Preview: What's New in Dragon Age II

[paragon1]

wangst

Way to be extremely confrontational and hostile right out the gate. I would strongly suggest you reread the forum guidelines. If you can state your opinion in a polite manner, then maybe the Escapist isn't the forum for you.
If having a group of adventurers save the world from a great evil makes a game cliched, then a good 99.99% of videogames would have to be considered cliched to a certain degree.

Also, "leetness", really? I can't even remember the last time someone used that word seriously.

 

[Fumbleumble]

wangst

Way to be extremely confrontational and hostile right out the gate. I would strongly suggest you reread the forum guidelines. If you can state your opinion in a polite manner, then maybe the Escapist isn't the forum for you.
If having a group of adventurers save the world from a great evil makes a game cliched, then a good 99.99% of videogames would have to be considered cliched to a certain degree.

Also, "leetness", really? I can't even remember the last time someone used that word seriously.

And despite the 3 pages of words in front of your eyes.. you have nothing else to say? :/

I could argue that your summation of all of my words in to such a singular statement as 'wangst' is equally confrontational and designed to provoke a negative reaction... hmmm?

At least my provocation had more than one syllable.

 

[repeating integers]

This makes me really interested in this game.

I'm going to say something that will probably offend Fumbleumble and several other people: If Mass Effect isn't a "true" RPG, I don't want to play a true RPG. Many of the elements that you guys felt there weren't enough of in the first game, I felt glad there wasn't more of - because any more of it would be tedious and boring. Hell, I played KOTOR after playing Mass Effect, I was frankly bowled over by the complexity of the character creation sheet with all those traits I had no clue about. Oh, and the combat was rubbish.

I love the Mass Effect games (both equally, for different reasons), and as time goes on I'm starting to believe this is because it's just the right mix of RPG and TPS for me - too far to the RPG side would probably have turned me off the game. But I adored the Mako to death, so I guess my opinion is invalid.

 

[Hargrimm]

Fumbleumble, quit trying to start shit - what's your definition or "original" anyway? Pretty much every story, every game, every movie, every book - it's all been done before in some way. It's how you take that typical story and make it your own...

But that's the problem. Sure, they made it their own, but they have been telling almost the EXACT same story just in different settings. Since Baldur's Gate II. And that was released TEN YEARS ago.
They even reuse most of their characters.
Shamus already covered this:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6862-Experienced-Points-The-Writers-of-BioWare

Holy shit, this has quickly turned into a big PC vs Consoles and Modern vs Older RPGs, hasn't it?
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this quite a bit. And by big a mean huge amount. Being the Bioware fanboy that I am, this is certainly something top look forward to.

Nah.. it's just me shouting at the wind

I got your back, I'm just not as talkactive as you.

 

[Susan Arendt]

''Even on the Xbox 360''... - Oh lord, take cover, the trolls! they are coming!

Yeah, I read that and went, "Um, probably not the best phrase."

On Topic: They are fixing the two things that bothered me. The visuals (how many times did my character's head twitch when he was trying to look somewhere, or her hand go through her forehead instead of just rubbing her brow?) and the dialogue. I was a bit miffed when I got to choose a voice, and then my character never actually TALKED!
I'm more intrigued by the story however. How is there another Blight so soon? What happened with the events in Awakening? Where are the Wardens? So many questions...really looking forward to this.

EDIT: Good Lord, there's a lot of hate in this thread. Calm down people.

I'm not sure, but I think at least part of Dragon Age 2 takes place concurrently with the events of Origins. I seem to recall the game website saying that Hawke starts out as a Lothering refugee.

Correct. This preview says that, too.

The fist part of the game, your flight from Ferelden, takes place during the Blight, but moves on from there fairly quickly.

 

[Fumbleumble]

Fumbleumble, quit trying to start shit - what's your definition or "original" anyway? Pretty much every story, every game, every movie, every book - it's all been done before in some way. It's how you take that typical story and make it your own...

But that's the problem. Sure, they made it their own, but they have been telling almost the EXACT same story just in different settings. Since Baldur's Gate II. And that was released TEN YEARS ago.
They even reuse most of their characters.
Shamus already covered this:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6862-Experienced-Points-The-Writers-of-BioWare

Holy shit, this has quickly turned into a big PC vs Consoles and Modern vs Older RPGs, hasn't it?
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this quite a bit. And by big a mean huge amount. Being the Bioware fanboy that I am, this is certainly something top look forward to.

