Why aren't people talking about this game: Dragon Age II - Page 4

CCIP · 03-09-11, 01:11 AM

It is indeed a sad day when Bioware, about the last of the old Western RPG developers, starts emulating Final Fantasy

Castout · 03-09-11, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TteFAboB

It's an immersion breaker indeed; we give up all hope of having a half-decent fantasy to dive straight into nutty-land; or 5 YEAR OLD OMG AWLSUM!!!!!!!!!!-land. The game is already pushing it with all the impossible magic spells (i.e. rain of arrows), and now the party characters are also super-human. Great. What's next? Dragon Age 3: The Justice League v. Ferelden.

It'll be really odd to have these characters talking so serious, and a minute later go VROOOM, SWOOOSH, dashing and jumping all over the place, swinging their huge plastic swords at the speed of light. Insert Coin. Insert plausibility. Insert harmony between oh-so-serious storyline and ridiculously childish combat.

What an interesting turn of events. A short while ago I didn't put much faith in Shogun 2 and hoped for DA2; now I'm placing my bets on Shogun 2 and being disappointed by DA2.

This better be better than all of this. Steam doesn't serve refunds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TteFAboB

Wow. I hadn't noticed the Japanese-style moves/animations in the demo.

You just described it above

. Quite descriptive especially the jumping all around swinging their blades at lightning speed SWOOSH, VROOM. They do move like at least 5 times faster than the fastest man. It's a plane, it's a bird. No it's HAWKE! It's even worse than that . . .it's Dragon Age 2. [sorry for the negative vibes, if you don't like it just consider I envy you]

Yay I'm happy I decided not to preorder Dragon Age 2. Well I thought I could get it cheaper and way faster than having to preorder but it looks like I'm not going to buy it for now.

Dowly · 03-09-11, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Castout

Oh please fill us in the details.

Ask.

seaniam81 · 03-09-11, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dowly

Ask.

Is the game still fun to play?
And did you enjoy the story?

Dowly · 03-09-11, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seaniam81

Is the game still fun to play?

To me, yes. There's changes, but in the end it's very much like DAO gameplay
wise. I've heard the combat is different depending wether you have it on PC
or console. I have it on PC, combat, althought sped-up, is almost identical to
DAO. Also, companions are much better in DA2 IMHO, from the naive young
Dalish Elf, Merrill to the former pirate captain and rather straight talker, Isabel,
I like them a lot.

Quote:

And did you enjoy the story?

Haven't finished it yet, so can't say. Almost all of the game is played in the city
of Kirkwall, can't really say if that's a bad thing or a good thing yet. Lots of
choices to be made in both main quests and in side quests.

mookiemookie · 03-09-11, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TteFAboB

It'll be really odd to have these characters talking so serious, and a minute later go VROOOM, SWOOOSH, dashing and jumping all over the place, swinging their huge plastic swords at the speed of light. Insert Coin. Insert plausibility. Insert harmony between oh-so-serious storyline and ridiculously childish combat.

THAT'S what it is. I played around with it for about an hour or so last night. Something irked me and didn't seem quite right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Now that I think about it, you're right - it's the over exaggerated, swishswishswish kind of movement in combat. I guess they were going for a comic book feel, but it's kind of corny. I thought the combat animations in DA:O were just fine. Not sure why they felt like they had to monkey about with it.

The voice acting seems done well enough from what I've heard. Kind of meh on there only being 3 dialogue choices for each interaction you have. Each option is plainly marked as goody, neutral or bad guy. I prefer a little more ambiguity and less clear cut, black and white choices.

My first impressions...

Dowly · 03-09-11, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

Kind of meh on there only being 3 dialogue choices for each interaction you have. Each option is plainly marked as goody, neutral or bad guy. I prefer a little more ambiguity and less clear cut, black and white choices.

Actually, there's 17 different dialogue options and depending who you talk to, even aggressive choice can be more help than a diplomatic approach.

EDIT: Of course not 17 when talking to one person, tho.

From the wiki:

Quote:

Though it may not be apparent at first, Hawke can exhibit one of three personalities based on the dialogue choices that you favor.

Diplomatic/Helpful: Light blue or green highlight
Humorous/Charming: Purple highlight
Aggressive/Direct: Red highlight

The first dialogue choice you make sets Hawke's personality. If your first pick is a Diplomatic option, for example, Hawke's voice will adopt the Diplomatic tone in the next dialogue line that follows. As you keep choosing similar options at the dialogue wheel, they "stack". If you were to decide to change your personality later on, it would take more than twice the amount of (either Humorous or Aggressive) dialogue lines to active that version of Hawke's voice. The idea behind this system is to ensure a consistency in Hawke's delivery throughout each Act. After a certain number of specific dialogue choices, Hawke's personality is effectively crystallized.

