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I have mixed feelings about this game after playing it all day. Some of the things that other reviewers didn't like really don't bother me. For example, I don't mind that you can't pick a few different races this time around. That really only changed the first hour or so anyway. The reworked art style seems much better to me. In the original, although I loved the game, there was nothing spectacular or "dark" about the setting, considering they called it dark fantasy. I think they are closer this time around.
They really dumbed a lot of it down, just like with ME2, and I think that was a mistake in some respects. You can no longer deck out your other party members with the best gear, because the only thing you can do is upgrade their equipment with runes. Want them to use a different weapon or give them better armor? Too bad.
I actually also don't mind the narrative style of the storytelling either, although it does have its drawbacks. The real problems start with the new button-mash style of play. On the one hand the original system did need some fixing. When you'd highlight an opponent to attack, you would have to move into range. Sometimes the target was running towards you at the time, so you'd literally run by him without attacking, then have to chase him down. I think they could have fixed that problem without changing it to a button mash fest. I started with the rogue and after a few hours, frankly, I had to change to an archer. Now I paly a LOT of video games, but when you are hip-deep in darkspawn, having to mash that button hundreds of times will take its toll on your poor hands. And if you've played the rogue set up with dual weapons, you know that means a LOT of button presses. For goodness sakes if its going to be that way just let us hold the attack button in!
The combat is certainly more savage and fun to watch, but when you have to press a button for every single attack, it gets to the point where you can't enjoy it anymore. The original game play let you use strategy and then watch the results of your choices play out. This new system is almost too fast and hectic to be appreciated. They made a similar choice with the path they took after the original KOTOR, which I also loved and still play. When they moved on to Jade Empire they went with the button masher scheme. I was so thrilled when the first DA came out because they switched back to a truly great system, but now they have switched yet again.
Although I think many of the reviewers are being a little harsh in their assessment, I think there is a lot of truth to their comments. I'm enjoying the game, don't get me wrong, but I think they lost focus of the core audience that made the original such a hit. I also really don't like how there is no real connection to the first game. Yes you'll see some of the characters from the original game pop up here and there, but it still seems very disconnected. Its almost like--we know you played the first game, now come play it again--but with a different guy that we will create for you--oh and you have to mash a lot of buttons too.
Surprisingly, some folks are even unhappy with the fact that the main character actually has a voice this time. Frankly I love that. I thought it was REALLY a poor choice the first time around to not give the hero a voice because it really detracted from the epic feeling of the game. So I don't empathize with folks on that point. For what its worth, I also don't like how they stripped down ME2 in terms of skills and leveling, but I still really enjoyed the game.
I'm a little concerned not only about the future of this franchise, but of Bioware in general. When they made a game--I bought it--period. You KNEW it was going to be good. But this is a really shaky installment for the quality that I'm used to expecting from them, and I hope they turn things around if there is another one. I don't feel like the game was "rushed", like many reviewers. I just feel like they stripped it down a bit too much. I think they could have kept the original gameplay mechanics with a couple of fixes and still got the game out just as quickly.
Please, Bioware, think hard about how you move forward. You have never been satisifed making games that are like everyone elses, so please don't start now.
**Update
Now that I've finished the game its time for an update! I've cooled off on some of the criticisms I had early on but gotten a little more irritated with other things, so overall my rating will stay put. But a few things to comment on...
I don't know how some folks can say that the game only lasted 30 hours. The only way you could finish that fast is if you put it on casual difficulty and ignore all the side quests. I put in nearly twice that many hours, so I'm happy with the game length.
Originally I wasn't able to change my other characters' weapons and armor. I had tried initially and it wouldn't let me so I didn't try again until a fellow reviewer told me you could do that a little while into the game, at least as far as the weapons go. You can't change the armor for any of the other characters, aside from buying these stupid little mods for their armor. I thought it was a step in the wrong direction. The cool thing about the first game was that when your main character got a cool new set of armor, you passed on your old set to one of your crew. Not possible here.
The one unforgiveable thing about the game is the repetitive use of maps. You will go back to the same areas over and over and over again. Combined with the whole "stuck in town" feeling of the game, it really detracts from the epic nature of the original game. You were out there exploring the world, seeing new places all the time. Here you're in town and occasionally you go out of town briefly to do something, unfortunately its almost always back to the same three locations.
