6 replies to this topic

[hoofhearted4]

ive had the game since release day. i had pre ordered it, i had tried the demo before hand, and didnt really care for it. i must have played it through like 5 times though. there was something there that piqued my interest, but i still wasnt happy. i got the game and (not right away) i started it up, and i never even made it into Kirkwall. i stopped right at the first quest....now almost a year later i was playing some DAO again, and i had an urge to play DA2, so i did. i played as a Rouge, my favorite class from DAO and now that ive finished the game (literally like 10 minutes ago) i feel like i have to get my opinions out.

DA2...was actually pretty good. there are things i like about it, there are things i dont like about it....i have to say, i actually liked the fast paced nature of the game. dont get me wrong, i liked the original pace too of DAO, but its fun to just play on normal and kill stuff....im not sure how im going to like this pace whenever i decided to do a Nightmare run through, as a i feel like the fast pace is going to make me focus less on strategy, where the slow pace of DAO, helped me take things more logically since i wasnt fascinated by the combat action.

there were a ton of new abilities, and archer was actually made useful!, or at least made it more interesting to use...i still couldnt play through as an archer, but i didnt mind having Varric in my group, he was deff useful. however, i dont like how the sustained abilities took a percentage of your mana, instead of a fixed amount. sustained abilities just took up too much mana/stamina imo. heal was also nerfed quite a bit. a longer cool down. i can see nightmare being even more of a nightmare....which means ill have to keep Anders in my group and i really dont like him. but, im being picky here,

the game itself moved at a much faster pace as well. and i think that was due to it being a much shorter game....DAO took me between 50-60 hours to complete, depending on the difficulty. when i played with Mods (Rogue lol) and made me and my group super OP, and everything, it still took me around 40 hours to complete. thats still doing most of the quests in the game though....this playthrough of DA2, on normal, took me 27 hours to complete. which is much less then even a speed run with super mods on DAO took. i know nightmare will take me longer and i know i missed a few things here and there, but still, thats really quite short, a long game in general, 27 hours is nothing to complain about, but short as compared to its predecessor and short compared to the world of RPGs.

Another thing i didnt care for is the story. it was alright. i did find myself wanting to finish so i could find out why Varric was being questioned and all that, but it wasnt as Epic (and i say that as a scope, if you get what i mean) as DAO, where you are tasked with saving the world, you and your brother (Alistair) are the last Grey Wardens in all of Ferelden. and its just a powerful story imo. cliche yes, but powerful. you really felt like you were the last hope for the world...in DA2, while your built up as a Grand Champion on Kirkwall, and you find your actions ended up affecting the world and all that, idk, i just didnt feel all that mighty.

the quest structure wasnt amazing either. mostly just errands for other ppl. As a Rogue, it felt appropriate. starting out in the slums, doing odd jobs to get money and all that, but i dont feel like ill still feel that way as a mage/warrior. also, the reuse of the maps gets annoying. with just different areas being closed off every now and then to alter the map. would have been nice to see unique maps or at least a larger variety. nit picking as it didnt make for a bad game, but was much more lazy then DAO.

Overall the game was beautiful. A very similar art design to DAO but with cleaner graphics an a more detailed/realized world....idk if thats the right way to describe it as DAO was very detailed and realized as well. but i noticed the world of DA2 when i was in the Deep Roads. just felt more like it was supposed to be. idk how to explain it, im sorry.

the way your companions are set up is a little annoying. even after you get your own place, i would have like to have seen them all be in your house for convenience sake at least...you cant talk to them on the go anymore, you need to see them at their place to talk to them, and its not much when they do talk. their specific customization is different as well. they will wear the same armor through out the game. you cant customize that...you can find upgrades which makes it a little stronger and you can enchant it with runes later in the game. this isnt a bad thing really. the characters all look pretty cool in their native armor, so i had no problem with them staying in it, and it does get stronger so there was no real need to customize them...you can still have them weapons and rings and stuff which is plenty to do.

overall DA2 took me by surprise. it wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be. it does suck no toolset was released. i know there are some mods, but it would have been nice to see. i find myself wanting to try the other two classes as well, because i feel like being a different class will change certain parts here and there more then they would have in DA2...not to mention they seem like fun to play. idk if ill beat the game with all the classes, but ill certainly play them for a while, through Act 1 or something....also i have to say i do like the fact my guy can talk. it didnt bother me that he didnt in DAO, and i wont go crazy going back to DAO without a talking character, but it is nice. also for me, it didnt bother me i couldnt play as another race. in DAO i mostly played as a human (except once when i beat the game as a Dwarf Warrior) so for me personally that didnt change anything. but i can see how it might be depressing for some.

there was probably more i wanted to say im sure. but not only can i not remember any more that i wanted to say, but this is already quite the long post. if i think of anything else ill be sure to add it later....if and when a DA3 comes out, if they go back to the play style of DAO, i would be happy, but if they made it more like DA2, i would still be happy. both games we good, and although very similar and sequels, they were quite different from each other....all i can hope is that for DA3, they stick to one of those when making it, and not go off on a new 3rd play style and concept and all that. they need to find a way to blend the two more though. cause as i said, they are quite different games, but a 3rd game blended in the right way with elements from DAO and DA2 could be a great new game and possibly the best in the series.


if you made it all the way through this or skimmed it or what have you, thank you for talking the time to read this. feel free to respond as i would love to hear what you thought about DA2. but if not thats ok too, again thank you

[brokenergy]

I hope they don't use both styles (personal opinion) of animation for DA3 as both games are unrealistic and stupid. Origins was a pain and DA2 was a bit too much. I like how the gameplay was more refined from Origins, which leads to people saying that it's "too easy". Overall I respect your opinion.

