simple leathers have upgrades put metal studs on the leather or if a character starts out wearing a breastplate have an upgrade add a chainmail shirt underneath. Even simple personalization of generic armor would allow a character to retain individuality, image if Sebastian, Isabella, and Merrill were all put in splint mail? Prehaps Sebastian's is polished to a high sheen with chantry imagery etched into it. Prehaps Isabella's looks a bit rusty, still sporting blood or ale stains, maybe a few vugarities carved into it (a la the staircase in your manor). Prehaps Merrill's is in earthen tones, Dalish markings painted onto it with something similar to woad, a few feathers or prehaps even greenery in an attempt at camouflage bound to it. An example would be the Witcher, while you can upgrade the main character's armor, and each level does indeed look like strudier armor, the look is still undenibly his.
One thing concerning companions that I was personally disheartened to see is that you appearently, no matter how much of a friend or enemy of them you are, can't change their outlook for better or worse. Merrill may talk in the dialogue about how devoted she is to a character that she's romantically involved with but nothing your character does can actually convince her to give up blood magic. While an excessive example, I would have liked to have seen a setup similar to Knights of the Old Republic 2, where you can train pratically every member of the crew to be a Jedi and/or Sith. You are according to the story one of the most influencial people in Kirkwall by that point yet even your closest friends won't take any advice other than going mindlessly along with their plans 100%? There were so many what I felt were wasted opportinuties at character growth that were ignored in DA2, which was especially jarring considering how well Bioware did the same thing with Origins and the Mass Effect series.
At times it almost seemed like you just a detached boss for your companions as some of the best insights into characters and best lines of dialogue existed among themselves at random times. For example there was one dialogue exchange in Act 3 between Merrill and Aveline (I believe) in my play through that was just a random banter trigger that spoke volumes of what her character was supposed to be, it went something like: Merrill: "I Love Hawke." Aveline: "Why do keep saying that?" Merrill: "Because when I say it it makes me think that some things in this world are still right. I love Hawke." Or another example of a scene that was solely lacking over what it should of been was in the Deep Roads cutscene with Varric and Bethany when you realize that 'the event' is happening and Varric gives a crushed sounding: "Oh Sunshine....". That single line put more weight into that one moment than anything else in the game before or after that. Yet while the NPCs shares gems like those between themselves...most of what you're stuck with seems like the conversations that were collected from balled up wads of paper on the writer's floor at the end of the day.
And speaking of your family, I believe that they were poorly handled compared to the way your families were introduced in Origins (where applicable). Playing as the human noble in Origins for example, I meet and talk to all the members of my immediate family. I learn who they are and what type of people they are. When you find the body of your sister in law and nephew later, it's a real blow and sets the stage for the game; to say nothing of the punch to the gut when you have to leave your father and mother, that's further compounded when you discover your brother is missing. In contrast in DA2 when your first sibling is killed during the intro...I wasn't even truly clear that it was my sibling at until after the fact so I had no emotion other than a slight frustration that part of the group was killed. The intro on the whole I found very frustrating. At that point, between the opening cinematic and the exaggerated version of Varric's tale, you've already got the player's attention and have them amped up and ready to dive into the game.
I feel it would have been better to when the seeker asks for the truth that Varric begins the tale on the same spot as the exaggerated battle but still have it look normal, with Hawke training there. You could have one of the siblings come up and explain that there are more reports of Darkspawn closer to Lothering and that your mother needs to return home to help prepare to leave in the morning. This time could be spent packing away family belonging and such, the perfect time for reminiscing about the past to introduce you to the family. You could even have Aveline's husband be the one to come by on order of the chantry to make sure that your famility is getting ready to evacuate so his fate in the intro has more meaning behind it.
Though most of the story I honestly didn't care for, I'm all for things not being all sunshine and roses but if that's poured on too thick then there's nothing left worth fighting for. As good as a good as the Witcher was, I've never finished it because all the choices in the game leave a bitter taste in your mouth no matter what you pick, it's depressing. At a certain point it just becomes the WarGames case of "the only winning move is not to play". I personally felt that Origins had a good mix of victories and losses. For every case of the future King of Orzimar or Alistar's sister, there was case of the peacemaker option concerning the Dalish and the werewolves or Ogrhen and Felsi. It kept the storyline balanced to keep it from getting too depressing or too idealistic. In DA2, with the way things went in my play through...I found myself asking why I'd even bothered still being in the city that point by Act 3.
Of course you're told that you have to be there and make a decision in the end because you're "The Champion of Kirkwall" but it certainly doesn't feel like it in the game. I was excited briefly when offered to become a partner in the mine, thinking the game would become like Awakenings or Neverwinter Nights 2 at that point to where I can actually build and manage a personal empire that would be sources of wealth, items, and quests before ultimately playing a deciding role in the outcome of the final battle. I personally love that concept and have played through Neverwinter Nights 2 multiple times just for the part where you're put in control of Crossroad Keep. Instead that mine never gets me anything other than a few light quests with minor rewards and a lot of headaches. I don't have successful businesses, mercenary companys, shipping lanes, or even semi-solid investments...I'm just a rich(ish) guy that killed somebody once but that everybody acts like the city can't function without.
Even from the powerful warrior angle it didn't feel very campanion like as every two-bit thug in the city apparently though I'd be easy prey. Varric was the only one that even commented on how futile trying to fight you was, everybody else just wordlessly threw themselves willingly into the meat grinder that was your team. A quick cutscene, enemies fleeing the battle, or even in combat dialogue from the enemy showing an uncertainty to fighting you would reinforce the idea in the game world at least that you were a force to be feared. One of the best examples of this would be Ace Combat 4 & 5 where as the game progresses the enemy radio transmissions go from confident and sure of themselves to the point where they believe your aircraft to be death incarnate. It really lends to the feeling that you are in fact THE resident bad ass of that area.
I thought about going into the lack of choices that actually make even a mentioned in passing difference or how Kirkwall never changes over the course of 7 years but those are numerous and hard to go into without spoilers. But I will mention the choice at the end and the lack of a third options. There would've been a viable third option had you not been forced to instantly enter combat against the moderates in the issue, but even with that you still could've simply walked away from the situation and it still could've worked within the ending. A simple blurb about how you hold significant sway with moderates and peacemakers in the conflict due to the fact that such an influencial figure was so disgusted by the situation that he simply walked away in protester rather than help either faction continue the stupidity.
Finally the decisions to incorporate characters from Origins and Awakenings into the game and retcon many decisions of players I feel was a poor one that could've been avoided. I think it's obvious that we will never be allowed to continue the Warden's story at this point so why alter something that many hold dear that won't have an impact in the future series? As I understand the Zevran and Alistar cameos only show if they survive which was my case as I saw the former but never the latter as in my play through, he made the final blow against the Archdemon, but Leliana and Anders/Justice are more murky terrority. In the case of Leliana there is no real need for her to participate in the story in the way she does so why not only have her if she survived an Origins import and wasn't romanced by the Warden and if she was killed or not romanced, simply use a different character. As with Anders if he was killed or never met Justice simply have him acting on his own or another character acting on their own. I personnally would've found the bit at the end even more compelling if it wasn't so much of a borderline "my condition made me do it" thing. And while in the case of Anders' position on the team it would have had more dialogue had that slot needed to be voiced by two seperate actors, the situation with Wrex in Mass Effect 2 showed that this was possible to accomplish within a game.
Again I apologize for the length, I guess I'm just very opinionated about this game and its predescessor.
Modifié par POed Paladin, 26 mars 2011 - 07:39 .
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