Poll: Dragon Age 2 Demo Impressions

[StBishop]

I really wish they stuck with the Dwarf-addled version of Hawk-e's sister, rather than going to the sober, real version.

It was at least more interesting.

Also, I see major plot derailment if your Origins save has you offing Flemeth. She might be able to still do the beginning part, but "Sword-through-skull" generally has a negative impact on further help.

It's just after Lothering gets attacked. Like... the moment you travel to Redcliff or where ever you chose to go first she set off and then met these guys. I would assume that this demo (the bit at the start) happens before the Warden even makes it to their first destination.

 

[StBishop]

You can 'micro manage' your attacks in DA1 on the xbox?
Don't make me laugh.
You can't even pause the game properly or change the perspective to make sure you don't hit your own dude with that large AoE spell.
It was a mess.

You're probably mistaking it with kotor here.

There was an option to make the radial menu toggle rather than hold down.

This makes the game paused. Properly.

The AoE spells highlighted their targets a different colour depending on whether or not they were friendly or hostile. Unless you're colour blind with red and green (pretty uncommon, so if you are, I'm terribly sorry) this means you can make sure you won't hit your own "dudes".

Although the PC version did have advantages, it was possible to micro manage on the consoles.

 

[mornal]

I loved it myself. Could be that I played DA:O on xbox and the demo on PC, but combat felt much, much better. I also don't find what the big deal is about the conversation wheel. Sure you have more choices with DA:O, but in the end those however many choices you had boiled down to 2 or 3 directions you could take the conversation anyway. I'm just happy that they have the picture in the center to give you an idea of what you're about to say.

 

[StBishop]

It went casual, all the strategy was cut out to make it easy to the one button pressing monkeys it seems.
I'm sure it will sell extremely well, but I prefer some depth with my games.

Full game has option for auto attack and also has hard and nightmare modes... Also, there's fun to be had with the BRITTLE, DISORIENTED and STAGGERED effects.

Maybe give it a go when it goes on steam sale or when it drops in price?

 

[linwolf]

I loved the first DA but every change they have made in the second seems to have been made with the exact purpose of making me hate it. I am not so must disappointed, it's more that my worst fears have been confirmed. I had already set the game to probably not get it or at least wait until next year when the price have fallen. But with the demo out DA 2 have showed so many bad change that I will not get it.

Conversation wheel, the lack of a prober tactic view and the more action orientated combat are the real deal breaks for me. There are no reason for these changes other than to pander a different group than the ones who loved the first.
It's a shame because I am sure that I would have liked the story.

 

[wolfmanrulz]

The combat worked well, mainly throwing fireballs around. What really broke the game for me was that every 5 minutes a loading screen rocked up and completely broke the flow, hopefully gone in the full game. Other than that, all the classes felt distinct and still feels Dragon age-y. However one thing did intrigue me, the new image of flemeth, the witch of the wilds got a face lift and implants.

 

[Akiada]

Loved it personally, each class is a hell of a lot more fun to play now - and Mages don't look like total dorks when someone gets close (really weird in the Mage origin in DA:O - Hurr, a wolf is two feet away, let me waggle my waggle at it rather than hit it).

Unlike a number of people I really liked the new conversation system. It's voiced like ME, but doesn't pertain to some morality system (just shows how you act) and it's neat to see how it's not just one line of dialogue - choosing Saint, Snarker, or Asshole seems to influence your follow-up lines instead of just your initial response. For example if you snark at the "Where are we going?" conversation Hawke's automatic response to his/her mother's suggestion follows through on the same line of thought - Saint Hawke suggest it's not a good idea, Snarker quips that it wouldn't be their first choice, and Asshole asks why in a rather irritated tone, as if insulted by the idea. It's a bit of a small thing, but I like it - it makes choosing an option give more of a general tone to Hawk rather than a single line. If you try to talk down Hayder at the end of the demo Hawke will comment that he/she was trying to defuse the situation.

...all things considered, though I get the feeling I'm going to end up snarking my way through the game because it's impossible to resist the comedy option...

