Dragon Age II

 PC
User Score
4.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 5052 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,397 out of 5052
  2. Mixed: 1,198 out of 5052
  3. Negative: 2,457 out of 5052
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  1. MikePushkin
    Mar 31, 2011
    7
    I loved Origins. Great game, a game in which you feel the weight of your decisions, you realize what you are doing, you realize that you are responsible for major changes in Ferelden. I expected something similar from DA2, but more refined and deeper. Sadly, what we get is an unfinished game instead of a masterpiece like the first game. It took me 20 hours less to beat Dragon Age 2I loved Origins. Great game, a game in which you feel the weight of your decisions, you realize what you are doing, you realize that you are responsible for major changes in Ferelden. I expected something similar from DA2, but more refined and deeper. Sadly, what we get is an unfinished game instead of a masterpiece like the first game. It took me 20 hours less to beat Dragon Age 2 compared to Dragon Age Origins. It took exactly 40 hours. Just like Mass Effect 2. Or Mass Effect. You know what, that feels strange, like Bioware is trying to adjust the length of its games to 40 hours. Anyway, on topic, the game is better in almost every aspect than Dragon Age Origins: we have better combat system, better RP system (not simplified but adjusted) now warrior gets benefited from investing a point or two in Magic. Design of new inventory makes a lot more sense and is much more helpful. Quests are numerous, yes, but not very much unique... Graphical part is better than Origins in every way, but the fatal flaw of Origins never got rid of in DA2, - same locations. This is very sad part, actually, because it kills the unique feel of locations you visit and destroys the atmosphere of what's happening. In DA2 the decisions you make, don't feel the same way as in Origins. Storyline in general seems weaker, but its personal opinion. What's not personal is the way story is told. 10 bloody years. What the heck?! You do something important, a couple of years passes. You do something again and another couple of years passes. WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! What's he sleeping or something in between?! Conclusion: A very good game with nice combat system, nice graphical part, more intuitive dialog system, improved RP system, better design overall, great voice work BUT with poor storyline, poor locations, the blasted Kirkwall over and over and over again, abundance of DLCs, more of a popular product than a work of art. Sad. 7/10… Expand
  2. darksydex3226
    Mar 13, 2011
    7
    Despite the constant copy & pasted maps, and being pretty much restricted to Kirkwall, Dragon Age II is still a very fun role-playing experience, and I would recommend playing it. I'm on my second run now, and still enjoying it... the game definitely has some low points (hence the 7), like the music, level design, repetitive (but still enjoyable at the end of the day) combat, andDespite the constant copy & pasted maps, and being pretty much restricted to Kirkwall, Dragon Age II is still a very fun role-playing experience, and I would recommend playing it. I'm on my second run now, and still enjoying it... the game definitely has some low points (hence the 7), like the music, level design, repetitive (but still enjoyable at the end of the day) combat, and anti-climatic boss battles... the story is really good though, and the characters are too. All in all, a fun game to hold me over until The Witcher 2.… Expand
  3. Fredvdp
    Jul 25, 2017
    7
    While Dragon Age II certainly makes compromises due to a rushed release, the characters and storyline are just interesting enough to warrant a playthrough.
  4. Gvaz
    Mar 9, 2011
    7
    I'm not going to go in depth, because no one will read this but here's what's changed in DA2: (PC)
    - combat is sped up
    - voiced MC - even linear than before - Enjoy not taking a long time for quests? Well you can complete some quests by literally walking five feet. - voice actors are hit or miss, the story feels disjointed and it feels a lot like your actions are meaningless, and the wheel    I'm not going to go in depth, because no one will read this but here's what's changed in DA2: (PC)
    - combat is sped up
    - voiced MC
    - even linear than before
    - Enjoy not taking a long time for quests? Well you can complete some quests by literally walking five feet.
    - voice actors are hit or miss, the story feels disjointed and it feels a lot like your actions are meaningless, and the wheel adds nothing to the game. It's not even done properly like in ME2. Frequently your character ends up saying something totally different from the paraprhased note.

    Overall, it's not a bad game, but as a sequel to DA2, it simply doesn't stand up.    … Expand
  5. Kaizoku2793
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age 2 is a big letdown for all of us Origin fans but if we can forget about Origins for a second and compare it to other RPGs Dragon Age 2 is a pretty solid game. At first I was extremely disappointed in DA2 and pessimistic towards it but when I gave it a chance I found myself unable to stop playing it (Completing the game twice). Pros:
    Many people will probably disagree but I like    Dragon Age 2 is a big letdown for all of us Origin fans but if we can forget about Origins for a second and compare it to other RPGs Dragon Age 2 is a pretty solid game. At first I was extremely disappointed in DA2 and pessimistic towards it but when I gave it a chance I found myself unable to stop playing it (Completing the game twice). Pros:
    Many people will probably disagree but I like DA2â    … Expand
  6. verbose
    May 6, 2011
    7
    I enjoyed a lot of what this game changed. Unlike many, I enjoyed the change to the battle system, and I think that the battle system has been improved and streamlined from the first game. I am ambivalent about not being able to change anyone's armor but the main character, but I can live with that. I enjoy customizing my entire party, however, there is a different kind of enjoyment thatI enjoyed a lot of what this game changed. Unlike many, I enjoyed the change to the battle system, and I think that the battle system has been improved and streamlined from the first game. I am ambivalent about not being able to change anyone's armor but the main character, but I can live with that. I enjoy customizing my entire party, however, there is a different kind of enjoyment that can come from not having to worry about your companions gear very much(especially when half of them are very rarely used). I did not enjoy the fact that certain characters were essentially mandatory for much of the game if you did not pick a mage due to the fact that there is only one real healer in the game. I thought the story was decent. It was not the epic that DA:O was, but it was still interesting to see how one person inadvertently caused a chain reaction. There are three things that I really do not like about this game. 1. DA:O took me roughly 80 hours to finish and do everything there was to do in the game. This game took me roughly 25 hours to do the same. 2. This game uses recycled areas for the entire game. In all of the Acts of this game, you will be revisiting areas that you have already been to over and over and over again. This is probably my biggest gripe of the game. 3. There are too few references to the characters and events of DA:O. As a sequel, and specifically, as a Bioware sequel, I expected to have more appearances from characters of the first game. Also, when characters from the first game do appear, I felt unsatisfied. It seems that they put the characters in the game just to have an appearance rather than actually weaving them into the story of the game. That said, I initially greatly enjoyed this game. It is not a perfect game, but it is still fun.… Expand
  7. ravenblade
    Apr 11, 2011
    7
    Saying this game is bad would be generally unfair. Bioware's biggest mistake in this case wasn't the game not being a true sequel but being advertised as such even though it is realistically a separate game. Think of Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate both playing in Forgotten Realms but being two separate story-lines where the events of one may be referred to in another. It's title shouldSaying this game is bad would be generally unfair. Bioware's biggest mistake in this case wasn't the game not being a true sequel but being advertised as such even though it is realistically a separate game. Think of Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate both playing in Forgotten Realms but being two separate story-lines where the events of one may be referred to in another. It's title should have been Dragon Age: The Kirkwall Chronicles. Story-wise I do have mixed feelings. I am not happy about the lack of alternative storyline aspects but the few being there are still entertaining enough to keep a player happy for a while. Companions still have their own personalities and your personality being a lot less mute than in the original Dragon Age titles certainly helps to blend in. On dialogue side the game presents you with a classical Mass Effect style wheel giving you options for certain type of straight answer or investigative questions - but unlike in Mass Effect series the obvious outcome is not always that clear and not always wholly different for the entire dialogue regardless of which conversation path you chose.

