2797 réponses à ce sujet

[miyagisan]

My thoughts:

1. Scenery: DA2 scenery echos the feeling of those in NWN. Like it was constructed with that toolset. Now, why is this bad ? It's repetitive. Buildings, squares are all orthogonal. This is a fantasy game. We know that medieval architecture, the one we usually is associated with fantasy titles, is not orthogonal. It's vernacular. It's organic, meaning that it grows out the environment, and the real need of people, thus streets are narrow, but rarely straight, facades while retain the unity of architectural details coming from local materials and building solutions, present variety. Like we human beings all have two eyes, one nose, one mouth, a pear of ears, and so on, yet we all look different. Anyway, this is Kirkwall. It does not look medieval. It looks imperial. The armor of the guards also looks imperial. I did not like Oblivion for this very reason, it's main city also looks too imperial. I like the world and cities of The Witcher much better. I can understand that this games comes form new-world developers who lack the rich built heritage of Europe (although in case of an artist, and not an amateur, knowing art history is not too much to expect). Still, if this is fantasy, and there are kings and knights, the architecture should resemble more a medieval setting than an imperial one. Surely, one can say, that one does what one likes having a new franchise. But we know, that nothing is created from thin air, and good art always borrows from the appropriate sources.

2. Loading scenes. Well, these were overdone in a wong way. They are too artistic. Their artistic language is quite modern. I did like the DAO loading scenes better, with their celtic ornaments. Again I must say: The Witcher. Loading scenes there are artistic,. DA2 loading scenes are collage-like, and in spite of the good work of the artist, they feel ... rushed, like drawing board sketches. They lack finality, and most of all, immersive quality. They are of a different kind of art than the 3D ingame scenery, and character models, so they break immersion instead of adding to it. I know, that going from 2D to 3D meant that now a lot more work must be put into level design. When this is not done because of lack of time, and funds, it shows. Now, I did pay close to 50 EUR for this game. The only game what is more expensive is Blizzards Satrcraft 2 with it's whooping 60 EUR's. Anyway, paying this amount of money I think I am entitled to expect top quality. So I do feel a bit ... robbed. I dod not feel this way in case of Origins.

3. Story, drama: Having the wonderfully polished tools to provide the dialogues and cutsceenes, having actors hired for mocap and voice-overs, the only obstacle in the way of a really cathartic experience is the talent and skill of the writers. Wake up ! Why spend millions of dollars on a game, to have it's story adn dialogue oin the level of a B-grade movie ? Make it an Oscar winning one ! I like the interactive cinema concept, coming with ME and now DA. Make it a soul shaking expereince. The meat is no longer solely in gameplay. Athmosphere, ethics, epicness, these are just as important. DA2 has nice quests and choice effects. But the world and the conflicts still lack depth, and are shallow. Why ? Because noone believes in magic, or using another word, suprasensible, these days. So it is a silly depicting of the bigottry of templars, the rottenness of mages, and all these are just a facade for what is this game about: gratuitous violence. Yes. This is what the game is about, you go with your party and kill stuff. No charisma skills. Why have than all the cutscenes, excellent dialogue, and quests, if it's only about, open journal, take next quest location, go there kill everyone, rinse and repeat ? Not that there are no meaningful choices here ... but the world still lacks depth and mistery, the one Star Wars has, even if it seems infantile sometimes. What you need is powerful archetypes. Try to imagine what and how the conditioning you bring to the mind of the gamer, will affect his choices, than put him into a difficult position. In DA2 I was never in a difficult position. Whatever you do, you get by, and there is no real sense of meaning. What does it matter if I help the tempars or the mages. They are all the same. They speak empty words than finally they emerge as villains.

So, up the standards. DA2 feels like the stepchild of ME producing Bioware. I want a better fantasy expereince. a much better one, having the same production values as ME. Otherwise, I simply will skip it ... because gameplay wise while there is development, it's still the same item collecting tacical RPG (now with action touches, what are welcome) like NWN, or DAO. To continue playing games like these, I need the drawing power of a well written, heart breaking soul-shaking story, and top of the art production quality.

[Ulicus]

BomimoDK wrote...

Advice. Have DLC be at least relevant to the current story. Origins DLC was very disconnected and felt very out of place. Even WH and GoA felt like they didn't belong. If you make an actual Expansion (which i really do hope that you will) Please let it be adding to the original campaign or expanding on it. DO NOT set story in some "near furure" like awakening was. You've got a nice half story here, aim to finish it or expand on it. Disconnected stories really wouldn't go with this and i realize that you've already recognized it but i just felt i had to mention it. (possibly the Nth time in this thread).

Look to Tales of the Sword Coast and such for proper examples. With such an open ending, something like an after story would work well if it's NOT a wholly new, disconnected plot and isn't set in the far future. We would love to deal with the story we're half-way though right now. Please just finish what you started, don't open a new can yet. That's what future games are for.

Thanks for reading, hope i wasn't too harsh or unrealistic.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

[Cybermortis]

miyagisan wrote...

My thoughts:

1. Scenery: DA2 scenery echos the feeling of those in NWN. Like it was constructed with that toolset. Now, why is this bad ? It's repetitive. Buildings, squares are all orthogonal. This is a fantasy game. We know that medieval architecture, the one we usually is associated with fantasy titles, is not orthogonal. It's vernacular. It's organic, meaning that it grows out the environment, and the real need of people, thus streets are narrow, but rarely straight, facades while retain the unity of architectural details coming from local materials and building solutions, present variety. Like we human beings all have two eyes, one nose, one mouth, a pear of ears, and so on, yet we all look different. Anyway, this is Kirkwall. It does not look medieval. It looks imperial. The armor of the guards also looks imperial. I did not like Oblivion for this very reason, it's main city also looks too imperial. I like the world and cities of The Witcher much better. I can understand that this games comes form new-world developers who lack the rich built heritage of Europe (although in case of an artist, and not an amateur, knowing art history is not too much to expect). Still, if this is fantasy, and there are kings and knights, the architecture should resemble more a medieval setting than an imperial one. Surely, one can say, that one does what one likes having a new franchise. But we know, that nothing is created from thin air, and good art always borrows from the appropriate sources.

I believe that Kirkwall was meant to look 'Imperial' rather than 'Medieval' as it was once part of the Trevinter Imperium, and I would also assume meant to have been planned by them. Since Trevinter is meant to be the DA version of the Ottoman/Byzantium empires (and the former was decended from the Roman Empire) then a planned city layout with straight streets makes sense.