 

[squid5580]

I'd love to spew venomous hate about everything Bioware does wrong that everyone else ignores for some odd reason, but I think they're on to me, the download keeps breaking.

Gee i don't know. Maybe because everyone realizes games will never be perfect? Maybe everyone has grown to the point that everyone can appreciate the good bits and overlook minor flaws. Maybe it is cuz everyone knows that being a hater on a forum doesn't make you edgy or some crusader. Maybe everybody doesn't lead a sad existence and want to drag everyone down with them.

Bioware games do have problems. And we as paying customers can make a complaint about a product with issues. This can lead to improvement. If it does not improve, we stop buying and the company goes out of business. That's basic economics.
Telling someone off for making a complaint about a product, who did so in a very reasonable way, does not make you edgy or some crusader. You look silly. And have probably been watching too much Movie Bob, without actually understanding what he was talking about.

Anyway.
Yeah, Dragon Age 2, very stylish. A little hard to follow combat when it gets crazy. Very fun.
Some of the voice acting is stiff, found Hawke's voice was very good.
I'm worried about being stuck on a plot rail road like in Mass Effect 2, as well as the inventory being simplified. Demo didnt show us anything on that though.
Overall, it was fun and dumb.
Oh and because it needs to be said. The boobs are ridiculous. "DD's for all!" seems to have been the motto in the Bioware offices...

Oh so what you are saying is constructive criticism is fine? Why I would be inclined to agree with that. Too bad there is a big difference between that (which happens in almost every thread Bioware gets mentioned in) and spewing venomous hate because you think you are the only 1 with the intelligence high enough to recognize these flaws.

The demo is frickin awesome from the little I played (which was skipping all of the dialogue because I want to wait for it) I went with mage and wow the spell effects are awesome. Not a big fan of the level up system. In their attempt to simplify it they really made it harder and more confusing. And alot harder to navigate.

Are you guys stripping her down or something? I didn't see these DD alot of you speak of. But her armor for all 3 classes did look off. She sure has pretty eyes though.

 

[silasbufu]

I hope no button mashing will be involved in the final game. I'm biased because I have wrist and finger problems and if that's the case, I'll even consider not getting it.

 

[WynneL]

...seriously *nobody* noticed that Varric was exaggerating Bethany's bust size? Seriously, after Cassandra calls BS, look at Bethany's chest. It's about two bra sizes smaller. He's an unreliable narrator.

Isabela's seem awfully huge... but it may be that after the narrative (presumably) stops later in the game and you actually meet Isabela, her bosom will be suspiciously smaller than it was before.

At any rate, Aveline and Marian Hawke have pretty normal bust sizes.

For the rest of it, remember, this is a demo. Aveline's shown crying in a dev video, but when you see that scene in the demo the tears aren't there. I have a feeling the finished game will be different in a number of ways. But for my part, I enjoyed it and am not sorry to have preordered.

 

[minispike47]

...seriously *nobody* noticed that Varric was exaggerating Bethany's bust size? Seriously, after Cassandra calls BS, look at Bethany's chest. It's about two bra sizes smaller. He's an unreliable narrator.

Isabela's seem awfully huge... but it may be that after the narrative (presumably) stops later in the game and you actually meet Isabela, her bosom will be suspiciously smaller than it was before.

At any rate, Aveline and Marian Hawke have pretty normal bust sizes.

For the rest of it, remember, this is a demo. Aveline's shown crying in a dev video, but when you see that scene in the demo the tears aren't there. I have a feeling the finished game will be different in a number of ways. But for my part, I enjoyed it and am not sorry to have preordered.

Thats the problem with some Bioware games (Mass Effect 2 for example). They over-sexualize women even when they are not the love-interest.
I also hope that in the final game the graphics will be more refined. However, maybe my standards were too high. Afterall, it was a demo I was playing and I can't expect too much from an downloaded demo

 

[evilhippo]

I hated it. I played it on the PC and it was very 'consoley' to put it mildly, which matters less if you are not playing it on a PC of course, haha. But I would say "dumbed down" is an accurate description regardless.

