Dragon Age II: Barely Longer Than An Expansion

[Arkley]

Took me 29 hours to complete it.

25~30 hours for a full retail game with decent replay value is more than reasonable. The price and length of Awakening is irrelevant.

 

[Rayne870]

Alright, after just now finishing DAII, I can see where a lot of the hate comes from. But instead of making a big long list, I think one thing that many people have glossed over should be pointed out more frequently;

Even playing on Hard, DAII, a $60 full game, takes barely a few more hours more (2/3) to complete than DA: Awakenings, a $15-$25 (depending on when/where you got it), an expansion for DA:O.

Why in the hell does a full sequel game take almost the same amount of time to complete as a simple expansion to it's predecessor?

The bullshit is strong with this one.

 

[Stormz]

Its not the only problem the game has; but something like this just complicates it further.

I could go on for some time about the terrible characters, terrible storytelling, the fact that you literally only go 5 different areas the entire time, the bad character customization, the linearity that makes FFXIII look like an open-world MMO, etc., but this really breaks the whole package with it.

First of all, I'd like to know when Bioware was known for open world games? The character customization also had way more options then origins. I'll chalk everything up to an opinion, one I don't agree with but whatever.

 

[Bullfrog1983]

Alright, after just now finishing DAII, I can see where a lot of the hate comes from. But instead of making a big long list, I think one thing that many people have glossed over should be pointed out more frequently;

Even playing on Hard, DAII, a $60 full game, takes barely a few more hours more (2/3) to complete than DA: Awakenings, a $15-$25 (depending on when/where you got it), an expansion for DA:O.

Why in the hell does a full sequel game take almost the same amount of time to complete as a simple expansion to it's predecessor?

Because EA wants to make money off of expansions which should probably have been included in the game?

Edit: This is a guess

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Origins outstayed its welcome to me, the Deep Roads and Fade were way too long.

 

[Vault101]

I get the feeling somones trolling here...

 

[thenoblitt]

Alright, after just now finishing DAII, I can see where a lot of the hate comes from. But instead of making a big long list, I think one thing that many people have glossed over should be pointed out more frequently;

Even playing on Hard, DAII, a $60 full game, takes barely a few more hours more (2/3) to complete than DA: Awakenings, a $15-$25 (depending on when/where you got it), an expansion for DA:O.

Why in the hell does a full sequel game take almost the same amount of time to complete as a simple expansion to it's predecessor?

I've been playing for 10 hours and i just past the first year in kirwall, so unless you skipping everything, your just hauling ass through it

 

[SomeLameStuff]

Why are so many people complaining about its length anyway? Is the length really so much more important than the other aspects of the game?

DA2 drew me into the game better than Origins did. And there was less Fade and Deep Roads annoyances than Origins. I eventually modded them out, so bloody annoying. Hopefully Bioware will release an updated mod tool for DA2, or the modders make one of their own.

 

[Gerrawn]

I clocked in 25 hours on my first playthrough, missed one companion and a few quests. However, I did not skip any dialogue. (I had to tape a coke cap onto my escape key. After rush playing through DA:O and Awakening in 18 hours total to get a save game for DA2 it was a reflex to mash the escape key when there was a conversation.)

 

[Scars Unseen]

Bullshit. I am currently 11 hours into the game and still in the first act.

 

[Vanaron]

Here it seems like we're talking about a game that felt shallow--shallower than any of the games I just named--cheaply put together and didn't feel like it lived up to the potential in what they did implement. On top of that it's easily the most badly written Bioware game I've ever seen; almost on par with Final Fantasy 13 for awful storytelling from what I've played so far. Note that I'm not finished with it yet, so I don't know if it gets better, but I'm not thrilled with this first six hours...

Yeah, I don't see it. It doesn't feel as epic as Mass Effect and I miss characters like Alistair and Morrigan, but I've been truly engaged by the story and nothing felt padded or just thrown in for extra time, which is a trap many RPGs fall into.

