New Dragon Age 2 Previews + screens

Ogrekiller said:
And this is the reason why gaming journalism fails.

Not only because it has a low rep, but because people are far more likely to judge a game based on a handful of screenshots, videos, minutes of gameplay.

First impressions are everything that matter. In pictures, that means textures, polygons, UI and artwork/ art direction. In videos, it's all of that and animation. In demos, its depth and gameplay in addition to all the above.

Realistically speaking, most people encounter the first two, maybe not even video. So basically you have to sell the game based on artwork and graphics. And people wonder why graphics are gaining precedence over gameplay.
Without getting into a discussion about games writing as a whole, when one of the sticking points you're using to pimp out an upcoming game is how good it looks then it had better look good in the screenshots you release. Otherwise you get a situation like this one here.
 
god, I love DAO threads on Gaf. It feels like going to battle alone with a sword made of trust against legions of downplaying hype-killers

it's Bioware we're talking about, for fucks sake, not Ubisoft
 
Nirolak said:
On an interesting note though, if you do change Hawke's skin color, all of your family members (such as Bethany) will have their skin tone changed to match.

Does it do the same with hair?

Anasui Kishibe said:
it's Bioware we're talking about, for fucks sake, not Ubisoft

Yes, because Bioware can do no wrong with combat in their games.
 
This is looking better than it did before, but still behind the original (In UI, art and tech at least.).

brandonh83 said:
I think it looks good. As in, it looks like a game that I will enjoy very much and get a lot of time out of. Graphics aside, I just really like the style of these kinds of games.

Did you not really hate DA:O (or what you played of it)?
 
Anasui Kishibe said:
god, I love DAO threads on Gaf. It feels like going to battle alone with a sword made of trust against legions of downplaying hype-killers

it's Bioware we're talking about, for fucks sake, not Ubisoft
Bioware has been fumbling the ball for nearly a decade now.
 
water_wendi said:
Bioware has been fumbling the ball for nearly a decade now.
No....just their two latest games, Mass Effect 2 and now DA2, seem to be missteps.

Mass Effect and DAO were great.

Much kudos to Bioware for that and I really felt they had the cinematic sci-fi and tactical fantasy RPG markets all sewn up, with Betsheda ruling the open-world RPG roost.
 
Jerk 2.0 said:
Not quite that long, but certainly since Jade Empire, and maybe even KOTOR.

Kotor was amazing. Mass Effect is great. Dragon Age 1 was amazing. No, they have been strong.

Zen said:
The previews for Mass Effect 2 were similarly glowing.

The difference is with ME it was always only a light RPG with shooter elements. They changed it to a shooter with RPG elements. Not a massive shift. This is full on traditional RPG into ME2 style.
 
I should learn not to come near DA2 threads. They just get me angry. I still have some vague, waning, hope that the finished game on the PC won't be terrible and that they will release Dwarfy DLC. I might, then, just get the GOY edition.
 
Darklord said:
Kotor was amazing. Mass Effect is great. Dragon Age 1 was amazing. No, they have been strong.



The difference is with ME it was always only a light RPG with shooter elements. They changed it to a shooter with RPG elements. Not a massive shift. This is full on traditional RPG into ME2 style.

Hmm.

Baldur's Gate 2: Great (objectively anyway. I do not really like it much)
Knights of The Old Republic: Good
Jade Empire: Shit
Mass Effect: Good for its time, but horribly mediocre/poor in retrospect
Dragon Age - Origins: Mediocre
Mass Effect 2: Disappointing, but good

It is possible that I expect too much from them though.
 
Jerk 2.0 said:
Hmm.

Baldur's Gate 2: Great (objectively anyway. I do not really like it much)
Knights of The Old Republic: Good
Jade Empire: Shit
Mass Effect: Good for its time, but horribly mediocre/poor in retrospect
Dragon Age - Origins: Mediocre
Mass Effect 2: Disappointing, but good

It is possible that I expect too much from them though.

