i got so confused in that one part with all the fire, i hated going through all of the puzzles.

I'm officially concerned. I don't mind puzzles as long as they aren't borderline tedious and stupid. Some games have the most random puzzles that just don't make any sense. Hopefully this isn't the case with the fade.

If you dont know what your doing (LIKE ME). then the that part of the fade can feel like trial and error.

honestly, it would probably be best to look up a guide.

Thanks for the heads up I'll have a guide at the ready just in case. So it is one of those random trial and error puzzles or is there actually a rhyme and reason to them?

Trying not to spoil too much for you; the puzzles do make sense. There are areas that could be barriers if you don't have the means to deal with them. As you go through the Fade, you do get the means to deal with them. If you find an area you can't pass through, look around because there is probably another way. In the beginning, think small. For a non-mage it could take a little getting used to, because it involves "magical" type talents.

im pretty sure there is a rhyme and reason to some puzzles.

its actual a collection of puzzles, but the things you get from completing some puzzles are necessary for completing the others, and if you dont know the right order to do them in, or have trouble remembering which portal takes you out where, it can take A LOT of time.

it was just this one part that felt like trial and error to me, where there is fire and you have to go through portals, and morph into a rat to go under cracks.

I just finished the origin story last night and explored ostagar for a few. I'm going to make some more progress later tonight and see how it goes. If the enemies become harder than they probably should be then I'll know if I went down the wrong skill path.

It's trial and error at first, but the Fade was fun overall. It's a dreamscape and the source of all magic. If you're playing as a mage,

To me Dragon Age was an instant classic. I'm going to give DA 2 a chance, even though there will be many changes from the first game in the series.

Edit: Dragonborn1, the first battles in the game at Ostagar can be tough, but hang in there. Your character becomes more powerful as the game progresses. Remember to talk to everyone at Ostagar, and stock up on supplies.

What's all been changed for the second game? All I've heard about is "vastly improved graphics". I think the origins looks pretty good and I'm playing on ps3 so if da2 is "vastly improved" I'm in for a treat.

For one thing, instead of a half-dozen possible origin stories, we have to play as a human named Hawke in the sequel. But we'll be able to choose whether to be fighter, mage, or rogue at least. For another, the sequel takes place over a period of ten years, though there's some skipping forward in time a few times. The dialogue choices sound like "Mass Effect" in some ways, but I liked that series too and will give DA 2 a chance.

I've come across my first shop in ostagar but I couldn't afford anything? The merchant only had weapons/armor but all of it was too expensive.

If I remember right, you have a smaller quest at Ostagar before the main battle and after this initial quest can go back to the quartermaster to sell some loot. You won't be rich or anything, but you should at least buy a backpack at this point because it becomes more expensive later. Later in the Ostagar level you'll pick up a few weapons and pieces of armor during a battle.

One thing I had to get used to with "Dragon Age" is that my characters didn't get as much loot as in some games; I had to accumulate money and gradually upgrade throughout the game. Of course, during the game you'll run across some legendary weapons and armor (and will sometimes have to earn them through battle or solving puzzles, like one in the mage tower to get a dragon-slaying sword).

Hawke, the pc is human, which I have no problem with. Hawke can be male or female. Again, no problem. From this on, I have issues, some larger and some smaller.

Hawke now has a voice.

The game is now using the dialogue wheel and paraphrasing from ME/ME2.

Warriors can not use a bow/crossbow at all.

Warriors can not dual-wield.

Rogues can not use swords, axes, or maces.

Rogues can not use a shield or 2 handed weapons.

Mages can not use weapons, except their staff. [iirc, I might be wrong on this, but as far as things people have worked out so far, Arcane Warrior doesn't seem to be in the game anymore]

Rogues now do hot-rod samurai ninja type rabid kangaroo attacks, jumps, rolls, kicks, whatever. They can apparently also charge into a line of enemies and knock them down. [ignoring that a rogue usually isn't high strength and isn't wearing massive armor] There is a clip showing Hawke as a rogue, tossing a breakable flask into the air, then round-house kicking it several dozen yards away and it doesn't break until it hits the enemy. Rogue archers seem to have machine-gun bows as well.

Warriors now do AOE attacks.

You can't change your companion's outfit. You can add a belt, or jewelry. Their outfit/armor will upgrade when the game/story deems it appropriate. [No matter how stupid you might think wearing long shirt, a thong, and high boots into a fight might be]

There isn't "approval" and "disapproval"; now you have "friendship" and "rivalry".

I won't mention the He-Man/Skeletor darkspawn, since that might be personal opinion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyR1fGMCLXo

You can't really pull the camera up the way you could in DA:O. I guess, since you don't have to worry too much about your fireball/inferno spell hurting your party too badly, it doesn't matter as much.

The graphics have probably been improved. They speeded up the two handed weapon combat. These two things don't balance out the things that have been changed from the first game for me.

And no Friendly fire with AoE attacks.

