Dragon Age 2 - Review Avalanche

70% 4Players.de:

Pro
clevere Erzählperspektive
Rollenspiel mit vierköpfiger Party
einige interessante Charaktere
zehn Jahre Geschichte beeinflussen
taktisches Party-Management
viele moralische & politischeKonflikte
Handlungen mit Konsequenzen
viele Talente & Spezialisierungen
große Gegner fordern gute Taktik
sehr gute Dialoge mit Sprachausgabe
gute Mimik und ansehnliche Kleidung
Moralsystem ohne Gut-Böse-Kitsch
amüsante Zickereien in der Party
Magiesystem mit Immunitäten
gute deutsche Sprecher
gutes Gift-/Runensystem

Sonstiges
gute Integration alter Spielstände
taktische Verhaltensmakros anlegen
Neulinge können Vergangenheit wählen
mehrere Schiwerigkeitsgrade
optional auf englisch spielbar
Story-Zusammenfassung in Ladepausen
Hilfen, Hinweise, Blut & Co abschaltbar
Liebesbeziehungen möglich

Kontra
schrecklicher Einstieg
zu viele Kanonenfutterkämpfe
schwache Hauptgeschichte
plumper Blutspritzautomatismus
Kisten öffnen/Taschendiebstahl ohne Konsequenzen
Wachen/Passanten reagieren nicht auf Kämpfe
schwache Landschaft und matschige Texturen
kleine Gebiete mit künstlichen Grenzen ohne Erkundungsreize
einige geklonte Höhlen/Katakomben
unübersichtliche Kämpfe
Umgebung spielt kaum taktische Rolle
nur eine Stadt, keine Weltkarte
erhöhte Perspektive gestrichen (PC)



Sonstiges
steriles Menü/Icondesign
magere Charaktererschaffung
schlecht designte Frauenfiguren
kein Lager für die komplett Party
steriler Kodex ohne Bilder & Artworks
Fernkampf manchmal ohne Kollisionsabfrage

This would be:
Pro:
clever narrative perspective
Role-play with four-member party
some interesting characters
ten years history to influence
tactical party management
many moral and political conflicts
Actions with consequences
many talents and specializations
big enemies call for good tactics
very good dialogues with speech
good facial expression and clothing
moral system without a forced good and evil side
party interaction is fun (found no word for zickereien)
magic system with immunities
good German speaker (not that important for english speaking people ;))
good Gift-/Runensystem

Other
good integration of old (DA:O) savegames
macros for tactical behavior
newcomers can choose past (instead of savegame)
several levels
optional playable in English
story summary on loading screens
help, advice, blood & Co disabled
Love relationships possible

Contraindications
terrible start
too many fights with cannon fodder
weak main story
blood
open boxes / pickpocket without consequence
guards / pedestrians do not respond to combat
weak and muddy landscape textures
small areas with artificial boundaries without some stimuli to exploring
some cloned caves / catacombs
confusing fights
environment plays little tactical role
only one city, no world map
tactical perspective deleted (PC)

Other
sterile menu / icon design
not much character creation
poorly designed female characters
no camp for the complete party
codex without pictures & artwork
ranged combat sometimes without collision detection
 
Joined
Apr 11, 2009
Messages
24
Yeah. I have heard tactical gamers say nightmare is a fun mode to play this game on but honestly hard is plenty hard enough for me personally and I can't imagine FF with this game's speedy and crazy combat. You'll have plenty of challenge without it… just imagine that people who can control fire can also decide who it burns, it will make your life easier.

Freaking brilliant!

"Wait, wait, wait…so we're willing to accept that my sister can generate a fireball with some other "power" granted to her by a innate and special ability to manipulate the forces of an alternate "dream" reality called the fade, and subsequently direct that fireball to explode at a predetermined location…but the ability to determine who it burns is just ridiculous…

…makes perfect sense."
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
476
I've played now for about two days and so far I like what I see.

