This willcontain spoilers, so if you wish to avoid them, stop reading now.
First of all, I don’t know if the guys from Bioware read this forum, but if so, the most important thing I
need to say is: thank you! Bioware’s games are consistently excellent. From the Baldur’s Gate series and the NeverWinter Nights series, to the Mass Effect series and the Dragon Age series. There’s only one game I didn’t love, and that was Storm of Zehir. Dragon Age 2 has joined the list of my favourite games of all time, and is ranked very highly on that list.
I knew before I started playing DA2 that I would have two sets of opinions. Those relating to DA2 on
its own, and those comparing DA2 to DA1. Considering how much I loved DA1 there was a huge potential for DA2 to feel like a let down. If DA2 was not THE best game of all time, it could have felt disappointing. Any flaw would be magnified in DA1’s shadow. Ultimately I think DA1 was better overall – although DA2 still did some individual things better – but I can honestly say that DA2 can have no shame in being second best. And if I compared DA2 to any non-Bioware game, say Oblivion or Fallout or even any non-RPG game, DA2 would win and it wouldn’t
even be close. I played DA2 across several sessions of three or four hours without a break, and I never felt bored, or like I was forcing myself to continue. I had that “one more quest” feeling that the best RPGs always give.
So why did I feel like DA2 didn’t quite match DA1? The points from here on are intended to be constructive
critisism, feedback for Bioware to use in future games if anyone from Bioware does read it. Some stuff will seem small – and certainly nothing affected my enjoyment of the game too much – but even the smallest detail can bring you closer to perfection.
The most obvious point is that of the story itself. I felt DA2 lacked a strong overall plot arc. For the whole of DA1 we were fighting the Darkspawn, always knowing the clear end goal was to defeat the Archdemon. The kingdom was always had a very real sense of danger. For much of DA2 it felt like not much was happening. Tensions were
building, but there was never a sense of any imminent threat – apart from the very end of each chapter. A related point is the lack of a truly threatening enemy to carry the plot. I’ve already mentioned the Archdemon. But Loghain was also a constant thorn in the Warden’s, and Ferelden’s side, he committed many evil actions, was seen many times plotting and so on. Consider as well the constant threat of the Reapers and Saren in Mass Effect. In DA2 the Arishok just sat around in his compound for a few years, started one fight, and was defeated. Meredith was not a strong enough character to be the end boss. She wasn’t even really that evil to be honest. In fact I was sure there was going to be another chapter. Flemeth’s story was left unresolved. She would have been a strong enough character to be an ultimate evil (if she is really evil), had she appeared in every chapter. Maybe DA3?
DA2 was more of a personal tale of Hawke, the tragedies his family suffered, the friendships he built. And along the way he saved the city from several minor threats. I did enjoy it for what it was, but I just feel that ultimate evil stories are stronger.
The jumping around in the storytelling from a timeline point of view was not fantastic, and its something that annoys me in any medium, although I do have to admit it could have been worse. Two examples that were much worse: Mission Impossible 3 starts in the middle, and so by the time Tom Cruise is frantically dashing across the city to save his wife, there is no sense of urgency for the viewer because you already know from the opening scene that she has been kidnapped. The TV series Lost’s constant flashbacks/flashforwards just became a confusing mess.
In DA2, losing Carver did not have the emotional impact that it could have had – as losing Bethany and Mother did have – because Varric basically told the player that Carver was going to die during the Deep Roads section, before it started. “If he knew what was down there he wouldn’t have taken his brother”. (I realise other players may not have lost Carver there). The way Mother pleaded not to take him did feel significant, but I thought she might be the one to suffer with nobody to protect her. If the story hadn’t jumped back to Varric, I would have been shocked to lose Carver. Also at the start of each new chapter I initially felt disconnected from Hawke, the other characters and the events of the world. It took me time to “catch up” on what I had not been involved in. Best example is at the start of chapter three. Meredith and Orsino wanted me to choose who to support but I initially chose neither (although as a Mage I had been supporting other Mages consistently throughout), simply because I didn’t know what had been going on during that three year gap. Meredith had been portrayed as evil during chapter two, but I still lacked enough information to really make a choice at that time. And certainly there was a difference between what I the player knew, and what Hawke the character would have known.
