Dragon Age 2 - Here be spoilers.

[Velorath]

Finally finished up my first playthrough.  Took me around 45 hours or so, doing probably about 95% of the side quests (I was lv. 25 when I finished).  Played most of it on hard difficulty, but occasionally turned it down for some of the boss encounters.  Combat-wise I ended up liking it a little bit more than DA:O especially after I respecced my Rogue from Daggers to Bows (helped his survivability a lot).  Still lukewarm on a lot of the characters.  Merrill was funny, but absolutely retarded.  Any time I'd put Fenris in my party I'd have to deal with him constantly bitching at the mages.  Anders likewise had a habit of going off on people for no reason.  I didn't use Isabela much in my party since she was made redundant by my PC for most of the game until I switched to bows, and then by that point I had heard about her friend ability bugging.  Everyone else was likable enough.

End game spoilers:

[rk47]

Please Velorath, do not fall for the Chantry lies. These people are driven to Blood Magic by desperation. Had the whole Circle of Mages focused on healing magic and concentrated on healing the poor in Lowtown and Darktowns, under direct supervision of the Templars, things would have gone quite peacefully and Kirkwall would've gained as a whole.

/RP

I'm a Spirit Healer / Blood Mage. My blood heals you and kills you.   

[Pezzle]

Nexus also has a mod to unlock the missing trees for all companions (like archery for Isabela or 2h for Aveline).  It works best on new games but there are instructions on adding the trees for games already in progress.  Also, there is a program that functions as your tab key, since that is really really really annoying! 

[Velorath]

Please Velorath, do not fall for the Chantry lies. These people are driven to Blood Magic by desperation. Had the whole Circle of Mages focused on healing magic and concentrated on healing the poor in Lowtown and Darktowns, under direct supervision of the Templars, things would have gone quite peacefully and Kirkwall would've gained as a whole.

/RP

I'm a Spirit Healer / Blood Mage. My blood heals you and kills you.   

Heh, seriously this game needed a facepalm or a "I don't know what the fuck I was expecting" dialog option for every time you try to help a mage out only to have them do blood magic (half the time doing so under the full realization that it hasn't worked out to well for anyone else) and turn themselves in an abomination or something.  As much as I disliked Fenris, maybe he was onto something after all.

[Sjofn]

Fenris is a crankypants, but at one point he made me laugh out loud in a banter with Anders.


He's a bitch, but I find it hard not to agree with him about mages a lot of the time. Good thing most of the templars are complete douchebags, or it wouldn't be hard to pick a side at all. 

[Njal]

Fenris voice actor did Balthier in FF Whichever one it was.

[UnSub]

Voice acting and writing was absolutely topnotch. (What you play Bioware games for.)

Writing has some problems, mostly if you play the mage -- they're pretty well described in a review here.

That was a good read. I dislike it when games get that sloppy with their own lore.

[Sjofn]

Fenris voice actor did Balthier in FF Whichever one it was.

Yeah, that means nothing to me. People keep mentioning it, but as I have never once played a FF game, nor does it seem likely I ever will, he has to settle for being "Fenris" in my mind.  I like him, though, he's good at "laughs, then sounds sort of surprised he did so."

[tmp]

Voice acting and writing was absolutely topnotch. (What you play Bioware games for.)

Writing has some problems, mostly if you play the mage -- they're pretty well described in a review here.

That was a good read. I dislike it when games get that sloppy with their own lore.

I wonder if that isn't to a degree caused by rigid class system which pretty much forces mages to only be well, mages, because not only they lack stats but are actively prohibited from acquiring any sort of melee combat skills. Might have worked better if mages were instead dunno, some sort of dual-class system with ability to fight regular way when there's need to be under cover and break out the big fuck-it fireballs when they felt like it.. but with the consequences if wrong people were in place to spot it. After all even their own trailer shows the Hawke who is pretty much like this.

