Theagg wrote...
Bejos_ wrote...
I never played KOTOR so I can't comment on that. I enjoyed the new skill trees of DA2, and the way in which your characters interact with enemies. I abhored the waves, obviously, as any sane person does.
I agree with you for the most part, T764. If it was DA: Kirkwall-- if it went clearly in the direction of being completely disconnected-- then I would have been fine with the changes. As it stands? No.
Theagg, evolution is fine, but it's a bit of a stretch to call DA2 an evolution. It's more of a re-imagining. Which is acceptable. Just be up front about what you're doing, and don't try to shoehorn your new style into an existing story arc. It doesn't make any sense.
Well, regarding the artistic style. Ferelden had a particular feel to it and that was one of wattle and daub. Even Denerim was largely composed of timber framed buildings. So the whole look was an 'earthy' one.
Kirkwall is a city of stone and metal, as such it takes on a starker, bolder appearance. The style reflected that perfectly in my opinion. For someone coming from an agricultural backwater, as Ferelden is, the impression of such a place to someone from there would be unreal. The more contrasty graphics pushed that feeling rather nicely in my opinion
Its a different place in a different country, it should not look like Ferelden. It should not 'feel' like Ferelden. Just as an adventure set in Paris should not look like one set in London. Or an adventure set in London should not look and feel like and adventure set in a rural agricultural community in the Shetlands. Even with the same characters.
The character Kirkwall presented was reasonably well done in that case.
The combat was fine, barring a few niggles. But there was more right with it than there was wrong. In essence its far closer to real world 'speed' than Origins was in that respect. But it still kept almost all the required tactical elements that were there in Origins.
That side of things was fine.
Character redesigns. Anders, can live with him. Isabela, not sure what happened there, a mod can probably fix that. Elves I don't like so much. Someone had it in mind to exaggerate certain features to make the point they are 'different'. It went a bit far. Though I don't mind Elves looking somewhat alien. But they have been stretched too far towards becoming twig people it seems.
The actual interface redesign. Sparser but livable with, its hardly the end of the world since the interface is merely a window through which you look at the world proper. Its a bit like Play School (BBC tv children show from a long time ago for those not in the know) in that respect. Origins was peering through the round window. DA2 took a look through the square window.
The notion that DA2 is overloaded with JRPG influence and style just doesn't stand up in my opinion. The irony is that the character most quoted as refelcting this shift towards the east, ie Fenris, actually in some ways is dressed most closely to the way that actual people living in the time Dragon Age is supposedly paralleling (the Middle Ages) that any other characters both in Origins and DA2.
His Peter Pan legwear (that black hose) and shoes (they just need to be a bit more pointy) are almost spot on for the fashionable attire for the man about town in the 13th century. Given him a puffy sleeved top rather than his armoured chest piece and he would certainly go down well
Your Ferelden:Kirkwall comparison leaves me a bit uncomfortable. This goes back to my Matrix argument. In TM2, Neo ends up in that other place that's removed from the Matrix but which is still an artificial environment. The one with the French guy? Even though this is a completely different place from The Matrix, it still feels like The Matrix. They have a colonial-style mansion, and a restaurant, and a train station-- and it all still feels and looks distinctly Matrix-y. I just don't get that feeling at all with DA2. It leaves me with the impression that things are the way they are, simply because the development team wanted change. That's not a good enough reason. I understand what you're saying, but it comes across as maybe 5% of the reason for changing the visual presentation. All DA:O really needed was a tweak and stronger design thread that wasn't "Shades Of Brown".
I don't really have a comment on character designs. Some looked good, others looked bad. Fenris is disliked for many more reasons than his appearance
He's one of the very few characters I like, actually. [
Edit: But that's mostly because of his VA.)
One legitimate complaint springs to mind. Flemeth. If anything was at all indicative of the route DA2 would go, it was the sexification and cliche-isation of that terrifying DA:O character. Making her like every other tween action cartoon mystery baddy resulted in her just becoming banal as pigeon s***. I sound like a broken record whenever she comes up: They broke her!
The character designs don't aim to be completely in the anime style. But I don't think you can look at them, either, and not see the anime influence. If they weren't aiming for anime, they would have just gone for another cartoon style. Cf Team Fortress 2.
Interface is mostly very user friendly, with a few caveats (e.g. not being able to compare loot on the ground with what you have equipped; the star ratings system). It looks terrible. DA:O had much more character in this regard. The interface really is very indicative of a move away from WRPGs. And I don't know whether they intentionally ended up at JRPG Island with this design decision, but they certainly ended up there.
More accurately, they created the equivalent of a simplified FF8 interface.
There is a definite JRPG-ness but if you don't see it by now, I don't think all of my pointing it out is going to make it apparent to you. It's noteworthy, however, that a lot of people are comparing DA2 to JRPGs. There are some people whose opinion I very highly value with respect to video games (not because they always agree with me, but because they articulate their analyses so well), and they almost all say the same thing: DA2 moves away from being a WRPG and towards the JRPG genre, without capturing what is so fun about JRPGs (tactical depth and good design, mostly).
I don't know what else there is to add. If you don't see it, you don't see it. This whole thread is really beside the point, though. ;D Whether it's a JRPG shouldn't factor into whether it's any good as a game.
Modifié par Bejos_, 14 juin 2011 - 11:32 .
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