paecmaker
12-28-2011, 04:57 PM
Pack your bows and swords, put on your biggest armor and prepare for battle. Cause today we will hunt big prey, we will hunt dragons so let me welcome you to
Dragon age 2
http://www.robertroos.se/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/dragon-age-2-screen-cap-copy.jpg
Dragon age 2 was developed by Bioware and was released in march 2011.
The plot
Dragon age 2 begins roughly at the same time as the first game (during the blight) you play as Hawke and tries to escape the monsters with your family.
After a while and several events later you are stranded in the city of Kirkwall with no money and almost unknown. You are forced to work yourself up from the bottom. The game is formed as a tale. Varric, one of the main characters is under custody and are forced to tell the true story about Hawkes way in Kirkwall, a way filled with blood death and sacrifice. The story is set during several years and is only set in Kirkwall and its close suroundings.
Gameplay
There are several things that are different from dragon age Origins(from now on DAO) One of the main thing is the way the story is told, its like a tale that stretches across many years. This makes the story more important and kept in the middle.
The first thing that is different is that Hawke can only be human,In DAO you could choose race. But you can still choose sex and also how you look like. But the choices are fewer than in the prequel.
And despite what class/sex you choose(warrior, mage or rogue) you got only one intro with a few changes dependable of your choices. But its not like DAO where you had several different stories for every race and class.
However the biggest change is that Hawke now got her/his own voice witch I feel is much better for the story and the feeling. Now you also got a comunications wheel like in mass effect, there you can also see what type of thing you are going to say (joking, accusing, angry and so on)
http://admintell.napco.com/ee/images/uploads/gamertell/dragon_age_2_female_hawke.jpg
(Meet lady Hawke)
The game is a RPG and it got pretty standard controls, and its pretty easy to play.
You can have three buddies with you at all time(almost) and they will help you during combat as well as their thoughts in conversations, however you cant talk directly to them while out. You can change to play with them at all time as well as showing them how to fight, it will help much in harder battles if you control how you can use your buddies.
Also you can pause the game any time during battle to asses the situation as well as planning attacks against opponents.
One thing I dont like as much is that you cant change your buddies armor, you can change your own but not your friends clothes.
Also there are many things you can find in boxes, on dead enemies that you cant do anything more than sell, at a shop you only press the button sell all junk and its done.
There are many usefull things you can find but many got the same names, for example you can find hundreds of rings with the name ring, the only differences are the stats, and the same with many things.
One other thing that I think is pretty cheap is that many places are just copy pasted into several locations, I was in a bar and went into a room. I thought that I recogniced it and then I remebered, it looked just like the haunted mansion I was in a few minutes ago, what a coincidence :p.
Unlike DAO that is set during a few weeks but in many places this game is set in a few places during long time. After a time you will know everything about Kirkwall and its surroundings, you are going to the same places many times and it changes surprisingly little during the years, the only changes Ive really seen are a few statues and a smaller place.
Apart from that everything is just the way they were three years ago. However I still think its an interesting and a bold move to let the game to be set so differently against DAO, and Im sure some wont like it.
http://www.gamereactor.se/media/21/dragonage2_232178.jpg
(Its not a dragon age without dragons right?)
One other thing that I thought was pretty annoying is that you cant talk to the normal people, almost everyone you talk to gives you a quest but sometimes I just want to small talk to the interesting guy standing there.
The characters in Dragon age 2 are mostly well done, however there were more interesting in DAO, but Varric is undoubtly my favourite(who doenst love dwarves with massive crossbows named Bianca)
But I still loved Dragon age 2, many things were improved, like the alchemy system and you also got a nice skill tree(however I wanted more choices)
Unlike DAO witch you knew directly who/what the archenemy was its not as simple here in DA2. You have no clear main enemy until the later half of the game, maybe even later.
The combat in DA2 is slightly easier than earlier, you dont need as much tactics as in DAO, and sometimes its more of a hac n slash than a RPG, however you can still change difficulty if its to easy(or hard). One thing I can get a little annoyed with is that often they tries to make it challenging only with a flood of bad enemies that spawn around you, many thimes they dont even hide the spawning places so they just pop up.
