Dragon Age 2 - first screenshots

[Kerrby]

The first Dragon Age was one of the best RPGs on the PS3. A few days ago GameInformer had the rights to announce Dragon Age 2. In the article it said the graphics have improved big time.

Oh how wrong they were.

Why do the Darkspawn look like Skeletor?

How cool was my zany title?

 

[Noppo]

Had me in stitches .

I'd wait for higher res screenshots and vids to comment on the graphics. The conversation wheel should make Dragon Age 2 about 5 times more awesome hehe.

 

[Kerrby]

Had me in stitches .

I'd wait for higher res screenshots and vids to comment on the graphics. The conversation wheel should make Dragon Age 2 about 5 times more awesome hehe.

They've changed the combat on the PS3/360 versions but are keeping it the same on PC.

Something about the D-Pad is now the combat system or something?

Anyway, PC will be superior in every way. Especially combat.

Also, get The Witcher 2 when it comes out .

 

[Noppo]

They've changed the combat on the PS3/360 versions but are keeping it the same on PC.

Something about the D-Pad is now the combat system or something?

Anyway, PC will be superior in every way. Especially combat.

Also, get The Witcher 2 when it comes out .

Yeah the PC version was very KOTOR-esque which I really liked.

Witcher doesn't really interest me that much, but I got a friend who can't stop raving about it haha.

 

[Valentino Dmitri]

I reckon all the the graphical development manhours are being spent on Morrigan's boobs by the looks of it. And fair enough too, really (off topic kinda. I was looking for some Mass Effect 2 PC mods today when I stumbled upon this 'Natural Skins' thing for Dragon Age 1. And one of these 'natural skins' was a woman wearing a strap on. Another was a shemale. I'm sorry, what? Apparently lesbo sex with Liliana isn't awkward enough, you gotta rip out the sex toys and/or surplus sexual organs to crank things up a few more notches).

I like the idea of the mass effect influences. As interesting as the Origins stories were in theory they were pretty badly executed for the most part. Especially the city elf story. My badass elf warrior gets KOed by a SLAP TO THE FACE from some sissy noble? Only then to go on and SLAUGHTER a CASTLE FULL OF ARMED MEN? Okay. And how about that Diver Dan looking lord ****er who did that facepalmish evil laugh? God

Generally there was just that much stuff going on, and so many variables, that things didn't gel as well as they should have, I thought. For instance in the human noble story you're looking for your brother who was lost at battle, it's mentioned like twice early in the game and then it's just sorta glossed over until the very last cutscene in the game? Very unsatisfying, especially when he's just mentioned in a line that seemed completely out of place and only existed to cover up a plot hole/white elephant that could have been dealt with far more elegantly. Was like an editing gag out of Darkplace or something.

I read somewhere that there was 4 novels worth of text in the game? Bit of overkill, really. There's a fair bit of fat to cut off, so good on them for trying something different I say

Should probably point out that I love the first game and have spent silly hours playing it because it gets lots of shit right, for what it's worth

 

[_shifty_]

Dragon Age II takes a page from the Mass Effect playbook, limiting player characters to a male or female human version of the game’s main character, Hawke.

Dam, that's the opposite of what i wanted to hear.
I was hoping it would have been more like BG2 which had 7 races and about 40 classes/subclasses rather than the standard 3 from Origins.

 

[Kerrby]

I reckon all the the graphical development manhours are being spent on Morrigan's boobs by the looks of it. And fair enough too, really (off topic kinda. I was looking for some Mass Effect 2 PC mods today when I stumbled upon this 'Natural Skins' thing for Dragon Age 1. And one of these 'natural skins' was a woman wearing a strap on. Another was a shemale. I'm sorry, what? Apparently lesbo sex with Liliana isn't awkward enough, you gotta rip out the sex toys and/or surplus sexual organs to crank things up a few more notches).

I like the idea of the mass effect influences. As interesting as the Origins stories were in theory they were pretty badly executed for the most part. Especially the city elf story. My badass elf warrior gets KOed by a SLAP TO THE FACE from some sissy noble? Only then to go on and SLAUGHTER a CASTLE FULL OF ARMED MEN? Okay. And how about that Diver Dan looking lord ****er who did that facepalmish evil laugh? God

Haha, I've seen those skins. gooooooooooooooooood stuff.

I also tried the elf story, it was good. Something about being poor and being treated unfairly. It was pretty good imo.

 

[Forrest Gimp]

Dam, that's the opposite of what i wanted to hear.
I was hoping it would have been more like BG2 which had 7 races and about 40 classes/subclasses rather than the standard 3 from Origins.

