Review Dragon Age II Reviews @ RPS

[Volourn]

That's how all facebook games work. Really silly but really popular.

 

[Merkwürdigliebe]

For reference, summoning a colleague back to the fight before his 2 hour recharge time is up costs 19 crowns (and will result in the next wait becoming 5 hours). So, for three times as much as buying a copy of Dragon Age II, I can buy enough crowns to respawn party members 315 times. That sounds like a big number. It isn’t. Factoring in the Energy required to play (29 crowns for 5 units of it, which is enough for one more battle, or very occasional two) as well, I suspect that wouldn’t get me much more than a week or two of not particularly intensive Facebook gaming. That is a guess, but I’m pretty convinced the sum total is nowhere near what you’d get for buying three traditional games (and especially RPGs).

Don't think I need a review to tell me that facebook games suck, but come on this has to be a new low. Look at those prices, micro transactions? Since when did 100 USD become a "micro" transaction?

Welcome to the future of gaming. :/ As long as there are retards that stump up the money for such shit, the big companies will slowly begin to wonder why they are wasting their time and money on so-called AAA titles when they can pay a fraction of the development costs for a browser game, reach a lot more people and rake in the cash from the mouth breathers.

Well on the bright side this might mean that there will be actually quality games to fill the void after the big publishers quit the scene :D ... aww how am I kidding? They will just start include shit like this in their normal games as well. Any one who willingly pays 100$ for that crap (and in this case gun to the head still counts as willingly) deserves to be locked in a small room with Prosper, Andhaira, Liberal and Cleave.

 

[Jaesun]

Wasn't RPS the people that called DA:O the GREATEST RPG OF ALL TIEM!!111!!!

Stopped reading that site after that.

 

[ortucis]

"Every goddamn person you have in your team doesn't want to learn from their mistakes or wants you (player) to point out their flaws."

1. Isn't this true of all npcs in every game?

2. What 'huge' mistakes does Varric whine about and never learns from?

1. Are we talking about every other game here or a game from BAFTA winning developer, BioWare. Master of cinematic dialogues in a cinematic RPG? You'd think that after so many games they'd improve upon the flaws, not make it worse than their last game (ME2).

2. Who is talking about about Varric? Did you miss every other carnival freak you are running around with?

- A slut pirate who whines about you not giving over some retarded book to save her pathetic life (also, she lies to you all the time with no remorse) that could stop the massacre of innocents and then suddenly reappears when you and Qunari are done killing almost everyone on each others side. Of course as a player you can't exactly tell her to fuck-off since you know that developers fascination with importing saves will mean less content in the sequel for you to play through (though that could be a good thing.. but XP GAIN).

- Merill.. well.. "I have to save my people. WHY DOESN'T ANYONE UNDERSTAND ME? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD HAWKE? WHY ARE YOU SIDING WITH THEM?"

- Anders. He is a walking talking target painted on your back everytime. I am suprised that Meriddith with all her super-awesome-idol-manga sword powers doesn't just gut him where he stands everytime he opens his mouth. "Justice isn't happy. Justice kills every templar, innocent or not. Raaargh... wait, is that guy using blood magic? KILL HIM, KILL HIM NOW, THAT'S EVIL POSESSION UNLIKE JUSTICE."

Only Fenris and Aveline were the ones who didn't annoy the fuck out of me now that I think about it.

 

[Volourn]

"Of course as a player you can't exactly tell her to fuck-off since you know that developers fascination with importing saves will mean less content in the sequel for you to play through "

FFS Did you even play the game? You even get the option to hand her over to the Quanari. FFS

People liek you are just retarted.

 

[ortucis]

"Of course as a player you can't exactly tell her to fuck-off since you know that developers fascination with importing saves will mean less content in the sequel for you to play through "

FFS Did you even play the game? You even get the option to hand her over to the Quanari. FFS

People liek you are just retarted.

Have you ever played a game called Mass Effect? If you have a dead character in the game and import that save into the squel, that character stays dead. If he/she isn't, then you get more content for the $60 you wasted.

That's why only a retard will hand her over. Plus, in last anime boss fights, you get less companions to fight alongside. I know it's hard for fanboys to think ahead, cause I am sure no other game from same dev had you needing every character for the last fight (HINT: Mass Effect 2).

 

[felipepepe]

If you have a dead character in the game and import that save into the squel, that character stays dead.

Thats the ideia, no? You are even improving the sequel. Why would you want someone that annoys the shit out of you to be back? Would you plunge a sword into your head if I said you will keep it in the afterlife?

 

[ortucis]

If you have a dead character in the game and import that save into the squel, that character stays dead.

Thats the ideia, no? You are even improving the sequel. Why would you want someone that annoys the shit out of you to be back? Would you plunge a sword into your head if I said you will keep it in the afterlife?

