DA2 was one of those games they cut corners on and it shows. They also did that with ME1.
DA2 was rushed, but what it got right it got really right; Hawk was an interesting protagonist, the city of kirkwall had tons of character, the game very clearly forced you to make a choice instead of allowing a perfect solution, The combat was a huge improvement from a balance standpoint over DA1, and the final epiphany is GOLD.
+4
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
And the concept of the city changing over time was a good one, even if the execution left things to be desired. Arguably DX:MD did that one better over the course of like 3 days.
+5
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
Use the cheat on DAI to get as many crafting things as you want after you find the first few, that's my main advice for enjoying DAI. That and the standard advice to not do side quests if you find them boring.
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
That's a really good piece of advice. There's a mod that adds unlimited crafting materials...it's well worth it to not be sweating finding the last piece of duck testicle for your new armor. And make sure to customize your armor, a lot of the default crafted stuff has incredibly ugly color choices.
+3
kaceypwe stayed bright as lightningwe sang loud as thunderRegistered Userregular
I have 230 hours logged in DAI, and I keep going back to it because I want to play the DLC (but never manage it, because I've wrung literally all the other content out of the game and I get distracted before I get there).
Have you not even played Trespasser? You need to play Trespasser.
DA2 was one of those games they cut corners on and it shows. They also did that with ME1.
DA2 was rushed, but what it got right it got really right; Hawk was an interesting protagonist, the city of kirkwall had tons of character, the game very clearly forced you to make a choice instead of allowing a perfect solution, The combat was a huge improvement from a balance standpoint over DA1, and the final epiphany is GOLD.
I really didn't like the "Mass Effect"-ization of DA2, and that's probably my biggest complaint. I just do not give a shit about Hawke. I came into DA2 wanting DAO2, and having character creation taken away from me left a bad taste in my mouth for the whole game. I also didn't like most of the characters, outside of Isabella and Varric. The rest of it was fine good, except for the ending which was a huge mess.
I have 230 hours logged in DAI, and I keep going back to it because I want to play the DLC (but never manage it, because I've wrung literally all the other content out of the game and I get distracted before I get there).
Have you not even played Trespasser? You need to play Trespasser.
I really want to, but I lost all my saves. Not really sure how to get to Trespasser without grinding through content I've played a half dozen times already.
Edit: fine minimalizes all the great stuff about DA2, great is a better word for the all the good stuff.
That's a really good piece of advice. There's a mod that adds unlimited crafting materials...it's well worth it to not be sweating finding the last piece of duck testicle for your new armor. And make sure to customize your armor, a lot of the default crafted stuff has incredibly ugly color choices.
Something or other changed and it's no longer "unlimited" crafting items, it's you can add 20,000 elf roots using the cheat engine but they deplete as normal instead of always re-upping like they did when that cheat first came out.
Either way though, I never play DAI without that cheat present, crafting was done badly in that game.
DA2 was one of those games they cut corners on and it shows. They also did that with ME1.
DA2 was rushed, but what it got right it got really right; Hawk was an interesting protagonist, the city of kirkwall had tons of character, the game very clearly forced you to make a choice instead of allowing a perfect solution, The combat was a huge improvement from a balance standpoint over DA1, and the final epiphany is GOLD.
I really didn't like the "Mass Effect"-ization of DA2, and that's probably my biggest complaint. I just do not give a shit about Hawke. I came into DA2 wanting DAO2, and having character creation taken away from me left a bad taste in my mouth for the whole game. I also didn't like most of the characters, outside of Isabella and Varric. The rest of it was fine, except for the ending which was a huge mess.
I have 230 hours logged in DAI, and I keep going back to it because I want to play the DLC (but never manage it, because I've wrung literally all the other content out of the game and I get distracted before I get there).
Have you not even played Trespasser? You need to play Trespasser.
I really want to, but I lost all my saves. Not really sure how to get to Trespasser without grinding through content I've played a half dozen times already.
I came up with an idea that was basically Dragon Age Keep but for the actual game itself. So if you wanted, when you started a new game, you could check off stuff that would automatically finish at a certain point in the game, so you could quickly get to the big fights and/or story points you wanted to try differently or with a new character. Any experience and fixed treasure would be awarded, any random treasure would be generated and put in your inventory. If it were implemented in granular enough fashion you could even get approval bumps or hits from dialog options. (But you couldn't choose to auto-finish stuff you hadn't actually done yet.)
I really didn't like the "Mass Effect"-ization of DA2, and that's probably my biggest complaint. I just do not give a shit about Hawke. I came into DA2 wanting DAO2, and having character creation taken away from me left a bad taste in my mouth for the whole game. I also didn't like most of the characters, outside of Isabella and Varric. The rest of it was fine good, except for the ending which was a huge mess.
