[QUOTE="texasgoldrush"]Never said DA2 doesn't have its problems. It was undercooked while DAO was overcooked. Well balanced, are you kidding me? The mage in DAO is OP and she is so OP that Bioware in the expansion crudely tried to balance the other two classes. Hell, parts of the Rogue were OP as well. The game is not well balanced at all. Some skills are OP as hell, while others are useless. Hell, DA2 has a more balanced combat system than DAO and that's not saying much. The problem with DAO is its so busy with the exposition and world building, the central PLOT was lacking. Its the same story in ME2. Why are the four major mid quests so divorced from the main plot with only a plot coupon to earn by doing them? And why does no party character truly matter outside Alistair (or Loghain if you want to count him)? The problem with the game is that the side stories are poorly integrated with the plot, and so were the characters. And really, the Darkspawn are absolutely yawn worthy, as are the Grey Wardens, who are basically a Bioware recycle of their past tropes. Which is another problem, DAO is heavily recycled from past Bioware plots and so are the characters, without enough divergence. Desmonic
Â
Yes well balanced. Playing it in hard or nighmare and the mage OP skills are worthless since they will also f*ck up your party. Personally speaking I always went with the rogue which could have been nerfed I agree, but when I had to control the party mage(s) they didn't feelt that OP since area attacks could be deadly for me. For the most part I tended to abuse them as healers.Â
I feel that the rogue in DA2 (again, only played the rogue) was actually made stronger and faster which made the mages and warriors in the party almost useless with exception of a few situations. For me DA2's combat felt way more unbalanced that DA:O.
That's what they were aiming with DA:O though. All those other plot points just needed to be set and they did so with conversations in missions, with characters, journals and the such. Sure it could have probably been handled much better but it did it's job nicely. It was subtle, it created the atmosphere that while the Blight was a major concern for Ferelden and the rest of the world there were actually other latent issues active, which is what one would expect in a real situation. It was clearly done and exposed with the purpose of the following games/DLC's exploring and solving those questions. DA2 followed one plot point and it kinda dropped the ball on the others (the Qunari part had the potential to be epic but it was meh, hopefully they'll play a big part in DA:I).
Loghain mattered? Only as the first main enemy (or as the "filler" before the Archdemon even), as a party member he was completely useless given that he only entered absurdly near the end. And as we have now learned (and previously been hinted to with Which Hunt and the start of DA2) Morrigan (and Flemeth) is actually more important than Alistair was. Leliana as well. But yes, for the main plot only Alistair was really critical per say, but the others are great in the sense that it's through may of them that you learn or understand more of the other plot points.
For all the parts that one can accuse it of being generic there are other which make it a great game. Easily one of the best Bioware games since the start of the 7th gen IMO.
Mana Clash doesn't...that OP skill basically removes enemy mages, easily the most dangerous enemies, from the game. Nevermind its been done where mages could actually solo. Who cares about party when there isn't one..... No, warriors are great in DA2, and Aveline is fantastic. And really the rogue becomes deadly with other classes do to cross class combos. Nevermind they balanced the combat through patches. The only thing DAO did well, outside Leliana's and Wynne's characters, who are actually deep and three dimensional (as well as the treatment of the Chantry), were its world building and some of the side stories, like the Dalish quests (Dalish Elf origin IS official canon, by the way). Everything else, was lacking. The plot was clichéd and unoriginal, and not at all interesting, the characters for the most part, are one dimensional that really lacked development. And the entire thing lacks focus, perhaps worse than DA2. It wa sjust like ME2, where the side stories and the world building were better than the plot, but here is the deal. ME2 characters were far better than DAO's and their development is SHOWN not just TOLD. Yes Morrigan and Leliana are more important in the storyline, but that's because after DAO they made it so, not because of DAO. And both characters had their deaths retconned. 
Log in to comment