2797 réponses à ce sujet

[Serpieri Nei]

Recycled Content - Recycling is great for the environment - However Recycled Environments/Instances/Beastiary is very bad for a game and an embarrassment for a company like Bioware. And trying to say it was “Artfully done” when the environments are so sparse to begin with.

All enemies in DA: 2 were trained by Mystical Ninjas – their new training providing them with the  ability to appear out of thin air, and complete back flips in full plate armor.

Waves - Ninjas and Paratroopers are not better in waves. It just makes the battle longer without offering anything new to break up the tedium.  Next time you want to use reinforcements they should come from entrances or doorways/hallways or hidden locations for ambushes. And the enemies should vary.

Elves/Darkspawn – Seems people relate better to fish and zombies but then again it seems Bioware wants to get players from all the different game genres out there. Sadly this game is nowhere as good as Resident Evil and I’m still trying to figure out if they wanted fisherman to play the game. The romance scene with Merril is grotesque her body is distorted, and looks like something from a horror movie.

Limited Dialogue/Interaction with Companions – What makes a great Companion? Well for me, it’s getting to know that companion and learning about their past, challenges they have faced the mistakes they have made, and their motivations. People don’t want two dimensional stereotypes.

Lack of Race/Character Customization – The Origins was one of the greatest features of Dragon age. I can understand that EA has taken control and you will now cut corners/costs but you could have at least written Hawke as an elf, dwarf, or human. 

Dialogue Wheel - Failing to match response chosen - Loss of persuasion, and special actions from previous games. Reason for the change is simple, it’s easier and lost costly to create the illusion of choice when your tone is the only thing that changes but the end decision is the same.

Inability to Upgrade Companion Armor/lack of Inventory – Another money saver and money maker. Since we see that additional companion armor is now being sold as add-ons in MEII. So it seems Bioware has decided to cut costs in this area and turn it into a money grab.

Lazy Side Quests – turn in random item to random generated npc - WoW, seriously Bioware are you trying to ruin your reputation.

Uninspiring Story – Plot Holes – very little choices affect the world around you – Consequences..What consequences? Choices made in the first game must carry over, or why even bother giving them. Again, it’s much cheaper for them to make a game that doesn’t reflect all the great possibilities you could have had in the original carry over to the next game. The only ones that do carry over, are gone and forgotten quickly. The game’s framed narrative butchered plot cohesion and made DA2 into three short stories.

Loot/Drops – 90% of which was vendored. Since Bioware decided to cut cost they could of also took the time to generate drops that would be useable by your class. Instead of getting mage armor for your warrior or rogue and warrior and rogue gear for your mage. 

Crafting – Marginalized – why not just take it out completely and give the CoD crowd a Pill Dispenser
in DA3

Inventory/junk – What happened to the item descriptions/history/actual icons. Heck if you want to save cost why not just have all the mobs just drop coins or better yet upon death they deposit the money in my savings account. I
also hated the redundant naming. Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, Ornate Belt, Ornate Belt, Ring, Ring, Ornate Belt, Ring, Ring.

Equipment Rating – Not Accurate/Bugged – Basically useless, it’s a good thing I don’t need a game to tell me what’s good/bad 

Trees/Abilities/Specializations – less variety – what happened to the Bard, Ranger, Arcane Warrior, Shapeshifter, Battlemage, Keeper, Legionnaire Scout, and Spirit Warrior? The answer is simple, cost and time that Bioware is no longer willing to spend.

Weapon Restrictions - Dual Wield/Archery restricted to the Rogue class. It seems warriors forgot how to in DA:2. Rogues are unable to use swords. Amnesia is better when shared

Companion Roles - Relying on just Anders to be a healer and locking companions to one fighting style is a grievous error. It forces the player to bring certain companions instead of leaving that choice to the player. In DA: Origins, we decided which character was the healer, who was the tank, the archer, and so on. 

DLC at release – blatant money grab

Tactical Combat - Passed the game on Nightmare – No tactics required, nor did I have to use the cross class combos too win. I think Bioware meant that we nerfed healing, reduced taunt/aggro mechanics, and several other components to make it tougher. Yet, the mobs AI is dumber then bricks and easily exploitable.

Lack of Content - Not much to say here, the game has 30 hours of game play compared to its predecessor that has around 100 hours.

Little to No Replay Value – Choices in the game simply don’t matter, and doesn’t impact/change the journey in any way. The changes in dialogue depending on friendship/rivalry are not worth trudging through the game to here a few different lines of dialogue. 

Kirkwall – Trapped in lifeless city where nothing changes over a 7 year period. Guards don’t react to a apostate/blood mage running free in the city. Hawke getting attacked in broad daylight as the guards/templars/merchants/npc’s just stand there. Many of which comprised of very low-textures. NPC’s are static, and never change nor do they go about their day instead they are just window dressing.

Modifié par Serpieri Nei, 05 juillet 2011 - 08:06 .

[Shibibiba]

Starting the deep roads as a mage with Anders healing- and of course, I have to bring Varric- and of course, I SHOULD bring Aveline for a proper tank... but I wish to bring my sibling- which is of course a bad idea, because he can't tank. >_<

[nofaith011]

So I jumped into the dragon age game with this, Dragon Age 2. I really like a lot of the aspects of the game, but there are a few things that will likely keep me from continuing with Dragon Age or really any EA or Bioware games.

I'm a PC gamer, yeah I know go die somewhere quietly right? =D This was absolutely not enough content for 65 dollars. The story seems prime for DLC and will likely be pay options soon enough, but, why should I buy it. I got Black Emporium free with my purchase and if I had purchased it for 10 dollars I would have raged. Seriously raged, there are a few things there that you can get that help like attribute points and respec potions. You can get the potions from Sundermount so, really why would anyone get Black Emporium? There are very over priced items that would certainly make your character more powerful but with the game being over in the blink of an eye anyway, who wants to make it go faster? And all for the low low price of 2 play throughs worth of gold? Mind boggling. Perhaps I'm really just killing the time till Diablo 3, /shrug.

I found the combat to be enjoyable. I liked the dynamics of the battles a lot, with juggling the entire group, positions, specs, tactics, gearing, enemy considerations, ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT FUN! Here's the kick, of the tiny amount of content a minor portion is combat. I did like the story, I did like hating the people I chose to hate and love the ones I loved and all, but not nearly enough combat to "master". I would be 10x the happy with just a plain "cave" random generator and at the end of the story let me go in there, kill things, and be happy as a clam. Nope, not in DOA2. How cool would it be if they let you go online, fill a party with other "Hawkes", and then kill things. Wow, so much awesome would be had. So much. I know this isn't a MMO or anything, which is fine, but in my eyes I payed 65 bucks for a game I played for 3 days. So 21 bucks or so a day. Hmm. No, not again, which sucks because I could really dive into this story and these mechanics, but if a fool and his money soon depart, I guess I should play like Maxwell and Get Smart.

I've heard heaps about some of the other bioware titles and really have a craving for something new, dynamic, and that has DEPTH. If what I hear is true and dlc rules the roost around here, I'll just have to keep searching. There is no way I'll pay for a game, be disappointed, and then pay 10 more bucks every month for a tiny little morsel, simply wont.

So in the end I'm thoroughly sadface, not because the game was bad, but because it was good enough to peak my interest then idiot checked my wallet, only to leave me wanting more game but weary of "committing".

Perhaps Blizzard has spoiled my expectation of PC gaming, and I'll have to just wait out Diablo 3. Maybe that's why I loved the combat so much, but need much much more as far as length of play. Maybe it's the PC background, hard to say. I don't own consoles because I didn't like the beat a game in a week, need a new one to play, go spend 60 bucks, beat that and need new again. Ugh, no thanks.

[erynnar]

Shibibiba wrote...

Starting the deep roads as a mage with Anders healing- and of course, I have to bring Varric- and of course, I SHOULD bring Aveline for a proper tank... but I wish to bring my sibling- which is of course a bad idea, because he can't tank. >_<

This. I had to tank with my rogue, which meant normal or casual play lest the constant waves become so tedious as to have me run screaming from the room. Sorry, BioWare, I know from the interviews you like reasonable well thought out responses. I hope you don't mind I choose the snark button on my convo wheel sometimes... I snark because I love, truly.

Speaking of the whole voiced protagonist...I understand, truly I do, the dislike of the silent puppet standing with only minor expressions during convos.  But I have been thinking (reasonably, and logically, I hope) about why it bothers me so to have a voiced protagonist. I mean, I loved my lady Hawke's voice actress and her voice. So, I kept wondering why it bothered me so still.  And it struck me today (like a mace to the face from one of the guys who jumped from a four story building in full plate:P) that I associate my Hawke's looks with that voice.  It messes with replay-ability for me. I don't think I can make another Hawke who looks different but sounds like my rogue Hawke.  

