Preview: What's New in Dragon Age II

[OniaPL]

I realized after playing Dragon Age several times that one of the things I liked about it was that it allowed me to craft my own epic narratives, and sometimes my character wasn't the star of the epic:

First play-through: Prince Alistair, due to his honor and sense of duty, found himself in a situation that could not end well. Even if the Archdemon was destroyed, Ferelden faced a civil war. An agreement to marry the Queen Anara collapsed upon his execution of her father for treason, and there was a very real risk of civil war between his supporters and hers. His fellow Grey Warden (and lover) had used her influence to put him on the throne (something he never wanted) instead of Anora, but he would likely have to order Anora executed to stabilize the kingdom, despite her not having committed any crime. As King, he'd need a healthy heir, forcing him to leave his lover. His lover, either out of grief, or duty, or both, was preparing to sacrifice herself to destroy the Archdemon, since the King of Ferelden was less expendable than a fallen dwarven princess.

In a single move, Alistair ended the Blight, restored the reputation of the Grey Wardens, avenged both his mentor and his half-brother, placed a good ruler on the throne of Ferelden, eliminated the biggest threat to her legitimacy as the rightful ruler, avoided having to murder a woman for political purposes, and saved the life of the woman he loved. As the surviving Grey Warden greeted the cheering crowds in the wake of Alistair's sacrifice, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd planned it that way from the moment he learned about the secret to killing the Archdemon...

As the credits rolled, I sent an IM to a friend: "I finished Dragon Age, and I think I just got outsmarted by my meat-shield!"

I also had an arrogant, former hero, driven to treason, murder and slave-trading by his own ego and paranoia, receive an unexpected chance at redemption by his most bitter foe, and managed to, in dying to slay the Archdemon, redeem himself and save the nation for which he had sacrificed his honor, rank and name to defend.

I could go on, and I haven't even touched on the subplots of the epic (defeating my treacherous brother's best fighters in a tournament, and then dedicating my victory to him to drive home the point that I would help him, but that he had best play straight with me because his lackeys weren't going to be able to take me down...).

It was one of the few games where story made up for a gameplay style that I'm not particularly keen on.

I'm REALLY hoping that Bioware won't screw up that aspect the game.

I'm really happy that someone else seemed to have as great time with the game as I did.

But now with Hawke, I'm afraid I won't be playing as a "virtual me", but rather as Hawke. Also, I feel that like in Mass Effect, with a dialogue wheel and a preset protagonist I will be a bystander watching the situations and not the hero itself.

Why everything has to be so "cinematic" nowadays?

 

[XainBushido]

After reading this it sounded like they addressed the issue with the inventory, or so I hope. Given we had to in the original buy the dlc to get an item box. Which was something that made no sense to me.

That aside, I have already paid for my reserve on the game like many others, I just hope I don't end up seeing an add on dlc pack the day after release with something key important that should have been in the game from the start.

 

[The Sorrow]

I played DA:O. I thought it was too hard at points, but overall had more fun than I've had with an RPG in a long time.

DA II looks very fun. The annoying shit (you have NO IDEA how much my inventory was clogged with useless stuff) seems gone, the tactics are still in place, and I don't consider a race and surname restrictive.

Quit bitching about dumbing-down. It looks fun and the writing will be good. Isn't that the fucking point?

 

[cthulhumythos]

Sure is EA/Sony defence force in The Escapists staff. I know it's hard to try and swallow, but it's true, EA has been Sonys loyal little dog this last time. Who do you think it was that convinced Valve to release Portal 2 on PS3? EA. Who do you think it was that convinced DICE to develop Bad Company 2 with the PS3 as its main platform? EA. Who do you think it was that convinced Bioware to release Mass Effect 2 on the PS3? EA. The facts are obvious, yeah, I used "naughty words" to describe it, but it's true none the less.

you're... really making it sound worse than what you're saying. so EA is putting more games on ps3; whats the problem?

That they're neglecting all other systems, namely the 360 and the PC.

...? they're neglecting the other platforms by getting game developers to port their games to be ps3 as well? the same games that are already for the xbox and pc? i really don't see the problem.

Then you clearly have not played Bad Company 2.

i've played a little on the xbox, seemed pretty solid. what's the difference?

