Even Forgiving All The Pre-Release BS, It Feels More Like A Beta For Dragon Age 3...
But the actual game, once I finished it, did just lack what the team had been saying was going to make it the best game we've ever played. Spoilers! Forgot, sorry, spoilers. Don't read this if you haven't played it yet, I won't be taking the fall for you...
The story, for me, and I know a lot of other people was the big issue, and it really was. It's a shame, too, because they've taken a massive event in the Dragon Age world and it's not been used to its full potential at all. And now they're stuck with it. They can't erase it, what's happened has happened, and it's a shame, because now future DA games will have to have that involved. Have to. Unless they just decide it happened differently, in which case this game is redundant, and that'd be an extremely bad move on Bioware's side...
Taking into account it was forced out in just under 2 years, I think, it is...I wish I could make that "is" in italic, to emphasize that under the strict time contraints, it's not too bad. That last "too" as well...trying to get some emphasis behind what I'm saying here, but it's just not working, haha...
Speaking of no personality, the dialogue wheel is--fundamentaly--confusing. It seems fine at first, you pick diplomatic, funny, and douchebag. But it turns out you end up with a personality based on that, which explains why Varric told Cassandra my Hawke was a **** when I'd been doing almost everything good. So yes, it turns out that every choice you've made stacks up points for a certain personality, which makes the options of what to say so misleading! Like I'd pick the douche option with a; 'No, you can't' or whatever, and then Hawke would literally verbally ***** slap someone and you'd be hated on by everyone for telling some corrupted Templar he's in the wrong...
And now, maybe that was explained in one of those tiny boxes that you just cannot read on an SD screen without squaring up to the TV, I dunno. I couldn't findout. I couldn't read it. *Collects up papers*Point and case...
Back to the story--the last thing I'll say on it--it is just dissapointing. The base game didn't cover 10 years, obviously for DLC, there's almost no difference in the endings except for Varric saying an extra line of who you ran off with. No epilogues, which just leaves everyone's story the exact same. It just looks like an obvious stunt...well, it is an obvious stunt to pump out as much DLC as they can. It's more like you've bought the engine that the DLC will run on. You've still got to wait and pay again for the real game. If this wasn't supposed to be a game that focuses on story, then I suppose I wouldn't care as much, but they've a whole writing team, not just a few people sat around smoking and playing backgammon. Come on, they've got a team...they're all about the story, and it's a shame we hardly got one, and when there was a story, half the things that happened just confused you more, espicially if you end up making a choice you didn't mean to/weren't aware you'd made. And from what I can tell from screenshots I looked of of in-game cutscenes from before it was released, scenes have been taken out. Maybe for...*sigh*...DLC? Oh, really Bioware? What a coincidence. I see what you did there...
The fighting, I do like. Oh, hey, happy section. I think the new class system and the new combat system is awesome. I don't know too much about the PC, becuase I only played the demo of that, and obviously this is in the PS3 part, but it was fine to me on that, too. It's faster, it's looks cooler...despite exploding when recieving a cut from a fondu stick. That's a lil' ridiculous. Looks fancy with certain moves, but others just looks awkward and 'cheap', if you understand what I mean? Like crappy CGI in a low budget film?...
The characters look great, and some of them are great. Merrill, she was the only one I really found that funny...oh, and Hawke. And Aveline, and I didn't expect to like her, either. But no, she was always in my team eventually. Fenris didn't live up to what I thought, his story, even his crack-the-neck was obviously coming up from a mile away. Literally, his actions are so predictable. Anders was okay, and the Ser Pounce-A-Lot thing was semi-funny with the first mention, but it really becomes an obvious; 'It'll please the fans. Just do that and only that, they'll love it.' Same with Alistair's; 'Yes, swooping is bad.' line. It just made me want to cringe. Like that fake; "Oh...aha...aren't you...*sigh*...aren't you funny...'". I liked Bethany, but as with every other death scene, it just felt half-assed. It was like; 'Oh, you're going? Mm'kay, alright. You're not lying, right? No, okay, alright, I'll see you later.' and you're just; 'Huh? That's it!? That's your sister, dude!' and Hawke; 'Win some, lose some, right?' Yeah, okay, Hawke. Whatever. You stone cold mutha--...
I think because you couldn't go talk to your characters anymore as well that just made them retain that lifeless quality. In Origins there was so much background to discover, and you could do it whenever you wanted...at camp. I do think on a mission it's a little odd, but the camp's not even there...which! Which! Leads to you not being able to be able to flick through all your party without keep switching in and out at a little horn stand. The party camp didn't need to go, why couldn't you just be able to see everyone when you're in your house, even if they're not there, you could at least re-equip them, and not being able to really customize armour didn't even bother me, I was semi-okay with that. Like quite a few other things from Origins, they changed them for what they thought was the better, but it just fails...
There just doesn't feel like there's that much depth in any part of it aside from the class system. Characters just don't come alive like they did. Everything else feels like the first attempt was just given an unispired; 'Yeah, okay, stick it in.' I hate that while we're waiting for Dragon Age 3, the time wasted on DA2 could have been put to good use. EA's fault, I suppose. The time constraint, I mean. But even then, some parts of Dragon Age 2, I just can't belive took 2 years to make. Someone just bailed on their job, and it's pretty obvious...
The locations, as I'm sure everyone has probably complained about, are used far too much. They look nice, don't get me wrong, the first time you see most of them, they look good. Not too detailed, but they work. But it's when every side quest is within the same 10 locations, it drives you out of your mind that you know exactly how a map is levelled out. It gets nice to know where it all is, but when you're trecking back through the exact same parts, again, and again, and again etc. you end up leaving a lot of sidequests to back log on certain parts and do like 5/6 at once, which then opens up more that spread out 1 to 6, so now you have to go to another six locations etc. You understand. They're not unique enough to entice you for the amount of time you'll spend there...
I never pictured BioWare as the kind of team to rest on their laurels, and I hope this isn't a sign that they are. Because as far as I'm concerned, DA2 is going the be the shame of the Dragon Age series. I hope they can pull it back, because I understand you can't expect perfection everytime, so I'll give them another chance. Sometimes great games just aren't what everyone expects, but it is a shame that it seems to be happening far too often wih games. At least the one's I've played. Perhaps change is coming to the world? *Stale luaghter* Aah, entertainment-wise, that's at least me 1, BioWare 0...
I finished it days ago, and I don't know if i want to do another playthrough. It just feels more like an annoyance then a game. And I know nothing drastic is really going to change, it's going to end the same way one way or another, and considering how "important"*wink* the choices from Origins were, it wouldn't even matter if I did do everything opposite. Why? Just 'cos, right, BioWare? Aww, no, I feel like I'm going for lowblows now. Not fair. I'll ease up...
The voice'd protagonist is a good idea, but unless they have more options, it's never really going to feel too RPG like. Same with the choices, I don't think 3 is enough to define everyone's personality, and I don't think it ever will be. There's a lot of different morale's in the world, and I don't think you can quite define it--even roughly--with just 3. I know it was hard to try and make decisions when what I'd do wasn't even an option. And I'm not on about doing stupid things, but it's impossible to get across in Dragon Age 2, you either kill them straight off, or you let them run away. Morale's run too deep to be defined so easily. Loads of other things do. It just doesn't have the amount of options to cater to everyone the way they thought they were...
The character creator was good, I enjoyed that. Not being able to be an elf was dissapointing, well...a relief after seeing some of the NPC one's. But no, seriously, making a Hawke is a pleasant experience. There's a lot of variation, and it changing your family, too, that was a good idea. I liked that. Smart move...
So, I would say don't start with this game, you probably won't understand anything, and you might end up with a low opinion of the Dragon Age world, but maybe when the price drops and you want a game that'll keep you busy for a few days, by all means, I'd recommend it. In fact, I'd wait for the Ultimate Edition. Where it'll have all the DLC. Trust me, you'll save yourself a lot of money and the ending to just DA2 itself won't suck as much because you'll keep playing...kinda...
Nice try, BioWare, but I think Dragon Age 2 is going to be deftly swept under the rug by a lot of people, maybe even themselves. But, BioWare can learn, and let's hope they do. They're a good company, let's just hope we're not only left with the memories, shall we?...