Dragon Age 2: Gameplay and Discussion

**rajpoot** · 03-11-2011, 06:01

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** · 03-11-2011, 16:01

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** · 03-11-2011, 19:05

Originally Posted by india

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.

Originally Posted by 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

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** · 03-11-2011, 19:44

Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

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** · 03-12-2011, 03:15

**Greyblades** · 03-12-2011, 14:40

Originally Posted by Monk

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!

**seireikhaan** · 03-13-2011, 01:46

Well, about 33 hours logged on the current character, and just recently became "champion". Now I'm stuck on another crazy hard fight....

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Monk** · 03-13-2011, 02:16

23 hours and DA2 is in the bag, signed and sealed, completed. I had an amazing time but I can't help but feel this represents one step forward and two steps back for the DA team. On one hand they introduce some really nice, refined combat that's a load of fun to take part in. On the other, it can get incredibly tiresome having to fine tune positioning of every single party member so they dont get rushed by the enemy reinforcement surges. Bioware claimed to have eliminated "difficulty spikes", but they're still there in full force.

In Origins i always felt these spikes came from the grapple moves random mobs would hit you with. You're doing fine, then suddenly a mob pins Alistair to the ground and rips his throat out. Hurray, now you have no tank! It was a very cheap way to ensure fights were hard and I never really learned a good counter (I know stun movies free companions, but they'd almost always fail in a clutch for me

). In DA2 it feels more like the fights are hard because they've been balanced poorly.. or just not at all. I like challange as much as the next guy, but see Khaan's spoiler for an example of one that just isnt fun nor fair.

Add to it that Dragon Age 2 feels like it abandoned genuinely good ideas in order to get its way. Not everything in Origins was perfect, but there were things that it did do right, like characterization. I can't help but feel your companions this time around are a little.. flat. Not being able to hang out with them unless I have a quest to go to talk to them doesn't help either. I'm not asking to play 20 questions (a la origins), but at LEAST let me stop by and talk about what they're up to when I feel like it.

There's also a number of odd glitches and immersion breaking bugs in relation to a certain quests near the ending. Things like hair colors of companions suddenly turning white, quest givers not wanting to talk to you despite sending me a letter to talk with them, and encounters not loading correctly all give off a certain impression. I've been hearing rumblings that EA forced Bioware to rush out the gate with this game, and once i hit the 16 hour mark I really started to see where those rumors were born. It's not that it lacks content, it's that it lacks polish, which is a true surprise coming from Bioware.

Looking back on the experience as a whole I am reflecting positively on it, despite my disappointment in the areas above. It's a really good game that offers a lot of fun, more than that it's a worthy entry into the Dragon Age universe. However, I dont feel it's a worthy sequel to Origins simply due to too many stumbles taken in the mechanics department. There is an interesting story to be seen here, but it's held back by a lot. I hope the Dragon Age team gets their act together in the future or else they'll be getting shown up by the very people they were trying to emulate (their coworkers over on the Mass Effect team).

Plot related stuff.

For you all playing morally upright characters i'll warn you now to have one of your mages take up healing as a secondary.

For the final act:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Riedquat** · 03-14-2011, 20:34

Originally Posted by Yaseikhaan

Well, about 33 hours logged on the current character, and just recently became "champion". Now I'm stuck on another crazy hard fight....

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Finished the game in four sittings, it took around 38 hours, skipped a lot of side quests and companions quests, I have a million questions and a terrible headache ;)

About crazy hard fights...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: