Dragon Age II

[Felch]

I got it, I'm digging it.

The demo gives you the sense that the game hasn't changed much, but there are a lot of refinements outside of combat. Quests are no longer epic dungeon crawls, and are instead bite sized and numerous. Crafting is simplified, you no longer have to sweat what kind of boots your companions wear, and the friendship system is more engaging.

I've been playing it on easy, because **** a challenge. If I want a challenge I'll just take five hits of acid and wander the mean streets of Germantown. I'll probably dial it up to normal if I play through again after all the DLC and patching is done.

The fact that there's DLC out already gives me a burning sensation in my genitals. I understand that it's necessary for the publishers to get a good return on their investment, and I suppose I'd rather pay a la carte than $100 for a single game, but it just seems like the timing is a bit insulting.

Anybody else out there playing? Anybody imported a save game from DA:O?

Smoke weed, and don't trust anybody.

[mrboo123]

I am, about 2/3 way through the game so far (I guess). I plays a lot like DA:O but just faster. Playing a warrior is actually fun this time around. I'm playing on normal, only really focusing on my guy, while the rest are on auto for the fights. The boss fights are challenge, but fun; I had to use the whole party for those ones.

The fact that your party members armour change be change by you does reduce on the micromanagement, but having to gather a bunch of robes my warrior will never use is annoying. But there armour does look good.

Money after the 1st act seems to be rarely needed. There is no shop that has any special gear.

There are a few surprising events that happen to your family that REALLY sadden and pissed me off, but drama wise, they were well done. There a number of decisions that you have to make that actually had me thinking for a while, a 1st for a game for me.

I did import a save game from DA:O, but I won't really be able to tell the difference until I load a different file.

All in all, a fun, engaging game.

[onodera]

I did import a save with my female rogue that became a queen, but DA2 crashed when I finished talking to a British Templar and his ugly wife, so no idea how this affects anything.
The camera is killing me, however, the zoom level is simply inadequate. It's a good thing I won't be able to play much in the upcoming month: maybe someone will make a camera mod.

[Felch]

Mr Boo, those family issues and other big decisions are what's really getting me interested in playing this again. It feels like it'll be a completely different experience, especially with the extended time frame. The DA:O save game comes up much less frequently. I ran into an exiled Alistair in the tavern, but that was all fluff. Kind of like how Mass Effect save games were carried over.

Onodera, I've had a couple instability issues over about 22 hours of playing. The camera was very distracting at first, but I managed to pull it back and high enough to see most of what's going on. I think that it works well when you're exploring, but I'd like to see a tactical view for combat. It's part of the reason I'm not bothering with a challenge this time around.

[DrSpike]

I'm looking forward to this - really enjoyed the first one.

[Felch]

A few quibbles.

Many of the areas are recycled. As in, you'll go through the same mountain cave, the same warehouse, the same thieves' den, and the same mansion about a dozen times each. They block off chunks, and have you enter and exit at different points, so it's not a complete drag, but the minimap is always the same. I hope that they patch it so that the minimap only shows the used portion of the map, instead of the whole thing.

The character screens are a little buggy - there's a DPS stat, but it never reflects bonus damage from runes, or anything like that. Hopefully that'll be patched.

Enemy waves constantly spawn all around you in combat. That's not such a big deal on easy, but it makes any sort of tactical play frustrating. It pulls you out of the immersion when you're moving through a warehouse, clearing a path, and then a fight starts and suddenly four or five guys are behind you that weren't there before. It would be better if there were fewer, tougher enemies, and if they were persistent, like in DA:O.

[mrboo123]

I just finished the game and... wow. This game's endgame (the events leading to it) is DARK; makes DAO look like a disney movie.

Tech wise, I only had it freeze once with High graphics. With the hi rez text patch, the game was unplayable slow. To be honest, I've always been lucky with this sorta thing though (Fallout 3 the expection...)

Like Felch said, the reusing the same cave, den and mansion was annoying, but not bad enough to be really bad.

At the end... Hell of a game, gald I got it.

[mrboo123]

One fun thing to do if have internet access but can't play the game... goto the offical bioware fourms. Flame wars apently, Civ5 levels.

[Felch]

Trendy hipster douches always hate the new games. I tried playing BG2 a few years back, having missed it when it came out, and it was crap compared to what's come since. Some games hold up well*, but late 90s RPGs all have these horrible low res graphics, 3/4 isometric displays, and terrible controls. BG, Fallout 1&2, Planescape - they all are better remembered than played. In ten years, people will be *****ing about how nothing holds up to the old Dragon Age games.

I'm personally shocked at how inane some of the criticism is. I saw people criticizing DA2 for being too console driven and having "button-mashing". That makes no sense. Are they trying to compare it to Street Fighter or something?

*The games that age best have simple controls, and simple clear graphics. I can play NES Mario games, or the original Zelda and still enjoy them, in large part because everything is meant to be simple and clear. Pac-Man aged well, as did Tetris, and a bunch of other arcade games.

[Al B. Sure!]

