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. 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
  2. whitespider999
    Feb 14, 2012
    7
    To me, dragon age 2 feels like a needed punishment for bioware. They missed the point of the franchise. The took away things that made the original so loved. However, the backlash that followed was black and white. People saw that it was worse, and dismissed it with a lower score than it probably deserved. Dragon age 2 IS a dissapointment. It's also not a 'bad game'. It's a good game. ItTo me, dragon age 2 feels like a needed punishment for bioware. They missed the point of the franchise. The took away things that made the original so loved. However, the backlash that followed was black and white. People saw that it was worse, and dismissed it with a lower score than it probably deserved. Dragon age 2 IS a dissapointment. It's also not a 'bad game'. It's a good game. It even shows glimmers of a great game. The characters are well written the world is good looking on a dx11 pc, and the combat - is more enjoyable. Where it looses it's footing is in it's scope and everything accociated with that. It feels like a DLC to a masterpiece, rather than the original masterpiece. And it certainly does not feel like a dragon age 2. However instead of giving it 0 just to prove a point. Objectivity must remain true. I enjoyed my time with this, and more i forgot dragon age origins, the more I ended up quite enjoying the journey.… Expand
  3. frostb
    Mar 28, 2011
    3
    Ð
  4. Anaron
    May 18, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age II improves upon certain areas in Dragon Age: Origins and, unfortunately, falls behind in others. BioWare has done a great job in terms of giving you more control of your abilities and party members. They've also done a good job at making the game a little more fast-paced; however, that isn't necessarily a good thing. In an attempt to make DA2 more "action-oriented", BioWare hasDragon Age II improves upon certain areas in Dragon Age: Origins and, unfortunately, falls behind in others. BioWare has done a great job in terms of giving you more control of your abilities and party members. They've also done a good job at making the game a little more fast-paced; however, that isn't necessarily a good thing. In an attempt to make DA2 more "action-oriented", BioWare has removed certain elements of the game that made it feel like a true role-playing game - or at least one that lives up to the Baldur's Gate series. All in all, the game is quite enjoyable but don't expect it to be a bona fide sequel to DA:O.… Expand
  5. glam
    Dec 1, 2013
    0
    HORRIBLE HORRIBLE this is has absolutely nothing to do with DA:Origins except for the name title!
    dumbing down the game for 5 year olds and brain damaged monkeys, Not for my intelligence, thanks for ruining a great game idiots.
  6. orctown-troll
    Jul 18, 2014
    4
    How the mighty have fallen. Dragon Age II marked the end of Bioware as a serious RPG developer. This is a long winded dating simulation game. Huge amounts of resources have been wasted in cut scenes and NEVER-ENDING blather about the sexual politics of the NPCs. Everything else in the game has been totally neglected. There is not even a city to explore. Only one dungeon, re-used for allHow the mighty have fallen. Dragon Age II marked the end of Bioware as a serious RPG developer. This is a long winded dating simulation game. Huge amounts of resources have been wasted in cut scenes and NEVER-ENDING blather about the sexual politics of the NPCs. Everything else in the game has been totally neglected. There is not even a city to explore. Only one dungeon, re-used for all encounters. Limited and impaired loot. Limited and impaired encounters. A 'new' art style so much worse than the old one. And a story that railroads the player into a single (horrible) 'Hawke' character. Dragon Age Origins was good but flawed. This game is WORSE in ALL areas. One can conclude that if fan wrath about this game contributed to new management in Bioware that MAY be a good thing. Cross your fingers for Inquisition. 2014 will allow us to see if Bioware still has what it takes as they go into direct contest with Larian (Divinity Original Sin) and Obsidian (Pillars of Eternity).

    We pray for a Bioware redemption of course! All the best Edmonton!

    orctowngrot    … Expand
  7. iRakeJakei
    Apr 11, 2014
    8
    Before I start, I play games to enjoy them, not to criticize. AND THIS IS NOT DRAGON AGE ORIGINS!!! Very very very different game but i still really liked it borderline loved it.

    Positives I do like the dialog wheel much better than DAO's list. Absolutely loved the social conflict between the Mages and Templars. Preferred the combat. Despite no tactical view. Loved having    Before I start, I play games to enjoy them, not to criticize. AND THIS IS NOT DRAGON AGE ORIGINS!!! Very very very different game but i still really liked it borderline loved it.

    Positives
    I do like the dialog wheel much better than DAO's list.

    Absolutely loved the social conflict between the Mages and Templars.

    Preferred the combat. Despite no tactical view.

    Loved having voiced protagonist!!!

    Negatives
    Only being able to be human, while I am ok with that (due to the fact I like a voiced protagonist) it takes a lot of replay value away that DAO had witch made that game great.

    No tactical view. Though i prefer the combat in this one compared to DAO, when you play a nightmare play-through, you NEED tactical view!

    Not really a faithful sequel, it changed a little to much from DAO.

    Fourth, and my biggest gripe with this game that made me what to stop playing my second time threw, was the size of Kirkwall and how they reused areas. I would rather a game take another year to finish then to due what they did here. I would assume most people would have overlooked all it slights if it didn't reuse map after map. Come on Bioware change it up a bit! It was the must frustrating thing in the DA franchise, even more frustrating then the FADE!!!!    … Expand
  8. wpolo64
    Dec 13, 2013
    10
    This is not as bad of a game as many people say it is. Yes, it's completely different from Dragon Age: Origins, but it's not deserving of the deluge of down-votes that's brought it to a 4 user rating. It's still one of my favorite games. Is it a 10, no. But it's not the 0 a bunch of people have given it, so whatever. Hopefully this helps balance them out slightly.
  9. kinom
    Apr 12, 2014
    9
    It's funny, but I didn't play this game at release due to all the bad user reviews it was getting but recently decided to do a play through before DA:I is released. I wish I'd followed my own usual advice and ignored the Internet. Hell, I'm even beginning to wonder if people weren't trolling the game at release. This game was fun. Decent story, good characters, great voice actors and aIt's funny, but I didn't play this game at release due to all the bad user reviews it was getting but recently decided to do a play through before DA:I is released. I wish I'd followed my own usual advice and ignored the Internet. Hell, I'm even beginning to wonder if people weren't trolling the game at release. This game was fun. Decent story, good characters, great voice actors and a better inventory/power management system made this a very enjoyable experience. Was it DA:O? No, definitely not. But as it's own game it was a great deal of fun to play. I'd recommend this game any time.… Expand
  10. GXant
    May 1, 2014
    0
    **** game for absolutelly ALL POINTS.

    -The graphics are like a **** anime, clean and no way like DA:O ones(realistic and that) the elfs looked like fuking goblins with no-sence phisic esrtructure. -The story is awful, and VERY DISAPOINTING. You can't chose the race of your character like DA:O, You use a human with no more that 4 answerds each decision time (and the desicion wont    **** game for absolutelly ALL POINTS.

    -The graphics are like a **** anime, clean and no way like DA:O ones(realistic and that) the elfs looked like fuking goblins with no-sence phisic esrtructure.

    -The story is awful, and VERY DISAPOINTING. You can't chose the race of your character like DA:O, You use a human with no more that 4 answerds each decision time (and the desicion wont change ANYTHING from the story of this ''game'')

    -Combat and weapons are the WORST THING OF THIS CREATION. The animation movements are like a super sayan with hyteria hyperactivity. And you leave the character doing movements and you win. No comments.

    My actual score i give is 0 'cose i cant give it a -9999 out of 10. A saga that will be forgoten and **** for the rest of the life. Thanks bioware (and ''thank you'' to for ME3)    … Expand
  11. finns
    May 2, 2014
    8
    I wasn't going to create an account but this game deserves some more positive comments!
    At first, I hated it. Camera was annoying and at first the game was boring and scenery was similar everywhere and all that is true.
    BUT! In the end I still really liked the game. You got used to camera and all battle movements were beautiful and exciting, (especially Fenris. And mage's movements were    I wasn't going to create an account but this game deserves some more positive comments!
    At first, I hated it. Camera was annoying and at first the game was boring and scenery was similar everywhere and all that is true.
    BUT! In the end I still really liked the game. You got used to camera and all battle movements were beautiful and exciting, (especially Fenris. And mage's movements were cool) and even tho some of you deny it, but the game looked really pretty.
    I'm not experienced gamer, my difficulty was set for normal and I admit most of the battles were pretty easy but I liked it that way and if I had set it to hard or nightmare it would have been much harder.
    At first when the game started I felt like I was just watching a movie and I didn't really connect with my Hawke at all. it didn't really feel like it was MY character and MY story. But as the game went on that feeling disappeared and I really started to like what my Hawke was becoming.

    And for the story, I really liked my companions (Varric and Fenris you were the best) and I liked the plot when it finally started. I loved that I got to meet some origins/awakening characters again. I would have wanted to have more conversations with everyone and about trivial things not just when plot needed it, that's one of the game's biggest flaws for me.

    I truly don't think this game deserves so harsh comments. I spent +50 hours on it and enjoyed the game very much. It isn't a game I won't be playing the game again any time soon, because there really isn't another path I'd like my story to go but for me this one time is well worth of the money I paid.    … Expand
  12. daikon
    May 9, 2014
    8
    Not really sure why this title gets hated on so much. I'm guessing it's mostly because avid fans of the original were expecting the second game to be very similar to the first. It's definitely different, but, in and of itself, I felt like it was an entertaining game.

    I think the bad points are already well known: -levels get re-used a lot, which feels lazy -can't equip your    Not really sure why this title gets hated on so much. I'm guessing it's mostly because avid fans of the original were expecting the second game to be very similar to the first. It's definitely different, but, in and of itself, I felt like it was an entertaining game.

    I think the bad points are already well known:
    -levels get re-used a lot, which feels lazy
    -can't equip your companions, so you find a lot of neat gear but can't put it on anybody
    -overall, a bit rushed feeling. for example, there's a lot of generic rings, etc. that you find

    But there was also plenty of good:
    -improved skill trees
    -more original storyline. Most every other rpg is about saving the world. This gets dull. DAII is a more personal story about a refugee and a city (I do wish the city changed more over the course of the game though). I also thought the framed narrative made for some cute moments.
    -combat was fast paced and flexible, so you could pretty much have whatever sort of party you wanted. If you were really in love with the more strategic, pause and play style of fighting from DA, you might be disappointed in the new style. I happen to like both, so it was fine for me.

    Overall, the game was fun to play which is basically all that really matters to me. If you really, really wanted another dragon age origins, this isn't it. If you're just looking for a solid rpg, however, then DAII is pretty good.    … Expand
  13. grizla
    May 14, 2011
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. People who had been playing only for a couple of hours should not post reviews. finish the game and them write a review. Anyway this game isn't bad, it's just not what i wanted an it's not an RPG. I don't take the role of the main character, I watch a movie and once in a while I have to decide something, that's the only time when I feel I influence the world around me. By killing enemies I don't feel anything, because they respawn in the same area in the next act. The graphics are good, much better than in the first game but below ME. I hate the dialog wheel. I want to be the main character, so I want full control over him. Plus he sometimes says things that are not what was written in the wheel or things that are just stupid. Also the repetitive environments show that the developer was lazy. The characters are pretty interesting but they are too plain(you can tell that Aveline is all about keeping the law, Isabela is a thief and a whore, Meryl is socially retarded and so on). And I can't forgive Bioware for not letting me chose my own race. I mean, that's a key element of a RPG. The last complains are about the strange story telling(at times I said:e how did it come to this) and the crafting(it don't feel an accomplishment when I craft something) The unchangeable armor of the companion is so so because it saves me money and gives them some personality but it's a departure from RPG elements.. For me this is Dungeon Siege with a couple of RPG elements thrown in it. Damn large corporations who what more money with less work; this is Mass Effect in Thedas, just like Singularity is Wolfenstein in the 50', Fallout New Vegas is Fallout in another part of USA, every FIFA is the same and the list continues.
    All in all Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game, some parts of the game are enjoyable but it's not an RPG and it's not Dragon Age. I would have called it Chronicles of Thedas: Kirkwall, not Dragon Age 2. Is it had another name and claimed to be an hack and slash adventure it would have given it a lot higher. But when I expect something and you give me something completely different it's unacceptable.    … Expand
  14. OrlaisKnight
    Mar 29, 2011
    7
    Not as bad as other people would have you think (battle system was good, some allies were endearing), but definitely not as good as the previous entry. The plot felt a bit rushed, the characters'dialogues were less polished and it didn't leave a lasting impression on me.
  15. GromphBaenre
    Oct 16, 2013
    4
    It was a huge disapointment. i bought it as soon as it came out on steam, after a couple days i realized the game sucked, at first i thought it might be a good game, then it starts. a lot of talking where they try to create the ilusion your choices matter pave the way to the opening fight of the game. the skill tree is pretty standard only 3 classes to choose from but the fighting systemIt was a huge disapointment. i bought it as soon as it came out on steam, after a couple days i realized the game sucked, at first i thought it might be a good game, then it starts. a lot of talking where they try to create the ilusion your choices matter pave the way to the opening fight of the game. the skill tree is pretty standard only 3 classes to choose from but the fighting system is one of the crappiest i´ve ever seen. you either pause a lot to control each char or let them fight on their own, either way it´s ridiculously easy. then a LOT more talking before another easy fight. it requires neither skill nor strategy. and it´s like this the whole way through. no real action, you have to do what the game wants and go where it sends you. no replayability whatsoever. not worth 10bucks… Expand
  16. gotthammer
    Mar 21, 2011
    5
    Enjoyable, but, ultimately, disappointing.
    I suppose that, after loving Dragon Age: Origins, I can't be blamed for having high expectations. Even when they were 'hyping it up' I was like 'that's just marketing'...but along w/ the anticipation, there was, of course, some worry.
    After my first playthrough (somewhere between 60 - 70 hours. I like to be thorough: my first DA:O was a little    Enjoyable, but, ultimately, disappointing.
    I suppose that, after loving Dragon Age: Origins, I can't be blamed for having high expectations. Even when they were 'hyping it up' I was like 'that's just marketing'...but along w/ the anticipation, there was, of course, some worry.
    After my first playthrough (somewhere between 60 - 70 hours. I like to be thorough: my first DA:O was a little under 110 hours), I definitely had mixed feelings. It was enjoyable, but even while I was playing, the thought that 'it could have been SO MUCH BETTER' kept nagging at me.

    Pros:
    - faster pace of combat: the current pace works for DA2's mechanics, I guess. Same goes for the animations (I liked the one for the 2-handed warrior in my first playthrough and the one for the mage in my current playthrough)
    - better visual atmosphere (in terms of lighting for structures/interiors. Better than DA:O, but could still be much better, methinks)
    - interesting/amusing banter/dialogue
    - story, as a whole, particularly the latter part of the game
    - characters: some characters, and their dialogue, are quite interesting. Varric, Arishok, and the short appearance of Flemeth come to mind.
    - voice acting: for the most part, the voice acting is quite good (FemHawke speaks too softly, IMHO. The Arishok and Flemeth are great)
    - performance: I'm using an older PC and, generally, it runs smoother than DA:O did. I've had some crashes and freezes, but they seem to be related to how long I've been playing (memory leak?).
    - visuals: IMHO, DA2 is an improvement over DA:O in terms of visual quality. The art style change grew on me so I didn't mind the change, much (and am curious as to how my favourite DA:O characters would like w/ DA2's style).

