Now there's already 101 threads dedicated to peoples own opinions towards the Dragon Age 2 demo, but with so many then surely another can't hurt? And if it does BIG WHUP, WANNA FIGHT ABOUT IT
So, Dragon Age 2.. I was a day late with my own indulgence into the origins (Or singular origin I should say) of Hawke due to the PS3 being my online proprietor of choice, which while in the UK also unexplainably leaves all PS store updates to take place the day after.. usually at around 4pm as well, for the added insult. In any case, wednesday arrived, and my own playthroughs through these small snippets began!
Dragon Age 2 as an demo
It's pretty shoddy, overall. It definitely gives a good taste of what to expect but only in its simplest forms. You engage in a few battles, level up a little and get the chance to converse a few times, but no Hawke customisation, looted armour/weapons to equip and an incredibly rushed turn to the recruiting of Isabella has not left me with the feeling that this demo is all that it could be. Especially when you compare it to the Mass Effect 2 demo released this year, which gave maybe almost an hours worth of content in there? With everything you needed to experience to understand the aspects of Mass Effect 2.
The dialogue choices in between all the action brake up the pace nicely much like you'd expect, and give a good representation of just what sort of ''emotes'' you can expect, and then some. No idea what the ''diamond'' emote means.
Dragon Age 2 on the ps3
Now this is also where the demo began to lose me a little. Overall, it's a massive improvement from how Origins ran on the PS3, but little inklings still exist; such as there always being a slight pause when combat will transition to cutscenes, aswell as stuttering during conversations at that. The worst of all is one that has been brought forth from Origins itself. The glitch that should you enter the wheel too fast when combat is initiated, it'll completely reverse the properties with the game pausing when the wheels down, and in motion when the wheels up! Looks like BioWare took the 'importing from Origins'' feature a little too seriously. The main problem, however, is that during Origins when this happened all I had to do was pause the game to revert everything to normal... not in DA2, I'm afraid, which required to exit the bloody game!I also really didn't enjoy having to constantly press X over and over for the character I'm controlling to attack. Fortunately that can be turned off, but why it wasn't an option brings me back to why this was just a really weird and lame demo. It's still well above the technical prowess of Origins non the less, so one step at a time, I guess..
Dragon Age 2 as an RPG
This is totally a Dragon Age game! It plays very similar to its previous console counterpart, and even with some improvements this time around, like actually allowing you to stack up a command per party member, instead of instantly reverting to gameplay once you selected an action for a single party member.The style of it is also lookin' pretty good, though from what they shown in the demo isn't anything that'll strike you nor give you much reason to believe otherwise. A great deal more animations at least give the game a new coat of polish. The melee animations I don't like as much, though; more specifically with the 2H weapons. In Origins they really felt like they carried all this weight, while in DA2 it's all so swift and doesn't match the feeling of power nor the brute force that is required in Origins. Mages are significantly better, though, I'll admit. Especially since they can use their staves as a melee weapon should the need arise.
The voice acting is another mixed affair, similar to Origins I suppose, with some pretty good performances (Varric is really rather awesome) to some downright flat attempts at emotion. (is my mum doped on pain killers or something?)
The classes all feel so much more distinctive over another, and while some cuts are pretty sucky, such as no bows for warriors, it makes sense in the grand scheme and assures you that each class will give you a radically different kind of Hawke. Speaking of Hawke, it's tough to judge at this point, but from what I've seen s/he's fine at this point I think. It is nice to have your character have a voice, even if it is at the sacrifice at a much more restricted character. The dialogue wheel that accompanies it is a fine gesture as well, with you now being assured as to what'll push the conversations forward and wish are there to keep it on the same level, thanks to the 'Investigation' menu found on the left.
All in all, I'm willing to accept Hawke as the lead and will still no doubt find a multitude of reasons to get right back into it and vary up my choices. Mass Effect 2 was still able to get me six playthroughs, so Dragon Age 2 is a shoe in :P
Moving away from the Medieval Fantasy to a more modern, fist in face orientated environment:
Yakuza 4!
Unfortunately there's really not that much to say about it. All the demo offers is you to battle it out as each character, one after another. Starting with Shun Akiyama (who looks to of become this games leading man, over Kazuma), Masayoshi Tanimura, Taiga Saejima and then finally the Master Lord God himself, Kazuma.
It at least gives you enough to help differentiate the four characters. Naturally they all have their own combos and HEAT moves, but then there's the huge imposing bruiser Taiga who can lift objects the others cannot. It was especially fun as Kazuma, who is rife with all of his trademark attacks and plenty of his Yakuza 3 upgrades from the outset. And playing as Masayoshi was a thrill as his fighting ground was atop a roof, to were he could fling the enemies right off should he have himself in HEAT mode.
No opportunities to explore any of the HUB worlds is a shame, with no minigames to test yourself with, but the games main draw, the combat, is well established thanks to this, still terribly short, demo.
Not like I needed much more persuasion, but even still the demo of Yakuza 4 has assured me that the fighting is as incredibly brutal and fun as I would of hoped. There were still moments that had me literally laugh out loud over the absurdity, and while the demo may be short, it's still enjoyable enough for me to head right back in!
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