Dragon Age 2 Incoming.

[Soapy]

Unfortunately, what us sane folks look at as good design, Bioware "fans" and other narrow-minded RPG fans see "they're just dumbing it down for the Casual Masses™"

 

[socool]

Thanks a lot EA I want to log into my Ea account, but my Xbox and my account use different emails, which takes that idea out of the picture. This means I can't download my Ser Issac of Clarke armor or my pre-order bonus. IDIOTS!

Game's fun, though...

 

[Benstamania]

You can call them to get it fixed. I had to do it for the Cerberus Network thing...

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

So I'm 3+ hours on this. Generally I roll with shield/sword warriors but Mage Hawke seems more appealing story-wise so yeah. The gameplay's pretty solid from what I can tell thus far. I wasn't able to run it at totally max but I was able to keep DX11 on High setting so there's that I suppose. I hear Nvidia cards are having an issue with performance so hopefully there will be a patch and I can boost the settings even higher. Pretty fun so far, though I can see why somebody would feel this game is less "epic" in scope since thus far the point of the story hasn't really been made apparent.

In a way its reminding me of GTA style setup where you're sort of just seemingly hanging around at the start.

As for the whole RPG streamlining issue, I'm personally happy that Bioware just doesn't roll out the same game every year and the less time I have to spend dicking around reducing things to omni-gel or selling topaz's or gem's the better.

I'm really liking the Rivalry mechanic, since I can now be more confrontational without having to worry about approval/disapproval.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/unnameddragonageprojectworkingtitle/review.html?tag=topslot;img;1

http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/64227/Dragon-Age-II/review/

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2011/03/08/dragon-age-2-review/1

 

[Drz]

Bah Friday seems so far away. :*(

 

[Soapy]

Loving the game so far.

 

[Soapy]

Loving the game so far.

 

[iamlegend]

Random note since I'm not far enough in to make any kind of orchestrated analysis... Still not quite sure about how I feel about some of the artwork re-designs - I know it's nit-picky, but I really, really can't stand the new look for your standard Darkspawn.

Mainly cause all I see when I look at them is the villain from the old Highlander cartoon series.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I thought both Darkspawn looked goofy.
The first one they kind of look like muppets, in the second they look like a 12 years olds scribble of a scary monster. Bioware probably intended them to be super serous mature time, but they are pretty campy.

 

[iamlegend]

I thought both Darkspawn looked goofy.
The first one they kind of look like muppets, in the second they look like a 12 years olds scribble of a scary monster. Bioware probably intended them to be super serous mature time, but they are pretty campy.

I didn't mind them so much in the original - I don't know what Bioware was thinking in this one though. They just look so stupid.

As I play more, it really feels like Bioware went out of their way to re-invent the wheel, so to speak, with so many aspects of the game. Some for the better, some not as much...

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I didn't mind them so much in the original - I don't know what Bioware was thinking in this one though. They just look so stupid.

As I play more, it really feels like Bioware went out of their way to re-invent the wheel, so to speak, with so many aspects of the game. Some for the better, some not as much...

Ja.

The full gameinformer review is up.

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/d...ii-pc-review-a-port-caught-in-the-middle.aspx

 

[Benstamania]

Eh, I think this game artistic design wise blows the first "plastic looking" design away.

 

[Benstamania]

Question before I get to far ahead...

I imported my story from my finale save after Witch Hunt... I assume that will bring everything over from my DAO save? Or... Will I have to bring over my actual DAO end game save?

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

It will bring everything over.

I like this part from the bit-gamer review,

"These little tweaks and adjustments will doubtlessly draw ire from some corners, especially as PC gamers clamour to be the first to cry consolification, but the benefits clearly outweigh the losses when examined closely. Dragon Age 2 may look like a far more streamlined title at first glance, but it's really just presenting the same amount of information in a far better way a lot of the time. Most of the sacrifices Dragon Age 2 has made away from the old-school RPG mould are functional, rather than statistical."

 

[Benstamania]

Ok, nice.. Thanks.

I'm still deciding on wether or not I want to role a Mage or Warrior first. I'm currently running a Mage, but I could always restart.

