2797 réponses à ce sujet

[Furtled]

Inventory
Please consider naming the trinkets, accessories etc. in future. Every playthrough I've had an inventory stuffed with 'ring' or 'belt' that are a nightmare to sort through, even a generic name for all the rings that aid mana/stamina or health would help differentiate them a little and make inventory management easier.

Everyone's already commented on the excessive 'junk' so I'll leave that one alone.

Modifié par Furtled, 05 avril 2011 - 07:41 .

[ZeshinX]

Pridesong wrote...
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.

Considering that the event that affected Kirkwall directly at the end of the game isn't even made by Hawke, I'd say the fluff about our choices affecting Kirkwall was a giant load of what Anders feels there isn't enough of in Kirkwall.  Dog poopie. 

[Yimir]

I hate how Dual wielding is forced to be daggers only when all the extras are either staves swords shields and accessories, and as if to poke fun they allow the Arishok to dual wield a sword and axe!

I agree that they should return the Darkspawn to the way they looked in Origins and can't help but wonder waht happened to the traps? I enjoyed going into stealth in origins and placing several traps to turn the tides of a difficult battle

I also dislike the time frame jumps that are explained through cut-scenes when I would prefer to play through them not just hear about them

Would have also liked to see my warden at least once through the playthrough or be allowed to give my characters better armor

Also I think they should take the tactical focus from Origins battles and the action from DA2's battle to make a more engaging experience rather then charging in and using the strongest attacks I have which is how I had to go through the game the first time I played it

[Cybermortis]

One advantage of DA2 as it is, is that since we are playing a story told by Varric they can change elements and argue that we were only seeing what he was saying, rather than the 'real world'.

[NerdWithBigStick]

Kimberly Shaw wrote...

+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.

Thank you.  That was the spirit of the thread, after all.  I don't imagine anyone should agree with everything I posted and anyone is more than welcome to disagree (although the first reply was simply unneeded) - but I posted my honest gut response to what I played and I tried to give them what they asked for - constructive feedback in regards to what I didn't like.


- Nerd

[philippe willaume]

Serpieri Nei wrote...
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.

Hello  Serpieri Nei
Well you can back flip in armour. I have done it a few times, some of it from a horse.

More seriously I would like to rebound on your post because it seems to me that according to what you play, you will find different things lacking in a way.
From what you say you seem to have found what I liked tedious and vice versa.
I played a two hander tank.
The hordes of mystical ninjas are quite fun when you are playing a two hander with second wind for example.
In fact the night encounters that you have to eradicate had the same nice fell from the old DA:O and DA:A in the tactical application department that is, may be with even less micro management of the supporting cast.
 
But on the other hand, unlike you most of the bosses were extremely long and boring even in normal.
It was more a matter of rinse and repeat ad nauseam than any tactical operations or finds the soft spot.
 
The Arishok was the only boss that I found enjoyable but again incredibly long winded in hard or nightmare.
 
But when I played a few bosses with two mages for example, it was much quicker and more tactical and like with the wave of ninja when you are a tank, difficulty did not really matter.
 
And I think that is where the main issue with combat is. I really like the innovations but you can not tailor your strategy to the situation.
I think the crux is that what you can do with your character regardless of the class is more versatile than in DA:0 and may be even more than in DA:A.
But when you have chosen a path that is basically it.
And especially compared to DA: A it does not really compare favourably.
 
And that ability to switch between dps, damage effect and control is what is missed.
I really missed indomitable fro the DA:O series.
 
Phil

[Adugan]

I would suggest that people who already own both ME2 and DA2 get some armor DLC for either game for helping BW reach the 1 million games mark. I own all the ME/DA games, so I basically get crap for supporting the company.

[PirateT138]

Get your damn timing right (more than one instance of this, the other glaring errors is Anders presence in Act 1 when he should probably still be bumming around with The Warden or at least still a member of the order). Act III, a meeting with a certain royal ex-warden talks about returning to Denerim to see the Hero of Ferelden.

Witch hunt takes place 2.5+ after the blight, so we're at Blight+3.5 years (roughly Act II time frame) for the final events of the DLC and the Warden's story.

My warden goes with Morrigan into the Eluvian (remember, Blight +3.5), there is no way in high hell for him to be in Denerim like the NPCs say he is at Blight +7 years.

Herp durp, 7 is not 3.5.

