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. Jyscal
    Mar 15, 2011
    3
    Mindless, dull, boring and generic are the first words that come to mind when playing this game.
    There is literally nothing good you can say about this game, absolutely nothing; the story is boring, the characters have very poor personalities and don't add much depth to the game, love interests are there to appeal to "mature gamers that play mature games" and don't add anything to the    Mindless, dull, boring and generic are the first words that come to mind when playing this game.
    There is literally nothing good you can say about this game, absolutely nothing; the story is boring, the characters have very poor personalities and don't add much depth to the game, love interests are there to appeal to "mature gamers that play mature games" and don't add anything to the story either, the characters themselves look somewhat decent with the texture pack, but the areas and surroundings feel very dead and generic. And oh wow, the UI, it feels like I'm playing **** alpha, it is just that bad, most custom WoW UI's (hell even the regular one) look much better than this piece of **** Luckily I didn't pay for this piece of **** as it truly is depressing for a company like Bioware to **** out a turd like this. I'm still trying to come up with something good I can say about this game, but nope, I just can't do it.    … Expand
  2. nyne
    Mar 15, 2011
    3
    The entire main storyline of DA2 could have been told in a expansion or a DLC and does not compare at all to the epic story of DA:O, the rest of the questing content is irrelevant fillers. Combat is simplified beyond belief and requires no strategy at all. Without the high res pack my graphics were locked at medium and only added to the disappointment.
  3. chibajoe
    Mar 21, 2011
    3
    They would have been better off naming this game "Diablo Age 3". The incessant combat, random loot generator, uninspired voice acting, and complete lack of RPG elements made for a thoroughly underwhelming gaming experience. Had EA been honest and told everyone up front that this was going to be a hack-n-slash gear hunt with some cinematics thrown in for good measure, I think people wouldThey would have been better off naming this game "Diablo Age 3". The incessant combat, random loot generator, uninspired voice acting, and complete lack of RPG elements made for a thoroughly underwhelming gaming experience. Had EA been honest and told everyone up front that this was going to be a hack-n-slash gear hunt with some cinematics thrown in for good measure, I think people would have been willing to cut them a little slack. To claim this half complete abortion as the inheritor of the crown of Dragon Age and the "spiritual" successor of Baldur's Gate is a spit in the face of every RPG gamer who has ever played those games. If you are an RPG player, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, it sucks (as an RPG). If you're just looking for 30 or so hours of mindless hack and slash in repetitive and over used environments on an aging graphics engine, and you have $60 that you just can't find something better to waste on, then this might just be the game for you.… Expand
  4. mjwilliams84
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    Thoroughly disappointing sequel to a fantastic RPG. Fans of Origins and/or anyone interested in immersive, character-based roleplay should avoid this like the plague. Gone are the multiple choice dialogue options of true RPG classics, replaced by the dialogue wheel seen in Mass Effect. While that works in the epic setting of what is effectively a sci-fi blockbuster, it doesn't here. ItsThoroughly disappointing sequel to a fantastic RPG. Fans of Origins and/or anyone interested in immersive, character-based roleplay should avoid this like the plague. Gone are the multiple choice dialogue options of true RPG classics, replaced by the dialogue wheel seen in Mass Effect. While that works in the epic setting of what is effectively a sci-fi blockbuster, it doesn't here. Its shallow, poorly written characters and script are totally forgettable. Seldom does your choice of action or speech affect anything at all. The environments themselves would look average 10 years ago. Areas that look awful in the first place are re-used many times over. The one saving grace is the combat, but with so many other faults, it's barely worth mentioning. The bullet-point nature of this review feels apt, as the disappointments hit home one after the other. As a friend of mine put it; "About as gripping as a lubed-up hand with no bone structure." Colour me shocked and appalled, Bioware.… Expand
  5. Greyhammer
    Mar 15, 2011
    3
    an absolute disappointment. from begining to end it is far inferior to DA:O and is a complete failure on bioware's part. I hope that DA3 fixes what this game broke because the world of Thedas is a cool one
  6. Suleiman
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    Per quanto concerne la mia esperienza di gioco, in un'ottica GDR, dopo diverse ore di gioco a questo nuovo titolo, devo dire che è davvero poco appagante.
    Non c'è immersione: ci si limita a galleggiare in superficie, intuendo che poteva esser fatto molto di più.
    La grafica è abbastanza curata, anche se preferivo i toni più    Per quanto concerne la mia esperienza di gioco, in un'ottica GDR, dopo diverse ore di gioco a questo nuovo titolo, devo dire che è davvero poco appagante.
    Non c'è immersione: ci si limita a galleggiare in superficie, intuendo che poteva esser fatto molto di più.
    La grafica è abbastanza curata, anche se preferivo i toni più maturi di DAO. Quello che non va proprio bene è che ci saranno una cinquantina di location che vengono riproposte allo sfinimento, il che non aiuta certo ad immergersi in un gioco di ruolo, dove l'ambientazione dovrebbe essere resa minuziosamente a video.
    La grafica dei menù è a dir poco oscena. Mi chiedo, con una grafica tanto scarna, come sia stato possibile rendere il sistema di menù più confusionario rispetto al precedente DAO... mah: ci sono riusciti, proponendo, ad esempio, un sistema grafico di avanzamento nei talenti che richiede ogni volta di visualizzare un albero di skill, impedendo una visione globale ed un confronto veloce tra le varie abilità.
    Il sistema di dialoghi è abominevole: in base a quale malato ragionamento non si può più cliccare sulla esatta frase che il nostro PG dovrebbe pronunciare, con senso chiaro, ma si deve interpretare una linea di scelta che spesso ci mette in bocca cose che non volevamo dire?
    Lasciamo perdere il combat system, e la gestione dell'inventario, il sistema di crafting, la possibilità di interagiore con gli altri personaggi in senso ampio, che di ruolo qui hanno mantenuto solo ed esclusivamente la dicitura.
    Coerenza a video rispetto alle abilità dei PG, a quelle che dovrebbero essere le loro effettive capacità e limitazioni: inesistente.
    Si salva qualcosa? Forse la storia sì, quella si salva, anche se è raccontata in modo non più che discreto.