Nah.. it's just me shouting at the wind

I got your back, I'm just not as talkactive as you.

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........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
............\..............(

 

[Serenegoose]

Eh... I'm tentatively interested in DA2, but only if every time I think about it I forget that it's a sequel to DA1. As a game it'll probably be great. As a sequel to Dragon Age, it sounds awful. The idea of playing a predefined, and as ever, boring old human character (boooooringgggg) in such a rich world, and that forsaken conversation wheel, which can only be redeemed if they scratch the traditional 3 options (good, bad, mercenary asshole) and don't bring anything even resembling the paragon/renegade system from Mass Effect. I hated being told my options were good or bad, it structures the game too much if you're selecting the paragon option just because you don't have the renegade points to choose another option. I'm also not liking the emphasis on combat. I hated the combat in Dragon Age 1, and the idea that they're making it more of a deal irritates me - but as long as I can turn it down to easy mode and spam blood wound I'll live.

Ergh, I'm always incoherent when I dislike how a game sounds, so I guess I'll sum up.

Don't like being forced to be a human - usually what distinguished a human from a dwarf or elf in DA1 was that you got -less- dialogue. Being the privileged race is inherently boring.
Don't like the ME dialogue wheel - it makes dialogue feel shallow and meaningless if I click an option to make -not me- spout of some dialogue that may or may not be what I just intended to say
Don't like RPG combat - kinda subjective, I guess. I just hate dicerolling and 'oh this boss is immune to all your special attacks, grind away!

But Bioware haven't ever released a bad game, in my opinion, so that tempers a lot of my complaint.

 

[MANIFESTER]

Let me start off by saying this... I am a fan of Bioware games. I have been ever since I played Baldur's Gate 2. And yes I have noticed what you are saying and agree with the discussion to an extent. However, does this mean I cannot enjoy their games? enjoy their stories, as well as, their gameplay? No, at least, not for me. Supposedly there was a 'hay day' for RPGs when BG2, Planescape, and many others came out, and when I played those games I was enthralled with them. Just sucked into the world and text around me that described it all to me. To me the difference between then and now is the presentation of it all. I am not afraid to say I was sucked into ME2, not because the story was amazing, but because it felt like a 'space opera', and that just sucked me right into it. It may not be as thought provoking as the classic RPGs, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining to me. Hell when I want to see a movie sometimes I pop in Lawrence of Arabia or Schindler's List, and other times I pop in Avatar or Iron Man (neither particularly thought provoking and not 'classic's in my mind but entertaining none the less). Or lets put this in terms of books... Say... Planescape is 'The Divine Comedy' something entertaining and deep, while say DA:O is a.. Harry Potter book, not particularly deep, but still very entertaining, and neither are 'original'. But I appreciate it all. To summarize, I enjoyed Planescape and it is one of my most memorable games ever, but should that stop me from enjoying someting new? Will you persecute me for doing so? or do I have to become high-brow enough to only eat at a 4 star restaurant without ever stopping into a McDonalds to have a McRib (basically, both are delicious and I love 'em both... same thing as the rest of this post)?

 

[Seneschal]

This makes me really interested in this game.

I'm going to say something that will probably offend Fumbleumble and several other people: If Mass Effect isn't a "true" RPG, I don't want to play a true RPG. Many of the elements that you guys felt there weren't enough of in the first game, I felt glad there wasn't more of - because any more of it would be tedious and boring. Hell, I played KOTOR after playing Mass Effect, I was frankly bowled over by the complexity of the character creation sheet with all those traits I had no clue about. Oh, and the combat was rubbish.

I love the Mass Effect games (both equally, for different reasons), and as time goes on I'm starting to believe this is because it's just the right mix of RPG and TPS for me - too far to the RPG side would probably have turned me off the game. But I adored the Mako to death, so I guess my opinion is invalid.

I agree with you. But you have to understand that the people that once bought Infinity Engine games are now being dragged along by a developer that they know can make great stories, but that isn't making games that appeal to them anymore. Why do you think they made the ME series 3rd person shooters? Sci-fi RPGs are obviously possible, KotOR proves it. They were going after the console shooter audience, and concessions were made OTHER than just a shift in gameplay style, but also in attitude, atmosphere, storytelling methods, linearity, moral choices, depth of interaction with the environment, etc.

And since DAO was a shout back to BioWare's Baldur's Gate days, and even that is moving towards Mass Effect in the sequel, it's safe to say that this is the path BioWare has chosen to follow.

