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Dragon Age II |OT| The Revenge of Shit Mountain

L

Lostconfused

Member
hateradio said:
^ I think that line reads more like a meh.
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Any kind of reaction to criticism that doesn't result in the poster getting banned is probably an improvement. Also the rock paper shotgun article really is well written and probably covers the majority of reasonable complaints people might have had with the game.
 
K

KaYotiX

Banned
Just beat it, I actually liked it. It got tougher towards the end which was a good change of pace. Not sure why so many ppl hating on it. Oh well, I enjoyed it.
 
H

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Gvaz said:
The game got easier as time went on, The last two bosses especially. The only "hard" boss was the Arishok.
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He was? I think I had the most trouble with
the random fight against the crazed apostate and the two shadow assassins
. I had to respec my characters to get through that one. The book quest is also filled with a few tough ones.
 
L

Lime

Member
Gvaz said:
The game got easier as time went on, The last two bosses especially. The only "hard" boss was the Arishok.

also LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICbMU3IQ5p4
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That was quick. Sales must have been low, but what would they have expected with a game like DA2? Surely someone at Bioware or EA would have noticed the many failures in the game design and presentation and thought they should cover their losses as much as possible.
 
G

Gvaz

Banned
I dont remember who was reporting it but someone on another forum was posting a week 1-3 results for all the systems and it was doing worse than DA:O on comparison.

It didn't include pre-orders or downloads though, I think.
 
P

Patryn

Member
Bet the sales cratered right after everyone who pre-ordered it bought it. Since release, the game has pretty much had nothing but bad word-of-mouth.
 
B

bjb

Banned
This game is shit.

I loved the original DA and put well over 60+ hours into it.

After 3 hours into DA2, I can say without a doubt that it's utter garbage. Everything from the characters, the combat, to the actual story itself.

Luckily I borrowed this from a friend who also stopped playing. So at least I didn't waste any money on that front. However I'm really really disappointed.

Is this from the same team that made the original DA?
 
Z

Zeliard

Member
WanderingWind said:
Barely. And in some cases, they didn't.
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I don't think we should be expecting Mass Effect 3 to do much with some of the major ME2 decisions either, like the Geth and Illusive Man choices. People expecting their ME2 imports to have some notable impact in ME3 are probably setting themselves up for disappointment.
 
S

Samara

Member
Probably a stupid question: Can I put the red smear on any character you create or just the regular canon ones?

And another question: I have the DLC, can it be shared with other profile on the PS3? Somehow, the stone warrior is only available to one save in DAO, so Im kinda of scared to download anything.

I await your responses gents
 
D

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
Rufus said:
Reading the thread will clear that up, I think. Or skimming it, in any case.

For a good collection (that an be expanded further), read the article that has been mentioned in the past few posts:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/31/analysis-dragon-age-ii/
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I genuinely detest this article. It goes to great lengths to detract from people saying the game is horrible before launching into a jumbled mess of words about how the writer found the combat unbearable, the pacing astoundingly off, and the story asinine at best. But it finishes on a note that blames people anticipating the game, like the product is faulty on the grounds of being a sequel to an enjoyable game but stands up on its own because it has "improved crafting".

I was doing a podcast running through the article before I read it to use it as a jumping off point to discuss the problems the game has, but by the end I was just yelling at websites for saying that Dragon Age 2 was "the most fun you can have with dragons without being eaten". The press excusing the game's faults has become unbearable.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
Dance In My Blood said:
I genuinely detest this article. It goes to great lengths to detract from people saying the game is horrible before launching into a jumbled mess of words about how the writer found the combat unbearable, the pacing astoundingly off, and the story asinine at best. But it finishes on a note that blames people anticipating the game, like the product is faulty on the grounds of being a sequel to an enjoyable game but stands up on its own because it has "improved crafting".

I was doing a podcast running through the article before I read it to use it as a jumping off point to discuss the problems the game has, but by the end I was just yelling at websites for saying that Dragon Age 2 was "the most fun you can have with dragons without being eaten". The press excusing the game's faults has become unbearable.
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A lot of them want to maintain good relationships with Bioware and EA.

If the last two months have taught me anything, it's that Bioware does not take criticism well.
 
D

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
ShockingAlberto said:
If the last two months have taught me anything, it's that Bioware does not take criticism well.
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Depends on the Bioware team though. Mass Effect 2 seemed like it acknowledged many of the faults the original had, even if it didn't address the issues in the correct manner.
 
M

MechaX

Member
Even concerning the stuff in Mass Effect 2, the team was like "... okay, we probably shifted too far on the other end of the spectrum in a few stuff like simplifying the RPG aspect of the game. We'll work on that in the future."
 
X

X-Frame

Member
I still think the biggest issue was that DA2 was rushed.

