Munchkin's DAII First Thoughts

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I played DAII last night from 4PM until my wife yelled at me around 11PM. I did not make any planned build or anything like that with the character I played last night. I simply wanted to test the game and see how it played and how the story evolved, etc…

I did not even get far into the game last night. I was so busy doing side quest that I got lost in the game. The game is not as linear as it would seem, other than the introduction. You have quite a bit of freedom to explore the city; reminds me of BG2. Most of the action I saw in my 6-7 hours play was based in the city or around it. At times it felt like I was playing BG2, but with some serious enhanced graphics.

The NPCs continued to have banter. To talk to your companions you have to go to the companion home base. Each companion has a separate home base. The approval meter is still there but I have a feeling it will impact the game environment more so than DAO. From what I have seen all NPC armors cannot be modified, but upgraded. For instance, Bethany robes are upgraded if you find or buy a specific robe; the enhancements are similar to runes. Some NPC weapons also act in the same manner.

As for Hawke, I played a rogue and wanted to see what happens when everything was unequipped. You don’t get naked on the console game. You still have clothing and armor equipped. The default items that Hawke can use when nothing is equipped are the lowest rank items in the game, even though you have nothing equipped. The dog is like the ranger animals; however, you do get to name the dog and see the dog in your home base.

As for how the game plays when in the heat of battle – it is much improved. When using a talent that takes stamina it feels more natural than DAO. DAO battles were fast pace at times, but the PC and NPC took a while to complete a command. Also, the city has Night and Day quest, so pay attention to the journal as it will impact which quest are available based on time of day you have selected – yes you get to select the day or night…

Now that I played DAII and got a feel for the game I going to start all over tonight as I was lost and did not understand the game play like I do now. I will be a rogue and later on play a mage.

As for DAO things mentioned. In one of the bars they mentioned about the sudden decrease in the pigeon population – I wonder who is in Kirkwall. They also mentioned Alister and the race / origin of the Hero of Fereldan.

I would say this game is a 8-9 stars out of ten right now. DAO was 9.5 stars for me – it would have been 10 if the combat in DAO was exactly what DAII has for combat. DAII could get a higher ranking if I get more into the game.

 

reviews are mixed. Sites give it good reviews but players reward the game lower. Odd.

I am glad that I made my will-save. A whole day off tomorrow gave me a penalty.

 

Amazing game, worth every penny. Especially since pre-ordering it in october saved me $10 on the price of the game with all the goodies still included .

 

I played it all day yesterday. I am at....level 12, I think. Good game, but far from being great. No friendly fire for anything but nightmare difficulty (even though enemies have friendly fire on all the time), makes combat a joke. Enemies just spawn around you to give you something to hack and slash. They even pop out of rooms you have cleared, and that only has one enterance. Companions equipment is locked. Varric, for example, can only use a crossbow (cant swap it with other crossbows either), Isabela can only use knives, Aveline can only use sword and shield. No of your companions outfits can be swapped out either. You can give them rings and belts though (anything that won`t show visually). Not sure how it is on the PC version, but on xbox360 you have to button mash when fighting. Auto-Attack is more or less disabled. So combat is so, and so. The movements are more fluid this time though. This is a good thing. But watching archers firing off 50 arrows in 5 seconds, and watching enemies explode into tiny bits of chunks when you stab them with a dagger is abit.... ALOT of locations are being re-used as well. Noticed this late in the first act. You enter a cave, or a dungeon, and its identical to other caves and dungeons you have visited. This is sloppy. The change in graphics art style isn`t allways good either. The elves look like the elf in the Harry Potter movie, only more anorectic, but the Quanari, on the other hand, looks fantastic. So its one step back in one area, and one step forwards in another.

The game has alot of good things going for it too. I noticed the sky\clouds in this game was excelent. Arguably the best I have seen in a game. The companions are very good as well. Right up there with the Origins companions. The story also seems to be very very good. Quests are good and has alot of variations as well. Especially the side-quests have gotten alot better.