Same here. I love Mass Effect and all, but there are so few old-school crpg's out there these days and it sounds like the Dragon Age series is no longer one. I guess I better start praying for another Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion or Mysteries of Westgate style enhanced module.

 

[stormee]

Meh, if there's no proper AD&D character creation I'll just go and find old copies of Baldur's Gate 2 and Icewind Dale 2. Probably my favourite 2 games ever.

If they ever make a Baldur's Gate 3 I will probably piss my pants with excitement.

 

[Kerrby]

Two more screens released :/.

 

[Noppo]

BioWare responds to Dragon Age II hate

If you've been using the Internet for longer than a week, you may have predicted the reaction to Dragon Age II and the Mass Effect-style changes to its characterization and dialogue system. To put it bluntly: many hate it.

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/14341-bioware-responds-to-dragon-age-ii-hate/

 

[Cynic]

Meh, if there's no proper AD&D character creation I'll just go and find old copies of Baldur's Gate 2 and Icewind Dale 2. Probably my favourite 2 games ever.

If they ever make a Baldur's Gate 3 I will probably piss my pants with excitement.

We were told DragonAge would be the successor to the Baldur's Gate series. To say it was a disappointment if that were the case would be an understatement.

 

[Hopping Mad]

BioWare responds to Dragon Age II hate

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/14341-bioware-responds-to-dragon-age-ii-hate/

Lol, Neoseeker.

The graphics look shite, but I'm still pumped for the game. Even though I loved the first game, I never got around to finishing it. It just takes too damn long, and I never had the motivation to go all the way to the end. Perhaps some changes will be for the better.

 

[Noppo]

There's article quoting rules now? Hahaha I had no idea . My bad Ant.

Lol, Neoseeker.

The graphics look shite, but I'm still pumped for the game. Even though I loved the first game, I never got around to finishing it. It just takes too damn long, and I never had the motivation to go all the way to the end. Perhaps some changes will be for the better.

They look better in higher resolution but they're not as good as they could be. Games tend to change as they get closer to release so it will probably look much better.

 

[Ant_]

There's article quoting rules now? Hahaha I had no idea . My bad Ant.

Been a site wide rule for over a year. In short a link and then a paragraph. However you can post more if you're commenting on a particular section.

Fairfax had a sook at us and called in the lawyers if we didn't cease and desist posting their articles. You can dig up the thread on here that announced it. Some tears did flow from a few usual suspects.

 

[Valentino Dmitri]

Has anyone had a butcher's hook at the demo? What were your impressions?

I was fairly impressed. Was always going to buy the game but I'm satisfied that I'll garner a fair few hour's worth of enjoyment from it! Seemed to be a more polished version of Origins, and considering that game's a bit of a rough diamond that is more than good enough for me.

Character models generally looked a lot less frightening than the first game (although one of the party members looked like she had a chunk of ginger cement stuck to her scalp as a poor substitute for a proper haircut), hopefully I will miss less expository dialogue because i am too busy staring in horror at some expressionless meat puppet head, looking back at me with cold, dead eyes. Flemeth in particular is transformed from some rickety old peasent into a Xena style warrior princess fetishist. Admittedly it's a bit disconcerting seeing her hot, supple body juxtaposed with her weatherbeaten old face (a bit like a reverse Michael Douglas) but it a step in the right direction I think.

Dialogue looks the goods with the Mass Effect system. Good to see that there seems to be a constant smartarse/lighthearted option for you to use, in place of ME's fence-sitting option. Should hopefully add a bit of levity.

Seems as though the fanboys bursting into tears on The Internet about how the combat's been dumbed down and ruined by ea by pandering to the masses etc etc were just having a sook for no good reason, as it seems pretty similar to the first, only with flashier kills and less sitting around doing nothing (as an aside I'm tired of seeing the words 'dumbed down' written condescendingly in those campaignerish inverted commas. Not just in Dragon Age 2 discussion but everywhere. Christ it's not like you needed to be Napoleon ****ing Bonepart to win fights in that game, just case cone of cold and ram potions down Arlistair's throat like... actually i won't use that analagy but you can see where i was going with it. if these people were alive in the 1930's they would have been sooking because travelling to work had been 'dumbed down' by the invention of the automobile, arguing that it was much more satisfying when you had to catch and break in a wild brumby and ride it bareback).

Character development seems good as well, seems to be a fair bit of scope for customisation in spite of no elf/dwarf options, and only 3 classes. The skill trees look like there'll be a bunch of options at the levelling up screen. All looks fine but hard to guage from a demo.

