Dragon Age 2

Varik

calex71 wrote: »

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

When is this happening for PS3 as the store won't update today.

If anyone is using the 360 or PS3 version sign up to an ea account and set your PSN id or Xbox live tag to make sure it counts.

YouSavedMyLife

Wow its so...dumbed down. I hope there is some exploration and more RPG staple elements to be had in the full game, because the demo is basically showing me that the game is a hack n slash game. It feel likes a JRPG in a WRPG's clothing...That being said i kinda liked it. I didnt load it expecting Dragon Age 1.5. Still on the fence about it, i may buy it when it gets reduced in price or second hand as there is a hell of lot of other games coming out over the next while that im really looking forward to

Kiith

From what i've read so far, most people seem to think streamlined is a better word then dumbed down. Having replayed Origins and Awakenings over the last week or so, the combat is awfully slow. And not slow in a tactical way. Slow as in slow. I still enjoy it, but things like Shield Bash or any special melee move are stupidly slow to take effect.

So speeding up things is definitely a good thing in my book (i havent played the demo btw).

I really hope they change the interactions between characters. It just really annoyed me when you're running away in a hurry and you click "A" accidentally on one of your companions and it enters the dialogue screen.

Spunge

Although i loved the first one to bits, if they change the combat to be less difficult and strategic im gonna be mad, coz the story and exploration in general were pretty pants.

EDIT: And the recommended CPU is a quad core? damn

Jilm

DA2 PC demo is now available...

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

Blowfish

Gummy Panda wrote: »

So demo is up later for PC?

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

Here she be.

Jilm

For those finding downloading from the Bioware site a bit slow, here's an alternative.

the incredible pudding

Jilm wrote: »

For those finding downloading from the Bioware site a bit slow, here's an alternative.

That one started nice and quickly for me before plummeting to a meager speed.:(
But thanks for the choice nonetheless!

Skerries

they are also making an online browser game called Dragon Age Legends like they did before DA with DA Journeys
DA Journeys was supposed to continue on but looks like they abandoned it for DA Legends which you can sign up for the beta here
http://eu.dragonage.com/dragonageii/extra/?id=15303

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i feel like im playing devil may cry or something instead of dragon age.

not very far into the demo, but i dont have much interest in completing it either. think ill wait for a few weeks for reviews and general opinions of the full game before I decide whether or not to make a purchase

Mr. K

Looking forward to playing this later. I actually played a DA2 demo last October at the Eurogamer Expo, I'm hoping that this isn't the same one!

I haven't actually finished the first one, I'm right at the end. Waiting for a block of free time so I can enjoy it.

Captain Chaos

One question, will the full game have an auto attack option. My controller won't take 50+ hrs of tapping the **** out of the A button.

Mass Effect 2 went all Gears of War but the game mechanic still worked. DA2 has gone all God of War, if they are going that route for combat at least have combos and blocking like Assassins Creed instead of just pressing A a fast as you can, run away, rince and repeat until all are dead, maybe pause a few times to issue orders. The Warrior and Rogue class combat is just button jamming with little to no skill needed of required.

I'm in shock at this demo. Graphics are nice but the characters move about like they are floating in the world, they don't feel, or move as if they are connected to it in anyway. The speed they move compared to their legs is just terrible, kills the whole immersion of it for me.

Sephiroth_dude

So is it anygood?worth downloading?

degrassinoel

it felt like an arcade version of the original as far as combat is concerned, its about 100 times (or feels that way) faster than before, bloodier.. better? not sure if its better or just different but i do like it. Even if it ends quicker than it should.

The levelling system looks familiar, overall i think this part is better than the original, allowing you to access more different trees for specific group roles.

The voice acting seems a little better than most, possibly on a par with ME2( so far at least).
Flemeth is back good ol' Janeway.. and she looks hawt! lol

Nicely animated (stock) main character, I chose a female rogue. Some animations look odd, though could just be the demo being unfinished.

I got about an hour out of the Demo, so yeah i'd get it if you enjoy the whole action-rpg thing.

Will definetly be forking out the cash on the 11th or if its released early on steam for pre-orders will pay the extra few euro for it there.

titan18

Captain Chaos wrote: »

One question, will the full game have an auto attack option. My controller won't take 50+ hrs of tapping the **** out of the A button.

Not sure, but I heard it was taken out of the console versions. It's in the PC version though.

Also, game seemed pretty good on PC. Hard to get a feel for it in the demo, but will probably get it

Captain Chaos

titan18 wrote: »

Not sure, but I heard it was taken out of the console versions. It's in the PC version though.

Sad to hear, I won't be touching it if this is true. Well done to Bioware for messing up two perfectly good console "RPG"s, DA and Mass Effect.

Mass Effect 2 became Gears of War light with conversation options and DA2 is now God Of War with conversation options. They are killing what little is left of have decent RPG games on consoles by going all action and overly simplified menues and options for the ADHD gamers out there.

ME2 I can just about live with it as a half decent 3rd person shooter, I don't consider it an RPG anymore as the story is gone and it's all about recruiting for 1 mission at the end.

DA, is now a hack and slash game, a one button h&S game where you every so often pres another one to try and make it interesting, but even worse is that there is no sense of hits connecting at all or even being blocked. I can't believe Bioware would make something like this after DA:O, I really can't.

calex71

Agree with you there Captain, I liked mass effect but it left a bitter after taste from it's rpg liteness . This appears to be the same route adopted by bioware.

The critics can laud it all they like as they did with mass effect 2 but it really bugs me that they are dumbing down rgp elements in their sequels

Fair few rpgs on the horizon though, just got an email from square enix with preorder details for DS3 in May

Dcully

Hmm busy nights downloading me thinks, this demo and Rift headstart client.
Really hoping DA2 isnt as dumbed down as people are saying, if so then The Witcher 2 becomes instantly more appealing.

YouSavedMyLife

Dcully wrote: »

Hmm busy nights downloading me thinks, this demo and Rift headstart client.
Really hoping DA2 isnt as dumbed down as people are saying, if so then The Witcher 2 becomes instantly more appealing.

If you loved DA:O and are looking for more of the same then yeah its dumbed down. If not then i suppose its a decent game for what its trying to be, as far as I can tell from the demo. But they defo pulled a Mass Effect 2 on this series. Just hope they didnt sabotage the RPG elements and its just the combat that has changed. They seem to be trying to appeal to the console generation with what they did with Mass Effect 2 and what they are doing with DA2.

Mr Freeze

The combat definitely seems a bit dumbed down and it seems to be really fast too.

The inventory is locked in the demo, but it looks similar to DA: O. The character screens too seem intact, there is a lot of detail there, It doesn't appear to be streamlined too much, and the skill tree interface is there, and improved too from what I can see.

The visual style of the game was been significantly changed in my opinion. Everyones armor is all chunky and square looking and the world and the characters seem like they are ever so slightly cell shaded. It just looks a bit cartoony compared to the 1st game. Its not a bad thing, but its gonna take a bit of getting used to.

The Demo was very linear, but the 1st game was fairly linear too, hopefully in the full game, the worlds open up a bit more.

I sunk over 100 hours into DA: O and I never even got around to playing Awakenings.

Dcully

Hmm not impressed at all, graphics are very nice but apart from that everything else was shallow to me.
The combat is now just hack and slash,i really hate the new skill tree interface its just so consoley and obviously designed for a joypad.
They have definitely done a ME2 on this,i doubt i will make a purchase.

Kiith

Why is everyone using Mass Effect 2 like a bad word? It was widely regarded as 2010's GOTY. Granted, they took some of the RPG out of it, but it was still an amazing game. Can we not enjoy it, even if the combat has been 'dumbed down'?

Mr Freeze

I think its just cause ME2 RPG elements were significantly "streamlined", I don't think anybody can say that it was a bad game, it was anything but.

Kiith

Any speeding up of the combat from Dragon Age is a good thing in my opinion. It was awfully slow at times, and having a melee character was a massive pain when trying to hit enemies that were on the move.

I still absolutely loved it mind.

sink

I will have to play it and judge for myself. I loved DA:O and ME1 & 2 and imo the combat in ME2 was far better than in ME1.

I didn't have a problem with the combat in DA:O, it had a nostalgic feel harping back to the infinity engine which I quiet liked, however even if DA2 is streamlined like ME2 I might still really like it. It doesn't have to be near the same combat system from the first game for me to appreciate it.

Far more important imo is the levelling system and character customisation. And from what I've read it hasn't been dumbed down/streamlined, that was ME2's main fault.

Mr Freeze

True, speeding up the combat is probably not a bad thing either, it just appears at 1st look a little arcadey.

I wouldn't agree that the game was gone all God of War, as its hasn't got combo's and all that crap, it the same as DAO but faster, and I think that press A once to target and attack and stay attacking is gone, I had to keep pressing A to attack.

I find it hard to believe that they could have removed that, looking at the menu's, tactics and all that from DAO is still there.

My biggest gripe is the change in visual style, looks a bit more like Fable than like Dragon Age.

As for Hawke, its cool that we have a character that speaks now and I like the conversation wheel especially since choosing what would normally be a neutral response is a witty response. But Hawke did seem a bit bland, no doubt in the full game we will probably grow to like him, but I was kinda expecting a Sir Shepard type character if you get me!

wes

Enjoyed the demo. The graphics were a big improvement, and I liked that things were much faster.

humanji

Kiith wrote: »

Why is everyone using Mass Effect 2 like a bad word? It was widely regarded as 2010's GOTY. Granted, they took some of the RPG out of it, but it was still an amazing game. Can we not enjoy it, even if the combat has been 'dumbed down'?

It's a case of ME2 losing a lot of what made ME1 great. It's still a good game, but a lot of people that the game felt so different.

I haven't had a chance to have a go at the demo yet, so I can't comment on it. But I do have a fear that it's almost heralding then end of PC rpg's if Bioware are making things more console and action orientated. I know that's an overly dramatic thing to say, but I'm in a funny mood today, so there :P

I have severe problems with the storyline in ME2 (the side stories were brilliant, it's just that the main one seemed like an after thought), so I'm really hoping that they haven't done the same to DA2. I don't mind a faster, action combat system. It's the RPG and story elements that made the original great, I'd just hate for them to lose that.

richymcdermott

just finished the demo there, loved it combat alittle mashy at times but everything i love bout the first seems its the same with 2 , might pick a female this time around good aul lesbian scene :P