The Escapist Presents: 5 Favorites of 2011: Greg

[StriderShinryu]

I would easily put DA2 on my Best of 2011 list too. Yes it had flaws, but most of the acual complaints about it really just boil down to "It's not DA:O 1.5." Immensely enjoyable on almost every level and one of teh very few games I was eager to start a second time the moment I finished my first play.

 

[Scorekeeper]

I was disappointed by DAII but it's still my second favorite game of 2011. Naturally, Skyrim takes top honors.

 

[Rad Party God]

I don't care either way about Dragon Age 2, I haven't played it and I'm not even slightly interested in it, but I'm glad to see you added Skyrim, seriously, just as you said, it has almost anything I ever wanted from a videogame. It has it's flaws and it's not perfect, but it's been a long while since the last time I throughfully enjoyed a single player RPG since... well, since New Vegas. I'll hunt for some mods later, but right now, I'm enjoying it as it is, I don't mind the muddy textures at all, also because my PC isn't capable of anything better at the moment.

 

[Samus Aran but a man]

I enjoyed Dragon Age 2.

 

[putowtin]

inFamous 2!

Thanks Greg, most seem to have forgotten about this gem (maybe cause it was released earlier in the year and not in the November madness) but this is one of my top five games of the year.

looking forward to more of the staff's picks

 

[Bobbity]

The inventory in DA2 worked better? Returning again and again to the same dungeons, settings and places just made them more familiar? That was a good thing? Greg, I want what you're smoking.

To be fair, I agree with you about the characterisation - that was brilliant. I suppose that in terms of role-playing, it's an all right game.

 

[Seneschal]

I know I'm going to get flak for this too, but I really don't care at this point. Dragon Age 2 is a fantastic roleplaying game. One of the best games of this year.

Haters just want to hate. Trolls just want to *****. I could care less about what they think. I won't tell you how much though...

Thanks Greg. I'm glad you aren't afraid of the people who can't play a great game without comparing it to a previous title. These so called 'gamers' put too much into what a game is called instead of playing each title for it's worth. The fact that they say the game would be fine if it was called something other than Dragon Age tells it all.

Cheers!

Edit: *Looks at above post*... awesome!

Whoa, why resort to name-calling? Is it so unimaginable that people who didn't like the game aren't "haters" or "trolls" that get nourishment from other people's misery?

I really enjoyed DA2, but in the inevitable comparison to other BioWare games, it's a rush-job. It's not something most people can just ignore and "enjoy the game" at full cost. And it's also purely the publisher's fault, I think, since they barely gave BioWare a year to finalize it. In one year, we could have gotten shit-on-a-stick from most developers, but we got DA2 from BioWare. I consider that a success! And bless the people that managed to immerse themselves and enjoy it for the story; I liked it too, but the whole ordeal left me with a bad aftertaste.

Regarding the list, that pirate game looks awesome. Especially the sailing ships firing guided missiles - goddammit, that would have been useful on the high seas of the era.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Dragon Age 2? Really?

Kahunaburger Disapproves -10.

that by the dramatic climax I was making decisions not for any gamist goal of stats or quest completion but because I genuinely cared for the characters' well-being.

This is the problem with Dragon Age 2 in a nutshell. It doesn't work as a game, so people defend it as an interactive narrative with a "flawed" game attached. The problem with that defense is that it isn't a very good narrative, either - it doesn't incorporate the interactivity component well, but at the same time it can't hold a candle to most linear narratives, either.

 

[D Moness]

Funny how people feel they to tell Greg his own taste is not right.
It is his taste, if he likes DA2 enough to put it in his personal top 5 it is his right to do so.

Who are all these people telling someone's personal taste is not correct

Stop telling other people what to like and not to like.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Yeah, I'm not gonna touch this one.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Great picks, Dragon Age 2 was a great game, it might actually be my #1 game out of this year. It is tied for that position with Skyrim.

It is interesting some people heavily protect DA2 in topics. It is as absurd as mocking the game to the end in.

OK it was not 0/10 game, but it was not a good game either.
Being an AAA shouldn't be "protection shield" for games, we don't need "with the mob" or some other weird insults.

The game was a year of the game if you played it on the consoles + if it's your first RPG, nothing more.

Criticizing this game doesn't make you "mindless mob", you will just point the obvious.

