DA2: First Impressions

This game is pretty sick.

Auto "Tactics" Assignment is improved from the demo, so your co-op AI will function decently without any adjustment. Of course their AI behavior is still fully programmable if you want to tweak anything.

Normal is feeling a bit easy, but I haven't really gotten super far yet either. I'm interested in seeing if Hard mode introduces friendly fire or if that is only in Nightmare... but 2 higher difficulties is promising.

Gameplay is slick and smooth. Moving between areas couldn't be easier, and it shows you on the world map what zones you have quests in. The map in general is IMO greatly improved from what I remember in DA1. The game certianly opens up a bit after that intro on rails demo experience as well, which was my only real concern after playing the demo.


The question with replay value is an interesting one though. Being able to control any party member means you don't need to start over to play a mage... just swap active control to your party mage. Increased difficulty offers 1 reason to play it over... but I think I might be interested in seeing how events are affected by choosing different options more then anything else.

I am definitely given this feeling, my first time through, that my choices are of consequence.... I think the only thing that might stain this game in my eyes is if those choices are turn out to be largely inconsequential on my second playthrough.

I don't understand the talent tree UI change from the demo though.... I thought it was better to see all trees at a glance, then to have to flip through 1 by 1.

I am hearing mixed reviews from a PC side.

Most seem to say it is simplified, but a decent game....but It lacks any type of depth expected from an RPG. I still dont know what to do....

what depth are they looking for I wonder?

also... quick tip to anyone who prefers the more traditional auto-attack... there is an option for that, letting you spend more time switching party members to focus on controling the powers more directly

IMO the story is laid out better in DA2 then DA1... only thing DA1 had over 2 was race and starting story customization.... at least IMO, and it's a worthy sacrifice as well.... the orgin story lasted... what.... an hour? maybe 2 first time through?

They just feel it is simply, story/dialog, fighting, nothing else

It just lacks the vastness that origens had, and for the PC the combat feels majorly dumbed down apparently. I understand how this is a better console game which is great, but the PC community feels shafted. Dragon Age was sort of the PCers game, Mass effect was for the console crowd, and many wanted to keep it that way.


I agree with the overall PC community views to an extent, but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad game, which is why I am on the fence for purchasing it or not

Personally, I'll probably get The Witcher 2....cant wait for that.

PCers always feel shafted when something works on console

I'm not sure exactly what they are looking for.... IMO they streamlined a lot of the things I used to find annoying.... as a baldurs gate/neverwinter nights player even.

Like crafting resources..... you don't need to farm resources. You find a source, and buy your materials with gold. Bam. Simple.

Is that a bad thing? I don't think so..... farming resources is god damn bloody annoying. Farming Loot and Gold is fine.

Just get it for your PS3 then Actually, gamefly it... I <3 my gamefly

But PS3 doesnt have Direct X 11 effects and high res textures...I didn't pay for 2 DX11 cards for nothing!

lol, well it probably would be better on PC if you like mouse.... though if you want to play it hack & slash style... console might be better

on PC I'd almost certainly turn on auto-attack

I might get it if I hear good things when a couple of people have played through. Voice acting bugged me in the demo and that's the main reason I wasn't that excited. Looked too dramatic and whiny.

depends on what you say really....

My first char (rogue) is going with mostly sarcastic responses....

It's a solid ARPG.... more RPG then any other ARPG I know, and a LOT more action then any purist RPG.

Story is... not as good as ME (insofar), but good enough. GFX are def improved as well.

It does feel a bit dumbed down, the inventory is streamlined (you can only equip belts, rings, amulets and weapons on your party members, meaning most loot is utterly useless). I haven't got all that far, but from what I've seen on hard, it's mixed, there was one particularly difficult fight in Hightown (the fake barracks, kill all the gangs skulking around that area at night) which took me several tries, and in the end it was luck and a very lucky chain lightning that saved my arse.

Not liking the streamlined inventory, but the combat seem less of an annoying pause-fest, and I can see the replay value for both DA:O and DA2 (you can use your DA:O save to influence your DA2 world, such as who is king of Orzammar/Denerim, if you survived or not, etc...)

Haven't actually left Kirkwall since I got there, there's so much to do in the city.

Yah.... My final review will probably depend greatly on how much of the game is Kirkwall


I don't mind spending a lot of time there... if there is that much MORE time spent in the rest of the world.

Ronin0ni wrote:

Yah.... My final review will probably depend greatly on how much of the game is Kirkwall


I don't mind spending a lot of time there... if there is that much MORE time spent in the rest of the world.

I'm still in Act 1 I believe (each time jump signifies an Act) so here's hoping there's more to do outside Sunderpeak/Kirkwall in the later Acts.

I got it today...have just stopped after playing it 9 hours straight.

So yeah. Pretty good. Merril is adorable and has all the best lines.

Alyss wrote:

I got it today...have just stopped after playing it 9 hours straight.

So yeah. Pretty good. Merril is adorable and has all the best lines.

I know right! She made me laugh so much.

"Oh right... Sarcasm... Erm... Moving on!"

"Why is my house always a state when people are around!? It's clean sometimes, I promise"

"Why do they call this a brothel? Does it have something to do with broth?"

(Miner): "...but don't go that way, there's a huge dragon!"
(Merrill - to Hawke): "Are we gonna go that way? I've never seen a huge dragon before."

Merrill: "But there's not really a fire, is there?"
Hawke: "No, Merrill. It was a trick.

As regards the actual game...I think they fixed pretty much everything I didn't like about the first one. The lazy as fudge copy-paste dungeons are back though, and actually worse than ever. There's basically

-Shack
-Caves
-Warehouse
-Ruins

...and that's it. You come into the map at different angles, and different parts are accessible for different quests, but those four maps are pretty much the only thing they've used for dungeons. Which is really bad, to be honest - if someone pulled that shit at a D&D game I'd be livid. Bioware is a major company with a long history of RPGs, they should be a lot better at something so basic.

