So I just tried Dragon Age 2...

[JackKrauserFtw]

As far as I can tell this game is nearly unplayable.

Aside from the terrible control interface, poor camera angles(you have to rotate it manually?), at least five year outdated graphics(which consume vast reserves of processing and ram power) all this while running on the highest settings. Aside from all that. The thing that makes this game nearly unplayable, is the ai.

I literally have not been able to progress past the first 'real' engagement as a warrior, terrible gameplay aside, because my ally ai which I need to rely upon, is so FREAKING BAD that they stand there looking at me like an idiot.

My dedicated mage-through both abilities and tactics, stares at me, refusing to heal me while I die; despite having a fully bar of mana, and cooldown for health casts.

And what is with most of the critic reviews? Baseline of an 8.0 it seems, with a user average of universally below 5.0?

Glad I borrowed the game, too bad too, as it actually looked pretty good...from a distance.

The graphics arent out dated, its just that up close action scenes containing more than a few characters are taxing on the processor, add that to any particles and ragdolls that are needed and you have a full-graphics nightmare. On your thing about healing, the heals have a very long cooldown now (besides the fact that you shouldnt be relying on your ally)

 

[Aranialis]

I really Can't comment on DA2, only played Origins, and still play it through, I love the Characters and their conversations. As for the problems you say you were having with the game?
There must be something seriously wrong with your play style. I mean I had to repeat the ogre in the tower a few times when I first played Origins. But you get the hang of it, like by the third time? if you don't Well go play halo, or something stupidly easy. Some games, like I myself have come to realize need to be faced not as an action dismembering parade, but a carefully created tactical encounter. some of us have fun with it, others don't. It a matter of personal opinion. what happens is that your opinion doesn't make the game bad, the game i suspect is really good, I myself will have to try it, you don't like the game, well nice for you you found a game you will not be spending your life on, as for others that enjoyed it, good for them as they are having fun playing something. You really shouldn't waste your life, or others's with threads like this. YOU don't like the game, it didn't appeal to you. OK too bad better luck next time. Don't go advertising the game as a sucky game.

A role player gamer.

PS good luck with other games.

 

[rankfx]

I love the game, but (I'm not sure if it's the AI or whatnot) there seems to be a point after the deep roads where the difficulty curve is like running into a brick wall. Normal enemies are fine, but every boss battle is frustrating and needs to be repeated. Maybe I just suck, but has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Fuselage]

Cool, you don't like the game, that's pretty cool you have formulated an opinion.
Now what are we supposed to talk about again?
How you hate the game and you are right? Well posting critics scores is irrevelant because they are all based of Critic opinion so it would therefore be inaccurate.

 

[Feriluce]

As far as I can tell this game is nearly unplayable.

Aside from the terrible control interface, poor camera angles(you have to rotate it manually?), at least five year outdated graphics(which consume vast reserves of processing and ram power) all this while running on the highest settings. Aside from all that. The thing that makes this game nearly unplayable, is the ai.

I literally have not been able to progress past the first 'real' engagement as a warrior, terrible gameplay aside, because my ally ai which I need to rely upon, is so FREAKING BAD that they stand there looking at me like an idiot.

My dedicated mage-through both abilities and tactics, stares at me, refusing to heal me while I die; despite having a fully bar of mana, and cooldown for health casts.

And what is with most of the critic reviews? Baseline of an 8.0 it seems, with a user average of universally below 5.0?

Glad I borrowed the game, too bad too, as it actually looked pretty good...from a distance.

Graphics looks pretty good overall with the high-res texture pack. The animations in cutscenes can be a bit clunky at times, but thats about it.

Also you DO realize that you can A. Control your partymembers yourself. B. Set up proper tactics so they do what you want them to right?
Its hardly Biowares fault that you have no idea how to play.

 

[MercurySteam]

This thread probably should be locked for 0 discussion value

Maybe try reading.

No I think he's onto something.

Maybe you just need to be better at the game?

That's it.

I hope you're not playing the demo, as it's harder than the actual game. Trust me, if you know how to play RPGs then being able to properly play the full game isn't difficult. It does take some getting used to an if you play on normal you may need to change the difficulty down on a few occasions but it's definitely playable.

So yeah, if the game seems unplayable then it must be you. Try playing on casual and if that doesn't work then go play something simpler. Like CoD maybe.

 

[Naheal]

Yes Dragon Age 2 is hard and unplayable if you're gonna play it like you're handicapped and impatient.

Pretty much this. DA:O was an extremely tactical game on the PC, especially when you hit Hard and Nightmare difficulties. Naturally, this requires (gasp) patience when playing. Planning what you're going to do and adjusting as new situations come up.

Don't sit back and say that the game's unplayable because you're trying to play it like a real time game. Pause and play is there for a reason; fucking use it.

 

[The Hairminator]

Dishonest?

I've literally been unable to progress past the first serious engagement because of the terrible gameplay and ai, how is that dishonest?

*snickers*

Oh this brings back memories... the dreaded Ogre in Origins, up in the b(e)acon tower.

That bossfight, and the fighting of the invincible hordes of undead in Lothering (most people are bound to go there first- so it's quite early in the game) were just dick moves to pull on the unsuspecting noob. In Lothering I had to swallow my pride and change dificulty to easy and still I had to cower with the knights on the hill as my puny healer-mage used them as shields. I suspect being a rogue on my 2nd character isn't going to make it much easier- I only know that it won't be my first location to go to.

As I said, though, I was a noob then and I will probably fare a lot better the second time around.

