Ok enough arguing over DA2's gameplay, how is the story?

[GrizzlerBorno]

I see, I've been summoned again.

The story is better than the first game's story, and so are the characters.

The plot is "smaller", and it serves the game excellently, allowing it to look at the minute elements of Thedas' society that were hinted at but glossed over in Origins. The struggle between the Circle and the Chantry, the struggle between the government and the Qunari, all much more interesting topics than the "SAVE MIDDLE-EARTH" drone of the first game. Even better thanks to the high degree of moral ambiguity that permeates the story.

A lot of the choices in the game are never clearly stated to be good or evil, and you have to take the consequences of those actions. There's nothing like a karma meter, and none of the sides can decisively be said to be in the right at any time. There are no 'good' sides, there are only good people, and even they may ask you to do evil things. This is something I like.

In many ways, I feel like they've broken out of their old style of writing and borrowed a few notes from their BFFs at Obsidian. This is also something I like.

We get to experience much more of the character's subplots than in Origins as well. Example: Leliana and Merill. Most of you will see the similarity immediately (they both have accents with which we're unfamiliar and are cute), but where Leliana's past is mostly revealed in conversations (DLC doesn't count), you actually get to be a part of Merill's story. As a result, Merill's plot is so much more moving when things go off course.

I understand the criticism of not being able to speak to your characters whenever you want, but conversations show up much more often than they did in Origins, and it isn't anywhere near as boneheaded as Awakening, so I'm fine with it.

[sub]I'll concede, at last, that Origins was better due to less dungeon recycling. However, I still like DA2 more, for the reasons mentioned above.[/sub]

I think you just literally sold me the game. That sounds AWESOME. And if it isn't as awesome as you make it seem, Expect me on your doorstep with a rubber chicken at hand, asking for my money back....

 

[Amondren]

I thought the story was pretty interesting. Even though the game-play could have been better the story was still pretty good though not as good as the first game

 

[Nmil-ek]

The first act is a series of bullshit fetch quests, the second act is where all of the major development takes place and is the only one close to being good, the third act is fucking attrocious rediculous decisions, 360 character turns that make no sense just pure crap.

The Endings pure sequel/DLC bait.

 

[Weaver]

I dislike the story, I even dislike the way it's told.
I feel like the game is just giving me snapshots of Hawke's life instead of letting me build my own story how I want it. I'd like to know why she doesn't age too.

You'll get things like "Several years have passed and now hawke is super rich with a mansion and she's a high roller and respected member of the community. Also, despite so much time passing the ONLY CHANGE AT ALL IN THE WHOLE GOD DAMN CITY is that shops got new items and ONE shopkeeper, in the whole of the city, left.".

You know what would be cool? Getting to see that in more detail. As it stands it's just jolts you out of the narrative. Also, WHY THE HELL ARE THE DALISH STILL AROUND? One of the elves mentions they're getting ready to depart the free marches. But years later they're still fucking there, in the same spot, with their stupid looking boat things.

 

[Nomanslander]

its like ME2 in alot of ways; disjointed, only tangentially related mainplot, with much better party member subplots, if unimportant ones.

Well I did enjoy ME2 story immensely, even though I agree the game was missing a strong antagonist like Saren.

DA2 still doesn't sound that bad, I might give it a try and see for myself.

Although I'll pose another question, and it's about gameplay. Would you consider DA2 more of a hack and slash with some RPG elements. Because I pretty much excepted ME2 as a cover base TPS with RPG elements.

And is this such a bad thing, truth me told I've gotten tired how most H&S games have become, and I always thought adding more RPG would really liven the genre up.

Oh, and this thread is still about story, I just wouldn't mind a couple of comments over the gameplay matter.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

its like ME2 in alot of ways; disjointed, only tangentially related mainplot, with much better party member subplots, if unimportant ones.

Well I did enjoy ME2 story immensely, even though I agree the game was missing a strong antagonist like Saren.

DA2 still doesn't sound that bad, I might give it a try and see for myself.

Although I'll pose another question, and it's about gameplay. Would you consider DA2 more of a hack and slash with some RPG elements. Because I pretty much excepted ME2 as a cover base TPS with RPG elements.

And is this such a bad thing, truth me told I've gotten tired how most H&S games have become, and I always thought adding more RPG would really liven the genre up.

Oh, and this thread is still about story, I just wouldn't mind a couple of comments over the gameplay matter.

Depends on the difficulty you play on. Normal or lower=hack n' slash.
Hard or higher=tactics involved.