Technology(Graphics, AI and sounds)
The graphics are slightly better than DAO, the models(the characters, monsters etc) are looking good, and the wounded coast is beautiful. However many dungeons and also some other places are cut and pasted to different locations.
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/558653617748828862/718B120453FD3431AC2B9AD05FF53979C00AE9B1/
(A nice ocean with a shipwreck)
The AI is very simple and mostly easy, normal enemies attack without any tactics, but leaders can sometimes use special attacks to rally friendlies and mages are annoying with their magics.
The sounds are working well, everyone got voices and they mostly do a good job, however the female Hawke can sometimes sound really strange dependable of what options you choose during conversations. You companions background talk(when they walk with you and talk with eachover) is mostly brilliant and often extremely fun to listen at, even more if the characters are the opposides of eachover(for example a guard and a pirate)
The music is mostly good and does it purpose, but I liked the music better in DAO.
Overview
Dragon age 2 is a RPG from Bioware, you play as the human Hawke whose story is told like a tale, the story is set during many years. The game has been simplier than DAO, both the battles and the fact that you cant switch armor of your friendlies anymore. Sometimes the difficulty levels are strange, I have been killed by smaller enemies but still beaten bosses simple. Also the game is set in a much smaller place, only the city Kirkwall and its surroundings.
There are fewer people you can talk to and sometimes the number of names you must remember are just to many. All in all its a fantastic game none the less, if you prefer it over DAO is another question though.
Points
Gameplay 8/10- Its classic and works well, only that sometimes I couldnt move in battle if my target stepped out of range, and it relies itself a little to much on pure hac n slash.
graphics 8/10- The graphics are better than DAO, the only thing is that many places are reused a few times to many.
sounds 8/10- Everyone got voices(something Bioware is good at I suppose) and the music does its purpose, not much more I can say.
Total 8/10- its a great game but not fantastic, the story start a bit slow but it turn better, sometimes you are forced to do things you dont want but mostly its good.
(Oh and your favourite dwarf is back) !!enchantment!!
(second thought)
One thing I just remebered is that your buddies live in different places so unlike DAO where you could just walk around you camp and talk to them you need to travel via the travel map to different locations, it sucks.
This was my first review in a month so I know its not that good.
Dragon age 2
http://www.robertroos.se/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/dragon-age-2-screen-cap-copy.jpg
Dragon age 2 was developed by Bioware and was released in march 2011.
The plot
Dragon age 2 begins roughly at the same time as the first game (during the blight) you play as Hawke and tries to escape the monsters with your family.
After a while and several events later you are stranded in the city of Kirkwall with no money and almost unknown. You are forced to work yourself up from the bottom. The game is formed as a tale. Varric, one of the main characters is under custody and are forced to tell the true story about Hawkes way in Kirkwall, a way filled with blood death and sacrifice. The story is set during several years and is only set in Kirkwall and its close suroundings.
Gameplay
There are several things that are different from dragon age Origins(from now on DAO) One of the main thing is the way the story is told, its like a tale that stretches across many years. This makes the story more important and kept in the middle.
The first thing that is different is that Hawke can only be human,In DAO you could choose race. But you can still choose sex and also how you look like. But the choices are fewer than in the prequel.
And despite what class/sex you choose(warrior, mage or rogue) you got only one intro with a few changes dependable of your choices. But its not like DAO where you had several different stories for every race and class.
However the biggest change is that Hawke now got her/his own voice witch I feel is much better for the story and the feeling. Now you also got a comunications wheel like in mass effect, there you can also see what type of thing you are going to say (joking, accusing, angry and so on)
http://admintell.napco.com/ee/images/uploads/gamertell/dragon_age_2_female_hawke.jpg
(Meet lady Hawke)
The game is a RPG and it got pretty standard controls, and its pretty easy to play.
You can have three buddies with you at all time(almost) and they will help you during combat as well as their thoughts in conversations, however you cant talk directly to them while out. You can change to play with them at all time as well as showing them how to fight, it will help much in harder battles if you control how you can use your buddies.
Also you can pause the game any time during battle to asses the situation as well as planning attacks against opponents.
One thing I dont like as much is that you cant change your buddies armor, you can change your own but not your friends clothes.
