Dragon Age 2 demo available. Thoughts & impressions?

Just cancelled the download after a second attempt. Fail on day one.

dragon age origins became boring qucikly, and this one looks like rushed version with very little enhancements. iwill buy both but i think witcher 2 will be much superior

Just cancelled the download after a second attempt. Fail on day one.

Skullcandy

oo nice:D I'm downloading the demo as we speak.. plz be good plz be good:shock:

Turns out the DX11 renderer is unfinished, so I played it in DX9 and it works great.

And I love it.

I like the presentation. A nice touch was how big Bettany's boobs were in the, uh, 300 version of the story at the start of the demo. The art style: massive improvement. It's clean and colourful, and the special effects and animations are lively and imaginative. The new interface is better IMO.

And the gameplay, well, it's Dragon Age but faster. The animations are faster and the characters tend to be more acrobatic, dashing and jumping around, and that's fine by me. I'm not too bothered by the camera, that's pretty much how I used it in the first game too.

I'd rather choose my stance during dialogue, like in Alpha Protocol, than have this hybrid system. But it's OK...

Just found it on steam i wish i would have known earlier because i had the stupid 32kb/s download running for 2 hours and steam downloads it at 1.5mb/s get it there.cs45F

I like this a lot more than Origins. The combat is funner, especially with a rogue. Vanishing to the back of an ogre just before it hits you is very satisfying. I like mages the most though. . . firestorm is deadly. No regrets about pre-ordering this game here.

Graphics are definitely superior to Origins imo. Some screens I took. . .

[QUOTE="Baranga"]

Looks like my quad core / GTX470 / 4GB RAM isn't strong enough to run this game at more than 3 fps:lol:

-Unreal-

[QUOTE="-Unreal-"][QUOTE="Baranga"]

Looks like my quad core / GTX470 / 4GB RAM isn't strong enough to run this game at more than 3 fps:lol:

Elann2008

No, this demo was made from an old build.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="-Unreal-"] The demo has issues on my system and I have a GTX460 card. I get perfectly playable framerates, but I can't put AA and AF at 8x and 16x or the game has very erratic performance. In general the game seems to have issues even with AA and AF off.Baranga

No, this demo was made from an old build.

If its from an old build does that mean things like the inventory could be quite different in the full game? Like i don't understand why they stripped away that very cIassical look that DA: Origins had. biggest_loser

No, they'll keep this clean look. I bet someone will mod the old interface back.

IMO the new UI fits the new art style perfectly.

I was skeptical about the combat, but I realize now that this is much MUCH better then orgins. It feels much more tactful now. Its very fun to swoop across the battlefield and slice enemys apart as a warrior.

The only shame here is the performance, I run it fine at medium setting(console setting.) If I want to run it on high(DX10) The performance chugs and stutters. I hope this is fixed in the final release.

I was skeptical about the combat, but I realize now that this is much MUCH better then orgins. It feels much more tactful now. Its very fun to swoop across the battlefield and slice enemys apart as a warrior.

JangoWuzHere

I actually paused more often than in Origins.

They pretty much ruined DA. All the dumbed down things they changed and not a single one I like. ADD folks will love this game.

All I can do now is pray they don't F'up The Witcher also.

I was skeptical about the combat, but I realize now that this is much MUCH better then orgins. It feels much more tactful now. Its very fun to swoop across the battlefield and slice enemys apart as a warrior.

The only shame here is the performance, I run it fine at medium setting(console setting.) If I want to run it on high(DX10) The performance chugs and stutters. I hope this is fixed in the final release.

JangoWuzHere

My download finally finished. Really love the demo, proves that most of the haters complaints about what this game will be are wrong. The combat is just as strategic, but feels better paced, The graphics are soooo much better it's not even funny, there is still loot from enemy corpses (although no armour or weapons in the demo) and the conversation stuff works well (although I can understand people wanting the old style back. Personally I would rather having something more like Alpha Protocol.) My only real complaint is the lack of isometric camera. But I'll get used to it.kieranb2000

Just got back from classes and switched download over to steam client. Great feedback, can't wait to try it out!