    Cons:
    - faster pace of combat (DA:O's may SEEM slow, until one is suddenly fighting multiple, tough, opponents...then one may be inclined to think "I wish combat were slower"). At times the animations may seem a bit too fast, too (particularly the rogue's, who moves like he's a member of a wushu demonstration team), but they're generally ok (DA:O's animation speeds were 'ok', IMHO, but I always thought that they could've been a wee bit faster. So I guess something between DA:O's animation speeds and DA2's would be just about right).
    - re-used environments: going from one quest to another, in different parts of the city/area, only to end up in the same caverns/mansion/warehouse/etc. breaks immersion, IMHO.
    - lack of access to see more of the city (an 'establishing shot' or a 'fly through/by' at the start to see most of Kirkwall, to give a sense of scale, would've been welcome, especially since you'll be wandering most of it's interiors throughout the game. A short cutscene arriving/departing from one part of the city would've been nice, too, and would've helped show scale)
    - story: IMHO, it feels 'disjointed' for the better part of the game, until it picks up near the end. (at which point the player may have already felt a 'disconnect' w/ the story/plot) Also, the 'jump' in time between 'acts' could have been handled much better.
    - quests: the 'bring me' quests where you immediately know the location of the found items, or the lack of quests/unlocks for the Specializations (unlike in DA:O where you had to unlock specializations)
    - linear environments: most of the locations that can be visited feel...constrained or linear. It doesn't help that most of the environments look bleak.
    - bugs: CTDs, memory leak (I guess) and, most annoyingly, Quest-related issues (example: a rather 'jarring' one where you have the quest resolution dialogue w/ a companion BEFORE even getting the quest)
    - feels like they rushed it out

    Conclusion:
    Is the game worth getting? I still think so. Is it worthy sequel to DA:O? Hmm. I personally wouldn't like to think of it as a sequel...just the second game in the same setting, and contributing to the story of the setting as a whole. On it's own, it's a decent enough game, but definitely feels 'rushed out'. As a sequel, DA2 is disappointing. Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes, but grudgingly and warning him/her to be patient, as I do think the story, as a whole, is quite good. If anything, it feels like the entire game is a 'set up' for something else, like a 2nd movie or book in a trilogy. It is my sincere hope that, if all the negative feedback is to go by, Bioware takes their time on the third game. It sucks to be disappointed, after all.    … Expand
  17. velgolrad
    Mar 28, 2011
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It is much worse than the first part, talents are bad, story is too short and quests are so simple so i didnt have to think to finish them, the game was made for stupid people who dont want do anything just watch the grafics.… Expand
  18. Magnethead
    Dec 13, 2013
    2
    Usually, I'm suspicious when everyone starts giving a game grades below 4 but this time it's fairly accurate. I assume that if you're looking at Dragon Age II, you've already played Dragon Age: Origins so that's my angle in this review. Two things characterized Origins and I'll compare those to DAII.

    Tactical gameplay: Almost doesn't exist anymore which is surprising because seemingly    Usually, I'm suspicious when everyone starts giving a game grades below 4 but this time it's fairly accurate. I assume that if you're looking at Dragon Age II, you've already played Dragon Age: Origins so that's my angle in this review. Two things characterized Origins and I'll compare those to DAII.

    Tactical gameplay:
    Almost doesn't exist anymore which is surprising because seemingly the skills are much the same for the different classes but the combat is so fast and damage based (and the removal of friendly fire on all difficulty setting except Nightmare) that the game doesn't feel tactical and complicated at all. Instead you just end up running your own character around right-clicking everything. Combat is a lot less interesting and much more repetitive. The great thing in Origins was building the party, preparing the tactic and executing it. Forget about all that here and just send the tank forward and start AOEing on him.

    Story and Character depth:
    Not even close to Origins. The story in Origins might have been slightly stereotypical but it had depth of character. Not here. Perhaps the idea behind the more fast paced combat was to focus more on the story-telling but it fails miserably. They're hurrying emotional moments, killing off characters you've just met with violins going crazy in the background. It feels like it was written by Stephany Meyer rather than anyone on the Bioware staff of old. Dialogue seems forced and trite and lines are overloaded with information they try to squeeze into way to few lines and too little time. People will literally say things like "Just because you make captain in the first year of service doesn't mean that you can bla bla bla". They want the silver tattooed elf (not actually tattoos but never mind) to blow your mind just by his cool stance leaning on a wall and sounding tough. You spend too much time talking to people who should have been a part of Vampire Diaries.

    All in all, this game fails on all levels except the immediate, graphical impression. Reused areas (to the extent where it gets embarrassing), weak story line and dialogue and shallow gameplay. If you liked Origins, you're likely to hate this.    … Expand
  19. Parvarteshwar
    Sep 12, 2012
    8
    Now that a few years have passed I can say Dragon Age 2 is actually a pretty good game. Sure, it's not an epic game like Origins but it's still pretty good. The combat is fast paced, highly varied from class to class and even from character to character, and much more frequent. It's a lot of fun to select spells, switch characters, select attacks, switch characters, complete cross-classNow that a few years have passed I can say Dragon Age 2 is actually a pretty good game. Sure, it's not an epic game like Origins but it's still pretty good. The combat is fast paced, highly varied from class to class and even from character to character, and much more frequent. It's a lot of fun to select spells, switch characters, select attacks, switch characters, complete cross-class combo and watch health bars plummet. It's a huge improvement on Origins and you have a lot more control over your companions. The Tactics menu is even improved so you can focus most of your attention on a single character and the AI will still perform adequately up to Hard mode. Dialogue is really improved. Say what you want about the Dialogue Wheel, it has made it a lot easier to choose a response and your no longer surprised when an NPC gets angry at something you said. in Origins you didn't always know when a particular phrase was sarcasm or animosity but now it's clearer and you can make better choices. You don't generally have five or six responses but the ones you do have are just as sufficient to make your impact. The player character is now pre-set and fully voiced in dialogue. This does take away from the 'create your own experience' aspect but Bioware has always had good dialogue and they did not disappoint. You can still role-play as Penis Johnson, now he is Penis Hawke which in my mind is just as juvenilely hilarious. Your companions are just as varied and can be just as interesting as in Origins but they have a lot more companion quests and they will no longer get pissed off and leave if you do something they don't like. You now have a Friend/Rival meter which offers bonuses for being at one end of the extreme, you can even Romance a character that has a -100 opinion. There are now more Romances and you can have several without other companions getting too jealous. Ferelden was a closed world with a few dozen maps spanning a continent but Kirkwall (not the wonderful tourist destination in Orkney) is comparatively small. It has about the same number of maps but they are meshed into a single city and therefore it feels much smaller than it actually is and it fails to create the illusion of a free world like Origins. You do have a lot more quests so now you will revisit the same map a dozen times which does get tedious well before the final chapter. You also never leave the city. I think they did this because they wanted you to feel attached and care for the outcome of its inhabitants. To a degree they succeeded but it is still lacking compared to the first game. The story is a lot more low key than Origins which is where many people get pissed off. Instead of destroying an unstoppable horror from consuming a continent as the leader of a mysterious and storied order, you are just a poor refugee who pulls him/herself up by his/her bootstraps to become the most powerful person in town. You can either be help an independent city-state remain free and happy or you can destroy it. It's closer to The Witcher than Origins but it gets the job done and is interesting enough to keep you going. Each chapter has a different goal and a different theme so even though you never leave the city it does change dramatically. Just don't expect to feel like you've saved the world but do expect to feel like you've created a city. And the most important aspect of any video game: Immersion. Yes, it's easy to get lost in Hawke and the voice actor does a really good job of reciprocating my intent for each given response. The world is still Dragon Age and there is a lot of depth there, just don't expect to sink as far as you did in Origins. In conclusion, it's a good game with a lot more positives than faults and most importantly it is fun. It has the 'Middle Game' problem where they don't want to introduce the big finale but they need a lot of filler and for filler Dragon Age 2 is the best there is.… Expand
  20. Rennn
    Jun 27, 2013
    8
    Dragon Age 2 is a mixed improvement over Dragon Age: Origins.

