Dragon Age combat?

[Dr_Horrible]

Earlier today, wishing to try out one of the Dragon Age games, I downloaded the DA2 demo off of Steam. I know all of the hate that DA2 gets, but I found what I did play rather interesting.

Except for the combat.

I found the combat that was showcased in the demo to be an appallingly bad, grindtastic borefest, and I was curious as to whether the combat is any better in DA:O. I really hope it is, but I have no way of knowing and I can hardly drop 30 bucks on a prayer.

So, my question to my fellow Escapists is thus: Is the combat in the first Dragon Age better than in the second, and is it worth buying regardless?

 

[Dr_Horrible]

Aw, this catches no attention? Oh well.

I suppose that I'll just play other games, not like not having DA:O will kill me.

 

[weker]

You have only given this thread a few mins so don't complain.
OT: Maybe DA:O is just not your type of game, also I love the combat in DA2.

 

[BrailleOperatic]

I personally prefer the Dragon Age 2 combat. Believe it or not, s'actually faster based than DA:O and the skill trees are greatly refined. DA:O has a better story by far, but it definitely has the weaker gameplay.

 

[Dr_Horrible]

I personally prefer the Dragon Age 2 combat. Believe it or not, s'actually faster based than DA:O and the skill trees are greatly refined. DA:O has a better story by far, but it definitely has the weaker gameplay.

All right, good to know. Thanks for the info.

Also, that post was mostly meant to be a less assholeish way of bumping the thread, since the forums are moving pretty fast by know. Guess that my nighttime logic is less sound than I thought

 

[Wayneguard]

I love DA:O's combat. It got party balance down pretty well imo (maybe mages were a little too powerful before you get spell resist gear). DA2 just didn't seem to have as deep a combat system. Attack and defense play virtually no role, for example, where as in DA:O they can make or break a character. I enjoy both games though.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Well, to DA:O's credit, it doesn't dump enemies behind you. That means stuff like chokepoints and positioning matter a lot more. Party roles are also less restrictive, so you can build a mage as a tank and so on. It's generally considered to be better than DA2.

However, I don't think the combat system in DA:O is particularly good. While it does give you lots of options, those options aren't really balanced (mages > all), and the combat never gets really deep. The problem is that it was designed with tank/cc/dps/heals in mind, so there isn't a lot of room for lateral thinking or innovation. It's also kind of a kitefest, although not so much as something like the Witcher games. If you're looking for deeper party-based RPG combat, I'd advise Spirit Engine 2 (it's free!) or Devil Survivor. And apparently BG2 rocks as well.

 

[viranimus]

I think Origins combat is is basically identical. The only real difference is that DA2 had consistent reinforcement spawns that needlessly just dragged battles out longer. Before it was just one group you had to contend with, DA2.. your pretty much guaranteed at least 3 total waves per spawn group.

I know I am biased here, but even on nightmare, the combat was so easy and repetitive to the point If I could have, I would have pulled my Origins trick of leaving my party at the entrance of the dungeon and then pulling the entire zone to the next narrative point and finish them all off there with my party respawned. (thins out how many mobs you have to kill overall because some get lost in pathing) But DA2 blocked any chance of that with its tethering code.

 

[ScrubberDucky]

Combat in DA:O is more or less an improved form of the combat in KOTOR and KOTOR 2.

And I should mention, mostly because nobody bothers to figure this out on their own, that Warriors in DA2 tend to take the lesser-traveled route of actually being tanks; defensive specialists. Mages are much more offensively inclined, which most people don't realize as they go straight for Warrior when they want to be a damage-disher.

 

[Laurents van Cauwenberghe]

also I love the combat in DA2.

wow im not alone

 

[spartan231490]

Earlier today, wishing to try out one of the Dragon Age games, I downloaded the DA2 demo off of Steam. I know all of the hate that DA2 gets, but I found what I did play rather interesting.

Except for the combat.

I found the combat that was showcased in the demo to be an appallingly bad, grindtastic borefest, and I was curious as to whether the combat is any better in DA:O. I really hope it is, but I have no way of knowing and I can hardly drop 30 bucks on a prayer.

So, my question to my fellow Escapists is thus: Is the combat in the first Dragon Age better than in the second, and is it worth buying regardless?

