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

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Gheris

Senior member
Oct 24, 2005
305
0
0
I finally finished the game,end battle(final one) is easier then some of the previous battles.

I got about 55 gaming hours out of this game so a good average if you do all possible quests would be 50-60 hours,shame I encountered 3 or 4 bugged quests (confirmed on website since I did check)that can't be completed until they release a new patch or two.

Think I'll be generous and keep my 7/10 rating even through the game does have a few issues,however I can't complain on stability which was excellent since I did not get a single crash.

There was one video cut scene near the end that keeps looping,so if you get that just hit escape key to continue.

I'll have a little break before I start Arcania.

:)

Mem,
Did you need a Tank on Normal? So far I am not really fond of the Tanks or having a tank in general in DA2. Let me know.
 

jonks

Lifer
Feb 7, 2005
13,918
20
81
Yeah, I don't like the school type score system where 1-6 is basically not used.

In academia very few people score 10-60/100 on exams, most get in the 70s/80s/90s. This is because most people study enough to do pretty well on tests. Same thing for games, most devs don't release utter crap. Talented people works for months or years with million dollar budgets. If the resulting game is merely decent after that effort a 6 or 7 is about the right score. 1-5 is reserved for those laughably ridiculous shitfests, imo.
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
I'd think a 5-star system might be more useful, but 1-10 (or 0-100) isn't all that different.

I'd say a 6-7 game is basically average. enjoyable, but not particularly memorable, innovative, or a game you'd want to play multiple times. faults that don't necessarily detract from playability.

under 5 and you're getting into games that are varying degrees of unplayable for whatever reason. I'd save a 1/10 for a game that's so buggy that it can't even be installed.
 

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
13
81
Mem,
Did you need a Tank on Normal? So far I am not really fond of the Tanks or having a tank in general in DA2. Let me know.

Some fights I used Aveline as main tank, two mages ie myself and Merril,rogue -Isabella.

I spec my mage so he could also heal and revive(recommended for tough fights later).

Some fights I did have 3 of my group down so reviving was very handy.
 
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NoSoup4You

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2007
1,253
6
81
I'm afraid this game may have just jumped the shark with the bit about Hawke's mother in Act 2. You cannot be serious... Really? They just went there?... REALLY? With almost no build-up, no prior knowledge of this guy except a passing mention ONCE. At this point basically ANYTHING can happen and I won't be surprised. You cannot be serious...

Also, the humor in this game is so crude, so blatant to the point of being lazy. Anyone can write this dialogue... it's not witty. How many inneundos and double entendres do they have to hit me over the head with. I get it, it's a "mature" title. There's no subtlety, no tact. It's like some hormonaly charged teenagers wrote the script.

I wanted to like this game, I really did. On top of everything the disgusting, over-the-top absurdity of every level looking EXACTLY THE SAME... it's like they didn't even try! Seriously, it's not like they made half a game and had to re-use some levels here and there... what they did is make 1/10th of a game and are reusing the same levels OVER AND OVER. I'm constantly in the same damn locations, I HATE THAT! Bad, this is bad. Not good at all.

The best rating I can give this game is a 7.5/10 and I really think that's generous. There are some fantastic parts to it, but it's criminal how you spend the whole game revisiting the same dungeons/levels.

Bad, under no circumstances should Bioware even think about releasing another title like this one. Can you say rushed? Well, at least I'm glad they were still able to provide us some Day 1 DLC... at least they had time for that. They couldn't have used that time to come up with some new levels or anything... time well spent, I'm sure.
 
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JSt0rm

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
27,399
3,948
126
I'm curious. Since you revisit the same locations years apart did they age the locations and change the trees and stuff? You know weather the buildings and what not.

That would be kinda cool if they did that at least.
 

StinkyPinky

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2002
6,958
1,269
126
I'm curious. Since you revisit the same locations years apart did they age the locations and change the trees and stuff? You know weather the buildings and what not.

That would be kinda cool if they did that at least.

No. It's stupid. Fenris' mansion never seems to change. The same broken pottery on the floor for years.
 

StinkyPinky

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2002
6,958
1,269
126
Some fights I used Aveline as main tank, two mages ie myself and Merril,rogue -Isabella.

I spec my mage so he could also heal and revive(recommended for tough fights later).

Some fights I did have 3 of my group down so reviving was very handy.

My prefered party is

Myself (elemental mage...fire, ice, lightning, force)
Anders (for his healing, buffs, and crushing prison assorted useful spells such as the glyphs which seem to work on lots of high end mobs)
Varric (for picking locks...would prefer a third mage myself)
Aveline (pure tank, not for the damage)
The summoned dog of course (useful for distraction and he can take a surprising amount of damage)

I've actually played some of the game with three mages and its devastating. :p
 

NYHoustonman

Platinum Member
Dec 8, 2002
2,642
0
0
I'm afraid this game may have just jumped the shark with the bit about Hawke's mother in Act 2. You cannot be serious... Really? They just went there?... REALLY? With almost no build-up, no prior knowledge of this guy except a passing mention ONCE. At this point basically ANYTHING can happen and I won't be surprised. You cannot be serious...