[Mazakiel]

Regarding mages and Templars never calling you on it, I spoilered it below just in case: 




So yeah, while there are issues with the implementation of people reacting to you being a mage, it's not totally ignored by Templars and such.  That being said, it is handwaved a bit, and they could definitely do a better job of it.  I felt silly that the mage trying to avoid Templars is running around with a staff while wearing a bathrobe.  Part of why I wish there was more variety in at least mage armor.  If polearms were an option for warriors, it'd be even better, because then the guy with the spear looking weapon wouldn't stand out as much.  But, it's similar to the problem that crops up in Mass Effect at times.  You can run around using biotics, but the game almost never acknowledges it, and Shep never gets to do any of the really unique stuff that the squadmate biotics users can do.  You get a line or two about how awesome you are at it, but that's it.  DA 2, you can be a mage, but except for making your hand glow occasionally, you never get to do some of the stuff in scenes that NPC mages like Anders can apparently do.  It's more of a general Bioware problem than just a DA2 one.  I had thought that since the Hawke in the trailer was of the mage variety, it might be better handled in the game.  Oh well. 

[tmp]

So yeah, while there are issues with the implementation of people reacting to you being a mage, it's not totally ignored by Templars and such.  That being said, it is handwaved a bit, and they could definitely do a better job of it.  I felt silly that the mage trying to avoid Templars is running around with a staff while wearing a bathrobe.

The single biggest issue i had with this was during Act 2, when i could threaten certain character into submission even though she knew perfectly well i was a mage and could've easily cock-blocked me with a "get outa my face or it's tranquil time for you, dirty apostate".

For the appearance, i've installed a mod which hides the staves out of combat and my Hawke is wearing pirate clothes. This actually led to couple instances where i got surprised people turned out to be mages because they too, looked normal enough without these staves and robes

[Shrike]

Yeah, the disconnect with the robe and staff thing is stressing the willing suspension of disbelief a bit.

Just last night, uberHawke was dressing down Meredith about the mage issue, but with Merrill and Anders peering over his shoulders during the entire harangue...well...kinda hard to take. Anders had the good grace to look a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing. Merrill...just looked like Merrill. At least she's wearing shimmery white chainmail, but that bladed staff taller than she is...kinda hard to overlook that.

On the other hand, throwing down right then with Hawke, an abomination, and a bloodmage right in your face probably would have ended badly. Maybe Meredith isn't as stupd as she looks. See? Willing suspension of disbelief. Have to work at it a bit, but hey...

[Sjofn]

I could suspend my disbelief through most of it as a mage, but it helped that it was my second playthrough, and after my initial time through a game I'm more "whee, game, let's see what's different!" and my immersion isn't as important, if that makes sense.

My first time through I was a warrior, which worked nicely. I could believe that people didn't want to fuck with me to get to Anders or Bethany (Merril was almost never with me, so she was totally safe!), even in the beginning, because I was scary. Raar!

[CmdrSlack]

At least your playthrough had a Bethany to be threatened.....

[Sjofn]

Haha, Ingmar did the same thing, my reaction to it was and made me feel better about my decision.

[Azuredream]

Only played through Act 1 on my mage so far but it really doesn't bother me at all that I can toss spells and wear robes in front of templars without them saying anything. Gameplay and story are always completely seperate to me, and if they actually make gameplay make sense with the story, I consider that more of a bonus.

[Ingmar]

Yeah I did the same thing.

[caladein]

Yeah, the disconnect with the robe and staff thing is stressing the willing suspension of disbelief a bit.

Just last night, uberHawke was dressing down Meredith about the mage issue, but with Merrill and Anders peering over his shoulders during the entire harangue...well...kinda hard to take. Anders had the good grace to look a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing. Merrill...just looked like Merrill. At least she's wearing shimmery white chainmail, but that bladed staff taller than she is...kinda hard to overlook that.

On the other hand, throwing down right then with Hawke, an abomination, and a bloodmage right in your face probably would have ended badly. Maybe Meredith isn't as stupd as she looks. See? Willing suspension of disbelief. Have to work at it a bit, but hey...

[CmdrSlack]

Yeah I did the same thing.

[Merusk]

I knew I wanted to reload Deep Roads for some reason.
 
I cheat like a motherfucker.  It's one of the beauties of multiple saves, after all.

[Ingmar]

I'm glad I didn't reload it just because that's something I'd have a hard time deliberately doing on a later playthrough to see how it panned out.

[Sjofn]

I never reload on my first playthrough, because I knooooow I won't be able to let that shit happen on purpose. So I'm almost a little sad there were ways I didn't fuck up in my first playthrough.  

