Dragon Age 2 Demo Overview

[warprincenataku]

So the Dragon Age 2 demo came out yesterday. How does it stack up? Well let me tell you.

So basically you pick your main character's archetype; mage, warrior or rogue and gender. You can't adjust any features because they're locked, but you can change the name.

After that you're treated to a cinematic where a Dwarf is being interrigated about your character. He tells a story that you in turn get to play... kinda.

Ok, first off, let's get to the combat. Right-Click on a character and... *cutscene* Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, right-click on a character starts your character off with his/her basic attack. Pressing the numbers... *cutscene* Ok, we're back, pressing the numbers... *cutscene* Gah! I just want to kill things! Pressing the numbers activates your special abilities. The combos are fluid as you switch between characters slicing and... *don't say it, another cutscene* Seriously, are you going to let me play the game or not. Pausing the game with spacebar makes targeting easier once combat starts to get hectic giving you a nice overview of what's happening.

Enters dragon, back to cutscene about the Dwarf. Apparently he was lying and he tells the story again, this time allowing you to play at least a minute or two without being interrupted again by another cutscene.

The dialog tree reminds me of Mass Effect's options giving you such responses as the angry response, the sympathetic, the peaceful or some... other... *cutscene* Mother lovin'!

Ok, so you can't open your inventory because it's locked. You can upgrade your characters though, each having a 6 branching skill trees.

I must be honest, I was not looking forward to Dragon Age 2. I bought the first one only because I was tired of being told I should play it. I liked it ok, ok enough to buy Origins. After that I was just kinda... eh. I didn't play through it more than once, I never got into the lore, it was just ok.

I was shocked how much I really enjoyed the demo. The graphics look great, the combat is smooth and the cutscenes were nicely rendered in-game. All-in-all it was a good experience leaving me with just enough wanting to buy it on Steam. Oh yes, now I have to go back through Origins and create a save file. Sure my character won't be imported, but my decisions will. A nice compromise if you will.

Check it out, let me know what you thought of the demo below. Thanks again for reading.

EDIT: Title changed to reflect relevance or lack there of.

 

[Sacman]

I mostly agree though I personally enjoyed the first one quite a bit... also the cutscenes never bothered me much mostly because your character actually has voice acting now and can convey some emotion and even the cutscenes lacking player interaction had enough intrigue to hold my interest...

The combat and graphics were greatly improved as well... like you said the combat feels more fluent and faster paced also the skills feel more balanced actually giving you some area of effect attacks early on and the mage actually feels like they can defend themselves one on one... graphics are a bit more stylized which I think fits better and gives the game a better identity... not helped by the fact that it just feels more like Mass Effect... but everything looked slicker and prettier from armor and terrain to menus and inventory...

 

[deckai]

Yeah, the cut-scenes are my biggest concern, not only are they too frequent, they also always had 2-3 seconds of loading time... this broke the whole gaming-flow... I really hope they fix it in the final version.

Also, the graphics... maybe it's my hazy memory, but I remember that origins looked better than the demo, while character models and animation may be improved, the backgrounds and environment looked way better in origins. Not to forget that locking the character creation and inventory seemed kinda pointless to me.

On the other hand, the combat-mechanics felt great. And the story as far as the demo goes, was interesting.

In the end, the demo didn't convinced me to pre-order the game but also didn't put me off... let's see what it will turn out to be.

Oh and:

Spoiler

Does anyone else thought the whole moment, when the husband dies, was destroyed by the fact that plate-armor is absolute useless when he was stabbed in the heart by a mere dagger?

 

[Christemo]

if its too Mass Effect-y im not buying it. i love the first game too much to let the sequel ruin the series. i saw the gameplay in the demo and it looks hella annoying that you have no autoattack and have to manually click to keep attacking. if its too hack-n-slashy im probably gonna hate it. i love hack-n-slash but not when you put in stats and skill trees. then you might aswell give me God age of War Origins 2 and ditch the RPG system.

 

[Andothul]

The cut scenes were because it was a DEMO.
They wont be so numerous and close together in the real game.

 

[deckai]

The cut scenes were because it was a DEMO.
They wont be so numerous and close together in the real game.

If you mean the cut scenes after you were saved, yes they are only there because it's a demo, and I didn't mind them so much, but the cut scenes at the beginning seemed intentional (well intentional in the sense as If they should have been there even if it were the final version), but well there is still the possibility that the whole first part was solely created for demonstrative purpose.

 

[Timmibal]

I'm pissed off.

The Xbox version is only available to gold members. In what fucking universe does that make sense? DA2 is a single player game. Why the shit is it released ontime to the MULTIPLAYER subscribers whilst those of us who choose not to assail ourselves with a bunch of teabagging expletive shrieking 13 year olds are penalized with a weeks delay?

Dick move, Microsoft, dick move.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

If you don't like cut-scenes why are you playing a Bioware game?

 

[StormShaun]

If you don't like cut-scenes why are you playing a Bioware game?

So true

also theirs a demo out.....who didnt fucking tell me!!

and yeh I hate xbox live because I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT TO HAVE DEMOS and shit.....serious microsoft great console but make it free then its perfect..

