Dragon Age 2

[Volourn]

Why i said it's the most legit not only legit. Not every story or character gonna please everybody. Heck, i don't like all characters in any BIO game including DA2.

 

But, repetive areas is simply fact they exist. Just a matter of how much they bother you. Just like it's a fact that C&C exists. Since it literally means chocies you make will have cosnequences. That occurs in spades during DA2.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Volourn

[entrerix]

touche, and yeah i agree that C&C appears pretty good in DA2. Of course, I think most things in DA2 are pretty good so I guess my vote doesnt count.

 

I'd like DA 3 to have the combat from DA2, but with more traditional crpg trimmings (camera view, npc equipment etc, friendly fire for all difficulty levels, make a feat or power you can choose to get rid of it if a person doesnt like it)

 

you know what I just realized? DA2 doesn't have that tremendously overused bioware structure of 4 planets and then the endgame. it still has too much level scaling though. I'd rather see no level scaling but have the quest givers warn if a quest is too hard for their level "you should probably come back to me when you're more powerful, but if you REALLY think you can handle it then here is my problem..."

[Gorth]

Gave the demo a break and then played through it a second time. Good thing it is my work laptop, because I was really tempted to smash my fist through the screen in frustration over the god awful camera. I think I spent 80% of my time fiddling and constantly (and vainly) trying to readjust the camera angle as my character moved around.

 

I'll wait and see when the deal packages comes out with expansions, patches and DLC's included. Maybe they'll have fixed the camera by then.

[entrerix]

camera sucks. I'd love to say it gets better or you get used to it. but thats not true. the camera is a total disaster and needs to be patched. There was absolutely ZERO benefit to the way they changed it.

 

still a good game though

[WDeranged]

Yeah just a little bit more reach on the camera would make all the difference, surely they can patch that.

[Hell Kitty]

Yeah, it doesn't really matter whether that was his genuine opinion - an employee has no business writing product reviews as a 'customer', period.

 

Considering the amount of people who offer up reviews without actually being customers, instead just throwing out mindless praise or hate for a product, holding an employee who may or may not have worked on the product to a higher standard is pretty much meaningless. It's like expecting people not to **** on the street while ignoring the fact that the street is covered and paved in ****.

 

Internet user reviews are worthless, and I'm not just talking about the fools trying to alter scores, the legions of honest opinions that are nothing more that it's awesome or it's crap are just as bad. Anyone who uses them to make purchasing decisions is a moron, or quite possibly a moran.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Gorth
Bad spelling

[Spider]

I've borrowed this from a friend and have been playing for a few days. I didn't want to like the game, because I hate the changes they made for the PC version, but I'll be damned if I don't find it''s quite fun after all.

 

I do hate the new camera though. It's awful, especially when a character you're selecting is smashed up against a wall, then it's just moronic. Being able to zoom out further would have been nice, but that I can live without. But I really, really want a detachable camera.

 

I play on nightmare and getting AOE effects right is essential. With the current camera, that can be quite tricky. Hell, I'd settle for AoE aiming that doesn't snap to characters when closing in on them. I want to always aim at the ground, thank you very much.

 

Anyway, combat is fun and definitely requires tactics. I play on nightmare and it can sometimes be. Some fights I've had to play way too many times to get through them. The first Ogre for instance. Some fights I've only been able to get through with some cheesy kiting, but as my party has leveled up and gained better equipment, those fights are now reduced to a minimum.

 

So combat is definitely still tactical, it's just that the camera adds a bit of frustration to it. Know what else adds frustration? Interrupts. Not being able to fight back is pretty much a sucky game mechanic. If I'd be able to get the same effects on my enemies, that's be fine, but it seems like interrupts mostly affect my party (and lower level enemies, but not enemy spellcasters I think).

 

Writing is standard Bio. I like the narrative structure though, but haven't gotten far enough to see it really in action, am only in chapter 1.

 

But now I'm just waiting for my ordered copy to arrive so I can get the free goodies that comes with a new purchase.

[WDeranged]

When you select an AOE you can tap the function keys (1-4) to select another character and position the spell from their perspective, it helps ease the pain of a locked camera.

[lobotomy42]

If the rest of the game is anything like the first eight hours, then...

 

Dragon Age 2 is the worst RPG I have ever played and probably a contender for the worst *game* I have ever played.

