Dragon Age II Demo

[H21]

Hello, RU community. I hope the rest of you are having a good 3:30 AM.

Anyway, I just downloaded the DA2 demo last night, and didn't get around to playing it until a couple hours ago. Long story short, I had a blast.


Short story long goes accordingly:

Now, I've never played the first Dragon Age, so I didn't know what to expect. What I found was an RPG with well-balanced and compelling combat mechanics, good controls, good voice acting (BioWare's staple), and a solid storyline that kept me interested. I was taken off guard.

There was even a point where I was going to quit because I couldn't pass an area, but I strategized, and made it through. Pro status.

Anyway, has anyone given this demo a shot, or have any comments on the franchise itself? It's actually a fairly long demo, using most demos as a reference point. I actually am thinking of picking up a copy of the first one, now. It was just a good time.

[joz]

Never heard of it, but I'm always on a lookout for a good RPG. They just don't make them like they used to anymore

[Slime Slayer]

I heared it was really bad, /v isn't the best source though.

[H21]

Originally Posted by jozman3000

Never heard of it, but I'm always on a lookout for a good RPG. They just don't make them like they used to anymore

Yeah, I hear you. Actually, I think it was Gamespot (?) that said it would appeal to old school RPG gamers, or something along those lines.

At any rate, if you have a PS3, Xbox 360, or PC that can play high-end games, I recommend getting the demo. It's free. Can't beat that.

Originally Posted by stevencassidy13

I heared it was really bad, /v isn't the best source though.

The demo, or the first game? I haven't yet seen or read a review that wasn't in favor of the game. The demo, I don't know. Like with all games, people are going to see it differently. But, "really bad"? I'm not too sure about that.

[Demon-Mask]

Originally Posted by stevencassidy13

I heared it was really bad, /v isn't the best source though.

No, /v/ is the best source, just do the exact opposite of what they recommend and you'll end up playing good games and not playing bad games.
It took me some time to realize that they hate everything fun.

[H21]

Haha. I've never heard of this "/v/". Am I out of the loop?

[Dudebro]

I played half of the first game and stopped because other games caught my interest. What I did play of it was cool but I can see why some people might not like it. I think the line about it appealing to old school gamers is accurate. It's kinda linear and story/character driven. There's no exploration like Oblivion or Fallout and there's no super duper ridiculous anime characters to ruin the atmosphere. Also it has great voice acting for the character development, including the great Claudia Black from Farscape/Stargate fame.

[H21]

I'm not a big exploration person, but I know people who are, and say the same thing about the game. So, Dudebro, are you saying that it's good, but just not quite amazing? Thanks for your input.

[Dudebro]

I can't give a fair opinion because I haven't done more than half the game or so yet. I plan on replaying it now that I beat New Vegas though. It might take me some time to get back into it and remember where I was.
All that being said I'd recommend the first game to any rpg fan with access to it.

[H21]

Awesome. I, unlike most people, am a fan of Games "On Demand" on Xbox Live. It's selling there for $30. However, the disc with the game and all the DLC is $50. Do you (or anyone) think it's worth either of those prices?

It wouldn't be for a little while, anyway.

[Dudebro]

I'm not sure what the DLC prices are like on Live but if you're gonna get the game you should probably get the DLC. I've heard lots of good things about it's content.

Btw not sure if you've played it yet but dragon age 1 gives you a unique armor in Mass Effect 2. It's awesome for most of the game but it's a once piece suit that obstructs your face in lots of dialogue. Might not sound that bad but it gets old quick, trust me.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqnov5rnj_A&feature=related]YouTube - Mass Effect 2: Blood Dragon Armor[/ame]

[bearhawk72]

Alright, I'm hear to talk about the first game. I have it on the PS3.

First off, I liked it a lot. I played through it completely twice. I'll bullet point some of the things about it I haven't seen mentioned.

-Fairly Linear
Like others have said, it's not free roaming like Fallout or Oblvion. However, I do not see that as a bad thing. It keeps you more focused on the story and therefore you are more engrossed(IMO) because nearly everything does something to progress the plot.

