Dragon Age 2 - News Roundup #8

Dhruin

Dhruin

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Another day, another handful of Dragon Age 2 items.
PC Format has an AMD vs nVidia comparison - apparently nVidia manages higher framerates but "it's like the game is dropping animation frames here and there", so AMD wins.
Blue's has a response from EA on the recent forum ban that denied one player access. Word is:
Re: the account issue from one player at Social.BioWare.com:
EA strictly enforces the code of conduct at Social.BioWare.com. If a player violates the rules by using profanity, they will be temporarily banned. Unfortunately, there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended a user's entire account. Immediately upon learning of the glitch, EA took steps to restore the user's macro account and apologized for the inconvenience.
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...and a handful of reviews. I haven't had time to search, so these three just fell in front of me.
Techland had something in their coffee, awarding a massive 9.7/10:
Like many BioWare games, you're creating a skein of memories in Dragon Age 2. The Edmonton dev studio knows how to craft dramatic plots, strong characters and compelling conflicts. It made me, with my lifelong aversion to fantasy trappings, care about dwarves and mages and templar knights. Dragon Age 2, through improved gameplay, offers a grand adventure that lets players learn a little bit about themselves, too. Huzzah to that.
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No score from Kotaku as usual but they seem to like it enough despite some clear flaws:
Dragon Age II lacks the scope, freedom, and polish of the original game, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. The game's narrow focus results in a much tighter narrative, a dark and gritty tale of political and social intrigue that plays much better on a smaller stage. It's an economical production, and while the shortcuts taken to crank out a sequel sixteen months after Dragon Age: Origins are sometimes jarringly evident, the play and its players do a fine job of stealing your attention away from the low-budget scenery.
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Rock, Paper, Shotgun's John Walker has kicked off a multi-part piece but he isn't happy at all so far:
It’s safe to say that for the first chunk of the game, a good eight hours or more, I’ve not enjoyed it at all. Which astonishes me, after Dragon Age: Origins gripped me from the opening moment and became an all-time favourite straight away. It has felt more like playing the beginnings of a tiresome MMO – just walking between quest markers because it will increase XP, barely interested in the story behind why. (If indeed it’s divulged at all.)
It’s beginning to improve, which is why I’m writing this now. I’m so delighted Anders is back (even if he’s minus Ser Pouncealot), and Merrill is beyond adorable. It’s about time there was a decent Welsh character in a game! I hope in a few days time to be raving about the story once it kicks in, and the adventures I’m having. Those ahead of me in the game tell me great things are on their way – emotional moments, epic situations, gripping tales. I really can’t wait. But this is a terrible opening – a disjointed, ambiguous, emotionless start.
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More information.
 
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As things stand the professionals rate the game higher than the players. Parish the thought money and influence make the journalist give higher ratings. Just ask Laidlaw who cant or wont understand the 6/10 scores players are giving the game.
Congratulations on splitting your fanbase bioware. :biggrin:

I'm know as a hater and its fine but I thought I would give the game a try. My impression is as follows. I've just finished the game and I can't make up my mind about it. I don't hate it and I don't love it. Does anyone else feel like this? To me its just an average game which is bad given it supposed to be a triple a game from a well know studio.:mad:

The story didn't feel epic and the maps were recycled to many times.The ending leaves you hanging and thinking here comes the dlc or expansion pack.
 
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The game have high rating on Impulse and Gamersgate, where you actually need to have bought the game to rate it, unlike all the places were the user rating is low. I wonder why...oh wait, I don't.

Also, you should see all the people complaining on the official forums about why the game is "worst" then Origins. It's mostly because they can't talk with the companions when they want to. Perish the though that companions have their own lives and that interaction advance through time and not just the player's actions.
 
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azarhal said:
The game have high rating on Impulse and Gamersgate, where you actually need to have bought the game to rate it, unlike all the places were the user rating is low. I wonder why…oh wait, I don't.

Also, you should see all the people complaining on the official forums about why the game is "worst" then Origins. It's mostly because they can't talk with the companions when they want to. Perish the though that companions have their own lives and that interaction advance through time and not just the player's actions.
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most likely because they didn't buy from gaymersgayte oh wait I DUNNO LOL
 
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It looks like this game might come back and bite them in the ass . Many are irritated and discontent with the quality of this over hyped game. Is that a fair assessment ?
 
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rich ruffo said:
It looks like this game might come back and bite them in the ass . Many are irritated and discontent with the quality of this over hyped game. Is that a fair assessment ?
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no it isn't.

if you didn't like it, then why did you buy it?
 
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SAGO said:
no it isn't.

if you didn't like it, then why did you buy it?
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Are you serious?

You have to play it before you can make a judgment! The only way I could see how it plays without buying it would be to pirate it. Are you suggesting we pirate a game?

You never can be for 100% sure how you will like a game based on reviews or other peoples opinions. Sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised, other times you will be sorely dissapointed. Is it a 55 euro risk you're willing to take by buying it on the day of release?

That is one reasons that for most games I wont buy it in the first months. If I'm hesistant about the quality I'll wait untill the price drops below 25 euros.
 
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JuliusMagnus said:
Are you serious?

You have to play it before you can make a judgment! The only way I could see how it plays without buying it would be to pirate it. Are you suggesting we pirate a game?

