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[castlegar]

Finished this yesterday after being initially quite excited, and that tapering off into what became an obligated completion. The game just became a chore, and quite quickly too, for me somewhere around the end of the first act.

There was a constant disconnect between what I wanted out of that world and narrative and then what was presented. As many others have stated, I didn't like Hawke at all. At least when Shepard communicates he isn't perpetually in douche-mode or just nonchalant about everything. There were plenty of (awkwardly-written) moments where they could have really delivered some compelling story points, but it was always ruined by either horrible delivery (see: family-related quests) or shitty gameplay attached to the quest (your waves of enemies and fetching).

I enjoyed the characters more, with some real standouts, but interaction in general between party members seemed a few pegs below Origins and Awakenings. Nothing felt like a relationship - the banter between characters, or even Hawke's dialogue with them - it was essentially 'we want to relay a piece of story to you. Sometimes it will be cute or funny'. Like the buildup to a punchline or something

And I didn't care for the antagonists or the city's strife (though the second act had a very interesting setup, it felt disconnected and a lot of it fluffed), neither of which felt very present throughout the 30 hours I invested. The timespan thing could have been fantastic, and there were a few glimpses of interesting implementation like with the recurring characters and such, but it was so under-utilized that it only really supports the notion that it was used as a way to undercut visiting new locations. Why didn't my characters age at all or undergo any real changes in the time that passed? Why were all the NPCs pretty much the same, with the same vendors doing the same schtick across ten years? Ehh. They could have done some really interesting stuff on the romance side of things with that

Also, wtf Anders.

 

[PaddyOCanager]

Finished this yesterday after being initially quite excited, and that tapering off into what became an obligated completion. The game just became a chore, and quite quickly too, for me somewhere around the end of the first act.

There was a constant disconnect between what I wanted out of that world and narrative and then what was presented. As many others have stated, I didn't like Hawke at all. At least when Shepard communicates he isn't perpetually in douche-mode or just nonchalant about everything. There were plenty of (awkwardly-written) moments where they could have really delivered some compelling story points, but it was always ruined by either horrible delivery (see: family-related quests) or shitty gameplay attached to the quest (your waves of enemies and fetching).

I enjoyed the characters more, with some real standouts, but interaction in general between party members seemed a few pegs below Origins and Awakenings. Nothing felt like a relationship - the banter between characters, or even Hawke's dialogue with them - it was essentially 'we want to relay a piece of story to you. Sometimes it will be cute or funny'. Like the buildup to a punchline or something

And I didn't care for the antagonists or the city's strife (though the second act had a very interesting setup, it felt disconnected and a lot of it fluffed), neither of which felt very present throughout the 30 hours I invested. The timespan thing could have been fantastic, and there were a few glimpses of interesting implementation like with the recurring characters and such, but it was so under-utilized that it only really supports the notion that it was used as a way to undercut visiting new locations. Why didn't my characters age at all or undergo any real changes in the time that passed? Why were all the NPCs pretty much the same, with the same vendors doing the same schtick across ten years? Ehh. They could have done some really interesting stuff on the romance side of things with that

Also, wtf Anders.

Yep.

I'm on my third playthrough, and I want so bad to like this game because it gives glimpses of greatness. However after playing it through three different ways hoping it would "click", I feel completely disappointed.

 

[mxgt]

So I'm slowly crawling through this game. In act 2 right now and just did the quest where

Spoiler

you get the relic for Isabela. I told her she could have it and she disappeared.

That's all well and good but then right afterwards I get her

Spoiler

Questioning Beliefs companion quest that tells me to go to the Hanged Man to meet her and of course she isn't there because she just fucking ran away

Fuck this game.

 

[Lostconfused]

Should have done that quest earlier. Too late now.

Spoiler

Pretty sure she isn't coming back

Well I guess you can load up an older save.

 

[Patryn]

So I'm slowly crawling through this game. In act 2 right now and just did the quest where

Spoiler

you get the relic for Isabela. I told her she could have it and she disappeared.

That's all well and good but then right afterwards I get her

Spoiler

Questioning Beliefs companion quest that tells me to go to the Hanged Man to meet her and of course she isn't there because she just fucking ran away

Fuck this game.

Did you romance her?

Spoiler

If not, yeah, she's gone forever.

