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[bloodforge]

Graphics: It might look better than DA:O on consoles, I really can't say since I played both on pc. But on pc it really doesn't look better. Everything is so fucking low poly. Honestly, running through places like Sundermount and The Wounded Coast made me think there was a tesselation option in the game I should be turning on. and in Kirkwall everything is of a very angular design, a very "convinient" design choice considering the increased focus that was put on the console versions for DA2...

Uh, there is. It's called "Very High" under DX11. One of the things it turns on is tessellation.



I'm at the beginning of Act 3 and am liking this game more than the first game so far, I'm probably alone in that thought though. I loved Origins as well.

I like that the story is focused around Kirkwall, my only complaint would be the lack of areas. Going into the same cave for the 20th time was a little ridiculous.

 

[gdt]

I'm at the beginning of Act 3 and am liking this game more than the first game so far, I'm probably alone in that thought though. I loved Origins as well.

I like that the story is focused around Kirkwall, my only complaint would be the lack of areas. Going into the same cave for the 20th time was a little ridiculous.

Fuck no. I enjoyed DAII faarrrrr more than Origins.

 

[Deacan]

Think I am going to wait for a patch, so many bugs so far, the respec one and the Isbella one have already afffected me.

 

[2San]

If you just want the same thing again, why don't you just play Origins. I already played that huge dungeon in the Fade. I didn't need another one.

This is a shitty argument. That people think that Dragon Age 2 sucks isn't because it's different. It's because it's worse in their opinion. Mass Effect 2 did do a few things different, albeit a few things where worse. It did a lot of other things better, hence the broad critical reception and under users as well. People don't necessarily want the exact same thing. They just don't want a vastly inferior product.

 

[Gvaz]

I'm at the beginning of Act 3 and am liking this game more than the first game so far, I'm probably alone in that thought though. I loved Origins as well.

I like that the story is focused around Kirkwall, my only complaint would be the lack of areas. Going into the same cave for the 20th time was a little ridiculous.

I liked that they tried to be more focused, but I just felt that it was pretty ineffective up until the last 1/3 of each act because there was no real motivation or direction.

Reusing new areas really really bothers me, and it goes a long way to make you feel like the world is boring and uninteresting. While I liked the music in the wounded coast, I can't say I liked the design of it.

I guess that goes for all the levels really.

As for liking the game more than Origins, I think DA2's combat is better (though suffers from some bad but fixable combat mechanics such as stopping respawning enemies, slowing down combat animations a tad, and designing fights, even random ones for tactical approaches instead of what they're doing now, just plopping some random mobs down in an area), and I think the texture work is better. I also like the clothing designs this time around more than the first. However that's about where it ends.

I only like Varric really. The other ones are varying levels of "Mildly interesting to Don't care, to (Anders in this case) 'I fucking hate your guts now'"

In hindsight, I wouldn't really have complained too much had they made Origins with DA2's combat. Frankly I would have liked it more than this anyways.

 

[Lostconfused]

You can't really compared DA2 to Origins. There was just so much more time and effort put into the first game that it makes DA2 look shallow and empty by comparison.

 

[Johnlenham]

If you just want the same thing again, why don't you just play Origins. I already played that huge dungeon in the Fade. I didn't need another one.

Just seemed like a wasted opertunity to me. Also none of the choices made by my party ment a damn thing! the elf mage took the big demons offer, attacked me and then when we left nothing had changed other than i just lost 20 friend points which I would lose no mater what speech option i took which I thought was alittle odd.

 

[EternalGamer]

I'm not sure how you can compare fast traveling through different environments in Ferelden to fast traveling through different environments in a single city of this sort. The latter carries with it no visual or thematic variety, no cohesiveness, not even the slightest attempt at evoking a sense of adventure.

It's a city where their biggest attempts at creating the illusion of variety and change involved a static day/night mechanic and different entrances into the zones.

I am not comparing the act of "fast traveling" I am saying that the complaints that this game is a lot smaller is not as accurate as it first appears. Yes the game is smaller, but part of that is more psychological simply because it is a story about one city.

