Dragon Age 2 demo available. Thoughts & impressions?

Bit the bullet and preordered this with the D2D 20% off code the other day. Unfortunately, I wont have time to try the demo until Thursday evening. Even more unfortunate is that finals week is the 14th-18th, so I won't get to play it much until late March :(

And the most annoying part:

*This is in the same world as dragon age right? Then how come suddenly everyone have turned into ninjas and that the darkspawns are now undead creatures?

KalDurenik

Agreed, I thought the ninja stuff were just a part of the exaggerated story telling at first. Then I realised this wasn't the case and I thought - ok I can look past this. When I saw flammeth I just said to myself: Are they really doing this?

I turned off the demo and talked to a friend about this, and I haven't been reading up on DA2 because I didn't want any spoilers. And he told me that they changed the look on the qunari and did a big retcon on their looks. I just sighed even more when I looked up the reason why Bioware decided to make this chanage, to make the DA universe more unique. Bioware, let me tell you something, the dragon age universe were low fantasty before you made the changed to make everyone look alien and have flashy moves. Low fantasy is pretty unique today, I don't get Biowares reasoning at all.

I just finished the demo, and i enjoyed it. Ran a female mage, and it was nice having more attacks plus a bit more power than the original.

This is by far the worst demo i have ever played.

I cant believe i downloaded 1.9 gb for 7 minutes gameplay...and its the same textures all over, so what gives? The multiple languages?

If this is how the game starts, bioware i am dissapointed, its not very good.

The demo is a demo of demo. Half the options are missing. Cant change my character looks, cant change my skills, cant open the inventory to change items, cant change the camera, cant change game options. Also on top of that its linear as hell and i can play only in the so called "medium" because high is for dx10 and very high for dx11 :D Right, like some exclusive dx effects are gonna make the game look leaps and bounds better. Nope this aint a graphically impressive game so..no not really changing much. Also you got no control over textures and lighting, etc ,etc. Its just a scale system. However textures are HD unlike the first game. That i can say for sure.

The game was a 1234 button masher, hell i did not even know what he skills did i just press and progress. Too damn linear too many enemies. Also cant change the difficultiy. I wont even bother talking about the bossfight.Also the enviroment looks nothing like the first. Also i dont like the way they mass effected my character's dialogues. I want my character to say what appears in the choices, not something else, because THAT looks cool, THAT is what i want to say not something similar.

Trully terrible. I wont be buying this game.

[QUOTE="Filthybastrd"]Seems to me like the demo does'nt like dx11 and SLISuper-Trooper

As a bonus, when I tell it to run dx11 performance goes to hell. I suppose setting it to "not dx9" makes it render in that mode but fil at it.

My impressions from 10 mins of gameplay last night:

Camera is'nt very good, it's hard to keep a grand perspective on things.

Skill design and combat feels a lot like World of Warcraft.

I'm not sure why people had issues with the Ogre. I just tanked it with my rogue while spamming the hell out of my skills. That pretty much took care of the darkspawn and eventually the ogre as well. Giving rogues an AoE stun with nearly no CD? I suppose the mage healed me but I certainly did'nt have to kite or anything.

[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.madrocketeer

This is by far the worst demo i have ever played.

I cant believe i downloaded 1.9 gb for 7 minutes gameplay...and its the same textures all over, so what gives? The multiple languages?

If this is how the game starts, bioware i am dissapointed, its not very good.

The demo is a demo of demo. Half the options are missing. Cant change my character looks, cant change my skills, cant open the inventory to change items, cant change the camera, cant change game options. Also on top of that its linear as hell and i can play only in the so called "medium" because high is for dx10 and very high for dx11 :D Right, like some exclusive dx effects are gonna make the game look leaps and bounds better. Nope this aint a graphically impressive game so..no not really changing much. Also you got no control over textures and lighting, etc ,etc. Its just a scale system. However textures are HD unlike the first game. That i can say for sure.

The game was a 1234 button masher, hell i did not even know what he skills did i just press and progress. Too damn linear too many enemies. Also cant change the difficultiy. I wont even bother talking about the bossfight.Also the enviroment looks nothing like the first. Also i dont like the way they mass effected my character's dialogues. I want my character to say what appears in the choices, not something else, because THAT looks cool, THAT is what i want to say not something similar.

Trully terrible. I wont be buying this game.

dakan45

I also want to know a RPG that doesn't have a linear first area.

I don't see how it's a button masher if you don't know or didn't bother to use the skills properly.

I also want to know a RPG that doesn't have a linear first area.