Oh and the cinematic, lets watch a movie with occasional game play.  I loved the cut sceens (both small and large) in DAO.  But unlike in DA2 they were a surprise, a little...titalation if you will (ie Zevran talking to Loghain about being hired to kill you). They would interrupt my game play with a teaser. DA2, I often feel like I am watching a movie that I get to tinker in some what. I prefer to play not watch a game movie.

And the codexes to get to know my companions? It seems lazy and cheap, sorry.

Modifié par erynnar, 04 avril 2011 - 10:45 .

[kuurankuiskaus]

I'll add my cookie to the pile too!
Where to start...

New visual & art style I liked the overall change. More vibrant colours were refreshing and especially the use of red in the environment always caught my attention (no, I'm not talking about the blood). The characters (not the idle folk standing around Kirkwall though) looked better in general. I like the Qunari's racial makeover, now they look rather cool and distinct from other races (but why did about all of them share the same face?). Darkspawn... well, the emissaries are neat but in this case I prefer the Origins darkspawn. Elves, um... well, they certainly look different from humans now but I think I encountered less than 5 elves (Fenris and Merrill included) in the game that I would call good-looking. I don't know if that's a necessarily bad thing (though I do wish for more of them prettiful elfsies in the possible future instalments, aren't they supposed to be pretty? No? I need pretty elves! Fenris proves the new elves can be pretty!)
Oh, I wanted to see more trees. Or...bushes. Or even flowers. But that might be just me.

Audio & soundtrack I really liked the soundtrack (that came with SE), especially the "Destiny of Love" track. Origins' soundtrack was rather good too, but DA2's might be a wee bit better. There was some great voice acting here and there (Flemeth ), and while it's wasn't superb it was still great - I really liked the VA in general. (Now I must share it, I still haven't figured if Bethany's trying to be serious or sarcastic in the very first conversation with Aveline and her husband - I haven't done a playthrough where she lives, mind you -, the line going like "The nice templar has decided to postpone his hunt for illegal mages, so let's not dwell upon it, shall we?". I don't know if it's the delivery or the line itself but I felt a bit confuzzled after it ("huh, seriously?"). Just had to share, sorry, moving on now)

Voiced protagonist I love it, don't ever take it away! Hawke had a personality! She wasn't a blank sheet! She had expressions! I think it's a major improvement from the expressionless, mute Warden, especially since I'm not one of those people who like to imagine their characters' actions explicitly. Though, if you're going to keep the voiced hero in the future titles, I guess it means continuously restricting the playable races and origins. In my opinion, the lack of options regarding race and origin is okay if that keeps the hero voiced (though I wonder if we'll only get human characters from now on. I... I might like to play an elf once. QUNARI!). Or you could try writing a purposely mute hero. Just remember to add lots of hand-waving and expressions!

Dialogue I like the dialogue wheel, it works well enough even if there is room for improvement. Some of the paraphrases were a tad misleading but I can't think of any better way to replace them - picking the exact reply and then hearing it read aloud isn't much fun. What was fun was to pick the sarcastic replies - I never knew if Hawke was going to blurt out an epic one-liner or something that the biggest jerk would feel proud about. Some people probably don't like being surprised with the sneakily jerk-sounding responses but I was very amused how it kept surprising me. Sarcastic option was never boring - I rarely used the other two. You could make the next hero fully sarcastic! Okay, options are good.
Hmmh, I don't know if I like the "click here for romance" lines. I mean, it's great that now people know what they're signing up for as they see the heart symbol, but... I guess it dumbs down the romances a bit since now there's just one way (read: certain line to pick) to trigger a romance. A couple of options would be nice (I admit that romances a major thing for me, I'll come back to that later).

Party banter is . It was very amusing (though nothing made me giggle like Alistar x Morrigan banters did in Origins), I especially liked Isabela's banter with pretty much everyone. It was so nice to sometimes hear all three of your party members taking part in the same banter (I even had one banter with the whole group participating, it made me aww). I liked that the banter "evolved" according to the timeline, companions discussing what had happened in the game.

Combat Uh, okay, I admit combat isn't such a big deal for me in games which I play for their stories. I liked that the combat was faster - though it might be even better if slowed down a tiny bit. Tiny. What I found tiresome were the endless waves of enemies. I felt many times like "okay, nuked the xth wave of them, moving on no-- oh crap, there can't still be more". Waves are okay if used just a few times. They could also appear from a doorway or somewhere more probable than jumping from the roofs or popping up from thin air.
*The boss battles* --- they didn't require much thinking. Many of them followed the pattern 'smack the boss - kill the adds while the boss hops around somewhere else - smack the boss - kill the adds - smack - adds - etc'. Especially the high dragon battle was very tiresome, it felt more like a test of patience than skill. Now I don't really seek a challenge in combat (played with Normal), but occasional thinking especially in boss battles is a nice change amongst all the trash-mob bashing. I really liked the Amgarrak harvester battle, also the 'four-faced-pillar' in the Deep Roads in Origins, to mention a couple. There I had to stop for a minute and figure out how the boss works.
Conclusion: less waves please, boss-specific battle patterns would be nice. Also, I'd rather have a few more bosses and maybe a little less of the trash-mobs. Or talking with people, you could invest in companion interaction! I'd approve!

Specializations and talents I liked the new talent-tree design, having options to choose from different abilities to get what I want and so on. I have only played a mage so far and yup, I picked the Blood Mage tree since it seemed to be the only really offending spec. I never expected Hawke's spec to affect the plot so I wasn't surprised as everyone seemed indifferent towards my dark slitting magics, but... it was still a bit silly that nobody reacted. Maybe give mages some other offending spec in the future? I didn't want to spec Spirit healing, so I picked Force magic for my second spec and I didn't find it very useful (might be just me, I'm not a spec-combat-pro anyway). Overall I think the general mage talents were almost more useful (to me) than the actual specs.
*Companion specific talents* I liked them, it added to their individuality, though some of them looked way more useful than others. I'd keep the companion talents.

Friendship & rivalry In my (so far) only playthrough I was friends with everyone except Fenris. Now the thing is, I think this is a step up from the Origins system, but I had some issues with it at first. Especially when rivalling Fenris I felt like the relationship didn't really develop anywhere for a good while because I kept disagreeing with him about the mages we encountered, and yet tried to be friendly to him in general. That caused me to receive rivalry and friendship points that kind of nullified one another - then I decided to be a jerk to poor Fenris for a while to receive major rivalry boosts to lock his rivalry. If there hadn't been the full rivalry (or friendship) lock I would've kept sailing around the middle forever.
I don't know how to improve this either, I mean I think it's great that the player doesn't have to agree with everyone all the time, but it makes disagreeing and being nice sometimes rather unawarding. So I'll just say - keep the full lock. After I had locked the friendships / rivalry I didn't have to pick my responses so carefully anymore in fear of losing whichever points I was hoping to gain.

Companions Generally I liked the DA2 lot a bit more than the Origins bunch, but there wasn't as memorable characters as Alistair and Morrigan were to me. Varric comes rather close though (Varric, the bestest bro ever!) - I think he was the only one who never bugged me in any way. My favourites besides him were Isabela (dat banter) and Fenris (dat voice) (when I heard a certain banter that may happen in Act III I gigglesnorted, awww). And, surprisingly enough, lil bro Carver. He just grew on me, I was so sad when... well. Trying to avoid spoilers. But in the end his actions made me aww.
I didn't use other mages much, but what little I did use Merrill, she was cutely naive... when it didn't go overboard and sound incredibly stupid (also, her personal quest made me go "uh, okay, what was this actually about?").
Anders was... I have to admit I was disappointed, he didn't feel like the Anders I knew from Awakening at all (nor Justice). Instead, he felt like a completely new character that I supposedly knew. I don't dislike him (or hate him, regardless of his later actions), but he just makes me feel so confused. Where's the cheeky Anders who didn't do it?
Aveline. I liked her more than I expected before the launch, and I think her Act II quest was one of the most amusing in the game, but she still doesn't make it to my favourites, though I can't really specify why. Personal preferences I guess.
Umm yeah, what's left. Sebastian. Ungh... why did he have to be such a stick-in-the-mud while possessing such a great accent? I can't say much about him, only that I didn't like him enough to use him outside of his personal quests. The other companions (especially rogues) overshadowed him completely.
By the way, I liked the companions having home bases.

Companion interaction: now then. I really approve of the amount of party banter and the fairly large amount of companions. But. I really wish we had more dialogue with companions. I don't mind if it's not like we can start a conversation anywhere, anytime, I just wish there was more of it. Now it was mostly just a quest per Act & a short dialogue after completing it (I have to point out now that the quests which told you that someone wanted to talk to you were useful, otherwise I would've been "doing rounds" around all their homebases all the time, which would've been a pain). It was nice to see the companions visiting each other too - sometimes I just wished that the visiting party would've stayed. Companion dialogues with multiple participants would be awesome! Maybe they're too hard to implement cleverly? No matter, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Ahem, yes. More companion interaction, please.

