Yesterday (Sunday) GameStop called me up to tell me I could pick up my copy of Dragon Age 2 Monday night at midnight, but, that I should get there early, as early as 10 P.M.. I'm guessing GameStop is having a release party and maybe even giving away some free swag (possibly DA2 shirts or something). I'm going to call them this afternoon and ask them if I should really be there a whole two hours early. If they're not going to put it in my hands until 12 A.M. I'm not going to be there two hours early. For one I'm way too sick to be able to stand there for that length of time. I wouldn't want to sit there for that long either as I'd still be in pain either way. I'll probably show up around 11:30 or so. If they're giving away free stuff that probably means I'll miss out on it, but, I'm just happy to get the game.
Who all has played the demo? I've played through it twice now on a lap-top I can use from in bed. I've played through it as a mage and a warrior. Depending on how I feel I may give it a run through as a rogue some time today. Honestly, I'm liking the feel of the game (demo) minus a couple small annoyances.
1. Even on the PC version, unless it's in the full version and wasn't in the demo, they got rid of the Isometric over-head view. That kind of pisses me off. I've read two separate previews and one says the iso view is in and another says it's gone, so, I guess I'll find out tonight.
2. I'm not sure I like the conversation "wheel". I preferred the method of conversation from DA:O. I may be in the minority there, but, I feel this wheel thing is just an excuse to use a short-cut. It only gives you the "gist" of what the actual reply is anyway and doesn't list what your character will say word for word. It does how-ever give you a little picture representing the emotion that will be conveyed in the reply you give (good, neutral, evil).
Aside from those two things I didn't see anything else in the demo I didn't like. I was honestly afraid that by speeding up the combat like they did that they would have gotten rid of the tactical feeling that DA:O's combat had. Fortunately the tactical feeling is alive and intact despite the more action oriented combat. If you haven't played the demo because of the fear that the sped up combat has taken away the tactics, have no fear, it's still there.
Most of the sites that have given previews say the graphics are much improved over the first game, but honestly, aside from some better animations (which really doesn't count as "graphics" if you ask me) it looks pretty much the same except with a slightly different style to parts of the games over-all look. The graphics are good, just as good as the first game and the newer look does indeed look good as well, but I'm not seeing a huge improvement in the graphics that some of the sites are raving about.
The voice work in the demo is great and I can't complain there. The UI is basically non-existent how-ever. At the bottom of the screen where your skills are displayed there's not even a box to outline them. There's a slightly grayed area where your skills are listed side by side in what-ever order you'd like to list them. You can arrange them in which-ever order you'd like.
So, originally I had my doubts that by changing the combat the game wouldn't feel like Dragon Age, but that's not a worry anymore. The only real important draw back to me has been the lack of a pulled back iso view. Needless to say for the most part I'm greatly looking forward to getting the game tonight. If you haven't pre-ordered the game and you liked the first one, get your ass to the store and lay down the money. If you don't you're missing out!!!
