So it's not the most current of news, but Dragon Age 2 has a demo out for everyone to try out (not 100% sure on Xbox 360). Being fortunate enough to play PC games and own a PS3, I got to try out the demo for both and compare the differences between them.
Source: Youtube Channel Games
I have to be honest and say that I didn't play Dragon Age: Origins and only tried out the PS3 version when I was at a game store. My experience with Dragon Age 1 made me feel like the game was really slow, the fighting was automatic and not directly controlled, and that it was going to be mainly about the story seeing how it's by BioWare who makes incredible stories for games (granted that it was only 5 minutes). So when I heard about the soon to be released Dragon Age 2, I kind of didn't care. Recently, I've been playing Demon's Souls and suddenly had an urge for good old Medieval themed RPG (and remedied that by playing Mount and Blade). Then I saw the demo was available for Steam and PSN and decided to try out the one on Steam for PC which led to trying out the console version out on PS3.
"How does the same exact game play so differently?" I kept asking myself this when I played the PS3 version of the demo after the PC version.
Steam PC Version
I turn to Steam a lot these days when it comes to PC gaming (when not free MMO related) and so I saw the demo available for it. When I got into the game, I was surprised to see that the camera was in the orientation of a top-down RTS action RPG that looked like Dungeon Siege with controls like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. The skills for the character are lined up on the numbers like all other RPGs on PC and the gameplay is very fast-paced. It was hard to click on the enemies I specifically want to strike at because of how fast they were moving and how I had to keep moving the camera around. I was very surprised since I was expecting something similar to Demon's Souls where the camera was behind the character and the fighting was done through buttons rather than clicking. I got this impression from the five minutes I spent on the PS3 version of the first Dragon Age and wasn't expecting a top-down point and click Action RPG. The camera and fighting was really hard to control, but the game had a lot of action to it and gave a lot of control to the whole party for the player. I learned today from a video that it didn't have to be chaotic and can be very strategic:
Source: Youtube Channel 0Antar0
So if you're the type of player who is looking for a bit more challenge and like the point-and-click style action RPG with keyboard/mouse style controls, then the PC version is for you.
Playstation 3 Console version
This is EXACTLY what I was expecting and hoped for. The controls are a lot more responsive and makes much more sense from what I remember from the first Dragon Age. The camera is by default behind the character in a 3rd-person perspective and attacking and skills are executed through the buttons. The combat system feels much more different from the PC version and does an incredible job of adapting to a console controller. I was very curious as to how the game was going to adapt all the skills with the limited amount of buttons and the party mechanics with no mouse to point and click. Certain skills pauses the game to allow the player to strategically place where the spell or item to be executed at rather than having the player manually pause it like in the video demonstration for the PC version. The game plays very fluidly and works much like an Action hack-n-slash game which feels much easier to adapt to than the controls on the PC version. For those who want a 3rd-person action style RPG similar to Phantasy Star Online, Demon's Souls, or Vindictus, then the console version is the way to go.
I find the differences between the game mechanics to be interesting and think it's great for the developer to allow players to choose the style of play they're most comfortable with. The PC version is really exciting and it's interesting to have the choice to pause the game and strategically set where skills are executed. It's geared towards PC players who are accustomed to point-n-click RPGs, RTS games, and tactical games. The console version makes much more sense to the console gamer to make it into a sort of action hack-n-slash. It's going to be really hard to choose which one to buy, but I am leaning more towards buying a copy for the PS3 since I'll eventually be buying Diablo 3 for my point-n-click RPG desires. For those who have not tried Dragon Age before, go and try out the demo for the sequel.
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