Even to this day PS2 emulation is still rough around the edges. I was able to run Jak 1-3 at fine speeds along with Ratchet 1-3, but guess what? All are filled to the brim with graphical glitches and we can't do shit about it until it's fixed.
Honestly the PCSX2 emulation community is so lazy compared to Dolphin. Twilight Princess has a problem? Fixed immediately, no questions asked. Jak has a problem? Eh, leave it alone not a big deal.
Honestly the games are near unplayable to me with these awful bugs that haven't been fixed to this day still...
I did manage to get Ape Escape 3 running full speed with 0 problems along with Rayman Revolution
Despite the fact I've heard a lot of members had lag in the Japanese version of Revolution on PCSX2 I've had no such thing! You guys just need better PC's.
It just amazes me how all three Ratchet and Jak games are filled to the brim with problems. Aren't these some of the biggest PS2 platformers?
True, but all emulators revolve around the act of reverse engineering, their developers don't have the knowledge that Sony's engineers would have of the PS2's architecture and the like.
My point is that if PCs can run emulators based off reverse engineering, I'd think the PS4 shouldn't have much trouble running PS2 titles based off official information and knowledge.
Talking about such games, I've been playing Ratchet and Clank 1 recently (on my actual PS2) because I've decided to try and complete every game I've started and never completed.
I think Sony just doesn't have any interest. I own a PS2 anyways so it really doesn't matter to me.
Master wrote:My point is that if PCs can run emulators based off reverse engineering, I'd think the PS4 shouldn't have much trouble running PS2 titles based off official information and knowledge.
And yet the PS2 emulation on PS3 had to be some of the most atrocious stuff I've ever seen, I'll take PCSX2 over that any day.
It would be cool to see PS2 emulation with upscaling on PS4 but that's simply a dream.
Ambidextroid wrote:Talking about such games, I've been playing Ratchet and Clank 1 recently (on <'s actual PS2) because I've decided to try and complete every game <'s started and never completed.
This is going to take a long time...
Ratchet & Clank are all fairly short games, if you're 100%ing them though it'll take some time. I'm quite proud to say I've 100%ed all three of the original titles on PS3!
But then again, the PS2 in my household may not even work. I may need to buy another unit if so. I could buy Dalmatians 3 or Animal Soccer World alongside with it.
Rayfist wrote:I think Sony just doesn't have any interest. I own a PS2 anyways so it really doesn't matter to me.
Master wrote:My point is that if PCs can run emulators based off reverse engineering, I'd think the PS4 shouldn't have much trouble running PS2 titles based off official information and knowledge.
And yet the PS2 emulation on PS3 had to be some of the most atrocious stuff I've ever seen, I'll take PCSX2 over that any day.
It would be cool to see PS2 emulation with upscaling on PS4 but that's simply a dream.
Was that with the original PS3 versions, or the first revision? If memory serves, the first revision used software emulation, while the original used some PS2 hardware.
Released by Bioware in 2011, Dragon Age II is a RPG action-focused fantasy game and a sequel to the first Dragon Age (Dragon Age: Origins). It takes place in the world of Thedas, in a different country from the first game, which avoids repetitiveness and enables you to discover a bit more of this world.
You are Hawke, a human character that you can customize in several different ways: appearance, gender, and three classes (warrior, rogue, or mage). You begin the game fleeing your hometown with your family (your sister, your brother, and your mother) as it has been invaded by the bad guys from the first game. Depending on your class, one your siblings will automatically die during the prologue...wait, what?
The end of the run ends up with you being transported to a part of the world called The Free Marches, in the city of Kirkwall, where most of the plot and the game will happen next.
The game is divided into three main sections, called Acts, where essential events to the plot happen, and where the plot itself is more focused on one particular aspect of the environment, although several elements are common to all of them (like the opposition between mages, who were born this way, and templars, people trying to control the mages so they won't create issues as they can become potential monsters and hurt a lot of people with their abilities).