Romances SQUEE! The little fangirl in me loves romances. Loves them. And I must let you know that I was disappointed with the amount of half-naked male LIs in the game. I would've given a sidequest or five to see a shirtless Fenris (*sob* yes, that's how shallow I am, I admit it. No, bare feet ain't enough). Um. In my playthrough I obviously romanced the broody elf (but youtube is my friend and I've watched all the other romances too). The romances feel a bit shallow. In the sense that I wished they were fleshed out more, especially since there were the relatively big time jumps. With Fenris it felt like the time hadn't moved at all (romance-wise) between the jumps. I guess the jumps could've been three weeks instead of years, that would've felt more believable.
I've understood that since romances aren't "obligatory" content, the resources given to them are understandably limited. I really liked Alistair's romance in Origins and I would like to see a very "detailed" or fleshed out romance (can't think of a proper word to describe this, sorry for vagueness) in the future. I think, if there were only 2 LIs in the whole game (a male and a female, both bisexual to suit all players), and the whole romance budget was given to them, it might result in a nice depth in the romances. Don't get me wrong, I love that there are LI options and I hope that there are as many as possible, but if having less LI options would result in deeper romances (given the limited resources), I'm giving it my whole support.
Back to DA2 - what is this, Fen-romance gets no action on the bed, the three others do, discrimination :'<   what I liked - the kissing scenes were .
Bioware, I like your romances. If you ever stop adding them to your games, I will pout. Severely. (Can one pout...severely?)  Also, it could be fun to see if two companions romanced each other (more than that one banter suggests). But if it takes away other romance resources... don't do it. All for the hero!

Story Oh I've been dreading to start this part. I... it was... I mean... I was disappointed. It wasn't that bad but I was definitely expecting more. I think it's great that you decided to break the old save-the-world-pattern, but somehow I felt like I lacked motivation. That Hawke lacked motivation. I'm not sure which of us it was.
Now, Act I (I hope I won't end up spoiling too much D: ) - it was okay doing sidequests and stuff, getting all companions and so on. It maybe went on a bit too long (I did all the quests and had way over the required amount of monies for the main plot before I went there to trigger it). Note: the reused environments didn't bother me at all at this point. I didn't really even notice it.
Now then, progressing the main plot and moving to Act II (which was the best part of the game IMO). Yay, Hawke's life has changed! I felt a bit like outsider (in the sense that I felt like I was in another beginning again). Note: Before All That Remains, I started to notice the reused environments. It still didn't bother me much. Now that I think of it, All That Remains, as grotesque as it is, was probably my favourite quest in the whole game. It was one of the (sadly few) moments that really touched me as a player (sidequests were mostly like "I'm doing this for money, gief, I stash it."). I did some sidequests before diving into the Qunari thing, and at that point I started to get tired of the reused environments. Anyway, continuing the main plot - that was probably the most interesting part of the game politically, the end of Act II. But. Um. I blame the advertising, but so far I had believed that becoming the Champion is the main "goal" of the game. So, I did what I had to (couldn't bear the thought of Act III without Isabela's banter) and was declared the Champion. Mkay. I kind of thought that it would be something more epic. Ah well.
On to Act III. In the very beginning it started to feel like Hawke was given the title just so that s/he had to pick sides (or try no to) publicly. I would've liked the chance to tell both parties to sod off OR leave the city as it was quite obvious how things were going to turn out in the near future. Also, I couldn't think of a proper reason for Hawke to stay in the town - her family was more or less gone, she owns an estate that (I think) she got mainly because of her mother. That's probably the thing keeping her there, that and the Champion title (btw, technically it wasn't my Hawke who gave the final blow, it was Isabela, shouldn't she be the Champion now? Okay I kid). Though, I'm not sure how the title would be her motive. Maybe the sense of duty? But it's not like she owes anything to anyone (well, her companions and all but is that a reason not to move away)? I think I sound confusing. Confused. I am that.
Yeah, um. At that point the sidequests started to really bugger me off, those and the reused environments. The constant feeling of deja vu might be bad for health. It was tiresome nevertheless. Then I was kind of forced to do tasks for the two rivaling parties, a couple of companion quests and whoomps! Endgame! Pick between bad options (and later learn that the outcomes don't really differ). A certain mage (the elf, not human) decided to do a certain thing at a certain point which didn't make very much sense to me, more like a boss just for the sake of a boss battle. That and the feeling of "aha! Gotcha! See here, you didn't pick the right side after all!" (not that the other would've been better as I soon noticed).
So yeah. Beat the final boss, epilogue, yay... wait, is it over already? But... I thought something awesome was going to happen next (no, not referring to the button thing).

I don't know if the above babbling about the story is much use to whoever is reading this, so I'll try to rephrase a bit: I felt like the whole thing (okay, mostly Act III) was the beginning of a bigger story. I think it could've been used as the beginning of another game - a game that then tells the story of the consequences which the stuff that happened in Act III caused. I don't know if the rest of Hawke's story was that significant when it comes down to the whole Thedas. It mostly affected Kirkwall, which is only one city. The beginning of Hawke's story may have some significance in the future, I don't know, but right now it just feels like it didn't matter that much. (I haven't thought of it before, but as I now did, I guess I kinda like that the hero and his/her actions in the games I play have larger significance in the world/universe/something. It doesn't have to be saving it... it could be conquering it!)
I like to go off-track, sorry for that. Um, yeah, I think that the ending of DA2 would've served better as a beginning of another DA title. If slightly altered, I don't think that it would've even needed Hawke to be there. Ah well. That's what I thought anyway.

The time-jumps Just in general, it didn't feel like x amount of years had passed, for several reasons. Kirkwall never changed. It didn't feel like the relationships between Hawke and her companions had really deepened the amount one could expect in that time. Hawke hadn't got richer when she supposedly should have (I know, gameplay reasons but poo :< ). The time-jumps felt more like months, not years.

Quests I think I've discussed quests a bit already somewhere over there. There were too many sidequests. The thing I mostly wanted to point out was that since there were such a mass of the sidequests, I never bothered to pay much attention to the NPC I was working for/saving/etc. since I thought I'd probably never see him/her again. Then when some of the "old buddies" showed up in later acts I was like "huh, should I know you?". It was a bit confusing, though I guess it was mainly my fault for not paying attention.

I... think my brain is starting to melt now. Can't think of anything else perhaps-productive to say. Except that whyyyyy did you butcher poor Alistair's face? :'< I couldn't bear to look at him! I didn't like Zevran either but his new looks can be blamed on the racial makeover. But Cullen and Leliana look fine if not better now, why doesn't Alibear?

You know, I still kind of liked the game. I did.

Thank you for reading, if you ever got this far (I admire your patience). Cookies. I think I just wrote a novel.

[Silhouelle]

Family Deaths.
These had so much potential to be truly emotional and dramatic, only Leandra's death was emotional I found. Note that I've only played through as Mage so far, and Carver died in deep roads. So, Carver is infected with the blight, asks me to kill him. All sounds very dramatic but it didn't come across as that ingame. Followed by a like a two second cutscene where Hawke steps closer and then its instant skip ahead to the group entering Kirkwall again. Completely undramatic. Choosing between those two certain companions in ME1 was far more engaging and emotional.

As mentioned though, Leandra's death was handled nicely - specifically so because of how Hawke reacts afterwards, sitting alone staring at a fire and being, you know, actually sad. I never felt the siblings death really mattered all that much, sadly.

Mage Hawke.
With a warrior/rogue you have Bethany frequently worrying about Templars and, potentially, ending up in the circle. If we play as a Mage theres only a handful of comments, such as from Meredith, which pretty much just brush aside the fact your a mage. It would be nice if playing as a Mage granted a unique quest line to it, perhaps one for delving into Blood Magic a bit. Would have been nicer to be able to be actively involved in Ander's underground mage group, with playing as a mage granting you deeper access.