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

This is good news, I loved the first game and if it's better then I'm all for it. The one thing that really bothered me about the first game was the graphics, playing in 1920X1080 resolution with graphics at maximum... it looked so dull. Sure the spells were shiny ad the animations were decent but the textures were so obvious. I could easily tell that everyone's clothing was made of texture file, and all the walls looked like they had been stretched to ten times their original size... short of installing a graphics mod there's no way that game could have looked nice. Judging by these screenshots though, this one is looking pretty good. With the addition of the other changes and the actual protagonist reactions I'm looking forward to Dragon Age 2.

 

[KuwaSanjuro]

(Drooling sound) I want Dragon Age 2 so much it just looks increasingly awesome. Don't care if its gonna be Mass Effect with dragons because that sounds good.

 

[VondeVon]

I love the idea of being a nobody and just working to better my home and family. I now feel certain that my hopes for this game will be disappointed. I'm not sure if I prefer that to general disinterest.

I'll definitely give DA2 a go now. I'm glad it isn't as ugly as its forebear, but I confess to being thoroughly SICK of the whole Medieval setting anyway. Ye Olde Dragons can kiss my chair-shaped buttocks.

Hopefully DA3 will be set a little closer to our time - it doesn't have to be modern, or realistic, just... more interesting. Less chain mail, maybe.

 

[NatoCannon]

The PS3 version got the insanely needed patches shortly after the game was released. PC and Xbox users had to wait for a couple of months.

First of all, a big LOL at your allegation that it was EA that somehow convinced Valve to release Portal 2 on the PS3. Valve IS its own publisher and dev studio -- they may have signed a deal but I'd be willing to bet money on it being entirely Valve's decision, yo. At the end of the day VALVE are the ones that still have to do the PS3 development, not EA.

I can't speak for anyone (let alone DICE), of course, so I shan't - but what I can tell you is that it's more than a little... incorrect just to lump all the blame on EA for a situation like that. It's a little surprising that the PC patch would've had to have waited too (and I have no verification on that, I'm just taking your clearly upset word for it), but I digress: when a patch is completed it goes through a certification process that is often out of the hands of the developer. A publisher likely does its own pass for PC, Microsoft has a process for the Xbox 360 and Sony has its own process for the PS3.

Add to that the difference in technical limitations of what you can and can't patch on Xbox vs PC vs PS3 due to size limits, making things fit into the memory footprint, etc..

What I'm saying here is that if there was a month or two gap between the two consoles' game updates, it likely isn't EA's fault and may not even be DICE's fault. I've no idea about the circumstances there, but it's possible that Sony was able to push the patch through their cert process faster.

or - it's possible that it could've just simply been DICE's fault, some major issue with the pc and xbox patch that needed to be fixed before it was released.

I guess, more than anything, I just find it curious that you'd choose to single out EA here when the development studio is the one making and delivering the games, patches, dlc, etc, and not the publisher... granted, there may be a little pressure there but that doesn't somehow mean the dev studio makes no decisions on the matter!

 

[Sabazios]

Is this The Escapist? This kind of shilling seems more appropriate for sites such as IGN.

 

[Knight Templar]

I just hope the give the Grey Wardens more powers than a) having nightmares about a black dragon b) the ability to sense - and be sensed by - Darkspawn (which just leaves you back at square one) and c) a shortened lifespan.

DA:O was the 1st game I'd ever played where there was absolutely no benefit to joining it's own exclusive badass organisation!

You can kill the Archdemon?

And die yourself in the process, which also sucks!

Considering nobody else in existence can kill an Archdemon, or sense Darkspawn for that matter, I'd say your few abilities are more than valuable.

 

[Xaositect]

Read the preview. Realised its as dumbed down as ME2 and part of Biowares crusade to line their pockets by catering to "casual" "non-rpg players" by ripping out most of the RPG in their games replacing it with bogstandard action fare. (No offense to Susan, but both this preview and Mass Effect 2 have had that same effect of most mainstream outlets when they gush about these games: it feels fake, and communicates to me what a dumbed down experience it is) Im insulted by this notion and therefore Bioware can go fuck themselves if they think Ill be paying for this game like I DAO (which I didnt like either, but for entirely personal reasons and therefore lost no real respect for the game itself, just knew it was me and not the game).

Honestly, if Bioware went about this quest for more monies with a little bit more dignity and moderation instead of the bullshit seen in ME2 and now this, I might be more forgiving. However, after years of following them as my favourite developer, always guaranteed to get a purchase, I have to say fuck them. They obviously didnt spare a thought for my interest in their games. Didnt like my money maybe? So in return, I wouldnt even give their new dumbed down piece of shit games the credit of a rent or used sale. Im sure that would please EA, but I dont know why since they still get no money from me.