I did not like the huge waypoint markers that were constantly on the map, and floating above character’s heads. Any game that includes these make me feel like I’m being grabbed by the throat and dragged forward through the plot. It doesn’t feel like I’m allowed to progress at my own pace. I think this is something that a less forgiving reviewer would give as evidence of “dumbing the game down”. I don’t recall ever being significantly stuck or confused about where to go in any Bioware game before, so this kind of thing isn’t necessary. And sometimes
they just didn’t make sense anyway. Like “hey I’ve not been home for a while but somehow I just know I’ve got a letter waiting for me”. I would have gone home eventually anyway, let me discover it naturally.
The companion equipment system wasn’t great. I found a couple of upgrades for their armour but why can’t I give them a completely new set of armour? Like in any other RPG, ever. I had to throw away some great stuff that Aveline in particular could have used, simply because it was restricted to Hawke. And occasionally in combat I
wished I could have told Aveline or Isabella to switch to use a bow briefly, particularly when a boss was using an attack that hurt multiple melee users. Again this feels like “dumbing down”.
The recycling of map layouts was even more blatant than in Mass Effect 1. Every cave had the same layout. Every sewer had the same layout. It can’t really be that hard to make some different layouts can it?
I played through DA1 twice, both times took me roughly 40 hours and I know I skipped a few of the more minor sidequests. DA2 took me 27 hours and I only had one or two unresolved sidequests at the end of each chapter. 27 hours is still longer than each of the Mass Effect games individually (at least for me), and MUCH longer than a
lot of modern games though, so its good, but just not compared to DA1. Another reason why I was sure another chapter was coming.
The camera control was horrible. Sometimes the camera would pan vertically and I’d have an almost top-down view with no way to move it back down except to wait for it to correct itself.
That’s enough critisism though. I did say DA2 did some things better than DA1.
One thing that I didn’t like when I read the first preview of DA2 was about forcing Hawke to be human, in order to get a Shepard style fully voice acted hero. This however turned out to be a very good choice. I actually responded better to my Hawke than my Warden because of this. I thought the voice acting for male Hawke was awesome. It made all the conversations seem more exciting, or you could say “cinematic” I guess.
I really liked the majority of the companions, and it felt like there was more to do with them than in DA1. Definitely more to do with them than ME2. DA2 had the correct number of companions as well. I felt Mass Effect 2 had too many to really get to know them well enough. DA2 is a perfect example of “less is more”. Less companions, but each one given more depth. My Hawke had a strong friendship with Aveline based on duty and respect, a flirty romance with Isabella, a freindship with Anders that grew because my Hawke was also a mage, that ended in tragedy with Anders’ actions. I wasn’t too fond of Anders in Awakenings, but he’d grown on me so much by the end of DA2 that I really felt bad for the choice I had to make. It actually hit me harder than the loss of any of the family members. Merrill was funny, especially in the random conversations with Isabella or Aveline while
walking around town.
The combat tactics system was greatly improved from DA1. I was pleasantly surprised by how often my companions actually did what I’d set them up to do. And the talent/spell upgrade system was intelligent, and allowed for some nice tactical depth.
Finally, I loved the Hugh Hefner style robe that Hawke wore in his mansion. Perfect reminder that “hey I’m a noble with more money than the whole of the rest of Kirkwall”.
So yeah, when compared to DA1, some things were great, some things not so great, but overall DA2 is an awesome game. I look forward to a second playthough, make some different choices, see how things turn out. And I especially look forward to DA3, ME3, and any other Bioware game.
Modifié par G00N3R7883, 16 mars 2011 - 02:55 .
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