Zero Punctuation: Dragon Age II

[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.

 

[chimeracreator]

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.

Ah, I must have missed him. I had Isabela there for all of occasions along with Alister in the first game which made both of those cameos priceless. Once I head assassin camped out in a cave I knew had I had to bring her... actually that play through (my second time beating it) I brought her on virtually every mission as her dialog is priceless. Honestly Sandal's shop near the end of the game irked me more than anything else because it made no sense. In the first game I could kind of wave it off, but in the second it just seemed out of place. I am looking forward to the next game taking place either in Orlay, the Imperium or Antiva because all of them have been really fleshed out at this point. I'm hoping for the Imperium so we can see some awesome Mage vs Qunari action... plus it's the only place where the actions of this game wouldn't profoundly reshape politics.

 

[Canadish]

Does every fantasy story need to be about saving the world from some great evil? Can't it be about some guy/girl trying to survive in a hostile town throughout the years? Now I haven't played the game (mixed reviews and obscene price tag) so I don't know how they handle it, but the premise itself certainly has potential. I understand it can seem a bit disjointed if you're not working towards something overall but doesn't mean it can't work right?
Besides, western RPG world-threatening horrors are nearly always really, really boring. If where they succeed is the dialogue, characters and execution then is there anything wrong with putting the focus on that?
Not sure where I'm going with this, looks like I've just wasted your time. Sucker.

I agree with you on liking the concept. I'd defended the game for it in the early days. I was glad to hear Bioware breaking its own cliche plot. Where were they gonna take it I wondered?

Sadly, I got to play the game and I was let down. Its a big go nowhere plot that keeps you stuck in a boring box city with about 10 people living in it.
The main problem is Hawke has no motivation to stay, beyond "MONEH AND POWWA!!!!" so my good guy Hawke kinda wanted to go do something else but couldnt.
Fereldan need help recovering from a disaster! Lets go help them!
But Dragon age 2 says NO! Deal with our side quests! GET 30 ELF ROOTS!
*sigh*
Dont buy it. There is no thought, love or care in this game.

 

[Azrael the Cat]

Not much of a story...

But I liked how the rogue actually did flips and shit. I can't recall another RPG that had rogues that actually felt nimble.

I thought I'd hate the new combat. It's actually the only reason I keep playing...

I preferred the days when rogues were...rogues - rather than dexterity-based fighters. Baldurs Gate series, Planescape: Torment - heck, even FO1-2 with a stealth build. You had your 'nimble melee' characters as well, because you had multiple builds for different classes, and so you could make a dagger-based dual-wielding fighter with high dexterity instead of high strength. But rogues were always stealth-based characters, with some form of invis/hidden skill, backstabs, trap-finding, lock-picking etc. They were great fun in BG2 for mage-killing, stealthing them to scout ahead of your party and act as a spotter for your mages to open up with a fireball before the enemy could close the gap (friendly fire + ability to scout up ahead of the group without everyone automatically walking their unstealthed asses up behind you + AoE spells = great use for scouting/stealth characters) and opening the combat with a 5x damage backstab to kill the enemy group's mage before they can react. Felt a LOT more 'rogue' than being another fighter with different animations - I blame MMOs for killing the class.

 

[Oro44]

Ah, I must have missed him. I had Isabela there for all of occasions along with Alister in the first game which made both of those cameos priceless. Once I head assassin camped out in a cave I knew had I had to bring her... actually that play through (my second time beating it) I brought her on virtually every mission as her dialog is priceless. Honestly Sandal's shop near the end of the game irked me more than anything else because it made no sense. In the first game I could kind of wave it off, but in the second it just seemed out of place. I am looking forward to the next game taking place either in Orlay, the Imperium or Antiva because all of them have been really fleshed out at this point. I'm hoping for the Imperium so we can see some awesome Mage vs Qunari action... plus it's the only place where the actions of this game wouldn't profoundly reshape politics.[/quote]

If theres a 3, which there will, it'll be in Orleis, I can almost be certain of it. But Tevinter would be more interesting. Especially if you have the Imperial Chantry moving in on the weakened Orlesian church. Plus the Imperium is partially tropical, so that would be a welcome change of scenery. Though having "Elephant" instead of "Dog" in your party might be a game breaker. (quote thing went screwy there, ah well.)

 

[rsvp42]

Bioware should take some cues from this game. Corner cutting is one, the rushed out way we were given our special skills (I too cringed a bit over the fact that I played a very pro mage warrior and ended up using the templar skill because, let's face it, berserker did fuck all. Or the fact that you can apparently be a blood mage and still be against blood magic.) There is a sense of disconnect between two very good games, the action rpg (which is quite tactical, mind) and the story (which is, as mentioned by many, a very bold move for a videogame.)


Too many corners were cut, and Bioware should revise what to do next with the franchise. I hope they don't go back to "safe" save the world story telling. Dealing with a more personal story was the biggest payoff of the game.

In the end, Bioware could have upped the ante on production values and smoothing out those dungeons and the sterile look of the city. it requires a whole new game engine, perhaps, but I keep thinking how truly great this story would have been in say, Assassin's creed's setting.


With Tactical combat.

Very true about the Berserker. That just felt like a waste of stamina and I respeced after I realized that.

But I agree with your overall point, mainly that BioWare should not throw the baby out with the bathwater for the next game. They need a perfect fusion of the two: a personal story with the great visual design and action-packed combat, but with the longer, wider-reaching quest style of the first, with more unique environments and an overall goal that ties all the main story quests together (player character VO is optional, but I like it, so whatever).

A little kowtowing to the "hardcore" RPG crowd is fine, with some more customization in terms of outfitting the party, but only if it makes sense. In DA2, all the companions are basically doing their own thing, so it makes sense they would dress themselves.