That said, I can see it would be a fair amount of effort for a deal of content alot of people might never see. One can dream though. ^^

Spell Combos.
Can't figure why they where removed. Yes, we now get cross class combos which are great and all but... why does that equal losing spell combos? Could easily have had both. This brings me onto;

class Balancing.
Went way too far! I understand and agree with not making a particular class exceptionally overpowered compared to the others but this is a single player game, it does not need to have classes perfectly balanced where they are only proficient in designated ways. Why can't a mage have access to a melee skill tree, using swords or whatnot and having a passive ability similiar to rogues/warriors that grant x% mana per melee hit? It doesn't even make sense that a mage, an apostate, would walk around Kirkwall with a staff on his/her back. Every single mage uses a staff, one would think Templars just grab anyone using one then. :|

Companion Abilities.
We should be able to choose their weapon styles and so on. Why is Hawke the only one to be able to be a Force Mage (out of nowhere I might add, not teachers or anything). I understand companions having a set skillset in the beginning when you get them but from there you should be able to level them as one sees fit, making Merrill a Spirit Healer for example. Rogues/warriors should be free to use all weapons related to that tree, not just Bianca for Varric or dual wielding for Isabela. I ended up using Isabela alot because I had two mages and Aveline, and someone needed to lockpick. If Varric could dual wield I would have always taken him instead, but as he is stuck with ranged attacks I didn't take him. 

Then theres the city, reused enviroments/cells and so on, but enough people have commented on those I think. My hope in the future would be for a city similiar to the Assassin Creed games, with people wandering about, shops shouting out about deals and so on. Divided into separate cell districts sure, as I don't imagine Bioware moving away from that, but actual lifelike places within those cells. Whatever happened to the loud music and mash of various NPCs talking and laughing in taverns? Always enjoyed that in the old BG games, the ones in DA:O/2 are so quiet and empty in comparison.

Anyhoo, I'm rambling now...

I will say I did enjoy the game alot however, above issues aside.

[Shibibiba]

I'd forgotten about the DLC- the Black Emporium in particular- I mean, WHAT is the point of receiving free/buying DLC that gives you access to weapons and armor... that you have to Buy with gold that's already hard enough to come by, let alone enough to buy what's in the shop. I mean really, what gives?

[TanithAeyrs]

erynnar wrote...

Shibibiba wrote...

Starting the deep roads as a mage with Anders healing- and of course, I have to bring Varric- and of course, I SHOULD bring Aveline for a proper tank... but I wish to bring my sibling- which is of course a bad idea, because he can't tank. >_<

This. I had to tank with my rogue, which meant normal or casual play lest the constant waves become so tedious as to have me run screaming from the room. Sorry, BioWare, I know from the interviews you like reasonable well thought out responses. I hope you don't mind I choose the snark button on my convo wheel sometimes... I snark because I love, truly.

Speaking of the whole voiced protagonist...I understand, truly I do, the dislike of the silent puppet standing with only minor expressions during convos.  But I have been thinking (reasonably, and logically, I hope) about why it bothers me so to have a voiced protagonist. I mean, I loved my lady Hawke's voice actress and her voice. So, I kept wondering why it bothered me so still.  And it struck me today (like a mace to the face from one of the guys who jumped from a four story building in full plate:P) that I associate my Hawke's looks with that voice.  It messes with replay-ability for me. I don't think I can make another Hawke who looks different but sounds like my rogue Hawke.  

Oh and the cinematic, lets watch a movie with occasional game play.  I loved the cut sceens (both small and large) in DAO.  But unlike in DA2 they were a surprise, a little...titalation if you will (ie Zevran talking to Loghain about being hired to kill you). They would interrupt my game play with a teaser. DA2, I often feel like I am watching a movie that I get to tinker in some what. I prefer to play not watch a game movie.

And the codexes to get to know my companions? It seems lazy and cheap, sorry.

LOL, I rarely use a tank.  Just lots of DPS (sometimes it's nice to have a DPS in mail but 3 rogues and a mage is a ton of fun).

On the voiced protagonist - you hit what I couldn't put into words perfectly.  Each of my characters has a very different personality and voice in DA:O.  In DA2 I'm stuck with one voice and 3 different tones.  It makes my characters too similar to have much replayability.  I have the same problem with the ME series - fun but limited replayability.

And, yes the codexes for the companions were a cop out.  I want to talk to them to find out about them. 

[ValentineMSmith]

I think all the devs and writers have great imaginations, and from reading this and other threads there are folks who'd rather stick to the framed cinematic (linear) narrative. Not me.
- Lose the voiced protagonist. I actually played DA:O primarily with subtitles on and audio off to avoid waking the next generation...and since I have an imagination that was fine. Yes, I missed out on some quality VA/VO. At the same time, playing DA2 I can't imagine more than one complete playthrough with the sound on for male and one for female. Sense of immersion is already lower in this game and the voice being essentially the same across multiple playthroughs will yank me right out of any residual immersion.
- Speaking of yanking me right out, I may have posted above but...I was dying from reused levels before the end of Act I. Spend the money you didn't spend on VA for the protagonist, on at least two levels each for cave, DR, hovel, mansion, etc.
- "Think like an reactive monkey, fight like your enemies are water balloons filled with blood!" not as good a slogan. I didn't try to exploit the AI in DA:O, and there were some combats there which were difficult even on normal and knowing the opponent tendencies and weaknesses. DA2 was nothing like that...every fight seemed to go on forever, the only strategy was to spam all your long-cooldown attacks early so they'd be ready for the next wave, there were no "gating" fights (nothing before ARW was a challenge, then I got my arse kicked like a basketball...very different from Loghain's representatives outside Orzammar if you were only level 8...). Overall, I didn't think DA:O had a superior combat system (there were definitely some drags) but the DA:O fights were much more interesting and better balanced...and stabbing someone with a dagger doesn't cause them to explode into gibbets.

What's the bottom line? I didn't buy a BW game to tell someone else's story. I bought it to tell my story. DA:O did that, with story choices that led to the same endpoint but had notable effects. DA:A tried, but the lack of romances and too many bugs sank that ship (without enough support from BW). DA2 is a scripted, linear, story-on-rails RPG...which is a contradiction in terms. I don't really get choices to try to play my character differently, but instead always fight O and M. WTF? Whose story is this, anyway?

Modifié par ValentineMSmith, 05 avril 2011 - 04:17 .

[NerdWithBigStick]

I finished the game last night, and am now ready to toss my two coppers into the fountain.

Okay.


Combat

+1 for exploding bodies.  Loved this.  What would have made it even more awesome?  If the blood occassionally splattered the screen and then slowly dribbled down it and faded away!

+1 for fast-paced and visceral action.  But you could still pause and play a turn-based strategy battle if you wanted!  Nuff said.

-1 for getting rid of the tactical view functionality of the mouse wheel i.e. zoom-in for over-shoulder / zoom-out for no obstructing ceiling.  The top-down isometric view is really ideal for those battles which require more strategy.  I just felt that I could not zoom out far enough.  It was very convenient in DAO to do this easily and then zoom right back to explore mode after combat.  Please add this back in!

+3 for super awesome spell effects!  Holy heck!  The Firestorm, Fireball, Cone of Cold, Tempest effects, just to name a few. Really a huge step in the right direction.  Or the way warriors would leap forward and do a huge swipe; Stonewall, etc.

+1 for awesome rogue animations!  Now you see me ... and now you don't!  Oh and while I am at it, I am going to do a few cartwheels, some backflips, and use a smokebomb, too.  Yup.

+1 for terrific sound effects  explosions, NPC call-outs, combat banter ( "Bianca look what you did!  That was beautiful!"  )

+2 for the smooth unobtrusive UI  I hate a cluttered screen and this one was about perfect.  Being able to drag icons all along the bottom was very nice.


Character Creation / Progression

-1 for a bug (?) which made me lose my custom jaw, chin, nose, neck and ear settings when I went back to change the facial hair!  ARGH!  Fix this, please!

-1 for scrawny Hawke  This is nitpicking.  Any chance we could ever see a body morph slider?  I realize that's probably a limitation of the game engine.  But maybe somewhere in a future game?

+5 for the abilities system / class specialization window.  This was truly one of the highlights of the game.  I loved unlocking new abilties and being able to either mix and match or fill out an entire tree.  It gave me the freedom to build essentially whatever class I wanted -- be it a hybrid or a straight-laced single class build.  Also, some of the abilties were really unique!  Walking Bomb, for instance.


Companions

[/b]+3 for the conversation wheel!  I really prefer this method of conversing as opposed to the old-school Baldur's Gate lines of text.  I am the type of player that likes a general idea of what my reaction is going to accomplish; however, I don't always want to know exactly how the NPC will react!  I'm a huge fan of the more fluid conversation wheel.  Good move!

+5 for voice-over Hawke I can't emphasize this enough.  I find a voiced-over protagonist much more engaging and appealing in this type of game than a mute one.  Couple this with the fact that I can make a decision and I can still enjoy listening to the voice over since the conversation wheel only gives the general gist, and it is win-win.

+2 for romance options Overall I felt the romance options were interesting - particularly Anders, given the repercussions later in the game.

-1 for companions wearing the same outfits for 10 years  Seriously.  Someone in Kirkwall needs to open a Saks Hightown Ave. or something.  With as much money as I made all of them, surely my companions could have done a little shopping!  Okay, actually, it would have really helped indicate the passage of time if each of the Companions aged slightly and had a few more outfit changes from year to year.