The game certainly has enough good bits to be a very good game. No doubt there. But its dumbed down. Very dumbed down. Arguably even more so than Mass Effect 2 was. Thats just the way rpgs have become, I guess. I have no problems recomending it though. Anyone who likes a good story, would like this game. So I am giving it a 6 out of 10.

 

After reading the bigger reveiws I see a red tread in the afterthougts of the reveiwers. After they are done sticking as much feather they can find int the behind of Bioware and this game they notice little things.

I think that Rawgrim's post sums it up what people think after the initial wow phase.

I will pick it up from the budget bin. How Mighty Bioware has fallen.

 

I like it so far, but it really does feel like a console game, whereas DA:O felt like a PC game. They've streamlined nearly everything to make the game highly accessible and easy to understand. For a newcomer, this is excellent. For veterans, it will appear dumbed down.

 

It is a mix between Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Dragon Age Origins. You get the great Dragon Age story and movies; however, the game plays like Dark Alliance.

Abilities have been dumb down; each class has two major abilities. Rogues - Cunning and Dexterity, Warriors - Strength and Consitution, and Mages - Willpower and Magic. By placing an ability point in both of the main abilities at each level up your NPC and PC can use the more powerful equipment since most equipment takes 2 abilities to use. You can distrubite the ability points as you wish but you may miss out on using the more powerful equipment.

Spells and Talents - This is better than BG: Dark Alliance skill system as it closely resembles the DAO talent and spell system. However, as stated previously, some talent and spells require to be upgraded to reach its potential that gamers saw in DAO.

As for the monster exploding, etc... I could see it with a spell or a warrior with a two handed sword, but not with my rogue doing a backstab - the death of monsters in DAO were realistic compared to DAII.

Places repeating them self - this is very common in a 3D game. We seen it in NWN, NWN2, DAO and a few other games. The more side quest there are where you run off to do x, y, or z the greater the chance of seeing repeated areas.

Rawgrim - Microsoft and Sony apparently have a patch they need to certify for auto attack - which would elimante the button smashing on the console; however, I don't think I would enable it. I may have to smash buttons, but it makes me feel as if I am doing something other than waiting for my talents to refresh to reuse.

In my first game I made sure I used all the free goodies - made the game a bit easy, even on nightmare. I restarted last night and trying Normal without using any of the FREE DLC items. It does make the game a bit more challenging.

I like the DAII a lot, and after a playing it a bit, it brings me back a little over 10 years ago when I got BG2. For me, the Dragon Age series is the closest thing to the current generation of the Baldur Gate series, and like the BG series, I"m l play DAO over DAII once I beat DAII 2 or 3 times.

 

I just hit level 7, so you're a good deal further along than me. Overall I think the visuals are fantastic, especially with the hi-res texture pack. You can actually see the "wetness" in the blood with it. I agree that Quanari have been given a very cool overhaul. That said, I couldn't imagine "The Sten" with horns. I also agree that some (but not all) Elves look a little odd. The ears... some of them end up looking almost like rabbit ears. It does explain why Felicia Day's ears are pointing so far back... it's the DA2 elf vs. the DA:O elf that I'm used to.

I also agree that sometimes the gore is a bit over the top. Cool, but over the top. Meh... I guess Bioware threw this in to impress the 14 year olds. I better get used to this sort of thing, as I'm definitely become a bit of an old fuddy duddy.

I haven't run into the reused areas yet. That's a bit cheesy.

I don't mind the enemies jumping out of windows and so forth. Even if you did clear out a room, it doesn't mean some sneaky rogue can't move in and hide there afterwards. I see this as a cool innovation that makes battles more exciting due to reinforcements moving in to join the fight. One man's trash is another man's treasure? A bit of stretch on the analogy, but the concept seems somehow appropriate.

I'm not giving an official rating yet, but unofficially I place it probably in the 8.5 - 9 at the moment.

 

When I did one of the night time quest the enemies jumping off roof tops, appearing and stabbing you in the back seem more realistic than some other games.

