Dragon Age II (spoilers)

[Azure79]

I ran into some massive Merril quest bugs in the final act.

 

 

I didn't allow her to take the artifact in act 2, which she apparently hated me for, but decided to move into my house as a love interest. In act 3, she is acting like she can fix the mirror. Seems odd, but OK I go with it. Go to Sundermount, defeat the keeper, kill everyone in Sundermount... and then... that is it. No comment, no nothing. The quest just vanishes and there is no dialogue to signal the end of the quest. Also have a quest to rescue someone's daughter on the coast but nothing to be found there. Am not happy.

 

I got the end of the quest dialog scene

after the massacre on Sundermount. What's creepy is Merrill is devastated about killing her entire clan for all of 10 seconds before she is happy to be around Hawke again. I think she is secretly a sociopath.

 

 

The rescue mission is a bug. There is a bandit leader present in one of the areas, but nothing triggers, even if you click on him.

[MrBrown]

Also how come Merril has that accent when none of the other Dalish, who she lived her whole life with, don't?

 

 

Yes they do.

[Azure79]

Also how come Merril has that accent when none of the other Dalish, who she lived her whole life with, don't?

 

 

Yes they do.

 

They do?

 

I should get my hearing checked. I'm getting old.

[GreasyDogMeat]

Most city elves don't have the accent, but most if not all of the Sundermount elves have the accent. Some thicker than others.

 

I'm taking a bit of a break from DA 2. That bug ticked me off and I'm not sure whether to just keep playing or reload and try to avoid it.

Edited March 18, 2011 by GreasyDogMeat

[Raithe]

The Dalish seem to have a weird mix of irish and welsh accents (depending on which one you talk to). I guess Bio went with the "their elves, lets hammer home the gaelic influence..."

 

Merril, for those who might have noticed it, has the fairly strong welsh accent. But then she's voiced by one of the key girls from Torchwood.

[Volourn]

"It doesn't, also the casual Hawke in the middle of battle it's annoying."

 

I've been getting this bug once and awhile. Twas really annoying. I notice that it is most likely to happen when vasnishing assassins are around.

[Starwars]

Just finished the game with a female rogue, sided with the mages.

 

Really mixed feelings on the game. I think I mostly feel that there is a lot of unfulfilled potential in the game. The combat system was a lot more fun to use than I expected but Jesus, the encounter design really sucks. Loved the idea of a city-adventure but the city doesn't really feel dynamic enough... It feels too static. Plus, since it's so condensed to the Kirkwall area, the constant battles (not to mention presence of blood-mages, apostates and spells thrown in the street) really makes the universe feel very inconsistant. Never was a fan of introducing the dialogue wheel and I don't feel the writing for Hawke was strong enough to warrant its inclusion. The family is another interesting feature but ultimately I didn't care one bit for them. The time jumps is another interesting thing and I think it worked fairly well for the companions but again... Kirkwall feels far too static, it doesn't really feel like the game progresses much. Obviously, 3 years isn't a huge amount of time but I think some more changes to Kirkwall was desperately needed between the acts.

 

Like someone pointed out, Act 2 was the best. The ramping up of the Qunari conflict was well-done and introduced a really nice tension to the game. If the entire game had been on that level, I would've enjoyed it a lot more. As is, I found Act 1 to be extremely boring and Act 3 was sorta... meh. A bit mediocre. It's not that the mage vs templar conflict isn't interesting (the mage situation is one of my fav pieces of the DA world I'd say) but the characters (Meredith and Orsino) aren't interesting enough and it never reaches the same level of tension as Act 2. Plus, I still goddamn hate the RPG trope of having the final levels huge combat romps, and the final boss was so messy at times I had trouble seeing what the hell was happening.

