Dragon Age 2 Incoming.

[TheCorpulent1]

A lot of Metacritic users have rated it 1/10 or 0/10. Probably ******** 'pure RPG' fans.

 

[Benstamania]

Oh, well... they don't count. If it were up to them RPG's would still be top down, ugly interface type of games.

 

[El Bastardo]

Here are my complaints.

Getting one-shotted will never be fun.

Getting killed because you're "stunned" and can't fight back or even defend yourself will never be fun.

Losing battles because your party members aren't following their orders, tactics, or are
generally not doing what they're supposed to be doing will never be fun.

Being forced to win battles by spamming potions, flasks, or otherwise gaming the system will never be fun.

No matter how fast or how flashy they make the gameplay, none of that is indicative of good game design.

I know I'm late to the party here, but really?

Play on Casual or Normal. Make sure you're playing to your role and make sure you're managing your equipment well. This is really no different than in any other RPG.

What is one-shotting you? What is stunning you so often / for so long that you can't do anything? Stun also ups your subsequent-stun resistance, so nothing can actually stun-lock you. I smell hyperbolism at work here, boys! I have been playing on a mix of Hard and Normal, as have other people in this thread, and we've not experienced these things in gross amount. What class are you playing? What are you doing in combat?

In fact, based on my encounters with golems, the designers actually lowered the amount of stuns, at least. No more Quake moves. Mature Dragons have an AoE stun when they roar, but it's nothing more than a few seconds. I don't think Ogres have a stun, and I think they even lost their pick-up-and-beat-you move, as I've yet to see that.

But give us more information and we will be the epitome of helpful.

Also, you say you know all about Tactics, but if your party members aren't doing anything, either you have Hold Position toggled or you have bad tactics set. This is rather objective, really.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Reading that interview... what dope rated it a 6/10?

Edge. To be fair, they gave Dragon Age: Origins an extreamly negative review as well. They tend to be abit more critical than G4/gametrailers/IGN. Who tend to put out "dude" reviews.

If it were up to them RPG's would still be top down, ugly interface type of games.

Dragon Age generally played better when it was top down. It's interface wasn't very different from similar top down games besides stacking as opposed to grid. Graphically the very low res textures would have been less noticeable from high above.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I switched between both views. Mainly I used Isometric view for Area of Effect spells and lining up things like cone of cold. Other than that the game operated perfectly fine from the 3rd person perspective for just the more general bits of attack this person/hex that person.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Edge. To be fair, they gave Dragon Age: Origins an extreamly negative review as well. They tend to be abit more critical than G4/gametrailers/IGN. Who tend to put out "dude" reviews.

What are "dude" reviews?

G4 gave DA 2 a 3/5.

 

[Soapy]

Obviously they review dudes.

 

[Benstamania]

I have a 47" TV and I don't notice the low res textures. Maybe because I'm having to much fun playing it?

Hey, I hear Diablo II is awesome!

 

[Soapy]

I don't know if you're talking about Dragon Age 1 or 2, but Origins has some really bad textures, especially on console. But I would say that's more or less because the game was in development so long.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

What are "dude" reviews?

Gaming media designed for mass appeal to a predominantly male audience for profit without necessarily knowing crap or having much in a the way of substance.

e.g.

[YT]K9a24SvrIXs[/YT]

e.g.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Video_Game_Awards

e.g

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/11/gamespot-inside/

Hot woman, yo.

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/...via-munn-doesn-t-cut-it-as-a-game-journalist/

Gaming media is mostly a joke.

 

[Benstamania]

I don't know if you're talking about Dragon Age 1 or 2, but Origins has some really bad textures, especially on console. But I would say that's more or less because the game was in development so long.

I was talking about 2, DAO is one of the worst looking games this generation... but it's still fun.

 

[El Bastardo]

I have two (I think, I don't think Drz needed to use the code I gave him) Gamestop DLC codes for the PC/360 if anyone wants one. The code is for the Fadeshear/Lion of Orlais. Shoot me a message and I'll let you have it.

I'd say it's first-come, first-serve, but it's probably based on whether or not I think you're a dbag.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Gaming media designed for mass appeal to a predominantly male audience for profit without necessarily knowing crap or having much in a the way of substance.

e.g.

[YT]K9a24SvrIXs[/YT]

e.g.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Video_Game_Awards

e.g

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/11/gamespot-inside/

Hot woman, yo.

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/...via-munn-doesn-t-cut-it-as-a-game-journalist/

Gaming media is mostly a joke.

Ah, I see. Yeah, that's the main reason I ignore reviews for anything--they're all ultimately just someone else's opinion, inevitably subject to their own prejudices and pet peeves. I watch some of G4's web content like Feedback and Sessler's Soapbox because I like gaming discussions; the latter is how I heard about the score, since Adam Sessler wrote their review for DA 2.

 

[Benstamania]

I like Sessler, I often agree with him.

Anyway... in regards to where I'm at... man..

Spoiler

Hawke's mother was just abducted and used for a Frankenstein like creation... she of course died after the Blood Mage that did it to her was killed. The scene far surpassed any of the "emotional" parts of DAO.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Hey, so, I've recruited all of my companions except Sebastian, the DLC guy. I did his missions a while ago and figured there'd be some follow-up quest where I help him out again and he agrees to join my group, like with Fenris. But I'm just about done with Act I and still nothing. Does he not become a party member until Act 2, or was I supposed to like strong-arm him into joining me because I killed all the *****ebags who killed his family at the end of the Duty mission?

 

[Swordmaster]

There's another quest for him in Act 2, I believe.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Okay, cool, just making sure I didn't miss the opportunity to have him join.

 

[socool]

I spent over 6 hours with my rouge. Mostly side-quests. I decided to try a mage and I'm contemplating eliminating my rouge. Mage is so much more fun.

Also, I don't remember if someone answered me, but how do I link my Xbox Live account to my EA account?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Merrill is officially the best character in the game. (Bear with me, I'm paraphrasing.)

Merrill: If your city was stolen, why didn't you just call the guards?
Sebastian: It doesn't really work that way.
Merrill: I bet Avilene could have gotten them to give your city back. She's very good at making thieves return stolen property. I think it's because she's so tall...
Sebastian: I'm afraid what happened may have been beyond even Avilene's power to stop.
Merrill: Have you seen Avilene hit people?

 

[Drz]

How many acts are there? I'm on Act 2 right now, completed all sidequests in Act1 before heading to the Deep Roads.

 

[Nathan]

Went back to DAO after all. I just have to finish it before I can play DA2. Which means just roughly another 40 hours to go, before I can get back to DA2.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

How many acts are there? I'm on Act 2 right now, completed all sidequests in Act1 before heading to the Deep Roads.

The strategy guide says there are 3 acts.

No, I didn't buy it. The DA 2 website had a preview of the first few pages and I was bored at work one day.

Question of my own: Does anyone know what the maximum level of complexity the chests in the game go up to? I know you need 20 cunning to unlock all of the chests in Act I and then 30 for the ones in Act II, but do you need to keep boosting cunning after that? I'm using Sebastian, so I'd kind of rather focus on dexterity for his archery.

 

[Benstamania]

Question - Does anyone know where we get Hawkes armor that he has in the very beginning of the game? I'm on act 3 and still in two star robes....

EDIT -

Never mind, you apparently get the armor set IN act 3.

 

[Benstamania]

Merrill is officially the best character in the game. (Bear with me, I'm paraphrasing.)

Merrill: If your city was stolen, why didn't you just call the guards?
Sebastian: It doesn't really work that way.
Merrill: I bet Avilene could have gotten them to give your city back. She's very good at making thieves return stolen property. I think it's because she's so tall...
Sebastian: I'm afraid what happened may have been beyond even Avilene's power to stop.
Merrill: Have you seen Avilene hit people?

Merrill is pretty darn funny. She's so spacey, some of her conversations with Fenris cracks me up. Speaking of Fenris... he gets on my nerves. I get that he had a bad life or whatever, but the dude is an uberprick.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

How tied into DAO is this game?

Is it necessary to play through it for this one to make sense?