 

[the_maestro_sartori]

Just finished the demo as the mage, warrior, and rogue. Frickin loved it. So can't wait for the next two weeks to pass to get into the actual game.
Oh, PS-
Isabella rocks

 

[David Bray]

The first purpose of a review is to provide opinion that may help educate skeptical consumers to purchase the service being reviewed.

Demos are free.

A review of a demo is stupid and useless.

The second purpose of a review is to provide criticism and commentary in order to hopefully advance the diologue being taken place about what you are reviewing. This is mostly true in culture reviews, such as movies, music, or--yes--video games.

Nothing to be said in that regard either.

He never, not once, said it was a review. Go troll elsewhere.

OT: I felt exactly like you with DA:O...meh. Hopefully this will be much better.

 

[David Bray]

I'm pissed off.

The Xbox version is only available to gold members. In what fucking universe does that make sense? DA2 is a single player game. Why the shit is it released ontime to the MULTIPLAYER subscribers whilst those of us who choose not to assail ourselves with a bunch of teabagging expletive shrieking 13 year olds are penalized with a weeks delay?

Dick move, Microsoft, dick move.

Yes, mate. This demo bullshit is one of about 5 reasons im thinking of changing my allegiance at the next console cycle. I cannot stand for this.

 

[Meggiepants]

I thought it was Dragon Age much improved.

1. I was absolutely shocked at how nice it looked. DA:O was downright ugly on the consoles. This actually doesn't look all that bad at all. Good job, Bioware!

2. While the essentials of combat still seemed much the same, watching yourself fight is so much more interesting. Everything has amped up the action factor. Even the mage spells have been improved visually.

3. The skill trees, while in essence not too different from the first, were cleaner looking and easier to navigate. I liked being able to see all the skills on one screen.

4. Having a voice. I hate silent protagonists. It's weird to be mute when everyone else "hears" what you say except you.

I'll have to see what they do with item management, but it mostly seems like Dragon Age with some enhancements. These enhancements apparently included a new larger knocker size. Apparently Leliana's breasts were just not large enough for some folks, because some of the ladies in DA2 look like they would easily be put off balance by the right shove. I don't think I've seen that much cleavage since a Leisure Suit Larry Game.

If you don't like cut-scenes why are you playing a Bioware game?

And this. But, I'm sure since I've seen an achievement related to the Deep Roads, you'll have more combat time down their than you'll ever want.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

But, I'm sure since I've seen an achievement related to the Deep Roads,

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Obligatory second sentence to avoid low content moderation.

 

[Meggiepants]

But, I'm sure since I've seen an achievement related to the Deep Roads,

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Obligatory second sentence to avoid low content moderation.

I know. They call the achievement Delver of the Deep or some such thing. I still think it should be called, "Not this fucking place again."

 

[Dragonborne88]

I really enjoyed the demo as well, and I'm a big fan of the first Dragon Age.

As people have mentioned, the graphics are MUCH improved on the console version. Like, the detail on the armor is actually pretty impressive this time around, not the bland nasty looking textures from the first game. I don't know if I'm a huge fan of the voiced protagonist, since I really enjoyed making a snarky, Chantry hating Dalish Elf in the first game, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I like Shepard, after all.

The "push button to attack" did seem to give the impression of increased speed to the combat though, and it REALLY helps when you need to switch targets fast. I tried a Mage before bed last night, and the only thing I disliked greatly was the little flourish they do at the end of a combo. It takes a bit too long after you see it multiple times in a row. That's just a picky thing though.

Was anybody else REALLY impressed with Kate Mulgrew's acting on Flemeth? The first game, she did a really good job as a crazy old woman in the swamp. With the redesign of Flemeth, she sounds much more confident and wise then old Flemeth.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

But, I'm sure since I've seen an achievement related to the Deep Roads,

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Obligatory second sentence to avoid low content moderation.

I know. They call the achievement Delver of the Deep or some such thing. I still think it should be called, "Not this fucking place again."

Lol that made me laugh out loud (the real way, not the internet way)

 

[A Weakgeek]

I did not like it. Let's face it Dragon age's gameplay never was original, but from ripping off KoTOR/Neverwinter nights you went to ripping off masseffect... The new control scheme is just what I dislike about masseffect, now they encourage using just 1 character instead of using your whole team and tactics. It seems like an hack and slasher, but its better than the horrible controls in masseffect 2. I just wish they made KoTOR 3, if they did I wouldn't care a rat's ass about this game. Though i will end this rant on a positive note, they took the talking animations from Masseffect good BUT WHY DID THEY MAKE IT 3 CHOICES NOW?! It's that pure evil/good/neutral bullcrap again! (Ok i lied about the positive note)

 

[meowchef]

it looks hella annoying that you have no autoattack and have to manually click to keep attacking.

You do have auto-attack. You right click a dude... and he attacks him until one of you die.

 

[Paxel]

I thought that I couldn't be more exicted about DA2. I was wrong. Combat was my big gruff with DA:O, now that have been "fixed" I feel that this game will be awesome.