Dragon Age 2 Demo

[x-machina]

[quote="EVILTHECAT" I'm not really seeing what they 'took out' to be honest, despite hearing this many times. Sure, there are fewer abilities but well over half of the abilities in Dragon Age could have been dropped off a bridge for all the help they were in gameplay.[/quote]


Did you play Dargon Age: Origins on PC? I heard the console version was much easier, but I never played it so I may be wrong. Anyway, the PC version was really hard you actually had to play tactically deciding who to bring and what skills to use was very important. Thats what they took out, now its a beat em up (not even a good one) where you beat the crap out of everything regardless.

EDIT: lol appearently I fucked your quote, well hopefully you can still make sense of that.

 

[DustyDrB]

I felt like I was more 'involved' in the fight than during Origins. There's more butt kicking, less doing nothing while waiting for cooldowns.

That's the great thing about it. The same underlying mechanics are at work whether you have auto-attack on or off, and it's basically the same mechanics from the first game (though talents are revamped). But they trick you into feeling more in control and involved in the combat, which is awesome. I loved the Origins combat, but I think it may be hard to go back to after a full Dragon Age 2 playthrough.

The big tell for that will be how deep the leveling system is. I can play Origins over and over because there's a good deal of variability. As of now I can't really tell even from demos and screen shots how deep it will be because it just looks so different. Though I think Dragon Age 2 will actually have better options for mages who want to really be a mage. Arcane Warrior and Shapeshifter catered more to melee mages, and Blood Mage could potentially just not make roleplaying sense (Wynne as a Blood Mage? Right).

 

[Ironic Pirate]

I hated it. Don't get me wrong, I love hack-and-slash games, and given the complete lack of good ones on the PS3, I'd accept anything. Or, should I say, almost anything. The combat felt somehow stiff AND light-weight simultaneously, with combat not even as meaty as Dynasty Warriors.

Ugh.

...

how could you hate it?

Great Story (well even tho it was a demo)

Awesome Combat (Well it is ten times better than origin's combat system)

and Good voice acting

well it manners not that you hate the demo

The actually game might be more than better

When I said I hated it, I meant only the combat, not the demo itself. The story and voice acting seemed good, at least what I could see in the demo.

I still really hated the combat. It just felt clunky, and off.

 

[ultrachicken]

The combat is more or less the same, except with a new skin. It looks and feels faster, but the same underlying mechanics are there.

 

[MisterShine]

Anyway, the PC version was really hard you actually had to play tactically deciding who to bring and what skills to use was very important. Thats what they took out, now its a beat em up (not even a good one) where you beat the crap out of everything regardless.

If you ever get the game, set it to Nightmare mode and come back and say you don't need to think tactically about your skills

OT: For me, on a technical level, I didn't like the demo. The combat and dialog felt very stop-start-stop-again, didn't really let me get a sense of Hawke's family or the other two who showed up. I like the new combat as I felt that the original DA:O, in trying to stay too close to its Baldur's Gate origins, suffered greatly as that kind of gameplay just doesn't work with the advances we've made.

Doesn't really change my excitement for the game, there have been plenty of snippets of Bioware games I didn't enjoy (I still have nightmares about Taris in KOTOR), yet I always have a great experience with their games.

 

[DustyDrB]

I hated it. Don't get me wrong, I love hack-and-slash games, and given the complete lack of good ones on the PS3, I'd accept anything. Or, should I say, almost anything. The combat felt somehow stiff AND light-weight simultaneously, with combat not even as meaty as Dynasty Warriors.

Ugh.

...

how could you hate it?

Great Story (well even tho it was a demo)

Awesome Combat (Well it is ten times better than origin's combat system)

and Good voice acting

well it manners not that you hate the demo

The actually game might be more than better

While I'll admit that the Pc version will likely be better in some areas, voice acting won't be one. Why would you even think that?

 

[Retronana]

Bleh! I didn't like it. Felt as if every animation has to be over the top and it annoys me that bioware added icons to speech options as if it wasn't obvious enough. The skill trees seem simplified and dumbed down and the combat just doesn't feel like origins at all.

It's what I like to call "Mass effect 2 syndrome". I'm probably giving the impression of being very vain.

 

[Feriluce]

Yeah, I also thought it was very fast, and wasn't as effective in portraying a realistic weight of weapons like Origins.

I don't think Dragon Age II needs to adhere completely to reality or standards set my the first game due to it's unreliable narrator perspective.

And also the fact that you can shoot fire out of your hands.

 

[Terminal Blue]

Did you play Dargon Age: Origins on PC? I heard the console version was much easier, but I never played it so I may be wrong. Anyway, the PC version was really hard you actually had to play tactically deciding who to bring and what skills to use was very important. Thats what they took out, now its a beat em up (not even a good one) where you beat the crap out of everything regardless.

Yes, I'm playing it on PC in between working and typing on this forum, in fact.

