Dragon Age II has a 3.4/10 on Metacritic, WHY!?

[profpeanut]

Meanwhile, Pokemon Black/White don't even show up on the site's main page despite scoring higher.

WHY.

 

[Apollo45]

Gotta say, there's one primary reason for all of this. I could probably ignore most everything else if the environment wasn't so bland. Sure, it's good to go through once or twice, but to have the entire game set in the same city like they did... well, it's a good idea to focus on a single character's 'personal story', sure, but make Hawke go on more adventures than just the deep roads trip. For the love of god, I can walk through the entire city with my eyes closed. I like being familiar with games, but not THAT familiar. And to add to the problem, they freakin' copy/pasted the dungeons. Seriously, for the multitude of sidequests there are (and main quests for that matter) there are a grand total of five, maybe six maps that just have different areas opened and closed off. That's just being damned lazy, and there honestly isn't any excuse for it. No matter how much they 'improved' the combat, having to fight people in the same rooms over and over and over again when I'm supposed to be on a different mission every time is ridiculous.

 

[Legion]

Here's a shocking concept to you:

Your favourite company is capable of making a bad game.

What's more shocking is that they apparently make a bad game every time, as the same thing happened when Dragon Age:Origins came out as well as Mass Effect 2, the reaction on the Bioware forums at least (which is a lot worse than Meta-Critic).

Speak for yourself, I personally found Mass Effect 2 to be the best game of 2010.

Different strokes for different yolks.

Are you saying Mass Effect 2 was bad? Because I carried my character over from ME1 and found it to be fucking awesome.

I wasn't speaking for myself. I was stating facts. There was a huge uproar when both of those games came out.

Mass Effect 2 happens to also be my favourite game of 2010. Hell, I have all of the DLC, including the arguably pointless ones.

I probably should have used speech marks on "apparently" to indicate it wasn't me who said that.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I remember that some people didn't like the new way they've done it, i.e: too much like Mass Effect or that it was too much like a hack 'n' slasher. Might be some of the reasons.

I never saw the Hack and Slash part of Dragon Age...
when I think of hack and slash I think God Of War or Bayonetta where you put in strings of button combinations to make big flashy moves.

...on the console you press the A button over and over...okay i understand that part but I like it somewhat as it keeps me more engaged during the fighting rather than watching another sword-shuffle like in Origins. But then you use RPG abilities with the other buttons...

abilities and not another button to attack something with. Depending on what that button is.

DA2 is nothing like a hack and slash game to be fair XD
...from what I played in the demo anyway
*comes out tommorow*

I never said it was, and I quite like the new combat as the old got a bit tiresome after a while. I was just trying to think of what reasons people may not have liked it. Those where a few reasons I have seen on discussions about the demo.

P.S: I am also getting it XD Can't wait.

 

[devotedsniper]

It's most likely due to the DX11 issues people are having on high end nvidia cards. People with $1000 cards are getting about 5-15 fps while playing and they're not happy about having to turn down their settings (Which tbh, they shouldn't have to). While they're not playing the game they're bombing the reviews.

My GTX 460 (not exactly high end) had this issue when i first played it, i changed it down to dx 9 (setting everything other than res to the lowest), then back to 11 (with everything stuck back on max), restarted and it's been fine ever since except for the random crash.

 

[Gwarr]

[quote="Shridder" post="9.269564.10353650"snip

My friend with 2 x Gtx 580 is getting lower fps than my Ati 4870x2 , it is a freaking joke the way the game was optimised.
Also why does Flemeth look like a tranny now? Anders is annoying , and every character in general made me mute the game out of sheer frustration .

Also , whats up with all the blood Bioware? You wanna make it real? Well , real ain't making my character full of blood after every fight like he is from True Blood.

Gameplay wise? please , at like the middle of the game I just stopped caring and hack n slashed my way throught everything at Hard . Also , no zoom out? I would really wanna see the reasoning for that .

The game doesn't deserve a 3 if you take all games into consideration , but versus DA:O , it is a 3.

 

[loremazd]

Here's a shocking concept to you:

Your favourite company is capable of making a bad game.

Yes, but on a related concept: Bioware didn't make Superman 64, either.

