Dragon Age II: Disaster brought to you on leathery wings. OP NSF56k

Macro9

The Best Review

Spoiler:

I didn't much enjoy Dragon Age 1, but I did think it was overall a very solid RPG, at least worth a playthrough. Dragon Age 2, however, is a serious step back for Bioware and in general for RPGs. Bioware used to be the studio that brought us classics like KOTOR and BGII, all were very solid games with strong core RPG elements. The opposite can be said of Dragon Age 2. DA2 is merely a hack and slash adventure game for players with ADD. If you want a game where you can hold x, or randomly mash 1-9 on the keyboard and see cool effects while your character jumps around the screen spastically, DA2 is for you. This game is an attempt to stream line the RPG into something a 10 year old can sit through. Congratulations Bioware, you have successfully killed the PC RPG. I will say the graphics are improved from DA1, but considering you spend 99% of the game in the same city, this improvement does little. Kirkwall, the main city, is barren and empty, not to mention pristinely clean. The entire area seems like a tile set with very little to see or do. The worst part is the sheer linear style of gameplay. Remember NWN2 where you are free to roam and discover? Yea, that's gone. Dragon Age 2 is more like Fable, where you walk from point A to B along a predetermined route. It's essentially Mass Effect in Medieval times. The conversations feel forced and anti-dramatic. Everything feels cheesy, and the main character, Hawke, has an annoying British accent and in general sounds like a wimp. This is a game that you will playthrough maybe once, considering it's short, and then never play it again. Honestly, the amount of DLC whoring that Bioware and EA has come up with is sickening. I'm all for developers making money, but now it looks like Bioware is just using their name to hype their games and sell max amount of DLC possible. As you can see, even critics are saying this a massive step backward from DA1. If this game were made by any other studio other than Bioware, the scores would be even lower.

God, it's sounds so terrible.

But is it?

Spoiler:

No

Okay, what may we encounter on our journey through Hawke's life?


Dragon GMILFS



Hogarths?


No, Ogres.


These kickass foreign devils contemplating life and shit.


Chest Hair you just want to disappear into.




Stacked Pirate Strumpet


Perv Bait Elf Girl


Sexy Elf Slave Guy


Cocksure Competitive Little Brother


Dead (for me) Sister


Busty Mother


This Princely fucker


A Gay Warden


THE CHINNNNN

And my Hawke.

Hello, you like what you see?

Spoiler:

Perhaps you like Hat? Is good hat, yes?

Spoiler:

Bah, you know nothing of hats, little man from the Jersey Shore.

All other Hawkes are inferior.

Spoiler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzO-xdtHknc&

What is best in life, Varric?


Ladies, I assure you there's enough Hawke meat to go around.

Texture Pack Goodness

Mods Available here.

Nothing outstanding but some may find them useful.

There is a beta patch out. Steam user should already have it. Bioware is recommends that you only install it if you are having game breaking bugs like not being able to save.

Location of all the Companion Armor Upgrades. It would be a good idea to get these ASAP.

Pharezon wrote: »

Day of the Bear wrote: »

I need like a listing of locations for all the rad loot in this game because I can't even remember where I found everything my last playthrough.

weapons

armor

Romance Stuff:

In Dragon Age II, Hawke (male or female) can pursue a heterosexual or homosexual romance. There are five companions who can be romanced: Isabela, a rogue pirate captain; Merrill, a young Dalish elf; Anders, an apostate mage who was formerly a Grey Warden; Fenris, an elf who was a former Tevinter slave; and Sebastian, a DLC companion. No other companions can be romanced.


It is possible to sleep with all four companions (obviously not including Sebastian) in a single game. Sleeping with either Isabela or Fenris does not prevent the development of other romances, but sleeping with either Anders or Merrill and subsequently asking them to move in will deactivate the romance flags of all other characters, and remove critical flirt lines from their dialogue. However, if at the end of the cut scene where you sleep with them, you choose the breaking heart option to indicate that it was merely a one-night stand, you may continue with other romances. As Sebastian's romance has the prerequisite of never initiating a flirt option with any companion or NPC character, he can never be simultaneously romanced.

Sebastian will never sleep with the player. He is a chaste romance.
All love interests, except Sebastian, may be romanced by either gender.
After a romance is successfully completed, the love interest will receive a new outfit (this does not affect anything but look).

Macro9

All the fake outrage is hilarious to me.

Bioware is apparently the most evil company in the world and is pushing out the worst drivel since Custer's Revenge and E.T. on the Atari.

Melding

i was so excited to see Danzig in a game.

even if it wasn't Danzig at all.

The Geebs That Is A Pony

I think I've started picking up some traits from sarcastic hawke

all going in crypts, "ugggh more demons? well, okay, but I better get paid"

Macro9

Guys, let me know if the pics in the OP are overkill and I'll tag the title with NSF56k and reduce the size of 'em.

Balefuego

I think I will finally make it to the Deep Roads today


holy shit there is so much to do in Act 1

The Geebs That Is A Pony

that's my hawke

Macro9

Melding wrote: »

i was so excited to see Danzig in a game.

even if it wasn't Danzig at all.

