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. Demovitron
    Mar 16, 2011
    6
    Dragon Age 2 did disappoint me, because it's not as good, as Dragon Age Origins! There isn't ANY aspect that is be better, than DAO. That said, it's not a terrible game, but it isn't good either.

    Pros: - The Story is quite okay. - The characters aren't bad. - From the technical view point it's quite stable (expect for DX11). - The graphic is good enough. Cons: - Don't like the    Dragon Age 2 did disappoint me, because it's not as good, as Dragon Age Origins! There isn't ANY aspect that is be better, than DAO. That said, it's not a terrible game, but it isn't good either.

    Pros:
    - The Story is quite okay.
    - The characters aren't bad.
    - From the technical view point it's quite stable (expect for DX11).
    - The graphic is good enough.

    Cons:
    - Don't like the new combar system. It's too fast, the spawning of waves of enemies isn't realistic and it feels like stupid hack&slay.
    - RPG features have been cut or removed. Character customization, char. development, inventory, equipment and the diolog wheel are probably the main issues here.
    - Why the useless and ugly comic style? DAO looked much better! Realistic characters and dimensions of equipment build up much more atmosphere.
    - Boring levels without any details. They weren't made with "love".
    - The same boring places are repeated and repeated and repeated again and again and again.
    - DX11 doesn't work correctly. Have to play it with DX9, even though my PC is extremely strong.
    - The High Def. Textures Pack wasn't included in the released version.
    - No Signature Edition on Steam...
    - DLCs before release! Selling me have the pie again...
    - The featured items are too strong/good. It's a balance problem. Summary:
    - The game was released too early.
    - The game has a very poor atmosphere.
    - Too many aspects and features were cut or removed.
    - The game has been dumbed down even more.
    - Don't like the "evolution" from "rpg" to "action".
    - It can't live up to DAO.

    Remarks:
    - Bioware/EA try to bleed the Dragon Age franchise out so that they have enough money for SWTOR. Shame on you! Dragon Age Origins was your most successful franchise so far? Why destroying it then by changing the winning team?
    - Of course people have to compare Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2! It's the same franchise and it shares the same name ...
    - I was stupid enough to trust Bioware and pre-ordered the game. This is a mistake, I won't repeat. Where is the quality people are used to?    … Expand
  2. Shipkov
    Mar 17, 2011
    6
    ХоÑ
  3. Randomsanity
    Mar 17, 2011
    6
    Not quite the masterpiece that was Dragon Age Origins, but very far from being a terrible game. If this had have been the first game I would have given it a 10/10. However it did not improve at all on the original and removed some of the best features of the game. Lack of overhead tactical view, atrocious camera controls and nonsensical enemy spawns were what drove the score down for me.Not quite the masterpiece that was Dragon Age Origins, but very far from being a terrible game. If this had have been the first game I would have given it a 10/10. However it did not improve at all on the original and removed some of the best features of the game. Lack of overhead tactical view, atrocious camera controls and nonsensical enemy spawns were what drove the score down for me. Bioware has clearly abandoned their loyal PC fan base in favor of the younger console generation. Shame.… Expand
  4. Drastim
    Mar 17, 2011
    6
    Plot is good, companions are at least as interesting as in the first installment, but probably because the game was rushed (its 1,5 year since Origins are on the market) its overly simplified. Interiors are repeatable, running around Kirkwall is boring after a while, and game stutters on DX11 mode when using GF cards. Throw in some bugs and glitches, and i recommend waiting for new driversPlot is good, companions are at least as interesting as in the first installment, but probably because the game was rushed (its 1,5 year since Origins are on the market) its overly simplified. Interiors are repeatable, running around Kirkwall is boring after a while, and game stutters on DX11 mode when using GF cards. Throw in some bugs and glitches, and i recommend waiting for new drivers and some patching before trying it out. Don`t get me wrong - the game is good, but its not as good as Dragon Age one.… Expand
  5. Although
    Mar 17, 2011
    6
    I played with demo only and i tried to read everything what i have found about DA2..now i am really really disapointed. DA:O was a dream me and i replayed and ended it some days ago..I really thank you Origins but understand fully the people why give you 0 point to DA2. I gave 6 point you because i know you havent made bad game. But i wont buy this game now because i would like to believeI played with demo only and i tried to read everything what i have found about DA2..now i am really really disapointed. DA:O was a dream me and i replayed and ended it some days ago..I really thank you Origins but understand fully the people why give you 0 point to DA2. I gave 6 point you because i know you havent made bad game. But i wont buy this game now because i would like to believe you never make bad game.… Expand
  6. MadJackMcMad
    Mar 22, 2011
    6
    MadJackMcMad
    Earl


    A fair and balanced review. Although choice is the epitome of recent Bioware offerings, choice is not given here. Three races are reduced to one, and six origins are reduced to one. As such, I could only play as the queasily named â
  7. Wizard1200
    Mar 17, 2011
    6
    - The high respawn rate destroys the immersion and the tactical part of the game
    - The combat is boring, because of the long cooldowns, the high costs and waves of standard enemies
    - The quest design is sometimes great and sometimes bad - Many skills are useless (Dispel Magic, Panacea (40 % cost for +50 health regeneration), ...) - The recycled areas destroy the immersion and the need to    - The high respawn rate destroys the immersion and the tactical part of the game
    - The combat is boring, because of the long cooldowns, the high costs and waves of standard enemies
    - The quest design is sometimes great and sometimes bad
    - Many skills are useless (Dispel Magic, Panacea (40 % cost for +50 health regeneration), ...)
    - The recycled areas destroy the immersion and the need to explore the game    … Expand
  8. ivanasw
    Mar 18, 2011
    6
    Spawning enemies in front of your eyes, repetitive locations, boring quests, lots of the same demons from Dragon Age: Origins, no ability to change armor of your companions, money make no use in this game anymore, the ending of the game is quite the same and no matter what path you choose, imported saved games from DA:O make no significant role. Final word: this game is bad sequel.
  9. BaM
    Mar 19, 2011
    6
    Like many others here, this is the first time that I've been motivated enough to write a review for one of these games. Mostly, it's because of where the game fails. Also, I have to say right away that I've been disappointed with how Bioware has responded to user criticisms. Please get a crisis management consultant, who will give you a much better approach to this, which will start withLike many others here, this is the first time that I've been motivated enough to write a review for one of these games. Mostly, it's because of where the game fails. Also, I have to say right away that I've been disappointed with how Bioware has responded to user criticisms. Please get a crisis management consultant, who will give you a much better approach to this, which will start with "oops, we tried our best but it didn't work for a lot of you so let's figure out how to improve in the future." This would have added to your credibility instead of the current reputation-killing approach.

    To the game. I've been playing RPG games for decades and Bioware has been among my favorite companies. So I guess I'm among the many disappointed in part because my expectations were higher. Though perhaps Awakenings should have warned me, since I found that game had some similar flaws. 2. I like the idea of a talent tree, but it could be a lot better. And where are all those talents that help with something other than #245th way of blowing something up. I miss stealthing to scout out a territory or to take down a crucial mage by surprise while my partners rush in to distract. Sidekick wise, Varric and Aveline are great characters. Merrill is not bad, though not as memorable as the DA:O crowd. Carver isn't bad, either. Bethany, on the other hand, was bad enough that I restarted a game to back to Carver. Isabela made me cringe and I like adult-themed games. . The last two battles are the last straw that break the camel's back. Ugh. To put it bluntly, when I play through again, it's likely I'll stop around the beginning of Act 3 and hope that the writers are replaced for any sequel that comes (which I will NOT pre-order).

    Staying in the city wasn't a bad idea, but it needed more life and depth. I found the repetitive scenery a big minus. I found the endlessly similar battles with the more and more boring waves of unrealistically appearing enemies to be harder and harder to accept. The 123 "rings" and "amulets" really took almost all value out of the items we collected and used. It also led to the other complaint, that so many things that were named still look the same. I would rather have a few, quite different and interesting items that I can grow to love for a while. I like overall the tension between the different factions and I would have liked the game to focus on and develop these even more. It worked much better for Act 2, and I was ready to stop the game by its end (though I would have liked to see that plot developed even more; it would have been worth it). Act 3 as a build up of the earlier other tensions could have been great, but it was defeated by the apparent need to make every encounter a battle with something bad. So instead of a gripping choice between two imperfect, human, and sympathetic sides, I get numbed out by endless, unjustified, and similar battles.    … Expand
  10. sabbede
    Mar 18, 2011
    6
    Origins pulled you in and didn't let go - I wanted to marry it and devote my life to exploring every facet of the game. It was what I look for in a woman - it was rich, deep, engaging, beautiful, and filled with brutal, visceral combat. We had something real together, the kind of thing you can build a real life on.

    I feel like DA2 got me drunk and gave me herpes.
  11. Herrnewbenmeist
    Mar 19, 2011
    6
    The worst part of the game is that the environments are consistently recycled. It ruins immersion, kills suspension of disbelief. This in turn makes other, minor quibbles I might have the game all the more annoying. I would say it is even worse than first Mass Effect in this regard. It's original Halo bad (read: one corridor). Additionally, to try and make it look as if they are notThe worst part of the game is that the environments are consistently recycled. It ruins immersion, kills suspension of disbelief. This in turn makes other, minor quibbles I might have the game all the more annoying. I would say it is even worse than first Mass Effect in this regard. It's original Halo bad (read: one corridor). Additionally, to try and make it look as if they are not constantly recycling environments they block off some doors of areas and pretend that this makes it a different place. Imagine if all of Baldur's Gate took place in two sections of Baldur's Gate and two outdoor areas and one cave. That's right, there's one cave. You'll get awful familiar with it and the one warehouse, one mansion, and one coastal strand. Apparently the Maker was busy having awesome god-sex with Andraste when divinely designing Kirkwall and its environs and just said, "Screw it." At one point I was in the whorehouse and said to myself, "There are a ton of books here." Turns out the reason why there were so many books in the whorehouse is because the whorehouse uses the mansion environment. So they just cut-and-pasted the thing library and all. That's dickish, but the coup de grace is that the minimap does not reflect when they close off sections of a recycled area to make it look a little different. So oftentimes there are these large pieces on the minimap that look accessible, but are not. The first time I encountered this I didn't understand what was going on and I was convinced I was missing a secret switch and looked for a solid five minutes before realizing the game developers were either rushed or lazy and hadn't bothered to patch up the minimap. The plot is ambitious and it works in part and fails in part. It does give the impression of years passing. But this comes at the cost of telling what are essentially three separate stories with much smaller scale than the epic Dragon Age, NWN, or BG plots of yore. You're essentially dabbling in the petty politics of a single city. The loremasters of Dragon Age have gone to such lengths to create such a big and detailed world, why are we trapped in this tiny, consistently recycled environment? If you want to tell a story over the course of 10 years, why not put in a lot of globe hopping? The dialogue and the characters at least are interesting. I liked most of the party companions and their banter. I'm not entirely against the Mass Effect wheel making an appearance. I really enjoyed the companion sidequests. Those were much more compelling to me than any of the main plot line quests. I actually liked many of the changes to combat people complain about so much. Cross-class combos are interesting and make warriors and rogues feel more worthwhile. It also adds a bit of skill in using them against enemies at higher levels of difficulty. Yes, rogues now do teleport into position to backstab, which yes, is dumb. But in comparison to the above, it's hardly even worth noting as annoying. Finally, why the hell did they make it so I can't equip armor on companions? My inventory was constantly laden with plate mail and leather armor my mage could never equip and my companions just kept their pre-fab armor that automatically improves with leveling and upgrades stored in the most random places of all Thedas. One of the most enjoyable parts of an RPG is improving your characters. This does not just come from leveling. In Baldur's Gate, NWN, Morrowind, Dibalo when you find your first good piece of plate armor and throw away your stupid rusty chainmail, you feel like such a badass. Here, you don't get to do that for 6/7 party members. That's just lame. Some people complain about the graphics. Overall I'd say they're fine. Some textures stand out as very low-res. That's lame, but compared to some of the complaints above, negligible. Graphics don't really make or break a game for me. It's the story, it's the adventure. It's how immersed I can get in the game. In short, it's decent. The plot is at least trying to do something new, even if it doesn't entirely succeed. Bioware still writes good dialogue and the characters are worthwhile. But the game is crap compared to what I hoped it would be. If it had even just been as good as Dragon Age I would have been happy. Alas, it got substantially worse. I'd wait for it to hit the bargain bin if you've got time on your hands and like the genre. Do not pay full price, and if any of the above sounds unbearable to you, just don't invest at all and read a summary of plot somewhere while waiting to see if they botch DA 3.â… Expand
  12. SleepyDad
    Mar 20, 2011
    6
    Just finished a first play through. Diverting and enjoyable enough to finish, but a far cry from DA:O. The story arc was certainly less compelling. I found the "voiced protagonist" a nice addition, and found the new dialog system to be rather nice overall (though sometimes a bit *too* explicit about which dialog routes to take -- especially for developing romances). The combat systemJust finished a first play through. Diverting and enjoyable enough to finish, but a far cry from DA:O. The story arc was certainly less compelling. I found the "voiced protagonist" a nice addition, and found the new dialog system to be rather nice overall (though sometimes a bit *too* explicit about which dialog routes to take -- especially for developing romances). The combat system was much less enjoyable than DA:O. Everything looked and felt a lot more like a console game, with talents that were sometimes awesome to see in action but hard to fathom as "making sense" in the DA:O universe. I really missed being able to scroll back to the "tactical view" of the battlefield. I was shocked that the anti-magic powers of Templars seemed to be diminished to the point of non-existence. I experienced at least one serious glitch in a chapter 3 quest (rescuing a kidnap victim, but the "bandit leader" I found on Wounded Coast can't be interacted with -- I presume that some interaction is necessary at this point to kick off a conversation and/or battle -- there's no other hint about how to proceed beyond "Go to the Wounded Coast" and I certainly searched that area thoroughly and found nothing else). I'm also not sure whether there's a bug related to finding the "Spindle weed" crafting resource -- I think I checked all areas pretty thoroughly, but ended the game with "3/6" found (and I needed 4 for a particularly spectacular potion). Despite all this, I'll probably play it at least once more -- it had its moments. There was enough of a cliffhanger ending involving a character from the original game that I can at least hope for the possibility of another sequel that hopefully recovers some of the strengths and plot interest of the original game.

    I wouldn't recommend a true DA:O fan to rush out and buy, but it may be worth a play through once it becomes a loss-leader or if you can purchase it used.    … Expand
  13. TendrilHead
    Mar 20, 2011
    6
    Bioware keeps saying they improved Dragon Age. Apparently "improved" = "subtracted from" at Bioware. But still I think some of the lower reviews are based on the expectations coming off of Dragon Age: Orgins. This game is just ok, in the same way Arcania or Risen were ok. I could tell they were bad games, but there was plenty to enjoy within. Bioware has abandoned the PC crowd that createdBioware keeps saying they improved Dragon Age. Apparently "improved" = "subtracted from" at Bioware. But still I think some of the lower reviews are based on the expectations coming off of Dragon Age: Orgins. This game is just ok, in the same way Arcania or Risen were ok. I could tell they were bad games, but there was plenty to enjoy within. Bioware has abandoned the PC crowd that created them. My advice is rent this on console, and spend no more than $10. The DLC is nothing to be missed.… Expand
  14. allquixotic
    Mar 20, 2011
    6
    As a die-hard Bioware aficionado, I'm slightly disappointed with some aspects of DA2, and extremely disappointed with one particular aspect.