Like in ME2, I managed to not lose anyone in the suicide run my first time through, and now I'll never have a save where that happens, because I can't bring myself to do it "wrong." :P

[tmp]

Sister gets different haircut depending on the preset. I lucked out with a Halle Berry lookalike... unfortunately, i'm playing the mage myself

[Velorath]

Out of curiosity, how many of you have the DLC?  Sebastian doesn't factor into Act 1 much, but I think in Act 3 he provides some pretty key moments as the only party member with a direct connection to the Chantry.  Also pretty glad I had the Black Emporium pre-order bonus stuff.  The respec potions are fairly cheap and reset your attributes and talents, plus the appearance changing mirror was helpful when I decided that Hawke's voice didn't really fit well with how my character looked.  I liked voiced protagonists, but I think one of the drawbacks is just that sometimes the voice just doesn't match up with the face (with Mass Effect I feel I got pretty lucky in that MaleShep's voice lined up perfectly with how I made him look).

[Strazos]

As a steam pre-order...er, I only have the Emporium. I don't think I've gotten a whole lot of mileage out of it, mostly because I'm playing a rogue.

[Sjofn]

Sister gets different haircut depending on the preset. I lucked out with a Halle Berry lookalike... unfortunately, i'm playing the mage myself

Yeah, the whole family changes, and DoucheHawke's sister has the most tragic haircut in the world. Carver looked sort of funny, but he got ogre'd. One of Ingmar's Carver's looked just like my MageDudeHawke, it was sort of crazy.

I have the Sebastian DLC, I think it's worth it, and I agree he adds a fair bit to Act 3. He made my ending even more depressing than it would've been otherwise and everything. His Act 2 personal quest has some nice moments too. I am also pleased with the Black Emporium, I use that stupid mirror all the time (I'm all IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS, MANHAWKE HAS CLEARLY GROWN A BEARD because I am a giant stupid dork). Some of the Act 3 equipment you can buy is pretty loltastic stat-wise, I felt like a cheater, but on the whole it's not too crazy. The voice actor for the shop owner thing is also fucking hilarious. I can't decide if it's hilarious bad or hilarious good.

[Shrike]

I'm glad I didn't reload it just because that's something I'd have a hard time deliberately doing on a later playthrough to see how it panned out.

Yeah, I have a save where, well, I could fix that particular oversight. But hell, it happened and I'll roll with it. I, too, had an "oh shit..." moment when it cut to Varric schmoozing with the Seeker.

Still, overall I'm happy with how it turned out. At the end of--I think--Act3...ahem...
I'm still not done with the thing, so it might just be wishful thinking, but hey, it's an RPG and I can dream.

[FatuousTwat]

I'm about half way through act 2 and I'm not sure I'll continue on. Nothing is really grabbing me. For all the apparent focus on combat, it got tedious very quickly even on nightmare. Maybe I'll turn in down to casual and just burn through the trash mobs (seriously? who thought up that idea?).

[Sjofn]

Fenris is a finicky bitch. Say what you will about Anders, at least I knew exactly where we stood at all times, and the romance never hit a dead end due to seemingly unrelated bullshit. I think after this one time, unless he has some REALLY GREAT things to say to me, Fenris is going into the Friend Zone.

[Tebonas]

Speaking of Friend Zone, I tried to romance Aveline and got quite the chuckle out of it.

[Sjofn]

Merril doesn't seem young to me, personally. Maybe 'cause I rivalmanced her, so we had a lot of RRRRRGH ARGUE ARGUE conversations instead of whatever the hell you talk about as friends. Merril and I fight a lot.

[Samprimary]

Two characters who make DRAMATIC turnarounds as people in the game if you friend them up to full:

[Velorath]

I didn't try to game the friendship/rivalry system during my first playthrough.  Just went ahead and said and did what I felt regardless of who was in the part at the time.  Also essentially just cycled people in and out of the part after I'd felt that I'd used them long enough.  Varric got to Friendship fairly early on, with Avaline not far behind which surprised me since I wasn't exactly a do-gooder but I think I just happened to have her in my party during some of my nicer moments.  I was fairly supportive of mages, so Anders also hit friendship with my, and I romanced Isabela because Merril was irritatingly stupid.  Fenris was probably about one more mage-related outburst away from hitting the end of the rivalry meter, while Merril was always one step forward, one step back since I was typically nice to her except whenever she started into her whole "Demons totally love helping people un-curse magic artifacts" shit.  Sebastian liked me right up until the point where he didn't any more.

[rk47]

Yeehaw, Blood Mage / Spirit Healer combo success!

[rk47]

Two characters who make DRAMATIC turnarounds as people in the game if you friend them up to full:

....that's not even dramatic to me.