Volourn
Pretty Princess
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2003
- Messages
- 24,924
Here it goes guys. The review that nobody was waiting for but are getting anyways. The review is gonna suck so if you hate sucky things don't read, or read it tell me how much sucks. Either way.. remember one very important thing: IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU FUKKIN' THINK!!
CHARACTER CREATION/SYSTEM
----------------------------------------------------
OVERVIEW: This works exactly like DA1. However, it is weaker due to things that were unfortunately cut out whcih hurts the game's 'role-playing'. The lack of origins (different starting points for morans), races (fuck BIO and their anti dwarf stance!!!!, -10 points for you!), and no non combat skills (which have been streamlined into the actual gameplay). The biggest sadness is the limits placed oin waht type of weapon Hawke can use as there are no bow shooting warriors and no great sword weilding rogues On the plus side, the talent tres are set up in a much coller and open way though you still often have to take a talent you rather not just to get something you actually want. Still, by the end of the game you have lots of choices as I reached level 25 and still didn't come close to having all the talents I wanted.
ANALYSIS: It is good for what it is. It's basically a dumbed down version of DA1.
SCORE: 7.5 (no fukkin' dwarves, I told yas that would cost yas BIO!)
COMBAT
--------------
OVERVIEW: Probably the most challenging combat I've ever faced in a RPG. I died a lot on hard. Combat is lots of fun that allows all 3 classes to brag how awesome they are with warriors able to sweep enemies away like trash, rogues being able to dance around the battle field, and mages to be able blow shit up! Nothing cna be cooler. there's lots of interetsing battles, and BIo did a good of setting up interesting boss battles. However, this probably leads to the combat's two major weaknesses. The first is the ridiculous amount of hit points enemies (bosses usually but even some general mooks have it as well). Soemtiems this is so bad I chnaged the difficulty to normal/easy just so I could end an otherwise 'easy' fight earlier instead of getting bored. The second is the insta respawns that come out of nowhere and make no logical sense. Tsk, tsk. Still, the game requires smart play and the ability to use your talents and your party members to make things easier. if you rush in with no plan, you will die. Period.
ANALYSIS: Fun, challenging combat with some cool enemies and a great variety in talents and possible apporaches are plusses. Spamming enemies and bloated health are weaknesses. Overall, it's DA style combat just a little faster pace and harder.
SCORE: 8.5
STORY
----------
OVERVIEW: The story starts out personal as you lead your family away from your hometown that was overrun by darkspawn as the game progresses you become the center of all out civil war where you, yes, epically find yourself in the middle of. ACT1 is basically you trying to improve your family's lot in your new city of Kirkwall, and the fatc you need gold leads you to meeting a bunch of folks that need help (like any rpg does). ACT 2 shows your climb to becoming the Champion and does this through your dealings with the Viscount and the Arishok. ACT 3 is where all hell breaks out as the mage-templar war rages on the streets.
The progress of Hawke is the story's strength. This is literally this (her) story coming from being a desperate refugee to the city's only hope. What makes it evens tronger is the touches of many side quests that earlier hint at and then eventually full blown show the discord betixt the mages and templars. Also, more than a few side quests in ch1 and ch2 also bring the Viscount and Arishok to show their stuff in front of the player. This is done so well that many DA2 players have the idea that Arishok is 'awesome', 'cool', or a 'good guy'. Of course, nothing is that simple in the world of DA2.
As above, the mage-templar conflict is easy to see as a simple slave-slaver issue but it is nowhere enar that simple as no doubt the Kirkwall mages aren't exactly known for their subtlety and lack of love of blood magic (often referred to as the Theda's 'dark sideof magic'). In many quests you will have to choose between the templars and the mages and often times your choice ends up not as clear cut as you originally thought. I can go on about this, but that's it for now.
ANALYSIS: The mage-templar plot may only be the main focus ina ct 3, but througout the game it is tied into main stories and dialogues. From your very first encounter with Aveline and her husband, this conflict is front and center. That kind of tie in is terrifically done. The Arishok secondary plotline is also done well and even includes a major connection to a popular (and hated) companion as well.