    First, the good: I enjoyed the graphics and most of the voiceovers. I think the graphics turned out just fine, as I am not a stickler for having sharp textures and screen-filling special effects. I don't play Bioware games for their graphics; I play    As a die-hard Bioware aficionado, I'm slightly disappointed with some aspects of DA2, and extremely disappointed with one particular aspect.

    First, the good: I enjoyed the graphics and most of the voiceovers. I think the graphics turned out just fine, as I am not a stickler for having sharp textures and screen-filling special effects. I don't play Bioware games for their graphics; I play them for the story and the gameplay. I really enjoyed the main characters' voiceovers, though a lot of the supporting characters seemed either over-done, or they sounded like they were Tranquil (when in fact the character was not Tranquil).

    When I play a Bioware title of late, I usually end up regretting that the game was so short, because it was so much fun while it lasted, but the mostly linear stories leave little room for replay. With DA2, I thought the game might end at a certain point, only to have it continue to drag on from there. I feel like the length of the game was up to what I would like to see more often in Bioware titles, but unfortunately, the added length seems to have harmed the epic feel of the story. Because there is a denouement partway through the game and then another build-up to the end, it feels like you are playing one exciting and fun game up through the first denouement, then a second, much shorter, less exciting game with an extremely anticlimactic finish afterwards.

    My biggest gripe, which single-handledly changes my rating of the game from an 8 to a 6, is the massive and wanton reuse of levels. No Bioware game to date has re-used levels this much, not only for side quests but also the main ones! Seeing the same levels, same enemy spawn areas, same music repeat over and over and over again led to my fatigue and general lack of interest in the game as it wore on. I wanted to complete it to see how it would end, but I really found the final 30% of the game to be absolutely exhausting and depressing to play.

    One of the things that immerses me in Bioware games is the way that your hero travels from place to place, making a major impact (for better or worse) on lives and building up notoriety, and then moving on. I think this feeling of the dynamic, wandering hero is stripped out of DA2, whereas you can find it in significant measure in all the other recent Bioware titles, particularly DAO, Mass Effect 1 and 2, and even the NWN and Baldur's Gate titles.

    The epic feel of Mass Effect is also gone. While I felt from the beginning that the Dragon Age story is decidedly less seminal than the Mass Effect story, there was definitely appeal and charm to DA:O's story, and you could see that it was quite "epic". Related to the concept of the lack of travel in DA2, you also get a feel that the scope of your actions in DA2 is much smaller, and you are basically fighting for control over a small microcosm. More disappointingly, just as it starts to become apparent how this microcosm might impact the rest of the Dragon Age universe, the game comes to an abrupt close.

    Bioware also gets "credit" (in a pejorative sense) for releasing the second game in a row with an extremely gimmicky-feeling final boss fight. It just seems like something you would see in an old CONTRA game on NES, and has little relevance or relation to the rest of the story.

    I haven't read any of the other user reviews yet so as not to bias mine, but I see a lot of negative reviews. I don't feel the need to be overly harsh; Dragon Age 2 is an enjoyable game with interesting mechanics that I would like to believe will have a series of redeeming expansions, or better yet, an excellent finisher in Dragon Age 3. Story-wise, it feels a bit like a trailer for a (hopefully) fantastic game to come; I wish they could have made it epic in its own right in a similar way to other mid-trilogy titles (Star Wars Empire Strikes Back, Mass Effect 2, etc).    … Expand
  15. Crom
    Mar 21, 2011
    6
    My review is mixed. Dragon Age 2 is a great game only if you haven't played the first game. If you haven't played D.A.Origins you wont miss the several different origins depending on your race. You wont miss the strategy part when having a fight. You wont miss the feel that you play a game in a huge map. You wont miss the different dungeons that you encounter all the time. If you haven'tMy review is mixed. Dragon Age 2 is a great game only if you haven't played the first game. If you haven't played D.A.Origins you wont miss the several different origins depending on your race. You wont miss the strategy part when having a fight. You wont miss the feel that you play a game in a huge map. You wont miss the different dungeons that you encounter all the time. If you haven't played D.A.O. Dragon Age 2 is a great game. But then if you haven't played Dragon Age Origins and you see this review know that you shouldn't play it after you finish Dragon Age 2, as you will make an account to Metacritic and write a similar review like mine… Expand
  16. RikersBeard
    Mar 22, 2011
    6
    First off, I am a veteran of Dragon Age: Origins, but still enjoyed this game. I played the game to completion in about 25 hours. Instead of going into a mega-rant about why I gave this game a 6/10 instead of a higher score, I will break it down into simple Pros and Cons: Pros: - Character development is more enjoyable than in DAO
    - Player can feel "connected" to these characters and    First off, I am a veteran of Dragon Age: Origins, but still enjoyed this game. I played the game to completion in about 25 hours. Instead of going into a mega-rant about why I gave this game a 6/10 instead of a higher score, I will break it down into simple Pros and Cons: Pros: - Character development is more enjoyable than in DAO
    - Player can feel "connected" to these characters and immerse themselves somewhat into the world
    - Desire to finish the storyline (which is not very cohesive)
    - References to DAO Cons (Much more substantive list)
    - My biggest gripe is that the game is not finished. The ending is lackluster, incomplete and basically set up to sell you, the customer, more DLC's and expansions that will inevitably finish the story
    - Huge let down with character development - after Bioware spends so much time connecting you to your side characters, everything is just left "hanging" at the end of the game
    - Battle system significantly dumbed down
    - No customization for other character's armour, limited weapon customization
    - Glitchy, Buggy quests ruin the game in some spots (crucial quest points with Merill are still bugged at time of writing)
    - The script is extremely corny in some places, making things absolutely cringe-worthy in many many parts of the game
    - EXTREMELY limited environments. Dungeons are recycled over and over again, by the end of Act 1, you've probably seen every environment that can be offered to you. This ruins the game environment in many places when you think to yourself "Wait... haven't I been here before?"
    - Non-cohesive storyline in many cases, quests do not seem connected
    - Choices don't really affect your ending, contrary to many other Bioware games

    Tl; Dr? If you are a fan of the original game, you will be disappointed with the dumbed-down combat, story, environments, incomplete ending, and so on. If you are looking for a hack-and-slash game, without much development, you may enjoy this game more.    … Expand
  17. Kamal
    Mar 23, 2011
    6
    While entertaining, this game doesn't come close to its predecessor. There are two problems with DA2: first it has a number of extremely silly design flaws, and second that it differs from Origins in many respects without bringing any improvement to the table.

    Just to list the obvious mistakes: no tactical camera (why would anybody kill a degree of freedom that doesn't come with any    While entertaining, this game doesn't come close to its predecessor. There are two problems with DA2: first it has a number of extremely silly design flaws, and second that it differs from Origins in many respects without bringing any improvement to the table.

    Just to list the obvious mistakes: no tactical camera (why would anybody kill a degree of freedom that doesn't come with any development cost?), companion armor restrictions (same question), copy/paste levels (it seems there only 10 maps in the game or so), poor artwork in Kirkwall (where you spend 90% of your time), enemies spawning out of thin air every fight (which ruins tactical gameplay in a lot of ways) and last but not least nasty bugs. Those mistakes could be made by beginners in game development, sitting on a tight budget, without any established rules to build upon, but to get them from Bioware team, having EA financial backing? Shocking.

    What's probably even more important for the fans of the Origins is that this game is different even where not outright bad. Everybody understands the desire to broaden the customer base and get more people to play this, but it's customary to tread carefully when naming something a sequel to something else. Combat is fast-paced while it was more tactical in Origins, the wheel-based dialogue system allows less room to role-play, you don't really get to know your companions, and their character development is weak. The strongest selling point of Dragon Age, the story seems dull and short at the same time, a collection of random encounters and errand missions. Hawke is more of a chip in the whirlpool, as it's impossible to influence most of the important events in the game. While I appreciated some changes (crafting for example), and most of the changes are a matter of taste, what surprises is the willingness of the developers to alienate their own fanbase in the first place, as none of this changes are obvious and straightforward.

    What's very disappointing is that the opinion of the average critic differs wildly from the opinion of average gamer whom the critic is supposed to represent. Whether the result of the PR machine at work or just the sequel effect, that's an important lesson for those looking at the (meta)critic scores.

    Financially, the results of this flawed design and sloppy execution are going to be deferred to DLCs and DA3, if it's greenlighted at all. Contrary to what "evil EA" theory suggests, EA's long-term profits are going to be negatively impacted by killing one of the most prominent franchises in the portfolio of acquired company (and honestly, if there is anything to learn from the film imdustry, it's the importance of having a good franchise and solid "customer base" aka fanbase).

    What EA/Bioware have done to Dragon Age is, in Talleyrand's words, worse than a crime - it's a mistake.    … Expand
  18. Jojo911
    Apr 23, 2011
    6
    This game isn't as bad as one may be led to believe. If you ignore the "Dragon Age" in it's name and judge it on it's own, it can be an enjoyable 50 hours or so. The problem is, it isn't Dragon Age anymore. Dragon Age Origins was a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and it showed. The sequel tried to reach out to people who didn't like BG and DAO, by borrowing heavily from Bioware'sThis game isn't as bad as one may be led to believe. If you ignore the "Dragon Age" in it's name and judge it on it's own, it can be an enjoyable 50 hours or so. The problem is, it isn't Dragon Age anymore. Dragon Age Origins was a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and it showed. The sequel tried to reach out to people who didn't like BG and DAO, by borrowing heavily from Bioware's other game Mass Effect. To top it off the game was very clearly rushed.
    Some of the biggest things you'll notice...
    - You can't customize companion armor. Their excuse is that they wanted to create unique models for companions that wouldn't fit regular armor, but it comes off as laziness.
    - The world doesn't change in the 7 years the story spans. Nothing changes from the location of NPCs to clothing, to companions houses (item locations and such).
    - Combat is faster paced. I actually like that.
    - You get a lot of useless item called junk. Why? Who knows, as the name suggests they serve no purpose other than to be sold.
    - Areas are reused to an extreme. Caves are always the same cave, mines the same mine, houses the same house, ect. This really starts to get annoying after about 2-3 hours of gameplay.
    - The story initially gives you little reason to care, and when it looks like it's picking up it's abruptly ended. No conclusion, and your actions have NO effect on how things turn out.
    - You have little impact on the overall story. In the first game you got to make decisions that had a huge impact on the world. Here, you're lucky if it changes a line of speech later on.
    - The dialog wheel will often do a poor job at representing what your about to say. If you've played Mass Effect you know what I mean.
    - Bodies explode when it's not fitting (ie a stab in the back would not cause a body to explode into a million pieces)

    Still the story is alright, despite never being concluded (clearly there is a sequel planned) and combat is improved over DAO. It's probably not worth the full $60 they are asking, but if you can find it for $35-$40 you'll get your money's worth.    … Expand
  19. cdreid
    Mar 27, 2011
    6
    Dragon Age 2 is not DA: Origins. Origins had one of the best plots ever in an rpg and you literally cared about every character. Most of all you had a goal. A purpose you cared about. Even the greatest games failed in this area (Oblivion comes to mind). There are only a few changes in DA 2, the details of which you can hear screamed about in every other review. One of the most annoying isDragon Age 2 is not DA: Origins. Origins had one of the best plots ever in an rpg and you literally cared about every character. Most of all you had a goal. A purpose you cared about. Even the greatest games failed in this area (Oblivion comes to mind). There are only a few changes in DA 2, the details of which you can hear screamed about in every other review. One of the most annoying is that you cannot equip the character outfits. This was made according to the designer because people all dressed all their characters the same and it bored him. So now your choice is.. to dress your characters the way He wanted you too. In addition the combat is seriously dumbed down. Rather than fighting a few powerful enemies and using tactics to defeat them mostly youre fighting waves of weak enemies with a couple "bosses" thrown in. On Hard or Nightmare difficulty this is still almost as interesting as the original game because on the tough fights you literally act/pause/issue orders/act/pause/issue orders. It isnt a game breaker though. What breaks this game more than anything was an egotistical designer deciding he knew better than the customer and forcefeeding us a lame plot you dont care about, his personal preferences on character equipment, and truely bizarre recycling of content. You only have afew areas to go to in this game and you will go to them again, and again, and again. Note: you can check out his softball interview to verify all of the above.

    Also missing from the game is the sense of danger, urgency, stress in making decisions. In DA:O You cared about every decision and fretted over them. You even had regrets at the end of the game no matter which decisions you made. In DA2... not so much. After a while you feel like a mercenary running around killing things for.. you dont know why. You might as well play wow or one of the other senseless click click click faux rpgs mmorpgs out there.

    Having said all that: This game is fun. Its not worth the full price and it shouldnt even be mentioned in the same breath as DA:O, Mass Effect, Baldurs gate etc. But if you can pick it up for 10 or 20 bucks.. its certainly worth it as its isnt Unfun. Perhaps Bioware will decide its customers are more important than the egos of its employees and fire the person responsible for this disappointment. Lets hope so because bioware is without question the best RPG company in the business.    … Expand
  20. ilintar
    Mar 28, 2011
    6
    This game isn't horrible. It's simply a mediocre game which was hyped to be the ultimate RPG ever. Unfortunately, it hasn't lived up to the hype. This doesn't mean that there is no enjoyable content - just that there isn't enough to warrant the over-the-top reviews. The first 20 hours of gameplay are both extremely cliche and repetitive and lack any sort of immersion - you do the sameThis game isn't horrible. It's simply a mediocre game which was hyped to be the ultimate RPG ever. Unfortunately, it hasn't lived up to the hype. This doesn't mean that there is no enjoyable content - just that there isn't enough to warrant the over-the-top reviews. The first 20 hours of gameplay are both extremely cliche and repetitive and lack any sort of immersion - you do the same generic "go over and kill something" quests and almost nothing is influenced by your character background or prior decisions. On the other hand, the game suddenly thrusts even the most minor decisions unto the player in the ending, which seems extremely inconsistent. There are also some design decisions that really outline the fact that the game was rushed to meet deadlines - first of all, free area exploration, something that was the staple element of every BioWare RPG from Baldur's Gate through Jade's Empire and KoTOR up to DA:O, is missing. No longer you can wander through the city at night and talk to strangers - no, right now anyone in the city brothel will talk to you only if you have a valid quest there. Add to this the generic locations which differ only in decorations and in blocked passages (which are blocked in-game but not on the location map - which gives a truly pathetic impression in a game with a budget as big as DA2 had) and you get an impression that somebody's trying to sell you an average product as a huge hit. Sequels for much less marketed titles, namely Divinity II and Two Worlds II, have done much better in terms of fulfilling expectations and improving upon the original, whereas here one can't shake the overwhelming impression that the only factor driving the favorable reviews is BioWare's reputation. The discrepancy between official reviews and user reviews, especially on such a huge sample size (over 2000 user reviews at the time of this writing) has to be telling, too. To summarize - if you have money to buy any title on the market and you are a fan of cPRGs, DA2 will suffice as entertainment - if you manage to plod through the first 20 hours or so. If you have a limited amount, DA2 would probably be my fourth choice this year - behind Two Words II, Divinity II and the upcoming Witcher II. Not horrible - just not good enough.… Expand
  21. grammarye
    Apr 1, 2011
    6
    An astonishingly disappointing entry from Bioware. As a fan of many Bioware games, of Dragon Age: Origins, as well as other classic RPGs, I was all set to return to the world of Thedas & continue in what should be a landmark Bioware RPG... Right? No, not so much. In fact, in complete contrast to RPGs where I just couldn't close the game, where the game cried out for 'just one more hour!' -An astonishingly disappointing entry from Bioware. As a fan of many Bioware games, of Dragon Age: Origins, as well as other classic RPGs, I was all set to return to the world of Thedas & continue in what should be a landmark Bioware RPG... Right? No, not so much. In fact, in complete contrast to RPGs where I just couldn't close the game, where the game cried out for 'just one more hour!' - DA2 I had to make an effort to play it.

