Poll: Dragon Age 2 Demo Impressions

[BehattedWanderer]

I didn't have a problem with it. In DA:O, I never needed to micromanage individuals, as I just custom set their tactics for different battles. I have no doubt I'll be able to do the same in DA2, so that's easy enough. I have had the occasional problem with being stun-locked into death in the demo, which was annoying as all hell, and the brother has died in almost every battle, so hooray for finding out who's useless right from the start.

 

[General Sarrano]

Was disappointed with the demo if im honest, Varric made me smile a little (that guys chin is amazingly HUGE! lol) but it just felt like a bastardized mix of a poor hack-n-slash with Mass Effects dialog system. Maybe im being too harsh, don't get me wrong i adore both DA:O and ME1+2, but it just felt hollow and not very well done. Also i can't stand the visuals of the NPCs in your party, I don't see why, in my eyes, the graphics had to take a hit...

I'll still rent it or something when it comes out, just to see if it's worth buying, but seriously Bioware, don't drop the ball here guys, your on somewhat of a roll!

 

[DirgeNovak]

Love it. I really need to finish DA:O before March 8th.
My only question is why did they change Flemeth's appearance if it's set in the same time as the first game? Continuity is nice.

Well it can't really be the same time since the darkspawn apparently took over everything, I'm guessing it's a couple of decades latter, or even centuries.
And they since they gotten alot prettier this time around I assume they put together a darkspawn union that demanded a good health-care plan, then there were probably quite alot of strikes, some slaughters, some demonic sit downs,... trust me these tings take hell of a long time to work out

The game begins just after Lothering's destruction, which is early on in DA:O. So the Flemeth in DA2 is certainly the same Flemeth that's in DA:O. So why does she look so different?

 

[minispike47]

Love it. I really need to finish DA:O before March 8th.
My only question is why did they change Flemeth's appearance if it's set in the same time as the first game? Continuity is nice.

Well it can't really be the same time since the darkspawn apparently took over everything, I'm guessing it's a couple of decades latter, or even centuries.
And they since they gotten alot prettier this time around I assume they put together a darkspawn union that demanded a good health-care plan, then there were probably quite alot of strikes, some slaughters, some demonic sit downs,... trust me these tings take hell of a long time to work out

The game begins just after Lothering's destruction, which is early on in DA:O. So the Flemeth in DA2 is certainly the same Flemeth that's in DA:O. So why does she look so different?

Correct me if I'm wrong but can't Flemeth shape-shift? Can't she 'absorb' others bodies so that she can become youthful again (like what she wanted to do with Morrigan)

 

[swooshmeister]

all is forgiven if they insert a special achievement: sleep with every female character in the game(including hawkes mom)----> P.I.M.P



why look like and old bat for grey warden and look like a madam i'd like to fondle for hawke then?

 

[Veldel]

I did not like the change or the demo but ragrdless iv had the signiture version preordered

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Love it. I really need to finish DA:O before March 8th.
My only question is why did they change Flemeth's appearance if it's set in the same time as the first game? Continuity is nice.

Well it can't really be the same time since the darkspawn apparently took over everything, I'm guessing it's a couple of decades latter, or even centuries.
And they since they gotten alot prettier this time around I assume they put together a darkspawn union that demanded a good health-care plan, then there were probably quite alot of strikes, some slaughters, some demonic sit downs,... trust me these tings take hell of a long time to work out

The game begins just after Lothering's destruction, which is early on in DA:O. So the Flemeth in DA2 is certainly the same Flemeth that's in DA:O. So why does she look so different?

We don't know what she is but we do know she's capable of changing forms. I'm guessing she took the form Hawke and company would be most comfortable with. Then, when the Warden met her during the first game we see her as the old hag she is because she took the form the Warden expected her to have.

OT: I thought the demo looked horrible but now that I played it I'm really glad with what they did with the game. The action is more fast paced which is a plus, the graphics look good and I'll refrain from commenting on the story until I actually play the full game. It's a departure from Origins but honestly this is a good thing. It changed the original formula so much that the game is almost unrecognizable but I'm still enjoying it. One low point was the game trying to be dramatic but for some reason it just couldn't pull it off. I had a feeling of uneasiness whilst playing Dragon Age: Origins mostly due to its art style which basically screamed "Dark fantasy" to me but this new style is more light hearted and just doesn't have the same effect on me. A scene that was supposed to contain emotion, a wife being forced to kill her husband, had absolutely no effect on me which from a game claiming to be a dark fantasy is a shocker.

