Dragon Age II trailer is go for launch

@40 Could you explain why that’s not the case with the PC demo? I played 60+ hours of Dragon Age: Origins and I thought the combat system was massively dumbed down.

@37 Alright, now that you’re obviously trolling, I don’t have to waste my time on this

Just maybe consider what you’re saying next time you call someone an idiot for actually formulating an opinion, rather than simply adapting your views to incite others for cheap thrills. Sad!

If you own a gaming PC, you’re orphaned already aleph31. Bioware were just the rich parents that pretended to care for 5 minutes, then kicked you to the curb to pursue a rich oil contract somewhere in the Sudan.

Be strong. Fistbump.

@51 I’m assuming #40 meant because there’s only auto attack on PC the same as DA:O.

Or rather. Seek comfort knowing that the man with a Valve in his eye watches over you from above. Blessed be his Steam.

Although something tells me that they’re not done with their console venture either…

@ DSB

Np, I’ve played about 6 play throughs of DA:O each about 40+ hrs I’d guess.

The combat mechanics is the same as DA:O as Bioware say in that video, they coded separate versions for the console and PC titles. They said this was due to the console version needing a form of auto-lock on targeting for mobs in front of the player, whereas the PC controls are standard space to pause and pre-set ye next attack per squad member, and single click mechanics that trigger the auto-attacks. The only difference for the auto attacks is they have a very short wait time before the next animation and dice roll takes place to hit mobs. They’ve also said that the cooldown timers on the hotkey spells and abilities are generally longer than they were on DA:O to stop this removing the tactical aspect of the game. The PC version isn’t even compatible with a controller and Bioware have said they’re not going to add support as this would mean re-writing the entire code for PC and would most likely break the existing system.
They also said that Hawke and each companion has an exclusive spell tree tailored to their character as well as the 4-5 individual class specific trees, each tree has within it new spells to be mapped to the hotkeys as well as passive abilities and upgrades for each spell and ability.
With regards to difficulty, Bioware ahve said that normal is basically the same as easy in DA:O, and then the AI and so on goes up per difficulty setting with nightmare, needing you to control your entire party and has friendly fire turn on so those who really want to work out tactics will have to do so, not just from mage spells, but now from specific rogue/ranger spells as well as the new Two-handed sword mechanics (swinging a two-handed sword does an AoE arc where it’s animation passed, which makes sense).
Anyway, aye, other than that the combat mechanics are basically the same on PC as the first game as they most likely ported the code over then edited it given the game was made on an updated engine of the original if memory recalls.

@Ireland Michael: leave them be. You won’t change them.

Nobody can.

Zurtech, I mean it for you, too. Leave them be.

@Neo

Sorry, I just find it rude to ignore people if they ask me a question. ^_^

@56 I honestly couldn’t care less if I changed someone’s opinion or not. I’m not sharing it because I expect them to understand me or agree with me.

If I wanted validation for my opinions, the internet would certainly be the last place I’d be looking for it.

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2011/03/08/dragon-age-2-review/2

It doesn’t get a bad score, 7 is ok, and that site is rather non-bowing-to-big-editors…

A review taken from a site I’m part of says it far better than I could.

“Depending on the difficulty you play on combat can be approached very differently. On easier difficulties it’s totally possible to leave the AI to control the other characters, concentrating on Hawke, but to me that isn’t very interesting.

No matter how much the trailers may want to pretend otherwise this is nothing like a third person action game, and so the end result is if you play that way you’ll spend a lot of time hammering on the attack button watching the health of the enemy chip away in tiny, unsatisfying chunks.

Swinging your sword just isn’t all that effective. Some special moves look amazing, but on the whole there’s a disconnect between how awesomely hard Hawke’s swings look and how much damage it inflicts on enemies, even at higher levels. That’s just the nature of this game – it’s based on dice rolls. Because of that, I recommend everyone plays this game properly – and that’s on a harder difficulty.

With the difficulty cranked up you’ll be forced to micro-manage your party a lot more and everything becomes more reminiscent of Dragon Age: Origins.”

EG went with 8

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-08-dragon-age-ii-review?page=3

So it seems that nightmare mode is a more interesting approach…

@Erth/@DBA, have you tried nightmare mode?

On the other side, what about the story? Is it also simplistic like ME2 (friend-collecting and little else)?

I don’t really care if people want to relate to me rather than my opinions. I can only really see that as an obvious shortcoming on their part.

Personally I think it’s a bit more mature to be specific about what you mean, than sticking your fingers in your ear, and pretending that there’s no such thing as hack and slash gameplay.

Not gonna waste more time on that.

Thanks for the rare intelligent response Zurtech. I’m reinstalling the demo to see if they did hide the game in the higher difficulties. I don’t really see the point in hiding the core of the game behind something labelled “Advanced”, but if that’s where I have to go, that’s where I have to go. I usually assume that normal really means normal.

Eurogamer.net – 8/10
Joystick – 4/5
CVG – 9.0
X360A.org – 94 %
RPGSite – 80 %
GamePro – 4/5
Gamezone – 8/10
Strategyinformer – 8.5/10
IGN (UK) – 8.5/10
RPG Fan – 88 %
Videogamer – 7 /10
Bit Tech – 7/10
GameStar – 87 %
PC GAmes – 88 %
Krawall.de 82 %
Eurogamer.de 8/10 (PC) 7/10 (Consoles)
GamersGloba.de – 8.5

@64 I never said there was no such thing as hack and slash, you brain-dead idiot. I said it doesn’t stop those games from being RPGs at their core.

