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[Deon]

Talking about "codex" topics, I am still quite happy that they have that kind of stuff. It's there so people who don't bother could just totally ignore it, but nonetheless it's there so if you want some lore you can read it.

It's not as immersive as reading books, talking to people and listening to songs, but it's easy to browse and as I said I'm glad it's still there .

[Tilla]

I am quite enjoying this game after just playing DAO and Awakening finally all the way through. This thread set me up to expect the worst but it's really not that bad at all. The removal of sidequest stuff is waaaaaaaay overstated by complainants, as there is PLENTY to do outside the main quests.

[Deon]

Yeah, it's not bad. I enjoyed it on a different level. I guess badmouthing comes from people who were expecting more content than DAO. But they just didn't have time  to make it I guess .

[KaguroDraven]

I haven't finished yet, but I am likeing it thus far. The way the story is set up is definately different than DAO, but that kinda makes sense since it isn't about a Blight or the 'ultimate chosen hero to save the land', it's about a person and their tag alongs who is unlucky enough and skilled enough to be in the middle of alot of shit in a single city and survive. Obviously there are downsides, none of the characters are quite up to the level of some of the better ones from DAO, but they are still rather good characters in their own rights......well besides Carver, I just want to punch his face in but eh, if a character can make you actuilly want to hurt them the writer is either doing something right or something horribly wrong. Just a warning though to people who didn't pick up the "sutble" hints, don't Romance Isabela, you get an aweful rash, amongst other things.

[Haschel]

I've kind of been avoiding this thread due to my intial views of the game being completely different from the few initial posters' experience, and waiting till I get through the game for a better grasp on it as a whole. Overall, the game is different from DAO, but at the same time there's still a lot that's really the same. I personally didn't like DAO to the same degree as others seem to, it was ok but it didn't even come close to filling that Baldur's Gate/NWN crave that I usually get for this type of game. DA2 Doesn't do much better, but both of them are at least an ok game worth a play. It was said before that there's no sidequests etc, and then it was pointed out that there really were. Feels like 80% of the game is sidequests, and not in a particularly bad way. I wouldn't say it was worth the initial $60, but is still worth a play-through.

Obviously there are downsides, none of the characters are quite up to the level of some of the better ones from DAO, but they are still rather good characters in their own rights......well besides Carver, I just want to punch his face in but eh, if a character can make you actuilly want to hurt them the writer is either doing something right or something horribly wrong.

I'm amazed how they manage to make an obligatory whiny little bitch character in almost all their games. Silly Carver, being a dick doesn't give you depth of character. Isabella feels excessively shallow as well, which irks me even more considering she's the lesbian romance option. It kind of feels like interacting with Zevran, sans annoying accent(No offense to fans of him, which I assume someone is).

Anyway, maybe I'll try to add a bit more substance to the discussion when I finish the main story.

[KaguroDraven]

Actuilly Haschel all four romance options are BI this time around, men can romance Anders and Fenris, and women can romance Merril and Isabela. Just pointing that out since you called Isabela the 'lesbian romance option'.  But yes, as I said the characters aren't as good as DAO, and this one has too many male whiny brats.
Carver:WAH! My brother is a mage and he overshadows me! I'm gonna hate mages and be a prick to show I'm different!
Anders:WAH!Mages!Oppressed!blahblahblah
Fenris:KILLALLMAGESTHEYAREEVILANDCORRUPT!

[Haschel]

Humm, all I know is that I read about the developers deciding to only make one gay romance option. Maybe they changed their minds, though I haven't seen evidence for other female-female relationships. I got a few "heart" options with Merril and Aveline, but only once or twice and they didn't actually lead to anything. Maybe it happens later in the game, or I did something wrong. Guess I'll keep an eye out for that. And Ditto on the Mage situation.

[umiman]

I am quite enjoying this game after just playing DAO and Awakening finally all the way through. This thread set me up to expect the worst but it's really not that bad at all. The removal of sidequest stuff is waaaaaaaay overstated by complainants, as there is PLENTY to do outside the main quests.

That was the point of the thread. If you see my initial post, I said it's a good game but if you go in with the expectations created by all the hype prior to the release, you'll be set up for tremendous disappointment. That's why the thread is called "Warning".

In other words you should thank this thread for removing any expectations.