    The game is not as short as many people say. It's easy to put in about 40 hours on one playthrough, as long as you go out of your way to find side quests. If you just try to burn through the story, you'll come out at probably 15 hours. This is a departure from DAO, because in DAO you run into almost every side quest simply by    Dragon Age 2 is a mixed improvement over Dragon Age: Origins.

    The game is not as short as many people say. It's easy to put in about 40 hours on one playthrough, as long as you go out of your way to find side quests. If you just try to burn through the story, you'll come out at probably 15 hours. This is a departure from DAO, because in DAO you run into almost every side quest simply by visiting the story locations. In DA2 you have to search. This isn't necessarily good or bad, it's just a change that many people missed.

    The characters are at least as good as those in Origins, though they're not similar in personality. Stories are consistently multifaceted, with many correct points of view, and which characters you love mostly depends on which one you find the most convincing. Every character's motivations make sense from their point of view. I love Merrill, but I've met people online who think she's the biggest idiot of all time. Likewise, I hate Fenris, but some people love him. Bioware's curse is that they always make characters so deep and multifaceted that a significant portion of the audience hates most of them, because their personalities don't line up with that specific player's view of a good person.

    The story is completely different from Origins. Rather than a single epic climax, it has two climaxes, and the setting is halfway across the world from Origins. A completely different set of problems faces the characters in DA2. It's not a good or bad thing for the series, simply different.

    Combat has immeasurably improved. You can now actually stab with your daggers and swing your sword, rather than flopping every weapon through the air like a broken tennis racket. More spells are available for mages that allow them to funnel enemies into position for tanks, and every class has more methods of breaking up crowds (which were hopelessly annoying in Origins). The downside to this is that enemy AI has not noticeably improved from Origins, meaning that all your new abilities, it's easy to win after the first 10 hours unless you play on the hardest difficulty.

    As usual for a Bioware game, the characters are the incredible part, and they're better than ever. Only Mass Effect does characters as well, and that makes sense considering they're from the same developer.    … Expand
  21. trekwood
    Sep 24, 2013
    8
    It was a solid game. The gameplay was just as good as the first game, the dialog was better, your actions have direct consequences later in the game (as you should expect from a Bioware game), and it was a lot of fun. My only real complaint is that they recycled maps so much. Every cave in the game is the same, only with some passages shut off. Same goes for mansions in Hightown, backIt was a solid game. The gameplay was just as good as the first game, the dialog was better, your actions have direct consequences later in the game (as you should expect from a Bioware game), and it was a lot of fun. My only real complaint is that they recycled maps so much. Every cave in the game is the same, only with some passages shut off. Same goes for mansions in Hightown, back alleys in Low Town, and Deep Roads areas. I also really like the endgame, it's exciting and sets the tone for the next game in the series.… Expand
  22. jerod
    Jan 5, 2014
    4
    Let me just get my gripes out of the way first. I think this game should be compared to DAO in every way since it's called DA2. Having said that, it is a step backwards in almost every way if not no improvement whatsoever. The graphics are bland and uninspiring. That and I can detect no technological improvement in the graphics from DAO, and I have the settings all the way up with HDLet me just get my gripes out of the way first. I think this game should be compared to DAO in every way since it's called DA2. Having said that, it is a step backwards in almost every way if not no improvement whatsoever. The graphics are bland and uninspiring. That and I can detect no technological improvement in the graphics from DAO, and I have the settings all the way up with HD skins. The character faces seem like they have no expression, something I'd expect bioware to put alot of effort into. And the levels are just the same bland corridors over and over again most often blatantly reused from other parts of the game. The combat is imo no improvement on DAO despite the new character animations (conspicuously the only visible improvement from DAO) and somehow just feels more tedious. I mean, sending several waves of enemies for every battle? seriously? The story is just way below bioware standards too, it meanders from one random plot point to another seemingly unconnected and giving a frustrating feeling that you don't know what is going on or why things are happening and I'm 19 hours in. Having said all this, it might be worth it for die hard fans of DA to pick up the game on discount off origin if you're looking for more of the DA fantasy universe. For everyone else, it just feels like a waste of time and money.… Expand
  23. benpaco
    Feb 6, 2014
    8
    Let me start by saying that I first played this on Xbox 360, then PC, THEN played the first game. The PC version, while better looking, didn't seem optimized control wise for this game. The console version just seemed ... better. Some very interesting things here still, not a BAD game at all, but it is the worst incarnation of DA I've played outside of EA's attempt at a flash game version.
  24. rolyatidok
    May 31, 2014
    4
    I've put so many hours into DA:O it's not even funny, and compared to that, DA2 was just disappointing.

    First the good: voice acting is top notch, characters are well thought out and portrayed, and the bioware storytelling shines through, though there's not much story to tell. I had no real complaints about the combat or skill systems, I actually thought it was a nice improvement.    I've put so many hours into DA:O it's not even funny, and compared to that, DA2 was just disappointing.

    First the good: voice acting is top notch, characters are well thought out and portrayed, and the bioware storytelling shines through, though there's not much story to tell. I had no real complaints about the combat or skill systems, I actually thought it was a nice improvement.

    The bad: Every single encounter is exactly the same: wail on the bad guys, SURPRISE more bad guys came out of NOWHERE! oh, it's a boss fight? do it 3 more times! The difficulty of battles fluctuates wildly, you'll go from mowing through the normal encounters to wiping instantly in another.
    The story is meh. Nothing really happens. It's confined to the city, and, aside from some token appearances of DA:O characters, has nothing to do with that story. It might as well be a completely different world.

    The nits: in typical Bioware fashion, bugs abound. For instance, for the entire end of my game, Varric had no body. just a floating head.    … Expand
  25. PRoxy_oQ
    Dec 30, 2013
    3
    This sequel is pathetic, story line sucks, characters suck and gameplay is completely ruined no complexity only button mash and it is obvious it's just a console port... maybe it is not bad game but it is awful as an RPG. Force finished Costume Quest had more 'RPG-inges' to it than this... at least it did not have false moral choices.. am not even comparing it to Dragon Age Origins fromThis sequel is pathetic, story line sucks, characters suck and gameplay is completely ruined no complexity only button mash and it is obvious it's just a console port... maybe it is not bad game but it is awful as an RPG. Force finished Costume Quest had more 'RPG-inges' to it than this... at least it did not have false moral choices.. am not even comparing it to Dragon Age Origins from PC... Completely different league… Expand
  26. t4th002th
    Feb 17, 2014
    8
    sure thing. this is not dragon age origins. what we loved about the first part is a total mess in da2. the other way around, everything not so cool about dragon age origins is made perfect in the second part. the teamfights for example are one of the best ive seen in strategic rpgs. the talent- trees are much better than in the first part and specially as mage i got addicted in lvling up.sure thing. this is not dragon age origins. what we loved about the first part is a total mess in da2. the other way around, everything not so cool about dragon age origins is made perfect in the second part. the teamfights for example are one of the best ive seen in strategic rpgs. the talent- trees are much better than in the first part and specially as mage i got addicted in lvling up.
    no question, story and characters are lousy compared to his predecessor. but if you see this game just as a good strategic rpg simulation you got a good game. there are not much games outthere with such good combat-simulation. shame, the other stuff went wrong.    … Expand
  27. northernlad
    Apr 30, 2014
    3
    how do you take dao and turn it into this one of my biggest let downs in recent years utter rubbish press a button and something awesome happens yes i eject the game.
  28. albinocreep
    Oct 29, 2014
    8
    It gets a five for gameplay and a three for level design but the plot and characters alone make this one of my favorites. It's definitely earned some of the scorn it gets but if you get way into a games story like I do, this is really a fun time. I suggest play it on easy and just soar through the **** parts. Hoping this stuff is ironed out in the next game in the franchise.
  29. tazz29
    Jun 15, 2015
    0
    This is one of the worst games I've played. Repeated dungeons/landscapes that made me question whether I'd already played the quest before, cliche characters, a story arc containing you to a predetermined outcome, weak, Twlight-ish dialogue that sounds like it's straight from Creative writing Beginners class, and you can't even customize characters' armour, other than for Hawke. I stoppedThis is one of the worst games I've played. Repeated dungeons/landscapes that made me question whether I'd already played the quest before, cliche characters, a story arc containing you to a predetermined outcome, weak, Twlight-ish dialogue that sounds like it's straight from Creative writing Beginners class, and you can't even customize characters' armour, other than for Hawke. I stopped half way and uninstalled it. Dragon Age Origins is superior in every way.… Expand
  30. ravenblade
    Apr 11, 2011
    7
    Saying this game is bad would be generally unfair. Bioware's biggest mistake in this case wasn't the game not being a true sequel but being advertised as such even though it is realistically a separate game. Think of Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate both playing in Forgotten Realms but being two separate story-lines where the events of one may be referred to in another. It's title shouldSaying this game is bad would be generally unfair. Bioware's biggest mistake in this case wasn't the game not being a true sequel but being advertised as such even though it is realistically a separate game. Think of Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate both playing in Forgotten Realms but being two separate story-lines where the events of one may be referred to in another. It's title should have been Dragon Age: The Kirkwall Chronicles. Story-wise I do have mixed feelings. I am not happy about the lack of alternative storyline aspects but the few being there are still entertaining enough to keep a player happy for a while. Companions still have their own personalities and your personality being a lot less mute than in the original Dragon Age titles certainly helps to blend in. On dialogue side the game presents you with a classical Mass Effect style wheel giving you options for certain type of straight answer or investigative questions - but unlike in Mass Effect series the obvious outcome is not always that clear and not always wholly different for the entire dialogue regardless of which conversation path you chose.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    In conclusion I think it is worth buy if you see it as a game within the Dragon Age universe or setting. If you are truly seeing a linear successor to the original Dragon Age titles you might not like it. It certainly does come with a lot improvements of its own but also another set of issues left to be addressed in another possible upcoming Dragon Age title. Perhaps both titles will give Bioware sufficient amount of material to find the real alchemy for an ultimate Dragon Age game.    … Expand
  31. shavinghill
    Apr 19, 2011
    7
    Although a disappointment after DAO, this game, on its own merits, wasn't especially bad or good in my opinion... just middle of the road. I notice that most reviewers who rate this game highly do so while attacking reviewers who don't. I don't know what this means exactly (I should have studied psychology), but it's interesting. It's almost as if they're ashamed for rating it so high.
  32. JamieCOTC
    Mar 21, 2011
    7
    Good character development and story. Good use of lore w/in the story too. Combat is faster, but monotonous. Area maps and enemies are recycled ad nauseam. The inventory is tripped down to where only Hawke can wear armor or carry weapons. Mage Hawke's story is not distinct enough from the other two classes and needed to be for the story BW is trying to tell. Convos w/ companions areGood character development and story. Good use of lore w/in the story too. Combat is faster, but monotonous. Area maps and enemies are recycled ad nauseam. The inventory is tripped down to where only Hawke can wear armor or carry weapons. Mage Hawke's story is not distinct enough from the other two classes and needed to be for the story BW is trying to tell. Convos w/ companions are well done, but too short and too few in number. I still give the game a 7 as I did enjoy shaping Hawke's character. Finally, anyone into hard core or "old school" rpg should avoid DA2 like the plague.… Expand
  33. BlackEscaflowne
    Mar 9, 2011
    6
    DA2 is a game I wanted to like. I still do in some ways. It's not a BAD game - just disappointingly average.
    For one, it doesn't feel like a true RPG anymore - the whole flow and feel of the gameplay is completely different. It is clear that in order to expand the audience, Bioware is abandoning old-school RPG's.
    While DA:O combat was a bit on the slow side, DA2 goes into the other    DA2 is a game I wanted to like. I still do in some ways. It's not a BAD game - just disappointingly average.
    For one, it doesn't feel like a true RPG anymore - the whole flow and feel of the gameplay is completely different. It is clear that in order to expand the audience, Bioware is abandoning old-school RPG's.

    While DA:O combat was a bit on the slow side, DA2 goes into the other extreme, with animations that are too fast and too ridiculous. Oversized weapons, combat moves that defy lore at every step and poor balance.
    DA2 features lots of enemies that one can dispatch with ease, turning even abominations into wusses and throwing them at the player en masse.

    Still, the setting is just as strong as it ever was, and it - and the characters - remain the biggest appeal of DA2. It's only a shame that Bioware created a setting I'd adore to explore, only not in their game.

    For those who love old-school, true RPGs - this game will be disappointing.
    For those who like more action-oriented hack-and-slasher, this may be a good game.

    Objectively, I'd rate it to be between the 4-9 range depending on your choice.    … Expand
  34. Jman5
    Apr 20, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age 2 is a fun game that gets a lot right, but is ultimately overshadowed by a rushed development. If Bioware had spent more time on the game and put less emphasis on streamlining, it could have been a masterpiece. While the game was released quite buggy, at the time of writing this most issues have been resolved.
  35. Skulb
    Feb 13, 2014
    0
    Of all the rushed and terrible sequels to a successful game ever released Dragon Age II takes the flipping cake! It is so bad it has totally destroyed any confidence I had in Bioware, after its previous greats DA Origins and Mass Effect, all on its own. To even begin listing all the ways in which it sucks is a daunting task.
    A few points anyway in the interest of reviewing this filled    Of all the rushed and terrible sequels to a successful game ever released Dragon Age II takes the flipping cake! It is so bad it has totally destroyed any confidence I had in Bioware, after its previous greats DA Origins and Mass Effect, all on its own. To even begin listing all the ways in which it sucks is a daunting task.
    A few points anyway in the interest of reviewing this filled diaper of a computer game: Skydiving mobs ruining any sense of tactic. Reused locations outside the city you are trapped in the entire game. No inventory control. Poor characters and dialogue so you don`t care about anybody or what they might have to say. Horrible combat controls and exaggerated animations, presumably to appeal to action fans even though DA is supposedly a RPG. Zero exploration. Running around in the same location the entire game while time passes (cheapest gimmick ever to be able to rush it out). Linear gameplay.
    I could go on forever but this covers the worst of it. I played it altogether for 12 hours, the last 11 of them out of sheer stubbornness and a futile hope that something decent might be found eventually, while hating every second of it. The game is such unmitigated trash that it is hard to find the invectives one needs to review it fairly, and whatever you do don`t play it and above all don`t buy it. EA deserves to be taken out and shot for DA II and Bioware be forced to seriously reconsider their activities by losing all of their customers. But go to their site and you`ll see that they are instead selling sunglasses and other useless apparel to such an extent that you can barely locate information about their games. As a result of this failure to learn from the EA inspired disaster of DA II I will henceforth and forever boycott Bioware, even should they by some miracle manage to make another good game.
    As an aside the ridiculously high scores this turkey got from reviewers have also discredited the game reviewing racket completely, and I will never trust any site or magazine that gave Dragon Age II anything above a 3/10 again. That`s all differences in taste will allow for considering just how abysmal DA II is, and anything above that is corruption and lies. If there was ever a game to boycott for RPG fans it`s this one. It spits on the genre and its fans and lies in its marketing to suck them in. I can almost guarantee you that all the favorable reviews of DA II on this site are written on commission by "reviewers" taking bribes from EA or by interns working at either EA or Bioware being ordered to make up positive reviews all day long for the crud games being peddled by these vile companies.. I demand corruption hearings!    … Expand
  36. Paulystan
    Jun 3, 2014
    0
    Terrible, yucky filth and a script that inspires total and absolute celibacy with possible secondary effects of setting fire to my computer. This game is not so much a game more a money making, cheating piece of socio-political forcing liberalism. Even if there was any attempt at making a good game it would still be hamstrung by the plot and in game conversation options. Apart from one orTerrible, yucky filth and a script that inspires total and absolute celibacy with possible secondary effects of setting fire to my computer. This game is not so much a game more a money making, cheating piece of socio-political forcing liberalism. Even if there was any attempt at making a good game it would still be hamstrung by the plot and in game conversation options. Apart from one or two things here and there, this game makes me hope that EA and Bioware go under and a new dev can rise to power and start doing some really great games. I would rather be stuck in a lift with a man suffering terminal flatulence than play on DA2.… Expand
  37. thebiggerD
    Jun 9, 2014
    9
    I can see why this game received a lot of negative comments. To start off, most of DA II players have played DAO, and in my honest opinion, the former is inferior to the latter. Nonetheless, the DA II still has some commendable features...

