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  1. #1
    The Abominable Senior Member Hexxagon Champion Monk's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae View Post
    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.
    Last edited by Monk; 03-11-2011 at 20:20.

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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay and Discussion


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    Member Member Greyblades's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by Monk View Post
    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!
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    Spirit King Senior Member seireikhaan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    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: 
    Stumbled into a High Dragon fight back at the mine after. Holy dicks, that fight's just not fair. Thought I was doing decently well after fighting off the first 'ling rush and continuing to whittle down the high dragon's health. But that second 'ling rush headed by an adult dragon, all while the high dragon was nuking from... on high. Right, I might try it later.
    Last edited by seireikhaan; 03-13-2011 at 01:47.
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    The Abominable Senior Member Hexxagon Champion Monk's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    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: 
    Your team picks sides in the Templar/Mage dispute, the only people left alive/left supporting me by this time were full friend, but I got the feeling they may have turned on me if they were Rival. I'm unsure, but you don't want to get caught on the other side of the isle from your tank/healer. There are some ROUGH fights ahead of you. Also.. Terrorism. Seriously.
    Last edited by Monk; 03-13-2011 at 02:21.

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    Robot Unicorn Member Kekvit Irae's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by Monk View Post
    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.
    23 hours? Steam clocks me in at 26 hours, and I've just now completed
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    the Arishok's quest to track down the thief of the poison plans.
    Of course, I'm OCD when it comes to side and secondary quests. Leave no stone unturned.

    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.
    Or how about one fight early on during a secondary quest which pits you against
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    a revenant, two rage demons, a desire demon, an arcane horror, and a crapload of shades and abominations? All in the same room. I wiped so many times, mostly because, at that point in the game, I only had access ONE healer. Stupid Merrill and her "unique" specialization. I'm stuck with Anders for most of the game, unfortunately. At least Morrigan had the ability to choose Creation spells in Origins.


    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.
    Interparty banter is often hilarious, but I certainly miss the ability to personally talk to my party members at any point in the game. Being able to talk to a companion only at their home base and only if there's a companion quest is like a slap in the face for me. I feel like this game was made for min-maxers, not roleplayers.

    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.
    The only "bug" I've encountered so far was bad clipping on armor models (including my companions' armor). Hands should not be able to clip through your thigh when talking, nor should your butt clip through your chest armor.

  7. #7
    The Abominable Senior Member Hexxagon Champion Monk's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae View Post
    23 hours? Steam clocks me in at 26 hours, and I've just now completed
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    the Arishok's quest to track down the thief of the poison plans.
    Of course, I'm OCD when it comes to side and secondary quests. Leave no stone unturned.
    What can I say? I move fast

    I did however miss a number of things simply because they aren't glarringly obvious. I missed out on recruiting Fenris on my first go because I only did the bare minimum of side-quests in the first act. So i suppose you could say 20 hours is around the very bare minimum to expect on any given play through when you're ignoring half the content

    Or how about one fight early on during a secondary quest which pits you against
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    a revenant, two rage demons, a desire demon, an arcane horror, and a crapload of shades and abominations? All in the same room. I wiped so many times, mostly because, at that point in the game, I only had access ONE healer. Stupid Merrill and her "unique" specialization. I'm stuck with Anders for most of the game, unfortunately. At least Morrigan had the ability to choose Creation spells in Origins.
    Don't even get me started on that fight. I will freely admit i've bumped the difficulty down a notch here and there when i spent a full hour wiping on the same encounter just to get by. These high end fights are just not fun. Well, some are. But most like the ones you and Khaan describe are not.

    The only "bug" I've encountered so far was bad clipping on armor models (including my companions' armor). Hands should not be able to clip through your thigh when talking, nor should your butt clip through your chest armor.
    It's toward the final act, but I saw a number of quests bugging and encounters simply not loading properly. Might be one-time glitches (wrong place, wrong time) but it really set me off.

    Do agree on Interparty banter though. It's one of the highlights of the game.

  8. #8
    Just another Member rajpoot's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    Got the game today. Been playing like crazy. Actually forcing myself to play like crazy because this is nothing like DAO. I just want to know what can happens at the end....otherwise the combat seems different (and unlikeable) and there are too few companion conversations (I literally jump with joy when I see the quest/marker to go and talk with a companion).
    The really messed this game catering for those who weren't into Origins.


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  9. #9
    kumquattor Member Riedquat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dragon Age 2: Gameplay Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by Yaseikhaan View Post
    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: 
    Stumbled into a High Dragon fight back at the mine after. Holy dicks, that fight's just not fair. Thought I was doing decently well after fighting off the first 'ling rush and continuing to whittle down the high dragon's health. But that second 'ling rush headed by an adult dragon, all while the high dragon was nuking from... on high. Right, I might try it later.
    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: 
    The dragon high fight (whoever implemented this fight in game was for sure high)... I had to change party members twice to get it done, I hadn't a real problem with the dragon-lings waves or the adult dragon[s] (weren't they 2 or 3?) but with the big spitting fireballs at me for more than 15 minutes after I killed the second wave and refusing to land in the battlefield, while I spent the time running all along the field trying to evade them and waiting till I could use another restoration potion ; I'm not sure if I fell in a glitch or it's scripted this way but the only thing that worked to get the dragon out of that untouchable position was staying in one place and getting hit a couple of times by the fire spit.

    Playing as rogue it wasn't a real hard fight, difficult for sure, annoying like no one else but not really hard for the fight per se. What was really a hard fight was dueling with the Arishok... experience I dont want to repeat anytime soon, spent a quarter of the time running from him, a quarter being impaled by his sword and the other quarter crying like a little girl while awaiting my health and stamina to rise a bit, I won the fight with 1 point of health left and thanks to the columns in the hall where the fight takes place, I don't know you but I really feel I truly deserved the champion tittle
    returning to the shadows.....

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