Completed my second playthrough of DA2 while I was serving time in the Bin. I successfully pulled a Jade Empire.
Spoiler!
I successfully romanced both Isabella and Merrill. Simultaneously.
Spoiler!
I was a lady Hawke at the time.
Spoiler!
Giggity
May have been a bug though... both characters were aware of my affection for the other, but didn't seem to care.
Spoiler!
Also had a 3-way with Isabella and Zevran. Marian, you slut!
One question, if you can answer it without spoiling anything big (just started Act 2).
Spoiler!
Do I have to take Isabela with me everywhere to complete the romance storyline? Hawke's a DW rogue and that's probably going to make for a less than optimal party.
As I understand it, every character that can be romanced can be done so without ever taking them on any quests, besides their specific Companion quests. It's a matter of flirting and expressing interest when opportunity presents itself.
Having said that, Isabella is the only romantic interest where you sleep with her first before romancing her. When she prompts you about 'feelings,' you have to suggest that you do have feelings for her in order to initiate the romance (I think). Of course, being the kind of person she is, she won't be disappointed if you tell her you're just interested in sex.
Am I the only person that didn't give a damn about the recycled environments?
It didn't bother me, at least I knew where I was going.
I find that a lot of the things people are complaining about didn't really bother me in DAII, did I think it was as good as DA:O, no.....but I still found it enjoyable.
The recycled environs were irritating, but you don't play Bioware games to explore a world. It's sort of like complaining that a stage play happens in the same 4 sets. IMO, the biggest problem with the game was the lack of an overall plot impetus. It ended just when it started to get interesting (main plot wise). But I'd still say the game was easily worth the $60 + 20 hours I put into it. That said... I recently picked up Oblivion for $30 for the Xbox. Good lord that game is good value.
Am I the only person that didn't give a damn about the recycled environments?
i thought it was proof of Bioware's "rush it out the door to make a quick buck" mentality when it came to DA2. DA:O had varied environments, they fixed the same recycled environments issues from Mass Effect 1 to ME2, then they take a big step back for no other reason than it was cheap and quick to do. i can't even make it through a second playthrough because i'm so sick of looking at the same few environments over and over again
i thought it was proof of Bioware's "rush it out the door to make a quick buck" mentality when it came to DA2. DA:O had varied environments, they fixed the same recycled environments issues from Mass Effect 1 to ME2, then they take a big step back for no other reason than it was cheap and quick to do. i can't even make it through a second playthrough because i'm so sick of looking at the same few environments over and over again
This is standard operating procedure for Electronic Arts.
They set fixed, unrealistic timelines for developers and then unfinished products are sent to market. This was one of my biggest fears when EA bought Bioware. This is one of the reasons Blizzard manages to release quality products... because they allow their dev team to finish them.
The thing that annoys me the most is the freezing. Every single hour.
After pouring about 30 hours into this game, I finally beat it last night.
My thoughts
1.)I feel that the lack of a real compelling story ark hurt this one. I was interested in Act 1, bored in Act 2 (until the end), and Act 3 finally got the story going to get me excited. The final two hours or so were awesome. Ending was meh.
2.) Combat was pretty good in this one. I wish the fights were a little harder, but still was satisfying to play as a rogue.
3.) I have no issue with them re-using environments, but at least change SOMETHING. The game takes place over 10 years, some signs of change would have been nice. Hell, just make a mission take place in something like a storm or a Blizzard. Would have changed the whole feel. Nope. Same sunny day or dark night in town. Always day in the mountains. Yawn.
4.) Finally, the best parts of this game for me was the Dragon battles in The Bone Pit. Awesome stuff. More of this in the future and less 25 minute conversations that have zero impact on anything.
Just picked up the game last week from Blockbuster (going out of business sale FTW) and have been playing it for the last few days.
Last night right before bed I made it to the Arishok fight and hadn't saved before hand. So in the interest of not losing my progress I had to figure out really quick how to beat him. Found that it was impossible to fight him head to head, he just does too much damage, darting in and out was my only option, literally one charge and then back out, one charge back out.....forever.....I did finally beat him, but only after exhausting all of my potions and having to run around the room avoiding him while Devour came off of cooldown to restore health. Quite the entertaining fight, but it must have taken a good 30-40 minutes to beat him.
Just picked up the game last week from Blockbuster (going out of business sale FTW) and have been playing it for the last few days.