And actually, the more I think about it, I think it just has to do with a different mission structure. The areas in the Free Marches in DA2 are not all that small, but you only have access to a small section of them at a time. When you go back to those areas in different missions, dirrent sections of the Mountain, for example, are open or closed off. Instead of going through a giant dungeon all at once, you are going through a medium sized one in small chunks.

I know some people want the big epic dungeon that you spend four hours navigating (including the pain in the ass part where you have to back to town again and again for supplies and to unload inventory). But it seems clear to me that that was not what they were going for in DA2. The individual missions are designed to be smaller and more bite sized.

I actually like the rhythm it gives the game. In the same way, I like the fact that average battles now are no longer tedium. You have to pay a bit of attention, but they are more of quick hit battles in between boss battles, which generally do require more strategy. It gives the game a nice sense of pacing.

 

[subversus]

...and I bought it second hand!

and I used my in-story credit!

 

[EternalGamer]

You can't really compared DA2 to Origins. There was just so much more time and effort put into the first game that it makes DA2 look shallow and empty by comparison.

More time and effort doesn't automatically mean "better." In fact, more in general doesn't always mean better. Having finished Origins and played through 4/5ths of DA2 at this point, I enjoy DA2 a lot more. I like the pacing of the combat more. The menu systems are way, way more streamlined and less sluggish. The storyline is a lot less cliche and the characters and dialog are fantastic.

If all you care about is the "epic-ness" of the quest in terms of the number and size of dungeons, then yes, it is more "shallow." But I don't really need that in every RPG and there is other kinds of depth besides big sprawling maps and environmental variety.

Unfortunately, I think the backlash against this game is large enough that Bioware will try to go back to the cliche "quest around the world as the chosen hero" narrative. I think it is pretty clear that they made an intentional choice to make this story smaller and more local. And there is going to be a group of people, myself among them, that is going to look back at this game in the future as a rare gem that did something very unique in making a smaller, more intimate RPG story.

We probably won't see another RPG try something like this for a long time. I know that idea may make many of you here happy. But I think it sucks because I am bored with the "epic hero on epic quest for epic loot" formula.

 

[EternalGamer]

Just seemed like a wasted opertunity to me. Also none of the choices made by my party ment a damn thing! the elf mage took the big demons offer, attacked me and then when we left nothing had changed other than i just lost 20 friend points which I would lose no mater what speech option i took which I thought was alittle odd.

They build on this in future conversations with those characters. It also depends on which party members you have with you. You are right that it isn't a huge plot point twist or anything. But I thought the conversation afterward with the character expressing regret or anxiety about their own weakness was a nice touch.

If you had Anders in your party, I think the what happens with him in the Veil and the conversation afterwards is particularly interesting. It also helps explain a plot point in Chapter 3 better (which I am not sure you even get if you didn't have him there with you).

 

[Lostconfused]

More time and effort doesn't automatically mean "better." In fact, more in general doesn't always mean better. Having finished Origins and played through 4/5ths of DA2 at this point, I enjoy DA2 a lot more. I like the pacing of the combat more. The menu systems are way, way more streamlined and less sluggish. The storyline is a lot less cliche and the characters and dialog are fantastic.

If all you care about is the "epic-ness" of the quest in terms of the number and size of dungeons, then yes, it is more "shallow." But I don't really need that in every RPG and there is other kinds of depth besides big sprawling maps and environmental variety.

But that's the thing. DA2 has nothing else, it doesn't have a good plot or a sense of depth or anything. Its padded out with repetitive quests and reused environments and constant waves of enemies. In this case less is simply less.

They build on this in future conversations with those characters. It also depends on which party members you have with you. You are right that it isn't a huge plot point twist or anything. But I thought the conversation afterward with the character expressing regret or anxiety about their own weakness was a nice touch.

You have one conversation about it and that plot point never comes up again. At least its completely irrelevant in the case of Aveline and Merrill.

Edit: Actually its even less important in Merrill's case. Yup she still thinks its perfectly fine to make deals with demons and nothings wrong with blood magic. Just making sure you didn't suddenly realize how stupid you have been all this time.

 

[Zeliard]

EternalStrawmen

 

[subversus]

If all you care about is the "epic-ness" of the quest in terms of the number and size of dungeons, then yes, it is more "shallow." But I don't really need that in every RPG and there is other kinds of depth besides big sprawling maps and environmental variety.

