So, I actually liked DA2.

[jackinmydaniels]

Well, since the hot topics as of late seem to be either about rape or Bioware I figured my first forum topic would be about one of these two things. Now, call me crazy, but I honestly liked DA2, in some ways I even prefer it to the original, but seeing as how I'm not actually a big fan of DAO that's probably why.

One of the main complaints I always see is how the combat was streamlined, personally, this was a change I approved of. And the core of DAO's combat doesn't seem all that different. You still have to position your party and give them commands just like in DAO,the only major change I noticed was the animation itself,which are more over the top and fun to watch. Which was again something I approved of, after all, I thought combat in DAO was an absolute bore, at least in the visual department. I was only ever having fun while fighting if I needed to do some serious tactical stuff.

Also they added an auto attack function at some point, I'm not sure when but now the whole 'button masher' complaint seems pointless.

Another complaint is the dialogue wheel, which isn't something I was bugged by either. Last time I played through DAO I noticed that many dialogue choices throughout didn't change much no matter what I picked, so boiling them down to just three responses is fine as far as I'm concerned. But I suppose that's more of a personal opinion thing so whatevs.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to admit DA2 had it's problems, but the majority of them aren't directly Bioware's fault. The repeated enviorenments and whatnot are more than likely just unfortunate byproducts of a tight schedule, something I'd blame the publishers for, not Bioware. And the characters and story can be boiled down to a gamer's personal tastes, there's no reason to say the story was 'bad' just because you didn't like it, same goes for the characters as far as I'm concerned. Who I honestly liked more than the DAO cast....except for Fenris....fuck Fenris.

So, does anyone else actually enjoy DA2? Or am I just some kind of freak?

 

[ResonanceSD]

So, does anyone else actually enjoy DA2? Or am I just some kind of freak?

Are you kidding? This website's very own Greg Tito called it "The pinnacle of RPGs". You're in good company!

I guess if you can tolerate the same rooms being reused, a plot that starts and ends nowhere with pretty mundane characters, wave combat with "LOL, THEY'RE BEHIND YOU", no character customisation and shitty graphics, then you should be fine with DA2 and anything else EA releases, really.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Huh, I thought my time machine would have taken me further back than this...



OT: I couldn't even complete the 2nd game, and I loved the original.

There was just no incentive for me to keep playing, combat was pretty awful, the environs were copy pasted and just bland.

Varric and Merrill were the only characters I actually liked and not even they were sarcastic and adorable enough respectively, to get me to play to the end.

 

[WoahDan]

It wasn't a bad game, it was beneath Bioware's standards but compared to the medium as a whole it was mediocre at worst.

 

[Eddie the head]

I didn't even like the first one so I don't know.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

So, does anyone else actually enjoy DA2? Or am I just some kind of freak?

Are you kidding? This website's very own Greg Tito called it "The pinnacle of RPGs". You're in good company!

Yup. This.

Personally speaking, and this is something I love saying: I fucking hated DA2.

But hey, this is where we differ

seeing as how I'm not actually a big fan of DAO that's probably why.

Perhaps, yes. To me, DA:O is one of the best modern RPG games released in last few years. I've played it like crazy, and I really REALLY love this game.

And not only is DA2 a massive betrayal to the original, but I think that even on it's own merits without bringing in any comparisons to DA:O - I feel that it's a completely shit game with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

But hey, you like the game and I don't. What I can definitely tell you is, I doubt I would've hated this game so much if it wasn't such a rushed hackjob. Since they are actually taking their time with DA3, I don't expect it to be anywhere near as spectacularly awful as DA2 was.

But will DA3 actually be good? Who knows. I am cautiously holding my breath for it. And if it turns out to also suck, then this proves to me that Bioware has gone down the shitter for good and I will never buy another Bioware game again.

 

[The Elf Herself]

I genuinely liked both games. I prefer DA:O by a lot - a lot a lot - but I thought DA2 was pretty okay. Outside of the copy-pasted environments and annoying wave combat, I thought it was basically inoffensive.

It was just too jarring of a shift in tone, storytelling style, and gameplay for a lot of people, and I can't blame them for thinking that. Suddenly we're not fighting to save a country, we're just cleaning out a city that doesn't seem to change much in seven years.

