And by very early I mean 2-3 hours into the game. I know it’s ridiculous to be writing about it given that I haven’t spent enough time on it but hey, I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I saw the first preview.
Before I go on I’d like to say that my expectations for this game are low. After reading reviews and seeing what people are saying about it online, I was beginning to think that Dragon Age 2 was going to be a lesser game than the original. I wanted to find out if that was true or not.
The third person camera gives the game a more personal feel. Since you can’t view things from a top-down perspective anymore, you have no choice but to get in there when you fight, so to speak. Everything’s happening right in your face.
Combat is certainly more stylish. The fighting animations have been extended to weapon swings that look like they went through a fight choreographer. Think wizard versus wizard in the Harry Potter movies. How do you make actors pointing sticks at each other look interesting? Combine special effects with elaborate hand and arm gestures. Gone are the days when mages simply pointed the business ends of their staves and fired bolts of fire or ice at their targets. It isn’t spectacular. It just looks a lot better than before.
Now, I’m not saying combat itself has improved. I’m simply focusing on its aesthetics. Tactics-wise, it’s difficult to coordinate a party when you can’t get an overhead view. That restriction is also preventing me from observing the behavior of my party members. Is my healer healing when she’s supposed to? Is my tank maintaining threat? For now, I’m unable to answer those questions because the camera is forcing me to focus on Hawke (or whoever I have selected). On the other hand, solo playthroughs were possible in the original. Given the forced viewpoint, it’s going to be sweet to be able to do the same in DA2.
Everything feels scaled down so far. Remember how huge the Deep Roads was back in the original? I’m getting the feeling I won’t be seeing anything like that. The places I’ve been to are like winding corridors with small branches that lead to dead ends. It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue until the game’s over.
I like the default male and female Hawke faces. Thank you for sparing me the chore of adjusting sliders for an hour just to find a face I liked, Bioware.
I think I’ll end this here. More later, if I find anything noteworthy.
UPDATE: Correction on the overhead view. Just found out that it can be done. The catch is that you can’t zoom out as far as the original allowed you to.