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Dragon Age II |OT| The Revenge of Shit Mountain
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
Dark Stalkers
Member
Dance In My Blood said:
What happens if I don't bring her?
leatherhat
Member
So how awful is the PC version?
So far my feelings on the game ~10 hours in (just started Chapter 2).
Pros:
* The NPC character design is much more interesting IMO. Making them only have upgradable armor (like ME2) allows them to have much better designs. In DA:O, having Morrigan wear any other armor other than her first one and the upgraded one ruins her character design.
* I actually like the way the plot is frame (a story). Like Alpha Protocol, it frames the story in a much more believable fashion (from what I witness of the prologue, chapter 1, and some of chapter 2).
* Slight neutral, but I like the faster combat. It feels much better low level then DA:O low level.
* The conversation wheel. The narration flows a lot more naturally with it.
Cons:
* The city design. Kirkwall is just ugly. You also have to spend the majority of the game in it.
* Area reusage. It reeks of bad design or the fact that Bioware rushed the game.
* Chapter 1. I just do not like most of the missions given. I know the plot is just like BG2, but the missions for it are just boring. Can't comment on the other chapters.
* The UI. Icons look horrible and the displays that show you if an enemy is stunned or disoriented is bad.
* Elves. Sorry, but they look ugly Na'vi.
Pros:
* The NPC character design is much more interesting IMO. Making them only have upgradable armor (like ME2) allows them to have much better designs. In DA:O, having Morrigan wear any other armor other than her first one and the upgraded one ruins her character design.
* I actually like the way the plot is frame (a story). Like Alpha Protocol, it frames the story in a much more believable fashion (from what I witness of the prologue, chapter 1, and some of chapter 2).
* Slight neutral, but I like the faster combat. It feels much better low level then DA:O low level.
* The conversation wheel. The narration flows a lot more naturally with it.
Cons:
* The city design. Kirkwall is just ugly. You also have to spend the majority of the game in it.
* Area reusage. It reeks of bad design or the fact that Bioware rushed the game.
* Chapter 1. I just do not like most of the missions given. I know the plot is just like BG2, but the missions for it are just boring. Can't comment on the other chapters.
* The UI. Icons look horrible and the displays that show you if an enemy is stunned or disoriented is bad.
* Elves. Sorry, but they look ugly Na'vi.
Dance In My Blood said:
Two questions, If I may.
1) Which three party members?
2)
About to go Deep Roads and just want to know the ramifications if I bring or don't bring Bethany. Also, are there similar consequences for the other party members with regards to the Deep Roads?
Thanks!
Nevermind, I just looked up the other half.Dark Stalkers said:
You lose her regardless of your choice.
1) Isabela, Fenris, and Bethany. Although I also could have lost Anders if I felt like it.JoeBoy101 said:
2) Turns out it doesn't make a difference.
Speculator
BioWare Austin
Rubezh said:
There is also an alternative fate for Bethany/Carver 
Ickman3400
Banned
leatherhat said:
In terms of performance? It's hit and miss. I have an i7 3.06ghz and a gtx 470 and I can use High settings with the high res texture pack and get 55-60 fps. If I turn on any of the DX11 features though or put it on Very High it plummets to 25-30 immediately. I've even seen it dip in the 16-19 range.
In terms of gameplay? It's really not a ton different from the first. I'm on normal and it's not hard but I do have people drop every now and then, mostly due to the 2nd or 3rd groups of enemies appearing out of nowhere. I've put 9 1/2 hours into it and I'm still only on year 2 (which is basically the first *real* year, year 1 is escaping Lothering from the demo and getting to Kirkwall). I'm enoying the game more than Origins so far.
Basileus777
Member
JoeBoy101 said:
It's just for Bethany/Carver. Bring them and they die, or become a grey warden if you bring Anders too. Don't bring them and they join the circle of mages or the templars and leave your party anyway.
DennisK4 said:
That sucks. The early darkspawn fights are not at all indicative of what the rest of the game is like. It's heavily scripted with most of the battles ending after a timer or certain party status. Once you get through that and get to Kirkwall it's pretty much just like DA:O. They tried to make the shit mountain intro feel really overwhelming and hopeless, but hamfistedly they made it irritating and unlikable. The rest the game is basically DA:O 2. At least as far as I am ~6-7 hours in.
Blue Ninja
Member
Part of me regrets reading those spoilers, part of me is glad I now kinda know what to do. I'll just make my Hawke an accomplished future teller. :lol
Basileus777
Member
Dance In My Blood said:
Fenris gets a ton of dialogue too. He talks way more in quests and has options to take over more than everyone else I used.
Dance In My Blood said:
Varric has some good ones too for convincing people, aka, "Varric, tell them who we are," and the assorted answers to said statement.
Plus, I must admit, the party banter between Varric and Aveline and/or Merrill is priceless, from Aveline scaring the piss out of Varric to him constantly referring to Merrill as 'Daisy'.
DennisK4 said:
Yeah, don't get too discouraged until you literally get into Kirkwall. That's not excuse the mess of the first 2 hours of gameplay or so, but its pretty non-indicative of the rest of the game.
Can I ask what the general game progression is? In non spoiler terms, like:
Dragon Age:
- Origin Story
- Introduction and Induction into Grey Wardens
- Go solve each kingdom's problems to get help
- Get them to help defeat the Archdemon.
Mass Effect:
- Citadel and Becoming a Spectre
- Track down Saren and figure out his plot
- Find out what it is and make your way back to Citadel
Mass Effect 2:
- Collectors blow you up and steal people
- Build your team
- Make your team loyal
- Go fight the collectors
Also, how linear/directed is the plot? do you get to do a lot of map exploration or does it alwyas just point you to each major objective?
