Dragon Age II Review

[DustyDrB]

That epic tale is one that BioWare has done in every single one of their games. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the hell out of them. But I very much welcome a different kind of story.

I don't know how to break this too you... that's not a 'BioWare' thing, that's a 'Videogames' thing. That's a 'Stories' thing.

It's no different if you call the game 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' or 'Metal Gear Solid'. It's just a standard video game trope, and it's a perfectly fine one. Would you rather 'Save the Princess' or 'Be betrayed by the obvious betrayer' or 'Fight the puppet and have the puppetmaster reveal themselves at the end' or my personal favorite 'You have amnesia!'

Give me an epic any time, it will never be played out.

Hey, I said I enjoy the hell out of them. But BioWare does have it's own template that they stick to with startling consistency. It's always well-told and engaging, but I'd still like to see gaming stretch it's narrative legs some more. I want to see a gaming equivalent of Pulp Fiction...

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Also, is ther no character customization, because Hawkeeeee looks even dumber n game than in the cinematics, like Duncan's retarded son.

I do believe you just insulted Greg's character. (yes there is character creator, and your family will reflect your appearance somewhat).

Spoiler

I knew there was character customization, but to go as far as changing up the family to match your character is pretty damn awesome. I love the minor things like that.

 

[DracoSuave]

I knew there was character customization, but to go as far as changing up the family to match your character is pretty damn awesome. I love the minor things like that.

Wow. I wasn't expecting that! That's pretty damn cool!

 

[MellowFellow]

I can't wait to play it tomorrow, glad to hear the game will be enjoyable. Now I just need to decide whether I want my character to be a tank or a two-handed wep warrior.

Does anyone know if you can be a dual wielding warrior because that's what I played in DAO. In the demo you couldn't play as a dual wielding warrior, so I don't think you can be one, which makes me a little disappointed but it's not that big of a deal.

 

[Talvrae]

*Gosh* Quit it with Elder's scrolls V... They arent the same kind of game at all. I will more certenelly play lot's more of DA2 than Skyrim... I just can,t stand the Elder Scrolls serie... Boring game is boring

 

[Talvrae]

I can't wait to play it tomorrow, glad to hear the game will be enjoyable. Now I just need to decide whether I want my character to be a tank or a two-handed wep warrior.

Does anyone know if you can be a dual wielding warrior because that's what I played in DAO. In the demo you couldn't play as a dual wielding warrior, so I don't think you can be one, which makes me a little disappointed but it's not that big of a deal.

No dual wielding is exclusive to rogue now... they did to make all classes different

 

[DracoSuave]

The towns are basically empty, and I got halfway through the demo by smashing the auto-attack button. How the hell does this deserve a perfect score?

Did you not notice all the advertising they have done on the Escapist over the previous months?

Call me a tool, but The Escapist is one of the few professional viewers I actually trust. I can't expect them to agree with me on everything, and it's easier for me to just say The Escapist is wrong on this one; I don't think they're being bought.

But yeah, the general consensus on the forums I visit is that DLC Age II is bad. I visited the Bioware forums, and the devs really do act like children, shutting down criticism with half-baked excuses.

The problem is that the people saying it's bad have no clue what they are actually talking about. When the lack of logic used in criticism is as bad as you actually see in this thread, you get an idea of why they shut down those discussions. If you open a thread that says 'DA2 WILL HAVE NO CUSTOMIZATION' when said statement is patently false, expect your inane rantings to get shut down.

The assborne-criticism is so bad that Something Awful created an article explicitly to SHOW how absolutely retarded it is. That's how absolutely rediculous it is. In this thread ALONE you have people insisting there's no item management, no customization, it's mass effect dialog, despite all evidence to the contrary.

The general consensus on those forums is that a bunch of people who've never actually even played the DEMO of all things are critiquing the game based on their imagination. Now, you can look at reviews from people who've played the game, or you can look at reviews from people who've decided they won't even look at the demo.

Just because it's a consensus doesn't change the fact it's a consensus of idiots.

 

[PeetyPeencess]

Weeee~ Wow this is such an early review! Helps with the decision whether the preorder is worth it or not... The game looks amazing!

 

[MellowFellow]

I can't wait to play it tomorrow, glad to hear the game will be enjoyable. Now I just need to decide whether I want my character to be a tank or a two-handed wep warrior.