The other reason is of course is that they clearly wanted to make Kirkwall different to Denerim from DAO - which does fit the pattern of a typical medeval city layout in its winding streets.

Like many aspects of the game I can see the intent, and don't have a problem with that intent only with the way it was implemented. Specifically Kirkwall doesn't feel as 'real' or lived in as it should, nor as large as Denerim did in DAO, and certainly doesn't feel like a city in which anything changes over time.

[Zeevico]

Fact is, DAO on PC actually has better graphics than DA2 on PC. That's right, they're a step down from a game that's 2 years older than it. They had to work hard and redesign the engine just so that it would look worse on PC.

I've read posts averring that the graphics are better in DA2 than in DAO, but I can only assume that they're console gamers. Is that the case?

[HasHPIT]

 Just finished my first play through and in addition to the gripes in the first post I would like to add the basic lack of logic and common sense. It is extremely immersion breaking and its ALL OVER THE GAME. 
Soooo many things in combat, like a mage should not be able to withstand swords being put through his body without any sort of protective spell active. If 3 of 4 members of the party is dead, you just run away with the fourth one and suddenly the other members will appear at full health next to you.Friendly fire, seriously...I know this has already been mentioned but COME ON. I hurl a ball of fire or conjure a storm from the sky (which really shouldnt be possible in doors), then these basic elements of nature should not be able to decide who should and shouldnt be hurt.And the number of enemies...Fair enough, the champion and friends are tough, but at least in the early years shouldnt I be able to meet a party whom I can only beat through clever use of tactics and equipment? Why does anyone bother to attack the champion when he has proven time and time again that he can easily dispatch scores of enemies.And as also mentioned in first post, the enemies appearing in waves is just silly. If I have backed my party into a room to use the doorway to keep enemies at bay, I dont suddenly want 3 fighters appearing behind me or in the middle of my party. If they are hiding, fine, but I want the option to find them then. I want to be able to send in a stealthy rogue to survey the enemy and then plan my attack accordingly.
Who in the world is putting all those barrels and chests and hiding torn trousers in them?
Why doesnt anyone get mad when I steal everything that isnt nailed down? (Why cant rogues steal?)
Gameplay wise I also have a few pieces of constructive critique.The mini-map. Useful yes, but I end up just following those quest arrows, not looking at the city or countryside. Im not discovery a city, its secrets and small back alley bars. Im just holding down buttons to reach a marker. A map that you can bring up is fine, but perhaps not show the whole thing. Shrouding undiscovered places make it more interesting to discover and look at all the beautiful landscapes and interesting buildings you have created. 
I dont want a difficulty slider, I want a fair fight. If fighting an enemy party of a similar level as me, I wish to win through better use of tactic. Or if I loose, I wish to learn from their tactic and adapt mine. The enemy should have the same options as me, just like I should have the same options as them.

There a more little things, but I think a majority of mine and other peoples concerns could be addressed by simply thinging about the logic when creating maps and encounters. Why is there a mage stading on sundermount selling stuff? The general area is littered with dangers and yet this guy has chosen to setup shop in the middle of nowhere? Why is there a nexus golem selling stuff in the depts of cave? Just how many templars are there in Kirkwall and home come no one seems to mind that I just slaughtered 30 or so?
How many criminals can there possibly be and who is organizing and equiping them and why are they mostly attacking poor people in lowtown who doesnt have anything?? They appear as a ninja army willing to fight to the death, yet they never strike in hightown? And despite having helped out on several guard patrols myself, I NEVER see a guards on patrol outside of quests?

Anyhoo this is already way too long, but please bioware....play Baldurs Gate...play Baldurs Gate 2...take notes...implement in your next fantasy rgp. Please. I wont be buying anymore of your games untill logic and common sense returns.

[Spawny]

Jewelisms summary is pretty much my thoughts on it.

I loved how the characters have lots more personality in DA2 (thanks writers, you really worked it! not to mention some of the choke on my tea banter lol). It's a shame we couldn't interact with them more through the game.
I'm with others in this thread about the stat requirements for a lot of things, some were just too much and buggered up the way you build your character. In fact I ended up using mods for a play through to do away with the item stats so I could just build my characters stats the way I wanted and not based on an item (this is even more annoying if you play through as a blood mage).
I'm happy with most of the talent trees though sword and shield tree left me yawning and felt under powered compared to DAO.
Not over keen on the junk and most finds were hohum. I guess for me in most RPG's I've enjoyed a good loot hunt but I don't really get excited at what I will find in DA2.
I did enjoy the way Kirkwall looked but like most here it felt small and in the end repetitive after a few play throughs considering the whole game revolved around this city.
Unlike most I did enjoy the art direction shift from DAO.
I didn't like the players armors but have said that many times. The NPC's had kickarse designs but anything you got for your character bar the champ armor was pretty dull (more variety in the mage armors would be a bonus too ......same green robe with different stats thing got old fast)
And yep...some of them rogue attacks were a one hit kill for some of my characters like mages with the smoke/stab/dead now.
re used areas/maps...it's been said.

and I wished it was longer  it feels like there could of been so much more added to this and maybe there will be in future DLC...The chanters job board has cobwebs

Jewelisms wrote...

I've completed 4 play throughs so far and here's some of what I like and don't like about DA2.  This list probably isn't complete, but it's a start.

The Good:

• Voiced PC -- I love that my Hawke has a voice!
• Battle animations and the speed of the battle
• Updated graphics - the blood, for instance has a more liquid look to it and the whole game is more beautiful, really
• Dialog wheel - I actually love not knowing exactly what Hawke is going to say. The diplomatic/humorous/agressive, etc, tones give variety to the game. 
• All the LI's are Hawkasexual.  I know there is a lot of polarization with this one, but I really like it.
• The sustained talent visual effects only show in battle.  The "always on" method in DA:O really bugged me.  Thanks for improving on that.
• I think the new interface is cleaner and I like that
• The story shows a lot of potential.  I hope it gets fleshed out more in future DLC's
• The characters seemed to have more depth than in DA:O.

