Dragon Age II Released 168
Today marks the US launch of Dragon Age II, the sequel to BioWare's popular 2009 RPG Dragon Age: Origins. Like its predecessor and other BioWare RPGs, Dragon Age II is non-linear and has extensive dialog, though this time the story focuses on a particular character, Hawke, whose race and identity you can't change. A demo of the game is available, and early opinions noted both the impressive art direction and less punishing difficulty settings. BioWare has also released an optional ~1GB texture pack for the PC version that bumps up the level of detail for owners of high end computers. They explained some of the technological changes they made in a couple of blog posts. It's available for Windows, OS X, the PS3, and the Xbox 360.
Dragon Age is great game (Score:1)
Re:Dragon Age is great game (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
Whoooo
Uh-oh. (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
That's why I'm going to wait another 6 months or so until buying it, when they release some kind of "Ultimate Edition" with all the million DLC's that's going to be released in the meantime, and for half the original price.
With all the discounts on Steam, who would want to pay $60 for a game? I have yet to START playing The Witcher which I purchased more than two months ago.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm hoping that Dragon Age Origins is somewhat affordable now. Last time I looked at it, it still cost €45, which is a bit steep. (I don't doubt the game is easily worth that much if you actually have the time to play it, but my time is limited.)
But The Witcher was so excellent that I'll probably buy The Witcher 2 as soon as it's released. (Possibly on gog.com without any DRM.)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Steam: US$69.99 - still not cheap but that's two cocktails less than EBGames!
Re: (Score:2)
How much is that in ciders?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I can order it for 39 euros, probably less if I look around more :)
Re: (Score:2)
Correction, 29 euros even :D
Re: (Score:2)
http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/pc/dragon-age-2/_/RM10166/productpage.html?P36=TKV5ES [gameplay.co.uk]
Enjoy
Re: (Score:1)
Bioware (Score:1)
I have been a huge fan of Bioware games since Baldur's Gate and they continue to churn out awesomely produced games in spite of the current gaming economy.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Bioware (Score:5, Funny)
ME2 and DA:O are terrible and I regret purchasing them.
From this statement we can also garner that you don't like Firefly, ice cream, or a baby's laughter. It's okay to have your opinions.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Bioware (Score:4, Interesting)
I refuse to buy it because of EA though. The last Dragon Age I had to sign into their servers to use the equipment that was supposed to come with the game. (Collector's Edition "perks".)
If/When Bioware splits ties with EA, then I will resume purchasing Bioware games.
Re: (Score:2)
How can you even mention Baldur's Gate in the context of Dragon Age...the quality difference between the two games is simply astounding.
Re: (Score:2)
Yet, Amazingly enough both games scored over a 9 on gamespot. and both over 90 on metacritic.
So while your opinion may be valid. It doesn't necessarily mean the games suck. I hadn't seriously played a bioware game since BG Shadows of Amn and I could really feel some of the old game in the new one. I look forward to this one.
Re: (Score:2)
Still a fan of most things BioWare (minus the star wars crap). I believe after I finish Dragon Age II it will be time to pull out the BG/ToB/BGII CDs. My wife will hate me for it, since I'll be playing for countless hours... But my netbook will probably handle them ok. So... I could play it in front of the TV and just smile and agree with whatever she says, just like normal.
Translation for Baldur's Gate fans (Score:1)
"Impressive art direction" means "we've turned it all to shit with an anime theme in an effort to appeal to the console players."
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
and NPCs asking for my credit card left and right.
ONCE in the entire game is "left and right"?????
Re: (Score:2)
Uh, I don't know what game you played but both in the party camp AND spread across the map were DLC quests. So a little more than once, I would say.
Re: (Score:2)
Sure there were lots of DLC quests, but the guy back at the camp was the only one that asked about the credit card info.
An rpg for people who don't like rpg's? (Score:2)
I love the idea of interactive storytelling but I've been greatly disappointed by most of the rpg's I've played. Usually they have terribly dull and uninteresting storylines you couldn't be bothered to give a goddamn about. There's no real storyline propelling the game, just random side-quests along the "collecting goblin noses" standard.
There's plenty of potential for the genre but all of the games feel alike and remain dull. Oblivion remains an unbelievably gorgeous game, jaw-dropping and absolutely amazi
Re: (Score:1)
Give me storyline and a powerful score and I don't care about graphics.
