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Dragon Age 2: Big letdown
erikk3189
Member Posts: 306
Currently, my entire group in Dragon's Age 2 is at level 9, very close to level 10.
I feel like I've played it enough to see more or less how the game is. Truth is, I don't like it as much as I did Dragon Age 1. I'm truley not feeling this game. In fact, I liked 2 Worlds 2 a lot better then this one.
One thing I especially do not like is you can't pick up armor for the rest of your group. This is sooo stupid! I wonder who's bright idea was this? I've always enjoyed playing Bioware's game so it's why I'm so surprised this game is a letdown from their usual good games.
The game isn't all garbage, it's just not what you'd expect espcially when the first one was such a hit.
Way before you even get close to level 10, actually several levels before this at about 6 when you're still weak you're given missions where you need to face 2 and 3 swarms of foes, one after another before you get rid of the first ones. WTF? This is good when you're higher in level not when you're just starting out.
To me Bioware probably makes the best games out but this time around, they blew it.
Comments
My understanding is that they made it "simpler" more "Streamlined" you know to get you closer to the action sooner without all those annoying things that add "depth".
Thank EA for that, why i fear for SWTOR!
I disagree with you. I like DAII better than one. The combat is a lot better than the first one. The cutscenes and dialogue are very good. And it just feels like an interactive movie to me. And I have no problem with the overload of mobs. It makes it chaotic which is fun to me. Or should I say heroic?
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?
R.A.Salvatore
You mean like a themepark with a fast pass to skip the lines? I have no problem with not having to run for hours to get to the action in a action RPG. The amount of cutscenes and dialogue make up for the lack of wasted time running around IMO.
As for TOR, it will be a different experience all toghether. Except for the dialogue and cutscenes ofc.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?
R.A.Salvatore
I like a lot of the mechanics of the game in DA2 better than the first game, such as the combat. And I do also enjoy having your character have a voice. However, I really don't feel it much of a game, it feels more of an expansion. I'm still trying to figure out what the main plot is. Origins story was much more coherent. Anyway, I have enjoyed the game overall but I would have to agree that it's not their best overall work (even though I do like a lot about it).
I don't know, I'm in the opposite camp I guess. I actually like DA2 better than the first one. Combat and everything is a lot more fluid, less Micromanagement and the whole "I'm just the coach" kind of feel. It's an action RPG and being a long time MMO player I guess I've just had my fill of classic RPG's for the time being so imho it was a welcomed changeup.
As far as the hordes of enemies.... it kind of needs to be that way imo. Thats part of the story, the dark spawn are running a muck and it's a large army of them. Running into small squads here and there is fine but if the entire game consisted of minor skirmishes with maybe a boss thrown at you here and there like you would normally find it diminishes the "epic war" going on.
It honestly reminds me a lot of LotR (Not the game, but the books). Small skirmishes are nice and all, but having only small skirmishes just doesn't fit with whats going on and detracts from that "The fate of the world rests on the outcome of this war" type of feeling.
Some will like it like me
Some won't like you
Others likely won't care one way or the other.
I tend to side with the OP on most points. DA1, I found, was better as it seemed closer to what they orginally said it would be, a sort of successor to Baldur's Gate. It seems to me that Bioware isn't exactly the company it used to be and will probably never make another game like IWD or BG since most of their target audience wants faster paced, more action styled games.
DA2 was a let-down for the most part in my opinion, I only hope TOR isn't so watered down and generic.
I like what I've played of Dragon Age 2. The combat is more fun, and the art design is far superior than the original.
If it doesn't appear as groundbreaking as the first game, it probably wasn't meant to be. When compared to the Mass Effect series, I never felt like Dragon Age was BioWare's real lovechild anyway.
Cut scenes never make a game. Cut scenes a few years back were used spearly to make a small point now is seems that Bioware has used to to explain a whole game. Look at NWN and Baldurs gate both of these games which were true rpg's made Bioware what is is didn't have what new games have today and thats substance.
Agreed. Bioware already perfected the use of cutscenes in NWN. Now they overdo it to a degree when I almost fall asleep every time they come up.
Rarely use are cutscenes really a good tool to set the mood. But it is just like instances and phasing in MMOs, great idea that can make the game a lot more fun but if you use it too much it instead make the game more boring.
Ok, since I played to level 7 or 8 now, I add my opinion here too.
Frist off, yeah I agree DA2 is less cool than DA:O, at least IMVPO.
GOOD:
- I like the new combat, especially with the animations and all, it feels way more exciting.
- nice little references to my doings in DA1, since I imported my savegame
- generally the environment looks good, not super, but good
- Kirkwall is by and large an interesting place
BAD:
- there are all these many tunnel levels, as in every Bioware RPG ever since KOTOR; too confined for my taste
- it just sucks that my companions have no way to equip them differently
- lack of skills for diplomacy, kinda feel cheap
- so far I totally lack the epic story; In DA1, there was something BIG going on. Here, I feel only like a fedex-guy, and I feels a bit like MMO quests. Fetch me my lost wife, fetch me this, fetch me that, but no coherent drama I feel is important.