 

You guys are doing well, I'm still struggling to beat that ogre and his minions. I'll have another go later tonight.

 

Stats are not 2 per class, (exception maybe mages). If you don't spent a few points in dex/cun as a warrior you're going to be lacking damage (unless you're a tank), regardless both need willpower, as you choose talents the need for secondary stats increases/decreases.

Combat is a lot like an action rpg (Diablo 2), but far more involved including complex cross-class combo abilities (LOTR online style) and a lot of awesome abilities that build on each other intra-class. AoE's not being FF is nice considering the majority of ALL ATTACKS are at least partial aoe. (FABLE style 2hw combat). I'm sure someone will make a mod/fix for the pc to "fix" that. Considering the people criticizing it always play these rpg's on max difficulty with ridiculous difficulty mods installed (BG2 - IA/Improved Encounters, I know who you are you strategical geniuses), it shouldn't be an issue aoe's are FF only in nightmare right? =D.

Anyways, my focus is way beyond combat, because combat is at best 40% of the game, much less than DA:O. The story, NPC chatter, exploration is incredible... I think I spent the first few hours after the intro just exploring the city and maybe did a couple quests.


To each his own though. Each review/criticism let's someone else know something about the game that appeals to them. I'm sure not everyone liked the Fable style of combat, or LOTRO's. I did. And sorry to everyone that got this on console instead of PC :-P. RPG's imho are always better on PC barring Gauntlet Legends and Zelda which are stylized for platforming (no inventories/talent trees/etc.).

Forgot to add one of my favorite things about this game. Despite being more of an action rpg, I love it's pace. It's not rushed, no sense of imminent urgency, gotta do this and that right away. It really does feel like you're living your life .

 

I can't help but be slightly amused by the irony that Bioware messed up combat on the console. It's like, they forgot that they were supposed to care more about that platform than the PC platform. T'would seem that in their hearts they know DA2 is supposed to be a PC game first, even if they decided otherwise.

 

I got it. Just played it for about 45 mins to an hour, and turned it off. Nowhere near as good as DA:O.

The characters are very, VERY wooden and the game has no atmosphere. I picked a mage and could just faceroll entire groups of mobs with fireball.

After looking forward to this game for ages, I have to say I am really unimpressed. Poor show, Bioware. It reminds me of playing NWN2.

I might give it another try a few weeks or months down the line, but for now, it's totally lost me.

Disappointed.

 

I played this to lvl 6 and had to stop. I really can't force myself to play it anymore, I tried to finish it but. Fighting is really boring and chaotic for my tastes. Too much console game for me. Dumbing down in ME2 worked for me because it's action shooter,but dumbing down DA didn't. I finished DA:O three times and felt devs passion to make excellent game, but in DAII I got the feeling it was just a filler. I feel bad when people mention Baldur's Gate in same sentence as this fastfoodish product.

Maybe Bioware has lost it, maybe they aren't hungry anymore or maybe they are concentrating on StarWars MMO.

I don't mean to troll I just had to let my impression of the game out. Glad if someone liked it.

 

I’m not sure what you are talking about as I have reviewed the stats for all classes. When I reviewed the warrior weapon sytles in DAII, Sword and Shield or 2 Handed, these weapon styles require STR and CON to equip the more powerful weapons and shields. Rogue weapon styles use DEX and CUN as their main abilities to use more powerful equipment. As for a mage, Willpower and Magic have to be risen to allow the Mage to use higher end equipment. At each level up you have three ability points to distribute. I recommend placing one into each of the main abilities and than using the other ability point as you wish since each stat provide something for each class. The extra stat could be placed into the other abilities, for example - Rogues, placing a point into STR provides the character the ability to withstand being knockdown, magic provide magical resistance and willpower provides an increase to stamina. The ability distribution has been dumb down a lot, but it makes sense and is easier for a non-CRPG fan to understand. Don’t forget, Bioware is now part of EA and they need to reach a broader audience when they release a game. We saw this with Mass Effect 2, and DAII is no different.