And I didn't like how terribly generic half of the characters in DA:O were, how the dungeons went on forever neccesitating me to make multiple trips back to town to clear my bags in order to have the money I need to buy the upper tier items, or how playing as a warrior was near pointless if you had any aspirations of pushing damage.
Like I get why people don't like it, but the idea that they should have just done more of DA:O is frankly absurd.
+2
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
I'm the rare person who liked both DA:O and DA:2, though obviously both have their flaws. The only thing I didn't like about DA:I was that the ambient conversations didn't trigger often enough, by design. It was basically a roll of the dice every 7 minutes whether conversation would occur while you were out adventuring, and the roll chance was very low. I feel like this could have been easily fixed by simply increasing the chance to crit every time a roll failed, then eventually you would HAVE to get a conversation, crit chance would be 100%. At least in DA:O I could go to conversation trigger spots and just spend all day listening to my companions talk about silly things. In DA: I things often felt too ominously silent, I hated that. Made it feel like no one really liked each other in DA: I, not the way they did in DA:2 especially.
ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
Which really sucked because some of those conversations seemed to have flags attached. e.g. In my first playthrough I romanced neither Dorian nor Iron Bull
but they weren't together in Trespasser. They actually have to have the conversation.
I never recruited one of the DA:I companions because I had the option to say they're creepy and leave me alone and I took that option and the fact that I never really see anyone talk about that character makes me think that I was far from the only one who did that.
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
Inquisition was interesting because it really shows the limits of the standard Bioware plot progression of intro -> a few unconnected missions/areas -> endgame.
I think it was in part because the areas were so huge so you really noticed how navel gaze-y it was. It was like after Corypheus attacked Skyhold they forgot to write a story that felt connected in any meaningful way.
It doesn't help that Cory was a weak villain who more or less disappeared from the plot until it was his time to be the Big Bad(TM) again.
Origins/Awakening are the best, and most consistantly well written
DA2 does have a good setting and setup, but it all falls apart in the final act and the rest of the game is riddled with dumb plot points and endings as well e.g Merril's personal quest, mage Hawke openly spell casting on the Templars doorstep with no repurcussions etc.
Also Anders was much better in Awakening
Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
+2
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited July 2020
Alright, I picked up Inquisition. I have no idea when I will actually get around to playing it, but I did it both because I really did enjoy Dragon Age Origins and also because I want EA to know that I still want single player games from Bioware (if they even care about sales metrics for the game anymore). Reading back through this thread, I am really concerned about hearing anything Dragon Age mentioned in the same breath as the god awful Anthem. I hope that's not a thing. I'm tempted to buy Andromeda as well for the same reason - albeit I've heard legendary tales about the facial animations. Those could be worth price of admission alone.
As for DA2, I'll never forgive the games requirements for the story to work that A) Hawke is an idiot* and The awful ending, which devolves into cartoon level hijinks for the mage path especially and completely undermines everything about the game in one fell swoop. Even now, despite the fact I can't fully remember exactly what happens, just thinking about the ending along the mage path in the game makes me extremely angry.
*Oh look, letters to this magical serial killer about how they are being supported and hidden by someone important in the mage guild. They sign all these notes with an O, but because I'm an idiot, I won't figure out that obviously means a certain important mage! So we'll never be able to confront them on this serial killer who just happens to murder my whole family. but I'll also forget about that when confronting them later and this will literally never come up at all - despite something that should be utterly key to Hawkes reactions/story.
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
So basically after a couple of pages my recommendation to anyone would be to try out all 3 games and see which ones you like, because they're all honestly kind of wildly different in ways that are difficult to parse on paper until you've actually tried it out. The overall feel between some of these games may specifically appeal more than others.
Origins is literally my least favorite out of the three because the combat is so clunky and shitty for me, but once I modded the combat speed to match what I liked I managed to do a very solid playthrough
Dragon Age 2 I love on principle because of its storytelling and cast which I honestly find more enjoyable than the others and out of the RPGs I've played I really like its novel narrative structure. I do think its combat is the heftiest of the lot but some people don't like it being as "anime" as Origins
I really like Inquisition as well, maybe not as much as I hoped but I really like the cast, the personality choices for the player are the most refined of the lot, and listening to Alix Wilton Regan's voice is basically therapy. I think Inquisition's combat is the most refined of the three, the one I personally enjoy doing a lot but like Andromeda the tankiness of enemies can sometimes be at odds with the really satisfying *feel* of the combat for me, so a little modding for Inquisition can go a long way (also see: triggering party conversation mods etc etc)
Then again I've liked pretty much every BioWare game to this day (and I do mean all of them) so your specific preferences may be more or less specific depending on what you're looking for in a BioWare game, which compared to Mass Effect (which has a very clear design evolution and intent) I think is really fascinating to at least observe
+2
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
Tl;dr alternatively, take the advice of (at)varricfucker from twitter dot com
Assuming everyone in Kirkwall is brain dead or chronically stupid, sure. The entirety of act 3 is so bad, it still somehow makes me extremely mad. The mages ending in particular is so poorly written it might as well not be there. At least fighting Meredith made some sense and while it was the result of generically evil macguffin it wasn’t “oh noes, abomination at drop of a hat!” time!
