Dragon Age 2 - Looking Back @ Digitally Downloaded

Digitally Downloaded looks back at Dragon Age 2, asking Was it really that bad? The answer seems to be "no", according to them:

The thing that a lot of people seemed to find so disappointing in Dragon Age II was how limited the setting was. By focusing almost the entire game on the city of Kirkwall the game did indeed lack the epic scope of Dragon Age: Origins, but was this a bad thing? I’d argue not. The city-based RPG is a staple of the pen-and-paper RPG world of Dungeons & Dragons, but is rarely attempted in the realm of videogames. When it’s at its best, the city-based RPG provides an intricate world of political intrigue to work through, where facing off armies is replaced by working your way through social circles and unravelling labyrinthine plots.

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I had the complaints were overblown, but the game did had real, significant flaws. I'd rate it somewhere around a 7.5

Wrong answer.

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH! Please no more.

"When it’s at its best, the city-based RPG provides an intricate world of political intrigue to work through, where facing off armies is replaced by working your way through social circles and unravelling labyrinthine plots. "

Maybe this person and I played different games? I certainly don't remember anything of this sort. I mean, I guess I remember the -story- following this formula a bit, but the gameplay.. no.. not even a little bit. This wasn't a subtle game.

And, keep in mind, I'm a moderate on Dragon Age 2.

I hated the game when it first came out. Now that I played it and the dlc's. I can say meh. It's not the best or worst game but it's nothing to be proud of.

DA2 was THAT bad.

Why even dredge this shit up again, this is like bringing up bad memories of finals week or a colonoscopy or something and trying to convince us it wasnt so bad after all

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
DA2 was THAT bad.

Why even dredge this shit up again, this is like bringing up bad memories of finals week or a colonoscopy or something and trying to convince us it wasnt so bad after all

Just a news site trying to stir up old news again that's all.

Originally Posted by killias2
"When it’s at its best, the city-based RPG provides an intricate world of political intrigue to work through, where facing off armies is replaced by working your way through social circles and unravelling labyrinthine plots. "

Maybe this person and I played different games?

I assume he was talking of pen & paper RPGs. In them, this can most certainly be the case - if carried out correctly, and by a good game master.

The very question is, however, if DA2 managed to do it as well …

… must .. suppress .. my … inner … battleraaaAAAAAAAAAAAaaGGGERRRR!!!!

The writer misses the point. DA2's problems were not in the setting, but in wave combat and area recycling. Without those technical flaws the game would have been solid.

The big elephant in the room is that Kirkwall didn't feel like a city. Its fine by me to set whole game in one city. Arx fatalis pulled it succesfully. Bioware just doesn't know how to design a proper city. They just don't understand the concept of non-linear level design. A player should be able to get lost in the city. Thats what normally happens when you enter a new city. Most bioware city locations are quite dull and there are so few people living in those lifeless cities…

An other problem is how bioware's locations are so damn static. Npcs don't have daily routines, weather doesn't change, all the houses are locked, day doesn't turn into night, shops never close and people just stand around in the same spot for all the time. Its hard to imegine that you're living in a city when nothing ever changes. In previous games this didn't bother me so much because I only visited those location occasionally. I quess it was somewhat belivable, but in DA2 such issues became more visible.

It is true that they havent produced an interesting city since the Baldurs Gate days, but I would have been able to live with that in DA2 if gameplay had been better.

Combat wouldnt have been all that bad either, absent the waves and maps (fighting the same bloody ambush near the same set of stairs 15 times is what prevents me from replaying the game, and I've replayed all other BW title sans a ME1 that also suffers from map recycling). I dont really mind the faster pace compared to DA1 and I actually like the DA2 talent trees (where DA1 offers a ridiculously poor solution, especially for warriors).

True to that. Combat wasn't enjoyable either. It felt like they had removed the strategic element from it entirely. I never understood why had to change it so drasticly. In DAO I could set up ambushes and lure enemies on them or scout ahead using stealth and plan attack etc…

Large part of the reason for that is probably the poor enemy placement. If you manually place enemies on maps and design combat encounters carefully, it takes time. If I'm allowed to take a wild guess, they probably thought it would much easier and faster to use waves instead of carefully placing enemies on the levels.

The worst part is how they didn't bother masking this mechanic. Templars dropping from the sky behind my party was the most glaring example. I still have that screenshot somewhere

It was an okay game; decent enough in its own way. A couple of the party characters (the two rogues) were quite likeable and I felt they brought some emotional connection. Their contributions gave it more of a Conan-ish, heroic feel. The remainder of the party members seemed a little too one-dimensional, each in their own way, and thus were unappealing, if not completely blah.

The combat mechanics I could live with, although a number of the battles didn't need much intervention and thus were a little tedious. The game was plenty long, which is a plus. I nearly reached the end game, but as usual I didn't bother slogging through the final tiresome boss battles. Sure you can probably walk through them if you min-max your characters, but I prefer building a more interesting character with a blend of capabilities. Games usually don't reward that.

Originally Posted by killias2
"When it’s at its best, the city-based RPG provides an intricate world of political intrigue to work through, where facing off armies is replaced by working your way through social circles and unravelling labyrinthine plots. "

Maybe this person and I played different games? I certainly don't remember anything of this sort. I mean, I guess I remember the -story- following this formula a bit, but the gameplay.. no.. not even a little bit. This wasn't a subtle game.

And, keep in mind, I'm a moderate on Dragon Age 2.

That is when it is at its best. And Dragon A ge 2 did not push that to its best, for sure.