+1 for revamped inventory / gear management.   Don't confuse my above statement.  That applies to cosmentic appearance only.  I loved not having to worry about companion armor.  Loved it.  As a gameplay system, I felt the upgrade system was good.  It could have been better, though, by making the upgrades more noticeable.  Cosmetically and through additional UI notices / on-screen messages.  Sometimes I didn't even know who I had upgraded or when.


Plot / Storytelling

+1 for the sheer awesomeness of the final battle.  Nuff said.

-5 for murky storytelling  I honestly had no idea what the importance of most of my decisions were for the majority of the game.  Majority as in, right up until the very end when you make That Big Decision.  While I normally enjoy cliffhanger stories that keep you guessing, this was more than that -- it was simply murky, and therefore less enjoyable than it could have been.  Obviously you can't go back and re-write the script, but what would be nice to see is a Free DLC / patch that fleshes out some of the key elements - what happened during that first year?  Years 4-6?  Years 7-9?  Surely Hawke didn't just sit in his mansion making out with Anders.  What did Varric get up to after the end of the game but before his inquisition by Cassandra?  So on and so forth.  What about Flemeth and Morrigan?  Etc.

+1 for the opening segue.  If only the entire game had been so epic.  Take everything that was in that and expand upon it, please, next time around. 

-3 for forcing the player to complete quests to earn coin to progress.  I hated it in Baldur's Gate 2, 11 years ago, and I still hate it, today.  Gating a player is bad.  A good game design should not have to rely on such a restrictive method in order to get the player to the point he needs to be at to progress.  A better way would have been to simply expand the storyline with relevant missions, thereby enabling the player to feel accomplished.


Setting / World

-7 for the re-used level assets - over and over and over again.  This was really a disappointment for me.  I would like to see more unique areas.  I'm not sure what else I can add that would be constructive.  Just build more unique levels and don't have every single sidequest take you to a warehouse or basement or a cave map or a mine map or the Wounded Coast!

-3 for an unchanging Kirkwall.  It would have been improved if Kirkwall changed with the passage of time.  Maybe some areas become nicer, maybe some become more like a ghetto.  New banners, new vendor stalls, different wall textures, paint, cracked / repaired buildings.  Put some life into the city!  Make it seem like it is its own character!  It should grow and change, too!

+1 for technically good graphics.  Paricularly skin textures and ambient effects like clouds passing over and shadows.  And Hawke's piercing eyes.  And Varric's chest hair.  And Varric in general. 


[b]Overall

I really enjoyed DA 2.  I like the mechanics of the gameplay.  I enjoyed the story although I found it overly convoluted and needlessly complex.  It still entertained me and kept me glued to the chair.  I liked the companions and the romance options.  I enjoyed learning their histories through the various companion quests.  I did not care for the sidequests or Fed Ex feel of many of the seemingly unrelated gateway quests during Act I.  DA2 is a great game, though, and I look forward to seeing what happens over time.

Modifié par NerdWithBigStick, 05 avril 2011 - 05:23 .

[Artoz96]

NerdWithBigStick

+1 for exploding bodies.  Loved this.  What would have made it even more awesome?  If the blood occassionally splattered the screen and then slowly dribbled down it and faded away!

Make all the screen covered in blood! I dont want to see DA2 at all. Man it is really not funny, if you want more blood go play Mortal combat

+5 for the abilities system / class specialization window.  This was truly one of the highlights of the game.  I loved unlocking new abilties and being able to either mix and match or fill out an entire tree.  It gave me the freedom to build essentially whatever class I wanted -- be it a hybrid or a straight-laced single class build.  Also, some of the abilties were really unique!  Walking Bomb, for instance.

Sounds like you never played rpg...

[/b]+3 for the conversation wheel!  I really prefer this method of conversing as opposed to the old-school Baldur's Gate lines of text.  I am the type of player that likes a general idea of what my reaction is going to accomplish; however, I don't always want to know exactly how the NPC will react!  I'm a huge fan of the more fluid conversation wheel.  Good move!

Let me guess... You started BG and 30 min later you deleted it? You wanna see a movie? A lot of blood, a lot of cut scenes, push the button and smth avesome happens?

+2 for romance options Overall I felt the romance options were interesting - particularly Anders, given the repercussions later in the game.

Yep romance options is in this game... they exists it is all we can say about it. But very interesting? You are talking about 4-5 conversations we had and you name it VERY interesting? God help us

+1 for revamped inventory / gear management.   Don't confuse my above statement.  That applies to cosmentic appearance only.  I loved not having to worry about companion armor.  Loved it.  As a gameplay system, I felt the upgrade system was good. [b] It could have been better, though, by making the upgrades more noticeable.  Cosmetically and through additional UI notices / on-screen messages.  Sometimes I didn't even know who I had upgraded or when.

Maybe no more customization att all? AK-47 and go go kill darkspawns?

I really enjoyed DA 2.  I like the mechanics of the gameplay.  I enjoyed the story although I found it overly convoluted and needlessly complex.

Complex? You said COMPLEX? I... I.... just dont know what to say. I cant imagine anybody think that story in DA2 is COMPLEX:blink:.

Modifié par Artoz96, 05 avril 2011 - 09:00 .

[Jenova65]

Artoz96 wrote...

NerdWithBigStick

+1 for exploding bodies.  Loved this.  What would have made it even more awesome?  If the blood occassionally splattered the screen and then slowly dribbled down it and faded away!

Make all the screen covered in blood! I dont want to see DA2 at all. Man it is really not funny, if you want more blood go play Mortal combat

I agree entirely........... The amount of blood is just pointless and annoying - IF you could turn it off then fair enough, but honestly there was far too much blood for me, the last thing BioWare need telling is that there should be more.
Some of us don't rely on gore to enjoy a game, that isn't what I buy BioWare games for.......... It felt...... beneath them 

[cindercatz]

Anywho, another post of mine with appropriate feedback, concerning Hawke and (very, very) broadly the story moving forward------>

Quoth me:
I see Hawke, like was mentioned earlier, as Flemeth's champion (really pawn), Flemeth being perhaps an Old God, perhaps something worse, like a DA version of the devil (an original spirit contesting the Maker, or one of several vying for power), and the Warden as supporting the new/Old God, which is now uncorrupted, or Morrigan if she failed to conceive the godchild, or Morrigan and the godchild alone if your Warden died.
I expect to play as neither the Warden or Hawke again, or at least I hope I don't.

I also hope to play as an Orlesian elf (first character) in DA3 in a time of major war, with hopefully at least the option to play as elf and human in a game with multiple origins that truly supports the kind of heavy replay that DA:O did. I expect the god battle to continue to be built up in DA3, but not carried through on unless it pops in deus ex machina style.

I expect that, instead, Bioware was hoping Hawke would be a repeating protagonist, but I sincerely hope it doesn't work out that way, because when I play DA, I don't want to essentially be playing the same dude over and over. What makes DA unique is the depth, bredth, and variety of the world and your possibilities as a player. DA2 lost that, and I want it back for DA3. Else, what's the point?
<----- endeth quote

Ok, point, the origins and at least some race diversity are hugely important to any DA game setting itself apart as a franchise, as a setting, and as a player experience overall. World exploration, to some extent, should also be expected. Do more with this thing you've got. DA should never feel boxed in.

So what about the voiced player character? I love it. I see zero reason the same voices can't be used for multiple races and origins. This supports greater replay value and stronger identification with each new player character. This is supposed to be Dragon Age. The origins and races give each new character their own clear identity and motivation. I shouldn't have to artificially graft a personality and awkward, contradictory motivations onto each subsequent character like I do in DA2. Even Mass Effect would be a far shallower experience without its own version of origins.

This is Dragon Age. Let's get back to what makes it special.

edit:
Ah, but what about the extra resources all those origins would require? I could personally stand to do with 15 or 20 less pointless side quests. There's your resources. If every single thing you do (including romances) directly effects the primary plot in some way (romances and party relationships dramatically so), that's a perfect world BioWare game plot. That's the *good* kind of streamlining.

Modifié par cindercatz, 07 avril 2011 - 01:09 .

[Kimberly Shaw]

+1 for exploding bodies. Loved this. What would have made it even more awesome? If the blood occassionally splattered the screen and then slowly dribbled down it and faded away!

Oh dear lord. Please don't encourage them. I guess we found out who was in their focus group when they were deciding on the blood balloon enemies idea. This guy.

That aside, your points seem fair about things you did and didn't like even if I disagree with some of the things you liked and disliked. But no...no blood balloons.

[Cybermortis]

 Voice acting;

Just a musing but I noted that in Mass Effect some of the alien races had the actors voices edited to sound different, specifically the Turian's. (I noticed because there is a minior bug with on quest where the actors voice looses this editing).

I wonder if this couldn't be done with the voice of the protaganist in future games as well?

One of the reasons given for only allowing Hawke to be human was that it would have been too much time and effort to revoice the character with different actors for each race - You'd need six times the amount of dialog to cover Elf, Human and Dwarf characters. However I wonder if you couldn't take the basic voice tracks and alter the pitch for different races, or otherwise edit them so they sound more distictive. For example an Elf would have a higher pitched voice than a human (the baseline unedited voice) with Dwarves having a deeper voice. 
I'm not a programmer, so I'm unsure if this is possible to implement within a game or how difficult it would be. However it would have the potential to allow you to use the same voice actor for different races. It might also allow you to give different classes within each race to have slightly different voices or allow players to pick a voice style to have. While different races would, of course, still require different lines on occasion the amount of alternate lines would be tiny compared to what would be needed to record everything multiple times.

Might be something worth looking into.


Wheel/Interface; The wheel works well for Mass Effect, which being sci-fi is expected to have a 'clean, sterile' feel to it. However a fantasy RPG needs a slight dirtier look to it. That said I can understand that people may prefer the cleaner look of DA2 over the dirtier DAO one. If there a reason why we couldn't have both with an option to use the one we are happier with?

As I noted before the wheel as it is does not really give enough options, looks somewhat out of place and seems to be designed for people who can't be bothered to read though the replies.
If the wheel is to be retained it needs to be expanded, turn it into an oval so there are at least four options per side. This would allow 'Diplomatic, Diplomatic/ironic, Aggressive/ironic and Aggressive' replies on one side. While the other would have room to ask all of your companions for comments (where suitable) or ask questions yourself as needed.
There does need to be an intimidation/persuade option and a mechanic in place, possibly connected to a reputation if you don't want to mess around with skills.

Modifié par Cybermortis, 05 avril 2011 - 02:34 .

[ninnisinni97]

The only things that really irritated me was the loot that had zero "personality" (no item descriptions, no personal mini-icons, and so on), and the waves of enemies coming from all directions in battle. I just feel it's a lot more tactical if you see at once just how many enemies you can expect in the coming fight, and then plan from that.

Oh, and I kinda would like a mix of how companion interaction worked in DAO and DA2, perhaps you could ask them regular questions and get to know them anytime and anywhere, and then you mix in these "Questioning Beliefs"-missions when the companions have something REALLY important to tell you. It kinda felt a little weird when you were told that one of the companions wanted to talk about something, and when you got there it was just a minute-long conversation about some unimportant details, and that was it (at least sometimes).

EDIT: Remembered two more things:
1. Please bring back the awesome "deathblow"-finishers from DAO! The whole "exploding bodies everywhere"-formula just felt way too cartoonish for the Dragon Age world, plus it looked VERY silly.

2. Put some kind of persuasion/intimidation mechanic in the next game. I really missed this in DA2, and thought it was simplifying things even more than Mass Effect, seeing as those games at least have the Charm/Intimidate mechanics. While that solution is more basic than DAO:s more complex system, I'd prefer the ME solution rather than have nothing in the way of persuasion at all, á la Dragon Age 2.

Modifié par ninnisinni97, 05 avril 2011 - 02:58 .

[ZeshinX]

My 2 cents after two playthroughs.

Combat
======
I find it's a mixed bag for me.  Speeding things up was good (I could never use a 2-hander in DAO, just too slow), but it's too much.  It would be nice to find a middle ground in terms of speed of animations and such (as it is, a Rogue using a bow with the Speed specialization talent and speed items looks ridiculous).  Definitely keep it faster paced, but scale it back to somewhere in the middle of DAO and DA2.  Loved the "Legolas-ing" of archers in melee.  Pretty cool that.
Enemy waves have got to go for the most part.  It might work in some specific instances, such as a hideout, but overall it kills any kind of immersion seeing people just fall out of the sky.  A stealthed rogue suddenly appearing, nice.  A rogue dropping from a nearby roof, nice (when it's just one or two).  Reinforcements arriving from another room, awesome.  That works.  Currently, it's just silly.  It's also beyond irritating to find the mages in the party are dead because a wave spawned where the camera isn't pointing.  The frantic pace of combat makes it difficult to tell that this happens (though not so much now, as I expect it to happen every battle).
Unique abilities on opponents.  For the most part, cool.  Certain abilities, no.  Things like mages teleporting (when teleporting is supposedly impossible), erecting an impenetrable shield around themselves....these are silly.  They are contrivances to "increase challenge".  Change the type of group the enemies have to tweak the challenge, don't just give them a "god mode".  This mostly happens with human/elf/dwarf/qunari opponents.  I find the monster opponents relatively well done (I love fighting me some dragons....minus the spontaneous reproduction of dragonlings...free dragonlings with every breath weapon use!).

Talents and Talent Trees
========================
Actually, I loved these.  The options in each tree were great fun.  Some talents were less exciting than others, but this was done well.  Thank you.
However, restricting trees to certain classes....well, some make sense.  Magic obviously belongs with mages.  Restricting the weapon style-specific talents...no.  Bad.  I know it was an attempt to differentiate the warrior and rogue more, but it wasn't done well (which is strange, considering that some of the new trees that are class specific were quite excellent for differentiating them).  Perhaps creating slightly different trees based on the class (so warrior archery is more about speed and rogue archery more about critical hits/sniping, etc).  Some overlap, but mostly unique talents for each.

Items/Loot/Armor/Weapons
========================
It's nice to see more variety in the armor/weapon models, even if some of the weapons are a tad too Final Fantasy Buster Sword (i.e. ridiculously sized and/or shaped).  Right off the bat, when I saw the hilt for Aveline's initial sword, I couldn't stop thinking just how badly the hilt must vibrate on every hit, to the point her hand must be numb and useless (which supports her "I'll just stand here and not move for a while" talent, since she's letting feeling in her hand come back lol).  I know designers are artists and intensely creative people and absolutely LOATHE keeping their imaginations in check, but a little less ridiculous (like tuning fork hilts/blades) and a little more utility in appearance would be nice.
Junk items?  Why bother?  I suppose it supported the Act I "raise money" element, but I won't miss another Master-locked chest with a Moth-Eaten Scarf in it.
I like the crafting system, it's nice not having to carry around all the ingredients.  It would be nice to have re-useable runes, especially with unique runes.  Without being able to re-use it, I never equipped Sandal's Special Rune to any weapon (for fear of finding a better rune-slotted weapon).  Also, did I miss the recipes somewhere, because I wasn't able to craft Healing, Stamina/Lyrium or Injury potions.  Weird.
Companion armors.  Hmm.  Well I do like the idea of a unique identity for party members, but a wee bit more variety would be nice.  Perhaps a few unique armors for them, with the upgrades applying different effects to each.  This could also allow for more build options for companions (currently, Aveline is a great tank, and a lowsy anything else...Anders is the only useful healer with 2/3 Hawke class options, rendering his non-healing specific tree pointless...Fenris is a great damage dealer, and a not so great anything else, etc).
More armor sets would also be wonderful.  One set per class, per Act is far too few.

Interface/Visuals
==============
It works.  It's ugly, but it works.  The main screen with the health/stamina gauges are fine, no qualms there.  The Inventory screens, ability/talents, equipment screens....ugly, ugly, ugly.  A more DAO-esque visual would be a welcome return.  I would also recommend putting the armor set bonus information on the actual equipment screen.  Seems a little silly to equip the set, then have to go to a completely different menu to see what bonus(es) said set provides.
Including a more comprehensive method of explaining how all the stats work would be more than welcome (and two games overdue).  The instruction manual (if you can call it that) is of no help at all.
Graphics are fine.  So long as they aren't eye-bleedingly bad (I'm looking at you NWN1), then I'm fine.

World/Setting
===========
Well let me get the obvious out of the way:  no more recycled areas.  Period.  Returning to an existing area as it evolves, okay, but no more recycled maps.  Please.
I would vastly prefer exploration of the world (or region) than spending the entire time in one city (with a few trips to the countryside).  I found myself actually missing trees.
Where it is set (i.e. nation) matters little, as I find it all enjoyable, but let us move around in that area.

Story/NPCs
==========
The plot had potential.  I found the writing quite well executed, but the pacing was glacial (odd given that the game was seemingly designed to cater to the ADD, button = awesome crowd).  40 hours for a cliff-hanger?  That was absolutely NOT a good idea.  I'm all for opening new questions and setting up things for the future, but holy crap, make sure the game has a resolution.  The "resolution" here was abysmal.   We/Hawke spend 10 years in Kirkwall, building a life and name...and then after all was said and done, s/he just leaves.  Are you kidding?
I feel like a tool writing this part, as BW have shown they know what they're doing, but:  treat every game as a contained story, with a defined start and resolution.  Hint at, or introduce possible future directions, but do not leave things on a cliff-hanger. 

I found the NPCs to be a fairly uninspired and dull lot.  I cared little for Hawke's family, as they seemed to be little other than ham-fisted attempts to emotionally engage the player.  It didn't work, considering we know one of the two siblings for all of 2 lines of dialogue before they're offed.  Mommy is a simpering wanker and I don't buy for a second this is the same woman who defied her noble parents to run off with an apostate.  Honestly, it should have been mum who was offed by the Ogre protecting her children, and both siblings follow you to Kirkwall.  There, have one of the siblings do what they were scripted for in the game (whichever that is), and have one stay with you the rest of the game.  The actual party NPCs were...mostly meh.  Neither good, nor bad.  Banter was hilarious and at times, touching.  A little more balance between the jokes and seriousness would be good.
Anders:  aww, the walking hypocrite.  I keep you around because you're the only
decent healer in this menagerie of meh.
Merrill:  Dalish Hobo with a Shotgun.
Fenris:  Raging emo Final Fantasy slave elf.
Varric:  Tony Montana minus cocaine.
Aveline:  A dull ginger, that's a first.
Carver/Bethany:  You are directly related to the protagonist.  This means you will
die or be removed from the story for fear of stealing the Champion's thunder.  Off
you go.
Sebastian:  WWAD?  (What would Andraste do?)
Isabela:  The fun-loving ****.

Music
=====
This was excellent.

Summary
========
Overall, not up to Bioware's usual quality.  As a mediocre title, it tops all other mediocre titles, but this is not a triple A game.  Not by far.  I think the marketing got a little mixed up between DAO and DA2.  The song "This is the New S***" used for DAO trailers should have been used for DA2.  It would actually be closer to the truth.

Modifié par ZeshinX, 05 avril 2011 - 03:49 .

[Fallen-heart]

(sorry for spelling errors, its early and I haven't had coffee yet). Alright I guess I'll add my opinion to the lot..

Combat:

Combat was pretty cool in terms of watching it (ignoring the fact that my warrior in full plate can leap like a ninja on crack), in terms of playing it...not so much. I felt like I was constantly pressing "A" till my abilities cooled down (which at one point I had to stop due to a sore thumb ) and I felt that I was playing more a God of War than Dragon Age . Also, people popping out from every direction got really confusing, which others have already adressed I'm sure. Overall, combat was alright, but its completely different DAO, which is why I think it threw me off at first.

Story/characters:

The main plot was a bit dissapointing, and the time jumps were a little confusing. Story had the potential to be really epic and interesting, but it didnt feel that way for 85% of the game. I felt that it was all rushed and I never really saw the impact of such a huge, important fight. Two of the most powerful groups of people are knocking heads and I didnt really care because I never saw much of a fight except at the end and what I was told by people. I didnt see mages really yelling or fighting with templars or vice versa, they just walked around and never did anything and went about their lives. It would have been nicer if there could have been cutscenes showing mages suffer the oppression that they are apparently suffering or just anything giving me a visual of this huge agruement. Anyways...on to characters. I liked some and didnt really care about others. Isabela never failed to give me a good laugh, whoever wrote her needs a pat on the back. Plus her character had a couple nice moments which I wont spoil. Aveline was a character that I didnt expect to like, but ended up liking a lot. her personal quest was probably the best written quest in the game, it felt very realistic and it made me have a good laugh. Merrill is neverending cuteness, and her story was very tragic. I loved her dialogue with other companions as well. Fenris (dat voice!) was pretty good, for some reason I just didnt care much about him though. I would have liked to see/hear more about his past. Varric was awesome...no need to really talk about him. siblings were alright,the only thing I didnt like was that you couldnt choose who lived or who died. I wanted to be a mage but I didnt want to deal with Carver. not a big deal, but it kinda irked me. Anders was alright ut again I just didnt care about him for some reason. I liked him in awakening, but not here. Overall, some companions were great and others I will easily forget. Not as memorable as DAO, but not horrible either.

Inventory (etc..) :

Simplified a little too much. I kinda felt like I was being treated like an idiot with the whole star rating thing. And the fact that most items just had "Ring" or "belt" was sorta silly, not a huge game changing deal, just kinda some effort into little things like that. Companion armor was a bummer of me as well. I liked giving companions armor instead of upgrading them. I didn't like it in Mass Effect and I didnt like it here. At least being able to equip boots and and such would have been nice. Overall, I think ts been a bit to simplified, but its not someting that would ruin the game for me.

World/Looks:

The game isn't ugly, but it isn't pretty either. Areas still look muddy and people still look weird, but it is an improvement from DAO. Recycled areas have been covered... RAces look....different. Elves remind me of Na'vi and darkspawn look like Skelator (sp?)  which I'm sure has already been covered. But I will say I really like the Qunari look, thats how I pictured they should look like.
Overall: still looks like a 2003 game, but it is an improvement. People look almost to cartoony now, I understand wanting a distinct visual style, but it still needs work.

Hawke in general:

I liked the voiced protagonist route, just not the paraphrasing. Again, I felt like I was being treated like an idiot with the symbols in the middle. I also miss the persuade and intimidate option, which I felt gave comversations more depth. Agree with the whole human only thing, didnt like that as much, but not going to throw my game out the window for it.

Summary:

DA2 isnt as good as the first because it feels like a whole new genre. Bioware went from RPG to Action RPG attempt. They tried to hard to make more actiony and such but ended up taking out almost all the RPG elements that made the first great. I like this game as a standalone game, but not as a sequal to DAO. the story wasnt as impressive as a Bioware game's usually is, but the characters were great as ever. Overall 8.5/10

Modifié par Fallen-heart, 05 avril 2011 - 04:21 .

[Steppenwolf]

I was just thinking about it and I find it odd that the DA2 dev team did all the things that are generally panned in the ME series. Repeated environments, restricted companion customization, misleading dialogue wheel and childish romances. I wonder how no one in the Bioware office stopped and said "Waitaminute..."

[Pridesong]

Lots of good criticisms in this thread. I liked the game and had a lot of fun but it had quite a bit that could be improved. Here are a few things that bugged me the most.

Decisions/Choices

I could be wrong, but before the game came out I thought I had read previews about the game that touted it as having decisions that would affect all of Kirkwall. Wasn't that the entire reason for having it in only one city and over almost a decade? So you could see the effects of your decisions more immediately. None of the choices in the game seemed to have any affect on Kirkwall. Everything was pre-ordained. It seemed like no matter what you chose the same outcome would always happen. Not to spoil anything, but if there was a part where you had to choose sides, it just meant you were fighting slightly different enemies for a moment before fighting the same bosses in the same order. Nothing that happens in the Deep Roads has any effect on anything. You always leave it the same way, you have money and riches now and that's about it. Bringing your sibling along or not does kind of affect what happens to him/her but regardless of the choice he/she is still taken away from you for some reason or another.

Companion Chat

I liked the characters in DA2, and the chatter while out and about was great and probably even better than DA:O's. But why can't you talk to the companions unless you have a quest? This really ruined things for me. I liked going to the camp in DA:O and hearing stories from Leliana, or chatting with the other various characters about their lives and getting to know them. The quests to go see companion characters were too few and far between, and usually had a lot less to do with getting to know them and more about progressing their personal quests. The romances also suffered because of this. You don't really feel like you're getting to know your partner, which makes even less sense when you're supposed to be with them for several years. The time skips feel more like a week has gone by instead of a few years.

Story

This is probably what I had a problem with the least out of these issues, but it's still worth mentioning. The story in DA2 isn't cohesive and it feels a lot less "epic" (though certain fights certainly do feel epic, just not the overarching plot). You do some random stuff, a couple of things go wrong in the city, you fix it. That's about it. I would have liked to see a continuation of the story surrounding the Arishok and the rest of the Qunari. It felt like something big was being set up during the second act, but then it comes to a close way too quickly. The third act doesn't feel nearly as dire as the second act. And the ending only furthers this. It seems like the third act was actually the first act of a completely different game. Setting us up for the inevitable DA3. I wouldn't have minded that fact really, if the Qunari problem was more of the center issue of DA2, and the Mage/Templar in-fighting was more of a side thing that ended up being much more important in the ending.

[Steppenwolf]

Pridesong wrote...

Lots of good criticisms in this thread. I liked the game and had a lot of fun but it had quite a bit that could be improved. Here are a few things that bugged me the most.