SCORE: 9.0
GRAPHICS
----------------
OVERVIEW: Overall, outside of siome weird glitches, the graphics are on the whole better than DA's. The city of Kirkwall is beautiful to behold, and the other areas are always nicely done. The major problem is the repetive nature of the maps. The cae might look great but it's the same cave no matter. This didn't bother me in act 1 while the game was new, it annoyed me to no end in act 2, and in act 3 I just ignored it. Beautiful graphics hampered by a time saving tatic.
ANALSIS: Good graphics (except for the ugly looking elves), but repetive use of areas is sad.
SCORE: 8.0
ROLE-PLAYING
-----------------------
OVERVIEW: While you are asked to play the character of Hawke, you still have a lot freedom to play him/her as you see fit. From being diplmatic, friendly, suave, a joker, or a bastard the chocie are yours. How you interact with others will determine how they react to you. Certain decisions you make will open (or close) quests, other dialogue options, give you access to unique equipment, cause party members to leave or even return to your side, avoid combat, romance options, and more. One of the big things is the game will also keep track of the tone your character has in dialogue and will use that to influence future dialogues including giving you unique options later on. Even actions taken in DA1 opens (closes) certain things in DA2.
The C&C in DA2 is pretty darn good espicially compared to some popular BIO games (*cough* BG *cough*), but there is one letdown and it is the run up to the resolution of the mage-templar war. The leading mage Orsino decides to become all abomination mass murderer near thee nd for some lacking reason. this could have been handled better. As is, it's an alright scene - for a typical RPG - but DA2 could have easily taken it to a whole new level. I'll explain how in my future 'things I would change' thread.
ANALYSIS: Top line C&C that rewards and punishes you for decisions both shoirt and long term. This is held back as I explained in the overview.
SCORE: 8.5
CHARACTERS
---------------------
OVERVIEW: This get on thing straight. This is the typical list of who's who for BIO joinable npcs. From the loveable rogue (Varric) to the slutty sex staved goddess ( Isabella) to the 'i am emo' (both fenris and Anders fit the bill here). That said, in comparison to DA1, this group as a whole is much stronger. Not much can be said about Varric that hasn't already been said as the narrator seems to be well liked by anyone who has played the game even those who hate. Isabella is much deeper than her b00bs allow you to see. from being a pirate scamp to book stealer to defender of the underdgo potentially redeemable lover interest she is much more than her appearance. I also have to say there is no joinable who i absolutely loathe (though fenris comes close by I actually understand wher ehe comes from unlike, say, that douche Sten from DA1). One companion that kind of surprised me was Merrill who I had written off as just a lolli wannabe for the eprverts but her character arc was really strange considering the dark side of her otherwise naive sunshiny perosnality which shouldn't work with a 'practicer of the dark art of blood magic'. The fact that by the end she actually feels shame over actions shows that she can grow. Even the other wise 'boring' Aveline is reoslute in her steadfastness plus she has a genuinely funny yet silly side quest that lightens the mood. Hawke's siblings have distinct personalities as well, and play somewhat major roles (well, one does anyways since one dies early). I have a lot to say about the controversial 'reawakening' (r00fles!) of Anders later on. Still, heads sueprior to to the DA1 npcs where only Morrigan ended up as one of my fave BIO npcs while DA2 has serval that can make thata rgument while none of the them are outight horrible.
For non joinables there's a ton of interesting folks including Arishok, the Viscount, Cullen, Thrask, Meredith, Orsino (despite his letdown conclusion), Chantry Mother, Fenryiel, and a host of others are all well written and add a lot to the game's story despite some of them being relatively minor characters. My weird fixation though is on the PC' Uncle Gamlen who has a very solid character arc. When you first meet him he comes across as swarmy and untrustworthy (and is for the most part), but is such an interetsing character who is well written and vocie acted as he slowly grew on me througgout the game. Good stuff.
ANALYSIS: My fave characters are Varric and Isabella while my fave non joinables are Uncle Gamlen and The Viscount.
