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Just got my game informal in the mail. Boom Cover story is dragon age 2. from what i can see it takes place during the original and after it with a different hero.
Also it has a shepard like hero. chose the class and other but with a fixed name. Hawke.

They announced DA2 awhile ago . I liked the first. A little love/hate with the shift to a Shepard like character. I enjoyed the Origin's in the first game. It added nice variety. The Dwarven Noble was especially good.

"Shepard like character"

I've never played Mass Effect 1/2, could you elaborate please?

I liked the Mage origin, but I wasn't too keen on the Human Noble origin story.

RustyKnight wrote:"Shepard like character"

I've never played Mass Effect 1/2, could you elaborate please?

I liked the Mage origin, but I wasn't too keen on the Human Noble origin story.

In Mass Effect, your character already has a surname and set voice actor (one per gender, of course) along with a player-chosen 'psychological profile' and service history. It's not done like KotoR or DA, where your character is completely silent during dialogue and appears to have little personality at all.

Hmmm, I tend to just read the dialogue anyways.

I love that Bioware is shifting toward fully voiced games (Which I will assume they are doing with DA2), its actually a huge step forward in immersion for RPGs (though Planescape: Torment remains my personal all time favorite...maybe one day someone will top it.)

I like the full voice acting, and while most likely infeasable, it would be nice to keep the Origins and race selection. They were a really good part of DAO. So far it sounds like you're stuck human, which is okay but it's not my preferance.

I hope they vary up combat some more. DAO used a system akin to KoTOR, but it would be nice to vary it up a little more. More complex skill trees would be nive.

As long as it retains the difficulty and the background, I'm good.

I would however, love to be able to do that Revenant ability (Where he grabs the air and pulls your character toward him) with my Warrior. As a specialization, of course.

Reavers get something that does basically the same thing I believe (I know that Oghren had something that did it in Awakenings, can't remember if it was a Reaver power or some other specialisation)

On a side note, I recommend awakenings if you havent pipcked it up yet, some of the boss fights in it were excellent, and the story remains quite interesting

del'Vhar wrote:Reavers get something that does basically the same thing I believe (I know that Oghren had something that did it in Awakenings, can't remember if it was a Reaver power or some other specialisation)

On a side note, I recommend awakenings if you havent pipcked it up yet, some of the boss fights in it were excellent, and the story remains quite interesting

I haven't played Awakenings yet, but thats because I'm on the xbox, and every time I buy one of those 4000 point deals, I spend it, and end up being at 3000 points when it's a 3200 download :(

If it's Oghren, wouldn't it be Berserker?

Import saves some in effect too.

garret wrote:Import saves some in effect too.

Still, did they add a new skill in with Awakenings? My two characters are a Blood Mage and a Reaver, and the Reaver doesn't get a pully move.

If they did, "Well fart me a lulliby...."

Found it: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Grievous_Insult

del'Vhar wrote:Found it: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Grievous_Insult

Ok, now I "have better things to be doing, killing things perhaps?..."

Needs to get me Awakening ASAP!

It has excellent synergy with: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Massacre

I never used Oghren in DA, in Awakenings he never left my party.

Slarg232 wrote:

garret wrote:Import saves some in effect too.

Still, did they add a new skill in with Awakenings? My two characters are a Blood Mage and a Reaver, and the Reaver doesn't get a pully move.

If they did, "Well fart me a lulliby...."

Thay added new specializations. but not new abilities to them. but sense it is a different chracter from the original i doupt they will allow you to import abilities.

Bioware's games are all so similar that it hurts. They all consist of exactly the same formula, thinly masked by slightly different gameplay elements. I've never understood why people love them so much, and I can't say that I look forward to this.

Chrysaor686 wrote:Bioware's games are all so similar that it hurts. They all consist of exactly the same formula, thinly masked by slightly different gameplay elements. I've never understood why people love them so much, and I can't say that I look forward to this.

Slightly different? So you're saying Mass Effect, a third-person shooter RPG, is only slightly different from Dragon Age, a classic character-building RPG?

