Dragon Age II Demo Reminder

The demo for DAII hits PSN, XBL and PC today and EA is running a contest that if they can get 1,000,000 downloads in a week, then they will release 2 little scraps of DLC for those that purchase the full game for free. So get the downloading and post impressions here. The current tally is at 408166.

Turned on DX11 for the game, maxed out all the settings on PC and the game ran extremely smooth. Can't complain about the graphics either, they're better than most team based RPGs. A few graphical hiccups the last few scenes in which black squares would flash in and out with armor textures so hopefully that's just a silly glitch. Also sad to see the blood splatter texture made it back, it looked silly in the firstgame when people are just hanging out talking while covered in blood. This game went even further though, the last conversation with Isabella had her talking with blood on her teeth. The whole time I'm talking to a big bereasteded hillbilly swashbuckler.

Oh and Aveline reminded me of this for some reason:

Great voice acting all around and the new engines shows off facial expressions better. Male Hawke's voice actor doesn't seem to have be as good as the other though, there were a few lines that were delivered monotone so I don't know if it was supposed to be sarcastic or what. The icon for the dialogue choice had a diamond next to it and not the evil smiley mask.

Combat is quicker, and flashier which isn't a bad thing in and of itself. The thing I miss is the friendly fire and the zoomed out view. Very little was done in the way of tactics because I was able to hurl fireballs and raindown arrows on everyone. The character skill trees seem a little less restrictive but they also seem to have a lot of padding on them. All of them look small and when you zoom in to actually look at what's offered, there are a few abilities and most of them have buffs. seems like artificially expanding the skill set to me.

Otherwise a very good demo. Like the new art design,the dialogue was pretty good, menus are pleasing to the eye however the game just seems easier.

Just a note, the demo does not allow you to run max settings. The Very High setting for video that contains DX11 textures and lighting is locked out.

Just a note, the demo does not allow you to run max settings. The Very High setting for video that contains DX11 textures and lighting is locked out.

demonic_85

combat system not vastly different? did you play the same demo as me? is totally different and awesome, ai is far superior and react better to what you do.

As for technical problems i thinks is mostly due to the ssaoit need a lot of pc power to use it and its very buggy, even if you have the pc to run it smooth i think is just better to deactivate

ill just post my impressions from the SW thread:

i liked the console demo overall. probably the biggest improvement is how much better is looks. everything looks notably like those stylized 2D cutscene graphics and the lipsyncing is far and away the best in any bioware game. the dialogue wheel is better than DAO even if it doesnt have anything as good as the interruptions in mass effect. pause menus are much cleaner (although having the inventory screen locked isnt telling, since thats the hardest to do well if there is a lot of loot).

im still not sure exactly how i feel about the combat. its definitely not bad. its just that button mashing for normal attacks felt monotonous and i didnt see an option for auto-attack in the option menu for consoles. also, im still not sold yet that an isometric view wouldnt have been a good addition as its still hard to effectively command teammate ranged attackers if youre in the midst of enemies.

combat system not vastly different? did you play the same demo as me? is totally different and awesome, ai is far superior and react better to what you do.

As for technical problems i thinks is mostly due to the ssaoit need a lot of pc power to use it and its very buggy, even if you have the pc to run it smooth i think is just better to deactivate

Krelian-co

I downloaded this yesterday (360) and immediately played it.

Very impressive. The visuals have gotten a huge overhaul and actually are very pleasing to the eye. The voice acting is typical Bioware (incredibly good), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that your character actually speaks this time around. Thank god. Again, let me say it -- thank god for that :P

Day 1 purchase without question.

Also the Dragon Age II website has a few other little DLC treats you can unlock by signing up for their newsletter. One is a belt the other is a staff.smerlus

Hey Smerlus.... that picture of the guy from Mask really creeped me out. That is all.

[QUOTE="smerlus"]Also the Dragon Age II website has a few other little DLC treats you can unlock by signing up for their newsletter. One is a belt the other is a staff.Jbul

Hey Smerlus.... that picture of the guy from Mask really creeped me out. That is all.

Played the pc demo (gonna dl the 360 demo this weekend), I have to say it's well above origins in every category.

Did anyone think the dialogue was bad. Why would the Templar salute the death of your sibling when your family clearly despises him. The dialogue wheel is also the worst thing to ever happen to games.

Did anyone think the dialogue was bad. Why would the Templar salute the death of your sibling when your family clearly despises him. The dialogue wheel is also the worst thing to ever happen to games.

Wolfetan

Anyways 3 days down and 4 days left with a whopping ~450,000 downloads needed. Me thinks EA/BioWare thought there was more excitement for this game.smerlus

Anyways 3 days down and 4 days left with a whopping ~450,000 downloads needed. Me thinks EA/BioWare thought there was more excitement for this game.smerlus

[QUOTE="smerlus"]Anyways 3 days down and 4 days left with a whopping ~450,000 downloads needed. Me thinks EA/BioWare thought there was more excitement for this game.Elann2008

Anyways 3 days down and 4 days left with a whopping ~450,000 downloads needed. Me thinks EA/BioWare thought there was more excitement for this game.smerlus

So many great games, so little money :cry:

A mixed bag. When I finished Dragon Age, I expressed a desire for the sequel to tell a more personal story. I'm getting that, but...the interface is horrible both aesthetically and functionally (you can't select the entire party, what the hell, BioWare?), I'm not digging the new art-styIe (the darkspawn in particular - terrible), no isometric view. I always doubted this game would live up to the original and this demo didn't do much to alleviate those doubts.

A mixed bag. When I finished Dragon Age, I expressed a desire for the sequel to tell a more personal story. I'm getting that, but...the interface is horrible both aesthetically and functionally (you can't select the entire party, what the hell, BioWare?), I'm not digging the new art-styIe (the darkspawn in particular - terrible), no isometric view. I always doubted this game would live up to the original and this demo didn't do much to alleviate those doubts.

UpInFlames