How stuff like this slips through is beyond me.

Modifié par PirateT138, 05 avril 2011 - 10:15 .

[PunchoT]

Adugan wrote...

I would suggest that people who already own both ME2 and DA2 get some armor DLC for either game for helping BW reach the 1 million games mark. I own all the ME/DA games, so I basically get crap for supporting the company.

You get a free, barebones copy of Mass Effect 2 though?
If you really take a beef with the treatment Bioware is giving out, you could always refrain from purchasing their products till you see something fixed.

[Adugan]

PunchoT wrote...

Adugan wrote...

I would suggest that people who already own both ME2 and DA2 get some armor DLC for either game for helping BW reach the 1 million games mark. I own all the ME/DA games, so I basically get crap for supporting the company.

You get a free, barebones copy of Mass Effect 2 though?
If you really take a beef with the treatment Bioware is giving out, you could always refrain from purchasing their products till you see something fixed.

And what do I DO with that copy though? I have no use for it. My friends who like games like ME2 already have ME2.

Modifié par Adugan, 05 avril 2011 - 10:27 .

[Statulos]

OK, let´s go for a wall of text after a month playing DA2, reading impressions, comparing and thinking a bit the way I would in my actual real life job. Let´s go for a wall of text so sorry in advance people.

Let´s start with some history. Back in the day when 3d games did not exist and they were distributed in floppy disks, there were several genres whose common denominator was storytelling. Those genres were classic RPG´s and graphic adventures. The approach was fairly different according to three basic elements: plot, interactivity and personalization. Graphic adventures lacked personalization, even those ones were combat was present (Alone in the Dark, Ecstatica, Little Big Adventure...) but plot was the main element while mechanics were ment to reinforce plot development.
On the other hand, RPG´s gave better personalization but at the cost of a relatively reduced interactivity and a plot that was not always good in terms of storytelling.

Of course there were companies and games that tried to bridge the gap of both worlds and games such as the Ultima series did a very, very good job on that. The some Canadian dudes took of where Ultima left.

And then Bioware come to the scene with Baldur´s Gate. It combined elements of both genres, though leaning more to the RPG side. Combining nice graphics (depiction of actions, basicaly) with a solid plot and an interactivity that both reinforced the personalization and plot impact, they basicaly turned the whole genre upside down and helped redefine both in a huge way.

Dragon Age: Origins is, I think, the culmination of a classic taste for games; Bioware went back to his roots for once bringing back a game that tasted a lot like Baldur´s Gate. It was not the same but the feeling of playing it was very, very close. It had a very good (sure not perfect, but still very good) balance between personalization, interactivity and plot.

What happened with DA2 then? I think the main issue is that instead of keeping the balance from DA:O and enhancing the experience of every element already present.

Let´s elaborate a bit on that. As I stated, Bioware delivered a very good combination of plot, interactivity and personalization. It was a completely different concept from Mass Effect. In Mass Effect the game is about the actions of a particular individual, Sheppard. Thus, plot revolves arround him, so actions, mechanics and interactivity. But that was not the case of Dragon Age; because the new series deal with what happens to a world defined by its multi-voiced approach. In a nutshell, is not what the environment does to us as players (like in Mass Effect), but what us players do to the evironment.

DA2 offers a very good quality plot that unfolds in a very cinematic way. That is the key issue. Cinematic effectivity has been what has toned down all the rest of the elements. Time and budget for development are limited resources. Interactivity, especially in combat has improved from DA:O, but at the cost of making it way too bombastic . The plot has been simplified (espcially in terms of adversaries and villians) to support more spectacular elements in the game and more "awesome" cutscenes (already present in DA: O) while the amount of impact in the world, though often time recuced for valid plot reaons (to give a sense of tragedy or inevitability), they ultimately lower the quality of personalization.

Another element in the plot is the confusion between epic and streamline. There is no need to repeat the "save the world" element from DA:O and I like it being gone for once. However, I think the theme of the rise to power is not well implemented, not giving the player a sense of "growth" as clear as other games such as NWN2 was able to give (even when the plot in general is not nearly as good as DA2).

Last but not least; a better depiction of actions I think is also responsible of limiting personalization and mechanics. The game feels capped in terms of object use, habilties (why my lies are always successful or unsuccesfull no matter what?) and even use of combat talents (less builds for characters than DA:O, basically).

Overall, the game feels like it had the visuals nailed down, but lack of time and resources for development prevented those visuals to be extended with more posibilities.

[Cybermortis]

Overall, the game feels like it had the visuals nailed down, but lack of time and resources for development prevented those visuals to be extended with more posibilities.

A case of style over content maybe? (Well, up until you realise you've been in the same house/cave 10 times).

Games did this back in the mid 1990's, when they started using live action video. That didn't turn out well as I recall.

[Statulos]

Cybermortis wrote...

Overall, the game feels like it had the visuals nailed down, but lack of time and resources for development prevented those visuals to be extended with more posibilities.

A case of style over content maybe? (Well, up until you realise you've been in the same house/cave 10 times).

Games did this back in the mid 1990's, when they started using live action video. That didn't turn out well as I recall.

Videogames, unlike conventional written novels have a problem that is also present in theatre and cinema but gets brutally agravated due to interactivity: depiction of content or content? Dwarf Fortress is an extreme case of content over depiction while DA2, I think is a case (not extreme, that´s for sure) of depiction over content. 

Dragon Age 2 delivers very well; I would say that often times better than Origins but at the cost of delivering less (less not in terms of lines of texts, in that side both are similar). Once the cinematic is gone, once the very nice voice acting is gone the only thing left is a main characters that feels like a total looser. Yes, we are suggested to think that he has become important but we are not succesfully shown that importance.

Modifié par Statulos, 05 avril 2011 - 11:24 .

[xSTONEYx187x]

1. I was doing a "evil/bad" run through as Hawke as my main account and I felt that BioWare was pushing us towards choosing the Mages, so to my relief, near the end *SPOILERS* -

When I was giving the choice to side with the Templars and Meredith and harm innocent Mages I thought Hawke would end up ruling Krikwall along side Meredith with an Ironfist, but you're forced to fight against her. I was annoyed as fook at that choice.

So more choice please.

*SPOILER OVER*

Also, more variety in places we can visit and less copy/paste caves/dungeons/warehouses.

Other than that, I loved the game.

[Cybermortis]

Statulos wrote...

Cybermortis wrote...

Overall, the game feels like it had the visuals nailed down, but lack of time and resources for development prevented those visuals to be extended with more posibilities.

A case of style over content maybe? (Well, up until you realise you've been in the same house/cave 10 times).

Games did this back in the mid 1990's, when they started using live action video. That didn't turn out well as I recall.

Videogames, unlike conventional written novels have a problem that is also present in theatre and cinema but gets brutally agravated due to interactivity: depiction of content or content? Dwarf Fortress is an extreme case of content over depiction while DA2, I think is a case (not extreme, that´s for sure) of depiction over content. 

Dragon Age 2 delivers very well; I would say that often times better than Origins but at the cost of delivering less (less not in terms of lines of texts, in that side both are similar). Once the cinematic is gone, once the very nice voice acting is gone the only thing left is a main characters that feels like a total looser. Yes, we are suggested to think that he has become important but we are not succesfully shown that importance.

Agreed. I think it is clear that while the ideas are there, they have just not been given the time to show though nor for anyone to really go through the game to really make sure everything worked as intended (not talking bugs, but the flow of the story).

You see much the same with many comics in the early 1990's, where companies (specifically Marvel) pushed for as many issues as possible per month. The quality, both in writing and artwork, dropped like a stone. Sales plummeted and Marvel came close to becoming a (presumably four coloured) foot-note in history.

[ejoslin]

What I think would have made a big difference is a bit more character interaction between Hawke and the companions.  Not a lot, but perhaps something that could be initiated by Hawke, not by a plot point.  Possibly a bit of romance-specific dialog instead of just the "moments" either be leading or after the big moment or tacked onto other conversations.

And then of course, who could forget kissing Alistair/Morrigan whenever they were out and about, and Leliana and Zevran at camp (unless of course you used a mod that allowed them to kiss anywhere as well). These are little touches, but they add so much.

I actually liked DA2's story. I just wish the time skips didn't feel like Hawke was in stasis while the world moved on.

Oh, and this may be a minor quibble, but the artwork during the narration and the monument depict a male Hawke. THIS bugged me. I'm glad a fem!Hawke was referred to as female, but gah!

Modifié par ejoslin, 05 avril 2011 - 11:44 .

[Wintermist]

Waves: You overused them by far. Spiders, Undeads and demons sure, but everything else... just too much.

[Sen4lifE]

Items

I second some other comments about inventory items.  There needs to be more than just, "Hey, Ring is better than Ring!  But not as good as Superior Ring which is still less than Ornate Ring but not as good as Ring!"

I prefered how every time had a unique name and icon.  The re-used icons were lame, sorry to say.  Each one should be unique (or at least to the most possible).

___________________________________________________________________

Also with the dialogue.  It was great, but the wording doesn't always represent what you'll say and even worse so the situations where not enough choices are presented.  Sometimes, albeit rarely (in my opinion), it was a black and white option.  This usually doesn't happen, but I hope for more attention to be paid!

[MEBengal2008]

I have a question about this forum topic to Bioware; will you listen to your audience and improve the next Dragon Age game in the series or ignore the many criticisms posted here?

Also, what do you plan to offer to correct the issue with changing the DA series from an old school RPG to a wannabe not quite sure RPG or action game. I know Hawke cannot decide which game genre DAII is and I am in the same boat as Hawke. What will you offer me; oh that is right ME2, which I already own for the XBox 360. Your free gift to me is worthless. Thank you for the free gift I'm not going to use. I wonder how many other gamers here already own ME2 that own DAII. I'm guessing most as most of us have been provide to support and buy Bioware products.

In another forum I defended Bioware and DAII. I stated that DAII would be a great game like DAO even if it had a short development time. Yet here I am wondering why I wasted $60 and close to 60 hours on a game that made me feel empty inside. It didn't do anything for me and I feel cheated out of my hard earned money and time.

This is the first Bioware game I may not replay; considering I have completed DAO and all DLCs four times, got up to the Landsmeet more than 10 other times and have a few other characters that are low level. I love DAO and will continue to play that great game. DAII is now going to be a paperweight; unless you make DLCs worth my wild and FREE since I don't need the free copy of ME2. I bet many other feel the same as I do. 

Just my 2 cents.

Modifié par MEBengal2008, 06 avril 2011 - 12:17 .

[JulianoV]

Do SOME, if ANY work at all when it comes to balancing difficulties. Easy to Hard plays almost the same, then suddenly Nightmare becomes pretty broken, specially if you do everything the game has to offer and level accordingly. Your enemies will become machine guns of massive pain. I finished the game on Nightmare only to cuddle my head in my hands and ask myself why I would spend so much time on such a stupid endeavor and be treated to such an ending.

I understand how level scaling must be complicated and that finding the sweet spot is pretty much unattainable, but there were certain fights that just reached the point of ridicule, taking WAY too long and becoming ultimately a NEED to kite around. Then there are the moments when ranged characters or ninjas don't even let you kite.

The difficulty is broken and shows little playtesting. The waves break any strategy, by the way. Many times your ranged characters will start dying without you even realizing. By the way, no matter how much you mess with the tactics, friends act erratically and hardly make an effort to avoid danger, be it from enemies or traps. If you're going for an over-the-shoulder, heavy action, bloody, visceral feeling, make sure that you don't have to pause every 5 seconds and switch beetween characters to make sure they are replaced somewhere their stupidity will not put them at risk.

The game feels like a chore and handholding with the new camera. You have little control over positioning, strategy becomes a bother. When you finally get your ranged characters to a reasonable position they're insta-killed by some wave that came out of absolutely nowhere.

You must replay a section numerous times to know what's going to happen. That's fun in an action based game like Mass Effect 2, which I've finished in Insanity with Soldier, Biotic and Vanguard, where strategy variation is productive. In Dragon Age 2, stuff feels random and your characters will do the most stupid things at all times unless you keep them on hold position, in which case they'll die as soon as an incoming wave, with fresh aggro, comes around.

[MEBengal2008]

Yimir wrote...

I hate how Dual wielding is forced to be daggers only when all the extras are either staves swords shields and accessories, and as if to poke fun they allow the Arishok to dual wield a sword and axe!

I agree that they should return the Darkspawn to the way they looked in Origins and can't help but wonder waht happened to the traps? I enjoyed going into stealth in origins and placing several traps to turn the tides of a difficult battle

I also dislike the time frame jumps that are explained through cut-scenes when I would prefer to play through them not just hear about them

Would have also liked to see my warden at least once through the playthrough or be allowed to give my characters better armor

Also I think they should take the tactical focus from Origins battles and the action from DA2's battle to make a more engaging experience rather then charging in and using the strongest attacks I have which is how I had to go through the game the first time I played it

Stealth in DAII only last 30 or 60 seconds, but in DAO you stayed stealth as long as had the right talent and did not attack.

[ms_sunlight]

Dear BioWare -

Please help save my marriage by enabling your future games to pause during cut scenes. When my dearest one (who is not a gamer beyond the odd game of Zuma's Revenge) comes into the room and talks to me I would like to be able to pause and talk to him so he doesn't think I'm completely ignorant and divorce me. Also, sometimes I get actual telephone calls.

Yours,
Ms. Sunlight

[JulianoV]

ms_sunlight wrote...

Dear BioWare -

Please help save my marriage by enabling your future games to pause during cut scenes. When my dearest one (who is not a gamer beyond the odd game of Zuma's Revenge) comes into the room and talks to me I would like to be able to pause and talk to him so he doesn't think I'm completely ignorant and divorce me. Also, sometimes I get actual telephone calls.

Yours,
Ms. Sunlight

I stand in favor of both your suggestion and your marriage. Please heed the call BioWare.

[Statulos]

Cybermortis wrote...

Statulos wrote...

Cybermortis wrote...

Overall, the game feels like it had the visuals nailed down, but lack of time and resources for development prevented those visuals to be extended with more posibilities.

A case of style over content maybe? (Well, up until you realise you've been in the same house/cave 10 times).

Games did this back in the mid 1990's, when they started using live action video. That didn't turn out well as I recall.

Videogames, unlike conventional written novels have a problem that is also present in theatre and cinema but gets brutally agravated due to interactivity: depiction of content or content? Dwarf Fortress is an extreme case of content over depiction while DA2, I think is a case (not extreme, that´s for sure) of depiction over content. 

Dragon Age 2 delivers very well; I would say that often times better than Origins but at the cost of delivering less (less not in terms of lines of texts, in that side both are similar). Once the cinematic is gone, once the very nice voice acting is gone the only thing left is a main characters that feels like a total looser. Yes, we are suggested to think that he has become important but we are not succesfully shown that importance.

Agreed. I think it is clear that while the ideas are there, they have just not been given the time to show though nor for anyone to really go through the game to really make sure everything worked as intended (not talking bugs, but the flow of the story).

You see much the same with many comics in the early 1990's, where companies (specifically Marvel) pushed for as many issues as possible per month. The quality, both in writing and artwork, dropped like a stone. Sales plummeted and Marvel came close to becoming a (presumably four coloured) foot-note in history.

And in the example you used, you can see the reaction nowdays: MAX. If Bioware should get inspiration from an attitude towards narrative, MAX series should be one of the referents.

[nightlordv]

philippe willaume wrote...

Serpieri Nei wrote...
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.

Hello  Serpieri Nei
Well you can back flip in armour. I have done it a few times, some of it from a horse.

More seriously I would like to rebound on your post because it seems to me that according to what you play, you will find different things lacking in a way.
From what you say you seem to have found what I liked tedious and vice versa.
I played a two hander tank.
The hordes of mystical ninjas are quite fun when you are playing a two hander with second wind for example.
In fact the night encounters that you have to eradicate had the same nice fell from the old DA:O and DA:A in the tactical application department that is, may be with even less micro management of the supporting cast.
 
But on the other hand, unlike you most of the bosses were extremely long and boring even in normal.
It was more a matter of rinse and repeat ad nauseam than any tactical operations or finds the soft spot.
 
The Arishok was the only boss that I found enjoyable but again incredibly long winded in hard or nightmare.
 
But when I played a few bosses with two mages for example, it was much quicker and more tactical and like with the wave of ninja when you are a tank, difficulty did not really matter.
 
And I think that is where the main issue with combat is. I really like the innovations but you can not tailor your strategy to the situation.
I think the crux is that what you can do with your character regardless of the class is more versatile than in DA:0 and may be even more than in DA:A.
But when you have chosen a path that is basically it.
And especially compared to DA: A it does not really compare favourably.
 
And that ability to switch between dps, damage effect and control is what is missed.
I really missed indomitable fro the DA:O series.
 
Phil

In terms of the Arishok i don't find running around in a circle, hitting him a couple times, run in a circle, hit him, rinse and repeat all that enjoyable.