Combat is really a lot faster and I missed the numbers telling me how hard I hit.

There should be a toggle in your options for re-enabling hit damage numbers (it was in the demo but grayed out).
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Messages
30
Try to get a translation o it. This is the worst piece of criticism I've read this far - and it might come from an old school role-playing gamer, one who *really* wants to "play a role" !

This review goes exactly into the direction I've read before :

- too much concentration on the combat part
- no real performing (read: playing) of a role (roughly translated "but one doesn't notice any difference whether one is playing a Mage, a Rogue or a Warrior - the only thing each one of them must do is doing a lot of damage")
- too many & paste areas ("Dragon Age 2 : The Guttenberg Game !" - by me)
- many good points, but equally many bad points, too

This as a brief and rough summary by me.

So lets get this straight, we pick and chose which reviews we believe(the worst score you can find) and in a different language then english? I guess thats objective;)

So if 8 is the new 6 from gamespot what about games like Risen who got 70...is that a 4 or a 5?

Oh well, I'm having fun with the game, give it a try it's a hell of a lot better then complaining on these forums.
 
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
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Right, because a negative review can't possibly be objective if it's about a game you like. Especially if it's not in English ;)
 
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
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You guys are focusing on the language part I mentioned, due to the fact many of us can't read it. I was more interested in the fact it was the lowest score so it's the most right belief around here:) You guys sure hunt and peck huh?
 
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
5,749
So lets get this straight, we pick and chose which reviews we believe(the worst score you can find) and in a different language then english? I guess thats objective;)

So if 8 is the new 6 from gamespot what about games like Risen who got 70…is that a 4 or a 5?

Oh well, I'm having fun with the game, give it a try it's a hell of a lot better then complaining on these forums.

Give it a fucking break.... seriously.

So Alrik talks about a review he saw (never even said whether or not he agrees with it), and you're going to jump all over him for it?
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,138
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So lets get this straight, we pick and chose which reviews we believe(the worst score you can find) and in a different language then english? I guess thats objective;)

So if 8 is the new 6 from gamespot what about games like Risen who got 70…is that a 4 or a 5?

I think you are missing the point;)
PC Gamer UK Review Scheme
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
21
Location
UK
Give it a fucking break…. seriously.

So Alrik talks about a review he saw (never even said whether or not he agrees with it), and you're going to jump all over him for it?

I jumped all over him? You have a weird version of jumping all over someone. I brought up a valid point, why is that review any better then a glowing one?

Btw I don't have to justify anything to you on what I post etc...give ita break already saint.
 
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
5,749
Give it a fucking break…. seriously.

So Alrik talks about a review he saw (never even said whether or not he agrees with it), and you're going to jump all over him for it?

When I read the post, it sounded like the article confirmed a lot of the suspicions that Alrik had. I may be wrong, but it sounded like he agreed with a lot of the points the author made. The funny thing is, the article, from what I understand, wasn't necessarily bashing the game, it just wasn't going overboard with the praise, like a lot of other websites are doing.

I dunno...it sucks, but I guess if we're going to espouse the idea that Day 1 positive reviews are worthless, we have to accept the same for Day 1 negative reviews.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
476
When I read the post, it sounded like the article confirmed a lot of the suspicions that Alrik had. I may be wrong, but it sounded like he agreed with a lot of the points the author made. The funny thing is, the article, from what I understand, wasn't necessarily bashing the game, it just wasn't going overboard with the praise, like a lot of other websites are doing.

I dunno…it sucks, but I guess if we're going to espouse the idea that Day 1 positive reviews are worthless, we have to accept the same for Day 1 negative reviews.

Geez, thank you...that was my point. And for the record I don't think it's "THE BESTEST RPG EVER!!" I do however believe it is no where near as bad as some of the fanatics have made it out to be...it is actually a good game, not great but definately good.
 
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
5,749
Combat is really a lot faster and I missed the numbers telling me how hard I hit. I'm playing at normal difficulty which seems to be relatively easy. That doesn't mean that I haven't had my ass kicked a couple of times. The first time was that second ogre… :p

You can toggle damage numbers on in the options menu.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,830
Yep...

I have the game, and regardless of which platform you bought it for (PS3, 360 or PC), there are a few game-breaking bugs that can be avoided, but only if you know about them. According to Bioware themselves, "Character stats can sometimes become corrupt", there is a quest that allows you to turn it in infinite times for however much exp and gold you want, among other things... there are a few that fuck up your save game, et cetera.

For anyone who has a problem with EA like I do (which they rightly deserve), I am both amused and annoyed that they have messed up yet another release by pushing it out before it was optimized.

I think it is so ridiculous that even console games nowadays more often than not have patches you need to download in order for the games to work correctly.

It just shows how little the company thinks of its consumers, that they assume no one has a problem with buying a product before it's actually complete.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
5
I've played now for about two days and so far I like what I see.

Combat is really a lot faster and I missed the numbers telling me how hard I hit. I'm playing at normal difficulty which seems to be relatively easy. That doesn't mean that I haven't had my ass kicked a couple of times. The first time was that second ogre… :p

Difficulty picked really up after you leave Kirkwall for the first time for longer. I really struggled there and had to repeat some of the fights half a dozen times before I got them right (meaning somebody survived them). Cause for that could also be that you actually have a lot of abilities to choose from and I'm still figuring out what works best.

Spoilers….

The first hours you play in Kirkwall and in the nearby wilderness. I liked how they made you part of the city. After getting into the city, you try to raise 50 gold pieces to become a partner for an expedition into the deep roads. And you really feel how much money that is for your character because it takes you a really long time.
I didn't like the inventory system all that much, because you get only icons for your items, no "real" images. But they got rid of those crates with gold pieces in it. Now you find moth eaten scarfs, trousers with holes in it and the kind of stuff people really could throw away for you to find. All these items are labeled as "junk" so it doesn't interfere with your weapons, armor and other useful stuff.

I liked the way the integrated you into the city. When you start playing in Kirkwall you've been there for a year and you know some people who can tell you jobs or do you a favor. What you are doing really has an effect on little things in the story later on. That can be a letter, an enemy or a quest you wouldn't get if you decided differently. Some things you do catch up with you in game years later. The story and quests are actually a lot better as you would think after playing the demo. Your companions are not forced on you but hang around after you got to know them and did them a favor. You can pick them up or leave them. They have their own place in Kirkwall so they are not all hanging around at your house which I liked better than the DA:O way. The only exception I found so far is Varric who has to be at your side when you go into the deep roads. But seeing that he and his brother are your partners in the expedition it fit. Although I had to change my party around because of it.
I also liked the way you were interacting with your sister. You can take her side in conversations, let her talk and do favors for her. I didn't feel all that much for my brother who died in the opening scene but I took my sister everywhere with me and really liked the character. I'm not that big a fan of the conversation wheel and really hated it in the demo, but I have to say it worked pretty well for me in the game.
End of these Spoilers…


It's not DA:O and for sure no Baldur's Gate 3 but so far I'm having fun.

bro. i'm not even gunna read that

too much for my short attention span
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
315
Location
Virgin Islands
I think it is so ridiculous that even console games nowadays more often than not have patches you need to download in order for the games to work correctly.

From what I have heard pretty much every console game gets a patch now-a-days. It's kind of a weird form of DRM, since you rely on the Xbox Live and PSN services to get said patches and those services will someday no longer exist.

I bought the PS2 eventually, years after it came out, to play some console exclusives. I kind of want a PS3 eventually as well but the DRM involved and it being a closed system turns me off.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,830
The funny thing is, the article, from what I understand, wasn't necessarily bashing the game, it just wasn't going overboard with the praise, like a lot of other websites are doing.

My thoughts exactly. It's just a bit pathetic that certain people have to act like anything that isn't praising it is unfairly bashing it.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
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