I say fairly linear because there is no set order in which you have to do things. You can go to most of the areas in any order. A few side areas only open up after going to a specific place first and getting quests

-Choices affect outcomes
Basically there are 2 paths for pretty much every quest in the game: Good and Bad. Who you choose to side with alters the plot somewhat(though the game pretty much ends the same way no matter if you're good or bad) and has a direct effect on the final battle

( Click to show/hide )

as it changes who you can call on to help you in the final battle

-Character Customization
This is fairly deep after you choose your race and class. There are 3 races:Human, Elf, Dwarf and each has a class(rich, poor, different types of elves, etc). Each has an origin story for about 1-2 hours where you get background on that character but all converge into the same main story.

After that you get many choices in what type of character you want(ranged, melee, mage, dual weilding, etc) you can put skill points into as you level. Mages can branch off on many paths as can others.

You can also specialize if you find books or are taught by others. They allow you access to new skills not normally available. Once you gain access to specializations they are available on every playthrough after.

You can also fully customize your allies within the skill set they come with, or let the game auto level them on their current paths.

-Character Recruitment/Interaction
What sides you choose in game can affect who is willing to join your battle, or how current party members will react to you. you can talk to party members pretty much whenever you feel like it. They all have different attitudes. Depending on your actions in battle or how you talk to them, they will gain or lose respect for you. Get the respect level high enough and romantic escapades are available. Lower the respect level low enough and they will leave your party never to return or even turn against you.

Some characters will join you as the plot progresses, some have to be convinced through choices or properly interacting with them, though it's nearly impossible to not recruit someone if you want them to join you

-Combat
Ok, here is the bulk of the game. I'll try to break it down. When you enter combat, the game pauses. Here is where the strategic part of the battle comes in. You can cycle through your current party members and issue them commands on the spot. Also, when not in battle you can access a menu for each character and set how you want them to react in a battle(what spells/skills to use at what health, who to attack first, when to heal, etc)

After that, you can move around but attacking is still sort of time based. Like if you're a melee fighter with a sword he'll swing, pause, and swing again. Mages and archers have less of a pasue and fire more frequently but do less damage.

On the PS3 you can have 6 skills hotkeyed to the square, triangle, and cirlce buttons. 3 are shown, holding another button(I forget which) will bring up the other 3.

On the PS3 you only get the zoomed in 3rd person view, though on PC you can zoom out for a more strategic view.

-Length
Depending on the difficulty level, how good you are, and how much you are willing to explore each area the game can last from 30-50+ hours.

Any other questions just ask and I'll see if I can answer them.

---------- Post added at 02:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:09 PM ----------

Originally Posted by H21

Awesome. I, unlike most people, am a fan of Games "On Demand" on Xbox Live. It's selling there for $30. However, the disc with the game and all the DLC is $50. Do you (or anyone) think it's worth either of those prices?

It wouldn't be for a little while, anyway.

The only DLC I have is The Stone Prisoner and the Blood Armor because the codes for them came packaged with the game. I hear the DLC is pretty good but I almost never buy DLC for any games.

[Demon-Mask]

Originally Posted by H21

Haha. I've never heard of this "/v/". Am I out of the loop?

Out of the loop? No, not so much. Most people tend to avoid 4chan, I like it though.
/v/ - Video Games is what we are talking.

[H21]

Originally Posted by Demon-Mask

Out of the loop? No, not so much. Most people tend to avoid 4chan, I like it though.
/v/ - Video Games is what we are talking.

Hahaha. All you needed to say was 4chan.

Also, bearhawk72, +rep. That was widely informative, and instilled a lot of confidence in me for the game. Thank you very much.

Also, I also rarely buy DLC for any game. I'd be okay with the $30 price tag, though I feel I may find it cheaper at the locally owned game shop. I'll definitely keep my eyes open.

Dudebro, I'm guessing that armor goes for both systems? I have not yet played ME2, and I'm about halfway through the first one. Wow, I need to catch up.

At any rate, thank you guys for your input. It's extremely appreciated.

[Dudebro]

I don't know if that armor is for both systems. I assume it is because it's a Bioware thing but I have zero experience with PS3.

Since this came up I started playing DA1 again. Looking at my last achievement I stopped playing around christmas 09, must've got something good. Either way it took me about an hour to get used to the combat again and to remember what I was doing(saved in front of a boss room )

---------- Post added 03-01-2011 at 05:32 PM ---------- Previous post was 02-26-2011 at 05:36 PM ----------

So I've been playing again and relearning where I was at and how things work. As I was talking with my teammate, the bisexual elf Zevran, I noticed some pretty heavy innuendo in the conversation. I already knew about this and expected it but not so soon, he doesn't even like my character that much. So after a couple of corny lines it happened. I was stunned and honestly I loled. I even had to keep a separate save to show my wife, she was equally stunned and amused.