You don't understand. The way BioWare does things that character could have quests associated with him/her. Unless I am pirating their games, I want to squeeze out every last fucking quest out of the game until I am done with it.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Merrill is horrible.
Here's a quote: "Some adventurer I am - just set out and already daunted!"
That's so cheap. They don't even try to convey her personality through her actions or opinions, she just flat out states what type of character she is.
I usually don't mind bad writing in games all that much, but this is just annoying.

Oh, but it's fully voiced and done with a visual look at Merrill with an expression taken from the facial animator as matching the line, so it's not breaking the 'show, don't tell' rule. I mean, films NEVER break that rule, and books by necessity must always be terrible because everything written is telling instead of showing. That's why we had to get rid of all text descriptions, even for non-visual stimuli and internal sensations and perceptions, and make the games as cinematic as possible! Bioware writers sure know their profushional riting rules!

 

[Jim Cojones]

Merrill is horrible.
Here's a quote: "Some adventurer I am - just set out and already daunted!"
That's so cheap. They don't even try to convey her personality through her actions or opinions, she just flat out states what type of character she is.
I usually don't mind bad writing in games all that much, but this is just annoying.

Oh, but it's fully voiced and done with a visual look at Merrill with an expression taken from the facial animator as matching the line, so it's not breaking the 'show, don't tell' rule. I mean, films NEVER break that rule, and books by necessity must always be terrible because everything written is telling instead of showing. That's why we had to get rid of all text descriptions, even for non-visual stimuli and internal sensations and perceptions, and make the games as cinematic as possible! Bioware writers sure know their profushional riting rules!

That's not what 'show, don't tell' means. It's a rule that was proposed, before the movies were anything more than a gimmick, as a guideline for book writers. I'll steal examples from professional writer:

Showing: "Mary was an old woman."
Telling: "Mary moved slowly across the room, her hunched form supported by a polished wooden cane gripped in a gnarled, swollen-jointed hand that was covered by translucent, liver-spotted skin."

EDIT: and a nice example how visual media can break that rule. Watch from 15:30.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Merrill is horrible.
Here's a quote: "Some adventurer I am - just set out and already daunted!"
That's so cheap. They don't even try to convey her personality through her actions or opinions, she just flat out states what type of character she is.
I usually don't mind bad writing in games all that much, but this is just annoying.

Oh, but it's fully voiced and done with a visual look at Merrill with an expression taken from the facial animator as matching the line, so it's not breaking the 'show, don't tell' rule. I mean, films NEVER break that rule, and books by necessity must always be terrible because everything written is telling instead of showing. That's why we had to get rid of all text descriptions, even for non-visual stimuli and internal sensations and perceptions, and make the games as cinematic as possible! Bioware writers sure know their profushional riting rules!

Thats the problem. If you have all those possible means and still can't convey an impression without directly telling the player whats going on then you fail. Even games and other media without those means manage to give you an impression of a character without directly having the character tell the you (e.g. describing the character's actions and apparent demeanor in addition). Just having the character tell you whats going on feels horribly out of place, no one really tells you such things through words, you infer it from what you notice about them. The fact that movies and books do it as well, surprise surprise, means nothing more than 95% of books and movies are crap just as 95% of games are crap and/or have to be dumbed down for an inattentive audience.

 

[Drakron]

"
FFS Did you even play the game? You even get the option to hand her over to the Quanari. FFS

She eventually escapes if you do.

Only Bethany can die if you take her to the Deep Roads and do not take Anders as well but since Bethany and Carver can die in the Prologue. you can also turn Fenris but he just gets a mind wipe, I suppose Anders can die in Act III but considering how he survived Awakening ...

Edit:

Have you ever played a game called Mass Effect? If you have a dead character in the game and import that save into the squel, that character stays dead. If he/she isn't, then you get more content for the $60 you wasted.

No.

You have a character that dies in ME no matter what, you have to pick who dies and Wrex can die but him being alive just gives a somewhat different Tuchanka but it have no effect on what quests are available or how to complete them.

Import for most part only affects flavor, you dont get locked out of quests because someone died in ME1.

 

[hoverdog]

It’s about time there was a decent Welsh character in a game!

lolwat?

 

[Volourn]

"That's why only a retard will hand her over."

Bullshit. Perhaps someone who has a sense of justice? She stole something from the quanari which ultimiately led to a lot of death so it's a fitting punishment to send her as their prisoner.


"Only Bethany can die if you take her to the Deep Roads and do not take Anders as well but since Bethany and Carver can die in the Prologue. you can also turn Fenris but he just gets a mind wipe, I suppose Anders can die in Act III but considering how he survived Awakening ... "

Do youa ctually play the game? More than Bethany (Carver) can die. Anders can be executed by your own hand. Otehrs can end up as yourn enemy in the final act depending how they react to yoru chocies and their rivalry-friendship with you is. There is a chance that you can lose more than half the team by the end.

