If ME 3 has multiplayer, which i thought was rumored awhile ago, i'll probably get the ps3 version at launch. If it doesn't, i'll rent it like i rented Dragon Age 2. Plan was to rent DA 2 and buy the GOTY edition later on with the dlc, but the game sucked so much i have to rethink that. They'll probably atleast have auto-attack in the GOTY edition.....maybe..but the game itself still sucks, it would have to be the best dlc in the world to win me over.
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Dragon Age II |OT| The Revenge of Shit Mountain
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
sillymonkey321 said:
And that will never happen.
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Nirolak said:I'm going to bookmark this post for the next time someone asks me why every game has multiplayer.
I hope you don't mind.
...goddamn it Nirolak.
Nirolak said:I'm going to bookmark this post for the next time someone asks me why every game has multiplayer.
I hope you don't mind.
I don't mind at all! I do tend to buy multiplayer games at launch because if you don't, by the time you play them the online base is dead..and i just subscribed to Gamefly so everytime i buy a game over $20 i feel silly. Buttttt it's still true, multiplayer = bigger chance of me buying. Andddd Dragon Age 2 is a prime example of why I shouldn't buy games Xo
megamerican
Member
Ugh. Just finished it. Can I have my forty hours back Bioware? I had assumed that while I was slogging through all the mundane fetch quests and cut-and-past locations that the game was building towards something. Turns out it was building to a colossal wet fart.
Side note: The most hilariously awful part was the decision to have the ancillary characters re-introduce and awkwardly explain their motivations to you. Even after all that I typically had no fucking clue who they were. Then they would just vanish again.
Side note: The most hilariously awful part was the decision to have the ancillary characters re-introduce and awkwardly explain their motivations to you. Even after all that I typically had no fucking clue who they were. Then they would just vanish again.
Everyone knows single player games are an abberation: http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/02/10/are-single-player-games-doomed/ . I think he later went on to call every game a multiplayer game.Nirolak said:
rainking187 said:
I beat him on hard with the following team:
Avaline and Fenris as tanks, Avaline equipped with her strongest sword/Mage's Friend shield (three rune slots), and Fenris with the Bloom axe (cold damage and chance of healing), my Hawke Rogue with the most powerful bow I had, and Anders as healer. I added spirit and cold damage runes to all weapons I could and then added a Rune of Valiance (increases all your attributes) to everyone's armor (I had 60 dex, and 50 cunning after this, both Avaline and Fenris has 50 strength/constitution). I then set tactics to make sure that everyone would attack the target of the player-controlled character, stocked up on some poisons and potions (the regenerating one, elfroot potion, rock armor, were all useful) and went to town.
Anders is there solely to heal your character and restore health/resurrect (crucial skills were Panacea (his friendship tree was upgraded fully for the resurrection skill), Arcane Shield (upgraded fully), Heroic Aura (upgraded fully), Heal (upgraded fully). Arcane Shield, Heroic Aura, and Panacea automatically switch on when the battle starts and Hawke calls his dog. Fenris has fully maxed out Lyrium Ghost/Battle Synergy/Control (all upgraded) - I had him use Rally so Control could apply to Avaline, but other than that, he basically is just there to hit things. Avaline has Battle Synergy/Bravery/Immovable. She also just hit things (mostly because I tend to put upgrade points in passive talents/skills for every character, so that's essentially all she and Fenris could do).
Most important tactic is to avoid the blue field that Hybris will try to cast at you - you usually have a few seconds to get out of the field before you get stuck there. If you have taunt on your Rogue it's even easier, since it's not as difficult to control where/when he throws it, but as I didn't, I just watched him carefully and as soon as he threw something blue, I moved my ass. Fenris and Aveline will do most of the damage, but as my crit rate was so high, I could take off a fair bit of Hybris's health with a poisoned bow, particularly if I had pinpoint strikes activated.
After Fenris/Aveline wear his health down a bit, Hybris will summon shades and Rage demons (adding fire protection runes to your armor is useful, if you have the slots). As soon as one appeared, I had everyone attack it. It's important to get rid of these weaker enemies since they will swarm your team if they get too numerous and DA2's animations being what they are, you can easily get stuck against a wall/in a corner. You can basically ignore Hybris at this point, but remember to keep on avoiding the blue field thing he throws. Keep an eye on everyone's health and use Anders to heal or switch and have people drink potions as neeed as you eliminate the minor enemies.
