Hi everyone, I know there's already a Dragon Age II demo thread, but it was full of discussion on how to download it etc. I was thinking we could start a new place for discussing impressions of the game based on the demo.
Guess I'll go first. I played the PC demo version. I also thoroughly explored DA:O spending 100+ hours, so in contrast, I'm worried about how the DA II full game will turn out.
I thought it was a foul demo, not because the game itself is "bad" but because of how little it showed off. You couldn't use the inventory and equip items you found (even just for the aesthetic hell of it) and you couldn't explore the skill/ability tree... It just frustrated me that all it showed off was combat, dialogue and ignited that serious bit of "OMFG WANT TO KNOW MORE" when our dear dragon showed her face, and that lovely, gorgeous voice of hers... Sweet gaming gods, there's a voice that I would serve without question <3
The combat looks ridiculous. It might be full of flashy spectacular animations, but it's completely out of joint with the lore of the game and the tone established by DA:O. The combat animations would be more at home in some sort of Japanese action-adventure. Arguably it looks cool, but it isn't at home in Dragon Age.
Well, I don't MIND the combat as such, it does feel very, very, very over-the-top. I can live with the rogue combat and even the warrior combat is enjoyable to watch (I agree with what someone, think it was Crz, said--seeing a warrior, especially a girl, waving around a huge two-hander like it was tinfoil just detracts from the believability). My issue (and this is an important one) is the mage combat.
What the HELL were they thinking turning a frail mage into some semi-beefy, stick-swinging ninja warrior with magic? I keep playing it over and over again in my head... Imagining Wynne or Irving bouncing around like that. It is the furthest thing from what I imagine a mage to be. Origins had my personal imagining of a mage done beautifully. That, to me, is the biggest upset.
The UI and camera controls are crummy and reek of consoleitis, as do the menu systems. Many of the features from DA:O are simply missing. Full party control? User friendly tactics menu? Holding TAB to bring up enemy nameplate info? Annoying spell bar that cannot be collapsed. Camera locked to characters. No isometric camera (ARGH!).
You can control party members >.> And the tactics menu is significantly more user-friendly than in Origins, and tab still works, although, didn't really pay much attention to it ala enemy.
I agree with the lack of isometric camera. I was quite partial to zooming out and surveying the scene and giving out orders. I don't mind the spell bar (never collapsed it in the first place, actually had it dragged out in full). I don't mind the camera controls too much, although sometimes I find myself clicking on a new enemy (hence stopping a current attack) instead of moving the damn camera.
The scripted narrative that we loved in Mass Effect 2 might be to the detriment of DA II. Somehow Hawke's voice acting isn't convincing. With the three general conversational tones he comes across as a maniac. One moment he's a sarcastic clown, the next a rageful meathead, and then a pious stuck-up. It really breaks the 'role-playing' element of the game. The conversation wheel paraphrases are also pretty damn vague, and you don't really know what Hawke is going to say.
I do agree, especially since, because you don't know what he's going to say, you don't know (or rather, can't easily guess) how NPCs will react. For example, the bit where the Templar (I forget his name, sorry) approaches Bethany, you can either choose the more "nice" option, which gives you a bit of praise (reputation, I mean) or you can choose the direct (bottom option) approach which has you say something to the effect that you stand with Bethany, giving +10 reputation with Bethany and +5 with Carver.
Not knowing exactly what you will say means you have a very limited idea of who you'll be peeving off and who you will be pleasing.
Is anyone else getting that horrendous pausing between each scene? I've found others complaining of it on the BioWare forum, but I'm wondering if it's hardware related. I'm not quite ready to admit that my PC can't handle this game on full...
Wouldn't call it "horrendous" but when switching from, say, the battle to the dwarf and the templar, there's a 2-3-second "loading" displayed. It's fine, and much preferable to the loading screens of Origins where so much as entering a building could take 10 seconds the first time. I can live with it.
Anyway, this is only the demo, and who knows how the full game will play out. Perhaps when it's all framed as the complete package it will still be good, but I don't think it's going to be the Dragon Age experience that PC gamers fell in love with.
I agree, I don't believe that this is like Origins. I think it will still feel the same the more we get into the story and the characters, I think it will still be Dragon Age, heart and soul, but gameplay will feel slightly different (I don't think VERY). The first play-through of the demo had me worried, the second and third time I started getting really into it.
I think it'll be good, I think I will enjoy it immensely. I do, however, think it will be more of an action RPG than a die-hard CRPG that Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age and its ilk were. It's not really a path I would've chosen for the game but I'm confident that it'll still manage to be a phenomenal gaming experience.
One thing I'm very happy with so far is the character models and general graphics. They're absolutely gorgeous <3
Omg... and the dragon female (don't want to give away spoilers) I LOVED the look <3