Also there are many things you can find in boxes, on dead enemies that you cant do anything more than sell, at a shop you only press the button sell all junk and its done.
There are many usefull things you can find but many got the same names, for example you can find hundreds of rings with the name ring, the only differences are the stats, and the same with many things.
One other thing that I think is pretty cheap is that many places are just copy pasted into several locations, I was in a bar and went into a room. I thought that I recogniced it and then I remebered, it looked just like the haunted mansion I was in a few minutes ago, what a coincidence :p.
Unlike DAO that is set during a few weeks but in many places this game is set in a few places during long time. After a time you will know everything about Kirkwall and its surroundings, you are going to the same places many times and it changes surprisingly little during the years, the only changes Ive really seen are a few statues and a smaller place.
Apart from that everything is just the way they were three years ago. However I still think its an interesting and a bold move to let the game to be set so differently against DAO, and Im sure some wont like it.
http://www.gamereactor.se/media/21/dragonage2_232178.jpg
(Its not a dragon age without dragons right?)
One other thing that I thought was pretty annoying is that you cant talk to the normal people, almost everyone you talk to gives you a quest but sometimes I just want to small talk to the interesting guy standing there.
The characters in Dragon age 2 are mostly well done, however there were more interesting in DAO, but Varric is undoubtly my favourite(who doenst love dwarves with massive crossbows named Bianca)
But I still loved Dragon age 2, many things were improved, like the alchemy system and you also got a nice skill tree(however I wanted more choices)
Unlike DAO witch you knew directly who/what the archenemy was its not as simple here in DA2. You have no clear main enemy until the later half of the game, maybe even later.
The combat in DA2 is slightly easier than earlier, you dont need as much tactics as in DAO, and sometimes its more of a hac n slash than a RPG, however you can still change difficulty if its to easy(or hard). One thing I can get a little annoyed with is that often they tries to make it challenging only with a flood of bad enemies that spawn around you, many thimes they dont even hide the spawning places so they just pop up.
Technology(Graphics, AI and sounds)
The graphics are slightly better than DAO, the models(the characters, monsters etc) are looking good, and the wounded coast is beautiful. However many dungeons and also some other places are cut and pasted to different locations.
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/558653617748828862/718B120453FD3431AC2B9AD05FF53979C00AE9B1/
(A nice ocean with a shipwreck)
The AI is very simple and mostly easy, normal enemies attack without any tactics, but leaders can sometimes use special attacks to rally friendlies and mages are annoying with their magics.
The sounds are working well, everyone got voices and they mostly do a good job, however the female Hawke can sometimes sound really strange dependable of what options you choose during conversations. You companions background talk(when they walk with you and talk with eachover) is mostly brilliant and often extremely fun to listen at, even more if the characters are the opposides of eachover(for example a guard and a pirate)
The music is mostly good and does it purpose, but I liked the music better in DAO.
Overview
Dragon age 2 is a RPG from Bioware, you play as the human Hawke whose story is told like a tale, the story is set during many years. The game has been simplier than DAO, both the battles and the fact that you cant switch armor of your friendlies anymore. Sometimes the difficulty levels are strange, I have been killed by smaller enemies but still beaten bosses simple. Also the game is set in a much smaller place, only the city Kirkwall and its surroundings.
There are fewer people you can talk to and sometimes the number of names you must remember are just to many. All in all its a fantastic game none the less, if you prefer it over DAO is another question though.
Points
Gameplay 8/10- Its classic and works well, only that sometimes I couldnt move in battle if my target stepped out of range, and it relies itself a little to much on pure hac n slash.
graphics 8/10- The graphics are better than DAO, the only thing is that many places are reused a few times to many.
sounds 8/10- Everyone got voices(something Bioware is good at I suppose) and the music does its purpose, not much more I can say.
Total 8/10- its a great game but not fantastic, the story start a bit slow but it turn better, sometimes you are forced to do things you dont want but mostly its good.
(Oh and your favourite dwarf is back) !!enchantment!!
(second thought)
One thing I just remebered is that your buddies live in different places so unlike DAO where you could just walk around you camp and talk to them you need to travel via the travel map to different locations, it sucks.
This was my first review in a month so I know its not that good.