.

that's not about epicness, dammit!!

it's about:

1)lazy quest design (no alternate paths at all, just go and fight or choose an appropriate line or companion in like 10% of quests).
2)no companion's armor (and don't bring up Mass Effect here, ME wasn't about armor, while in DA you could combine different pieces of armor and have different effects on stats).
3)it's about a lack of puzzle sections
4)it's about a HUGE lack of choice
5)it's about shameless "junk" loot (I picked a lock on this chest just to find "torn trousers"?!)
6)it's about removed abilities like trap making and COERCION. ME2 had special dialogue options which were determined by your paragon renegade score. This game doesn't have any stats influence on dialogue at all.
7)it's about numerous same looking daggers with stars
8)it's about pared down potions, poisons and bombs.
9)Same looking environments.
10)lazy encounter design (waves of teleporting enemies)

The game is just worse in everything except dialogue, plot and companions. It also has worse graphics until you play on DX11.

 

[Gvaz]

More time and effort doesn't automatically mean "better." In fact, more in general doesn't always mean better. Having finished Origins and played through 4/5ths of DA2 at this point, I enjoy DA2 a lot more. I like the pacing of the combat more. The menu systems are way, way more streamlined and less sluggish. The storyline is a lot less cliche and the characters and dialog are fantastic.

If all you care about is the "epic-ness" of the quest in terms of the number and size of dungeons, then yes, it is more "shallow." But I don't really need that in every RPG and there is other kinds of depth besides big sprawling maps and environmental variety.

Unfortunately, I think the backlash against this game is large enough that Bioware will try to go back to the cliche "quest around the world as the chosen hero" narrative. I think it is pretty clear that they made an intentional choice to make this story smaller and more local. And there is going to be a group of people, myself among them, that is going to look back at this game in the future as a rare gem that did something very unique in making a smaller, more intimate RPG story.

We probably won't see another RPG try something like this for a long time. I know that idea may make many of you here happy. But I think it sucks because I am bored with the "epic hero on epic quest for epic loot" formula.

I never thought the menus were sluggish at all. I think what matters here is what system you were playing on, because I had no complaints about the PC UI. I never touched the 360/ps3 one and I never want to.

The pacing of the combat really isn't all that different. It's just flashier and you have more mobility. The increased mobility thing is huge, but the issue from the first game, shuffling is still there (meaning the mechanics are the same).

The storyline for both games is kind of cliche, except now I hear this compared less to tolkien and more to Fire and Ice. (the last part)

The characters being interesting I'd say are a bit less.

You've got Alistair, Shale, Morrigan, Leliana, Zevran, Oghren, Wyrne, Sten for the first game. (Anders and Nathanial from the expansion, with an elf and a dwarf)
You've got Fenris, Avaline, Merrill, Carver/Bethany, Sebastian, Isabella, Varric, Anders.

Arguably, from the first game I'd say from best to worst, I'd be:
Shale, Oghren, Alistair, Morrigan, Wyrnne, Sten, Anders, Zevran, Leliana, The rest
Second game
Varric, Fenris, Avaline, Isabella, Merrill, Carver/Bethany, Sebastian, Anders.

Arguably, the only insufferable gits were probably from the expansion. Some were varying degrees of flat, but generally acceptable.

For two however, the only ones who aren't absolutely shitheads are the first 3, with Isabella coming in fourth for "interesting but not needed since you have varric really".

I can't even explain how angry Anders makes me in this game. Or how Sebastian is supposed to be Shale but somehow ends up being worthless (two archers? Thanks I guess. Why not another tank?) Merrill is a retard, Carver/Bethany shouldn't even count because you don't even have them for the whole game and they hate/sort of like you.

 

[Durante]

that's not about epicness, dammit!!

This, very much. I'm perfectly happy to play a city adventure, but don't try to dress up a clear lack of content and development time as a design decision.