Another small matter was the lack of the party camp. I really liked that from the first game. All your characters were together in one place and it made you feel like your party was in this terrible mess together. Now you have everyone who has their own house around town--it feels very odd to me for some reason. Why not have them all hang out at Hawke's place?
All in all a very solid game. Takes a while to warm up to some of the changes but for the most part you will. I'd probably give it 3.5 stars if I could, but its definitely not a four star game the way it is. If they had added a little variety in the maps and put a little more work into the plot they could have easily made this better than the first game, even with the changes to the combat system. But now we know how they got the game on the market so fast.
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+1 Month and still no patch.****************************************************************************************************
Review for the XBOX 360 version of the game.
I've loved Bioware's games. Dragon Age Origins is one of my favorite games. My first play through took 60 hours and when I finished, I promptly restarted the game. The story and the conflict were engaging. The characters were unique and likable. All-in-all DA:O was a delightful throwback to games like Baldur's Gate. I can't recall many games in recent memory that hooked me as fast.
However, here I am, debating on whether or not I will ever play through Dragon Age 2 again. This game needed at least another year or two of development. It's either the result of rushed development, tight resources, or laziness.
First the Good: The graphics on the XBOX 360 version are an improvement over DA:O. The animations are improved. The soundtrack is better. The button pressing combat creates a hack-n-slash experience with mixed results. However, it does provide a more interactive experience than DA:O where you tapped a button and then watched as your character began engaging the enemy. Although, I imagine PC users will likely be ticked by this change.
The story has some amazing moments. Whoever wrote the Qunari pieces in the second act should get a raise. Those scenes were all gripping and amazingly done. Also a few of your party members really stand out. The characters "Varric" and "Merill" are great and their dialogue is very well done.
The Bad: Good graphics don't mean anything if you see the same maps and the same textures throughout the entire game. By the end of the first act, I had grown tired of Kirkwall. I had seen everything. Every cave, every mansion, every beach rely on the exact same underlying map. So the cave is always the same. It always looks the same. Bioware changes things up by blocking where you can go on the map, but 1/3 of the way through the game and I found I had seen everything. This just feels lazy. Maybe they ran out of time or resources or perhaps they were constrained by the limits of the DVD format. I don't know and I don't care. This sucks. 30-45 hours of the same thing.. over and over and over.....
The story details a political conflict. It's a political conflict that I don't want any part of because there is obviously no winner. There is no "good" or "bad" decision. Just shades of gray. No blight, just politics. I'm not rushing towards a great conclusion. I'm rushing into a Greek tragedy! Characters behave irrationally. Only thing I knew for certain was whatever decision I made, I'd pay for it later. Beyond that, your choices don't matter. You have the same boss fights regardless of which side you ultimately pick. It doesn't make story sense. I thought my choices would determine who the ultimate baddie would be, but no, you end up fighting both sides regardless of what you do. It feels forced. I played as a mage. The game centers around the conflict between mages and templars, but most templars didn't even seem to notice the fact my character was a mage.
Then there are bugs. One character's quest became bugged. It was a bug that revealed the ending of her quest chain, thus spoiling the story. I went online and found that many other people have experienced the same thing. A problem even more noteworthy if you have engaged in a "romance" with said character.
A few other bugs my friends and I have noticed:
* No achievements for DA2 Exiled Prince DLC. That's 5 achievements for 130 gamer points that currently do not work.
* Final boss fight glitches. Character remains stunned and villain is finished off by NPCs.
* You can't finish quests in the third act. NPCs fail to engage when you approach.
* Targeting problems with mages.
* Monsters in various boss fights fail to appear, but still damage player and NPCS.
* Game crashes when loading an area often resulting in a corrupted save file.
* Game triggers that are supposed to reference decisions from DA:O, Golemns of Amgarak, and Witch Hunt fail to work.
The game allows you to import your save from DA:O. For the most part, it doesn't matter. You get an extra side quest or get a forced cameo. Your choices don't impact much of anything. However, on a few occasions where the game could reference my decisions, I discovered that DA2 got my decisions wrong. I didn't spare the Architect!
On normal difficulty and higher, battles go on too long. My characters always feel woefully underpowered. Monsters will seize on one character (almost always the rogue). At this point you run said character around for a bit waiting for monsters to engage someone else. It's stupid, but one of the only things I've found to work in some of the tougher fights. Party members ignore commands. There's a cool down on potions and an increased cool down on healing spells.
