There are enough action fantasy games right now, without Dragon Age 2 filling the market further.Anthraxus said:
DA:O's niche was for people who preferred tactical RPG combat with a small party. Sadly DA2 destroyed that
Why Dragon Age 2 failed...
- Thread starter endtherapture
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DA:O's niche was for people who preferred tactical RPG combat with a small party. Sadly DA2 destroyed that
So i figure this is Dragon Age 3, in a nutshell.Fidelias said:
You start off in a 7 minute interactive cutscene that reminisces with 3 people drinking and playing poker, while cheating in the hanged man, 7 minutes later, you are introduced as the Guy who cleans the Hanged Man Inn, after those 3 people are forcibly ejected by whomever survived Dragon Age 2 from the preloaded savegame, or just Varric and Isabella if you didn't load a save from the 2nd or 1st game.
Your destiny is awoken as you are then picked out by the grand cleric Elthina moments before dying horribly, to save the secret chantry manuscript of a second maker, but something goes wrong and you then become cursed with her dying breath to protect the living remains of andraste, now haunting your soul, who in turn now gives you some eldrich demon spawn ability to handle lyrium enhanced dual-wielding grenade launching crossbows, prayer empowered melee gauntlets, and a wrist mounted lyrium codpiece you can now use to lockpick doors and navigate dimensional portals (in one of the least disturbing minigames ever imagined with a codpiece)
all of which you'll need to fight the new cybernetic darkspawn abominations of the reawakened tevinter empire, who are coming from beyond the distant future, where you'll be time travelling from and to the distant past of ferelden, thedas and if you buy the DLC, kirkwall, where cyborg darkspawn wiped out all records of their existence.
to defeat this new enemy, you'll need to collect magical lyrium enhanced heat sink clips from the demonspawn you kill, and for every end boss you kill, will unlock bonus abilities in the DA3 multiplayer.
you'll also have to specialise in a tech tree that only resembles ME3, but the names and titles will change to suit this new enemy that assumes direct control over existing darkspawn, in what promises to be even more epic and world-ending than the last game.
So, you along with 4 trusty companions,
merrill's second cousin's sister who is a former keeper, (who you'll be reminded of in every cutscene, doesn't wear clothing, but is modelled from a 16 (27 year old) year old actress on some MTV show)
Sandal "Enchantment" 's son, Roger Feddic, (voiced by zachary levi now that he hasn't got a job)
a mabari/quinari werewolf that's haunted by the spirit of Vengeance, (who is also gay, but not that it matters)
and the third cousin of the hero of ferelden and Loghain ,(whom is also gay, but female) who is also a secret princess of their royal family, who you find curating leliana's shoe collection in the game.
Along with 4 other DLC optional companions who slightly resemble their DAO counterparts,
Shale, gets a makeover and now goes by Shelley (also optional DLC romance option),
Loghain is now a dragon demonspawn, who you can optionally use as a vehicle mount for the entire party,
Zhevran is still around, but now wears sunglasses, talks in an affected stilted manner and looks slightly reptilian, in homage to no particular bioware character,
Wynne is back, with her lightsaber from the first game as an optional magic using healer whom you find at the chantry (who is also a love interest if you're female)
all purely optional DLC characters.
(All DLC characters will also have a DLC clothing pack to change up companion casual clothing options)
all 9 of you are on a quest to discover a reasonable excuse to explore ferelden again, you set out to deliver the secret manuscript, while bringing about the 7th age of reason, release a mad god, and expand the depth of what people will accept as optional DLC and not being arguably overpowered at any point.
when you add in the value of using all those existing areas from DA:O, along with preorder DLC caches of weapons that you'll find useless within 2 hours or beyond level 10, another DLC pack containing the entire DA2 storyline, for which, if you can complete it in less than 4 hours, you get the achievement, and a third DLC package featuring mabari skins and a storyline that lets you opt out of gay romance options and live a purely chaste life in the 12 hours total gameplay experience.
Expected RRP is $49.95, CE will be $89.95, and a total of $160 for the DLC options not found in the CE, as the DDXL for $299.95, only if you preorder between 9-11 months in advance from Origin exclusively.
For release, December 2012
Yes, the Original Campaign was terrible and I rarely was even able to get on the multiplayer section. Plus the gameplay was horribly disjointed especially compared to Baldur's Gate (IMO the second best series Bioware has ever made after Mass Effect). This may be a drum that's already been beaten before but this is coming from a self confessed Bioware fanboy.Anthraxus said:
Bioware's writing is still really good, but the problem they have is that their older stuff is way, way better. Dragon Age: Origins was actually well written. Unfortunately, well written isn't enough for Bioware, if it's not amazing, they fail in peoples eyes. As much as I prefer Origins over Dragon Age 2, I will say Dragon Age 2 had the better writing (if you scrub out Anders... whoever wrote his character should be ashamed. Apart from the whole "Vengence" thing, that was cool).
Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate (especially the second one) and Mass Effect, in my opinion, are still the paragons of Bioware's story writing skills.
I find myself pretty much agreeing with the OP here. I've played both Dragon Ages multiple times, and put simply, I prefer Origins.
The Orzammar / Broodmother example is a good one, actually. That was a really creepy moment. The build up was excellent, Hespith's chanting really set me on edge, and the reveal was properly horrible. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed DA2, but I felt like there were a lot fewer of these moments compared to the first game. In fact, I'm struggling to remember any standout pieces.
The music... Again, I remember more from the Origins than I do from the sequel. That's not to say I thought the tracks in DA2 were rubbish, because when I listen to them, they're not. They just don't feel as memorable.
The upshot is I thought DA2 was a game with a lot of potential, but it never quite achieved what it was capable of. Wave combat isn't necessarily a bad thing, but every time and from every direction? It just made positioning more a matter of luck than judgement. I didn't object too much to being confined to Kirkwall, because that fitted Hawke's story, I just wished the city was bigger. I didn't mind my choices not being able to stop what happened at the end, because sometimes that's the way life works. I just wish there's been more consistency and less... Well, less blood mages, really. It seemed like everyone was a freaking blood mage. Couldn't throw a stone without hitting one or two.
Another year tacked on to the development time would probably have done wonders. Did I enjoy playing DA2? Yes. Could it have been better? Also yes.
The Orzammar / Broodmother example is a good one, actually. That was a really creepy moment. The build up was excellent, Hespith's chanting really set me on edge, and the reveal was properly horrible. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed DA2, but I felt like there were a lot fewer of these moments compared to the first game. In fact, I'm struggling to remember any standout pieces.
The music... Again, I remember more from the Origins than I do from the sequel. That's not to say I thought the tracks in DA2 were rubbish, because when I listen to them, they're not. They just don't feel as memorable.
The upshot is I thought DA2 was a game with a lot of potential, but it never quite achieved what it was capable of. Wave combat isn't necessarily a bad thing, but every time and from every direction? It just made positioning more a matter of luck than judgement. I didn't object too much to being confined to Kirkwall, because that fitted Hawke's story, I just wished the city was bigger. I didn't mind my choices not being able to stop what happened at the end, because sometimes that's the way life works. I just wish there's been more consistency and less... Well, less blood mages, really. It seemed like everyone was a freaking blood mage. Couldn't throw a stone without hitting one or two.
Another year tacked on to the development time would probably have done wonders. Did I enjoy playing DA2? Yes. Could it have been better? Also yes.
it is *Likely* (and by that i mean definitively, but politically speaking, only Likely) the writer that shall remain nameless ... and never mentioned on the internet.Steampunk Viking said:
yes. that one.
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Anders#Trivia
lest ye forget the horror ... http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Anders/Dialogue
it's interesting that as original licenses, they were able to take an original concept, shine it up into what is arguably an archaic format, the WRPG, and push it towards a console market where there's about 12 RPG's, and make a ton of money.Steampunk Viking said:
i forgive ME2 and DA2 a lot since they had a reliance on the old canon, and "executive", if not meddling, pressure to create a format that was badly polished and tiresome. if you remove their worst attributed faults, the game itself is outstanding. but, every game if you remove that one jarring mechanic or failure is also going to excel, so that's not a valid turnkey to forgiveness or alleviated fan reaction.
a lot of it could have come out in testing or critical QA/peer testing,
Yep I'm calling that out because if that does happen he still meets justice and talks in depth about his adventures with my warden which didn't happen and he even goes so far as to elaborate some rubbish story about my character making him get rid of a cat. So unless there is a cunningly hidden bit of dialogue where he admits to stalking the warden through Amaranthine and making paper cut-outs to boss him around then it's still a plot hole. Of course if it turns out that I only got that dialogue because of an import glitch disregard.RJ 17 said:
Okay, I'm not entirely sure, but is your point that I'm expecting too much by wanting them to make the Champion more epic?toliman said:So i figure this is Dragon Age 3, in a nutshell.Fidelias said:
... eldrich demon spawn ability to handle lyrium enhanced dual-wielding grenade launching crossbows, prayer empowered melee gauntlets, and a wrist mounted lyrium codpiece you can now use to lockpick doors and navigate dimensional portals (in one of the least disturbing minigames ever imagined with a codpiece)
...cyborg darkspawn ...merrill's second cousin's sister who is a former keeper, (who you'll be reminded of in every cutscene, doesn't wear clothing, but is modelled from a 16 (27 year old) year old actress on some MTV show)...