 

[Mekado]

And I think a lot of people feel that way.

You are confusing your own personal opinion as fact and as the one correct moral choice in the situation. This reaction to the choices being presented in the game are a clear indicator that Bioware were successful, I for one could not see how the templars violent crackdown on mages which ended up pushing more and more mages to blood-magic could ever been justified. The side-quests in DA2 provided you with more than just simple rewards of coin, but deeper insight into the struggles. For example, there was a quest in which you had to find 3 mages, one of them was a poor woman who always tried to make a life for her two orphaned friends, but the templars method would have killed her, ensuring that the two orphans would live in squalor for their rest of their lives, so she resorted to blood-magic. I personally (emphasis on personal, its all opinions) sympathized with the mages who did not ask for these responsibilities, but showed great character by making the best of it (such as Anders' clinic) by helping others. The lack of moderation and understanding in the plight of the mages. Sure, there were blood-mages who needed to be put down, but imagine for a second: your are part of group X, you were born into group X and had no choice in being part of group X. From time to time, a small minority (extremely small) of people in group X do something wrong. Imagine, that group Y wants to kill EVERYONE in group X because of the action of the few. Is this justice? does the end justify the means?

This is what moral choices is supposed to accomplish, people who think their choice is the correct one. Complaining however, that Bioware did not cater to YOUR personal choice, is foolishness.

It is pretty hard to defend the mages when 90% of the ones you encounter outside of the Circle are blood mages. DA2 showed that Templars are necessary. If a mage can turn to blood magic or turn into an abomination at the drop of a hat, as DA2 showed, then they need to be locked up and supervised for the safety of the public.

First Enchanter Orsino and other templars + mages were well aware of the fact and promoted moderation, as the increasingly violent methods by the templars only exacerbated the problem of blood-magic.

But again, IT IS STILL YOUR OPINION, FUCK. I THOUGHT I MADE THIS CLEAR IN MY PREVIOUS POST.. Bioware presented you with a choice, that was their role. They were not supposed to dictate others on what is the right choice, unlike what you are proposing.

"But my opinion is the right one!!11!1"
Boohoo.

Okay, insulting someone accomplishes nothing. The Veil around Kirkwall is very thin. Meaning that mages are at a higher risk, combine that with their general stupidity and you have a recipe for disaster. If this was Ferelden then I'd agree about the choice. But throughout DA2, they tell/show you repeatedly that the mages there have no control, poor judgment, and will turn to blood magic in a second. There is no right choice, but the odds are stacked against one choice. That is what Darth.Pixie was alluding to. One choice is clearly more sensible than the other.

Just a note about the thin veil around Kirkwall, if you find all the "enigmas of Kirkwall" it actually explains why, it's very interesting and also looks like a setup for at least another DLC,enough material for an expansion even...

Spoiler

The Tevinter magisters, when they controlled the city, had thousands of slaves "dissapear" every year for many years under Kirkwall.They built an underground "lab" where they were doing "secret" research, keep in mind this is the Tevinters, not much is forbidden for them.Popular opinion is that it's where they ripped the veil to try to get to the golden city, thus angering the maker and becoming the first darkspawn, the first blight.It also explains a bit why every single mage (except Bethany heh)turns to demons and blood magic, even the Templars are "messed up" with the veil so thin there.It's a wonder no one realized that and decided building a mage circle in a city where the veil is so thin demons can talk to non-mages at some places, is a very bad idea.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The story wasn't just very mediocre, you don't even really seem to have much choice in what's going on at all.

The serial killer bit is a good example of this; I mean, was this event just completely out of my hands? Was there no way for me to stop this from happening? Apparently so, because the game doesn't give any choice in the matter. All I needed to do was clean up after the damage was done, just as with the majority of the other "quests".

 

[Redem]

While its nyot as good as it could, I think DA2 story probably win the prize in term of sophistication, but not necessarly manage to be all that entertaining or atmospheric, there was a lot of thought that went into it, its just a bit unven in some crucial area. Kotor 2 would probably be the best comparaiso (I would say DA2 does details and character better while the Sith Lord manage to tied it all up a lot better).

For me DA2 tried (and mostly succeed) at trying to differentiate itself from the other Bioware storyline in some way. In a way while the Warden is a hero for Ferelden, Hawke is that guy living in that heroic fantasy world who happen to be really bada** and its a good thing, he's more approacheable and unique for it. The game make you feel like you have an importance in this world, but that doesn't mean you will always save the day or that things are under your control even if you have choice.

