3021

Expecting Bioware to learn anything from Witcher 2 supposes that Bioware recognizes what The Witcher 2 has done as being superior. And superior in the world of the EA execs that now run Bioware is not whether Witcher 2 ends up with a higher Metacritic score or which one hardcore RPG fans like the best, it’s about sales. Right now we don’t know anything about sales for Witcher 2, but don’t be shocked when they don’t come close at least until there is a console version.

3022

I think you are overreacting.

The sentiment here is mostly how exceedingly good Witcher 2 is, rather than how depressingly disappointing Dragon Age 2 is.

3023

Well I’m sorry I brought a Witcher question into the dead DA2 thread. Well actually I’m not but I’m sorry I spoiled your day, Jason T. I actually think comparing W2 and DA2 is fascinating, given the common engine heritage. From the DA2 demo, Bioware seemed to have failed completely IMO, but I don’t know if that extends to the full game. Hence the question.

3024

What would be interesting is getting the views of those who liked DA1 more than W1. Each series seems to cater to a distinct subset of RPG fans (not that you can’t enjoy each, rather that they’re each geared toward different styles).

3025

I dunno about W2, but as someone who was very very skeptical of the game, I’m loving it after starting just a few weeks ago.

About 40 hours in, and its still very engaging. Definitely a different game than DA:O, but so far its been mostly for the better. It has some game-y problems - waves of enemies, reused maps, character model clipping bugs - but I find the actual Roleplaying to be fantastic - not to mention the NPCs and Story. I’d vote to give it a chance at some point.

3026

The demo doesn’t contain the high res textures which make an enormous difference, IMO (the blight in particular is just hideously…blah, without them). Unless this or this looks just bloody awful to your eyes, then I suppose we have no real hope of coming to an agreement. Compared to the lolbrown of the original I think they did quite well with what they had to work with, though I’ll be curious to see if they decide to drop it for DA3.

3027

Thanks. I have to say that DA1 shot does look better than the ones from the second game to me, just because it seems less sterile. Certainly than the first pic. Although having a small footbridge appear out of nowhere in front of you must be disturbing :)

3028

Having been the guy to post the big list that might have been the cause of riling Jason up, I wanna say that I don’t think Dragon Age II is a bad game per se, but in comparison to the Witcher 2 (which was the question asked), it certainly seems lacking.

I enjoyed Dragon Age II, for the most part. Even if it did feel like a game that Bioware was doing to cash in. If anything, I did neglect to mention that the game systems in Dragon Age II is much more enjoyable in DAII than Witcher. The latter’s system being something you fight against instead of play with. That being said, I do stand by my assessment that as RPGs go, Witcher 2 presents a better world to role play through.

Dragon Age II is a decent game and parts of it good. I don’t regret playing it, but I did feel disappointed at many of its quirks, many of the design decisions that end up affecting the way I enjoy my RPG stories.

Still Alistair should get around to playing it one day, just with the tempered expectation that Witcher 2 is a masterpiece of a game, compared to the solidity of DAII. There’s a good story buried in DAII, some really good NPC writing and a cool character class system.

If anything, if I ever post why I think Dragon Age II is a better game than Mass Effect 2, I bet I can make some posters’ head explode.

3029

I would be interested in this.

EDIT: Not the exploding heads of some posters, the write-up itself. To be clear.

3030

I agree that DA1 is a better comparison to Witcher 2.

3031

Witcher 2

  • Incest (NPCs only)

Dragon Age II

  • Gay romance interests (added bonus: they hit on you first!)

Dragon Age: Origins

  • Implicit bestiality
  • Illegitimate dwarf babies, aww

In all seriousness, thanks for posting this for added reassurance. That “Head and Shoulders” comparison between first impressions of TW2 and DA2 was pretty damning, but I guess I should have expected low-res textures in a demo.

Only in terms of story, characters, inventory, environments, C&C, epic battles, etc. Granted, that’s just about everything, but the combat scratches a different itch so you can’t do a complete comparison. I was thinking about DAO indirectly when I posted my impressions of things in TW2 that were very good but not spectacular.

