Dragon Age 2 info

Bioware had a booth at Comic Con showing off the new Dragon Age 2. It looks like they are totally redoing the style of the game. It has a more cartoony and "stylized" appearance than before. To me the concept art looks like it was inspired by eastern games. I don't know if I like this change. They also said combat was faster with quicker recharges to keep the action pace faster...

I hope this doesn't take the game from a strategy RPG to a run of the mill action RPG. Dragon Age was a wonderful breath of the past for us gamers that enjoyed the older style of PC RPGs, I would hate to see it go the route of newer games for "mainstream" appeal.

They also note that the dialog works more like Mass Effect now, in which the protagonist talks. I don't know if I like it.

I am apprehensive with the course DA2 is taking, but am still looking forward to it.

Here is a preview:
http://comic-con.gamespot.com/story/...opslot;thumb;1

IIRC, the main character of DA2 is also pre-generated ans established.

I liked the combat of the first one. The whole pause and issue commands thing was the best part of the game.

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Originally Posted by taggart6

IIRC, the main character of DA2 is also pre-generated ans established.

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They said in the demo they played they couldn't even choose a name. It was all prearranged, but it was only a demo.

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

They said in the demo they played they couldn't even choose a name. It was all prearranged, but it was only a demo.

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According to Kotaku, thats a main part of the game.

Damnit, they better not screw up DA. It was the only good RPG release in the last 2 years.

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

Damnit, they better not screw up DA. It was the only good RPG release in the last 2 years.

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http://kotaku.com/5582435/dragon-age...mander-shepard

http://kotaku.com/5585473/dragon-age...ects-footsteps

Yup, looks like they just sold out the franchise.

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Another change - and this might be the biggest - is that only the PC version will retain Origins' "strategic combat". The console versions will feature a new combat system, one BioWare says plays to the strength of the control pad. "Rather than try to mimic the PC experience on consoles", the GI report states, "Dragon Age II has a battle system more tailored to the strengths of the PS3 and 360."

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Well thats somewhat of a relief for me at least.

That is good. I like how they aren't totally selling out the PC gamers just to please the console noobs.

No longer a relief guys, they just announced that there will not be a tactical over the head view for any of the systems, including PC. ***?

http://kotaku.com/5692653/

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"The bigger change, however, is that the game will no longer support an overhead tactical view on any platform. This was an art and combat-design decision, the BioWare rep told me today."

"PC gamers, your version will include a special option to zoom the camera out, just not up. Console gamers won't get that."

"There are some changes PC fans should know, about how their version will differ. First, and this is sort of a non-difference, but the PC game won't be made separately this time"

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Originally Posted by Rep from forums

Hey folks.

Thought I would slide in here to clarify this last query:

The camera is attached to your currently controlled character. It may be rotated freely.

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Well, looks like we got another hack n slash action RPG for console noobs.

Next month they will announce no more pausing to issue commands...

Witcher 2 is looking to be my next big pc rpg. That is looking awesome!

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Originally Posted by md1198p

I liked the combat of the first one. The whole pause and issue commands thing was the best part of the game.

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Thing is, though, that they screwed that up with those stupid tactical slots. Something about their "pause/issue commands" interface was off; it wasn't the same as the old Infinity Engine (or even the Aurora Engine) games. I know those games aren't perfect, but that was the style of combat they were going for and it didn't quite work.

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Originally Posted by Abarine

Thing is, though, that they screwed that up with those stupid tactical slots. Something about their "pause/issue commands" interface was off; it wasn't the same as the old Infinity Engine (or even the Aurora Engine) games. I know those games aren't perfect, but that was the style of combat they were going for and it didn't quite work.

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Hows that then? The tactical slots are for real time combat. I just bought the Ultimate edition Monday and the pause/command bit seems to be just like I remembered it.

I am disappointed to hear about the new direction, as far as I am concerned this game is Baldur's Gate 3. Not quite as good as 2 but the closest we have ever had. Does Neverwinter Nights 2 have the ability to switch to the 3d isometric view? The games seem more real to me with that perspective.