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

Congrats you managed to make a thread that consists only of you whining. This isn't your blog, please get lost.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

The only problems I've had with the game, is that it likes to currupt my save files now and then.

Other than that I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Though the level designs (or lack there of) are dissapointing.

EDIT:

I love the game, but (I'm not sure if it's the AI or whatnot) there seems to be a point after the deep roads where the difficulty curve is like running into a brick wall. Normal enemies are fine, but every boss battle is frustrating and needs to be repeated. Maybe I just suck, but has anyone else noticed this?

No it's not just you. Have you ever tried to fight the Arishok as a rogue? I'm not too proud to admit I had to turn the difficulty down for a few of the main bosses.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Yeah, as pretty much everyone has said, you're either doing something wrong or your game is broken in a way no one else has experienced prior to you. Maybe it's because you borrowed a PC copy of the game? *shrug*

The only real issue I have with the AI is that they are terrible at staying away from enemies, no matter which movement option you have them set on. Of course, in this case you can always just take control and move them yourself.

Abilities work great other than the fact that you're still relying on AI to handle things like cooldown management. And honestly, I'm really not expecting an AI to be monitoring the rate of HP loss in my entire party and be able to cast healing spells according based on who needs it most in the specific situation I'm in, how long the cooldown time will be, what to do if two people need to be healed at the same time, etc. Worst comes to worst, set everyone to use a heal pot on themself if their HP gets to below 25%. That way if the healer doesn't catch it in time, they'll still be able to save themselves.

 

[Benn_Walden]

I am a warrior playing through and i am kick arse enough not to have to be healed by a mage (yay for upgrading constitution) so i set his tactics to never heal me and focus on the other ones. Who, as it happens, are awesome and do quite a bit. Are you sure you dont have it on the "you're on your own for this one" difficulty setting?

 

[Wutaiflea]

As far as I can tell this game is nearly unplayable.

Aside from the terrible control interface, poor camera angles(you have to rotate it manually?), at least five year outdated graphics(which consume vast reserves of processing and ram power) all this while running on the highest settings. Aside from all that. The thing that makes this game nearly unplayable, is the ai.

I literally have not been able to progress past the first 'real' engagement as a warrior, terrible gameplay aside, because my ally ai which I need to rely upon, is so FREAKING BAD that they stand there looking at me like an idiot.

My dedicated mage-through both abilities and tactics, stares at me, refusing to heal me while I die; despite having a fully bar of mana, and cooldown for health casts.

And what is with most of the critic reviews? Baseline of an 8.0 it seems, with a user average of universally below 5.0?

Glad I borrowed the game, too bad too, as it actually looked pretty good...from a distance.

I agree with you that the graphics on the characters, particularly their faces, seemed poor- especially compared to the original DA and to the Mass Effect games. I don't think this is a common complaint though- my husband said he couldn't spot the difference.

I also agree that default tactics settings for just about all characters is downright fucking useless, but since you can change it, it didn't bother me.

I've already said elsewhere though that the gameplay didn't bother me as much as the story and characters did, but I will admit, it did seem harder than the original.

 

[Alien Mole]

To be honest, the only problem I've had with the AI (as long as I keep my tactics properly configured) is that it doesn't recognise when friendly fire might be an issue. Fenris scything into melee is the number one cause of death for both my roguehawke and Isabella. (If anyone knows a mod/tactic setup that will make enemies recognise when friendly fire is a risk, please do share.)

Apart from that my team does fine on Nightmare (slightly modded to make assassins less unstoppable killing machines because I'm going for Unstoppable) - I generally just stick to using my rogue for aggro management and occasionally need to ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL to do some precise maneuvering.

 

[Hawgh]

Dishonest?

I've literally been unable to progress past the first serious engagement because of the terrible gameplay and ai, how is that dishonest?

*snickers*

Oh this brings back memories... the dreaded Ogre in Origins, up in the b(e)acon tower.

That bossfight, and the fighting of the invincible hordes of undead in Lothering (most people are bound to go there first- so it's quite early in the game) were just dick moves to pull on the unsuspecting noob. In Lothering I had to swallow my pride and change dificulty to easy and still I had to cower with the knights on the hill as my puny healer-mage used them as shields. I suspect being a rogue on my 2nd character isn't going to make it much easier- I only know that it won't be my first location to go to.

As I said, though, I was a noob then and I will probably fare a lot better the second time around.

Those *snip for brevity*-ing undeads in Lothering. I may actually have been traumatised by them. The worst thing was that the first part with the knights often bugged and only had a few undeads at a time, not to mention the trained knights in plate armor and the burning oil. Then, just when you started to feel a slight optimism that the night might not end in brutal death, you went down to the village....and got slapped around for a few hours because your characters weren't optimised up the wazoo, until you finally switched to easy and brutally nitpicked your way through the fight, only healing those in direst need, ignoring everything but the weakest undead. I only beat the ogre the first time, because I ran around in circles, slowly exploiting it down.

On topic: OP is full of it.

 

[automatron]

poor camera angles(you have to rotate it manually?)

As opposed to what, it spinning in circles?

From what you've said about A.I, you just have a glitchy version/ are doing something terribly wrong.
Maybe just wait for a patch, or play as the other characters. There isn't a problem with tactics if you control them directly

 

[Catchy Slogan]

*snip*

And what about that rock... spirit... thing in the deep roads? Random super moves for no reason, and they can hit me from the other side of the map completely ignoring all the obstacles in the way. I know I'm only a pretty average player, but come on! That was ridiculous! "Easier than Origins" my arse...