SkyWard20

How can something made by the same dev team that made Mass Effect 2 look and play so bad? I won't be getting the game.

[QUOTE="SkyWard20"] I don't see how it's a button masher if you don't know or didn't bother to use the skills properly.

I also want to know a RPG that doesn't have a linear first area.

dakan45

I don't have a problem with anyone who disagrees with me. I myself only disagreed with points from users I felt were quite incorrect concerning the demo. For example, I thought the Lothering area was quite short in fact. It was a bit longer than the Endar Spire from Kotor, but much shorter than Kaer Morhen from the Witcher.

I very much take my time with games, but even I could speed through Lothering in about 15 minutes.

Edit: on second thought, I would say it's about the same length as Kaer Morhen, maybe a bit shorter. the endar spire is much shorter.

I'd like to know how many potions you used in the game though.

The demo was ok. I don't think it is or will be better than origins but I will wait & reserve judgement until its out and also see the story.

Had to use spell out "styl_e" like this because of censor bug:|

I did find Bethanys shapeshifting chest funny, everything was normal at the start then I noticed something was different at which I was trying to figure out at closer inspection.

• DA & ME have their styl_e, here ME attributes have crossed over. While not a bad thing there wasn't anything wrong with origins. I don't have issues with the coversation dialog while there isn't anything wrong with the mass effect styl_e either and with a voiced character this time its fine but you only get three choices now.

• I spent most of DA:O with iso camera so I did miss it. With DA:O the up close combat didn't suit it. With DA2 while the combat has been tailored for upclose fast combat I still didn't entirely like the camera angles. The combat itself is good and fluid and better than the upclose combat of origins which is the only comparable part since there isn't the other. Tactical combat is still there but I found it much less effective because of the camera along with it also being locked on to the character. Also felt like stats don't matter as much.

• Again I don't think the graphics are much of a leap(medium locked though and for medium it looks good). I don't think its bad nor overwhelmingly better from orgins just a different visual styl_e. Visuals felt more clean but also felt less detailed. I was fine with DA:O graphics and I actually don't have any issues with the graphics of DA2 either, its fine I like it. I felt facial experssions were less detailed though(not much visible experssions).

• I think it will mainly come down to preference on gameplay. Its a different styl_e which some won't like and others will.

• (Don't think its bad) Combat is different. I don't want to jump on the consolisation wagon but I prefered the DA:O comabat and felt it was better and I just feel here the pc version may have been bought down for an equal experience with a different styl_e that works well for consoles while pc can handle whichever styl_e or it could simply be they had one type of combat in mind and focused on that. I would have just liked to have the other option present instead of removed.

Story wise I can only wait and see what this champion business is about. I've been cautious about DA2 because of the short time of space its had since the first so I'm going in not expecting better so it will be nice if I find it goes above my expectaions or just as good when the game comes out.

Will be interested to see if it will have the same small intricate touches like character interaction between different members chatting amongst themselves. Would give me an indication about how much care it has had.

As things stand I'm still interested in DA2 but never felt in any hurry since it wasn't a direct continuation of the story and nothings changed.

Flame shield on! Okay, Call me weird, but I kinda like the approach Bioware is taking. I noticed that DA2 was more actiony and that's something I find attractive. There is something about waiting for my character to run over and start an attacking animation that doesn't grab my attention. The graphics are okay, but I feel that it looks like Mass Effect 1 a bit. Idk, maybe I'm expecting too much? Overall, the demo was okay, but it has me interested in buying the full release.Lord_DoDo56

Now that I'm done critisicing the camera I'll go ahead and partially agree with you. I'd rather have them do something that is a little more actioney while being inspired by WoW than reuse what was clearly Bioware's (inferior) take on ADnD.

This is by far the worst demo i have ever played.

I cant believe i downloaded 1.9 gb for 7 minutes gameplay...and its the same textures all over, so what gives? The multiple languages?

If this is how the game starts, bioware i am dissapointed, its not very good.

The demo is a demo of demo. Half the options are missing. Cant change my character looks, cant change my skills, cant open the inventory to change items, cant change the camera, cant change game options. Also on top of that its linear as hell and i can play only in the so called "medium" because high is for dx10 and very high for dx11 :D Right, like some exclusive dx effects are gonna make the game look leaps and bounds better. Nope this aint a graphically impressive game so..no not really changing much. Also you got no control over textures and lighting, etc ,etc. Its just a scale system. However textures are HD unlike the first game. That i can say for sure.

The game was a 1234 button masher, hell i did not even know what he skills did i just press and progress. Too damn linear too many enemies. Also cant change the difficultiy. I wont even bother talking about the bossfight.Also the enviroment looks nothing like the first. Also i dont like the way they mass effected my character's dialogues. I want my character to say what appears in the choices, not something else, because THAT looks cool, THAT is what i want to say not something similar.

Trully terrible. I wont be buying this game.

dakan45

I'm grateful we even got a demo but I agree with your sentiments while not going as far as terrible though on the game itself but I hear you.

I'm not sure why people had issues with the Ogre. I just tanked it with my rogue while spamming the hell out of my skills. That pretty much took care of the darkspawn and eventually the ogre as well. Giving rogues an AoE stun with nearly no CD? I suppose the mage healed me but I certainly did'nt have to kite or anything.

Filthybastrd

[QUOTE="Lord_DoDo56"]Flame shield on! Okay, Call me weird, but I kinda like the approach Bioware is taking. I noticed that DA2 was more actiony and that's something I find attractive. There is something about waiting for my character to run over and start an attacking animation that doesn't grab my attention. The graphics are okay, but I feel that it looks like Mass Effect 1 a bit. Idk, maybe I'm expecting too much? Overall, the demo was okay, but it has me interested in buying the full release.Filthybastrd

Now that I'm done critisicing the camera I'll go ahead and partially agree with you. I'd rather have them do something that is a little more actioney while being inspired by WoW than reuse what was clearly Bioware's (inferior) take on ADnD.

How can something made by the same dev team that made Mass Effect 2 look and play so bad? I won't be getting the game.

Raxzor

Guess i'm one of the few who actually liked the demo. I thought it needed a little touching up, like the HUD at the bottom looked kinda crummy, and some of the textures looked blah but it is just a demo.

This is by far the worst demo i have ever played.

I cant believe i downloaded 1.9 gb for 7 minutes gameplay...and its the same textures all over, so what gives? The multiple languages?

If this is how the game starts, bioware i am dissapointed, its not very good.

The demo is a demo of demo. Half the options are missing. Cant change my character looks, cant change my skills, cant open the inventory to change items, cant change the camera, cant change game options. Also on top of that its linear as hell and i can play only in the so called "medium" because high is for dx10 and very high for dx11 :D Right, like some exclusive dx effects are gonna make the game look leaps and bounds better. Nope this aint a graphically impressive game so..no not really changing much. Also you got no control over textures and lighting, etc ,etc. Its just a scale system. However textures are HD unlike the first game. That i can say for sure.

The game was a 1234 button masher, hell i did not even know what he skills did i just press and progress. Too damn linear too many enemies. Also cant change the difficultiy. I wont even bother talking about the bossfight.Also the enviroment looks nothing like the first. Also i dont like the way they mass effected my character's dialogues. I want my character to say what appears in the choices, not something else, because THAT looks cool, THAT is what i want to say not something similar.

Trully terrible. I wont be buying this game.

dakan45

The level design reminded me of this.

haha well it was exactly that on those levels hopefully that was only because of the introduction.

[QUOTE="dakan45"]

This is by far the worst demo i have ever played.

I cant believe i downloaded 1.9 gb for 7 minutes gameplay...and its the same textures all over, so what gives? The multiple languages?

If this is how the game starts, bioware i am dissapointed, its not very good.

The demo is a demo of demo. Half the options are missing. Cant change my character looks, cant change my skills, cant open the inventory to change items, cant change the camera, cant change game options. Also on top of that its linear as hell and i can play only in the so called "medium" because high is for dx10 and very high for dx11 :D Right, like some exclusive dx effects are gonna make the game look leaps and bounds better. Nope this aint a graphically impressive game so..no not really changing much. Also you got no control over textures and lighting, etc ,etc. Its just a scale system. However textures are HD unlike the first game. That i can say for sure.

The game was a 1234 button masher, hell i did not even know what he skills did i just press and progress. Too damn linear too many enemies. Also cant change the difficultiy. I wont even bother talking about the bossfight.Also the enviroment looks nothing like the first. Also i dont like the way they mass effected my character's dialogues. I want my character to say what appears in the choices, not something else, because THAT looks cool, THAT is what i want to say not something similar.

Trully terrible. I wont be buying this game.

GeneralShowzer

The level design reminded me of this.

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]

[QUOTE="dakan45"]

This is by far the worst demo i have ever played.

I cant believe i downloaded 1.9 gb for 7 minutes gameplay...and its the same textures all over, so what gives? The multiple languages?

If this is how the game starts, bioware i am dissapointed, its not very good.