 

[FLEABttn]

At 145 pages in, there's nothing new I can add to this. I think I'll more or less echo castlegar's comments, except I liked Hawke more than that but she still fails as being a particularly compelling character (I think I would rather have played a game staring as Isabella) and that for me it didn't become particularly chore like until closer to the end of Act II. If DA3 has as much FedEx in it, I'm waiting for a price drop.

To DA2's credit, I actually beat it, unlike DA:O. I also give credit for not featuring the fade as much. But it's still lacking on so many levels. I got rid of it less than 24 hours after beating it, any future DLC be damned.

 

[Takamura-San]

Can anyone share their experience with the family:

Spoiler

Did they survive? mine is completely dead besides the useless uncle.

I'm a freaking orphan

Finished the game today. Wasn't bad. I sided with the mages. them motherfuckers turned to monsters. I didn't care as long as i could kill that bitch. 40hr save.

I might finish DA:O but will start from scratch.

 

[benny_a]

Can anyone share their experience with the family:

Spoiler

Did they survive? mine is completely dead besides the useless uncle.

I'm a freaking orphan

Spoiler

Mage: Carver lived for me and spoke maybe 10 sentences in total in 7 years. ;-)

 

[Takamura-San]

Spoiler

Mage: Carver lived for me and spoke maybe 10 sentences in total in 7 years. ;-)

How Did that happen?????

Spoiler

Doesn't he die in the first 10 mins?

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Spoiler

Mage: Carver lived for me and spoke maybe 10 sentences in total in 7 years. ;-)

Same thing with me.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

How Did that happen?????

Spoiler

Doesn't he die in the first 10 mins?

Barely a spoiler but

Spoiler

If Hawke is a mage Carver lives, if he's a warrior or rogue Bethany lives.

 

[Xevren]

How Did that happen?????

Spoiler

Doesn't he die in the first 10 mins?

It depends on the class you pick.

 

[Shouta]

I'm right near the end and man the game is just so disappointing compared to Awakenings and Origins. I definitely agree that there are glimpses of great in there but it just doesn't live up to what it could be. Act 1 was ok and a solid start, Act 2 was interesting but the payoff is a bit of a letdown, Act 3 is just wonky as hell right now. Timeskips are ok but there wasn't enough development for the timeskips to work well.

Combat is a lot more hack and slash overall and while it's satisfying to really rip through a bunch of enemies, balancing is wonk, healing nerfed, and skill trees feel even worse.

On the bright side, I liked the characters for the most part but they definitely lack more backstory and interesting quests I think. The best character overall was definitely Varric to me. I like Merill's attitude and demeanor because it's amusing and a little cute but man, is she a moron. Of all the character quests though, Aveline and Donnic were probably the most amusing if only to see the giant-jawed lady be awkward around guys.

 

[Ickman3400]

I don't know if anyone is interested anymore but a new patch came out today on PC. It appears to fix the DX11 issues. I might try later if I feel like starting this game up again.



AMD and NVIDIA have recently released new graphics-card drivers. Using old drivers may cause Dragon Age II to crash, run poorly, or display graphics incorrectly. Please visit your hardware vendor's website for further information on obtaining new drivers:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Catalyst114earlypreview.aspx

NOTE: Some plot fixes are retroactive, but not all. Players with plot-breaking bugs may need to revert to an earlier save, particularly a save prior to visiting the affected area during the current year in the game.

GAMEPLAY
- The effects of various follower talents and item properties are now being properly removed and re-applied when loading and saving.
- Anders's default set of tactics will now activate Haste when appropriate.
- Aveline's final armor upgrade is now available during "Favor and Fault."
- Aveline's Retaliation talent no longer imposes a delay when activated.
- The warrior's Rally talent now functions as described.
- The rogue's Lacerate talent now functions as described.
- Party members who are resurrected during a fight now rejoin combat properly.
- Hawke no longer gains random spells or talents after using the Maker's Sigh potion, then saving and reloading.
- Potions, poisons, grenades, and runes can now still be ordered from the Hawke estate after the main campaign is complete.
- Various minor gameplay issues no longer occur.