    Sadly the exploration side got a bit of a short straw, it is still there but due to lack of big locations quite limited. It seems a bit symptomatic for recent Bioware games: Exploration getting steadily removed from games altogether. However as saving grace it should be noted that the game allows you to progress in the main plot at your own terms without too much prescribed linearity.

    The combat system got a major overhaul but while it can be challenging on its own terms especially on higher difficulty modes. Its shortcomings are minor compared to the original Dragon Age title, in this case the lack of tactical camera, enemies coming from thin air and Nightmare involving some several issues making making it favour single target ranged combat should be noted. I believe the latter will be addressed by Bioware soon. Talent trees got improved a lot and leave a lot of room for experimentation and replay. Personally I found the issue of fixed but upgradeable companion armor quite an interesting idea. It would have been better though if upgrades would allow more flexibility.

    The old crafting system got replaced by a less hunter-gathering aspect but more one which people who played Mass Effect 2 are familiar with. Instead of gathering the resources into your backpack you are now mostly out for finding resource locations you'll have to tag/unlock depending on the locations you are visiting. The more resource locations you find the higher classes of runes, potions and poisons you can craft. Crafting also isn't done in the same spot but done at certain shop-like locations. While this hurts any fan of the classical gathering & crafting game I feel the old system did not actually limit you aside from backpack size whereas the new one obviously uses your cash as limiter. In the end I personally liked the old system more but to be fair the new system is achieving the same results in the end without forcing the player to reserve a large part of his backpack for resources and materials.

    Graphically it's looks are stunningly good even though it does lack the deliberately dark look of its predecessor title. Animations are well-down although the game overdoes a lot on the explosions side making it unnecessarily messy-looking when there is no reason for it. I do miss effects on weapons from runes and the lack of a bit more beautiful inventory graphics. The game's locations are well done although a lot of quests do lead to several previously locations. This does lead to a certain level of repetition but amusingly also to a lot of familiarity. The game however does a good job in keeping Kirkwall more than just one town although its lack of aging, progression and liveliness as the story goes on does make the town feel static and lacking the realistic feel of years spent within it. The whole story could be in fact one of a single 24 hrs. day when taking the persistent looks of the town's scenery into account.

    The GUI has been overhauled quite well and it's quite intuitive from the get-go. Nothing more to add this one is done well.

    What needs to be left noted is the relative subtlety of game's score, even though the score is quite excellent it does lack the certain epic factor which the original title was known for. Otherwise the atmosphere, combat and ambient are in parts a lot better done than in the original titles.

    In conclusion I think it is worth buy if you see it as a game within the Dragon Age universe or setting. If you are truly seeing a linear successor to the original Dragon Age titles you might not like it. It certainly does come with a lot improvements of its own but also another set of issues left to be addressed in another possible upcoming Dragon Age title. Perhaps both titles will give Bioware sufficient amount of material to find the real alchemy for an ultimate Dragon Age game.    … Expand
  8. godfather830
    Mar 9, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age II is a decent game, but fades in comparision with its predecessor. Most of the changes made just made the game less fun and less great. The only two positive changes are that the graphics have improved (slightly) and the main character can now talk.

    I regret purchasing it. I think it may have been worth $15 or so to me, so I would have preferred buying it at a huge discount,    Dragon Age II is a decent game, but fades in comparision with its predecessor. Most of the changes made just made the game less fun and less great. The only two positive changes are that the graphics have improved (slightly) and the main character can now talk.

    I regret purchasing it. I think it may have been worth $15 or so to me, so I would have preferred buying it at a huge discount, even 2-3 years later. But I would have gladly paid $100 for Dragon Age: Origins.    … Expand
  9. islesofurth
    Mar 16, 2011
    7
    shame people cant be realistic with reviews...

    just finished the game and heres what i think PROS: the new combat sysytem is great, allows for more fluid fights so great if you dont like to pause all the time. skill trees that are unique to chracters other than the main, encourages people to try diferant teams rather than the one team all the time. character stats remake, stats are    shame people cant be realistic with reviews...

    just finished the game and heres what i think

    PROS:
    the new combat sysytem is great, allows for more fluid fights so great if you dont like to pause all the time. skill trees that are unique to chracters other than the main, encourages people to try diferant teams rather than the one team all the time. character stats remake, stats are much more role specific making it less strenuous by not having to balace stats. the storyline is extreamly adaptive and unless you actuly try to you will never play it the same way twice, also with the ability to create the backbone of the story with a DAO save.

    CONS:
    the game is based in a single town so the landscape get old. some DAO cons are follow into DA2 such as multiple sotryline 'busness ventures' that the player may invest into or buy and that do not actuly bring in any income other than a possible longer quest line for that 'venture'. some parts of the game put you at a fork with quests allowing you to take one and not the other however it does not specify that you wouldnt be able to do both you simply need to figure it out the hard way. gold just like in DAO is extreamly hard to come buy if your wanted decent items, if you do all the quests and sell everything you find you wil get about 250g total, depending on the dificulty alot of that will be spent on potions, runes and armour for your team so you will only ever have enough gold to buy one item that is 120g or there abouts and saving for it will take all game if you dont skimp.

    even tho this game has alot of cons i dont know any game that doesnt
    i had fun playing this game, i probly wont beat it with every class but i will certainly beat it one more time over on the hardest possible trying to get everything

    with a few patches this game will be much better

    and to all those people who rated this a bad game, i certainly hope your not waiting for D3 to come out coz it wont have much more specially not in the graphics department    … Expand
  10. Fernell
    Mar 10, 2011
    7
    In every single way DA2 is worst than DA:Origin. But it is a bit of injustice to give it less than 5/10. I know guys that you are disappointed. I expected something different too. In spite of all, it's still quite a good game, not perfect of course, not even near to perfect but it's still fun to play !
  11. animefan1976
    Mar 10, 2011
    7
    I'm giving it a 7 as there are a number of features that improvements over Dragon Age: Origins. Some of those include faster combat, a better spell/talent selection and advancement method, and a voiced player character. There are some other good points as well. Bad points would be things such as a more restricted inventory system for companions, less dialogue with companions one on one,I'm giving it a 7 as there are a number of features that improvements over Dragon Age: Origins. Some of those include faster combat, a better spell/talent selection and advancement method, and a voiced player character. There are some other good points as well. Bad points would be things such as a more restricted inventory system for companions, less dialogue with companions one on one, and a story that doesn't keep you as engaged as the previous game. One thing the PC version really shines on is the graphics. DirectX 11 renderer shows some excellent quality even on high settings with AAx8 and AFx16.… Expand
  12. sgtStones
    Mar 12, 2011
    7
    Expectations are a b*tch. They have to be filtered out when trying to give some sort of a review...well at least to a point. A sentiment, not many users ( on metacritic anyway ) seem to share. I finished DA:O 6 times ( 4x on hard and twice on nightmare )... needless to say I love that game and I'm already thinking about the approach I'll take in the next playthrough.