The demo is a demo of demo. Half the options are missing. Cant change my character looks, cant change my skills, cant open the inventory to change items, cant change the camera, cant change game options. Also on top of that its linear as hell and i can play only in the so called "medium" because high is for dx10 and very high for dx11 :D Right, like some exclusive dx effects are gonna make the game look leaps and bounds better. Nope this aint a graphically impressive game so..no not really changing much. Also you got no control over textures and lighting, etc ,etc. Its just a scale system. However textures are HD unlike the first game. That i can say for sure.

The game was a 1234 button masher, hell i did not even know what he skills did i just press and progress. Too damn linear too many enemies. Also cant change the difficultiy. I wont even bother talking about the bossfight.Also the enviroment looks nothing like the first. Also i dont like the way they mass effected my character's dialogues. I want my character to say what appears in the choices, not something else, because THAT looks cool, THAT is what i want to say not something similar.

Trully terrible. I wont be buying this game.

SkyWard20

The level design reminded me of this. You are not entertaining anymore. :(

So the starting area was't exactly like the second picture, hmm? The other area wasn't better either.GeneralShowzer

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]

[QUOTE="dakan45"]

This is by far the worst demo i have ever played.

I cant believe i downloaded 1.9 gb for 7 minutes gameplay...and its the same textures all over, so what gives? The multiple languages?

If this is how the game starts, bioware i am dissapointed, its not very good.

The demo is a demo of demo. Half the options are missing. Cant change my character looks, cant change my skills, cant open the inventory to change items, cant change the camera, cant change game options. Also on top of that its linear as hell and i can play only in the so called "medium" because high is for dx10 and very high for dx11 :D Right, like some exclusive dx effects are gonna make the game look leaps and bounds better. Nope this aint a graphically impressive game so..no not really changing much. Also you got no control over textures and lighting, etc ,etc. Its just a scale system. However textures are HD unlike the first game. That i can say for sure.

The game was a 1234 button masher, hell i did not even know what he skills did i just press and progress. Too damn linear too many enemies. Also cant change the difficultiy. I wont even bother talking about the bossfight.Also the enviroment looks nothing like the first. Also i dont like the way they mass effected my character's dialogues. I want my character to say what appears in the choices, not something else, because THAT looks cool, THAT is what i want to say not something similar.

Trully terrible. I wont be buying this game.

SkyWard20

The level design reminded me of this.

He's more "entertaining" then you are...

And btw...for those who played the demo... you can fool urselfs that DA 2 looks/feels/sounds amazing...but we all know the truth...it sucks...DA 2 looks/feels/sounds like a pile of garbage...

The level design reminded me of this.

GeneralShowzer

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

*Sits back and waits for The Witcher 2*

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]

The level design reminded me of this.

Baranga

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

Baranga

This. Exactly this. I gave the demo a shot expecting it to be nothing like the first dragon age and lo and behold, i was practically playing the same game albiet slightly nerfed and easier(but i'm willing to chalk that up to it being a demo). So far it doesn't really improve upon anything from the first game but its not the massive nerf that i thought it would be. So far my complaints are largely chalked up to the lack of tactical view and just how awful armor pieces look in this game(and the ogre. That thing looks awful in comparison). Barring that though everything seems well enough. I"ll likely be playing this one for the story which essentially means i'll be looking to get this game, just not at its current price tag.

EDIT: Oh yeah, another complaint. Dislike how the combat dictates everybody fights like they are in some bloody Devil May Cry game.

mm I wasn't really expecting too much, especially since it's the demo and I pretty much got that. The combat is a bit fun but I hate, absolutely hate how backstab is a skill now....And the environments were pretty lame. I don't like Hawke's voice. And the camera REALLY annoys me, especially when using a mage for AOE skills.

The story does interest me though. This will not be a day one purchase for me, I'll wait a couple of months, see how it's recieved by the community and buy it for cheap.

[QUOTE="Baranga"]

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]

The level design reminded me of this.

kieranb2000

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

:| You guys seriously can't be judging the full game design on it being supposedly linear based on a demo.. Do you guys even know what demos are? They are small snippets, and this one was CLEARLY used to showcase the improved combat scheme and a small taste of UI..

[QUOTE="kieranb2000"][QUOTE="Baranga"]

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

sSubZerOo

:| You guys seriously can't be judging the full game design on it being supposedly linear based on a demo.. Do you guys even know what demos are? They are small snippets, and this one was CLEARLY used to showcase the improved combat scheme and a small taste of UI..