Also, the humor in this game is so crude, so blatant to the point of being lazy. Anyone can write this dialogue... it's not witty. How many inneundos and double entendres do they have to hit me over the head with. I get it, it's a "mature" title. There's no subtlety, no tact. It's like some hormonaly charged teenagers wrote the script.

I wanted to like this game, I really did. On top of everything the disgusting, over-the-top absurdity of every level looking EXACTLY THE SAME... it's like they didn't even try! Seriously, it's not like they made half a game and had to re-use some levels here and there... what they did is make 1/10th of a game and are reusing the same levels OVER AND OVER. I'm constantly in the same damn locations, I HATE THAT! Bad, this is bad. Not good at all.

The best rating I can give this game is a 7.5/10 and I really think that's generous. There are some fantastic parts to it, but it's criminal how you spend the whole game revisiting the same dungeons/levels.

Bad, under no circumstances should Bioware even think about releasing another title like this one. Can you say rushed? Well, at least I'm glad they were still able to provide us some Day 1 DLC... at least they had time for that. They couldn't have used that time to come up with some new levels or anything... time well spent, I'm sure.

Re: Hawke's mother, I thought it was actually pretty interesting :p. If you look back at how the quests progressed, specifically something that she mentioned (if you took the time to talk to her) in between, there were some small hints in there.
 

airdata

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2010
4,987
0
0
Despite all of the bad press, I picked the game up and installed last night...

I only played for probably 30-45. Not sure I see what all of the fuss is about. I thought the gameplay was very close to DA:O.

Graphics wise I thought it was pretty good. It had my video card overheating in around 10 minutes :) No crash though. Just artifacted enough to alert me to my 100c+ degree video card that needed more fan speed and less overclock.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
My prefered party is

Myself (elemental mage...fire, ice, lightning, force)
Anders (for his healing, buffs, and crushing prison assorted useful spells such as the glyphs which seem to work on lots of high end mobs)
Varric (for picking locks...would prefer a third mage myself)
Aveline (pure tank, not for the damage)
The summoned dog of course (useful for distraction and he can take a surprising amount of damage)

I've actually played some of the game with three mages and its devastating. :p

There's a character in the game named Anders? Weird... that's what I named my guy in DA1 :D I mean it's not derrived from my imagination but I thought it was pretty unique. Guess I'll have to think of something better :hmm:
 

darkewaffle

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
8,152
1
81
Anders was actually in Awakening first and now we see more of him in DA2. Though I liked him better the first time :p
 

Onita

Golden Member
Feb 24, 2004
1,158
0
71
I think there is a lot of overreaction due to DA:O. I'm having fun with it so far. I'd say its been worth my money. My biggest gripe is the reused levels.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Also, the humor in this game is so crude, so blatant to the point of being lazy. Anyone can write this dialogue... it's not witty. How many inneundos and double entendres do they have to hit me over the head with. I get it, it's a "mature" title. There's no subtlety, no tact. It's like some hormonaly charged teenagers wrote the script.

What do you expect? It's BioWare. Most overrated storytelling/dialog in gaming history.

Yeah, I went there.
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
14,488
7
81
I'd think a 5-star system might be more useful, but 1-10 (or 0-100) isn't all that different.

I'd say a 6-7 game is basically average. enjoyable, but not particularly memorable, innovative, or a game you'd want to play multiple times. faults that don't necessarily detract from playability.

under 5 and you're getting into games that are varying degrees of unplayable for whatever reason. I'd save a 1/10 for a game that's so buggy that it can't even be installed.

01/10 - What is this shit?
02/10 - Did they even finish this?
03/10 - Ugh, that is bad, I mean, I can tell where they were going but they missed the mark.
04/10 - The game is decent, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
05/10 - Average game, works ok, has potential but there are plenty of better games out there.
06/10 - Good game with flaws
07/10 - Good game, enjoyed it.
08/10 - Great game, lots to enjoy, any cons were greatly outweighed by the pros.
09/10 - Great game, nearing perfection, will probably spend many hours on it, a great example of it's specific genre.
10/10 - Perfect game, cons are either insignificant or were patched out. Game will be an instant classic and people will be playing it for at least a decade. Will cross generational gaps. Will be used as the bar by which all games to follow will be measured against.

That is how I see ratings....
 

Gheris

Senior member
Oct 24, 2005
305
0
0
What do you expect? It's BioWare. Most overrated storytelling/dialog in gaming history.

Yeah, I went there.

Do you really believe that or are you being "different", maybe even "edgy"......because a number of their games have excellent storytelling/dialog.
 

Liet

Golden Member
Jun 9, 2001
1,529
0
0
Astro's right. I do expect better dialog from them, and they've disappointed so much lately. The ME titles, the hideous dialog wheels, DA:O... They REALLY need to take $30k or so from their voice budgeting and allocate it to a good writing team.
 

darkewaffle

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
8,152
1
81
I haven't had any problem with the writing. The story itself isn't incredible but it's above average at least. I want to rebuild the Amell family, I want to see how it is I become "The Champion".

