Dragon Age II

1. Alodar

   Mar 8, 2011

   10

   I really enjoyed the new combat. Characterization is fantastic. I love the new dialogue system and improved character development.
   This gameI really enjoyed the new combat. Characterization is fantastic. I love the new dialogue system and improved character development.
   This game is a lot of fun.… Expand

   • 48 of 218 users found this helpful
2. Noelemahc

   Mar 13, 2011

   9

   An interesting marriage of the decision-making mechanics codified by Alpha Protocol, an extensively rehashed dialogue system of the MassAn interesting marriage of the decision-making mechanics codified by Alpha Protocol, an extensively rehashed dialogue system of the Mass Effect series and the role-playing system of the original Dragon Age, this game would have received a lot less undeserved criticism if people were judging it as a Gaiden game instead of being a true sequel. It feels and acts like a Gaiden game, after all - most of its events are not significantly related to those of Origins, although the decisions you've made there certainly make an impact on the otherwise insular world of Kirkwall and the Free Marches.
   The streamlined dialogue system, caused mostly by the introduction of a voiced protagonist, now tracks your overall behaviour and that affects how your character acts and reacts to outside stimuli when out of your direct control - something added for cinematic impact, and something a lot of people find jarring and unpleasant for an unbelievably wide amount of (mostly) daft reasons.
   The rehashed combat is faster-paced, aimed obviously at pleasing those who did not enjoy the previous game's rather old-school approach to tactical combat, while not flawless, still behaves better than the one in KotOR, for example, the thought of which it was obviously supposed to invoke due to the overall similarity. While it may be uncomfortable for hardened PC veterans to get used to the idea of a non-detachable camera, it does not detract from the enjoyment of the game, as those who play with direct control over one character and AI tactics over the others will not notice it at all, and those who play via micromanaging every character's every breath in battle will generally manage on a level too micro for it to cause them statistically significant discomfort.
   The story itself, based off the foregone conclusion that your protagonist has somehow gone and helped the world become a worse place through trying to make it a better one, makes a lot of people complain that there is no core to the story - how they missed the focus on the evolution of a refugee into the Champion of a city-state is beyond me. Most of the quests - both central to the story and not - revolve around you and your involvement in the city's internal affairs, and the game goes out of its way to show the impact it can and will have on the day-to-day lives of its people. Those expecting something more similar to the first game's crusade against evil will probably be disappointed - but that does not mean that this game's story is any weaker than the last one's.
   The companions you will travel with are a mix of new and old - two NPCs from Origins return as actual companions - Isabela, the pirate queen you could have a tryst with as the Grey Warden, and Merrill, the protagonist's friend in the Dalish Elf origin - and two companions from Awakenings return as, well, one companion - Anders has become the new vessel for the Spirit of Justice, but that did not go well for either of them. The rest of the team are new to the story of the setting, but they all come with their own load of emotional baggage, issues and aspirations - wildly conflicting ones, at that - which you will have to take into account when dealing with them.
   Another nice element borrowed from Alpha Protocol is the rivalry element - you no longer suffer penalties from having your companions hate you, as was the case in Origins (though if you play your cards wrong they WILL leave the party and never come back), instead, their personality changes to reflect the wrongs you inflicted on them and they gain bonuses that benefit them and them alone, instead of you or the whole party. A nice touch, that, and another handy step towards the humanization of our companions - they will often clash with each other about their beliefs and intentions while walking with you through the city or the surrounding landscapes, often with hilarious conclusions.
   
   Indeed, the game is not devoid of problems - the need to download the high-quality textures as a separate patch to make the game look even remotely modern, the horrifyingly crippling graphical card compatibility problems which require a lot of shamanic magic to attain a stable FPS count on an nVidia chipset, especially an older one, and the copy-and-paste based dungeons stand out as the foremost ones. However, none of these really detract from the fun you could be having with this game instead of bashing it on the Internet, and the subtlety of some of the design decisions (like the fact that the appearance of your family members will change along with the appearance of your protagonist, or that the magical cure-all Special Dialogue Option Button borrowed from Mass Effect along with its dialogue system will no longer actually solve ALL the problems) helps reinforce the fact that this is, in fact, a beneficial step in the evolution of the genre.
   