At the start of each Act, Hawke retains his or her established personality, but the "stack" of the previous personality choices is reduced. This gives you a window of opportunity to change your dominant tone.

Castout · 03-09-11, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dowly

Ask.

Fill us in on the cleavage....

I mean only your general impression the positive and the bad and your judgment on the game whether the game is worth the money and time.

Dowly · 03-10-11, 07:11 AM

Mkay, so far (not finished it yet):

Likes:

Combat (More or less the same as DAO's. Target nearest key is awesome for a rogue)
Companions (DA2 companions are really their own characters with own stories and lives in the city)
Story (So far, I like it. But I see this is going to split the players. The story is about you, your companions and the politics of Kirkwall. Lots of choices to be made. Also, tons of companion quests.)
Qunari visual upgrade (Thank god! Now they look like the bad arses they claim to be!)

Dislikes:

Quickbar (Only 1-0 keys can be assigned, could use a second quickbar. Points for having a quick health/stamina/mana potion key, tho)
Lack of Darkspawn (There are some, but it's rare that you have to fight them. Also, they have been visually "upgraded", the grunts look like the androids from AvP2010)
Location (While I like the story, I'm not too amused of Kirkwall. Well, the city looks nice and interesting the way you see it in the beginning of the game, but I feel they could've done more with it visually.)

That's all I can think of now (just woke up and need coffee

).

EDIT: Oh, can't say anything about the character import from DAO and how the decisions made in it affects DA2 as I didn't have my old save games from
DAO. (Would be nice to have somekind of import feature straight from Bioware, all the story decisions are after all saved there...)

EDIT2: Uh.. the ending kinda sucked..

I know it's supposed to be an cliffhanger, but damn, somekind of closure would be nice.

mookiemookie · 03-11-11, 09:38 AM

So apparently EA is quashing any type of criticism of the game on their forums. What's worse is that they're banning users for making critical posts, and this has the effect of locking them out of a game they've paid for. That post is here: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to...index/6459941/

That has got to be illegal somehow.

Arclight · 03-11-11, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

... and this has the effect of temporarily locking them out of a game they've paid for.

Fixed that for you.

But yeah, it's rather outrageous that a forum ban results in locking you out of a game.

Aparently EA said a while ago that forum and game accounts would be separate. Guess that has changed.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011...-out-of-games/

Dowly · 03-11-11, 10:45 AM

Jeez, what's with devs/publishers buttraping their customers recently.

Quote:

Aparently EA said a while ago that forum and game accounts would be separate. Guess that has changed.

DLCs are tied to the bioware account AFAIK.

mookiemookie · 03-11-11, 10:48 AM

This is why official forums are crap. And another reason I'm thankful to have a place like Subsim.

kiwi_2005 · 03-11-11, 03:32 PM

I finished Dragon Age Origins last night just so I can move on to DAII but after reading a few reviews with BS scores of 90+ and whats really got up my nose is no armor sets?!? DAO I spent hours getting the Dragonbone plate set best part of the game for me. DAII left out armor sets? Did I read it right surely not. I wouldn't touch DA2 with a 30foot pole if so.

One review said DAII is the best RPG ever to come out by Bioware

.
Dummed down for console players, game revolves around one city, no armor sets. Story must be out of this world huh, fighting style is faster, Strat camera gone and characters are more easy to get laid now - maybe the reviewer gave it a score of 93 cause of that

Did Bioware fail on this one?

BTW, In DAO near the end you find out what happens to the Grey Warden when killing the Archdemon I chose to give Morrigan a child so I will live but I will never see the child.

I was wondering if the expansion carries on with the story of I and Morrigan as at the final end after I defeated the archdemon (crazy fight) one of the chat options was 'I will search for morrigan'.

Dowly · 03-11-11, 03:55 PM

DA2 differs from DAO, yes. Is it a bad game? I would say no, it just tells the story differently.

In DAO, you are pretty much saving the whole world, DA2 tells the story of an refugee and his/her way up in life. It's different, but I liked the story portion more in DA2 than in DAO. Mostly because of the companions, they feel very close to you, like friends and not just to you but to each other. As the story progresses you'll find that companions who didn't like each other have started to tolerate or even like each other, it's really a nice to see them evolve not only towards you but towards other companions.

Combat is faster, but it's also less prone to path finding issue that DAO has, some won't like it, I do, it works. In adventure games, combat has never been the highlight to me, but the story.

As for "dumbed down for consoles", well, you'll be the judge of that. I say it's streamlined and again, it works. Mind you, the combat in console versions and PC version differs, so be sure to read an PC review.

All in all, I enjoyed it, a lot, more than DAO. But that doesn't mean I am right to say it's a "Best RPG EVAH!!", just means that I liked it. DAO, for me, was too long, not the story, but how it all was done. The main quests were too long given the task you were set to do, there was also somekind of catch that made it longer, ALWAYS.