 

[Casual Shinji]

This may be perveted but when they first show Hawke, and the girl with him: Holy Big Boobs Batman! I mean seriously, those things are huge. O_O

Yeah, a little bit too huge if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, I love breast just as much as the next man, but those things looked like freaking cannonballs. Let's hope that chick has access to a master-chiropractor.

Anyway, the dark spawn looked pretty silly, certainly not as intimidating as in the first game. And Flemeth seems to have been watching Disney's Sleeping Beauty while she was away. The gameplay looks to be just as repetitive as every other game Bioware has made this generation, but I'll probably still buy it anyway.

 

[Zechnophobe]

I know you said you were undecided about the dialogue wheel but honestly it adds to the whole lack of the game. A persuade/intimidate/bluff/diplomacy or whatever would have been useful and I actually liked making a character in DA:O that did not have "Persuade". Also, the NPCs respond with exactly the same line for whatever you say so again, flaw.

Right...sorry about the rant. I'm tired and still pretty uptight about it all.

So, my knee jerk reaction is the same about the wheel. It does seem like a limiter. However, playing ME1 and 2 I've noticed something: You still end up getting roughly the same narrative information and story with it. The main change is the flow of conversation. You extract details via the left side of the wheel, and by initiative an 'investigate' option, you get 6 new questions... 6 is actually rather a lot. The 6 new can have followups. There isn't any reason that a 6 or even 3 pronged tree can't cover the same number of topics. Also, you know when a response will move you out of investigation towards the end of the sequence.

On the other hand, I think it is very frustrating not knowing exactly what my tone will be when I respond. Will the Renegade (or whatever) option be a "Suck it up, we get this done, or we all die" type of line or a more antagonistic "I should just leave you to die, I guess" type of line. These break immersion an amount equal to how far the actual line is from the expected line. That's bad, and rather unnecessary.

So, I rather like the idea of structuring dialogue in a less 'who knows how this will progress things' way, but I don't like the idea of not knowing what reaction I'm giving my avatar. But since the latter is not an INHERENT failing in the system (That is, it could be done well and not be a problem) I'm generally optimistic.

 

[D Moness]

This may be perveted but when they first show Hawke, and the girl with him: Holy Big Boobs Batman! I mean seriously, those things are huge. O_O

Yeah, a little bit too huge if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, I love breast just as much as the next man, but those things looked like freaking cannonballs.

I really do not understand people call that a plus. It really looks terrible. I will probably buy the game though the demo made me very interested.

 

[ItsAChiaotzu]

-The combat system makes it feel like a hack and slash. During a fight with an Ogre or whatever that big thing was, I was actually able to avoid being hit by moving away once he threw his rock. That's not RPG combat, that's arcade combat.

Sorry, this complaint just made me chuckle a little.

"How dare Bioware give me the option to use skill to sway the tide of battle in my favour. Those dicks!"

Yeah, I'll get back to you when/if I decide to download it.

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

Ill make it short.

Bad voice acting, stone cold formal player character, simplified and shortened dialogue, creepy faces and expressions, undead darkspawn, technical glitches. Better combat.

 

[ecoho]

Love it. I really need to finish DA:O before March 8th.
My only question is why did they change Flemeth's appearance if it's set in the same time as the first game? Continuity is nice.

Well it can't really be the same time since the darkspawn apparently took over everything, I'm guessing it's a couple of decades latter, or even centuries.
And they since they gotten alot prettier this time around I assume they put together a darkspawn union that demanded a good health-care plan, then there were probably quite alot of strikes, some slaughters, some demonic sit downs,... trust me these tings take hell of a long time to work out

The game begins just after Lothering's destruction, which is early on in DA:O. So the Flemeth in DA2 is certainly the same Flemeth that's in DA:O. So why does she look so different?

how do we know she doesnt just look like that and her aperance in the first game is her illusion?

 

[magicmonkeybars]

I'll just copy what I wrote on the steam forums:

Remember how DA:O was supposed to be a return to the glory days of PC RPG's?

Well if this demo is anything like the game, I take this as Bioware saying "I DIDN'T MEAN IT LOL". The lack of overhead camera is a huge deal breaker for me. That's how I played DA:O, that's how I played Baulder's Gate, Diablo, Dungeon Siege, Sacred, etc, etc.