 

The most positive thing about the game is that there are occasional quests where I think Bioware really hit the grey morality thing way better than they've done in the past. There were several moments in the game where I had to pause for a few moments to decide. Also, I didn't like the companions at all near the start but they are real growers. In the end, I quite liked them all. Isabela was the only one I felt was a bit much. I actually liked the idea of the "sexually free" pirate wench but I think they push it a bit too far, especially in the banter. Yes yes Isabela, we know you like sex, that's awesome. Same with Meril... Yes, we know you're the adorable, insecure elf. I don't mind that it's part of the character at all but stop hammering my head with it.

 

Overall, I think I enjoyed the game a bit more than I thought I would. But I still think there are *parts* of it that are truly... really bad actually, and as a sequel to DA it's a big disappointment for me personally. Very mixed feelings on it.

[Maria Caliban]

Yeah, I ran into the casual Hawke bug. Pretty annoying.

 

Also how come Merril has that accent when none of the other Dalish, who she lived her whole life with, don't?

I thought it was odd that she's the only Welsh sounding Dalish. I assume it's because she was born in a different clan and was ~12 when she was given to Merithari.

[Tale]

The rescue mission is a bug. There is a bandit leader present in one of the areas, but nothing triggers, even if you click on him.

Actually, something does trigger. But not enough triggers. The bandit leader doesn't even show up until after you go into an area, then turn around. Which is kind of funny. He'll just pop up out of nowhere and stand there.

[Majek]

Didn't really like how they handled the mother situation. But then again i doubt they would do any better in my eyes even if they had time. The aftermath just isn't there. :/

[Labadal]

Finished the game yesterday(PC). In the end, I must say I am disappointed, even If it is a very good game. It just feels that they had something very good going on, but lack of time prevented the game from reaching its full potential.

 

Combat.

Fast paced but still easy to control your entire party. I played a warrior and I felt that all the skills I chose mattered because I used all of them for different purposes. I miss some of the class combos from Origins, but it wasn't a big deal. I liked most of the boss fights, with only one or two that felt cheap. The two major boss battles at the end were a bit too easy. I think I used 1 health potion only. I wish the camera was better and it's a shame about the enemy waves they throw at you. I hope encounter design is much improved in DA3, because the actual combat mechanichs were good.

 

Companions.

I liked Aveline and Varric the most. Anders was ok, but I prefer Awakenings Anders. Isabela was also ok, but I rarely had her as a party member. Fenris and Merril I cannot comment on too much. Never used them, only when I needed to complete their quests. I did romance Isabela and I did feel used, wich was interesting for a change. Merril is probably the only one that I felt was annoying.

 

Story.

Everything before you enter Kirkwall was not impressive. I did not enjoy the writing that early in the game. Then the story got better up until the end of act 2, my favorite part of the game story wise. Act 1 had some good moments, but mostly it was forgettable. Things became the most interesting in act 2 and the whole Qunari affair felt interesting throughout act 2. Act 3 was also interesting, but I felt it was poorly executed. Everything got crazy in the end. What I did like most about DA2 was that it had many quests I enjoyed even if therd were many filler(fodder?) quests and many times I wouldn't be 100% sure how people would react to my responses. I had to fight the elves at Sundermount and that came as a big surprise for me. It was also good to see companions played a big part in the main plot. Anders, anyone? I disagreed with what he did, but he was my only healer, so He got to stick with me regardless of what I felt about him.

 

Design.

I'll put my reused areas complaint here. I do not pretend that other games don't do this, we know they do. However, it felt extreme in DA2. I personally liked all the enviroments, but having to see them over and over again was unfortunate. I don't have any complaints about Kirkwall, but some MINOR changes every three years would have been nice. I felt they were lazy in this department, but I guess an idiot would know that. I did think most of Hawkes armors looked cool, but the Champion's armor was ridicilously ugly. Companions had a fairly good design, but I really wish they could have used equioment. Found a great mage armor? Sell it because you're a warrior and your mage friends are not allowed to wear it. BioWare claims that they wanted characters with a defined look or whatever, I claim laziness from BioWares side.

 

This is one of my least favorite BioWare games, but I don't know how much that means because I still think it is a great game wkth some flaws wich I choose to blame on not enough development time.

 

BG2>KOTOR>NWN>ME>DA:O>ME2>DA2

I have not completed BG1 or JE so I leave them out of the ranking.

[Azure79]

I found the combat the most enjoyable part of DA2. The waves did get tedious since they're in every single combat encounter, but once you know how to deal with them, it wasn't a big deal. I do wish they would implement it better in the next one and avoid enemies materializing from nowhere or dropping out of the sky.

 

I also think they should get rid of the random mobs and design fights against a group that have the same abilities your party does. One thing I noticed about the combat is that your party seems to have one set of skills and enemies have a different set of skills. Enemy fighters never used the combat abilities that you had available like mighty blow or whirlwind. Enemy mages only cast a few spells that seemed unique to them. I never saw a mage cast fireball or cone of cold or chain lightning etc. It was usually a AOE spell that explodes(easily avoided) or a AOE spell that saps HP from your party. Enemy rogues had the disappear and backstab move, but that was about it.

 

So it broke immersion a bit for me when it seemed like my party and enemies seemed to be living under a different set of rules.

 

One of my favorite battles was near the end.

Fenris did not agree with my decision to support the mages so later he attacked me with a bunch of templars. Fenris could use all the abilities that you gave him. Since he is a 2H warrior, his mighty blows and such were extremely dangerous.

It felt thrilling going up against an enemy that had they same moves you did, because you knew how they could be put to devastating use. I wished there had been more combat like that. He also didn't seem to have the HP inflation a lot of the boss-level characters had, so it was thrilling and didn't drag out.

 

Mage spell combos returning would also be great. I loved how in DAO, you could use enemy spells to your advantage using spell combos. I thought it added a lot of tactical fun. For example enemy mage cast crushing prison on your warrior, your mage casts forcefield on warrior. Then the crushing prison is destroyed, your warrior is released and the explosion stuns enemies in the vicinity. I loved when that happened.

[Tale]

I like not having them follow the same rules. Using the same rules causes sometimes silly problems.

 

But now that you mention it, it would have been nice if they at least acted like they live in the same universe. Mages should cast spells that are at least superficially similar. And like you said, it could give you an idea of what to expect. Seeing a really cool ability and being disappointed you can't get it isn't fun. Part of the reason I picked up Force Mage is I was expecting that exploding gravity ball spell to be there.

Edited March 24, 2011 by Tale

[Enoch]

I like not having them follow the same rules. Using the same rules causes sometimes silly problems.

 

But now that you mention it, it would have been nice if they at least acted like they live in the same universe. Mages should cast spells that are at least superficially similar. And like you said, it could give you an idea of what to expect. Seeing a really cool ability and being disappointed you can't get it isn't fun. Part of the reason I picked up Force Mage is I was expecting that exploding gravity ball spell to be there.

Making enemies follow the same rules would also break the threat mechanic. Which I think would be good, because combat tactics that depend on AI routines being stupid AI routines don't make for satisfying battles. But this would also force the player to use some thought in tactical positioning, and force the developers to write a respectable tactical AI.

 

 

The most powerful ability in the DA universe is Taunt. It exercises infallible insidious mind control on a mass scale, and it may only be used by the PC or one of his/her companions. There's your Awesome Button.

[Volourn]

, "but I really wish they could have used equioment. "

 

They do. just not armour (and Varric's crossbow only coolness).

 

 

 

"The most powerful ability in the DA universe is Taunt"

 

No. But, I'm sure you ar ejust making a funny.

 

 

 

"It felt thrilling going up against an enemy that had they same moves you did, because you knew how they could be put to devastating use. I wished there had been more combat like that. He also didn't seem to have the HP inflation a lot of the boss-level characters had, so it was thrilling and didn't drag out. "

 

I 100% agree with this. The high dragon was my least favorite boss not ebcause of dififculty level (easy or ahrd) but simply because it took forever. So much so I put that I was first fought it on ahrd and was gonna win but it was tkaing forever so i reloaded to fight it on easy just to get it done quicker. L0L That was dissapointing. Other fights were much more awesome.

