KapitanUnterhosen
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PC gamer already has a review out, 94%.
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Dragon Age 2 - Gone Gold!
- Thread starter Dhruin
- Start date
You jest? …right? Still, nothing surprises me with game mag reviews - they automatically give a big name game a high score - and when you read the reviews, they simply ignore things that would bring the score down. I think they have special glasses which filter out the unpolished/dodgy bits they see. I'll be waiting for playthrough comments from people here before touching this - I'm already unhappy that I have to play a fixed character, that the interesting concept of the "Origins" has been thrown away and that I'm playing a story which has a known outcome. Its like reading the end of the book before you start. I know that this approach is used in storytelling/movies quite frequently, but its not the way I want to play an RPG - I want to be surprised at every step, and especially when reach the end. Its great when things do not play out as you expected. What if I wanted to doom Kirkwall and not save it? So, I guess my "alignment" is fixed too.
D
DArtagnan
Guest
What about we just wait and see, now that it's so close.
My gut is telling me that it will be a decent game, but not on the level of Dragon Age.
That's hardly all bad? I'm not in a hurry to pick it up - and I'll probably wait until the DLC bundle.
Unless people go crazy and it turns out to be much better than expected.
My gut is telling me that it will be a decent game, but not on the level of Dragon Age.
That's hardly all bad? I'm not in a hurry to pick it up - and I'll probably wait until the DLC bundle.
Unless people go crazy and it turns out to be much better than expected.
DoctorNarrative
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Well Bioware have always made fairly linear and cinematic RPGs, at least since KotOR. It's not like you could choose to let the blight happen in DA:O.
I think the fixed character and dialogue wheel approach really fits their style, and obviously they do too. Does that mean I want every RPG to be like that? Certainly not.
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I agree that Bioware have a certain style, but here you are "the Hero of Kirkwall" (as far as I know) which is completely prescribed up front - there is no latitude. In BG/BG2 (for example), you didn't have to be a "hero" - you could be a villain too. I noticed that choice was somewhat lacking in DA:O - but the other new things they introduced made up for that. That's not to say it will be a poor game, but based on everything I've seen to date, I don't think it's going to be the "evolutionary" game I'd hoped for. But that is simply my opinion. I will almost certainly buy it since I like RPG's and there is little enough choice these days.
zadokAllen
Sentinel
I think it might actually better than the first one (which was at best very average).
Origins didn`t know what it wants to be and I think the sooner they streamline the crap out of it - and general idea of making "serious" RPGs - the better.
It might turn out to be a tight action RPG, with tired but playable Bioware plot/conversation system. Buyable when gets down to 20 bucks.
As for "spiritual successors" to BGate I`ll stick with maybe less flashy but also non-superficial Drakensang (yeah, even the first one).
Origins didn`t know what it wants to be and I think the sooner they streamline the crap out of it - and general idea of making "serious" RPGs - the better.
It might turn out to be a tight action RPG, with tired but playable Bioware plot/conversation system. Buyable when gets down to 20 bucks.
As for "spiritual successors" to BGate I`ll stick with maybe less flashy but also non-superficial Drakensang (yeah, even the first one).
Only two weeks ago I think, the other day someone dropped into the official Drakensang forums, wanted to know "where can I get this armor ???" - pointing out to some work-in-progress screenshots and unavailable armor pieces of NPCs - and also wrote "I know there is a nude mod - where is it ?" Not exactly this wording, but very close.
I thought : "WTF ?!?!?!?"
DoctorNarrative
Patroling Written Words
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I certainly know what you are saying, I am just trying to say that most of their games since BG2 have been like this. If you read the forum comments of their writers they are more about telling you a story than creating a world you exist in and effect. It works for them, that is what they like. Mass Effect 1 and 2 are completely decided plot-wise, you just get to decide whether to be an asshole or not.
I don't mind it so much because that is their style. If every RPG worked that way though that would be terrible.
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Just thought I would share a fellow rpg fans point of view that will make you agree with him.
This is from another site called actiontrip and I agree with his post. ME2 set the new trend and were stuck with it.
This is from another site called actiontrip and I agree with his post. ME2 set the new trend and were stuck with it.
Captain Buzzkill
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Just thought I would share a fellow rpg fans point of view that will make you agree with him.
This is from another site called actiontrip and I agree with his post. ME2 set the new trend and were stuck with it.
The end of the world is nigh? Surely even you have to admit you're being a touch melodramatic.
The RPG "formula" is just as mutable as it's ever been, you just have to look harder to avoid the Bioware formula, if that's what you want to call it.
