So Dragon Age 2 is really bad on the PC and consolized?

[Red Storm]

You guys see this post over at their official forums ?...

Ex Bioware employee


http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6453858

Verdict at their forums is still out on if this is a troll guy or really ex-Bioware,I don't know to be honest.

There was another post from a verified former Bioware employee who I believe was one of the leads on DA:O. He basically said the 2nd game was moving in a different direction that he didn't like so he left. But he was much more diplomatic and professional about it. That quote just looks completely fake to me.

 

[Mem]

There was another post from a verified former Bioware employee who I believe was one of the leads on DA:O. He basically said the 2nd game was moving in a different direction that he didn't like so he left. But he was much more diplomatic and professional about it. That quote just looks completely fake to me.

You mean Brent Knowles I posted on page 3 of this thread,yeah he seems really honest,anyway regardless of the latest one we do know they did change quite a bit in DA2 from DAO and nobody can argue with that.

If I was in there as a developer you can bet I would be arguing with their direction and gameplay for DA2 until I got sacked .

 

[Red Storm]

In hindsight we should have all seen this coming. DA:O was announced, designed, and (mostly) developed before EA bought them. Once they became assimilated, we got DA2.

 

[Gheris]

At the end of the day it comes down to this:
DAO was a game made for the PC that was ported to consoles. DA2 is a console game ported to PC. I am still playing and enjoying DA2 but this has been my conclusion.

 

[Mem]

The plot thickens,looks like they have removed the link http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6453858 .

 

[Anteaus]

The plot thickens,looks like they have removed the link http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6453858 .

Doesn't really mean anything. They could be removing it because it's a current or ex Bioware employee, but just as easily they could be removing it because it's an imposter stirring the pot. It would be improper to presume anything without any solid evidence.

 

[darkewaffle]

You guys see this post over at their official forums ?...

Ex Bioware employee


http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6453858

Dollars to donuts this is the same 'anonymous employee' who proclaimed the apocalyptic failure of of SWTOR 6 months ago

It does, because a lot of people like to do "challenge runs" based on lesser used abilities. Other people just like being unique and making harder chars that require more thought. This is all part of "Role Playing".

Those lesser used abilities had no influence on combat. Crafting, herbing, poison making, etc did have some role playing capacity, but I think the role playing aspect of your "profession" really pales in comparison to decision making and ethics/morals, which are still in full effect.

Hell, the melee classes in DA2 might as well be mages, they have so many "unrealistic" (even for a medieval fantasy game) abilities that make the mage characters feel kinda pointless. Slamming your sword into the ground knocks surrounding enemies off their feet? Teleport behind enemies for critical hits? I get that they want to make fighters more interesting, but they went a little overboard. It's all too cartoony.

Melee classes were chock full of extraordinary abilities in DAO. You're really just cherry picking here. The difference is now the effects are simply more visible.

Yelling so loudly it knocks surrounding enemies off their feet? Calling animal companions out of thin air? Coating yourself in "shadows" so you're harder to hit? "Psychic pain" to creatures standing too close? It's a fantasy game FFS. Of course they're unrealistic.

Magic doesn't really feel like magic when a skinny, emo, Malfoy-from-Harry-Potter-lookalike elf who's holding a sword that probably weighs twice as much as him is flying all over the battlefield killing, stunning, and knocking enemies around as easy as a fireball or cone of cold. Simplifying DA2 was a bad idea.

Nothing about this is 'simplification' aside from you wanting it to be so you have something to harp on. DAO had much of the same warrior mechanics packaged in different abilities. Maybe it'll feel more like magic when you set them on fire, turn them to ice or stone, or heal your teammates or conjure a minion. It's an awfully selective view you're taking.

 

[Red Storm]

I don't remember fighters instantly teleporting to other side of a battle causing 4 enemies to explode into gibs. Granted there were some strange abilities for fighters in DA:O as well (I always played a mage personally, so I don't remember the fighters too wel), but the presentation (animations, teleporting around, etc) is just ridiculous in DA2.

The fact is, they had a great game in DA:O that only needed the slightest of tweaks to fix the few issues, and instead they throw everything out (even the art style which was way better in the first) and try to reinvent the wheel. It's what happens when EA gets their hands on you. The differences from DA:O to DA:2 is a textbook example of that.

 

[nageov3t]

DA2 feels a lot like Fable... and I kinda like that

 

[sticks435]

DA2 feels a lot like Fable... and I kinda like that

GTFO. D: In all seriousness though, that's pretty much how Gamespot described it in their podcast, only they didn't really like it.

 

[nageov3t]

I'm sure I'm in the minority when I say that I'd rather have a Fable clone than a Baldur's Gate clone.