The Not So Good:

• Companion interaction - particularly with the LI's - is too limited.  I read David Gaider's response in this thread and I see what you're going for and I agree that DA:O didn't really handle the conversations as well as it could have.  I'm good with the new format of the conversations - ie at particular plot points  or locations - , I just want more of them, particularly with the LI's. 
• Along with the companion interaction, the romance scenes are almost non-existant in DA2.  There are no repeatable scenes, no hugs or kisses and no pre-battle kiss from Anders if you side with the mages - that's very dissapointing.
• Cut scenes tend to play before I get a chance to loot the bodies and then the loot is gone after that. 
• The camera - the top down view is gone and I used that a lot in DA:O to navigate.  Also, in DA2, the camera tends to drift unless you have it zoomed all the way in and that is beyond annoying.
• The overused maps - this one has been said over and over.  And more than the map being reused, it would be nice if the interiors didn't also look exactly the same.
• Spiders.  That is all.
• The time gaps between the acts gave the story a bit of a disconnected feel.  It didn't seem that anything really happened in the interem years.  I'd love some DLC to take place in the gaps between acts.
• Character creation - the sliders without being able to 'single click' through the options make it difficult to get what I'm looking for.
• I'm kind of luke warm to the waves of enemies during battle.  I think they were overused.  I'd rather the battles were a bit harder/enemies a bit tougher than have the spawning of new waves where it doesn't make sense for it (ie in a closed room templars dropping from the cieling). 

Overall, I 've enjoyed DA2 and I think many of the changes were for the better.  I'm hoping that the story DLC's and any expansions incorperate into this story rather than take place outside of DA2.  I didn't particularly care for the DA:O DLC's that were outside of the main story.

I do kind of wish, though, that DA2 had been cooked a bit longer.  I think if given another 6 months or a year in development, DA2 could have been a lot better.  My hope for DA3 is that it won't be rushed out.  I'll be happy to wait longer to get a better game.

[apple_sauced]

 Well, I haven't been able to continue my DA 2 playthrough for a few weeks now, but I might as well post my thoughts on the part of the game I have been able to play. These notes were all recorded while playing through the game, so there's no bias based on the fact that a bug has rendered the game unplayable for me. 
I played on PS3, and haven't yet installed the first patch, FYI. Played as a mage on hard difficulty.
The Bad

• When importing save file, background music skips
• Game did not acknowledge that I had my warden make the ultimate sacrifice, but survived to complete Awakening and the DLC (If this wasn't going to be an actual option, you shouldn't have let us do it in the first place.) Well, it's a mixed message.
• Really miss the ability to move back and forth easily between Character screen and Equipment screen (to check, for example, what my Willpower stat was when I couldn't wear certain robes.)
• Also miss the ability to manage all companions' inventory and equipment from a single location like a party camp. Always means an extra run back to the storage chest after getting the party together.
• Glad we got the mabari as a pre-order bonus. Would have preferred the dog had a place in the HUD, and didn't have to be "summoned" (just let it be a companion animal, like the bronto Snug in Golems DLC)
• Was strange that we couldn't change the default Hawke face
• More options in character generation, please. As in many RPGs, this is one of the best parts of the game for some of us! In particular: more customization below the neck (body shape, body hair, tattoos, etc.) EVE Online has an amazing character creator, for reference. People who aren't into tweaking their characters with this level of detail can skip this process altogether, so this shouldn't be a bar to entry for anyone.
• It seems like my rogues never identify traps before I've hit them, because they tend to lag a bit behind. Would be nice to be able to have them take point, or increase the range at which they see them.
• The idea that a powerful mage/warrior/rogue can't enter a cave because there is a cart in front of it gets lame quickly.
• Likewise, why can't my rogues pick locked doors?
• Some citizens are awfully chipper when I return the remains of their loved one to them during sidequests. WTF? (It seems like the responses are random?)
• Can't tell how many potions I have on hand when buying more?
• No way to tell set bonuses on armor without going to talents screen is also annoying
• During long battles (w/ dragons), companions will several times stop attacking, and just start walking around. This is nice, because they regain health and stamina, but sometimes it's irritating that they're not attacking!
• The star system for equipment doesn't seem to make sense. I have two amulets that are +4% physical damage. One has a 1-star rating, the other a 4-star rating. The 4-star one is "ornate," but has no additional abilities. WTF?
• After the escape from Lothering, the game loses all sense of urgency. In cutscenes, we learn that Hawke et al. have been living in the Gallows area for days or possibly weeks. Maybe not comfortably, but in relative safety. Lack of impending threat throughout the game makes the events of the game seem relatively unimportant.
• The dialogue wheel could use some improvements: Often times, the dialogue resulting from the option I selected was not what I expected, even with the icons as a guide.
• Like the new map, but also would have preferred a larger map to put the game in context, geographically, w/ Fereldan.
• Overall, the number of bugs in the initial release is staggeringly unacceptable. (It was the Isabela/Sebastian attack speed bug that finally broke my game).
• If the game import flags aren't going to work correctly (see: Awakening), can we just get a game save editor?
• Pretty lame that you get forced into accepting Sister Petrice's request in Shepherding wolves. There's no logical reason Hawke should feel compelled to accept this quest, but the game forces you into it.
• I think I've been in this same cave a least two dozen times already. Seriously?

The Good

• Great new animations on spells. I particularly like Rock Armor.
• Thanks for the option to hide helmets!
• I love the way the companions will naturally approach interesting objects in the environment while you're talking to NPCs.  Really cool!

Modifié par apple_sauced, 01 mai 2011 - 07:59 .

[Jewelisms]

I forgot to mention another thing that I liked in DA2 over DA:O. Many people have mentioned that they preferred the mabari as a full companion. Personally, I prefer him as a summonable creature instead. I use him a lot more in DA2 than I ever did in DA:O.

Oh, and I also really like the option to hide the helmets (thanks apple-sauced for the reminder!). I used a mod for that in DA:O. I noticed a few mods from DA:O made it into DA2. That's pretty cool :-)

[Thirdpres]

Hrm. I agree with a fair amount of what's been posted here on this thread. I ought to take some time and actually post up specifics that augment or expand on what I think is important here, and I likely will at some point, but right now I'm just going to bring one thing up: use the experience of making this game on, essentially a one year cycle, as a means to better understand your collective limit(s) in building a game so in the future you can better manage your project(s).

Note: I don't hate DA2. There are things to like and dislike about it, when I get around to posting about agree/not agree with posts at some point in the future my position(s) will be clear on those subjects. Having posted in a DLC thread I went into enough detail on what I want that I sort of feel as if I've already given a fair sampling of what I like and want more of from future DA2 products and want from future DA games.

DLC Thread

[Makariel]

Played about 30 hours now but not quite finished DA2. I like it overall, but it could have been so much better.