Yes you do. Kotor was the best game of last generation and is considered one of the best Star Wars games ever. Dragon Age was amazing too, one of my top 10 games easily. Mass Effect 1 still holds up. I played it again on PC just before ME2 came out and while the combat was average, the game and universe was great. ME2 improved on both the universe and combat. I think you just don't like their style of games.
 
As long as you don't go nuts planet exploring, the original Mass Effect had fantastic pacing. The shooting was crude, but not completely terrible, while all the stories and character were superior to Mass Effect 2. I felt the universe actually shrunk for ME2. Most of the races were sidelined to focus on humans almost exclusively.

DA2 doesn't look that much different from DA to me though.
 
2qnpoci.png


It's such a shame modders can't do much more to improve Morrowind's GUI. I mean this total conversion seems cool and all, but they'd be better off working with Oblivion
 
I just hope the story is good. I think people have legitimate gripes about DA2, but as long as the story is good I'll be happy. I trust BioWare in that department. Some of the vitriol is kind of crazy, though.
 
Darklord said:
Yes you do. Kotor was the best game of last generation and is considered one of the best Star Wars games ever. Dragon Age was amazing too, one of my top 10 games easily. Mass Effect 1 still holds up. I played it again on PC just before ME2 came out and while the combat was average, the game and universe was great. ME2 improved on both the universe and combat. I think you just don't like their style of games.

Seeing that I continue to purchase and enjoy them, I would like to strongly disagree with this assertion.

A couple of notes:

Last generation was jam-packed with good quality games, to plainly assert KOTOR as the best is simply absurd. This is evev before factoring in the fact that its sequel was arguably a much better game (both SW and otherwise).

The only things that I remember Dragon Age doing extremely well were its party characterisation and the 'old-school' feeling (and the Fade.). Other than those, the game was a thoroughly mediocre experience with a couple dashes of awful (the plot, the itemization, the dungeon design and pacing). Combat was good but it barely stood out (unless you craved the Battle Systems of old).

As for ME1:

ME1's universe, plot and pacing are all very good, but the minute-to-minute play is sort of a mess.

List of things wrong with the game:

-Dialog wheel: Unnecessarily dumbed down the dialogue and interactions. The introduction of magic colored text has been one of the Biowares gravest crimes in its continued quest to bro-ize the RPG.

-Shallow RPG systems: As shallow as ME2 may be in this department, it at least is mostly an action game. ME1 is an RPG, but the elements that comprise it are poorly thought out and offer very little depth. Not to mention that the balance was atrocious; Vanguards (adrenaline + Biotics) and Infiltrators (Invincibility) absolutely broke the game (even on the poorly designed Insanity).

-Shitty inventory - It was really shitty.

-Poorly designed and repetitive quests: God were the quests awful. The were all samey and oft-times had very little or no actual dialogue. Not to mentioned that they all almost took place in the same set of buildings with little to no difference between them. Even some of the important sidequests got this treatment (like the party member quests).

-Poorly written and dull party members: I think this one is self evident so I will not bother with it much. The only party members worth a damn were Ashley + Wrex and they really only shone because of how unpolished and dull the others were.

-Mako: Controlled like crap and made too many appearances in the game (which only served to pad the length). Not to mention that the planets that it allowed the player to explore were are mostly uninteresting and desolate wastelands. It is a damn shame too as I loved the idea.

-Saren: Boring one-dimensional villain is boring and one-dimensional. Thank goodness for Sovereign. He may have been one-dimensional, but at least he was actually interesting.

ME2 was a pretty damn good game. Most of the issues that can be found with it are mitigated by its slight shift in genres. Still:

-Non-existent plot (what was there was really poorly paced and written)
-Multiple retconnings
-Content-deficient characters
-Lack of subtlety with themes
-Weaker Soundtrack
-Scanning (more filler, yay!)
-Weak level design
 
Why is there so much unused space here?
Dragon_Age_II_Inventory.jpg

Fill it with something guys :/ I like that there's a close-ups there (and I hope that PC community will be able to fix those shitty low-res textures), but I hate that they're using an entire screen for something, that could be shown in a much smaller window... just like in Dragon Age: Origins.
 