 

[WanderingWind]

that's not about epicness, dammit!!

it's about:

1)lazy quest design (no alternate paths at all, just go and fight or choose an appropriate line or companion in like 10% of quests).
2)no companion's armor (and don't bring up Mass Effect here, ME wasn't about armor, while in DA you could combine different pieces of armor and have different effects on stats).
3)it's about a lack of puzzle sections
4)it's about a HUGE lack of choice
5)it's about shameless "junk" loot (I picked a lock on this chest just to find "torn trousers"?!)
6)it's about removed abilities like trap making and COERCION. ME2 had special dialogue options which were determined by your paragon renegade score. This game doesn't have any stats influence on dialogue at all.
7)it's about numerous same looking daggers with stars
8)it's about pared down potions, poisons and bombs.
9)Same looking environments.
10)lazy encounter design (waves of teleporting enemies)

11)SNIKTSNIKTSNIKT BATON TWIRL PRETTY DANCER FLAME STRIKE

...not to mention, we're talking about disliking the GAMEPLAY and DESIGN ELEMENTS and Eternal is talking about us not liking the lack of "epic-ness" in the STORY.

We're not talking about disliking a smaller story. In fact, that's been the one thing people have generally liked - at least the theory of it anyway, the execution not as much.

My personal favorite? Finding an item that opens a quest that consists entirely of "take this to NPC with zero dialogue beyond "you dropped this." Repeat 20 times. EXP!

 

[RPGCrazied]

Is there a mod for PC yet that unlocks all characters? I'm at the end I think and have already lost 3 characters.

 

[Zeliard]

I am not comparing the act of "fast traveling" I am saying that the complaints that this game is a lot smaller is not as accurate as it first appears. Yes the game is smaller, but part of that is more psychological simply because it is a story about one city.

It hasn't changed much from Bioware's typical structure. The problem is when you set it all in one city, with few and small outside areas, that structure starts to become more problematic and more tiring. It's one thing to divide your world up into zones, but it's another thing entirely to set the entire game in one city divided up into zones, and where you have to fast travel to nearly every location.

When a game is lengthy and takes place in one set location, it may have fast travel, but it's also usually open world. Fast travel exists there as an alternative to traveling great lengths, or in other games (like ME2 and DA:O), as a way of traveling around a kingdom/galaxy. DA2 has fast travel as its only mode of transportation in a single place - does Kirkwall really feel like a cohesive city?

Couldn't it have been more effective to add other locations to contrast it to? Especially since they're banking on this game reaching a lot of people who never played DA:O or gave up on it early. Kirkwall is given very little context in DA2 relative to the rest of the Dragon Age universe.

I know some people want the big epic dungeon that you spend four hours navigating (including the pain in the ass part where you have to back to town again and again for supplies and to unload inventory). But it seems clear to me that that was not what they were going for in DA2. The individual missions are designed to be smaller and more bite sized.

Wanting dungeons not to be repetitive patchworks of each other =/= wanting "big epic dungeons you spend four hours navigating through."

Much like how having issues with the structure and setting doesn't mean people want "the big epic save the world story."

I actually like the rhythm it gives the game. In the same way, I like the fact that average battles now are no longer tedium.

On that point, I simply disagree. The battles are the definition of tedium now with the waves of enemies. Just when I think it's going to grow on me, and I'm having a fun enough time in some combat scenario, out spawn more enemies screwing with the timing on cooldowns and stifling my enjoyment (I'm on Nightmare due to friendly fire but I might try that mod posted earlier).

It isn't even accurate to call them waves, because that implies they don't, say, spawn in thin air right before your eyes, right behind your party.

 

[megalowho]

I must say, despite having a number of issues with Dragon Age 2 that have been well documented at this point, I am really enjoying the political maneuverings and table setting events that play out during Act 2. It's refreshing to not be on some grand, save the world quest in a fantasy setting for once. While the smaller scale might not work for all and the writing itself isn't always up to the task, dealing with the different factions and powerful characters in Kirkwall has become more satisfying and engaging over time and it's keeping me invested in the game. Have to give credit where credit is due.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

PRETTY DANCER FLAME STRIKE

That would actually make a really good special attack for a cheesy magical girl anime.

EternalStrawmen

Also this.