But what really really REALLY turned me off was the animation: in Dragon Age 1 it is quite slick, smooth and fluid... in Dragon Age 2 you attack in absurdly fast jerky movements that look idiotic and 'gamey'. Even the running animations look awkward and unnatural. They turned the game into 'Mortal Combat'.

I am very very disappointed and to be honest by the time I finished the demo I went from a Dragon Age enthusiast to someone counting the days until Witcher 2 comes out

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

So I see they failed to fix any of the issues with DA........

 

[tzimize]

To me the most disappointing part is the dialogue system. The mechanics behind it are fine, the extremely marked Good/bad/neutral approach is not. WHERE IS MY MORAL GRAY AREAS? They were what made the dialogue interesting in the original

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

The new art style is hideous in motion.

But I like everything else.

 

[Legion]

Absolutely frigging loved the demo, the only dislike with the combat mechanic is that it wasn't always clear if you were in range for each attack, as most games that have that kind of combat tend to make your character lunge forward with each strike, whereas this doesn't.

I am not surprised about all this "herp derp, dumbing down" complaints in the slightest, does anybody actually play games for fun any more? Simplifying combat mechanics is designed to make the games more fun and easy to pick up, not to make people who are thick able to play games that only "smart" people were able to play before hand.

As long as the story and characterisation isn't dumbed down then I don't see the issue.

I am 50/50 on the dialogue system. I think if they use those changes in Mass Effect 3 it will work, but I did really like the dialogue style of Origins, it allowed you to say some really funny things, and made the conversations feel more realistic due to having around five to six options, rather than just three that you only get to hear once selected.

I also hope they smooth up the animations and sort out the music cutting out when people are about to speak (only to continue when they do).

Either way I am glad I have it on pre-order.

 

[minispike47]

Absolutely frigging loved the demo, the only dislike with the combat mechanic as that it wasn't always clear if you were in range for each attack, as most games that have that kind of combat tend to make your character lunge forward with each strike, whereas this doesn't.

I am not surprised about all this "herp derp, dumbing down" complaints in the slightest, does anybody actually play games for fun any more? Simplifying combat mechanics is designed to make the games more fun and easy to pick up, not to make people who are thick able to play games that only "smart" people were able to play before hand.

As long as the story and characterisation isn't dumbed down then I don't see the issue.

I am 50/50 on the dialogue system. I think if they use those changes in Mass Effect 3 it will work, but I did really like the dialogue style of Origins, it allowed you to say some really funny things, and made the conversations feel more realistic due to having around five to six options, rather than just three that you only get to hear once selected.

I get that I might have started a flame war between a those that believe that 'dumbing down' is a bad thing and those who believe that it makes the overall experiance better. I believe that making the changes that Bioware have displayed in the demo is overall for the better. The dialogue system is good in the way that you no-longer play as a character without a voice. However, I'm a bit dissapointed that Bioware only gave us 3 options. Hopefully when it come to more dramatic or heated conversations we will be able to more options.

 

[Legion]

I'm a bit dissapointed that Bioware only gave us 3 options. Hopefully when it come to more dramatic or heated conversations we will be able to more options.

I hope so too, as the more options you get, the more realistic it feels. Most conversations people have don't revolve around saying a single good, bad or neutral thing.

I have mentioned this in Bioware's feedback thread for the demo.

 

[Haydyn]

That's all DA 2 is going to be: crapping on the prequel to appeal to casual gamers while DA fans take it up the bum.

 

[DSK-]

I liked the combat. I actually found it was the best part of the demo (I did intially have doubts over the combat). However, despite the combat being faster, the health of enemies seems a lot higher, so it makes combat being faster a bit pointless in my opinion.

I wasn't impressed by the graphics, but that's to be expected from a demo. The thing I really can't get used to is the changed visual style. I really don't like it.

As someone else mentioned, the voice acting was a bit stiff - but I think I could get used to male Hawke's voice. I haven't heard FemHawke yet.