I seriously could go on, but I'll spare you. I'm not alone in my complaints. Several of my friends pre-ordered as well. We've had group chat sessions that have turned into something of a Dragon Age 2 therapy session. Honestly, I'm hurt. I loved DA:O.
I pre-ordered this game and I won't make that mistake again. I'll wait for reviews for Mass Effect 3 and any subsequent DA game.
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I wish there were half-ratings, because I don't feel this is a baseline 3 star game. More like 3.5. Just not good enough to be a 4.While I only experienced two freezes in the entire game, numerous things about the game bothered me. What stands out the most is the lack of creativity throughout the entire game. It didn't bother me so much that the whole game takes place in a single city, because if done correctly you would forget you're in just one city (and even if you remembered, you'd be amazed it was all one city).
I think the city of Denerim in Origins had just as many locations as this new city setting takes place in. And while a couple of the city locations are fairly large, you will travel every inch of them so many times the city loses its charm pretty quickly. And it's unfortunate, because one of the strengths or getting the player familiarized with an area is that certain locations will inevitably come to be associated with events in the game. There was such an instance while I was playing when I reached an area and I thought "Oh wow, this is where ______ was murdered." I won't reveal who because it would be a spoiler.
However, the failure of the game setting is that underground areas/caves/exterior beach levels all used the exact same design. Literally, they would just re-use the same cave for all caves (except one, I think, which was unique), and they would fill it with different enemies. Drop giant spiders, blood mages or whatever else in the cave and change the quest, problem solved. And then the design of the cave itself was ridiculous. Not only did I feel it was lazy, but it made cave exploration feel like a chore, when in Origins it was one of the most fun parts. What this means for the familiarization of locations is that the personal connection I would have otherwise felt was shattered because the same interior setting existed in multiple places.
And to expound on that point, I also felt a bit cheated in the game. Where in Origins the game took place along a large landmass and quests occurred all over it, the same locations are used over a period of ten years. So I'd take my time and work through nearly all the available quests, and then the game would skip ahead 1-3 years and suddenly I have to clear the same caves, deal with more gang problems, the same old thing. I found it cheap for one main reason. My first character was a "Good" guy. I helped out everyone I could, the best way I could. But then when the game skips ahead I'm supposed to buy that for the past three years my character was just absent from all events and did nothing to prevent the further decay of the city. It ruins the immersion.
And that's the main thing really killed the game for me. That even though "rushed" isn't really the word I would use to describe what was wrong with the game, it was sorely lacking in the creativity department.
The game still earns a 3.5 rating though, because especially the second half of the game, the story really picks up and gets really damn good. In the interest of keeping this review as short as possible, this is where I'll end my review. Dragon Age 2 was a game that had so much potential to be great, the ingredients were all there. But as with Mass Effect 2, I felt this sequel kind of moved sideways. It did some things better and some things worse than the original, and ultimately I was left feeling unsatisfied.
Honest reviews on Dragon Age 2 - Xbox 360
It's difficult to know what to say about Bioware's newest offering in the Dragon Age series. The style of the game has shifted drastically, and it's entirely possible that a lot of that will just come down to personal preference. One thing is certainly true though: this game is far-removed from it's predecessor.The first game received a large quantity of DLC post-release. I mention this mostly because of a common criticism of content such as Awakenings, Witch Hunt, and so on -that they seemed short or rushed. This could often be explained away as they weren't full-length releases, and some issues in dialog or character development are to be expected. Origins itself had many bugs and issues. In fact, if you're playing the 360 version as of now (shortly after the release of DA:2), there are STILL broken elements in the ending which were never patched and don't accurately reflect your character's actions. Therefore, it perhaps bears mentioning that Bioware was seemingly in the habit of continuing to release (rushed?) content while failing to patch the original game.
That aside, Origins was monumental achievement in world creation. The amount of lore poured into the game was nothing short of astounding. One of the better elements is that every weapon/item you found had a nice paragraph type description. The titular origins personalized your character, and described your place in the world (whether elf, human mage, dwarf noble, etc.). Conversations took place through a dialog tree, where you selected a sentence spelling out your characters response (with the option to attempt skill-based options like persuade/intimidate interspersed). The extent of choice was not always what it could've been (in-world choices were almost always dichotomies) and your character origin often didn't have the impact it probably should have. The original game's combat emulated combat from Baldur's Gate series in attempt at real time tactical play, but that interface worked poorly for consoles, which resulted in what "appeared" to be a third person action type game. Of course, it wasn't an action game, and combat seemed slow comparatively and suffered from pathing issues and the like.
