interested but specially the Bioware developers who delivered this fantastic
game. Hope this is helpful.
Story
The 10 year ark is fantastic idea, well implemented
overall. The fewer quests that extended through that period of time grant
weight to Hawke’s actions.
Even though the basis of the conflicts is linked
through the chapters, each ark felt like a separate story, something like a
game with two expansions. The lack of an overall nemesis increased the schism.
Liked the twist at the end though.
Thumbs up for the “everyone is bi” but overall I
think the interaction with companions and specially romance is mediocre. In 10
years there is only one and lacking romance scene; which carries no implication
other than the NPC appearing at the state but unable to interact with him/her
further. No jealousy triangles, no conflict-reconciliation, only a few lines
referring the relationship here and there. Also the - PG “I’m leaving my boots
(and everything else) on” sex scenes - result in a mediocre experience.
No DA:O decisions seems to have an effect in DA II
except for a few NPC name changes and some mentions of what I already knew that
happened. In addition to the lack of consequences of the romances I had the
feeling that all of it - just doesn’t matter -.
DLC-expansions
Right now I don’t know if I want to know more about Hawk, we’ll see. As far as
the Sebastian DLC, I wasn’t much interested, fewer content and even smaller
romance.
Combat
DA:O – 4 characters with 10 or more abilities each
(sometimes more than 20)
Mass Effect – 3 characters with more-less 4 abilities each
DA II – 4 characters with more-less 6-10 abilities & longer cooldowns.
This means that auto attack (gunfire in Mass
Effect) increases in importance in function of the lesser number of abilities
and longer cooldowns. DAII tried to be in the middle of DA:O & Mass Effect,
with success in my opinion except in the next points:
2 hour boss
fights are not fun. The longer ability cooldowns plus fewer abilities and the
huge hit-point pool of bosses translates in approximately 80% of the combat
being auto attack, especially in nightmare difficulty.
The lack of a
detached camera view (tactical view) made impossible to land a well-placed
spell.
The auto attack
animations are amazing, but sometimes interfere with the casting of a spell or
ability
On the other hand, good features include enemy
reinforcements in the middle of a fight, but the fact that almost every fight
was scripted like this losses variety and surprise element. Another improved
feature is the distinctively different boss phases.
Cross class combos are amazing, but I miss the
spell combos from DA:O (grease + fire spell, for example) They were not as
useful as the DA II combos but the lore and common sense made them cool.
Art
I understand the stylization of DA II over DA:O,
and overall I liked it. The new technologies applied looked gorgeous for the
ambient. But my overall feeling is that the few awful visuals from DA:O carried
on to DA II and I only saw improvements on things that were already pretty good.
Some un-improved visuals that come to mind:
The stiff and
repetitive animations, ( a little rant: Why does every NPC that talks to you
has to stand and do nothing until you answer and then a repetitive scripted
animation plays out. Why can´t the PC move while in a conversation, why can´t
the NPCs move; I’ve heard that good actors understand that their characters
existence is not only the lines they deliver, they have to do other things with
their hands or be conscious that they were doing something before someone
talked to them. /rant)
Another thing
that annoys me is textures of the face and neck don’t match the face and body
(like Isabela’s freckles in her chest but perfect skin in her face) and the
fact that everyone has a collar.
Of course, the
repetitive dungeons felt like a bad dejavu. I’m not against numerous events
happening in one place (especially with a 10 year ark), but pretending that
every cave or deep road
disappointing.
Other than that, loved the Qunari and Elf
stylization, hair animation, spell effects, combat animations and new and
refined PC and companion models, specially by making them unique in size shape
and texture.
I liked the exclusive armor appearance for companions,
the fact that they “owned” what they wear seems logical, esthetic and useful
(less inventory confusion). What I’d like to see is each piece of equipment
given to the companion to be received as a Gift with a little dialogue
depending on the item: for example, “this blade is balanced, certainly better
than the one I have, thank you” (for a dagger with higher Dex than the
previously owned) or “I don’t know how I’ll use this maul, I’m a mage, but
thanks…” and the item belongs to them; you can check them out, but can´t sell
Weslie’s shield with impunity.
Mechanics
Even though we are playing a refuge who finds
fortune, I’ve never felt poorer, maybe because of the DLC goodies, but even in
Origins I could afford end game stuff (in part thanks to some very lucrative
quests). I like the concept of restriction but the fact that its money doesn’t
feel right, maybe if it was another kind of resource.
Speaking of money, sometimes loot is not a very
“heroic” way to obtain resources. How about a steady income provided by a quest
reward which triggers after certain events or chapters, instead of sneaking to
the Rose’s kitchen to loot the sacks.
Liked the dialogue wheel to some extent. Loved the
fact that Hawke is not silent, but felt limited in the decision making. For
example, what if the wheel proposes these 3 basic answers: diplomatic/helpful (let go the mage) Humorous/Charming (let go the mage)Aggressive/Direct (kill the mage). In this scenario I can´t
choose to be humorous and kill the mage, or kill the mage because the PC
believes it’s the right thing to do (which would make a very interesting
character). There should be a way to decide the action and
another way to approach that action
Overall
Liked the game. I felt like it was rushed in a
sense that some big events don´t even have dialogue (like in romances or a mage
Hawke in Kirkwall or Hawke using blood magic in front of Fenris or Aveline
reacting when someone who spoke of the guard in act 2 but not in act 3).
Great ideas like a long period of time ark and
class-Combos, fall in the shadow of no “hate-able” nemesis like Howe in DA:O;
The Arishok felt like a powerful enemy who tries to take the city but Hawke
appeared and prevented it, the end. That was easy, he’s the bad guy who you say no to
and you win. I felt that Hawke couldn’t oppose him sooner not because of the
plot or motivation but because of a Dialogue Wheel restriction. (I remember in
BG II I confronted Irenicus or Bodhi too soon
and you just died… at least I had the option to do so and loved that).
For me the most disappointing aspect of the game is
the lack of a Toolset; which made a great game like Origins, even better with
tons of customization. What a tool set offers is the opportunity to experience
the game your way, for example if I like anime hair, I could make it or get it
and for me the game is a little more enjoyable; Bioware can’t and shouldn’t
focus in such a small demographic and compromise the experience for everyone else.
I played Origins 622 hours, loved it obviously. But
I doubt I’ll play DA II a second time, I feel it’s not worth it if I
romance another NPC for only a 30 second scene that I can find on youtube. I
can´t try funny mods like Slap Morrigan or The Pearl Redone from DA:O. Even
though I played a Mage Hawke I feel that the experience won´t be that different
if I play a rogue or a warrior, let alone I can´t be an elf or dwarf. For
a replay, I just feel nothing matters.
Liked the game, but the lack of environments,
companion conversation and freedom prevented me for loving it.
Retour en haut
