I kill darkspawn so I don't kill people
Yeah it's been a while *shrug* did you at least miss me? It's been about a month since Dragon Age 2 came out, so I figure I really ought to make some kind of statement about it, considering I was all crazy in love with the first one.
Ever since DA2 was announced I'd been hearing about fundamental changes, and frankly this displeased me. Nearly everything felt changed in some way. Where in the first one, gamers were free to choose their own origin, not so in the second game. So a gamer like me, who tends to prefer playing as an elf, was a bit SOL. After playing the game, I can see why Bioware had to make that change, but considering that part of what I loved about DA1 was that freedom to choose, this was a big disappointment for me.
Another big change was finally giving the main character an actual voice. This was something utilized in Bioware's other successful RPG Mass Effect, and it's done very well for them. Again, I hark back to the fact that gamers were allowed to choose their own origins, as to why Bioware didn't being the franchise with something similar. However, for DA2, now the main character is able to speak for (in my case) herself. Not my favorite change, but livable. One quirk that I disliked about the "speech wheel" is how misleading it can be. Mass Effect 2 had the clear cut options of "good guy"/"bad guy" speech options. DA2 has only a very little of that. More often than not it's got a strange wheeled arrow symbol which means next to nothing to me other than "all of these options are likely to offend everyone" ¬_¬ Great. Thanks Bioware, in a story already fraught with high dramatic tension, the last thing I want to be worrying about it putting my digital foot in my mouth! Furthermore whereas in the first game, your party will be more or less "on your side" even if they're not crazy about you, in this game that's not the case. If you don't make sure to either have them completely your friend or completely your rival, they will up and desert you when it hurts the most. Once again, thanks for that Bioware! jerks
This leads me to my next gripe- the story can be just gut wrenching at times! In DA1 things were clear and fairly simple. Go delve dungeons, get people on your side, then defeat the main boss. The uncomfortable intrigue didn't kick in till Act 3, and frankly that act always made my stomach hurt a little bit. Hey, I don't like making enemies video game or not! The plot of DA2 appears that Bioware took the tension in DA1's act 3 and made a whole 40 hour story out of it! You walk around the whole game with a feeling of dread building in your gut. And when you get to the final act of DA2, it feels like the whole volatile situation's got a hair trigger. When things finally do come to a head, those of you with sensitive guilt glands might feel physically sick at what happens. Whether you burst into tears like some of us may or may not have remains to be seen.
Thankfully the battle system remains for the most part untouched. I heard a couple of interviews where the designers complained that the first game still had the feel of a dice roll. I'm not sure what peyote they smoke, because I didn't get that feel at all. Then again, I came from the generation of Final Fantasy 10, where everything was turn based, so *shrug* I guess it's a matter of perception. A note on that- if you are ancient and wizened like me and can remember back that far- the battles in this game will probably feel like total chaos to you. Especially the final boss fight. When you think about it, it is truer to real life if everything happens practically at the same time, but that can be just too much to deal with sometimes. Even if you find the "tactics" system completely confusing, you need to get familiar with it enough to tell people when to auto-heal themselves. That way you can devote your time to kicking ass, rather than babysitting everyone's health & mana.
I think one of my biggest problems with the game is their graphics. By the look of this game Bioware put the bulk of their money into making this an outright gorgeous game. Everything looks as beautiful as a cut scene. However, if you are not one of those people who slavishly buys the latest in tv's, you're in for a rude surprise. Anything short of a HD tv will not be able to handle these graphics. I for one had been resisting shelling out a gawd awful wad of cash when I had a perfectly adequate unit, but now I can barely read what's going on in the game. To simply read quest instructions, I must first turn off all lights, close the blinds, adjust the light controls in game, then squint for all I'm worth! And with all that- I can still only barely make it out. I'm not sure if the game designers just decided to give us moderate spenders the shaft or if this was some necessary evil the graphics gods demanded. Either way, it makes playing this game a damned headache! So, if anyone reading has a large screen, flat panel, HD tv they want to give me, I'm sure I would love to have it!!!
Now for those of you who pay attention, you might notice that Bioware seems to do things in threes. Mass Effect has their third and final installment coming out later this year, and DA2 ends with a fairly "open" ending. Which leads me to suspect there will be a DA3 out before too long. Of course, considering all the different loose threads left open by this and DA1, it'll be interesting to see where they take the game. Because they basically have an embarrassment of riches. Hopefully they're able to bring all open issues to a satisfactory close.
So, in conclusion, I've heard that a lot of DA fans are in love with the changes, but I for one would have preferred that Bioware stick to the formula that captured my heart in the first installment. All things considered, I give this game a C+ and a sincere "atta boy."
Ever since DA2 was announced I'd been hearing about fundamental changes, and frankly this displeased me. Nearly everything felt changed in some way. Where in the first one, gamers were free to choose their own origin, not so in the second game. So a gamer like me, who tends to prefer playing as an elf, was a bit SOL. After playing the game, I can see why Bioware had to make that change, but considering that part of what I loved about DA1 was that freedom to choose, this was a big disappointment for me.
Another big change was finally giving the main character an actual voice. This was something utilized in Bioware's other successful RPG Mass Effect, and it's done very well for them. Again, I hark back to the fact that gamers were allowed to choose their own origins, as to why Bioware didn't being the franchise with something similar. However, for DA2, now the main character is able to speak for (in my case) herself. Not my favorite change, but livable. One quirk that I disliked about the "speech wheel" is how misleading it can be. Mass Effect 2 had the clear cut options of "good guy"/"bad guy" speech options. DA2 has only a very little of that. More often than not it's got a strange wheeled arrow symbol which means next to nothing to me other than "all of these options are likely to offend everyone" ¬_¬ Great. Thanks Bioware, in a story already fraught with high dramatic tension, the last thing I want to be worrying about it putting my digital foot in my mouth! Furthermore whereas in the first game, your party will be more or less "on your side" even if they're not crazy about you, in this game that's not the case. If you don't make sure to either have them completely your friend or completely your rival, they will up and desert you when it hurts the most. Once again, thanks for that Bioware! jerks
This leads me to my next gripe- the story can be just gut wrenching at times! In DA1 things were clear and fairly simple. Go delve dungeons, get people on your side, then defeat the main boss. The uncomfortable intrigue didn't kick in till Act 3, and frankly that act always made my stomach hurt a little bit. Hey, I don't like making enemies video game or not! The plot of DA2 appears that Bioware took the tension in DA1's act 3 and made a whole 40 hour story out of it! You walk around the whole game with a feeling of dread building in your gut. And when you get to the final act of DA2, it feels like the whole volatile situation's got a hair trigger. When things finally do come to a head, those of you with sensitive guilt glands might feel physically sick at what happens. Whether you burst into tears like some of us may or may not have remains to be seen.
Thankfully the battle system remains for the most part untouched. I heard a couple of interviews where the designers complained that the first game still had the feel of a dice roll. I'm not sure what peyote they smoke, because I didn't get that feel at all. Then again, I came from the generation of Final Fantasy 10, where everything was turn based, so *shrug* I guess it's a matter of perception. A note on that- if you are ancient and wizened like me and can remember back that far- the battles in this game will probably feel like total chaos to you. Especially the final boss fight. When you think about it, it is truer to real life if everything happens practically at the same time, but that can be just too much to deal with sometimes. Even if you find the "tactics" system completely confusing, you need to get familiar with it enough to tell people when to auto-heal themselves. That way you can devote your time to kicking ass, rather than babysitting everyone's health & mana.
I think one of my biggest problems with the game is their graphics. By the look of this game Bioware put the bulk of their money into making this an outright gorgeous game. Everything looks as beautiful as a cut scene. However, if you are not one of those people who slavishly buys the latest in tv's, you're in for a rude surprise. Anything short of a HD tv will not be able to handle these graphics. I for one had been resisting shelling out a gawd awful wad of cash when I had a perfectly adequate unit, but now I can barely read what's going on in the game. To simply read quest instructions, I must first turn off all lights, close the blinds, adjust the light controls in game, then squint for all I'm worth! And with all that- I can still only barely make it out. I'm not sure if the game designers just decided to give us moderate spenders the shaft or if this was some necessary evil the graphics gods demanded. Either way, it makes playing this game a damned headache! So, if anyone reading has a large screen, flat panel, HD tv they want to give me, I'm sure I would love to have it!!!
Now for those of you who pay attention, you might notice that Bioware seems to do things in threes. Mass Effect has their third and final installment coming out later this year, and DA2 ends with a fairly "open" ending. Which leads me to suspect there will be a DA3 out before too long. Of course, considering all the different loose threads left open by this and DA1, it'll be interesting to see where they take the game. Because they basically have an embarrassment of riches. Hopefully they're able to bring all open issues to a satisfactory close.
So, in conclusion, I've heard that a lot of DA fans are in love with the changes, but I for one would have preferred that Bioware stick to the formula that captured my heart in the first installment. All things considered, I give this game a C+ and a sincere "atta boy."