Dragon Age 2 had a lot to live up to. A giant world of potential had been created, but there were issues too. I think most players hoped that bugs in the original wouldn't be present this time around at release (things like glitched weapon damage, pathing issues, occasionally broken or poorly balanced combat) and that the promises of the first game would bear more fruit this time around (better integrated origin stories, more choices, etc.).
What we have received is a mixed bag.
The combat no longer has the same pathing issues, as you can manually run up and whack someone, a la . However, the tactical element has gotten worse, if anything. Most of the larger battles in DA2 seem to consist of endless streams of opponents appearing out of nowhere till the encounter is over. Gone is the aspect of setting traps or sizing the numbers of your opponents (because reinforcements will literally fall from the sky). Everything is sped up, but this seems to do little but make managing multiple characters more difficult. The combat animations have become comically ridiculous. A warrior with a two-handed blade leaps across the field like one of the jedi in Knights of the Old Republic, he wields a comically-over-sized sword in the vein of Final Fantasy, he swings it like it's weight-less, and can do this repeatedly to the same enemy giving the appearance of rapid wiffle-bat style attacks. Mages handle their staves like pole-dancers/band-leaders twirling back and forth as they fire blasts. The result is that the supposedly physically weak mages come off as half-acrobat. This is a gigantic style shift. Both the animations and graphics follow a comic sort of aesthetic devoid of the realism championed in the first game. The resulting characters seem less real, more like comics. The combat is now a less thoughtful and more button mashing sort of affair, and even on the higher difficulties the combat fails to have the tactical requirements of even a game like Devil May Cry (on a low difficult).
The origins were announced to be out earlier on. Instead, the only playable option is a human noble (who starts out without any current claim to wealth). It seems painful that the nuanced variety from the earlier title has been replaced by the oldest possible cliche a human from a noble family in a bad place. The story is less about impending doom, and more of a character study than the previous game.
The dialog system has shifted to a more simplistic one, instead of actually telling you what your character will be saying a large symbol representing the nature of the response (halo, red fist, laughing mask, etc.) is shown on a wheel. The wheel format is fine; the dumbing down of the selections is somewhat insulting though.
The locations are generally pretty, but are repeated constantly. It's difficult to state this strongly enough. You will revisit the exact same areas time and time again. I don't mean you'll visit Al's Bar many times, but rather that if there was a map/area called Al's Bar, the exact same map would be seen again but called a smuggler's hideout, friend's house, etc. but maybe with different rooms closed off (but not altered) for the different areas. Oddly, the game's mini-map will always be the same for these locations, so you'll recognize the map easily, but the map gives no indication that a certain area is closed off this time. Basically, the area re-use and selective portion cut-off renders the mini-map pointless and misleading.
Your ability to customize your characters is more limited this time around. You can equip them with whatever sort of accessories you like, but their armor is fixed. You can find "upgrades" to their armor (which are added with no visible change). This has an interest side-effect. All the armor-type loot you find is only usable by your character; so any armor not made for your class or wearable by you is utterly useless. Armor in this game has been given two ability requirements (as opposed to what was the prior game's single requirement), and they're largely class dependent. Mages use willpower/magic, rogues use dexterity/cunning, and warriors use strength/constitution.
As an aside: The former title armor was occasionally class-restricted, but usually there was only a strength requirement. So, rogues didn't wear heavy armor, because it was heavy and their strength was probably too low. Heavy armor could also restrict ability use. An interested character in the first game could probably divert the statistics to raise strength to equip armor though, regardless of the wisdom of such a move. The second game effectively prevents characters from that sort of experimentation. By requiring TWO stats for equipment, the game effectively tells the player: "your stats need to go here". A mage attempting to wear warrior armor for example, would have great difficulty diverting points from magic (Even ignoring willpower) to both strength AND constitution.
