Dragon Age 2

[Nightshape]

Dragon Age II

 

Visuals:

Some excellent artwork, these guys have done an amazing job to pull the rendering this far ahead of what DA:O was. This is one pretty game, with some excellent artwork. I like the character redesign they've done for Flemmeth, but it also shows how wrong they got DA:O. Something tells me that, while happy, there was maybe some art misdirection on DA:O.

DA 2 is consistant, and its very nice to look at.

 

Story Impression:

Could be good, but its got such an offshoot vibe to it, I estimate that the legacy of DA:O's development was swept to the side by someone. The demo itself just gives a taste, but its the usual Bioware cinematic affair, with extra cheese as required.

 

Gameplay:

I think its gone backwards, particularly on PC, they've totally raped the camera, and it's not a good thing. The combat to me just felt like more of the same, delivered with a broken camera, it sucks. The whole tactics thing is some bizzare crap pseudo AI scripting bollocks that needs to f*** off.

The character progression is pretty much the same deal as before, except they've added a tiny bit of progression to the skill tree's. That's the problem with DA in general though, it isn't for stat crunches, that said it isn't worse off for it.

Personally, I'd say the DA 2 has been dumbed down somewhat. Did I mention I hated the fracking camera?

 

Audio:

Voice acting seems worse, stale, its not the same kind of quality as seen in say ME, other than that the audio is what I'd expect from a tripple A title, crisp surround sound.

 

In brief:

Its a prettier version of DA:O, with a KOTOR camera, its alot more like ME than BG.

They spent most of the budget on rendering tech, and art.

[Nightshape]

Does anyone care to comment on the quality of plot development later in the demo? I mean the stuff with Isabella.

 

Not really worth a mention,

you basically learn you end up involved with some crazy wench who you can probably bone at some point. She's got some dude after her for something to do with slaves... It's nothing special.

 

[WDeranged]

Well that was a ****ty demo of a possibly 'OK' game, lots of glitchy graphics and stilted scenes all cobbled together with a neutered camera, on the other hand I found myself enjoying the action but that camera...such a let down.

[Raithe]

I think the key trouble to the demo.. is that it doesn't show anything off except the combat. And that's not even much of combat.. or at least you get the "legendary start up fight" then the "realistic start up fight" when you haven't got any real skills.

Then the sequence it jumps to Isabella gives you a few more levels..but again, doesn't really show you much of the advanced mixup of skills and how they interact.

 

The combat does seem to be a bit more frenetic and fast paced then da:o..but from the demo it looks like its just the same style, just done at a faster pace (if that makes sense)

Which makes me wonder if it'll partially deal with the "grindy" feel that origins had.. you might have to kill the same amount of enemies..but the slicker/faster way you go through them might not make it feel like quite such a task.

 

You don't really get to see much of the dialogue happen.. I mean there's a couple of short sentences between the family, another brief conversation when you meet a couple fleeing the blight..and then talking to flemeth which is a bit longer. But you don't really see any consequences of conversation. It's pretty much all fluffy conversation.

 

I've got to admit I did get a bit annoyed at the laggy way that "loading..." would appear before cutscenes..and even during them at various points. I'm hoping that's just due to it being a demo rather then a full game..but it's a bit jarring when it has to spend 5 or 10 seconds paused in a cutscene to load the next portion. And I'm running on a fairly decent rig...

[sorophx]

I liked that battles were a bit more fast-paced now, and especially that swinging a two-handed weapon doesn't take 5 seconds anymore.

and you liked it? what's wrong with you?!

Then the sequence it jumps to Isabella gives you a few more levels..but again, doesn't really show you much of the advanced mixup of skills and how they interact.

that was my biggest issue with it, what was the point of putting that part in the demo if there's really no difference... stupid BioWare

[Orogun01]

Finished the demo, my impression so far has confirmed my fears though there were a few nice surprises. Character models are rendered beautifully, backgrounds and level design seems a little bit unfinished, voice acting is very "mass effecty". The most interesting points seem to be the presentation of the story, the dialog and a few improvements in the combat system. My biggest lows where the SFX for the attacks animations (sounds like a nagging wife once your brain has become dull and all you hear is white noise) the dialog and the companions don't seem all that interesting.