FFS Guys, people are crying on the BIO boards that choices x, y, and z cna lead to certain characters leaving.

I say it's tellin that there's as much as a half dozen ways to Isabella in the game (including never ever recruiting her in the first place) even though she used as hot tity material when pimping the game.

"Plus, in last anime boss fights, you get less companions to fight alongside. I know it's hard for fanboys to think ahead, cause I am sure no other game from same dev had you needing every character for the last fight (HINT: Mass Effect 2). "

Don't believe that works like that in DA2.


"She eventually escapes if you do."

that should be irrelevant to the decision to turn her over b/c the PC has no way of knowing such spoiler knowledge.

 

[ortucis]

Don't believe that works like that in DA2.

Have you even played the game? Every companion on your side fights and joins in the battle in the last moments, from defending mages to fighting Meriddith.

 

[attackfighter]

Don't believe that works like that in DA2.

Have you even played the game? Every companion on your side fights and joins in the battle in the last moments, from defending mages to fighting Meriddith.

Fenris abandoned me at the final battle.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Merrill is horrible.
Here's a quote: "Some adventurer I am - just set out and already daunted!"
That's so cheap. They don't even try to convey her personality through her actions or opinions, she just flat out states what type of character she is.
I usually don't mind bad writing in games all that much, but this is just annoying.

Oh, but it's fully voiced and done with a visual look at Merrill with an expression taken from the facial animator as matching the line, so it's not breaking the 'show, don't tell' rule. I mean, films NEVER break that rule, and books by necessity must always be terrible because everything written is telling instead of showing. That's why we had to get rid of all text descriptions, even for non-visual stimuli and internal sensations and perceptions, and make the games as cinematic as possible! Bioware writers sure know their profushional riting rules!

That's not what 'show, don't tell' means. It's a rule that was proposed, before the movies were anything more than a gimmick, as a guideline for book writers. I'll steal examples from professional writer:

Showing: "Mary was an old woman."
Telling: "Mary moved slowly across the room, her hunched form supported by a polished wooden cane gripped in a gnarled, swollen-jointed hand that was covered by translucent, liver-spotted skin."

EDIT: and a nice example how visual media can break that rule. Watch from 15:30.

Jesus fucking christ, did I critically fail my 'create sarcasm' roll, or did you just not bother to roll for 'detect sarcasm'? I didn't think I could actually make it any more obvious!
Didn't the 'proffushional riting rules' give it away?

Holy shit, I am seriously hand to the face flabbergasted that it wasn't obvious that I was making the exact fucking point that you follow me up with. I was pointing out the stupidity of Bioware's interpretation of the rule, and in particular of the way they use it as a reason for making everything cinematic, showing that they have no understanding of the way the rule works.

Didn't even the 'books are terrible because they tell everything' give the sarcasm away? Wasn't it obvious when I said that cinema by definition can't break the rule, that I was being sarcastic regarding the rule being interpreted in that way?

Did I seriously fail that badly at conveying sarcasm?

 

[ortucis]

Don't believe that works like that in DA2.

Have you even played the game? Every companion on your side fights and joins in the battle in the last moments, from defending mages to fighting Meriddith.

Fenris abandoned me at the final battle.

He abandoned me for supporting mages at first, but in a cutscene before battle inside gallows, Hawke just says something about "Fenris being against slavery.." and Fenris just comically ditches Meriddith again to join you again.

So yes, every character fights alongside you if you have done their royality missions and weren't a dick to them (which I wasn't and yes I did do all missions as usual).

 

[CappenVarra]

Showing: "Mary was an old woman."
Telling: "Mary moved slowly across the room, her hunched form supported by a polished wooden cane gripped in a gnarled, swollen-jointed hand that was covered by translucent, liver-spotted skin."

Hate to nitpick during a perfectly fine firestorm, but you got your showing and telling mixed up. Which is hilarious if and only if you did it on purpose :D

Did I seriously fail that badly at conveying sarcasm?

I won't answer that, since the question was not for me. But I will say that's it's interesting how sarcasm detection fails happen in almost every thread mentioning DA2. It's almost like the game has a sanity-dampening aura...

 

[Volourn]

"Have you even played the game? Every companion on your side fights and joins in the battle in the last moments, from defending mages to fighting Meriddith."

The difference is is that unlike ME2, they aren't required to finish. In ME2, if you have lost your compinions you will die no questions asked in a cut scene. Not true in DA2.

 

[Jigawatt]

Did I seriously fail that badly at conveying sarcasm?

No, you didn't. When I read your post I thought the somewhere down the line would be a or but instead you got not one but two super serial mega assburgers replies. No wonder every codex thread is an argument, some people don't know sarcasm if it fucks them in the eye.