I can recommend The Temple of Elemental Evil as long as its patched. I really enjoyed that one. Good old style RPG adventuring.

What a bummer. Dragon Age was one of my favorite games in a long time.

I'm getting a bit worried with all the news about DA II. I just hope that if they aim for a Diablo/RPG they don't do what they did for ME II and miss the RPG in RPG/Shooter hybrid.

Also I like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but the main reason I like both is their differences. There's no point in merging them.

As for the differences between PC and consoles, I wish game developers and marketers would stop considering console owners as the great unwashed. If PC gets a tactically challenging system, I want a tactically challenging system on the console too. As far as I'm concerned the sentence "Dragon Age II has a battle system more tailored to the strengths of the PS3 and 360." reads either as "We couldn't make it identical so we used basic console interface to make it playable" or "We wouldn't make it identical as we went the ME II half baked way".

Those last few years I've switched more and more to console for games to enjoy games in the comfort of my living room + big screen TV. I hope I won't get forced to go back to my cramped desk +monitor to play interesting and challenging games.

That being said, since they did admit to some of the faults in ME II (even though I do not agree with most of their reasoning, interesting presentation by ME II's gameplay designer) I hope they won't put themselves in a situation where they would have to admit the faults in DA II later on.

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Originally Posted by Lee_T

Those last few years I've switched more and more to console for games to enjoy games in the comfort of my living room + big screen TV. I hope I won't get forced to go back to my cramped desk +monitor to play interesting and challenging games.

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How do Red Alert 3 and Supreme Commander 2 compare between the two platforms? I would not want to try and play those games without a mouse. With FPS I would rather have the larger screen, I am fine playing those games with a controller. I bought Dragon Age for the PC for the isometric view and now that I have played it I am glad I was forced into that decision. Mouse and menu intensive to say the least. I was going to buy it for the 360 at first.

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

Well, looks like we got another hack n slash action RPG for console noobs.

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This.

I think you're probably dead on, and its sad to see. I'm no PC elitist. I own all the major consoles and have since the Atari 7800, but I think we're going to keep seeing the dumbing down of the deeper games and converting whatever they may be to be appealing to the Call of Duty "attention-span-as-long as-a....oooo whats that!?" crowd that drives the majority of sa

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Originally Posted by Kung_Fu_Fighter

How do Red Alert 3 and Supreme Commander 2 compare between the two platforms?

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Sorry, I haven't tried those (I've been stuck in time with Rome Total War).

My guess is they'll be better on the PC though. Tons of keyboard used + programmable shortcuts, navigation on the maps, selection of units via mouse + key or drag and drop, etc... adapting to consoles schemes that already stretch the PC's possibilities will require an ergonomic genius to get these to work on a console.

I think RTS is possible on a console, if build from the ground up with console possibilities in mind (Civ Rev Halo Wars and Ruse are among the first to really adapt PC hallmark to consoles, Civ Rev is fun but I haven't been much convinced by the other two demos). Maybe either by aiming on the skirmish level or very large armies, the middle ground were you have both multiplicity of target and a need for precision will be a lot harder on console).

Who knows, maybe the Wii-Kinect-Move will offer a solution to the console controller problem.

Adapting a RPG is another matter and has been proven a lot easier by a lot of titles.

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Originally Posted by Lee_T

Sorry, I haven't tried those (I've been stuck in time with Rome Total War).

My guess is they'll be better on the PC though. Tons of keyboard used + programmable shortcuts, navigation on the maps, selection of units via mouse + key or drag and drop, etc... adapting to consoles schemes that already stretch the PC's possibilities will require an ergonomic genius to get these to work on a console.

I think RTS is possible on a console, if build from the ground up with console possibilities in mind (Civ Rev Halo Wars and Ruse are among the first to really adapt PC hallmark to consoles, Civ Rev is fun but I haven't been much convinced by the other two demos). Maybe either by aiming on the skirmish level or very large armies, the middle ground were you have both multiplicity of target and a need for precision will be a lot harder on console).

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I agree. The PC wins hands down when it comes to keyboard and mouse for those types of games.