Mr_Zombie said:
Why is there so much unused space here?
Dragon_Age_II_Inventory.jpg

Fill it with something guys :/ I like that there's a close-ups there (and I hope that PC community will be able to fix those shitty low-res textures), but I hate that they're using an entire screen for something, that could be shown in a much smaller window... just like in Dragon Age: Origins.
Probably something to do with resolution. Maybe on consoles its fullscreen?

edit:
GillianSeed79 said:
I just hope the story is good. I think people have legitimate gripes about DA2, but as long as the story is good I'll be happy. I trust BioWare in that department. Some of the vitriol is kind of crazy, though.
BiowareChart.jpg
 
Jerk 2.0 said:
Hmm.

Baldur's Gate 2: Great (objectively anyway. I do not really like it much)
Knights of The Old Republic: Good
Jade Empire: Shit
Mass Effect: Good for its time, but horribly mediocre/poor in retrospect
Dragon Age - Origins: Mediocre
Mass Effect 2: Disappointing, but good

It is possible that I expect too much from them though.

Jerk 2.0 said:
Seeing that I continue to purchase and enjoy them, I would like to strongly disagree with this assertion.

You do know what "shit", "mediocre", and "disappointing" mean, right? Not sure why you continue to purchase them really. Either that or your definition of 'purchase and enjoy' swings way lower than most people. And calling ME2 a "pretty damn good game" right after saying it was disappointing, is pretty odd.
 
FunkyMunkey said:
You do know what "shit", "mediocre", and "disappointing" mean, right? Not sure why you continue to purchase them really. Either that or your definition of 'purchase and enjoy' swings way lower than most people. And calling ME2 a "pretty damn good game" right after saying it was disappointing, is pretty odd.

How so?

I objectively thought it to be a good game. I personally wanted something more/different.
 
Jerk 2.0 said:
How so?

I objectively thought it to be a good game. I personally wanted something more/different.

I just think you're greatly over exaggerating your displeasure with Bioware games, especially if you continue to "enjoy" them. Reading your labels of past Bioware games is very inconsistent with what you're saying. Most people who have a range from 'shit' to 'mediocre' with a company aren't gonna be too excited for their next game.

Topic: Personally, I LOVED Dragon Age but I'm nervous about the changes they've made. Waiting on reviews.
 
FunkyMunkey said:
I just think you're greatly over exaggerating your displeasure with Bioware games, especially if you continue to "enjoy" them. Reading your labels of past Bioware games is very inconsistent with what you're saying. Most people who have a range from 'shit' to 'mediocre' with a company aren't gonna be too excited for their next game.

Topic: Personally, I LOVED Dragon Age but I'm nervous about the changes they've made. Waiting on reviews.

Hmm, from what I have posted the range looks to be more 'Great' to 'Shit.' Not to mention that feel similarly when it comes to Square Enix yet I still follow them.

Anyhow, this thread is probably not the place to discuss my personal preference in games.
 
FunkyMunkey said:
And calling ME2 a "pretty damn good game" right after saying it was disappointing, is pretty odd.

Wow.

I didn't realize that there are still people who don't know that being disappointing has nothing to do with objective quality.

Just like how something being "worse" than something else doesn't make it bad.
 
Fimbulvetr said:
Wow.

I didn't realize that there are still people who don't know that being disappointing has nothing to do with objective quality.

Just like how something being "worse" than something else doesn't make it bad.

