endtherapture said:
So with Dragon Age 3 on the horizon next month it's probably time for a final Dragon Age 2 thread to put our thoughts to rest on this controversial game.
1. Lord of the Rings slower style tactical combat replaced with button mashing less tactical anime style combat with waves.
Combat was a bit reason why DA2 failed. Sure it was slightly more interesting visually, but enemies and characters teleported around, enemies teleported in from the ceiling making positioning impossible, and generally the feel of Origins as a grounded fantasy experience was completely compromised.
I didn't mind the combat system to be honest, other than the repetition and copy/paste nature of the maps and enemies. But as far as the actual way the combat worked, I thought it was pretty fun. It felt more weighty to me, I actually felt like a bastard sword wielding badass when I used that system. And it was one of the few times that I actually
wanted to play a warrior class. I usually do mages or rogues, almost exclusively, because I find the big warrior style character kind of boring. But not with DA 2. I really enjoyed leaping in, smashing my enemies with a weapon swipe, stabbing, cleaving, etc. I enjoyed it. xD But yeah the repetition of it was VERY bad, enough to darken my enjoyment of the class because it felt like I was doing the same stuff over and over...which I was.
endtherapture said:
2. Changes in art style.
The art style of many creatures changed between the games. The actual art (concept arts etc.) of the games remained a similar style, but things like the look of armour and the design of the Darkspawn and the Elves changed for no reason and lost a lot of their grittiness and realism from the first game to be replaced by brutal spikey stuff. Everything in game looked a lot worse and there were low res textures everywhere.
Eh, I didn't really notice this, though I usually play games on lower res because of my computer. Also as a result, the graphics quality, while somewhat important, isn't game breaking for me. However the "Qunari now have horns like a fucking moose" change in the art style was highly jarring and annoying. Other than that though, meh, I can live with it.
endtherapture said:
3. Disjointed story
The games story about Hawke's journey across the course of 10 years really interested me, but instead it ended up as being a fairly hollow experience of 3 different plots with only Hawke and Kirkwall as the constants. The companions all had bizarre off screen character development, as did Hawke, and the game felt like it climaxed after the Qunari invasion, a lot of momentum was taken out of the story after act 2 ended. Also Kirkwall didn't change or evolve, all areas always seemed the same, which brings us to point 4. ~Also they changed Anders character and Merill was an idiot.
This is an interesting thread for me. Because as I sit here, someone who doesn't really like DA 2 that much, and got highly frustrated with a lot of things about it, I'm finding little to fault in the points you are bringing up. Which I find fascinating. I have a LOT of issues with this game, don't misunderstand me, but apparently not the same issues that you have. xD
Mine almost all are dumped in
this point here. The story. Omg, the story. So many problems here. I enjoyed the evolution over time aspect of it, but I agree it didn't feel like anything you were doing was really making much difference, because it wasn't. That is the crux of my dislike for this game. The lack of agency in events. Oh sure, they give you dialogue choices all over the place, but having played through it a few times, and making a point to pick different choices at certain points, the end result is the same. Seriously you have no direct impact on the story at all. No matter what you choose, the end result is the same. And I don't mean just the big "shit hits the fan and a war breaks out" aspect, that I don't mind too much, since this is a flashback story, so the absolute final result was predetermined. That's fine, a game based around the "how we got to this point" doesn't really irk me. It's the smaller stuff where you had no choice, or your choices had zero difference in the end result. If you're going to have it where all of my dialogue choices end up with the same result...then why even bother giving me choices? Seriously, just have the event take place in a cutscene and be done with it. This more than anything pushed the game into my "didn't like" category.
endtherapture said:
However...the game had so much potential to be good but ultimately fell flat because of these 4 points. What will you remember about DA2?
I will remember the dwarf. Oh my god he was awesome. Seriously I
always had him in my party, every playthrough. He was just so entertaining to have around. His dialogue in conversation scenes, his random banter with my other party members, just, so much damn fun. That voice actor had charisma oozing out of the speakers in that game, and it really showed in how much I empathized with him. I will remember my enjoyment of the combat system, and hope they make it more diverse in the next game. Sitting here, thinking about the game, those are the only positive things I can think of without replaying it and making notes. Which I'm not going to do. xD