SCORE: 9.5!!!
GAMEPLAY
----------------
OVERVIEW: Combat strengths and weaknesses have been covered already so it might be touched on breifly here but not much. The biggesta ddition here is the lack of ability to choose your companions' armour as they have their favorites which you can gift with upgrades 9along with Varric's unchangeable lovely crossbow. Dialogue uses the ME style convo wheel but with the added bonus of style icons' which lets you know how you'll say soemthing. This also makes it less likely to say/do soemthing you don't want. There is no room for error filled romantic oopsies. The coolnes of the dialogue options is that it allows you to start fights from dialogue, end romances (or start them), lie, bribe (or be bribed) amongst the other useful things. It also gives special options based on your character perosnality as well absed on past actions. Another cool feature is to ask a companion to speak up when appropriate (Bethany whent rying to calm someone's concerns about magic or Fenris when trying to intimidate someone)>
The old non combat skills like potiona/rune/poison craftinga re instead done thorugh finding base components just once then buying/crafting them at your home base. While this makes one's inventory cleaner, it's not as fulfilling for those who love cluttered inventories. Lockpicking/trap disarming are nowm rogue only skills based solely on cunning. Some skills like heraldry or wilderness survival have been cut which is hugely dissapointing.
One cool yet realitively undiscussed feature of DA2 is the addition of day/night cycles(maps) which leads to quests that can only be done depending on time of day. While this may not be as fantatsic as a full fledge light/day cycle it is still a welcoming addition as DA1 didn't have anything like this at all.
Companions now a much more tighter friend-rival graph taht can give you different reactions to yourd ecisions, and can lead to them leaving you, attacking you, or even have two distinct romantic relationships with the same character depending on where you are in the friend-rival axis. The best aprt of this whole aspect of DA2 is that unlike DA1 there are only a handful of gifts for each npc so it's a lot harder to simply 'buy' one's affections plus some 'gifts' can even lead to rivalry points depending on what it is and your chocies in dialogue after you gift it to them.
A quick note as well for a shoutout of a great sue of Varric as the actual narrator as it adds a lot espicially in the humour department (see his reaccounting of his hunt for his brother as an example)
ANALYSIS: Gameplay is basically DA1. Some new stuff is very good like the friend-rval set up, and the day/night mapsm while some stuff that were cut are dissapointing losses like the lack of non combat skills and less control of companion armour (though you can still give them rings, amulets, weapons, etc.)
SCORE: 9.0
SPECIAL EFFECTS: The music is basically like DA1 with epic stiredd music. Speciale ffects espicially the magic is beautiful as always . freezing or burning enemies is always a beautiful sight. A terrorist attack in the late game leads to a nice explosion as well. Abomination transformations are always a sight to behold. Still, basically DA1 all over again.
Voice overs are always important in a BIO game espicially with the idea of giving the PC a voice. The voice actors for Hawke (both genders) go a great job though they don't match the level of ME's Shepards but that's a tough challenge consideirng how awesome Shepard truly is. My biggest complaint, perhaps, is they need to be a little more dramatic when its called for. No such complaints for npc voice overs as it's uniformly great througohut with only a few misteps. I never heard a npc talk and say soemthing like' that just doesn't fit the character'. Again, this is the biggest difference between meredith and orsino. She shows a lot more passion for her beliefs while Orsino while solid througohut doesn't come across believable duringa certain time when it could have been his moment to shine.
ANALYSIS: Fantastic with few missteps. Not perfect but damn close.
SCORE: 9.5
FUN FACTOR
--------------------
Overall, I just had a lot of fun with the game for the nearly 60 hours I played (just a couple hours shy of DA1's length). Oustide of some combat issues and repetitive areas, the game was one I wanted to play when i had a chance to. Just as fun as DA1 with strengths and weaknesses to balance them out. DA2 = better story and characters with DA1 = less annoying design decision, and better role-playing (NOT the same as C&C).
SCORE: 9.0
TOTAL SCORE: 78.5 /90 = 87.2/100 = 8.7/10 (MATHSSSZZZ!!!)))
