Early Dragon Age 2 player reviews are pretty bad...

[Spurmwhale]

i've been trying to get a feel for it since i'm very reluctant to buy it even tho i buy almost all new, big rpg's, i wasn't a big fan of Origins so i've been holding off. The official reviews aren't credible imo with these huge mass marketed games by big companies feeding them money for good advertising, so i was focusing on player reviews and there seems to be a big difference between the official reviews and reader. Gamespots reader reviews are at about 7.5 right now which is unusually low. IGN reader scores are giving it a 6.0 so far. I could've sworn PC gamer used to have reader scores but i can't find them. Biggest criticisms i'm reading is about the combat, no expllring/adventure or open world play, and it feeling rushed with supposedly stripped down customizing/inventory?

Anyone thats played it care to give their impressions so far agreeing or disagreeing? i'm curious where the truth lies...

[moaradin]

Thats because people just want more of the same. If you go in expecting origins, you'll probably be disappointed. As a game, its great.

[Aildrik]

Thats because people just want more of the same. If you go in expecting origins, you'll probably be disappointed. As a game, its great.

I don't think players expect more of the same, but they certainly expect the "formula" to remain pretty consistent. This is what got other companies in trouble in the past (see Ultima series after Ultima 7, etc).

[Vileplague]

I played the first one and i loved it all the way, for the second game DA2 well it's the same background for the base of the story but the game is simply all changed.
First of all the combat is more like Diablo or any other RPG opposed to the combat system that the first game used to have which was awesome, and as you progress in the game it's like you are playing the same fight all over again and again and again, there is simply nothing that makes a differance rather than the story line and progressing forward.
The skills that characters used to have like lockpicking, trap making and sort are all gone or incorporated into the basic stats meaning if you wanna lockpick anything with your rogue you have to level a stat (dexterity i think) opposed to leveling the skill lockpicking.
The graphics on the other hand is simply great (if you have a GPU that can take on the DX11 and you download the pack containing the high res textures)

All in all if you love a good story in a RPG then you'll enjoy this game coz the story and the characters are well made but still know that the combat system will be completly borked as it will boid down to having the feeling like you are always killing the same 10 people over and over again.

[moaradin]

The formula is pretty much the same. Combat plays exactly the same with animation improvements. It's really fast paced, and all the tactical things are still in the game. You'll probably end up pausing the game more than you did in origins because of this.

The UI is pretty much the biggest change. Although all the features from origins are still in the UI, I don't really think it required changing. I think people are just used to origins and don't want change. I've been playing for 13 hours how, and I have enjoyed the game a lot. My wardens story is over, and its time for the champions.

[Aiphares]

hm i played a few minutes now and its just like Mass effect 2 to Mass effect 1

it playes more action based, fast combat... its fun actually and like you i wasnt a big fan of Origins

BUT! somehow i get bad lags on very high.. around 11 fps.. on high its 30 fps but i cant understand why as Crysis 2 runs on 40FPS on max, my pc should be able to handle DA2, especially because the graphics arent really HR

[Trollsbane]

I'm very much enjoying the game. AI is much improved, as well as graphics for people that want that. Combat is different, but really not so different from Origions imo. The story (so far) is great. Npc character interactions with eachother are still good. Side quests seem relevant and are not tedious.

My only gripes are that some hands are strange. Bethany has the hands of an old hag. And I think they skimped on the facial expessions, especially considering all the closeups. They are much better than the evil demo that should never been released, but still are nowhere near where they are for TOR.

Overall, I think it's better than Origions.

[eucatastrophe]

It's not an RPG.
It's a streamlined console shooter with "RPG" tacked on.

Not that that's a bad thing; it's just that many DAO players (and Bioware customers) wanted an RPG as Bioware is good at those, and what they got was Dragon Effect.

[moaradin]

It's not an RPG.
It's a streamlined console shooter with "RPG" tacked on.

Not that that's a bad thing; it's just that many DAO players (and Bioware customers) wanted an RPG as Bioware is good at those, and what they got was Dragon Effect.

Define RPG. And what hat are you pulling "console shooter" from?

[Trollsbane]

It's not an RPG.
It's a streamlined console shooter with "RPG" tacked on.

Not that that's a bad thing; it's just that many DAO players (and Bioware customers) wanted an RPG as Bioware is good at those, and what they got was Dragon Effect.

This makes no sense to me at all, but sure, have that opinion. It plays almost exactly as Origions did in the rpg regard.

[Tic Tacs]

I didn't like changes they made in DA2 as a DA:O player. They made everything easy and looks like the game was oriented more towards consoles. You know one of these games that looks PC like but feel like console dumbed down version. However, DA2 is a good game and if you are a fan of DA:O I don't see why you wouldn't like playing DA2. I like Mass Effect style dialogs.

[moaradin]

The level of dialogue choices are about the same as well, but aren't so obvious like in origins. Make sure you use the investigate option because it does open up new dialogue that can change the outcome, unlike in Mass Effect.

[exstarcraftfan]

Bioware said that Dragon Age is spiritual successor of Baldurs Gate series.No wonder that Baldurs Gate fans are not happy if they turn it into Mass Effect in fantasy setting.The game can be good but lots of players will be angry when they get something else instead of what they expected(especially when the market has 0 comparable games to Baldurs Gates except Dragon Age 1).

---------- Post added 2011-03-09 at 05:17 PM ----------

The level of dialogue choices are about the same as well, but aren't so obvious like in origins.

Arent so obvious?lol

The conversation wheel is the main reason why the game feels so dumbed down.

[zox]

A quick question to the players:
What difficulty are you playing on now (opposed to what you played DAO with)?
For those who play on the hardest setting: is friendly fire back?

[moaradin]

Arent so obvious?lol

The conversation wheel is the main reason why the game feels so dumbed down.

Because things like this is so complex

1. I'm not putting up with this![Kill Him]

[Darkdruidelf]

Is it just me who thought the Origins battle system was awful? That alone kinda ruined the game for me.

[moaradin]

I'm with you. The combat in origins was very clunky and slow. If your character started an animation, you have to wait the whole 5 seconds before you move again.

Thats why I hated the scripted killing blows. While cool the first time, it pissed me off that my character would take the time to do a cool kill while I have other npcs beating on me.

[Deleted]

A quick question to the players:
What difficulty are you playing on now (opposed to what you played DAO with)?
For those who play on the hardest setting: is friendly fire back?

http://www.xfire.com/games/dage2/Dra...I/live_videos/

There was someone playing on nightmare earlier, didn't look out for FF though and only watched about 2min because I didn't want to spoil it for when it's finally released here in the UK on Friday ^^

[Xandrellas]

hm i played a few minutes now and its just like Mass effect 2 to Mass effect 1

it playes more action based, fast combat... its fun actually and like you i wasnt a big fan of Origins

BUT! somehow i get bad lags on very high.. around 11 fps.. on high its 30 fps but i cant understand why as Crysis 2 runs on 40FPS on max, my pc should be able to handle DA2, especially because the graphics arent really HR

Are you using an nvidia card? There's some wonkiness with the current production drivers. Try the beta ones off of nvidias site.
It's a known issue and people are raising a major stink over it.

[JustintimeSS]

I played DA:O and the combat turned me off. I love ME combat however so this new DA combat is sexy to me.

I do have one giant fucking complaint:

The lack of interaction with EVERYTHING. There are millions of books, people, doors, junk, tables and items EVERYWHERE! YET I CANT CLICK OR INTERACT WITH THEM. Making me feel less and less a part of the world around me.

Right now its like this:
Wander around the city, look for sparkles and watch your minimap for doors you can enter... BECAUSE EVERYTHING/ONE ELSE CANNOT BE INTERACTED WITH.