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Post by chzrm3 on Mar 10, 2011 16:41:59 GMT -5
Anyway, hopefully the dev team will take the remarks from both the community and the rest of the gaming world and try to satisfy both sides in the next game if it really is that lackluster a title. Dragon Age is supposed to be Bioware's flagship series given how Mass Effect will end with Mass Effect 3 and more than likely won't have another trilogy of games. So we can be sure to expect at least a few more games in the series. That's the strange thing, though - I'm really loving the game. I guess even though I fall into the camp of bioware's hardcore fanbase, I actually prefer their action-rpg titles to their rpgs. Jade Empire is still my favorite bioware game, and I've played as every possible spirit monk for a little bit (not completing the game, but usually getting up to the imperial city). I even played through the game as the same one three different times, (The girl in the red dress, Jen Zi) although those were more for nostalgia's sake, like playing through OoT again or something. Actually, as I'm talking about it, I'm finding myself wanting to play through a fourth time. : P Then again, Jade Empire's usually regarded as one of the least successful bioware games. Didn't really kick ass commercially, and even the fans didn't like it because the combat was really simple if you didn't pick styles that gel well together. I'm still holding out for a sequel, though, even though bioware basically confirmed there'll never be one. : ( Back to DA2, though, the story's definitely growing on me. I was lamenting the fact that the game seemed to skip the "build up your character" phase, but it seems like I'm doing that anyway right now, and it's pretty fun. Also seems like there are a ton of sidequests, and while it is repetitive that they all seem to boil down to "go here, fight three waves of enemies, collect 5 gold" at least there's a lot to do. And like I've said before, I'm in love with the combat. Now that I'm really "getting" it, it's kind of beautiful. As opposed to my previous strategy which was get into a huge fight, die, think about what I did wrong and correct it, I'm now getting into a huge fight, figuring out how to save myself on the fly, and then winning like Charlie Sheen. I dunno, maybe I have fanboy goggles on? I do agree with your point about what a review site has to consider, though. I think the average gamer, if they picked this game up and played on normal mode, would really enjoy it. There's a story and characters that run deeper than most games, and for someone who really doesn't care about rpgs, playing only as your character the entire time and just mashing some crazy warrior abilities could be pretty enjoyable. Maybe that's why bioware fans are upset? It kinda feels like a betrayal, especially because DA:O was commercially successful anyway, so there wasn't really a need to appeal to more types of gamers by changing up the combat.
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Post by strikereon on Mar 10, 2011 20:27:33 GMT -5
with a 60 dollar price tag though and an industry that potentially runs the risk of losing out on sales due to consumer budgeting, i'm sure that the changeover to a more generalized style of gameplay was an attempt to ensure solid sales figures. that's rather confusing though since right now is AAA release lagtime, most of the major AAA releases won't be for another couple of months so they kind of have the field all to themselves.
I guess it's different when you are trying to make a franchise rather than make a standalone or a single sequel cuz you have to look at things in the way long run.
Look at where we are with Halo, now that the main story line is effectively done, what does Bungie have left? Halo is a franchise but they kind of ended things with a trilogy and then a bunch of spinoffs. They barely left enough room for continuation unless they retcon something or create an alternate universe type of scenario.
I actually expected Origins to be a standalone game with the way it ended and in a way it is from a story perspective. I expect DAII to be the same thing. if it really is a game that grows on you then maybe the current sentiment will shift towards a more positive view. all i know is, DAIII is on the way and like it or not the series as a whole has effectively changed direction with DAII.
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Post by chzrm3 on Mar 12, 2011 9:07:01 GMT -5
Yeah, that's gotta be weird - making a game and saying "this is the beginning of a franchise." Usually that just kind of happens, a game developer makes a couple games, then they make a game that people really love, so that inevitably has a sequel and that sequel leads to a franchise. Just going out and saying "THIS = FRANCHISE" seems almost like forcing it, haha.
Anyway, DA2 has officially crept up on me and won me over. I was watching my brother play it last night, and as he was playing he kept picking hilarious dialogue options (not 'the funny' options, just whatever would be hilarious in the context of the story. So, a funny option for a really serious moment, or a pointlessly mean option when there was no call for it) and seeing the reactions of the party was great. Also their banter when you're walking around is just awesome, and we realized that based on your rivalry/friendship/relationship status, they'll react differently towards each other. Which is nuts.
So yeah, I'm enjoying all this, and loving helping my brother out with the combat, figuring out which trees to go into and spells to get (he plays primalist/force mage-Hawke, so we built his entire party around protecting him and setting him up to do insane damage), and suddenly I realize, I love the game - for the last couple hours, I hadn't had a single negative thought. It was just pure fun.
Maybe that's cause watching my brother play was so refreshing? I dunno. He never gets caught up in forum wars or anything like that, he doesn't even really follow games before they're released. He just plays them and enjoys them. It's a perfect kind of ignorance, cause there's really no good reason for me to spend months analyzing and anticipating a game before it even comes out, it just kind of drives me crazy and sets me up to be disappointed.
Anyway, I'm making it sound like I had a religious experience or something, which is probably more because we didn't go to bed last night because we played DA2 until like 8 am (my brother just went to bed 15 minutes ago) so I'm totally exhausted, but I just want to say that it feels good, man. : D
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Post by strikereon on Mar 15, 2011 3:29:36 GMT -5
well while i have all of this free time i figured i'd go back into the demo and start figuring out optimal setting configurations.
i did multiple playthroughs as the rogue archer and i must say i'm rather satisfied with playing the archer over the mage for my ranged fix. don't get me wrong, being able to brittle darkspawn with frost spells and then instantly burning their faces off with a fireball is a fun time in itself, the whole squishy factor that comes with being a mage never did suit my taste. Plus can mages cripple darkspawn and then shoot it in the face with an arrow, i think not. Nothing satisfies me more than being able to make it rain arrows all day long.
concerning the story, i see (in the demo at least) where hawke can be rather bipolar in his speech, i tried a melange of different response combinations in my playthroughs and i must say, while i was rather amused at the different results, i still couldn't help but say "wtf, that makes absolutely no sense at all"
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