ULTRA SNIP (couldn't help leaving some of the best parts in
For release, December 2012
I don't need the Champion go destroy gods and all, but his defining moment should be something better than a small scale uprising. My point is mainly that if they hype the Champion up to being badass, he should fit the bill. If they didn't want him to have epic fights, then he shouldn't be praised as the Jesus of Kirkwall, that's all.
Small scale makes me thing of a few dozen mages at most, not an entire Circle. Plus the events in Kirkwall snowball into what sounds like a Thedas-wide war. Problem with this was the ending felt like it should be the Act 1 finale of another game. Also, what did the Hero of Ferelden fight that was so much more epic than the Champion, Dragons and Demons were pretty much the big scary enemies in both games.Fidelias said:
The thing is, that the Thedas-wide war was apparently instigated by Wynne from DA:O in a A GODDAMNED BOOK, and apparently the events in Kirkwall didn't do that much.Megalodon said:
How does Hawke killing some Qunari and going to the Deep Roads affect the start of the War? Why does Cassandra care? She would've just told Varric to shut up for most of the story. Plus Asunder apparently tells more of the story of why the war beings than DA2 so it's stupid
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the way DA2 handled Act 3 was good, and I don't know anyhting about Asunder,the actual game gives the imprssion Kirkwall's revolt dirctly led to the war . I just don't get why you think the Champion was so much less "epic" than The Warden, when they did pretty similar things, only one had a blight to contend with, while the other had a city fullof idiots.endtherapture said:
I'm also not saying I think 2 was better than origins, although I do like 2.
It doesn't explain how it led to the war. The circle revolted in Ferelden in DA:O, the right of Annulment can be evoked, yet that didn't lead to a massive war? Why is this different in DA2? Nothing is explained, it's just a pointless story leading to a pointless set up for the sequel where nothing is explained.Megalodon said:
The Warden fought an ancient timeless evil and it's giant army, as well as ancient werewolves, a tower full of Blood Mages and Abominations, the mysterious Flemeth, ancient Dwarven Paragons and a Dragon Cult.
The Champion deals with a city full of insane idiots who keep losing things.
My two biggest gripes with that game were;
1) Every enemy encounter you finished would have a second wave where you did everything twice. Boring!
2) The combat was changed to be some sort of action-adventure versus the tactical calculating style it had in the original.
1) Every enemy encounter you finished would have a second wave where you did everything twice. Boring!
2) The combat was changed to be some sort of action-adventure versus the tactical calculating style it had in the original.
I recently started it and am now about 8 hours in. I like endlessly slaughtering people for no discernible reason, but can't really explain why I haven't got bored of it yet, but i'm guessing by the end of act 2 or even 1 I will be bored of it. The 'waves of enemies' thing hasn't started yet. The combat is a lot better than origins which was just slow and dull and I was just forcing my way through it to get to the story. The only problem with the combat in 2 is that they made all mages attacks circle targeted AOEs instead of single target attacks or cones so you have to keep pausing all the time, but they do p0wn when the AI is controlling them.
Act 1 and 2, to a great extent is the fun part of the game. none of the evident problems are seriously constraining, the dungeons you visit outside of town are the simple caverns, and i don't think you notice it repeating too much after the first 6 quests, and they are semi-optional, plus the narrative isn't going towards downton abbey level insulation from the main plotline, though arguably, there's a war on, somewhere, and you're um, going downton/deep road travelling. that part was fun though. savegame fun.Zaul2010 said:
Act 2, ehh. all the subtle pressure from act1, is gone. you meet the Qunari, try to understand their backwards ways, and basically run errands. second playthrough, this is where i stopped as it was just getting on and on and on, but i digress. it does build, then jump suddenly into a rapid conclusion, and it's still fun.
i won't spoil Act 3, but its more of a devolution after Act 2, you're retreading old ground, etc. and then some.
sounds like you're rolling warrior, there's a lot to off-facing the enemy as they charge/stun, and while the spec you roll, doesn't matter (within reason), Mage's are OP to a large extent, both as characters and as mobs.Zaul2010 said:
just looking it up, its good to know the counters, ie brittle, stagger, disorient, which you can build groups or CCC's to work as counters to mob stacks in higher difficulties, i.e. http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Cross-class_combo and http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6116921 (scroll down to conclusions)
For me, DA2 failed because of the name title which is Dragon Age 2.
If EA/Bioware decided to change the title to something like :
'Dragon Age : Hawke', or
Dragon Age : Kirkwall' or
'Dragon Age : Console Version'.
Then I wouldn't have hated the game as much as I do now.
PS : I'm pretty sure a lot of people have mentioned this before.
If EA/Bioware decided to change the title to something like :
'Dragon Age : Hawke', or
Dragon Age : Kirkwall' or
'Dragon Age : Console Version'.
Then I wouldn't have hated the game as much as I do now.
PS : I'm pretty sure a lot of people have mentioned this before.