Dragon Age 2 Demo

[NeoDragoN]

So i was a huge fan of the 1st game putting in well over a 150 hours so when i saw the demo was up i did a little wee in my pants.

So it plays pretty much the same as the first DA, which imo is a good thing as i really didnt want it to change much, you get the choice of warrior, mage and rogue at the start again, i did the demo with a warrior ( will try the mage and rogue aswell ).

I'd read the game was gonna be more hack n slash than ARPG but thankfully it pretty much remains the same, the hack n slash element comes in the form of your basic attack which now needs you to constantly tap the A button, why they did this i have no idea because its gonna get pretty tiring pretty fast, i'm honestly hoping the full game with get patched or an option so you can have an "auto" attack because the button tapping is really unnecessary.

Combat movement on the whole has a much more of a free feeling to it and you don't feel so much locked on to one enemy at a time, also it seems more special attacks hit multiple enemies at once. Looking at the skill trees it seems its more of the same but much more refined, this does mean a lot less skills than DA but it seems more skills will be a lot more effective.

Graphically its not much of step up from the 1st, everything does look a little more crisper and sharper but its not gonna turn heads graphically, i'm completely fine with it, its got a nice style to it imo.

So yes its more of the same but different and for me thats just great! Cannot wait for the full game.

[NeoDragoN]

Play through 2 as the Rogue this time.

WOW the rogue is amazing in this, so fast with fantastic attack animations they really have done everything to separate the class away from the warrior. The backstab and twin fangs skills were a joy to use, this is just leagues ahead of the Rogue in the first game.

[NeoDragoN]

3rd time as a Mage.

It was alot harder, when fighting the 2nd Ogre i had to literally run around keeping away from it and blasting him with my Ice bolt, but as with all Mages they obviously do get a lot stronger.

I'm loving that the classes all feel really different this time with no skill trees crossing over.

March 11th cannot come fast enough for me.

[sj33]

I actually couldn't get into the original game, mainly because I played it on the back of both Mass Effect 1 and 2, so it was difficult to adjust. It doesn't help that my experience with these kinds of RPGs is limited to say the least.

But I thoroughly enjoyed playing this demo (on PC), and it has convinced me to preorder. I'm not the expert, but it seems like fans of the original who were worried about a Mass Effect 2-style 'dumbing down' don't really have much to worry about.

[mekanor]

Just played through this as each class and came away quite impressed. The game has obviously been designed to appeal more to the console gamer than the original, but hasn't changed quite as much as Mass Effect 2.

Combat
Quite alright actually. Characters and attacks have a nice sense of weight behind them. Despite everything being a lot quicker, combat doesn't seem to have changed much, yet it somehow manages to feel more like a hack and slash. Will need more time to tell, but bioware have potentially done really really well here, it seems like you actually could play it like an action game or stick with tactically pausing and giving commands. I'm not sure why they would remove the overhead view (I missed it a few times as the mage) but I guess the game still works.

Visuals
A lot nicer than the original. My main gripe is with the menus/HUD. Everything looks really bland. The quickbar has none of the artistic niceties of the original and when you go to cast an area of effect spell, instead of some cool pattern, theres just a big boring circle. It looks unfinished to be honest. Not sure why this is a step back from origins. I suppose it's a relatively minor complaint though.

Story/Characters
I'm convinced that this game is nothing like what bioware had planned when they released origins. I thought the whole point of the first game and the reason there were 6 different start stories was so that you could build your character up to take through the series. Having a voiced protagonist is different, but ok I guess. Using the Mass Effect conversation wheel is also not really a bad thing, though the female sarcastic/witty responses annoy me a bit. Obviously there's no way to tell yet if anyone will be interesting or even what you're trying to accomplish in the game, but it's nice to see a couple of familiar faces. Flemeth looks waaay different in her armour and it will be interesting to see how she fits in. I'm pretty sure the pirate woman (Isabella?) was also in DAO, though very fleetingly. Here's hoping importing your save will actually have some noticeable effect.

All in all, I' pretty pumped. I'll use the next 2 weeks to finish off the last of the DAO dlc I think.

