Dragon Age II [PC, 360, PS3]

[NeoDragoN]

So i've put about 12 hours in so far, i decided to go for a Rogue first this time since i loved how he played on the Demo.

So Far:

Pros

Loving the combat, its just so much smoother than DA. All the skills and sustained spells are a complete joy to use. Just excellent.

The graphics despite what people are saying are love and clean and smooth and i love the artistic style they have gone for.

Hawke is a a joy to use, i didn't think I'd like him, but I've been using the "sarcastic" response and hes great.

Cons

Not being able to equip armour onto your companions this time around is just the stupidest thing ever, i just do not see the reason for this at all. I'm picking up so much cool armour for mages and warriors and i just have to sell it all as i have no need for it, seriously the biggest let down for me in this. 1 of your companions has a crossbow and you can't even replace it, it seems he just keep it through the entire game....

The game feels totally stripped down now:

All armour and weapon sets are now class restricted, so no mages and rogues using swords or shield, no warriors using daggers.

Most Armour you pick up you sell because only the main character can equip it.

You pick up a ton of "junk" which is just sold now at vendors and serves no purpose what so ever.

Crafting is now simplified beyond belief.

12 Hours in I've probably had 3 - 4 story scenes that seem to be from the main story, all the quests i have done so far have just been kill and fetch quests, it honestly feels like playing a hacknslash/mmo at some points because you are just forever doing missions travelling from one place to another. It doesn't help that you arrive at a city within the first hour of the game which consists of Hightown, Lowtown and Darktown and apart from a few jaunts out side you basically are running around these same 3 towns for the first 10 hours of the game.

I feel like a 2nd play through is going to be painful because there doesn't seem to be a lot of choices either, i imagine its going to be the same missions over again with minor tweaks, compared to the 1st game where you could branch into completely different areas and enemies.

I'm really hoping that its going open up a lot more soon and start to feel more like DA than a generic Hack N slash/Quest based game. A bit of linearity at this point would be awesome.

[Uli]

is it possible now to queue up commands like in the PC version of Origins? and can i set my party to full auto combat?

anyone?

[Adam]

You can't queue attacks like that no, it's pretty much the same as DA:O's console versions. They made the auto attack option after finalising the discs, they are working on getting it into the next patch. No idea when that is.

I played a little on Nightmare mode and they have made some hefty changes compared to the original. My Warrior's 2 handed swings now hit my party members and you start to bleed (HP loss) when you are <10% Health. It's a bit much, I had a lot of trouble with the first boss but got through...put it down to Hard

[mekanor]

I'm wondering if anyone else is a bit disappointed at how little connection this game has with the first story wise? I mean, it's set in the same world and everything, but aside from a few cameos or passing comments, I haven't seen much that links to the first game at all.

What does give me hope is

->Open Spoiler<-

Anders/Justice. I was very happy to see Anders return, and think it is quite cool what they've done with Justice, hoping this is expanded on further.

Anyhow, it might be too early to judge just yet, but its a shame Bioware seems to have felt the need to distance this game from the first.

[Eight Rooks]

Not being able to equip armour onto your companions this time around is just the stupidest thing ever, i just do not see the reason for this at all.

Perhaps that there's no real reason your mates should allow you to play dress up with them if they don't want you to?

Don't get me wrong, I do admit Bioware have probably done it in large part to save development man hours, but to be honest the whole 'Yes, master, I will allow you to clothe me in whatever nonsense you see fit' always bugs me about RPGs. If someone's following me around who's a wizard who's fond of their comfy blue robe with spangly magical stars on it and can get along just fine shielding themselves with protective spells in combat, I'm really not that bothered should they refuse to change outfits every five minutes just to keep me happy.

[elaniel]

FYI: 360 achievements for DLC are bugged and will not be earned until they are fixed. Can we seriously get a game released this year that is done on release?!

[Uli]

Dragon Age II does not have much to recommend. It doesn't technically do anything extremely wrong, but it doesn't do much right, either. It feels like it's trying to mesh together Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, and the result is more of a bland sludge than a tasty peanut butter-and-chocolate combination. The characters are cookie-cutter, and the combat is dull and repetitive. Aside from a few interesting moments here and there, Dragon Age II feels like it's been spread too thin. There are occasional strong moments, but unless you're desperate for more of the Dragon Age setting, it would be best to replay Dragon Age: Origins or Mass Effect 2 instead.

doesn't sound very encouraging...

a question for the Origin veterans: is it really so bad? i am beginning to think i might be better off picking up DA Origins PC Ultimate Edition .

[SuperBeatBoy]

From what i've been hearing its been a total turnoff. What is up with the huge sparse environments too. The first game had some interesting places to go and see, this one looks like it completly puts you on the straight and narrow.

I'm playing Two Worlds II on the PC at the moment and i can't pull myself away from it. I love a western rpg with a great story, but it has to have that room to explore and allow some form of customisation. Just as much as it has to be the characters adventure, they have to make it feel like its yours too.

Uli, you should definetly pick up Origins.

[NeoDragoN]

So my Male Rogue kinda had Sex with Fenris.....that a male elf warrior for you not in the know....

I don't know what happened, one minute i'm being nice to him, next hes got me up against the wall...

My rogue is such a badass too....O_O

[NeoDragoN]

I gotta say at the moment the combat is really holding my attention to the game at the minute. I'm using speed buffs and haste, activating 100&#37; critical hits for 20 seconds and my rogue is just a blur of death.....so ****ing awesome.

[MrKirov]

I don't get the hate for not being able to equip armour in your teammates, for the most part, it's just not true!

You can equip amulets, rings, weapons etc. Whoever said you can't give them weapons is plain wrong, it's just that some weapons are character specific, but it clearly tells you when. The armour does only fit your main character though, but the teams armour is upgraded both in stats and looks. From what I can see, each character has four different upgrades which are either purchased, found or given in quests.

So far, I'm enjoying it! Even having to keep pressing a isnt annoying me as muh as i thought, but theres a patch coming for that. It's more of the same really, but that's fine by me! Hatred gonna hate I suppose!

[JP]

Absolutely loving this at the moment, enjoyed the first game also but got dragged away from it by another game at around level 20 and haven't been able to return to it.

I have no issues at all with not being able to change my party's equipment, it's a very welcome change for me and given the choice I would rather completely avoid any control over other characters so I can concentrate on my own.

I presume this is a stupid question but I'm going to ask anyway, when you find items listed as Junk (Opal Fragments, Demonic Ichor, Onyx Fragment, etc) is there anything that you can do with them or should I just be ignoring them?

[MrKirov]

Flog em!

[vincechan]

Really liking this (PS3 version). Different sort of game than DA:O. Found some weird glitch that allowed me to repeat one of the side quests by hammering the X button, mega bumping up our level and gold in the process!!

[Daragon]

I personally disapprove of the decision not to allow armor change for party members. I quite enjoyed having Leliana and Morrigan in their bras and panties during cutscenes in the first game hehe.