[Tale]

and force the developers to write a respectable tactical AI.

They can already do that. The thing is that it wouldn't be any fun. CC enemy group (hey, using the same rules, it's now just whoever gets the first shot off), assess strongest target, focus fire until dead.

 

Exact same general strategy that players use.

[greylord]

One of my favorite battles was near the end.

Fenris did not agree with my decision to support the mages so later he attacked me with a bunch of templars. Fenris could use all the abilities that you gave him. Since he is a 2H warrior, his mighty blows and such were extremely dangerous.

 

I actually had that battle

during the fade sequence. I had no idea what to expect the first time I went in and ended up having to fight him almost by myself as Anders bit it the big one against Fenris and the Demon. It was a pretty hard fight with me a Rogue against Fenris and a Demon.

 

[GreasyDogMeat]

One of my favorite battles was near the end.

Fenris did not agree with my decision to support the mages so later he attacked me with a bunch of templars. Fenris could use all the abilities that you gave him. Since he is a 2H warrior, his mighty blows and such were extremely dangerous.

 

I actually had that battle

during the fade sequence. I had no idea what to expect the first time I went in and ended up having to fight him almost by myself as Anders bit it the big one against Fenris and the Demon. It was a pretty hard fight with me a Rogue against Fenris and a Demon.

 

Is there anyone in your party

who doesn't turn on you in the fade? Both Merril & Aveline turned on me, though Vaddick didn't

 

[Labadal]

Anders didn't turn on me, but Varric and Aveline did.

[Tale]

One of my favorite battles was near the end.

Fenris did not agree with my decision to support the mages so later he attacked me with a bunch of templars. Fenris could use all the abilities that you gave him. Since he is a 2H warrior, his mighty blows and such were extremely dangerous.

 

I actually had that battle

during the fade sequence. I had no idea what to expect the first time I went in and ended up having to fight him almost by myself as Anders bit it the big one against Fenris and the Demon. It was a pretty hard fight with me a Rogue against Fenris and a Demon.

 

Is there anyone in your party

who doesn't turn on you in the fade? Both Merril & Aveline turned on me, though Vaddick didn't

 

Only Anders. Everyone else will, each character is set to one spoiler. But if both other members are set to the same spoiler, only one of those will spoiler.

Edited March 25, 2011 by Tale

[GreasyDogMeat]

Only Anders. Everyone else will, each character is set to one spoiler. But if both other members are set to the same spoiler, only one of those will spoiler.

I see. One of the few moments in the game where I gave my party members an angry negative response.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

The bit when Varric broke into his brother's mansion and started telling the story all wrong had me laughing. The rest of the cast might be annoying, but Bioware at least knows how to write a decent comic relief.

[Labadal]

Why are we spoiler tagging stuff in this topic?

[GreasyDogMeat]

The bit when Varric broke into his brother's mansion and started telling the story all wrong had me laughing. The rest of the cast might be annoying, but Bioware at least knows how to write a decent comic relief.

Loved that part! I wish he did that much damage normally...

 

Why are we spoiler tagging stuff in this topic?

Because there is always someone who stumbles in and complains despite the forum title. That and you can highlight the spoiler text a bit at a time and decide if it is spoiling something you missed despite completing the game and stop reading etc.

Edited March 25, 2011 by GreasyDogMeat

[Majek]

Sebastian doesn't even want to go in the Fade, so with him in the party you're ****ed :D

 

They can already do that. The thing is that it wouldn't be any fun. CC enemy group (hey, using the same rules, it's now just whoever gets the first shot off), assess strongest target, focus fire until dead.

 

Exact same general strategy that players use.

That's ok, the real AI writing comes into when this strategy fails and they'd have to regroup and change their approach. But since there is no surprise factor left in combat anymore there little room for advance tactics.