I guess a lot will rest on if the new narrative structure is more than a gimmick, and whether the narrator himself is likable and interesting. Here's hoping!

 

[Donners]

I didn't have much interest in the combat aspect of the game (which was broken in the first game anyway), it was more about the story and RPG elements. DA:O certainly delivered on that aspect, but I've been quite disappointed with some of the changes I've read about, and the demo did not do anything for me at all.

I've still got Fallout 2 and Planescape: Torment installed with restoration packs; time to give them another spin, I think.

I'll wait until this comes out as an Ultimate Edition in a year or so. Hate DLC...

 

[HBK619]

Never played the first so really don't know what differences there are.

But in playing the demo. The combat seemed nice enough, enemy AI is a bit dull. Combat actions seemed quite varied though. Combat is very hack and slashy, a bit of a slower God of War. Like the option to switch between your group of NPC's as you go to get a variety of different action and combat styles.

Like the dialogue wheel having actual emotion icons attached to them so you can get an idea of what you're about to say rather than guessing based on the few words and as VD said it's pretty cool to always have a smart arse option for speaking too, I do wonder what part that would play if you stayed completely entrenched in that dialogue option though.

Graphically looks ok, character models are generally nice. Environment looks a bit shitty. The gore is sweet.

So yeah, this wasn't really on my radar before the demo and still isn't just with the ridiculous amount of other games catered more towards what I like (deep RPG's are very hard for me to get into...I like this being more action oriented though). But may be something to pick up on the cheap in a year or so.

 

[Valentino Dmitri]

I'll wait until this comes out as an Ultimate Edition in a year or so. Hate DLC...

yeah, fair enough. i bought the ultimate edition of origins (after losing my original copy months earlier) and was surprised at how much stuff they'd made available for dlc purchase. having said that, i didn't enjoy much of it (thought Shale was pretty cool, as were the weapons etc that you gained), and not really worth looking into unless they were for free. I won't be buying any dlc for DA2 if they're of a similar quality (not even if they pull that 'pay for a party treasure chest, or go without!' stunt like last time!) - I would have been ropable if I'd bought the Morrigan DLC where she's in it for about 30 seconds!

Graphically looks ok, character models are generally nice. Environment looks a bit shitty. The gore is sweet.

You're right - I'm hoping with the environments (or lack thereof!) that things will be spruced up for the proper game. things looked very sparse, almost like an old (albiet hi resolution) PSX game, lol

Google images looks a bit more promising.

 

[buzzbuzz]

Demo was poo. Was hoping it would be Dragon Age + Mass Effect, instead it was Morrowind + 3rd Person Camera + blood splashes.

 

[FGMPR]

Demo was shit. They sped the game up, the voice acting is horrible, it was one giant corridor ala FF13 (i pray that the full versions fixes that), you can't pan all the way out like in DA:O. It just doesn't play like an old school cRPG anymore. It's a mess.

...and yet I pre-ordered from Steam anyway. If it was anyone other than Bioware...

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Dragon Age 2

Now, i find it almost ridiculous that no one has started a thread about this game... and it was released yesterday (in the us at least)

(unless my research skills are shittier than i thought)

on my must play list for the year, along with another bioware title ME3 and games like the witcher 2, fable 3 and bulletstorm

http://au.xbox360.ign.com/objects/080/080342.html

http://au.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/unnameddragonageprojectworkingtitle/index.html

sure, it appears to have failed to reach the heights of the first one, but it is a game which i believe now appeals to a much broader audience range now it has deviated from the tactical approach in origins...

don't get me wrong, i loved origins tactical combat approach... but i completely understand the motivation to change it from bioware's perspective

reviews are still great, although not origin-esque

who will play this??

 

[Igloo]

Went into EB games this morning and had a talk to the guy about Dragon Age 2. We talked about the demo, and the guy said it is shit compared to the actual game, and that buying it is well worth it.
Environment in the demo was just so plain, but apparently is a lot better in the full version.

But it cost $109, so I just bought a pre-owned copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum for $37.

But in terms of the actual game, gameplay seems pretty much the same as Origins.

 

[Cohzee]

Will go up and hire it today. Looking forward to it!

 

[Valentino Dmitri]

strongly considered a sickie today but chickened out at the last minute.

game is presently sitting in my backpack. i smelled the manual a moment ago, it's okay. was hoping it would smell like hubba bubba for some reason.

annoyed that i am going to dad's for tea tonight, will not be much of a guest, sitting there and counting down the minutes for a polite time to leave, etc