*writes down*

 

[WanderingWind]

Yeah, having magic thugs who appear literally out of thin air doesn't make the combat less tedious. It makes it magnitudes more so. Gosh, I'm having no trouble with these guys. Oh, look. More magically appeared behind me through a solid wall. How fun.

That would actually make a really good special attack for a cheesy magical girl anime.

Yes. Yes, it would.

 

[Durante]

Yeah, having magic thugs who appear literally out of thin air doesn't make the combat less tedious. It makes it magnitudes more so. Gosh, I'm having no trouble with these guys. Oh, look. More magically appeared behind me through a solid wall. How fun.

So you go to a different room where there aren't thugs spawning on top of you, only to get shot or casted to death through the walls. The new combat is so much more immersive.

Also this.

EternalStrawmen is clearly shounen.

Spoiler

Unknown to life, nor known to death. Have withstood pain to create many strawmen.

 

[EternalGamer]

that's not about epicness, dammit!!

First, a lot of people's complaints absolutely were about the lack of a huge quest across the world. Maybe yours isn't, but that is a reoccuring complaint.

it's about:

1)lazy quest design (no alternate paths at all, just go and fight or choose an appropriate line or companion in like 10% of quests).

I agree that they gaem could use more variety in the quest but there definitely is variety and choice involved. For example, you can go to a quest in day time and have to confront knights or go back at night and they aren't there. You can choose to not do a quest because you find it conflicts with your allegiance to other party members or ideas. And in fact, you can't take every quest because different ones open depending upon what you chose and different characters like you more or less depending on which one syou do.

2)no companion's armor (and don't bring up Mass Effect here, ME wasn't about armor, while in DA you could combine different pieces of armor and have different effects on stats).

First, I debate the idea that DA is "about armor." I found it a huge fucking pain in the ass to constantly check all of the armor I was picking up against four different characters in the first game. I don't think that indicated depth. Any monkey can look at some numbers and make a call on which they think is better or more beneficial to their play style. I didn't find it added depth at all. It was just tedious.

3)it's about a lack of puzzle sections

True, there aren't many "puzzles." But really, how many games outside of Portal have good puzzles anyway? They are mostly either a waste of time and totally out of place. I woudl rather them focus on the "puzzle" aspect of navigating conversations. The "solve the puzzle" is an old videogame cliche that is mostly implimented in a pretty lame way.

4)it's about a HUGE lack of choice

I don't understand this one at all. I constantly face choices in the game that make me sit there and go "well... fuck" because I am incredibly ambivalent. I could go into a lot more detail but that would require plot spoilers. I also had to replay through the first 10 hours because my USB stick got corrpted and I was amazed at how different the outcomes between my two play throughs were. I had different quest options. Different characters lived and died, etc.

5)it's about shameless "junk" loot (I picked a lock on this chest just to find "torn trousers"?!)

Junk loot is fine by me. It means I don't have to sort it. I just hit Y to sell it. To me, this isn't a loot game. It isn't supposed to be Diablo. It is about the combat and the narrative.

6)it's about removed abilities like trap making and COERCION. ME2 had special dialogue options which were determined by your paragon renegade score. This game doesn't have any stats influence on dialogue at all.

This one is just wrong. If you have character as friends or rivals you get entirely different dialog options. Perhaps you just don't know t his because it doesn't show them greyed out like Mass Effect. They simply don't appear at all.

7)it's about numerous same looking daggers with stars
8)it's about pared down potions, poisons and bombs.
9)Same looking environments.

It has less "stuff," yes. But I don't automatically think more is better or deeper in any of these areas. If the game is about a smaller, more intimate narrative around a single town, things should look more similar because it is the same geographic area. There are no levels in Halo that look incredibly different. There are no ice caves or amazonian forrests in Red Dead Redemption. They idea that we have to have a journey around the elements to different locales is a pretty old and very "videogamey" idea. I don't mind it, but I dont' think it fits this type of narrative.

10)lazy encounter design (waves of teleporting enemies)

I don't think it makes more sense for guards or other mages to hang around 20 feet from the other ones and not coming running in when they hear something. I also think the big battles where enemies rush in from the area makes more sense and it makes each combat scenario more dynamic. This isn't "lazy" as it was obvious a design choice and it would have taken no more work for them to put four or five enemies every 50 yards apart and make them stand there until you approach than it did to program them where they run/teleport into the room.

