Poll: Is Dragon Age 2 a bad game?
- Thread starter LobsterFeng
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I like it, I've played it from start to finish about three times now.
HOWEVER.
It's NOT as good as Dragon Age Origins, and it's probably one of Bioware's worst games I have played (never played that Sonic game, nor Shattered Steel).
It had some good writing in there(Bioware have never done 100% on that area, having 6- 7 diffrent writers does that)
The pacing worked (it was their first attempt at something different, so I cut them some slack here).
I liked the characters (except Anders and Fenris) and the combat was great, could use some tweaks.
Now the bad bits.
Between 5- 6 different areas outside Kirkwall, that you revisit 25- 30 times. Probably the worst I've seen in my 20 years of playing games. Fucking horrible by 2011 standards. Mass Effect did this too, almost as bad. Not a good sign since it's also a Bioware game.
They had a good inventory system in DA:O, and they switched it to something that reminds me of Fable 2, and that one was fucking horrible. No real overview and the "star-system" made no sense at all. It's almost a throwback to the horrible system in Mass Effect.
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DA2 is a flawed game, and not a good sequal at all. It really suffered badly by being pushed out the door as it was. It's not bad, but it isn't good either, had it been made by any other company than Bioware, I don't think it would get as much praise as it got. All those good bits in the game suffer from all the cheap shortcuts they decided to take when they made this game.
What boggles me is how it managed to get a 5 here on the Escapist. So much that I don't think I will bother with reviews here anymore.
HOWEVER.
It's NOT as good as Dragon Age Origins, and it's probably one of Bioware's worst games I have played (never played that Sonic game, nor Shattered Steel).
It had some good writing in there(Bioware have never done 100% on that area, having 6- 7 diffrent writers does that)
The pacing worked (it was their first attempt at something different, so I cut them some slack here).
I liked the characters (except Anders and Fenris) and the combat was great, could use some tweaks.
Now the bad bits.
Between 5- 6 different areas outside Kirkwall, that you revisit 25- 30 times. Probably the worst I've seen in my 20 years of playing games. Fucking horrible by 2011 standards. Mass Effect did this too, almost as bad. Not a good sign since it's also a Bioware game.
They had a good inventory system in DA:O, and they switched it to something that reminds me of Fable 2, and that one was fucking horrible. No real overview and the "star-system" made no sense at all. It's almost a throwback to the horrible system in Mass Effect.
´
DA2 is a flawed game, and not a good sequal at all. It really suffered badly by being pushed out the door as it was. It's not bad, but it isn't good either, had it been made by any other company than Bioware, I don't think it would get as much praise as it got. All those good bits in the game suffer from all the cheap shortcuts they decided to take when they made this game.
What boggles me is how it managed to get a 5 here on the Escapist. So much that I don't think I will bother with reviews here anymore.
Dragon Age 2 is a game that I enjoyed playing a great deal, enough to go back and try Dragon Age Origins again; which I despised.
After getting a better handle on the incredibly stilted combat in DA:O I will agree that the story of the first one is a far meatier and better planned example of Bioware writing. I would also agree that the feel of the game is more epic.
However, the combat is awkward and stilted (even World of Warcraft combat flowed better for me), and at this point I feel the voiceless protagonist thing is nonsense because I get no feel for the character: they just seem like a robot doing the most logical thing to advance their cause. The talent system is also a god-almighty mess and is one thing I'm glad they re-did the fuck out of for DA2.
So, in conclusion its almost the same as Mass Effect for me:
Marry the combat and talent system of the sequel to the much higher standard of writing: which helps atmosphere, immersion, and the emotional complexity of your characters and engage them in a properly worthy story that is epic as you did in the original, and boom, winner.
BTW: Varric Tethras is my SUPER BEST BRO
After getting a better handle on the incredibly stilted combat in DA:O I will agree that the story of the first one is a far meatier and better planned example of Bioware writing. I would also agree that the feel of the game is more epic.
However, the combat is awkward and stilted (even World of Warcraft combat flowed better for me), and at this point I feel the voiceless protagonist thing is nonsense because I get no feel for the character: they just seem like a robot doing the most logical thing to advance their cause. The talent system is also a god-almighty mess and is one thing I'm glad they re-did the fuck out of for DA2.
