More ranting on Dragon Age...
As a veteran gamer I feel that it is entirely reasonable and natural to expect a sequel to be somewhat similar to the original. One of the points of making a direct sequel, as opposed to a wholly new game or a spin off, is mostly in name recognition and to bring back the audience of the original game. Otherwise why even bother? What did I even play?
The rushed nature of the game, while rather shameful and sucked the enthusiasm out of me, I think I could live with but the direction and style but the obvious change in the intended audience is what really bothers me. I dislike the anime style with swords far too big to be wieldable (the elf with the 2 hander was balls), waves of teleporting ninjas were dropping out of the sky, most bodies exploding etc... It’s over the top cartoonish and I hardly recognize it as Dragon Age at all.
If DA: O was D&D Lite well DA2 was Final Fantasy: Lite. I actually did enjoy some of the Final Fantasy games for what they are but at least you know what you are getting into. They are absolutely linear interactive movies and they don't make any pretense of giving you choices. The choices in DA2 were pointless except to change how Hawke reacts to inevitable events.
I missed the days where your decisions have consequences and while I don’t necessarily want a Morrowind type of game where you can kill an NPC, play the game 100 hours then find out later that NPC was an essential part of the storyline and go “shit” and learn from your mistakes, I’d like some type of bridge….some type of in-between where the choices you make actually matter beyond “good” and “evil” dialogue. For example in ARRIVAL (SPOILER), simply put it didn’t MATTER what you said, what you did, it happens and you’re pigeon-holed into being a mass murderer of Batarians. I hate where the new gen RPG gaming may be heading.
The story in DA2 is kind of a disjointed mess as well. The acts don't flow together all that well and there really is no driving force to the narrative once the prologue is done very early on and you make your escape. After that it's basically just wander around town and find what odd jobs come up and what kind of trouble you can get into. It really feels like stuff just happens to Hawke for being in the right or wrong place at the right time and not for anything you did. And I won't beat the dead horse regarding the recycled content.
On its own merits DA2 it's a mediocre, forgettable game that provides some light fun and diversion if you aren't expecting too much. As a direct sequel to Dragon Age: Origins it's an absolute disgrace.
And the fact that the cash grab sold over 4 million copies scares me incredibly regarding Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Effect 3. Honestly, ME3 lost a bit of its luster compared to my want to play Dead Island or Skyrim. I don’t like where Bioware is heading and I fear that the Bioware we all knew and loved is gone.
One thing is for sure, they'll have their work cut out for them.