I played a bit of the demo and quite like it. The combat is, big surprise, in no way a button masher, not even in the 'exaggerated version' -- personally, I couldn't tell the difference between the 'normal' and 'exaggerated' versions except for the fact that Hawke has more skills in the latter.

[QUOTE="SkyWard20"][QUOTE="attirex"]Everyone save their electrons and just repost the below: Demo is awful, worst game I ever played, Bioware sucks, ruined Dragon Age, crappy combat, camera is horrible, I hate everyone, hate, hate, hate, etc.cain006

Have you ever been to their forums? They said that DA2 looks better than the Witcher 2, they're so fanboyish it's hilarious.

I can't really remember, could you stack commands in Origins? Because you can't here and that sucks.GeneralShowzer

Nope.

DX11 works for some, there are screens posted on NeoGAF. The difference is really big.

I felt the combat was simplistic.. For the mage class especially I saw a few problems..

A: the spells are generic. Typically leading more to simply DMG/STUN. Instead of utility/dmg/stun/anti-melee etc.

B: Mages are given AOE spells far too early on. Your first spell is fireball, aoe spell.

C: there's not much casting time for big aoe spells. So you can virtually just run around drop a fireball. Then run around again. It made the combat feel consolized and easy.

Rogues in this game, again they seem to be missing loads of utility. And have just been turned into naruto like ninjas. Charging into battle. Dissappearing and then backstabbing people into gibs etc.. I guess this is all fine if you're looking for a RPG like ME2 for example.. Then that's ok. But definitely not my cup of tea.

The rogue's all about mobility now. Dash around the battlefield, seeking opportunities.

Bethany starts with an AoE spell, but it has less spells than Morrigan had in the beginning and now you face more enemies than before.

No isometric camera is bad, and sometimes it's very hard to keep track of what's going on. It's like I'm playing Origins on PS3. Sometimes the combat seems tactical, but other times it's a cluster**** where the overpowered AOE spells do the trick.GeneralShowzer

Sounds like Origins to me. Come on, we all spammed Blizzard, Earthquake and Firestorm or whatever they were called.

I didn't find the AOE spells to do the trick outside the prologue battle.

[QUOTE="cain006"]

[QUOTE="SkyWard20"] I've actually heard some positive stuff from the bioware forums so it can't be all that bad =0SkyWard20

Have you ever been to their forums? They said that DA2 looks better than the Witcher 2, they're so fanboyish it's hilarious.

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]No isometric camera is bad, and sometimes it's very hard to keep track of what's going on. It's like I'm playing Origins on PS3. Sometimes the combat seems tactical, but other times it's a cluster**** where the overpowered AOE spells do the trick.Baranga

Sounds like Origins to me. Come on, we all spammed Blizzard, Earthquake and Firestorm or whatever they were called.

I didn't find the AOE spells to do the trick outside the prologue battle.

Well, in Origins i could actually see what's going on without pausing the game ,and navigating the characters very slowly. I didn't feel the need to pause every second to give out orders for people to move here or there, because it felt neat.

Now even if you want to give orders , every character is equipped with stun, aoe stun , aoe damage, damage, everything seems so overpowered, you don't really have to. Just let the character run loose, because you can't control what they do either way.

If you want to control what they do, it will turn into one slow boring game, because of the lnterface you are given.

I did that last fight, everyone was just doing what they wanted, the enemies were all in this circle, where i bombarded then with my three different, but same AOE spells. As I said it's not bad, but it doesn't really improve on Origins.

People said that the attribute system is deeper/better than Origins. It isn't.

Lol, that's what I liked about Origins... Being able to control every action of the characters. I rarely let them do their own thing. I suppose that's why I spent over 100 hours with it!

Lol, that's what I liked about Origins... Being able to control every action of the characters. I rarely let them do their own thing. I suppose that's why I spent over 100 hours with it!

Baranga

Ok, i don't mean every action, but you had complete control of what characters did.

Now you lose time just to see where your characters are , and where the enemy is coming from, not to mention give orders which they will ignore.

The game isn't even turn based as far as i noticed. There are no turns anymore, just spam stuff. You can't really know what the characters are doing because of the limited camera. You played the demo, you know what I'm talking about. If someone gets separated frrom the group you have to go back and forth constantly.

[QUOTE="JangoWuzHere"]

I was skeptical about the combat, but I realize now that this is much MUCH better then orgins. It feels much more tactful now. Its very fun to swoop across the battlefield and slice enemys apart as a warrior.

Baranga

I actually paused more often than in Origins.

They still use dice rolls but they're faster now, perhaps because they use actual hit detection to decide if a hit connects or not. Abilities are almost instantly cast but you have to wait for the previous action to finish.

It was a bit annoying that I had to constantly switch between characters when they got separated, this will take some time to get used to... On the other hand the new camera forced me to bring archers and mages closer to the action, which made things more interesting.

They still use dice rolls but they're faster now, perhaps because they use actual hit detection to decide if a hit connects or not. Abilities are almost instantly cast but you have to wait for the previous action to finish.

It was a bit annoying that I had to constantly switch between characters when they got separated, this will take some time to get used to... On the other hand the new camera forced me to bring archers and mages closer to the action, which made things more interesting.

Baranga

well my PC can handle this game maxed out (1920x1080, 8x AA, Dx11, Very High) and it runs great, I just tried some of the combat at the begining, but I havent really got a good feel of the game yet, but my first impressions are good nevertheless.

I think I might start a rougue when I play Dragon Age 2. Dashing across the battlefiled and bactstabbing enemys was awesome8)

Mages are still super OP:cry:

I'm not used to RPG's so that might be why I freaking suck at this game. I can't beat the part with the giant ogre/darkspawn or w/e with his minions. And I'm using Mage which I heard is OP.

The part where:
[spoiler] the giant darkspawn/ogre kills your teammate [/spoiler]

I'm not used to RPG's so that might be why I freaking suck at this game. I can't beat the part with the giant ogre/darkspawn or w/e with his minions. And I'm using Mage which I heard is OP.

The part where:

Chiddaling

I'm writing a blog showcasing my impressions of the game, but I can say that my concerns all ended up being completely different from what I thought. I was afraid the graphics would suck, but they look as good as ME1 and better in many cases (armor looks fantastic) even on Medium (Windows XP, me :P). The writing isn't horrible either, unless you make your Hawke super nice, whereupon his lines make him sound like an absolute p***y. The game feels nothing like Mass Effect (partially because the camera motion is not as good :P).

My concerns are that combat feels utterly chaotic (in a bad way), the camera gets in the way and doesn't give a good view of the action even when zoomed out, there's too much stuff flashing everywhere in fights so it's hard to tell what's going on, and I really am not liking most of the voice acting. Overall I'm really just not liking the demo whatsoever. It feels bad to play :|

Blog should be up in a couple of hours with screenshots.

[QUOTE="Chiddaling"]

I'm not used to RPG's so that might be why I freaking suck at this game. I can't beat the part with the giant ogre/darkspawn or w/e with his minions. And I'm using Mage which I heard is OP.

The part where:

GeneralShowzer

I'm writing a blog showcasing my impressions of the game, but I can say that my concerns all ended up being completely different from what I thought. I was afraid the graphics would suck, but they look as good as ME1 and better in many cases (armor looks fantastic) even on Medium (Windows XP, me :P). The writing isn't horrible either, unless you make your Hawke super nice, whereupon his lines make him sound like an absolute p***y. The game feels nothing like Mass Effect (partially because the camera motion is not as good :P).

My concerns are that combat feels utterly chaotic (in a bad way), the camera gets in the way and doesn't give a good view of the action even when zoomed out, there's too much stuff flashing everywhere in fights so it's hard to tell what's going on, and I really am not liking most of the voice acting. Overall I'm really just not liking the demo whatsoever. It feels bad to play :|

Blog should be up in a couple of hours with screenshots.

Fusionmix

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]

[QUOTE="Chiddaling"]

I'm not used to RPG's so that might be why I freaking suck at this game. I can't beat the part with the giant ogre/darkspawn or w/e with his minions. And I'm using Mage which I heard is OP.

The part where:

Chiddaling

^Just pick mage and runn and throw fireballs when they're off cooldown. Or play warrior and just mash key 1/2.. That is there is to beating the demo.

[QUOTE="Chiddaling"]

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"] You can easily avoid the ogres attacks. Just let him chase one character around while the other two take care of the darkspawn.

GeneralShowzer