Wow! That was longer than I thought it be. I'd apologize for it but I am an asshole. Ha. So, take that!
CHARACTER CREATION/SYSTEM
----------------------------------------------------
OVERVIEW: This works exactly like DA1. However, it is weaker due to things that were unfortunately cut out whcih hurts the game's 'role-playing'. The lack of origins (different starting points for morans), races (fuck BIO and their anti dwarf stance!!!!, -10 points for you!), and no non combat skills (which have been streamlined into the actual gameplay). The biggest sadness is the limits placed oin waht type of weapon Hawke can use as there are no bow shooting warriors and no great sword weilding rogues On the plus side, the talent tres are set up in a much coller and open way though you still often have to take a talent you rather not just to get something you actually want. Still, by the end of the game you have lots of choices as I reached level 25 and still didn't come close to having all the talents I wanted.
ANALYSIS: It is good for what it is. It's basically a dumbed down version of DA1.
SCORE: 7.5 (no fukkin' dwarves, I told yas that would cost yas BIO!)
COMBAT
--------------
OVERVIEW: Probably the most challenging combat I've ever faced in a RPG. I died a lot on hard. Combat is lots of fun that allows all 3 classes to brag how awesome they are with warriors able to sweep enemies away like trash, rogues being able to dance around the battle field, and mages to be able blow shit up! Nothing cna be cooler. there's lots of interetsing battles, and BIo did a good of setting up interesting boss battles. However, this probably leads to the combat's two major weaknesses. The first is the ridiculous amount of hit points enemies (bosses usually but even some general mooks have it as well). Soemtiems this is so bad I chnaged the difficulty to normal/easy just so I could end an otherwise 'easy' fight earlier instead of getting bored. The second is the insta respawns that come out of nowhere and make no logical sense. Tsk, tsk. Still, the game requires smart play and the ability to use your talents and your party members to make things easier. if you rush in with no plan, you will die. Period.
ANALYSIS: Fun, challenging combat with some cool enemies and a great variety in talents and possible apporaches are plusses. Spamming enemies and bloated health are weaknesses. Overall, it's DA style combat just a little faster pace and harder.
SCORE: 8.5
STORY
----------
OVERVIEW: The story starts out personal as you lead your family away from your hometown that was overrun by darkspawn as the game progresses you become the center of all out civil war where you, yes, epically find yourself in the middle of. ACT1 is basically you trying to improve your family's lot in your new city of Kirkwall, and the fatc you need gold leads you to meeting a bunch of folks that need help (like any rpg does). ACT 2 shows your climb to becoming the Champion and does this through your dealings with the Viscount and the Arishok. ACT 3 is where all hell breaks out as the mage-templar war rages on the streets.
The progress of Hawke is the story's strength. This is literally this (her) story coming from being a desperate refugee to the city's only hope. What makes it evens tronger is the touches of many side quests that earlier hint at and then eventually full blown show the discord betixt the mages and templars. Also, more than a few side quests in ch1 and ch2 also bring the Viscount and Arishok to show their stuff in front of the player. This is done so well that many DA2 players have the idea that Arishok is 'awesome', 'cool', or a 'good guy'. Of course, nothing is that simple in the world of DA2.
As above, the mage-templar conflict is easy to see as a simple slave-slaver issue but it is nowhere enar that simple as no doubt the Kirkwall mages aren't exactly known for their subtlety and lack of love of blood magic (often referred to as the Theda's 'dark sideof magic'). In many quests you will have to choose between the templars and the mages and often times your choice ends up not as clear cut as you originally thought. I can go on about this, but that's it for now.
ANALYSIS: The mage-templar plot may only be the main focus ina ct 3, but througout the game it is tied into main stories and dialogues. From your very first encounter with Aveline and her husband, this conflict is front and center. That kind of tie in is terrifically done. The Arishok secondary plotline is also done well and even includes a major connection to a popular (and hated) companion as well.
SCORE: 9.0
GRAPHICS
----------------
OVERVIEW: Overall, outside of siome weird glitches, the graphics are on the whole better than DA's. The city of Kirkwall is beautiful to behold, and the other areas are always nicely done. The major problem is the repetive nature of the maps. The cae might look great but it's the same cave no matter. This didn't bother me in act 1 while the game was new, it annoyed me to no end in act 2, and in act 3 I just ignored it. Beautiful graphics hampered by a time saving tatic.
ANALSIS: Good graphics (except for the ugly looking elves), but repetive use of areas is sad.
SCORE: 8.0
ROLE-PLAYING
-----------------------
OVERVIEW: While you are asked to play the character of Hawke, you still have a lot freedom to play him/her as you see fit. From being diplmatic, friendly, suave, a joker, or a bastard the chocie are yours. How you interact with others will determine how they react to you. Certain decisions you make will open (or close) quests, other dialogue options, give you access to unique equipment, cause party members to leave or even return to your side, avoid combat, romance options, and more. One of the big things is the game will also keep track of the tone your character has in dialogue and will use that to influence future dialogues including giving you unique options later on. Even actions taken in DA1 opens (closes) certain things in DA2.
The C&C in DA2 is pretty darn good espicially compared to some popular BIO games (*cough* BG *cough*), but there is one letdown and it is the run up to the resolution of the mage-templar war. The leading mage Orsino decides to become all abomination mass murderer near thee nd for some lacking reason. this could have been handled better. As is, it's an alright scene - for a typical RPG - but DA2 could have easily taken it to a whole new level. I'll explain how in my future 'things I would change' thread.
ANALYSIS: Top line C&C that rewards and punishes you for decisions both shoirt and long term. This is held back as I explained in the overview.
SCORE: 8.5
CHARACTERS
---------------------
OVERVIEW: This get on thing straight. This is the typical list of who's who for BIO joinable npcs. From the loveable rogue (Varric) to the slutty sex staved goddess ( Isabella) to the 'i am emo' (both fenris and Anders fit the bill here). That said, in comparison to DA1, this group as a whole is much stronger. Not much can be said about Varric that hasn't already been said as the narrator seems to be well liked by anyone who has played the game even those who hate. Isabella is much deeper than her b00bs allow you to see. from being a pirate scamp to book stealer to defender of the underdgo potentially redeemable lover interest she is much more than her appearance. I also have to say there is no joinable who i absolutely loathe (though fenris comes close by I actually understand wher ehe comes from unlike, say, that douche Sten from DA1). One companion that kind of surprised me was Merrill who I had written off as just a lolli wannabe for the eprverts but her character arc was really strange considering the dark side of her otherwise naive sunshiny perosnality which shouldn't work with a 'practicer of the dark art of blood magic'. The fact that by the end she actually feels shame over actions shows that she can grow. Even the other wise 'boring' Aveline is reoslute in her steadfastness plus she has a genuinely funny yet silly side quest that lightens the mood. Hawke's siblings have distinct personalities as well, and play somewhat major roles (well, one does anyways since one dies early). I have a lot to say about the controversial 'reawakening' (r00fles!) of Anders later on. Still, heads sueprior to to the DA1 npcs where only Morrigan ended up as one of my fave BIO npcs while DA2 has serval that can make thata rgument while none of the them are outight horrible.
For non joinables there's a ton of interesting folks including Arishok, the Viscount, Cullen, Thrask, Meredith, Orsino (despite his letdown conclusion), Chantry Mother, Fenryiel, and a host of others are all well written and add a lot to the game's story despite some of them being relatively minor characters. My weird fixation though is on the PC' Uncle Gamlen who has a very solid character arc. When you first meet him he comes across as swarmy and untrustworthy (and is for the most part), but is such an interetsing character who is well written and vocie acted as he slowly grew on me througgout the game. Good stuff.
ANALYSIS: My fave characters are Varric and Isabella while my fave non joinables are Uncle Gamlen and The Viscount.
SCORE: 9.5!!!