    Ma parliamo di altri aspetti: COERENZA ed IMMEDESIMAZIONE..
    Ogni mondo, quello reale, ma anche quelli immaginari, ha delle regole.
    Regole sia fisiche imposte dalla natura, forza di gravità etc, sia convenzionali imposte dalla società, sistemi giuridici, etc., sia di altro tipo.
    Queste regole sono fondamentali perché qualsiasi mondo possa funzionare.
    Stessa cosa in un gioco fantasy, in cui i personaggi si muovono in un mondo di certo immaginario, ma comunque con delle regole.
    Se, ad esempio, un mago passa tutto il suo tempo a studiare magie, di certo non avrà potuto studiare le tecniche di combattimento corpo a corpo... se volesse imparare queste tecniche dovrebbe sacrificare parte del suo tempo (leggi: punti abilità) e così si creerebbe un personaggio ibrido mago/guerriero, che però non eccelle in nessuna delle due classi.
    Stessa cosa per le caratteristiche fisiche del guerriero: un'arma a due mani implica colpi più lenti, ma più potenti.
    Insomma le "regole dei mondi" fanno sì che se tiri la coperta da una parte, la accorci dall'altra...
    E allora?
    Semplice, tutto ciò è fondamentale per due cose importantissime: CREDIBILITA' e, quindi, IMMEDESIMAZIONE.
    E l'immedesimazione è tutto ciò a cui punta un GDR.
    Se faccio venir meno il realismo fregandome delle regole, tutto il mondo immaginario creato crolla, e non è più credibile: e la mancanza di credibilità fa venir meno l'immedesimazione.
    Per questo la COERENZA è tanto importante, in ogni sistema-mondo fantasy: perché rispettando il realismo (con riferimento alle regole del mondo immaginario creato) permette l'immedesimazione.
    Se in un film di cawboy ambientato nel passato del nostro mondo ad un certo punto gli indiani si mettessero a volare come pipistrelli, lo spettatore verrebbe catapultato di forza fuori dalla storia e comincerebbe a ridere.
    In un mondo fantasy, quindi, il realismo è ancor più importante che nel mondo reale: per il semplice motivo che nel mondo reale il realismo c'è per forza... e ci mancherebbe! Mentre in un mondo immaginario va creato e mantenuto con arte e sforzo e fatica: ma è prprio da quel realismo che nasce la magia!
    Ora, Dragon Age 2 non rispetta le regole del mondo in cui è ambientato, e quindi non è credibile, e quindi non è coerente e quindi chiude le porte in faccia all'immedesimazione.
    Cosa comporta ciò? Che:
    - se DA2 fosse un DGR, sarebbe davvero un pessimo GDR
    - se DA2 fosse un gioco action, sarebbe un brutto gioco action se paragonato ad altri del genere (soprattutto dungeon siege...)
    - se DA2 fosse un misto action-GDR, lo troverei tirato via e poco studiato.

