Volourn

"Or maybe they realize that (like it or not) Bioware sets industry standards for "RPGs". It pays to find out beforehand what calamity they'll unleash upon the gaming world. " What a silly excuse for trolling...

"As for the romances GreasyDogMeat is right. I was purposefully vague, because for what is essentially optional content Bioware has gone to inordinate amount of trouble to include it in every possible game." Oh, please, I can play this game too: Why does BIO bother with optional 'mandatory' content like equipment, story, combat, loot, joinables, etc., etc? It's ebcause that's what people want to see, and what sells their games. Romances are added b/c theya re popular. Period. Just like joinables in general. This is a poor complaint. Also, it's hilarious you can call DA series romances juvenile yet praise BG2's when the writings tyle for them is basically the same. As for being 'soap opreasish'? Jaheria and co romances weren't? Come on. Besdies, soap operas aren't even as bad as people claim. The writing in them is leaps better than vast majority of rpgs. Or heck, movies otehr tvsshows, or even books. The characetrs are often deeper and most of them are chaarcter driven. Don't get me wrong, soaps can often delve into the cheesy and fantastical, but hey, this is a forumd edicated to actual fantasy games, we're the last people who should be criticizing them like that. As for DA2 romances, I haven't entered one yet, but it should be pointed out that at least one of them has no sex. Romances are good to have in rpgs since they tend to come with a LOT of C&C which is a good thing. "I havent had any romances pop up in it, I'm not even sure why, i've been friendly enough, in DAO half the cast would have thrown themselves on me by now " To start a romance, you have to select the heart option in dialogue. And, if yous elect the broken heart you can potentially shut down the romance down potentially. Oh, off the romance thing, that final boss in DR is friggin' tough. Holy moly good golly miss molly!!! P.S. I still have ntoiced the trend on the Obsidian boards that the people who have played it tend to be ont he positive side and those who hate it really haven't played it. I don't get why certain post in this trhead since they claim to have zero interest in playing the ganme, giving a chance, or whatever. They're just here to troll everyone else. "I've not bought the game but tried it during the week end on a friends computer. I have just some first impressions of the ten (at most, I didn't count) first hours." Solid post.

"ridiculous amounts of gore and sex innuendos with party members that it's on the verge of being a parody of itself." Is this a criticism of DA2.. or DA1? LMAO "during the short time we played, anders hit on the male protagonist and we got 15 rivalry points for choosing the mild rebuff option for his advances. apparently anders is written by a 13 year-old girl." Nonsense. He says he likes you, you say you aren't interested in him 'that way' he's a little hurt. He then moves on. Rilvary points is not the end of the world. It's a lot more mature than other games' romances. "Good thing to see the romances are there. Nothing like mandatory optional content." In guess combat and dkialogue are 'mandatory' accoridng to you then? L0L You can avoid all romance in DA2. Heck, the convo with Anders that Grom mentioned completely turns the romance there off. As in, no go auto. "bg2 unseeing eye" That's the one where you just hack your way through a million beholders right? L0LZ DEEP. About boss: Your friend is a tool. He whines about something being challenging and not being able to handle it exactly as he does other fights. HA! "but is probable more fair to compare to je. the super-leaping combat moves is reminding us o' je more than other bio games. " Maybe in the way it looks but not the way it works since your success in battle is largely based on stats in DA2 not on player physical ability plus there is no 'jump' action choice. DA2 > DA1 (maybe) R00fles!

Yes, it does. It 100% does.

"For me, the tactical experience and character management is choices and consequences - I make choice 'A' about classes, weapons, skills and equipment and the consequence is that part 'B' of the game plays differently. " True, thisn is different type of C&C and it's the kind you look for as far as combat goes. DA2 is reasonably strong here too. Defiitely deeper than many BIO games as well. Fighters, rogues, andn mages all have to approach battle differently. And, there can be various apporaches for each class. One thing for sure mages really need to avoid being targeted as much as possible.

DA2 NHL 11 NWN

"so far all I've heard was, "this game is one big tunnel that runs straight and has encounters every five steps" You heard wrong. There's a lot of combat, and dungeons are mostly linear (with plenty of side paths for bonus looot/encounters). Though the argument that it has 'encounters every 5 steps' is pretty much true for every RPg in existence.I do find it inetresting the people who have actually seen the game in action seem to be at worst okayish with the graphics if not outright loving them. Anyways, less psoitve for me. Here's my DA2 Negatives: 1. Lack of non combat skillz. 2. Repeating caves (this is at its worst when you, say, happen to be sent to two different caves that happene to be the same one just with different entrances/cutoffs,l0l). Probably BIO's biggest sin. 3. No auto attack. 4. UNABLE TO PLAY DWARVES!! 5. Too many encounters (at least half if not more) rely on mid battle spawns/ambushes thoguh not really an ambush when you know it's coming. Heh.

"this game is now officially a dungeon romp." All RPgs are dungeon rumps when you get down to it. I've never kited in DA2 but I have gone down to my last 1-2 characetrs though in order to beat a battle. two things that really make battles tougher to manage: 1) you can't rely on spam healing anymore and 2) injuries matter way, way, way more now. No more of these wussy injuries that don't matter like losing strength for mages. You take an inury, your max hit points is lowered by 20%. You can suffer more injuries the harder the dififuclty. "so I hear it has a good story?" The story is good but I wouldn't call it beyond awesome.

This game again... kewl. "BG > BG2 > HotU > KOTOR > ME2 > SoU > DA:O > ME > JE > NWN > DA2" NWN: TP > BG2 > DA2 (so far) > ME1 > JE > DA1 > ME2 > BG1 >HOTU > NWN: OC > SOU > KOTOR (some ratings cna change day to day on whims) but KOTOR and SOu will always be at the bottom with NWN on top.

Just reached the Deep Roads (poor Sandal ). I'm really starting to love this game more than DA1 despite certain issues. 18 hours in, and am level 11. One of the best things about the game is the handle BIO has on the *consequences* of your choices. A lot of quests open up other soemtimes depending on how you solved the first quest. While I miss the dialogue skills, I love the m,ultiple ways to approach dialogue and where greed isn't enccessarily considered 'evil', and sometimes the 'nice' chocie is actually the wrong. ie. Good stuff.

"There is a lovely bug where the game gives up letting you access the menu's. The GUI becomes unresponsive, and even the keystrokes won't help you. Thankfully you can still quick save and restart the program. *grumbles*" I love 360. If you can get past RROD, bugs are very minimal. "I don't know about metacritic, but I think the scores movies get from Rotten Tomatoes are usually a good way of determining the picture's quality. especially when you hit the "Top Critics" button (of course having a few trusted names like R.Ebert helps narrowing them down)"' Yeah, I meant user reviewers not professionals. I tend not to just 'professionals' for other reasons thoguh Ebert is solid even if I disagree with him.

Rememebr that metacritic is a few hundred people.. not completely representative of the thousands if not millions who actually play the game - espicially its heavily represenattive of negative ninnies and **** fanboys. 0s,1s, and 10s should likely be ignored= in most cases.

"I don't think anybody here would debate that DA2 isn't a "true sequel", " Umm.. some people in this very thread argued that very thing. Doesn't feel unploished as I've seen a few bugs and it was quickly fixed with a reload. And, oh, the various posts are wrong.

Sorry for the double post (I usually hate that but I think this needs to be said...) Some people claim that DA2 is not a true sequel to DA1, and this post is dedicated to dispelling that myth. Remember folks, this is NOT about quality but about how 'true' it is to the DA franchise. Whetehr the game is good or bad is irrelevant to this discussion. 1. Characetr system is basically intact. The combat works exactly like it does in DA1 but sped up. The biggest change is the lack of non combat skills but almost all the skills do exist in some way or another. You have the same stats which work the exact same way, talent lines, specialization, and all that. 2. Equipment works the same. You have your weapons, armour, rings, et all. The biggest difference npcs ahve favored armour and one chaarcetr has a favorite weapon which makes sense storywise 'cause there is no way he would willing let go of it. 3. You have the same collection of runes, potions, weaponary, et all, including old favorites. 4. Familiars characters return including ex party members as well as the father-son team. 5. Events in DA1 have a role to play in DA1 including determing if a joinable aprty member can come back, some quests, and a few encounters. 6. It takes palce in Thedas. 7. World lore plays a huge role in the game. No way would the game's main story work if it wasn't for the whole templay-mage rivalry. Not to mention the rival factions including Sten's peeps, certain assassin groups, lyrium (which still can be addicting to templars and others), the fade, and so many things based on Thedas Lore. Let's not forget demon possession as well. 8. Darkspawn, the taint, and wardens may not be the focus of DA2 but they still play important roles. Isn't this what people wnated btw? People were whining how they were sick of these things and were praying that DA2 would shift its focus elsewhere. that's actaly what DA2 did with its focus on Hawk's clim to champion and Kirkwalls' mage-templar rivalry which effects A LOT of quests and is the focus but the big focus of DA1 is still there. I can go on, but that's it for now.. But, as can be seen, no way does DA2 work if it isn't the sequel to DA1... Even the PC warden of DA1 sneaks in to play some infleunce in DA1....