[Greenbane]

Mass Effect 2 turned out to be somewhat simplified compared to ME1, but it's still pretty damn good across the board. The quality drop from DA1 to DA2, however, is quite more marked. After this, I fear for Mass Effect 3. If what I'm seeing is an over-arching trend of notorious 'streamlining', ME3 might do without sidequests and even more features. I would hate to see ME3 end up diluted to the point it's like either Doom III or a Press Spacebar to Win game.

Mainstream games have been wanting to be more and more like movies, which isn't bad by itself, but in the process they're forgetting what they're supposed to be above all else: games. And the evidence of extreme "less effort, more profit" mentalities isn't helping. At all.

[HLBeta]

So what are your preferred specializations for Hawke? I don't own the game yet and I'd like to know what class/spec combinations those of you who have played it can recommend. I'm currently leaning toward a Rogue based on my experience with the demo but would be willing to pick another class if the higher levels present a compelling reason to do so.

[KaguroDraven]

I can honestly say I hate blood mage. It was awesome to the point of OPness in DAO, though lorewise that kinda makes sense, but in DA2 it's almost useless. Huge difference, it's almost never useful at all. I do like the Primal spells though, esspecially the electric ones.

Side Note:Is it bad that my mage spent the entire One on One boss fight with the Arishok running away and takeing potshots at him?

[Haschel]

I can honestly say I hate blood mage. It was awesome to the point of OPness in DAO, though lorewise that kinda makes sense, but in DA2 it's almost useless. Huge difference, it's almost never useful at all. I do like the Primal spells though, esspecially the electric ones.

Side Note:Is it bad that my mage spent the entire One on One boss fight with the Arishok running away and takeing potshots at him?

Blood mage really is worthless, the one or two spells you get are "ok" but not good enough to offset the penalty, might as well get any other damage tree. I tried to get Merril's special tree to work on some degree but it's just as bad. What's worse is that you can't make her into a healer, either. That being said, I turned Hawke into a healer which went badly with the Arishok duel, so I thought "Well I could staff-slap him for an hour... Or I could just kill EVERYTHING in two minutes!"

Anyway, all the classes have support and damage trees, so you can't really go wrong there. Mage spells feel like they lack a bit of variety, but what's there gets the job done.

[Domenique]

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/107852

This is an article on why the story is great, and I agree with it, except for the part with Torment (I can't agree with it since i've never really gotten myself to finish it).

[MagmaDeath]

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/107852

This is an article on why the story is great, and I agree with it, except for the part with Torment (I can't agree with it since i've never really gotten myself to finish it).

I don't agree, as you really have no choices as to what happens. No matter who you choose, or what you do, you will end up with the same fights. You can skip a few, but most of the things you can skip don't matter anyway. The dialogue choices are really GOOD FUNNY BAD, the writer of that article comments on mass effect suffering from that, but DA2 does the same thing. The real problem is with the whole family interaction.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Carver just automatically disagrees with everything you say, to create some sort of sibling rivalry. Your mothers death really is not all that traumatic for you, as you barely interact with her at all. The fact that you can't do anything to stop it, even though you meet the blood mage who is doing it, just makes it that much worse. Act 3 is basically making both sides look as bad as possible, the mages kidnapping your sister even if you help them, the templars contently abusing the mages, blood mages everywhere. Unfortunetly you can't choose to not take a side, or go against them both, but you end up destroying them both in the end anyway.

The main story was lacking, but the stories about certain companions, and their side quests are much better, and you actually can choose the result.

[Rakonas]

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/107852

This is an article on why the story is great, and I agree with it, except for the part with Torment (I can't agree with it since i've never really gotten myself to finish it).

I don't agree, as you really have no choices as to what happens. No matter who you choose, or what you do, you will end up with the same fights. You can skip a few, but most of the things you can skip don't matter anyway. The dialogue choices are really GOOD FUNNY BAD, the writer of that article comments on mass effect suffering from that, but DA2 does the same thing. The real problem is with the whole family interaction.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Carver just automatically disagrees with everything you say, to create some sort of sibling rivalry. Your mothers death really is not all that traumatic for you, as you barely interact with her at all. The fact that you can't do anything to stop it, even though you meet the blood mage who is doing it, just makes it that much worse. Act 3 is basically making both sides look as bad as possible, the mages kidnapping your sister even if you help them, the templars contently abusing the mages, blood mages everywhere. Unfortunetly you can't choose to not take a side, or go against them both, but you end up destroying them both in the end anyway.

The main story was lacking, but the stories about certain companions, and their side quests are much better, and you actually can choose the result.

I think you're forgetting about

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Merill

Most outrageous final companion quest ever.