[Slowtrain]

seems like the game is slowly winning converts.

 

*waits for Monte to buckle*

[Volourn]

"So combat is definitely still tactical, it's just that the camera adds a bit of frustration to it. Know what else adds frustration? Interrupts. Not being able to fight back is pretty much a sucky game mechanic. If I'd be able to get the same effects on my enemies, that's be fine, but it seems like interrupts mostly affect my party (and lower level enemies, but not enemy spellcasters I think."

 

Use special attacks to interrupt.

 

 

"Dragon Age 2 is the worst RPG I have ever played and probably a contender for the worst *game* I have ever played."

 

K.

[Azure79]

I found enemy rogues and assassins to be the most dangerous. They automatically knock you back when going into their backstab and can one shot mages and damage warriors for over half their health.

 

Volourn is right though, warrior and mage AOE attacks can interrupt them and knock them out of stealth. You have to guess where they are and who they are attacking, but when you do get them it's really satisfying. Then you chop them up into little bits.

[Monte Carlo]

seems like the game is slowly winning converts.

 

*waits for Monte to buckle*

 

You taunt me so, but happily no.

[Nightshape]

"So combat is definitely still tactical, it's just that the camera adds a bit of frustration to it. Know what else adds frustration? Interrupts. Not being able to fight back is pretty much a sucky game mechanic. If I'd be able to get the same effects on my enemies, that's be fine, but it seems like interrupts mostly affect my party (and lower level enemies, but not enemy spellcasters I think."

 

Use special attacks to interrupt.

 

 

"Dragon Age 2 is the worst RPG I have ever played and probably a contender for the worst *game* I have ever played."

 

K.

 

Surely Volo, you must except that on PC to break the camera so much is a bit of a thumb in the eye, it's the one feature which has consistantly made me a very angry man, as it is my firm belief that DA:O has one of the best camera implementation of a 3d rpg ever.

[MrBrown]

Know what else adds frustration? Interrupts. Not being able to fight back is pretty much a sucky game mechanic. If I'd be able to get the same effects on my enemies, that's be fine, but it seems like interrupts mostly affect my party (and lower level enemies, but not enemy spellcasters I think).

 

This is stat dependant, strength IIRC. Your warriors shouldn't be getting interrupted cosntantly, but your mages probably will... if you let enemies get close to them.

 

Interrupting enemies is possible... I did it all the time vs mages with my Hawke as warrior. Stat dependant too, I'd assume. And difficulty level, I'd guess.

[HoonDing]

How many endings are there?

[sorophx]

You have to guess where they are and who they are attacking

there's a bug that shows you assassin's position when he's hidden, the red circle under him stays on-screen and you can kite him or do whatever you want with him

Edited March 16, 2011 by sorophx

[MrBrown]

How many endings are there?

 

1.

 

There are minor differences, as in who lubd u frvr and ever, and so on, but in general it's just one.

 

All the story heavy C&C is really in Acts 2 and 3, not in the ending as such.

[Slowtrain]

seems like the game is slowly winning converts.

 

*waits for Monte to buckle*

 

You taunt me so, but happily no.

 

 

I salute you, sir.

 

You are made of strong stuff, indeed.

[Lorfean]

I got the game for PC on Thursday last week but was away during the weekend so didn't have a chance to really play it before Monday. After three days of playing I've given up, uninstalled it and put it away in some dark closet where it can gather dust for the rest of its sorry existence.

 

My biggest complaints are easily the camera and the way they decided to handle the spawning of enemy waves, though I'm not too fond of the sped up combat and some of the interface improvements changes either... I started out on Nightmare (which is the difficulty I used in DA:O and DA:A) but that quickly became an exercise in utter frustration instead of a challenge. I went down to Hard and eventually to Normal as I figured "maybe if I make the gameplay an aftertought by making it incredibly easy, I can just focus on the story and the characters", but no go. I'll never understand why they had to "cash in on the success of DA now!" and release a botched rushjob like this, which doesn't feel anything like it's predecessor, when a company like Blizzard can wait 10+ years with sequels in their IP's and give those settings the attention and respect they and their fans deserve.