So, in conclusion its almost the same as Mass Effect for me:
Marry the combat and talent system of the sequel to the much higher standard of writing: which helps atmosphere, immersion, and the emotional complexity of your characters and engage them in a properly worthy story that is epic as you did in the original, and boom, winner.
BTW: Varric Tethras is my SUPER BEST BRO
Origins: Loved the story, hated the combat with a passion.
Dragon Age 2: Loved the combat, loved the story until it started to get a bit 'meh' in the third act.
The only big gripes I had about Dragon Age 2 were the reused environments, and the bugs the game had when it first came out. Now that the game has been patched it is great. I no longer have to mash the X button, which makes the game much more fun(yeah I play it on the PS3, and I don't care if anyone has a problem with that). And I don't have to worry about a certain love interest jumping ahead in their own storyline.
Dragon Age 2: Loved the combat, loved the story until it started to get a bit 'meh' in the third act.
The only big gripes I had about Dragon Age 2 were the reused environments, and the bugs the game had when it first came out. Now that the game has been patched it is great. I no longer have to mash the X button, which makes the game much more fun(yeah I play it on the PS3, and I don't care if anyone has a problem with that
). And I don't have to worry about a certain love interest jumping ahead in their own storyline.
It's not a bad game as such but it's weighed down by disappointment at what it could/should have been and frustration at certain game mechanics and reused environments.
I enjoyed my time with the game but I wouldn't play it again and I've certainly no interest in DLC for it. Actually, when I think about it, what I liked most was all the little hints at things to come in future games...I'm not sure that's a good thing really.
I enjoyed my time with the game but I wouldn't play it again and I've certainly no interest in DLC for it. Actually, when I think about it, what I liked most was all the little hints at things to come in future games...I'm not sure that's a good thing really.
The issue is the number 2.
If they'd called it Dragon Age: Kirkwall, or Dragon Age: Champion or something, it would have been received much better. It's not a sequel, it's a spin-off.
The fact that it's a character based story, rather than an event based one probably put a few people off as well. It's an unusual idea for a game. I really enjoyed it though.
My main complaint is the re-use of dungeons thing. That would have grated less if they'd come up with some vague reason to explain me going into the same cave/sewer network/house full of thugs each time rather than just copy-pasting the maps into different locales.
Oh, and Varric is quickly becoming one of my favouritest characters ever.
If they'd called it Dragon Age: Kirkwall, or Dragon Age: Champion or something, it would have been received much better. It's not a sequel, it's a spin-off.
The fact that it's a character based story, rather than an event based one probably put a few people off as well. It's an unusual idea for a game. I really enjoyed it though.
My main complaint is the re-use of dungeons thing. That would have grated less if they'd come up with some vague reason to explain me going into the same cave/sewer network/house full of thugs each time rather than just copy-pasting the maps into different locales.
Oh, and Varric is quickly becoming one of my favouritest characters ever.
That's pretty much the worst reason I've ever heard to dislike a game. And there are a lot of stupid reasons for disliking this game.J03bot said:
The only thing that's truly bad about this game is the rehashed environments. You really can't do that anymore these days, quite a faillure.
Love it to death, it has such awesome characters and complaining that RPG elements are left out of it is like complaining hack n slash combat was left out of the first one.
Also you dont get fucked in the ass by every fresh encounter which is nice, its most certainly not perfect (EG the giant dragon boss fight basically boils down too 'aggro onto one guy and then run that guy around until dragon be dead) but its held my attention for so damn long i'll defend it against anything.
Also you dont get fucked in the ass by every fresh encounter which is nice, its most certainly not perfect (EG the giant dragon boss fight basically boils down too 'aggro onto one guy and then run that guy around until dragon be dead) but its held my attention for so damn long i'll defend it against anything.
It's a great game, it's not much of an RPG. It's fun to play, with interesting characters and plot, but they dumbed-down a lot of what made it an RPG. It's really more of a tactical action game now.LobsterFeng said:
Dragon Age 2 has its problems and it's definitely a low point in BioWare's reputation (if the "purists" are anything to go off of), but it's not a bad game. It's not great, but it's one of those game where you need to avoid comparing the game to Origins as much as possible (a con for most, I know, but that's how it is).
I'd go into details about my own experiences, but no one cares about all that. So let's move on, shall we?
I'd go into details about my own experiences, but no one cares about all that. So let's move on, shall we?