TheForgetfulBrain Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Okay, so finally got around to playing it. Except for the redesign of the darkspawn, I really like the new visuals. I also actually quite like the new gameplay. That said, I have some gripes. I'm not too fond of 'Guy' Hawke's voice, but I suppose it will grow on me. The characters and companions that you have by the time the demo ends, I'm not too fond of either - I know, not a fair assessment after such a short time, but they look and feel kind of like the filler characters you expect to die off. Hopefully there's more standout characters as the game progresses, as almost all of the characters from Origins were brilliant. I'm also concerned they removed dual-wielding from the warrior class - the locked Vanguard class *might* be dual-wielding, but I kind of doubt it. Which sucks - that's how I like to play my warrior classes, with two swords, and it was excellent in the first game - I'm bummed if rogues are the only ones that can dual wield now. Story wise, I was surprised - initially I thought it took place long after Dragon Age II, but I guess it's more of a parallel deal, and the reason it doesn't conflict with DA is because you're on another continent. It was also a bit of a revelation that you're not a Grey Warden. Also, like Pir said, geez, Flemeth sure dressed up for the Champion. As most of you probably know, I've been a huge supporter of this game so far, optimistic from the first announcement. While I'm still ready as hell to play it, I'm already getting kind of nostalgic about a few of the changes from DA, and I'm less stoked about 'Hawke' than I was before. That said, I'm sure I'll still love the hell out of this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 'Guy' Hawke's OMG THAT IS TOTALLY GOING TO BE MY CHARACTER'S NAME! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterDex Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 This kind of generalization about "console gamers" irks me. Until recently I was primarily a console game (I've recently relapsed back into PC), and I very much preferred everything about DA:O over what they've done in DA2. Based on the demo, I would pay probably around $30 for DA2. If DA:O had been like this then I probably would have liked it okay, but I wouldn't have loved it like I did, and as is DA2 is just a big step backward in every way that matters (to me). Keep in mind that I'm not the one making those generalisations, the developers and publishers are when they decide these sort of changes will help shift more copies on console and to be fair, they're not too wrong either. While I'm sure there are plenty of console gamers like yourself that would rather DA:O over DA2, you're probably in the minority just as those PC gamers who prefer DA2 over DA:O are probably in the minority. It's an unfortunate climate we have in the industry. It'd be great if the gap between console gamer & console games and PC gamer & PC games could be bridged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Based on the demo, I would pay probably around $30 for DA2. I take this back. In the best tradition of gaming, despite all my naysaying I would still preorder this if not for the fact that you can't get the preorder bonus DLC anymore, so I feel like I'm getting screwed out of content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheForgetfulBrain Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Based on the demo, I would pay probably around $30 for DA2. I take this back. In the best tradition of gaming, despite all my naysaying I would still preorder this if not for the fact that you can't get the preorder bonus DLC anymore, so I feel like I'm getting screwed out of content. I know - that's a bummer. There's so many different tiers of Bonus Content and items for this game, some depending on when you pre-ordered it, others just from following the game for a long time and jumping on special offers, that it kind of sucks for anyone who waited to make up their mind first, and actually seems like a deterrent to purchasing now (unless they don't know about all the stuff they're missing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 It's definitely a deterrent for me. Might pick it up when they release an Ultimate Edition, or if it goes cheap on a Steam sale over like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 http://www.gameblurb.net/featured/versus-dragon-age-2-demo-screenshot-comparison/ Let the flame wars begin! Personally I think that overall the 360 shots look better, with better lighting and detail, but the PS3 doesn't have as much aliasing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirandello Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 PC reigns at the top. *holds up fists* Anyways, I think there's more flame to be had from CD Projekt flaming Dragon Age 2 by stating that the Witcher 2 looks better (which, honestly, it does). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheForgetfulBrain Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Yeah, screens of the Witcher 2 so far look like pure cream. The original game floored me with atmosphere - I need to finish it first though, someday, somehow, with some time I'm not sure where I'm going to get... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vargras Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 For those of you complaining about Male Hawke's voice: At least it's better than Male Shepard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Falser words have never been spoken. Unrelatedly, apparently "falser" is an honest-to-god, real word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirandello Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 For those of you complaining about Male Hawke's voice: At least it's better than Male Shepard. You know, at the very beginning, when he spoke his first words, I almost mistook him for Captain Angelos from Dawn of War 2. Then he spoke some more and it sounded different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangelove Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Female hawke is pretty cool. Looks a lot like morrigan and has a good voice actor behind her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirandello Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Surprisingly, I think I like playing Rogue in this one over Warrior. Most likely due to the cooldown gaps between both classes. Rogue's cools down much more faster (and the moves look cool to boot). And again, Flemeth really had a fashion makeover. Really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 I like tanking too much to go rogue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vargras Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Surprisingly, I think I like playing Rogue in this one over Warrior. Most likely due to the cooldown gaps between both classes. Rogue's cools down much more faster (and the moves look cool to boot). And again, Flemeth really had a fashion makeover. Really. Double Archer is INCREDIBLY powerful. I absolutely destroyed that last fight with both my ranged rogue and Varric. Two miasmic flasks, two rain of arrows/exploding arrows. Ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 The demo allayed my worst fears about DA2, although I'm miffed that facing has been removed and I think the environment and drakspawn designs are awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staySICK Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 so I just finished the pc demo, played through as a male mage. I don't mind the animations, it really gives the vanilla attack for mage some flair. I'm glad to see they kept the ability to pause and control your teammates. I wish they would have kept the camera options of DA: O, however. I managed to work myself into a kinda-sorta isometric view, but miss the ability to really move around and survey the area like I could before. With the demo, I found myself fiddling with the camera more than I would like, switching between views and angles for different situations. With Origins, it was a simple matter of the scroll wheel. Now its scrolling then repositioning, scrolling more to fine tune... more trouble than I'd like. I wish the inventory wasn't locked out on the demo. On a technical side of things, anyone else have trouble at all? The framerate was really jumpy for me, in a few fights it'd drop to like 17, but as soon as I jumped in and out of a menu it'd be back up to normal. Also I'd get some weird visual glitches like so: All in all, its not as terrible as I feared, but I'm definitely going to wait until it goes on sale or a goty / ultimate edition is released. I still wish they'd build on what they started with origins, instead of doing what feels like a reboot. I especially still miss the option to play as other races, as well as controlling my party's gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirandello Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Yeah, I noticed as well. The game would run smoothly and then, by the tiny slightest bit and only for a split-second, the game seemingly jumped and/or stuttered. Happened a lot in combat, too. Hope they iron that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 (edited) I think the glitches were mainly the botched implementation of DirectX 11 in the demo. I absolutely LOVE the new spell and attack animations, so much more visceral. In DA1 it just felt like you were tapping enemies with spells and such, in 2 it feels like your fucking really hitting them Edited February 23, 2011 by excel_excel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 the frame rate was pretty smooth on high on my m11x. In fact, it runs better than Origins. I did experience some slowdowns in the final fight, but nothing significant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staySICK Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 I had fraps running and measuring the framerate out of curiosity, it would stay in the 40s then just drop for no real reason, the worse one was during a lull in combat, so it wasn't like there was much going on, but like I said, as soon as I hit escape into the menus then back into the game it jumped back up. Really strange. Here's another shot of a graphical glitch: Flying pixelated man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirandello Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 the frame rate was pretty smooth on high on my m11x. In fact, it runs better than Origins. I did experience some slowdowns in the final fight, but nothing significant. I thought it was in part that the graphics options were pretty much locked out for the demo. The highest quality the game can run at for me is Medium with maximum of 8x AA. Other than that, only the resolution can be set. Everything else is locked or set in stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staySICK Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Origins always ran super fine for me, even before I upgrade my gpu. Really there's no reason to be having the glitches and stuttering framerate. Hopefully that all gets resolved before release. I was running it at DX11 High, Very high is locked out due to the disabled DX11 bits, 8x AA the disabled dx11 bits are probably the cause of the glitches though, I might do my Rogue playthrough in DX9 mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheForgetfulBrain Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 I couldn't even run it with DX11 - I'd get to the character creation and the game would freeze. Had to replay the opening battle with that stupid ogre three times, due to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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