With the release of Dragon Age Origins on GOG not so long ago, I once again started thinking about Dragon Age II and about how it was recieved by, at the very least, people who actively voiced their opinions here and on other platforms (Don't know about the majority of people).
I remembered how critical people were of this game and remembered my own opinions on both of those games, which I formed before actually reading reviews, comments, etc. And you know what? I like DAII more.
Now, I am not saying that DAO is a bad game, far from it. What I am saying, however, is that it was pretty generic, more so for Bioware game. It had a fairly standart plot, standart character/fantasy races roles (you know, funny guy, sweet girl, bad girl, big softie, drunk loud dwarf and effeminate elf, etc.) and (my opinion) really bad combat, which wasn't slow and tactical enough to be called turn-based, yet was slugish enough to not feel actionish (basically, a bastard of two systems).
Now to Dragon Age II. I will right of the bat say that there ARE valid criticisms concerning this game: voice-acted protagonist kind of diminished the actual ROLE PLAY experience, lack of racial options, compared to it's predecessor, was jarring and combat (while IMO better that one in DAO) could be tedious because of sheer amount of waves of enemies.
That being said, I think otherwise it was overall better. I liked how it was more personal story. How many times can one save theworld before it becomes boring? In this game, however, we had a chance to experience the story of a refugee, who over the course of years managed to become important and well-known person in the city. We experienced a story which mostly focused on Hawke and their family, friends, hardships and problems. After many games where you tried to save the world, it was nice to see a lower scale adventure.
Another good thing about the game are party members. Well they ALL interesting? Far from it. But in this game Bioware at least tried to walk a bit away from tropes created by Tolkien. I mean, we had a beardless, cunning, charming dwarf-rogue, elves who are not tree hugers and/or archers, but magical berserker and practitioner of blood magic. Oh, and a female warrior who actually LOOKS like one. And I also liked personal inner struggle of Anders with the spirit of Justice. I mean yes, his decision at the end was stupid, but about that later. Yes, Isabella isn't all that great, moving on.
Also, I actually LIKED that you can't change their armour, because IMO when you can change armour of your characters on a whim it can sometimes go against their, well, character. Do you really think that Sten would wear golden armour, even if it had tons of buffs?
The combat of the game was great. Bioware finally dropped this mixed system in favour of something that actually worked. Though I could go for lesser number of waves/encounters.
Overall, I think it was a damn good game. Not great one, maybe, but damn good one. Yes, there are other problems, like repeated dungeons, ending, Anders' decision in the end to
and a few others, but thats because EA a)forced Bioware to complete the game in a year and b)forced Bioware to tie the plot of the game to the sequel.
Yep, it was a solid game alright.
So, do you people have games like that?
I remembered how critical people were of this game and remembered my own opinions on both of those games, which I formed before actually reading reviews, comments, etc. And you know what? I like DAII more.
Now, I am not saying that DAO is a bad game, far from it. What I am saying, however, is that it was pretty generic, more so for Bioware game. It had a fairly standart plot, standart character/fantasy races roles (you know, funny guy, sweet girl, bad girl, big softie, drunk loud dwarf and effeminate elf, etc.) and (my opinion) really bad combat, which wasn't slow and tactical enough to be called turn-based, yet was slugish enough to not feel actionish (basically, a bastard of two systems).
Now to Dragon Age II. I will right of the bat say that there ARE valid criticisms concerning this game: voice-acted protagonist kind of diminished the actual ROLE PLAY experience, lack of racial options, compared to it's predecessor, was jarring and combat (while IMO better that one in DAO) could be tedious because of sheer amount of waves of enemies.
That being said, I think otherwise it was overall better. I liked how it was more personal story. How many times can one save theworld before it becomes boring? In this game, however, we had a chance to experience the story of a refugee, who over the course of years managed to become important and well-known person in the city. We experienced a story which mostly focused on Hawke and their family, friends, hardships and problems. After many games where you tried to save the world, it was nice to see a lower scale adventure.
Another good thing about the game are party members. Well they ALL interesting? Far from it. But in this game Bioware at least tried to walk a bit away from tropes created by Tolkien. I mean, we had a beardless, cunning, charming dwarf-rogue, elves who are not tree hugers and/or archers, but magical berserker and practitioner of blood magic. Oh, and a female warrior who actually LOOKS like one. And I also liked personal inner struggle of Anders with the spirit of Justice. I mean yes, his decision at the end was stupid, but about that later. Yes, Isabella isn't all that great, moving on.
Also, I actually LIKED that you can't change their armour, because IMO when you can change armour of your characters on a whim it can sometimes go against their, well, character. Do you really think that Sten would wear golden armour, even if it had tons of buffs?
The combat of the game was great. Bioware finally dropped this mixed system in favour of something that actually worked. Though I could go for lesser number of waves/encounters.
Overall, I think it was a damn good game. Not great one, maybe, but damn good one. Yes, there are other problems, like repeated dungeons, ending, Anders' decision in the end to
blow up the church
Yep, it was a solid game alright.
So, do you people have games like that?