    Negatives:
    Complete lack of immersion would be my number one killer for this game. Companions requiring you to be at their home before you can talk with them, terrible space-age user interface, the same unmoving NPCs for an entire decade of gameplay, in-combat spawns (!), the absolutely identical three-four buildings/dungeons reused throughout the entire game - these are just the beginnings of why I didn't immerse in DA2.

    Mass Effect 2 managed to paper over any repetition issues with an engaging story, and combat that was diverse enough that you had to occasionally engage the braincell. Not so with DA2. In fact, strategic planning goes out the window thanks to the spawning system - you can never be sure when the next batch of enemies will mysteriously appear. No isometric-style view was very lacking.

    The characters & story are not much better. Try as I might, I just can't engage with DA2. It's not for lack of effort - the writing and voice acting is excellent - it's just that whoever produced the overall story arc seems to have completely forgotten how to do it. Imagine if the opening of Baldur's Gate had begun with explaining how you were the child of Bhaal destined to defeat Sarevok, dropped you at the encounter with Sarevok bypassing Candlekeep entirely, and some NPC gets killed. Emotional involvement? None. Mystery? Well you've just told me the ending.

    Everyone and their dog can figure out that the protagonist of an RPG will be someone important - take Mass Effect 2; everyone knows Shepard is the hero, but we got to make him/her the hero in ME1 from humble roots - Shepard's Our hero. Hawke starts the game as badass numero uno for hire, and there's no emotions of success or progression involved.

    The companions are awful, barring Merrill & Varric. I found it hard to like any of the others, mainly because they spent so much time diametrically opposed to practically anything I did, for no adequate reason. I honestly felt I couldn't win; that any choice I made had the potential to have my current companions' friendship/rivalry oscillating back & forth yet again; that for each conversation, they have just met you.

    No origin stories, no different race perspectives, little in the way of meaningful influence from DAO, and a story that bludgeons you over the head with the primary warring antagonists, yet inexplicably allows you to make either no meaningful decisions about them or such polarised decisions, all left me feeling railroaded. The distressing thing is that it has all the hallmarks of Bioware great storytelling, and yet somehow manages to be irritating.

    The inventory & loot & armour system are so cut down as to not even be worth bothering with. Your loot is only really useful to you; you can't outfit companions with a different look beyond weapons. Even useful loot is all 'A ring' or 'A belt' with no meaningful descriptions.

    Positives:
    A voiced protagonist in my view really helps the game & immersion, what little was to be found.

    The graphics & sound are generally excellent & good to look at. It's just unfortunate that so much potential was wasted on the same recycled environments. The stale repetitive combat is at least good to look at, with lovely animations & explosions and so on, although mages annoyed me with their ninja-like staff wielding.

    Despite all the immersion-breaking, the core design of the UI is good. The actual interaction bits of the UI were sensible, with good visual feedback, and finally, a decent character level editor that explains what does what.

    The dialogue wheel of ME2 makes an intro, and I loved the concept, especially a decent feedback system for what option was flirting, what was nice, and so on. However I deserve to preview the full text of what Hawke is about to say and not be incredibly surprised when my flirty flippant remark turns out to be rude & unfunny.

    Applause goes to the continued adult treatment of issues like child abuse, same-sex relationships, blood (everywhere), violence, and generally treating an adult audience like adults. Long may this continue. I was disappointed the romance & sexual themes were not handled with a bit more in-depth focus and a bit less 'consider this foreplay! - fade to black', but it's a start that they're in there at all.    … Expand
  22. caraniente
    Apr 8, 2011
    6
    I loved DAO. I played it to completion at least 4 times. I loved the different endings, the total freedom to roleplay, and I found the characters, which from the superficial level seemed totally cliche (bastard prince, wicked witch, drunken dwarf...) thoroughly engaging. I loved all the little permutations. As such, I was expecting great things from DA2. I think like a lot of people, maybeI loved DAO. I played it to completion at least 4 times. I loved the different endings, the total freedom to roleplay, and I found the characters, which from the superficial level seemed totally cliche (bastard prince, wicked witch, drunken dwarf...) thoroughly engaging. I loved all the little permutations. As such, I was expecting great things from DA2. I think like a lot of people, maybe I expected too much - or perhaps I just expected Bioware to be aware of why such a large portion of its fanbase loved it too. Quite honestly, if DA2 was marketed under a different name, I'd give it an extra 2 points. It loses marks because it's a poor follow-up to a game that was, pretty much, the only high-end party-based RPG around (Mass Effect isn't as strong strategically and lacks companion customisation, while The Witcher forces a main character on you and lacks party dynamics).
    My basic feeling is, given another year in development to properly work on the story, sort out the bugs, and tweak the comabt, and DA2 could have been a masterpiece. The ideas are there. But the execution is sloppy, the game lacks cohesiveness and there are far too many elements which fail - not least being, if the entire storyline is about oppression of mages, why you can make your main character a mage and no-one says anything. Even when you use magic in front of a Templar's face. If they really wanted to pull off this impression of a world of prejudice and oppression - they needed to work the mechanics around it. As it is, it's fun.... but it's never going to be a classic. Also, given this, I'm not sure whether or not I'll bother with DLC for this game... it seems to me the EA marketing machine has already brought in far too many cash-ins everywhere.

    The Pros: The continuing stories of characters you meet in every act is quite interesting and does vary MINORLY depending on your decisions.
    Companions are, once you get to know them a little, interesting, though Bioware have once again done what they tend to do for expanions and 'rushed for time' games and made characters that are mostly known for their unusualness (e.g. Varric - very NOT traditional dwarf) - still, they've got the writers to back this up. There is no 'right choice' in most scenes; this is not a good vs evil choice. DAO had that too (with the exception of the werewolves/elves) but not to this extent.
    Therw was one moment in the endgame where my jaw literally hit the floor :) Bioware still tell a good story. Unfortunately, there's not enough genuine story to make the whole game feel connected.

    Cons:
    The main cons seem minor, but are so repetitive that by the end of the game you;'re beating your head against the wall, and they have been repeated more times than DA2's single 'cave' map, so I won't rant too much.
    Overwhelming re-use of maps: every cave in the game is identical, and I have played story missions where you enter different caves at different locations consecutively and play the same map - just one you start at the other end.
    Combat flaws - the respawning of enemies out of nowhere, the lack of tactical combat, the 'pretty' spell effects that obscure the actual battle, the fact that every boss battle is almost identical (horde of minions at every quarter health lost) and one of my main gripes - dragon battles should feel epic, not like yet another boring hack'n'slash encounter!
    Related to both the above, the numerous predictable low-level mobs that appear in the same locations every map and leave the game feeling like a slog, not an exploration.
    Incredibly boring loot, plus the lack of ability to change companion armour - every item gives one or a combination of +attack, %damage, % damage resistance, and +stamina/health/regeration. Most of it looks identical. In DAO I took on hordes of enemies to complete an armour set that game me stuff nothing else had - here, everything seems the same so I can't be bothered.
    The neon yellow arrows over anything quest-related, which rules out any exploration possibility and means most quests are just a matter of running from arrow to arrow to arrow; apart from a very few exceptions, if it doesn't have an arrow over it's head, you can't interact with it. Completely brain-deadening. The exception is the couple of 'extra' quests which can be obtained, which ar virtually identical in structure to one another and ddon't even give you very good rewards...
    The achievements! I mean seriously, did they set those achievements for 5 year olds or what? getting one of switching the damned map from day to night makes me feel like a kid being patted on the head because it wiped it's own bum. Seriously, Bioware, we're not idiots.    … Expand
  23. MJR
    Apr 9, 2011
    6
    Well...I'm pretty sure this game could have been made better (an understatement). Looking at all the negative reviews I do understand that everyone is trying to make the point that they are very disappointed but it isn't as bad as you might think. First I'll start with the cons. It is certainly no DA:O but it still has a good story although it really suffers for a lot of the "improvements"Well...I'm pretty sure this game could have been made better (an understatement). Looking at all the negative reviews I do understand that everyone is trying to make the point that they are very disappointed but it isn't as bad as you might think. First I'll start with the cons. It is certainly no DA:O but it still has a good story although it really suffers for a lot of the "improvements" that were added. For one thing its world is absurdly small. You had all of Ferelden to roam around in DA:O but in this? I don't know who made the decision but Bioware should have a job opening in that department. Other departments that should have openings are: where ever the decision was made to take out finishing kill animations, whoever decided ragdoll still isn't necassary (I mean really it's 2011), whoever thought up that irritating emo elf Faric or "who-the-eff-cares" as I think of him, and whoever decided it was a good idea to have day 1 DLC and have the players revisit every freaking location multiple times.

    Pros: Well...its still Dragon Age. They have that going for them. It really doesn't improve on the first at all and in many cases steps back but it will feel familiar. It is undeniably in that DA universe. Another improvement is that the character you play has a voice and a control wheel for dialogue like Mass Effect.

    Speaking of Mass Effect why did its sequel take such a wonderful leap forward while this one still more or less chokes on the dust of its predecessor? I    … Expand
  24. Vermillion
    Apr 11, 2011
    6
    Good graphics, combat and music. The story is alright in my book. There are still many bugs present in the game. For instance, one quest did not even show up in the game world. I'm disappointed in Bioware's decision to recycle the areas throughout the game. At some point, you will know when and where to expect traps and treasures. Also, the game doesn't feel very lively any more at someGood graphics, combat and music. The story is alright in my book. There are still many bugs present in the game. For instance, one quest did not even show up in the game world. I'm disappointed in Bioware's decision to recycle the areas throughout the game. At some point, you will know when and where to expect traps and treasures. Also, the game doesn't feel very lively any more at some point. Replayability is high due to the various class combinations that are possible. I hope that the next installment will be more akin to Dragon Age: Origins.… Expand
  25. Garon010
    Apr 13, 2011
    6
    Yes, it's not Dragon Age: Origins or an Elder Scrolls game, but it was fun to play!

    The bad news: reused maps (extremely so), too linear, relatively short and seemed like a rushed job. In terms of story, it seems like half of it. Nothing like DAO's epic 'Lord of the Rings' scale epic fantasy. The good news: great quests, improved combat, Mass Effect-like speech, great characters and    Yes, it's not Dragon Age: Origins or an Elder Scrolls game, but it was fun to play!

    The bad news: reused maps (extremely so), too linear, relatively short and seemed like a rushed job. In terms of story, it seems like half of it. Nothing like DAO's epic 'Lord of the Rings' scale epic fantasy.

    The good news: great quests, improved combat, Mass Effect-like speech, great characters and great voice acting. Oh and there are one or two fun parts.

    Not a complete train crash, its totally playable. Let's hope DA 3 has more to offer.    … Expand
  26. Kondorr
    May 18, 2011
    6
    I really liked the first one... although I always preferred the Mass Effect games... and The Witcher... I really wanted to like this game... and guess what! I liked it... it was not this epic adventure, which the first one was... it was nowhere near the masterfully executed Mass Effect... it did not even hold a candle to KOTOR... BUT it WAS fun. But let me get to the specifics: TheI really liked the first one... although I always preferred the Mass Effect games... and The Witcher... I really wanted to like this game... and guess what! I liked it... it was not this epic adventure, which the first one was... it was nowhere near the masterfully executed Mass Effect... it did not even hold a candle to KOTOR... BUT it WAS fun. But let me get to the specifics: The graphics are for todays standards very bad. OK, face animation is great... but the designs and the cartoony art style... did not work for me. The story did not seem like a whole story... but random scripted events tight together... Although the years advanced... Kirkwall stayed the same... the same almost dead and unimpressive city... characters did not age, at least not visually!
    The whole sub story with managing the Bone pit... completely wasted... Locations looked often very similar if not exactly the same... the music was unimpressive, the fighting was ridiculous over the top...

    I could go on like this... BUT IN THE END... AS LONG AS IT LASTED... I had fun with it... despite it's numerous flaws and design short comings... The characters were interesting, the story seemed intriguing... but ultimately turned out to be mostly about nothing... just a random string of scripted events... I think the only reason I really can recommend the game... is for it's characters...

    It is nowhere as good as the critics-score... but it is better than the User-Score...    … Expand
  27. pandateddybear
    Apr 23, 2011
    6
    Before game came out I had big hopes for it. Demo was pretty good ..but very misleading for what the game really is. DA2 is very linear game that take place around one location with very linear quest (go and kill, or bring me this and that) graphics are better then first Dragon Age but not much engine was just tweaked and updated to 2011 standards. Combat is satisfying, changed to moreBefore game came out I had big hopes for it. Demo was pretty good ..but very misleading for what the game really is. DA2 is very linear game that take place around one location with very linear quest (go and kill, or bring me this and that) graphics are better then first Dragon Age but not much engine was just tweaked and updated to 2011 standards. Combat is satisfying, changed to more hit&slash paste so you font have to pause game on every encounter but it's still available for those playing on harder difficulty.overall game is a let down after what dragon age 1 was and not worth 30£ (full price) good rent material

    6/10    … Expand
  28. blackShawarma
    May 1, 2011
    6
    First, I loved DA:O. It was an amazing game and I had very high hopes for DA2, but unfortunately it's a big let-down. By no means is it a bad game, but it lacks the 'magic?' of DA:O leaving it indistinguishable from its competition.

    DA:O did a great job with the companions - Alistair, Morrigan and Leliana were great characters with great dialogue--the game did an awesome job expounding    First, I loved DA:O. It was an amazing game and I had very high hopes for DA2, but unfortunately it's a big let-down. By no means is it a bad game, but it lacks the 'magic?' of DA:O leaving it indistinguishable from its competition.

    DA:O did a great job with the companions - Alistair, Morrigan and Leliana were great characters with great dialogue--the game did an awesome job expounding on their backstories and personalities as time passed and the major plot-line advanced. Other than Varric, the companions in DA2 feel rushed, irrelevant, artificial and unnatural. This is a major blow to the game as companions are so central to DA:O's success.

    The changes to the dialog system were good, as was the move to a MassEffect-like friend/rival system.. this isn't dumbing-down and is one of the few improvement over DA:O.

    The fighting, while very cool at first, becomes excruciatingly repetitive very quickly. How many freakin' Shrieks did the developers think we needed to kill? I mean if you're going to build this complex and finely-tuned combat system, why the hell would you populate the maps with Shriek after Shriek, then a big Shriek or spider, over and over and over...