To me the problem with RPG;s these days is that the graphical elements and putting battles in the immersive environment (rather than cutting to battles like old-school RPGs) actually damages the immersion. That and Nobuo Uematsu doesn't work for computer RPGs :P
Re: (Score:3)
Usually they have terribly dull and uninteresting storylines you couldn't be bothered to give a goddamn about.
Yes, well not all RPGs can have you be the son/daughter of the dead lord of Murder on a quest to discover your heritage and powers. That would get old real soon.
Oblivion remains an unbelievably gorgeous game, jaw-dropping and absolutely amazing. But the counter-intuitive leveling system took immersion and broke it on the wheel. The trite and boring storyline snuffed out any sense of weight and meaning in the gameplay.
The expansion made it even prettier, although I forgot the name already. Oblivion had a lot of issues, and the most annoying one was having only 4 voice actors for the entire game (not counting Patrick Stewart). If you're complaining about the leveling system I'm guessing that you never played Morrowind, which used the same leveling system for chara
Re: (Score:2)
Meh, graphics... Give me decent gameplay or a damn good storyline and I'd play it if it was still sprite based. I personally care less to see each blade of grass moving in the wind, than I care about a story that keeps me entertained enough to want to know how it ends.
I think the problem with DA was that it was a great game in every way except the graphics. It still won awards even with its 2002 graphics. It seemed odd that a game released in 2010 was only around Everquest graphics quality, and even that
Re: (Score:2)
I agree...BG2 was full of sidequests which was actually why I never finished it. I spent so much time on it that, like any other single player game, it gets boring. DA:O had the right balance for me of sidequests and the main plot. I even got a good laugh out of the matchmaking quest in the Dalish village: "Why...why would you DO something like that?! You're a monster!" Ah, young love.
Good info on Gaxkhang -- I had no idea what he was about.
Re: (Score:2)
Good voice acting in RPGs redefines the whole experience.
Voice acting in RPGs makes me want to yell 'shut up and let me get on with actually playing the game'. There's usually way too much dialog that's repetitve or dull, and I can read subtites twice as fast as they speak so I just keep pressing the 'get on with it' button... if there is one, isn't Mass Effect's dialog mostly unskippable?
I've basically given up on modern 'RPGs' because most of them seem to expect me to spend most of the 'game' watchng tedious cut-scenes that are like something out of a Sci-Fi ch
Re: (Score:2)
Apart from being dumbfoundingly mundane like all (Score:2)
back 10-20 years ago, computer tech was limited. you couldnt stray too far off from a format. you had to end the game in the same format you started it. in the same genre. because platforms didnt have the resources to expand to many different formats and their technical demands in regard to hard disk, processing power, and memory.
but there were hybrid games even then - like pirates and so on. they allowed you to expand and expand and your GAMEPLAY changed with passing time. not just yo
Re: (Score:3)
That's a lot of words to say you don't like the genre.
I don't like things, too. Mostly I just don't buy them.
Re: (Score:3)
It would suck.
If I'm playing an RPG I want to play an RPG that gets the RPG things right, if I want to play an RTS I'll play an RTS not some shitty hybrid RPG/RTS/FPS/Puzzle/Adventure/Collectible Card/Fighter/Flight Simulator game that does nothing well.
Sure if they want to tell an epic story have an RPG tell the first part and Civilization tell the last part, but don't make it all one game.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Wow. Those go way back. I'd forgotten Defender of the Crown. It's true -- I often wonder why RTS games don't also have quests to improve your heroes, etc.
Re: (Score:2)
now ta
Re: (Score:2)
If you could get it to run properly, it was actually pretty good. Now though, unless someone hacks it for modern windows versions, it won't run as it is a DOS based game. I suppose a VM could do the trick, but I'm not going to set one up just to play a 16 year old game I kicked the shit out of when I was 12.
Re: (Score:2)
they do. King Arthur (http://store.steampowered.com/app/24400/) for example.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh noes my taste is different than yours, it's the end of the world. And yes I played all those games, and yes they were good at the time. They are however crap now (well ok Defender of the Crown was crap then too).
And I still would prefer separate games. If I want to watch a romantic comedy I'd prefer it not also be a thriller.
ooooook then (Score:2)
you are contradicting your own argument.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If those counts as hybrids then so do DA:O and any party RPG, which inevitably interrupts the usual game to handle battles.
In fact DA:O has three different games:
1. Interactive full-motion video. This is the only place you can change the outcome of quests, or really anything in the game
2. A game where you move around non-consequentially on a map (the so-called RPG part)
3. A tactical combat game.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I know, we could call it Spore!
Re: (Score:2)
Having played all PC versions of Pirates and a few others, the gameplay didn't really change a whole lot as you progressed. It's a fairly varied game overall, though, with elements of story, exploration, trading, fighting, strategy, character development, etc. All of them fairly light fare, though. And I don't really feel like playing an RPG which evolves into a RTS as you describe: I like the tactical combat sometimes seen in good RPGs, but I don't like RTS as a general rule.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
back 10-20 years ago, computer tech was limited. you couldnt stray too far off from a format. you had to end the game in the same format you started it. in the same genre. because platforms didnt have the resources to expand to many different formats and their technical demands in regard to hard disk, processing power, and memory.
If only system hardware were the only limitation...oh wait, it's not. Have you ever played FF7? There were mini-games all over the place, including one which was essentially a really shitty RTS. Or how about Halo, where you can go solo or command a small squad, even jumping into vehicles? Hell, Halo: Reach even included space combat.
The problem isn't that games don't cross genres, its that companies that are good at RPGs don't necessarily have the time, budget, or expertise to make a multi-genre game. A goo
Re: (Score:2)
this would actually be more realistic in every way ; in almost all games you develop to a point you are totally a factor that would affect any world, if you developed something to that point (stats etc), but nothing changes - noone comes and asks you to be their general or king, and actual strategy happens. someone who became as strong as the characters in rpgs (da, mass effect included) would actually have SO much clout in the world they were living in that, a lot of things would be effected and revolving around them. but, because innovation and experiments are prohibited in mass manufacturing gaming, escapism is used - 'oh, our character is humble, and he does this/that. or, our character marries with the queen and happy ever after'
No, that sounds good but it would suck. Here's why: it's hard enough to make a game in a single genre that's any good. You start trying to go cross-genre, you're now greatly increasing the chance something's going to suck.
Something like GTAIII to IV is pretty unusual in that it's a hybrid of a first-person shooter and a vehicle sim. Even at that the vehicle controls are a bit spongy and make precision maneuvers difficult. Not so bad on normal missions but ruinous in the races.
There were already enough compl
No it isnt. (Score:2)
Here's why: it's hard enough to make a game in a single genre that's any good.
the above 'is not'.
its not hard enough to make a game in single genre that's any good. with the amount of resources that are being poured into obfuscating aspects of modern games (graphics, resolution, textures, polygons), much more could be made. in some respects, graphics concept already passed the point where human eye can comfortably keep up anyway.
moreover, straying off to multiple genres could make a lot of things much more easier - because you can switch to formats that are strong when a certai
Re: (Score:2)
The problem with your "hybridization of games" figure of speech is that real life (or fantasy life, for that matter) is not a hybridization of anything - it's just life. It's not like the commanders of actual armies have a screen with their units on it
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
i have spore. unfortunately its way too simplistic, and immersion is much limited.
The problem here is that you're trying to strike a balance between detail and tedium and it's a hard one to get right.
Master of Orion had one planet per star. The sequel put multiple planets per star, plus added micromanagement for each location. It certainly made the game more complicated but didn't feel any deeper, just more tedious.
X-Com had a good balance between the strategic map and base building/UFO intercepting but the sequel completely ruined that balance. Instead of the missions being interesting
Re: (Score:2)
how was xcom apocalypse compared to xcom and xcom terror from the deep ?
Dragon Age I's Choices (Score:1)
Re:Dragon Age I's Choices (Score:4, Informative)
Wake me up when the ultimate edition shows up (Score:4, Interesting)
So I was one of the suckers who bought DA 1 on release day. Didn't buy any DLC, because Bioware DLC is always overpriced.
Eventually they come out with the 'ultimate edition', which is the game, expansion, and all DLC for the same price I paid originally. That part is normal, and alright.
Where it gets ridiculous is that for me to add the DLC to the game I already bought on the same day this new verison came out would have cost MORE then just buying the game again and getting everything thrown in.
The pricing model is sufficiently out to lunch that I'll wait this time.
Re: (Score:2)
My apologies, I waited until the "Ultimate Edition" was not only released, but also going for a substantial discount on Steam.
I have 30 games that I've bought and still haven't played; that's one of them. Combined expenditure on them is about the same as buying 3-4 'new' games. It just doesn't make sense.
Last game I paid full price for is the reason I don't have time for those others - FM2011. What can I see, it's been decades and the Collyer brothers _still_ make addictive games..