    CONCLUDENDO
    Dopo aver giocato per diverse ore la versione definitiva di DA2, purtroppo, devo confermare le mie impressioni inziali.
    Brutto gioco, fatto in fretta e male: basta guardare la ripetività delle location o la scarnissima grafica dei menù.
    Coerenza zero, tatticità zero, personaliazzione zero.
    La storia si salva, ma non è assolutamente ai livello di DAO.
    Io ragiono nell'ottica GDR, che è quello che mi aspettavo di trovare e che mi sarebbe piaciuto giocare.
    Peccato!
    Spero che alla Bio ritrovino presto il senno e sfornino un GDR che sia un GDR vero!    … Expand
  7. Rif
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    I just signed up to write about this game. I have beaten it, every quest possible and I have completed Origins. The only thing that connects this so called sequel and Origins is the plot at some point, the rest...Im afraid is gone. First thing that kicks the faithfull fans in the nuts is fights - its no longer a well thought battle with deep tactics...its a SLASHER. Is it a good thing?I just signed up to write about this game. I have beaten it, every quest possible and I have completed Origins. The only thing that connects this so called sequel and Origins is the plot at some point, the rest...Im afraid is gone. First thing that kicks the faithfull fans in the nuts is fights - its no longer a well thought battle with deep tactics...its a SLASHER. Is it a good thing? Probably. But the fights, even though fast and flashy, are not memorable - wave after wave of 5-6 faceless enemies (who appear out of this air...yep magic) start to bore after about 1 hour. In the origins you could talk about one battle for 20 minutes, this one - "well I clicked on the dude and his head flew off"...The graphics are not as bad as people say - I mean how would you improve it? Everything looks alright for me. Everyone knew about the lack of customization, so lets forget this issue. The characters in the game are decent with back stories...now lets talk about the REAL PROBLEM - AREAS...I cannot find a good reason for developers to make 2 damn caves which you will have to run through OVER and OVER AGAIN! So lets sum it up:

    In this game: Decent Story and Characters (+1)
    Decent graphics (+1)
    Voice actors did a very good job (+1)
    Fighing techs (would be +1 for Xbox/PS but on pc not so much)

    there you have it - areas are: Denerim is grey textures, 2 caves, a couple of deserted areas with respawning enemies.

    If anyone at Bioware is reading the reviews...guys I will pay twice as much for the next game if you make it more like Origins, I am deeply dissapointed and sad...I couldnt find a game which weill really "take" me and then I bought Origins, so when I heard about 2nd part I was so excited you wouldnt believe...And I get this mindless unfinished H'n'S    … Expand
  8. TheUnknownX
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    Game is full of bugs, story is stupid and you can't affect anything, graphics are sometimes ok, often ugly, quests are usually stupid and blablabla. Game is worth 10â
  9. Nightfish
    Mar 17, 2011
    3
    Dragon Age 2 is the "Phantom Menace" to Dragon Age: Origin's "A New Hope". Thank you George for making this comparison possible and instantly recognisable by nerds everywhere. In many ways, I wouldn't need to say anything more than that, but I will anyway: When writing a review of Dragon Age 2, you probably have to say a few words about where you are coming from first. Are you theDragon Age 2 is the "Phantom Menace" to Dragon Age: Origin's "A New Hope". Thank you George for making this comparison possible and instantly recognisable by nerds everywhere. In many ways, I wouldn't need to say anything more than that, but I will anyway: When writing a review of Dragon Age 2, you probably have to say a few words about where you are coming from first. Are you the wide-eyed fanboy or the disgruntled, estranged hater formerly known as a "true" fan? Then you claim to be neither, but the one true voice of reason who's got a neutral view on this issue. Personally, I have bought and played repeatedly pretty much everything Bioware published since Shattered Steel and I've enjoyed each game on his own merits. I loved Planescape Tormet, Baldur's Gate 2 just as much as Jade Empire, even though that game is radically different in terms of combat. I'm saying that to illustrate that I am very well capable of enjoying a game that does not have the traditional isometric view of tactical combat.