I really don't understand why it needed to come out so early. Maybe because they didn't want it in ME3's spotlight? Still, ME3 is Holiday 2011. DA2 could've easily been a Fall title, and those extra 6+ months would've been great for the game.

There's only so much Bioware could've done in such little time, even though I heard DA2 was in production for months before Origins even released.

Either way, I enjoyed DA2 while acknowledging it's many, many flaws and would've really been happy if it had more time to bake.
 
H

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Dance In My Blood said:
I genuinely detest this article. It goes to great lengths to detract from people saying the game is horrible before launching into a jumbled mess of words about how the writer found the combat unbearable, the pacing astoundingly off, and the story asinine at best. But it finishes on a note that blames people anticipating the game, like the product is faulty on the grounds of being a sequel to an enjoyable game but stands up on its own because it has "improved crafting".

I was doing a podcast running through the article before I read it to use it as a jumping off point to discuss the problems the game has, but by the end I was just yelling at websites for saying that Dragon Age 2 was "the most fun you can have with dragons without being eaten". The press excusing the game's faults has become unbearable.
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The guy thinks Merrill is a good character...that alone makes it suspect.
 
H

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
MechaX said:
Even concerning the stuff in Mass Effect 2, the team was like "... okay, we probably shifted too far on the other end of the spectrum in a few stuff like simplifying the RPG aspect of the game. We'll work on that in the future."
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Bioware has a bad habit of taking criticism to the extreme. Mako was bad and planets were bland in 1, strip it out. Lots of useless loot, strip out loot. People want more party members, lets add a ton, even if there is no reason for half these people to join up.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
HK-47 said:
The guy thinks Merrill is a good character...that alone makes it suspect.
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It's John Walker. He's half Welsh (I know this from listening to his Rum Doings) and has a soft spot for her accent.

I mostly agree with the article.
 
H

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Zefah said:
It's John Walker. He's half Welsh (I know this from listening to his Rum Doings) and has a soft spot for her accent.

I mostly agree with the article.
Click to expand...

That is no excuse
 
V

Vamphuntr

Member
Nirolak said:
Well, it seems we're far enough away from release for them to start acknowledging criticism.

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They don't have much choice now. they need to read these critiques carefully if they don't want DAIII to tank. They sure turned off a lot of their hardcore fans.

The majority of their sales probably happened during the launch period. Their only hope is to slash price or have promo offers like in that youtube videos (bundle it with ME2).
 
A

Aaron

Member
Zeliard said:
I don't think we should be expecting Mass Effect 3 to do much with some of the major ME2 decisions either, like the Geth and Illusive Man choices. People expecting their ME2 imports to have some notable impact in ME3 are probably setting themselves up for disappointment.
Click to expand...
I honestly think Bioware could tell a better story in both DA and ME if they eased off on the grave decisions. Leaving it up to a player if a character lives or dies means you can't use that character at all, or you have two characters who end up essentially interchangeable like in ME2. I'm not saying they should be removed entirely, but I really didn't think most of these choices added much to the game at all.
 
V

vareon

Member
I'm just beginning Act III so I don't want too much spoilers but...

Is there any time in this game where you can see all the party members fighting together? Like the suicide mission in ME2 or siege of Denerim in DA:O. Even though you can only control 4 members for various reasons, I like seeing the other characters fighting together like there's some serious shit happening, not just simply stored away in hammerspace.

Heck there WAS a chance for this to happen in the end of Act 2, but I can only bring three of my companions while others make no appearance like nothing happened.
 
V

Vamphuntr

Member
vareon said:
I'm just beginning Act III so I don't want too much spoilers but...

Is there any time in this game where you can see all the party members fighting together? Like the suicide mission in ME2 or siege of Denerim in DA:O. Even though you can only control 4 members for various reasons, I like seeing the other characters fighting together like there's some serious shit happening, not just simply stored away in hammerspace.

Heck there WAS a chance for this to happen in the end of Act 2, but I can only bring three of my companions while others make no appearance like nothing happened.
Click to expand...

Yes you will get to see such battles.
 
Z

Zeliard

Member
Aaron said:
I honestly think Bioware could tell a better story in both DA and ME if they eased off on the grave decisions. Leaving it up to a player if a character lives or dies means you can't use that character at all, or you have two characters who end up essentially interchangeable like in ME2. I'm not saying they should be removed entirely, but I really didn't think most of these choices added much to the game at all.
Click to expand...

Well, that's the thing - they don't add anything to that game in particular, but they're not meant to, because we're not seeing the consequences. They're just choices with none of the fallout. Ideally, ME3 would show us these consequences, at which point those ME2 choices become retroactively meaningful. But if they don't do that, it will have all been pointless.
 