3032

Dev1 - Let’s put the good-looking stuff in the demo guys.
Dev2 - Are you mad?! We’ve got all this low-res orange. That’s what the kids want nowadays. Hi-res went out with mullets.
Dev1 - Er, ok…

3033

Boo hiss

You’re just mad your pet BioWare game Dragon Age II is getting totally thrashed. A well deserved one at that. No remorse for that sloppy hastily made sequel in name only. They have done A LOT better. Dragon Age: Origins for instance. The Witcher 2 serves as a nice measuring stick of quality RPG to slap them around with for the time being, but I do hope BioWare doesn’t mess up Dragon Age 3 with Hawke’s Adventure 2!

3034

Bah, i can trash also DA: Origins. Never got to finish it, combat was meh, and there was a lot of it, a good amount of sidequests were undercooked, the concept of the main story was typical Bioware weak piss… pity, i liked the secondary characters a lot, the c&c was a bit more developed than in other Bioware games and some specifc parts of the story were cool.

3035

I can trash any game if I’m so inclined, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I liked the DA: Origins combat quite a bit…

3036

Well in my defense i never was a fan of the old Baldur Gates, so maybe that explain it? I know they are the “best rpg ever!” for lots of people.

3037

I am huge Bioware fan and I did not even purchase Dragone Age 2 after the demo. Nor will I be doing so any time soon.

Witcher 2 is on my must play list as soon as I finish some games…without having played a demo.

Both of those are because of listening to people talk about playing it and their experience. You can say something is about bashing DA2, but if Bioware releases a game with too short of a development schedule, and hence a sub par game (by Bioware standards), they will get dinged for it. And rightfully so.

Also, whiners…

3038

Equis: No, actually I thought your list was a good answer to the question that was asked - which, admittedly, I didn’t take much notice of when I went on my “good christ does this need to be in this thread” rant. But at no point did I think you’d been unreasonable. I liked DA:2, but I thought parts of it were rough. Some things others disliked, like the friend/rival system or the combat, I actively preferred to DA2, which I felt I had ridden thoroughly into the ground after 200+ hours played.

Roguefrog: Basically - and no chippiness meant - that’s a pretty good summary of the type of post that turns the thread into recursive haterade water balloon fights. I get that some people here didn’t like the game. I got it months ago. I don’t really agree that “everybody knows it sucked, it sucked HARD” because that basically doesn’t reflect it’s actual mixed-to-good reviews in general, or it’s mixed-to-bad reviews on Qt3 even. Special plead away the aggregated reviews, the Qt3 poll, whatever, I’m sorry, it got mixed reviews. Scroll back through a few dozen pages to back when people who liked the game were still posting. Yeah, they exist. This was their thread at times.

I don’t know what the anti-fans need to still be doing touchdown dances for this much later even leaving aside the fact that they’re overstating the ostensible “OMG that sucked” unanimity.

And the whole “Witcher 1 is better than ME/DA:O/DA2” and “Witcher 2 is better than ME:DA:O/DA2” discussions have been staples of the Witcher threads forever, so beyond Equis’ apposite response, was there really any need to reiterate it all here? CD Projekt Rulez, Bioware Droolz. Real CRPG fans play real CRPGs and not Bioware’s insipid corridors and puppet theatre; Bioware will go bankrupt any minute now after another unanimously hated flop. Great? Move on?

3039

Speaking of which…

“I am absolutely aware of the concerns voiced here,” he said.

“Issues like level re-use, the implementation of wave combat, concerns about the narrative and significance of choice and so on have all been not only noted, but examined, inspected and [have] even aided me (and many, many others on the team) in formulating future plans.

“Further, I’m not only aware of the concerns, but I agree that there are aspects of [Dragon Age II] that not only can but must be improved in future installments. And that is precisely our intent.”

3040

Well, you really aren’t reading a thing people are writing then, if this is what you see here. (roguetoads post aside, that is)