[WDeranged]

that was my biggest issue with it, what was the point of putting that part in the demo if there's really no difference... stupid BioWare

 

Large breasts and implied sex to get the Bioware boards in a froth I suppose, bad demo is bad.

[Nepenthe]

that was my biggest issue with it, what was the point of putting that part in the demo if there's really no difference... stupid BioWare

 

Large breasts and implied sex to get the Bioware boards in a froth I suppose, bad demo is bad.

I think she was just smuggling two bald midgets - she IS a pirate, after all.

[sorophx]

I think she was just smuggling two bald midgets - she IS a pirate, after all.

ahaha too bad there's no more room in my sig for another quote

[kirottu]

I don

[WorstUsernameEver]

Just played with a warrior.

 

It felt.. clumsy.

 

The writing and voice-acting in the beginning sequence were atrociously uneven, the pacing was wonky , the new camera was, as I suspected, atrocious, and I still don't really like the new art direction that much. It feels like it's trying hard to be stylized but then there are assets that look like they're taken out straight from Origins and even the characters look like they're simply tweaked in proportions more than redone models.

 

Combat was not as bad as I suspected. It feels easier, and it definitely feels like there's less of a choice in progression, but it also feel a little more balanced and the rogue feels like it finally has a purpose (though I really only tried Varric who was focused on ranged abilities). With the DX11 "High" settings it looked decent, though it had a ton of graphical glitches. Ran smooth too, even though the loading times even during cutscenes were super annoying (seriously? interrupting a cutscene in the middle with a "loading"?). Also, the first time I played it, it crashed after the first battle and cutscene.

 

So, overall, Steam sale it is.

Edited February 23, 2011 by WorstUsernameEver

[Tigranes]

I've got no bandwidth this month, but I'm curious. I heard warriors can't use ranged weapons? Really? Hard to believe, but it's been said... and now that I think about it I don't remember seeing any ranged weapon talents for warriors?

[sorophx]

as I understand it, only rogues can use bows or crossbows. warriors are restricted to two-handed weapons or sword/board combo

[Tigranes]

..... Okay, screw that then.

 

I think I've been leaning towards just not bothering with DA2 over the last few weeks, with the thought that - well, if I'm going to have all these restrictions and camera and 'actiony' combat and everything, I might as well get Dungeon Siege III, Divinity II, Diablo III, The Witcher 2, Risen 2... games that actually are ARPGs from the start and do that well. I doubt DA2's mixture would prove more enjoyable than either a real ARPG or a real squad tactical RPG.

 

I might still try the demo later if I'm bored, but... yeah, it's weird, that decision itself isn't that horrible. With the lower camera and the faster combat the field of battle is much smaller, so it's not like you'll have your warriors shoot off more than a couple of arrows anyway. It's a combination of things though.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Problem is, despite all the talk from Bioware about the tactical depth, going by the demo it does feel dumbed down.

The feel of the combat really isn't bad or anything, actually some of the changes are improvement, but overall, it just doesn't feel like they've been improving on what really needed improving about Origins. It'll probably be a solid game, in the same way Jade Empire was a solid game.

[Majek]

http://www.gamespot.com/shows/now-playing/...g=topslot;img;1

 

OMG, the comments are pure fun

 

in JE you had direct control over combat, however buttomashing is was.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Majek

[Ice9]

Well, I just finished the demo. In general, I feel like this game is taking a step backward.

 

In this man's e-pinion, the user interface seems to have regressed a bit. I don't like the look of the spell icons and that jazz, it doesn't really seem to fit with the world. But what concerns me more is I didn't see a buff bar anywhere. Was I just missing that? I also had some issue where I couldn't click on a portrait of a party member and level them up. I had to press escape and click level up. Thats not a huge deal, but more clicks = generally worse design.

 

I also didn't like the male Hawke's voice; I just didn't sense the right emotional resonance for any of the lines. I'm not a huge fan of the dialog wheel, but the icons indicating intent are helpful. I miss knowing exactly what Faux Hawke was going to say but it isn't a deal breaker.

