Answer me this, as I have no access to a console for a while but I must know, as someone who was disappointed with DA:O, will I have fun with this?
Poll: Dragon Age 2 Demo Impressions
- Thread starter minispike47
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But I want to play an RPG not an RTS. I don't mind having to set up certain things on boss fights, but constantly having to pause the game was just not something I enjoyed at all.bussinrounds said:
I just think that pausing the game to micromanage your group members is a pretty, um, boring mechanic. I just found it to be tiresome; why not just give my single character those abilities and allow me to pick and choose what needs to be done?
If I had to describe the mechanic to someone who didn't play the game I'd describe it as playing Street Fighter, but after every blow you pause the game and settle on what moves you want to do next, and then un-pause the game...repeat.
Having faster game play doesn't immediately equate to button mashing. Just as being a fast decision-maker doesn't equate to poor decision-maker. They can just be misconstrued to mean the same thing.
I enjoyed the Demo, thought that the combat was a lot better then it was in Origins.
Gotta say that if the character creation system is this limited though I won't be happy. It's like they just ripped the character creation and combat mechanics from KOTOR and slapped them into DA.
The whole flameth thing seems like it might be interesting though. Always thought the witch of the wilds back story needed more exploration. Also whats up with the character design change?
Gotta say that if the character creation system is this limited though I won't be happy. It's like they just ripped the character creation and combat mechanics from KOTOR and slapped them into DA.
The whole flameth thing seems like it might be interesting though. Always thought the witch of the wilds back story needed more exploration. Also whats up with the character design change?
I honestly didn't like it very much on my pc, if my xbox didn't RROD i would download it and give it a shot.
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Just beat it as a mage. First thing I noticed you can't seem to target specific people with area spells anymore. Great, because timing those things was always great fun. Heal has a long cooldown, but I think this is the first time I've ever picked heal, so maybe it was always long.
There is a loot all hotkey *hallelujah* and combat feels faster. Out of game cutscenes are LOUD and in game cutscenes need breaks to load
Dialog wheel is still up for pussy and down for asshole, but the little symbols changed when I made a choice so maybe it won't always be that obvious. It won't, but I can hope. I'll play it as a rogue again later
There is a loot all hotkey *hallelujah* and combat feels faster. Out of game cutscenes are LOUD and in game cutscenes need breaks to load
Dialog wheel is still up for pussy and down for asshole, but the little symbols changed when I made a choice so maybe it won't always be that obvious. It won't, but I can hope. I'll play it as a rogue again later
Love it. I really need to finish DA:O before March 8th.
My only question is why did they change Flemeth's appearance if it's set in the same time as the first game? Continuity is nice.
My only question is why did they change Flemeth's appearance if it's set in the same time as the first game? Continuity is nice.
No, you're right. I tend to play healers [or the closest thing to them; I was even a Medic in Mass Effect, foolish person that I am] in this type of game, and found the cooldown in the demo to be long enough that it can only realistically be used once or twice per battle. A far cry from DA:O.Fr said:
But then, I only realised healing potions were available on my third playthrough [it crashed twice near the end], so...
So basically, your argument is l2p? Well said my friend, it's both deep and informative!Madkipz said:
In my original post I stated that I had a funky group setup, it was centered around freezing targets and shattering them - which worked surprisingly well, but made my group squishy and reliant on cooldowns.
That being said, again, having to pause the game, load up heals, and redirect my casters, constantly was tedious and boring in a 40hr RPG, in my opinion. Although, you maybe right I might need to l2p, I did have friends that played both melee(rogue&guardian) classes, and they seemed to have the same problem with constantly having to pause. . . perhaps you, my friend, are a gaming gaawd who only needs to scoff at the spacebar in order to breeze through the game.
I haven't played the DA2 demo yet, so I don't know how much they shifted it towards action, but I did enjoy the combat changes in ME2. So long as it's still a great story, and an epic-feeling world I should probably still enjoy the game. . .Until I get my hands on Witcher 2.
Yeah, tha analogy is perfect and in no way a crass, ham-handed attempt at... well anything. Good job.Cuy said:
So... people keep saying this is dumbed down. Anyone wanna clue me in as to... how? As far as I can tell here are the changes to the gameplay:
1) You almost always hit, and bonus' to your hit chance are modified by enemy rank and level
2) The spell tree is slimmer (Potentially good since there were so many useless spells before)
3) Combat is a bit quicker. Noticed that your basic enemies died really fast. This could be an early game thing, but I somehow feel it will be the norm.
4) Flanking gives bonus damage primarily instead of bonus to hit primarily. (Latter may become more relevant vs bosses).
5) Amount of available stamina seemed increased. DA:O had you really only doing a move or 3 before running out, it looks like you have a whole lot more now.
Leveling has been changed as thus:
1) You no longer have aptitudes (herbalism, potion making, whatever) and instead just have combat skills. Also, no speech craft skill. I really hope this is true, since those systems were pretty bad in the original. I didn't play a rogue though, are the traps'n'flasks now just rogue skills?
2) It looks like your stats always compared to other creatures your level. Not sure but that appears to be the way it works. Notice how your defense % and hit % seem to 'go down' as you level up unless you also increase the pertinent stat? I think that is because the same stat value is being compared to creatures that are a higher level.
3) Magic Resistance and Physical Resistance are slummed in favor of slightly reworded, and less... contrived abilities. Instead of just having half your stats contributing to one, and half contributing to the other (meaning that first + second = constant) you now will only get them from increasing a given stat.