    But now DA2 was    Expectations are a b*tch. They have to be filtered out when trying to give some sort of a review...well at least to a point. A sentiment, not many users ( on metacritic anyway ) seem to share. I finished DA:O 6 times ( 4x on hard and twice on nightmare )... needless to say I love that game and I'm already thinking about the approach I'll take in the next playthrough.

    But now DA2 was released and yes...the first 2hours of playing this long-awaited game, really disappointed me. I think that's when some people alt-tabbed to their browser, went on this site and had to let off some steam. The strange thing is, although things don't really get better as the game goes on, I still had fun with the game ( and I'm still having fun with it now ). But the moment my destined-to-be spirit healer pulls off moves like "the last airbender" I new that this won't live up to my expectations. Here are my cons: - Menu/Icon-Design really doesnt hold a candle to the beautiful art we saw in Dragon Age:origins....it looks like its been designed for a tron-movie-tie-in game
    - although Combat now looks much fancier, it's also much quicker, hence too chaotic at times and with top view removed it can be hard to keep track of everything thats happening
    - Enemies spawn into the battlefield, so you cant really tell how long a fight will go
    - Looting has lost a lot of its charm and restrictions concerning the equipment of your party members really takes away from the fun
    - the crafting system doesn't deserve the name
    - the skill trees and the associated restrictions are not to my taste - the gift mechanic has been changed dramatically, to the point of no recognition
    - it would also have been nice to see what the scale is on the friendship/rivalry bar, so that I know wtf 10 points in either direct are worth ( but I'm nitpicking, and I shall be the cop who stops it...erm me )
    - and yes: Carver is a douche ;)

    pros:
    - everything that reminds me of DA:O


    I was also a fan of Mass Effect. And in the beginning, I was disappointed in ME2 aswell. Mainly due to the ( severe ) dumbing down of the skill-system ( which wasnt the most complex to begin with ). But ME2 provided some new gameplay features, great graphics, much improved action and once more a great epic story with diverse characters, making it, in the end a superior successor. DA2 fails to deliver anything new to justify the "dumbing-down" ( or streamlining, as the industry would like to brand it ) making it inferior to its predecessor.

    But even DA 0.5 is still good game, and certainly better ( if not by much ) then most recent rpgs ( fable 4, Ego Draconis, TwoWorlds II ). It's DEFINATELY NOT A 4.0    … Expand
  13. OldWolf
    Mar 13, 2011
    7
    At the the time of writing this review I've left Ferelden behind in the wake of the blight and have arrived in Kirkwall, where I'm now preparing to leave on an expedition into the deep roads (Yea, they apparently reach this far). It's worth mentioning that I've done this twice, once as a warrior and once as a mage, to get a feel for how the story, dialogue and combat differs. I'm startingAt the the time of writing this review I've left Ferelden behind in the wake of the blight and have arrived in Kirkwall, where I'm now preparing to leave on an expedition into the deep roads (Yea, they apparently reach this far). It's worth mentioning that I've done this twice, once as a warrior and once as a mage, to get a feel for how the story, dialogue and combat differs. I'm starting with the general stuff, and what I've seen of the game so far hasn't been bad. Character generation: I'm not going to bash the lack of a racial choice since the story is explicitly written for shemlin (human, for does who haven't played DA). A nice touch that has been added is that you start off by picking gender and class, after which you are thrust straight into a mock-up battle against hordes of darkspawn, culminating in a fight against an ogre and an epic takedown (now THAT is a good way to start a game). During this battle you get introduced to some of the abilities available to your class by allowing you to gradually use more and more of them, and you are also taught the basics. After the battle you are introduced to the actual character-creation screen, where you can modify your Hawke's appearance. You are unfortunately not allowed to distribute starting attribute points or selecting starting abilities. Those that have played DA:O will also note that the skills are missing entirely. Interface: In my opinion, the general interface of DA2 is an improvement over DA:O. There is less embellishment and more solid information. Other than that however, the general interface has changed little, mainly just replacing the the icons for items and abilities with simpler/more generic ones. In conversations the dialogue wheel feels rather simplistic, generally having 3 options ("kind", "joking" and "forceful") that will advance the conversation, with a 4th option to "investigate" the current line of conversation further. Sometimes, however, investigating may yield a new conversation-advancing option, and sometimes the game drops this system entirely opting instead to give you an explicit "bribe" option, a "take-action" option or a set of "unspecified" options, showing both the strengths of this approach (conversations can be more expressive, but don't HAVE to be) and the weaknesses (conversations can get really confusing when the dialogue is poorly written and/or acted). Combat: This is clearly a more action-oriented game than DA:O. Battles flow smoothly, without an obvious turn-system your character will chop away at the enemy as best they can, your character will make a lounge attack to close in on an opponent quicker when you order them to attack and the addition of "physical force" modifiers means that combatants may be staggered or interrupted while in combat (Something sadly lacking from DA:O). That said, pretty much all battles now follow the same formula: You engage an enemy that is (generally) in plain sight, as you wear them down they will receive a wave of reinforcements (they've apparently been hiding the whole time) that will generally attack you from behind. Depending on the battle, there can be as many as 3-4 such waves. On the up-side, this means that you have to plan ahead, conserve your strength and pick your targets well. On the down-side this means that combat will get very predictable, and you generally end up formulating a master-strategy for all battles. On another note, the injury-system is greatly simplified. An injury is just a handicap to your health, if you receive an injury (either from falling in battle, or setting off a trap) your maximum health is reduced. Thats it, don't expect any depth. The abilities are generally well balanced, and the addition of abilities that decreases the threat-level of a character (like the rogues "Evade") while disengaging them from close-combat are definitely welcome. In conclusion the combat-system is very reminiscent of DA:O with a few modifications (mostly for the better imho). Story & quests: Well-written and interesting so far, however with at least one major plothole. It is nice to have a story that let's you start without the weight of the world on your shoulders, letting you acclimatise to the world. The quests are generally more convoluted than they first appear and will often twist and turn to keep you interested. Graphics: The Game looks pretty good, in the sense that DA:O still looks pretty good. The graphics do not seem to have been hugely improved since DA:O. Buggy-ness: The game has been running rather smoothly for me. I pre-ordered the game off-of Steam and have been playing it a little each day since it became available. The one bug that I've noticed is that when you alt-tab out of the game and re-enter all menus stop working (i.e. they cannot be opened). Thankfully the game auto-saves as default. Conclusion: DA2 is worth playing, but it does not appear the part of a masterpiece.… Expand
  14. CaptainScalawag
    Mar 13, 2011
    7
    As of right now I'm about 10 hours into the game and must say that it's not as bad as everyone here seems to think it is. No, it's not nearly as good as the original but if you liked the original then chances are you will probably like this as well. DA:O was a complex RPG but I'm sure that might have thrown off a ton of people because DA:II seems to go too far in the other direction andAs of right now I'm about 10 hours into the game and must say that it's not as bad as everyone here seems to think it is. No, it's not nearly as good as the original but if you liked the original then chances are you will probably like this as well. DA:O was a complex RPG but I'm sure that might have thrown off a ton of people because DA:II seems to go too far in the other direction and simplify way too much. First I'm glad they changed the skill trees for the classes and got rid of the alternative skill tree (herbalism, posion, etc.) and instead opted to allow you to make anything as long as you had the recipe, coin, and ingredients to back it up. The skill trees, like I said, have been streamlined and I think they're far better in this since the trees aren't as linear and there are passive buffs that reward you for investing a lot of points in one tree. The combat is better in some aspects. Heal actually feels like a useful spell to have since it does so much this time around. The attacks also feel like they have more weight, especially as a mage, and I really like feeling like I'm having an affect on the battle rather than being a guy in the background clicking on things.

    That being said my main strategy seems to be "spam area of effect spells" which isn't really much of an exciting strategy. I think they went too far in simplification too, because now you can't get armor for your allies, which is a real shame because I enjoyed going through all the hidden side quests in the last game to get my allies equipped with godly armor, now it feels like I won't get that option. It also feels a bit too easy. I'm playing on normal and despite a few minor setbacks I've hardly died at all. I actually beat a creature in this game (no spoilers) that took me forever to beat in the last game on my first try! It was ridiculous!

    It's not a bad game, but I think they simplified it way too much from the complexities of the first one. If you liked the first one chances are you'll at least get a kick out of this. Maybe in Dragon Age 3 they'll learn from their mistakes and combine the strengths of DA:O and DA II and if they did that, I honestly believe it could be one of the greatest RPGs Bioware ever released.    … Expand
  15. Grygus
    Mar 13, 2011
    7
    I wonder whether some of these reviewers have actually played the game or are basing their reviews on the demo or hearsay. This shouldn't be taken to mean that the game is without major flaws; it definitely has problems, but the current user score of 4.0 is laughably low. An unconventional and well-told main story, supplemented by imaginative and fun inter-party dialog and a moreI wonder whether some of these reviewers have actually played the game or are basing their reviews on the demo or hearsay. This shouldn't be taken to mean that the game is without major flaws; it definitely has problems, but the current user score of 4.0 is laughably low. An unconventional and well-told main story, supplemented by imaginative and fun inter-party dialog and a more cinematic presentation are all giant positives. There are some missteps here; the interface feels consoley, with too many clicks to get in and out of subsystems, and the inventory streamlining does some nice things (like the Junk tab) but the loss of party customization is inexplicable. Still, aside from combat I think the game is generally great with some minor lessons to be learned. Unfortunately, the game is primarily about combat, and while the core changes to the combat system are interesting, the encounter design is terrible; almost every fight in the game plays out the exact same way: an initial group is present or is spawned in somehow, and once you've beaten most of them a second wave spawns in. This is highly annoying, partly because it makes every single little fight more of a slog than it should be, partly because it makes the more important battles just more of the same, and partly because it breaks immersion (e.g., second wave coming from a room you not only just cleared, but to which you are guarding the only entrance.) This is exacerbated by the extensive re-use of levels; there are essentially one each of every environment, so every time you're in a cave it's a piece of the larger single "cave" level, and the same is true of the sewers, the wilderness, the wilderness. It's a dismaying lack of content that adds up to truly monotonous combat. There were times I kept playing only to find out what happened next in the story, and actually playing the game was an obstacle to that, rather than fun for its own sake. However, I did keep playing, and I found the ending satisfying (even if the boss fight mechanics, which should have been special and memorable, ended up feeling like minor variations on a theme I'd been listening to for forty hours.) The overall combat experience probably does deserve a 4 actually, but the rest of the game is top-notch. I'll split the difference and rate the game a 7.… Expand
  16. 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. 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. 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
  17. Gingervitis
    Mar 14, 2011
    7
    As the low "user score" shows there's a ton of negative feedback from the community on this game. Some is very valid, some is sensationalism.

    The interface; Big update since DA:O. Pretty much the entire UI is nicely set up, clean, and easy to use. The first thing that will hit when you first play the game (if you played the first) is they adopted the "dialog wheel" from Mass Effect, which    As the low "user score" shows there's a ton of negative feedback from the community on this game. Some is very valid, some is sensationalism.

    The interface; Big update since DA:O. Pretty much the entire UI is nicely set up, clean, and easy to use. The first thing that will hit when you first play the game (if you played the first) is they adopted the "dialog wheel" from Mass Effect, which was a huge bonus for myself. It was something i was wishing for when playing the first dragon age. Lots of people don't seem to feel the same way as me, but i guess it all comes down to person preference here.

    The gameplay; Very fast paced, which is fun but after a few hours and you start to gain abilities, it becomes an absolute cluster****. Spell effects going off everywhere, sometimes i cant even tell if abilities are from my party or from the enemy. The game is also very difficult. I started on normal, but after wiping to one of the boss fights for about an hour i gave up and switched it to casual. Apparently i am all of a sudden bad at video games, Haha. Don't get me wrong, I find the gameplay years ahead of the first game. Which im probably alone in saying, Its much more fun to just pick up and run with. One thing that disappointed me was the fact that you couldn't give gear to your group (except for rings/belts/necklaces) which i thought was a bit lame. The talent trees are well laid out, I would say mages probably have the best set up trees of all of them, they a lot have incredibly powerful spells. But thats not much different from DA:O except now the CC is toned down quite a bit. With my playthrough I chose a rogue. After a few hours i started playing one of the mage side-characters when in combat because of how powerful they are, thankfully after getting the rogue some more abilities i switched back and she's a beast now, lots of hard hitting abilities and the gameplay for rogue after you get up to level 8-9 is just so fast paced and fun.

    The story; Well... this is probably the weakest part of the game. When going through the storyline it feels a little forced, but I still find it engaging. I would say the story is a lot more accessible than the first game. I wont get into specifics so there are no spoilers but there have been a few points that made me facepalm and say "REALLY?".