It feels so strange and wrong to me. I also notice a numerous assortment of UI glitches. Like in the level up screen if you don't click the bottom right of a characters portrait the screen just exits for some reason. That's sure what I wanted to do.

I also feel the graphics are somehow worse than DA:O. Things seem cleaner, no doubt, but the world feels lifeless somehow, the animations seem odd or something. I also notice the armor basically looks like it' just painted onto the characters. At some cases, it even acts like it too. What's the point of armor if

Spoiler

you can just slip a dagger right through it somehow, a-la Wesley?

pretty disappointed, and I was one of the hugest DA:O fans you'll meet.

Also, here is an artist's rendition of Flemeth

THIS, I get the distinct feeling that Dragon Age 2 has gotten a thick layer of "for console" painted over it.
I'm not as enthusiastic after playing the demo as I expected to be.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I know you said you were undecided about the dialogue wheel but honestly it adds to the whole lack of the game. A persuade/intimidate/bluff/diplomacy or whatever would have been useful and I actually liked making a character in DA:O that did not have "Persuade". Also, the NPCs respond with exactly the same line for whatever you say so again, flaw.

Right...sorry about the rant. I'm tired and still pretty uptight about it all.

On the other hand, I think it is very frustrating not knowing exactly what my tone will be when I respond. Will the Renegade (or whatever) option be a "Suck it up, we get this done, or we all die" type of line or a more antagonistic "I should just leave you to die, I guess" type of line. These break immersion an amount equal to how far the actual line is from the expected line. That's bad, and rather unnecessary.

Fortunately the symbol displayed when you mouse over a conversation option seems to be designed to prevent this. You have to learn them to use them obviously, but once you get the hang of them they seem pretty cool. The one's I've identified so far are (roughly speaking) peaceful, good, smart arse, forceful, evil and stoic. Also there seems to be a couple for more specialised situations, such as when you have to make a choice with no definitely right answer.

 

[Casual Shinji]

This may be perveted but when they first show Hawke, and the girl with him: Holy Big Boobs Batman! I mean seriously, those things are huge. O_O

Yeah, a little bit too huge if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, I love breast just as much as the next man, but those things looked like freaking cannonballs.

I really do not understand people call that a plus. It really looks terrible.

I know.

It's not just that they look big, they look unhealthy. As if she's suffering from somekind of petrified-breast desease.

 

[Rusty pumpkin]

On the pc, combat was actually much better. felt smoother and more active then the first. my problem is the conversation, they went mass effect 2 on it. it still feels like the first 1, but the character has an odd habit of not saying exactly what i thought they'd say. choosing "I'll help" could very well translate to "I'll murder your mother for you then hump her corpse" Also, are the freaking faces necessary? its already so reminiscent of mass effect 2 that i can tell top is good, middle neutral (or comical in this case... wtf) and bottom bad. so yes, better combat, but adding a voice actor to the player really limits dialogue choices, i didnt mind the silent protaganist cause there was enough dialogue choices so that i was never thinking "I wouldn't say this... who would say this?"

 

[Zechnophobe]

I know you said you were undecided about the dialogue wheel but honestly it adds to the whole lack of the game. A persuade/intimidate/bluff/diplomacy or whatever would have been useful and I actually liked making a character in DA:O that did not have "Persuade". Also, the NPCs respond with exactly the same line for whatever you say so again, flaw.

Right...sorry about the rant. I'm tired and still pretty uptight about it all.

On the other hand, I think it is very frustrating not knowing exactly what my tone will be when I respond. Will the Renegade (or whatever) option be a "Suck it up, we get this done, or we all die" type of line or a more antagonistic "I should just leave you to die, I guess" type of line. These break immersion an amount equal to how far the actual line is from the expected line. That's bad, and rather unnecessary.

Fortunately the symbol displayed when you mouse over a conversation option seems to be designed to prevent this. You have to learn them to use them obviously, but once you get the hang of them they seem pretty cool. The one's I've identified so far are (roughly speaking) peaceful, good, smart arse, forceful, evil and stoic. Also there seems to be a couple for more specialised situations, such as when you have to make a choice with no definitely right answer.

I may have missed this when playing. I noticed three icons, the 'bad' 'funny' 'good' trio, but not the others. Perhaps as your character develops you have slightly different possibilities.