What I don't like (so far):
- Too many quests at once! I had the same problem I had in World of Warcraft - the sheer amount of quests at any given time let me loose track about whats going on. Sometimes I clicked on someone and finished a quest I didn't even know I was doing.
- Enemies that appear out of thin air. Of all the changes from Origins to 2 this is the one I understand the least. Origins had a very tactical feel to it. You could scout ahead and if there are enemies in the next room you could either attack them straight or lay an ambush. Now it's just waves that appear out of literally nowhere (which really breaks immersion).
[spoilerish]
- Arishok fight - seriously, that was the most annoying boss fight I encountered since that 80ies-junkie in Alpha Protocol. Please stop making a fight "tough" by just adding tons of hitpoints. I propose you look at e.g. Demons Souls how to make a fight challenging without making it overly frustrating.
[/spoilerish]
- The whole game feels rather small, also due to the very linear levels (which are re-used too often). I would like to see more exploration and hidden secrets.
- That you can only talk with your companions about certain things in their homebase made for some awkward moments
- The way the family was handled. I felt not much connection with any of my family members, thus the impact of certain points in the story was rather small. It would have been better to get to know them under normal circumstances, before running away from the Blight.
- My companions running into traps my rogue already spotted minutes ago.
- Melee combat (in PS3 demo) got tired of the button mashing pretty quickly. Please don't forget the auto-attack in future!

What I do like (so far):
+ Melee combat (played on PC). It is immensely satisfying to charge into a bunch of enemies and see them crushed and flying after doing a whirlwind attack.
+ That party members mainly take care of their own gear. However, I'd also like to see more opportunities to help party members aquire better gear through quests or something.

[berserkerblob]

I own the game since the day DA2 was released but ,despite my awareness of the existance of this tread, I have hesitated to express my critique because i don't know whether the mentioned opinions really influence bioware's future developement policy regarding to the DA-Franchise and beside that, i am german i.e. I personally struggle with expressing myself in a foreign language. That is why I hope that anyone is able to understand what I am going to address with my following annotations.

First of all I want to say that I really like the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises a lot.
Beside them, Bioware have an outstanding track record including the Baldurs Gate series, the Kotor games, NWN 1&2 and last not but least Jade Empire.
Although I haven't played all of these games, I had looked upon Bioware as propably the best developer in the videogames industry, and therefore I've refused to think that any game developed by Bioware could be something else than masterpieces of their era. With that optimism i preordered DA2 because even all of the actual games are outstanding (ME 1& 2, DAO) and thus I' ve never thought DA2 could ever become a disappointment to me. I think DA2 is certainly not a bad game but  despite that I would rather call it disappointing than excellent. 

I think that there are a few points I'd like to elucidate.

What I really don't understand is why DA2 was released while it seemed not being finished and being polished. 
In order to exemplify my impression i want to begin with Kirkwall.

I really liked the concept that the "star" or centre of the Story is Kirkwall itself and in contrast to the idea of "predestined" Heroes (or  a dragon -born in the forthcoming skyrim). I really liked the idea that there is a big and powerful city state which is the starting point for a (cipher?) nobody whose rise to power finally influence the balance of power within that state.
But realisation of that concept fell far short because if you portrait a city and the player's character play a underpart, you just have to do it in a reasable manner.
I mean as a player you are  mostly travelling within the city. That isn't attractive to some players but it has been your decision. But a portrait need details. You cannot create that portrait without details i.e. its appearance,  its sounds etc. have to reflect the underlying backstory and when the story changes, the city  has to subordinates to that changes  too and therefore change its appearance and sound etc. .
Playing DA2 in act 1, 2 or 3 doen't make any difference, most of the times it looks completely the same and that's a sad thing. It just doen't make any sense if the qunari almost wiped the city off the map and after defeating the arishok the formerly burning city is suddenly repaired like there have never been an assault by an external threat which was pretty close to devastating Kirkwall.
Just to give you an example:
When you arrive at Kirkwall, many refugees have fleed to Kirkwall since Ferelden suffered from the blight.
The games explaines that there are so many refugees that the government decides to shut doors to foreigners. But that means there have to be many poor refugees within the borders of Kirkwall who are struggling to survive on a daily basis.
What could that mean. I guess there should be crowded and really noisy streets, an increase of homeless people and crime. Comparing the first act (with the ongoing blight in Lothering) with the second one (where the darkspawn have almost capitulated) there won't be any major differences concerning population, crime and noise or the propability of random encounters. With the return of many citizens to Ferelden there should be a stabilizing Kirkwall with guards that more often succeed in restoring the order. But none of these changes take place or become apparant to the player.

In order to differentiate between the acts, there also should be a significant change within the enemies you face in battles.
While you should combat many (random encounters) small groups of enemies with basic weaponry during the first act, the fights should evolve with the timeframe i.e. in the later acts people shouldn't fight for their daily survival but in the name of established criminal organizations. In these organisations they propably  would have better access to better weapons or gangmates (like mages) and those streetgangs should only be able to fight with many fighters involved and thus use more sophisticated fight tactics. They would also be big enough to have their own head quarters which should be much more difficult to conquer than the street gang fights. Their territory should have recognition value, that means there should be unique maps for bigger organisations.

That is why maprecycling or reusing maps are terrible because the lack of differentiation through the game's chapters is highly intensified by using the same battlegrounds against the same enemies.
 
Beside Kirkwall I want to address  the lack of consequences.
Because Hawke is not the predestined Hero, he should have only a limited amount of impact he exercise upon Kirkwall.
But this is no explanation why I as player are limited in my actions.
Because of that we have to differentiate between the player's actions  (choice) and the environmental reactions (consequences). I know and understand that you have to incorporate several unchangeable storypoint or facts in order to develop a coherent story. But these fix circumstances for the story should only limit the possible outcomes of the environmental reactions and not limit the choices you are allowed to do.

To make that clear I want give you an example. Think of the mages that ran away and hide in a cave, I tried to killed them all but I was'n entitled to do that (=limited action). The reason for that is that they wil appear later on in the story and that is why there should be anyone of those mages who is still living and willing to kill me (environmental reaction). So you can limit the env. reaction by letting them survive because anyone of that group may flee or the templars are going to attack me, but instead of these possibilities you have just prohobited an expression  that Hawke likes to kill the mages right now and therefore you limited my player's action. That's not good because that's an immersion breaker.

Second example: Anders was really annoying to me and I really wanted to get rid of him really soon. The problem is that in contrast to DAO I wasn't allow to display my anger by asking that fellow (follower?) to leave the group (=limited actions). the reason is you'll need him later in thestory. Again, thats absolutely not immersive that's a bad thing.
If you' ll need him, alright, limit the environmental reactions but not my player's freedom to express anger. You should have let me call him an selfish As**ole with thr consequence that he leaves the posse without being killed and doing his things outside my group.