To be honest, I think DA2 would have worked better if Kirkwall had felt like a major character in the story. If things had grown and changed based on our actions over the long-term, it would have felt more real and more like we were achieving something. On the other hand, though, what it pulled off better than DA:O is something that fantasy stories should do more of: applicability. Fantasy is all about exploring difficult social concepts in a situation where your biases get re-set to zero, and DA2 pulls that off pretty well, especially with the Qunari.

DA:O had its flaws, too: its most interesting villain was Loghain, but the Archdemon is what gets built up the whole game, which I understand for storytelling purposes, but it's not until some DLC that the Archdemon and darkspawn become interesting. Giant tainted dragon-demon thing from underground? Meh, I've fought billions of those in a billion games. A villain who genuinely thinks he's doing the right thing for his country, who is a patriotic war hero whose paranoia and bad taste in friends push him too far? I want to know more about THAT guy.

TL;DR version: Both games have their flaws, but I liked both of them.

 

[jackinmydaniels]

So, does anyone else actually enjoy DA2? Or am I just some kind of freak?

Are you kidding? This website's very own Greg Tito called it "The pinnacle of RPGs". You're in good company!

Yup. This.

Personally speaking, and this is something I love saying: I fucking hated DA2.

But hey, this is where we differ

seeing as how I'm not actually a big fan of DAO that's probably why.

Perhaps, yes. To me, DA:O is one of the best modern RPG games released in last few years. I've played it like crazy, and I really REALLY love this game.

And not only is DA2 a massive betrayal to the original, but I think that even on it's own merits without bringing in any comparisons to DA:O - I feel that it's a completely shit game with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

But hey, you like the game and I don't. What I can definitely tell you is, I doubt I would've hated this game so much if it wasn't such a rushed hackjob. Since they are actually taking their time with DA3, I don't expect it to be anywhere near as spectacularly awful as DA2 was.

But will DA3 actually be good? Who knows. I am cautiously holding my breath for it. And if it turns out to also suck, then this proves to me that Bioware has gone down the shitter for good and I will never buy another Bioware game again.

Yeah, I see what you mean, it's just an opinion I have and I wanted to see if anyone else shared it. Also, Tito gets a lot of shit for that review, and I think he was just caught up in the hype of a new DA game, but yeah, I'm hoping that after TWO backlashes due to rushed game design, they'll be given as much time as they need to make a good game.

Again, I'm not saying I LOVED DA2 or anything, just that I don't think it's all that bad.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

So did I until Act 3

 

[Goofguy]

As a standalone games, it's not that bad. As a sequel to DA:O, it was pretty terrible.

 

[Ranylyn]

The big problem for me is the sense of progression.

Being confined to the same few zones, endlessly recycled? I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere or doing anything when I'm rarely leaving Kirkwall for very long. At least in Origins, I got to see distinctly different cities and encampments. I got to fight the werewolves in the Braecillian Forest. I got to fight off a scourge of undead in Redcliffe. I went inside the rift with shapeshifting powers in the Circle Tower. I got immersed in Dwarven politics as I scoured the deep roads. And let's not forget the replay value from different origin stories - and the choices within them - affecting the rest of the game.

But 2? No sense of progression, no sense of adventure, and the same boring race every time. I'm sorry. I'm already a human IRL, is it a crime to want to change it up sometimes in Fantasy settings? Sure, I'll sometimes play a human if I have a choice, but NOT having the choice when the game before it did was just stupid. I see why they did this, to roll with the whole surnamed hero thing, like Shephard in Mass Effect, and having a name WAS a nice change after origins, but... seriously. No more race choice sucked.

Combat wise? 2 is far more dynamic and easy to get into, I give it that. But the skill system. I'm sorry, there's just too few skills. DA:O has 8-12 weapon skills per tree, for example. DA2 had like... 3 + crappy upgrades like +5% damage? Sorry, there's just no variety here. You will always be repeating the same boring combos with no possibility of being more gimmicky and fun, except MAYBE if you're a mage, but this means Bethany dies, and Carver's an ass.

All things considered, DA2 felt like a grindfest. And I'm sorry but not only do I very very rarely find grindfests fun, but the few that I do make the rest look like crap. And the sad part is, even by my standards, DA2 is still in the upper echelons of decency for this generation >_<

 

[The_Lost_King]

I liked it but it was nothing, NOTHING! compared to Dragon Age: Origins. Origins was a master piece and by comparison DA2 is a pile of shit. Like I said though "by comparison" Dragon Age 2 is a good game, a terrible Bioware game and a piece of shit Dragon Age game. You see if it were released by any other company as a new IP people would have liked it but it is a Dragon Age game thus it will be compared to the fantastic Origins thus it will look like shit.