On the other hand, the fact that it’s nearly eight (?) years after it came out and I still remember how mad it made me says something. I can’t remember most of the endings to the majority of games I played that long ago.
I like DA:I because I just like games where I get to be the boss and make wide-ranging decisions for my little kingdom. But that aspect came up very little.
Are the dlc's worth checking out? I've been thinking about rebuying these now that they're on steam and got all the dlc on sale. Exiled Prince is the only one I've done, and I only did one playthrough of Inquisition.
0
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
I really want them to rework Focus in the next game.
The shared aspect and incredibly long charge rate made it so I never used it much.
Are the dlc's worth checking out? I've been thinking about rebuying these now that they're on steam and got all the dlc on sale. Exiled Prince is the only one I've done, and I only did one playthrough of Inquisition.
IMHO the DLCs (as in playable expansions, not talking about extra costumes and gear here) are always the best parts of Bioware games, where they have learned from the mistakes they made with the main game.
Steam/Origin: davydizzy
+11
kaceypwe stayed bright as lightningwe sang loud as thunderRegistered Userregular
I'd definitely say all the DA2/DAI DLC are worth playing especially if you're getting them cheap. DA2: Legacy and DAI: Trespasser are the standouts and are both fantastic.
Legacy is where BioWare started bringing all the voice actors back for new dialogue and it makes everything feel so much better compared to the silence of DAO/ME1/ME2 DLCs.
DA2: Legacy is kind of a precursor to Inquisition, even though nobody playing it knew it at the time.
DAI: Trespasser is the end of the game. Like, you have an ending to the game without it, but then you play it and say "Oh, oh, my god, the game really needed this."
GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
I’ve never played the dlcs for any of the DAs but that sounds interesting.
The more I think about DA2, the more I like it. It’s been a long time since I played it, but I think they took some narrative risks that largely paid off.
I’ve never played the dlcs for any of the DAs but that sounds interesting.
The more I think about DA2, the more I like it. It’s been a long time since I played it, but I think they took some narrative risks that largely paid off.
And like I said earlier: combat was better from a gameplay standpoint. True, the waves mechanic meant that you couldn't strategize in the same way, but the classes felt so much better; Melee warriors felt like their weapons had actual heft, dagger rogues had a frenetic approach to combat, archers were great and at the same time magic felt powerful without feeling like it was the only thing pushing out damage.
DA2 DLC has Legacy, which fits very well with the story of the main game (and is very challenging, which I liked), Mark of the Assassin (which is basically a fanfiction insert chapter for Felicia Day, your mileage will vary 100% depending on if you like her or not), and the DLC party member, who I've never gotten through a full playthrough with. He's kind of... haughty and boring and supports the church, which is gonna be a HARD SELL for me in almost any setting.
Posts
DA2 was rushed, but what it got right it got really right; Hawk was an interesting protagonist, the city of kirkwall had tons of character, the game very clearly forced you to make a choice instead of allowing a perfect solution, The combat was a huge improvement from a balance standpoint over DA1, and the final epiphany is GOLD.
Have you not even played Trespasser? You need to play Trespasser.
I really want to, but I lost all my saves. Not really sure how to get to Trespasser without grinding through content I've played a half dozen times already.
Edit: fine minimalizes all the great stuff about DA2, great is a better word for the all the good stuff.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Something or other changed and it's no longer "unlimited" crafting items, it's you can add 20,000 elf roots using the cheat engine but they deplete as normal instead of always re-upping like they did when that cheat first came out.
Either way though, I never play DAI without that cheat present, crafting was done badly in that game.
I came up with an idea that was basically Dragon Age Keep but for the actual game itself. So if you wanted, when you started a new game, you could check off stuff that would automatically finish at a certain point in the game, so you could quickly get to the big fights and/or story points you wanted to try differently or with a new character. Any experience and fixed treasure would be awarded, any random treasure would be generated and put in your inventory. If it were implemented in granular enough fashion you could even get approval bumps or hits from dialog options. (But you couldn't choose to auto-finish stuff you hadn't actually done yet.)
