How's Dragon Age 2 treating you?
- Thread starter Jandau
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One of the arguments behind why DA 2 is 'dumbed' down, is to cater to the console crowd. Because we're all morons apparently, who dislike micromanagement, even if said micromanagement is a broken mechanic (See: Herbalism, survival, crafting etc).Jandau said:
Heh, weren't people complaining about DA:O being dumbed down and too "console friendly" compared to the likes of Baldur's Gate?
And now people want Dragon Age 2 to be more like DA:O.
Hilarious.
Haven't tried it yet, but will be grabbing it for the PC and all the changes to the game described here sound just fine to me.
And now people want Dragon Age 2 to be more like DA:O.
Hilarious.
Haven't tried it yet, but will be grabbing it for the PC and all the changes to the game described here sound just fine to me.
I think the game is good so far, I'm surprised at the amount of skill trees there are. I think right now I like it about as much as I did Origins.
I had to put it on Normal though, first playthrough I don't want too much trouble.
Edit: Also, I thought I'd hate the new art style, but aside from the ridiculously oversized swords, the games enviroments are quite stunning.
I had to put it on Normal though, first playthrough I don't want too much trouble.
Edit: Also, I thought I'd hate the new art style, but aside from the ridiculously oversized swords, the games enviroments are quite stunning.
Or how it's somehow directly our fault as individuals that a developer decides to tweak their approach to a game to allow for better use on different platforms. The whole console vs. PC thing is fucking tiring. I own every console and recently bought a gaming PC, so I can enjoy games, period. Both the console and PC have their pros and cons, but it ultimately comes down to personal preference. Why so many people are intent on arguing against such a thing is beyond me.Daystar Clarion said:
Anyway, OT - I literally just got my copy (on the 360). I was trying to register it, but their website is acting up. Now that I've got all the Signature Edition DLC shtuff out of the way, I'm gonna start. Goodbye world!
I agree with you. And even if I didn't, nothing wrong with a good action rpg. It's a badass game so far.Jandau said:
How is giving the player the gist of something removing the RPG elements?Sabiancym said:
There weren't that many ways to equip your character in DA:0. If your PC was a warrior, your choices were the two top choices in terms of protection with a DPS warrior probably favoring the lighter set and the tank favoring the heavy set. While there were many sets of armor in these categories, in general if you found a piece of the correct weight that was of higher tier, there was no reason not to swap them out. Most "choices" are instead simple calculations, and the truth is, if you were a tank then the only armor you ought to wear is Juggernaut. Failing that, Blood Dragon. And if you didn't want to collect the Juggernaut and did not have access to Blood Dragon, the custom Dragon Bone plate you can get. And, if you somehow chose to not do the required quest to do that either, that leaves you with any heavy armor made of dragon bone.Sabiancym said:
This repeats itself at length for every character and class.
In DA:O all you could do was give gifts to the correct person for a +5 to + 10 bonus, or give it to the wrong person for a +1 to + 5. Even if you took every non - major gift in the game and gave it to the wrong person, simply giving two correct gifts offered a more substantial bonus. This isn't open so much as it punishing not correctly guessing who might like a faded painting or who would be most pleased if they got a gold ring.Sabiancym said:
You are still fully capable of directing the actions of your party. If anything, this requires people to better micromanage their party members.Sabiancym said:
I'm not sure how this indicates the game's RPG elements have degraded.Sabiancym said:
This is largely thanks to the fact that many of those skills were either entirely useless or only served a limited function. Trap making offered no better means of crowd control and damage than other options available. Poison on the other hand offered a means to increase damage output of a character and eventually netted useful options for dealing with various specialist enemy types. Herbalism was largely useless unless one played for extended periods without a healer mage in the party as the various potions found in the course of the game were more than sufficient for emergency healing duties.Sabiancym said:
Yes, I know that people want to have more options in an RPG, but the fact is most of the time people lament a loss of a choice that was not a choice at all.