    I was very disappointed by the lack of different locations in the game. You spend pretty much the entire game (~40 hours?) in one city - Kirkwall. That's it. In DA:O you explore an entire continent, from the the cities to the mountains, hidden temples, castles and battlefields... In DA2 you go uptown then downtown, a trip to a cave, and that's about it.

    Overall I'm really disappointed - all they had to do was keep doing what they did so right with DA:O, but apparently that wasn't the plan. To be fair, it's a decent game, but it could have been so much better, and the franchise as a whole has probably lost some legitimacy.    … Expand
  29. aungen
    May 5, 2011
    6
    I loved the first dragon-age - The way they made the game personal was a triumph of storytelling. Each betrayal and setback was met with unlooked-for hope and new opportunities. Each character was interesting and worth listening to (for the most part). The conversations were fun! And the ending was epic in every sense of the word.

    This is NOT Dragon Age: Origins. The first problems    I loved the first dragon-age - The way they made the game personal was a triumph of storytelling. Each betrayal and setback was met with unlooked-for hope and new opportunities. Each character was interesting and worth listening to (for the most part). The conversations were fun! And the ending was epic in every sense of the word.

    This is NOT Dragon Age: Origins. The first problems show up in story immersion and emotional investment for the person playing the game. The game forces you to be human, then you find out immediately that the dwarf is telling this story, and he likes to lie. Once is enough, but they keep interfering in this manner. I kept hoping we would break in and save him, and the real story would begin. But no ... And they make it worse by making the characters bland. The choices people make are poorly motivated (or poorly communicated), on almost every single occasion, and there are often no options to help them mature, or avoid stupid mistakes.

    Even fighting slavers - which usually feels very satisfying - seemed like a morally 'meh' thing. I've never felt so ambivalent about pursuing slavers.

    On the technical side - the decision to remove the tactical camera angle left me with constant problems selecting where I wanted the team to go. If the camera angle is wrong, the computer won't allow me to tell the team to go there. But it gets worse - the game auto-rotates the camera while you're moving, making it even more difficult to keep the angle appropriate for movement.

    So what makes this game utterly forgettable? The endings. They are forced, and there is no real opportunity to fight for a just cause. It made me feel dirty, and betrayed, and there's no option for justice or satisfaction. Maybe that was the goal, but this is not why I play Bioware games.    … Expand
  30. Cell1e
    May 24, 2013
    6
    I have changed my score for this game based on the fact that it has very little replay value for me since I bought and played it.
    They removed most of the things I love about rpgs and especially from DAO and flashed up the combat a lot. Saying that I liked some aspects of the combat but not enough to justify the removal of all the crafting and personalising of characters and party    I have changed my score for this game based on the fact that it has very little replay value for me since I bought and played it.
    They removed most of the things I love about rpgs and especially from DAO and flashed up the combat a lot. Saying that I liked some aspects of the combat but not enough to justify the removal of all the crafting and personalising of characters and party members.
    I missed terribly the immersion from being able to converse with my team members whenever I liked and of course the romances were for me totally lacking especially compared to other Bioware games.
    The story was pretty dark and bleak, death of loved ones a constant theme throughout the game, not much fun to play of you are struggling with your own grief in rl. The mirror of transformation a nice idea but the awful ghastly shop with the droning and terrible shopkeeper...who likes that kind of place? Twelve year old boys?
    It's an ok game but a HUGE let down after Dragon Age Origins. I've also missed the player made mods as there was no tool kit released for this game. Therefore our modding community have been extremeely limited in what they could do with the game. Such a shame.    … Expand
  31. Eldadin
    May 17, 2011
    6
    Good Rpg but not great like Dragon Age: Origins was.
    Few locations, poor customization for companions, too short but good story plot.
    I've finished and un-installed it......
  32. varden
    May 19, 2011
    6
    The Good: I enjoyed this game and the dark storyline. Most of the characters particularly Hawke were fantastic. The combat was fast and fun, and I enjoyed many of the side quests in this game.

    The Bad: The final fantasy styling was ridiculous. Really, a 5'2" elf wielding a 6'2" sword that is a foot wide all over the battle field. I thought I was playing a game version of yu-gi-oh or    The Good: I enjoyed this game and the dark storyline. Most of the characters particularly Hawke were fantastic. The combat was fast and fun, and I enjoyed many of the side quests in this game.

    The Bad: The final fantasy styling was ridiculous. Really, a 5'2" elf wielding a 6'2" sword that is a foot wide all over the battle field. I thought I was playing a game version of yu-gi-oh or Voltron. Also, the pirate wench was insane. Really, I'm insulted by ME2 and DA2 with their Alicia Silverstone look alikes in tight clothes (or none). I'm in my 30s and yes I enjoy some eye candy, but it played more like a high school drama than an adult oriented RPG. The reuse of levels was the killer for me...I was bored out of my mind about half way through the game.

    I'm generously giving this game a 6 only because the production quality was high. Still was it high out of effort or because there was so little to develop for?    … Expand
  33. MagnusGman
    May 22, 2011
    6
    By the time Dragon Age 2 launched, I had my mind completely set that the game would be a complete and utter disappointment. However, despite it not deserving it's status of the finest RPG this year, it was an incredibly fun ride, that seemed to end rather abruptly and somewhat strangely. My biggest disappointment with DA2 was the overall departure from the combat style of the first.By the time Dragon Age 2 launched, I had my mind completely set that the game would be a complete and utter disappointment. However, despite it not deserving it's status of the finest RPG this year, it was an incredibly fun ride, that seemed to end rather abruptly and somewhat strangely. My biggest disappointment with DA2 was the overall departure from the combat style of the first. Although I could still individually order my troops, the combat itself seemed more like a downgrade. The story however was a welcome change from the 'ancient evil will destroy the world' bag. I found the political intrigue between the Templars and Magi to be quite involving, even though not having a main villain did detract slightly from the experience. Another complaint I had were the overall graphics quality. I don't like to think of myself as a graphics whore, but what I saw in DA2 was nothing short of lazy developing. Cookie cutter caves, and city dwellers that were a step above cardboard cutouts are not permitted in this day and age. With it's main competitor right now being the Witcher 2, which seemed to pride itself on detail before it's release, the kind of laziness Bioware displayed here is a slap in the face. I look forward to your letters.… Expand
  34. dreambob
    Sep 10, 2011
    6
    This game is not up to standard with today's AAA games. the environments are boring and lifeless, I've spent more time looking at the mini map than my surroundings simply because there is int much to look at. The dungeons are a copy and paste of one and a other. I wont complain about the fighting, it's fast ,exciting and you need to use strategies in most fights.
    The best part of dragon    This game is not up to standard with today's AAA games. the environments are boring and lifeless, I've spent more time looking at the mini map than my surroundings simply because there is int much to look at. The dungeons are a copy and paste of one and a other. I wont complain about the fighting, it's fast ,exciting and you need to use strategies in most fights.
    The best part of dragon age 2 is the conversation system. The graphics are a lot better, the voice acting is excellent and the dialog choices are fun however, the story line is not that engaging. Dragon age 2 feels cheep and unfinished, I do not recommend.    … Expand
  35. BobTheSCV
    May 25, 2011
    6
    If this was any game, by any developer, completely stand alone game that wasn't a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, I would have probably given it a higher rating. But as it is, Bioware has set a certain standard in it's games. Never once have I played a Bioware game that didn't adhere to the very finest standards of quality. ... until Dragon Age 2. It feels rushed, watered down, andIf this was any game, by any developer, completely stand alone game that wasn't a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, I would have probably given it a higher rating. But as it is, Bioware has set a certain standard in it's games. Never once have I played a Bioware game that didn't adhere to the very finest standards of quality. ... until Dragon Age 2. It feels rushed, watered down, and downright uninspiring.

    Dungeons are frequently re-used. In Dragon Age 1, some maps would be re-used, typically in random encounters and the like where it didn't really matter. In Dragon Age 2, this is taken to a whole 'nother level. In general, level design has taken a hit as well. It's just less interesting. Less features. Less attention to detail. The world doesn't feel lived in anymore. Feels like a film set.

    The combat has serious issues. The combat mechanics aren't glitchy, but very poorly balanced. Either it's face-rollingly easy, or extremely difficult, with very little in terms of a middle ground. The difficulty also comes from the unforgiving wave mechanic that has units spawning out of nowhere in waves, which means it's virtually impossible to recover from mistakes. Did I mention that potions are on a global cooldown? Sometimes, games with broken mechanics are redeemed by the amount of love put into them by the developers, but this game feels mostly as an attempt to see just how many corners can be cut before people react. And clearly they've cut one corner too many.

    To re-iterate, by industry standards it's not a bad game. But by bioware standards, it's disappointing. If you find it on a discount, by all means pick it up for the story if nothing else, but don't expect another masterpiece like Dragon Age: Origins.    … Expand
  36. sambeckard
    May 26, 2011
    6
    Pleasant, but a little bored me. And the graphics ... This is not the DA1.
    Good entertainment, but not an outstanding game. I expected something more.
    Now I'm waiting for DA3 - I hope it will be much better!
  37. disorient
    May 29, 2011
    6
    The story setting and atmosphere does feel exactly as though it is the Mediterranean of DA:O's setting. 2's storytelling is shallow. It's not a bad game; It feels like a hack-and-slash spinoff of the original game instead of a sequel. If Dragon Age 3 approaches the quality of Origins, 2 could be this franchise's equivalent of an odd number Star Trek film.
  38. FRancium34
    Jun 8, 2011
    6
    Would be a 7 or 7.5 if not for the huge drop-off from Dragon Age 1. Story--7. It focuses on the conflicted hinted at in the first game. Some of your decisions will carry on to future quests, but not nearly enough influence in the end. My defense for this is that the developers clearly have a trilogy in mind, so the 2nd one has to end the way they designed. But yes that's extremelyWould be a 7 or 7.5 if not for the huge drop-off from Dragon Age 1. Story--7. It focuses on the conflicted hinted at in the first game. Some of your decisions will carry on to future quests, but not nearly enough influence in the end. My defense for this is that the developers clearly have a trilogy in mind, so the 2nd one has to end the way they designed. But yes that's extremely frustrating, giving the feeling that all your decisions and effort was worthless. Hey, that's life sometimes. Character interactions--9. Banter in your group is fully voiced, and really lets the character jump out. It was also fulfilling to see some of the old characters from the first game make an appearance, some quite important. Graphics--8. I couldn't run it high or on D11, but it was a significant improvement on the original. Exploration--3. The killer for a lot of players. Dungeons were reused over and over again, unacceptable for such a big name release. When freely roaming the areas, NPCs and environment felt less interactive.Combat and talents--8. Solid, every character, even ones of same profession, felt different enough and close to character.

    All in all, the game is entertaining and has its moments. However, it fails as an RPG, and it doesn't deserve to stand beside the original Dragon Age. Sure glad I didn't pre-order this!    … Expand
  39. Dumbo
    Jun 12, 2011
    6
    I can understand the frustration and disappointment of a lot of the players. I was expecting the follow-up sequel of Dragon age Origin to be as good if not better than the original. I was one of the people that was showered with joy when I heard how soon the sequel would arrive. Looking back now, I really wished they put more time in this sequel because it clearly showed that it was beingI can understand the frustration and disappointment of a lot of the players. I was expecting the follow-up sequel of Dragon age Origin to be as good if not better than the original. I was one of the people that was showered with joy when I heard how soon the sequel would arrive. Looking back now, I really wished they put more time in this sequel because it clearly showed that it was being rush. Once again I don't like repeating what others have said already. Just to summarize the negative aspect of the game. Heavy level re-use, decisions that aren't as impactful, difficultly is too easy, game breaking bugs and overall story feel very detached. However with that being said, this is not a bad game. If you have to judge this game as a stand-alone, it's a average if not very decent game. The AAA voice over work brings the character to life and the rich lore are the game's strongest point. I actually enjoy the new battle system even with its issues. We have to remember guys, that bioware is trying something new and is brave enough to take some risk in its decision. We don't want to play the same game over and over again and they're trying to delivery something different. It's just that they didn't get it right this time but that doesn't mean they should go back and clone the very same game that they been making since the hay days. Just one thing though, bioware, please stop with the 20 dlc on launch day. If you have half as many item in dlc than in the actual game, you're doing something very wrong.… Expand
  40. dule711
    Aug 29, 2011
    6
    Dragon Age: Origins was one of best games I have ever played so I expected from Dragon Age 2 to be even better than original. I was wrong. Dragon Age 2 is a good game but is simpler in all means than Origins It looks like Mass Effect with dialogue wheel, no option to change companion armour, less opportunities to talk with them witch resulted in weaker characters and more action inDragon Age: Origins was one of best games I have ever played so I expected from Dragon Age 2 to be even better than original. I was wrong. Dragon Age 2 is a good game but is simpler in all means than Origins It looks like Mass Effect with dialogue wheel, no option to change companion armour, less opportunities to talk with them witch resulted in weaker characters and more action in combat. Combat is faster and more exciting but also simpler with almost no tacticts or difficulty. Spels and talents are easier to use and unlock and that is not bad thing. Story is really weak and all you are doing is jobs to some guys in Kirkwall. Ah, yes DA2 is placed in only one poorly designed city with a lot of area recycling that makes it sooooooooo boring to do quests involving those parts of city. It is a good game but a lot weaker than DA:O in every part.… Expand
  41. Cassagir
    Jun 15, 2011
    6
    -Combat system too simple - no brains required.
    -Story weak at the start - get's better later on.
    -Companion complexity doesn't get near DAO.
    -Repeating maps to a ridiculous degree.
  42. UndercoverJack
    Jul 15, 2011
    6
    The pros: Combat is fun. The graphics are better. The companion approval/disapproval system is better. Music is decent, voice acting is mostly excellent.

    The cons: The story is very very disjointed, there is no sense of direction. You cannot talk to your companions whenever. The interface is ugly. Voiced protagonist. Waves and waves of enemies which fall out of the sky and explode at the    The pros: Combat is fun. The graphics are better. The companion approval/disapproval system is better. Music is decent, voice acting is mostly excellent.