Act I!
The first plot is about you making a name for yourself in a gang of the city, as you came here without any money, and your uncle sold your estate due to his issues with debts (it sucks, huh?). You are gathering money and intel for a specific expedition in The Deep Roads, a underground zone of the dwarves' realm where many things are abandoned and tresaures might be found...
It ends up with the brother of your main dwarf friend betraying you for a possessed statue, and your last brother/sister dying from an illness or being captured, thus being unavailable for the rest of the game.
Okay...
Act II!
A part of a race called The Qunari found themselves stuck in the city due to a shipwreck a few years ago. You are acting around them based on the viscount's orders, as your return from the underground enabled you to reclaim your estate and status with all the money you brought up with you. The act ends up with you trying to find the relic The Qunari have lost in the city and have been looking for for years...only to find out it had been stolen away by the pirate member of your crew. She will actually take it away from you a it is her only way to get rid of a gang, causing The Qunari to invade the city, kill the viscount, and attack citizens. As you face off their leader, your "friend" may come back to give back the relic, but you will have to kill the leader anyway.
Oh yeah, I forgot...you mother got killed after being turned into a puppet by a mad man during this act, and you end having only your uncle left in your family...wait, WHAAAAAT?
Act III!
People who helped you defeat The Qunari in Act II are the leader of the mage group, first enchanter Orsino, and the leader of the templars, knight-commander Meredith. They represent their own faction and the tensions existing between them. Then tension grows more and more intense as the act goes on, culminating when one your mage friend decides to make the equivalent for christianism church, called The Chantry, blow up, and thus causing an all-out war between them.
You have to choose a side, but either way, you will have to kill both leaders to finish the game.
I was a bit disappointed by the end of the game, not as epic as in the first opus. You just kill two bosses and there are three packs of enemies between them.
However, fighting Meredith is quite a challenge, and it's a nice boss battle.
Pluses:
+ The action-packed combat system: in Origins, you would have to determine the course of your actions very slowly. The fights, although wanting to seem dynamic, weren't at all. Attack animations were not that great, and music was kinda "meh", sometimes. In DAII, you have to pay attention a lot more to the battlefield, as your teammates can be isolated and singled-out very quickly by enemies who pop out of nowhere (wait...why is my mage dead? Ah, kay, a fucking assassin backstabbed him :'(...). But you can also move across it very fast and take care of some enemies like archers in a more practical way.
Mages attack moves are way nicer and more badass: you actually do damage with something else than spells there!
+ The focus on one particular place: Sure, you could go around an entire country before, while here it's mainly focused into one big city. Some may find it limiting, but Bioware managed to immerse you quite well into your surroundings: graphics are great and well done, and you care for everything happening from hightown to lowtown.
+ Plot twists: although they are somewhat "predictable", these twists are pure evil. In a game where you can make choices and influence people around you with them, Bioware shows there is still a great part of it you can't control, especially about your family and your teammates. Hey, who would expect while starting to play that almost all the characters showing themselves beside you in the prologue would end up dead at the end ANYWAY? (Only Aveline stays, and she can leave you in the final part). Anders and Isabela are kinda assholes, as they lead to the issues you are facing at the end of Act II and Act III.
+ The final fight: Oh, man, this fight is worth a raid boss in World of Warcraft. If this happens in a RPG game, you know it's going to be hard to do everything right.
Meredith is a nightmare for any close-range fighter, and even a big tank with tons of resistance has a hard time against her. Not ot mention she can jump your range characters at ease, makes statues fight for her, or throw a freaking big AOE burst which send you flying over the entire court. That's a hell of a last fight, and it probably saved the ending for me.
+ Teammates' richness: well, that's a common thing in Bioware games. They are known for producing some of the best characters i've met so far in RPGs, whether it be through Knights of The Old Republic, Mass Effect, or Dragon Age. And this game is no exception: from the vary-reserved and professional Aveline to the swearing and slutty Isabela, they all have a very unique personality and their impact on your story is quite essential. I'd say only the elves are a bit shallow (Merill is okay, but Fenris is, huh, not really exceptional for me).