   It is with that thought that I end my review - this game WILL BE LEGENDARY. If only because of its impact on the gaming community.… Expand

   • 2 of 19 users found this helpful
4. wiwefak

   Mar 14, 2011

   7

   Dragon Age 2, isnt something what i expected it to be. Maybe i was hoping for DA:O sequal. The game does have improvment at some points. TheDragon Age 2, isnt something what i expected it to be. Maybe i was hoping for DA:O sequal. The game does have improvment at some points. The combat is more fun now, it isnt clunky and the animations are smooth. It was nice to see my rogue just kill stuff with style. The spells and skills look nice, First time i casted rock armor i was amazed how much better it looked compared to DA:O. The new Qunari look nice, but in the game you dont see any female Qunari's also you dont see any female Dwarfs. The dialogue wheel is something they tried to take over from ME2, but it dosent fit for DA2. In a rpg i wanna be the character and choose what i say like i did in DA:O, but with the new dialogue wheel i often felt like i didnt bother reading any options. Making me pay less attention to the story. I always knew top was good, middle was neutral and bottom was evul. So i always clicked the top one and didnt bother reading anything else. Which was a huge letdown. In DA:O you had so many diffrent choices and you chose the option which felt what you would have said so you were thinking what you would do, you were in the game. Also the dialogue options were sometimes confusing, because i hoped it to say something diffrent and it kept me sometimes wondering if i pressed something wrong or could the other options say what i wanted to say.
   
   Companions:
   Companion customization is dumbed down. You can't change ur companion armor, except rings,necklace, belt and weapon. In a rpg i always want to customize all my characters. Or maybe it was too much to expect. 1,5 years to make a sequal isnt that much, comparing to DA:O and i guess Bioware didnt have the time to make armors for your companions. But not being able to change armors, resulted my main character who was a rogue, have more armor/defence than my tank. Even though you can upgrade your companion armors, by getting some special upgraders or doing companion quests it isnt as effective compared to DA:O, where you could give them your old set.
   
   Another thing about companions, you cant talk to them everytime you want. Basically if you want to know about them you need to wait for the companion quest to open. I always was checking all my companions, because i wanted to know about them more, but i never was able to talk with them unless they had a quest and that wasnt really what i was looking forward to. In DA:O you could talk with them everywhere, which was great, but now the only chance to talk with them is during companion quests and occasionaly cutscenes. In DA:O, you talked with them everytime gave them gifts, laughed at their jokes and dialogues, but now it feels like they removed it from the game. True the companions to have funny dialogue with eachother from time to time, but here i don't bother listening to them at all, unless its Varrick whos talking. Varrick will probably be the companion i will remeber. Compared to DA:O, where i loved Alistair, Morrigan, Shale, Zevran, Oghren and so on. The companions in DA2 arent that memorable.
   
   The theme is Kirkwall, you spend all the time in Kirkwall and its surrounding places. Kirkwall is a huge city and you can choose to visit at night and day, which is nice, but the city is empty. I mean there arent npc-s. The huge city seems kinda empty, but that isnt a big problem, the biggest problem is the dungeons and recycled areas. After ACT1 you will spend ur time revisiting the places u visited for several more times. Basically after ACT1 you have seen the whole game. Compared to DA:O, where there were so many diffrent places, citys this seems like they didnt have money or the time to make new dungeons. After revisiting a dungeon the 20-th time you know where the most treasures are and it isnt as rewarding and the game lacks exploration.
   