Well I was having fun, until 5 minutes ago. 10 hours into the game, I get into the final room of this bone mine thing, and nothing appears, the game doesn't freeze, my character can move, but it's still at the loading screen. I exit and find that ALL OF MY SAVE FILES GOT CORRUPTED. I expect this from Bethesda or Obsidian but what the hell, how does it corrupt 3 autosaves and a manual save?
Can't wait to use my Blood Dragon Armor like I did in the first.
Daystar Clarion said:
I'm a PC gamer (mentioned that in the OP), and I don't think it's dumbed down, and even if it were, I don't think it would be because of the consoles. Also, I don't want this thread to turn into a platform war, there are plenty of threads for that. Just ignore the trolls.GreatTeacherCAW said:
Huh, didn't know that. However, the link to the autoattack thread has a dev post stating that they're patching it in. Shame it got messed up in development like that though...Bonemonster said:
Sorry to be off topic here but I have a quick question about this.
I don't have Dragon Age 2 but I was thinking of getting it but I really didn't like Origins, so I stopped playing it.
How is the gameplay compared to the first one and would I have to have played Origins to get the story here?
I don't have Dragon Age 2 but I was thinking of getting it but I really didn't like Origins, so I stopped playing it.
How is the gameplay compared to the first one and would I have to have played Origins to get the story here?
Mixed feelings so far.
Before I chime in, though, I want to say a few words about the "elitist pc gamers".
I played DA1 on 360 for about 15 hours. It was fun. Then I built a PC and switched over, and I can confidently declare that the console version doesn't hold a fucking candle. The PC version is better in every single way, and I honestly cannot comprehend how someone with access to both platforms could possibly disagree with that assessment.
What's my point? This: when console-only gamers call me an "elitist", all I hear is "I can't afford, or refuse to build, a quality gaming PC, so I'm going to accuse you of arrogance for having the audacity to point out the stone-cold truth". If that rubs anyone the wrong way, sorry, but that's the way it is. I know because I was gaming exclusively on 360 and PS3 for years. Then I ponied up about $1500 and built a beastly PC. Now that's where I play every non-exclusive game because it's simply the best platform, hands down. Anyone who owns all three (provided your PC can play stuff like Crysis at or near max) will agree.
So with that out of my system... yeah, pretty mixed feelings about DA2. I love what they've done with the flow and feel of combat, but there's still way too damn much of it. Every time you turn around, you're slaughtering a dozen enemies. It gets to be pretty tiresome. And for all the flash and sparkle of the admittedly improved animations, it still takes quite a while to resolve a lot of fights. It really diminishes the dramatic weight of mortal combat when it never fucking stops.
The real issue, however, is how little else there is to the game. You fast-travel almost everywhere, essentially warping into very confined linear areas. You trigger predictable combat sequences, mop up all the bad guys, click on anything that sparkles, and repeat. Now I know I just described a lot of what happens in a typical RPG, but DA2 simply takes the reigns away from you far too often. The game regularly skips rising and falling action, allowing the narrator to fill in the gaps. That's fine for a standard action game or a movie, but an RPG? Sorry, I want to fill in those gaps for myself.
They did a lot of good things with the sequel, to be sure. The visuals are greatly improved. I greatly prefer the dialogue system over Origins or ME2. I'd rather a silent protagonist, but this voice certainly doesn't grate. The crafting and skills systems seem improved. Don't care for the loss of party armor management, but that's hardly the end of the world.
All that said... they definitely Mass Affected this series. The game feels like it's on rails now. It works to keep things moving, for sure, but I definitely feel a loss of "ownership" of the proceedings. I'm more like a film viewer with a bunch of "play" buttons than an author of my own story.
Before I chime in, though, I want to say a few words about the "elitist pc gamers".
I played DA1 on 360 for about 15 hours. It was fun. Then I built a PC and switched over, and I can confidently declare that the console version doesn't hold a fucking candle. The PC version is better in every single way, and I honestly cannot comprehend how someone with access to both platforms could possibly disagree with that assessment.