Actually it's not that simple. If you got into a car to test drive it and said it was disappointing, but then exclaimed it was pretty fucking great and wanted to buy it, people would look at you strangely. And don't pretend that bunching negative developer experiences together with "enjoy thoroughly and buy on day 1" for their next game, is the norm. Maybe on GAF, but everywhere else, no. (i say negative because that post of games had one "great" followed by "mediocres" and "shits", not that I disagree!)

zlatko said:
I'm never a super detailed oriented nit picker on graphics with games, but wow that image of Hawk's face close up is HORRIBLE. The armor looks pasted on, the lighting is ass, and the details in his hair/beard are crap. What I've heard of his voice actor is shit so far too, so I might actually roll a female character in a RPG for the first time.

Yeah, I understand that they wanted to try different graphic styles out, but sacrificing the crisp detail from the first game worries me.
 
I'm never a super detailed oriented nit picker on graphics with games, but wow that image of Hawk's face close up is HORRIBLE. The armor looks pasted on, the lighting is ass, and the details in his hair/beard are crap. What I've heard of his voice actor is shit so far too, so I might actually roll a female character in a RPG for the first time.

I'm still excited to play this game since #1 was so great, but to be fair they really should set the release date back a few more months and let them polish this thing up. Or hell give them another year, and make ME3 Bio's big game of 2011.
 
Damn. Since when did Bioware have such a seething hatred for RPGs and such a low opinion of their fan base? " All those numbers and status afflictions were confusing to our idiot fans, so we removed them."
 
Jerk 2.0 said:
Hmm.

Baldur's Gate 2: Great (objectively anyway. I do not really like it much)
Knights of The Old Republic: Good
Jade Empire: Shit
Mass Effect: Good for its time, but horribly mediocre/poor in retrospect
Dragon Age - Origins: Mediocre
Mass Effect 2: Disappointing, but good

It is possible that I expect too much from them though.
Yes.

I'm playing DA:O and am looking forward to this. What they have announced doesn't worry me at all, I know in the end the game will be fun.
 
Enduin said:
Has anyone bothered to actually read the previews? Theyre all basically glowing and say everything so far is marked improvement over DAO. DA2 probably wont end up being perfect but everyone seems to be just getting caught up superfluous bullshit and ignoring what actually matters.

You don't find this the least bit questionable? One can take with someone is being paid to say or judge what they see for themselves. Previews lie all the time.
 
ShockingAlberto said:
I loved DAO.

I'd really love a sequel to it.

Bioware is choosing not to cater to people that feel as I do, though, and I feel burned by that.

So, uh, yeah. I don't like the direction the game is going in and thus am not enthused. Yay?

This is basically how I feel. The game looks more jRPGish now, and while I like jRPGs a lot, I played DA:O because it was an wRPG I could actually enjoy; I used it as a kind of jumping-off point for wRPGs outside of Modblivion.

Now I am sort of "meh" about this. And it does look like iPhone material.
 
FunkyMunkey said:
Actually it's not that simple. If you got into a car to test drive it and said it was disappointing, but then exclaimed it was pretty fucking great and wanted to buy it, people would look at you strangely.

Uh yeah. That's because most people don't think of the word as anything but purely negative(I.E. they're doing it wrong) as opposed to just relatively negative.

If people wanna look at me strange for actually knowing the definition of a word, then so be it.

FunkyMunkey said:
And don't pretend that bunching negative developer experiences together with "enjoy thoroughly and buy on day 1" for their next game, is the norm. Maybe on GAF, but everywhere else, no.

Enjoying bad things is pretty common. Admitting it may be weird but that doesn't mean it doesn't occur at all.

One could come up with reasons for a game being objectively bad/good, but still like/dislike it.

Also way to exaggerate his "purchase and enjoy comment".
 
Ah goodie, this weeks DA2 hate thread.

Wtf at that UI... smh

Any word on controller support for the PC version btw, if I'm going to play a console focused RPG on my rig I'ld prefer to do so using a controller....
 
DennisK4 said:
Too bad Isabela is a contender for ugliest female design of the generation :lol



Ouch. Though to be fair, DAO also had some butt ugly female characters. I'll be playing this with a beautify mod. :lol
 
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