Dragon Age 2 - News Roundup # 11

aries100

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This newsroundup for DA2 will be reviews of the game. I'll mention two reviews and list the others. The first comes from Honest Gamers 6/10 and here's a snip:
We know, via a framing story in which a dwarf named Varric recounts Hawke’s escapades, that he will gradually rise through the ranks and eventually become the Champion of Kirkwall, but then what? Then the sequel happens, apparently. I guess people liked the origin stories in the first game so much that BioWare went ahead and made the sequel one giant origin story that cuts short just before it actually goes anywhere. It’s as if someone made a Batman movie that ended with Bruce Wayne putting on his costume for the first time.
A more positive review 8.5/10 can be found at GameSplash and here's a snip:
The many improvements in comparison to Dragon Age: Origins far outweigh the small flaws that lurk. The one thing that really stands out overall is the gameplay mechanics as a whole. Vast improvements to gameplay and menus, and high replay value, atone for the game's weak story. BioWare has done a fantastic job turning this RPG experience as a whole into an emotional investment.
Other reviews:
Tweaktown 80%
Gameplay Monthly C+
Stuff 4/5
Border House Blog No score
El33tononline 4/5
ManaPool 7.6/10
411Mania 8.3/10

More information.
 
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Just a heads-up — all reviews mentioned at the end of this item are hyperlinked to Tweaktown. I don't think this is intentional!

As for the GameSplash quote — so much wrongheadedness in one short paragraph… As with Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age 2 fiddled with a lot that wasn't a problem with the original game and made a lot of other things worse (notably game mechanics). It did nothing to improve on it (the PC version at least) in any way whatsoever. A real B- (or C-)team effort throughout. It also demonstrates clearly where a voiced character *detracts* from the whole roleplaying experience. The male Hawke voice actor just can't do light'n'humourous or charming, and every other line is pretty much expression-free (not that the leaden script helped in any way whatsoever). Makes Mark Meer sound like Alec Guinness.
 
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I guess Bioware needs to dumb down the game further, as some reviewers still don't understand the plot. This is from th Tweaktown review:

"Dragon Age II takes place as expected after the Dragon Age Origins Expansion pack. You once again you play as the hero who removed the dark spawn, but instead of being able to customise your characters name, you are appointed Champion Hawke in either a female or male format depending on your preference. "
 
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@Gandor Dragon - oops, review fail. How embarassing!

I see the game is stil scoring 82% or thereabouts on metacritic, which I think is way too high for this game. I finished last night and it was a case of 'thank god, I'm done!" (I hate leaving games unfinished and will play all but the most crap games to completion). The last fight was incredibly (incredibly!) tedious - probably 20 min+ befor all bosses were dispatched. I compare this to the epic (much longer) fight I had at the end of Throne of Bhaal - I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and had to use every tool at my disposal (carefully prepareds spells, buffs, backups etc) to win that. The DA2 final fight was just...dull. In a familiar locale (again), more "waves"....gah! All in all, the least enjoyable Bioware title I've played. According to VGchart,z its not doing that well (even on consoles) - after an initial burst of good week 1 sales. Hopefully the top brass at EA/Bioware wil get the message.
 
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The links in the newsbit are broken.
 
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awesome, moar dragonRAGE news

how come dhruin isnt doing this? is he too busy pressing the awesome button in dragonrage 2?
 
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Coming from someone who likes pressing buttons, that's an interesting comment. Unlike you, apparently, Dhruin has a life!!
 
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Coming from someone who likes pressing buttons, that's an interesting comment. Unlike you, apparently, Dhruin has a life!!

when you mean by 'life' do you actually refer to ''reposting another wave of dragonage reviews ad nausea''?

amirite?
 
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Posting news here is NOT Dhruin's life, it's what he does on a voluntary basis in order to help keep this site running. HE gives back to the RPG community, you seem to prefer to be little more than a regurgitator!!
 
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I'd rather tend to say "Sago, get [yourself] a life !"
 
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If you look at the text to the left you can see who has been doing this. And like it or not, reviews for DA2 is out. And yes, they're news. And as such deserved to be posted like reviews for say Fallout 3 or The Witcher 2. As for posting the links, I'm sp sorry that they do not work properly - in the forum newsbit. They should work on the front page.
 
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