4) Ability Tree's are completely redesigned, and look like they are more intended to be mixed. You'll note that the tree's have level gaps, and no level duplication. So you have like skills requiring level 1,3,4,5,6,7,9,10. THis means at level 2 and 8 you are forced to get an ability from a different tree. No benefit in saving points either (except across trees maybe?)
Narrative Differences
1) You are human. And Refugee. No arguing about this one. At least you still have choice of gender.
2) Discussion Wheel. It looks like there are three main persona's here. Angsty, Whimsical, and CareBear. Nothing we haven't seen before. Feels a little weird in Dragon Age. Seems to work the same as Mass Effect. No idea though if the equivalent to Paragon and Renegade options will show up.
3) Rivals vs Friends. Probably my favorite change. It always seemed rather implausible that people setting out to 'save the world' would let their personal feelings get in the way of that. In this you now get to choose how to treat someone, without the constant worry that they'll up and leave. Being a Rival lets you unlock a certain skill for them. Being a Friend allows you to unlock a DIFFERENT skill for them. I wonder if all romance options require friendship? Or if rivalry can brood lust as well?
I'm sure this isn't everything.
My overall opinion? Well, it looks okay to me. I'm still not sure if the Discussion wheel is a GOOD or BAD thing to be honest. I'd really like to know a bit more about how the nitty gritty combat mechanics work. They do give a LOT of information in the menu though... but it still feels like an important layer of abstraction exists. Will likely buy, but not pre-order.
1) You almost always hit, and bonus' to your hit chance are modified by enemy rank and level
2) The spell tree is slimmer (Potentially good since there were so many useless spells before)
3) Combat is a bit quicker. Noticed that your basic enemies died really fast. This could be an early game thing, but I somehow feel it will be the norm.
4) Flanking gives bonus damage primarily instead of bonus to hit primarily. (Latter may become more relevant vs bosses).
5) Amount of available stamina seemed increased. DA:O had you really only doing a move or 3 before running out, it looks like you have a whole lot more now.
Leveling has been changed as thus:
1) You no longer have aptitudes (herbalism, potion making, whatever) and instead just have combat skills. Also, no speech craft skill. I really hope this is true, since those systems were pretty bad in the original. I didn't play a rogue though, are the traps'n'flasks now just rogue skills?
2) It looks like your stats always compared to other creatures your level. Not sure but that appears to be the way it works. Notice how your defense % and hit % seem to 'go down' as you level up unless you also increase the pertinent stat? I think that is because the same stat value is being compared to creatures that are a higher level.
3) Magic Resistance and Physical Resistance are slummed in favor of slightly reworded, and less... contrived abilities. Instead of just having half your stats contributing to one, and half contributing to the other (meaning that first + second = constant) you now will only get them from increasing a given stat.
4) Ability Tree's are completely redesigned, and look like they are more intended to be mixed. You'll note that the tree's have level gaps, and no level duplication. So you have like skills requiring level 1,3,4,5,6,7,9,10. THis means at level 2 and 8 you are forced to get an ability from a different tree. No benefit in saving points either (except across trees maybe?)
Narrative Differences
1) You are human. And Refugee. No arguing about this one. At least you still have choice of gender.
2) Discussion Wheel. It looks like there are three main persona's here. Angsty, Whimsical, and CareBear. Nothing we haven't seen before. Feels a little weird in Dragon Age. Seems to work the same as Mass Effect. No idea though if the equivalent to Paragon and Renegade options will show up.
3) Rivals vs Friends. Probably my favorite change. It always seemed rather implausible that people setting out to 'save the world' would let their personal feelings get in the way of that. In this you now get to choose how to treat someone, without the constant worry that they'll up and leave. Being a Rival lets you unlock a certain skill for them. Being a Friend allows you to unlock a DIFFERENT skill for them. I wonder if all romance options require friendship? Or if rivalry can brood lust as well?
I'm sure this isn't everything.
My overall opinion? Well, it looks okay to me. I'm still not sure if the Discussion wheel is a GOOD or BAD thing to be honest. I'd really like to know a bit more about how the nitty gritty combat mechanics work. They do give a LOT of information in the menu though... but it still feels like an important layer of abstraction exists. Will likely buy, but not pre-order.
I think the main issue is not the "dumbing down", but dumb it is. Maybe it is just the demo but the enemy seems even dumber than before (hard to believe) and the map design at the start was as linear as a rail shooter (which is pretty much the definition of dumb).
But as I said, maybe that bit at least is just the demo and so maybe it is not that much of an issue... we will see.
No...What truly sucks and has me calling Steam to cancel my pre-order is the preposterous 'look and feel' of the animations. The graphics are tolerable but the animations reduces a classy game to an arcade fighter with pretensions. I HATE how the combat looks, all of it. The toons move at *preposterous* speeds, turning the game into essentially "Mortal Kombat with More Dialogue" if you will. Even the mage twirls their staff back and forth for some reason REALLY REALLY FAST. Hugely disappointed.
But as I said, maybe that bit at least is just the demo and so maybe it is not that much of an issue... we will see.
No...What truly sucks and has me calling Steam to cancel my pre-order is the preposterous 'look and feel' of the animations. The graphics are tolerable but the animations reduces a classy game to an arcade fighter with pretensions. I HATE how the combat looks, all of it. The toons move at *preposterous* speeds, turning the game into essentially "Mortal Kombat with More Dialogue" if you will. Even the mage twirls their staff back and forth for some reason REALLY REALLY FAST. Hugely disappointed.