    Dragon Age 2 however, I cannot get into no matter how much I want to like it. This game is a train wreck of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age and not in a good way. Let's take a look at some of the "bad" things. First of all: Combat. I cannot, for the life of me, see how anyone could view the new system as an improvement. They tried to make combat incredibly fast paced and action packed, but somehow this does not play out the way it's intended, at least not for me. Seeing a guy in full platemail armed with a huge two-handed weapon move faster than Neo in the Matrix doesn't just break immersion for me, it shatters it beyond all hopes of repair. Most enemies die in one hit now and they do so in a spectacularily silly and over the top gory way. There's more blood in here than in the silliest splatter movie I ever saw. There's a fine line between "adult" and "graphic violence" and enemies EXPLODING into 20 gallons of blood and shishkebab upon being stabbed in the chest once. To compensate for all the insta-kills, enemies now spawn in waves by the dozens. This robs the individual enemy of any significance. How can I be intimidated by a blood mage or a horrible demon if there's 20 of each under every other rock? Beats me. The sadest thing about DA2 is that it actually fails where bioware usually excells. The story and dialogue. Take the human noble origin story in Dragon Age Origins, for example. Before everyone dies a gruesome death you spend some time to get to know them. Thus, when they do die, their death has some impact on you. In DA2, we skip the first part in favor of turning the gruesomeness of the death up to 11. The thing is, if some random red shirt dies twice as horribly, I don't care twice as much. The "main story" if it can so be called, is anything but an improvement over the original as well. Granted, you are not saving the world, which in theory can make for an interesting story as well, but many people take this fact alone to mean the story is brilliant. Unfortunately, that is not quite true. The writing is incredibly ham-fisted at times. I cannot count how often the game prevents you from using obvious solutions to problems simply because the plot requires that this problem cannot be solved in a simple manner. This adds to the "rushed" vibe the game gives off in general. There's barely any "fluff" anymore. You cannot talk to your companions at will anymore, for example. Some of the events of DA:O are imported and the game shoe-horns them into DA2, but if you spend even 2 seconds thinking about "Why was Alistair here just now?" you'll notice that he had no significance to the plot, provided no insight whatsoever and was there simply as a little bit of fan-service. Oh yea, and the RPG part got dumbed down some more, but that was to be expected I guess and is barely worth mentioning in light of all the other shortcommings the game has. Still, rating the game a 0/10 as many people do is just as silly as rating it 10/10. There is good to be found if you can look past your expectations for a bit. Some of the quests are indeed well written and fun. The voice actors did a really good job, almost without exception. Flemeth's new look is a vast improvement over her old one, too bad she is in the game for about 5 minutes, tops. It's almost like she notice "Oh snap, this is gonna hurt!" and flapped out of the game on her dragon wings. I cannot say I blame her. In conclusion, Bioware lost a lot of credibilty with me for this game. No longer will I blindly buy whatever they release. Once burned, twice shy. The shady things they did here on metacritic are not helping that image. I hope they learn a lesson from this disaster and can recover and return to what made them successful in the first place instead of succumbing to EA's corruption for good.    … Expand
  10. aLIEnreal
    Mar 17, 2011
    3
    TDLR: A fun action game, but a sad disappointing follow-up to the rpg masterpiece "DA:O". It should had been named as a dragon age spin-off ( e.g DA: dynasty warrior/legend or something )||||

    DA2 is a fun action oriented "rpg-ish" game which sadly failed as a sequel. Its only redeeming quality is perhaps the revamped combat system which is much more action and "button smashing". The    TDLR: A fun action game, but a sad disappointing follow-up to the rpg masterpiece "DA:O". It should had been named as a dragon age spin-off ( e.g DA: dynasty warrior/legend or something )||||

    DA2 is a fun action oriented "rpg-ish" game which sadly failed as a sequel. Its only redeeming quality is perhaps the revamped combat system which is much more action and "button smashing". The lacklustre plot, the small set of repetitively recycled dungeons/environment/enemies and numerous glitches indicate a rushed unpolished product. The game has a long long list of flaws, but its cardinal sin was the failure develop any semblance of a role playing game. Most quest were simply reduced to a generic formula of "click me ---> teleport there ---> click/kill". The fame choice system of bioware games became a mere selection of your speech tone as opposed to any significant degree of plot branching. The game has simply been reduced to an excuse for button smashing. EA/Bioware should had just brand and market this game off as a dragon game spin off.    … Expand
  11. Rhey
    Mar 17, 2011
    3
    Combat system improved, but everything else is worse than Dragon Age: Origins.
    Nobody needed a game like DA II. There are tons of titles like that.
    We needed an improved realistic, revolutionary & innovative npc interaction. Because there wasn't an RPG like Origins for that aspect before. In DA II you cannot talk to your company whenever you want, you have to wait for a Cutscene (quest or    Combat system improved, but everything else is worse than Dragon Age: Origins.
    Nobody needed a game like DA II. There are tons of titles like that.
    We needed an improved realistic, revolutionary & innovative npc interaction. Because there wasn't an RPG like Origins for that aspect before.
    In DA II you cannot talk to your company whenever you want, you have to wait for a Cutscene (quest or gift). You cannot talk to your party friends about your accomplishments, while the old good Origins did.
    We got a step back to something pointless, instead to improve the innovation, they killed it.
    A static location into the same city for the whole game and some anonymous random cave, BAD.
    No longer an epic journey like Origins, but the dumb match Templars Vs Mages.
    Efforts reduced on DAII, a team weakened to work on an other project like SWTOR. BioWare revealed in July that the ME2 system has been adopted cos the Dragon Age system requires too many efforts and resources, despite the higher quality / success of DA compared to ME2.