M

MechaX

Member
HK-47 said:
Bioware has a bad habit of taking criticism to the extreme. Mako was bad and planets were bland in 1, strip it out. Lots of useless loot, strip out loot. People want more party members, lets add a ton, even if there is no reason for half these people to join up.
Click to expand...

True. With things like the Mako, all Bioware had to do is give us a bit bigger Firewalker segments (without having the Firewalker be made out of tin foil), fix up the Inventory to not force players to convert everything into Omnigel, and scale some of the stats back slightly. I personally wonder how ME3 is going to turn out, actually.
 
Riposte

Riposte

Member
SpacePirate Ridley said:
Now play the witcher to see what actual decissions make changes to the characters, story, and hard ones to make.
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Hmmm... really? I didn't see any good consequences in The Witcher. It was below Mass Effect level at least, what with most of the "change" appearing in drawn cutscenes. I'd really like to know what I am missing.
 
V

Van Buren

Member
MechaX said:
True. With things like the Mako, all Bioware had to do is give us a bit bigger Firewalker segments (without having the Firewalker be made out of tin foil), fix up the Inventory to not force players to convert everything into Omnigel, and scale some of the stats back slightly. I personally wonder how ME3 is going to turn out, actually.
Click to expand...

It seems like the Mass Effect team is too malleable with regards to its vision for the series. The first one was along the lines of a Deus Ex/ Bloodlines in how the stats affected combat. I'd go so far as to say the combat didn't feel as repetitive in 1 as a result of the tangible consequences of improving Shepard's skills.

It was not perfect by any means in ME 1, but unfortunately in ME 2, Bioware took a hatchet to all elements that didn't work, instead of refining the half-baked elements that were present in 1.

I would have preferred it if Bioware had decided on whether ME was to be a stat-driven shooter or a twitch-driven shooter right from the outset.

Riposte said:
Hmmm... really? I didn't see any good consequences in The Witcher. It was below Mass Effect level at least, what with most of the "change" appearing in drawn cutscenes. I'd really like to know what I am missing.
Click to expand...

I'm curious - how far did you get into the game? Various seemingly inconsequential choices manifest as consequences in later chapters. The consequences range from being limited in importance to those that affect the path you take in the plot. The fact that most of the consequences end up being unpredictable and delayed is what makes the Witcher's system one of the best in CRPGs, imo.
 
O

Owzers

Member
HK-47 said:
The guy thinks Merrill is a good character...that alone makes it suspect.
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" why is everyone so mad at me!" - Merrill

" BECAUSE YOU"RE A BLOOD MAGE WHO MAKES DEALS WITH DEMONS " - everyone else in the world

" but whyyyyyyyy" - Merill
 
H

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Riposte said:
Hmmm... really? I didn't see any good consequences in The Witcher. It was below Mass Effect level at least, what with most of the "change" appearing in drawn cutscenes. I'd really like to know what I am missing.
Click to expand...

All the consequences happens well after the decision. Not to mention many of them werent black and white. So its well above ME.
 
A

Aaron

Member
Zeliard said:
Well, that's the thing - they don't add anything to that game in particular, but they're not meant to, because we're not seeing the consequences. They're just choices with none of the fallout. Ideally, ME3 would show us these consequences, at which point those ME2 choices become retroactively meaningful. But if they don't do that, it will have all been pointless.
Click to expand...
The problem is they never could do that. The harsh reality of gaming is you need to sell the sequel to someone who never bothered with the first game. Not to mention all the resources involved in creating the different versions for these choices. Since it was never a real possibility, I wish they had focused on 2-3 choices and gave them real consequences, instead of the utter bullshit like your whole crew possibly dying in ME2. Guess how much character development they'll be getting in ME3? Less than Ashley got in ME2, and she died in my game.
 
J

jackdoe

Member
HK-47 said:
All the consequences happens well after the decision. Not to mention many of them werent black and white. So its well above ME.
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And in the Witcher, you can actually be neutral. After I was told that your decisions mean jack shit in Dragon Age II and that you can't be neutral, I just gave up playing and stopped at Act II. I hate the self-entitled mages and the bloodthirsty templars. I DON'T want to side with either of them. Just like I didn't want to side with either the mercenaries or the smugglers at the beginning of Act I.
 
F

Fimbulvetr

Member
Aaron said:
I honestly think Bioware could tell a better story in both DA and ME if they eased off on the grave decisions. Leaving it up to a player if a character lives or dies means you can't use that character at all, or you have two characters who end up essentially interchangeable like in ME2. I'm not saying they should be removed entirely, but I really didn't think most of these choices added much to the game at all.
Click to expand...

But, unlike ME, DA games don't have to be directly connected to each other.

I mean, how important is Lelianna to the plot of either game?(protip: she isn't)

They really couldn't have just cut her and her tiny cameo out of DA2 for people who never met/killed her?
 
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