There is a big demographic of people with consoles that don't know technology at all. That's the area we're talking about.
Since these people are not technologically savvy, making a very simple way of playing is best.
Stop going into denial about it.
Complex gameplay has absolutely nothing to do with being 'technology savvy'.
You know what pisses me off the most about this whole dumbing it down for console gamers crap? DA:O sold extremely well on consoles! It's not like it flopped or something. It exceeded expectations. Sometimes I feel like instead of companies listening to what gamers want they're telling them what they want.
Where's the tactical options? Where's my control? Where's the damn pause button so I can actually issue orders?
Did you even open the radial menu? It has all of those things.
As far as the actual changes go...
1. Combat Feels Like An Action/RPG
Battles in Dragon Age II feel like they evolved more from the console version of Origins than the PC. Instead of a deliberate and tactical approach, fights take place in third person and focus more on fast-paced action. This is true even if you’re playing on PC, so don’t be surprised when you can’t find your zoomed-out isometric view. Yes, this is a significant change from the last game…but being different isn’t necessarily bad.
Am I the only one who thinks that other than having to mash attack all the time (which is stupid, but supposedly optional in the real game) combat really didn't feel very different than DA:O? A little faster paced, sure, but that doesn't even matter if you use pause.
2. Classes Are More Specialized
In Origins, warriors and rogues had different roles in combat but shared similar abilities. For instance, both classes could dual-wield and put points into archery-related talents. In Dragon Age II, the warrior loses these capabilities, focusing instead on tanking and dealing melee damage. Rogues are more about precision and support, though their position in relation to enemies is less important. Mages still nuke foes, but they aren’t quite as helpless when faced with direct combat.
More differentiation between warriors and rogues is a good thing, though taking archery away from warrior is a stupid irrational RPG cliche that I hate.
It sounds like Mages will continue to overpower everyone else anway...
3. Inventory Management Is Better
Your allies in Dragon Age II each have a set of armor that they wear all the time. This means that you can’t equip them with the helmets, boots, and gauntlets that you find in your quest. This may sound disappointing at first, but it results in you spending much less time in the menus sizing up and optimizing equipment. If you pick up a new suit of armor that isn’t an improvement for Hawke, you can just sell it; no need to look at all of your active and inactive party members to see if it’s better for them. Plus, you can still outfit your companions with rings, amulets, and belts, so the customization isn’t gone completely. Your inventory will be less cramped, especially since you get a storage chest early on and you aren’t carrying around crafting reagents all the time.
I'll admit I spent more time than I would have liked doing inventory management in DA:O, but this 'solution' is like using a sledgehammer to pound down a few nails...
4. Skills Are Gone
When you level up, you allocate ability points and talent points. You no longer get skill points, because skills as they existed in Origins are no longer present. Your character can still do many things that used to be skills, like crafting and lockpicking, but these have migrated to other parts of the game. For instance, the rogue’s ability to pick locks automatically increases for every 10 points in their Cunning ability (simple locks at 10, standard locks at 20, etc.).
Skills were not well done at all in DA:O. I would have preferred that they actually fixed the system instead of just abandoning it, but I won't really miss them.
5. Kirkwall Is The Main Setting
Don’t expect to travel to the four corners of the Free Marches like you did in Ferelden. Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke’s rise to power in Kirkwall, and as such, almost all of the action takes place within the city. You’ll take a few trips to surrounding locations, but don’t be surprised when your adventures have you hopping between different parts of Kirkwall instead of different parts of the continent.
I actually like RPGs that are more focused on urban environments and the interactions between people, so that sounds fine to me.
6. Not The Usual BioWare Story
BioWare’s plots generally follow a predictable arc. Players go through an introductory sequence, and then the world opens up to four larger areas with their own quests and storylines. When those areas are complete, the tale converges for the thrilling finale. I won’t spoil anything about specific events in Dragon Age II, but I will say that the narrative does not follow this structure at all.
Not enough information to judge.
7. Ally Relations Are Improved
If you did things your allies didn’t approve of in Origins, they didn’t like you. That wouldn’t be a big deal, except that cool companion missions weren’t available unless your approval was high with the appropriate character. In Dragon Age II, you can do these missions regardless of whether your ally loves or hates you. Instead of gating story content, the approval system now bestows passive bonuses. If a party member is your friend, you’ll get one kind of bonus. If that same character is a rival, you’ll get a different one. This way, you get reward whether you’re nice or mean, plus you still get to do all of the quests. Being neutral, however, still has no advantages.
So apparently 'rival' just means they hate you? When I first heard the rival system mentioned I thought it would be a little more nuisanced than that. This sounds dumb.
8. Conversation Flows Better
The new dialogue system is very similar to the Mass Effect series’. This means that you don’t spend your time reading through a list of responses before selecting one. Instead, you choose a brief response from a wheel that gives you the gist of what Hawke will say next. These responses are also accompanied by an icon that lets you know if you’re being flirty, aggressive, snarky, etc. One benefit to this approach is that conversations are not start-and-stop affairs; they flow naturally and Hawke emerges as a more defined character instead of a voiceless cipher.
I
like reading through a list of responses. For some reason a large portion of the video game community seems to have declared that clunky and old-fashioned. Wait, I thought the Dragon Age series was supposed to be all about being old-fashioned...whatever happened to that?
9. You’re A Long Way From Ferelden
The Free Marches are influenced by the events from the previous game, but don’t expect every little choice you made in Origins to change the world. You’ll hear some references in dialogue, and even see a couple cameos, but Dragon Age isn’t Mass Effect. You won’t be bombarded with reminders of your previous deeds. Hawke’s story stands apart from the Grey Warden’s, though it still clearly takes place in the same world. However, be aware that some minor story points in Origins and Awakening have been retconned, so even if you import your save, the events of the previous games aren’t necessarily set in stone.
Meh. It
is a different story, not like the crap they pulled in Awakenings.
10. It’s Shorter, But Not Short
I finished Dragon Age II, along with every sidequest, in approximately 40 hours. While that isn’t the 70 hours it took me to play through Origins, it’s still a large chunk of time, and I certainly didn’t feel cheated by the amount of content.
Sounds better than the 15 hours we heard elsewhere, but I'm still skeptical. How long if I don't do
everything?
I feel very conflicted about DA2. I don't think it's going to be a terrible game or anything, but my initial anticipation has turned to 'meh'. There are so many other good games coming out this year that I might have to put this one on the back-burner.
Does anyone know when the reviews will be posted?
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