    The DA2 sales are pushed by what people know about DA:Origins.
    If DA3 will never ship, it will be a fail, because DA2 won't push anything.    … Expand
  12. Stegzilla
    Mar 17, 2011
    3
    I'm quite disappointed tbh. I managed to finish it in 17hrs on normal, doing most of the side quests. After playing the Mass Effects, I was expecting something a little longer. Thought the story was a bit so-so.
  13. Viklo
    Mar 18, 2011
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Story was my greatest disappointment. I understood that Bioware wanted to make a smaller story this time, but rpg is about making choices which have effect. I did not feel like I had the ability to choose in this story. Certain things happened no matter who I sided with, and the ending and main story remained the same. No replay value here. Different dialogue choices were just for flavor, sarcastic Hawke will have the same story as heroic Hawke.

    Lack of build-up with companions and family. I would have expected that time span of ten years would have added more depth to relationships instead of losing it. There was very little companion interaction.
    The family focus was a joke.

    Recycled areas. All caves look the same, all ruins look the same etc. Only some doors won't open, depending on location. Irritating.    … Expand
  14. Marcman59
    Mar 18, 2011
    3
    It's rather unfortunate how this game turned out. The combat is no longer tactical, it simply requires you to hit your abilities as the cooldowns refresh. The story is bland, and makes it difficult to press on, nothing "hooks" you. If this game had been released as a stand-alone title not under the Dragon Age name, it wouldn't have been nearly as disappointing. Also, 27 different DLC's atIt's rather unfortunate how this game turned out. The combat is no longer tactical, it simply requires you to hit your abilities as the cooldowns refresh. The story is bland, and makes it difficult to press on, nothing "hooks" you. If this game had been released as a stand-alone title not under the Dragon Age name, it wouldn't have been nearly as disappointing. Also, 27 different DLC's at launch is rather excessive and a terrible trend to follow. I'm all for DLC, but I want game expansion that couldn't have been included on the disc.… Expand
  15. vklS
    Mar 18, 2011
    3
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  16. Toddc45
    Mar 18, 2011
    3
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  17. lemon01
    Mar 18, 2011
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. OK I grabbed this from the steam user forum, from "loa1452". Sorry to plagiarize, bit his/her review really hit it on the mark for me. To summarize, this game is TERRIBLE: reused levels (again and again and again), the same fight over and over again, very limited enemy types(lots of spiders...), and incoherent story.

    From loa1452
    _______
    DA:O was not perfect by any means, but boy did it immerse you. There were so many minute details that just sucked you in. Didn't care about the graphics, didn't care that my party of mages steam rolled every battle on the hardest difficulty. It was fun. That is the whole point of RPGs: Laugh, cry, battle and forget that you are playing a game.

    Kirkwall

    One of the well known 'features' of Dragon Age 2 is that the whole "story" takes place in Kirkwall. When I read this in a game preview, I didn't mind. I assumed (wrongly) that Kirkwall must be HUGE. The first thing you will notice after stepping into Kirkwall is how tiny it is. It takes all of 10 minutes to explore the whole entire city. You think you are going up some stairs to explore a new area when a dialog box pops up, "Would you like to gather your party and continue?". Uh, Ok. A screen pops up where you have to click a new area. Boom. You are transported to the new area that looks exactly like the first and is tiny, tiny, tiny. There are a few crates and sacks to open, but that is it.

    Oh well, you say. "I don't care how tiny it is, my attention span is so short every area will seem new to me anyways". Well you will also notice Kirkwall is filled with tons of people going about their business! What a sprawling city just filled with life! Unfortunately, you can't talk to any of these people. None. Zero. Clicking them does nothing. Area recycling

    OK, so now the dreaded area recycling that fangirls everywhere try to justify. I'd like to remind everyone that I play games for fun. I realize many of you now play games as a form of repetitive work (like WoW), in that case, you still won't like this game. It is truly ridiculous. Accept a quest, go through a mine, return back and get a reward. Good, it was fun. Accept another quest, go back to the exact same mine, but now somehow there are doors closed off with rocks, and new doors magically have opened. WTF? Ok whatever, I'll let it slide. Oh wait, please don't make me go back to Kirkwall to accept another quest. I know we have moved past this but Kirkwall is so small that I memorized every area, where everything was in just one pass through of the city. I can see how people can convince themselves that this area recycling is fine, as I did myself for a little while. But finally I cracked. I hate it. I hate this game. If you haven't cracked yet, just keep playing. It will happen. I promise.

    Battles

    Not much to say about this one. Every battle is the exact same, with the a lot of the same enemies. This is just a real let down. Here is how it works: Approach an area, kill off about 7 - 10 enemies, a second wave of 7-10 enemies appears. Kill them. Move on. Every. Single. Battle. Is. The. Same. Two waves. Then done. All of them. So when you enter a battle, you know exactly what will happen, this absolutely kills immersion. Items They seemed to have made an effort to add a ton of gear into the game. Only problem is that most of it is only for the main character. That leaves a tiny subset of stuff you can actually equip to others. It is obvious that the game was rushed. A few items have actual clever names like, "Gloves of the unknowable unknown". Ok, whatever. Cool. But then it stops. Items that have different attributes are all named the same, "Ring. Belt. Helm. Staff". Annoying to sort through 5 "Rings" in your inventory that all have different properties.

