Dragon Age 2

It’s been like... SERIOUSLY been awhile since I’ve blogged but in life, especially modern life, as of these past decade, some things can’t be expressed in a space of 200 characters or less or totally in a Facebook status, believe it or not! =P

I think there’s a lot to get out at this juncture, and I think is not appropriate to address the catching up news in a post that I intend to make as a review!

Anyways, I purchased, or rather, got Dragon Age 2 as an early birthday present from my mum, amongst other things, bless her... I’ve gone through 2 playthroughs as it is, 1^st time as a Rogue, which was pretty much the only way to get through the first Dragon Age, maximizing battle potential and storyline-wise anyways... And the 2^nd time as a two-handed warrior, as in the 1^st Dragon Age, two-handed warriors were insufferable because a normal attack took ages to happen... They literally calculated real world physics into the swing of a giant sword, dear Lord... Therefore, I wanted to have the feel of a two-handed warrior which swings it like bloody Cloud, so I tried playing one in DA2!

Okay, right off the bat, I have to say I was disappointed. Sure, you get to choose gender and class, but Origins (DA1), had origin (hence the title) stories for each and every race and caste they were in... And also a separate one for mages, too. So you can see where the disappointment comes from, the limitation, and the similar backstory for all playthroughs with some very, very minor differences... So hero design, fail.

NPC design... Some old faces return, companions, NPCs, all that good stuff. But still, vastly reduced by comparison! Yes, I know, DA1 had a whole country for you to explore but DA2 consists of just a city maybe ¾ of Denerim AND it’s backyard but this is just unacceptable... NPC design, though preying on nostalgia and nothing more that actually sticks to your mind, fail.

Dungeon design. Oh, this riles me up... Terrible, right off the bat. Repetitive dungeons, and the laziest kind that game developers can come up with... The same HUGE dungeon, but cut off at various intervals or changed entry points and the such. Each cave looks the same. Each sewer looks the same. Some of the houses are changed up. What up with that Bioware?! FAIL!

Story... A’ite... Not so steamed up, but the story takes place over a span of 10 years. 10 years our hero Hawke has spent in Kirkwall, from refugee to Champion of Kirkwall. There is SOME change over the acts... 3 acts in total. The beginning is where our hero escapes from his hometown of Lothering, which was the first settlement to fall during the events of DA1, makes his stamp in the underground of Lothering through a year of servitude under a shady organization of their choosing. The 1^st act is where Hawke starts to get his merry band of fools together, into the Deep Roads for an expedition to get rich. This can prove to be bittersweet, or totally sweet depending on your prior decisions and there is no way of knowing until it happens, so no warning! I won’t spoil the rest for you, and also due to the fact I can’t be fucked to type the rest up, but one thing I have to bitch about is the lack of change in 10 years to a city. Sure, you foil an invasion and the such, but locales stay the same, geographically the same, nothing new pops up. No new shops, nothing. It’s 10 freaking years. Something. Anything! 10 years is enough for an old character to pass away, for a kid to be born and such... Come on! But still, enjoyable, but not as enjoyable, nor as epic as DA1 but... Pass.

Elaboration/Side note: Dragon Age 2 feels like the Back to the Future 2 or the Two Towers, if you please, to Dragon Age 1... It’s meant as a bridge, not a pretty one, but an essential bridge nonetheless. No one would pick the middle episode as the best of the trilogy or something, you know? BTTF2 was terrible. I hated it. LOTR’s Two Towers, was once again, an essential bridge. Not as heart-touching or enjoyable as the Fellowship nor as epic as Return of the King. Hawke’s deed to the world of the DA universe has no doubt epic repercussions, as he has brought a war on that the greater forces in the universe need him to put an end to.

Next! Design, weapons, armor, architecture, companions, quests. A very general topic but has so many sub topics. Weapons. Passable. Thought I would loved at least a bloody tone change like the last game in the color of the weapon especially when it’s of another material. More unique weapons and unique weapon designs. Some old designs were brought back... In terms of clothing and weapons, same models in the old game, but armor-wise, it’s all new. The Champion armor (for all classes) is fantastic, though me, amongst every other player wish that the acquisition could be a lot more satisfying and meaningful. Architecture, yes, you’re in a city, there’s limited space, bla bla blee ba... But man, I miss that feeling of epicness when I walked into Ostagar for the 1^st time... Such, grandeur... It was the same feeling you get when you saw the cities in Return of the King. Just bloody epic. Not here. COMPANIONS! Hah... A colourful cast, but easily identifiable into modern stereotypes, not so much complication and not too hard to predict their behaviour and what actions you should do around them to gain their approaval... Very weak, in my opinion. In DA1, you actually had to learn and be astounded at their histories. You yearned for their approval as their life stories as just so god damn interesting you just gotta know more! But in DA2, really now... I know where this is going... *snore* Quests! Kill this person, get this item. Been there. Done that. The storyline quests feel like you can jump off the rails too often and it’s not a good feeling. It starts to feel more necessary than essential, you know... More like something you need to do rather than something you want to do! So... Design wise... Pass overall.

So? In the end... Dragon Age 2 is a mere pass. 3.1 out of 5 and that is piss poor for a PS3 game that is worth RM100++... I really should’ve waited and did my research but no, my love for the original DA got me there... *sigh* That’ll teach me. Anyways, it’s probably expected, as Bioware is going balls out for their WoW-replacing MMORPG, the Knights of the Old Republic. Kind of like how Blizzard is ignoring everything else (Starcraft Ghost *cough* Diablo 3 *cough*) and focusing on milking more and more from WoW.

Alright, I guess that’s my comeback piece. A rant, on Dragon Age 2. Something I really needed to get out. Peace out y’all!

Gatzooks. Just A Title.

Holy motherfucking ass balls. Wait, did I open with this in my last post? Sorry... Let's go with ass monkey's on a pirate's scheneider! Fantastic...

And welcome to another edition of Beneath the Thorns with your host, YOOOONNNGGG!!!

The things I'd give for a gameshow host introduction whenever I walk into a room.

Anyways. Wow. Time flies when you're having brill fun, eh? It's after Merdeka! To be precise, it's fucking September already. Mooncake festival's in like a month's time... Can't believe it's gonna be a year since we were all happily fucking around in Pui Yee's house, having steamboat and playing with lanterns and watching the Moon move! Oh shittt... I totally forgot about that one...

I'm on sem break right now... Going back coming Saturday to Sunway 'cause me mum bought tickets for this Sesame Street play way back and now it's here... Show's gonna be at Bukit Jalil Stadium... the indoor part... exactly where the 30 Hour Famine finale was. Dear Lord... bad memories. Still, I don't wanna tarnish anything anymore relating to that horrid Apocalypse-level event anymore than I already have. Finito. Nada.

Went to Penang on 30th August. Yeah, Merdeka eve but didn't stay long enough to do shit... Luckily at least this time me and my girl managed to do most of the things tourist get to do in Penang... visit a few places and grab some local delicacies... Booya!

I finally visited the Toy Museum! =D

Won't be posting the photos here 'cause the process is just too tedious and I just can't be fucked anymore really... Will be up on Facebook no worries!

A'ite... gonna head out for lunch soon. I'm out bitches. Peace

How It Be Going?

Holy motherfucking ass balls. I just checked the date of my last update and god damn... I've been procrastinating worse than Ace Venture on the rent!

Anyways, the important thing is that I am here and updating! Alright... what's been happening in the world of Yoong, you ask? Not much.

I am officially back in Indahvilla. This is week 4 of VU and I've already handed my first assignment. The PS3 is also in Indahvilla so it's getting a good workout from the lads, particularly in the GTA4 and the Fifa departments. I don't play the latter but the former, I just love watching them lads play around and mow down every simpering simpleton in the virtual city of Liberty.

Speaking of Los PS3, I've revived my gaming life... by purchasing two new PS3 games. First off, LOST PLANET 2, on a whimsical recommendation and SPIDERMAN:WEB OF SHADOWS after months of research and craving. I've come to pass as a real PS3 junkie due to the fact that I find it disappointing that Spiderman: WoS does not have any trophies! What the fuck is up with that son? Anyways, it is still a very satisfying game and the combat mechanics vary a lot between the Red Suit and the Black Suit Spiderman and yet provides a very fun way of mixing matching your moves to the point that it is all in one fluid, dynamic attack.

LOST PLANET 2 however, was a real gem with a lot of replayability. Why? Just the multiplayer, that's it! You can play pretty much the whole game in multiplayer. I am serious! Just the campaign... you don't have to finish it off by yourself! You can team up with 3 other dudes on the PS Network and take on the whole campaign, just like that. To top that shit off, the campaign itself is awesome... the storyline's not stellar but epic for sure, due to the sheer hours involved and the effort in there.

Honestly I actually had a lot more to write in this post but now I'm just feeling lazy, and hungry and bottomline is I can't be fucked at the moment... So I'll be back soon enough folks... Peace!