 

[norwegian-guy]

A common complain is that Dragon Age 2 went away from the more classical playstyle of DA:Origins for PC that was more similar to great games like Baldurs Gate to the mechanics of Mass Effect (another great game) Many rant how they feel the game has been stupified for mass apeal and that it should have had the more strategic gameplay.
I'm not one of these. If you want a game that plays like Baldurs Gate, play Baldurs Gate. My only problem with the way DA2 plays is that it dosen't feel like it's own game, but rather Mass Effect: fantasy edition.

 

[loremazd]

Also, if you want a fair shake, look at Gamefaqs user review score. it's about a 7, and about the same when you cut out the 0's and 10's, which I feel are skewed too rediculously.

 

[Sutter Cane]

here's why:

BigErn77
Mar 8, 2011
0
I don't trust metacritic. I submitted a review panning this game for the slap in the face it is to traditional RPG fans, and it has mysteriously disappeared. In a nutshell, Dragon Age II is typical flashy and trashy Final Fantasy-style console garbage, and a disgrace to the Dragon Age franchise. Bioware should be ashamed of themselves. If IGN gave an 8 to a blockbuster release from a big name studio like Bioware, you know they really wanted to give it a 5 but couldn't.?

mass effect with swords. the game is so horrid its not even worth my time to write a review about it. I don't believe anyone could give this game a good score. I'm thinking, the reviewing sites (gamespot etc) are scared bioware won't give them any more interviews, which is why they gave it an 8, instead of a deserved 3 or 4. the game is not dragon age 2, simple as that. if you want to make another mass effect, use a different franchise name, instead of insulting dragon age fans.?

So yeah, just people bitching about how the game was "dumbed down" for consoles

 

[Seneschal]

Gotta say, there's one primary reason for all of this. I could probably ignore most everything else if the environment wasn't so bland. Sure, it's good to go through once or twice, but to have the entire game set in the same city like they did... well, it's a good idea to focus on a single character's 'personal story', sure, but make Hawke go on more adventures than just the deep roads trip. For the love of god, I can walk through the entire city with my eyes closed. I like being familiar with games, but not THAT familiar. And to add to the problem, they freakin' copy/pasted the dungeons. Seriously, for the multitude of sidequests there are (and main quests for that matter) there are a grand total of five, maybe six maps that just have different areas opened and closed off. That's just being damned lazy, and there honestly isn't any excuse for it. No matter how much they 'improved' the combat, having to fight people in the same rooms over and over and over again when I'm supposed to be on a different mission every time is ridiculous.

Agreed, this is an unusually bad aspect of the game. And it stands out because the rest isn't half bad, the story, the cast, the interaction with your companions, and the combat are all improved or just as good as Origins. But Jesus, the dungeons look like an amateur Neverwinter module or a randomly generated Diablo level; there's so much reusing, recycling and copy/pasting that you can almost see the toolset options used.

 

[Liberaliter]

It got 3.4 because it isn't a great game according to the people who voted, seems simple enough to me. I guess that's too much to comprehend for everyone here.

 

[Sud0_x]

First off, we don't need 10 threads for one topic.
Nobody says "Search bar" any more, well motherfucking try it some time kids, Escapist you need to pull your shit together: Lock threads, take action, your forum is a ridiculous joke at the moment, the only people getting mod wrath are the ones who criticize the Escapist or get reported by mass hordes of these sheep. Everybody should stop throwing the terms "PC elitist" and "fanboy" around, I am genuinely offended and I want you all dead.. I mean.. to stop. People who don't like the game are fanboys.. honestly you people make me want to put a bullet in my head.
From what I gather; Bioware botched together a quick sequel:
-Bad textures
-Recycled areas, to a criminal degree if some people are to be believed
-Giant tits
-Conversation options that don't tell you what your character will say? Really?
-Auto-attack was forgotten about for the console versions (Yes, PC "elitists" aren't the only ones with issues)
-You have a party, you can choose who you take along rather than being forced into it by story, you can also pause the game or on-the-fly tell your companions what tactics/attacks/magic to use, BUT for some reason you can't outfit your party. At all. I'm not seeing the logic there...
-Also there were a couple people who complained about how short the game was, one guy posted a screenshot of a completion time <14 hours, claiming all sidequests completed but nobody need feel inclined to believe that.
-Hmmm let's see then there's the DLC thing...
-The one city throughout the whole game thing..
-The easy difficulty..
-The lack of customisation (No race options, only 3 classes etc)
-The pre-made, voice acted main character coupled with the "action" factor and it's starting to look like your typical
'plod to the next cutscene, fetch/kill quest in between, romp of a good time' type deal.

