Why do people hate DA2?

[PhilCosby]

Idk. My roommate thought it was rather good. Some people like to push their opinion over as fact. We call these people "fools."

[Clockwork Pinkie]

Idk. My roommate thought it was rather good. Some people like to push their opinion over as fact. We call these people "fools."

Yea, my girlfriend loves it, loves that Anders guy. To each their own. I guess they try to voice their opinion as fact because majority of the people that have played both DA:O and DA2 were severely letdown, and that calling it bad would be a fact because majority of the people agree with them, and such a small amount do not agree so and do not care what they think. People have Skyrim now though, and don't even think about the Dragon Age series anyway.

[obdigore]

And yet Nadia, I don't think the 'majority' of people that have played both feel letdown. You just only ever see the angry whiny people making long posts about what it 'should have been' or 'could be'.

You never see a new thread that says 'DA2, I was pretty satisfied. It could have been better but I certainly enjoyed the game!'.

Vocal Minority.

[Oneirophobia]

I loooved the story and the characters. The DLC was much better than the actual game, though.

[mystik]

I actually liked the combat, but again it was more of a spinoff. they should have toted it as a spinoff and not a sequel. the characters weren't terrible and neither was the story. I liked it, but yeah it could have been a lot better.

what went wrong?

reused areas. you stay in the same city for most of the game. the caves and a lot of the areas look way too similar.

forced homosexuality. it wasn't nearly as bad in DA1. Anders was completely ruined. he went from a cat loving bro in awakening to a whiny, emo guy I couldn't stand but needed for heals. he'd get pissed if you just wanted to be friends.

the bugs. my main issue and why I put off finishing it for a while. most were fixed in patches, but there was some pretty bad bugs around release, fucking up combat and big story parts of the game.

I also didn't like how there was so much time skips, and the story jumped around.

besides that it just didn't feel as epic as DA1.

I do think they did some things right like the voiced main character and some combat was more fun.

[PizzaSHARK]

Because Bioware made it. I don't think they make good games.

Not since they stopped working with Black Isle, no. Well, NWN was pretty good, but as I recall, Black Isle had a big hand in that game, but was exempted from it at the last second by some kind of legal thing. Unfortunately, that lead to the failure of Black Isle, too.

[Berteh]

I actually thought the game was a lot of fun! (seriously!)

I played it on console and the mix between dynasty warrior type of gameplay + pause and issue order and switching character is very refreshing

Did you ever play DA:O?

If not, I can see why you liked it.

If you did...... You mustn't make very good comparisons

I can name every single companion from DA:O, yet for some strange reason, I cannot recall a single companion name from DA2!

[Blznsmri]

Same city over and over. Lacked story. Felt rushed.

To be completely honest, I don't care for the DA series at all, but 2 was just baaaaad....

[Frozen Death Knight]

I played the demo and saw some of the footage of this game. Didn't really engage me the same way as "Dragon Age: Origins" did. A lot of it felt inferior to the original and nothing really stood out from it, which was a real shame, since I love "DA: Origins".

[PizzaSHARK]

Did you ever play DA:O?

If not, I can see why you liked it.

If you did...... You mustn't make very good comparisons

I can name every single companion from DA:O, yet for some strange reason, I cannot recall a single companion name from DA2!

Origins was pretty lousy, too. Like the Baldur's Gate games without the tactical complexity and without the interesting plot. Character development wasn't bad, but you can just read a transcription on GameFAQs or a wiki for that.

[ambigiouslynamed]

I actually liked the combat, but again it was more of a spinoff. they should have toted it as a spinoff and not a sequel. the characters weren't terrible and neither was the story. I liked it, but yeah it could have been a lot better.

what went wrong?

reused areas. you stay in the same city for most of the game. the caves and a lot of the areas look way too similar.

forced homosexuality. it wasn't nearly as bad in DA1. Anders was completely ruined. he went from a cat loving bro in awakening to a whiny, emo guy I couldn't stand but needed for heals. he'd get pissed if you just wanted to be friends.

the bugs. my main issue and why I put off finishing it for a while. most were fixed in patches, but there was some pretty bad bugs around release, fucking up combat and big story parts of the game.

I also didn't like how there was so much time skips, and the story jumped around.

besides that it just didn't feel as epic as DA1.

I do think they did some things right like the voiced main character and some combat was more fun.

im not seeing the Anders=gay not to mention the lovely "Forced" homosexuality. you consider anders gay for being what? emo? yeah. no homophobia here folks, none at all....

[Cairhiin]

Because Bioware made it. I don't think they make good games.

Are you joking? BioWare has made Baldur's Gate I and II, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origin, Mass Effect I and II all of which are excellent titles. Then they've made some others which have been a bit less great like Icewind Dale (still very decent) and Dragon Age 2 which was bad as it was too much railroading and terrible combat for a RPG so it got boring.

[PizzaSHARK]

Are you joking? BioWare has made Baldur's Gate I and II, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origin, Mass Effect I and II all of which are excellent titles. Then they've made some others which have been a bit less great like Icewind Dale (still very decent) and Dragon Age 2 which was bad as it was too much railroading and terrible combat for a RPG so it got boring.

BG games, Torment, and IWD games were all made in association with Black Isle. Black Isle also had a very heavy hand in NWN, though they didn't get credit. I believe KOTOR was all BioWare, as was Jade Empire.

Everything since KOTOR has been steadily declining in quality. The Mass Effect games weren't that great, DA:O was like Baldur's Gate without the fun, and nothing else they've made since then has been worth crap, including TOR.

[OrcsRLame]

im not seeing the Anders=gay not to mention the lovely "Forced" homosexuality. you consider anders gay for being what? emo? yeah. no homophobia here folks, none at all....

He's bisexual. And regardless of your character's gender, he comes on to you after x amount of conversations with you. If you tell him you're not interested, even if you're male, you gain like 20 rivalry with him, which is a significant setback if you wish to max his friendship.

It has nothing to do with being homophobic and everything to do with the game saying, "fuck every party member you plan to use or lose deeps."

---------- Post added 2012-01-12 at 12:31 PM ----------

A little thing I like to call "Bandwagon Syndrome" as 90% of the people I hear spouting "LOLOL WURST GAEM EVAR!!" when I ask them why they tell me, "oh I've not actually played it, it is just Bad." I.e Games that suffer - DA2, SW:TOR, MGS, Any Final fantasy game that isn't FF7 or to lesser Extent FF6

"Bandwagon Syndrome" Is most commonly a Disease caused by a certain group of people on a forum called /v/.

"Bandwagon Syndrome" Also works both ways, with people shouting how amazing a certain game is, just because others like it, without having played it themselves. I.E. FF7 or any Zelda game made after N64

You should read the thread. What you say may be true in other places, such as metacritic, but in this thread people have made their own arguments for why they don't like the game, and many of them have valid points.

---------- Post added 2012-01-12 at 12:35 PM ----------

Yea, my girlfriend loves it, loves that Anders guy. To each their own. I guess they try to voice their opinion as fact because majority of the people that have played both DA:O and DA2 were severely letdown, and that calling it bad would be a fact because majority of the people agree with them, and such a small amount do not agree so and do not care what they think. People have Skyrim now though, and don't even think about the Dragon Age series anyway.

I don't think anyone here is trying to voice their opinions as fact. The OP asked why people hate DA2, people that hate DA2 responded with why they hate the game.

Video games are a form of entertainment. Anyone trying to say that their opinion is fact concerning the quality of a game is acting very foolishly, because different people like different things. And aside from the technical aspects of a game, such as bugs, and graphical quality, there are very few ways to measure a game objectively.

So any discussion about why you did or didn't like a game is inherently subjective.

[Deleted]

I was very happy overall with DA:O, which I believe is also why I so strongly disliked DA2.

DA:O had alot of qualities I like in RPG's. A well figured character development, an interresting storyline and a diffrent combat system where you added a strong tactical appeal. It also had alot of flaws and is FAR from among my super-favorite-of-all-times games, but it's up in top 20 atleast. I'd have rated it approximately a 6/10. DA2 on the other hand had me frustrated, bored and overall I think I closed down the game atleast 50 times only to sigh and force myself through it, which in retrospect was a terrible call, as it made me hate the game further.

The main reasons I hated the game was the feelings it gave me. (Note; None of these are facts, they are merely MY oppinions)

* The storyline was boring, lackluster, horribly written.
* The reused content made it less of an experience to play through the game.
* The lack of character development made it feel hollow and I never felt my character actualy made an impact.
* The slight alterations in the combat system felt it was aimed towards the 'hack and slash' gameplay fans and removed the strategy element.
* Random encounters also felt forced to please action-craving players, which is cool if you're into that sort of thing, but made me feel like it was just.. waste.

And there are several more things that contribute to my dislike for DA2, These were just the strongest ones. Overall, i'd rate the game 1/10.

The only reason it earnt a single point was because I completed it despite being sick of it. The fact it encouraged me, if only by spite, to finish it and not just dump it away earns it that one point, but not much else positive can be said about it. You could argue it retained alot of good things from DA:O, but if we're gonna go down that road, it'll eventually just lead me to be more unhappy about not retaining more positive things, than happy they retained some.

[Deleted]

I have to say that my opinion on DA2 is 100% the same as Laurcus in his posts here !! It is kinda crap that the whole game is just centered around one very "boring" city (Kirkwall) and the whole Champions quest line seems a bit silly. The End is just really BAD and I was like "WTF was that?? I have just defeated this big baddie and suddenly the game is over -.-" and this without any good point that I would want to know how the story continues in DA3. Huge fail

Edit: 100 times the same caves and areas was also kinda annoying

[Jurwi]

I never understood it either. Most people I've seen seem to bitch about how combat and things were changed.

Though I don't get it, when compared to Origins the combat is essentially the same, you just have more controll over what your character does rather then the stiff automatics they have. Hell I enjoy combat alot more, they actually made mages fun to play as in this game.

Story was just as great, it didn't have a major badie to be fighting but I was fine with that especially since I enjoyed the last two bosses so much.

There were some flaws though, but it's understandable. DA2 seemed WAY too intent on telling us that there will be a sequel, leaving way too much out in the open that we don't see. Quest plots started and ended so abruptly that I had to do a double-take half the time to realize that the current plot was over. And the cameos got a little overdone half the time, (yay we see Zevran again... okay bye Zevran... that was quick)

(Though it is more of a personal gripe) I didn't like how they changed companion interaction. How they had camps so you can have little conversations to see what they thought, and it made it easier to follow how you were doing with them. With their locations all scattered, it wasn't as fun, and seeing as how you couldn't even talk to them unless it was a specific quest for them.

Combat is not the same. At all. It's gone from sort of "peaceful" oldschool RPG style combat to ADHD button smashing. I don't enjoy it, I much prefered the old, more tactical approach. You prefer the new one, good for you. A lot of us who grew up playing Baldur's Gate and other RPG's like that don't.

Overall the story was good, but just like you said, it left a lot of stuff out in the open. Too much if you ask me.

All in all it wasn't a BAD game in any sense, no. But the fact that personally at least, I expected an amazing sequel to the old, amazing Dragon Age. Then I got that hack'n'slash console port (which, again, wasn't a BAD game, but not even close to what I was expecting). Naturally, I was disappointed. And badly. But I can't say I hate the game, would be more like hating EA for turning the game into what it is.

P.S Oh yea totally forgot the ending was one of the worst I've seen in any RPG.

[Confined]

tl;dr version : Lame and boring storyline (REALLY linear and uninspired)
Dungeons Repeated and copy pasta'd everywhere
Your Choices are made more simple and not as subtle or gamechanging as Origins.
Good side or bad side of your companions .. what are we playing ME now? Though I can live with that if it wasn't for the other stuff.

Truth to be told though, Combat is alot better than Origins imo ofc.
They couldn't find an evil guy to be the game villain so they turned the qun'ari to bad guys..... and then threw the uninspired abomination magic blabla.

[Frozenbeef]

The best part of the game for me was the little enchantment dwarf randomly appearing in the dungeon then the camera pans to the right to reveal a frozen solid huge troll thing :S

other than that it felt like i was running through the same zones many times..... oh look a cave....wait... haven't i been here before? Oh nevermind instead of spiders it now has skeletons in it <3

[Deleted]

One thing:

No Storm of the Century.

BIOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE!

No but seriously, as many people above me have stated there are some major flaws throughout the game in their (and my) opinions.
-Very linear.
-Rehashed dungeons, rehashed dungeons everywhere.
-Terrible, terrible writing at times.

>SPOILER, HIGHLIGHT AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION<
When your sibling dies during Act I, I think it is, in that underground area. My god the writing, timing and execution was damn poor. I was literally sitting there with my jaw hanging, I couldn't believe that this could have been Bioware who had done this.

-Kirkwall is a neat city, but spending an 95% of the game inside and in the outskirts of that city becomes a little dry.
-The time-gaps, I understand they want the story to progress, but it just left me feeling disconnected from the story.
-Some shallow companions (Partially outweighed by the awesome ones too).

There are others I would like to mention, but this isn't supposed to be an essay.

I'd just like to underline the setting once more, because that to me, was one of the major plus points for DA:O, over DA2.

In Dragon Age 2, the main chunk of the game takes part in the bustling city of Kirkwall, a city of rich history, if not a bit shady too. Bioware did an excellent job of grasping the city feel, even with the limited size and do not get me wrong - I like Kirkwall, but as I said before, when the entire game takes place inside one city, with the exception of several side-missions in the near vicinity of the city, it doesn't feel particularly epic, I have to admit. As someone mentioned before, you feel a bit like a glorified city guard.

In Dragon Age: Origins, the entirety of the game takes place in the nation of Ferelden.The treachoruous marshes of the Korcari Wilds, the deep, ancient and mysterious Brecilian Forest, home of the Elves and things far more sinister, the Bannorn, rich plains of grass, with scattered villages and forests with the mighty castles of the Bann's sprouting up in the landscape, the ominous Frostback Mountains, who are home to more than what the eye can see and finally the Capitol of Denerim, a city just as livid as Kirkwall, with the usual intrigues of criminals and royals alike.

I know which setting I prefer.

And, once again, as someone mentioned earlier - The origins story of DA:O is one of the best features to ever have been put in a game.