Ah well, heres to hoping TOR flops and Bioware gets annihilated by EA. Would be a fair cop for their disgusting disloyalty in lusting after mainstream game sales.

 

[ajbell]

Can I just chip in to say "Kirkwall"? Really? Really? You couldn't have named it after, say, a place that didn't exist? So I wouldn't be stuck adventuring here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkwall]? Gah!

 

[Hyperleo]

Am I the only one who would enjoy the combat if it was more hack and slashy? I mean, you can say that you prefer the old-school combat but come on, be honest, wouldn't you enjoy it so much more if you could just swing a sword or fire an arrow, rather than tell your character to swing a sword or fire an arrow then watch?

No sir you are not the only one. When I heard they would be making the combat more interesting I was quite excited. I enjoyed Dragon Age Origins; everything except the combat anyway. I was so sick of the combat I didn't even think about bothering with Awakening. As such, I am very much looking forward to the new combat system.

 

[Jeffro Tull]

You definitely have to give respect to Bioware as a company. They are the only company out there with the gumption to re-evaluate everything within a game when they are making a sequel. I have a friend who was complaining about the possible differences when DA2 was first announced. All I could say was that it worked for Mass Effect.
Bioware has amazed me since KOTOR and still manages to capture my interest to this day. They are the best right now, and they can go further.

 

[goliath6711]

Read the preview. Realised its as dumbed down as ME2 and part of Biowares crusade to line their pockets by catering to "casual" "non-rpg players" by ripping out most of the RPG in their games replacing it with bogstandard action fare. (No offense to Susan, but both this preview and Mass Effect 2 have had that same effect of most mainstream outlets when they gush about these games: it feels fake, and communicates to me what a dumbed down experience it is) Im insulted by this notion and therefore Bioware can go fuck themselves if they think Ill be paying for this game like I DAO (which I didnt like either, but for entirely personal reasons and therefore lost no real respect for the game itself, just knew it was me and not the game).

Honestly, if Bioware went about this quest for more monies with a little bit more dignity and moderation instead of the bullshit seen in ME2 and now this, I might be more forgiving. However, after years of following them as my favourite developer, always guaranteed to get a purchase, I have to say fuck them. They obviously didnt spare a thought for my interest in their games. Didnt like my money maybe? So in return, I wouldnt even give their new dumbed down piece of shit games the credit of a rent or used sale. Im sure that would please EA, but I dont know why since they still get no money from me.

Ah well, heres to hoping TOR flops and Bioware gets annihilated by EA. Would be a fair cop for their disgusting disloyalty in lusting after mainstream game sales.

Since when should Bioware, or any videogame company, exclusively cater to your specific interests at the expense of mine or anyone else?

All I'm seeing concerning this and Mass Effect 2 are one set of whining fans whining about improvements that were made to satisfy another set of whining fans.

 

[Slash47]

In Origins, you were a nameless, voiceless hero, but in DA2, you are the silky-toned Hawke, a change that may be jarring to those who favored Origins's old school approach to characterization. Which, as Laidlaw tells it, is not that many players. "People generally hated the silent protagonist," he says,

Fuck you. That was my favorite part, everything said was something I said, and I took on the role of the Grey Warden completely. For me, Dragon Age was the most immersive game I ever played. But in DA2, I'm gonna be controlling a character rather than roleplaying as one. This might seem like a minor thing, but this is pretty much my biggest issue with the sequel.

Still, DA1 was awesome and I'm sure I'll love the sequel aswell. I was a bit sceptical when I heard they'd adopt a dialogue wheel like Mass Effect, but the preview makes the companion/rival system seem very interesting.

Agree 100%

Nice to hear they streamlined the inventory and polished the graphics, other than that it's a bunch of bs. Archers underpowered? (Crossbows were underpowered, longbows were insane.) Normal too hard? Dragon Age, right? The classes were pretty balanced and I liked how a rogue could just straight up fight. The abilities were a bit awkward and could be improved, but I hate how they're turning it into Mass Effect.

Dragon Age was the first game that gave me back some of that BGII/Torment feeling that anyone who played those games will recognize. Sure, Oblivion and Morrowind had the environments and huge amounts of stuff to do, but the actual role playing in Dragon Age was what came somewhat close to those games. Now it's gone. Damn. The only thing that would make it up for me is if the graphical design and the relationships/banter are going to be as good as BGII's, but I doubt it if I'm honest.