Zero Punctuation: Dragon Age II

[silasbufu]

Hahaha my character was named Ethan Hawke. Good times

 

[Hat Man]

Can't say i disagree with most of what he said, but I didn't think the controls were that bad.

Probably because I'm on the PC, and the PC plays almost exactly the same as the first one.

 

[cpz01]

Great review. You did however, forget to mention the pointless cameo's. I mean seriously, i killed Sten around 7 times!!!

 

[AlternatePFG]

Great review. You did however, forget to mention the pointless cameo's. I mean seriously, i killed Sten around 7 times!!!

Sten is their rank, not their name.

Anyway, yeah I agree with pretty much everything said here. The only thing that didn't really suffer were the characters, everything else I felt was a step down from the first.

 

[harvz]

he should put a big ass sign at the beginning "YAHTZEE PLAYED DRAGON AGE II ON A CONSOLE".

despite bioware attempting to tailor the control scheme to the console controls, it works much better with keyboard/mouse. also the graphics have been really downgraded on consoles. so those 2 arguments are OUT.

otherwise, i kinda agree with the rest, dungeons are repeated so many times and even when you think its a new dungeon, its just the previous one, in reverse. the story isnt to bad but very restrictive. though the characters tend to be pretty good and fairly well thought out.

 

[Azmael Silverlance]

AHHAHAHAHHAHAHH
I ROFLED BAD at the ending animation
Im playing D.A:Origins and im lovign it so far. But now im scared to play 2 X_X

 

[Oro44]

Sten is a rank and not a name. There's hundreds of them out there. I liked the Alistair cameo, but Zevran and Leliana seemed a bit shoe-horned in.

 

[Wraithspine]

Thanks Yahtzee. I was suspicious of this game for a while and, while I like Bioware as a company, my faith has started to dwindle with the tripe they have been releasing recently.
OT: just completed "The Arrival" DLC for Mass Effect 2. Was a big dissapointment...

 

[chimeracreator]

Sten is a rank and not a name. There's hundreds of them out there. I liked the Alistair cameo, but Zevran and Leliana seemed a bit shoe-horned in.

Actually at the end of DA1 it mentions Leliana going off to join that organization. So that one makes sense to me. If anything the Alistair cameo was a shoe horn in my opinion as nothing really came of it. That said I loved it for the last line, "he has a name you know."

 

[juy56]

heh heh, exactly right. the lack of any real story really bugged me. also, my guy was named chokeonc hawke.

 

[mrhateful]

Sooo... I guess I should pick up the game, then?

Actually, yes, yes you should. Expect terrible rehashing of the dungeons, but also expect a story that breaks from the norm, and pretty fun combat.

It breaks the bioware norm atleast which is going from extremely good to kinda shit.

 

[GotMalkAvian]

Wow, for once Yahtzee reviewed a game I enjoy and I completely agree with him. Huh.

 

[Oro44]

Sten is a rank and not a name. There's hundreds of them out there. I liked the Alistair cameo, but Zevran and Leliana seemed a bit shoe-horned in.

Actually at the end of DA1 it mentions Leliana going off to join that organization. So that one makes sense to me. If anything the Alistair cameo was a shoe horn in my opinion as nothing really came of it. That said I loved it for the last line, "he has a name you know."

I can understand that. For me, he's king, he makes official visits to places so it makes sense. But yeah, Leliana, Zevran and (SPOILER) sad, drunk Alistair just happening to be in Kirkwall one after the other was a bit much for me.

 

[chimeracreator]

Sten is a rank and not a name. There's hundreds of them out there. I liked the Alistair cameo, but Zevran and Leliana seemed a bit shoe-horned in.

Actually at the end of DA1 it mentions Leliana going off to join that organization. So that one makes sense to me. If anything the Alistair cameo was a shoe horn in my opinion as nothing really came of it. That said I loved it for the last line, "he has a name you know."

I can understand that. For me, he's king, he makes official visits to places so it makes sense. But yeah, Leliana, Zevran and (SPOILER) sad, drunk Alistair just happening to be in Kirkwall one after the other was a bit much for me.