+ Varric Tethras: I could have talked about this guy in the previous +, but, well...he's Varric. The guy telling your story though the entirety of the game, always fond of very good jokes, and looking so handsome. Like, who would think a dwarf would be THAT handsome? Everything in his chracter fits very well into the story, and he's probably the only reason why it's doesn't look so dark with all the nasty things happening in Dragon Age II.
I could talk a lot more about Varric, but I guess you should play the game if you want to see what he's all about.
Minuses:
- Movement during fights: Talking about this as I played rogue, so it's maybe not as much important for other classes.
If you are engaging an enemy at a certain distance with rogues, they will usually do a tumble or a big jump to reach them faster. The big deal is that this move is blocked by terrain or not reaching its target if the enemy is runnig away from you or to one of your teammates fleeing him. and this is just SO ANNOYING. Most of the time, it's better to walk around to do the same thing, losing you a good amount of time and breaking all the thrill about playing a rogue and switching targets at ease. Fuck this...
- A main plot not that progressive: with each Act, a different main plot, more or less. And that's the problem: it's hard to see the end coming or building up. I didn't see it until Anders made the church blow up and mages and templars started to fight each other. And then, I was like, "oh, well, the grand final is there...".
- The ending: Yes, I'm repeating myself, but you simply engage a fight after you chose a side, kill Orsino first, then Meredith second, after just a few packs. In the first game, you would have to go through several stages of a city, fight lieutenants, and manage the fighter ressources you had gathered through the game: you could ask for the help of dwarve soldiers, elven mages, humans, and even mercenaries if I remember. Plus you have a limited amount of them and you can only call one faction at once, so you can't roll over the entirety of enemies there are here.
So, yes, the final stage of the game was quite disappointing. I was expecting a bit more, even if the context didn't allow for such a nice setup.
Pfiou, that's it, boyz'n'girls! Overall, a good game to play. I'm planning on buying Dragon Age: Inquisition, which came out only 6 months ago, but it's still very expensive (60 €...EH?).
Rayfist wrote:
Honestly the PCSX2 emulation community is so lazy compared to Dolphin. Twilight Princess has a problem? Fixed immediately, no questions asked. Jak has a problem? Eh, leave it alone not a big deal.
Well, I believe I reported to Dolphin the Rayman Arena crashing glitch in Rise&Shrine around four years ago and no fix in sight so far. However, I would like to see Rayman Revolution's framerate a bit fixed in PCSX2.
Got Gunman Clive for the 3DS. It cost two dollars and you can beat the game in less than half an hour. It's sort of worth it since it gives you three different characters that really mixed up the gameplay.
Rayfist told that on his PC there was no such lag. Those videos Haruka made are a bit old and I am sure if she tried it on her new PC that it would work without lag and much better.
The actual framerate issues from the PS2 are obviously still present in PCSX2, but I've had no unnatural lag. I was even told the Japanese version ran worse but I had no problems.
Back when I recorded the walkthrough I was still using my 2007 computer, I should have a look of how it behaves in the current one that I have for 9 months.
Rayfist wrote:The actual framerate issues from the PS2 are obviously still present in PCSX2, but I've had no unnatural lag. I was even told the Japanese version ran worse but I had no problems.
Japanese version seems to be more demanding than others but it seems that when you have good PC they all run good.
Thanks to the steam sales I managed to score the entire Bioshock trilogy along with Valkyria Chronicles.
Unfortunately I can't play ANY of these until my GPU is back, but I can't wait to! Also I should thank Ad for gifting me the entire Far Cry trilogy. It was a while back but still.
I do want to continue Far Cry 3... oddly enough something fascinates me so much more about Blood Dragon though, the strange sci-fi setting, god damn I really want to play it.