- None of the companions so far is even REMOTELY as interesting as the DA1 companions. Compared to the DA1 companions those of DA2 feel much like B leaguers. I had strong feeling for all companions of DA1, but almost none towards those of DA2.
- Why are there no "final blow" slow-mo kill animations anymore?
- The world is full of people Hawk knows, but I don't. It kinda seperates me from Hawk, and I don't so much feel like it's me, but like it's some dude I follow. In that way the emotional impact of decisions is severly reduced, and most of the time I use the comic replies, since often I don't really care one way or the other.
What weights bad the most for my taste is the absence of a coherent, interesting main plot and the sort of boring companions. It's still a good game, I'd rate it 70/100, but in several ways a step back.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I'm level 15, not sure how far through the main story line I am, but
I hate that your stuck in Kirkwall all the time. DA:O had other cities you could visit and do stuff in. Now it's just this one big city (made up of more or less dungeon maps) with attached levels with minimal exploring.
I like the skill trees and character advancement. I do wish you could equip your party, as you get a lot of gear that your main character can't use, and neither can your party members.
I agree with some of the posts, the story seems a good bit more watered down, and no where nearly as engrossing. The combat, all in all, I didn't find that dissimilar from DA:O, but I only played through that game once when it first game out and haven't played it since to compare. Some of these quests are nothing more than you found a random item while pilfering from your latest dungeon crawl, and you get an arrow on your map to go give it to someone: absolutely 0 story, no storyline other than "Oh you found this, thanks." Nothing else, just happen to loot an item, pass it off to an arrow on your map, and get a reward - like players want to do nothing other than run to the nearest arrow on their map and get phat lewtz. It's borderline insulting.
Many of the dungeons/houses/caves/etc are just copy and pasted, with you entering in a various spot and parts of it walled off. You get sent to one of these in more than half the quests, and there are only maybe 10 maps total. It gets pretty old, almost FFXIV-ish.
FYI the swarms only get worse.
I'll go ahead and say it, I dislike the ending big time, I won't spoil it but the game should have started with the ending and had Hawke be just some guy that did this stuff that your having to deal with. Add on that the entire last level of the game can bug out and lose all the color, not sure if it's texture or renders but the world is just gray. Nothing else but edge lines and all gray. The kind of stuff you see on unfinished cgi stuff that hasn't been animated yet.
Call me old fashioned but I remember game companies making sure their games came out without crap like that in them, I guess now is the age of the we can patch it so they don't care as much.
More so I came to hate finding out that the letters you get at the start of each act replaces the epic overveiw you got at the end of DA:O. All in all this game was just a product of laziness, they chose the one city design to cut out the need to make more maps. Every character in the party has loose morals, I had slept with nearly everyone by the end and none of them cared. I missed getting fussed at by Lilianna for flirting with Zeven. I mean it got to the point that Merril was joking about my sleeping with Isabella and Isabella joked about me sleeping with Merril enough for me to wonder if they were sleeping together.
The best part of this game is the party members, and the stuff you accidently do your own self. Example: I hit lvl 20 right before a scene where I opted to do a threesome with Isabella and Zeven. Games pops back to normal for the legendary ( you reached level 20) Achivement, but I prefer to think of it as the you just got a legendary std achivement. It made me laugh a good bit.
I'll go ahead and say it, I wouldn't mind seeing hawk back as an npc, but I never want to see him as a player character again. I want my warden back and I want bioware to actually work on the next title. Why, because there was no epicness to Hawke. I think the Bard from Bards tale was more epic than him, and that is saying quite a lot.
This won't be a long post, but there are some things you (everyone in this thread) need(s) to have a look at it:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/dragon-age-ii/user-reviews
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6459941/1
I have not played this game, but so far I've been hearing quite some complaints about the game, and about Bioware, and EA...
Lemme go over what I enjoy and then my dislikes.
The parter banter is just simply awesome. I think they put a TON of effort into this. There have been times I've laughed loudly out loud and gotten people asking what on earth is wrong with me. Just thinking about certain things said, I've cracked up when out doing things.
The graphics, while a bit more stylized, are pretty good. I still notice the problem from the first game (even with graphics on very high, everything up but ssoc, and high detail download) the EXTREMELY LOW res graphics in random places. Outside of that, I like how they graphics feel. You aren't wearing armor that is a skin on you.
Gaining levels, I can feel the difference. Combos are fun.
Tactical strategy is quite fun.
Combat is AWESOME. Abilities feel powerful. When Varric fires, you can feel it almost. When you cast that big AoE, you see it fire right then. Healing isn't just lolspam/rejuv and afk.
The Bad---
I understand I am in the same city. But going into different buildings, all the insides are EXACTLY the same. Except sometimes, they lock certain doors so it's "not the same". Or they have a cave blocked till later so it's not the whole same map. The whole game is in the city, that's fine. But when I go into certain areas to fight, it's the same as another area. The same building, the same path, the same warehouse....
If the same buildings and the like weren't bad, the fact that they try to give the "idea" of openness makes it worse. You are stuck on a TINY path anywhere. But the view is expansive. It gives an illusion of looking to be open. I wasn't expecting oblivion type of maps, but this is easily the most restricted bioware game I've played.
I am having fun, for sure. But...this doesn't have anything to do with a "dumbing down" or anything. This just seems like a lazy, quick, push this out because we will buy it up sort of job.
I recommend the story and the combat. But almost anything else, I do not recommend the game. And those two things seem to be the sole focus of the game. I like the premace of the story. I won't go into details but so far, it makes sense on why you are doing what you are doing. You aren't some super hero gray warden.
I guess I just sort of expected more. ME2 was just so much better in every way then ME1 for me. But outside of those two things, it seems like DA1 was a lot better.
One more thing. I think people who had not played DA1 will enjoy DA2 a ton. But I think a lot of people were expecting a bit more DA1 inside DA2. I almost feel like TSLs here, except instead of cutting content to make release, they just cut a lot...game...
Wait till the end grass hopper when they tie it together and you are either going to be like, wow that is awsome I so forgot about that. Or you will be like me and go, what the hell, you brought that throw away scene back to haunt me, you sorry, lame @$#$, no account, terrible writing peice of @$#@!!!!. Thats just my opinion.
Agreed with what most already said here.
Combat system is very wel done, but the cut scene's are to adundant, way to much cut's in the game.
Dunno it make's it feel like an arcade game instead of a solid RPG
And why cant i upgrade the armor of my companions , only small armor can be upgraded like weps and shields, would have been a normal feature to upgrade your party like in all rpg's right ? why the hell did they do that !!
Details can make or break a game and it shows again, that some details are very very importand for us gamers.
I refuse to talk on the party members clothing, Merril changes her outfit if you sleep with her and have her move in. Anders changes his after a quest. These changes are not much other than clothing color and a collar buttoned up.
If that whole incident of the guy getting banned for posting a snarky comment on a board and then not being able to play a game he purchased is true, I certainly won't be buying either DA2 or SW:ToR. This is something I can't stand and I think that game companies are over-stepping the mark when they do things like this. Very disappointed to hear about this as a former Bioware fan and what people have been saying in general about DA2 makes me not want to play it. As it is, I thought DA:O was only an ok game.
Man, I wish they would simplify and go back to a more Baldur's Gate kind of approach or at the most complex, KotOR.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
To anyone who liked NWN and feels that DA2 is bit too kindergarden,
Drakensang: The river of time.
Good story, solid mechanics, decent looks, fun and challenging.
np.
"Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day!"
Drakensang, need to finish that one.
I played DA2 for about 30 minutes, feeling I got was that its arcady. Too bad, DA 1 was okay.
I have played the game for only a couple of hours but so far I am loving it. The combat is so much more fun than in the first one. But I was never a fan of pause and give commands to your entire party type of combat. I hated that in the old classic RPGs and the only reason I played through the likes of BG1 and BG2 was because of how amazing the story and quests were and your companions. But I hated the combat. It is tedious and boring to give commands. I don't want my RPG to be strategic, I want it to be fast paced with visceral combat.
They are using tons of cutscenes and your character has a voice similar to Mass Effect. This is a feature I really liked in ME. So I am very pleased to see it in DAO.
I also hate item clutter. I don't want to see any vendor trash items in my games
It just overfloods your inventory with stuff which I will end up selling anyway. This has been cleared up here in similar manner as was done in ME2 compared to ME.
DAO was an amazing game but I played on normal because I didn't want to put up with pause and give commands combat. I just wanted to play it like an action game. The story in DAO was amazing and the companions were amazing. Morrigan and Alistair are truly masterfully done characters. I loved them to bits. I am not sure exactly what the story in DA2 is at the moment and I don't particularly like any of the companions. We will see what happens but reading reviews about teh game I don't have my hopes up for really kewl companions :S
So I disagree with most of you ^_^
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Bioware seem to think that Role Players want annoyingly frequent narrative, limited customization, recycled and linear enviroments, illusion of choice and have a permanent hard on for all their party members.
At least finally people are starting to realise ever since Kotor and if you want to be a bit more lenient Kotor2 (if you leave out the ending) Bioware's uber Storytelling is just a hoax really. Mass Effect's story might be passable but ME2 DAO+dlc DA2.... jesus... talk about generic, uninspired, cliche ridden borefests.