QUESTS (SPOILER WARNING)
- "Who Needs Rescuing" can now be completed.
- "Duty" will now appear on the Chanter's Board even if the player accepted all of the board's quests before installing the Exiled Prince premium content.
- The journal for "Duty" will now update if the player left the Docks (Night) area immediately after killing the Flint Company mercenaries.
- In "Finders Keepers," the door to Woodrow's Warehouse will now open if the player steals the location to the warehouse from the harbormaster's office.
- In "Finders Keepers," if the player leaves Woodrow's Warehouse before finding the crate, it is now possible to return to the warehouse to complete the quest.
- In "Herbalist's Tasks," the varterral's heart is now available even if the player killed the varterral before receiving the quest.
- Merrill no longer refers to the aftermath of "A New Path" before the plot has been completed.
- Varric is no longer confused about which character Hawke has been romancing.
- Various minor story-scripting issues no longer occur.

PC/SPECIFIC FUNCTIONALITY
- Varric's Embellishment talent no longer incorrectly refers to movement speed.
- It is now easier to select party members by clicking on their portraits when the level-up arrow is displayed.
- The game now functions correctly if the Windows desktop is set to 150% size.
- The video options menu now allows a wider full-screen gamma range.
- Various issues specific to DirectX 11 no longer occur.
- Various technical changes should improve performance and limit crashes.

 

[wayward archer]

Can anyone share their experience with the family:

Spoiler

I played as a warrior. Mother and Carver died, Bethany was captured by the templars and forced to join the Circle of Mages but rejoined me in the final battle and lived in the end.

 

[subversus]

I won't reinstall this just to see that it runs at 40 fps instead of 30 fps.

What a waste of a game.

 

[Xamdou]

What is the best sword, shield, helmet, amulets rings in the game?

 

[hateradio]

I don't know if anyone is interested anymore but a new patch came out today on PC. It appears to fix the DX11 issues. I might try later if I feel like starting this game up again.
. . .

You forgot the link. http://social.bioware.com/page/da2-patches

They should have done all of this last month and prior to release.

 

[koji]

Patch didn't fix anything for me, on the contrary, I got two crashes in 5 minutes, one on the menu, the other in game. It never crashed pre patch 1.02.

+ the performance is still shit, this is on a GTX580 with the latest nvidia drivers. Didn't notice any improvement.

GG Bioware

 

[subversus]

Patch didn't fix anything for me, on the contrary, I got two crashes in 5 minutes, one on the menu, the other in game. It never crashed pre patch 1.02.

+ the performance is still shit, this is on a GTX580 with the latest nvidia drivers. Didn't notice any improvement.

GG Bioware

GG indeed.

Damn, this game is a total trainwreck.

 

[CabbageRed]

"Duty" will now appear on the Chanter's Board even if the player accepted all of the board's quests before installing the Exiled Prince premium content.

What does that mean? I don't remember there being more than one or two chanter board quests, one or two from the mages, and no jobs for the smuggler lady.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

DA2 PC is 14 quid at GAME, and 21 quid for the console versions.

 

[YoungHav]

Playing DA:O right now, I'm 51hrs in and loving it. I had originally intended to play Origins, Awakenings, and DA2 right after the other. The reaction to this game has been disappointing and I was not impressed with the demo's change in combat. I have yet to play ME1, ME2, Fallout NV, Oblivion, or Fallout 3's DLC. Looks like I will be skipping this.

 

[HadesGigas]

Playing DA:O right now, I'm 51hrs in and loving it. I had originally intended to play Origins, Awakenings, and DA2 right after the other. The reaction to this game has been disappointing and I was not impressed with the demo's change in combat. I have yet to play ME1, ME2, Fallout NV, Oblivion, or Fallout 3's DLC. Looks like I will be skipping this.

Yeah if you have all of that to play (plus Skyrim and ME3 by the time you finish those) you might as well wait a year until there's a GotY Edition at least.

 

[Y2Kev]

This game is pretty like...cheap. Like I'm enjoying it, but this is definitely an econoRPG. Everything seems pretty bad but I can't stop playing it! Agh!

 

[Gvaz]

This game is pretty like...cheap. Like I'm enjoying it, but this is definitely an econoRPG. Everything seems pretty bad but I can't stop playing it! Agh!

Best analogy is that this game is a train wreck. It's awful to watch but you can never tear your eyes away even though you know the worst part is coming.

Actually that worked out better than I thought it would in my head

 

[Ickman3400]

Yeah the patch really didn't do anything for me either. When I turn the game to very high and turn on the dx11 stuff I get 25 fps now instead of 15, whoopie. If I turn the dx11 stuff off and put it to high I get 60 fps. This game is worthless, I hope valve puts a trade in program soon so I can ditch this POS.