EDIT: But the example bothered my the most was that church sister who betrayed me more than once. But after being trapped for the first time, hawke should have had the opportunity to take revenge. But instead of that, you were (in the german version, I don't know whether there are any differences) just able to tell hear that you won't be friends soon.
Come on, this was some kind of ridiculous because many people with less severe deeds were liquidated by Hawke and his teammatesto that point but that lady who tried to let you run into death won't have to face any violent confrontation with you. Why? If there was any reason why I cannot take revenge, i could accaept it. You should your party members protest against any acts of revenge against members of the church of Andraste but no, I am not entitled to express my anger at all. At that point the story and Hawke's options to act felt so much artificial and forced. /EDIT  

Referering to DA2-characters I'd like to make that comment that I really missed the depth in some personalities.
Look at Fenris, that looks like he would have originally been designed to appear in a animestyle jrpg. Beside that he has a similar background and reason for rage like Subject Zero aka Jack in Mass Effect 2. But unlike Fenris Jack was struggling with her nature and her background, in the beginning she presents herself as strong, selfassured young Lady that indicates after some time that she may have wished to be something else than the aggressive Killer she used to be. Fenris has no real depth. He is worried about his future and has no clue where to belong to but besides that there are no self-doubts but only rage. That's kind of sad because there is actually really good character drawing (Aveline, partly the commander Meredith, Merril, the Arishok, Varric ( in a funny way) and Isabela). Like my favourites may reveal, i don't exclusively need characters that struggles with their existance but If anyone has major issues about himself I'd like to see that there many layers of depth in the way a characters is presented throughout the game and that there is a personal level of progression (like Jack).
Having said so I've to admit that Bioware is still almost the only one in the industry who is capable of drawing fascinating personalities.

After that I want to speak about my impressions of the combats in general. I really liked the faster paced combat but disliked that enemies pop up anywhere on the battlefield like they were beamed from the Starship Enterprise. That's is so silly and cartoonish, it's just ridiculous because I put extra effort into tactical planning until it becomes useless because there is another wave of space invaders popping behing my archers or mages. Waves only make sense when you're  conquering a gang hideout or headquarter but really not in random encounters.
Besides that obvious shortcoming, i want to express that I don't understand why those weapon attributes like range, armour penetrating, defence against arrows and so on was cut back or rather entirely abolished. Having only armour and damage as weapon attributes is not an improvement because the differences between long and short bows or between differnt types of shield just have vanished. I think that there should be at least two or three independant attributes in order to create a situation where the player has to make a choice. The idea of an ultimate weapon is just boring. Please bring some of the attributes back (range for bows; little shield good against quick enemies but bad against bows and big shields vice versa, etc.).

I want to come to an end but before that, i want to address a major disappointment (at least in the german forum).
People seem to be disappointed that there is no clear statement about a possible release of a (modding) toolset for DA2. Of course, it's ultimately your decision to sell DLCs like "Item Pack #1" but doing this, you shouldn't be surprised of being accused for selling ripp-offs because these kind of critique is only viable as long you don't offer an adequate toolset for the community.
With that being said I am really looking forward to the upcoming story-dlcs.

If anyone from Bioware was willing and able to read my critique, I would be more than happy and I hope my critique was constructive and well-founded. 
I say good bye and want to thank Bioware for being such a unique and great developer and hope that DA3 will become as great as DAO was and DA2 could have been if they would just have had the proper development time in order to create a dragon age title to its potential.

Modifié par berserkerblob, 03 mai 2011 - 09:13 .

[Furtled]

Traps
Seconding/thirding/whatevering trap detection range being a smidge too small, most of the time characters are stepping on traps before there's even a hint they're there.

Modifié par Furtled, 02 mai 2011 - 11:06 .

[Hatchetman77]

My biggest gripe about the game is the story. In different posts I see people talking about Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3 but for the life of me I can't break this game down into acts because I can't find a central conflict. The story needed more focus. If I'm rising to power in Kirkwall then focus on that. If the story is about Mages vs. Templars then focus on that. If the story is about the Qunari then focus on that.

Honestly, the story should have just been about your rise to power in Kirkwall.  The story could have been more Beowulf inspired and the killing of the High Dragon could have played a role in you becomming Champion rather then the Qunari. Kirkwall should also have been changeable by your actions.  Different sections of the city may prosper or decline depending on what you do.  For example by the time you are Champion, Darktown may have moved from a slum to a bustling working class section of the city, and be completly changed (or still the run down slum, depending on your actions). The Qunari could have been added in as a DLC and the Mage vs. Templar conflict could have been an Awakenings type expansion.    

[Cochy]

Just finished DA2.  Big Bioware fan here.  After playing DA:O, like most people I had very high hopes and set the bar high for DA2.

That said, I am very very disapointed with DA2.  I agree with just about all the critism posted here.  The biggest faults have been repeated many times and I share the same opinions.

DA:O was superior in every way to DA2 except one, I did enjoy the faster paced combat.  That's it.

That doesn't include phasing in enemies, which is bad (mentioned a lot already) and also it doesn't include every fight having constant new waves of enemies which becomes boring.  I remember Laidlaw mentioning that they were going to spice up combat by have re-enforcements coming in.  I thought that was a cool idea in theory, but when this idea is employed in 99% of battles it gets old fast.

In DA:O Bioware introduced players to a wonderful new campagin setting that is Thedas, and in the first game we explored Ferelden.  Needless to say, Ferelden was so well done, we wanted more of the same.  We wanted to explore the other great regions that we heard so much about.  It's almost like a slap in the face from Bioware that DA2 limited us to one city! (and it's backyard)  I'm sorry but this is not the game I waited for.  That is my biggest critism.  This game is way to small and the story is very small and very linear.  The story had potential until it was absolutely massacered at the very end, where the game finally shows it's true color, player choice and overall story quality are phony and none existant.  All I'll say is that I sided with the mages, ya you know the rest.  Sorry but the end game is very disapointing the polar opposite of DA:O.  Oh and by the way, the important plot deviced used at the end, so lame, so forced, such a cop-out.  I'm sure no one cared at all about this plot-device and we were glad to think it gone, but you brought it back to let someone we didn't like off the hook. Not good story telling.

Quest balance was also very poor.  I found that Act 1 contained lots and lots of side quests which is good, but Acts 2 and 3 contained very few and I raced through the end act.  Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough for extra things to do because I just wanted to game to end and I was way past bored of running around Kirkwall by then.

LI?  Were there LIs in this game?  Compared to DA:O LIs were an utter bore.

