Dragon Age 2

Kiith

So, the first review of Dragon Age 2 is out in this month's pc gamer and...it's apparently awesome. They gave it 94% and are saying it has the best RPG combat ever, and say while it's not the best story ever, it's got the best storytelling in any game ever.

Pretty high praise. Below are some key points, copied from another forum. No story spoilers btw.

OK looking over the review and trying to pick out some points.

quote:
Dragon age 2 does it right, It's still an RPG epic, it still takes upwards of 50 hours to finish, it's still got a deep complex combat system and it's still got a well-defined supporting cast
- He praises the frame narrative and mentions this is part of the reason the game hangs together so well.

- Praises the Hawke Character (played as a male), says he comes across as awesome most of the time.

- Mentions the wheel, only very occasionally did he feel neutered by his choice, on the whole he praises it.

- He has a lot of praise for the game and the serious moral choices you have to make and how having the 10 year arc means your actions might have some very real consequences down the line, this adds to the burden of the choices you make, decisions might come back to bite you on the ass. Mentions wronged people might not even target you but your family etc

quote:
Dragon age 2's story is driven by these moments of tension and forced choice. They always feel organic and truly contextual
- Felt a little let down at first by lack of escape from the city but in the end found benefits to knowing the city backwards, allowed him to get a complete grasp on the games "complicated political system"

- Most impressive attempt he has seen at making player choices in a game mean something.

- Romantic options unconstrained, you meet a party member chances are you can "bone" them. his words not mine. Your siblings being the obvious exceptions.

- Incidental conversations are splendid, ruder, funnier and just plain better than Origins.

- Most of the companions are excellent, Bethany being the only dud as she lacks in personality

- Combat is rapid and satisfying but more intricate than Origins.

- Party members abilities a lot of fun, found himself rotating his party a lot.

- Basically says the game is not what you expect, didn't expect it to be as much of a tradition sequel as it is but by having Bioware lock down the context (the world and the politics) they were free to fill their creation with more character and vitality than any title in recent memory.

That's basically the jist of it, doesn't mention graphics at all or importing your save. He does at one point mention equipping Aveline with the best armour, I figured he meant rings and whatnot. Hopefully that was OK to post.

50+ hours to finish? I ****ing love you Bioware.

sink

I must have spent 100 hours on DAO + DLC + Awakenings as I played through it twice, same with ME2. Two of my favorite games of recent memory. Really looking forward to DA2 now. I fucking love you too Bioware.

quarryman

I should really get my act together and complete DA:O

the untitled user

Playing through awakenings at the mo, really putting me in the mood for DA2. I want it NAO!

Creature

Ah very good. It's reassuring to know it's been well received so far. In case anyone didn't know there'll be a demo of the game released on the 22nd of this month.

http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/demo

Varik

Bioware were the only reason i ever turned my 360 on when i couldn't have the pc version, that's changed now so it's PS3 or PC.

Seifer

First one was a giant let down and I imagine this will be no different.
I miss you Baldur's gate

Hopefully the Witcher 2 will fill the void.

Stev_o

I dunno i sort of take PC Gamer with a pinch of salt these days. They'v seemed to go downhill in their review of games. Nearly every AAA game from a major publisher gets in the very high 80's 90's bracket.

Now of course this is just pure speculation it could be worth 93% but something tells me that it actually will receive some pretty harsh scores from the more rigid media.

TiGeR KiNgS

16 years of gaming have told me to be very sceptical about the first reviewers score as there prime candidates for the brown envelope. So I'll wait and see.

quarryman

Its gonna be DA:O with some polish - it'll get 90%+ everywhere.

WolfForager

Absolutely loved DA:O, played through it twice. Only problem is that my save files were on my old PS3, so if there's any links via past decisions between the two games i'm left in the cold

Magill

yeah really enjoyed the first game so im looking forward to this aswel....

Don't know if this has been covered yet, but will there be the option to import your character from DA:O to DA2, like you could with DA:A?

Kiith

Deleted User wrote: »

Don't know if this has been covered yet, but will there be the option to import your character from DA:O to DA2, like you could with DA:A?

Not this time, as you play a pre-defined character called Hawke. You can change your class, and decisions you made in the the original can be imported/selected in this, but you can't play your old character.

pwd

Dragon Age was great.

My tank character did become unhurtable in Awakenings though, without any conscious use of exploits etc. This did reduce the fun factor, to say the least!

Hopefully the difficulty/complexity will be in line with the original. Bioware have a frustrating habit of dumbing down sequels. [eg Mass Effect 2].

Sephiroth_dude

Will the combat be more or less the same at the 1st game?

Antar Bolaeisk

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Will the combat be more or less the same at the 1st game?

Less from the looks of things.

Burning Eclipse

I only played Dragon Age and the excellent Awakenings around Christmas. I had put it off for quite a while, but really enjoyed the experience when I did get around to playing it. Looking forward to the demo of this when it does release!

Also pleasantly surprised by the challenge the first game offered. I had to drop to easy difficulty in the Fade part of the Tower of Mages. I played as a rogue and ran out of potions. If anyone had a similar experience they'll know what I mean.

Sephiroth_dude

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

Less from the looks of things.

Dumbed down then?I couldn't get use to the combat in the last game,no matter how hard I tryed.

tonydude

Really looking forward to this, first one was a classic, i pre ordered the signature edition months ago. It'll be interesting to see how the games saves affect the game

Sephiroth_dude

tonydude wrote: »

Really looking forward to this, first one was a classic, i pre ordered the signature edition months ago. It'll be interesting to see how the games saves affect the game

You can transfer your saved games over?

tonydude

The choices you made in origins will be seen through out dragon age 2. Not character saves.

Captain Chaos

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Dumbed down then?I couldn't get use to the combat in the last game,no matter how hard I tryed.

More complex actually, all in real time and you have alot more control over the action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEX8isxsmK8&feature=player_embedded

calex71

Demo out today , you'll get free items unlocked in game if it hits half a million downloads.

WolfForager

Is there a PC demo, want to try it out and compare it to the ps3s..

calex71

WolfForager wrote: »

Is there a PC demo, want to try it out and compare it to the ps3s..

from the bioware site http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/demo/

February 22, 2011 marks the launch of the Dragon Age II Demo and a Call to Arms for all BioWare fans. We are actively recruiting an army of Champions, and if we get over 1 million demo downloads and logins on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 combined before March 1st, we will unlock two in-game items for the entire community to use in Dragon Age II. Demo download progress will be tracked on this page, so check back often!

To get your download counted, you will need to log into your EA account while playing the demo.

The items that will be unlocked are*:
The Far Cliffs of Kirkwall

The Far Cliffs of Kirkwall - Written by a Fereldan refugee as she fled the Blight, this book of poems describes her dreams of a new start in Kirkwall, the city across the sea. Readers will surely be enriched by her insights. (Gives money when read.)
Lothering's Lament

Lothering's Lament - Written by a Fereldan refugee as she fled the Blight, this book of poems contains touching reminiscences of all she had to leave behind. Readers will surely benefit from her experience. (Gives XP boost when read.)

WolfForager

Fantastic! I have sometime to look forward to today then so!

Kiith

Must. Not. Download!

Gummy Panda

So demo is up later for PC?

Don't see any link on their site for it.

tonydude

great must download it, is it 1.9 gb ?

Kiith

Gummy Panda wrote: »

So demo is up later for PC?

Don't see any link on their site for it.

It's supposed to be up later this afternoon.