@talaran so in other words its being "main streamed" or as some people like to say "dumbed down".

None of those things Talaran listed sound bad to me. :shrug:

You can expect a failed game
why did you buy that? just go and buy the best rpg ever= the witcher enhanced version
if you dont have a pc then pray that witcher 2 will be as good since it is coming for consoles also

Seems dragon age is either a love it or hate it affair. I'm really interested in digging deeper into this game which I'll be able to do later tonight. I game on consoles I don't have a gaming pc. I have both ps3/360 but I primarily use ps3. I've never played the witcher when does the second one come out?

Its a matter of personal opinion. As ~Ninja Monkey shows. Just because I don't like the restrictions and changes doesn't make it a bad game. I liked the original because it was a "throwback" to the old style games. I actually think that the game being as popular as it was came as a shock to EABioware.

Some of the mechanics could have been improved, but my personal preference would have been to leave a lot of other things unchanged. With what they have changed and the new art direction, they may actually have a larger hit than DA:O. I might even get it eventually, someday, on sale from steam. But it isn't as big of a "I have to get this" as DA:O was. But then I was following DA:O from when it was still the "un-named Bioware original game project" in the original Bioware forums. There are still original screenshots and stuff about there somewhere, I think. They had too much work already done to change things radically before releasing it. That doesn't apply to DA2. So they changes they might have thought about for DA:O they can definitely do for DA2. My personal opinion is that they might have gone a little too far in listening to what some of the people posting about the game wanted. Kind of like how most of the changes in Oblivion were things that people wanted. It just didn't turn out the way the people thought it would.

I like [and still play] ME. Not as thrilled with ME2, but I still play that one too. They are good games for what they are. I'm just not sure I can appreciate DA2 on its own merits yet.

I'm more worried about all this DLC banana shoes that Bioware is pushing than the changes to gameplay. The main reason I play Bioware games is to experience the story and characters they've put together, because they're usually the best you get in games. I loved the origins stories in DA:O, and the while the plot wasn't anything ground breaking it was still interesting and had characters that are really likable. The gameplay is really secondary to me, mostly because I just expect Bioware to put something enjoyable out there since they've never disappointed me before.

"Vastly improved" http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b85/Xetirox/da2o.jpg http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b85/Xetirox/comparison-armor2.jpg.

Hey, I said, "Probably".

They might have meant the combat and magic effects. I don't know.

I know some of the "improvements" aren't improvements to me. I liked the original darkspawn; they looked as though they were Blighted and had the capability of spreading that blight. The new ones don't look like that in the screens we've gotten so far.

I guess everyone will see come March.

All this Dragon Age talk made me start up a second play through.

The mods are pretty cool for Dragon Age too...im surprised EA let Bioware do such a thing.

2H weapons are terrible, by the time I hit they were near death.
I lost interest in DA2 due to the gameplay change, seemed way to actiony, and I dont care if people try and pass it off as varics overpowered version, because the only gameplay I have seen (2 videos) hawke has been destroying everything quickly. And if BW cared about its fans it would have shown the proper non uber gameplay, I assume they either dont want to shot it to confirm fears, or this is the normal mode...
Allthough I gained interest in the game again when I found out the Dalish are now Welsh. And one is a companion. But that was lost when I found they want me to preorder waaay before the game is out to get the signature edition. And already announced a character for the signature edition. Instead of wanting it I will wait for the GoTY edition, then buy it used. I cant stand money grabs, and this is what DA2 seems like.


I played a rogue and by the end I dodged almost alll attacks due to high dex, and was full duel weapon, assassin, duelist and shadow iirc. Felt awesome. Then I for some reason deleted him... I miss that character. Then again I messed up Oghrens quest, didnt harden Alistai, and I just give up when trying for the achivement to go everywhere in game, its insanely hard to pull off.


Who is the voice actor ? I hear they were from Origins ?
Also I was the opposite in ME, I disliked Hales voice, so I always play a guy, her voice just sounds off for me.
Also you like ME2 but not DA2, I find that strange considering imo ME2 seems much more dumbed down than DA2 has become. Unless yo just like the story more.

If we are on about DA2 looks, the darkspawn just look terrible. I dont care what they say about a unique look, they look stupid, not even remotely intimidating. The only change I like s the Qunari, they look much more unique. Also is it just me or do the new elves, have weird long necks and thin bodies ?
http://images.wikia.com/dragonage/images/1/14/Merrill-Cleaned.png New elves look terrible.

Two-handed weapon warriors need to spam abilities to do damage. Also since the weapon are slow to use, you need big attack too. So far with my current warrior i've raised Strength, Willpower and Dexterity by one point each level up. With Rally, Heroic Offense and Precise Striking misses are pretty rare. As i stated earlier, my Warrior is the primary damage dealer in the party, and so far they are pretty succesful. Of course it's harder than with cherry-picking Arcane Warrior, but that's like saying air is breathable