Dragon Age 2

[Nepenthe]

nonono, you got me all wrong, it's not "my" opinion, I'm just curious what are the other 14-19 games in your top

I'm positive I've posted the list in one of the "your top games" lists, I can't be arsed to do it again.

[RPGmasterBoo]

@Nepenthe: I was just engaging in some light hearted trolling, but I agree with what you say, except that DA doesn't hold any position of significance in my top xy lists.

 

I think BG 2 was a good game but I don't agree with the level of idolization it recieves. I rank Planescape, Bloodlines, Deus Ex, and the new Fallout as all being better than BG 2.

 

Planescape has always tied with BG2 in my no1 spot. Since their goals are completely different, and both achieve them extraordinarily well comparisons don't do either justice.

BGII was from a technical and "craftsmanship" standpoint a better game, but that's really of little importance.

 

Btw I don't idolize BGII specifically (even though its obviously the best of the lot) - rather the series as a whole, because of the unique way it tells a single, huge, story/adventure. There really is nothing like it - most games and their sequels are a strained attempt to deliver more of the same ad infinitum. To this day, its the only series of games that knew where they were going from the start, and how to get there. And when to call it quits.

 

That's why I don't want a new Baldur's Gate game, but something with its scope and clear sense of "wholeness".

 

 

The other games you mentioned are all excellent, no doubt, and really too different to compare.

[Nepenthe]

@Nepenthe: I was just engaging in some light hearted trolling, but I agree with what you say, except that DA doesn't hold any position of significance in my top xy lists.

I know, but your suggestion was better to me than retreading the same matter over and over. ie. accepting that nearly everybody thinks that BG2 was better than DAO, and just looking at it on its own merits. Just getting over it, y'know...

 

Like I mentioned in the other thread, I'm seriously considering splitting this joint, partially due to the fact that I could write out the content of most threads in here beforehand.

[Tale]

I think BG 2 was a good game but I don't agree with the level of idolization it recieves. I rank Planescape, Bloodlines, Deus Ex, and the new Fallout as all being better than BG 2.

Two words: Wild Mage

[Orogun01]

I think BG 2 was a good game but I don't agree with the level of idolization it recieves. I rank Planescape, Bloodlines, Deus Ex, and the new Fallout as all being better than BG 2.

Two words: Wild Mage

Three words: Mages gone Wild.

[entrerix]

fallout 1 and 2, deus ex, and planescape torment are all ahead of baldurs gate 2 imo.

 

 

edit: i watched that off screen footage btw. the gameplay looks absolutely abysmal. maybe its more fun to play than watch?

 

also, i really hope that the pc version does not include a requirement to diablo 1 style clickclickclick every time you want to attack. if it does i will probably pass on this. mashing click for a 40+ hour game is not fun

Edited November 3, 2010 by entrerix

[Hurlshort]

This may sound really weird, but I'd put the Dragon Age universe in my top twenty list, but the game itself probably doesn't crack the top 50 for me. The reason is I really enjoyed the lore of the game and even read the two books. The second was a bit weak, but the first was really enjoyable.

 

The big issue I have with DA:O is the Wardens. I don't really dig that entire aspect of the DA universe, and unfortunately it is the focal point of the first game. I'm excited about DA2 because I think it will be better simply because the Wardens aren't a focal point.

[RPGmasterBoo]

http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2010/10/08/...-eurogamer-expo

 

Edited November 3, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[entrerix]

hahaha, oh wow.

 

I can't take that preview to mean anything except the gameplay currently feels as bad as it looks. but still, its pretty funny that he bothered writing impressions at all.

 

I've got a bad feeling about this game though... sequel is too different and perhaps has not had enough development time. it feels like dragon age 1 just came out and now the sequel is right around the corner...

[Morgoth]

it feels like dragon age 1 just came out and now the sequel is right around the corner...

This.

 

Since when does Bio suddenly rush their games?

[Monte Carlo]

^ I guess it would be dumb not to factor EA into that equation.

[meomao]

it feels like dragon age 1 just came out and now the sequel is right around the corner...

This.

 

Since when does Bio suddenly rush their games?

 

Since BG II... same development time.

[entrerix]

bg 2 had about 6 months more dev time.

 

it was basically a 2 year dev cycle, this is only 1.5

 

(which, to be fair, isnt a HUGE difference, but its still very significant, as most really good sequels have a 2+year dev time, while the ones with less than that often feel rushed/unfinished or unimproved over the original)

Edited November 4, 2010 by entrerix

[RPGmasterBoo]

bg 2 had about 6 months more dev time.

 

it was basically a 2 year dev cycle, this is only 1.5

 

(which, to be fair, isnt a HUGE difference, but its still very significant, as most really good sequels have a 2+year dev time, while the ones with less than that often feel rushed/unfinished or unimproved over the original)

 

That and its much easier to make a 2D game than a fully voiced, 3D one.

[entrerix]

mass effect 2 was just a lil more than 2 years of dev time, and that felt like enough time to make an adequate sequel, shaving 7 months off that for DA2 seems risky

[Zoraptor]

bg 2 had about 6 months more dev time.

 

it was basically a 2 year dev cycle, this is only 1.5

 

(which, to be fair, isnt a HUGE difference, but its still very significant, as most really good sequels have a 2+year dev time, while the ones with less than that often feel rushed/unfinished or unimproved over the original)

 

That and its much easier to make a 2D game than a fully voiced, 3D one.

BG2 is a 3d game for development purposes as the levels were built in 3d (in Max, iirc) then rendered out and flattened. It is often easier to develop for 3d than 2d, too, eg it is easier to swap models and such in and out. Of course the ten year time difference and graphical developments/ size of the dev teams make the differences rather redundant.