These giants who dominate the market these days, well they used to be our best friends, they made good games, they did it for us, they did it for themselves, they had something to prove and they loved what they did. Well fuck loyalty, bring on the new blood I say.

"I love DAII, I'm in the minority, all these people are haters, I bet they haven't even played it"
You'd be right, I haven't played this game, it's not something I feel like parting with my cash over, I haven't played Dragon Age: Origins either, and I'll tell you what I'm not about to go out and buy it now. Oh and by the way you are NOT THE MINORITY, not even fucking close!

All the things people have complained about, I actually don't even care, I know I'm not going to buy it and I don't give a shit who does, if you like the game I'm genuinely glad you find it enjoyable. For me it's not a case of "dumbed down console games are ruining everything" not even a little bit, but I don't think the game deserves the critic scores it's getting, not by a long shot, it's just impossible. The one thing they all have in common is that they don't mention ANY NEGATIVES, at all!
Look at the Escapist review: Perfect score, TEH BEST GAEM EVAR go buy it now!

If the reviews on this site don't start becoming a little more independent rather than blatant advertisement of big titles followed by a stellar review I'm going to lose even more respect for the writers here.

I don't even care about this game and I never did, the worst part for me is the sheer, maddening frustration generated by all the white knights (and to a lesser degree, perpetuators of blind hate) in here and everywhere else. I think I need a break from the 'net for a while, you people are wreaking havoc inside my head. But then again, I'm just a butthurt PC elitist fanboy

 

[Sud0_x]

I just have to add: a few guys around the place have said "yeah screw this, I'll get 'The Witcher 2' a REAL RPG.
I do not, do not, absolutely do not understand the praise that game got (I'm referring to the original now).
Each Act was split into a town or area that you couldn't leave and every quest was "kill this" "fetch that" "talk to this person and run back to the other side of town" and all you ever did was run into the same buildings in the same town and talk to the same people. On top of that you couldn't change your equipment, swords/armour were strictly acquired through story progression, the combat was different, though not very good. I couldn't tell you anything about the story other than Geraldt was a Witcher and people asked him to do mundane tasks at a startling frequency. Pretty much the only thing I remember about that game was that you could talk women into bed and afterwards you were presented with a "sex card" (a picture of a nude woman/tree person or whatever you're into) It was the first game from a new studio, and for that it was a nice accomplishment but I remember it being heralded as "greatest RPG ever"... come to think of it, I may have read that review here....
In which case: Escapist, I want my money back.

HA! I must be a CD Projekt fanboy.. ohnowait....

EDIT: Just out of curiosity I searched for a review of the game on the Escapist and the guy SLAMMED it, despite its popularity, where's all that gone? Okay Okay I still have some faith

 

[Wisteso]

snip

People that think they look just as good at the fraction of the price, usually don't. They just misunderstand the concept behind fashion and think "well it looks the same to me", all the while the serious designers are face-palming.

I also don't see how you see a connection between someone that pays a few hundred bucks and a thousand or few. The person that is willing to pay that much for their gaming system is clearly more invested in their hobby, on average. Are there exceptions? Yes, but I don't know why you're trying to point at those exceptions and say "see? you're wrong" as if I didn't acknowledge them in the first place.

You also have no idea about the real differences between the camps. PC gamers often like to mod their game. They like to be able to have dual monitors, so that they can do other things while they game (that's how serious we are). We enjoy games so much that it's important for us to play oldies like Duke Nukem 3D and Quake, while your old games sit in a box in your closet because your consoles offer little to no backward compatibility. PC gamers are also more likely to be small-to-medium game developers/contributors; We can extend the games that we play using our systems; Can your consoles do that? PC gamers often record videos of their performances to review or share with others. We can use VoIP independently with friends that are in different games or not in the game at all. We can broadcast our games to the world using easy to obtain streaming software.