The party always felt to me like they were real individual.

DA2 is pretty much all about subitily to the point it can come out as boring.

 

[saejox]

bad.

varric was the most interesting bit.

 

[Woodsey]

It feels fresh given the story structure, and the narrative, but it certainly has some limitations - I'm dubious about how much control I really had over things (whereas in Mass Effect, I do feel like I'm making choices that will reappear later in the game, or throughout the series), and then ending is pretty dire.

Still, they tried something new with it, which I have to give them credit for.

Not really sure about the gameplay complaints, its mostly an improvement from where I'm sitting.

 

[Mekado]

The story wasn't just very mediocre, you don't even really seem to have much choice in what's going on at all.

The serial killer bit is a good example of this; I mean, was this event just completely out of my hands? Was there no way for me to stop this from happening? Apparently so, because the game doesn't give any choice in the matter. All I needed to do was clean up after the damage was done, just as with the majority of the other "quests".

They did intend to give you a way to save Leandra, but given time constrictions they didn't put it in the game.

Funny how most of DA2's flaws (story missing parts,recycled environments, no relevant choices) can be blamed on "time constriction".You don't create a masterpiece in a hurry, if you're good/lucky, you'll make something decent at most...

 

[yoshiru]

I found the story extremely boring in the first part of the game. Especially the beginning, because the demo (which I played 5 times) is exactly the same. Then once I got to the deep roads I started to think it was getting interesting.

Mini spoilers:

When the Arishok stuff was at it's height I got excited that the story was very interesting because I've always found the Qunari to be right in 90% of whatever they say. But once the Arishok pulled what he pulled regardless of how much I agreed with him the, annoyance and depression on Hawke's face was very much like my own when you confront him. However, once all that stuff is gone...ish.. Knight Commander Meredith made me want to stab myself in the face with a glass fork and I lost all interest in the story forever.

 

[yoshiru]

The story wasn't just very mediocre, you don't even really seem to have much choice in what's going on at all.

The serial killer bit is a good example of this; I mean, was this event just completely out of my hands? Was there no way for me to stop this from happening? Apparently so, because the game doesn't give any choice in the matter. All I needed to do was clean up after the damage was done, just as with the majority of the other "quests".

They did intend to give you a way to save Leandra, but given time constrictions they didn't put it in the game.

Funny how most of DA2's flaws (story missing parts,recycled environments, no relevant choices) can be blamed on "time constriction".You don't create a masterpiece in a hurry, if you're good/lucky, you'll make something decent at most...

Yes, I seem to hear that a lot. At first I thought people were ragging on it because it was much less ambitious than Origins. And I thought, well, that makes a different, shorter game, but not a bad one.

However, most people are at least half-right. The game was much less ambitious and it couldn't even pull THAT off.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

It's not that great at all. Predicatable

EXTREMELY predictable, cheesy and overdramatic. Also, don't expect much from the characters. Apart from Anders and that elf with lyrium inscribed in his flesh they're all pretty shit.

 

[yoshiru]

I find it interesting that people are saying that the story in DA2 was boring and predictable while DArigins also had a boring and predictable plot. Elves, dwarfs, plotical human problems and an army of orcs... err darkspawn and you're the only one who can stop them.....

Origins had direction. As far as story goes, it focused on politics, which I found fascinating.

Da2 doesn't focus at all. It always seemed to decide to tell one story when you were least interested in it, then once you grudgingly decided to give yourself to the story it nervously switched tactics in order to keep you interested.

 

[yoshiru]

I thought it was really good. It really makes you feel like an active participant in this tiny part of the world. The 'scale' of the story is it's only flaw, being centered around Kirkwall. But the characters are great and the writing is good.

I really hate the writer. He's as pretentious as they come.

 

[tzimize]

As many complaints as I've heard over the gameplay and the whole dumbing down of the RPG aspect, knowing Bioware, I'm still wondering how the story turned out.

Plus, compared to the first game, how does the story stand out?

I've played both games, and I have this to say:

Based on story, and not taking into consideration that the game is a sequel to DA:O

I rate DA2: 6/10

Imo the story is not better than your average FPS story, just longer.

Based on story and taking into consideration that it IS the sequel to DA:O

I rate DA2: 3/10

I am hard pressed to mention ANYTHING that is an improvement in DA2.

I also rate ME2 a 10/10, so its not like I dont like "action-rpgs".