Dragon Age Signature Edition? (Score:2)
The death of the cRPG (Score:4, Informative)
This news story sounds like it what was submitted by an EA publicist.
A lot of people have taken issue with the dumbed down combat, limited customization options, extremely linear story, bad graphics and a dialogue wheel that is essentially broken into compassionate, obnoxious or humourous responses. This game is a pale impression of it's predecessor. It seems kind of ironic that the series designed to resurrect the cRPG may be the very thing that destroys it. Before buying this game, read this article [hookedgamers.com] and save yourself some money.
Re: (Score:2)
I loved the DA:O. 4 playthrus. DA:A, I was ok with. 2 Playthrus. DA:2 does seem "dumbed down" as you put it. If it doesn't get better soon (in spite of it's horrible combat system), it's going in the "did not finish" pile.
Not for me (Score:2)
Spent 2 hours downloading the demo, then spent 20 minutes playing the demo, as 2 different "characters" (same person, same plot, same voice, just different abilities). That's a chunk of bandwidth cap I'm never getting back :(
I even tried just doing nothing for one of the fights. Sure enough, we win anyway. This isn't a game, it's a series of cutscenes tied together with a series of pointless 'fights'. Might as well be watching some crap TV fantasy show for all the contribution I made.
I'll go back to Minecra
Re: (Score:2)
You can't save during combat at all in DAO.
Other than that I'd agree that combat in DAO was pretty easy, even on the hardest difficulty. That was mainly due to mages being massively overpowered. As long as you did the mage tower first to get Wynne the rest of the game was plain sailing, especially with a mage PC.
Apparently in DA2 they've replaced spell combos with cross class combos to make the other classes more relevant. Even in other RPG systems (i.e. D&D, although in D&D they're a lot weaker to
Re: (Score:2)
Other than that I'd agree that combat in DAO was pretty easy, even on the hardest difficulty.
I can't agree with this. The game was fucking hard even on normal, primarily because mages were overpowered (including enemy mages). You could only survive against a mage by stunlocking them. God forbid there were two or three, because you were fucked when that happened.
Re: (Score:3)
Nope. Mana Clash killed 95%+ of enemy mages in the game in one shot, every time. As a non-friendly-fire AoO.
Basically if their name wasn't in red, they were going to die from it.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow everyone must have played it different. I found mages useless and utterly destroyed them easily with the rogues. Wynne was strongest of all the mages in the game but even she dies too easy in combat Morrigan does better when you equip her in lots of armor, mages robes = I'm dead in the game.. I preferred the meat grinder with high level runes on killer weapons. I had the one dwarf set up with a warhammer that would kill most with a single hit. Darkspawn were nothing more than goodie bags to trade
Re: (Score:2)
On my first play-through (2nd hardest difficulty), I killed Wynne and my PC was a warrior, so only one mage that was offensive oriented. I had to rely heavily on Morrigan during most of the game, but near the end when my PC got decked out with strong armor and weapons, they took off in power and the Morrigan mostly just CCed gro
Re: (Score:2)
Solution to that was pretty simple: carry multiple mages in your party. I played a mage PC, and carried Morrigan throughout the whole game. Once both had crushing prison controlling 2 mages was cake. If there was a third you basically just blasted the heck out of them and kept them moving as much as possible (cast Horror and such). They went down quickly.
As a matter of fact the only encounter I really had trouble with was Ser Cauthrien right after rescuing Anora. Just too many guys to try to get under
Re: (Score:2)
The Ser Cauthrien encounter took me two tries to get (mage PC, normal difficulty). Storm of the Century pretty much sweeps the room clear of archers in a flash. A fight you're clearly meant to lose just shouldn't be that easy.
There's really not any conclusion I can draw but that some of the spells / spell combinations weren't really tested out very well, or that they wanted the game to be dramatically easier if you were a mage who picked the right spells. I just can't believe that it's intentional, for e
Re: (Score:2)
See... if you simply surrender peacefully, you can skip that encounter entirely, and get a really fun bit of RP as you try to get out of the dungeon. You can either choose to break out of the dungeon yourself, which opens up the possibilty of trying to trick the guards into thinking that you're a new recruit and letting you walk right out the front door, or you can let your companions come rescue you... each of them has their own dialogues and ways of tricking the guards into letting them walk right *in* th
Re:Oh please, DAO 1 too difficult? (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree. Mass Effect I was a LOT BETTER and delivered far more wide range of modifications and weapons... MEII came out and dumbed it down drastically. The worlds were far more limited, interaction is more limited... it's more of a "go here do this good boy!" I am afraid they ruined Dragon Age with numbing down of the whole system like they did for Mass Effect.