 

I'd strongly suspect that the development time for DA2 started from when the PC version finished rather than when the console versions were ready and the game went to market, which would make almost exactly a two year dev time. Otherwise the non-tech people (designers, writers) would not have much to do for those six months. It also would explain the Dragon Effect effect- they expected ME2 to sell better so tailored DA2 towards that. When it became apparent that DAO sold better than ME2 the sequel was ~ a year into development rather than a few months.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Zoraptor

[meomao]

bg 2 had about 6 months more dev time.

 

it was basically a 2 year dev cycle, this is only 1.5

 

Uncorrect: check your source. DA2 began its dev cycle at february of 2010, when the PC version was delayed to november for a multiplatform simultaneous exit.

[meomao]

PS: Also, consider that DA2 will be half the size of DAO (so roughly 1/4 of BG 2) and that Bioware has not even a part of the actual work force at the time of BG2. So, it's not rushed. Like it or not, it's the game that they want to develop.

[Orchomene]

Rushed or not, after the awful ME2 I regret to have bought, I'm not at all excited by DA2 and will wait for valid impressions of the game (ie, not reviews) before thinking about buying it.

I find less and less interest in Bioware games. Lazy design, stories, dialogues, gameplay. All in all, DAO was a bit more than mediocre to me and would maybe have been a good game with less focus on hack and slash, less whinny and childish companions, more subtility. Only Logain was interesting.

The worse aspect of their games is the inability to have some originality in their stories/storytelling.

[Nepenthe]

Sorry to butt in on your whine-circlejerk, but I managed to get my paws on the DA2 demo at the Helsinki Digiexpo today.

 

It was running on an x360, the only platform I've not played DAO on.

 

There was just one rig, sound was turned off and due to some quirk, I apparently started from the last schmoe's autosave at the beginning of the "real" section of the game, stuck on a male warrior Hawke (which, honestly, I probably would have used anyway)

 

Obviously, not the best starting point for impressions. The game looked quite a bit better than DAO, less good than ME1 or ME2, but there was some pretty heavy aliasing visible in all diagonals. Of course, I was standing 2' from a 40" screen, so it would have been as visible as it gets.

 

Combat was pretty much A button mashing on the auto-attackless x360 version (and it's not like I had a lot of opportunities to get into finesses within the system). The 'faster' combat, OTOH, seems pretty well thought out, with a "leap" special that seemed to pretty well complement this. I'm not sure how this will integrate with the more traditional "point and click to auto-attack" functionality on the PC, but if they manage to pull it off, I think combat could actually be quite a bit improved over DAO. For now, I suggest all old-school RPGrs give the console version a wide berth (I don't want to read months of your bitching again). Of course, I haven't played the Witcher, which apparently has similar "click to swing" combat, and y'all seem to be wild over it, so what do I know.

 

The dialogue wheel is pretty much just like ME(2), the added icons for the "nature" of your answer will probably be quite helpful. Honestly, I'm probably not a good person to give impressions on this, as I consider neither the wheel/script to be inherently superior or particularly annoying. The most convincing "pro" argument I've heard for it is from Dave Gaider, and it's that they consider bad design to make a player both read and then listen to the same line. I agree, but YMMV.

 

So, yeah, if you want to know something, you can ask, but I probably won't be able to answer it. Glad I got in for free, the lousy circumstances would have made me feel pretty ripped off if I hadn't. Though apparently the demo area was a "beer zone", as it was K18 and had a fairly ripped bouncer on the door. I was still 10 years older than anybody else in there.

[Wrath of Dagon]

Rushed or not, after the awful ME2 I regret to have bought, I'm not at all excited by DA2 and will wait for valid impressions of the game (ie, not reviews) before thinking about buying it.

I find less and less interest in Bioware games. Lazy design, stories, dialogues, gameplay. All in all, DAO was a bit more than mediocre to me and would maybe have been a good game with less focus on hack and slash, less whinny and childish companions, more subtility. Only Logain was interesting.

The worse aspect of their games is the inability to have some originality in their stories/storytelling.

And yet you bought ME2 after ME1, how do you explain that?

[sorophx]

IIRC combat in teh Witcher was very much like in DAO, only special moves (combos and such) were handled differently

[Orchomene]

Rushed or not, after the awful ME2 I regret to have bought, I'm not at all excited by DA2 and will wait for valid impressions of the game (ie, not reviews) before thinking about buying it.

I find less and less interest in Bioware games. Lazy design, stories, dialogues, gameplay. All in all, DAO was a bit more than mediocre to me and would maybe have been a good game with less focus on hack and slash, less whinny and childish companions, more subtility. Only Logain was interesting.

The worse aspect of their games is the inability to have some originality in their stories/storytelling.

And yet you bought ME2 after ME1, how do you explain that?

 

Well, ME was ok. Not a very good game, but a game that mixed RPG and FPS. But ME2 was too much FPS/mission mode. I've hesitated before buying it but thought that it would be an improvement, as in 'evolution in a direction I like' which it wasn't.

[Maria Caliban]

German Review. Apparently, the cities are poorly designed.

[mkreku]

I played Dragon Age 2 today at a Swedish game expo. I never did play the first game since it looked so incredibly dull and typical Bioware boring, but I kind of liked this. It felt like a slow RPG version of God of War or something. I played some sort of warrior with a huge two handed sword, and every time I pressed the button, the warrior swung his sword around. I don't know if it was turn based, but it felt like real time to me. I fought a bunch of small enemies, a big, winged demon and after that one was defeated, a gigantic red dragon appeared, but then I had to leave.

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures. I did anyhow. Then a guard showed up and I started arguing with him. Then he called for another guard and I started arguing with him too. Then they called a third guard and I was arguing against three guards. Then I gave up and deleted the picture. The only thing I got was this:

 

 

Woo. Stupid rules.