The game is just worse in everything except dialogue, plot and companions. It also has worse graphics until you play on DX11.

Well at least we can agree that the narrative and dialog is better. I don't understand people who think it is worse. They simply don't know what good writing is. (And for the record, I am do think I have some qualifications for determine this since I teach literature at a state university).

As for the graphics, I can definitely say that the console version looks objectively better in this area. Especially when it comes to animations both in combat and in conversations. The improve in these areas is huge, at least on the console.

 

[Rufus]

I must say, despite having a number of issues with Dragon Age 2 that have been well documented at this point, I am really enjoying the political maneuverings and table setting events that play out during Act 2. It's refreshing to not be on some grand, save the world quest in a fantasy setting for once. While the smaller scale might not work for all and the writing itself isn't always up to the task, dealing with the different factions and powerful characters in Kirkwall has become more satisfying and engaging over time and it's keeping me invested in the game. Have to give credit where credit is due.

That's were the game peaked for me.

Spoiler

Isabella deserved to be drowned for her bullshit.

They totally shit the bed on that in Act 3. Be prepared for people acting like complete idiots (more than usual) and TEH EVIL ruining everything. Sensible positions are warped to absurdity and handled so badly that you want to go neutral and point out how insane either faction is, but they make you pick between pestilence and cholera anyway.

Spoiler

I love how nobody, not even Hawke, picks up on Orsino revealing that he helped Quentin (the serial killer) with his research. I saw that coming since I read that note signed with "O", but no, nobody picks up on that. Not as he's saying it and not after. They also recycled the Harvester from one of the Origins DLCs for his fight. Great going, guys.

 

[Durante]

I don't think it makes more sense for guards or other mages to hang around 20 feet from the other ones and not coming running in when they hear something. I also think the big battles where enemies rush in from the area makes more sense and it makes each combat scenario more dynamic. This isn't "lazy" as it was obvious a design choice and it would have taken no more work for them to put four or five enemies every 50 yards apart and make them stand there until you approach than it did to program them where they run/teleport into the room.

There's a HUGE difference between having enemies (at least those that could conceivably group) join in on a battle from somewhere (where they existed before) and having them appear from thin air right in front of your face. The former is a design choice. The latter absolutely is lazy.

 

[Trickster]

Uh, there is. It's called "Very High" under DX11. One of the things it turns on is tessellation.

Gamespot's settings comparrison

Changing the textures is not what I consider tesselation :|

THIS is what I mean

 

[WanderingWind]

Companions are about the same. Dialogue I found to be nearly exactly the same. Narrative? I'm only just now moving to Act II but so far there is none. Same with choices. Choosing between saying yes snarkily, pleasantly or roughly isn't a choice. But I'll judge those later.

You seem to not like much about RPGs, so it goes to figure that you like this game. It's certainly RPG-lite, and while I hope this turns into the stunning, nuanced narrative you seem to think it is, the first 14 hours don't really leave me with any hope that you're correct.

 

[Acidote]

I just finished the game doing every secondary quest my choices let me do.

Thank the FSM I borrowed the game from a friend and didn't buy it yet. What a buggy mess, from the very beginning till the end. It even confused my love interest in the gamne in the final narration by Varric.

There's just too much wrong things in this game... I won't list them again, it's too much and lot's of people have already done it.

There's a few things I like, so Bioware could save them for the inevitable sequel. But please, just put the good things on a list and scrap everything else before DA3 development goes further.

 

[Zeliard]

Junk loot is fine by me. It means I don't have to sort it. I just hit Y to sell it. To me, this isn't a loot game. It isn't supposed to be Diablo. It is about the combat and the narrative.

I'll give you a cookie if you can give me a single logical reason why the junk in DA2 wouldn't have been better served giving you the money directly instead. I could at least understand it, somewhat, if the individual pieces of junk had some short description attached to them to add a bit to the lore of the city, but no. They don't serve a single function except to add another button to hit on the vendor screen.

It's symptomatic of the rest of the design decisions that went into this game.