Dragon Age:
- Origin Story
- Introduction and Induction into Grey Wardens
- Go solve each kingdom's problems to get help
- Get them to help defeat the Archdemon.
Mass Effect:
- Citadel and Becoming a Spectre
- Track down Saren and figure out his plot
- Find out what it is and make your way back to Citadel
Mass Effect 2:
- Collectors blow you up and steal people
- Build your team
- Make your team loyal
- Go fight the collectors
Also, how linear/directed is the plot? do you get to do a lot of map exploration or does it alwyas just point you to each major objective?
Basileus777
Member
I hate how Aveline is the only NPC sword and board user. Unless you chose to use that style yourself, you're stuck with one tank option, though maybe you could go without one in this game considering how hard it is to hold aggro with all of those mid-battle spawns.
Mister_Bubbles
Member
webrunner said:
Why would you want to know all this? :O Just play the game!
Edit: Or look at the game's website I suppose ¬_¬
webrunner said:
Well, I am not that deep in the game, but there has been criticism laid on DA 2 for the lack of focus int he plot. To be succinct and to modify your list below:
Dragon Age: Origins
- Stop the Blight.
Mass Effect
- Stop Saren
Mass Effect 2:
- Stop the Collectors
So far in my playing, there is no single underlying single statement that summarizes the narrative arch in DA 2 past this one:
- Get Rich Or Die Trying
I'm not joking. The major plot points so far center on me making money and making my family comfortable. Period.
Although with regards to linearity, the first part of it is fairly open with when and where you can do quests.
EDIT: To your post below, its mostly directed. You stumble across very little to nothing in the game.
Mister_Bubbles
Member
webrunner said:
There was a DA:O save game creator posted a few pages back, you could use that
Though it sounds like importing saves is a tad shaky in-game with regards to recognising previous choices anyway...It's kind of not in the same structure as other Bioware narratives, and the plot isn't really as simple. The main thread is more occluded because the game isn't about saving the world (from the 16-ish hours I've put in.webrunner said:
Basically though:
-Run away from Ferelden
-Establish yourself in Kirkwall
-Go To the Deep Roads
-Deal with political unrest in the city primarily revolving around the Quanari
That's about as far as I've gotten.
While the individual quests are fairly linear in that there is usually only one or two paths through a dungeon, there are branching decisions that change how quests play out. You can tackle side quests in any order you want before triggering the next phase of the game. The phase shift is made very obvious, so you won't accidentally trigger it, and afterward there is a time skip and the choices you made from before come into play.
That is pretty much DA2 in a nutshell.
Basileus777 said:
I never tried but maybe you can use sword and shield on fenris.
Anyway on Hard, 2 Warriors 2 handed are better option for tanking imo.
Hard is easy if you upgrade weapons, if you stay with shit equipment the monters take too long to die. Yes the 50 gold will be longer to collect but you have all the time. ^^
I repeat myself but archers are OP, varric even more and the best buff in the game is haste.
You can use haste 2 time in battle, the spell is cheap on mana and last 10-20 sec.
Blue Ninja
Member
Well, my savegame certainly imported perfectly.
Pretty awesome.
Just encountered an NPC that described me burning down the city of Amaranthine, and how I dealt with the conspiring Nobles.
Fimbulvetr
Member
Peff said:
In that case, I choose this one!
Dance In My Blood said:
Wat?
Carver is a healer?
Does he restore HP by stabbing you with his sword?
leatherhat
Member
Alright guys thanks for the info
JohngPR said:I know that Aveline has a taunt move where most enemies will break away from who they are attacking and go after her instead....maybe that will get the heat off of your mage? Not sure, I haven't gotten very far into the game yet.
Ill dig around the skill trees tonight. I might not have that one yet.
One minor complaint I have are the skill trees. They look nicer but I hate having to click each tree individually. Too many clicks to get a skill compared to DA:O.
Sir Garbageman
Member
Bout 5 - 6 hours in and I'm loving the game.
Now that I have a well rounded party and some skills to play around with it is in essence just a faster Dragon Age Origins. Doesn't really feel streamlined or dumbed down, but instead just sped up with exaggerated animations.
The cast of NPCs is growing on me too, some of the banter is hilarious.
Now that I have a well rounded party and some skills to play around with it is in essence just a faster Dragon Age Origins. Doesn't really feel streamlined or dumbed down, but instead just sped up with exaggerated animations.
The cast of NPCs is growing on me too, some of the banter is hilarious.
I had a few fights that even with proper group setup seemed impossible. the problem is tdropping difficulty and the same fight suddenly becames too easy. There really isnt a good balance in some areas.Spookie said:Jesus H Christ the combat picks up on hard after your first few encounters. Really getting rather enjoyable now.
Mobs are wiping the floor with me though
edit: Scratch that. Some fights simply cannot be beaten on hard. :/
Isabela,Avaline and Merril are great for outlandish stuff. Talking about thumbs up asses etcSir Garbageman said:
chris-013 said:
Don't forget the PC patch for the Hi-Res textures, if your card can handle them. They make a big difference.
EDIT: BTW, anybody here read the comic Empowered? I ask, because when visiting Merrill at home, I'd swear she references the Demonwolf when exclaiming how 'dirty' her place looks.
Zod the Bear
Member
subversus said:
Has seemed that way for most of the non-Kirkwall quest related dungeons for me. I'm about 5-6 hours in?
Um, I must have missed something. Where did my backstab/blindspot indicators go? So I guess positioning matters not in melee any more? Forgive if this is the dead horse being beaten. I have avoided much of the thread because I want a fresh perspective going in. Did the backstab get removed?