 

[Gvaz]

what's your specs like, maybe you're cpu limited?

 

[Ickman3400]

I have an i7 3ghz, 6gb ram and a gtx 470. It's just DX11, it always at least drastically hurts my framerate when it's on but DA2 is a special case. I can max just about everything I play, even Crysis 2 on 1920x1080 and get a stable 30 fps almost all the time as well as DA1 at 60 fps which I'm pretty sure has the same specs as DA2.

What's weird is even if I turn it up to very high on DA2 and uncheck all the dx11 crap my framerate still drops big time. The game is just completely unoptimized and poorly made.

edit: I mean it's fine playing the game on High since it's such an ugly game and all the options turned on really didn't improve it that much. If the game didn't suck I'd be much angrier.

 

[Gvaz]

yeah dx11 has a lot of multicore improvements if it's enabled from a base level instead of tacked on (like this is)

I ran this at max and had performance from 40-60fps or so at 1920x1200 :\

And I have much worse stats than you:

amd phenom II X3 720 @ 3.2, 8gb of ddr2 @ 400mhz in dc, 1gb radeonhd 4890 @ stock

:\

Only difference is i'm getting dx11 trickle down to dx10.1 (cause it's all I can get) and I'm all amd and you're all intel/geforce

 

[Y2Kev]

Best analogy is that this game is a train wreck. It's awful to watch but you can never tear your eyes away even though you know the worst part is coming.

Actually that worked out better than I thought it would in my head

This game is perfect for me because I usually hate Bioware's shitty fetch quest "sidequests" and "character development." In DA2, I just get the quest, then walk 2 feet to an area exit, then just click right where I need to go, mash A for 2 minutes, win, and then finish the side quest! Half of the sidequests I'm completing before I get them. AMAZING!!!

The wave combat is simply inexcusable. I can put my mage against a wall and things still spawn behind him. I've yet to see a good reason for this change and I suspect I never will. It still goes pretty fast since I just spam brittle-inducing moves and then have Avelline, who is embarrassing, finish them off.

The lack of actual content in the game is stunning. Bioware has enormous balls. It's like if Oblivion took place entirely in the Imperial City and the sewers. Hugeeee balls.

Also, all the dialog options seem to focus on Hawke's TONE and not what he's actually saying. I replay a lot of conversations just to be a pisser and my choices mean absolutely nothing. The same garbage writing (I...WILL...NOT...OBEY....YOU) leads down the same path every time.

My hats off to Bioware, the cheapest goddamn fucking most creatively bankrupt shitheels in the industry.

BUT OMG I CANT STOP

 

[Gvaz]

This game is perfect for me because I usually hate Bioware's shitty fetch quest "sidequests" and "character development." In DA2, I just get the quest, then walk 2 feet to an area exit, then just click right where I need to go, mash A for 2 minutes, win, and then finish the side quest! Half of the sidequests I'm completing before I get them. AMAZING!!!

I know you're being sarcastic but this is exactly why the sidequests in DA2 are garbage.

By your own account, you should hate them because they're exactly that, paper thin character development that goes nowhere or is referenced for five seconds in the next act, or shitty fetch quests where nothing meaningful happens.

I agree with all of your points. I've played quite a few bioware games and this simply takes the cake as being the worst of them all.

 

[Y2Kev]

I'm only being half sarcastic. If the alternative is having to listen to half of my party's daddy issues for 30 minutes so that the story isn't totally trashed by my grave choices in the end, then I much prefer this insulting, miserly brio that Bioware is peddling.

So yeah, hugely disappointing, empty, hollow husk of a game that I can't believe they actually are selling. But it's just so good!

 

[Gvaz]

The alternative shouldn't be between shit and shittier shit, it should be between good or bad.

I've been playing PS:T lately, and while I see some aspects that DA:O and even DA:2 has in combat, and perhaps DA:O has in common with PS:T in terms of character interaction, I sort of weep inside at seeing how these older games started off and how they are now.

Like when I played the Bioshock series then went and played System Shock 2 with all the mods. This is what games evolved to? They had so much potential and it was wasted on making games look flashy and easier to delve into for those who don't want to take the time or effort and devote it to a challenge, which is (to me) the whole point of playing games.