"So, does that mean their earlier policy quote, which says EA account bans do kick you out of the game altogether, is wrong? I doubt it. Good news for the guy though. " They did the right thing. In fact, they did the only thing they could morally, publically, and probably legally. EA had no leg to stand on there. Pop: I don't agree with everything you wrote, and am about to make counter arguments but out of all the anti DA2 posts I've read thus far yours is definitely one of the most reasonable critiques that done whine for the sake of it but just give your honest opinion. That's cool (not that you seek my approval). Here, i go... "(you want to get to the Deep Roads apparently but it's never explained exactly why you want to, besides the fact that the plot wouldn't work without it)" To get your family out of the gutter so you ain't stuck living as a rat in your uncles's house. "There are times where the combat is good, at least! " I hate the waves too, but the combat is good overall, and more satisfying than DA1's. in its challenge., You need your abiltiies to survive, and need to not always stick with the same tatics. One dissapointment is tha rmeoval of some monster abilities like overhwelm which was the most awesome things ever. Makes spiders elss frightening, but enemies have other cool stuff like certain leaders giving boost to their lessers through leadership or the fact that foes will use healing potions. "And I have to give special attention to how aggravating the influence system is." The best use of an influence system ever, imo. And, despite a few inconsistencies makes very sense and is evry reactive and actually matter. I like the fact that 'rivalry' doesn't neccessary mean, I'm gonna kill you. In some ways, rivalry is better than neutrality 'cause it means they care and your relationship is deeper. "By the by, Merrill is far and away the worst character Bioware has ever created." No way, not even close. I can name many that are worse - Minsc and that stupid kobold as an example. Merill is weird. Based on pre release hype, I thought she was just thrown in for the kiddies who like to romance the youngest looking thing around, but she's deeper than that. And, I've read things get more inetresting later on. I'll take her over Tali any day (I romance neither). The dialogue system is aweosme when many ways to approach dialogues and not all of them are obvious. Also, BIO makes a lot more effort to defferiante evilness with greed.There are 17 different approaches that potentially pop up during dialogue. Actually, 18 if you count the fact that you can ask compoanions to intervene when it matters. The C&C for this game is off the charts as well compared to previous BIO games from what I've seen and from what i've ehard. I can't wait to replay it to see how awesome it is. i do know what quests you do, and how you do them can cut off or open up further quests, characetrs, and the like. And, don't be fooled, some people claim that all joinables are forced on you. That blatantly isn't true. Heck, you can completely miss some characters. In fact, one of the big whines is how one eprson on the BIO baords called BIO evil b/c you completely miss out on Isabella despite her being a highly advterised character. Also, people complain aboutt he lack of exchanges between companions but that is nott rue. It happenes A LOT between npcs. Heck, one of the neatest things is that when you are in control of another character, you can actually 'talk' with Hawke. HA!

l0l NWN was awesome. Diablo was poop. LONG LIVE NWN DEATH TO ALL OTHERS!

What do you expect at the Codex? The Codex hates all BIO games no exceptions. In fact, outside of people who haven't even played the game, Obsidian forumites have proabbly been the most positve about DA2 which is a rarity on the Obsidian forums where hating on BIO is the kewl thing to do.