Eventually you will kill all the shades/Rage demons and you can go back to attacking Hybris. He may summon some more allies, but as long as you make sure to kill them quickly, you can defeat him rather easily. Took me about 15 minutes to win this battle on Hard (360). I actually found the High Dragon to be a more difficult battle since she summons three Dragons with their annoying stun tactic and the Dragonlets can swarm you as well. I also had to use Sebastian for that battle and I don't like evangelists. I'm hoping there's a DLC where he comes back as he threatens to (I was pro-mage and spared Anders) so I can kick his ass.
Anders is there solely to heal your character and restore health/resurrect (crucial skills were Panacea (his friendship tree was upgraded fully for the resurrection skill), Arcane Shield (upgraded fully), Heroic Aura (upgraded fully), Heal (upgraded fully). Arcane Shield, Heroic Aura, and Panacea automatically switch on when the battle starts and Hawke calls his dog. Fenris has fully maxed out Lyrium Ghost/Battle Synergy/Control (all upgraded) - I had him use Rally so Control could apply to Avaline, but other than that, he basically is just there to hit things. Avaline has Battle Synergy/Bravery/Immovable. She also just hit things (mostly because I tend to put upgrade points in passive talents/skills for every character, so that's essentially all she and Fenris could do).
Most important tactic is to avoid the blue field that Hybris will try to cast at you - you usually have a few seconds to get out of the field before you get stuck there. If you have taunt on your Rogue it's even easier, since it's not as difficult to control where/when he throws it, but as I didn't, I just watched him carefully and as soon as he threw something blue, I moved my ass. Fenris and Aveline will do most of the damage, but as my crit rate was so high, I could take off a fair bit of Hybris's health with a poisoned bow, particularly if I had pinpoint strikes activated.
After Fenris/Aveline wear his health down a bit, Hybris will summon shades and Rage demons (adding fire protection runes to your armor is useful, if you have the slots). As soon as one appeared, I had everyone attack it. It's important to get rid of these weaker enemies since they will swarm your team if they get too numerous and DA2's animations being what they are, you can easily get stuck against a wall/in a corner. You can basically ignore Hybris at this point, but remember to keep on avoiding the blue field thing he throws. Keep an eye on everyone's health and use Anders to heal or switch and have people drink potions as neeed as you eliminate the minor enemies.
Eventually you will kill all the shades/Rage demons and you can go back to attacking Hybris. He may summon some more allies, but as long as you make sure to kill them quickly, you can defeat him rather easily. Took me about 15 minutes to win this battle on Hard (360). I actually found the High Dragon to be a more difficult battle since she summons three Dragons with their annoying stun tactic and the Dragonlets can swarm you as well. I also had to use Sebastian for that battle and I don't like evangelists. I'm hoping there's a DLC where he comes back as he threatens to (I was pro-mage and spared Anders) so I can kick his ass.
I really enjoyed Hybris and the High Dragon though. Probably the most entertaining bosses, tactics wise in the entire game.
I'm not sure if I'll get ME3 on day zero. I have mixed feelings about ME2 because it felt like half a game. After DA2, who knows how the next one will be scripted. Hawke's
compared to Shepard's, and that's not saying much. It was so out of place, even if it was the end.
No. No. No.
However, my purchase of DA3 stands on ME3's reception. Can BW deliver a great closer? If not, this nails the DA3 coffin in the DA2 coffin and burns them both.
motivational speech was terribad
Do we really need a rally in DA?
However, my purchase of DA3 stands on ME3's reception. Can BW deliver a great closer? If not, this nails the DA3 coffin in the DA2 coffin and burns them both.
Reasons not to get it on the first day.K.Jack said:
- Other games in the backlog
- Wait a few weeks for prices to drop
- Wait a little longer for Steam sale
- Wait for post-release critic scores :lol
- GOTY + Rechargeable batteries and flashlight, but if you order now, we'll give you a second one free! Edition
hateradio said:
It was weird how I loved everyone's voice acting in DA2's except male Hawke's (haven't tried FemHawke yet). He just sounded so uninterested. Maybe he hasn't done a lot of videogame voice acting before. EDIT: no, he just sucks, apparently. Everyone else was great though.
I'm actually a little hopeful for DA3. I think the deservedly critical reaction to DA2 and the (presumably) longer development time that DA3 will have, will force Bioware to rethink/revisit some of the choices they made for DA2. I think DA2 could have been a much better game given another 8-12 months of development. It's definitely my biggest disappointment this gen, but I'm not willing to write off the DA-verse (which has so much potential) because of one turd. I won't be buying DA3 day one though.