    Graphics: Slight improvement in comparison to DAO Story: More or less in par with DAO Gameplay: This is the main advantage of DAII. First of all,    I can see why this game received a lot of negative comments. To start off, most of DA II players have played DAO, and in my honest opinion, the former is inferior to the latter. Nonetheless, the DA II still has some commendable features...

    Graphics: Slight improvement in comparison to DAO
    Story: More or less in par with DAO
    Gameplay: This is the main advantage of DAII. First of all, the mage class seems to be stronger (If you recall from DAO, mage spells like fireball and chain lightning deal ridiculously low damage). In addition, the talents and spells were also improved. The only downside of DA II's gameplay is that the "talent tree" is weird. I don't like the concept of "upgrading talents" since it wastes precious skill points. Bottomline, the gameplay of DAII has significantly improved in comparison to DAO.
    Difficulty: For some reason, I find this game way easier than DAO. I rarely die in normal difficulty, and nightmare mode is relatively less difficult than DAO's nightmare. However, I won't list this as a pro, nor will I list it as a con. I guess it is up to the player's opinion
    Dialogues: One of the cons of DAII. There are less dialogues.
    As for the MAJOR DOWNFALL of DA II, it would be the EXCESSIVE and repetitive maps. Seriously Bioware, what has gotten into you? For the duration of the game, the maps you visit in Act 1 will pretty much be the maps you will be visiting for Acts 2 and 3. To make things worse, they added this stupid "night time feature" which adds to the burden of exploring the SAME REGION just to collect items and resources. It gets more boring and tiresome as the game progresses. The only reasons why I'm still giving this game a relatively high score are the improved graphics and game play.    … Expand
  38. keefbaker
    Nov 2, 2013
    7
    Sadly this just isn't a patch on the original, the leveling up system has been simplified which seems to be the thing to do these days (SADFACE) but the main problem with this game is that the characters and story are simply not as engaging as the original. These are the guys who wander about while the real, huge story of the original happens. These are the "also ran"'s. That's not to saySadly this just isn't a patch on the original, the leveling up system has been simplified which seems to be the thing to do these days (SADFACE) but the main problem with this game is that the characters and story are simply not as engaging as the original. These are the guys who wander about while the real, huge story of the original happens. These are the "also ran"'s. That's not to say it's a BAD game (unlike the butthurt brigade who seem to have decided to bomb this with 0's) it;s just not as good.… Expand
  39. Aegrus
    Jul 23, 2012
    10
    As a game, it was pretty good. As a character relationship simulator, it was amazing. This truly is the only game I've seen that has characters equal to or better than those in Mass Effect 2 and DA:O. Dungeons are recycled, which gets irritating after a while. However, the combat has been improved greatly from Origins. It's now faster and more responsive, with the new ability treesAs a game, it was pretty good. As a character relationship simulator, it was amazing. This truly is the only game I've seen that has characters equal to or better than those in Mass Effect 2 and DA:O. Dungeons are recycled, which gets irritating after a while. However, the combat has been improved greatly from Origins. It's now faster and more responsive, with the new ability trees adding more strategy to levelling your characters classes. The graphics on release are better than those in DA:O, but free HD texture dlc makes them actually look modern. There's a two-pronged story this time, focusing first on the Qunari invasion, but primarily on the Mage-Templar conflict. The story is less epic than that of DA:O, but more emotional and personal. (Certainly more original.)