Sure, games have improved generally in the aspect of the interface, and in some aspects, the combat. But the story? The setting? The pacing?

Fuck this crap

 

[Y2Kev]

lol don't even compare PS:T to this shit. i don't even have the troll skill to compare this game to PS:T without combining a bunch of pejoratives. like this game is a bunch of shitassgarbage coming from a dumpster compared to that game.

This is ultimately a bizarre fixation. I wouldn't mind if they tossed every design decision.

 

[Gvaz]

I wasn't saying this was better than PS:T (even on drugs I don't think I could say that), but rather I can see similarities in the combat and slightly in the conversation (though more DA:O than da2 now) that DA2 has through DA:O (who DA:O itself has similarities through BG or IWD and the like). You can see them, covered by layers of shit, but it's there underneath somewhere.

But yeah, they did the typical "throw the baby out with the bathwater if anyone so much as complained" that bioware does for sequels.

 

[Y2Kev]

I'm agreeing with you on everything.

 

[hateradio]

BUT OMG I CANT STOP

I played almost 50 hours of it, and I too couldn't stop. I think if it were not DA2, I would have stopped. However, this game leaves me hopeless for the future.

 

[GillianSeed79]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but auto-attack is now patched in on consoles. I'm still working my way through it. I'm in Act III. The end of Act II was cool. I have a feeling it's going all go down hill from here though.

 

[HadesGigas]

I have a feeling it's going all go down hill from here though.

You have no idea.

 

[water_wendi]

The alternative shouldn't be between shit and shittier shit, it should be between good or bad.

I've been playing PS:T lately, and while I see some aspects that DA:O and even DA:2 has in combat, and perhaps DA:O has in common with PS:T in terms of character interaction, I sort of weep inside at seeing how these older games started off and how they are now.

Like when I played the Bioshock series then went and played System Shock 2 with all the mods. This is what games evolved to? They had so much potential and it was wasted on making games look flashy and easier to delve into for those who don't want to take the time or effort and devote it to a challenge, which is (to me) the whole point of playing games.

Sure, games have improved generally in the aspect of the interface, and in some aspects, the combat. But the story? The setting? The pacing?

Fuck this crap

And people will say Streamlining aka Dumbing Down aka Consolization is just a myth.

 

[voltron]

So trinkets degrade right?

Or am I going crazy?

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

So trinkets degrade right?

Or am I going crazy?

The "quality" as judged by the star count in your inventory scales down with character level. 5 stars means it's a great item for your character's level. As you level, the rating goes down because you can find better items.

 

[voltron]

The "quality" as judged by the star count in your inventory scales down with character level. 5 stars means it's a great item for your character's level. As you level, the rating goes down because you can find better items.

Ahh.

Its just some of the items that have a higher rating than my belt that adds +1 to all attributes seem kinda shit.

 

[Y2Kev]

Beat it. WTF Anders. WTF.

WTF at the end of this game. Bioware doesn't even to try to hide how little your choices mean by the end of this game.

 

[hateradio]

There were no choices of consequence in this game. Well, maybe one

Spoiler

if you decide to kill Anders or make Sebastian leave your party (if you had him)

.

The ending was filled with defeatism. It's pretty much how the player feels, too.

Its just some of the items that have a higher rating than my belt that adds +1 to all attributes seem kinda shit.

Star rating is a lie, because it's completely broken.

 

[HadesGigas]

There were no choices of consequence in this game. Well, maybe one

Spoiler

if you decide to kill Anders or make Sebastian leave your party (if you had him)

.

It's hard to see that as a choice of consequence after the way they ignored similar choices from Origins in the cameos in DAII.

 

[Rahxephon91]

The funny thing for me is that I had never recruited Sebastien. So his "fuck you I'm leaving" was replied with(in my head) "who the fuck are you?".

This is a pretty poorly made game.

 

[antonz]

Beat it. WTF Anders. WTF.

WTF at the end of this game. Bioware doesn't even to try to hide how little your choices mean by the end of this game.

Yep same way with the whole story bit at the end. Even if you opt to not shack up with Isabella the story says you set off with her.

 

[HadesGigas]

Yep same way with the whole story bit at the end. Even if you opt to not shack up with Isabella the story says you set off with her.

At least that's a glitch (if you listen closely, two voice clips of him saying "except for *name*" play at once), the rest of the nonsense is intentional!