    Graphics; I dunno where the complaints about this are coming from... It looks beautiful once you get the HD texture update. But it probably takes quite a newly updated computer to seriously run it at high settings.

    All in all, This game has some major flaws, but is well worth a play-through. I had a hard time getting into DA:O. But DA2 is much more accessible and fast paced for gamers that are newer to the RPG format. Which I guess can be viewed as a good or bad thing depending on your standpoint.    … Expand
  18. Osyron
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    As fair as i can be... Almost a week ago this 35 year old man sat sipping an early morning coffee in egger anticipation of the postman visiting his door, because on this morning two great things where happening... 1. the day off work (not to mention the following three as well) 2. the much anticipated Dragon age 2 signature edition was arriving. I was planing on writing an in depth,As fair as i can be... Almost a week ago this 35 year old man sat sipping an early morning coffee in egger anticipation of the postman visiting his door, because on this morning two great things where happening... 1. the day off work (not to mention the following three as well) 2. the much anticipated Dragon age 2 signature edition was arriving. I was planing on writing an in depth, insightful review but instead i am just going to list pro's and cons and a brief summery at the end. Pro's - Graphically its very good, the characters and landscapes are done with a very high level of detail i was only playing on medium settings and found some of scenery quite stunning at times. The spirit and mood of DAO is there, it pops its head up to say hellonow and then, not quite frequent enough for me to fall in love all over but often enough to keep my hopes up that it will blossom and flourish any minute now. the cast - i really liked the cast and supporting companions, i seem to be very loyal and stick with the first /tank/mage/healer that i come across in games and my fear was in this i would not take to the new characters as i would be missing the old ones to much but they grew on me instantly in most cases and for me the real reason i will revisit the game will be to tryout the characters that i did not use often in my first play through. combat - right this is tricky, im going to list comat in both the pro's and cons of the game because i do believe that improves have been made in some areas but bioware have dropped the ball in others, but as this is pro's lets stick with those first. First thing you notice is the visuals of certain abilities and spells, i played rogue in the original and in this one as well and the dynamic of this has been greatly improved, in DAO to perform backstab you had to position yourself behind your target and low and behold you could perform backstab, but targets dont often like to stand in the one spot so your character could end up chasing thenm around till they hold still long enough for you to perform backstab rendering it useless very often. In DA2 its a different story, at the click of a button you vanish, appear and perform backstab all in an instant making it a viable talent and much more pleasing on the eye . The other great thing about combat is the talent trees, there are at least six yes thats right six trees to choose from meaning you can play the same class over and over but have very different characters, experiences and results. Con's - Repetitiveness on maps, i wanted to play the whole game so i made sure i did all side quests before moving on the the main quest/storryline. I found myself repeatatly visiting the same cave/house/coastline to kill bandits/spiders/mercenaries (very similar to the bandits from where i standing) and after a while this felt like a chore rather than a joy, the quests themselves had very little imagination pretty much forgettable for the most part i can only compare it to my experience grinding in MMO's for money/XP. Something i have never before experienced with any bioware game before. combat - its easy, way to easy i was worried by my lack of a healer in the party and kept hoping to meet one down the line but i never did nor did i need to, i can only recall using 2 health potions outside of boss fights and this is with no healer in the party remember, this made fighting tedious, there was no feeling of danger at any time and the fights consist of hordes of mobs coming at you in waves but you feel like a man fighting toddlers, i personal felt like a bad ass for the first few fights but the novelty soon wore off and it became a bore, something in the way of me getting to where i wanted to go. Epicness - I keep comparing it to DAO which is slightly unfair but understandable as this is it's(supposed) successor but it just lacks the depth, variety and feeling of Epicness, overall the game still feels really good but when your riding on the coattails of Epic, really good just does not cut it.. Summery - Had this not been the follow up to Origins or a bioware game i think it would have been far better revived, i personally think Origins as close to a gaming masterpiece that you can get. and those are impossibly big shoes to fill but if anyone could i had faith bioware could. They did it with Baldurs gate, the squeal improving on the original in many ways yet keeping the same things that made everyone fall in love with the original, they did not pull that off this time. I just have the feeling bioware have gone from setting the standard to following the standard, taking the extraordinary and making it ordinary. Is this down to EA the timing of their involvement with bioware cant be dismissed as coincidence in my eyes, given biowares excellent back catalogue of games it strikes me as odd the would go from "sublime" to "quite good" all of a sudden on their own but maybe EA are an all to convenient scapegoat… Expand
  19. Aluanira
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    DA2 is a good game with improved graphics and fun companions but it's not quite a worthy successor to DAO. It stands alone better as an expansion. As an RPG, DA2 falls short on the story side and your choices don't seem to matter much. On the plus side, the combat is much faster and the shuffling present in DAO is no longer there. But it can be too fast and with the waves of enemiesDA2 is a good game with improved graphics and fun companions but it's not quite a worthy successor to DAO. It stands alone better as an expansion. As an RPG, DA2 falls short on the story side and your choices don't seem to matter much. On the plus side, the combat is much faster and the shuffling present in DAO is no longer there. But it can be too fast and with the waves of enemies ninja-spawning, tactics don't seem to matter as much as they did in DAO. I found the game a bit dumbed down for a classic RPG but it was still very enjoyable as an action RPG. New models, especially the Qunari, look fantastic but it's unfortunate that Bioware chose to re-use the same environments for so many quests. It's a fun game and definitely worth a go if you're an RPG fan (I'm on my second play through now). Bioware has long been my favourite game company but I do feel let down by this entry in the Dragon Age world after so many years of superb gaming experiences with them. My fingers are crossed for another DA sequel with all of the legitimate concerns addressed. I don't mind waiting!… Expand
  20. SnowHeart
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While DA2 does not live up to the reputation of games previously released by the developer, it does offer numerous hours of enjoyable play. The storytelling mechanic is fun, aspects of the main storyline are intriguing and, yes, to my surprise, the combat is generally better than its predecessor (Dragon Age: Origins). But the game also has more than its fair share of warts, including the story and the rushed production schedule which shows itself in the reuse of environments. The story itself, generally one of Bioware's strengths, is sorely lacking in focus and direction. A number of different minor story paths are unfolding throughout the game and they are, for what it's worth, mostly tied up by the end and shown how they all connect, yet none of them on their own are terribly interesting and several of them are quite two dimensional. One of the "major" tensions in the game is that between the Templars, a militaristic order with the task of policing (oppressing) the city's community of mages, and the mages themselves who are frequently the target of accusations they practice particularly foul and evil magics. Unfortunately, while the leader of the templars is never shown in a particularly positive light, she does have some compelling arguments and some of her subordinates are positively good people. In contrast, the vast majority of mages are revealed to, in fact, be practicing exactly the kind of dark magic they are accused of. The only excuse the game really offers the mages is that they were "pushed" into it by the templar commander's overzealous persecution. It's a circular logic that may serve the story's purpose but ultimately rings a bit hollow.