I like it when people compare DA2 with FF13 though, because in many ways they feel similar, not in style or gameplay but on the reaction they both got. Honestly, FF13 was a good game, with a story to tell, and it did in a very competent manner. Much like DA2 it wasn't great by many measures but to say they failed overall hits me as disingenuous.

And while I do agree that some game formats are friendlier to "long hours", judging a game purely on hours ran is quite shallow. Judging it on the "completeness" of the experience is one thing, a valid thing. But saying the game is bad because it didn't go on for another 6 hours is just silly.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I got about 26 hours out of my first playthrough on Normal. Did just about every quest (except Fenris' quests, because screw that guy) and spent a lot of time digging through shops and sorting out abilities and equipment. It wasn't the longest RPG I've ever played, but it felt like a good length personally.

Also, this is the first RPG I have EVER played where the side quests felt worth doing. Both Mass Effect games and Origins had side quests that I honestly don't consider to be worth my time. In DA2, the side quests are just as interesting as the main plot.

 

[Saviordd1]

Its not the only problem the game has; but something like this just complicates it further.

I could go on for some time about the terrible characters, terrible storytelling, the fact that you literally only go 5 different areas the entire time, the bad character customization, the linearity that makes FFXIII look like an open-world MMO, etc., but this really breaks the whole package with it.

*Shakes head warily* I'm getting sick of these

Point 1: The characters arent terrible just because "OMG THEIR NOTZ LELIANA AND MORRIGAN" doesnt make them bad, i seem to remember the same argument for mass effect 2. (albeit fenris was kinda meh, as was isabela)

Point 2: The storytelling was top notch, i hate the cliffhanger, but it was still good, a bit schizo though.

Point 3: Yeah i do have to say that they did overuse locations, meh a minor gripe honestly, i kinda liked it.

Point 4: The character customization is the same depth as the first one, the only limiting factor is race

Point 5: Dear god, LINEARITY DOES NOT MEAN BAD. Dear god, DAO was mostly linear to you know, if you went to certain zones to early your head was on a platter.

Point 6: THe length wasnt as long as origins no, but 26 hours is more then most games can claim.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Everyone plays at a different pace.

It took me about 10 hours, from prologue, before I went on the expedition into the Deep Roads. Out of the 10 years this game takes place in, I'm only in year 4.

Some of the best games are short. Portal, Fable 2, Super Mario Brothers, Missile Command. It all depends on play-style.

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

I've played for 30 hours and I'm pretty sure I'm not even close to done yet(although admittedly I'm getting very OCD when it comes to trying to find the crafting components and combing every area thoroughly).

 

[UnanimouslyAnonymous]

First Playthrough took me around 30 hours, and I know I missed a bunch of stuff. On my second playthrough now and already hit 10 hours with no plans to head to the deep roads for a while yet.

Noticed you also pointed out you were only level 18 by the time you finished, that tells me you missed or skipped alot more stuff than I did, I was working on level 24 or 25 by the time I finished. Woudln't complain about a game's length when it seems you've missed out on a fairly large chunk of it.

EDIT: I was playing through on normal, honestly don't know if exp. gain changes between difficulty levels.

 

[Alpha Maeko]

Did you falcon punch your way through the main story without touching any of the side quests? Cuz that's the only way you could've beat the game in "a few hours".

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

DA2 had an 18 month development cycle. That is a criminally short amount of time in which to make a game as dense as we expect our RPG's to be.

It's not an excuse for DA2's flaws, but it's a good ways to an explaination. In all the threads complaining about DA2 I have yet to see this brought up. I wonder why that is?

haters gonna hate. they disregard any logical reasons when they are angry and don't like a game or something about a game.

OT: well im on 25 hours and im on act 3, in which i'm doing everything, so you must've been doing straight speed run/missing side quests, which i am enjoying them alot more than i did DA:O's side quests so those are 25 hours well enjoyed honestly.