I see what Chrysaor is saying, but I think he takes it a little to far. The basic concepts that drive Bioware's games are the same, but they've always managed to differentiate themselves enough that I don't think people feel like they're playing the same game with new wallpaper.

The quality of Bioware's work is very high, and usually an excellent amount of content for the cost. Sometimes it's worth playing the "same" game when you enjoy it and there's nothing better to do .

Cheese Elemental wrote:

Chrysaor686 wrote:Bioware's games are all so similar that it hurts. They all consist of exactly the same formula, thinly masked by slightly different gameplay elements. I've never understood why people love them so much, and I can't say that I look forward to this.

Slightly different? So you're saying Mass Effect, a third-person shooter RPG, is only slightly different from Dragon Age, a classic character-building RPG?

That's exactly what I'm saying.

The original Mass Effect didn't even have hit boxes. So, it might as well have been on the same engine as KOTOR, because the only difference between the two is that regular attacks were initiated in real time in Mass Effect. And Dragon Age was basically KOTOR from a different camera angle with a different UI that functioned in exactly the same way (despite being more refined and more all-encompassing). So yes, the gameplay elements that divide Bioware's 'masterpieces' are very thin veils. It doesn't take that much effort to see that Bioware has never once taken so much as a step outside of their comfort zone.

Thankfully, they wisened up and made Mass Effect 2 an actual shooter, but in the process, for some inexplicable reason, they removed most of the elements that made it into an RPG, for 'streamlining' purposes, I guess.

None of that was really the focal point of my statement, though. All of Bioware's games follow the same general outline (even the fething Sonic game they made for the DS). Their games give you some sort of illusion of freedom by presenting you with a 'hub', and different planets or areas to travel to (but only after you've completed some long ascension to some special rank which allows you to level up properly). I guess everyone is content to overlook the fact that every single area is as linear as fething possible (there isn't even optional grinding to advance your characters), which makes all level progression practically pointless. You're always accompanied by some group of followers which you have basically no control over (and even if you do, they are still completely devoid of customization). There's always some idealistic good/evil meter, and three general dialogue options in every situation which encompass 'Mother Theresa', 'Buddhist Monk', and 'Hitler'. And there's always the same general combat system under numerous different facades (Pause time to initiate any sort of special attack).

It was all good and well with KOTOR. KOTOR was awesome. Once it had been done numerous times over again, and everyone praised them for it time and time again, I got really fething sick of it.

For those of you who are looking forward to their MMO, I hope you realize that it's going to be the most linear MMO on the planet. It will be the definition of 'Theme Park'. You'll basically level cap through a story arc and then it will be over.

So you're saying that Bioware makes linear, story driven RPGs all the time?

Wow, what a revelation!

There are linear, story-driven RPGs that follow none of those guidelines (in fact, no games but Bioware games follow those guidelines). Bioware is content to use their own template until they've beaten it into the ground.

Meh, I've found every Bioware game I can think of to be great fun, Neverwinter Nights was probably the least fun, though alot of that was due to the pace of the combat (Kotor suffered this to a much lesser extent)
The gameplay tends to be solid, as does the writing, though they arent the most groundbreaking of tales.

I do think DA probably got overhyped, and it is just re-using an old formula, but its one that I haven't seen done well for a few years, and I'd probably rate it as my favourite traditional RPG since graphics went 3d.

"One mans trash" I suppose...

Chrysaor686 wrote:There are linear, story-driven RPGs that follow none of those guidelines (in fact, no games but Bioware games follow those guidelines). Bioware is content to use their own template until they've beaten it into the ground.

If it aint broke dont fix it. That formula works great for games.
But seriously. who cant wait to kick more Darkspawn booty.

Chrysaor686 wrote:There are linear, story-driven RPGs that follow none of those guidelines (in fact, no games but Bioware games follow those guidelines). Bioware is content to use their own template until they've beaten it into the ground.

Not automatically a bad thing. Look at Mario and Zelda. Every title is pretty much the same game over and over but they're still some of the best games ever made and boat loads of fun. But then I guess that's a common criticism of Nintendo too XD

Yahtzee comes to mind at this moment...