Dragon Age 2, whether you like to believe it or not, *does* have the exact same gameplay system as the original. It’s the exact same cool-down based micro-management system as the first game. Cooldowns have been shifted around to balance things – some are shorter, some are longer, but it still has *all* the same mechanics as the original.

*All* of them. This isn’t opinion. This is a fact.

That does not make it a hack and slash. Every single RPG element that appeared in the original appears in the sequel. The console version doesn’t have auto-attack, but that’s about it.

The demo doesn’t let you change the difficulty.

Normal is normal. Hard is challenging. That’s the way it should be. Changing the difficulty level was one of my very first things I mentioned.

If anyone wants to try the PC demo with character gen and difficulty choices, someone posted a mod on the official forums to activate both:

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6289395/1

@66 Michael – Not gonna indulge you. Go fuck yourself.

@68 Hahahaha!

Of course you won’t. That would require you to deal with actual basic facts instead of living in the soothing comfort of your own personal ego.

You’re the most blindingly opinionated person I’ve ever seen on this site bar Erth. It wouldn’t be so bad if your regular diatribes weren’t all grounded in blanket cynicism and the need to view almost everything in a negative light.

You’re an outdated gamer, stuck in the past, and you won’t be missed by those of us who keep moving forward with the hobby, instead of living in the rose-tinted summer of 1998.

A cookie for you if you get the relevance of that date.

Wow. I have never seen DSB get so angry before. Not even when going at it with Erth.

Really Michael, I have no interest in indulging wannabe games “journalists” who spend most of their time spitting childish insults, or lecturing others on how arrogant and/or ignorant they are, purely because they can’t handle someone disagreeing them. And sadly, more often that not, without making even semblance of an argument to advance the conversation.

Do you have even a shred of selfawareness? Now’s the time to activate it.

I’m a highly critical person, I subscribe to skepticism over psychofantism, and I miss the way gaming used to be. That really shouldn’t be such a threat to you.

@70 When things get to that level, it can’t really make me angry, I’m just kinda setting a limit to what kind of kindergarde nonsense I’ll justify with a response

Michael apparently misses TEA so much he’s become the guy.

Oh no, a kid on the internet called me a wannabe.

*goes and slits his wrists*

“I’m a highly critical person, I subscribe to skepticism over psychofantism, and I miss the way gaming used to be. That really shouldn’t be such a threat to you.”

*hands you a pair of rose tinted glasses*

Have fun in the past. You’re a cheap relic that won’t be missed.

I’m more than capable of criticism myself. There’s a point where you step well over the line of criticism and into blind, unjustified cynicism. You’re about 50 miles past that line.

@71 I see. so you arent angry, just not willing to give into arrogance.

Are we certain this is the same Michael O’Connor?
He has never called me a fanboy before and in the DmC thread, he did. And that’s after countless times of him mentioning that the term Fanboy has lost its meaning and at the time he called me one I hadn’t made a comment that would indicate me being one what-so-ever. I’m starting to think he might be bipolar or something.

Well, I’m shocked either way spider. That’s pretty low brow, even for VG247. And really I’m kinda sad that I already spent so much time on it. Care to discuss some games?

@73 Yes, this is Michael. Scout’s honour.

I never said fanboy has lost it meaning. Not sure where you got that assumption from. I said that most people don’t use the term accurately anymore.

You’re a Devil May Cry fanboy. Your opinion of the franchise blinds you to the possibilities. And I find your opinion of Ninja Theory to be little more than ignorance.

Just because you’re usually one of the smartest people on here doesn’t mean I’m not going to call out your opinion if I think is bullshit.

You see, Michael isn’t arrogant or ignorant. He’s just right. All the time.

@76 I’m a kettle. And you’re a really black pot.

@DSB
Sure. Which game are you getting next and for what console? or PC?
I was thinking of getting Crysis 2 for PC but I haven’t really seen much of it that has made me say “Must get!” Homefront, I’m staying clear of till bargain prices. Looks like Mortal Kombat might be the next game i try, unless you have any recommendations for any recent PC games.

@78 Topic dude, topic! I already preordered Crysis 2 though. Homefront is a pass, Bulletstorm is disqualifed on DRM, and Dragon Age 2 is looking shaky.

@77 Oh, the irony.

@75
I’m not even a DMC Fanboy. I haven’t played #2 or finished #3. I only played all of part 1 and part 4. I have, however, played 3 NT games, one game being from when they were Just Add Monsters and I wasn’t impressed with any of them. They were all decent games but nothing worth me parading around acting like they are amazing developers. They are young developers that have yet to make a game that makes their name stand out in a good way.

@79
Oh. Well my cousin was involved in making the game of topic and well, I try to stay away from anything that side of the family has to offer. It’s a long story that I am not really directly involved in but aye, whatever’s clever.
However, it does look like a cool game and I have heard great things about #1 and Origins.

So Crysis 2 is it then huh? Well, I guess I’ll give it a go. I need to show some love to my PC. Its been about a month since it saw any gaming action and I can feel it’s lonely heart.

@79 Someone doesn’t understand how to use the word irony correctly. Alanis Morissette would be proud.

@80 I have too, and while Enslaved’s mechanics were simple, Heavenly Sword’s were sublime and some of the best I’ve ever seen in spectacle fighter genre.