I enjoyed the combat, maybe you picked the wrong class, or didn't use as many talents, or maybe you're just radically different from me and my friends. We all really liked the combat, but we just think that it isn't really an RPG so much as a simple action adventure game with a very limited range of RPG elements. That is my complaint about the game, not the combat.

 

[nomzy]

I prefer the combat in DA:O, to DA2. Simply because it's slower and when you hit something it's got a weighty feel, like you're doing damage and when you actually use a spell it's special; the normal hits look and feel like well, a normal hit and the abilities feel like abilities (not that they don't in DA2). As opposed to "AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME" normal hits of DA2, it's just a bit too over the top.
The combat difficulty seems to cheaply increased in DA2 what with all the "I'M GONNA SPAWN BEHIND YOU MIDFIGHT AND TAKE YOUR HEALERS OUT" and the waves. it's really in the eye of the beholder, some people prefer the combat of DA2.
Also if you've played WoW you might find the combat in DA:O a little familiar, just slower. (atleast I did)

 

[infohippie]

I find combat in DAO to be very different to the combat in DA2. It's slower and less flashy, with a real feeling of weight behind the blows. It doesn't look like an anime fight the way DA2 does. DAO's combat is also much more tactical, you can move people around the battlefield to accomplish particular tactics, and when new enemies join the battle you actually get them running up and joining the battle, they don't just suddenly drop from the sky behind all your guys.
I find DAO's combat to be much, much better than DA2's. In fact, I really hate DA2's combat.

 

[rathorn14]

I liked the combat in DA:O better, simply because there was less button mashing. I hate having to push any button on my controller repeatedly, it just makes me think I'm wearing it out, and new controllers are expensive.

 

[LostCrusader]

It took awhile for me to like the combat for origins. Dragon age 2's combat felt like I was playing dynasty warriors so I'm not a fan, plus they changed the abilities around so much that building a character is a pain.

edit: If you do play dragon age 2, I highly recommend changing the option that makes you have to mash the button rather than auto attack.

 

[JMeganSnow]

I found the combat that was showcased in the demo to be an appallingly bad, grindtastic borefest, and I was curious as to whether the combat is any better in DA:O. I really hope it is, but I have no way of knowing and I can hardly drop 30 bucks on a prayer.

So, my question to my fellow Escapists is thus: Is the combat in the first Dragon Age better than in the second, and is it worth buying regardless?

Combat in DA:O is DIFFERENT than DA2, but I wouldn't say BETTER. There are many long, grindy sections with too many mobs and nothing interesting going on.

I have yet to play a Bioware game with combat that remained fun past the first 3 or 4 hours of play (and that's generous). Sometimes when you get a new ability it'll be fun to use the first dozen times (particularly if it's a really nice one), but other than that it's just using the same abilities over and over and over and over and over and over and over until everything's dead and you can go do something else.

The spells are better in Origins, but the warrior and rogue abilities are much worse (there are like, 4 or 5 per class that you'll actually use and half of those are passive, the rest you take in order to get the ones you need).

 

[weker]

also I love the combat in DA2.

wow im not alone

It's good combat and no one will change my mind on it.
A large portion of the haters of it are the DAO players who wanted another baulder gate game

 

[skywolfblue]

The combat in DA2 is considerably less annoying then DA:O. Melee combat in particular is absolutely abysmal in the first game.


DA has always been about the story, not the combat.

 

[Weaver]

I prefered the DA:O Combat much, much more than DA2.

 

[Gunjester]

Someone else has probably said it already, but the main difference is focus and pace.

DA:O is more about tactics and is slower paced by for good reason, the combo-less auto-attacking sprites allows you to think out your next move rather than just charging, running around or using skills on the fly.
The pause is also far more relevant. If you're looking for action, DA2 is the closest in the series so far, and yeah it does blow in combat, but rule in most other things.

To tell the truth, don't get DA2, I regret it. The characters are interesting, the cutscenes and sub-plots all cool, but between the single area you roll around in, the mind-numbing button-mashing combat and the lack of character choice make it not worth the $60-$70 you'll probably spend....Get DA:O or the awakening. Don't. Get. Dragon Age 2.