Last night right before bed I made it to the Arishok fight and hadn't saved before hand. So in the interest of not losing my progress I had to figure out really quick how to beat him. Found that it was impossible to fight him head to head, he just does too much damage, darting in and out was my only option, literally one charge and then back out, one charge back out.....forever.....I did finally beat him, but only after exhausting all of my potions and having to run around the room avoiding him while Devour came off of cooldown to restore health. Quite the entertaining fight, but it must have taken a good 30-40 minutes to beat him.
Interested to see where the story goes from here.
If you play a fighter like I did, the only option I had was to circle him forever and slowly, slowly, slowly chip away at his health bar. I did that for 30-40 minutes, got bored and angry and slightly dizzy, and then just went back and took the group fight option (which was an easy fight).
I hear it's much easier with the classes that have ranged attacks. I can imagine. The stone wraith fight was really tough and fun but I found the Arishok dull to the point of being broken. The idiotic fact that the character classes have so few options really showed there.
Didn't finish the game. The story has no forward motion and there is absolutely nothing to see or look forward to anywhere. Just the same dead little "city" and a couple of endlessly recycled maps.
Plus it had the most insidious bug ever. The character would very gradually slow down. So gradually that you'd only notice it after a long time when you suddenly realised that you're actually doing everything in slow motion. But the fact is that I played much of the game with a character that was significantly impaired - if I recall correctly I was at like 40 or 30% speed when I finally saw that something's wrong and looked at the character sheet with some little program someone shared.
Dragon Age is really a mediocre series and will be exposed for just how bland, boring, poorly made, and uninspired it is when Skyrim hits and blows it out of the water in November.
Dragon Age is really a mediocre series and will be exposed for just how bland, boring, poorly made, and uninspired it is when Skyrim hits and blows it out of the water in November.
Witcher 2 already blew it out of the water.
I thought Oblivion was uninspired too, but I liked Morrowind, despite the fact that combat was way out of balance for higher levels. Still, I'm glad I'll have Skyrim to play on Christmas vacation, the one time I can play guilt-free. Last year I had to play DA DLC - just didn't feel like Christmas.
I thought Oblivion was uninspired too, but I liked Morrowind, despite the fact that combat was way out of balance for higher levels. Still, I'm glad I'll have Skyrim to play on Christmas vacation, the one time I can play guilt-free. Last year I had to play DA DLC - just didn't feel like Christmas.
True... Dragon Age succeeded on the fact that after Oblivion there was a LONG time when nothing half decent hit the fantasy game market. Dragon Age was the first in a long time to do something traditionally fantasy, so it hit that market, despite it's numerous shortcomings.
Now fantasy games are picking up some steam again (Skyrim, Diablo III) I don't see Dragon Age sticking around. Even the lower budget games like Reckoning look infinitely more interesting.
DA isn't very original, but there are some good things about it. Like Claudia Black. At least they're trying to create an epic ongoing story.
DA2 was a huge missed opportunity, but I think it sold well and if the next one is decent, the players will be there. I mean it isn't as awful as some make it sound. They just made some dumb mistakes with it.
But I was never a DA fan. I find that dragons and feudal politics don't really motivate me. Not expecting to be blown away by Skyrim either, but I have a certain level of trust that they'll make a more engaging game than the previous one.
I totally agree, by the end of the fight I just wanted to go to bed. I was thinking it would just be a quick 5-10 minute thing, not the frantic 30-40 minute intense fight that it turned into. Fighting him with a group would have been too easy, I do appreciate a good challenge to my gaming prowess.
And you are totally right about the lack of imagination with the game environments....rinse repeat go to the same tunnel fight slightly stronger opponents....rinse repeat.
It is a good time waster for me at the moment since I have some free time on my hands between soccer season starting and CFA studying. I have to say I'm super pumped for D3 to come out, I absolutely loved D1 & 2.
Would you guys say it is possible to try Skyrim without having played any of the previous games in the series, or will it feel like I'm lost in the storyline?
Well the group fight is a big fight between Artichoke's group and your own, so with a fighter it's easier and much faster because you have options with the other characters.
You don't need any Elder Scrolls background to play Skyrim. They all take place in different times and different countries - they're not narratively connected. In a sense it might even be good that you haven't played the previous one, since it looks pretty similar to Oblivion. It'll be fresh to you.
There are fights in DA2 that test your prowess, but the Goatboy fight just tests your patience. Waiting for him to commit to a swing, dodge, and then respond - repeating that for the better part of an hour - isn't my idea of a positive challenge. Bad design. I just quit when I realised how long it would take. The ####### even drinks a healing potion after you've whacked at him for what seems like an eternity.
I should say that by then my character was probably already slowed down by the bug like I described, so maybe I'm being too hard on it.
There's an optional fight later that's super tough, but I won't spoil anything.