The story generally seems less deep, and more like a collection of side-stories. The recycled nature of the environments don't help when it comes to pulling you into unique locations. Most of the party members are likable, though they suffer in some ways from the new art-style in my opinion (compare the relatively modest females in Dragon Age Origins with the ludicrously over-sized breasts of a character like Isabella (or Bethany in the intro)).
So, what are we left with? The game isn't the RPG it's predecessor was. The design seems to have focused on a younger and perhaps more mainstream audience. Much of stat/customization elements have been pared down. The dialog is more basic and represented by large pictures. The art/combat/graphic style has received a comic-book makeover. The game plays more like a action RPG with less tactics. The story is less engaging, more fragmented, the reality and gravity seems to have been kicked down a notch (if only by the art-style, the incongruity of the combat with "reality", and the considerably more cliche story). In short, this is a game that seems more like a side-story/spin-off produced by another studio as a quick cash-in than an actual sequel. It's worth mentioning perhaps, that yes, this one has plenty of bugs too.
However, this game was actually made by Bioware. The changes are incredibly perplexing. The first game was a huge success, why did they change the formula so much? Perhaps these were decisions that had to be made to get the game out in a rush (writing all those origins might've been hard? Making different areas is hard? Allowing you to customize more than one character is hard? Giving you more choices is hard?). The result is a thoroughly average game, made worse by the fact that it's so clearly rushed, and that it's made by one of the largest names in the RPG world/published by one of the wealthiest publishers out there. I could see people that didn't play the first one, that like more mindless games, and don't really care about story getting some enjoyment out of this game. It's not for me.
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Dragon Age: Origins was never a perfect game; but it had character, which is of epic import for any RPG game. DA2 is nothing like the original and only bears similarity in name and basic storyline.This game is disappointing from the start; it's slow to build, leaving you initially with random and pathetic sidequests of no importance, building then to a short "adventure" (I use the term so very lightly), and then only leading to more stupid sidequests. The quests have no real impact though the style of the game and constant bludgeoning of silly tasks that have you running back and forth for no apparent purpose would make you think that somewhere---maybe---there is a payoff.
There is not.
The game ending culminates in no progression. Nothing. That is almost impossible for an RPG---to end in nothing happening. What do I mean? Well,after completing all these side quests and only mildly building potential villians, DA2 screws itself by simply....killing them off. Meaning, nothing you did mattered. At all. No point in choosing sides. The game then ends without saying what happens next except some vague talk about you leaving the city maybe kinda sorta I dunno.....
The story just doesn't have any punch. It will attempt to hold your interest and then it will go cold just as soon. This game is mostly grind quests, little more.
The characters? Somewhat lifeless by comparison to DAO. The original had lots of info and interaction that could take place at any time with the characters, this game gives you limited conversations where in you learn nothing about the characters in the game and these conversations can only happen three or four times in the course of the game. The characters themselves could have been made better, there was the potential, but no one seized it.
Combat? Stellar. Its fun, and there is tactical potential---you always have to watch your mages, etc. The combat is the only real solid thing about this game. Its quite good.
The quests: empty, lifeless, simple. This game is like WoW on console but with no online play. Constant senesless quests, on maps and dungeons that are repeated. In fact, there is only really three dungeon maps that are slightly altered and repeated for all the quests. No creativity. And the characters had a tendency to not be explained nor what they were doing be explained, so you often had no clue what was going on.
A lot of smaller things really made me feel glad I only paid $35 for this game (gift certificate and pre-order special on the signature edition...thought it was a great deal). Things like the equipment, which you can only customize your own armor though you can customize the weapons of your allies, as well as the accessories. But characters weapon choices are limited, in fact some cant change weapons. Its pathetic, one of the great strengths of an RPG is the complexity of character equipment. This is just another slap in the face.
In closing, I felt like I had to trudge through the game to get the end story, the actual mainstream of the game is mildly entertaining at best. The ending was....maddening, and left me angry and unsatisfied. Confused even. The quests were pointless, though they gave the impression that they meant something in the long run, there is no long run in the game so such is not possible.
Its possible this is a setup for DA3, and I think that this is an EA idea: create a short and hopefully sweet interim game at full price, then release another one that finishes that one at full price as well. Its pathetic, and I doubt EA gave Bioware much time to make the game either; Bioware makes gold, but since EA bought them out they have made continually lower quality RPG titles. EA is the cause of this games total failure.
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