I thought I had this decided already. :-/

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

The Mage has a lot of cool interactions with the game world so far and I thought I wouldn't like having Carver around but the sibling rivalry is pretty fun to watch.

 

[Benstamania]

A lot of the free DLC seems to be geared toward the Mage as well. So.. I'll probably keep my Mage and role a Warrior on the 2nd play through and decide which one to port over to III whenever that happens.

I mean, it's a BioWare game... Not like I won't play it several times.

 

[El Bastardo]

Game is fantastic.

Also, while the two-handed scheme didn't woo me in the demo, in the full game it's awesome.

 

[The Squirrel]

There is a High Rise Texture pack for those of you playing on the PC:
http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/03/high-res-texture-pack-for-dragon-age-2/

Edit: Someone already posted it.

 

[Nathan]

My game arrived in the mail today! I said I was going to wait playing it till I finished my definite DAO playthrough, but you know what? Screw it! I'll just do the same here as I did with DAO. Play through it the first time casually and then take my sweet time and being thourough on my 2nd playthrough. That's where I'll use my definite DAO playthrough then.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'll probably start with the Rogue. I wanted to start out as the Mage for my first playthrough, but I just need my hot sister at my side for the first playthrough.

It's amazing how much I like Bethany. The idea of playing through the game with Carver instead of her was a major factor in my deciding to go warrior for my first play-through too. Carver's just so... bleh. Guy's a *****e. Bethany gets a little annoying at times too, but she's like a billion times better than Carver. Her... uh, skill set looks better too.

Just started playing it an hour or so ago.It blew my mind that my family looks like my created character.I thought it was just going to be that generic family no matter what.It was a awesome little surprise.

I didn't know that. That's awesome. I went with the default male Hawke appearance since it actually looks pretty cool, but I'm planning to probably make a black female as my second character. Should be interesting to see how the rest of the family looks.

In a way its reminding me of GTA style setup where you're sort of just seemingly hanging around at the start.

Yeah, but I like that. It strikes a good balance. The escape from Lothering is your focused narrative to give you a brief tutorial while setting up the main story arc, and then the game opens up by allowing you to choose what you want to do to earn the gold for the expedition. So it's like a good half-hour of introduction to characters and immersion in the world and story, then a couple hours to do whatever you want to do and explore and whatnot.

Game is fantastic.

Also, while the two-handed scheme didn't woo me in the demo, in the full game it's awesome.

I'm kind of kicking myself for not picking two-handed. The more fights I get into, the more annoyed I am at how bloody long it takes my sword-and-shielder to kill people. Plus, Aveline's already doing an excellent job of tanking as it is. It would've been smarter of me to go two-handed and focus on strength and damage boosters so I'm taking out whole groups of low-level thugs every couple of swings.

I vaguely recall hearing something about a way to re-spec characters. Do you know if that's possible at some point? I thought it might've been one of the Black Emporium bonuses, but that's just to change your appearance...

 

[El Bastardo]

Corp: You can buy the Maker's Sigh potion from either of the two stores in the Black Emporium. It's 1g34s, I think. It allows you to respec whoever drinks it.

It's been a learning experience, thus far, designing builds with the new stats. Don't skimp on Constitution or else you can't equip any armor. I've also decided Dexterity isn't really worth it for a two-handed build. DPS and/or Constitution will suffer just for a 1% increase per point of critical chance.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Okay, I must've missed that one when I browsed the shops. I only remember seeing those potions that can add attribute points and stuff.

I know about the constitution thing all too well. I couldn't equip the Lion of Orlais shield for like two levels after I got it because I had neglected my constitution up to that point.

Anyone else looking forward to the inevitable infinite gold exploits? I hate budgeting in these games. I just want to buy s***.

 

[Benstamania]

Played for about 3 hours last night... man what a game. Carver was a bit of a cry baby at first, but I managed to put him in his place, plus I found the origin of his name... so, he's a little less cry babyish now.

I really liked the line Hawke said to him when the two were arguing in their Uncles slum...

Spoiler

You don't need to be digging up Bethany to hide behind her as well.