 

[Phokus]

"The best RPG combat ever. Not gaming's best story, but maybe its best storytelling. Darker, sexier, better. [Mar 2011, p.64]" - PC Gamer

Ahahaha, PC Gamer is on crack. I'd love to see what type of advertising dollars they get from EA.

 

[bcterps]

I just built a new rig so I thought it would be cool to try this out on the PC (I played the first one on the 360). Only got a little bit of play time in yesterday, but the camera is probably the most annoying part of the game so far. I get the feeling I would have liked this much more on the 360 from a control perspective, as I get more familiar with the key bindings, maybe I'll enjoy it more on the PC.

Maybe I should just play BG2 instead, I found my old discs for it recently (never played it), does it still hold up?

 

[darkewaffle]

I don't remember fighters instantly teleporting to other side of a battle causing 4 enemies to explode into gibs. Granted there were some strange abilities for fighters in DA:O as well (I always played a mage personally, so I don't remember the fighters too wel), but the presentation (animations, teleporting around, etc) is just ridiculous in DA2.

The fact is, they had a great game in DA:O that only needed the slightest of tweaks to fix the few issues, and instead they throw everything out (even the art style which was way better in the first) and try to reinvent the wheel. It's what happens when EA gets their hands on you. The differences from DA:O to DA:2 is a textbook example of that.

We've covered this before. It's because in DAO warriors regularly spent half their fights auto-follow hobbling after enemies who ran away or trying to get to the second wave while your archer(s)/mage(s) were able to attack them from miles away. DAO had no gap closers, and it was frustrating playing a melee character or even just watching how ineffective melee characters were in some fights simply trying to catch the target.

As for 'exploding into gibs', Awakening is just as bad. Between Massacre and Peon's Plight you could slaughter huge groups of small enemies without a thought with a warrior.

Is it really that ridiculous? Honestly I think you could almost say it's more realistic. The animations in DAO were never that impressive. Of course the armor and shields are heavy, but DAO often looked like the characters were just phoning it in. There was no sense of urgency in the animations, I mean they're fighting for their lives really and yet those swords unsheath mighty slowly and the swings are sort of halfassed. DA2 does go too far in the other direction for my taste, but if they put the two together for DA3 we might get something that strikes a good balance.

And like an earlier poster said, if all they'd done was make minor tweaks, we'd be having this same discussion except everyone would be complaining about DA2 the same way people complained about Awakening, calling it more of the same.

 

[Anteaus]

I just built a new rig so I thought it would be cool to try this out on the PC (I played the first one on the 360). Only got a little bit of play time in yesterday, but the camera is probably the most annoying part of the game so far. I get the feeling I would have liked this much more on the 360 from a control perspective, as I get more familiar with the key bindings, maybe I'll enjoy it more on the PC.

Maybe I should just play BG2 instead, I found my old discs for it recently (never played it), does it still hold up?

Yep. BG2 plays just fine. The only hurdle is the old bitmap character textures lmao. We are so spoiled today.

 

[Mem]

We've covered this before. It's because in DAO warriors regularly spent half their fights auto-follow hobbling after enemies who ran away or trying to get to the second wave while your archer(s)/mage(s) were able to attack them from miles away. DAO had no gap closers, and it was frustrating playing a melee character or even just watching how ineffective melee characters were in some fights simply trying to catch the target.

As for 'exploding into gibs', Awakening is just as bad. Between Massacre and Peon's Plight you could slaughter huge groups of small enemies without a thought with a warrior.

Is it really that ridiculous? Honestly I think you could almost say it's more realistic. The animations in DAO were never that impressive. Of course the armor and shields are heavy, but DAO often looked like the characters were just phoning it in. There was no sense of urgency in the animations, I mean they're fighting for their lives really and yet those swords unsheath mighty slowly and the swings are sort of halfassed. DA2 does go too far in the other direction for my taste, but if they put the two together for DA3 we might get something that strikes a good balance.

And like an earlier poster said, if all they'd done was make minor tweaks, we'd be having this same discussion except everyone would be complaining about DA2 the same way people complained about Awakening, calling it more of the same.

As always we all have different opinions ,expectations etc..I'm holding off on how good or bad I think DA2 is until I have finished it,I did see this post from a guy over at their forums,

To me, DA2 is a kid game for button mashers and console fans. Gameplay is horrible, way too console like, almost brought down to a moronic level. Character development is insanely lame compared to DA:O and the combat mechanics are just as bad, again totally oriented toward silly console play.

