New
#61
Well I just finished the game this afternoon and have to say I rather enjoyed it, flaws and all. Let me address these quotes first.....
I've heard the complaints about the combat system being dumbed down, and have made mention myself, but I also feel that this was for the better as the combat system in DA:O wasn't exactly easy and intuitive itself. To I think the system is easier to use and a lot less awkward, especially the tactics system. The game flowed a lot better with this one as opposed to DA:O's stop every 5 seconds to adjust stuff. If that's dumbing down the game, well....
Honestly I don't know I feel about the loss of not being able to customize your companions gear. Hmmmm.... they did the same thing in Mass Effect 2 with regards to customizing things. I guess this is the new cheaper way to do things and cut corners.
As far as some of the areas being the same, yeah that did get boring after a while.
I'm hoping that's a misprint as I can't see how you missed here in DA2. She plays a major part of the game.
I thought the Elves looked horrendous. The artist there must have some type of fantasy about long pointy ears. Really???
Though I don't agree with everything here Discuss Dragon Age 2 there are some good points in it nonetheless.
Anyway I thought the game was rather good overall.
Performance wise the game ran great UNTIL after the Qunari war. After that I had strange slowdowns and a couple of hard lock ups. I found installing the 11.4 Catalyst Preview drivers fixed whatever issue I was having. I ran the game on ultra-high with the texture pack.
The sound issues are a mess, especially when the characters were speaking - they sounded like they were in a cave. Also the sound of the voices tended to fluctuate between high and low - at times you could barely hear them speak.
I also thought the game was a bit too loud. The sound effects were nice during combat but the loud explosions tended to be a bit much.
Graphics - I really didn't have too much of an issue here considering the game's environment but I do have the say the colors and detail were rather nice with the texture pack added. Unfortunately you needed to run the game on "Ultra High" with a DX11 capable card to enjoy those eye popping graphics.
Gameplay - Overall I did find that the game was easier the beat then DA:O - the only two areas I struggled in was the Bone Pit with the High Dragon - I leveled up one, came back and beat it with ease. The final fight - had to replay the entire level to get the companion I needed to win.
Speaking of "required companions" - I kind of felt like I had to keep a certain companion or life would be very difficult in the end game.
At any rate the bottom line for me is that I enjoyed the game and am definitely looking forward to Dragon Age 3. I'll also be playing the game over from a certain point to change some of my less than steller decisions just to see the different outcomes. Good game nonetheless :)
Questions/Debates?
BTW I played as a Rogue, same as I did in DA:O
Thanks.
The big changes that bother me include : not picking a race, the spells and skills, and the over all feel of the interface and my surroundings and interactions. is it me or did blood Mage loose some of its edge? im finding it a bit weird. also, what team set up's do you guys have? mines blood Mage (me) fenris (tank) anders (healer and support) and im switching on and off between Isabella and Sebastian as a rouge.
I think Mage is much much better actually. The AE thing not hitting your teamates is alone a huge advatage. Makes Mage life far better. I had Aveline tank, me mage dps, then Switch Fenris/Sebastian, Anders for most of my mage time. I never used Merril or Isabella unless I absolutely had to for their companion quests.
Then on my Warrior which i just finished tonight I used Fenris, Me wardps, Merril, then Isabella/Sebastian most of the time I ran with no healer and just used tons of pots and poisons was interesting.
Well now that I've played this game 3 times through with all classes, I have to say the mage is probably the most interesting, rogue is fun to but then you are robbed of Isabella who is worth having around if for nothing more than the conversation she gives when you're just running around out of combat.
I have to admit this version grew on me, I started out rather disappointed, the recycled dungeons did start to get on my nerves about half way through the second play through though. After some thought I'm thinking they went with that to keep install size down which I'm glad for with some games pushing 10 and 15 gigs now.
I didn't like having to download my dx11 textures separately, and it took me awhile to adjust to the less gritty feel of the new game over the original.
The characterization is some of the best I've ever seen in any game though.
One thing I did miss was being able to gear up my companions the upgrade system kept my bags from overflowing but also kind of disappointed my gear oriented side that wants to max out all the gear as part of the experience.
I did hate that the end goes down essentially the same regardless of you choices though.
On my warrior I mainly used Varric Anders and Bethany, then Isabela after Bethany leaves. Varric is like, mandatory to have at all times if you're not a rogue, he's just too good.
yeah, I don't think I dropped varric but for one mission the entire 3 plays through. Didn't find myself really needing anders though, I wound up using merrill as a debilitator, especially with warrior if you go reaver you shouldn't really need heals. The potions and devour will basically keep you going through just about anything.