Dragon Age 2

[Volourn]

"And you can't select moves while the game was paused so it allready played like an action RPG "

 

This is blatantly false.

 

 

"I've played DA:O on the PC but that's what I read about the consolle version."

 

'Nough said.

 

 

"that's what made it so good"

 

Except, TW's combat was horrible. Horrible at the levels of crappy combat games like BL, AP, and KOTOR.

 

 

"He holds BioWare to a higher standard than other game companies because of their history with the Baldur's Gate games."

 

Which is another example of his silliness since he has bashed BIO games non stop since. Since BG2 was released, BIO has made NWN, KOTOR, JE, ME, DA, and ME2 - all games Boo has bashed repeatedly as being crappy and criticized non stopn yet he claims to hold them to a 'higher standard'. Boo should simply move on as BIO hasn't met his 'standards' of having a hamster as the best npc ever in almost a decade. L0LZ

Edited November 7, 2010 by Volourn

[meomao]

"And you can't select moves while the game was paused so it allready played like an action RPG "

 

This is blatantly false.

 

Right I have misunderstood. Maybe you can expalin better than me since you've played DA:O on the xbox too. But if I understand, the problem is that it's more difficult to position charachters using the analogue stick while the game is paused.

[sorophx]

Except, TW's combat was horrible. Horrible at the levels of crappy combat games like BL, AP, and KOTOR.

says you, who thinks taht Jade Empire had a brilliant combat system

[RPGmasterBoo]

"And you can't select moves while the game was paused so it allready played like an action RPG "

 

This is blatantly false.

 

Right I have misunderstood. Maybe you can expalin better than me since you've played DA:O on the xbox too. But if I understand, the problem is that it's more difficult to position charachters using the analogue stick while the game is paused.

 

Let me just warn you that arguing with him is senseless.

 

Example: even after being repeatedly told that my favorinte NPC of all time is Morte, not Minsc and Boo, he still repeats this mantra:

 

Boo should simply move on as BIO hasn't met his 'standards' of having a hamster as the best npc ever in almost a decade. L0LZ

 

That was because I criticized him for saying "NWN was the best ever", which he forgot was written in his sig.

 

As Nordom would put it: "The issue no longer equals total logic".

 

The issue being Volourn that is.

Edited November 7, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[Volourn]

"says you, who thinks taht Jade Empire had a brilliant combat system "

 

I don't recall calling it 'brillant'.

 

 

"Let me just warn you that arguing with him is senseless. "

 

Hey, at least I don't spam and troll threads dedicated to games and develoeprs I loathe like some people posting in this thread.

 

 

"Maybe you can expalin better than me since you've played DA:O on the xbox too. But if I understand, the problem is that it's more difficult to position charachters using the analogue stick while the game is paused."

 

You can select where a character is going to move when the game is paused. You can completely take away any AI the party has if you want, and play it like any old fashion RPG where you have 100% control oif what the character will do.

 

Just let me put it this way, the last you thing you should do is listen to PC gamers who have never played the 360 for more than 5 minutes when they tell you what's wrong with the console version. They simply are ignorant PC lovers who base their opinions on other PC gamers' opinions. The only thing the PC version has that is 'better' than the console version is the over the top view. That's it.

[Rosbjerg]

Just let me put it this way, the last you thing you should do is listen to PC gamers who have never played the 360 for more than 5 minutes when they tell you what's wrong with the console version. They simply are ignorant PC lovers who base their opinions on other PC gamers' opinions. The only thing the PC version has that is 'better' than the console version is the over the top view. That's it.

 

And the potential for better graphics, if you are into that kinda thing..

[Maria Caliban]

Isn't the DA2 very similar to DAO just faster paced without an autoattack?

 

Yes, however the PC has an autoattack. XBox 360 has autoattack, but the by default it's off.

 

I don't see your point since in BG you point and click and control up to 6 chars simultaneously, and that's it. in DA2 you have to control one character at a time, you have to move around manually, deliver each hit manually, and when you're at it, the rest of the team is controlled by AI. it's like Boo said, almost like in FFXII, only that game had layers upon layers of complexity in combat.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting your information from. DA 2 on PC has the same basic point and click interface as DA:O. Yes, the rest of the team is controlled by AI *when you give them no orders*, but you can pause and issue each one orders and then unpause. Just like DA:O.

