Dragon Age 2 - Here be spoilers.

[Reg]

Cool. I just got a spam mail from EA giving me a code that let's me download a free copy of Mass Effect 2. I already own it of course, but I bet there are a lot of happy gamers out there today who don't.

[Ingmar]

Yeah, unfortunately it doesn't appear to be shareable as it has to go with an EA account that has the Black Emporium activated. (Also you have to use the EADM). But free is free, and ME2 is well worth playing if you haven't.

[Rasix]

I find I miss most of the banter because the chat bubbles appear offscreen behind my character.  Is there some UI setting or mod that will give me a chat window or have banter show up in the journal?

The UI setting is:  Sound -> Enable.

Do you just like playing in silence or can you not wear headphones?  The game is very well done from a voice acting perspective, it would seem kind of dumb to not have it on.  The banter would seem a bit silly as just timed text bubbles appearing over mute heads.

I see the text bubbles.  I guess my zoom/camera angle is sufficient. 

fake edit: I'm guessing you're playing on a console that you can't have playing at any sort of volume.  So, yeah...

[Sjofn]

No sound would make me cry. Can't help with the speech bubbles, I have music and sound effects turned down slightly, so I always hear the talking (and if I missed the very start, I stop and turn around to read the bubble).

Anyway, I've seen that FACETOME before, and I agree that the throwaway Fenris joke at the bottom is the bestest. 

[Evildrider]

Yeah I couldn't play with the sound off.  The first thing I do though in pretty much every game is turn off the in game music.  Mainly because I listen to my own. 

The banter between characters is pretty awesome. 

[tmp]

Anyway, I've seen that FACETOME before, and I agree that the throwaway Fenris joke at the bottom is the bestest. 

The ones for Bianca and Hawke are pretty cool, too Hawke's has another Fenris' entry.

ah heck may as well post them

[Ingmar]

Cute Firefly reference.

[Sjofn]

Ha, I hadn't seen the Bianca one. The Hawke one I had seen, and once again the throwaway Fenris joke was my favorite.

[tmp]

Cute Firefly reference.

They've made that one in Morrigan's DLC -- you meet a mage there with that staff.

[El Gallo]

I'd never play on a console, don't insult me again 

I play with the camera panned back to the max and almost never see the chat bubbles when I'm moving.  I usually have the sound on, but frequently can't make out what they are saying when there are other game noises going on.  At other times, I try to play in a room with another human being in it who is doing something different that requires sound and with whom I like to interact verbally.   Wasn't an issue in DA1 because it had top-down view (and I think the journal conversation history recorded banter but don't quote me on that).

If DA2 is a "gaming tomb only" experience, I'll experience it in a gaming tomb, jeez.

[Sjofn]

Try turning down sound effects and the music a little, it helped me a lot on that front.

Also, more FaceTome:

[Strazos]

So...anyone know what's up with the red smudge on the default ManHawke's face?

[Xilren's Twin]

You mean beyond marketing ploys for instantly recognizable characters? :-p 

Mark of destiny, or something to make the already exceptional champion stand out even more.  Either that or the same artists who love static companion armor also got their way here too.

(In all seriousness, i suspect that trying to find some way to make the lead character an ongoing, recognized face/name is something Bioware has fully considered and is doing intentionally in DA2 compared to DA1.  Look how many cameos/re-appearances from DA1 there are, all neatly pointing the way to DA3 and beyond.  Building brand and all that marketing crap.  Ain't that right Shepherd....)

[Ingmar]

I'm not sure why they have that smudge, but you can play either default Hawke with or without it.

More annoying is the fact that you can't use the default face as a base to customize from.

[Koyasha]

I'm not sure why they have that smudge, but you can play either default Hawke with or without it.

More annoying is the fact that you can't use the default face as a base to customize from.

http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2145

I did find that annoying, but this fixes that problem.

[tmp]

Also, more FaceTome:

Ye gods; this is so... Merrill

[Sjofn]

Yes, yes it is. 

[Meester]

There are more things about DA2 that I dislike more than I like. There can be moments where it is brilliant.
Dragon Age - Origins is far better in my opinion. I play the PC version.