What's my point? This: when console-only gamers call me an "elitist", all I hear is "I can't afford, or refuse to build, a quality gaming PC, so I'm going to accuse you of arrogance for having the audacity to point out the stone-cold truth". If that rubs anyone the wrong way, sorry, but that's the way it is. I know because I was gaming exclusively on 360 and PS3 for years. Then I ponied up about $1500 and built a beastly PC. Now that's where I play every non-exclusive game because it's simply the best platform, hands down. Anyone who owns all three (provided your PC can play stuff like Crysis at or near max) will agree.
So with that out of my system... yeah, pretty mixed feelings about DA2. I love what they've done with the flow and feel of combat, but there's still way too damn much of it. Every time you turn around, you're slaughtering a dozen enemies. It gets to be pretty tiresome. And for all the flash and sparkle of the admittedly improved animations, it still takes quite a while to resolve a lot of fights. It really diminishes the dramatic weight of mortal combat when it never fucking stops.
The real issue, however, is how little else there is to the game. You fast-travel almost everywhere, essentially warping into very confined linear areas. You trigger predictable combat sequences, mop up all the bad guys, click on anything that sparkles, and repeat. Now I know I just described a lot of what happens in a typical RPG, but DA2 simply takes the reigns away from you far too often. The game regularly skips rising and falling action, allowing the narrator to fill in the gaps. That's fine for a standard action game or a movie, but an RPG? Sorry, I want to fill in those gaps for myself.
They did a lot of good things with the sequel, to be sure. The visuals are greatly improved. I greatly prefer the dialogue system over Origins or ME2. I'd rather a silent protagonist, but this voice certainly doesn't grate. The crafting and skills systems seem improved. Don't care for the loss of party armor management, but that's hardly the end of the world.
All that said... they definitely Mass Affected this series. The game feels like it's on rails now. It works to keep things moving, for sure, but I definitely feel a loss of "ownership" of the proceedings. I'm more like a film viewer with a bunch of "play" buttons than an author of my own story.
I don't care much for the setting. Kirkwall is an immensely boring place after the 40th side quest in the same 3 or 4 areas.
Combat is MUCH improved. It flows better, less pausing, less heal spam. Rogues are actually really damn good in DA2, as opposed to Origins where they were basically lockpicking ***** and nothing more. I dislike how poorly my tank holds aggro though, I feel like once she unloads her Stam pool, I can either have her keep chugging potions or just have her forget about aggro for a while. Sustainables eat 80% of Aveline's Stam pool.
Characters... mixed bag. I like a few, don't like some others. None of them have become as interesting/funny to me as Alistair and Morrigan were in Origins.
Story has been mediocre so far. Nothing has really happened, although I have spent most of my time on side quests thus far. I still don't really have a main antagonist to worry about, nor do I really know what direction the game is taking me.
I'm about 15 hours in on PC, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.
Combat is MUCH improved. It flows better, less pausing, less heal spam. Rogues are actually really damn good in DA2, as opposed to Origins where they were basically lockpicking ***** and nothing more. I dislike how poorly my tank holds aggro though, I feel like once she unloads her Stam pool, I can either have her keep chugging potions or just have her forget about aggro for a while. Sustainables eat 80% of Aveline's Stam pool.
Characters... mixed bag. I like a few, don't like some others. None of them have become as interesting/funny to me as Alistair and Morrigan were in Origins.
Story has been mediocre so far. Nothing has really happened, although I have spent most of my time on side quests thus far. I still don't really have a main antagonist to worry about, nor do I really know what direction the game is taking me.
I'm about 15 hours in on PC, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.
You can still have all your little tactics, you poor little victim of nostalgia. Turn the auto-attack on, and the combat is the same as DA:O, but with smoother animations. I'm getting really sick of repeating this to people again and again.bussinrounds said:
