Dragon Age 2 - Shorter but More Cinematic

What GhanBuriGhan said is definitely true for a lot of people. If you've only got three hours on Saturday and maybe a couple more on Sunday if the "honey-do" list is clear, 60 hours gets to be a pretty massive investment. Especially if there's one or two other games you are looking forward to getting. (So stay away from those romantic interests! BioWare games are great practice for that. )

I read PC Gamer's review of DA2. It's saying the game is more like 50 hours. It also says that the game gets much deeper into the Dragon Age society than Origins, which sounds very good to me. The reviewer also says it is one of the best combat systems he's seen in an RPG.

(They've got a photo of Hawke making fun of EA crossover promotions. Hawke is wearing an American football helmet, is holding an assault rifle, is wearing boxing gloves, and so on…)

Originally Posted by Zloth
I read PC Gamer's review of DA2. It's saying the game is more like 50 hours. It also says that the game gets much deeper into the Dragon Age society than Origins, which sounds very good to me. The reviewer also says it is one of the best combat systems he's seen in an RPG.

If I had a Dollar for every time I saw a reviewer say that about a game, I could probably buy about 10 copies of DA2.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
At this point I could care less since the game is released in a couple of days. Just wait and see what Masseffect 3 and DragoAge 3 will look like. I shudder at the thought every time.

Weapon heat build up - removed
Ammo clips - removed
Power cooldowns - removed

Omni-gel that can be used to make quest items that you missed - added
Romance option with Hanaar - added
Machine gun with auto lock-on using IR and radar (use Awesome button to fire) - added (as DLC if you click on the facebook page 20 million times)

Fortunately there are not that many ways ME2 can be dumbed down any more than it is.

I'm sad how Da2 turned out. It just feels so much worse than orgins. Bioware streamlined it in every possible way. Hopefully the nightmare mode atleast offers some challenge for us rpg veterans. Few months ago I was thinking of getting it near the release..not anymore. Maybe I'll get it later when they release game of the year edition with all dlcs.

PC Gamer gave it score in the nineties. They even said it was the best RPG in the last 10 years. Also, the best RPG combat, even though there is no free camera, just zooming.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
PC Gamer gave it score in the nineties. They even said it was the best RPG in the last 10 years. Also, the best RPG combat, even though there is no free camera, just zooming.

And? It's an opinion.

Thanks for the insightful comment!

Originally Posted by rune_74
And? It's an opinion.

Oh my, this phrase has been a real plague at the Internet discussions recently.
It's (mentally) poor man's answer to everything.

Originally Posted by Daddy32
Oh my, this phrase has been a real plague at the Internet discussions recently.
It's (mentally) poor man's answer to everything.

It's not said nearly enough IMH opinion. Once we realise that people are entitled to have their own opinions on things (as we are ours) then discussions can become rather more productive than attempting to comment on the nature of the poster rather than their argument.

Case in point, a PC Gamer review. I quite like PC gamer reviews - they entertain me and sometimes give me insights into games I haven't purchased or noticed that influence my own thoughts. If they think DA2 is the RPG of the decade then good for them - I'd quite like to read their (usually well written) review and find out why, because at the moment I'm not considering purchasing DA2. In this instance, an opposing opinion doesn't have me commenting on the opinion maker, but simply makes me want to hear and understand how they came to that opinion, and whether that process will cause me to change my own opinion.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
Well, since work and family leave me very little time to actually pursue my gaming hobby, long games are simply in a way harder to enjoy. I like to finish games, see the whole story unfold. A sprawling game like DA:O might easily take me half a year to complete, and sometimes, I don't know, thats just a daunting prospect. A tighter game remains easier to follow. The story remains clearer in your mind, etc., and the wait to try one of the other cool games that have come out in the meantime isn't quite that long.
Note that my preferences were exactly the opposite when I had lots of free time to invest in gaming.

Word!

A tighter game with less "filling" and running around Is necessary if I'm going to have a chance of completing it.

