http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/demo/ Help get them up to 1 million downloads and everyone who buys the game will get a couple free items and an extra weapon. Be interesting to see what speeds I get in a few minutes when everyone trys to download it Have fun!
It's 1.88GB, and nice quick download speed. Took me 40 mins. Hopefully the demo lasts longer than that.
Hopefully for me it's more Mass Effected than Dragon Aged, then I might buy it. The first one I played about 2 hours and wished I'd never wasted my money.
While I LOVE Mass effect, I can't see it suiting DA. There again I'm still pissed off we can't carry over our characters from the first one, not even that many big decisions i can think of that that could be carried over from save games (most got wrapped up nicely)
http://www.gamershell.com/download_70000.shtml That's a much quicker download. It's not swamped like the Bioware servers currently are.
wow that's......different. you know all the cool, but also somewhat believable moves you could do as a warrior in the first one? Yeah, they're gone. Apparently I'm now playing Dragon Age: Soul Calibur. There is a MASSIVE disconnect with the voice acting. Also, Any dialogue tree that explicitly tells me what type of reply each one is (funny, angry e.t.c) Has in my mind, fundamentally failed at writing dialogue - something bioware are normally particularly good at. (I know their are ren + para choices in ME2, but there are all the other options too, in this it is literally every single choice) Why the **** can I only set the graphics to medium, I know a GTX275 isn't exactly cutting edge, but I'm pretty ****ing sure I can handle anisotropic filtering. Why the hell do the hurlocks look different? they look fail now, much better as the sort of demon orc things. In fact the whole aesthetic has changed, not for the better imo. Below be Potential Spoilers: It's very hard to care about a templar I've known for all of about 2 minutes. (I don't exactly like templars at the best of times) so yeah, I'll happily stab the git, through his apparently paper thin PLATE armour. Ok, Flemeth looks VERY different, but awesome, there again anyone that can turn into a dragon and is voiced by Captain Janeway is going to be awesome. Why does the main character all of a sudden know that loghain is a traitor? in the first one, the general population thought the grey wardens were traitors for most of the game, and this takes place when they escape from lothering being burnt down. And no, I don't think he would have been at ostagar, what with him being with his family (and apostate sister) in lothering. Spoilers be ended *long breath*. Rant over, for now.
I really really hope they havnt ruined this game by 'Mass Effecting' it. The original has a much more hardcore PC gamers edge, that agreed, takes a while to get used to, but wow it is so much better than ME2. ME2 was a little console / arcadey for me, so im keeping everything crossed that they havnt dumbed it down to be like ME2. I bet they have though.
You have to select the DirectX 11 renderer to choose higher than that. If you have Dx10.1 card like me then you can set the quality to high. If you have a Dx11 card then you can set the quality to very high. On high quality bloom is enabled so you get anisotropic filtering but no anti-aliasing. And yeah the game is very different. I didn't like the warrior much or the male Hawke for that matter. He was ok but not amazing. So I tried a female mage and the voice actor was better, and the mage class was loads more fun to play. They have basically dumbed it down..like almost completely. It's a console game really, while the first DA was a PC game..if you follow me. (I know they are both out on both..that's not what I mean)
I agree with everything you said there, Im concidering canceling my pre-order dont really know what to think of the game, although the bloody noise of the mage standard attack annoys me pew pew pew
Hmmm, just played the demo on the Xbox - not sure what to think of it really. There are a couple of positives... 1. Captain Janeway's voice has always had a special effect on me ;-) 2. I am in love with Isabella already! I think I might download the PC version and see what that is like. I played the first one on the PC and it seemed more of an RPG. Playing this one on the 360 made it feel a bit like a hack and slash 3rd person jobby.
My general response to the demo is mixed but overall i like that they've made combat much more responsive, which is my main gripe with the first game. They've also addressed the second issue was that the graphics of the first game didn't really strike me as being anything special. They aimed for a dark/gritty/realistic look and whilst succeeded on the former two, the latter not so much. Character models were IMO rather poor and TBH i feel as if you could put "The Witcher" and "Dragon Age" and i'd be hard pressed to tell much of a difference despite the former being released 2 years earlier. Anyhow, i'm not saying that i particularly like the new Art direction, but it certainly makes it more unique, a hybird of Mass Effect and KoTOR/TOR but at the same time loses that dark and gritty palette mentioned before. Combat as i've said, is much more responsive although at the same time feels as if they've lost some depth. My main gripe is now when you fully zoom out, you can no longer move the camera around to get a proper view of the battlefield (or I must be doing something wrong)... i find it a massive issue since switching between characters is no longer about clicking on them physically, but having to click on their portraits. On paper it sounds like a small issue (and it probably is), however having being used to DA:O, makes it rather annoying. Overall i think i'll play the demo a few more times to get a feel for it before i decide whether i want to buy it now, or in the Steam sale. Me and my friend thought exactly the same thing about how the dagger went effortlessly through his Plate... and also how it magically disappeared when the camera zoomed out. Despite what you don't "think", i believe Aveline (the ginger woman) actually poses the question "You were at Ostagar?" (or words to that effect) and there is positive confirmation either from Hawke himself or the brother... at least that's what i remember happening. About to play through it again so i'll double check.
I'm a bit of a Bioware fanboy and even I am disappointed with the game. Not enough to cancel my pre-order, but if it had been any worse I would have. At least I should enjoy the mage. Like you I don't know precisely what to think of it either. Agreed on both points -- Basically I think those who loved the 1st game will have a WTF?! moment with this one. And those who hated the 1st game will probably like this one.
- Confirmed. Carver (your brother) mentions that the situation is similar to Ostagar (how they're being overrun by Darkspawn) and Aveline poses the question. Some sort of realisation dawns upon her at that point since she says: "I see now, 3rd Company under Captain Varel" (or something very similar). So ultimately, both Aveline and Carver were at Ostagar to see Loghain betray Cailan.
+ In fact, if you read your own Codex entry then it even states that Carver was in King Cailan's regiment .
Hmm, played through as a male warrior and while it was kinda fun, it does seem a tad simplified. I got rather annoyed by the move forwards 2 feet, cut-scene, move forwards 2 feet, cut-scene thing that they had going on too. Graphics wise it looked ok, but not amazing. Also I instantly hated Ginger McGingerface and her husband, I think I was supposed to be sad when he started looking peaky and had to be put down but I thought it was rather funny.