Post by Bytor on Jul 2, 2012 4:35:01 GMT -5
-Visuals- 9.4/10
OK...here I go again....yep, it's almost as if the game should get ...wait for it...two different scores for visual presentation lol. One the one hand the character models and animations were, for the most part, not only a vast improvement over Origins but very, very well done period! The various characters are all wonderful (is it wrong to admit I have a "game crush" on Isabella?), and while certainly many of the Dalish and Dwarves looked alike there was still slightly enough difference to individualize them. The facial animations were wonderfully done as well, which is, or at least can be, certainly an oddity in games which attempt to render like like animations. And now the love fest dwindles just a bit. I am not going to complain about the fact that you traverse the same areas again and again and so the visual score should be lower due to looking at the same areas over and over (I'm looking at you IGN, how silly). But, I will complain a bit about the textures rendered in the areas, especially the areas outside of the city itself (I found Kirkwall to look simply wonderful BTW!). The landscape simply did not look as good as the group traveling through it.There was also quite a bit of clipping and some environment interactions which led to a few humorous movements by my group (and wait until you see everyone's weapons floating on their back, lol)and at times the animations seem to stutter just a bit, but, not enough for me to complain overly much, just a minor annoyance. Overall, I very nice game to look at.
PS be ready for some bloody people after fights, hehehe
-Sound- 9.6/10
This is a sense a hard score to give, on the other hands it's really simple. In a word the voice acting is phenomenal. On the other I didn't feel the music was anything fantastic, nor were the sound effects, not bad and indeed absolutely adequate but not overwhelming, while the voice acting was incredible. Isabella was great, Varric was wonderful (the back and forth between these two made it even better) and even you (the main character are fully voice acted. I simply had a blast listening to my allies banter back and forth during explorations and often would even stop moving simply to listen to them argue and BS, simply an awesome job writing and an even better job acting. So...I am not going to deduct for a less than superb ,musical score but be aware, I personally did not find it to be overwhelming at all.
-Gameplay- 9.7/10
I don't get it. The vast majority of complaints I have read concerning this game are that people hate the huge difference in the battles and systems in place compared to Origins and I have one word for the detractors, rubbish. The battles are not exact thus admitted but close enough an to be honest I liked the upgrade system much, much more. I felt the various classes you can reach to actually matter more and as in the previous game there are ample weapons, armors and accessories which made it a lot of fun deciding how I wanted to equip my characters and how I wanted them to act in battle. Overall a wonderful, wonderful system. I for one, would be perfectly happy if Dragon Age III comes out and nothing in the gameplay is changed at all!
-Story- 9.7/10
Very interesting turn this game takes, unlike Origins this is not a quest to save the world, over even a region of the world to be honest. Instead it's all about the intrigue and politics in one city, the city of Kirkwall and to be honest while in the beginning I was afraid the lack of (or almost anyhow) a single linear quest would detract from the story and cause the game to seem like a fetch and quest adventure. Boy was I wrong! The various side quests combined with the "companion" story arcs and the main story built up a truly wonderful gaming experience where you decide exactly how you want the story to progress based on the quests you challenge and the way you handle them personality wise. Honestly this has to be one of the best story driven games I have ever played!
-Overall- #9.6/10
I am going to make it short and simple. This game is simply one of the best games I have ever played on the PS3...end of story.