Does anyone know if you can be a dual wielding warrior because that's what I played in DAO. In the demo you couldn't play as a dual wielding warrior, so I don't think you can be one, which makes me a little disappointed but it's not that big of a deal.

No dual wielding is exclusive to rogue now... they did to make all classes different

Aww man. I thought this would be true, oh well, I will just have to play a rogue on my second playthrough.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

The towns are basically empty, and I got halfway through the demo by smashing the auto-attack button. How the hell does this deserve a perfect score?

just because a game isn't controller-snappingly hard doesn't mean it's a bad game. you WANT games to go back to the days of Ninja Gaiden and Battle Toads?

 

[loremazd]

The towns are basically empty, and I got halfway through the demo by smashing the auto-attack button. How the hell does this deserve a perfect score?

Did you not notice all the advertising they have done on the Escapist over the previous months?

Call me a tool, but The Escapist is one of the few professional viewers I actually trust. I can't expect them to agree with me on everything, and it's easier for me to just say The Escapist is wrong on this one; I don't think they're being bought.

But yeah, the general consensus on the forums I visit is that DLC Age II is bad. I visited the Bioware forums, and the devs really do act like children, shutting down criticism with half-baked excuses.

General consensus is always negative on all forums.

People dont stop playing something they like to get on a forum.

 

[Jennacide]

You really should note this is a review for the 360, as unless you pay attention to the video suppliment, it's never stated. And unlike the first one, where combat was different but not by much, the games are DRAMATICALLY different between console and PC now. PC does have auto-attack, skills are balanced and weighted differently, and the amount of NPCs to bash on have been increased. (All of these are from the words of Bioware themselves)

Additionally, I have to sort of take issue with calling the game beautiful. Even by console standards it's pretty bland and uninspired, and just all the videos of it I've watched show that everything except humanoid models had polycounts lowered. /graphicsTalk

Don't get me wrong. Still bought the game, still hope it's good. But let's be honest here, the one thing DA2 can't possibly have increased in over DAO was graphics. DAO had some issues, but it looked far better than the really samey worlds now and completely ridiculous animation DA2 has.

The towns are basically empty, and I got halfway through the demo by smashing the auto-attack button. How the hell does this deserve a perfect score?

Did you not notice all the advertising they have done on the Escapist over the previous months?

Call me a tool, but The Escapist is one of the few professional viewers I actually trust. I can't expect them to agree with me on everything, and it's easier for me to just say The Escapist is wrong on this one; I don't think they're being bought.

But yeah, the general consensus on the forums I visit is that DLC Age II is bad. I visited the Bioware forums, and the devs really do act like children, shutting down criticism with half-baked excuses.

The comment about them acting like children is particularly what bothered me. When one of their devs used the term "gigglesquee" when talking about "how cute Merill is" I wanted to vomit. Also still trying to figure out how Merill went from looking like her mid 20's in DAO to looking 14 in DA2, when DA2 takes place AFTER the Dalish opening of DAO.

 

[draythefingerless]

What kind of Dwarf is BEARDLESS!? That is HERESY!! By Moradin's beard, I swear had I known this I would not have pre-ordered this game to promote such sacrilege >:U

Back to the topic at hand: On the other hand I'm not really sure about this one. I can only speak from the demo, but it being called the pinanacle of the RPG is probably going a little far; that position is already claimed by Planescape: Torment.

IMO it almost seems like Bioware is coming to be hailed as a grand RPG developer because they are one of the three triple A developers that actually make RPGs. But... I'm not so sure they're actually as good as my RPG starved brain thinks then are. >_>;;

BioWare realizes sth most story tellers dont. You can have the most amusing and captivating story in the world at your disposal, but it means NOTHING if you cannot connect or understand the personas involved in it. There are only TWO devs, of the bigger ones that come to my mind, that actually understand that a story is about its characters. BioWare and Atlus. Mass Effect series is one of the best RPGs ive played since im addicted to games, because it focuses and creates sooooo well rounded characters. Williams, Tali, Garrus, Joker, Mordin, Grunt, Thane, Legion, Shepard. And for Atlus, prety much everyone in Shin Megami Tensei. They make you connect to characters, and thats why, even if its a standard go kill baddie story, you like it. Cause you connect emotionally.