You never can be for 100% sure how you will like a game based on reviews or other peoples opinions. Sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised, other times you will be sorely dissapointed. Is it a 55 euro risk you're willing to take by buying it on the day of release?

That is one reasons that for most games I wont buy it in the first months. If I'm hesistant about the quality I'll wait untill the price drops below 25 euros.
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there are plenty of honest game reviewers out there to inform you on what the game is like.

honestly, you da2 haters are just angry because you like being angry. pain is exquisite
 
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rich ruffo said:
It looks like this game might come back and bite them in the ass . Many are irritated and discontent with the quality of this over hyped game. Is that a fair assessment ?
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From what I have seen, people aren't discontent about the quality, they are pissed off that the game isn't Origins with better graphics or just riding the "It's cool to hate BioWare now" boat. Both of these groups are trying to find reasons to hate DA2. I really like the "it's an action game now, because companions have their own life and I can't talk to them when I want to" argument or the one where people are pissed of that their decisions get people killed.

There are people quite happy with DA2 on the official forums...there is just so many trolls (easy to spot, because they haven't registered the game, which is required to play it).

Personally, I haven't had that much fun playing a game since BG2 in 1999. I play game for fun and DA2 as proved to be lots of fun to me.
 
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azarhal said:
From what I have seen, people aren't discontent about the quality, they are pissed off that the game isn't Origins with better graphics or just riding the "It's cool to hate BioWare now" boat. Both of these groups are trying to find reasons to hate DA2. I really like the "it's an action game now, because companions have their own life and I can't talk to them when I want to" argument or the one where people are pissed of that their decisions get people killed.

There are people quite happy with DA2 on the official forums…there is just so many trolls (easy to spot, because they haven't registered the game, which is required to play it).

Personally, I haven't had that much fun playing a game since BG2 in 1999. I play game for fun and DA2 as proved to be lots of fun to me.
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Reading reviews and playing the demo was enough for me to determine that this is a piece of garbage that I want no part of.

You do realize there is a demo for this game?
 
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azarhal said:
From what I have seen, people aren't discontent about the quality, they are pissed off that the game isn't Origins with better graphics or just riding the "It's cool to hate BioWare now" boat. Both of these groups are trying to find reasons to hate DA2. I really like the "it's an action game now, because companions have their own life and I can't talk to them when I want to" argument or the one where people are pissed of that their decisions get people killed.
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While I don't doubt that there are people like you describe, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people who don't like DA2 have legitimate reasons.
 
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skavenhorde said:
Reading reviews and playing the demo was enough for me to determine that this is a piece of garbage that I want no part of.

You do realize there is a demo for this game?
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Well, um....to him it is not garbage.
 
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azarhal said:
Personally, I haven't had that much fun playing a game since BG2 in 1999. I play game for fun and DA2 as proved to be lots of fun to me.
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I wouldn't say it's the best game I've played since 1999, but I just finished my first playthrough and really enjoyed it. I'm definitely going to play it again. I never expect anything but an RPG-lite out of BioWare anyway, and I've never been a fan of the companion system (I like the changes to that in DA2), so I took the game for what it is and had a great time.
 
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I've decided im not buying bioware games anymore, they have abused me long enough with their game design choices.
 
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I can't see a 9.7 being justified even if you liked all the changes. There are so many cut corners and reused dungeons that HAS to count for more than .3 off, even if the game was otherwise brilliant. I mean seriously there are quests where all you do is click on a dude to give him an item, no story what-so-ever, and there are dungeons I have seen 5+ times and I'm only halfway through the game.

All that said, I do think it is a good game. And on PC I do think the combat is much, much more similar than some people want to admit. It's a shame that the rush to get the game out hurt so much of its promise.
 
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So I bought it. Despite being miffed upon hearing (pre-launch) that the game would be more limited in scope and execution than it's predecessor. And I like it. Parts of it anyway.

The game's story is nice, for one thing, and the more I progress, the more interesting the various companions become. I play the game on the 'hard' setting and manage fights in essentially the same way as I did in DA:O. That said, the game does have serious shortcomings. The simplified inventory-system, that doesn't let you use gear with companions. The large amount of 'copy-pasted' areas. These I find truly disappointing. I don't really care about the other points some other players find negative.

If you're on the fence, you might want to wait buying this until the price drops. Then, you'll have a very entertaining product for a more 'realistic' price. Now, I'd score it a 7 out of 10. It's good, but it ain't no DA:O. (Which I'd score about a 8.7).
 
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skavenhorde said:
Reading reviews and playing the demo was enough for me to determine that this is a piece of garbage that I want no part of.

You do realize there is a demo for this game?
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I said I would report back, right? I'm now level 16, so I think I've played enough to form an opinion. This game is crap. The combat, which is all you do, really, is so fucking chaotic, hectic and fast it's literally impossible to keep track of events. At the same time the camera is shit outdoors and nigh unusable indoors. You would think that no friendly fire was dumbing down, right? No. Having experienced this abomination of a combat system it becomes apparent that disabling FF was the only sensible decision.
 
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VentilatorOfDoom said:
The combat, which is all you do, really, is so fucking chaotic, hectic and fast it's literally impossible to keep track of events.
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It's really not... it's quite easy in fact. I am playing on hard mode (which can be quite hard) with all tactics turned off, meaning I have to manage my entire party constantly, and it plays fine. I have no issues with the speed.
 
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