Poll: Dragon Age vs Dragon Age: The Battle Continues!

[Vanorae]

I prefer Dragon Age: Origins. I liked the choices you were faced with more, it wasn't always a choice between evil and good which I loved. For me they were really difficult on some occasions. The story was great. However, Dragon Age 2 was by no means a bad game. I liked the changes to combat and the choice of Varric narrating everything was interesting.

 

[Akexi]

Aside from the visual aspect of the combat(in terms that it looks quite dynamic) Origins is far superior to its sequel. The story is more gripping, there are a lot more quality characters, and the combat is overall better. The big drawing point was when I first heard of the setting of Dragon age 2. I was really interested in getting deeply engrossed into a city that felt like an actual city; while not a Rome, London, or Paris, perhaps something on the lines of a Florence, Nottingham, or Rennes(one with definite weight, but not a significant capital). Kirkwall however, felt like an occupied ruin, small parts of the city sparsely occupied between expanses of desolation connecting them.

 

[william12123]

Definitely prefer origins. I loved the control you had of creating you own character, and the I felt like there where some seriously hard decisions to make.

Dragon age 2 was ok, and I will definitely give points story-wise, but the game just felt rushed and unpolished. Good ideas in DA2, but not nearly as polished as other bioware stuff, like origins or Mass Effect. Example: After Anders decided went all terroristy, I just could not fathom to keep him alive. Several full party wipes ever, I went the other way. If there had been other decent healers in the game, that might not have been the case. Thats what kinda defined the "DA2<DAO" decision for me. When the story forces you into a situation where game play becomes impossible, I am disappointed...

And now that the series is definitly going to be tied to EA's origin, I definitely wont continue the series, so bonus disappointment points for me.

 

[s0p0g]

Disclaimer: all of the following is nothing but my opinion; if you don't agree and like DA:O way better and/or found DA2 to be outright despicable that's cool with me, i am not on an Exalted March for DA2
/Disclaimer


DA2 was good, fast-paced fun, that - while partially being quite serious - didn't take itself too serious (where it wasn't necessary/appropriate)

it was completely different from DA:O gameplay (battlemechanic)-wise, so it didn't end up as a cheap and failed (ok that was harsh; but it somehow didn't feel quite right for; dunno why...) immitation of the WRPGs from the golden age of gaming

also, the voiced protagonist (at least male, only played it once) was pretty good, so yeah, thumbs up for that
and while some characters (funnily enough it was all the male whiny crazy party members, the women were all quite enjoyable) pissed me off to the point where i justed wanted to kill them (bye bye Fenris, bye bye Anders, hurrhurr) (which rarely happens in games), the others completely made up for them.

ok, the again and again and again and AGAIN recycled minor locations sucked bad, but as i was blasting and smashing my through those it didn't bother me as much as i was first afraid it might

and you get to start a civil war (eff the Templars, they wanna hurt my sister, imma cut them good!) - BAM!

so we have: good voice acting, interesting story, the usual rather shallow but still fun Bioware characters, and fast paced combat, and the continuation of a rather refreshing setting, no saving the world/galaxy. yes, me likey
oh, and you could imprint your char with one of 3 distinct basic attitude - that was quite cool

 

[LetalisK]

That said, I'm probably gonna play it again at some point and cheat the fuck out of it just to go on a rampage. Anyone have opinions on the most interesting starting race to be? My first one was City Elf and I thought it was really good.