As for being like NWN2, that isn’t a bad comparison. It does remind me a bit of NWN2, but it is about the Thedas and not Forgotten Realm, which was getting boring. It has DAO classes and specializations and not D&D classes and specialization, though most fantasy games classes are very similar for Warriors, Rogues/Thief, and Wizards/Mages. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. As with any NEW game or IMPROVED game you have to play it for what that game IS and not what the previous game WAS. I remember a lot of CRPG players who loved BGI did not love all of the added classes or super magical weapons of BGII I was one of those players.

However, since my beloved BG game was raped with super abilities I stopped worrying about how BGII raping BGI greatest. Instead I played BGII for the game it IS and not the game BGI WAS. Yes those two games are similar; however, there was no kit or super abilities in BGI, because BGI used the AD&D 2nd Player Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide and did not incorporate all of the special add on books. The weapons in BGI were not super power – you had to play with a ton of strategy or you died quickly; this was not the case as much in BGII. Since BGI and even games prior to that, developers are making games easier for a broader audience. The difficultly slider can make it more challenging to a degree, but the newer games still require less tactics than the prior generation games. My recommendation for everyone is play the game for what the game IS and not for what another game WAS/IS. DAO and DAII are going to play differently and offer a slightly different game play. Play each game for what they ARE. Stop complaining about DAII being different, because all the complaints in the world will not change how DAII IS going to play.

 

After playing solidly for a couple days, the only thing that bothers me is the limited camera. It made a particular boss fight much harder than it should have been. Much, much harder.

Other than that, love the game. Love how character oriented it is and not item oriented. Love how you can't just min max and have to put points into CON to stop your party from dying. Lol.

 

With regards to specializations, it's still 3 per class, but some of them have changed.

A mage can be a spirit healer, blood mage or a newly added force mage (a very cool spec, btw). The arcane warrior has been removed, but honestly, isn't needed in DA2 due to the way staves have been changed.

 

Rogues have Shadow, Assasin, and Duelist for specializations. Though, if you go the route of a bow type rogue, I find these specilizations to work as good as the other types.

One thing I noticed - I tried to place my dual-wielding rogue and the warriro up front with my archer and mage in the back; however, every time I do this a group of enemies jump up in the rear and ambush me. This is seriously getting annoying because I than have to move my rogue to the back of the group to protect the mage from being killed by some archers or backstaber.

Speaking of backstabbing - enemy rouges use stealth quite often and when they pick a target they can kill you instantly with one backstab attack.

As for the game story - I'm in year 6 or 7 and have done all of the side quest. One of the things that gets me is that I don't want to upset the balance of the game world by siding with the mages or the templars. I have been neutral to a degree though more towards siding with the mages as I want to protect my sister, Bethany.

I am more than half way through the game - it is good but I swear this game reminds me a lot of Dark Kingdom on the PS3. The way each character fights and special ability usage; however, in DAII you don't have to jump to surpass obstacles like in Dark Kingdom. That game story also was not as good as DAII and the graphics were so-so.

As for items in DAII. What is the best armor for a rogue?

 

No idea on the rogue armor, as I'm not using any walkthroughs or hints and I'm still in chapter 2. My party is currently level 14, with my mage, Aveline, Fenris and Varric as my main party members, and I have a romance going with Isabela. I just found some very nice set boots for my mage (armor 67 and some decent stats), so I'm looking forward to finding the rest of that set, but I have no idea if this is the best I can hope for.

I didn't pay attention to the armor upgrades for companions in chapter 1, so now that I'm in chapter 2 I've missed out on obtaining a bunch of those. Oh well. Brand new game. First runthrough. It's expected that you're going to miss some stuff.

As for your combat observations, I agree. Enemies are fairly devious with their ambush tactics, and they like to target mages and archers in particular. I'm finding that combat is becoming more challenging the further I get in the game, and some fights are downright hard. My personal house rule is that I don't let any party members fall during combat. If that happens, I restart the fight and repeat it until everyone makes it through alive.