...hang on I need to call the patent office.
Like I get why people don't like it, but the idea that they should have just done more of DA:O is frankly absurd.
"Oh is it time to argue the correct opinion that DA2 was the best Dragon Age again?"
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
True! Part of the problem was that I didn't like some of those companions either...
Gamertag: PrimusD | Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I think it was in part because the areas were so huge so you really noticed how navel gaze-y it was. It was like after Corypheus attacked Skyhold they forgot to write a story that felt connected in any meaningful way.
It doesn't help that Cory was a weak villain who more or less disappeared from the plot until it was his time to be the Big Bad(TM) again.
Madness!
DA2 does have a good setting and setup, but it all falls apart in the final act and the rest of the game is riddled with dumb plot points and endings as well e.g Merril's personal quest, mage Hawke openly spell casting on the Templars doorstep with no repurcussions etc.
Also Anders was much better in Awakening
As for DA2, I'll never forgive the games requirements for the story to work that A) Hawke is an idiot* and
*Oh look, letters to this magical serial killer about how they are being supported and hidden by someone important in the mage guild. They sign all these notes with an O, but because I'm an idiot, I won't figure out that obviously means a certain important mage! So we'll never be able to confront them on this serial killer who just happens to murder my whole family. but I'll also forget about that when confronting them later and this will literally never come up at all - despite something that should be utterly key to Hawkes reactions/story.
Origins is literally my least favorite out of the three because the combat is so clunky and shitty for me, but once I modded the combat speed to match what I liked I managed to do a very solid playthrough
Dragon Age 2 I love on principle because of its storytelling and cast which I honestly find more enjoyable than the others and out of the RPGs I've played I really like its novel narrative structure. I do think its combat is the heftiest of the lot but some people don't like it being as "anime" as Origins
I really like Inquisition as well, maybe not as much as I hoped but I really like the cast, the personality choices for the player are the most refined of the lot, and listening to Alix Wilton Regan's voice is basically therapy. I think Inquisition's combat is the most refined of the three, the one I personally enjoy doing a lot but like Andromeda the tankiness of enemies can sometimes be at odds with the really satisfying *feel* of the combat for me, so a little modding for Inquisition can go a long way (also see: triggering party conversation mods etc etc)
Then again I've liked pretty much every BioWare game to this day (and I do mean all of them) so your specific preferences may be more or less specific depending on what you're looking for in a BioWare game, which compared to Mass Effect (which has a very clear design evolution and intent) I think is really fascinating to at least observe
We can all agree on that right?
Assuming everyone in Kirkwall is brain dead or chronically stupid, sure. The entirety of act 3 is so bad, it still somehow makes me extremely mad. The mages ending in particular is so poorly written it might as well not be there. At least fighting Meredith made some sense and while it was the result of generically evil macguffin it wasn’t “oh noes, abomination at drop of a hat!” time!
On the other hand, the fact that it’s nearly eight (?) years after it came out and I still remember how mad it made me says something. I can’t remember most of the endings to the majority of games I played that long ago.
Memorable is one way I would describe it.
The shared aspect and incredibly long charge rate made it so I never used it much.
IMHO the DLCs (as in playable expansions, not talking about extra costumes and gear here) are always the best parts of Bioware games, where they have learned from the mistakes they made with the main game.
Legacy is where BioWare started bringing all the voice actors back for new dialogue and it makes everything feel so much better compared to the silence of DAO/ME1/ME2 DLCs.
DAI: Trespasser is the end of the game. Like, you have an ending to the game without it, but then you play it and say "Oh, oh, my god, the game really needed this."
Gamertag: PrimusD | Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
The more I think about DA2, the more I like it. It’s been a long time since I played it, but I think they took some narrative risks that largely paid off.
PSN: Threeve703
And like I said earlier: combat was better from a gameplay standpoint. True, the waves mechanic meant that you couldn't strategize in the same way, but the classes felt so much better; Melee warriors felt like their weapons had actual heft, dagger rogues had a frenetic approach to combat, archers were great and at the same time magic felt powerful without feeling like it was the only thing pushing out damage.
The first 2 Dragon Ages have more of a set piece feel to them. It is kinda like Dungeons and Dragons.
PSN: Threeve703
I love when Sara kills that one asshole in her personal questline and she just keeps kicking the corpse.
"At this point, you're just making wine!"
And that same quest gave me an insult I continue to use to this day: arsebiscuit.
~ Buckaroo Banzai