[QUOTE="kieranb2000"][QUOTE="Baranga"]

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

sSubZerOo

:| You guys seriously can't be judging the full game design on it being supposedly linear based on a demo.. Do you guys even know what demos are? They are small snippets, and this one was CLEARLY used to showcase the improved combat scheme and a small taste of UI..

[QUOTE="kieranb2000"][QUOTE="Baranga"]

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

sSubZerOo

:| You guys seriously can't be judging the full game design on it being supposedly linear based on a demo.. Do you guys even know what demos are? They are small snippets, and this one was CLEARLY used to showcase the improved combat scheme and a small taste of UI..

[QUOTE="Baranga"]

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]

The level design reminded me of this.

kieranb2000

It reminded me of Dragon Age. Weird.

So what are peoples thoughts on male Hawke vs female Hawke? I just got done playing a female rogue, and I must say I enjoyed her voice and character a hell of a lot more than male Hawke. I tend to go with the male versions in these games, but this may be the one time to go different. I'm gonna try a male mage later and see if I truly dislike the male voice actor or if I can get used to it.

Doesn't hurt that default female Hawke looks like Morrigan.

I usually play the male version myself and female on alternate playthroughs. I like the voiceacting for both sexes, though I was never worried about not liking the voiceactors.

I usually play the male version myself and female on alternate playthroughs. I like the voiceacting for both sexes, though I was never worried about not liking the voiceactors.

SkyWard20

To be fair, Jack black could have done the VOs for both sexes and your opinion would still be the same?

I like both of their voices, especially sarcastic male Hawke's. Female Hawke's, although not bad, doesn't seem to fit so well with Bioware's default rendition of her. She looks like a femme fatale, but doesn't sound the part.

As far as looks go, I don't like default male Hawke and will no doubt be using a custom one. They did a good job with female Hawke's looks and I'd consider using the default appearance for a playthrough or two.

Interestingly, I just saw reports starting to come in on the Bioware forums from players who have played both the PC and the console demos. They say the console version is better, with more responsive, button-mashing style combat and no issues with the UI, interface and camera. DA2's platform difference is the reverse of DAO, then?madrocketeer

Having played both demos I can say that is nonsense. PC demo was better.

[QUOTE="SkyWard20"]

I usually play the male version myself and female on alternate playthroughs. I like the voiceacting for both sexes, though I was never worried about not liking the voiceactors.

kaealy

To be fair, Jack black could have done the VOs for both sexes and your opinion would still be the same?

Tried out the demo in Dx11 and it looked like the textures weren't loading properly with huge artefacts on the ground and the performance was all over the place. Really bad first impression.

I know its only a demo but still...

Tried out the demo in Dx11 and it looked like the textures weren't loading properly with huge artefacts on the ground and the performance was all over the place. Really bad first impression.

I know its only a demo but still...

HeavenIceDay

[QUOTE="HeavenIceDay"]

Tried out the demo in Dx11 and it looked like the textures weren't loading properly with huge artefacts on the ground and the performance was all over the place. Really bad first impression.

I know its only a demo but still...

GeneralShowzer

Why even put the option there in the first place? :?

Anyway i will give it another try later tonight

[QUOTE="madrocketeer"]Interestingly, I just saw reports starting to come in on the Bioware forums from players who have played both the PC and the console demos. They say the console version is better, with more responsive, button-mashing style combat and no issues with the UI, interface and camera. DA2's platform difference is the reverse of DAO, then?kozzy1234

Having played both demos I can say that is nonsense. PC demo was better.

[QUOTE="kozzy1234"]

[QUOTE="madrocketeer"]Interestingly, I just saw reports starting to come in on the Bioware forums from players who have played both the PC and the console demos. They say the console version is better, with more responsive, button-mashing style combat and no issues with the UI, interface and camera. DA2's platform difference is the reverse of DAO, then?kieranb2000

Having played both demos I can say that is nonsense. PC demo was better.

Well i browsed trough the Bioware forums

The problem for me is that in the PC version, much like Dragon Age Origins and almost every Bioware RPG before it, you click an enemy once, and it initiates a string of attacks continuously without player input. In an older game like Baldur's Gate, this would be ideal because of the isometric, top-down view. The problem with using this control scheme in Dragon Age 2 is that it's very up-close, action-y, and frenetic. With the PS3 version, you press X to attack, and it only does once. You need to continually press X to continually attacking, eliminating the auto-attack "problem"I have with the PC version. As for using spells and skills, pressing 1, 2, 3, etc or triangle, square, circle doesn't matter; those I am absolutely cool with. It's just the mouse configuration bothers me.

This man speaks the truth.