   What is the deal with DLC before the game is even released. They are trying to milk too much money out of the gamers who like the Dragon Age universe. There are 2 dlc-s already, which 1 has a new companion and the other has some bonus items. You can play DA2 without dlc-s easily, because those dlc don't add that much depth to the game. Also on hard/nightmare the game is challenging, however some places are unbalanced and make you wanna tear your hair out. To play on nightmare you gotta exploit all the weakness and the stupidness of the enemys ai. The game started feeling like hit and run. The game isnt as tactical as DA:O, yes you can play it tactically, but after waves and waves of enemys ur tactics mostly end up being useless, because enemy's come out of nowhere and just take out ur mage or rogue. So you never can be prepeared.
   
   Dont get me wrong Dragon Age 2 is a good game, but i always kept comparing it to DA:O. DA2 was rushed out, it wasnt polished like DA:O. If there wasnt DA:O i would give DA2 a score of 8, but it felt for me that it isnt as good as DA;O and i always compared to it. So imma give it a 7.… Expand

   • 3 of 20 users found this helpful
5. Seorl

   Oct 4, 2011

   3

   As a person who absolutely loved games like neverwinter nights and all of its expansions, I naturally fell in love with Dragon Age: Origins.As a person who absolutely loved games like neverwinter nights and all of its expansions, I naturally fell in love with Dragon Age: Origins. Playing Dragon Age 2 was a massive change of tone from the original to such an extent it doesn't seem similar at all. Massive amounts of functionality and customization were torn from this game when compared to its predecessor. I've tried numerous times with each class to finish this game, but i inevitably get bored and stop playing after only a few hours. Maybe i had too high of hopes to begin with since Dragon Age: Origins was just so awesome, but I feel now that my money and my time could have been better spent.… Expand

   • 20 of 23 users found this helpful
6. Seleste

   Mar 19, 2011

   2

   I am really disappointed of the way Bioware is going with one of its major brands. The action parts are ok, but there is little to nothingI am really disappointed of the way Bioware is going with one of its major brands. The action parts are ok, but there is little to nothing left of the Dragon Age feeling. Story Failures, Decisions from DA:O are not correct imported. People alive that died... and such things. Boring Hack&Slay Action. DA2 isn't really a PC RPG Game anymore, it is a Console Hack and Slay RPG Action game. With bad Interface and technical Problems. Also the level design repeats constantly, i only counted 2 or 3 different maps for caves and buildings. Monsters and Models of DA:O/A and DLCs get reused, partially as Boss Monsters. Altogether they used what they had, made some little additions and sold it for the full prize.… Expand

   • 10 of 12 users found this helpful
7. kingtz

   Apr 9, 2011

   1

   Under any other name, I would've probably given this game a solid 6.5 or 7. Sure, it's got its share of shortcomings, but it was still muchUnder any other name, I would've probably given this game a solid 6.5 or 7. Sure, it's got its share of shortcomings, but it was still much more fun than, say, stabbing red hot needles into my eyes.
   
   As a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, however, I give this steaming pile of manure a 1/10. This game fails to follow up on (let alone surpass) DA:O on virtually every level. I feel lied to and cheated that Bioware/EA would use the success and critical acclaim of DA:O to trick hardcore RPG players like this. DA2 is completely watered down and diluted. This is literally a console port and a rushed one at that. Diminished customizations of party members' gear, stats not as detailed anymore, quests are simply kill or fetch stuff and lots of childish gore. Clearly, if Bioware/EA wanted to break into the Call of Duty market, by all means, go ahead. They could've simply called this game something else...anything else. But the fact that they masquerade this as a sequel to one of the best - if not THE best - modern Western RPGs is a direct insult to the faith I had in them. Also, watch Mark Laidlaw's (lead developer, Bioware) interviews post-launch if you want more insult to injury. I… Expand

   • 9 of 11 users found this helpful
8. Shadowxxx

   Jan 8, 2023

   0

   Trash Trash trash trash trash trash trash trash trash trash trash trash trash

   • 0 of 2 users found this helpful

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