I feel the need to bring up the problem with reused maps again even though it's been said a zillion times just because well, I felt like I was playing Hellgate: London again...ugh. Terrible Bioware, I certainly expected better from you here.  I played NWN mods with more elaborate areas and maps than this game that were designed by 3 people in a few months.  The lack of original content made me feel like I was ripped off paying full price for this game.

Difficulty levels did not scale well at all.  Hard mode was way too easy and Nightmare mode was very very frusterating too often.  I believe the problems lie in two areas here. 
1) Enemy rogues are just stupidly overpowered when they spam their backstab.  How did this pass QA???
2) AoE friendly fire is too deadly especially when almost all abilities create AoE damage.  I can't tell you how many times Isabella would commit suicide by running or teleporting too close to Hawk's Whirlwind attack.  So frusterating.  At least for the Warrior abilities, other characters should be able to dodge them since they understand how and when the warrior might execute their ability.

Last but not least, I am a hard core RPG fan which means I love customization in as many aspects of the game that can be given.  DA:O did an extremely good job here, especially with all the different possibilities of the Warden character and Origin stories.  DA:2 was a 180 here and I hope that if sales of DA:2 don't match DA:O that Bioware might reverse that 180 and move back to what made DA:O so popular.  I'm sure the lack of character options was due to the fact that Hawk was voice acted and they couldn't hire a dozen lead voice actors.  In my opinion lose the voice acting or do anything to bring back character personalization!  I also want to name my character and not be limited to Hawk.  Bioware knew all this in all previous RPGs but unlearnt it all for DA2. Why?? I don't know how many people I speak for in this respect, but we don't want a fantasy Mass Effect.  Mass Effect is amazing that's why we buy and play it but Dragon Age was equally amazing as it was in it's original.  Playing copycat to Mass Effect utterly ruined this game IMO.

After DA:O I wanted more and bought up every piece of DLC and the expansion.  Now after DA2 I want to run as far as I can from Kirkwall (in fact please don't ever bring that city back in future games, maybe burn it down).  I will not be purchasing any DLC for DA2 and will only consider purchasing the expansion if reviews are execellent.  I'll vote with my dollars that I expect much much more for DA3.

If you want some advice for DA3.  Make a dual protagonist story line with the Warden and Champion.  If the Warden died in the first game, you'll figure something out, you are Bioware, please remember that.  Oh and we better see some of Orlais and Tevinter.  You owe us.

Modifié par Cochy, 03 mai 2011 - 02:53 .

[SerenityInFire]

Furtled wrote...

Traps
Seconding/thirding/whatevering trap detection range being a smidge too small, most of the time characters are stepping on traps before there's even a hint they're there.

I second this notion.  I hate when Varric goes "There's a trap there!" and it appears right below my character's feet!

Here are my rants/raves:

Enviornment:
The environments are generally more detailed and look better than those in DA:O.  The caves look very naturalistic and have different collored stone, woodenbridges/stairs, assorted stalagmites, fungus, plants and other goodies that make them seem more interesting rather than just the dull grey/brown rock faces in DA:O and most other games that have caves.  The layouts of the wilderness areas look very nice too.  Kirkwall is rather plain looking, but is still very detailed.  My only real complaint is the recycled dungeons.  It hurts replay value and breaks immersion when you are in a different cave that looks exactly like the one you were in before.

Companions:
The companions in DA2 really lack depth, and most of them are annoying as **** too.  I never took Fenris with me on my first play through because I got sick of his constant wining about everything.  Anders is a crybaby too, but nowhere near as bad Fenris.  Carver's an annoying ****** and I'm glad that Ogre killed him right away in the beginning, just disappointed that it robbed me of the opportunity of killing him myself.  It was really interesting in DA:O to be able to talk to everyone in your party and hear their backstories and find out what they know about different artifacts and places in the game.  It really helps build the characters up as people in the story rather than just another meat bag to throw at the darkspawn.  They're actually multidimensional with all sorts of facets to their personalities rather than the one dimensional man children that I'm stuck baby sitting in DA2.  I almost cried when Alistair sacrificed hismelf in DA:O as opposed to cheering when Carver dies right away with absolutely no build up.  The most interesting character by far was the Arishok, mainly because of all the in depth dialogue options you had with him that the companions and most of the other really important NPC's should have had as well.  I mean, come on!  When Anders is my team mate, I should be able to tell him that I'd keep the templars away from him without him wanting to have sex with me.  And of the next dialogue screen, why are three of the four options romance options, with the fourth one being one that pisses him off?  I mean, come on!  In real life when I tell a guy friend that he's a good friend he doesn't respond by saying he wants to dribble his balls in my backcourt.  And another thing, it's so stupid that we can't customize our companions' armor!  I understand Varric only being able to use Bianca, because that's important for his character, but I'm sick of seeing my party wiped except Hawke because my companions can't equip any decent armor, and I'm sick of seeing Fenris in the same leotard and Isabella in the same sexy pirate halloween costume all game.  And what's the deal with Anders' chantry quest?  All I got out of it was that he wanted me to distract the revered mother so that he could change clothes in public.

Combat:
Combat is a lot faster and a lot more fun than in DA:O.  I've read comments about people thinking it breaks immersion, but for me, there aren't many things more satisfying than seeing my felled enemies burst open in an eruption of gore.  My only complaint is that the enemies appearing out of thin air really breaks immersion and having enemies come in waves can grow tiresome.  But continuing on with that thought, I do really like seeing the undead crawl out of the ground and the demons teleporting in through a burst of magic.  The boss fights were also a lot of fun, and at times quite challenging.

Items:
I think it's really cool how there is so much skill variety now, that you can play each class in many different ways - but the items having dual requirements really ruins that because it makes so that warriors can only be tanks, rogues can only crit and mages can only die in one hit.  I also think that the icons for the items are too simplified and futuristic and make DA2 look like some sort of bastard child begotten from Mass Effect and DA:O.

Art Style:
While I do prefer the darker more realistic fantasy approach to DA:O's graphics, I do really like DA2's somewhat stylized approach.  The weapons and armor appearances are a lot more varied than in DA:O and the monsters, humans and dwarves all look great and each one looks like a unique individual.  In fact, they look better than great.  They look fantastic.  My big problem though is with the elves and the hurlocks.  I mean what the hell happened to them between one and two?  The elves now look like ****ing anime characters, which when compared to the more realistic humans, dwarves and kunari, really breaks immersion for me.  And the hurlocks look really aweful as well.  In DA:O, they were really scary looking critters, but in DA2, they just look like clownish, cartoony sadomasochists. 