"BioWare's persuasion system in DA II is

Naysayers who bash DA2 while loving DA1 are funny b/c DA2 is thes equel to DA1. I just finished a quest, and while trying to do the right thing I'm not 100% sure it was. There was nothing like that in DA1 even with some of the more awesome quests where the 'ideal' solution was obvious. I haven't noticed too many repeat dungeons yet as all of them seem varied - at least way more than ME1. DA1 is not an action game. It's an rpg with action elements as stats do matter. So, ana rgument can be made , at best, that it is an action rpg.. just a very deep one.. much deeper than DA1. heck, with the companions, there was a few I was hating on pre release (the silly pirate captain girl with big boobs as one example) but her introduction in game alone made me like her. I was planning to avoid romances in DA2, but two of the characters have made me question that decision. Heck. The Uncle Gamlen character. When I first emt him and for a little bit I loatehd him, but as the story has unfolded and I've spoken with him, he's not completely hrorible and has some redeeming features is mostly to be felt sorry for. Also, it should be noted, that for romance haters, you can no longer whine about how you can 'accidentally' be in a romance. It's 100% impossible. People whine about the rpg stuff that was atken but they don't talk about the rpg stuff that was added . ie. more clarity on how your character will say soemthing.. you can even lie in dialogue as one exmaple.. and, they do make a difference between a ahcaracetr who does thinsg for money or one does thinsg for evil lols. ie. you can have companions speak in dialogue and they can help youa void confrontation ie. actions and chocies will often close quests and the like and make you lose friends.

About game: Combat is fun but things that can be done to improve it: 1. Please put auto attack for console version. 2. Less reinforcements please. It works fine but is way over used. 3. Toggle for friendly fire no matter the dififculty level or at least for ahrd + as I have no inetrest in torturing myself for nightmare mode just to have some added 'realism'. Thanks. Dialogue: 1. I prefer having the words written out like traditional RPGs but the wheel works fine. 2. i love the fact that you can have your companions speak for you during dialogue, it adds a lot. 3. I really miss having dialogue skills 9as well as non combat skills in general).

Just ebcause you say someone guilty doesn't make it so. I'm not saying youa re wrong in this case since I haven't done the quest yet but.. just saying.. your leap of logic here doesn't neccessarily fit. Heh.

"In response to your comments from the previous DA2 thread." Your first response to it in thsi trhead was fine but your second response to the guyc racking that i was old wa snothing but uncalled for trolling. I don't mind that as i find it cute but it's hilarious I get called out for trolling when you attacked me unprovoked. But,t hat's cool. That's the net for you. "Seriously mind Volo, saying the DA2 has anything past an IP relationship with DA:O is retarded." Call it retarted all you want, it's the truth. It has nothing to do with quality either. DA2 is the sequel toM DA1. not liking DA2 doesn't change that fact. "I actually like DA 2 mind... I just think it should be called JE2. *GRUMBLE*" Nope. For one thing, JE2 has dialogue skills. L0L And, it's combat is 99% action rpg and even allows you to jump. R00fles!

One man's cheese is another man's dark. One's woman's cheese is another woman's gross. It's all in the eye of a darkspawn.

"Every encounter seems to end in a fight and while I do enjoy the combat, I would also like other options to solve an encounter." There are. One example is after finding out where Anders is, you step out and a bunch of Warden loyalists threaten you as they think you are plotting to turn in a mage apostate they like. You can have your sister talk them down and avoid a fight. " I want the option to talk someone down or convince them to surrender, lie, deceive, cheat etc." See above. " This is definitely a step down from more traditional RPGs and something I miss in this game. " Misnomber. 'Traditional' RPGs don't have dialogue or ways to avoid fights. RPGs like FO are not traditional. Plus, BIO's game to fame BG1 didn't have that many quests or ways to avoid comabt. I do agree the missing non combat skills is very dissapointing. Itemc reation isn't fun anymore, and alck of actual dialogue skills isn't cool.

"This game is so bad that its metacritic score is low 80s (which is like a D if you're a Big Studio's Latest Amazing Release), and its customer reviews give it 30s. lmao. Give this stinker a wide birth." Do you really base your opinion on what others think? If so, you better start kissing NWN's butt b/c the masses and reveiwers loved it. 'Volo's getting old" That is true. 5 years from the big 4-0, and about 10 years of that dealing with the evil internet. L0L