Reused locations a lot, break the immersion. The idea that some things transfer but other things don't from origins. Leliana appears even if you cut her head off in Origins while Alistair changes depending on what you do in Origins. Why offer the player choices like that if you cherry-pick some predetermined path? I dislike the look of some of DA2. Alistair & Zevran look better in DAO. I dislike the new darkspawn look. I don't like Anders anymore, he was good in Awakening but here he is some kind of emo-queen. The real Anders died with Awakening.

I dislike how Nightmare is. The fights are often drawn out and boring [curse you ancient rock wraith] and sometimes impossible if you don't have the right people [or if you turn down the difficulty to casual]. Too many sidequests are generic fetch this quests and the replies for instance to returning a nuns ashes are nonsensical, to quote "I was looking for that". I wish Kirkwall had more variety. I don't like the lack of choice at choosing your companions own armour/weapons and the skilltrees were not in my opinion as detailed or varied as in the DAO.

Most weapons and armour are completely defunct [i.e your companions cannot use them], not as detailed with description and story. I also don't like the fact that you have to destroy runes to put a new one in. Your decisions do not seem to matter as much.

Thank goodness for the qunari & the arishok [they also look better]. There are some great bits, don't get me wrong but overall I was probably better off saving my money. A 70% from me, 75% if Im being generous.

[tmp]

Leliana appears even if you cut her head off in Origins while Alistair changes depending on what you do in Origins. Why offer the player choices like that if you cherry-pick some predetermined path?

From what David Gaider said there's supposedly explanation for Leliana thing, but they choose not to share it at this time. Given the setup in her DLC and her role in DA2 it looks they have something planned for her either in DA3 or for some incoming DLC, or both.

[Lantyssa]

What, she's actually Andraste?

[Fordel]

What, she's actually Andraste?

Does that mean I've been banging the chosen one this entire time? 

[Sjofn]

Clearly you're the Maker.

[Paelos]

Clearly you're the Maker.

Giggity.

[Rasix]

So, I beat this a couple days ago.  Overall, I'm at somewhat of a loss for words.  I felt, while it had a lot of issues that have been gone over time and time again here, it was very much worth playing and an enjoyable experience.  Normal was far, far too easy.  I didn't have a party wipe, ever, even a the "duel".  At the end, even elites were going down in 3 attacks (MoD, twin fangs, assassinate) while Merril happily kibbled entire villages by herself.  Anders was just around so I could be lazy and not micromanage.   At that point, I probably should have manned up and bumped the difficulty up, but I wanted to finish (and didn't want to buy injury kits).

Of course, the hour I've put into my hard playthrough has convinced me it's just too annoying when you've got only one good spell as a mage and everything has too many hit points for fodder.

While this is probably the worst out of the last 4 games Bioware has released (and that's not a bad thing), I'd say it's a bit more fun than trying to play Mass Effect 1 again.  I think this may even color my attempts at finishing a third go round in DA1.

[Riggswolfe]

There are more things about DA2 that I dislike more than I like. There can be moments where it is brilliant.
Dragon Age - Origins is far better in my opinion. I play the PC version.

It's so interesting how much opinions vary. I find this so much better than DA:O that I'm not sure I can play DA:O again.

[Sjofn]

There are definitely things about DA:O that I like much better, but one of those things is not the combat, which is what would keep me from playing DA:O again, most likely. Well, that and the fact I played the everliving fuck out of it.

Hard is about my sweet spot difficulty-wise, but it IS annoying until you have a couple of abilities. I run my slider down if it's sucking too bad and then just turn it back up when it feels easy again, generally. There's still a couple of fights I have yet to beat on hard (the optional demon boss in Act 2 is GRR ... but it's supposed to be) which probably means I suck but whatevs.

And yeah, Rasix, that outro thing with Isabela is indeed a bug.

[tmp]

[Sjofn]

Hahaha! Probably.


Also, Anders' Facetome:

[tmp]

Aww too bad the tubedubber seems to barf on me at the moment, Harpischord Cat totally deserves to be made real.

[Strazos]

Also finished this a few days back:

[Sjofn]

Also finished this a few days back:

[Strazos]

[Sjofn]

[caladein]

I'm sorry Sjofn, I can't hear you over the sound of Eve Myles being stumble-y and insecure (and very Welsh, which is probably as important).

[Sjofn]

And you would let that innocent soul construct a murder mirror at the behest of a demon? Yeah, I'm the cruel one.