    The game also reveals a horribly rushed production schedule. Environments are reused over and over. And I'm not talking about 90% of the game taking place in a single city. I'm talking about the "dungeons" themselves, or perhaps I should say "dungeon". There is precisely one outdoor random encounter (or "ambush") map that is reused for each such encounter. There is basically one cave map that is reused over and over again, the only difference being that certain doors may be closed or passages are blocked by rubble. There is one warehouse map, again used repeatedly for each and every warehouse. There is also one under city map, which looks a lot like a mine (including the mine cart), but doesn't make a lot of sense when that map is used for the sewers (a mine cart in the sewers, really?).

    There are plenty of other negatives as well. The lack of friendly fire in combat as well as significantly increased cooldown periods (compared to DAO) for the use of healing spells and potions argues in favor of simply spamming area of effect attacks rather than having to prioritize targets and fight strategically. Enemies now enter combat in waves, and frequently come in right behind or on top of you, tumbling out of windows or descending from the ceiling above. As a consequence, tactical positioning becomes almost pointless. Companion interactions are still entertaining but limited as compared to its predecessor, with fewer opportunities to explore their backstories and develop a sense of attachment to them.

    Despite these flaws, there have been improvements. The graphics are better and, on the whole, so is the combat. I didn't think I would say that, but I am enjoying the combat more than in DAO. Some of the "improvements" may have been ill-advised (discussed above), but the overall tempo and artistic style of the combat is improved. And while not up to the standard of Bioware's previous work, the story itself is perfectly serviceable and will keep most players going through from the prologue all the way to the end. If you can borrow the game from a friend, I'd advise you to do that. If you have to buy it to play it, I'd wait for a price drop before taking the plunge.    … Expand
  21. MrGerbz
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    Is DA2 a bad game? No.
    Is DA2 a bad game by Bioware standards? Definitely.
    Currently Bioware seems to become a true EA Games drone, by wanting to release a game every year at the cost of quality. It is mostly the Bioware fans that are seriously pissed off at them, and are giving all the bad scores. People who don't care much about RPG's but much rather prefer action-oriented games like    Is DA2 a bad game? No.
    Is DA2 a bad game by Bioware standards? Definitely.

    Currently Bioware seems to become a true EA Games drone, by wanting to release a game every year at the cost of quality. It is mostly the Bioware fans that are seriously pissed off at them, and are giving all the bad scores. People who don't care much about RPG's but much rather prefer action-oriented games like Call of Duty are the ones giving the high scores.

    Lets focus on the good parts first. The combat *looks* great, the companions are interesting, the graphics are pretty decent, the lore is still awesome to read, and the story while less epic than in DA:O, is still written very well. By industry standards, this is a very decent game.

    Sadly, there are also bad parts I need to mention. Like previously mentioned, the combat *looks* great, but when looking deeper at it, you'll notice it's actually pretty bland. Almost each encounter has waves of enemies (kill first group, 2nd group spawns, etc), and while interesting at first, it's overused.
    Speaking of overusing, if you have seen one cave / villa / sewer, you've seen them all. This is the biggest evidence of Bioware focussing on quantity over quality. They don't even give you a different minimap, certain passages are just blocked off.
    They've also reduced a lot of customization, with the excuse of 'streamlining' it. You can't even change your companions' outfit. But here's a newsflash Bioware: RPG fans LOVE customization. Sure, our companions may not always look great then, but this makes upgrading their outfits to more powerful ones even more satisfying.
    The biggest part of the quests you'll do are simple find and drop off quests, without even specific dialogue. You won't feel much of a connection to anyone or anything but some of your companions. Dialogue shouldn't feel like a bother, hence you should have the ability to skip it. But a total lack of it only makes us feel less involved. This goes so far that you don't even buy wares from merchants themselves, but from boxes next to them. BANG, and the immersion's gone.

    In conclusion: DA2 isn't bad, hell it's sometimes pretty good even. For the industry standard. But it's far, far away from the Bioware standard.    … Expand
  22. Talvrae
    Mar 20, 2011
    7
    As a Bioware fan girl i will try to make as much of an unbiased review i can do for this game. I'm not blind to it's flaw. But dont want to bash it rediculously for some of the scandals on the game reviews.
    Even if some of the features of Dragon Age Origins return, this is not the same game at all, for the good and the bad. We return to Thedas the same universe and we still are playing a    As a Bioware fan girl i will try to make as much of an unbiased review i can do for this game. I'm not blind to it's flaw. But dont want to bash it rediculously for some of the scandals on the game reviews.
    Even if some of the features of Dragon Age Origins return, this is not the same game at all, for the good and the bad. We return to Thedas the same universe and we still are playing a tactical RPG like the first one, who let you customise the enemies tactics (Richards that's not an unfinished feature, it's necesseries with all the customisations possibles, and it allow to to addapt the tactics to your liking).
    .
    I wills tart out with the bads
    Less customisation than the first one, It's no longer possible to play an elf or a dwarf.
    Recicled environements
    Lack of environement variety
    straight lined missions

    On the good side
    The story is nice and very personal a good change of the epics stories
    The voice acting is excellent as usual on a Bioware titles and the dialogue well work well in the game
    Uge improvement on the graphical side (the art style have changed a lot trought and you like it or you dont)
    Good replayability with lot of things who can change in the game plays

    It's not as good as the original but still a good game    … Expand
  23. apexTF
    Mar 16, 2011
    7
    May as well start by saying that if you're looking for a hard-core RPG, then Dragon Age 2 is not for you. It's RPG-lite at best. Not necessarily a bad thing, but you may have to adjust your expectations of the game. Initially I was dissapointed as I was hoping for a bigger and better DA:O, but it feels like bioware has taken DA in a completely new direction.
    I guess the easiest way to sum    May as well start by saying that if you're looking for a hard-core RPG, then Dragon Age 2 is not for you. It's RPG-lite at best. Not necessarily a bad thing, but you may have to adjust your expectations of the game. Initially I was dissapointed as I was hoping for a bigger and better DA:O, but it feels like bioware has taken DA in a completely new direction.
    I guess the easiest way to sum it up is that DA2 is simpler than its predecessor. The combat is faster and less tactical, even on the harder difficulty settings I rarely had to play with the custom tactics or pause to set up an attack. The loss of the tatical overview was dissapointing but I would argue that you hardly need to use it in this game. I actually enjoyed the more arcadey feel to the combat but I think the corpses that explode body parts all over the place at the slightest of touch was abit much!
    The game is centred around one major city and at 30+ hours long there's a reasonable amount of content to get through. The story starts slow (the first 6 hours feels like you are just plodding along) but the second half is definitely better than the first and develops into quite an engaging storyline. The writers do a good job of keeping it interesting but after spending 80% of your time in the same city you do find yourself wishing for newer landscapes, the choice of locales is limited.
    This leads me on to, in my view, one of the major downpoints of the game. The dungeon areas are horribly over recycled. You may not notice it for the first few hours but by the end it becomes jarringly obvious. It seems that blood mages and smugglers are more than happy to share a hidaway while bandits and spirits of the fade clearly swap interior decorators.
    The graphics are a step up from the original and the cutscenes look pretty good but you will find better elsewhere.
    The voice acting and script is competent without ever being spectacular and some of the characters are likable, even producing some chuckles. The conversation wheel works well and some of the choices you have to make are genuinely difficult.
    The skill trees give a pretty decent choice for customisation but some skills feel like fillers. I liked the new approach to crafting, not having to search for millions of ingredients and instead just discovering resources works well, but the range of recipes seems limited.