I thought Dwarf Noble had the most interesting starting story. Unfortunately, choosing that story doesn't really change much when you return or the dwarf city, later in the game. I thought that after what happens in the dwarf noble origin story, returning to the dwarven city would be really intense and the story would be more interesting or something. Nope. Except for a few small dialog changes from the NPCs, returning there as a dwarf was pretty much exactly the same as going there as a dalish elf. That is actually a main problem I have with dragon age, as a whole. what you do never seems to make that much of a difference. I know they are completely different games, but I can't help comparing Dragon Age to Mass Effect. In Mass Effect I always felt like what I did mattered and would change how the story played out. In Dragon Age, what you do or say seems to have very little impact on anything else. I was very disappointed when my actions in Origins seems to have almost no impact on Awakening, much less on Dragon Age 2. I'm hoping that Dragon Age 3 will change that and your actions in the first two games will play a much bigger role in shaping the story

Pretty much the same with City Elf. You go back to the city and one of the characters says "Oh hey you! It's me from the beginning of the game! Remember when...lol! Good times," and that's it. Actually bad times, but you get the jist of it. At this point I'm thinking of running through every starter area with a character just to get that story and then moving on with the one I like the best. I do remember the mage one being kind of dumb though.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

Origins is the prime example of "it doesn't need to be original, it's all about execution.", I actually like the dwarven culture and the spin they gave on it, the Templars were among the best idea they had in the series, the locations were awesome such as Ostagar and the great temple.

The tactics system was deep and rewarding, albeit somewhat of a chore to set up, the combat itself was quite slow-paced, strategic and delibirately set up, it all just felt so much more complete.

I suppose that's just the thing that's wrong with DA2, it doesn't feel complete, the combat is lazy and has no tactical depth, the world feels small and restrictive, and so do the dialogue options.

The Mage vs Templar conflict has no proper middle ground characters safe for Varric and Isabella, who simply don't care, no Templars taking risks to actually protect the mages nor any mages who report blood mages to keep the circle secure, neither is there anyone like Alister who approves of the templar work but not of their brutality, there is barely any dynamic here.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

I love both games, didnt at the time, thought it was a generic fantasy game but I am replaying it again now and enjoying it far more

 

[Terminal Blue]

That said, I'm probably gonna play it again at some point and cheat the fuck out of it just to go on a rampage. Anyone have opinions on the most interesting starting race to be? My first one was City Elf and I thought it was really good.

City Elf is certainly one of the best. It gets really dark there for a second, doesn't it?

Dwarf Commoner my favorite but you have to buy into the premise that you're playing the underdog. There's a couple of nice storytelling payoffs during the return to Orzammar as well, more so in fact than with the Dwarf Noble.

Dwarf Noble is actually the "optimal" choice if you just want to storm the game, because it gives you access to a merchant who sells at incredibly good prices, and thus makes making money (either through selling crap or Lyrium potions) much easier.

On topic. They're both good. DA2, however, while people often understate how much it improved on certain flaws in Origins, was clearly rushed through development and suffered for it, so overall I would say Origins is better. I have high hopes that Inquisition will blow both out of the water pretty resoundingly, though.

 

[The Madman]

Not turning out to be much of a battle is it? Dragon Age 2's reputation for being a disappointment is well deserved, compared to the original game it just doesn't hold up. And while obviously there are going to be those that prefer 2 as a personal preference I don't think it's unkind to say that Origins is just the definitive superior product.

Unfortunately that doesn't really seem to be a message that ever got through to Bioware, who rather than thinking Dragon Age 3 should be more like the original or that maybe there's still room in the rpg market for tactical group based rpg, continues by all reports to make everything more akin to Mass Effect and now, according to some articles and interviews, Skyrim of all games.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

BTW does anyone know how to delete characters out of Origin on PS3? I have 3 characters I started but that were missing some of the equipment I wanted so I went back and started again and yet they are still there and I cant work out how to get rid of them and they are causing the loading to slow down

 

[Goofguy]

I prefer Origins even if the story is quite uninspired. DA2's story had so much potential but its execution (as well as that of the gameplay) left a lot to be desired. It isn't a terrible game by any means, it's just not a good Dragon Age game.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Not that Origins is poorly written, but I favor the character writing of II as well as how they framed the story. The story itself is less urgent, but I don't really have a problem with that. Take the story as a whole and there has to be some kind of scaling back in a way from corrupted dead god coming back with an army to kill fucking everyone. The tension is less, the intrigue is still there as well as two sides who definitely both have a point, or a brand of logic from their POV.