I dunno…I'm in a good mood today after reading this. I vacillate between giving big devs shit, and giving them slack, but what it all boils down to is there are a lot of people interested in cRPGs right now. I don't know about you, but I haven't seen this much attention and love given to the indie scene in a while, and while I think that it's partly due to a Bioware backlash, I also see it as brand new RPG fans digging a little deeper to get their fix, and that's a great thing.
The distinction that I make, and this is where I differ from a lot of RPG fan-dumb, is that I think that Bioware is dumbing down their games, and diluting the experience of RPGs that, given the amount of money that they have available, could be mind-blowingly good. I'm not accusing them of destroying the whole genre, even though I can get pretty worked up over their handling of romances and combat difficulty. But I understand what they're doing, which is only natural considering how many units they're selling, and having the games journalism industry slobbering all over them.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with playing a somewhat more linear cRPG, where your role is already pre-determined, as long as the story is great, the world is immersive, and the characters are memorable. I guess I'm not willing to write off DA2 yet, but I'm going into it with a healthy dose of skepticism.
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Just added that smilie as a final touch. Its just a little sarcasm. There is some truth from his post. As long as the majority are fine with it. The minority will suffer. Though I do find it amazing how journalist bash the original and call the sequel a improvement.
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I will be truly surprised if DA2 is actually an improvement over the original. Not that DA:O was a classic or anything, but it was a solid crpg by recent Bioware standards. All the "improvement" talk I've seen so far was nothing but obvious PR speak.
Zloth
I smell a... wumpus!?
As opposed to the folks around here who automatically give big name games a low score? At least PC Gamer has actually SEEN the game. (And yes, they do slam big name games. It doesn't happen much but that's what we should expect. The big money spent on big name games actually does get used to improve the game, you know.)
aries100
SasqWatch
As far as I know, DA: Origins outsold ME2 by a longshot. Also, I don't quite understand what the hardcore rpg crowd wants (apparantly I'm not in that crowd anymore, as I liked DA: Origin very much ) in a game, maybe this: turn-based combat strategy, an interface where you look for different things, no maps, no hand-holding, and the objective(s) in the game are very and totallly unclear.
Bioware has always made games that are linear and where you can be both a hero and villain. Again, that depends on your definition of a villain. In the D&D games, people could be a villain yeas, but what it the right kind of villain or was it a villain like in the Austin Powers movies (he he he I just ordered the destruction of the world he he he).... or was it a real villain someome like Saren in ME1. In Dragon Age: Origins you could make some pretty -ahem- not so great choices. But where they evillanous or evil? Not necessarily.
Even BG1 and ToSC were cinematic and had a linear story. And by linear I mean that the game ends once the -ahem- evil is defeated or that the objective has been met. In the case for DA2, the game will end when Hawke has become the Champion of Kirkwall...
) in a game, maybe this: turn-based combat strategy, an interface where you look for different things, no maps, no hand-holding, and the objective(s) in the game are very and totallly unclear. Bioware has always made games that are linear and where you can be both a hero and villain. Again, that depends on your definition of a villain. In the D&D games, people could be a villain yeas, but what it the right kind of villain or was it a villain like in the Austin Powers movies (he he he I just ordered the destruction of the world he he he).... or was it a real villain someome like Saren in ME1. In Dragon Age: Origins you could make some pretty -ahem- not so great choices. But where they evillanous or evil? Not necessarily.
Even BG1 and ToSC were cinematic and had a linear story. And by linear I mean that the game ends once the -ahem- evil is defeated or that the objective has been met. In the case for DA2, the game will end when Hawke has become the Champion of Kirkwall...
D
DArtagnan
Guest
Obviously, it's 94% of 1000 = 940%!
It's perfection perfected with blow jobs!!!!!
It's perfection perfected with blow jobs!!!!!
Ovenall
SasqWatch
I keep hearing the complaint about tired Bioware writing and story. Who does writing and story better than Bioware?
I don't get it. I've played lots of rpgs, but I've also missed many of them. Yes, Bioware has clichés in their games and some stuff gets to be a pattern. But all crpgs are pretty much vamping on clichés.
Can someone tell me who they think does better writing than Bioware? I'd like to hear opinions on this. Bioware is far from perfect, but IMO they are the best out there.
I don't get it. I've played lots of rpgs, but I've also missed many of them. Yes, Bioware has clichés in their games and some stuff gets to be a pattern. But all crpgs are pretty much vamping on clichés.
Can someone tell me who they think does better writing than Bioware? I'd like to hear opinions on this. Bioware is far from perfect, but IMO they are the best out there.
D
DArtagnan
Guest
Obsidian, Pirahna Bytes, and Funcom.
Not that I think Bioware writing is bad - but it is shock full of clichés.
Off the top of my head… CD Projekt definitely. I'd also say Obsidian is probably as good as Bioware, and so was Troika when they were around.