 

[draythefingerless]

I can't wait to play it tomorrow, glad to hear the game will be enjoyable. Now I just need to decide whether I want my character to be a tank or a two-handed wep warrior.

Does anyone know if you can be a dual wielding warrior because that's what I played in DAO. In the demo you couldn't play as a dual wielding warrior, so I don't think you can be one, which makes me a little disappointed but it's not that big of a deal.

No dual wielding is exclusive to rogue now... they did to make all classes different

Aww man. I thought this would be true, oh well, I will just have to play a rogue on my second playthrough.

Dont listen to that comment. There is double bladed warrior(ITS ONE OF THE GODAMN SKILL TREES, FFS).

EDIT: no wait i was wrong. sorry. posting at 5 am.

 

[Canadish]

I can't wait to play it tomorrow, glad to hear the game will be enjoyable. Now I just need to decide whether I want my character to be a tank or a two-handed wep warrior.

Does anyone know if you can be a dual wielding warrior because that's what I played in DAO. In the demo you couldn't play as a dual wielding warrior, so I don't think you can be one, which makes me a little disappointed but it's not that big of a deal.

No dual wielding is exclusive to rogue now... they did to make all classes different

Aww man. I thought this would be true, oh well, I will just have to play a rogue on my second playthrough.

Dont listen to that comment. There is double bladed warrior(ITS ONE OF THE GODAMN SKILL TREES, FFS).

No its not. Double check it.
Only Sword and Board/Two handed Buster Swords.

 

[Bobbity]

Whine whine whine Dragon Age 2 sucks whine whine whine.

Jokes.
Seriously though, I'm really excited for this game. I saw a poster up at EB yesterday saying March 8, so went out today and... FUCK. Turns out that was a mistake, and it's not out till the tenth here, same as Pokemon. I really do hate gaming in Australia.

I am using my psychic powers to predict there will be a hatefully bitchy female companion that will criticize your every move but still sleep with you if you choose to romance her. Also, is ther no character customization, because Hawkeeeee looks even dumber n game than in the cinematics, like Duncan's retarded son.

The towns are basically empty, and I got halfway through the demo by smashing the auto-attack button. How the hell does this deserve a perfect score?

Did you not notice all the advertising they have done on the Escapist over the previous months?

Please stop spewing your hatred, although admittedly, you're most likely right about the bitchy but surprisingly seduceable female companion

 

[PopcornAvenger]

Given that it's predecessor was far from "excellent", another glowing-with-the-hyperbole Escapist review to view with suspicion. This is becoming a trend that is leading me to try to find an unbiased site, if they exist.

Dragon Age is far, far from the "heir apparent to Baldur's Gate" they touted it to be. It now sounds like more of a fantasy clone of Mass Effect, with gameplay suffering at the expense of cutscenes and endless dialog trees that, thank you, no, does not impel me to play the game again and again just to hear a NPC say something different.

I suppose I'll know for sure if/when I find some level headed reviews -or even more certain, when I buy it at a discounted price (sometime) in the future when sales have died down.

 

[demogoblin]

While I find this review to be informative on the mechanics of the game, I think it is further justification for why reviews should just be a bullet-point list. The writing is terrible, essentially it seems to be: "So I use to live in New York, which is exactly like this game! Remember Empire Strikes Back? Yeah, that was awesome, just like this game! Blood all over my face!"

And then this is just too good to paraphrase:

BioWare is one of the few companies that uses the advanced computing power available to modern game designers to let you actually play a role.

Thank god, I can finally stop playing my roles on my TI-83! This doesn't read like someone who even understands how technology works, and I'm certain that's not the case.

My advice (because I would like to see reviews of decent quality in regards to video games):
-Learn to pick out the bad of the game, if you can't see any, look harder or quit, it's there. Then judge the game based on how hard it was to find the faults, how much it annoyed you, and how much it may annoy a variety of users from the hardest of core to the most casual. But don't forget to actually include real criticism, if people just want a glowing list of features they'll look at the developers website to read features like "gives golden blow jobs".
-Write your review, then cut it down by 33%. I guarantee you that you won't have to throw out sentences with game play information if you do it right

 

[P47R1CK]

Just lost what little respect I had for the Escapist Reviews.