Some people don't like reflex-based gameplay, and prefer a tactical d20 approach. I wouldn't call it "gameplay depth" just because there's a lot of number crunching (in my opinion, the combat system of ME2 is one of the most complex, satisfying and best-balanced I've ever played), but it is certainly broader in scope. You shouldn't judge people for being bitter when they're basically a castaway fanbase. They can either shift to tactical JRPGs or Bethesda and Obsidian, and the latter two also seem to be milking the open-world shooter thing at the moment.

 

[Buchichu]

Yeah.. you lost me a starting shit.

I'm allowed an opinion, even as strong a one as I have. If you're all allowed to jump up and down and squee til your hearts content, then I'm allowed to be the ciggerette butt of dissension in your beer

All the personal hatred here seems to be coming from, what YOU would consider to be the voices of reason.

That's exactly what I said - you have an OPINION. Yet you come in here, to an article dedicated to a game from a company you clearly don't like, JUST to announce how you're right and everybody else is either ignorant or a "sheep" because they don't share the same opinion as you, then you whine because people are hating on your comments, when really, that's exactly what you were expecting to happen. That's trolling, not just expressing an opinion.

My point was also, despite how right you seem to think you are (soooo obnoxious, by the way, really) the fact is the majority of people - be it gamers or critics - adored this game and its writing. So it takes some serious audacity to march into a thread most likely filled with people who enjoyed said game and announce in no uncertain terms that Bioware's writing is shit and Dragon Age sucked.

You're either trolling for attention (ie. "starting shit") or you actually thought you're great, detailed explanation about why Bioware can't write would make everyone suddenly go "Ooooooh, omg, you know what? I never thought about it that way. You're so right, thank you for enlightening me!" And if it's the latter, well...O_O

 

[_Cake_]

At first I was apprehensive about playing a new character, but now that the idea has had some time to simmer I sorta like it. In the end of the last game my warden got hitched or close to it, the romance option could have been weird just maintaining a marriage. Now I don't have to worry about cheating like in mass effect 2. A fresh start is sorta nice.

Although I'm still pissed you have to be human >_< I would gladly give up Hawke being voiced for it.

 

[Seneschal]

The fist part of the game, your flight from Ferelden, takes place during the Blight, but moves on from there fairly quickly.

Sooo, is that flight as in fleeing? Or do you actually get to fly over the sea to Kirkwall?! The many DA2 previews do seem to make the game a bit more fantasy than DAO was, wherever I look there's dragons and horned qunari.

 

[Fumbleumble]

Let me start off by saying this... I am a fan of Bioware games. I have been ever since I played Baldur's Gate 2. And yes I have noticed what you are saying and agree with the discussion to an extent. However, does this mean I cannot enjoy their games? enjoy their stories, as well as, their gameplay? No, at least, not for me. Supposedly there was a 'hay day' for RPGs when BG2, Planescape, and many others came out, and when I played those games I was enthralled with them. Just sucked into the world and text around me that described it all to me. To me the difference between then and now is the presentation of it all. I am not afraid to say I was sucked into ME2, not because the story was amazing, but because it felt like a 'space opera', and that just sucked me right into it. It may not be as thought provoking as the classic RPGs, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining to me. Hell when I want to see a movie sometimes I pop in Lawrence of Arabia or Schindler's List, and other times I pop in Avatar or Iron Man (neither particularly thought provoking and not 'classic's in my mind but entertaining none the less). Or lets put this in terms of books... Say... Planescape is 'The Divine Comedy' something entertaining and deep, while say DA:O is a.. Harry Potter book, not particularly deep, but still very entertaining, and neither are 'original'. But I appreciate it all. To summarize, I enjoyed Planescape and it is one of my most memorable games ever, but should that stop me from enjoying someting new? Will you persecute me for doing so? or do I have to become high-brow enough to only eat at a 4 star restaurant without ever stopping into a McDonalds to have a McRib (basically, both are delicious and I love 'em both... same thing as the rest of this post)?

Fair enough.. and for those who also like this gameplay I can't (despite trying ) do anything to shift that opinion, however I don't particularly like the action rpg lite that is being forced on me instead of the REAL genre... so where do I go?

People have gotten so used to thinking that this is my type of game (because it's Bioware and Bioware make REAL RPGs), but that now they can play it too, that my point of view has not so much become irrelevent as completely misunderstood and sidelined because of that lack of understanding.

But at the end of the day.. I'm still left without a game, where as all the people quite happily playing this mush (? :/) can move over to to shooter or some such because there really isn't much of a difference in design. Quick aderalin buzz, not too much story involvement.. let's go kill or screw somethng.

 

[zHellas]

''Even on the Xbox 360''... - Oh lord, take cover, the trolls! they are coming!

OT: At first I was worried that the new dialouge would simplyfy the game and remove some of it's roleplay element, but to actually know exactly what you are saying sounds like an improvement... I am officially even more psyched

I don't think even the biggest 360 fanboy can deny that Dragon Age looked like crap on both it and the PS3. I didn't even know the dog was an actual dog (as opposed to some dog-like creature) until I saw the game on the PC.

Ehh... It looked pretty good. Not crap. Though it could have been better, yes.

 

[Fumbleumble]

Yeah.. you lost me a starting shit.

I'm allowed an opinion, even as strong a one as I have. If you're all allowed to jump up and down and squee til your hearts content, then I'm allowed to be the ciggerette butt of dissension in your beer

All the personal hatred here seems to be coming from, what YOU would consider to be the voices of reason.

That's exactly what I said - you have an OPINION. Yet you come in here, to an article dedicated to a game from a company you clearly don't like, JUST to announce how you're right and everybody else is either ignorant or a "sheep" because they don't share the same opinion as you, then you whine because people are hating on your comments, when really, that's exactly what you were expecting to happen. That's trolling, not just expressing an opinion.

My point was also, despite how right you seem to think you are (soooo obnoxious, by the way, really) the fact is the majority of people - be it gamers or critics - adored this game and its writing. So it takes some serious audacity to march into a thread most likely filled with people who enjoyed said game and announce in no uncertain terms that Bioware's writing is shit and Dragon Age sucked.

You're either trolling for attention (ie. "starting shit") or you actually thought you're great, detailed explanation about why Bioware can't write would make everyone suddenly go "Ooooooh, omg, you know what? I never thought about it that way. You're so right, thank you for enlightening me!" And if it's the latter, well...O_O

And all YOU'RE doing is trying to tell me off because you don't like my opinion... but at least my opinion is ABOUT SOMETHING and not just about the wording of someone else's opinion.

If you can all have one, then so can I.. END OF.

Or are you going to start a whole new arguement hinging on my right to have an opinion in the first place?

Get active, instead of reactive.

 

[Zero=Interrupt]

Pause, Give orders, Play.

Sorry, but isn't that turn-based combat? Don't get me wrong, I like turn-based combat over DA:O's patented Clusterfuck Engine, but please, call a spade a spade. For that matter, just make the spade.

I'll ask what everyone's thinking: is the sex better?

 

[veloper]

I prolly won't buy DA2 and I think I may come to regret supporting Bioware, buying DA at full price, thinking they were going in the right direction and improving.

Origins had faults and redeeming qualities. Sounds like they're keeping the flaws and removing the good stuff.
All DA:O really needed was more varied mobs, better encounter design and more interesting item drops, to be a great RPG.

Origins was the most tactical RPG Bioware made since BG2. They're no sir-tech, but for a modern RPG it was pretty tactical. And now?
Push a button and something awesome happens? Crap.
No friendly fire. More dumbing down.

Then there's the stupid dialogue wheel. Now you don't even know what you tell your PC to say. Just when I though they decided to ditch it afer ME.

Also having the different origin stories was a laudable feature. In DA2 you can only play Hawke. That's just backwards.

The new gfx don't look like much of an improvement either.

 

[Susan Arendt]

The fist part of the game, your flight from Ferelden, takes place during the Blight, but moves on from there fairly quickly.

Sooo, is that flight as in fleeing? Or do you actually get to fly over the sea to Kirkwall?! The many DA2 previews do seem to make the game a bit more fantasy than DAO was, wherever I look there's dragons and horned qunari.

As in fleeing, yes.

 

[Fumbleumble]

Jesus, most of my comments on this page have been justifications of my right to have an opinion :<.

FFS.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

..Dragon Age combat was fucking easy (in a good way) if you knew how to work it. On all classes. Though this might've just been on PC, as PC had the better system overlay for tactics.

OT: Sounds smexy. I have the Signature Edition pre-ordered already, so I'm (slightly) hyped.

Come the fuck on, March 2011 and November 2011!

I'll ask what everyone's thinking: is the sex better?

It never is, on video games. It never is.