    I would recommend this game to anyone but for some it may be too bigger step away from the original. If you can look look past that you'll find an enjoyable game, that despite its flaws, easily gives you your moneys worth without ever being anything special.    … Expand
  24. FredIK
    Mar 16, 2011
    7
    Dragon age 2 (DA2) have put a real dynamic fighting BUT too many bugs in the strategic mode made this game disappointing. Too many details (conversation, equipement) with companions, choice of race and background of own characters, the cue aren't reflect sometimes what the characters said (it is perhaps a problem of translation, i don't know). In fact the fans of RPG will find less inDragon age 2 (DA2) have put a real dynamic fighting BUT too many bugs in the strategic mode made this game disappointing. Too many details (conversation, equipement) with companions, choice of race and background of own characters, the cue aren't reflect sometimes what the characters said (it is perhaps a problem of translation, i don't know). In fact the fans of RPG will find less in Dragon Age 2 than In DA Origins. I have more said "it's a pitty" than "Excellent" in my play of DA2.
    My score is 7, sure there are gaps but it stay a real good RPG game. People wait perhaps too much from Bioware which perhaps have to take much time to finish Dragon Age 2. It's not an Epic fail, just choices from Bioware, not really satisfied their gamers.    … Expand
  25. sk4477
    Mar 17, 2011
    7
    Is it as good as DA:O? No. Ist it on my list of possible Game of the Year candidates? No. Was Bioware cutting corners left and right.. yes.. Let's face it, DA2 feels like it was rushed to the market without the care and attention to detail that made its predecessor special. DA2 suffers from repeating dungeons over and over again and disappoints me with a over simplified skill tree. Let'sIs it as good as DA:O? No. Ist it on my list of possible Game of the Year candidates? No. Was Bioware cutting corners left and right.. yes.. Let's face it, DA2 feels like it was rushed to the market without the care and attention to detail that made its predecessor special. DA2 suffers from repeating dungeons over and over again and disappoints me with a over simplified skill tree. Let's just skip over the whole party armor upgrading business and while we're at it, cram the stupid dialog wheel system from Mass Effect down the players throats. It's getting almost too casual now. Yes,I do feel like this title was produced with minimal effort, to rake in some more additional cash. And yes i do blame EA for it.

    Act 1 unfortunately being especially bland, while Acts 2 and 3 do pick up a quite bit, with my party members finally starting to develop some actual profile. But does it deserve a meager 0-4 scores? Hell no. It is still an entertaining title that will keep fans of the old DA:O or faster paced W-RPGS entertained for a good 20h if not way more. My first play thru took 38h. It has a decent storyline, it's technically 'sound' - not great, mind you, just average. I haven't experienced any bugs, crashes or whatnot. I liked the story, it even does lend itself to be played at least a second time through. Plenty of quests to go around, too. I think this title is getting bashed a bit too hard here.    … Expand
  26. Olaf
    Mar 17, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age 2 though being a good game is a big let down for RPG fans. It tries to cater to a very large gamer base thus sacrificing a lot of which made DAO a huge success. The story at best is average, the voice acting is average though it does shine at times, the combat is more of a hack n slash, enemies explode in countless bits with one hit from a weapon. The combat consists of waves nDragon Age 2 though being a good game is a big let down for RPG fans. It tries to cater to a very large gamer base thus sacrificing a lot of which made DAO a huge success. The story at best is average, the voice acting is average though it does shine at times, the combat is more of a hack n slash, enemies explode in countless bits with one hit from a weapon. The combat consists of waves n waves of enemies spawning at you out of thin air which is absolutely immersion breaking and it continues throughout most of the game in the same manner. The environments are reused again n again n again n again....... The companions are not that great no feeling of attachment, romance is not implemented well, no companion customization, poor inventory system. I could go on n on but Ill stop. Please Bioware check you priorities you can't serve two masters at the same time...… Expand
  27. Nemo888
    Mar 24, 2011
    7
    The first 5 hours of this game SUCKS as you can see from my initial impressions below. But it gets better. Much better. By the second act I was really enjoying it. The story and characters are excellent, much better than Origins. If you could skip the first 5 hours I would give it an 8. This is an excellent game once it gets on its' feetThe first 5 hours of this game SUCKS as you can see from my initial impressions below. But it gets better. Much better. By the second act I was really enjoying it. The story and characters are excellent, much better than Origins. If you could skip the first 5 hours I would give it an 8. This is an excellent game once it gets on its' feet
    _________________________________________________________
    Downloaded it and installed all the extra content.
    They wrecked the combat. Randomly appearing spawns, too much mana, etc. There are no tactics whatsoever.
    Most items so far are Hawke only. WTF is that? Items are screwed.
    The game has lost all the tactical tweaks that made RPG's different from shooters. It's just some crappy console game. Maybe it gets better.    … Expand
  28. Isisius
    Mar 17, 2011
    7
    BEFORE YOU BUT DRAGON AGE II READ THIS
    ***********This is not a bad game.***********
    That is what i want to say right from the bat. Compared to Dragon Age Origins though, it is probably better in a few ways, and worse in a few, and i think this is what is pissing everyone off. Let me start with the good. --- The Story --- This is up to every person i guess, but i thought the story was    BEFORE YOU BUT DRAGON AGE II READ THIS
    ***********This is not a bad game.***********
    That is what i want to say right from the bat.
    Compared to Dragon Age Origins though, it is probably better in a few ways, and worse in a few, and i think this is what is pissing everyone off.
    Let me start with the good.
    --- The Story ---
    This is up to every person i guess, but i thought the story was fine, pretty epic feel, took a little longer to get into than the first, but other than that not too bad.
    --- The Combat ---
    Loved it, everything reacts when you click it, it looks good, took a while to get used to the slightly different roles of the classes this time, but i much preferred the combat.
    --- The Leveling ---
    It was different and i was skeptical at first, but i really enjoyed the leveling. The abilities menu was good and allowed for awesome customization of the character, by level 20 my character was exactly what i wanted.
    --- Crafting ---
    Much better, rather than have to collect a million elfroot, you find sources of it, and can craft things using money once you have find enough sources. Much cleaner more efficient and i actually used crafting this time round.