I have to imagine you're a console fanboy, because all of the above benefits should be obvious if you've ever been any kind of serious PC gamer. I own all three major console systems and know the pros and cons of each. My TV is amazing and I really have the ideal setup. There are some games that I prefer on a console such as platformers, puzzle games, and fighting games. That doesn't prevent me from still thinking the console platform/community severely behind the PC platform/community.

Sorry if I did not address all of your points. This is in danger of becoming a wall of text.

 

[Kaanyr Vhok]

Read post 188 and maybe that will explain why the hardcore gamers are filibustering Bioware and EA. It did not start with DA 2. I repeat its not just about DA 2. DA 2 is just the fall guy.

 

[Zechnophobe]

I've put like 12 hours into it so far.
It's honestly the most disappointing game I've played in the last 5 years.

You had a chance to really prove me wrong here, bioware.
Man did they drop the ball.

Super claustrophobic areas.
Absolutely STATIC environments: that is, I can hear the wind just tearing through kirkwall but do the trees move? No. Does even a bit of dust blow around? No. Not even little plants blow in the wind.

The world is dead, and they have killed it. The streets are nearly devoid of life. The story isn't all that great, the characters are pretty bad and to be honest the game just isn't very gripping or fun.

Everything is too clean. The corners are too straight. The buildings are too perfect. There is no personality in this world. In DA:O The mages guild was littered with books and flasks and mortar and pedestals. There were vibrant details scattered everywhere throughout the level. What do you get here? Nothing. Just big empty spaces and floors.

There is so little to like. DA:O was one of my favorite games of all time, I would put it in my top 10 favorite video games list. DA2 is ... it's a shell. It's like Bioware ripped off their own game and did a terrible job in doing so.

There's no love to this game. It reeks of corner cutting to save time, cutting geometry to save memory to reduce console lag... just taking out. That's really the best way to describe this game: they just removed things from DA:O. What was added in? Flashy combat moves?

That doesn't make up for the paralyzing blow done to the heart of this game.

There just has to be something wrong here. These are all a bunch of thinly meager gripes that I don't even think you could adequately argue didn't exist in DA:O. Most disappointing game in the last 5 years... because the architecture of some of the non combat areas is a little off? What the heck?

This is like if I told my girlfriend she was a horrible witch who I couldn't stand, just because she had a pimple on her face. AND ALL MY GIRLFRIENDS HAVE PIMPLES!

 

[Zom-B]

People that think they look just as good at the fraction of the price, usually don't. They just misunderstand the concept behind fashion and think "well it looks the same to me", all the while the serious designers are face-palming.

It's you who doesn't understand the concept behind fashion. It's not about how much money you spend, it's about how you look. Period. People that think like you are the ones that dress in stuff like that Ed Hardy crap. "Serious" designers (whatever that means) are laughing all the way to the bank when someone buys their over-priced apparel. Oh, I'll admit that I have no problem paying a lot for a quality garment- quality fabric, good construction- but being hundreds or thousands of dollars doesn't automatically make something superior.

blah blah blah I'm a PC gamer. I'm better than you, more serious about it than you and appreciate games more than your feeble console brain ever could.

That's basically what you said to me and that's why PC gamers are tagged as elitists. I mean, how is one faction behind the other? They're different beasts for different people and one isn't inherently "better" or "inferior" to the other.

And to state that anyone with a console can't do any retro gaming is foolish beyond belief. Yeah, there's no way I can download NES and SNES titles on to my Wii, or play PS1 classics on my PSP or, yes, even pop a PS2 game into my b/c PS3. Yourself owning all three consoles makes your statement that much more foolish, because you should already know this is possible. I won't even get into all the retro titles available on smart phones.

Finally, a lot of your supposed "benefits" to PC gaming don't interest a lot of people. The modding community is a tiny fraction of the gaming culture. Ditto developing/contributing to games. Recording games? Come on, anyone can do that on with a console game if they're so inclined. At this point you're just cherry picking negligible. I mean talking to people playing games or not? I have a cellphone that does the same thing. I can even hook up a head seat to it. Or I could play my console game and skype on my non-gaming mac who's playing a different game. Madness!