Dragon age 2 was an objectively bad game, so naturally I prefer Origin.

Now now, tastes are subjective, no matter what stupid ideas might be in a game. I have a friend who absolutely loved Too Human.

That being said, far from perfect in the gameplay department, but not bad enough that I would avoid playing it. It functions, and if there's a good story, that's all I'll ask for. It's great failing was a bit too much repetition IMO. I understand the story centers around Kirkwall, but there simply wasn't enough of a city to explore that wasn't typically gated as a mission with a whole bunch of pointless nobodies to kill. Too much of a rushed product to truly stand on it's own, but I will never say it's a bad game for it's time, just a bit of a forced one.

The considerably longer development cycle for Inquisition gives me hope that whatever it might be will be as polished as it should be.

 

[God's Clown]

I've played 2 way more than I have played 1, but I like them both quite a lot. I just hope they let people mod 3, because mods pretty much made the first one for me.

 

[LetalisK]

Dwarf Noble is actually the "optimal" choice if you just want to storm the game, because it gives you access to a merchant who sells at incredibly good prices, and thus makes making money (either through selling crap or Lyrium potions) much easier.

Oh, money will be no object. I'll be going just short of god mode. Though I might as well since I'm going to crank the difficulty and then cheat to where I can have every member of my party travelling with me at the same time. Or at least the ones that don't bother me.

Though if there is a mod to increase the number of enemies too, it could get interesting.

 

[Agayek]

DA2 had the potential to be the superior game, but it needed another two years in development to actually meet that potential.

As it is, DA2 is almost completely crap. It got two things right: Varric Tethras and the combat mechanics (note: This is not the encounters, the encounter design was godawful). Everything else about it ranged from subpar/mediocre at best to outright awful at worst.

Which is disappointing, because Origins is one of my favoritest games of all time and I've played through it like 9-10 times.

 

[Drago-Morph]

Dragon Age II by far. Don't get me wrong, DA:O is a fantastic game, but nothing competes with DAII. Everything about the game just felt so alive and immersive that I couldn't help but lose myself in it in a way that I had never before and still haven't again. It's pretty much my definitive gaming experience.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I've played 2 way more than I have played 1, but I like them both quite a lot. I just hope they let people mod 3, because mods pretty much made the first one for me.

This is EA we are talking about, they'll won't allow their crapy DLC supplanted by mods.

Lets just say DA2 broke Bioware's hold on me.

Respawning waves coming out of noware, retarded characters, the oversimpfication of nearly everything and turng the uncanny vally slasher smiled darkspawn into generic zombie mooks.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

119 to 6. Some battle...

As it is, DA2 is almost completely crap. It got two things right: Varric Tethras and the combat mechanics

The combat mechanics were godawful and they just skewed the balance in the other direction. Warriors get free AOE with no friendly fire chance because that was a good idea or something. They didn't even bother to scale knockback properly for nightmare mode. So at a certain point mages and rogues who take a single hit are basically dead because of forever stun lock. It's the worst kind of difficulty increase because it does not encourage changing tactics or frantic struggles to survive. It encourages reloading instantly or just taking your hands off of the controls because there is no point continuing playing if you have been hit.

 

[Seracen]

Not sure if board is trolling...but I'll vote anyway.

To be fair, however, the characterizations in DA2 were actually fairly interesting. It's just that DA2 didn't have anywhere near the same amount of depth.

With "Frostbite Engine" and "Open World," I really don't know if DA3 is what I'll want it to be. One thing is clear, however, EA won't see a red cent of my money...esp if the only way PC users can get it is via Origin.

If they allow a non-Origin version, I'll get the GOTY edition. ME3 was the only game that really had me over a barrel. Conversely, it's not like there's some great connect between ANY of the DA games to where I MUST play them, like there was in ME3.

Although I won't lie, I'd offer my pets to BW if it meant Jade Empire 2.