I don't remember Leliana ever being there and I missed drunk Alistair (I looked for him too on my first play through as I recalled that the first game's credits said that he traveled across the sea where he sold off his equipment and turned into a drunken bum). Zev was definitely shoe horned in, but you have to admit that he was pretty funny. It reminded me of a D&D campaign when as a DM I throw in a former followed or ally that the party had from a previous game and the players all go, "Oh yeah, we did act like that."

 

[freakonaleash]

Like a champ

 

[Oro44]

Sten is a rank and not a name. There's hundreds of them out there. I liked the Alistair cameo, but Zevran and Leliana seemed a bit shoe-horned in.

Actually at the end of DA1 it mentions Leliana going off to join that organization. So that one makes sense to me. If anything the Alistair cameo was a shoe horn in my opinion as nothing really came of it. That said I loved it for the last line, "he has a name you know."

I can understand that. For me, he's king, he makes official visits to places so it makes sense. But yeah, Leliana, Zevran and (SPOILER) sad, drunk Alistair just happening to be in Kirkwall one after the other was a bit much for me.

I don't remember Leliana ever being there and I missed drunk Alistair (I looked for him too on my first play through as I recalled that the first game's credits said that he traveled across the sea where he sold off his equipment and turned into a drunken bum). Zev was definitely shoe horned in, but you have to admit that he was pretty funny. It reminded me of a D&D campaign when as a DM I throw in a former followed or ally that the party had from a previous game and the players all go, "Oh yeah, we did act like that."

The dialogue was pretty funny, especially if you have Isabela there. But the entire time I was talking to Zevran, I was thinking "WHATS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?!" Bonus points if you talk to king Alistair, have Isabela in the party AND had the foursome at the Pearl in DA:O. Say what you will about the game, the writing is what really sells it for me. Leliana is there at the end talking to Cassandra, and if you have Sebastian she shows up early to spout some exposition. Drunky shows up at the Hanged Man at some point but I don't remember when.

 

[Tontomanzz]

he should put a big ass sign at the beginning "YAHTZEE PLAYED DRAGON AGE II ON A CONSOLE".

despite bioware attempting to tailor the control scheme to the console controls, it works much better with keyboard/mouse. also the graphics have been really downgraded on consoles. so those 2 arguments are OUT.

otherwise, i kinda agree with the rest, dungeons are repeated so many times and even when you think its a new dungeon, its just the previous one, in reverse. the story isnt to bad but very restrictive. though the characters tend to be pretty good and fairly well thought out.

That repetition just kills it for me right there, didn't even need the combat or the bugs. No, not ever, no excuse, not for a full price game.

 

[Kaanyr Vhok]

I have not played DA 2 and dont intend to buy it because I didnt like Origins or the demo however the story seems to be the least of the game's issues. The slow paced story, and the departure from save the world crap along with the serial killer hunt seems real cool to me.

 

[gbemery]

Everything he said here was true, but it was also what I liked about the game. I prefer a story that's just about some Refugee guy who's life is fucked up and gets a few lucky breaks and then makes a name for himself. Why does it have to be more? Why must the fate of EVERYTHING EVER constantly rest on THE ONE LAST HOPE OF EVERYTHING EVER? Okay, so if every story was about some random guy trying to make it in the world we'd get bored, but I thought DAII was a nice refreshing perspective. There was no good or evil, just several displaced political groups and a desperate need for some coin.

Yeah I can agree with the change of pace being nice, but people come to expect that a sequel should be somewhat similar to its predecessor unless told otherwise by the development teams. So people were expecting a story where the "fate of EVERYTHING EVER constantly rested on THE ONE LAST HOPE OF EVERYTHING EVER." I mean for example if someone made a game where you had to save the planet from [insert subjectively evil force], it became a big hit and they built up a huge fan base, then decided to make a sequel. One might expect that sequel game to follow the similar story arc line of a the first where the main character has to do something "epic" as oppose to say following the main character write reports and deal with insurance companies after said attack from the first.