He didn't just sound disinterested (I chalked that up solely to the writing, but now that someone's mentioned his VO), he pretty much was. Only one time did he get the chance to influence events (willingly), which gained him the status as champion and supposedly more influence than ever before, but you never get to use that power in a meaningful way... You're swept along like everybody else.
There should have been a point in Act 3 were you feel like you're helping the situation, where you seemingly resolve the conflict.
But no, we only get to see, yet again, that both positions have merit, something so basic it doesn't really need spelling out, again.
I think re-balancing the difficulty levels (and having a separate toggle for friendly fire) would help greatly, but the waves would probably still ruin it...
There should have been a point in Act 3 were you feel like you're helping the situation, where you seemingly resolve the conflict.
That way, Anders' actions could have had that much more impact, destroying your more or less diplomatic efforts and escalating the situation beyond hope.
Bethany's look like she's wearing worn out leather gloves, it's quite - something.X-Frame said:
Small wonder, since the bosses are among the very few encounters that actually involve some planning or actions beyond all out attacking, in between bouts of running in circles because the wrong character drew some attention. The rest of the game you're just waiting for cooldowns to pass, just so you can mindlessly throw out the next ability or spell; because why not? You may as well rain fire right now, there's another wave coming, sure as herpes on a porn star.luxarific said:
I think re-balancing the difficulty levels (and having a separate toggle for friendly fire) would help greatly, but the waves would probably still ruin it...
^ The best (half dozen or so) battles made you feel like you were actually playing DA. Most of them made you feel like you were playing some shitty RPG . . . which is now DA. :'(
However, the first sentence contains a caveat. While I did like DA's combat, I felt they failed to improve it in this game. Like I said, at best the combat felt like the first's. What did DA2 bring to the combat table? Nothing. Sure they sped it up, making enemies look like they're on crack, but beyond that speed increase nothing noticeable was made. I know they rebalanced some of the warrior classes, but playing as a mage didn't feel better.
I fucking hated it when you'd blow something up and the whole screen would turn white, leaving you blind to enemy positions. The damn overhead view would have been perfect, but wait! They did do something new: They removed it.
Leer and twitch. I'm hoping a camera mod will save us from this idiotic state.
Also, the small caves, rooms, corridors you fought within were detrimental to this game, which really does its best in large and open areas. Every location needed to be at least 50 percent larger.
However, the first sentence contains a caveat. While I did like DA's combat, I felt they failed to improve it in this game. Like I said, at best the combat felt like the first's. What did DA2 bring to the combat table? Nothing. Sure they sped it up, making enemies look like they're on crack, but beyond that speed increase nothing noticeable was made. I know they rebalanced some of the warrior classes, but playing as a mage didn't feel better.
I fucking hated it when you'd blow something up and the whole screen would turn white, leaving you blind to enemy positions. The damn overhead view would have been perfect, but wait! They did do something new: They removed it.
Leer and twitch. I'm hoping a camera mod will save us from this idiotic state.
Also, the small caves, rooms, corridors you fought within were detrimental to this game, which really does its best in large and open areas. Every location needed to be at least 50 percent larger.
I know! I don't want to forsake DA from my life, since I adored the first and found a few good things in the sequel. But it doesn't seem like we have a choice. ZING!luxarific said:
I fondly recall how every item in the Baldur's Gate series had a detailed description / story attached to it along with a pencil sketch of that item. A developer at Bioware invested a lot of time and thought into the loot system. If you've played these games you likely still remember the Flail of Ages, Carsomyr, Red Dragon Armor, etc. Where did that developer go?
In Dragon Age 2 the vast majority of loot consists of a few silver pieces (even in the end-game areas) and so-called "junk" loot. The game really calls this stuff junk -- there's literally a "sell all junk" button on the trade window. What's the point of it? The actual loot, apart from an occasional unique graphic, seems like it could be randomly generated Diablo fare.
I'm tired of games that inundate the player with large amounts of crappy loot, especially if the player is required to collect it (e.g., Bioshock 2). If I deemed the loot pile to be too far away from my character I just ran by it. The wet incense bags are not worth the time it takes me to click the mouse button.
In Dragon Age 2 the vast majority of loot consists of a few silver pieces (even in the end-game areas) and so-called "junk" loot. The game really calls this stuff junk -- there's literally a "sell all junk" button on the trade window. What's the point of it? The actual loot, apart from an occasional unique graphic, seems like it could be randomly generated Diablo fare.