 

I didn't particularly like the animations. A lot of the swordplay seems more at home in something like Devil May Cry. Whoever said it is like the weapons don't have any weight is exactly right. I also didn't like the run animations. The exception is the magic staff attacks. They looked cooler and more magical.

 

The lack of a full tactical camera is noticeable. I really wanted to have a full overhead view a few times when casting fireball and that AoE fire spell. I don't remember what it was called. It isn't unplayable, and you can adjust it way more than in KOTOR.

 

It just seems like a lot of little things are off. None of them are game breaking but they seem like nagging annoyances. As for a final verdict? It's a Bioware game. It is about the story and the NPCs. The short little demo isn't enough time to get a feel for that stuff. But it did convince me to hold off purchasing until I can get it on sale.

[sorophx]

some of the changes are improvement

what changes are you talking about? combat hasn't changed one bit since DAO. sure, the limited choice of weapons will influence it somewhat, but if you look past it, it;s the same thing as playing with a similar party setup in DAO, only you can't pull the camera all the way up

[Walsingham]

Icons representing intent = writer fail. FFS I assume they get paid to write dialog. Make a goddamn effort.

[sorophx]

I don't like the look of the spell icons and that jazz, it doesn't really seem to fit with the world.

the redesigned icons are actually very bad, because I can't understand what they stand for without looking it up in the skills window, it would help immensely if it said what the icon stands for when you held the cursor over it.

 

and health regen is out of this world, jeez, it instantly fills up the second you exit combat. I see potential for exploit. bad move. and Bio wants to talk tactics after that. pfft

 

I also had some issue where I couldn't click on a portrait of a party member and level them up. I had to press escape and click level up.

this annoyed the hell out of me, I hope it's just a bug, for god's sake, BioWare...

[Raithe]

On the upside, some of the different touches on what is the "legendary" story and what's the "realistic" story look like it could be a touch interesting.

 

It did partially tweak my sense of humour that in the legendary version, the sister has tremendous bosoms, but when its the real version she's actually more of a normal phsyical body. You could just imagine this dwarven rogue having a few drinks and adding those sorts of exagerated elements in.

[Nepenthe]

With the DX11 "High" settings it looked decent, though it had a ton of graphical glitches. Ran smooth too, even though the loading times even during cutscenes were super annoying (seriously? interrupting a cutscene in the middle with a "loading"?). Also, the first time I played it, it crashed after the first battle and cutscene.

The DX11 renderer in the demo is an older bugged version from the shipping version, and IIRC it wasn't even supposed to be useable. I'm on XP, so I can't comment on how people turn it on, but...

 

Both Hawkes have so far completely failed to unimpress me with their VO, but since I'm one of the people with the streaming issue, my perception could be coloured by the stilted way the conversations run. Doubt it, though.

 

Not really blowing a headgasket with the camera, it's so much better than the forced KOTOR viewpoint console DAO had that I'm happy with even this. Still would have liked to pull back a bit more.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Nepenthe

[MrBrown]

I don't like the look of the spell icons and that jazz, it doesn't really seem to fit with the world.

the redesigned icons are actually very bad, because I can't understand what they stand for without looking it up in the skills window, it would help immensely if it said what the icon stands for when you held the cursor over it.

 

It does for me?

[sorophx]

I meant icons in the skill bar on the main screen. I had to guess what they do, I hate non-intuitive interface

[Guest Slinky]

I'll pitch in with demo impressions:

 

- Combat isn't as horrible as I previously feared, but I can't say I enjoy it. I liked the slower combat in DA much more, the weapons actually seemed to have mass and weight unlike the feathers in DA2. But the thing is, it looks very strongly that the pacing is same as DA: Move 10m forward, kill a horde of baddies, move 10m, kill horde, rince and repeat till the game ends. That nearly drove me nuts in DA, but with DA2's faster combat it might not feel just as horrible. Still pretty bad, but not horrible. I would still much more prefer DA's combat system with, say, MotB's pacing. Less enemies but they are more dangerous.

 

- Camera is a bit annoying. I always used the top down camera for combat and the third person for moving around. Now I really can't have neither. During combat it's okay I guess but I really would like to see further ahead when moving around.

 

I'll wait till more opinions. If they are positive about the story and characters I'll pick it up from a good sale someday.