    Story-changing choices are lacking compared to Dragon Age Origins, but there are even more ways that your reactions with characters can develop. This is a trade off. I got 45 hours out of the game going completionist, so for an rpg, it's a little on the shorter side. Still, it costs about $20 now. I say, try it out now that the hype's worn off. It's not a perfect game, but it's better than the naysayers with ultra-high expectations claim it to be.    … Expand
  40. Velnon
    Jul 19, 2013
    8
    Dragon Age II is a very enjoyable experience. It has a greatly refurbished combat system that feels like DA:O while still improving on the clumsiness of the original, it feels smooth and enjoyable and significantly faster paced then the original. The story, while not following the grey wardens, is both well written with plenty of references to the DA:O story. The characters are wellDragon Age II is a very enjoyable experience. It has a greatly refurbished combat system that feels like DA:O while still improving on the clumsiness of the original, it feels smooth and enjoyable and significantly faster paced then the original. The story, while not following the grey wardens, is both well written with plenty of references to the DA:O story. The characters are well designed, and even though you are stuck in one city, the city feels vibrant and interesting. A great game to get if you want to get into Dragon Age or you played the first one and want more to do in the same universe.… Expand
  41. Dimppa
    Apr 29, 2013
    2
    i'm giving it 2, because i had so high hopes for this thing, i didn't even want to find anything about it in advance at it turned to that crap. of-course there are several things i like but due to critics way too high reviews i can't give 6/7 as i first thought just above average. might have been worth 7/8 without DA Origins
  42. rosey1579
    Feb 22, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There are many unforgivably bad things about this game that make me sit and stare at the screen, hardly daring to believe that a game could have this bad an effect on me. I have just received the achievement that I have entered 50 caves (That all look exactly the same, Maker help me!) and it is only act one. Which leads me to believe that there are about 300 caves in the game...But enough about that, everyone knows about how lazy EA are. What I am tearing my hair out about is the bows. WHY DO I NEED BOWS? WHERE ARE THE RANGED CHARACTERS? Oh look! A bow for 133 sovereigns, I will give it to Varric. Oh damn it! He can't equip other bows! Oh, good thing there is a DLC to get an archer. It only costs 7$. Wait, what? 7$! I guess Hawke will have to be a bow wielding rogue. I shoot an arrow at the enemy. The enemy explodes into big chunks of meat and bones. Eish! Well at least they seem to be biodegradable. Oh and the bone pit! I get that you can tell Varric you want to start a business, but you end up with negative 15 sovereigns. At least the game is alright though.… Expand
  43. Annihilomancer
    Feb 8, 2014
    1
    If you loved Dragon Age: Origins, as I do, then DO NOT play Dragon Age II. It is in every way worse than its predecessor, and in fact the only reason I didn't quit in apathy and disgust was that the third installment might be good again and I want to know what happened. It in fact makes playing DA:O less enjoyable because it so trivializes enemies that were built up to be interesting,If you loved Dragon Age: Origins, as I do, then DO NOT play Dragon Age II. It is in every way worse than its predecessor, and in fact the only reason I didn't quit in apathy and disgust was that the third installment might be good again and I want to know what happened. It in fact makes playing DA:O less enjoyable because it so trivializes enemies that were built up to be interesting, difficult, and unique in the original. There's not plot to speak of, and what plot is there is so railroaded that despite all the dialogue options there aren't really any choices that matter other than your character can be happy about what happens or not. The dialogue 'choices' are pathetic and without nuance, and hardly ever react in a human way. The main character has no motivation or development, or any traits at all other than being a really effective mercenary. The main plot threads seem to almost try to keep you from choosing to follow them since they seem like just side quests at first and often go completely against the Hawke character's interests to the point that I would never have done them except that the game eventually made it clear I could not progress until they were complete. The visual backgrounds are reused so often that you'd think they would have put more time into them in the first place, and the game design is so insultingly lazy that they just throw a cart in front of a cave entrance and pretend it's a new location without a cave.To be fair, the companions are fairly interesting and their subplots have actual plots that are sometimes interesting, and their banter is probably the only element up to the Bioware standard. The Qunari are interesting, though once again you have no real choices in how to deal with them. They are probably the one visual redesign from DA:O that doesn't look worse than the original (the darkspawn, by contrast, are done so poorly that they can't be taken seriously). If you really want to know what happened during this shoddy prelude to DA3: Inquisition, I strongly suggest just watching the cut scenes on youtube since you'll get the same result without the drudgery of fighting yet hundreds more undeveloped enemies who want to kill you for no reason even though your only character trait is that everyone knows you can kill anyone.… Expand
  44. RagingPoet
    Feb 6, 2018
    8
    Yes, it is worse than original Dragon Age, but it doesn't make it a bad game. It is still a good RPG but with smaller game world and less epic story.
  45. llxxvii27
    Mar 26, 2011
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been looking through some user reviews and see strong negative comments, I have to agree that Dragon Age 2 is far below the expectations of Origins. From the simplified battle system, and more balanced jobs, specialization easy access, final boss meredith and orsino can't be compared to the archdemon, no races can be chosen, less branches in options and you just damned stuck in Kirkwall . But, I think Bioware don't mean to create an ordinary style of RPG, such as the usual "good vs evil" genre, but a story of someone from below to the top and showing of a sense of emotional belonging and family relation to the character, when the mother are killed, her brother ran off to the templars, if you don't bring him to the deep roads, all of that are worth giving points .to the game. The game also brought more moral thinking then origins, such as Anders that kill the grand cleric, and whether to sides with the templars or the mages, where the templars are oppressing the mages too much, but in the other side more mages become blood mages because of the templar oppression, the most interesting is when first enchanter orsino become an abomination. This game story is overcome the weaknesses of the entire game, and I think this game is worth playing to get yourself, a good story, rather than battle and action. Even though it is better to make a movie of it than creating a game to it, Ten is for the story, 8 is for the game, and for bioware developers that are working hard to emphasize the story to cover the gameplay itself.… Expand
  46. Daibhi
    Apr 12, 2011
    8
    Dragon Age II is a good game if taken on its own at face value. You will see typically positive reviews by professional critics because of this reason. It is not however, very similar to its predecessor DA:O which is why there are so many negative reviews, more than likely die hard fans of the original. The combat seems a bit simpler and the fact that the story unfolds in a smaller areaDragon Age II is a good game if taken on its own at face value. You will see typically positive reviews by professional critics because of this reason. It is not however, very similar to its predecessor DA:O which is why there are so many negative reviews, more than likely die hard fans of the original. The combat seems a bit simpler and the fact that the story unfolds in a smaller area rather all across Ferelden makes it seems slightly less epic. You are also pushed into the role of a predetermined character, Hawke, rather than choosing from a varied selection as in the first, and the story will unfold in a more structured fashion, whereas the first left you more leeway. While I enjoyed the first more, I still thoroughly enjoyed Dragon Age II. The characters are memorable, and the story well told. The combat, while important I think, was never, and never will be my main draw to an RPG based game. If you are looking for a clone of the first DA:O you won't find it here, but if you are simply looking for a solid game to play through you should pick it up.… Expand
  47. fitscotgaymer
    Mar 13, 2012
    7
    This game really gets a bum rap as far as games go, and the reason for it is two fold. 1) The gaming media has so skewed the ratings system that most people think anything less than a 9 or a 10 is positively awful. This is a belief shared by big publishing houses, and by developers also. It has rendered the ratings system useless; and is, I believe, responsible in part for the negativeThis game really gets a bum rap as far as games go, and the reason for it is two fold. 1) The gaming media has so skewed the ratings system that most people think anything less than a 9 or a 10 is positively awful. This is a belief shared by big publishing houses, and by developers also. It has rendered the ratings system useless; and is, I believe, responsible in part for the negative overreaction to this game as evidenced by the inaccurate and unfair Zero's, One's, and Two's. 2) Bioware's Marketing Department is really really bad. They gave a distinct impression to the fan base about what Dragon Age "2" was going to be like, and then what was delivered was quite different. Which explains much of the backlash. Granted none of this was helped by the extremely short development cycle that resulted in a game that feels incomplete and has a really crappy, bland, and boring ending. In spite of this however I still feel like a lot of the really low user reviews are unfair, because IMO the game is decent. The engine runs much more smoothly, and is much more stable than in Dragon Age Origins. The Character based textures are much cleaner, and much prettier. The dialogue, and interpersonal interactions with NPC companions are much deeper and more emotive than in Dragon Age Origins. And the overall story arc is coherent and mostly complete, even if it ends a little abruptly, and crappily with SuperEvilNinja!Meredith. Claims that the combat has been dumbed down to flashy hack'n'slash mechanics are untrue. Combat runs almost exactly the same as in DAO. The differences are mostly cosmetic, with faster animations, a lack of "finishing" moves, and the missing isometric camera. Or are different in the execution/presentation of the combat scenes - example: The Parachuting from the Sky Heavily Armoured Waves of enemies, or occasional cut scene "finishing" move. Tactics work the same, and talents (although streamlined) work the same. The guts, the actual mechanics of combat are exactly the same. If DA2 were an exam, it would get a solid and respectable B IMO (with DAO getting an A).… Expand
  48. Eibhilin
    Mar 20, 2011
    7
    While not nearly so epic as it's predecessor, Dragon Age II is still a pretty solid entry into the Bioware library. Interesting subject matter for a sequel, while more subdued than the original, it's in keeping with the flavor of Origins. The most disappointing aspect for me was in that it wasn't made clear for many hours into gameplay the direction the story was heading in. While you canWhile not nearly so epic as it's predecessor, Dragon Age II is still a pretty solid entry into the Bioware library. Interesting subject matter for a sequel, while more subdued than the original, it's in keeping with the flavor of Origins. The most disappointing aspect for me was in that it wasn't made clear for many hours into gameplay the direction the story was heading in. While you can theorize earlier on and realize tensions are rising among local factions, the "enemies" were not clearly defined. I feel this greatly crippled the ability for Bioware to establish the same intensity that was experienced in the previous entry and helped the story feel rushed and quite nearly shallow.

    Aside from this, it feels almost as if each character was written in such a way as an attempt to recreate the original cast - a difficult if almost imperceivable task given the emotional impact each of these characters had originally had on me. I find myself indifferent to or even disliking the greater bulk of the party. Using an "enhanced version" of the original engine hurt, though despite this the graphics were a significant improvement over the original (especially with the texture pack) the end result being neither fantastic or terrible. The soundtrack was also acceptable, though not quite as compelling as the original.