I'll agree it's quite hard, but part of that is actually because it's quite poorly balanced and riddled with some fairly poor design choices.

A good example. The mana clash tree. Two abilities which are fairly mediocre, one situationally useful ability, then the most overpowered spell in the game which, by getting it, makes all but one of its prerequisites entirely useless. Who honestly designed that and thought it was a good idea?

Half the archer abilities are pointless while one is totally overpowered if you can work out the utterly arbitrary formula by which it works. Two handed weapons makes for a better late game tank than sword and board while doing way more damage. Mages in general can easily dominate the game (how many of those 'really hard' bits revolve around getting fireballed or hit with an AOE spell as soon as you walk into a room). Rogues and warriors are not really distinct. Half the mage specializations are about not being a mage. Some character types can be made practically invincible by the endgame without a whole lot of effort. Half the time the difficulty curve actually gets easier throughout the game.

Dragon Age 2 at first glance felt streamlined, as if every choice was worthwhile to make and I wasn't being forced into 'optimal' builds. I also liked that you could spend points to improve abilities you already had or to grant them additional effects.

 

[Agayek]

Bleh! I didn't like it. Felt as if every animation has to be over the top and it annoys me that bioware added icons to speech options as if it wasn't obvious enough. The skill trees seem simplified and dumbed down and the combat just doesn't feel like origins at all.

It's what I like to call "Mass effect 2 syndrome". I'm probably giving the impression of being very vain.

That's actually exactly what they did to it. They simplified and streamlined the game to appeal to a broader market. I've played the demo, and I'm still not sure if it was a good change. I'm willing to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt though, so I'll find out on Tuesday.

On a somewhat unrelated note, am I just dumb enough to not figure it out, or did they really remove the top-down zoom level in DA2? That was definitely the only way I could play Origins, and the lack of it in the demo was incredibly jarring. Anyone know if they've removed it completely from the game?

 

[MisterShine]

On a somewhat unrelated note, am I just dumb enough to not figure it out, or did they really remove the top-down zoom level in DA2? That was definitely the only way I could play Origins, and the lack of it in the demo was incredibly jarring. Anyone know if they've removed it completely from the game?

They did remove the isometric camera, yeah.

However, for the retail version of the PC game, you'll be able to zoom the camera out "somewhat" farther than you could in the demo, but you can't actually do the Top-down view.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Probably, it would be pretty cool if Bioware did throw that though. It would really drive home the disconnect between what would be story in the game and what is actually happening in the game.

Totally would, but I doubt they're going to do that much work

 

[Retronana]

Bleh! I didn't like it. Felt as if every animation has to be over the top and it annoys me that bioware added icons to speech options as if it wasn't obvious enough. The skill trees seem simplified and dumbed down and the combat just doesn't feel like origins at all.

It's what I like to call "Mass effect 2 syndrome". I'm probably giving the impression of being very vain.

That's actually exactly what they did to it. They simplified and streamlined the game to appeal to a broader market. I've played the demo, and I'm still not sure if it was a good change. I'm willing to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt though, so I'll find out on Tuesday.

Sadly it's not going to be a purchase from me, Mass effect 2 compensated by having compelling and interesting character relations, form what I've seen DA2 seems to be severely lacking in that department and a sequel does not feel like a sequel when you essentially remove depth from the original.

I appreciate what bioware is trying to do but it seems to me that a considerable amount of the original fanbase is going to be dissapointed with DA2 for understandable reasons.

 

[Triangulon]

As many have said, I also disliked it immensely. I had few complaints with the first, except maybe collision detection/combat zones. This was much to fast and over the top. I freely admit I am a stat monkey and I really feel that this is going to be absent. As mentioned previously, other camera views will be available, but no top down view will probably ruin it for me. Also, I'm sure one of the main complaints in DA:O was that it was too bloody. Quite frankly DA2 is ridiculous. One dagger stab causing an enemy to explode into gibs does not make me take a game seriously. Also, was I imagining things or does it have regenerating health!? How is this an RPG anyway? (with thanks to dot dot dot!)

Unless things prove to be extremely different in the full game I think I will just have to play DA:O throught for the fourth time...

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

I was actually very entertained by it, more so than I expected and more so than with Origins (which I am restarted now though, giving it a second chance). I gladly take fun over realistic weapon speeds or something, and DA:O's combat always did feel a bit sluggish to me, especially running to and from enemies.

I was also glad that, while it was faster and more action-oriented, it didn't feel any easier. That second battle with that ogre and his buddies was pretty tough if not handled correctly. I might get this if I find the time.

^^^^^^^^^^

My thoughts exactly

I don't see what the big deal is over this demo, Bioware took the critique from the 1st game and made the appropriate improvements. The fast passed battle kept me on my toes, which is something Origins did not really do.

DA2 feels less like a game of chess is being played in the background and more like "I'm the main character and I own".


Just my 2 cents.