[Aegrus]

I liked DA II, btw, I sided with mages. The story I found a bit bland, but I liked the gameplay and thought the characters were just awesome. They really made up for the story, in my opinion. I even actually like the time lapses, as they spread out the dramatic changes to a more realistic dispersion and gave the scope of the game a kind of grand feel.

I really loved Merrill. She's a beautiful, innocent blood mage who cares only about restoring her people even as they cast her out for who she is. . .
I gave her a shoulder to cry on when she felt lost and alone and scared. She comforted me when my (virtual) family died, and stood by my side against the full fury of the Templars.

She's really good at hiding her intelligence behind sweet comments, and she trolls people often. It's funny, but sadly it made a lot of people wrongly think she was a ditz.

[893kira]

I much prefer the DAO gameplay than the DA2. Seriously Bioware really made a mistake in this franchise compared to Mass effect franchise.
The Story is quite mediocre nothing to complain. Love the introduction that Hawke is a former army in Ferelden but that gives the player limitation. I much prefer the introduction in DAO is quite good. Creating your character in DAO is the best like choosing your background, races and profession. Seriously DA2 story can do what DAO able to achieve but with the EA tight budget and greed that leads Bioware to its downfall. Totally wish Sega would buy Bioware, just look at Total War franchise its getting bigger and better. Also with True Crimes making it to Sleeping Dogs.

Also DA2 gameplay is much more an arcade feeling compared to strategic rpg gameplay from DAO. That for me, makes DA2 sucks.

[megureka]

If I have a say in this; Personally, I love both. I love DAO and I love DA2. Each have it's negative and positive points, although I must say I do love DA2's combat style more than DAO. It's more face-paced, and more like... "combat". For example; the Mage. I never played as a Mage in DAO because they're sucks at close range combat (tried it once, but only until Harrowing—and then stop, because I couldn't hold it anymore but wanting to smack the demon's head. And the "go forward-go backward" motions is just... harrrgh...). But, in DA2, your Mage have s/he's own moves at far range combat AND close range combat (and Varric using his Bianca and his LEGS to take care of enemies in front of him. THAT'S—more realistic to me, no more "sheathe your bow and use your sword" like in DAO—you would be dead by now if this is a real battle).

 

But, I do must say that I like DAO's characters better than DA2. I mean, in "style/graphic", not "characteristic". I don't know, but I always have a feeling that my Champion is a walking and talking barbie, doesn't have anything inside that skin of his/her, not have a "volume". It's a completely different feeling when I play as the Warden; s/he is a human/elf/dwarf being, even if they don't have voice. And maybe it's only me, but... I never could make the Champion looks perfectly as I want him/her to be. In DAO, it's so easy and more fun to play with the Warden's face (starting from cute, simple, american, asian, african, beautiful, terrifying, ugly...etc—or maybe it's just because of the mods. Haha.)

 

And—

 

I FREAKING love BIOWARE for gave their attention to a simplest thing in DAO; The sound effect when the characters was walking/running is DIFFERENT, depends on what kind of armor you make them wear.

 

THAT doesn't happen in DA2, I believe.

 

About dialogue choices, I'm more into DA2 though. Well... I just don't like what DAO did to my brain the first time I played it. I suffered a brain damage after finished the game. And because of the clues (quest arrow) in DAO isn't as REAL as DA2 too. Looks like my brain share the same fate with Alistair's brain- *slapped* I mean, I'm not the brightest human being when it requires 'brain streaming'.

 

The same goes to companion's reactions towards quests which the Hero take. I'm merely disappointed with DAO because it's lack of this kind of thing, DA2's companions always have something to say to another NPCs.

 

Oh well, this just my opinions though. I think I still have another, but can't remember right now. Maybe later

 

Oh yeah, almost forgot, My MAIN hope for DA3: the Hero still have his/her voice, but we could pick which one we like. No more than 3 choices is enough

[Strobelight]

I've always wanted to get into Dragon Age 2, but Origins ruined it for me. I hated the combat so much I only ever played around 2 hours of it before getting rid of it for the Xbox. I know the combat system has changed now, somebody convince me to get this game! 

[Aegrus]

I hope they don't use both styles (personal opinion) of animation for DA3 as both games are unrealistic and stupid. Origins was a pain and DA2 was a bit too much. I like how the gameplay was more refined from Origins, which leads to people saying that it's "too easy". Overall I respect your opinion.

 

I agree.  Origins characters seemed like robots who just kind of floated through the world.  By that I mean, even though their dialogue and player interaction was great, their animations made them feel fake and stiff in gameplay.

 

Meanwhile, DA 2 characters felt more polished in behavior, but their animations were too ninja for my taste.