I was getting ready to ask him for his autograph before I realized it was a video game.

Balefuego wrote: »

I think I will finally make it to the Deep Roads today


holy shit there is so much to do in Act 1

Me too.

I am like 13 hours in and have almost 80 gold sovereign and I still have a bunch of quests and Ander's to get.

Janson

I bought this game on Tuesday, but I'm only a hour and a half in.

Damn school/work.

I also had to restart as I forgot to import my DA:O character and was all upset when my female spouse-of-Alistair wasn't acknowledged!

Weaver

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Macro9

The Acts of Mercy pissed me off. I tried to get things to end peacefully after telling the mages tough titty, but that damn templar complicated things.

At least I have something to blackmail that one templar with. If I was that kind of Hawke.

Janson wrote: »

I bought this game on Tuesday, but I'm only a hour and a half in.

Damn school/work.

I also had to restart as I forgot to import my DA:O character and was all upset when my female spouse-of-Alistair wasn't acknowledged!

There's a save generator out that will let you pick the choices you want from Origins and the DLC.

vsove

The official forums are a dark and lonely place.

I have recused myself from them for the time being. Someday, I will return.

Dread Pirate Arbuthnot

vsove wrote: »

The official forums are a dark and lonely place.

I have recused myself from them for the time being. Someday, I will return.

THIS IS A SLAP IN THE FACE!!

Balefuego

vsove I want you to know that if the inevitable Dragon Age 3 goes back to being like Origins

then I will become the trolls

Weaver

DA3 will be a murder city RPG clone

Melding

i liked the new combat, i had some issues with the new game but over all it's a vast improvement.

i am hoping if we keep getting named and voiced characters it isn't always humans. That would bother me after the third time.

Caulk Bite 6

Balefuego wrote: »

vsove I want you to know that if the inevitable Dragon Age 3 goes back to being like Origins

then I will become the trolls

A happy middle ground would not be amiss.

Fearghaill

"but there's not really a fire, is there?"

Solar

That is a good Hawke Macro

far superior to mine own

Btw Merrill rules

Weaver

Solar wrote: »

That is a good Hawke Macro

far superior to mine own

Btw Merrill rules

somebody needs to get that lady some shoes

Caulk Bite 6

Fearghaill wrote: »

"but there's not really a fire, is there?"

"But I don't hear nuthin'."

"Do you know how much damage a fire could do to the loot? C'mon!"

Solar

Weaver wrote: »

Solar wrote: »

That is a good Hawke Macro

far superior to mine own

Btw Merrill rules

somebody needs to get that lady some shoes

She's just funny in an odd way

it's very cool and well written

Macro9

Solar wrote: »

That is a good Hawke Macro

far superior to mine own

Btw Merrill rules

I like her, too. As for my Hawke I think I used the third or fourth preset. The bald headed one. I just changed the eyes, hair, facial hair and a couple other minor things. I was trying to get him to look like he cold be ralted to my imported Mage from Origins. I think he came out pretty good.

Weaver wrote: »

somebody needs to get that lady some shoes

Whereas Fenris should never where a pair.

captaink

I am playing this game.

I found a dragon.

It ate me.

Solar

Macro9 wrote: »

Solar wrote: »

That is a good Hawke Macro

far superior to mine own

Btw Merrill rules

I like her, too. As for my Hawke I think I used the third or fourth preset. The bald headed one. I just changed the eyes, hair, facial hair and a couple other minor things. I was trying to get him to look like he cold be ralted to my imported Mage from Origins. I think he came out pretty good.

Weaver wrote: »

somebody needs to get that lady some shoes

Whereas Fenris should never where a pair.

Yeah your dude looks like some sort of handsome hero

my dude looks kind of

well, old. Even though I tried to make him look young

chiasaur11

vsove wrote: »

The official forums are a dark and lonely place.

I have recused myself from them for the time being. Someday, I will return.

Will you come alongside a rider on a pale horse, given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth?

Orikaeshigitae

dudes this game is really good, the hi-res texture pack makes everything so much more believable fo rme

i have pages upon pages of notes that i made about cool stuff/stuff i think could be improved but instead of posting it i'm going to go play more

gotta reclaim my estate

can't wait to get my actual copy so my friend can have his back, i'm sure he'll like it.. eventually

Radius

Fearghaill wrote: »

"but there's not really a fire, is there?"

"No Merill. It's a trick."

akajaybay

My Fem Hawke came out very Lucy Lawless. One of the presets was pretty close already just tweaked the hair alot and face in some small ways. Could have been very Xena if i went with one of the hair cuts with bangs.

Melding

oh yeah, anyone want into the Dragon age legends beta before it goes live?

They keep giving me keys now.

vsove

I posted this in the G&T thread, but it bears repeating - if you have constructive feedback/criticism you'd like folks over here to see, I'm going to be passing it along to the Lead Designer, Mike Laidlaw.

If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you the e-mail address you can send it to.