Just spent the last half hour kiting that fudge dragon in the Deep Roads on Hard mode.

Petrify and summon Mabari ftw.

Do mages do FF on Hard?

FF is so annoying when you're trying to spam large fireballs into melee lol

Ronin0ni wrote:

Do mages do FF on Hard?

FF is so annoying when you're trying to spam large fireballs into melee lol

No, because the combat is in such tight quarters most of the time, AoE would be useless if it was on.

Anders died because he decided he was a melee mage and tried to go toe-to-toe with a drake, Isabela is the new Leliana and dies every single fight and Aveline hits like a wet noodle, and then got eaten, leaving me to spam Petrify, Stonefist and Mabari.

The Primal tree is epic, as is force mage.

Lol

Xycolian wrote:

Dragon Age II is very disappointing, If you were an avid fan of the first game and it's expansion and decided to make a perfect run-through of it with the intention of importing it into dragon age II like I did, you will be sorely disappointed.

Nothing that comes from imports has any real affect on anything in Dragon Age II's already dismal storyline. The only thing you can expect to see are cameo appearances from previous acquaintances and tiny references to your exploits no doubt intended to make you feel nostalgic and happy. These feelings quickly fade when you realize you paid $60 however.

The gameplay is very tedious and boring. The only noticeable difference on a casual playthrough between combat in DAII and DA:O is that you now have to mash the Attack button repeatedly instead of pressing it once per target. There is a new aspect to combat with the advent of cross-class combos, in a casual or normal playthrough you can go the entire game without using one, but in higher difficulty playthroughs the game is practically balanced around taking advantage of these combos, it really feels like they added this feature in an attempt to make the combat seem fresh. What I mean by that is that enemies seem to have a higher amount of health just because they want to make people use cross class combos in the first place and because of that, it feels like just another complication.

If you do not own a 60" HD Flatscreen TV, expect to squint to read the minute font and the minimalistic Interface they decided to use in this game even if you have 20/20 vision. The only aspect of the game that is an exception to this is the chat wheel that pops up when you interact with NPCs at least you know what decisions you are making...

The environments are great until you notice that there are only about 20 in the game,Deep Roads, Cave, and Dungeon environments have about 2 variants and that's it. Those 6 different environments are the same ones they use for every dungeon and cave in the game. The only difference between these environments is that certain passages are either closed or open and loot containers are shuffled around.
Named unique locations feel bland and unchanging. Environments such as the town of Kirkwall (where the games events are centered) don't even change over the course of the 10 years in which this game takes place, aside from superficial things like rearranging loot containers that are placed around said environment. That isn't to say that the people inside Krikwall don't change however, because they do...well the important people do, there are no events that take place in the game that impact the entire city in a noticeable way (until the end anyway, and seeing as it's THE END, you don't get to see how the city changes anyway).

Cutscenes have a tendency to warp the character models causing them to stretch and shrink very rapidly, I can't fathom how something as obvious and disruptive to immersion as this got past bug testing.

The new talent trees aren't really as big an improvement over DA:O's talent trees as they were portrayed to be. They are a small improvement however if only for the fact that it is harder to decide where to spend the point you just earned.

The stories and intimate relationships of your comrades that you can experience are as good as ever, but this one good quality is not enough to raise the average score that quantifies the rest of the game.

The music never really caught my ear but it didn't sound bad either, I don't know whether it is the hallmark of a good or a bad soundtrack if you can listen to it without realizing that you are in fact listening to it in the first place.

I only hope that they take full advantage of all the plots and storylines that they have left open in this game and set themselves up to explain in DA:III when the time comes. DA:II is only a stepping stone in terms of plot, only serving as a build up in events with no real feel of accomplishment or advancement. The story feels stagnant and unimportant to be honest. We learn next to nothing of Flemeth (aside from the fact that she's still alive despite anything you might have done to her in DAO) and there is no new information or plot points that concern the darkspawn at all. Yeah that's right, nothing new about darkspawn or Flemeth. The problems that Bioware introduces in this title seem trite and unimportant when compared to the first games events.

I feel really sad when I say this, but to me it seems that Bioware has finally decided that it loves money more than the stories that they craft, especially when DLC is available to purchase off the shelf from day one... I mean what the hell is that about? Just include it with the game you sellouts....

My advice? This game is good enough to rent but definitely not worth 60 bucks.

I agree with him not worth 60$, should have launched at $49 like every other PC game...

Activision started it, now EA is jumping on the $60 dollar PC wagon because consumers will spend it!

well, I wont...

Well, after a stupidly long fight with a creature with about 7 bazillion legs, I got bored. I had to turn it down to easy because there was no way in hell I was gonna take that thing down on hard unless I wanted to kite it for an hour (which I have done several times).

I'm find Normal to be a good difficulty. The bigger fights take a few tries, but most stuff is fine if you pay attention.

It's an okay game, but it's not going to go down as one of my favourites. Not a patch on Mass Effect either, 1 or 2.

Alyss wrote:

I'm find Normal to be a good difficulty. The bigger fights take a few tries, but most stuff is fine if you pay attention.

It's an okay game, but it's not going to go down as one of my favourites. Not a patch on Mass Effect either, 1 or 2.

Indeed, it'll keep me amused for the moment. What I'm not liking is the huge boss fights, they're just insanely long fight that consist of you auto-attacking because it's immune to every single on of your bloody spells.

Rofl, /v/ is currently raging hard about pretty much every aspect of DA2. Hasn't gone down well there. Neither has the 10/10 review on metacritic from a guy that works at Bioware...