Being EXCLUSIVELY a console and handheld gamer since I was but a wee lad, I'm just a novice when it comes to the idea of a strategic, real-time RPG. If you were to mention Baldur's Gate to me, I'd automatically assume you were talking about Dark Alliance, the top down hack and slasher (if that gives you any sort of perspective). As such, when Bioware brought the much lauded Dragon Age to consoles and I actually played, I experienced conflicting emotions as I trudged through a playthrough. Although I really loved the world Bioware had created, loved the character depth and interaction, and the myriad options for building a Darkspawn slaying crew, I continually got the sneaking suspicion that this game was not made for me.
But not only did I feel it was not made for me, but I felt as if it was not made for console gamers as a whole.
So when I heard Dragon Age II was going to take a more action-oriented, more console friendly approach, I was one of the few who was way more excited for the game because of it. If Bioware wanted to make the game more like Mass Effect, more power to them. Luckily, Bioware ALSO had the good sense to release a demo to show just how all that actionin' up and refinin' was supposed to work. And ya know what? It's good.
From a combat standpoint, the game just feels a lot crisper. Instead of pointing in the direction of a baddie, and hitting A to engage in a disconnected battle of attrition, now every push of the A button executes an attack. This works in the console's favor in two ways; by making combat much more engaging, and avoiding the "trapped" feeling one would almost always feel like whilst in combat. With this combat system, you can freely flank, retreat, and crowd control because you can easily engage multiple targets.
I played as a mage during the demo, and after taking control of my front line fighters and directing them to intercept and stop the approaching hordes, I easily stood back and blasted away at them from a safe distance. Never did I feel like I couldn't get away, or that I was locked into combat with a specific target whilst my help was needed elsewhere. This may mean that the game is a tad more forgiving, but I certainly felt that strategy was needed in many of the tougher battles. It's just now much more accessible to a console gamer like me.
The other major improvement is the game's graphical style. Notice I didn't say graphics as a whole, because this honestly doesn't look much better than Origins. Now, however, conversations and cutscenes have a much less stiff take to them, and are far more interesting to watch unfold. It also doesn't hurt that faces look much better and animate in a more realistic fashion. Still, textures don't look all that great, and in my opinion, the redesigns for the Darkspawn character models actually look WORSE, but as a whole, this new art style is definitely working in the game's favor (at least on consoles).
My final thoughts from this demo is simply this; Dragon Age II has improved that which I disliked about the first one, and seemingly maintained that which worked. Only the final product will truly tell, but I'm in full support of the changes going on here. Some may scoff that the game is being "dumbed down", or that they're trying to draw in a larger audience by emulating Bioware's other major franchise. I can't attest to that one way or another. What I CAN say is that the game still fundamentally feels like Dragon Age... just funner. At the end of the day, that's really all I ever asked for.
I'm Champion Hawke, and this is my favorite shoppe in Lothering...
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