    Now the the bad, and i apologize in advance to Bioware for this, but i only do this because i love you.
    --- The Maps ---
    Oh god please please PLEASE give me some different **** maps. I was SO sick of playing through the exact same cave maps over and over again the only difference being some pathways are blocked off in each one. And if you are going to use the same map over and over PLEASE at least change the minimap to only show the paths you can reach, that way it might take me a little longer to work out its the same map. Seriously, the exact same mini map for every cave, for ever vault, for ever house, it gets so old.

    --- The Character Interaction ---
    Now i want to make a point clear here, i actually liked most of the characters, sure everyone thinks Anders is a bit of a whiney **** sometimes, but every game has one of them, however the interaction was a real letdown. I also liked how they talked to each, other some of their conversations were great.
    The first game was great you could take so much time talking to the characters learning about them any time you want.
    This game, they only talk to you if your getting a quest, otherwise its the same canned lines spoken back to you.

    --- The "Choices" ---
    Oh man did this annoy me on my second playthrough. Its just lazy developing. First time i played through i was thinking, hmmm maybe if i do stuff different i can improve that. People who have finished the game will know that there is an event towards the end of the game where it gives you an illusion of having played a part in it, but there is really no way to affect the outcome.
    There were a few things in the game that did this, and it feels like it only did it because they couldnt be bothered making different endings.

    --- The Setting ---
    Kinda ties in with the maps, but i think deserves its own criticism, there are what, 4 places you can go, and only one of them is a city. Whoopde friggin do. DA:O was interesting because it gave you a very diverse number of places you could go, the forests of the elves, the caves of the dwarves, the castle of the humans, or if you had DLC, the mysterious keep you could conquer.
    This game just used the same 4 areas, and a few other locations that were all pretty identical, and chucked different bad guys in them.

    --- Conversation Wheel ---
    I know there are some people that love this, but i am so sick of trying to say something and my character saying something else, especially if you are trying to make the conversation flow and don't notice the symbol on the wheel.
    Example: (Slightly paraphrased)
    Fenris: Mage guy wanna kill me good, wont be happy till he sees my cold dead body
    (I look at my choices and choose "Thats a shame", which is exactly what it says in the game, thinking i will be nice and supportive)
    Hawke: Thats a shame.... you have a great body ;)

    I mean come on, really? Sure there are the symbols, but thats just one example of when i didnt check it, and there are many others of me clicking the option that says "No i wont kill him" and Hawke says, "No i wont kill him, ill kill you instead RAHHHH" and i just sit there going oh balls.


    I could go on forever here but i wont, there were a few more good things, and many more bad, eg
    - lazy romance options, ie everyone is bi-sexual
    - every single combat situation has some SURPRISE guys attack you from behind EVERY TIME!!!
    - those damn quests where you find **** and give it to people for money that made no sense

    But in the end, i played the game through and am halfway through playing it through again, it is not a horrible game, but when you make game like DA:O and have that as a starting point, we set our expectations pretty high, and Bioware, you really didnt impress...    … Expand
  29. MDFD
    Mar 18, 2011
    7
    While I would like to create a long, fully elaborated review on the game to explain the core features and everything in depth, I honestly cannot, as the game is without much merit whatsoever. The combat took a system which felt unrefined in DA:O and rather that improving it and making it better, just completely ruined it to make a system without thought or challenge
  30. Xabong
    Mar 18, 2011
    7
    Playing this game makes me really want to play DA:O to see what the backlash against DAII is all about. For one, I found the combat in this game to be incredibly addictive. It is extremely fast-paced, but still requires you to pause the game frequently to issue orders to your companions. Like any good RPG, there is still a great deal of micro-management to be had: stats, skill trees,Playing this game makes me really want to play DA:O to see what the backlash against DAII is all about. For one, I found the combat in this game to be incredibly addictive. It is extremely fast-paced, but still requires you to pause the game frequently to issue orders to your companions. Like any good RPG, there is still a great deal of micro-management to be had: stats, skill trees, and equipment are all still there. You can't change your companions' armor, but that seems to have less to do with "streamlining" the gameplay and more to do with taking away the ability to change their in-game appearance, since the rest of their equipment is still customizable. What is a bit annoying is that much of the game's challenge comes from it throwing waves of cannon fodder enemies at you. It does make exploring the dungeons feel a bit more like you are playing a God of War style game and I can see why many fans would be disappointed in this regard, but it didn't bother me a whole lot.

    The biggest complaint I have with the game are the recycled dungeons and interiors. It really takes you out of the experience when you you realize that the cavern you are exploring is structurally IDENTICAL to the cavern you were exploring a half an hour ago, or when you enter a house that is identical to your hero's house, right down to the decor. This, more than anything, just seems like pure laziness on Bioware's part. I'd also like to know why they didn't make this a more open-world style game since the vast majority of it takes place within the walls of a single city and its outskirts. Instead, you get a handful of small, disconnected areas you reach by clicking their icon on the map screen. Would it have been that hard to connect them? Graphically, the game is pretty simple. Again, it seems like this was a lazy decision made just to get the game out faster and that's really unfortunate.

    Where I absolutely cannot fault the game is its storytelling and characters, both of which make Dragon Age II an experience I'm not likely to forget anytime soon. As for the story itself, it seemed pretty unfocused and I never really understood where the storyline was headed or if it was headed anywhere at all, but the frame narrative made me much more interested in finding out what would happen next. I was also surprised at how much I came to care about all of Hawke's companions after not caring at all about anyone in Mass Effect. I commend Bioware in particular for creating a great female character in the form of Aveline and for being much more inclusive than in their Mass Effect games by including male same-sex romance options.

    I enjoyed Dragon Age II immensely despite all the recycled interior areas. Yes, the game borrows certain elements from action games, but it is still much more of a true RPG than either Mass Effect 2 or Final Fantasy XIII. Not a total success like ME2, but not an abysmal failure like FFXIII, the game is still a very welcome refresh of a genre. If Bioware has put more effort into designing the game's world, it would be an easy 9 for me. As it is, it's still recommendable because the characters and the underlying gameplay are just so good, but I really hope Bioware doesn't try to cheat us like this in the future.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Best PC Game of 2011
5
#5 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
19
#19 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 45 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 45
  3. Negative: 0 out of 45
  1. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 18, 2011
    90
    Moving even further from the classic RPG, strong story and clever combat are nonetheless still found within Dragon Age II. [May 2011, p.52]
  2. Gaming Nexus
    Apr 12, 2011
    58
    Despite some advancement in storytelling approach and liberal borrowing from Bioware's Mass Effect approach to gameplay, Dragon Age 2 on the PC has a lot of bugs and is populated with re-used settings that make this feel like a play performed on a stage with two sets.
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  3. CPUGamer
    Apr 11, 2011
    85
    For a rushed product that is still battling bugs, the currently offered product still provides 40 hours of challenging and engaging gameplay. This combines to provide a good, but not great gaming experience.
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