[the_devils_aid]

aight there are 86 pages and im not reading em all, sorry.

since this is a constructive critisism thread im just going to post my thought and how they could be improved

Re-used dungeons(aka the dead horse)
To be honest, i dont understand the reasoning behind this. it felt like a B-team move. the main basis of a video game is to immerse the player in a other role, none more so than the RPG. the reusing of maps broke this in a way no other feature did. i could buy the caves looking the same. really i could. but every building? every dock? no alterations beyond which door was lock? even if your engine had been the new Unreal 3, and i had 3 Geforce 560's and 3d vision, it would have destroyed immersion.

Combat
Combat actually felt faster in this game, which is a plus,but not on any setting above normal.you could feel that this game was tuned for normal, and other damage soucres were hap-hazardly thrown in for harder difficulties. take a mage for instance. every tree had multiple AoE effects, and enemies always came in packs of more than 3. on normal, this presents a slight challenge. on insane (or whatever the hardest was called) it was downright hard. and not the good "challenge" hard, it was the bad "frustrating" hard. they hard where you could do everything perfect and still lose.

the companions
these were actually done quite well. they had a much deeper story that i thought, most of which had to be un-covered through dialog. the Armour issue however can go straight to hell. let them have there own armor, sure i can deal with that. a captain of the guard has to have some sort of regulation armor. but when i add things to it, like a chain underlining, i expect to see it represent visually. its the least you could do for completely neglecting dungeons.

Story
sorry, but this was done terribly. it had potential, but you never made me feel connected to anything that wasn't a companion. i shrugged when my mother died, both from the complete lack of time spent with her, and hawkes complete lack of emotion, even when talking to his uncle. and the ending was pure crap. if nothing else, it showed how much EA and Bioware wanted a quick cash in for ME3 and ToR.
In DA:O, the ending was **** too, but not for the same reason. in DA:O i just didnt feel connected to the archdemon. he was a dragon that burned stuff, like every other dragon, and i was part of the Chosen Ones. in DA2, the ending game in the middle of the game. i literally have two segments of the game that lead to the Qunari rebellion, while having one segment for the mage rebellion. you can argue that it had been in all three, but in reality i didn't even realize the mages were going to rebel until act 3. there was no showing of brutality against the mages, no walk through the dungeons, just a million blood mages.


and those be my biggest gripes.

[Revakeane]

Some more thoughts:

Cultural differentiation
Kirkwall didn't seem to be very different from Ferelden. For one thing, the people there sound and dress the same (mostly), and I still wonder how many NPCs can tell that Hawke is Ferelden... apart from the slight British accents (which most Kirkwallians have) and the Serah/Messre thing, there is nothing differentiating the Fereldens from the Kirkwallians. Maybe this was not really a top priority, but i would have liked to see more cultural differentiation in DA2, especially since we're exploring a city so far from Ferelden, and with such a different history. Apart from the Viscount and the physical reminders of its slaver past, Kirkwall seemed very much like Denerim in terms of its denizens and overall feel. Maybe I'm just obtuse, but that's the way it seemed to me. I think the art design of the city should have seeped into the design of Kirkwallians; make them different the way Kirkwall is physically different from Denerim, in terms of clothing, speaking, customs...

If DA3 is indeed going to be set in Orlais, I hope that the developers will expand resources to make Orlais seem real in terms of culture; something they succeeded with in Ferelden but not so much in Kirkwall.

[Foolsfolly]

Hatchetman77 wrote...

My biggest gripe about the game is the story. In different posts I see people talking about Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3 but for the life of me I can't break this game down into acts because I can't find a central conflict. The story needed more focus. If I'm rising to power in Kirkwall then focus on that. If the story is about Mages vs. Templars then focus on that. If the story is about the Qunari then focus on that.

Honestly, the story should have just been about your rise to power in Kirkwall.  The story could have been more Beowulf inspired and the killing of the High Dragon could have played a role in you becomming Champion rather then the Qunari. Kirkwall should also have been changeable by your actions.  Different sections of the city may prosper or decline depending on what you do.  For example by the time you are Champion, Darktown may have moved from a slum to a bustling working class section of the city, and be completly changed (or still the run down slum, depending on your actions). The Qunari could have been added in as a DLC and the Mage vs. Templar conflict could have been an Awakenings type expansion.    

The story did need a focus. As I've said multiple times, if the central story isn't about the Templar/Mage argument than it should be about Hawke's rise to power. It should have had Hawke have opposition to that rise.

The story really is my biggest gripe. I never thought that was possible in a BioWare game.

[Danfalc85]

Thought I would add my two cents, please excuse my spelling.

Okay things I liked to start this off as a positive.

-The Banter, this was a trademark of Origins too, the stuff party members would say to each other had me in stitches at times.

- The Graphics. They looked good on my ageing pc, that's impressive considering I will probably be able to sell it as an antique. I liked some of the new artwork too. And weirdly enough I liked the look of the new elves. I noticed a lot of people did not like that and I can understand where they are coming from. But I think you did a great job, it's very easy to just have them as slimmer humans with more pointy ears. They looked almost alien but I think that's fitting.

-The controls In general were more fluid and felt very responsive.

-Some of the quests were good, like the quest with your Mum, that had me really engaged, it was really gripping. But I didn't really enjoy the main storyline, it's almost like there was no main storyline, but a few repeating themes which all seem to predictably explode towards the end.

-Hawke, his voice bothered me less than I thought it would. I hated the idea of it but was something I came to enjoy. That being said, I think the level of dialogue suffered, and there could of been more choices.

- I can't say I really disliked any of the party members with the exception of Fenris, but we all don't like the same things so I feel that's down to my taste rather than any perceived fault. That being said with the exception of Varric who was great and really broke the stereo typical dwarf warrior routine. I never felt that attached to any of them..they were interesting enough, but they never left a lasting impression on me.

I hate to compare to Origins as I want to try and judge this game on it's own merits, I can't help but miss the characters from Origins. I'm not sure if the characters were just better written or what. But what I think helped, was the progression of party members In origins, their quests tended to be deeper, and at some points, you could heavily influence them. To have your characters viewpoint in your hands was a powerful thing for me. I agonized over what to tell Alistair and Lelianna. Do I say the nice thing and put them at ease, or tell them the harsh reality and change there personality and view point forever? It really felt like I could extinguish the innocence that Lelianna had, I will not forget that moment for a long time.

Now to things I feel strongly about

-The areas got repetitive very quick because they were so similar. Also as great as the new city was to explore and no matter how much I loved the architecture, being confined to it and having so little..variation left it feeling stale after a while. Even more so for the cave you frequently end up in.