All the good things from DA:O are gone and we're left with flashy, over the top, super duper speed action well suited for console players. Gone is the nice tactical camera view, replaced by a completely useless camera system, once again console oriented. Gone is the "this is my story", the entire game just feels on rails, talk, AE everything down, talk, AE everything down. The art assets are used and re-used. The story is totally silly, your companions are all railed into specific paths you can't do anything about and are totally forgettable.

Back then, when I grabbed DA:O on release, I played almost 36 hours straight then immediately after re-started with another origin. For DA2, I spent the first 4 hours thinking: This game CANNOT be this ****ty all the way...I stopped playing 2 hours later, couldn't take it anymore.

The best thing so far about DA2? It reminded me how good DA:O is and I started playing it again, after deleting that DA2 crap I just bought.

What happened to you Bioware? Don't you remember who brought you here? It wasn't the console kids, it's the RPG players.

 

[Red Storm]

We've covered this before. It's because in DAO warriors regularly spent half their fights auto-follow hobbling after enemies who ran away or trying to get to the second wave while your archer(s)/mage(s) were able to attack them from miles away. DAO had no gap closers, and it was frustrating playing a melee character or even just watching how ineffective melee characters were in some fights simply trying to catch the target.

As for 'exploding into gibs', Awakening is just as bad. Between Massacre and Peon's Plight you could slaughter huge groups of small enemies without a thought with a warrior.

Is it really that ridiculous? Honestly I think you could almost say it's more realistic. The animations in DAO were never that impressive. Of course the armor and shields are heavy, but DAO often looked like the characters were just phoning it in. There was no sense of urgency in the animations, I mean they're fighting for their lives really and yet those swords unsheath mighty slowly and the swings are sort of halfassed. DA2 does go too far in the other direction for my taste, but if they put the two together for DA3 we might get something that strikes a good balance.

And like an earlier poster said, if all they'd done was make minor tweaks, we'd be having this same discussion except everyone would be complaining about DA2 the same way people complained about Awakening, calling it more of the same.

Well duh, that's the downside to having a high health character that does lots of damage up close, range. Fighters aren't supposed to be great at everything. I don't remember any fight where the enemies ran away from me either. Sometimes they'd run to my archer or mage, but the fighter could either threaten or taunt to draw them back to himself. It worked very well in DA:O, just like you expect in a good, party based RPG where each class has its role. The fighters in DA2 come straight out of an action game.

I never played awakening so I have no opinion to give on it, but I use charge in DA2 and sometimes the enemies literally just explode as my fighter teleports to the target location. It looks incredibly stupid and it completely breaks any semblance of immersion.

The animations in DA2 are not impressive at all. They are way over the top. It's like they want every single swing, kill, flip, dodge, etc. to be something highlight worthy, when that's not the way to go. DA:O had it best with the finishing moves that you would sometimes see when killing enemies (and thanks to mods you could mess the frequency of seeing it). The fighting animations were much better, way more realistic. The game pace was more suited to a party based RPG as well, while DA2 definitely does combat at a running pace that makes you think action game.

They could release the perfect game and there would still be complaints, there's enough people out there to supply all sides with opinions. But the point is that true PC RPGs are a very rare breed nowadays, and to see Dragon Age go from that to being lumped in with the countless action games you see today is very disheartening. It's still a good game, but it's obviously a step down from the first. I would have high hopes for the 3rd but then I remember that EA owns them now.

 

[nageov3t]

why is "console" used like a 4-letter word?

 

[Red Storm]

why is "console" used like a 4-letter word?

How did you get to the PC Gaming forum without knowing the answer to that?

 

[Anteaus]

So does anyone else think the new mage fighting style is badass or is it just me?

 

[skace]

why is "console" used like a 4-letter word?

Xbox360 not only ruined a large portion of games that were originally native to the PC. It also stunted the growth of the PC by pegging so many games as 'cross-platform' titles.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

So does anyone else think the new mage fighting style is badass or is it just me?

What is badass about the same 3 animation sequence repeated indefinitely?

 

[Red Storm]

So does anyone else think the new mage fighting style is badass or is it just me?

I do like the change from having the buffs visible at all times to only in combat. It was quite trippy having all those effects on screen during conversations.

What is badass about the same 3 animation sequence repeated indefinitely?

This.

I especially hate it because mages are all about timing and my guy ends up taking his merry time with that 3rd attack when I really wanted him to stop attacking and start casting at someone else.

 

[styrafoam]

I'm sure I'm in the minority when I say that I'd rather have a Fable clone than a Baldur's Gate clone.

If there were a border fence to keep you guys out i would be all for it.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

why is "console" used like a 4-letter word?

Because when people take console games and try to pass them as PC games or vice versa it usually ends up shitty.