Re:Oh please, DAO 1 too difficult? (Score:4, Interesting)
Well my GF is a avid RPG player, and enjoys cRPG's on the side. She got home oh an hour or two ago. Installed, starting playing 30ish mins in she was raging and screaming going where are my choices and what's up with this shitty dialog. I want a RPG, not a action-adventure game. Which promptly 5mins later resulted in her storming out of the house, and driving off game in hand. I think she's out for a refund, and woe to the person who tries to refuse it.
I know people will go bahwhaha GF what? Yeah some of us managed to hook one anyway.
I didn't even have a chance to play, but I'm hearing a lot of people use the phrase "Dragon the Mass Age Effect". Which doesn't bode well, and I get the feeling EA has given Bioware the touch of death.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's not the fact that you claim you have a girlfriend that makes me think that your post is fake, but that you claim she stomped off "game in hand" for a refund. Having heard enough stories in my time to tell when creativity starts to take the place of reality, I detect some falsehood there - a bit of embellishment at a minimum.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think a lot can be said from the critic-user delta on metacritic...
Dragon Age II: 8.5 - 4.1 = 4.4 diff
To take a couple "normal" games like for example Bulletstorm it's 8.4 - 8.0 = 0.4. Fallout 3: New Vegas 8.5 - 8.0 = 0.5. Dead Space 2 is 8.7 - 8.5 = 0.2. Civilization which many considered a bit overrated is at 9.0 - 7.0 = 2.0. I played the demo and I was already OMGing at all the changes, if you loved DA:O you'll hate DA2. If you look at the reviews that praise DA2, they all pretty much hated DA:O. Gone
Re: (Score:2)
Is 10hrs enough? I got my copy in late last night, sat down played. Not happy with any of the changes, the biggest things that piss me off? Repeated level designs. Using the same levels, over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over. And the cheap ass method of dealing with bosses. Meaning, you start fighting a boss. And kill off his spawns, then the game spawns, more of them, and keeps spawning them. It's a cheap way to make content hard.
Re: (Score:2)
No offense but Mass Effect 1's copy-and-paste worlds were one of the worst parts of the game, along with the Mako APC.
Yeah, that was the point where I finally gave up and uninstalled it. Bad driving physics on cookie-cutter worlds wihle randomly being killed by worms jumping out of the ground is really not my idea of a fun time.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Though for some reason the only demo I appear to be able to download is the .exe. Nowhere on the demo page does it talk about what specs or platform are necessary to actually play the demo.
Re: (Score:2)
OK - after digging around a bit more, not only is there no OS X demo available but the game itself is apparently a Cider port and not an actual cross platform game. For $60. Sorry, not happening.
Re: (Score:2)
The Cider port of Dragon Age 1 was one of the best ports I've ever played (including native code ports). Honestly: you cannot tell it's a Cider ported game unless you see the "cider" process in the Activity Monitor -- it was exceptional.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for sharing that. Every Cider port I've ever seen has been a raging disaster. It's nice to know that it's the process and not the tool causing it. Now, if only they had a demo so I could see for myself if it was worth plunking down $60...
Re: (Score:2)
I played the demo - gameplay graphics still suck and it's still insanely hard.
What, do you completely suck? I played through the demo three times to mess with the various classes. I think one of my siblings died in a battle, once. After the battle ended they jumped up again, and off we went. Not even the ogre was able to do a whole lot of damage before dying.
Re: (Score:2)
You mean like DA:O? For a game that called itself non-linear, it was surprisingly linear.
I am not sure what to make of RPGs anymore. I guess, they can all go to hell, and maybe the sandbox games will move in from a different direction and finally make a classic non-linear computer RPG again.
Re: (Score:2)
You can do the quests in the game in pretty much any order you want.
The start is linear, the end is linear. What's in between is, mostly, up to you.
I'm not sure what more you can really ask of a computer RPG -- you can only be so sandboxy without ending up with a shitty story.
Re: (Score:2)
I would like actions to have consequences. They never did in DA:O. I would like to be able to roleplay to choose my own destiny, that means changing the end. The fact the end joined all the threads no matter what you did, makes it non-linear game in my mind as none of the non-linear choices had any consequences. All you ended up doing was selecting how the last movie was cut.
Re: (Score:2)
It could be the lack of comments is because everyone is too busy playing DA2. (but I think your guess was closer to home)