    Story
    Ah what else. How about the story? I never could figure out what was going on. It's full of endless side quests. Inever did figure out what the overall goal was. There was an area in the journal that listed the "main plot" quests, but they were no different than the endless, forgettable side quests.

    Conclusion
    I was expecting an epic sequel to DA:O. This is such an embarrassment of an RPG that I actually feel used, and conned. There is no possible way that BioWare was putting the finishing touches on this baby and thought, "Wow, good job guys. This game is really fun". The game is small, repetitive and just plain boring. Why are there 2 waves to every fight? Why are all the areas the same? Why is Kirkwall so damn small?! I am surprised that it took them this long to release the game. It should have taken 4 months, max. I just wish the gaming media websites would actually rate games truthfully. They should be embarrassed.    … Expand
  18. drakkoone
    Mar 19, 2011
    3
    Origin was not perfect, but it was a good game. Here, on DA2, every aspect of the game is a downgrade. No more strategic battle, no armors for companions in inventory, no crafting (NPCs make it for you), no dialogue skills like persuasion or intimidation (you can ask a companion to interfere in conversation, but it's an automatic succes). This game is a waste, and I'm worried about Mass Effect 3.
  19. mindguru
    Mar 19, 2011
    3
    As an absolute lover and fanatic raver of Dragon Age: Origins, I was desperately looking forward to the series' second installment. Unfortunately, for every step forward this game took, it removed everything that made it's predecessor special to RPG players. The removal of the tactical camera, seemingly endless and predictable waves of repetitive enemies, and an AI that makes yourAs an absolute lover and fanatic raver of Dragon Age: Origins, I was desperately looking forward to the series' second installment. Unfortunately, for every step forward this game took, it removed everything that made it's predecessor special to RPG players. The removal of the tactical camera, seemingly endless and predictable waves of repetitive enemies, and an AI that makes your allies slip into loops of stupidity make combat frustrating, though it is not as difficult as in Origins. Non-customizable or usable loot/armor for allies makes treasure hunting, one of the keystones of the RPG genre, feel largely unimportant. The WORST part is the constantly recycled dungeons. Each setting only has one map, with different doors closed off or opened up. These, among other travesties, are what makes this game a nightmare to play. It is not a follow up to Dragon Age: Origins in any sense of the word, and has gone from being an RPG to make you think and formulate tactical strategy to being one of mindless hack-and-slash. Do yourself a favor: save your money and pray that Dragon Age III, if it is ever made after this hack-job, goes back to its roots.… Expand
  20. JJDrakken
    Apr 10, 2011
    3
    Reason it's getting such a High Critic review, E.A./Bioware are literally throwing money at them to write anything nice & give it high numbers. Trust the User's, we know how much this game failed us.

    This game should never came out when it did, they just wanted to make money & be damned of the issues, they'll just throw more money at it, say look see have this great game, expect stupid    Reason it's getting such a High Critic review, E.A./Bioware are literally throwing money at them to write anything nice & give it high numbers. Trust the User's, we know how much this game failed us.

    This game should never came out when it did, they just wanted to make money & be damned of the issues, they'll just throw more money at it, say look see have this great game, expect stupid awards for it, because more money is being thrown at the judges.

    JJ    … Expand
  21. Seolas
    Mar 21, 2011
    3
    The storyline really isn't bad and certain side-quests are of interest, often tying into the bigger picture. Unfortunately the mechanics and gameplay have been popamole'd to the extreme, with many of DA:O's best things "streamlined" (dumbed down) or removed. Companions range in quality from very good (Varric) to very bland (Fenris). The re-use of maps is unforgivable and makes even theThe storyline really isn't bad and certain side-quests are of interest, often tying into the bigger picture. Unfortunately the mechanics and gameplay have been popamole'd to the extreme, with many of DA:O's best things "streamlined" (dumbed down) or removed. Companions range in quality from very good (Varric) to very bland (Fenris). The re-use of maps is unforgivable and makes even the above-mentioned side-quests a grind at times as you run through the same cave you've seen 100 times with a door blocked here and opened there. Bioware's attempt to "streamline" the game in an attempt to attract younger action game fans seems to have failed big. Not only have they failed to draw in a significant amount of those based on early sales but they have also jaded those of us who love a proper RPG and had faith in them to improve on the original title. Instead, not only is this much inferior, even the rushed out expansion to DA:O, Awakenings, is a better game than this. I worry for Mass Effect 3 now...… Expand
  22. TheBedivere
    Mar 23, 2011
    3
    Terrible game. It's poorly written, has no MAIN PLOT whatsover. It feels like a crappy collection of side quests. You never really get to know any of the characters. The combat is abysmal, and felt like crap to play.

