BioWare Dev Explains Why Dragon Age II Is Easier Than Origins

[darkcommanderq]

What a bunch of whiners. Dragon Age Origins difficulty was fine. It forced people to abuse the systems mechanics as much as possible. Its problem solving at its peak. Playing a game is just that, problem solving!

Top down Tactical based RPGs should not be ruined because of the lowest common demononator.
Those people can just stop playing bioware games and not ruin the companies products for the rest of us.

 

[Korne]

I think people are ok with the game being easier, but it is also waaaaaaaaaaaay more simple than the first game. For a sequel, I think everyone was expecting it to be a bit more complex, especially since they got virtually all of the complex stuff right in the first game.

Dude, it IS more complex. What you played was a demo. A crapload of abilities were locked for the demo, as it was supposed to be an introduction.

As Knight_47K said on the Gamefaqs boards, an example is that in Origins, there were 56 talents for a rogue (including specializations.) For DA2, there are around 85-90. So what are you even complaining about here?

I think it has more to do with the streamlined combat... but of course, I only played the demo, so that could be a bad example of what to expect in the game. The game seems like a great rental, and I will probably enjoy the game more than the first... but the people that loved the first game, they might not feel the same way.

 

[fudgemonkey118]

I literally just ordered this game, I haven't played the first one but the demo was awesome and I have a friend who explained most of the systems to me. I think the difficulty is about right for normal.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

So... DAII will piss off hardcore RPG fans and make casual gamers happy?

Huh, not sure how to react. >.>

Can people stop with this Hardcore gamer stuff, seriously. If you play games for anything other than fun and you're not getting paid for it, then to me you have very little to be proud of.

Gaming is for fun people, never forget that.

Now, if they could explain why they made it suck, that would be nice!

Seriously, the Dragon Age 2 demo was so bad that it made me very very sad.

.________.

That sad.

It was a Demo to show off the combat system which imo has improved a whole lot. It showed nothing else other than the new combat and conversation system.
If you're going to base an opinion on an RPG on those 2 things... You have no idea what an RPG is.

Hate to break it to you, but combat is the definitive feature of a RPG. Most of a RPG is spent in, or preparing for, combat.

 

[Mr Binary]

I played through the game on normal the first time and I quite liked the challange. After I completed normal I had to think to myself "If that was normal, what is nightmare like?!" The challange of a game is what, personally, kepps me playing. If I could fly through any game without a problem then it would be doing little to keep my attention.

 

[Blobpie]

Honestly i am really glad they did this... i mean the random spikes in difficulty that origins had was just... painful. Probably because i played origins on the xbox... nuff said.

 

[Jennacide]

Bullshit. The original DAO was difficult at launch because of countless bugs and balance issues. It was hard because enemy mages were more powerful than they should of been and could chain CC people. It was hard because warrior/rogue wasn't getting the full benefit of Dex at the start. Once those were fixed it wasn't hard. It was FUN.

Something the DA2 demo severely lacked. Add in the near Gamebryo level number of crashes and bad performance, and just no. I'm not taking the bait Bioware, you fucked up.

 

[Jezthesiren]

I played DA:O on Normal, but I will admit that I would sometimes use cheats after my first play-through just to speed up gameplay. My biggest complaint about difficulty was sometimes there were just too many enemies at a time - I could kill them, but it would really slow down the pace of the game and it was difficult to keep my allies alive sometimes because of AI that was good, but wasn't perfect. I felt I either had to pause every five seconds to give commands (and slow down the process even further) or end the major battles with my character as the only one left alive, hacking slowly away at my foes.

Now, I don't make any claims to be a hardcore player. I straddle the line between hardcore and casual. I think that easy modes and hardcore modes should be in just about every game so that players have the option. Some players are going for glory ("I'm such a good player that Nightmare was a piece of cake, you're all [inset insult, probably describing a sex act and/or female genetalia].") and others are just playing for relaxation and interactive storytelling.

 

[CommanderKirov]

"Welcome to fade. Hope you brought enough healing pots jackass"

I played it on nightmare as a rogue. That specialized in bows.

Fuck you Bioware, I spent two sleepless nights on that level alone.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

I'm glad. I'm one of those who had to bump DA:O down to "Casual".

 

[BlindChance]

Necromancy here, I know, but I want to add this.

I have a friend I introduced to Bioware via Mass Effect. Not a major gamer, but loves the storylines. In it for that. Jumps straight to casual, which is understandable. Just in it for the story, so why sweat all the combat?

Anyway. Even on casual, this game is too much. Deaths a go-go. Cannot finish the game.

I think, personally, that DA:O was probably too hard. Honest.

 

[Klitch]

Yeah I don't know where all this talk about DA2 being too easy came from. I beat DAO on Nightmare without too much heartache, but DA2 is consistently giving me a challenge on Normal (I couldn't get past the first battle of the game on Nightmare despite a dozen attempts).

There are numerous occasions where it's about 25-30 enemies against your group of 4. At least when DAO did that, they gave you a breather in between waves.

To be honest though, I think a lot of my problems progressing through DA2 are because my favorite class (Shield/Sword) has been totally nerfed.

 

[QSiv]

I am sorry to dissapoint Bioware, but the difficulty is seriously low.
I admit I'm a bit of a hardcore gamer, but DA:O was challenging on Hard.

Nightmare was nearly impossible.

In Dragon Age 2 I was actually facerolling through Nightmare with my two-hander warrior.
Heh, I even tanked the High Dragon specced for DPS.
I died only once in the whole game (Ancient Rock Wraith) lost my healers...

After that finishing the game I was unsatisfied, I took me about 8 hours with all sidequests and I was still longing for more.

I proceeded to start again, with a Mage (heard it was the hardest class to play).
I also wanted it to be hard so I decided to go solo. I have just completed Chapter II on Hard. With a Mage. Solo.

I fail to see the point how this game is easier than the last one

 

[rotkiv]

Bioware if you did the game easier because many people play the game for the story, why did you,or at least tried, to make the story as good as the first game or even better, WHY??????????

 

[otakon17]

The only parts I found hard were two boss fights in the third chapter. This is on normal, it was the BIGass Pride Demon and the High Dragon. The High Dragon more for the almost limitless supply of Dragons it could summon during the fight. Which completely broke the universe of the game for me. Slightly Off-Topic, the Codex stated High Dragons basically have a harem of Drakes at their beck and call. This High Dragon was apparently a lesbian. Didn't see a single Drake during 50+ hours of playing.

 

[Beautiful End]

(Wonder what caused people to bump this topic after all this time?)

Anyway, I'm playing DA:O for the first time and YES! IT IS SO CHALLENGING!

I'm good with RPGs but this is different from, let's say, Final Fantasy, obviously. But I enjoy the challenge. Even though I have to reload my game more than once, run away from certain battles and move carefully, I enjoy it. Bumping it down to Casual just to make it easier for me just doesn't feel right.

That being said, I think I'm kinda sad that they lowered the difficulty level. It's a good thing to know for when I start DA2. I'll probably start with Hard right off the bat. I'm already used to it so what the heck?