    The cons: The story is very very disjointed, there is no sense of direction. You cannot talk to your companions whenever. The interface is ugly. Voiced protagonist. Waves and waves of enemies which fall out of the sky and explode at the slightest touch. Whole game is in 1 small city. Extremely repetitive, boring quests. Underwhelming ending. Overall: Disappointing. Could have been so much better. It is still fun though, and if you're curious about the world of Thedas, then get it for that reason at least. But don't expect more Origins. This is a very different kind of game.    … Expand
  43. Mattheusheck
    Mar 19, 2017
    6
    Great, nontrivial story, unbelievable relations with party members and interesting dialogs. It's sad fighting system is a complete crap. I definitely encourage to play this game, however prepare all patience you have to endure long, numerous battles giving no satisfaction.
  44. Relathor
    Aug 28, 2011
    6
    Dargon Age 2 is fun definitely, but it lacks that which Origins had: Quality. Playing through Dragon Age 2, you'll quickly noticed recycled landscapes. Another disappointment is the rigid nature of the story line. Your decisions matter, they just don't matter THAT much. I enjoyed playing this game on Nightmare, very very difficult since friendly fire was impractical but I like a challenge,Dargon Age 2 is fun definitely, but it lacks that which Origins had: Quality. Playing through Dragon Age 2, you'll quickly noticed recycled landscapes. Another disappointment is the rigid nature of the story line. Your decisions matter, they just don't matter THAT much. I enjoyed playing this game on Nightmare, very very difficult since friendly fire was impractical but I like a challenge, even if it comes from bad mechanics rather than hard to master combat.… Expand
  45. chaway
    Nov 2, 2011
    6
    As a very big fan of the RPG games, like Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale etc. and after playing Dragon Age : Origins + Awakening, i really couldn`t wait for this game. Everything what developers showed us on trailers looked amazing, new battle system, new story, everything. Then day of relase came and i was more suprised than ever. After Dragon Age : Origins i expected something good as it orAs a very big fan of the RPG games, like Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale etc. and after playing Dragon Age : Origins + Awakening, i really couldn`t wait for this game. Everything what developers showed us on trailers looked amazing, new battle system, new story, everything. Then day of relase came and i was more suprised than ever. After Dragon Age : Origins i expected something good as it or even much better, but EA and Bioware suprised me with wrong decision. Ok, let`s say the main plot wasn`t that bad but could be better, side quest was almost the same and then cherry of the top of the cake THE SAME CAVES. Ok, i can understand that making some maps or caves can be very boring but if you are making game when all the caves are the same, then something is wrong, oh and one small minus for equipment for team members which you can change apart of weapons... that sux. Anyway, apart of those mistakes everything was quite ok, new battle system is very interesting, new dialog system is quite good aswell (BUT DELETE THIS SYMBOLS NEXT TO EVERY SENTENCE). If you are big fan of RPG, you can play it but don`t expect from this game too much.… Expand
  46. Crimsonking58
    Jun 4, 2013
    6
    All in all, Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game, but I could never shake the feeling that the game would've been better suited as an expansion pack. There are probably about 10-15 hours of Bioware quality content that doesn't feel like filler amidst the MMO-like pedestrian quests (Playing this after The Old Republic couldn't have helped that feeling one bit); if they had cut off the fat andAll in all, Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game, but I could never shake the feeling that the game would've been better suited as an expansion pack. There are probably about 10-15 hours of Bioware quality content that doesn't feel like filler amidst the MMO-like pedestrian quests (Playing this after The Old Republic couldn't have helped that feeling one bit); if they had cut off the fat and delivered a more focused title I believe this game would've been much better off. Still, I don't regret playing it, and the moments of greatness pulled me through the moments of mundanity. Origins remains the far superior title, but if you absolutely love the Dragon Age universe you're missing out on quite a bit of good stuff if you decide to skip the second outing.

    Score: 6/10
    Time to beat: 37 hours doing all but two quests
    Play this if: You love the Dragon Age universe and don't mind a few filler quests    … Expand
  47. greywolf00
    Oct 16, 2013
    6
    So the story is great and I would love to give it a better score but, the rest of the game is kind of a step back from DA:O thanks to the short development cycle (unless you hate iso tactical battles, DA 2 is much more action filled combat wise).

    Cons: Enemies are done via waves, very annoying and doesn't add tactical depth Art assets are reused like crazy. There's only 2 or 3    So the story is great and I would love to give it a better score but, the rest of the game is kind of a step back from DA:O thanks to the short development cycle (unless you hate iso tactical battles, DA 2 is much more action filled combat wise).

    Cons:
    Enemies are done via waves, very annoying and doesn't add tactical depth
    Art assets are reused like crazy. There's only 2 or 3 dungeons, 2 houses, and a warehouse that gets reused all game long
    No ability to create your own character. You will be a human from a set family, all you can pick is class and looks.
    The Mass Effect convo wheel has been added giving misleading information about what your character will actually say when picked
    Very linear. You can explore maps but the extra areas are just hall ways/rooms
    Short for an RPG, took me about 25 hours to do everything

    Pros:
    I found the story to be epic. I knew the Templar/Mage setup from DA:O had issues

    TL;DR if you played DA:O and liked it, you'll probably want to at least try this on sale to see the build up to DA: I. If you like the combat from The Witcher, you can probably stomach this.    … Expand
  48. Catsy
    Jan 26, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dragon Age 2 is a pretty average RPG that strips back the good parts of the last game and replaces them with cheap versions of it.
    I'm giving it a six as it's a quick game, which allows it to be replayed very easily. Even though the replay value is so low, the player still has a chance to go back and play with a different personality Hawke, and romance different characters.
    Good points include unbelievably quick combat that feels action-packed, witty dialogue, a wide range of weapons that look different from one another, and kinda interesting characters with different pasts.
    The downside of the characters are that there are just too obvious stereotypes with them. You have a warped Mage who wants to free his brethren and an elf who hates mages. Put these two together and you just have hate-spew. Other downsides include being unable to tell the party to HOLD and stay where they are, as when you move, after a certain distance, they follow you; being unable to use half the armour and weapons you find as characters have specific armour; being unable to mod the game apart from tiny tweaks; the list goes on.

    Not bad if you're only gonna pay $20 for it, but any more than that and it's not really worth it.    … Expand
  49. Dudster
    May 6, 2012
    6
    THE GOOD:

    Combat is more fluid and abilities make more sense than DA1. Scripting the characters works also better. Story is fine, characters are interesting. THE BAD: The game mainly plays in a city. It looks like it has different buildings, but in reality its just one house. Whenever you enter a mansion, its exactly the same from inside. Oh, a door is barred here, and you enter    THE GOOD:

    Combat is more fluid and abilities make more sense than DA1. Scripting the characters works also better. Story is fine, characters are interesting.

    THE BAD:

    The game mainly plays in a city. It looks like it has different buildings, but in reality its just one house. Whenever you enter a mansion, its exactly the same from inside. Oh, a door is barred here, and you enter through the cellar, but its still the same house. There is one cave in the game. Well there are multiple caves, but from inside its THE SAME. You enter from a different direction, a rock slide blocks a path you could walk in "the other" cave. But its exactly the same map. There's that hill. Well there's multiple hills, but you get it. You're basically exploring the same area from a different entrance point, and some passages blocked off here and there. There's several Warehouses in the city as well. They're all the same. One word comes to mind: LAZY. Yeah, I felt kind of ripped off, cheated. Like the thought I wouldn't notice. Well I did. Another bad thing is that combat consists of waves of enemies popping out of nowhere. Suddenly they're there. You kill them and *pop* another group pops out of thin air and is beating your healer up. I really hated those two aspects. I really really hated the lazy repeated environment. This alone is the reason why I discontinue buying DA. This bores me immensely when "exploring" the world consits in entering the same places, pretending I'm somewhere else. If I want to pretend something, I won't buy a game for it. I'll just pretend.    … Expand
  50. Pandafrag
    Jun 3, 2012
    6
    I personally love the new combat, but everything else was dull. Dragon Age Origins was a plot driven game and the story for DA2 felt very weak and dull. DAO also had vast varieties of places to explore but the island centric game felt too confiding. Character development for your companions are boring and you never really "care" for any of them.
  51. dayman75
    Aug 8, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There are some improvements in combat visuals, and the mechanics is a lot easier to handle, which attract newcomers to the DA series. But for those who enjoy the complex combat system of DA:O (I consider myself one of them) some disappointment might come from this game.
    The game is not a brilliant achievement in graphics (and sometimes it does disappoint, in trees, buildings and the sky) but the characters are pretty well modeled. Reusing locations is also a bad thing that must be noted.
    The storyline could be better, its true. This game is basically babysitting a huge city and (the final act of the game) witnessing what will be the story for DA:Inquisition.
    The quests are pretty entertaining, but the secondary characters can sometimes be quite forgettable.
    Conclusion: Dragon Age 2 is a GOOD game, but it falls short of DA:Origins.    … Expand
  52. Gamed2long
    Aug 24, 2012
    6
    A lot of people got their hate on for this game. If you payed $60 expecting a reasonable sequel to Dragon Age:Origins I don't blame you.
    I read the reviews and eventually bought this game anyway when the price was much reduced.
    This is a great example of a low end $20 bargin bin game. There is fun to be had. Interacting with the characters on your team is where most of the fun lies. And    A lot of people got their hate on for this game. If you payed $60 expecting a reasonable sequel to Dragon Age:Origins I don't blame you.
    I read the reviews and eventually bought this game anyway when the price was much reduced.
    This is a great example of a low end $20 bargin bin game. There is fun to be had. Interacting with the characters on your team is where most of the fun lies. And the plot is simple yet functional. Its a tad predictable but it doesn't really get in the way. They recycle maps like a son of a gun. I mean several years are supposed to pass between acts and your player is generally stuck in the same city. It would be cool if you could watch the city grow and evolve or maybe show off some of its devastation as the game progresses. I mean by the end of the first act I was sick of all the same old places that went basically unchanged as the game went on. Because every warehouse is exactly the same everywhere right? Just the way they designed the maps it feels very sandbox. But it is a solid play. And while it isn't "Epic" in any sense of the term I went into it with modest expectations and it didn't disappoint.
    Don't get me wrong they killed the franchise here. DA:O was an epic and could have started an epic franchise and its a shame this is the sequel. But looking at it as a stand alone game its alright.    … Expand
  53. Orctownorc
    Aug 22, 2013
    6
    The Failure of Dragon Age II is likely to become a saving grace for Bioware. The waves of often vitriolic criticism of the game have surely awoken a sense of professional pride and seriousness in Edmonton. If the developers take it all in and take it to heart we should be able to expect amazing things from Bioware from DA Inquisition. Thus finally the failures of this game will finallyThe Failure of Dragon Age II is likely to become a saving grace for Bioware. The waves of often vitriolic criticism of the game have surely awoken a sense of professional pride and seriousness in Edmonton. If the developers take it all in and take it to heart we should be able to expect amazing things from Bioware from DA Inquisition. Thus finally the failures of this game will finally prove to be GOOD for the studio and great for gaming. For all the great content in their games, Bioware has always had trouble with linearity of plots, and with limited exploration in their worlds. After they dropped the Dungeons and Dragons rule set, they never really developed a satisfactory alternative. While they hinted at building an interesting fantasy world in Thedas, they NEVER actually did so. Basically Bioware has been coasting on its Baldur's gate reputation for WAY too long. And their trust in their own ability to 'tell a story' has blinded them into missing the key design elements of world building. If gamers were less tolerant of the flaws in Dragon Age Origins, they would have noticed that it really WASN'T nearly as GREAT as generally credited. Having an adventure that simply ends with a mega battle, with no enduring world, no real-living environments is actually pretty weak compared to any number of 'open-world' RPGs. Origins was good enough but what was the business with all that DLC going nowhere, adding nothing? Even Awakenings was just another 20 hours of assorted tale-quests that lead to NOTHING. Dragon Age II was bad, but it was not that different from the way Origins ended: with just random, boring pointless, rudderless 'stuff to do in Thedas'. Bioware never looked like making the world live, or of getting serious with building proper character classes or systems where you could have continuous adventures and take a character from creation up to high level. Maybe after the screaming, the hollering and the backlash, they will put their heads down and get serious at last about RPG design. Maybe they will make Thedas a world worth exploring, and allow the players to create characters and stories that will let us invest emotionally (and creatively) in that world. Maybe Bioware will finally grow up and become the developer we always imagined they would be, rather than confused incompetents who lost their way and ended up giving us more than a decade of MEDIOCRE RPGs. Let's hope so. Let's send up a prayer and an encouraging cheer to Edmonton! Thank them for setting the release date for Inquisition a healthy long time into the future (Fall 2014), and ENCOURAGE them, to RESTART this franchise with rock solid foundation so that Thedas becomes THE FANTASY GAME WORLD of CHOICE for all of us. Simply blow our minds with the BEST RPG EVER. You can do it guys! Kisses!

    THE GROT REVIEW CRITERIA: After a long time writing reviews like an anus, think its time to set a few bad habits straight: Stop insulting designers. Show some respect for the design process and getting games in circulation. Hence (1) No Red scores. (2) Game scores as follows: Bad Game 5/10. Poor Game 6/10. Mediocre Game: 7/10. Good Game 8/10. Great game 9/10. Stella Game 10/10. To get 10/10 it must be a game that can be (theoretically) play-able for 1000+ hours. Not only great but near endless fun. Games may be bad or poor but making them should earn respect. Thus even the worst POS will still be a 5/10. 0/10 no longer exists in my vocabulary. Yellow is the new red. For the sake of accountability: you can reply if needed: Orctowngrot: Tim Rawlins: timtimjp@yahoo.com    … Expand
  54. Brenden7
    May 6, 2013
    6
    I was thoroughly heart-broken after playing this game. Most of what I had loved from the original game was stripped. The approach of having a "framed narrative" was interesting but I feel that the story just did not deliver (I had to ask myself midway through Act 2 what was my purpose for continuing) and it was certainly not of Bioware calibare. The characters were almost one dimensionalI was thoroughly heart-broken after playing this game. Most of what I had loved from the original game was stripped. The approach of having a "framed narrative" was interesting but I feel that the story just did not deliver (I had to ask myself midway through Act 2 what was my purpose for continuing) and it was certainly not of Bioware calibare. The characters were almost one dimensional with a particular elf who would not look out of place in Stephanie Meyer book. The recycled areas quickly got boring and the gamed ceased being an adventure. But most of all I hated the combat: enemys that explode as if they were made of of balloons filled with cranberry juice; endless waves of trash mobs which seems as a vain attempt to make the game feel longer; bosses battled that bordered on ridiculous (*ahem* Meredith and Corpyheus).

    In the end this game didn't not feel like Dragon Age I will admit in conclusion that there are worse games out there but certainly Bioware is better than this rushed mess. I hope for better in the third installment; having played The Witcher 2 and Tomb Raider the bar is set pretty high now.    … Expand
  55. ravenesse
    Aug 20, 2013
    6
    This game is classic 'two sides of a coin' to me.

    The graphics, the dungeons, the changes in the races suck for me. Badly. The new combat system worked fine with me, as I played the game quite a time and didn't compare it anymore to part 1. But I loved the story, I loved the feeling that I'm not really the star of this game. That all the other characters had lives of their own,    This game is classic 'two sides of a coin' to me.

    The graphics, the dungeons, the changes in the races suck for me. Badly.

    The new combat system worked fine with me, as I played the game quite a time and didn't compare it anymore to part 1.

    But I loved the story, I loved the feeling that I'm not really the star of this game. That all the other characters had lives of their own, which did not always involve me. I really enjoyed that I with all good intentions walked kneedeep and deeper into That's what this game really made special for me.

    I think, without EA Dragon Age 2 would have been one of the best RPGs I ever played.    … Expand
  56. artardmoshea
    Feb 14, 2019
    6
    Big fan of the first game and I was really looking forward to this one when it came out but wasn't very impressed by the opening so I dropped it after only a few hours. Seven years later and I'm back for more, what a mistake, this game is a poor example of a RPG and a poor action game which seems to be the direction they took.

    Specific complaints: -there are only about 20 small maps    Big fan of the first game and I was really looking forward to this one when it came out but wasn't very impressed by the opening so I dropped it after only a few hours. Seven years later and I'm back for more, what a mistake, this game is a poor example of a RPG and a poor action game which seems to be the direction they took.

    Specific complaints:

    -there are only about 20 small maps in the game that are used over and over again, they aren't even that nice looking or interesting in any way.

    -the main story is almost non existent, most of the time I didn't even know what quest I was doing, it's more like playing an ARPG like Diablo where you are mindlessly grinding for levels than an engrossing epic story like you would expect from the Bioware of old.

    -They bring back characters from the first game for 5 minute cameos, why bother? it's kind of insulting.

    -Given the age of this game you should expect not to look the best, but the textures in this game are especially bad.

    -Boring boss fights, actually most of the fights were pretty boring, the only time I ever had an issue was when healing potions became a bit hard to find towards the end which made me change my tactics a bit because the AI is prone to standing in the fire every chance it gets if you aren't completely micromanaging.

    -Very short, not necessarily a bad thing, especially for a game I didn't enjoy but not a good sign for an RPG

    The only thing I though was well done was your party members, I thought they were all pretty good characters that deserved more.

    I've played almost every single game Bioware has made and this game is easily the worst effort they have ever made.    … Expand
  57. everin
    Oct 1, 2015
    6
    Tier 3
    + A highly underrated cast of supporting characters that provide unique and fun perspectives and stories in the world of the franchise
    + Despite stilted pacing, the arcs of the narrative stand well on their own while still providing a good, interconnected story and an interesting conclusion + Good side quest stories that fill out the world ? Gameplay feels more visceral than the    Tier 3
    + A highly underrated cast of supporting characters that provide unique and fun perspectives and stories in the world of the franchise
    + Despite stilted pacing, the arcs of the narrative stand well on their own while still providing a good, interconnected story and an interesting conclusion
    + Good side quest stories that fill out the world
    ? Gameplay feels more visceral than the first installment, but becomes tedious with time as the player simply mauls endless waves of enemies
    ? Some players will take issue with the fact that the story is contained to just one geographical area
    - Due to a rushed production pipeline, the developers reused several locations in immersion-breaking ways throughout the game    … Expand
  58. Zarzunabas
    Nov 23, 2014
    6
    First of all: This is my personal opinion, so you should be aware, that your view of the game could differ. I am a fan of Dragon Age Origins (379 Hours on my Steam account) and played DAII for 211 hours.

    + A good storyline (not as good as DAO, but not bad either). + 3 different personalities for hawke (Diplomatic, Humorous, Aggressive) + Choices depending on multiple aspects like    First of all: This is my personal opinion, so you should be aware, that your view of the game could differ. I am a fan of Dragon Age Origins (379 Hours on my Steam account) and played DAII for 211 hours.

    + A good storyline (not as good as DAO, but not bad either).
    + 3 different personalities for hawke (Diplomatic, Humorous, Aggressive)
    + Choices depending on multiple aspects like class, weapon of choice or companions.
    + Fully voiced Hawke.

    +/- Graphics. (I dont really care about graphics)
    +/- Some choices dont really have an impact on the story (Side with the qunari for example has the same end as siding against them.....unless ;) ).

    - The Combat system is like a **** anime: Unbelievable and exaggerated.
    - You are forced to play a human. This takes a lot of the immersion of the game (compared to DAO).
    - The Levels are like most of the negative reviews here: If you´ve seen one, you´ve seen them all. Repetitive, annoying and boring.

    In summary: The game is neither good nor bad. It has many flaws but also plenty of positive aspects.    … Expand
  59. ollie_lks
    Dec 16, 2014
    6
    I actually enjoy the game quite a bit even though it is a step down from origin or a step up depending on your point of view the gameplay in my opinion has been improved because of the action combat that makes you feel more immersed into the game. the story is not as good as in origins or in inquisition but its still very good but the choices you make usually have very little impactI actually enjoy the game quite a bit even though it is a step down from origin or a step up depending on your point of view the gameplay in my opinion has been improved because of the action combat that makes you feel more immersed into the game. the story is not as good as in origins or in inquisition but its still very good but the choices you make usually have very little impact overral in the world. and one definate step down is the companion cast some of them are just not very interesting unless you like great gameplay and don't really care about the story i would say its best if you just buy inquisition or origins instead… Expand
  60. kobe_briant
    Jun 7, 2017
    6
    0/10 can't romance rage demon
  61. LezbionestHere
    Sep 9, 2018
    6
    I know this review is late, for sure. But Here are my opinions as someone who likes each entry in the series.

    This game I have a lot of mixed feelings about. The combat is certainly more exciting, and is my personal favourite of the series. Perhaps its the simplicity that I like. I'm a massive fan of the animations. The Character interactions are really cool too. Everyone feels    I know this review is late, for sure. But Here are my opinions as someone who likes each entry in the series.

    This game I have a lot of mixed feelings about. The combat is certainly more exciting, and is my personal favourite of the series. Perhaps its the simplicity that I like. I'm a massive fan of the animations.

    The Character interactions are really cool too. Everyone feels alive. Each character has an interesting backstory. Each one was a delight to work with.

    Now my biggest issue with this game, is the world design. It's bland, to say the least. I see no issue having a game set in one place, but you need to make each part of that place feel unique and interesting, so It never gets boring to look at. And that is this games biggest pitfall. All of the coast looks bland and uninteresting, the city just looks like the buildings were copied and pasted over and over, until the whole city looks like a grey blob. The poorer area looks like a sandy blob with the same problem. Its a massive problem, and its why I score the game as Low as I have, or I'd likely give it closer to an 8.

    Overall I loved this game. The final boss fight was a personal highlight in the entire series, and I loved developing relationships with the characters around me. If you get get past the level design, then this game is definitely worth your time.    … Expand
  62. LordFarquad
    Jun 3, 2019
    6
    This is not Dragon Age. Very unrealistic boevka, everything happens quickly, the same locations - it bothers you! Predictable plot, no forks, went through the game, did not like it at first, then it seemed to be normal, at the end tired, for an amateur. Not that, but it seems to go. 6 out of 10.
  63. laertan
    Feb 10, 2020
    6
    Game has many flaws: repetitive locations, pathetic armor system, huge amount of worthless loot, unhandy view, pointless final that didn't explain events of the game at all. However, there are two things that make up for all this: memorable characters and awesome story.
  64. GraysonUA
    Mar 31, 2020
    6
    Механіка з 1-ї частини, але халтурний підхід до усього: сюжет, наповнення світу, постійні повторення підземель.
  65. FuzzyPackRat
    Aug 17, 2020
    6
    Story: 8/10
    Gameplay: 7/10
    Music: 7/10 Animation/Graphics: 6/10 DA2 is quite different in gameplay from origins and it's not my favorite change I'll admit. They tried something new but it's better to make sure you know what your players love when making a sequel. That being said, it's not that bad of a game- just very very average and not my cup of tea. Takeaways Pros: again- your    Story: 8/10
    Gameplay: 7/10
    Music: 7/10
    Animation/Graphics: 6/10
    DA2 is quite different in gameplay from origins and it's not my favorite change I'll admit. They tried something new but it's better to make sure you know what your players love when making a sequel. That being said, it's not that bad of a game- just very very average and not my cup of tea.

    Takeaways
    Pros: again- your character can be in a relationship (I think also a same sex one) and the combat is faster? but you have less control over it than origins.
    Cons: playstyle of game is very different from origins, relationships with companions are either love or hate and it's not my personal favorite.    … Expand
  66. folmas
    Aug 14, 2023
    6
    the worst part in the series DA, but if you don't compare it with the first part, then it's not that bad. The plot is normal.
  67. AltumSilentium
    Apr 20, 2021
    6
    Вроде и Dragon Age, но не всегда веришь. Я думаю все знают печальную историю создания этой игры, но разработчики сумели всё таки внести что-то хорошее в серию. Изменения боевки изначально сделали геймплей более зрелищным, сохранив часть тактического боя. Сюжет получился прекрасным, да это всего лишь один, заранее прописаный персонаж, но сюжет удивляет и не оставляет равнодушным. ПерсонажиВроде и Dragon Age, но не всегда веришь. Я думаю все знают печальную историю создания этой игры, но разработчики сумели всё таки внести что-то хорошее в серию. Изменения боевки изначально сделали геймплей более зрелищным, сохранив часть тактического боя. Сюжет получился прекрасным, да это всего лишь один, заранее прописаный персонаж, но сюжет удивляет и не оставляет равнодушным. Персонажи естественно тоже не подвели. Но по итогу всё это перекрывается минусами, так что игра не заслуживает больше 6 из 10 и то в рамках серии.… Expand
  68. Eatt
    Mar 9, 2022
    6
    Played all mass effect and DA:O, I would say this is the weakest game from old-bioware. You can see here and there bioware magic, also I liked the simplified combat system rather entertaining - however the writing was overall quite bad, the dialog options you chose and the things Hawke said where sometimes totally different and also the revisiting of the same handfull locations wasPlayed all mass effect and DA:O, I would say this is the weakest game from old-bioware. You can see here and there bioware magic, also I liked the simplified combat system rather entertaining - however the writing was overall quite bad, the dialog options you chose and the things Hawke said where sometimes totally different and also the revisiting of the same handfull locations was tedious.

    I would disagree with most raitings here, since they aim to review-bomb the game because it is not as good as DA:O was instead of giving it a fair chance.    … Expand
  69. Xerenis
    Nov 14, 2021
    6
    Combat was really fun BUT the story is short and boring . The side quests are very repetitive with the same locations over and over again
    Hawke was a very likable character , but unfortunately was the protagonist of a forgettable and mediocre game
  70. Nick7000
    Mar 9, 2023
    6
    Нуууу как бы прикольно, но как бы нет. Первая часть значительно лучше.
  71. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    6
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»
  72. Guilola
    Sep 3, 2023
    6
    Os gráficos são bonitos, os personagens são apaixonantes e o mundo é muito rico, entretanto, o jogo não foca naquilo que é esperado do 1, que é a continuação do flagelo! A narrativa focada em outro lugar e sem mostrar as consequências diretas de nossas escolhas no 1 jogo acaba empobrecendo a história!
  73. Dannior
    Jun 28, 2023
    6
    La calidad del juego baja drásticamente comparado con el juego anterior, pese a que me encanta la saga me es imposible soportar muchos errores como su sistema de habilidades, su diseño de mundo mapas completamente repetitivos y tediosos, la progresión en el juego es casi nula, siento que mi personaje en el nivel 1 quita lo mismo que en el 25. Solo salvaría la historia, los personajes,La calidad del juego baja drásticamente comparado con el juego anterior, pese a que me encanta la saga me es imposible soportar muchos errores como su sistema de habilidades, su diseño de mundo mapas completamente repetitivos y tediosos, la progresión en el juego es casi nula, siento que mi personaje en el nivel 1 quita lo mismo que en el 25. Solo salvaría la historia, los personajes, la ambientación aun asi siento que no fue lo suficientemente desarrollado ni aprovechado. Y es una lastima se ve que era un juego que tenia ambición pero le falto tiempo. Igualmente lo recomendaría si te encanta la historia y estas dispuesto a aguantar esos fallos.… Expand
  74. Aemony
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    The game, while good, doesn't live up to the Dragon Age game, but to the Dragon Effect name. Storywise it's _just_ fine but the rehashes (every area is reused at least 10x somewhere else), lack of dialogue freedom, boring repeated quests, and streamlined plus simplified gameplay elements help bring out the terrible fact for everyone to see. This game is not a sequel to Dragon Age andThe game, while good, doesn't live up to the Dragon Age game, but to the Dragon Effect name. Storywise it's _just_ fine but the rehashes (every area is reused at least 10x somewhere else), lack of dialogue freedom, boring repeated quests, and streamlined plus simplified gameplay elements help bring out the terrible fact for everyone to see. This game is not a sequel to Dragon Age and shouldn't be called DA:II. It's a complete spinoff of the original game and should be treated as such.

    While good enough on its own two feet the game is brought down by sharing the title of the best RPG of the former decade. If you, as like others, are intent on enjoying the game then do not go into it with DA:O fresh in your mind. It will shatter your every expectation and leave you numb from the betrayal of BioWare.    … Expand
  75. Teaser38
    Mar 11, 2011
    5
    Do not buy this game, yet wait until the GOTY or Ultimate or whatever crap the put out with ALL the DLC. You can especially tell it was rushed because the music was all from the original and the demons were just ported from the first and no Genlocks!. Many locations were simply copy and paste. While I can see the simplified inventory, combat felt stilted rather than simplified and hadDo not buy this game, yet wait until the GOTY or Ultimate or whatever crap the put out with ALL the DLC. You can especially tell it was rushed because the music was all from the original and the demons were just ported from the first and no Genlocks!. Many locations were simply copy and paste. While I can see the simplified inventory, combat felt stilted rather than simplified and had obvious bugs. I am very disappointed in Bioware. This is all too bad because I did find the story and the characters interesting.… Expand
  76. ordoabchao
    Mar 21, 2011
    5
    While DA Origins certainly was a spiritual successor to Baldurs gate, this second installment certainly is not. There are things I certainly do like about DA II , such as the Champions dialogue and realistic graphic and character advancement, the Qunari for example look more evolved and some of the textures in the towns and the fighting areas. I have however played over 25 hours now and IWhile DA Origins certainly was a spiritual successor to Baldurs gate, this second installment certainly is not. There are things I certainly do like about DA II , such as the Champions dialogue and realistic graphic and character advancement, the Qunari for example look more evolved and some of the textures in the towns and the fighting areas. I have however played over 25 hours now and I am starting to see what Bioware have done. They have concentrated mainly on the "action" side of the game and removed some of the hardcore RPG elements that made Origins an instant success with RPG fans from the PC market. Fights are now alot faster, animations look sleek and some of the elemental spells and skills now look amazing. However, I am very dissappointed with the fact I am unable to change elements of my party's Armour, I am only able to find upgrades littered sporadically around the world map, via merchants. I am also unable to craft within my party, so they have removed the alchemy and poison making abilities and re routed the player to the merchants. You are also unable to gather raw ingredients to make your potions and poisons. Now you only have to find "sources" of raw materials, which then enable you to make the more advanced recipes with the more sources you find.
    I must say I am also dissapointed with the world map, it doesn't give you a sense of travel, it just zones you in. They have removed the random element of meeting trouble on the road too, so those random clearings you would come across filled with bandits seem to have been dropped also. I am only 25 hours into the game but I am also finding the dungeons and maps quite generic and repetitive thus far and I am hoping this may change. To summarize, we are living in an age where Console gamers now have the power to determine the future of the PC market, they are numbing down games for lazy gamers who just havent got the time and effort to really get stuck into their RPG's. I am a Mass Effect fan and I've really loved the ME series thus far, but they have practically butchered the Dragon Age series to fall in line with a heavy dialouge success that they have had with ME. I love heavy dialogue but all they needed to do was keep the same ingriedients they had with DA : Origins , with the main character dialogue like they have done in the second installment and that would have been perfect. I have been enjoying the game so far, and reccommend it if you played Origins, but if you loved Origins for its Baldurs gate nostalgia you will definately be dissapointed with DA II. Lets hope they can salvage it with some good DLC.    … Expand
  77. StanleyRichards
    Apr 18, 2011
    5
    This game takes away many of the components that made Dragon Age Origins' such a compelling RPG. The gameplay and story have all been turned inside-out.

    The combat has been dumb downed in a way that strategy is not much of a requirement anymore to go through many of the game's battles. I've not found a need to even touch the TACTICS system of the game, even on hard, and possibly    This game takes away many of the components that made Dragon Age Origins' such a compelling RPG. The gameplay and story have all been turned inside-out.

    The combat has been dumb downed in a way that strategy is not much of a requirement anymore to go through many of the game's battles. I've not found a need to even touch the TACTICS system of the game, even on hard, and possibly nightmare. It's mostly just pressing the "R" key, watch pretty visuals and see things blow up. Instead of the strategic element we are so familiar with, Bioware gives us a much more fast-paced and more fluid, action-oriented fights that last much shorter than Origins'. This is still no saving grace to the brainless combat that Bioware thought would be a better alternative.

    The story is where things really start taking a toll for the worse. Origins' had such a compelling story. You travel around Fereldan recruiting and getting aid from different armies to stop an incoming blight. In this game, you go around doing chores for people in the city. A step downwards, considering it was made by Bioware, the same company that brought us classics like Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect. Shame on you, Bioware. It's a decent game at best. There's no real thought needed in this game, but it's fast-paced combat could interest newer players for awhile.    … Expand
  78. Zri
    Apr 23, 2011
    5
    Disappointing. The great writing is there as you would expect, and the interaction between your character and your companions is still great, but there are some glaring problems with Dragon Age 2 that Origins didn't have. Combat is just terrible. Enemies pop out of nowhere in waves. The game itself says you should guard choke points with warrior classes to protect others, but thenDisappointing. The great writing is there as you would expect, and the interaction between your character and your companions is still great, but there are some glaring problems with Dragon Age 2 that Origins didn't have. Combat is just terrible. Enemies pop out of nowhere in waves. The game itself says you should guard choke points with warrior classes to protect others, but then continually spawns mobs both in front of and behind the party as the waves progress, meaning that tactics generally go out the window. Long cooldowns on many abilities mean that combat tends to focus on regular hack and slash rather than use of abilities. Companions can only use non-armour equipment, which means the majority of the items you find are useless.

    I suppose the best way to describe what I thought about this game is this: In Origins I played it through multiple times with different races and classes to see all the areas and uncover different stories. It was a pleasure to play through. Dragon Age 2 I will only play through once (barring a bout of amnesia) and as I was going through it felt like work; just trying to advance the story to find out what happens next, because you're always in the same damned areas you've been in the rest of the game and there's nothing new to keep you interested.

    Bottom line: Dialogue good, game design bad. Might as well have been a book.    … Expand
  79. Tpiom
    Mar 26, 2011
    5
    Dragon Age II tries to change stuff when it's not necessary, such as the dialogue wheel. The combat system is... improved, but not by much - it's almost too fast and fancy now.

    The story line is completely broken. It doesn't even conclude properly. You're spending the first act of the game doing side quests, the second and third act is really where the game begins. Repetitive levels and    Dragon Age II tries to change stuff when it's not necessary, such as the dialogue wheel. The combat system is... improved, but not by much - it's almost too fast and fancy now.

    The story line is completely broken. It doesn't even conclude properly. You're spending the first act of the game doing side quests, the second and third act is really where the game begins.

    Repetitive levels and being set in ONE city (plus its outlying regions) doesn't help much either.
    I'm not a fan of giving a voice to the player either, as it feels like I'm watching a film. One or two of the companions are pretty good, the rest are acceptable.    … Expand
  80. SirLance
    Nov 13, 2011
    5
    DA II failed to be remotely as good as the first game. Much as Mass Effect 2 was nowhere as good as the first one, Bioware has tried to make it "easier" with a lot less elements of role play. Instead of making a great PC game, they have made a console game and ported it over the PC. I give the first one a 10, this one was hardly worth playing, was it not for Isabela's great lines, itDA II failed to be remotely as good as the first game. Much as Mass Effect 2 was nowhere as good as the first one, Bioware has tried to make it "easier" with a lot less elements of role play. Instead of making a great PC game, they have made a console game and ported it over the PC. I give the first one a 10, this one was hardly worth playing, was it not for Isabela's great lines, it wouldn't be.… Expand
  81. BananaPuncher
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    Bioware's identity crisis and tribute to the color brown gets a sequel with an even greater identity crisis. If Dragon Age: Origin's crisis came from its overly generic universe, it was at least an honest attempt to recreate the magic of Baldur's Gate, even if it had none of the charm of Forgotten Realms, needless micromanaging, and 1% of the monster variety (Darkspawn and dragons, yay. IBioware's identity crisis and tribute to the color brown gets a sequel with an even greater identity crisis. If Dragon Age: Origin's crisis came from its overly generic universe, it was at least an honest attempt to recreate the magic of Baldur's Gate, even if it had none of the charm of Forgotten Realms, needless micromanaging, and 1% of the monster variety (Darkspawn and dragons, yay. I thought dragons were supposed to be hard to kill and usually optional?). In Dragon Age: 2, the identity crisis extends to the gameplay, where it either feels like a dumbed down version of Dragon Age: Origins, or a really bad God of War, depending on your personal preferences. This is really too bad because the dialogue is solid; they replaced the mute character of Dragon Age: Origins with a Mass Effect-style dialogue system and the story is decent enough for an RPG, in my opinion. It just doesn't feel like enough to make up for the bastard-child gameplay.… Expand
  82. tk421storm
    Mar 25, 2011
    5
    Pros: Combat is more fluid and fun, graphics are of high quality if un-optimized on the PC, texturing is attractive

    Cons: Single location, multiple reuse of maps, missing main story/thread, random quests that pop into and out of your journal, seem to have little effect on the world, lackluster companions with fewer and more black and white dialog choices

    TLDR: Ultimately tedious and pointless.
  83. Sariden
    Mar 8, 2011
    5
    Its really sad whats happened to Bioware. They went from making deep and enjoyable games to producing watered down garbage that seems utterly amateur. They went from DA:O, which had terrible graphics, bland skill sets and items, and boring combat mechanics, straight into some kind of button mashing monstrosity where the best tactical challenge they can create is making monsters do x timesIts really sad whats happened to Bioware. They went from making deep and enjoyable games to producing watered down garbage that seems utterly amateur. They went from DA:O, which had terrible graphics, bland skill sets and items, and boring combat mechanics, straight into some kind of button mashing monstrosity where the best tactical challenge they can create is making monsters do x times normal damage. Whats sad is it can't all be blamed on EA's acquisition, Dead Space 2 was a beautiful game. I think the days of people who actually cared to make good RPGs is gone.… Expand
  84. Siegfriedm
    Dec 9, 2011
    5
    I cancel the preorder of this game, 3 days before the release. I have to say more?
    I cancel the preorder after I tried the demo. Some days ago I had the opportunity to test the final game for a long period and I have to say: My decision was totally right!
    The game is not really so bad, but is too much simplified. The first Dragon Age was really good and sometimes remember me the great    I cancel the preorder of this game, 3 days before the release. I have to say more?
    I cancel the preorder after I tried the demo. Some days ago I had the opportunity to test the final game for a long period and I have to say: My decision was totally right!
    The game is not really so bad, but is too much simplified. The first Dragon Age was really good and sometimes remember me the great period of Baldur's Gate 2 :'( Dragon Age 2, is a kid-fanbase game. It's much near Diablo than to Baldur's Gate 2. All was simplified and changed in bad mode (IMHO): Inventory, graphic, fighting, etc...Anyway, I love the first Dragon Age and MAYBE I buy DA2 and finish it when an all-in-one edition will be available. But I don't like the Bioware method. They make a good 1st game (Mass Effect 1, Dragon Age 1), then they devastate them in 2nd chapter....    … Expand
  85. GrumpySpike
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    Preordered this game for PC because I enjoyed Origins so much (had at least 350 hours logged on steam). Played the demo beforehand. Tried to ignore all the negative press it was getting, as well as the hype EA was pushing out. I felt I knew what to expect. I'm about half way through the game so far, but I will finish it. So far though, while there are some things that it did a bit betterPreordered this game for PC because I enjoyed Origins so much (had at least 350 hours logged on steam). Played the demo beforehand. Tried to ignore all the negative press it was getting, as well as the hype EA was pushing out. I felt I knew what to expect. I'm about half way through the game so far, but I will finish it. So far though, while there are some things that it did a bit better than Origins, the sum of its parts is leaving me frustrated and disappointed on many levels, as a fan of Origins.

    Pros:
    - Aesthetic design is improved (Textures not included sadly). Some of the character models feel better constructed as well, such as dwarves, elves, Qunari. They feel like their own distinct races. Not a huge fan of Hurlock redesign though, but it doesn't bother me too much. Overall, the world has its own distinct feel now and not quite so much a mish mash of undetermined Lord of the Rings/Baldur's Gate aesthetics.
    - The environments (what few of them there are) look nicer, in terms of design (again, not graphically or in terms of textures), than Origins. - Combat animations look nicer (some don't like them, I feel they're better looking than Origins).
    - Combat itself doesn't feel as chunky, and is, generally, more fluid.

    In the Middle:
    - Voice acting. Overall it's about the same as Origins. Generally it's better in terms of differentiating races, and they sound a bit more varied but I get annoyed with Hawke's voice though and a few other NPC voices have made me cringe from time to time. Not really a Pro or Con.
    - Music is pretty much the same quality as Origins. Not really a Pro or Con.

    Cons:
    - Graphically, it looks worse than Origins due to lack of decent textures and overlarge polygons. Bioware lied about this point apparently (claiming it to be graphically superior to Origins).
    - Tactically, combat is a nightmare, since Bioware removed isometric view on the PC (apparently for no good reason). It's annoying trying to place an area of effect spell or trying to position party members when you can't see everything that's going on in a nice overhead picture. Instead it makes you switch between characters to get a total view of the combat which can be a bit confusing when trying to coordinate attacks.
    - Plot. There doesn't seem to be much of one. This is probably the most frustrating thing of all for me. Origins was compelling, not because the story itself was so original, but because the central conflict was always apparent. In Dragon Age 2 there is no central conflict. It just skips around to various side-quests that all feel equally unimportant. As a result, the game itself feels messy, unorganized, uninteresting. Which is a shame.
    - There is hardly any interaction with characters. In Origins you could interact with anyone at almost any given time and explore rather detailed dialogue trees. Dragon Age 2 follows the model of Awakening more closely in the sense that you can't really delve deep into characters except at scripted events. It all feels very shallow and as a result the characters seem completely uninteresting. It's almost like your characters don't need to be there. They chime in at certain points during certain quests but there's no exploration of personality to speak of. Truly disappointing.
    - There are too few environments. While the environments that do exist feel nicely designed, it get's extremely tiring having to back track constantly between the same few areas you've been to over and over again (Kirkwall, Wounded Coast, Sundermount, etc.).
    - The Dialogue wheel, surprisingly, felt very irritating in this game. I didn't mind it at all in Mass Effect, but in this game it doesn't feel satisfying at all. Hawke still doesn't say what you want him to, despite the "helpful" chat icons that appear in the center of the wheel. By far I would have preferred written out dialogue like in Origins. At least then I could properly gauge others reactions towards my choices.

    This game is quite disappointing. And the more I write the more annoyed I get with it to be honest. There are some fun things about it, but overall the game feels incredibly rushed. Bioware should be ashamed for claiming such a game to be a "spiritual successor" to Baldur's Gate. While that title may have been more pertinent to Origins, Dragon Age 2 doesn't feel like any Baldur's Gate game I've ever played. This game definitely doesn't compare to the first. It's not satisfying. It's not interesting. It doesn't feel very deep in any sense. I doubt I'm going to get much replay value out of this game. Hell, I'll probably just replay Origins after this... or sell it back so I can afford the Witcher 2.

    Truly a big damn shame. Wait for the price to drop significantly or just rent it. Game isn't any way worth $60 new.    … Expand
  86. PalladiumGM
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    As the sum of it's parts Dragon Age II adds up to a soon to be forgotten game. This is not inspired storytelling or game design - it feels as compelling you would expect from a component of an over-managed, fully monetized IP franchise. It thrills me in the same way as a new release of Crystal Reports would.|||||||||

    No RPG is perfect, but the story and game system are supposed to    As the sum of it's parts Dragon Age II adds up to a soon to be forgotten game. This is not inspired storytelling or game design - it feels as compelling you would expect from a component of an over-managed, fully monetized IP franchise. It thrills me in the same way as a new release of Crystal Reports would.|||||||||

    No RPG is perfect, but the story and game system are supposed to work together to cover each other's faults. Good combat, crunchy stats and equipment obsession help you when the story lags and compelling story gets you through so-so gameplay. It just doesn't happen in DA2.|||||||||

    There are some excellent quips and a few of the NPCs are great characters, but that's a given for any professional RPG. The dialogue wheel is clumsy, the male main character's voice makes me twitch, the story never really takes of in a meaningful way and the narrative style is lazy. Even a good twist or two later will not unmake 30 hours of meh.|||||||||

    There are many, many, many nitpicks and issues like the horrible "loading..." mid-level and the fact that enemies are made of high explosive jello, but they are too many to name here.|||||||||

    Perhaps the biggest problem is that Bioware's unconcealed purpose for making DA2 was to make you buy DLC for DA2. |||||||||

    This is just part of a massive, cross promotion strategy and it plays like it.|||||||||

    It doesn't deserve the 0 scores that it's getting here, it deserves this 5. It's a phoned in effort that will not be joining the pantheon of great Bioware games.|||||||||

    Buy it when it's repackaged on Steam with all DLC.|||||||||

    Two years from now.|||||||||

    At $9.99.    … Expand
  87. josshykins
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    Think of everything that made Dragon Age Origins a great game. Now subtract all of that and you have Dragon Age 2. The EA Games hammer of crap has really taken it's toll on poor Bioware, and it shows. It's a complete lobotomy of the RPG genre. Striped down to nothing more than a casual action RPG.

    For shame I say.
  88. acylus
    Mar 10, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While DA:O was actually interesting story wise, it really didn't have engaging combat.

    But for DA2, it had amazing combat, but most of the time the quests are boring where waves upon waves of enemies are thrown at your repeatedly, and the story is sooo terrible. There isn't many places to explore either. It looks like Bioware didn't even try to do anything about the story.    … Expand
  89. Kakaw
    Mar 10, 2011
    5
    Less depth, less of a story, less of a game. Half of what the first game was. Went the hack and slash route and eliminated a lot of the RPG features within the game...If it did not eliminate them, they altered them in a "dumbed down," way. It seriously seems the creators catered to a whole new customer and I'm curious to see if this trend continues. I'll be one sad panda if this trendLess depth, less of a story, less of a game. Half of what the first game was. Went the hack and slash route and eliminated a lot of the RPG features within the game...If it did not eliminate them, they altered them in a "dumbed down," way. It seriously seems the creators catered to a whole new customer and I'm curious to see if this trend continues. I'll be one sad panda if this trend continues from this type of developer.… Expand
  90. Gremace
    Mar 10, 2011
    5
    Bioware didn't try and improve the aspects of Dragon Age that made it a great game. They tried to make it better for consoles at the expense of PC gameplay. This is the same hack and slash console game that comes out every other week, it has nothing unique or interesting about it.

    I can't help but remember FF13 when I played this game. Like FF13 Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game, but the only    Bioware didn't try and improve the aspects of Dragon Age that made it a great game. They tried to make it better for consoles at the expense of PC gameplay. This is the same hack and slash console game that comes out every other week, it has nothing unique or interesting about it.

    I can't help but remember FF13 when I played this game. Like FF13 Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game, but the only thing I feel playing it is disappointment. The things that made origins such a fun and unique *PC* game are gone. In its place is a hack and slash console game. The graphics are straight out of 2005, and poorly optimized. The UI is terrible and made completely for consoles. Like Mass Effect 2 the classic rpg elements are almost completely stripped out of the game. The only character you equip is Hawke. Your equipment choices are more restricted by class than in origins. The detailed dialogue system is gone, your given 2-3 word statements that are labeled paragon, snark, or renegade. Everything that changed was changed for the worse. Bioware has changed since the EA buyout. The great RPG elements of their games are being phased out for broader appeal, and it just makes me sad.    … Expand
  91. Caven
    Mar 11, 2011
    5
    DIFFICULTY:
    Played this game on hard and challenge was nice, tho it was what I'd expect only from normal. Even worse lately started a nightmare play and found how though this game is with friendly fire when camera is so low and you go a whirlwind killing two companions who suddenly got on your back. Redeem items/ DLC kills this game by swiftly powering up character, lowering not that high    DIFFICULTY:
    Played this game on hard and challenge was nice, tho it was what I'd expect only from normal. Even worse lately started a nightmare play and found how though this game is with friendly fire when camera is so low and you go a whirlwind killing two companions who suddenly got on your back. Redeem items/ DLC kills this game by swiftly powering up character, lowering not that high difficulty, tho at least this time i didn't get annoying guy with big Exclamation Mark telling me to buy DLC to unlock his adventure.

    COMBAT:
    Combat is fast paced, loosely tactical based but to be honest i was glad to play rogue moving back and forth since I'd die of boredom playing mage just standing like a tower and auto-attacking whole time while waiting for cooldowns (tho gets slightly better with more spells). Wave format was more annoying than anything else since it didn't allow to properly plan for usage of high cooldown abilities especially Taunt-like. On other hand re-positioning mages after each new group spawned was sometimes required but annoying, even more on nightmare. Tactics were very useful tho sometimes i wished there would be "Turn off all tactics" UI button so i could micromanage team better on especially challenging encounters without turning them off 1 by 1. Also found them lacking especially in "positioning" department like go to biggest group of mobs and taunt or stay away from boss at max range, and my favorite move out of fire/spell.
    Force effect is very nice addition making combat more real and i only wish i could exploit it more.
    Character development:
    Tree's are nice and with nice synergy but sometimes it's hard to do proper build with all those requirements. By far worst one was rogue tree one requiring to take 3 skill of which only 1 can be active at a time only to improve one we really want. Overall was happy with trees and choices even tho i still don't find use for some of them.
    Attributes on other hand were total disappointment being forced to basically max 2 of them to wear armors made character customization hard to say the least. At end game my rogue was fast, deadly and very dead whenever he drew attention since i didn't spend enough points in stamina. Situation gets more tricky for Player Character when companions only have to spend points in one stat or some times 0 to use equipment.

    COMPANIONS:
    I liked most of them and found most of them useful at one time or another. Their stories where nice, and only added to their appeal. Only thing i didn't like was low choice of them or rather thanks to their sole focus specializations makes it very hard to play them differently or create dream team. At one point choices i made almost made me loose vital teammate whom i'd not be able to replace.

    GAMEPLAY:
    Time play somehow vital role in this game where some quests can be done at night where others only in day time, switching between both is easy but u somehow detached from time. Best one was "come meet me tonight" and then i went on a 2 week trip (lore wise) and yet person was still waiting not annoyed by my coming late. Sometime i felt like i did a lot of quests and yet only 24 hours passed.
    Also people you meet on street also feel somehow detached telling about events long passed as if they happened yesterday.
    There was plentiful of quests even tho annoyingly usually go to location you've already seen and kill, kill, kill and after killing all those minions kill boss or tell boss how you're in only for peaceful solution or to save them all from extermination. Still some quests were still nice. Other annoying thing was handing completed quest, going back home to grab new letter and back to same quest giver for next one as if he couldn't tell me from start. Last item it's nice that they tell you which quest ends chapter, but why didn't they do same with last one...
    Dialog system is on one hand good you exactly know whether you'll answer "Diplomatically", "Ruthlessly" or "Ironically" on other hand you don't really choose what you'll really tell so why bother with text lines in first place just place 4 icons (one more for investigate) and be done about it and don't give me illusion of proper dialog.
    Crafting system is great and feels somehow right.

    STORY
    Story at first is very chaotic and then gets cleared only to plunge you straight back into chaos, and at the end you are Champion whatever it really means. It's nice to see choices you made at one time explode in your face later on, tho I feel somehow cheated by dialog system. SUMMARY:
    Very nice fantasy themed RPG I only wish it wasn't branded continuation to completly different game I felt dragon age origins was.

    I liked: Story, Companions, Boss fights
    I disliked: Dialog System, Wave combat, Time detachment, Repeatable zones, DLC making game easier.
    Could be better: Attribute distribution, Tactics system    … Expand
  92. DartyShrodinher
    Mar 11, 2011
    5
    Not a best RPG ever. Not a worst. But what is really disapointing - it's not RPG I expected from BioWare. It's completely new-school RPG. While playing, I wasn't thinking about BG or PS:T or even about ID. Well, everything that was on my mind - Devil May Cry and Mass Effect 2. In DAO we can see camouflaged D&D, here we can see camouflaged ME. Combat system now feels better - more quick,Not a best RPG ever. Not a worst. But what is really disapointing - it's not RPG I expected from BioWare. It's completely new-school RPG. While playing, I wasn't thinking about BG or PS:T or even about ID. Well, everything that was on my mind - Devil May Cry and Mass Effect 2. In DAO we can see camouflaged D&D, here we can see camouflaged ME. Combat system now feels better - more quick, more beautiful, BUT less tactics. Roleplay - well, for me there's more roleplay in BBC2 - I can be a medic, a pilot, a stormtrooper etc. Dialogs in DA2 are great...would be great if game would be slasher or sort of. But for RPG they're very bad.
    Story - better then in DAO. But not exellent. Nothing more to say.
    Visuals, sound, music, decorations - not too bad, but for BioWare this "not too bad" transforms into just "bad".
    The game is not too bad for consoles - but it bad enough for PC. It's not completely awful, but I don't know for whom I can recommend it. let's just better wait for Wtcher 2, The and Skyrim. But I'm afraid DAO was last good oldschool RPG. And BW transformed into developer of casual console ****.    … Expand
  93. hf2016
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    To start, Dragon Age II is not actually bad enough to deserve the scores of 0-2 that many people are giving it. The problem is that it really is not very good either. People have come to expect a certain standard of quality from Bioware, and DA2 simply does not meet that standard.

    Combat is horrible. In fact, it is probably DA2's worst flaw. On the recommended combat difficulty setting,    To start, Dragon Age II is not actually bad enough to deserve the scores of 0-2 that many people are giving it. The problem is that it really is not very good either. People have come to expect a certain standard of quality from Bioware, and DA2 simply does not meet that standard.

    Combat is horrible. In fact, it is probably DA2's worst flaw. On the recommended combat difficulty setting, playing the game feels disturbingly similar to watching a mediocre film. You spend the early levels of the game clicking a few buttons every 15-20 seconds. Groups of enemies never pose a serious threat, yet still live long enough to make combat tedious. Combat improves later, especially if you raise the difficulty, but it never reaches the tactical depth or difficulty offered frequently in its predecessor.

    Dialogue is mediocre. There are fewer options than there were in Origins, the quality of the writing is surprisingly low for a Bioware title, and much of the voice-acting is disappointing.

    The new art style is matter of taste I suppose, but I personally dislike it. To begin with, changing the appearances of various established creatures was in rather poor taste. The Qunari now resemble something from The Lower Planes while the Hurlocks are reminiscent of Skeletor. The "visceral" combat is simply preposterous. The amount of gore if you can even call it that is so exaggerated that it makes combat even less satisfying. My character's sword should not produce similar results to an airstrike.

    As with the previous game, the graphics were mediocre while the musical score was quite good. It would hardly be fair to blame Bioware for the fact that certain people insist on selling and developing for six-year-old hardware that wasn't even all that it was made out to be on release. The problems with Nvidia cards are not so easily dismissed, however. There is a little thing called testing that is supposed to prevent little things like that. That being said, the game performs quite well on my modest dual-core ATI/AMD machine.

    Overall, I would say that DA2 will be worth purchasing for fans of the first game when it sees a drop in price. Until then, it is not worth your time or money. As an RPG and a sequel, DA2 is mediocre at best.    … Expand
  94. DKN
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    I am really disappointed with DA2, it has poor story, poor characters and npcs, combat system is completely awful, with mobs constantly spawning in waves from absolutely random locations you can forget tactics and positioning.
    Why is there an inventory and loot in this game at all is a mystery to me, you donâ
  95. Userusername
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    Let me start out by saying I liked dragon age origins. It had a good story, memorable characters and a real good setting. The only problem I had with the game is that combat became very tedious. Dragon age II fixes the combat by making it fast-paced and a better leveling system. Sadly it removed everything that made the first game worthwhile. Boring characters and story realy put me of the game.
  96. Ramanujan
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    A veritable tour de force of mediocrity, corner cutting and action gaming. I struggled to find any semblance of a RPG here. This is BioWare's hero, not mine. I felt as if they were playing the game for me for long periods. Good job too in some respects otherwise I would never have finished it and got at least some value for money. If this game wasn't rushed to hell then Bioware/EA need toA veritable tour de force of mediocrity, corner cutting and action gaming. I struggled to find any semblance of a RPG here. This is BioWare's hero, not mine. I felt as if they were playing the game for me for long periods. Good job too in some respects otherwise I would never have finished it and got at least some value for money. If this game wasn't rushed to hell then Bioware/EA need to start firing people - starting yesterday. Combat bereft of tactics, cave deja vu, camera angles, boring quests - I won't go on repeating what others have said. There were some good moments and this is not a 0/10 game, but neither is it a 10/10. It's definitely not worth paying full price for it - maybe when it's half price you will feel that spending your money was not in vain. My main motivation for signing up and writing this was after reading the Escapists review for this game which is absolutely shameful. Either the reviewer has an IQ slightly above Isabella's chest measurement or it's the other, obvious, less savoury possibility.… Expand
  97. maxwell97
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    I haven't yet played this game, and I honestly don't know if it's good or bad. I'm posting this to warn everyone who sees it not to trust the average user score, as obviously one person or a small group has been posting multiple ratings to bring down the score. My evidence for this:

    1. The ridiculous number of ratings. The game has been out for three days, and has more ratings for    I haven't yet played this game, and I honestly don't know if it's good or bad. I'm posting this to warn everyone who sees it not to trust the average user score, as obviously one person or a small group has been posting multiple ratings to bring down the score. My evidence for this:

    1. The ridiculous number of ratings. The game has been out for three days, and has more ratings for the PC version than the original PC DA has, which has been out for about a year and a half. It has over twice as many ratings as the PC version of Black Ops. It has (as another pointed out) over six times as many ratings as WoW: Cataclysm. 2. The very similar writing style in evidence between a great many reviews.
    3. The great disparity between the user rating here and on other sites. Gamespot has an average user rating of 7.1, IGN has 6.7, Game Informer has a 6.0. The 4.0 here is too far out of line to be believable. Whoever is doing this, please, get a life. If you're seriously THAT mad because a game doesn't fit your traditional PC-centric mold, and you just HAVE to bring down that average score on Metacritic, you really need to develop some other interests. Seriously, it's unhealthy.    … Expand
  98. polemic
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    It's hard when reviewing a sequel to separate the game itself from the series. If this was a review of this game alone it would definitely score a 7, however, this is a poor showing by both Bioware and Dragon Age standards. I'd like to pick up some of the features that haven't been highlighted that much in the negative reviews, the main one being the story. The main quests and side questsIt's hard when reviewing a sequel to separate the game itself from the series. If this was a review of this game alone it would definitely score a 7, however, this is a poor showing by both Bioware and Dragon Age standards. I'd like to pick up some of the features that haven't been highlighted that much in the negative reviews, the main one being the story. The main quests and side quests felt entirely disconnected from both each other and themselves. The main story itself was so convoluted it made virtually no sense (especially the last act and very especially the ending). Featuring both unbelievable characters, limited choices and hammed cameos from the cast of the original game (at one point someone pops up says "hello" and then, for no apparent reason, disappears with no explanation).

    Dragon Age: Origins, Awakening and its various DLC's were wonderful in that they fleshed out a remarkably believable, intriguing and novel world. This sequel has failed not only to enrich or develop that world but in some places has completely ignored things that were established in the first game (e.g. the relationship between mages, blood mages and abominations). Add to this the fact that, although many of the strategy features remain (for instance the ability to pause) enemies now come in waves (appearing - often quite literally - from the ether) making it impossible to plan out a battle; thus reducing the pause feature to a safety net to use potions. In addition there are roughly six different enemies and maps in the game which are reused ad infinitum and combat becomes little more than an endless wave of indiscernible creatures. One unfortunate consequence (among many) is that the game lulls you in to a sense of complacency broken only by a contrived boss fight, which crop up once in a while. These battles are so unbelievably and incomparably difficult compared to the trash that winning them always appears to be more a matter of luck than judgement.

    All this said this is a very good game, but it bares a very similar relation to Dragon Age: Origins as Mass Effect 2 did Mass Effect 1. Faster combat, better graphics, with a less gripping story, poorly fleshed out companions and a very disappointing amount of RPG or customization elements.    … Expand
  99. Digitalkid
    Mar 13, 2011
    5
    Payed 60$ on steam just because of a review, and got what?! DAO was weak enough, but this ...! Simplifying everything to nothing.

    Dialogs reduced to 2-3 phrases, and thats great! Cause world and chars are totally empty. Their acts are so nonlogic and unpredictible, that in a half an hour i was just clicking icons. "Be nice", "be rude". Why DA2 is so gay?! Seriosly, in a few hours 3 f..    Payed 60$ on steam just because of a review, and got what?! DAO was weak enough, but this ...! Simplifying everything to nothing.

    Dialogs reduced to 2-3 phrases, and thats great! Cause world and chars are totally empty. Their acts are so nonlogic and unpredictible, that in a half an hour i was just clicking icons. "Be nice", "be rude". Why DA2 is so gay?! Seriosly, in a few hours 3 f.. proposing "their services" and not even one girl blinking.

    Enemies are just fallin at you from nowhere like in some DMC. Do you need any tactics in chess when opponent can put any figure anywhere he wants?..

    Plot reminded ME2. Just get 50 sovereins (10 companions) to get to the new chapter. And you call that a scenario? Written in 15 minutes?! I dont even know what i'm doing when takin quest in 2 clicks, killing some more enemies, done in 2 clicks. What was is?!

    Locations look like Orzamar entrance. Sooooo lowpoly. No more to say.

    3-4 hours of DA2 was enough. Looks like nothin left of Bioware i ones knew. Bye guys.    … Expand
  100. Crapula
    Mar 13, 2011
    5
    Compared to other RPG or action games, DA2 is a quite good game. Compared to other Bioware's games is dreadful. In all kind of senses, as for graphics, history, gaming and strategy. Really bad choices made by EA. If you are a Baldurs Gate / DA Origins fan you shouldn't buy this game.
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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.
    Read full review
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