 

So, in short: I find the gameplay of DA2 the cheesiest and most infuriatingly dissatisfying I've seen in any of BioWare's games, so much so that it stopped me from being able to enjoy any of the other parts of the game that I might have enjoyed otherwise. Big shame and a massive missed opportunity for BW, as DA:O/A were awesome games that could have and should have set the stage for a long running series of great tactical party-based RPG's.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Lorfean

[Nightshape]

I got the game for PC on Thursday last week but was away during the weekend, so didn't have a chance to really play it before Monday. After three days of playing I've given up, uninstalled it and put it away in some dark closet where it can gather dust for the rest of its sorry existence.

 

My biggest complaints are easily the camera and the way they decided to handle the spawning of enemy waves, though I'm not too fond of the sped up combat and some of the interface improvements changes either... I started out on Nightmare (which is the difficulty I used in DA:O and DA:A) but that quickly became an exercise in utter frustration instead of a challenge. I went down to Hard and eventually to Normal as I figured "maybe if I make the gameplay an aftertought by making it incredibly easy, I can just focus on the story and the characters", but no go. I'll never understand why they had to "cash in on the success of DA now!" and release a botched rushjob like this, which doesn't feel anything like it's predecessor, when a company like Blizzard can wait 10+ years with sequels in their IP's and give those settings the attention and respect they and their fans deserve.

 

So, in short: I find the gameplay of DA2 the cheesiest and most infuriatingly dissatisfying I've seen in any of BioWare's games, so much that it stopped me from being able to enjoy any of the other parts of the game that I might have enjoyed otherwise.

 

Can't you see that its not aimed at the PC market... ?

 

This is a console game, with a PC port.

[Lorfean]

Can't you see that its not aimed at the PC market... ?

 

This is a console game, with a PC port.

 

So were the Mass Effect games and KotOR, and that was fine. The gameplay in those games worked just fine on PC. I could've lived with them turning the DA series into something else if the result was at least fun to play. But it isn't.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Lorfean

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Yep, a few more hours in and the combat is already getting stale (same combos all the time, nothing particularly interesting about it), the characters and writing haven't gotten any better and I'm starting to get the eerie sensation that the entire game takes place in one city with two level designs (sand and white halls). But that's not possible, right? Surely Bio isn't this lazy?

[Volourn]

"Surely Volo, you must except that on PC to break the camera so much is a bit of a thumb in the eye, it's the one feature which has consistantly made me a very angry man, as it is my firm belief that DA:O has one of the best camera implementation of a 3d rpg ever."

 

I don't have to accept anything of the sort. I don't care about the PC version. Gots the same camera in DA2 as I did in DA1.

 

Anyways, the gameplay is basically the same as it was in DA1. The combat is really ahrd though. I can't see how anyone would bother with nightmare. I'm playing on hard,a nd there are times I feel like knocking it down to normal. DA2 on ahrd is probably the hardest game I've ever played.

 

There's nothing botched or 'rushed job' about this.

 

As for endings, like DA1 there's technically 1 ending (you beat the main baddie) but there are differences in how the actual ending works out. Not as many as DA1 though I've heard. DA2 is BIO's most tatical game ever, and you mostly have to earn your battle victories.

[Nightshape]

"Surely Volo, you must except that on PC to break the camera so much is a bit of a thumb in the eye, it's the one feature which has consistantly made me a very angry man, as it is my firm belief that DA:O has one of the best camera implementation of a 3d rpg ever."

 

I don't have to accept anything of the sort. I don't care about the PC version. Gots the same camera in DA2 as I did in DA1.

 

Anyways, the gameplay is basically the same as it was in DA1. The combat is really ahrd though. I can't see how anyone would bother with nightmare. I'm playing on hard,a nd there are times I feel like knocking it down to normal. DA2 on ahrd is probably the hardest game I've ever played.

 

There's nothing botched or 'rushed job' about this.

 

As for endings, like DA1 there's technically 1 ending (you beat the main baddie) but there are differences in how the actual ending works out. Not as many as DA1 though I've heard. DA2 is BIO's most tatical game ever, and you mostly have to earn your battle victories.

 

As you've never played it on PC, you can't really comment.

 

Accept it or not, DA on PC was actually a different experience.

 

There's also pleanty of "corner cutting" measures in place, that doesn't mean that the quality of what is there is a "botched" job, it certainly isn't.