I'm tired of games that inundate the player with large amounts of crappy loot, especially if the player is required to collect it (e.g., Bioshock 2). If I deemed the loot pile to be too far away from my character I just ran by it. The wet incense bags are not worth the time it takes me to click the mouse button.
Based on what we got from both ME2 and DA2, the writers are probably under the same scrutiny, meaning that distinct groups wouldn't matter. They'll deliver the same garbage. Well, honestly, the story from ME2 wasn't horrible, but it wasn't captivating. DA2's was just a mess.2San said:
I feel that Thedas has so much potential, but they certainly ruined it by sticking with Borewall for the sequel.
Finished the game today, normal with a rogue. What the hell at the rushed plot developments and abrupt ending. I get all the "this was just one long prologue for DA3" comments now - really didn't think the story stood well on its own. Plot was threadbare and not particularly logical, which left the other 95% of the game to sidequests involving killing roving groups of bandits and blood mages.
I enjoyed some of the individual characterizations (Varric was great) and there were parts of the story and ideas I thought were good, but the execution was so ham-fisted. Like, WTF at Anders - not only is he inconsistent with who he was in Awakenings, by the end he's inconsistent with who he was in Acts I and II - even him having a huge stick up his ass because of Justice can't explain his bizarre "plan". And even though the story tries to present the conflict between templars and mages as morally ambiguous, the characters you encounter have no gray areas at all -
Funnily enough, by the end the most enjoyable point of the game for me was the combat. Once you become overpowered enough on Normal (Rune of Valiance giving +7 to all attributes, and everyone can equip one?), the frustrations of the annoying combat wave design are mitigated and it becomes fun in an arcade-y Dynasty Warriors way to just slice through everything in your path by spamming abilities, with no tactics or planning necessary.
I guess the experience was enjoyable overall and worth the discounted price I paid, but it definitely felt like a major step back from the first game - so many of the design changes didn't really seem to have any purpose. I've replayed the first game a number of times on higher difficulties; for this I can see myself replaying it maybe once with a mage (and with some mods to remove annoyances) to see how the story differs. I also have no desire to play on Hard or Nightmare - combat waves and long-ass cooldowns are frustrating enough already. Overall would give it a 7/10. Hope they give DA3 some more development time, both on the technical side (hello bugged incomplete sidequests) and story-wise, because this game just felt like one big missed opportunity.
I enjoyed some of the individual characterizations (Varric was great) and there were parts of the story and ideas I thought were good, but the execution was so ham-fisted. Like, WTF at Anders - not only is he inconsistent with who he was in Awakenings, by the end he's inconsistent with who he was in Acts I and II - even him having a huge stick up his ass because of Justice can't explain his bizarre "plan". And even though the story tries to present the conflict between templars and mages as morally ambiguous, the characters you encounter have no gray areas at all -
instead, everyone goes to extremes and acts like cartoon villains because conveniently enough, they've all been experimenting with blood magic and/or are secretly possessed by demons and/or are just plain mentally ill. Only Anders has no excuse for what he does, but instead of presenting some reasoned internal conflict he gives a nonsensical one-line justification for his actions.
Funnily enough, by the end the most enjoyable point of the game for me was the combat. Once you become overpowered enough on Normal (Rune of Valiance giving +7 to all attributes, and everyone can equip one?), the frustrations of the annoying combat wave design are mitigated and it becomes fun in an arcade-y Dynasty Warriors way to just slice through everything in your path by spamming abilities, with no tactics or planning necessary.
I guess the experience was enjoyable overall and worth the discounted price I paid, but it definitely felt like a major step back from the first game - so many of the design changes didn't really seem to have any purpose. I've replayed the first game a number of times on higher difficulties; for this I can see myself replaying it maybe once with a mage (and with some mods to remove annoyances) to see how the story differs. I also have no desire to play on Hard or Nightmare - combat waves and long-ass cooldowns are frustrating enough already. Overall would give it a 7/10. Hope they give DA3 some more development time, both on the technical side (hello bugged incomplete sidequests) and story-wise, because this game just felt like one big missed opportunity.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Few things.
Those saying the game is too short are crazy; if anything, it may be too long. I'm about 40 hours and roughly halfway through Act II I'd say. Not sure where the shortness lies, I suppose it's just a 'get out what you put in' kind of game.