-The combat, now this was the weakest aspect of the game for me. I will try and be polite about this. But I almost felt like I was playing Devil May Cry. It was kind of cool at first, but after a very short while it felt very over the top. I do think you tried to keep the tactical elements of Origins, but just not enough. I don't think fluid and awesome combat has to be exclusive from tactical combat and I believe you can have a better synergy between them than you achieved In DA2. I wish you didn't have to have synergy, I feel bioware is talented enough to make the original combat from origins easier to pick up and more exciting, without changing it so drastically like you did.

Customization, I can totally understanding wanting to keep a distinct theme for each of the characters, but I wonder why that has to be exclusive of equipping armour. If you really wan't to do that, DC online has a really clever feature of being able to lock the appearance of a armour set, even if you upgrade it. So you could do the same and lock the style. I really missed being able to equip armour and it felt jarring and a step backwards.

I could go on and on, sorry if I sound overly negative. DA2 was a good game in it's own right, I just personally feel it pales in comparison to Origins, I understand risks have to be taken, but I also think you have divided the community when you could of honestly pleased both.

Modifié par Danfalc85, 03 mai 2011 - 09:06 .

[Feogrisha]

- No choices whatsoever, no matter what you do it won't affect the story. At all.
- Enemies exploding after... backstabbing them?
- Enemies spawning in the air
- Combat lacks tactical approach.
- Shallow companion and romances
- Bad soundtrack, imo
- Reused locations. Every house, cave or warehouse looks the same...
- Lack of that "I have impact on this world" feeling. No matter what you do thought the entire game the ending is pretty much the same. Also little things like - Choosing blood mage spec in DA:O causes comapnion's reaction. In DA2 you can impale yourself on staff standing next to Meredith.


Overall huge disappointment. Players want sequels to be better. Better, but not DIFFERENT. Also item dlcs for 400 bw points... really?

Modifié par Feogrisha, 03 mai 2011 - 10:47 .

[Revakeane]

Another thing (sorry for the repeated entries! New things just keep occurring to me as I repeatedly play-through).

One thing I didn't like about DA2 was how our companions, while very well written and definitely entertaining, were quite extremist in their views and did not let up on them unless in very specific circumstances. This kinda infected my party dynamic because I liked using Fenris, Anders and Merrill, but I couldn't stand having them all in the same party because of the constant mean-spirited bickering. This was not the funny bickering between Morrigan and Allistair in DAO... it seemed like downright confrontational and bullying at times, especially with regards to how Fenris and Anders speak to Merrill. I get that the issues and tensions in Hawke's storyline is polarizing, but I think that such extreme dichotomies between group members (and the lack of reconcilliation between said dichotomies over a period of 10 years) is just depressing and somewhat unrealistic. Considering all the trials and tribulations they go through as a group, and the uncountable number of times everyone saves/heals everyone else, I would expect my companions to be able to come to some sort of compromise. Perhaps this wasn't possible with Anders/Justice, but it would have been nice to see non-possessed companions show the signs of how living and fighting and ultimately surviving with one another through the years has created strong relationships.

I know that Hawke can eventually change their minds if he fully pursues a rivalry path, but I think this tactic is lacking in subtlety and nuance. As a friend, I would think that I would still be able to change someone's mind, without resorting to completely disagreeing with them every chance I get. Similarly, i would think that I was able to disagree/agree with a companion in degrees. Like with Anders, I sympathize with the mages, and I wish things were better for them. But I don't agree with his revolutionary zeal or with the notion that mages were necessarily slaves. It would have been nice to develop this relationship along these lines, rather than having to fully agree/disagree with him to get full friendship/rivalry points. I preferred it in DAO (although I know that it is not necessarily better), that you could disagree with Morrigan on the concept of love, but still pursue a loving relationship with her, and agree with her when it came to issues like survival and power.

The thing is, I love the companions in DAO and DA2. But in DA2 with its extremely significant and polarizing issues, I would have loved to be able to forge a compromise with my companions, most of whom I'm very fond of. It kinda sucked that it had to be either one way or the other, and it didn't accurately reflect how I felt about the subjects in question, or how I wanted my relationships with my companions to develop.

I'm not saying that the Friendship/Rivalry system is bad, but perhaps more nuance could be added into it? Along with the possibility of being able to change your companions' minds in terms of degree rather than kind?

Thanks for reading Bioware. I seriously hope DA3 trumps them all.

[contentredeem]

...and another thing. Why is Nightingale's Lamellar Armor in the same drop with the Champion chestpiece? It might have been use worthy if I had found it elsewhere.

Modifié par contentredeem, 03 mai 2011 - 07:23 .

[contentredeem]

First time through the game; I was blown away by the spectacularly bad "bad ending" I had achieved.
Being one who wants to save people I had to try to do better the next time. So, I turned down doing the quest line I thought must have led to that disaster. Arrg! It still happened. Ok, I will stop interacting with main culpret at first opportunity. Arrg, give me a @#$% break. Alright, this time I side with said enemies of main culpret and do uncharacteristic "for me" acts intended to thwart main culpret at every chance.

Yes, three playthroughs to come to the realization that I could not stop that event. I tried my best. I tried my smartest. I tried my worst. All for naught. Please give people like me a chance to be hero. It's why I played and loved DA:O, all origions stories, all DLC except Darkspawn chronicals. Never played Chronicals, didn't seem like my type of story. DA2 seemed like it was going to be great. I like the new art style. I like the faster combat. Didn't like the unusable armor. If its not for me, I should be able to upgrade my companions. While I hated the location recycling, at least hide areas I can't get to on the map/minimap. How hard would that have been? I would rather complain about how small an area is rather than repeatedly bump into dead ends because that part of the map is really for a different location. It would have been a smaller gripe, truely.

All this being true. I still like the game and will play more story content as it becomes available. I really hope DA3 does have choices that make real defferences in the plot. Oh, and very limited/NO area recycling.

[Realmzmaster]

@Revakeane,
I understand your point of view regarding the companions. But I think Anders/Justice said it best I remove the chance of compromise because there is no compromise. The companions may develop feelings and respect for each other it does not necessarily change their core beliefs or attitudes. Fenris given his past with mages and slavery is going to be very rigid in his belief. He bends a little bit if you are a total rival or friend. He defends the mages only because of friendship or rivalry with Hawke.
You think Fenris and Anders are being mean to Merrill, actually they are showing concern for both her and the party. Over time you can listen to the dialog between Merrill and Fenris and it becomes civil much like Aveline and Isabela.
Anders is concerned because he knows what he has become and that the path Merrill is on is full of danger to herself and the party. Maybe you can call it tough love.