 

[jackinmydaniels]

I liked it but it was nothing, NOTHING! compared to Dragon Age: Origins. Origins was a master piece and by comparison DA2 is a pile of shit. Like I said though "by comparison" Dragon Age 2 is a good game, a terrible Bioware game and a piece of shit Dragon Age game. You see if it were released by any other company as a new IP people would have liked it but it is a Dragon Age game thus it will be compared to the fantastic Origins thus it will look like shit.

I see what you mean, again personally I just wasn't all that invested in the original. Don't get me wrong, I still liked it, enough for a couple of playthroughs, I just don't really think it's my kind of RPG. So I went into DA2 without any real kind of love for the original, thus I think I enjoyed it more.

I dunno, but I see what your saying, it's not as good as Origins as far as most people are concerned, I just sort of consider it it's own thing I suppose.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I liked the ending, people go on about how all your decisions get thrown out the window and LOL ANDERS IS A DICK! is the only route you can go.

They seem to not realise that's the pinnacle of the game's theme. The chosen hero of the land who ultimately can't do shit. I like that.

Hey I like how it's an unhappy ending (sort of, Hawke and Merril are probably just chilling in Isabella's boat judging from my epilogue.)

The copypaste environments were bad and the waves and waves of enemies was just boring as fuck but hey the characters were cool 'cept Fenris of course.

Doubt i'll be swearing off Bioware games anytime soon, even after the ME3 shitstorm. The ending has actually made me never pick it up again. It's still a good game but... I just can't get motivated to play it again. Must be the ending's fault.

Oh a thread about RPGs and I haven't made an excuse to go on about Persona 4 being awesome?! Don't mind if I do!

 

[ResonanceSD]

Also, Tito gets a lot of shit for that review

Which is entirely justified.

but yeah, I'm hoping that after TWO backlashes due to rushed game design, they'll be given as much time as they need to make a good game.

Achievement unlocked! ETERNAL OPTIMIST!

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

They seem to not realise that's the pinnacle of the game's theme. The chosen hero of the land who ultimately can't do shit. I like that.

I liked that, too. I absolutely adore Dragon Age 2 as an idea... I just think the execution didn't live up to what it could have been. Perhaps if they had more time?

 

[jackinmydaniels]

Also, Tito gets a lot of shit for that review

Which is entirely justified.

but yeah, I'm hoping that after TWO backlashes due to rushed game design, they'll be given as much time as they need to make a good game.

Achievement unlocked! ETERNAL OPTIMIST!

I like how you make being optimistic seem like a bad thing. I'm not about to write Bioware off completely due to a couple screw ups. Because unlike their fickle fanbase I wasn't so horridly shocked with said screw ups that I can never trust them again.

 

[The Wykydtron]

They seem to not realise that's the pinnacle of the game's theme. The chosen hero of the land who ultimately can't do shit. I like that.

I liked that, too. I absolutely adore Dragon Age 2 as an idea... I just think the execution didn't live up to what it could have been. Perhaps if they had more time?

Whenever people talk about DA2 it always goes back to time. Who knows how much better it could have been if it hadn't been kicked out the door before it was even remotely dressed and ready...

Yeah the execution of it was slightly off i suppose, but I always love a good concept even if it gets slightly botched.

The badass hero of awesomeness who goes against the basic videogame rule of "player character = winner" and just ends up watching everything s/he has worked for just crumble and die? With every effort to help going horribly awry? (I did a ryhme!) That's just cool.

This is done through gameplay as well, you can try and persuade the guys to stop, to try to stop Anders from being a total retard but in the end it all comes to this same terribly destructive conclusion. You don't get the important player choices becsuse there is literally nothing Hawke can do.

That's just interesting to me. Everything else the game failed in is just lying by the wayside now because the concept behind the ending is just so damn interesting.

 

[Zaydin]

I enjoyed DA2, myself. While the scenery was no where near quite as varied as DA:O, the story and characters made up for it, since, to be honest, some of the party members in DA:O were pretty bland. I find myself liking all my party members in DA2. I also found myself growing more attached to my Hawke than any of my Wardens. I think Hawke being voiced helps with that. And the combat, while streamlined, does still have strategy to it, and I think the crafting system is vastly improved in DA2, since you just have to find the resources once, instead of needing to constantly scrounge for more. Still have to finish it, though.