There were many many flaws in the game, and some problematic game design choices.

I have played many games, many RPGs amongst them, in my 22 years of gaming, and in all seriousness, I gave Dragon Age 2 a 9.5 out of 10.

The only legitimate flaw, that isn't a personal opinion kind of flaw, is the somewhat repeating of dungeons. If I did review games for a living, it would be the only thing I would mention about the game as being a flaw.

I felt it was a vast improvement over Origins. I tried to play Origins all the way through before I moved on to DA2, but I could only stand a little over 20 hours of Origins before I had to move on to DA2 to see if BioWare actually corrected their mistakes and actually made a fun game. Origins was a broken and outdated RPG for when it was made. Heck, going back and playing KotOR, KotOR feels ahead of Origins in many ways. I seriously hope DA2 is what we can expect from RPGs in the RPG sub-set group it is in. Origins gets a 5 out of 10 from me.

And yes, I would consider many of the people that rated Dragon Age 2 a mindless mob. The reason I say this is that I watched the development of Dragon Age 2, I watched all the trailers, all the making of videos and news videos that were out before launch. BioWare flat-out told people that Dragon Age 2 was not going to be like Origins, they said they were changing everything, choices, combat, leveling, dialogue, the personality and makeup of the characters. They said that people would play Hawke and he was human, that it was a more personal and narrow story compared to Origins.

But then when the game was released, an unruly rabble gave the game bad reviews and uncalled for 0 bombs, all under the banner that the game was no DA:Origins and wasn't like Origins, totally changed compared to it. Well, ddduuuhhh, of course it isn't like Origins, BioWare was upfront with everything. Don't go buying a game knowing full well it is going to be different, then bomb it because it is different than the previous game.

They are mindless also in that many did this because they have a mentality that BioWare should only make games in the style they like, and some put on blinders, and even when looking at that there would be major changes, they must have went, "Nanana hmm hmm na, I'm not listening," or some such thing.

I felt the DA2 user review fiasco is a depressing look at how bad humanity can be about trivial things.

 

[LiquidGrape]

Dragon Age 2 had Isabela. It's one of the best games of the year for that reason alone.

P.S
Speaking of, Isabela is spelt with a single 'l'.
D.S

 

[Turing '88]

I have played many games, many RPGs amongst them, in my 22 years of gaming, and in all seriousness, I gave Dragon Age 2 a 9.5 out of 10.

The only legitimate flaw, that isn't a personal opinion kind of flaw, is the somewhat repeating of dungeons.

...

And yes, I would consider many of the people that rated Dragon Age 2 a mindless mob.

...

They are mindless also in that many did this because they have a mentality that BioWare should only make games in the style they like, and some put on blinders, and even when looking at that there would be major changes, they must have went, "Nanana hmm hmm na, I'm not listening," or some such thing.

I felt the DA2 user review fiasco is a depressing look at how bad humanity can be about trivial things.

I can understand hating the 0's people were giving Dragon Age, we all most accept it isn't deserving of that and understand that people overreacted as usual.

On the other hand though, there were obviously real problems that some people had with the game, and it seemed you were implying the complaints being subjective made them less credible. All game design is subjective. I might like reused linear areas because it lets me focus on the characters and combat not the level design. I may also like Duke Nukem Forever better than Half Life 2 because physicists are 'gay'. I'd be an idiot but its all subjective.

Good game design just means the game achieves what you wanted it to, generally that the majority of your target audience will buy and enjoy the game.

At least, unlike some games **cough** Call of Duty **cough**, I expect most of the people played DA:2 before reviewing it.

I really can't be arsed going over the same old material again, we all know the arguments and counter arguments by now about DA2. My only point is this; I did not enjoy the game, I expressed this in discussions about the game and unless there is a U-turn in the direction Bioware games are currently progressing I will not be buying another one(Note how I've not said that there should be a change, that's up to Bioware).

I do not think any of this is unreasonable? I certainly don't think I was part of a 'mindless mob' (and yes, I know you didn't say everyone was a part of a 'mob' but I actually think most of the 'haters' aren't as shallow as some people think).

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Greg, I gotta say. You proudly stand up to the internet, regardless of the flames imminently directed at you. I support your decision. While it doesn't make my personal top 5, it does stand solid in my favorite games of the year list.