I played the demo on xbox when I found out it's made by Bioware... So much constant fighting Yeah, it's nothing but button-mashing, Felch.

[mrboo123]

I played the demo on xbox when I found out it's made by Bioware... So much constant fighting Yeah, it's nothing but button-mashing, Felch.

One problem with the demo is that it only shows two missions where the only thing you really did was fight. Also, there was suppose to be an autoattack for them (instead of having to hit a button for each swing) but it left out for some reason. They plan to patch it in later but leaving it out was sloppy work.

I would suggest giving it a go, maybe not now but after a price drop since you didn't like the demo. But there is more to the game than smash stuff.

Trendy hipster douches always hate the new games. I tried playing BG2 a few years back, having missed it when it came out, and it was crap compared to what's come since. Some games hold up well*, but late 90s RPGs all have these horrible low res graphics, 3/4 isometric displays, and terrible controls. BG, Fallout 1&2, Planescape - they all are better remembered than played. In ten years, people will be *****ing about how nothing holds up to the old Dragon Age games.

I'm personally shocked at how inane some of the criticism is. I saw people criticizing DA2 for being too console driven and having "button-mashing". That makes no sense. Are they trying to compare it to Street Fighter or something?

*The games that age best have simple controls, and simple clear graphics. I can play NES Mario games, or the original Zelda and still enjoy them, in large part because everything is meant to be simple and clear. Pac-Man aged well, as did Tetris, and a bunch of other arcade games.

QTF. Funny enough, I played Fallout 1 & 2 and enjoyed them, but I didn't really get into BG2. For me for some reason, the graphics were just really... I don't know, "muddy". Made it a pain in the ass to find (and god help me if the revlent door isn't highlighted with the tab key).

The button mashing thing could be releated to the no auto attack for the consols, but why would the PC gamers be complaining?

[Felch]

There's a whole lot more to the game than smashing stuff. The demo was not representative at all of how the game actually plays out. Since it's big selling point is the impact you have on the world over a decade, it's tough to show that in an hour long demo.

Still, if you're willing to wait, go ahead and wait. When the GOTY edition comes out with all the DLC and whatnot bundled for fifty bucks or less, buy that.

I also enjoyed Fallout 1&2 back in the day, but I tried going back and playing them recently, and they just don't hold up. Combat is damn slow, trying to search for things when a wall is in the way is a pain, and there are other annoyances. Like if you start a fight in a town, every damn junkie gets his own turn that he spends shuffling around. And when you're trying to barter the change isn't automatically calculated. Those are just weird little problems that have nothing to do with technological limitations, and are instead a result of an unrefined design.

[Al B. Sure!]

There's a whole lot more to the game than smashing stuff. The demo was not representative at all of how the game actually plays out. Since it's big selling point is the impact you have on the world over a decade, it's tough to show that in an hour long demo.

Still, if you're willing to wait, go ahead and wait. When the GOTY edition comes out with all the DLC and whatnot bundled for fifty bucks or less, buy that.

I also enjoyed Fallout 1&2 back in the day, but I tried going back and playing them recently, and they just don't hold up. Combat is damn slow, trying to search for things when a wall is in the way is a pain, and there are other annoyances. Like if you start a fight in a town, every damn junkie gets his own turn that he spends shuffling around. And when you're trying to barter the change isn't automatically calculated. Those are just weird little problems that have nothing to do with technological limitations, and are instead a result of an unrefined design.

Nah I'm not really a fan of these types of games so I'm not going to wait... I'm skipping it

But funnily enough I just had this same conversation with somebody about old games. Video games are the one entertainment venue where for the most part, the more recent it was made, the better. Why some people don't get that and insist on nostalgia, I don't know. Rarely do those people actually return to those games. If they did, they'll see all the limitations and problems that have been fixed in games over the years since. I've gone back to old games many times and had an attitude of "what the hell? I thought this was impressive when?"

That's why also I'm not bothered by sequels and remakes. Some people disdain game franchises or remakes of old games but the games do get better with each iteration.

[Guynemer]

Just finished Act One (I think?), some surprises:

Just how quickly I ended up fighting a full-blown dragon

That "ancient rock wraith" or whatever the **** it was was one tough son of a *****

Spoiler:

That decision I made before going on the expedition had some pretty radical consequences! I was saving up some equipment I found in the Deep Roads for my sister, too...

[N35t0r]

Just finished Act One (I think?), some surprises:

Just how quickly I ended up fighting a full-blown dragon

That "ancient rock wraith" or whatever the **** it was was one tough son of a *****

Spoiler:

That decision I made before going on the expedition had some pretty radical consequences! I was saving up some equipment I found in the Deep Roads for my sister, too...

Taking her doesn't make a big difference either, and I was relatively lucky...

She was even my top damage-dealer, having had leveled her up only in the first branch of the tree. Between her and Varrick, mobs just vanished.

I find it entertaining so far. Good story.

I do find it a bit of a hassle not to have a 'party camp' to be able to equip everybody easily, but not having to micromanage their armours definitely helps.