Review [Quickie Nr. 001]: Konjad and Dragon Age 2

[Volourn]

"So you're saying you don't get paid to post here"

Never said that.

 

[St. Toxic]

I liked the review, mainly because I didn't read it.

 

[Mortmal]

"Cut the Crap!

So is the game good or not? It depends on what you expect. Do you like a sandbox to stroll around in? Perhaps you enjoy solving quests in many different ways, or great combat? The game is definitely not for you if you seek any of the above. However if you are willing to sacrifice these things for well-voiced and well-written dialogue and an interesting story, you may find Dragon Age 2 a very enjoyable piece of entertainment. It lacks strength in many departments, but it builds up a good experience if you like interactive stories and if you're willing to give it a chance"

Ill cut the crap, its not even well written, story is boring and really predictable, that added with the filler fights i can say i wasnt ecstatic while playing it.
Well i fall into it, its a troll review thats for sure.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

DA2 was for cunts.






Unfortunately, I did like the facepaint option... probably due to being a cunt myself.

 

[J_C]

Guys at the Bioware boards like Konjad's review (kinda).
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... /1#8171152

Konjad ruins our reputation.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/8089624/1#8171152

My counter would be that the game's faults aren't enough to write it off completely, though I'm certainly mindful of the problems it has. They haven't put me off yet, and I'm six characters in so far, which I suppose would be my evidence. If that somehow means I'm ill-educated.. well I'm not sure what to make of that.

You have to play through it at least seven times!

 

[Sceptic]

There's an absolute gem of a post in that thread J_C linked.

Well, then maybe instead of just saying you disagree with, say, the art direction of DA2 being uninspired, you could also provide some kind of counter-evidence? The fact that the game is full of grey and brown tones is an observation anyone can draw, not an opinion.

Fact (sort of). Whether that's good, bad, or even worth noting at all, however, is opinion.

That romances are comparable to the ones in Twilight and the stereotypical angsty characters are designed to appeal to that same age group is another one.

No, it isn't, that's a value judgement you've made.

And I really don't see how countless identical dungeons are even acceptable in this day and age (apparently 30 years ago they weren't), and why people tolerate or even defend them.
I will concede, however, that how much of these individual failures a person can get past to enjoy the game is entirely personal - it's a question of how high your standards are. But then the problem with DA2 is, considering its substantial amount of individual failures, your standards have to be lower than average to extract some kind of enjoyment out of it.

Disappointing, but hardly game-breaking. It's hard to play Warcraft and not notice the same caves over and over again, or to play Oblivion and not notice caves are made out of the same half dozen areas put together like lego. I don't like it, but games that are otherwise highly acclaimed have survived with them, enough so I think they're being blown out of proportion in this case for being an easy target in a game people just enjoy hating.

Judging a piece of art on its merits doesn't have anything to do with quantifying anything. You don't have to quantify human experience to know that hurting someone is bad. And you don't even have to go that far - simply looking at the game from a technical point of view, if you see that shortcuts were taken, certain elements were unpolished etc. then you can rightfully call it a flaw and once again claim objectivity, because your conclusion is based on observation.

That flaws exist was never in question, but if I wrote off every game I'd played that had flaws I'd need a new hobby. Indeed, name a game that was absolutely flawless and perfect. Judging whether the game as a whole is good, however, requires subjectively weighing the worth of the positives against the drawbacks, which cannot be done factually. I happen to think DA2 comes out ahead, while you don't, which is proof in itself that it's a subjective process.

If you really like Twilight you can argue that characters in DA2 appealing to you is a good thing, but that is besides the point, since appealing to you specifically is not a problem; it's appealing at all in the first place. You see, creating a work of art, you put something of yourself into it, be it a canvas or the angle at which you shoot a scene, or a character in a video game, and you appeal to people with a certain level of experience who can relate to you and say "I understand this man and why he made this so". This is the challenge for artists, and the profound feeling a person gets when he looks at their work. Appealing to lack of experience, as is the case with Twilight fans, doesn't make any artistic sense - only monetary.

Now, you see, that's the snobbery I was talking about. The only way it's possible to like the characters in DA2 is if I happen to be in this 'stupids' demographic? Perhaps if you left your ivory tower for a while, perhaps post in some of the character fan threads and chat with the people there, you might find their appeal is wider than you give it credit for.

You completely missed my point about innovation, I'm sad to say. It's no secret or leftist conspiracy theory that corporate culture promotes watering down genres and creating false trends around mediocre titles (be it movies or games). It's all about creating a game in the shortest possible time span and minimal expenses and extracting the biggest possible profit from it. Is that so hard to wrap your head around? Anyone defending their favorite genre from corporations' so-called "innovation" has right on their side, and unless you want to discuss the finer aspects of RPGs like visceral combat and spectacular finishers with CoD addicts in the near future, you should share their plight.