Oh and I'm also not saying DAO was a bad game.

03-09-11, 01:11 AM	#46
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	It is indeed a sad day when Bioware, about the last of the old Western RPG developers, starts emulating Final Fantasy __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

03-10-11, 07:11 AM	#54
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,052 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Mkay, so far (not finished it yet): Likes: Combat (More or less the same as DAO's. Target nearest key is awesome for a rogue) Companions (DA2 companions are really their own characters with own stories and lives in the city) Story (So far, I like it. But I see this is going to split the players. The story is about you, your companions and the politics of Kirkwall. Lots of choices to be made. Also, tons of companion quests.) Qunari visual upgrade (Thank god! Now they look like the bad arses they claim to be!) Dislikes: Quickbar (Only 1-0 keys can be assigned, could use a second quickbar. Points for having a quick health/stamina/mana potion key, tho) Lack of Darkspawn (There are some, but it's rare that you have to fight them. Also, they have been visually "upgraded", the grunts look like the androids from AvP2010) Location (While I like the story, I'm not too amused of Kirkwall. Well, the city looks nice and interesting the way you see it in the beginning of the game, but I feel they could've done more with it visually.) That's all I can think of now (just woke up and need coffee ). EDIT: Oh, can't say anything about the character import from DAO and how the decisions made in it affects DA2 as I didn't have my old save games from DAO. (Would be nice to have somekind of import feature straight from Bioware, all the story decisions are after all saved there...) EDIT2: Uh.. the ending kinda sucked.. I know it's supposed to be an cliffhanger, but damn, somekind of closure would be nice. Last edited by Dowly; 03-10-11 at 09:15 AM.

03-11-11, 09:38 AM	#55
mookiemookie Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9,404 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 1	So apparently EA is quashing any type of criticism of the game on their forums. What's worse is that they're banning users for making critical posts, and this has the effect of locking them out of a game they've paid for. That post is here: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to...index/6459941/ That has got to be illegal somehow. __________________ They don’t think it be like it is, but it do. Want more U-boat Kaleun portraits for your SH3 Commander Profiles? Download the SH3 Commander Portrait Pack here.

03-11-11, 10:48 AM	#58
mookiemookie Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9,404 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 1	This is why official forums are crap. And another reason I'm thankful to have a place like Subsim. __________________ They don’t think it be like it is, but it do. Want more U-boat Kaleun portraits for your SH3 Commander Profiles? Download the SH3 Commander Portrait Pack here.

03-11-11, 03:32 PM	#59
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	I finished Dragon Age Origins last night just so I can move on to DAII but after reading a few reviews with BS scores of 90+ and whats really got up my nose is no armor sets?!? DAO I spent hours getting the Dragonbone plate set best part of the game for me. DAII left out armor sets? Did I read it right surely not. I wouldn't touch DA2 with a 30foot pole if so. One review said DAII is the best RPG ever to come out by Bioware . Dummed down for console players, game revolves around one city, no armor sets. Story must be out of this world huh, fighting style is faster, Strat camera gone and characters are more easy to get laid now - maybe the reviewer gave it a score of 93 cause of that Did Bioware fail on this one? BTW, In DAO near the end you find out what happens to the Grey Warden when killing the Archdemon I chose to give Morrigan a child so I will live but I will never see the child. I was wondering if the expansion carries on with the story of I and Morrigan as at the final end after I defeated the archdemon (crazy fight) one of the chat options was 'I will search for morrigan'. __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others. Last edited by kiwi_2005; 03-11-11 at 03:47 PM.

03-11-11, 03:55 PM	#60
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,052 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	DA2 differs from DAO, yes. Is it a bad game? I would say no, it just tells the story differently. In DAO, you are pretty much saving the whole world, DA2 tells the story of an refugee and his/her way up in life. It's different, but I liked the story portion more in DA2 than in DAO. Mostly because of the companions, they feel very close to you, like friends and not just to you but to each other. As the story progresses you'll find that companions who didn't like each other have started to tolerate or even like each other, it's really a nice to see them evolve not only towards you but towards other companions. Combat is faster, but it's also less prone to path finding issue that DAO has, some won't like it, I do, it works. In adventure games, combat has never been the highlight to me, but the story. As for "dumbed down for consoles", well, you'll be the judge of that. I say it's streamlined and again, it works. Mind you, the combat in console versions and PC version differs, so be sure to read an PC review. All in all, I enjoyed it, a lot, more than DAO. But that doesn't mean I am right to say it's a "Best RPG EVAH!!", just means that I liked it. DAO, for me, was too long, not the story, but how it all was done. The main quests were too long given the task you were set to do, there was also somekind of catch that made it longer, ALWAYS. Oh and I'm also not saying DAO was a bad game.