The Dragon Age 2 Thread. Or rather pointy armour with beards

[dux]

No thread on this? You guys are slacking. So it's out in march and looks pretty much the same, but that doesn't bother anyone I don't think?

From what I've read it has nothing to do with Dragon Age 1, as in you don't play the Warden or anything like that. Instead you play a guy called Hawk! Who has a serious look about him and a beard.

Flemeth is in it though, and I thought Kate Mulgrew did and awesome job voicing her in the first. So that's something to look forward to. I like how your character still stands there ramrod stiff.

And what's up with the human females leg? Looks broken

Shameless copy paste from bio forums:

General:

DA2 will be released on March 8th, 2011 (in North America) and March 11th, 2011 (in Europe) [FAQ] for PC, XBox 360, and PS3 [FAQ]

DA2 is a single-player game [Chris Priestly]

There is no "morality meter" in the style of Mass Effect's Paragon/Renegade meter [David Gaider]

Decisions made in DA:O will show up in future iterations of the DA universe. [Podcast - Episode 1]

"Our intent is to include information and decisions from Awakening as well as Origins into DA2." [Mike Laidlaw]

Setting:

DA2's story will span 10 years [press release], [David Gaider]

This timeline partially overlaps that of Dragon Age: Origins, and Hawke's story begins in Lothering shortly before it is destroyed by the Darkspawn. [GameInformer article]

Events from Dragon Age: Origins may be seen from a different viewpoint [GameInformer print article]

Hawke escapes the destruction of Lothering with "his family" and he eventually makes his way to Kirkwall [Podcast Ep. 1] in the Free Marches [Five Facts]. Kirkwall is located on the southern edge of the Vimmark Mountains, north of Ferelden [this map].

Storyline/Plot:

“Dragon Age II has a framed narrative structure, which means that the exploits of Hawke occurred in the past, but are being retold in the present.” [GameInformer magazine article]

Cassandra is interrogating Varric the Dwarf on the actions of Hawke over the last 10 years to better understand how the world came to be on the brink of war. [Podcast Ep. 1]

"No exclusive organization. No saving the world. No ancient evil." [David Gaider]

"The player decides whether Hawke is a kind ruler or an unscrupulous despot. He's called Champion - the question is: 'By whom?'" [GameStar Sept 2010 article]

Flemeth saves Hawke and co. and asks that he deliver a package for her in repayment. [iGN] 08/22

Boons granted at the end of Origins may be mentioned and/or affect the story of DA2 and in the future. [David Gaider - 54:05], [David Gaider] 09/15

I'm eager to play this, but I was kind of hoping for a continuation of the firsts story. But I realise not everyone would want that and would prefer something new, but oh well.

[syver]

Hoping they release the toolset (and fix the issues with the first one). I'm going with female Hawke.

[-HP-]

I shall pass !

[dux]

":2ehfb3f3]I shall pass !

[PogoP]

Didn't enjoy Dragon Age 1.. Will not be playing either!

[KungFuSquirrel]

I've been playing through the first one again recently (well, by "again," I mean "getting back into it after sinking 15 hours into it a few months ago) and enjoying myself.

Actually was inspired by some of the new stuff they've shown of 2, and figured I'd never get back to the first if I didn't finish it before this one comes out, haha

Nice combat overview here, showing the two modes available: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/66871

[Steppenwolf]

It took me quite a while to get into the first one but then it turned out to be one of the best games that i've played in recent years. So this one is gonna be a must buy. I just hope it's not dumbed down.

[Serenius]

I'm eager to play this, but I was kind of hoping for a continuation of the firsts story. But I realise not everyone would want that and would prefer something new, but oh well.

Did you play Awakening? Not to spoil anything but

there really isn't much more to tell depending on the final decisions you make in the xpac. If you side with the Architect, the Darkspawn are freed of their drive to awaken old gods, which pretty much ends the prospect of future blights.

First game was an intriguing experience. I never really noticed when the game got its hooks into me. All I know was that I had plenty of criticisms about the dialogue system, dated graphics, etc. But for some reason I just could not. stop. playing.

[Buddy]

":29zqc5nc]I shall pass !

[Sentura]

the combat system was so wrongly engineered in the first one. i seriously hated it with a passion. instead of making it either real time OR turn based, they went with a hybrid system that has benefits from neither side, and disadvantages from both. i'm interested in picking it up, but if the system is as bad as in the first one, it's too much work for some o.k. narrative and decision making.

[2d-chris]

Dragon Age is my fav sp RPG ever and racked up something like 250 hours on it ... so amazing it's impossible to explain heheheh, but like Mass Effect 1 and 2 I think I'll prefer the original over the "polished" sequals screw meta critic scores ...

[dux]

Dragon Age is my fav sp RPG ever and racked up something like 250 hours on it ... so amazing it's impossible to explain heheheh, but like Mass Effect 1 and 2 I think I'll prefer the original over the "polished" sequals screw meta critic scores ...

See guys, this is why chris is awesome. :santahurg:

[Serenius]

the combat system was so wrongly engineered in the first one. i seriously hated it with a passion. instead of making it either real time OR turn based, they went with a hybrid system that has benefits from neither side, and disadvantages from both. i'm interested in picking it up, but if the system is as bad as in the first one, it's too much work for some o.k. narrative and decision making.

There was nothing wrong with the combat system if you set up your party AI tactics up properly. I would usually just tank with my character and let the AI DPS do their own things. On very hard enemy or boss fights I would usually have to micromanage, but that happens with all RTS-style games. You just have the luxury of pausing while issuing commands in this one.

Now if you wanted to talk about how ridiculously overpowered AoE was, the poor AI always chasing your puller into traps/choke points, or how there were too many of the indoor ambushes that would kill you once and be trivial once you know it's coming, you'd have some valid criticism on the combat.

[dux]

The combat system was actually pretty darn excellent once you figured out how to get everything working. It was like the rest of the game, really.

[Steppenwolf]

The combat system was the part that i loved most about Dragon Age. The tactical possibilities felt so rewarding. You just have to get the hang of pausing the game every half second or so to make your adjustements and give orders to the individual party members.

Also it's more or less ideantical to the Baldurs Gate combat system just more polished and these two games are still considered the best RPG's by a lot a lot of people.