 

[Lostconfused]

They don't serve a single function except to add another button to hit on the vendor screen.

They also take up inventory space. For some reason the limited inventory and thus "backpacks" stuck around in DA2. But there isn't a glut of loot to be had in the game so you never actually encounter the problem or running out of space. I have no fucking clue why they kept that system in place.

 

[Zeliard]

They also take up inventory space. For some reason the limited inventory and thus "backpacks" stuck around in DA2. But there isn't a glut of loot to be had in the game so you never actually encounter the problem or running out of space. I have no fucking clue why they kept that system in place.

Not to mention the amount of armor you pick up that you can't use in that playthrough.

 

[Kyoufu]

Can't believe people are actually arguing if Origins is better than DA2. Of course it is. DA2 is a game made in a year and a half and it shows. The dungeons were recycled to hell and back. You only have one city etc.

They didn't do a horrible job in that limited time, but lets not kid ourselves here, Origins is clearly superior.

 

[Gvaz]

They simply don't know what good writing is.

Have you read anything from Gaider or Drew? They're really fucking bad.

There were different writers for banter and for dialogue. Gaider wrote anders, while that "gigglesquee" girl wrote anders in DA2, and it shows as he's now insufferable.

Not saying that games need AMAZING stories, but it's really obvious that this time around the story is a lot more disjointed and everything you do is meaningless.

As for armor, you didn't have to do that for your companions. It's that the choice was available to you. It's not like they all looked the same because they all looked different. It's a stylistic choice to have them wear armor that fits their character rather than just some legion of the dead suit you found (which in all honesty I don't care either way). However, the fact that the armor never changes is something to me that is bad. Upgrading the armor should have changed the looks, so you don't have the same shit for the whole game.

If you're just going to have one class, don't drop rogue armor or warrior armor when you're a mage. Or if you do, add it to the junk tab since you obviously can't use it anyways.

As for enemies standing around doing nothing, they could have simply linked mobs together. Oh this mage aggro'd? Okay my two warrior buddies are coming over as well. This would be better than the "oh lol i just teleported in with my bros from the rooftops"

Not to mention this was less of a design choice for aesthetics but a technical one because of the memory hindrances of the consoles (which is why the console versions of Origins came in waves compared to the PC where it did not).

From all I've heard so far on feedback, DA2 improves on the console version of DA:O because this is more in line with what they want. Console players don't want to fiddle with minmaxing or tactical encounters. They want something where they can just sit on their couch and have the action appear now and have choices be more direct with less input from the player.

For PC gamers, we don't want to play a console game (at least I don't), we want our choices to matter. We want more choices available, even if they're meaningless to some, they're not meaningless to all. I don't mind streamlining in the sense of "no one liked this, so we're going to either take it out or replace it with something better". However bioware is known for "throwing the baby out with the bathwater".

People didn't like the Mako? Okay lets take it out and make it mission based instead. Wait, what do you mean you miss the mako? Okay lets make the hammerhead."

It was a good appeal but they missed the fucking point. The point is that the mako sections made the game seem larger than it really was. However by removing it entirely (instead of just overhauling the problem which was the fact if you're going to put noise maps down, don't make us have to drive around whole mountains. Make it fly and shit) you shrink the feeling of size the game would otherwise have.

That's just one example.

 

[subversus]

nvm

 

[WanderingWind]

Can't believe people are actually arguing if Origins is better than DA2. Of course it is. DA2 is a game made in a year and a half and it shows. The dungeons were recycled to hell and back. You only have one city etc.

They didn't do a horrible job in that limited time, but lets not kid ourselves here, Origins is clearly superior.

I think the vast majority agree. There are some who like DA2 better, and they're entitled to their opinion. I think we're mostly jumping on EternalGamer for basing most of arguments on faulty logic (EternalStrawmen, heh) and calling people who dislike 2 "blind."

 

[Lostconfused]

I think we're mostly jumping on EternalGamer for basing most of arguments on faulty logic (EternalStrawmen, heh) and calling people who dislike 2 "blind."

Very few people try to defend this game. So you got to get your shots in while you can.