Edited November 7, 2010 by Maria Caliban

[Maria Caliban]

Just let me put it this way, the last you thing you should do is listen to PC gamers who have never played the 360 for more than 5 minutes when they tell you what's wrong with the console version. They simply are ignorant PC lovers who base their opinions on other PC gamers' opinions. The only thing the PC version has that is 'better' than the console version is the over the top view. That's it.

 

And the potential for better graphics, if you are into that kinda thing..

 

I find FPS play much better on a mouse and keyboard combination and RTS games benefit from having the 104 keys. Though I think some games would be better overall if the developers worked on simplified GUI instead of a dozen or so hotkeys.

 

Video games are a visual medium and I think graphics are important, but when I say graphics I don't mean resolution and special effects, I mean artistic elements. I don't think what most people mean when they talk about game graphics should be the focus of an RPG developer.

 

Stylistically, DA:O had a generic, Lord of the Rings look and the coloring could be very bland. I thought the modification of art style from ME to ME 2 was a good thing, and I hope it proves to be the same for DA 2.

 

I don't see it right now. It doesn't look worse to me, but it doesn't look better either.

[Bos_hybrid]

People that complain about DA2's supposed hack 'n slash combat should hasten to the Witcher 2 thread. Somehow that game is getting a free pass and DA2 is receiving all the flak.

 

TW2 has T&A.

 

It looks like the console versions of DAO. Can we wait for some PC footage before we light the stake? For once?

 

Sorry.

 

[Tale]

People that complain about DA2's supposed hack 'n slash combat should hasten to the Witcher 2 thread. Somehow that game is getting a free pass and DA2 is receiving all the flak.

TW2 gets a free pass since TW1 was a hack 'n slash. I liked TW1. I liked DAO. I liked DAO more.

 

So if DA2 is going to strive to be more like games I like less, that might sour my interest, does that make sense?

Edited November 8, 2010 by Tale

[Orogun01]

I find FPS play much better on a mouse and keyboard combination and RTS games benefit from having the 104 keys. Though I think some games would be better overall if the developers worked on simplified GUI instead of a dozen or so hotkeys.

On most cases I would agree with you since I too prefer PC for FPS, but some devs really don't put much work into tweaking the mouse sensitivity and we get a sight that jumps on mile when you push it to millimeter.

 

Then again DA:O is going to be an Action/RPG/Hack and Slash, don't have many good experiences with those on the PC.

[RPGmasterBoo]

Video games are a visual medium and I think graphics are important, but when I say graphics I don't mean resolution and special effects, I mean artistic elements. I don't think what most people mean when they talk about game graphics should be the focus of an RPG developer.

 

Stylistically, DA:O had a generic, Lord of the Rings look and the coloring could be very bland. I thought the modification of art style from ME to ME 2 was a good thing, and I hope it proves to be the same for DA 2.

 

I don't see it right now. It doesn't look worse to me, but it doesn't look better either.

 

Yes. This was the most painful thing after the storyline. It was all brown tones and red. Looking at it a year after the Witcher was very demoralizing.

 

But then again, all NWN games were also crap to look at. They were all blue/purple/gray.

Edited November 8, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[HoonDing]

Some new screenies in a Russian preview

[WorstUsernameEver]

I am 12 years old and what is this Edited November 8, 2010 by WorstUsernameEver

[HoonDing]

Gameplay video from Igromir 2010

[Labadal]

Only one armor slot for companions? Not sure if I like. And I don't know what to say about the combat.

 

 

I loved DA:O, but I am now sure that this will not be a day one purchase. I remember BioWare proudly showing off DA:O long before the release. DA2 releases next March and all we have seen so far is mostly leaked footage, that does not bode well imo. it feels to me that they are utilizing the Sqaure Enix tactics they used for FFXIII, and look how that game turned out.

 

I am sure I will buy DA2 at some point... for $30.

[sorophx]

Some new screenies in a Russian preview

oh wow, they brought a localized version btw, he says they did a very bad job with this, missed a lot of dialogue, in some menus the game doesn't recognize cyrillic characters and shows blank spaces instead of text.

 

you can set the game to auto-heal you in the options, using the type of potions you specified. he's complaining they dumbed down the role-playing aspect of character progression, it looks like each attribute determines only one ability, for example STR affects your damage and that's it.

 

in the skill-tree squares are hubs, sort of, main abilities, that determine the possible path for advancement, diamonds (or rhombuses, w/e) represent active abilities, circles - passive, hexagons - abilities, that require stamina/mana to be kept active.

 

in the demo each class had access to 3 skills, the other were blocked prompting you'd need to reach lvl 20 to gain access to them. warriors get shields with accompanying abilities (shield bash, block and something called "squall"), two-handed weapons and a mode called "battlemaster" which is has stun and knockback.

 

mages have elemental magic (fireball), spirit magic (spirit bolt) and arcane magic (crushing prison and mindblast).

 

rogues get two-weapon fighting, debilitation and subterfuge.

 

in game you have one button for attacking and the other 3 you can assign abilities to. there is a possibility to make your character auto-move to a location through the radial menu.

 

at the beginning your whole party is lvl 10 (it's a combat tutorial of sorts). when you defeat the orcs and ogres, the game jumps to the dialogue between Warric (or w/e his name is) and Cassandra, there it explains that it was Warric's version, Cassandra makes him tell her the actual events

(also, they say something about the Chantry, it's in big trouble and apparently Hawke is to blame)

. the game then lets you choose the name for your character, his/hers appearance, once you're done it sets your lvl to 1 and you get to replay the whole combat sequence.

 

that bold chick is actually Hawke, if you had any doubts the dialogue menu is exactly like in ME2.

there's a screenshot with the whole group: Hawke's mother, sister Bethany and brother Carver. they're on their way to Kirkwall where their family owns a mansion. on their way they meet two templars, Wesley and Aveline. Wesley is offended by Bethany's presence and demands her being killed, the player can either comply or resist. they join forces to fight the incoming orcs (sorry, I can't remember what these are called for the life of me).

 

 

your companions don't have slots for mitts, boots, helmets and so on. maybe they will have whole sets.

 

anyway, the party capacity is 4 character + escorting characters (you get two of these in the demo, effectively making the party pretty big).

 

 

Flemeth arrives to propose a deal: she helps Hawke escape the plague, Hawke in his/her turn has to deliver a package to some babe named Marethani (she's connected to the dalish elves, but I don't remember her being mentioned in DAO). the game then shows Wesley who's turning into a ghoul, we get to kill him out of mercy

 

 

in conclusion the reviewer talks about his impressions. the controls are horrible. the combat is fairly hard. it's a button masher, but playing as a rogue gives you hard times, because he's fairly weak, you need to use your abilities all the time. he got wiped and had to kite the Ogre with his only character - the mage.

 

he praises the voiceovers. overall he liked the demo.

[Nepenthe]

the controls are horrible.

FWIW, they were basically the same as with console DAO, just some upgrades.* I'd still not draw too many conclusions about how the PC version is going to play (but honestly, if it's closer to this than to the old DAO scheme, I'll be the first to grab a pitchfork and join you guys).

 

*and this is based on my playing the demo, not commenting on what the article said.

[mkreku]

What was wrong with the combat? To me it felt like I pressed a button and he swung a sword? I thought it was fun..

[sorophx]

he didn't say anything was wrong with the combat. only that playing a rogue it was hard. he didn't like the camera and button mapping

[Nepenthe]

What was wrong with the combat? To me it felt like I pressed a button and he swung a sword? I thought it was fun..

 

I still think that kind of gameplay works better on consoles than on the PC.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Another gameplay video.

 

Lol at the guy telling them that they couldn't film it after they already filmed all the first part of the demo btw. Nice job!

[Maria Caliban]

Another gameplay vid, this one in German. Starts at about 6 minutes in.

.

[RPGmasterBoo]

It looks just as generic as the first one. With anime influences. How do they do it?

 

How hard is it to look at some of the better fantasy illustrators from the 80ties and make something in the same vein.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[Wrath of Dagon]

Non-generic art would clash with the rest of the game design.