GAMEPLAY
----------------
OVERVIEW: Combat strengths and weaknesses have been covered already so it might be touched on breifly here but not much. The biggesta ddition here is the lack of ability to choose your companions' armour as they have their favorites which you can gift with upgrades 9along with Varric's unchangeable lovely crossbow. Dialogue uses the ME style convo wheel but with the added bonus of style icons' which lets you know how you'll say soemthing. This also makes it less likely to say/do soemthing you don't want. There is no room for error filled romantic oopsies. The coolnes of the dialogue options is that it allows you to start fights from dialogue, end romances (or start them), lie, bribe (or be bribed) amongst the other useful things. It also gives special options based on your character perosnality as well absed on past actions. Another cool feature is to ask a companion to speak up when appropriate (Bethany whent rying to calm someone's concerns about magic or Fenris when trying to intimidate someone)>
The old non combat skills like potiona/rune/poison craftinga re instead done thorugh finding base components just once then buying/crafting them at your home base. While this makes one's inventory cleaner, it's not as fulfilling for those who love cluttered inventories. Lockpicking/trap disarming are nowm rogue only skills based solely on cunning. Some skills like heraldry or wilderness survival have been cut which is hugely dissapointing.
One cool yet realitively undiscussed feature of DA2 is the addition of day/night cycles(maps) which leads to quests that can only be done depending on time of day. While this may not be as fantatsic as a full fledge light/day cycle it is still a welcoming addition as DA1 didn't have anything like this at all.
Companions now a much more tighter friend-rival graph taht can give you different reactions to yourd ecisions, and can lead to them leaving you, attacking you, or even have two distinct romantic relationships with the same character depending on where you are in the friend-rival axis. The best aprt of this whole aspect of DA2 is that unlike DA1 there are only a handful of gifts for each npc so it's a lot harder to simply 'buy' one's affections plus some 'gifts' can even lead to rivalry points depending on what it is and your chocies in dialogue after you gift it to them.
A quick note as well for a shoutout of a great sue of Varric as the actual narrator as it adds a lot espicially in the humour department (see his reaccounting of his hunt for his brother as an example)
ANALYSIS: Gameplay is basically DA1. Some new stuff is very good like the friend-rval set up, and the day/night mapsm while some stuff that were cut are dissapointing losses like the lack of non combat skills and less control of companion armour (though you can still give them rings, amulets, weapons, etc.)
SCORE: 9.0
SPECIAL EFFECTS: The music is basically like DA1 with epic stiredd music. Speciale ffects espicially the magic is beautiful as always . freezing or burning enemies is always a beautiful sight. A terrorist attack in the late game leads to a nice explosion as well. Abomination transformations are always a sight to behold. Still, basically DA1 all over again.
Voice overs are always important in a BIO game espicially with the idea of giving the PC a voice. The voice actors for Hawke (both genders) go a great job though they don't match the level of ME's Shepards but that's a tough challenge consideirng how awesome Shepard truly is. My biggest complaint, perhaps, is they need to be a little more dramatic when its called for. No such complaints for npc voice overs as it's uniformly great througohut with only a few misteps. I never heard a npc talk and say soemthing like' that just doesn't fit the character'. Again, this is the biggest difference between meredith and orsino. She shows a lot more passion for her beliefs while Orsino while solid througohut doesn't come across believable duringa certain time when it could have been his moment to shine.
ANALYSIS: Fantastic with few missteps. Not perfect but damn close.
SCORE: 9.5
FUN FACTOR
--------------------
Overall, I just had a lot of fun with the game for the nearly 60 hours I played (just a couple hours shy of DA1's length). Oustide of some combat issues and repetitive areas, the game was one I wanted to play when i had a chance to. Just as fun as DA1 with strengths and weaknesses to balance them out. DA2 = better story and characters with DA1 = less annoying design decision, and better role-playing (NOT the same as C&C).
SCORE: 9.0
TOTAL SCORE: 78.5 /90 = 87.2/100 = 8.7/10 (MATHSSSZZZ!!!)))
Wow! That was longer than I thought it be. I'd apologize for it but I am an asshole. Ha. So, take that!
