Dragon Age 2 is better Organized

micrometers

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2010
3,473
0
0
Dragon Age 2 is so much better than Dragon Age 1. Two hours in.

Improvements:

1. Art style and architecture are better.
2. Combat is faster and more interesting.
3. Skill trees are better organized. All of the various skills from the first game are still there, but they are presented in a better way.
4. Much less endless exposition. DA1 had a lot of characters saying nothing. DA2 has conversations moving much quicker.
5. Story looks more interesting. DA1 had a sort of long "good triumphs over evil" slog. This one seems more nimble so far.
6. Less looting. Looting is my least favorite part of these games.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
The game sucks. I gave it 3-4 hours a month back and sold it. Boring, boring story, ugly environment, boring missions. I never played da1 but most people say it is much better. Graphics of da2 also sucked. After playing skyrim it felt rushed and tiny in comparison. This is also why a game only a year old sells for twenty bucks.

If you enjoy it that is great, I wish I did, but I just didn't. Most disappointing game I possibly ever bought...ok second most.
 

viivo

Diamond Member
May 4, 2002
3,344
32
91
DA1 and 2 cannot be compared because they aren't in the same genre. Dragon Age is an old school, semi-hardcore roleplaying game. It's long, it's slow, its story is wonderfully cheesy and convoluted and chock full of dialogue. For people with an attention span it's the best D&D style RPG released this generation.

Dragon Age 2 on the other hand is a true console game. Simliplified to the point of almost playing itself for you. Easy action combat, no hard character building needed, no preparation or tactics needed for battle, just rush blind at every encounter because you know you won't die as long as you keep hitting the button. Challenge is fun, killing everything with no fear of reloading is boring.
 

mOeeOm

Platinum Member
Dec 27, 2004
2,588
0
0
DA1 and 2 cannot be compared because they aren't in the same genre. Dragon Age is an old school, semi-hardcore roleplaying game. It's long, it's slow, its story is wonderfully cheesy and convoluted and chock full of dialogue. For people with an attention span it's the best D&D style RPG released this generation.

Dragon Age 2 on the other hand is a true console game. Simliplified to the point of almost playing itself for you. Easy action combat, no hard character building needed, no preparation or tactics needed for battle, just rush blind at every encounter because you know you won't die as long as you keep hitting the button. Challenge is fun, killing everything with no fear of reloading is boring.

Yup, I actually beat the game with 100% completion in 28 hours (terrible ocd + masochistic), and ya it cannot be compared to DA1. There was absolutely no challenge and it was stupidly repetitive, I wish I can get my time back :(
 

micrometers

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2010
3,473
0
0
The thing about DA2 is that the combat is still IMO every bit as challenging as DA1. It's definitely more complex than God of War or Prince of Persia. You can still pause it and you have to plan stuff. It's just faster.

So I got to the Magistrar's son quest. SO the dude is like a child molestor, right?
 

DrunkenSano

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2008
3,892
490
126
They should rename Dragon Age 2 to Dragon Age: Arcade. Then make a real Dragon Age 2. I want to continue playing as the queen's consort and live like a baws.
 

Anteaus

Platinum Member
Oct 28, 2010
2,448
4
81
It's a shame they never made Dragon age 2.

I agree. Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game in it's own right. It is only lacking when compared to the game it was meant to be a sequel to. If it had been a spinoff and marketed as a side story, I don't think gamers would have slammed it so hard. Sure, they would have complained about not having a real sequel yet, but at least Bioware could have still made DA2. As it stands now, many people are going to go into DA3 pretending it's actually DA2.

I don't know wtf they were thinking.
 

micrometers

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2010
3,473
0
0
I think people like to geek out on stats and shuffling through menus.

DA2 is every bit as tactical as DA1 IMO. If you up the difficulty it isn't just press button fast, but you have to be tactical like DA1. And in DA1 if you lower the difficulty it is easy, except you have slower animations.

Though the DA series aren't anywhere near as tactical as a typical warcraft 3 fight, so I don't see why people thought combat in either series was really all that great.
 

tential

Diamond Member
May 13, 2008
7,348
642
121
I blame xbox 360. Lots of games are dumbed down graphically and gameplay wise so that it is playable on both console and 360. I can't even play Oblivion on PC because the controls are clearlyl meant for xbox and it's so damn hard to navigate menus. Hell, I can barely equip spells sometimes. I haven't updated though so maybe some of it has been fixed.
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I think people like to geek out on stats and shuffling through menus.

