Dragon Age 2: Gameplay and Discussion

[seireikhaan]

Ok, game has some pretty good strong points. Combat is more balanced- a 3 mage party doesn't walk in and win fights. Talents all seem somewhat useful. Textures are nicer. Armors look much nicer. Voice acting is all pretty good. Not having much of a problem on the pc camera, although I do miss being able to pan top-down.

However, a lot of the fights in general aren't well designed- I don't need four waves of assassins dropping out of nowhere on me in a back alley just because its night. Party mechanics don't feel nearly as good as Origins. Pretty much echoing Monk's comments there. My biggest irk so far is reused levels- there's been like two different cavern levels that I've run like 20 times fighting different enemies. Thankfully the Deep Roads offered something new. HOWEVER.... whoever designed the Rock Wraith fight deserves to be canned. Horrible, terrible, awful fight.

[Monk]

Ok, game has some pretty good strong points. Combat is more balanced- a 3 mage party doesn't walk in and win fights. Talents all seem somewhat useful. Textures are nicer. Armors look much nicer. Voice acting is all pretty good. Not having much of a problem on the pc camera, although I do miss being able to pan top-down.

However, a lot of the fights in general aren't well designed- I don't need four waves of assassins dropping out of nowhere on me in a back alley just because its night. Party mechanics don't feel nearly as good as Origins. Pretty much echoing Monk's comments there. My biggest irk so far is reused levels- there's been like two different cavern levels that I've run like 20 times fighting different enemies. Thankfully the Deep Roads offered something new. HOWEVER.... whoever designed the Rock Wraith fight deserves to be canned. Horrible, terrible, awful fight.

Target aquisition feels.. off. Avelyn is my go to bruiser/tank and i love to run heavy ranged groups. Typically i'll have two mages (hawke and anders), Varric for shatter combos and miasma, and then Ave. This means that Ave is really the only person in my party who can take a hit and not get burned down. Most the time it runs swell, but every over fight she'll go charging way into the back of the enemy ranks to focus on an archer first.. when there's two assassin's that need threat on them starring my team in the face. I'm not sure if it's a case of tactics or just the AI not picking its targets smart.

Anyway I've been able to play some more and i'm a sufficient point in where I can comment on a couple things. I've already mentioned my two biggest negatives thus far, party interaction and targeting mechanics. Khaan mentioned the third which is the repeating dungeon maps - it bothers me but not to the point that it breaks up the fun or the action. More of an annoyance.

Honestly what I find most jarring is how tightly they tried to tie this game into Origins with cameos of minor players, and things you did in the first game. In ME2 I love those tie-ins because i'm playing the same Shepard. I can stroll into a room and laugh at some guy who i punched in the face.. and even do it again for kicks! In DA2 i'm playing Hawke.. and all this seems pretty insignificant in the story at hand. I understand a need to tie the games together, but DA2 has such a different feel than origins did.

The fact I'm contending with all these folks who hold a significance to me in a meta concept, it feels like the developers are saying "HEY LOOK KIDS, IT'S X!" I think it detracts from what is otherwise a solid experience. I mean seriously. Did every person I ever know end up in Kirkwall? Maybe I should try to arrange a worst case scenario so i won't have to put up with it...

[rajpoot]

Right I still don't have my copy.....Going to reach me tomorrow, or maybe day after on the 13th I think.
Already I've beginning to feel disappointed read a ton of negative user reviews on Gamespot. Anyway, what I was really wondering whether anyone has downloaded the High Resolution Texture pack and is it really worth it? Because if it is then I'll start now and if I'm lucky it'll finish downloading in two days.
So, opinions?

[Krusader]

Forum bans locks you out from games

Don't go saying Dragon Age 2 is bad or EA sold souls to devil or you might not be able to play your EA games

Definitely going to pick up Dragon Age 2, but as I said in other thread, it will be the Ultimate Edition two years from now. From what I've seen on forums, reviews and Metascore user ratings/reviews it seems the discontent crowd is bigger or maybe even not the minority this time around compared to Mass Effect 2 & DA:O.

[Kekvit Irae]

Right I still don't have my copy.....Going to reach me tomorrow, or maybe day after on the 13th I think.
Already I've beginning to feel disappointed read a ton of negative user reviews on Gamespot. Anyway, what I was really wondering whether anyone has downloaded the High Resolution Texture pack and is it really worth it? Because if it is then I'll start now and if I'm lucky it'll finish downloading in two days.
So, opinions?

There are some things that are better in DA:O, and some things that are worse. To me, it feels less like Dragon Age and more like a fantasy Mass Effect. Take that for what you will. It's best if you make up your own mind about the the game rather than rely on the internet to influence your decisions.
I have downloaded and installed the high resolution pack and installed it before playing, so I really don't know what kind of a difference it really makes.

Forum bans locks you out from games

Don't go saying Dragon Age 2 is bad or EA sold souls to devil or you might not be able to play your EA games

I feel absolutely no pity for him. While preventing him from playing a 60 dollar game is a little overkill, he accepted the EULA just like everyone else. It's not EA's fault he just scrolled down and clicked "I Agree". Ignorance is no excuse.

[Monk]

I have downloaded and installed the high resolution pack and installed it before playing, so I really don't know what kind of a difference it really makes.

A very noticeable difference.

edit: Character models, armor, weapons ect are unchanged. Terrain, buildings and generally everything else gets a much needed jump in texture quality.

[Techno Viking]

[Greyblades]

edit: Character models, armor, weapons ect are unchanged. Terrain, buildings and generally everything else gets a much needed jump in texture quality.

Oh you have got to be kidding, the clothes & armour textures are what is putting me off the most!