Dragon Age 2

[Welverin]

Agreed. Dragon Age in particular gains a ton on the PC.

I know Game Informer dropped their score for the console version by a point, just for the difference in how the combat worked.

 

[John Crichton]

I know Game Informer dropped their score for the console version by a point, just for the difference in how the combat worked.

Not that I'm a big fan of GI, but they were spot on with that one. I played about 20-30 hours on the Xbox and was sick of not having the top-down isometric view. Got the PC version and never looked back. Also, there are some mods for the PC that I simply couldn't live without now.

 

[Welverin]

Not that I'm a big fan of GI, but they were spot on with that one. I played about 20-30 hours on the Xbox and was sick of not having the top-down isometric view. Got the PC version and never looked back.

The reason it stands out to me, is that you usually don't see variation is scores across platforms at all, but a full point signifies a significant difference between them.

Also, there are some mods for the PC that I simply couldn't live without now.

Ooo, share please.

 

[John Crichton]

The reason it stands out to me, is that you usually don't see variation is scores across platforms at all, but a full point signifies a significant difference between them.

Ah. Makes sense.

Ooo, share please.

I haven't played much in about 5-6 months so I'm having difficulty remembering the names but the thread on CM (kinda long) has a bunch of really good ones and that's where I caught on to them.

One of them identified who the gifts were optimized for. One removed some of the annoying ongoing visual spell effects. Two others greatly enhanced the textures. And a few more that are completely escaping me.

EDIT: If I remember later I'll check the ones I have installed and/or find the CM link.

 

[Welverin]

>snip<

EDIT: If I remember later I'll check the ones I have installed and/or find the CM link.

Thanks

 

[amerigoV]

Oh, I was afraid you might be one of the people who think a voiced protagonist a la Mass Effect doesn't allow you to "roleplay properly", or upset that the change in character means that DA:O is "pointless". I'm seeing Bioware take a lot of heat on the forums for stuff that, to me, doesn't really matter that much.

That was the one "jarring" thing about DA:O for me - everybody had a voice but you! (well, there were one or two random elves in the Alienage that just had text as well - I only remember it because everyone else at least said SOMETHING).

I have been playing ME1 these days (yeah, I am behind) and I think the voiced protagonist adds to the immersion.

 

[Felon]

OK, I downloaded Dragon Age from Steam and I gotta say, I don't get the complaints about DA2 depriving the player of character creation options. I certainly wouldn't say Dragon Age offers much in the way of customization. I just built a mage who only had a handful of different haircuts and faces to choose from, and had only one background to choose from regardless of whether I chose his race as human or elf (with dwarf being simply unavailable). I couldn't even change his last name, and that's pretty much the nail in the coffin of personalization.

It also seems that certain allowed race/class combinations don't synergize. Elves, for instance, seem only fit to be mages.

 

[Arvalion]

Unfortunately, Brent Knowles, lead designer for DAO left due to the changes being made to DA2 among other things.

BioWare-Brent Year 10 (Fall 2008 – Summer 2009) – Brent Knowles

The change to Bioware is one of them which not coincidentally coincides with their purchase by EA.

EA's track record of ruining game studios and franchises is certainly enough to give pause over this.

Personally, I dislike that I am being given less choices for my character. Sure, I didnt have TOTAL control over every little aspect in DAO, but giving me even less choice in DA2 is not helping the problem (lack of race choice). This is a deal breaker for me.

Putting it all together: Lead designer leaves, followed by lack luster DLC, and a general change to the fundamentals that made the game successful for a more "stream lined" approach?

Sounds like EA is making history repeat itself.

 

[Darynal]

Sad to hear if DA2 is gonna be crushed by EA. They do it with a number of other franchises too.

 

[Remus Lupin]

Well, I'm going to try to keep hope until it's clear that the game doesn't measure up. I remain cautiously optimistic.