Dragon Age 2 - Catch All

Blind_Evil wrote:
Mantid wrote:

I have to say, of all the complaints people are having from the trailers for the Dragon Age anime... the music has become my biggest turn off has become the music.

I didn't even know they were making a DA anime. Looks pretty rad to me, but I'm not shocked. Nerds don't like when other sorts of nerds horn in on their turf.

Is that from the Anime or did someone hack into David Gaider's brain and copy the results to youtube

stevenmack wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:
Mantid wrote:

I have to say, of all the complaints people are having from the trailers for the Dragon Age anime... the music has become my biggest turn off has become the music.

I didn't even know they were making a DA anime. Looks pretty rad to me, but I'm not shocked. Nerds don't like when other sorts of nerds horn in on their turf.

Is that from the Anime or did someone hack into David Gaider's brain and copy the results to youtube :P

Can't it be both? Let's get someone in here to translate the credits.

Blind_Evil wrote:

I didn't even know they were making a DA anime. Looks pretty rad to me, but I'm not shocked. Nerds don't like when other sorts of nerds horn in on their turf.

I think the only thing it's missing is a buster sword and some spikey hair They even dragged in Tetsuya Nomura's favorite rock star for the song!

(I haven't gotten around to actually playing the real DA games, but the setting definitely intrigues me. So I'm curious to see where this anime goes.)

It looks like GameStop and Best Buy have reduced the price of DA 2 for Xbox and PS3 to $20. Based on the gushing at this site, as well as the price point, I decided to pick this up, even though I had issues with DA Origins and never finished it. I hope the community's #9 game holds up :).

I installed the texture packs and patched to 1.03 last night after picking this up from Amazon for $6.00. The music at the launch screen alone has me super excited to jump into this, but I had to get some sleep last night. I'm looking forward to playing this over the weekend after I finish off the mystery befalling the town of Scoggins, MN in Puzzle Agent 2.

Aristophan wrote:

It looks like GameStop and Best Buy have reduced the price of DA 2 for Xbox and PS3 to $20. Based on the gushing at this site, as well as the price point, I decided to pick this up, even though I had issues with DA Origins and never finished it. I hope the community's #9 game holds up :).

Depending on what your issues were with DA:Origins, you might find yourself really, really pleased.

Aristophan wrote:

It looks like GameStop and Best Buy have reduced the price of DA 2 for Xbox and PS3 to $20. Based on the gushing at this site, as well as the price point, I decided to pick this up, even though I had issues with DA Origins and never finished it. I hope the community's #9 game holds up :).

I'm nearly finished with DA 2 right now and I think from a writing and quest mechanics perspective it's the best BioWare game to date--not having the fate of the world at stake really changes the core dynamic of the game and I feel makes for a better story experience. Also, unlike basically all other BioWare games there's less often a binary good/evil decision to be made (definite Witcher inspiration here). The companion relationships skew between friendship and rivalry, both of which actually affect the game in interesting ways. Crafting is tremendously streamlined, which is a welcome relief after DA:A, and the skill trees and such work much better than the smorgasbord approach of DA:O.

There's evidence that the design portion of the game was rushed in that there's a lot of area reuse. Not so much outdoor areas, since that's expected and makes sense, but a lot of quests seem to end in the same tunnel or sewer or whatever (makes you wonder how all those different factions hung out in the same place without getting in each other's way), and there's only a handful of layouts for homes and dungeons so even if you enter what should be a different interior location you'll often find it to be identical to others you've explored except with different doors locked and with different set dressing laying about.

During combat the enemies tend to spawn in groups, typically dropping from the sky or simply appearing. This isn't as believable as how things worked in DA:O, but BioWare games have never been about fantastic tactical combat anyway. I suggest playing on the default difficulty setting so you aren't stuck pausing much during combat and so can focus on the story, which is the interesting part of the game anyway. It also makes your feel even more super-awesome, which seems to be the goal of the redesigned skill set as well (big flashy attacks for all classes, etc). Then the only thing to consider is that you should keep some attacks with a long cooldown in reserve for the second wave so you aren't left flat-footed when they appear. If there's a third wave, any skill used for the first will be ready to go again.

Overall, I think this was a refreshing change from the usual BioWare formula and am entirely willing to give them a pass on the few areas of complaint. If you really really like the Baldur's Gate format this may not work for you, but for me it addressed most of my issues with those games without adding negative bits that really hurt the experience.

I played the demo when it came out and I had so many problems with it that DA2 went from a day one purchased to a $10 purchase many months later. After actually playing it almost all of the problems I had were still valid and present, but the part I missed when I played the demo was that it they didn't matter. The game is just fun. There may be all kinds of features I want back and features I want to remove but it doesn't change the fact that I had a great time while playing it. It's also a really nice length for a game of this nature. RPGs don't all need to be 40+ hours.

There's a bit of gameplay discussion up thread, but for the sake of new readers and skimmers, I'd like to say that IMO, the gameplay design (as a combat game) of DA2 is objectively superior in several specific aspects compared to DAO (and I'm open to discussing specifics). It's not a Baldur's Gate kind of combat game, but it's better at being what it is, than DAO was as a Baldur's Gate game.

2011 is behind us, some memories have faded and I'm looking to attack my pile at some point after I've had my fill of the holiday games. I think DA2 is at the top of that list. Cracked the final act and suddenly lost all motivation to see it through. I'm interested to see how I feel about the mechanics after all this time. And the story... I hope I remember enough of it to care when I resume my save!

Maclintok wrote:

I hope I remember enough of it to care when I resume my save!

A quick recap: Don't trust the blood mages. Or really anyone else.

In regards to the music from the anime: it could have been Marilyn Manson screaming "THIS IS THE NEW SHIIIIIT!", or 30 Seconds to Mars sounding inappropriately happy with all them blood splattered faces.

Seriously, someone at EA/Bioware needs to discover Blind Guardian. If they can make a bad ass song for Sacred 2, they can do it for Dragon Age.

As for the anime itself, I can't say whether I'm interested or not. I did find it amusing that some parts of that video actually looked worse than the game itself.

ccesarano wrote:

In regards to the music from the anime: it could have been Marilyn Manson screaming "THIS IS THE NEW SHIIIIIT!", or 30 Seconds to Mars sounding inappropriately happy with all them blood splattered faces.

Seriously, someone at EA/Bioware needs to discover Blind Guardian. If they can make a bad ass song for Sacred 2, they can do it for Dragon Age.

As for the anime itself, I can't say whether I'm interested or not. I did find it amusing that some parts of that video actually looked worse than the game itself.

BG isn't in the spotlight enough for big, decent games. C'mon. I saw them live in the biggest city in the state, and maybe 300 people showed up. They're just not a presence in America.

That song was the best part of Sacred 2 though. I had been disappointed in a lot of their albums until that one. "Wheel of Time" is a particularly great track.

See, I feel like Nightfall in Middle-Earth, Night at the Opera and A Twist in the Myth are their strongest albums, emphasis on the first two. Though I do like their latest album, it is clearly an attempt to appease everyone that keeps demanding more live-friendly tracks. It's good, but it's clearly not their best work.

But that is a separate argument for another time.

I don't know about getting major bands, though. Isn't the Sonic Adventure series known for getting more obscure artists to do the music? Or the Sonic series in general? I just found out that a band I recently discovered, All Ends, had the two vocalists do a performance for Sonic and the Black Knight.

Ah well. Such is life.

There's evidence that the design portion of the game was rushed in that there's a lot of area reuse. Not so much outdoor areas, since that's expected and makes sense, but a lot of quests seem to end in the same tunnel or sewer or whatever (makes you wonder how all those different factions hung out in the same place without getting in each other's way), and there's only a handful of layouts for homes and dungeons so even if you enter what should be a different interior location you'll often find it to be identical to others you've explored except with different doors locked and with different set dressing laying about.

Maybe this "explanation" might help:

IMAGE(http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lu09xsJ8Gj1r3h9y1o1_500.png)

KaterinLHC wrote:

A Great Pic

Ah-haha! Brilliant! That reading works for me!

ccesarano wrote:

See, I feel like Nightfall in Middle-Earth, Night at the Opera and A Twist in the Myth are their strongest albums, emphasis on the first two. Though I do like their latest album, it is clearly an attempt to appease everyone that keeps demanding more live-friendly tracks. It's good, but it's clearly not their best work.

But that is a separate argument for another time.

I don't know about getting major bands, though. Isn't the Sonic Adventure series known for getting more obscure artists to do the music? Or the Sonic series in general? I just found out that a band I recently discovered, All Ends, had the two vocalists do a performance for Sonic and the Black Knight.

Ah well. Such is life.

Honestly, does anyone *care* which band does a song over the ending credits when buying a game? It's just a useless marketing gimmick. If they're going to stick a song there, I'd much rather they picked a band -- or at the very least a song -- I'm not already familiar with to avoid any baggage, like they did with Mass Effect.

Also, it really doesn't have to be rawk or metal. I thought the Florence + The Machine version they did for Dragon Age 2 worked reasonably well. Certainly a lot better than something in the vein of that dreadful 30 Seconds to Mars song they had in the first game would have been.

Kittylexy and I are literally lol'ing at that image, Lara

She says that she wants to cosplay as *you* at PAX now!

ccesarano wrote:

In regards to the music from the anime: it could have been Marilyn Manson screaming "THIS IS THE NEW SHIIIIIT!", or 30 Seconds to Mars sounding inappropriately happy with all them blood splattered faces.

But how well does Benny Hill go with it?

Tanglebones wrote:

Kittylexy and I are literally lol'ing at that image, Lara

She says that she wants to cosplay as *you* at PAX now!

Only if I can cosplay as her. We'll be the best ones there.

shoptroll wrote:
ccesarano wrote:

In regards to the music from the anime: it could have been Marilyn Manson screaming "THIS IS THE NEW SHIIIIIT!", or 30 Seconds to Mars sounding inappropriately happy with all them blood splattered faces.

But how well does Benny Hill go with it?

Or Guile's theme.

10 hours in and aside from the re used maps and some lack of polish in regards to clipping etc this is a fantastic RPG!

Just into Act 2. The negativity on the web about this one has me extremely puzzled, and I loved DA:O.

The worst part of this one is the horrible spawning at times, but I can live with that.

Certainly 3rd best RPG of the year after Witcher and Skyrim, what a year for RPG's!

MadGav wrote:

10 hours in and aside from the re used maps and some lack of polish in regards to clipping etc this is a fantastic RPG!

Just into Act 2. The negativity on the web about this one has me extremely puzzled, and I loved DA:O.

The worst part of this one is the horrible spawning at times, but I can live with that.

Certainly 3rd best RPG of the year after Witcher and Skyrim, what a year for RPG's!

I think it's mostly how it turned out compared to DA:O. The first game gripped you from the start. It took you across the country, visiting a variety of terrains.

DA2 did none of that. You're locked in Kirkwall and a little of the surrounding area. The story takes a while to get rolling; the first Act introduces the start of all the stories in later acts, but not all of them are obvious or seemingly important.

Then there was the poor technical side. The reused maps, weird spawning, and other bugs.

DA2 was a good game. I did enjoy my time in it. It just isn't what DA:O deserved.

On a personal gripe, they completely destroyed the ending to my Dalish elf warden's ending too!

Regarding the ending:

Spoiler:

Perhaps this part was broken for me, but after the initial rush of like 8 Templars, Orsino says he can't take it any more and turns himself into a Harvester. My party is locked into the area with him and maybe 2 random Templars and he attacks us. Does he just lose control because the magic has turned him into a ravening beast? And why does the game have him attack only me while a bunch of Templars look on outside the glowy barrier? It was an easy fight, but seemed kind of stupid that it happened at all.

MadGav wrote:

The negativity on the web about this one has me extremely puzzled, and I loved DA:O.

You and me both, man. I understand the complaints regarding the lack of scope (the negative version of praise for something being more personal), and the map reuse is a shame. Unfortunately games can't realistically expect five years in the oven anymore like DA:O got. The market (retailers, publishers, and consumers) doesn't allow for it.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Unfortunately games can't realistically expect five years in the oven anymore like DA:O got. The market (retailers, publishers, and consumers) doesn't allow for it.

Skyrim begs to differ.

DA2 is a very good game but honestly there's no excuse for the map reuse. There's a rule of thumb in software that you can pick 2 out of fast, good, and cheap. With the maps they chose to cut good and that responsibility falls squarely on Bioware/EA and not the market.

gregrampage wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

Unfortunately games can't realistically expect five years in the oven anymore like DA:O got. The market (retailers, publishers, and consumers) doesn't allow for it.

Skyrim begs to differ.

I don't really know what you mean by that. Skyrim wasn't developed over 5 years. I don't present the tight schedule as an excuse, just a reason.

I blame the market, which does include Bioware and EA. Consumers ignore too many good new games for publishers to continually develop and push new IP instead of rushing out sequels as was the case here.

A two-year cycle would have been better for DA2, but originally they'd planned on ME3 being their fall RPG hit. Not wanting to cannibalize their sales, they pushed DA2 to market early. It sucks, sure, but I stand by what I've continually said regarding the subject: I play a lot of games, and I prefer a very good Bioware game every two years to a near-perfect one every five.

MadGav wrote:

10 hours in and aside from the re used maps and some lack of polish in regards to clipping etc this is a fantastic RPG!

Just into Act 2. The negativity on the web about this one has me extremely puzzled, and I loved DA:O.

The worst part of this one is the horrible spawning at times, but I can live with that.

Certainly 3rd best RPG of the year after Witcher and Skyrim, what a year for RPG's!

Act 2 of DA2 has definitely some of my favourite moments of gaming in general. Unfortunately, I think that they made the end of it too good and the finale of the game itself simply can't measure up to it.

Slacker1913 wrote:

Act 2 of DA2 has definitely some of my favourite moments of gaming in general. Unfortunately, I think that they made the end of it too good and the finale of the game itself simply can't measure up to it.

I agree completely. I enjoyed the last half of act 2 a lot more than I did anything else in the game.

Blind_Evil wrote:
gregrampage wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

Unfortunately games can't realistically expect five years in the oven anymore like DA:O got. The market (retailers, publishers, and consumers) doesn't allow for it.

Skyrim begs to differ.

I don't really know what you mean by that. Skyrim wasn't developed over 5 years. I don't present the tight schedule as an excuse, just a reason.

I blame the market, which does include Bioware and EA. Consumers ignore too many good new games for publishers to continually develop and push new IP instead of rushing out sequels as was the case here.

A two-year cycle would have been better for DA2, but originally they'd planned on ME3 being their fall RPG hit. Not wanting to cannibalize their sales, they pushed DA2 to market early. It sucks, sure, but I stand by what I've continually said regarding the subject: I play a lot of games, and I prefer a very good Bioware game every two years to a near-perfect one every five.

You're right, Skyrim was only 3 years of full on production but they started thinking/conceptualizing a couple years before that. It's still a long production cycle/full scale product that isn't watered down to appeal to a wide market. I agree with that last part entirely though, I'm just saying that I don't think it's the market's fault. People buy good games. Skyrim took years to produce and it's selling like crazy.