It might be stretching it, but since the demographic of gamers have changed a lot in the last 10-15 years, developers all across the board might have taken that into account. There are much more 30+ and 40+ gamers than before, and a lot of them have much less time to spend than the sub group 15-25.

Its just a thought.

C

Originally Posted by kalniel
Once we realise that people are entitled to have their own opinions on things (as we are ours) then discussions can become rather more productive than attempting to comment on the nature of the poster rather than their argument.

Every person's right to have the opinion is good and right. But opinions are not born equal. Some of them are closing to objectivity, while others are pure shit. Quality people often produce quality, close-to-objective 'opinions' full of inspiration, while other are capable of producing only the mentioned shit.
Therefore stating 'this is my opinion and this is yours, they are both just an opinions so they\'re equal' is ridiculous. Quality of the opinions and their originators is subject to discussion.

Case in point, a PC Gamer review. I quite like PC gamer reviews - they entertain me and sometimes give me insights into games I haven't purchased or noticed that influence my own thoughts. If they think DA2 is the RPG of the decade then good for them - I'd quite like to read their (usually well written) review and find out why, because at the moment I'm not considering purchasing DA2. In this instance, an opposing opinion doesn't have me commenting on the opinion maker, but simply makes me want to hear and understand how they came to that opinion, and whether that process will cause me to change my own opinion.

Yes, the entertainment and informative aspect of game reviews is important.
But, having the numeric evaluation of the game at the end, they should aim for objectivity. We all know, from the demo, that 'RPG of the decade' is not the case.
Stating the opposite is absurd claim and I don't really care, which path they have taken to get there.

Originally Posted by Daddy32
We all know, from the demo, that 'RPG of the decade' is not the case.

Elsewhere I've seen people complaining about how games are getting shorter, yet you are quite able to form a definitive statement based on 30 minutes of gameplay? That strikes me as a little presumptuous, but if you prefer to base your opinions on 30 minutes that's fine with me, just so long as you don't make silly statements like 'we all know'

PC Gamer are welcome to have their own opinion, and if, having played rather substantially more than just a 30 minute demo, they say it's RPG of the decade then they're of course fine to do so as well and it gives me rather more incentive to at least read what they say and give some measure of thought to it, than someone claiming to speak for all of us on the basis of a 30 minute demo.

I've also played the demo. It didn't change my opinion of the game.

If DA2 becomes my cRPG of the decade, I'll buy you all a Mercedes.

It just speaks volumes about the state of professional game journalism. I'm sure DA2 is a fun game, but so is kingdom of heaven a fun summer movie, yet its hardly the pinnacle of film making.

Its depressing that these reviewers only praise whats hot now. I get the feeling that they don't care about the history at all. Where is the in depth analysis of how DA2 compares to other rpg game legends? Where is the in depth analysis of it's storyline or heck it's purpose? Does it touch the depths of my soul or does it have some hidden message that most of us overlook? What makes the gameplay so unique that it surpasses everything we've experienced before? If dragon age 2 is said to be so revolutionary I want to know why. Or is it that we hand over "best rpg ever" titles just because of the entertaiment value? I just find it bizzarre that people who write those game reviews for their living don't aim higher in their reviews.

Well, the gaming media has been ignorant of the history for so long - I'm surprised people like us on the Watch still bother even referencing what they're saying.

Can't say I have much respect for PC Gamer. They're similar to Gamespot in that they seem to give every well advertised AAA game at least a 90% review score.

They recently did a top 100 list where they tabbed Oblivion as the 3rd best game ever made.

Originally Posted by rune_74
And? It's an opinion.

Yes, but there are as far as I know quite a lot of people out there who rely on opinions.

In general.

Originally Posted by JDR13
They recently did a top 100 list where they tabbed Oblivion as the 3rd best game ever made.

I know, it should quite clearly be the 2nd best

Originally Posted by kalniel
I know, it should quite clearly be the 2nd best

They gave that honor to WoW… need I say more?

Originally Posted by JDR13
They gave that honor to WoW… need I say more?

LOL I should have guessed!

But did they spell out their 'best' criteria in no less than 100 pages?