    Just go play Dragon Age: Origins again, and you'll get 100 times the enjoyment out of that than this crap.
  23. addyftw
    Mar 23, 2011
    3
    The combat system revamp does not bother me. What does bother me is when party members don't ****ing hold position when I tell them. Let me give you an example: fighting the first dragon you come across in the deep roads. I want to kite the boss back to a better position, I tell my party to HOLD POSITION, meaning that unless I get a loading screen, or a cut-scean, they should not moveThe combat system revamp does not bother me. What does bother me is when party members don't ****ing hold position when I tell them. Let me give you an example: fighting the first dragon you come across in the deep roads. I want to kite the boss back to a better position, I tell my party to HOLD POSITION, meaning that unless I get a loading screen, or a cut-scean, they should not move from that spot under any circumstances no matter what. What actually ends up happening is that the horrible party AI system decided to teleport them to me three times in the course of no more than a 15 second walk from where I told them to HOLD POSITION. Since I'm playing on nightmare and my party for the most part is completely useless anyway, due to iffy at best aggro mechanics, (I have abandoned my warrior since she does so little damage, once the 10 second taunt is up, it all runs to the casters anyway), and party member's AI being too stupid to move out of the way of 1 shot kill boss mechanics, I have abandoned my party almost all together. This has let to the already nearly non existent party member story lines, to be nonexistent all together since it is not worth it to bring them with me.

    Furthermore the lack of being able to give your party members armor, has made it so that my mage has both twice the armor and defensive stat of the game's intended warrior tank, making that party member useless (she is also a bit of a stuck up **** anyway).

    My largest gripe BY FAR is how lazy the level design team was: FIVE count them FIVE times, the game reused the EXACT SAME DUNGEON. I don't mean, oh you have to go back into the dungeon, no, a completely different area has the EXACT SAME DUNGEON layout, even the set pieces are the same. This game has no re-playability at all, $60 is a rip off for this piece of garbage, maby $20 is worth it. I wouldn't know, I'm glad I torrented it or I woudl have been pissed off that I wasted $60.    … Expand
  24. Airiak
    Mar 24, 2011
    3
    DA:O is one of my all time favorites. In one play through of the base game, expansion and DLCs I've racked up over 200 hours. I explored every companions back story, I've read nearly every codex entry, and I doubt there is a stone anywhere in Fereldon that I haven't seen at least once.

    DA2 on the other hand has been a struggle to play. I've forced myself to give it 10 hours, and I highly    DA:O is one of my all time favorites. In one play through of the base game, expansion and DLCs I've racked up over 200 hours. I explored every companions back story, I've read nearly every codex entry, and I doubt there is a stone anywhere in Fereldon that I haven't seen at least once.

    DA2 on the other hand has been a struggle to play. I've forced myself to give it 10 hours, and I highly doubt I'll ever touch it again. Boring, lackluster, repetitive, uninteresting, dumbed down, and just bad.

    This game has no business wearing the Dragon Age title.    … Expand
  25. Freetex
    Mar 25, 2011
    3
    Whilst I truly enjoyed, the immersive, dynamic storytelling of the first game, I have to say, the second installment is very much a disappointment. The scripting seems exceptionally stunted in comparison, and the voice acting, a key selling point of the first ranges from poor, to absolutely terrible. The combat feels unwieldy, and unintuitive, the party system unbalanced, and the storylineWhilst I truly enjoyed, the immersive, dynamic storytelling of the first game, I have to say, the second installment is very much a disappointment. The scripting seems exceptionally stunted in comparison, and the voice acting, a key selling point of the first ranges from poor, to absolutely terrible. The combat feels unwieldy, and unintuitive, the party system unbalanced, and the storyline contrived. Granted, these are all points relative to the quality of Bioware in general, and the original Dragon Age, but they set the bar- And instead of clearing it, they've rushed an underdeveloped, flawed sequel to release, seemingly in the hopes that the Bioware name, and the success it's predecessor alone will create a good gaming experience. Sadly, I'm certain that it will be enough to ensure sales, at least, however undeserved....… Expand
  26. GrumpyDwarf
    Mar 26, 2011
    3
    So I made a metacritic account simply to put in two cents about the game, it was that disappointing. DAO was a well refined game. Did it have it's difficulties, yes. Needing Wynne in the party or a massive amount of health potions was a frustrating element.

    However, DA2 is bad. It's Chrono Trigger to Chrono Cross bad. The combat has lost all semblance of strategy, it is an orgy of lights    So I made a metacritic account simply to put in two cents about the game, it was that disappointing. DAO was a well refined game. Did it have it's difficulties, yes. Needing Wynne in the party or a massive amount of health potions was a frustrating element.