It's softcore and doesn't show anything but it's still NSFW I'd say. That's not a conversation you wanna have with your boss.

( Click to show/hide )

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB4BmVmAPh8&feature=related"]YouTube - Dragon Age: Origins - Zevran gets some gay dwarf lovin'[/ame]

Before anyone asks this is the only gay scene(slighty different depending on race) in the game and it's very minor. The romance sub plots are just background really, all optional conversation options. That being said it does affect your party reactions. No one was gay bashing me but the women all knew there was someone else. So then I broke up with elf boy and hooked up with one of them. This also amused me.
So how does this make everyone feel?

[Demon-Mask]

What I don't understand is how there is only one homosexual relationship. Seriously, what the hell is everyone's problem with homosexuality?

Not a big Bioware fan, so I never got around to playing Dragon Age, not to mention my lack of a competent gaming PC or an Xbox360.

[bearhawk72]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

I don't know if that armor is for both systems. I assume it is because it's a Bioware thing but I have zero experience with PS3.

Since this came up I started playing DA1 again. Looking at my last achievement I stopped playing around christmas 09, must've got something good. Either way it took me about an hour to get used to the combat again and to remember what I was doing(saved in front of a boss room )

---------- Post added 03-01-2011 at 05:32 PM ---------- Previous post was 02-26-2011 at 05:36 PM ----------

So I've been playing again and relearning where I was at and how things work. As I was talking with my teammate, the bisexual elf Zevran, I noticed some pretty heavy innuendo in the conversation. I already knew about this and expected it but not so soon, he doesn't even like my character that much. So after a couple of corny lines it happened. I was stunned and honestly I loled. I even had to keep a separate save to show my wife, she was equally stunned and amused.

It's softcore and doesn't show anything but it's still NSFW I'd say. That's not a conversation you wanna have with your boss.

( Click to show/hide )

YouTube - Dragon Age: Origins - Zevran gets some gay dwarf lovin'

Before anyone asks this is the only gay scene(slighty different depending on race) in the game and it's very minor. The romance sub plots are just background really, all optional conversation options. That being said it does affect your party reactions. No one was gay bashing me but the women all knew there was someone else. So then I broke up with elf boy and hooked up with one of them. This also amused me.
So how does this make everyone feel?

You can go lesbian too if your character is a female. Leliana swings both ways.

I believe in one playthrough I was able to nail Zevran, Morrigan, and Leliana though they all get pissed.

[Dudebro]

@DM- it's still too taboo for most gamers and people in general. Oddly enough Bioware has the option in this game but not in either Mass Effect game despite the strong similarities in gameplay and story telling. I think it's because ME was expected to be a more mainstream success. It already got big time controversy in the media for straight sex, imagine if they put in some man on man?
Btw I think I heard that there was a planned gay option but it wasn't fully realized and never made the cut. Not sure though.

@BH(if you don't mind me calling you that)- I got Zevran and Leliana to go through with it but Morrigan won't because there's another I'm interested in. I'd kick Leliana to the curb but I just don't care enough and it doesn't seem to matter really.

[bearhawk72]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

@DM- it's still too taboo for most gamers and people in general. Oddly enough Bioware has the option in this game but not in either Mass Effect game despite the strong similarities in gameplay and story telling. I think it's because ME was expected to be a more mainstream success. It already got big time controversy in the media for straight sex, imagine if they put in some man on man?
Btw I think I heard that there was a planned gay option but it wasn't fully realized and never made the cut. Not sure though.

@BH(if you don't mind me calling you that)- I got Zevran and Leliana to go through with it but Morrigan won't because there's another I'm interested in. I'd kick Leliana to the curb but I just don't care enough and it doesn't seem to matter really.

I don't mind. If I recall the main benefit of nailing Morrigan is so she teaches you a specialization, but I don't remember it all that well.

[Dudebro]

Maybe she does but shapeshifter isn't hard to get. It was a couple years ago so I forget now but I know I learned it somehow and Morrigan still says she won't teach people.