[elaniel]

I really enjoyed it but found it annoying that some of the guide popups blocked parts of the menu so you couldn't choose what you selected to level up. Also, there was quite a few parts where the audio jumped.

I've had the Signature Edition pre-ordered for months, and looking forward to playing the full game.

[MisterBubbles]

Really enjoying the demo, played as a rogue but found myself switching to Bethany as i liked her skills and attributes.

[rmoxon]

I'd read the game was gonna be more hack n slash than ARPG but thankfully it pretty much remains the same, the hack n slash element comes in the form of your basic attack which now needs you to constantly tap the A button, why they did this i have no idea because its gonna get pretty tiring pretty fast, i'm honestly hoping the full game with get patched or an option so you can have an "auto" attack because the button tapping is really unnecessary.

I pressed A constantly in the original game anyway, I imagine lots of people did, its only a little thing but the fact that you now have to press it for every attack makes it feel like you are doing more.

I dont think ythere will be a patch as I presume most people will prefer this method, I certainly do.

In fact I actualy think this whole demo seems a big improvment over the original, which had terrible combat really.

[NeoDragoN]

I pressed A constantly in the original game anyway, I imagine lots of people did, its only a little thing but the fact that you now have to press it for every attack makes it feel like you are doing more.

I dont think ythere will be a patch as I presume most people will prefer this method, I certainly do.

In fact I actualy think this whole demo seems a big improvment over the original, which had terrible combat really.

The 1st one had dice rolling like KOTOR did, so when you pressed A you locked onto an enemy and auto attacked, your chance to hit/miss/crit was all down to stats and the dice roll, i also felt you could manage your team and skills better.

I don't mind having to constantly press the A button, i just find it pointless, i wouldn't have minded so much if they had put in a timing system for criticals or finishers, or ways to combo in skills to do more damage. It just seems to me its been put in there to appeal to people who don't play RPG's and they want to sell this more as a hack n slash/RPG.

[rmoxon]

The 1st one had dice rolling like KOTOR did, so when you pressed A you locked onto an enemy and auto attacked, your chance to hit/miss/crit was all down to stats and the dice roll, i also felt you could manage your team and skills better.

I don't mind having to constantly press the A button, i just find it pointless, i wouldn't have minded so much if they had put in a timing system for criticals or finishers, or ways to combo in skills to do more damage. It just seems to me its been put in there to appeal to people who don't play RPG's and they want to sell this more as a hack n slash/RPG.

But.......

The Combat in Dragon Age 2 is still based on Dice rolls and in that respect is the same.

Even somthing like Diablo requires you to press for every attack, alot of RPG's do.

I play loads of RPG's, I just naturaly kept pressing A over and over in the original game, which was actualy quite annoying becuase it meant my character would be constantly saying that he was going to attack over and over.

Combat in games like Dragon Age isnt that involving anyway, so If you almost entierly remove button pressing too you end up hardly doing anything at all, as was the case in the original.

Also, games like Oblivion and Fallout 3 have combat that is based on dice roles (as do the earlier games in both series), you still have to perform every attack though.

[NeoDragoN]

But.......

The Combat in Dragon Age 2 is still based on Dice rolls and in that respect is the same.

Even somthing like Diablo requires you to press for every attack, alot of RPG's do.

I play loads of RPG's, I just naturaly kept pressing A over and over in the original game, which was actualy quite annoying becuase it meant my character would be constantly saying that he was going to attack over and over.

Combat in games like Dragon Age isnt that involving anyway, so If you almost entierly remove button pressing too you end up hardly doing anything at all, as was the case in the original.

Also, games like Oblivion and Fallout 3 have combat that is based on dice roles (as do the earlier games in both series), you still have to perform every attack though.

We'll have to agree to disagree then. It just doesn't seem like a worthy addition to me at all.

[SuperBeatBoy]

The 360 version is one hell of an improvement over the first game. This sequel is one preety looking game.

[PeteJ]

We'll have to agree to disagree then. It just doesn't seem like a worthy addition to me at all.

I think in the final game you can set it back to auto attacks if you want.

[Stoppy2000]

Is the demo an area from the main game or is it totally separate?

[Daragon]

The first half of the demo seems to be the very start of the full game. The second half is presumably a later section which skips out various bits, presumably main plot points.