Turambar

Oh man, I just got the "Vain" armor.
So sexy!

Screen:

Spoiler:

Oghulk

Best op or bestest op. The hat bit is so good.

Macro9

vsove wrote: »

I posted this in the G&T thread, but it bears repeating - if you have constructive feedback/criticism you'd like folks over here to see, I'm going to be passing it along to the Lead Designer, Mike Laidlaw.

If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you the e-mail address you can send it to.

Needs more variety in the way battles are setup and dungeons. I went through the same cave three times on the wounded coast for three separate missions. I really don't like having enemies appear in the same spot I am in as well.

Whoever is renting that out must be making a fortune.

I would like to thank you guys, though. I'm sure all the crazy floating around the web can be a pain, but I genuinely think the game has been great so far for me.

As7

So I think the skin tones must be highly influenced by other traits because I put the slider all the way to black and my Hawke looks more Black-Irish than the South Indian look I was going for. My family is thoroughly dark skinned, though.

Melding

i'm trying to formulate complaints of mine into words, and not just guttural sounds.

The spawn waves of enemies thing was a little bit annoying in same fights. like fighting a blood mage, sure he will summon demons and shades and shit. but i killed the blood mage, whyy did i fight three more waves of corpses?

Also, all the bosses seemed to have similar AI, patterns, and attacks.

every boss fight there was the rush attack, stand and telegraph a multiple hit attack, summon minions, range attack.

Every fucking boss had some variation of this. I can understand why this is, but man, after realizing that ogres and pride demons fight basically the same i was, i'm not sure the word for it. disappointed?

Not a huge deal, but none of my complaints are.

Turambar

vsove wrote: »

I posted this in the G&T thread, but it bears repeating - if you have constructive feedback/criticism you'd like folks over here to see, I'm going to be passing it along to the Lead Designer, Mike Laidlaw.

If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you the e-mail address you can send it to.

My main complaint so far is the lack of promiscuity among the nuns.
I mean, I'm in the second act and I haven't heard a single sexual innuendo regarding midnight prayers or the like.

If this was a certain polish game I'd have banged half the chantry by now!

Caulk Bite 6

Macro9 wrote: »

vsove wrote: »

I posted this in the G&T thread, but it bears repeating - if you have constructive feedback/criticism you'd like folks over here to see, I'm going to be passing it along to the Lead Designer, Mike Laidlaw.

If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you the e-mail address you can send it to.

Needs more variety in the way battles are setup and dungeons. I went through the same cave three times on the wounded coast for three separate missions. I really don't like having enemies appear in the same spot I am in as well.

Whoever is renting that out must be making a fortune.

I would like to thank you guys, though. I'm sure all the crazy floating around the web can be a pain, but I genuinely think the game has been great so far for me.

There was something I noticed with this. going through a dungeon map for one quest, I happened upon a forgotten loot pile from a completely different mission. I think the one I was on was killing the Tal'vashoth and the forgotten loot pile was from the blood mages in a cave one.

I mean, I think I understand the need to reuse maps (less unique environments means less loading of individual/single use textures), and rest assured my DA2 is running way better on medium settings than origins did on light. But that seemed a bit much.

pretty sure the pile was even labelled "Blood Mage".

Macro9

Caulk Bite 6 wrote: »

Macro9 wrote: »

vsove wrote: »

I posted this in the G&T thread, but it bears repeating - if you have constructive feedback/criticism you'd like folks over here to see, I'm going to be passing it along to the Lead Designer, Mike Laidlaw.

If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you the e-mail address you can send it to.

Needs more variety in the way battles are setup and dungeons. I went through the same cave three times on the wounded coast for three separate missions. I really don't like having enemies appear in the same spot I am in as well.

Whoever is renting that out must be making a fortune.

I would like to thank you guys, though. I'm sure all the crazy floating around the web can be a pain, but I genuinely think the game has been great so far for me.

There was something I noticed with this. going through a dungeon map for one quest, I happened upon a forgotten loot pile from a completely different mission. I think the one I was on was killing the Tal'vashoth and the forgotten loot pile was from the blood mages in a cave one.

I mean, I think I understand the need to reuse maps (less unique environments means less loading of individual/single use textures), and rest assured my DA2 is running way better on medium settings than origins did on light. But that seemed a bit much.

pretty sure the pile was even labelled "Blood Mage".

It's probably the same cave. I did a couple quests that were there and later I did the Acts of Mercy quest with the Blood Mages and it was the exact same place. Even though it was in a different area.

Melding

well, a lot of it isn't so much reusing the same area as it is the exact same place.

Like how you go to the same bank every week. if you left your blood mage corpse there in an unused corner and a week later when you're hunting heretical giants in the bank, you might find the same corpse.

Aistan

vsove I want you to go to whoever wrote the quest Shepherding Wolves and shake their hand furiously for me because goddamn that was well done. Fantastic way to set up shit going down later in the game, and a great introduction to what I think is the most interesting part of the Qunari, their mages and what they do with them.


Not that i'm that far yet, i'm still on act 1 but I assume shit does indeed go down.