So I had the romances work out the way I wanted, yippie. Slept with Isabella (who wouldn't?), ended up with Merrill. Though Merrill got a bitchin new armor set after I asked her to move in. Do I have to ask everyone to move in for an upgraded appearance? I'm... uh... not sure I'm willing to do that.
Those saying the game is too short are crazy; if anything, it may be too long. I'm about 40 hours and roughly halfway through Act II I'd say. Not sure where the shortness lies, I suppose it's just a 'get out what you put in' kind of game.
So I had the romances work out the way I wanted, yippie. Slept with Isabella (who wouldn't?), ended up with Merrill. Though Merrill got a bitchin new armor set after I asked her to move in. Do I have to ask everyone to move in for an upgraded appearance? I'm... uh... not sure I'm willing to do that.
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
John Harker said:
The shortness stems from that all you do is run around on various fetch-quests. The main story-line is short at best and not even relevant or present most of the time. Drawn out, badly paced and repetitive but not short as in you'll finish this in an afternoon unless you don't do the questbug and get 50g at the very start.
Interfectum
Member
John Harker said:
Sure the game is long if you enjoy doing fetch quests for 10+ hours. I think most wanted / expected a meatier story from Bioware... not offline WoW.
Confidence Man
Member
John Harker said:
How could you possibly be only halfway through act 2 and have been playing for 40 hours?
My post-campaign save is just under 29 hours and I did every quest except a few at the end of the last act.
John Harker said:
The problem isn't the length, it's the narrative structure. I was interested in the story up until the end of Act 2, at which point the main plotline, as I saw it, looked to be resolved. I started Act 3, and I saw how they were trying to play out another storyline, but I felt little to no connection to it, despite the (obvious) buildup to it.
Basically, I felt like I had beaten the main game at the end of Act 2. My drive to continue just died, and so I returned to the world Mass Effect instead. Why should I care about
Orsine and Meredith
I just don't care about these people or Kirkwall, for the most part. I mean, I like Aveline and Varric. And by the point I stopped,
Aveline was captain of the guard and in a happy relationship and Varric had confronted his brother.
And while I thought my Hawke could be funny (especially when teamed with Varric), I never really cared about him all that much, honestly. So why should I continue?
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Oh I'm not defending the game or anything. I have some serious misgivings and issues with it. And everything said above is valid. I just don't think it's a short game; at least, not in my playthrough. I'm playing it maybe 70/30 Normal/Hard and I've done pretty much all the quests, and I've read the codex, and I do a fair amount of strolling around to trigger companion banter, etc.
I think there's a decent amount to like about this game, I think in a few key areas it improves over DA:O (not as an overall package though), the one piece I think it's missing really... is fun. They forgot to add it.
I think there's a decent amount to like about this game, I think in a few key areas it improves over DA:O (not as an overall package though), the one piece I think it's missing really... is fun. They forgot to add it.
Interfectum
Member
Lothars said:
Reapers collecting humans to create robo-baby?
fizzelopeguss
Banned
Miles smoother, even with my bottlenecked GPU.
When nvidia fixes shit, they fix shit...shame about the game though.
When nvidia fixes shit, they fix shit...shame about the game though.
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
Lol I wonder if they ever troll performance with new cards so they can put sick gains like that in the release notes for new drivers.Durante said:
ShockingAlberto
Member
Yes and no.2San said:
I believe they have the same oversight and defining goal, even if the actual people making both games are different. DA2 was likely influenced a lot by ME2's reception.
The ending with
Spoilers in link:
http://community.livejournal.com/thedasdressing/3240.html
(expand the replies)
Anders blowing up the chantry could have been easily avoided with the help of a sassy gay friend
Spoilers in link:
http://community.livejournal.com/thedasdressing/3240.html
(expand the replies)
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
Ugh got to end of act 2
Sigh...Bioware...
I do like the changes to the combat
But...
Story is shit
Quests are shit
Characters are shit
Environments repetitive
Sigh...Bioware...
I do like the changes to the combat
But...
Story is shit
Quests are shit
Characters are shit
Environments repetitive
Punchy4486
Banned
MortalMonkey
Member
I got through my one (and probably only) playthrough just a few days ago. It took me nearly 70 hours. Here's a pic of my load screen.
I certainly got my money's worth, lol.
I certainly got my money's worth, lol.
MortalMonkey
Member
lol, no. I just played regular-like. Haven't read through the thread, are people complaining about the game's length?
MortalMonkey
Member
Something tells me that you primarily stuck to the main quest. I did most (if not all) the sidequests and objectives.Dance In My Blood said: