Dragon Age 2 - Demo impressions

[DirtyFinger]

There were only two reasons to switch Alistair for Loghain in DA:O. One of them was the great conversation Loghain has with Wynne in the Return to Ostagar DLC. And the other was the conversation Loghain has with Zevran (I posted it in the OT's Great Quotes thread awhile back).

Zevran: You know who I am, yes? I was one of the Crows you hired to kill the Grey Wardens.
Loghain: I thought you looked familiar.
Zevran: I just wanted to report that I failed my mission.
Loghain: You don't say ...


Edit: Oh man, the old DA:O still has stuff I didn't fully explore ... bless youtube!

Link to video.

And Oghren is always fun:

Link to video.

These moments are abundant in DA:O and so rare in DA2. That's what happens if you fart out a sequel in 10 weekends.

 

[aelf]

Dwarf commoner is fairly interesting as well, along with mage.

Dwarf commoner is alright, but mage origin? I have just one word here: Fade

 

[SuperJay]

These moments are abundant in DA:O and so rare in DA2. That's what happens if you fart out a sequel in 10 weekends.

 

[Disgustipated]

I actually like the fade. But that's just me.

I'm doing Return to Ostagar first. Unfortunately I've only done Lothering and the Circle tower so far, I don't have the "special companion" from the end. I would like to hear what he says. I just don't have a save with him in it at the end (as I sacrificed myself). Oh well.

I'm used to the slow combat right now, and I prefer it. I'm doing a human noble (boring, but you get more options at the end) 2 handed sword warrior right now. And his attacks are slow, but I can't help but enjoy it when I get a huge hit for over 80 damage. Combat in DA2 is so fast you can't tell what is happening, and you don't have time to appreciate those monster hits from a 2 hander.

edit: after all this time overwhelm still freaks me out. DA2 doesn't have things like this for some reason. It seems like almost nothing bad can happen to your people. They don't seem to get knocked down (although they are stunned sometimes), or overwhelmed etc. Today I got overwhelmed by a wolf and now a spider.

 

[Mad Man]

I almost never use the warrior class, that's what your party is for. I prefer to use rouges so I can open all the chests and doors, also pickpocketing people never gets old.

 

[Azale]

Dwarf commoner is alright, but mage origin? I have just one word here: Fade

What? You mean the 20 minute Fade quest at the beginning of the game? That's really...not so bad. The Sloth puzzle was even kinda interesting.

Of course, I like all the mage lore stuff way more than any of the other lore in DA:O so maybe I'm more tolerant of it as a necessary evil.

 

[Maniacal]

I almost never use the warrior class, that's what your party is for. I prefer to use rouges so I can open all the chests and doors, also pickpocketing people never gets old.

First mod for DAO I installed was the lockbash one

What? You mean the 20 minute Fade quest at the beginning of the game? That's really...not so bad. The Sloth puzzle was even kinda interesting.

Of course, I like all the mage lore stuff way more than any of the other lore in DA:O so maybe I'm more tolerant of it as a necessary evil.

The graphical and asthetic design of the fade (at the very elast) is rather substandard. The idea of the fade is kind of neat, and it has/had potential but I didn't find the execution particularly interesting (and in the mage tower it felt more like a grind at times). Still there are mods to skip the fade and still receive all the loot and skill points you would have gained from it.

 

[Dachs]

edit: after all this time overwhelm still freaks me out. DA2 doesn't have things like this for some reason. It seems like almost nothing bad can happen to your people. They don't seem to get knocked down (although they are stunned sometimes), or overwhelmed etc. Today I got overwhelmed by a wolf and now a spider.

Yeah, it does have them. But when a spider jumps on you and rapes the living crap out of you, it doesn't say "Overwhelm" in big white letters above the spider. Dragons still pick you up and chew on you. Pride Demons and Arcane Horrors can trap you in something that sucks out your health while you do nothing.

 

[aelf]

What? You mean the 20 minute Fade quest at the beginning of the game? That's really...not so bad. The Sloth puzzle was even kinda interesting.

Of course, I like all the mage lore stuff way more than any of the other lore in DA:O so maybe I'm more tolerant of it as a necessary evil.

The problem is not the mage exam per se. The problem is if you are a mage, you'd have entered the fade 3 times by the end of the game. Twice is more than enough. The Fade isn't that interesting, and its novelty wears off after the first visit. Three times is simply a pain.

Also the Jowan story seems to be hampered by a bug, so that kinda takes away from the story.

 

[Disgustipated]

I never noticed hardly any bad effects in DA2. All the wussy players probably complained.

Although I am a bit frustrated right now in my fight in Ortan thaig right now. Both Ogrhen and Me (running 2 2 handed warriors no tanks) got overwhelmed, and I keep getting webbed. I haven't had a chance to fight yet. Very annoying. But you know what, I still prefer it over DA2. Overcoming bad stuff happening to you and succeeding is much more rewarding.

DA:O is far superior. The deep roads looks so much better graphically. Although there are some movement glitches in DA:O that DA2 didn't have. But DA:O also has much more varied terrain than DA2. And the game has crashed on me. I don't remember having a problem with it crashing on it, but it might be because I put it on max screen resolution. DA2 is more stable, but it's like 1/2 the game DA:O is.

 

[Azale]

The problem is not the mage exam per se. The problem is if you are a mage, you'd have entered the fade 3 times by the end of the game. Twice is more than enough. The Fade isn't that interesting, and its novelty wears off after the first visit. Three times is simply a pain.

I agree that the Fade in the Circle quest is a drag, gimme that hour of my life back please Bioware.

Also, does Wynne ever do anything...interesting? I'm using her on my rogue-dual wield playthrough instead of Morrigan and she's a little dry so far.

 

[PhroX]

Also, does Wynne ever do anything...interesting? I'm using her on my rogue-dual wield playthrough instead of Morrigan and she's a little dry so far.

Bring Zev and Shale along with her, the former in particular has some great dialogues. She does also get some development (including a special ability) as you talk to her.

Gameplay wise of course, she's way way better than Morrigan

 

[Dachs]

Bring Zev and Shale along with her, the former in particular has some great dialogues. She does also get some development (including a special ability) as you talk to her.

Gameplay wise of course, she's way way better than Morrigan

Yeah, but Zevran has good dialogue with basically everybody. Wynne's dialogue isn't lulzy because she's not a lulzy character; even when she trolls Alistair (like everybody does) it doesn't come out that great.

The main reason she's interesting is, yeah, the fact that she makes your party effectively invincible. Morrigan is worse because she starts out being specced into the utterly useless shapeshifter line, which I'm pretty sure exists only to annoy the player; you have to rejigger her stats significantly to grab the useful parts of Spirit Healer, leaving no room to make her a blood mage to up her spellpower. Plus, she disapproves of more or less everything you do; the fact that she mercilessly trolls everybody but Zevran (who is immune) is pretty much the only reason to take her anywhere.

Wynne happily starts with Spirit Healer and gains an additional buff power as you mentioned, leaving you free to screw around adding in various crowd-control powers you may find useful; by the end of the game, her spellpower can be astronomically high. Unless you're playing a healer mage yourself (and why would you do that when you can let Wynne do it and go Spirit Healer yourself?) you shouldn't leave camp without her.

 

[PhroX]

Yeah, but Zevran has good dialogue with basically everybody. Wynne's dialogue isn't lulzy because she's not a lulzy character; even when she trolls Alistair (like everybody does) it doesn't come out that great.

Wynne's own dialogue isn't "lulzy" sure, but I still find her quite interesting, particularly once you get well into her story. And I mentioned Zevran cos his chats with her are good, even for Zev (and he's right, for a woman of her age, it is magnificent )

 

[Disgustipated]

The problem with Wynn is she's a goody two-shoes. Awesome healer, but not the most interesting woman in the world. The most interesting thing is her quest involving the elf mage who ran away from her mentorship.

I actually give props to DA2. I think some of the party banter in DA2 is better than DA:O. I was playing some last night, and a lot of the jokes just come off flat. Even Ogren's jokes. Maybe it's because I played the game so many times, and they are no longer funny. I don't know.

I also think the things I say in the game, and actions I take should have more effect on companion influence like in DA2. Very few things I do have any effect on my companions, and usually it's only a few points. As mentioned above, gifts are way overpowered, and allows you act any way you want and still get high friendship status. So DA2 did fix a few things from DA:O that were off. It's too bad DA2 is still only half the game DA:O is.

edit: I'm beginning to think I don't need a tank. I guess I'm so used to the WOW way of thinking. Maybe I don't need a sword and board tank. Running with 2 2 handed warriors seems to be working fine. I don't need to use Shale or Alistair. Thank god.

 

[Azale]

Wynne makes me a little TOO invincible. I mean the only time I lose is when I forget to stock up on lyrium potions. Dual wield is insane.

After this I think I'll try Arcane Warrior, sounds like the only kind of warrior that won't be completely boring to play as.

 

[Dachs]

If you go Arcane Warrior, you have to solo. It's the only way to make that class fair.

 

[Dachs]

I hate doubleposting, but the Legacy DLC for DA2 came out just now and I gotta say, it was pretty damn good. I'd say it was worth the money.

Good fourish hours of exploration, fighting, dialogue, a compelling opponent, a fairly cool ending, and the content changes based on when in the game you play it (for instance, if it happens before the "All That Remains" quest, you can talk to your mom about it afterwards; if you play it after that, you have a different scene; dialogue is different if you haven't been to the Deep Roads yet; Carver/Bethany change a fair amount based on whether they're with you still or Grey Warden'd or Circle Mage'd/Templar'd; having a love interest changes dialogue if you bring him/her along...etc.). Plus, there's a cool equipment set and acquiring it isn't trivial.

All in all, great fun, I approve. Pretty good DLC. People seem happier about this than they were about the game itself.

 

[Maniacal]

Meh, after the complete waste of money the DA:O DLC was/is there is no way in hell I am paying $10 for DA2 DLC (I'm not even going to play it a 2nd time anytime soon either). After the problems with DA2 and rip off of DA:O DLC they should have released it for free or a decent price (like $2).

 

[Disgustipated]

Yeah I just recently got the DA:O DLC. Way too short. They need to take a cue from other DLC that at least tries to offer $1/hour of gameplay from DLC. Return to Ostagar takes bout an hour, and same with Warden's keep. It was fun, but too short.

I'll just check out the DA2 DlC on youtube.

I'm still playing DA:O. It's such a superior game than DA2. The combat is so much better. Which is funny, because people say DA2 fixed the combat. I guess people have short attention spans, and can't wait the 2 seconds it takes to swing a 2 handed sword. I'm doing so much better in this game, than previous games. Either the the 1.04 patch nerfed the game, or I'm a much better player. I think the game is easier without a sword and board tank. Having 2 2-handed warriors is the bomb (yes, 90's slang). DA2 does have a better interface, however. That is one thing they improved.

edit: oh, and I bought Leliana's song, but I still can't figure out how to start it. What a ripoff. Even more annoying, you have to use bioware points to buy dlc. And it isn't an even number of points, so I have like 40 points leftover which is useless.