    However, DA2 is bad. It's Chrono Trigger to Chrono Cross bad. The combat has lost all semblance of strategy, it is an orgy of lights and effects with no tactical element whatsoever. I am not sure you even really need to control the main character most of the time to survive through combat. Rather, you can sit there are watch the fireworks. The lack of coherent purpose or direction has me drifting in a video game wasteland of purposelessness. I went from saving Ferelden in DAO to owning half a mine in DA2. Honestly, if I wanted my days to feel like a vain wandering through menial tasks, I would stay in the real world and quit playing video games. All in all I will see the game through, but it feels like a slow, inevitable death; the game is a giant slow-motion train wreck. I want my 59.99 back for DA2, 59.99 for MA2, and 10k for pain and suffering.    … Expand
  27. erynnar
    Mar 27, 2011
    3
    This is not a sequel, this is a stand alone game set in the DA universe. The combat leaves a lot to be desired. The supposed over all story arc really doesn't happen until Act 3.You spend most of your time being a n errand person running from once short story of a quest to another with no unifying thread. It is disjointed and repetitive. They reuse maps (which they admit is a problem) andThis is not a sequel, this is a stand alone game set in the DA universe. The combat leaves a lot to be desired. The supposed over all story arc really doesn't happen until Act 3.You spend most of your time being a n errand person running from once short story of a quest to another with no unifying thread. It is disjointed and repetitive. They reuse maps (which they admit is a problem) and you are pretty much stuck in the city of Kirkwall and places just outside it. So it is claustrophobic in a way. There is no real connection to the character you play who seems to make no impact on the world with their decisions, but rather has to go with the flow and gets pushed into one horrible situation after another. And overall the game is so depressing it is a wonder your Hawke doesn't run mad. There is no break from the angst. You can't talk to your companions when you want, only at their houses and when the game tells you. The convo wheel is horrible, you never know what your character is actually going to say, not that is seems to make any impact on what little story there is. I hate that they basically gave a lobotomy to one of my favorite characters from Awakenings which made me not like the game, and didn't really make me feel for the plot point at the end they were driving towards. Having a relationship with the companions proved difficult most of the time and did not have the connection of the companions in DAO. I hated the zerging battles, endless wave after wave of enemies, which requires no strategy just a lot of potions, mostly for stamina.

    I did love the companions, save the lobotomized one. All of them (despite being tricky in getting your relationship the way you want them) are well done, and fun. I like the new armor designs for my Hawke.

    Overall this game has a shallow feel compared to DAO. The little details, easter eggs, and side quests are missing. hidden items, hidden doorways and passages, small stories and loot missing. This was ready in a year and half, and it shows. It feels rushed and unfinished.    … Expand
  28. frostb
    Mar 28, 2011
    3
    Ð
  29. LinkeWimpie
    Mar 28, 2011
    3
    This is actually the first time after completing a game that i felt compelled to register at this website just to state my opinion about this game and warn people who are thinking of buying this game not to make the same mistake as I did. In my opinion, the only thing that's close to being decent in DA 2 compared to DA:O is the combat system (for the Xbox 360 anyway). Any professionalThis is actually the first time after completing a game that i felt compelled to register at this website just to state my opinion about this game and warn people who are thinking of buying this game not to make the same mistake as I did. In my opinion, the only thing that's close to being decent in DA 2 compared to DA:O is the combat system (for the Xbox 360 anyway). Any professional reviewers who gave this game more than a 3 should be ashamed of themselves. The entire game consists of repeating areas and a weak storyline not to mention the horrible graphics. The whole time I was playing this game I just felt like I was on a one-way track to the end. At least in the first Dragon Age there was a sense of adventure where you were travelling from town to town meeting new people etc. I think I spent roughly 80% of my playtime in DA 2 in one stinking city... and even when I got a new sidequest it just involved visiting an area I ran through 10 mins earlier. I must say I am very disappointed with Bioware for releasing the game as it is now and I'm even more disappointed with the so-called critics who actually give the game more than 3.… Expand
  30. Stormcrow666
    May 3, 2011
    3
    The 1st DAO was 100% better than this piece of garbage. I have had it since release and I dont think that I will even bother to finish it. The rehashed areas are boring, the plot is terrible and for a dx11 game(patched..) the graphics are not that great. If you have DX11 running just take a look at your characters(or party members) feet sink into the floor..just shoddy. This game seemsThe 1st DAO was 100% better than this piece of garbage. I have had it since release and I dont think that I will even bother to finish it. The rehashed areas are boring, the plot is terrible and for a dx11 game(patched..) the graphics are not that great. If you have DX11 running just take a look at your characters(or party members) feet sink into the floor..just shoddy. This game seems rushed and has a terrible plot.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 45 Critic Reviews

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