DA2 is every bit as tactical as DA1 IMO. If you up the difficulty it isn't just press button fast, but you have to be tactical like DA1. And in DA1 if you lower the difficulty it is easy, except you have slower animations.

Though the DA series aren't anywhere near as tactical as a typical warcraft 3 fight, so I don't see why people thought combat in either series was really all that great.

My complaints are quite large on DA2.

1) There are only 3-4 different areas. The game is very very small.
2) The story is not influenced by any action you take. You are basically along for the ride.
3) Healing (except on max difficulty) is completely unimportant.
4) Conversation wheel keeps you from 'being' the character. I didn't want to make sexual advances, I wanted to be a good friend. Instead I have the choice of 'go to hell' or 'let's screw right here'.
5) No replay value. I tried, but it was the same story, only this time I have "magic".
6) Quite a few bugs, pushed to market too soon.

That's just off the top of my head. I haven't played the game in a long time. It had potential, but it was only a sequel in name and a bit of story only.
 

micrometers

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2010
3,473
0
0
The story is significantly better than DA1 though, if for the simple fact that the darkspawn play a much much smaller role. The darkspawn were some of the least imaginative villains in recent memory.

The reason WC3 is tactical IMO is because of how different armor types react to different damage types. This doesn't happen here.
 

micrometers

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2010
3,473
0
0
One more thing: the loading times in this game utterly kill it.

One of the great things about world of warcraft was how there really wasn't any loading time. if you wanted to go from one place to another, you had to run there.

That made the game world feel truly massive. In this game...the huge number of loading screens, sometimes taking a minute or more, make it feel like a number of disconnected levels.

I think it's the unreal engine, which seems unable to stream environments like WOW did.
 

Nightrainsrt4

Member
Nov 18, 2010
71
0
0
One more thing: the loading times in this game utterly kill it.

One of the great things about world of warcraft was how there really wasn't any loading time. if you wanted to go from one place to another, you had to run there.

That made the game world feel truly massive. In this game...the huge number of loading screens, sometimes taking a minute or more, make it feel like a number of disconnected levels.

I think it's the unreal engine, which seems unable to stream environments like WOW did.
While the loading times may be poor, I don't see what they have to do with UE3.
 

Zorander

Golden Member
Nov 3, 2010
1,143
1
81
The reason WC3 is tactical IMO is because of how different armor types react to different damage types. This doesn't happen here.
You definitely never played Starcraft. And this is nothing new to anyone who has played an RTS.

I absolutely abhor the so-called tactical screen on DA2. You can't initiate any AoE spells from afar until you get close enough (i.e. they appear ninja-style at close quarter). Combat scenes typically consist of close melee with a good mix of your warrior/rogue protecting your ranged fighter(s). The AI also typically chooses to go after one character only and ignores the rest.

It does not take much tactical genius to play this game.
 

micrometers

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2010
3,473
0
0
Some updated impressions of the game.

I am liking it a lot right now. The combat is like a good mix of God of War with more RPG elements. Kind of like Mass Effect 2. It is still very tactical IMO. I found myself wiping on a fight like 10 times while I tried different strategies. You can also pause and tell your guys to go here and there. Also the whole tactics thing is pretty well done. I tried DA:O again and it just wasn't as fun.

Recommend that you play as a warrior. Warrior does area damage.

Is there a way to turn off the in-game map? I think that it kind of takes away part of the immersion of the game.

also, there has to be a place where I can read all the codex's. I don't really care to read text on a television.
 

mirandu04

Member
Aug 29, 2011
135
0
0
i can't really make a difference just because from my point of view they are so different in style; i enjoyed both as much and i would say i would replay them both
 

micrometers

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2010
3,473
0
0
i can't really make a difference just because from my point of view they are so different in style; i enjoyed both as much and i would say i would replay them both

DA2 actually reminded me a lot of the KOTOR series, while DA1 is sort of a more RTS style of gameplay.
 

BudAshes

Lifer
Jul 20, 2003
13,945
3,240
146
DA1 is for people where gaming is their life, where as DA2 is for people who just enjoy a fun game.