Come on dude, you're being silly. PCs and consoles provide different gaming experiences which, when boiled down, aren't that different. If you really want to feel like you're a better human or your gaming hobby is more "hardcore" because you use a PC to do it, that's your prerogative. Heck, it almost makes you a hypocrite owning all those consoles alongside your mighty PC. I'm assuming they're just gathering dust, because why would you ever use them, when you've got the grand vista of PC gaming available?

 

[cieply]

OK, let me tell you something. The 80-85% in the era of paid reviews is like 50-60% in the olde days. If you would read the reviews, most of reviewers bash the game in the review and then give it an 85.

As for what's wrong. Graphics are inferior to the DAO. Writing is night horrible. You don't even get 3 dialogue choices, you just get 3 ways of saying the same thing. In conversations that results in really awkward moments when characters you speak to switch from outright hostile to friendly and pleading between sentences. The roleplaying element is lost.

Combat turned from more strategic to button smashing, enemies are repetetive, but what's worse, locations are repetetive. Constantly, they reuse old skins. Apart from that there are standard complains about day 1 DLC that sould be in the game. World feels small and is small.

DA2 isnt a really bad game, it's just really dull. It might be an OK action game but it's a horrible RPG.

 

[Wisteso]

It's you who doesn't understand the concept behind fashion. It's not about how much money you spend, it's about how you look. Period. People that think like you are the ones that dress in stuff like that Ed Hardy crap. "Serious" designers (whatever that means) are laughing all the way to the bank when someone buys their over-priced apparel. Oh, I'll admit that I have no problem paying a lot for a quality garment- quality fabric, good construction- but being hundreds or thousands of dollars doesn't automatically make something superior.

Fashion has to do with art. Your argument can be simplified to saying that art from some place called ValueArt in China is just as good as something painted from Picaso because it still uses paint and kinda looks like art. Also, you assume I'm talking about super expensive clothing when I'm not. That analogy is more comparable to buying an Alienware which is a waste of money. I'll admit that.

That's basically what you said to me and that's why PC gamers are tagged as elitists. I mean, how is one faction behind the other? They're different beasts for different people and one isn't inherently "better" or "inferior" to the other.

You are right. They are different beasts, except when stupid game companies try to release a game for both platforms. It's like taking DKNY clothing and trying to sell it at WalMart, or more appropriately to this example, taking something from WalMart (DA2) and selling it at a store that normally carries Armani/DKNY-esque brands.

And to state that anyone with a console can't do any retro gaming is foolish beyond belief. Yeah, there's no way I can download NES and SNES titles on to my Wii, or play PS1 classics on my PSP or, yes, even pop a PS2 game into my b/c PS3. Yourself owning all three consoles makes your statement that much more foolish, because you should already know this is possible. I won't even get into all the retro titles available on smart phones.

This isn't PC vs your 100 supplementary devices. It's comparing PC to any single console. Also, there are far far far more retro systems than the limited number you mentioned there. I only own all three consoles because I can afford to buy them on a whim.

Finally, a lot of your supposed "benefits" to PC gaming don't interest a lot of people. The modding community is a tiny fraction of the gaming culture. Ditto developing/contributing to games. Recording games? Come on, anyone can do that on with a console game if they're so inclined. At this point you're just cherry picking negligible. I mean talking to people playing games or not? I have a cellphone that does the same thing. I can even hook up a head seat to it. Or I could play my console game and skype on my non-gaming mac who's playing a different game. Madness!

"a lot of people" meaning "casual gamers". Yes I agree with that. You're not helping your point. Your solutions to achieve the same thing are not practical, and your lack of acknowledging the need for recording is ignorant at best.

Come on dude, you're being silly. PCs and consoles provide different gaming experiences which, when boiled down, aren't that different. If you really want to feel like you're a better human or your gaming hobby is more "hardcore" because you use a PC to do it, that's your prerogative. Heck, it almost makes you a hypocrite owning all those consoles alongside your mighty PC. I'm assuming they're just gathering dust, because why would you ever use them, when you've got the grand vista of PC gaming available?

Yes, they ARE that different. No, I'm not a hypocrite because I'm not arguing whether or not the systems are a bang for the buck.