Alright then, business talk, how much do you think it costs to make a AAA game? The easy answer is "a lot more than it used to". The industry is changing, the idea that a developer as big as Bioware could function on good will and idealism is nonsensical, and grousing about how everything was better in the old days is fighting the tide. That said, I don't see how better action means less RPG, but if this is the bit where you play the "CoD crowd" card I suspect you won't agree.

Best Thread Ever material.

Is mykeme a Codexer though? Doesn't seem to be judging from his posts there, but he's probably a long time lurker.

 

[Shannow]

Art fag vs apologist:
Which do I care less about and why?
Discuss!

 

[Menckenstein]

Art fag vs apologist:
Which do I care less about and why?
Discuss!

They're just the filler mobs of the real world.

 

[Konjad]

Guys at the Bioware boards like Konjad's review (kinda).
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... /1#8171152

Konjad ruins our reputation.

It;s not ruining, I'm actually saving it! I'm glad to see some readers like my review


I haven't read this topic up until now, which is quite funny, because it seems I'm one year late to my own party.

 

[J_C]

Guys at the Bioware boards like Konjad's review (kinda).
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... /1#8171152

Konjad ruins our reputation.

It;s not ruining, I'm actually saving it! I'm glad to see some readers like my review


I haven't read this topic up until now, which is quite funny, because it seems I'm one year late to my own party.

But better late than never.

 

[racofer]

 

[Konjad]

wha?

 

[Mastermind]

Double the Aerie
Double the merry

Aerie was awesome.

Don't taint her memory with associations to this retarded shit.

 

[LivingOne]

So...if Konjad's going to be the only one to buy DA3 the 'dex is doomed to have a positive review of it?

 

[Sceptic]

Aerie was awesome.

Updated my mastermind.txt
(this particular gem goes right next to the internet dating/marriage debacle)

 

[Wyrmlord]

I was going to comment on this article a year ago, but decided to just forget about it, because it seemed a trivial complaint.

Here is this one complaint I have been sitting on for nearly a year: Konjad's writing style is not of high standards.

Bioware's games have always been technically good-looking, and the art direction has always been a bit above average. It's a similar thing with Dragon Age 2. First of all I would like to praise the look of the characters. They are simply beautiful and well-made. Most of the armours look good, with rare exceptions, although unfortunately weaponry is often over the top and too unrealistic.

Don't just tell us the look of them is "beautiful and well made". Give us something real, like at least a 10-20 word description. Don't just tell us "most of the armours look good", tell us what the armour looks like and demonstrate accordingly. Don't just say weaponry is over the top. What does the weapon look like?

What Konjad has basically done is commit an elementary school mistake where all cohesive thought is replaced with "This is nice" and "This is not very nice". It's not about English being his second language. I am sure even a Polish literature teacher would remark the same thing about Konjad's writing if it were in Polish. The problem is with the loss of content and substance in favour of empty descriptions.

How about this basic syntax?

Spoiler

BIOWARE'S ABOVE AVERAGE ART DIRECTION IS REFLECTED IN THE DESIGN OF VARIOUS DA2 CHARACTERS BLAH BLAH BUT SOME DUBIOUS DECISIONS HAVE MADE BEEN MADE ABOUT THEIR DESIGN AS WELL BLAH BLAH BLAH

AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE SIR DUKE ABC XYZ, AN EARLY/LATE GAME NPC PARTY MEMBER BLAH BLAH BLAH

ABC XYZ IS ADORNED WITH 1) MITHRIL ARMOR WITH DETAILED RUNES 2) PRECISE TATTOOS ETCHED ACROSS BODY, 3) BLAH BLAH BLAH.

HOWEVER, THIS OTHERWISE INTELLIGENTLY CONCEIVED DEPICTION OF SIR XYZ IS SHATTERED WITH THE 1) 7 FOOT LONG SWORD RUNNING FROM OVER HIS HEAD TO HIS FEET 2) SHOULDER PADS BIGGER THAN HIS HEAD 3) BLAH BLAH BLAH

ALL THIS REFLECTS BIOWARE'S TENDENCY TO CREATE SOMETHING IMAGINATIVE BUT CHEAPEN IT WITH JUVENILE STYLIZATION MUCH LIKE JAPANESE DEVELOPERS BLAH BLAH

When you are writing something or demonstrating a point, do it in five steps. Tell us what you are going to tell us. Give three points/examples that demonstrate what you want to tell us. Tell us what you just told us.

PS: Whether the look of armour or weapons is relevant to a game is, of course, an entirely different debate.

 

[Servo]

It's the troll mound from BG2, you can see it on the bottom left corner of this map:
http://mikesrpgcenter.com/bgate2/maps/ar1900.html

This is the most brilliant troll ever. And everyone here totally fell for it.

Way better than Roguey.