Every change they made from DAO to DA2 was bad. In DA2, Combat is a confusing mess. Crafting, runes, armor, and even weapon mods are all completely pointless, tacked on as an after thought, and you can easily complete the game without any of that stuff. The interface was overkill. The DA:O interface is as easy to use as wikipedia, the DA2 interface felt like someone wrote a crappy and unnecessary flash overlay for wikipedia.

The change most people seemed to enjoy the most was the fact that the player character has a voice in this game. And yet oddly, I am more satisfied with the lack of voice in DA:O, because it required some imagination on my part. I felt attached to my Warden, where as in DA2 I felt detached, like I was watching a fictional character play out a story. Worse yet there are no maps in DA2, even though all the locales are attached o one another. The lack of geography added to the detachment.

Which brings me to comparing stories. DA2 had a very linear story. There were no game changing decisions to be made until half way through act 3, where you have to decide on Mages vs Templars, and that would decide what ending you get. DAO had half a dozen major decisions, and a couple a dozen minor ones, and new story arcs always opened up depending on your choices. In DAO, I controlled the fate of Ferelden, and in DA2 I was forced to surrender to fate.

Bottom line, DA2 did not really feel like a true RPG. Its like they left the RP part out and I was playing just a G (video game). Had they kept the DAO engine, and DAO combat, and DAO crafting, and NPC customization, and just made some graphic improvements, the game would have been a hell of a lot more fun.

I also really loved the world of Fallout 3. The map was so large and the exploration so much fun that the poor quality of the main story didn't bother me that much. All the side quests and exploring was more interesting and took longer than the main quest anyway.
I really love some turn based games, and I actually liked the turn based elements they put in the combat system. It gave you time to think about your strategy, take nice shots, and I even liked the slow motion parts.
>> ^mentality:
>> ^cybrbeast:

You're right that's a bit bizarre. But I didn't say I loved Torchlight, only that it was more entertaining than DAO. I really liked the setting and atmosphere in Torchlight for a while. However I also didn't finish Torchlight.
Concerning Borderlands, first-off it has bad FPS mechanics, for example when trying to shoot enemies you encounter a lot of invisible walls through which your bullets can't pass. All the moving around between and after missions wasn't much fun. Your inventory was too small. And while they tried to implement it the weapon comparison system was shite. Also the UI was as is almost always the case badly ported to PC.

Yeah you're right. Torchlight was charming when you first step foot in it. I feel the same way about highly acclaimed games being disappointments, except with me it's Fallout 3. I've always loved the Fallout setting, and Bethesda did a wonderful job with the art and the world, but I just couldn't get past the terrible writing and the poorly implemented combat system. After reading about how the game ends, it seems like I didn't miss out on any great plot anyways =/

>> ^cybrbeast:

You're right that's a bit bizarre. But I didn't say I loved Torchlight, only that it was more entertaining than DAO. I really liked the setting and atmosphere in Torchlight for a while. However I also didn't finish Torchlight.
Concerning Borderlands, first-off it has bad FPS mechanics, for example when trying to shoot enemies you encounter a lot of invisible walls through which your bullets can't pass. All the moving around between and after missions wasn't much fun. Your inventory was too small. And while they tried to implement it the weapon comparison system was shite. Also the UI was as is almost always the case badly ported to PC.


Yeah you're right. Torchlight was charming when you first step foot in it. I feel the same way about highly acclaimed games being disappointments, except with me it's Fallout 3. I've always loved the Fallout setting, and Bethesda did a wonderful job with the art and the world, but I just couldn't get past the terrible writing and the poorly implemented combat system. After reading about how the game ends, it seems like I didn't miss out on any great plot anyways =/

>> ^mentality:
>> ^cybrbeast:
Wow, so true. I played this game for 6 or 7 hours and it really becomes stale and boring.
I'm starting to feel more and more like Yahtzee in that most large and usually highly acclaimed games are becoming large disappointments. Dragon Age was barf to me (Torchlight was more entertaining). Currently playing Mass Effect 2 which seems of much lower quality than 1.
My only memorable games of recent time were Fallout 3, Dead Space (though I didn't complete it), Dirt 2, Prototype (also didn't complete), bit of GTA IV.

And the click LMB and kill a bajillion enemies in Torchlight with no actual plot didn't become stale and boring for you? Weird. At least Borderlands has multiplayer.


You're right that's a bit bizarre. But I didn't say I loved Torchlight, only that it was more entertaining than DAO. I really liked the setting and atmosphere in Torchlight for a while. However I also didn't finish Torchlight.
Concerning Borderlands, first-off it has bad FPS mechanics, for example when trying to shoot enemies you encounter a lot of invisible walls through which your bullets can't pass. All the moving around between and after missions wasn't much fun. Your inventory was too small. And while they tried to implement it the weapon comparison system was shite. Also the UI was as is almost always the case badly ported to PC.

I left a comment on the ZP video page, but DAO truly deserves all the praise and more: thanks for making this game. It took me by surprise and I never expected this, but it's one of the best single-player experiences I've ever had. And many compliments to writing staff, Shale's mini "transition area" dialogues with other party members are hilarious!

Cheers, Ed

In reply to this comment by CrushBug:
Wow guys, that is quite a lot of praise! I have am very pleased with his review of our game. A lot of us were dreading what he would say, but I love the part where he said "25 hours in and I still want to find out what happens next". I will have to point this page and comments out to my co-workers.

Thanks Kulpims. Under the 15 sift rule I think this is a worthy one to make it

In reply to this comment by kulpims:
*promote

>> ^Psychologic:
I'm pretty sure those are Chinese swords, though I forget their actual name. Bill has a katana. I'm not sure what the black guy has.

The black guy is wielding a jian and his Chinese underlings are all carrying types of dao.