And the dialogue is fine, far as I'm concerned. The choices presented to your character make sense and represent an impossibly broad spectrum of options fairly well in 2-4 opinions.

And of course the humor is crude or sexual in nature. The majority of the characters you meet are poor people, bored rich people, morally questionable, or whores. What do you expect? It'd be completely out of character for most if they were making quips about the latest in Fereldan literature (and lost on the player if they were, for that matter) or bashing Lady Gaga.

A writer has to find common ground between who the characters are and the audience so that his efforts aren't completely ineffectual. Given you're trying to connect "21st century gamers" to "14th century vagabonds" essentially, there's not much overlap aside from very base human experiences. Relationships, sex, emotions and the like. Beyond that there's not much else you can do other than wordplay that isn't inaccessible.
 
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lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,711
8
81
So I played the game for quite a bit now, and I am comfortable enough to say I am glad I didn't listen to the bad hype. I am enjoying this game almost as much as I enjoyed DA:O (it's really hard to meet the bigger expectations on sequels!).

I have found no merit in the following criticism:

1) Maps Copied: Yes, some sections of maps are copy + pasted into multiple areas. This is nothing new to RPGs and does not affect gameplay, it seems like really reaching if you're going to say this makes the game bad.

2) Completely Dumbed Down combat: While it has been a while since I played DA:O I can't tell any difference in combat. It does not appear to be dumbed down at all, I play my battles exactly as I would have in DA:O and am loving it. The only difference I can tell is that there are more visual moves- like leaps and stuff. I like it.

3) Poor Voice Acting: No idea how this came about, it is perfectly fine. Some really interesting characters in the game with very unqiue, memorable voices.

I do have the following gripes though:

1) They dumbed down character armor. No longer can you pick up and buy armor pieces for all your companions, now all armor is restricted to your main character. Your companions have some a single specific armor piece which you can *sometimes* buy upgrades for. I dont like this aspect. I like full customization of armor. I believe the reason is to reduce micro management but most critics will say it's to cut corners.

2) They rely very heavily on "wave spawns" or in combat or teleporting enemies. It annoyed me in DA:O when you'd walk down a hallway and all of a sudden enemies appear out of nowhere in front of you and behind you after passing some trigger point. I am sad to see this technique is used HEAVILY in DA2. Even during combat you'll kill a certain guy or do certain amount of damage and more waves of enemies suddenly appear and surround you. I really don't like this.

3) Runes are permanent. When you place a rune you cannot remove it later. This is not cool... I could have sworn in DA:O you could remove them later... maybe I am wrong?

Some changes I like:

1) The crafting system is definitely improved IMO. Now you only need to explore to discover sources of raw resources, you dont actually have to pick through barrels and clutter to accumulate each individual piece of resource. More complicated recipes require you find multiple resource deposits. I really like this.

2) Skill tree improvements. I like the new approach to the skill tree, it allows you to more specialize in certain aspects instead of being forced into some things to advance.

Overall I give it a 7/10
 

SaltBoy

Diamond Member
Aug 13, 2001
8,975
11
81
3) Runes are permanent. When you place a rune you cannot remove it later. This is not cool... I could have sworn in DA:O you could remove them later... maybe I am wrong?

Yep, you can remove/change runes at will in DA:O
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Do you really believe that or are you being "different", maybe even "edgy"......because a number of their games have excellent storytelling/dialog.

Okay I admit I was exaggerating. I think Bioware's writing is not bad, but it is overrated. It's not a whole lot better than any other game studio, but people put them up on a pedestal.

The BG and DA games sound like going to a Renaissance Faire. Maybe it's because of the voice acting rather than the writing, I don't know.
 

NoSoup4You

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2007
1,253
6
81
To the guy suggesting the repeated levels aren't noticeable, how far in are you? I'm 41 hours in (still in Act 2) and I've run through the same dungeons OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. I believe the last time I came across a unique dungeon layout was the Deep Roads. That was about 12 in-game hours ago. In those last 12 hours, and the previous 12 hours before that, there haven't been ANY new dungeons. Just re-textured levels that share an identical layout, functionally they are the same.

The game has unbelievably serious issues which will prevent me from re-playing it the way I did with DA:O.
 

StinkyPinky

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2002
6,958
1,269
126
Yeah I think a lot of people who don't think it's a big deal are probably only 10 hours into the game or something. Wait until they're 40 hours in and they would have travelled to the "same" dungeon literally 20 times each. There's only about four variations.

Add into the fact the Kirkwall was hyped to be some huge city but imo it's no bigger than Denerim or Orzammar in the first game, and in the first game you also have several other smaller cities/towns to visit.

They could at least have included a village somewhere to visit. If there's an expansion (not some crappy 2 hour DLC) I pray they have it in a new city, or even better a real wilderness area with a couple of villages.