 

[Darklord]

Can't believe people are actually arguing if Origins is better than DA2. Of course it is. DA2 is a game made in a year and a half and it shows. The dungeons were recycled to hell and back. You only have one city etc.
.

If they had noticeable change between the time periods it would have been acceptable but there was nothing. In fact, the time periods felt more like a few days, maybe a couple of weeks. Especially in Act 3

Spoiler

The quinari want their swords back after the battle...which was 3 years ago. Merideth is still in charge and people are only questing it 3 years later. Isabela runs off for 3 years, where did she go? What did she do? Doesn't matter, she starts up a conversation like they just spoke yesterday. And no physical changes to the city, to people, to anything.

.

Sometimes the game actively takes the piss out of itself when an NPC says "I think I should change my hair style, what do you think?" the reply being "Well you've had the same style for 7 years now" and Merill saying "I've lived here 6 years and never fixed the holes in the roof". I feel like Bioware knew like how Family Guy insults Fox at the start of the 3rd Star Wars movie or the little jabs IW took at Activision.

 

[WanderingWind]

"Hey, did you ever notice how everything seems less complex?" - random NPC.

 

[Acidote]

Spoiler

The quinari want their swords back after the battle...which was 3 years ago. Merideth is still in charge and people are only questing it 3 years later. Isabela runs off for 3 years, where did she go? What did she do? Doesn't matter, she starts up a conversation like they just spoke yesterday. And no physical changes to the city, to people, to anything.

.

Spoiler

And what about the DA:O characters in DA2?, Leliana hasn't even changed at all at the end of the game. Not a single wrink to say something. It's ridiculous.

 

[subversus]

Gamespot's settings comparrison

Changing the textures is not what I consider tesselation :|

THIS is what I mean

here we go again

 

[Oblivionmancer]

Having finished the game and somewhat enjoyed it, I think my biggest issue with this game- and this applied to mass effect 2, which I liked much more, as well- is that it's hard to take ethical choices concerning the lives and deaths of particular characters seriously when I inevitably spend most of the game being a sadistic butcher violently exploding hundreds of dudes most of whom just happened to be in my way. Oh well still fun. Definitely liked DA 1 better, think I'll wait for a sale on the dlc and give it a second go.

 

[Gvaz]

here we go again

Wow... I thought that was mage armor. Apparently even rogues can get that same suit (though recolored) :\

 

[Darklord]

here we go again

I'm stuck on this shit. I even have the high-res pack ticked but the graphics have to be on medium because of how fucking shit it runs on my GTX260.

 

[subversus]

Wow... I thought that was mage armor. Apparently even rogues can get that same suit (though recolored) :\

ahahhahahahaaha!

but less variety is good you know? less stuff to choose from!!

 

[subversus]

First, a lot of people's complaints absolutely were about the lack of a huge quest across the world. Maybe yours isn't, but that is a reoccuring complaint.

I appreciate your post but I don't have time now and will reply later.

 

[Roscoe]

Eternal Gamer are you Mike Laidlaw?!

 

[Trickster]

here we go again

http://www.abload.de/img/dragonage22011-03-20215kap.png

http://www.abload.de/img/dragonage22011-03-2021b8hw.png

Right...Tesselation so noticable that the only way to notice it, is to bring the camera down to the ground in order to be able to see it. Did you see the video in my post? that's the kind of tesselation that I feel some of the enviroments looked like they were designed to have, except they don't.

 

[Confidence Man]

Eternalgamer is either a troll or just the exact gamer Bioware made DA2 for.

(And for the record, I am do think I have some qualifications for determine this since I teach literature at a state university).

Troll confirmed.

 

[GillianSeed79]

I did everything thing in Act 1, read through every codex entry I unlocked, and I entered Act 2 at 20 hours and change. Playing on '360 with normal difficulty.

I'm right there with you. I'm nearing 19 hours and just have one or two quests before going on the Deep Roads expedition in Act 1. I have to say story-wise, plot quests like Shepherding Wolves were really quite good. A lot of the random sidequests, not so much. I'm digging the Quanari right now. I'm reserving my final judgment for when I beat the game, but right now I think the story is probably the least of the game's problems even if everything feels kind of disjointed or a collection of DLC mission packs.