Decisions/Choices

I could be wrong, but before the game came out I thought I had read previews about the game that touted it as having decisions that would affect all of Kirkwall. Wasn't that the entire reason for having it in only one city and over almost a decade? So you could see the effects of your decisions more immediately. None of the choices in the game seemed to have any affect on Kirkwall. Everything was pre-ordained. It seemed like no matter what you chose the same outcome would always happen. Not to spoil anything, but if there was a part where you had to choose sides, it just meant you were fighting slightly different enemies for a moment before fighting the same bosses in the same order. Nothing that happens in the Deep Roads has any effect on anything. You always leave it the same way, you have money and riches now and that's about it. Bringing your sibling along or not does kind of affect what happens to him/her but regardless of the choice he/she is still taken away from you for some reason or another.

This is very true. Even things within the game that promise to have consequences don't.
"You disobeyed a magister. There will be hell to pay."
"You disobeyed me, a magister, and killed my son. You will live to regret this..."

Cut to 6 years later and nothing ever happened.

[brightblueink]

Just finished DA2 last night, and overall I LOVED it. (And for the detractors yes, I've played RPGs before and am a fan of the genre and yes, I consider Dragon Age 2 an RPG.) It's definitely not a perfect game, though--so I wanted to take a minute to address the things I think needed some work.

Anders--my snarky, sort of amoral Rogue ended up romancing Anders, and overall I loved the romance and his story arc and found him a fascinating character. But...the transition from Awakenings to DA2 wasn't...really smooth. I saw on another site that the impact would've been greater if he'd been more like Awakenings!Anders to start, and I agree. If he'd started out mostly like his old snarky self--even as just an attempt to keep himself together and pretend as though he's alright--I think that would've made his later personality changes and slow descent into what he became (trying to avoid spoilers) that much more heartbreaking. As it is, particularly with the new voice actor added on top of it, it's sometimes hard to believe that it's really the same Anders. I know he's changed a lot and I can buy it...but it really would've been nice to be able to see some of those changes.

Exploding enemies--I really, really, really miss the old final kills in Origins. The exploding enemies just clashed with the overall dark, serious tone the game was trying to go with. I'm not a fan of this at all, and I'm hoping we'll see the return of dramatic, epic kills instead of the cartoony splatter-kills of this game.

The family--we really, really needed to get to know them better. I think the stuff with the siblings worked okay, since we got to spend time with whichever one lived...but the plot point concerning the mother? I was moved by the excellent voice acting on the part of Fem!Hawke and her mother, but otherwise I don't think I would've cared much about it at all. Since she seems so important to Hawke as a character, we really needed to have more conversations with her in general, so we could have more of a connection to her. It weakened what could've been a very visceral plot point.

Recycled environments--I don't think I could say much more than anyone else already has, so...just count me as someone else that was bothered by this. I think it would've worked better to have "pieces" of environments you could put together to make unique-ish levels to play through. Or...at least make sure the mini-map doesn't show the blocked-off areas.

An overall nitpick--considering the bugs and the wonky stuff with the environments, etc...this game really does feel rushed. I feel like this is a great game...but it could've been an AMAZING game with more time put into it. ME2 was delayed and the final product is much more polished. I hope that EA will be convinced through the fan frustration to give you guys more time on games in the future--I'll happily wait a little longer for a game if it means that the overall product is going to be a little more in-depth and fleshed out.

I think those are the main things I take issue with--I'll come back if I remember more. I'd also like to take a brief moment to mention the things I DID like, if only to play devil's advocate and show that not everyone agrees with the hatedom.

-I played both Origins and DA2 on the 360, and the new combat system is a major relief for me. Origins did not play well on the 360 in battles IMO--I ended up turning the game down to casual so I could just slog through the battles and get to the parts I really cared about (the story). I actually rarely got bored of battling in this game. Thank you!

-I like the new skill tree system, particularly since every character is now distinctly unique in how they play in battle.

-The companions are all great. I love that they're all implied to have lives outside of tagging around with Hawke and become friends and rivals with each other as much as your PC. The party banter, walking into a character's house to find them talking to another party member, the way they all grow and change throughout the years...simply awesome. I didn't have a single party member I disliked as a character (although I would certainly give some of them a lecture if they were real!)

-I loved the framing story and the more personal feel to the story. I don't feel like the story was weak or necessarily disjointed...and I felt like Hawke was more a part of the world around her than my Warden ever was. It was a little disjointed, sure, but I didn't think that actually affected the impact of the story too terribly much. This was a great story, and I loved it so much that I sat down and completed the game in under a week. I never do that. My brother said this is the fastest he's ever seen me beat a video game...and I think it's true. (As a comparison--Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins all took me about a year of on-and-off play to beat. I'm serious. It's weird, but this is pretty typical for me.) Few games have pulled me in so completely as DA2, and I'm already starting a 2nd playthrough.

Flaws and all, DA2 has become one of my favorite recent games. Definitely consider all of the fan opinions, but you guys can't please everyone--just know you've at least pleased this fan, and I will be telling my friends how much I loved this game overall and urge them to give it a chance, despite the mixed reaction it's receiving.

[erynnar]

I know, I keep putting things in...but you said constructive criticism BioWare...right?

Okay persuasion and intimidation need to come back, really.

More of an intro then just thrusting my Hawke into battle against (as someone else called them) Skeletor clones with a bunch of strangers who turn out to be my family. I am I supposed to care about leaving my home in Lothering as it's destroyed? Or these strangers I am with? I got more emotional over Aveline and Wesley (even if I didn't like the guy that much, Aveline loved him) and killing him then I did watching my sibling getting turned into an ogre toy. More context would have helped make the emotional impact of a crowded (not really) Kirwall more compelling. My family were all a bunch of whining gits that I would have been happy to run off with Aveline and go adventuring as soldiers (at least she didn't whine).

Please take the story out of a tunnel...I know I was going to a forgone ending with DAO, but I had some impact (whether real or imagined). DA2 is very ham fisted about "this is where we need to go, just sit back and watch the movie." When you don't even need a certain thing to make the story progress out of a certain early act (no spoilers) because if you don't have what you need, it will miraculously be given to you anyway? *sigh* And maybe it was less obvious in DAO because you actually got to travel wide and far? I am sure that helped, though BioWare is so talented, I know you could have accomplished the same illusion without a tip toe through Thedas storyline.

The reason ME2 works as a RPG/Action/Shooter? Is perhaps because it has guns? The only gun wielder in DA2 is Varric. Really, I don't find ME2 so bothersome as a shooter (not my fav game to play) and actually somewhat enjoyable, is because a shooter has guns. I prefer my fantasy as RPG thanks.

Oh, and I forgot.  I mentioned the balloons of blood effects which is a big turn off (as have others), but I forgot to say I missed the animations of my rogue spinning around and loping off a head. You had them cutting the darkspawn in half in the demo even. What happened to that? Again that loss made the game feel rushed. I much prefer a cool finishing move.

I hope this is helping...I really don't hate the game. I am trying to help, honest.

Modifié par erynnar, 05 avril 2011 - 06:52 .

[Flamingdropbear]

Copying some one elses format

Combat:
Huge improvement on the Origins, as the different classes felt and fought differently. As the pre release stuff said 'Push a button and wow' ,  a shame tactics went out the window, as putting mages/ archers at the back only works if enemies only come from the front. If they spawn from all over the place forget that. Also miss the rarer messy kills, over the continious body explosions

Story/characters:
Good cast of characters, liked Varris and Merril in particular, but why change Anders so much? No funny quips, far to emo. .   I know you gave a reason, but couldn't you have made another character and kept Anders as the quipster we knew and loved?
As for the story well there were some good points and some bad. The framed narrative worked very well, allowing for the time skips and some fun tricks as Varric embelisheds the truth. The problem with the over arching plot ist that the chaptesr never quite flowed one to another. While there there is an over arching plot for each the plot of one chaper seems to be largely inconsequencal to the next. Also actions didn't have as big as consequence as expected, for example ity would have been great if your actions in Prime Suspect altered the outcome in All that Remained.

Inventory (etc..) :
What's the point, it was so stripped out, with mainly randomly generated objects and it's difficult to tell if it's useful
of little worth or use. Especially the rings. Bloody rings.

World/Looks:
Didn't mind the new look, but the identical repeating caves that was lazy, especially as in the Exiled Prince there is a cave (basement) with the same layout, but looks completely different.

Character Creation /
Some quibbles about creation especially around the beard area, it never quite meets the face, and the fact that everyone has the same body (mom sister and GF... ),

. PS while WOW is a great MMORPG don't think that it makes a good RPG

Modifié par Flamingdropbear, 05 avril 2011 - 07:26 .

[MarLuna Blue]

For me, the game is about the story and the friendships that could be built or destroyed among the characters. In DA-O, I loved that I could "chat it up" with the characters and learn about their back grounds, etc, etc. I dislike that in DAII I can only talk to them when it's "allowed". It's a bummer. I feel like I'm missing out on a huge part of the story.