    Gameplay itself was simplified, streamlined for console gamers and carried over to the PC release. Battles were less strategic,and were in many cases significantly easier. In a sense it felt like this game were geared at more casual gamers. I would say overall the improvements are significant enough to make up for this games shortcomings, though only to the point where it breaks even in most every facet but for the storytelling. Which is supposed to be the most compelling part of most any game in this genre.

    All things said I did really enjoy this title. It was certainly entertaining for me. I just would have liked to have cared more, like I did for the original. Perhaps this title would have better served as an expansion for the original, as it seems most complaints are about technical issues as opposed to story content. At this point I just feel inclined to beg EA to leave Bioware alone to work their magic free of pressure from publishers.    … Expand
  49. VeteranD13
    May 20, 2011
    7
    This game is not terrible by any means,but it makes you wonder what was bioware thinking when they repeatedly recycled environments and npcs'.The story is not quite what DAo was and it feels like it lacks detail and most of all the main point as to continue playing the game. The combat is still enjoyable,but it's more simplistic than it was before.Bioware was pursuing a more action packedThis game is not terrible by any means,but it makes you wonder what was bioware thinking when they repeatedly recycled environments and npcs'.The story is not quite what DAo was and it feels like it lacks detail and most of all the main point as to continue playing the game. The combat is still enjoyable,but it's more simplistic than it was before.Bioware was pursuing a more action packed game and they succeeded,but at the cost of Story,Items,etc...… Expand
  50. Biss
    Jul 2, 2011
    0
    Florence and the Machine Florence and the MachineFlorence and the MachineFlorence and the MachineFlorence and the MachineFlorence and the MachineFlorence and the MachineFlorence and the Machine
  51. wm4l
    Jul 8, 2011
    7
    Ta gra nie jest najgorsza ( wiem że narażam siÄ
  52. Dandynamite2201
    Mar 20, 2012
    0
    After the great game Origins, this game is rather poor in comparrison, the plot holes are everywhere, the ending was surely made for a laugh, and the combat system has no tactics and is built just to appeal to fans of Tekken or Fable, where button mashing is a must.
  53. MaxGayLord
    May 16, 2013
    10
    Yes, the level design is utterly terrible and the visuals are sub-par, but everything else is pure gold. I acknowledge the game has its flaws, however I feel that those flaws are only minor blemishes when compared to the many redeeming aspects of Dragon Age 2.
  54. COMThing
    Jun 10, 2014
    7
    DA2 is a game for those who want more action. It is far easier than DAO which is a good thing for those who play for the story rather than a constant challenge. Combat is fast and fun, although with less emphasis on tactics than DAO. This is NOT a game for those who want a challenging, classic RPG like DAO.

    The Good: - Fast, fun combat, closer to Mass Effect than DAO - Decent story -    DA2 is a game for those who want more action. It is far easier than DAO which is a good thing for those who play for the story rather than a constant challenge. Combat is fast and fun, although with less emphasis on tactics than DAO. This is NOT a game for those who want a challenging, classic RPG like DAO.

    The Good:
    - Fast, fun combat, closer to Mass Effect than DAO
    - Decent story
    - Interesting characters
    - The player character is voice acted
    - Enhanced graphics over DAO (still not incredible and not as good as ME3)

    The Bad:
    - The UI seems to have undergone a significant downgrade from DAO and can be confusing
    - Because of the more linear story, character customisation is also a downgrade
    - Item stats can be hard to compare and seem like random numbers
    - Items are either pure crap, or incredibly overpowered, the DLC items are especially overpowered.
    - You cannot customise the armour of your party members
    - Very boring environments that are used over and over
    - Absolutely terrible female walk animation. It looks more like a horrific disco dance move that would cause joint injury than an actual walking anim. Fortunately this can be fixed with a mod.

    Overall this game is a downgrade from DAO, but is worth the price when on sale for the minor improvements and more fun gameplay (It is worth about 60% of its price at best).    … Expand
  55. Togan77
    Aug 16, 2014
    8
    It's hard,even for the Master's at Bioware to replecate perfection that was Dragon Age Origins. What we are presented here is a game that was rushed to release,and it clearly shows in Level Design. Alot of reused assets throught Campaign. However,what is in the game is great,better graphics than Origins,Music that is arguably better;Characters while new,are still brought to life with greatIt's hard,even for the Master's at Bioware to replecate perfection that was Dragon Age Origins. What we are presented here is a game that was rushed to release,and it clearly shows in Level Design. Alot of reused assets throught Campaign. However,what is in the game is great,better graphics than Origins,Music that is arguably better;Characters while new,are still brought to life with great writing. I have faith Dragon Age Inquisition will be more akin to Dragon Age Origins.

    Graphics=10
    Music=10
    Gameplay=8
    Story=9    … Expand
  56. Zbysiek1234
    Apr 20, 2016
    0
    the game is very disappointing. The graphics seem dated, the music is ok, the game-play is simplified and poses no challenge at all for experienced rpg gamers. LOTS of the recycled content. it is the same layout for all caverns, almost all houses, and almost everything has the same type of texture applied.
  57. MikePushkin
    Mar 31, 2011
    7
    I loved Origins. Great game, a game in which you feel the weight of your decisions, you realize what you are doing, you realize that you are responsible for major changes in Ferelden. I expected something similar from DA2, but more refined and deeper. Sadly, what we get is an unfinished game instead of a masterpiece like the first game. It took me 20 hours less to beat Dragon Age 2I loved Origins. Great game, a game in which you feel the weight of your decisions, you realize what you are doing, you realize that you are responsible for major changes in Ferelden. I expected something similar from DA2, but more refined and deeper. Sadly, what we get is an unfinished game instead of a masterpiece like the first game. It took me 20 hours less to beat Dragon Age 2 compared to Dragon Age Origins. It took exactly 40 hours. Just like Mass Effect 2. Or Mass Effect. You know what, that feels strange, like Bioware is trying to adjust the length of its games to 40 hours. Anyway, on topic, the game is better in almost every aspect than Dragon Age Origins: we have better combat system, better RP system (not simplified but adjusted) now warrior gets benefited from investing a point or two in Magic. Design of new inventory makes a lot more sense and is much more helpful. Quests are numerous, yes, but not very much unique... Graphical part is better than Origins in every way, but the fatal flaw of Origins never got rid of in DA2, - same locations. This is very sad part, actually, because it kills the unique feel of locations you visit and destroys the atmosphere of what's happening. In DA2 the decisions you make, don't feel the same way as in Origins. Storyline in general seems weaker, but its personal opinion. What's not personal is the way story is told. 10 bloody years. What the heck?! You do something important, a couple of years passes. You do something again and another couple of years passes. WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! What's he sleeping or something in between?! Conclusion: A very good game with nice combat system, nice graphical part, more intuitive dialog system, improved RP system, better design overall, great voice work BUT with poor storyline, poor locations, the blasted Kirkwall over and over and over again, abundance of DLCs, more of a popular product than a work of art. Sad. 7/10… Expand
  58. BurnLikeIce
    Mar 23, 2011
    7
    The story is good, but riddled with fetch quests. This isn't the best game Bioware has made but they've set the bar pretty high with titles like the original Dragon Age and the Mass Effect series. Fans of RPGs will eat this up, while your average lover of adventure games will find enough appreciation in the storyline to justify trying it out too.
  59. PhilTT
    Mar 27, 2011
    0
    If you want to throw your money away, then buy this game. It is a disgrace! EA is a disgrace! Check out www.tomshardware.com for articles on just how bad things are with the game and with EA.
  60. Squadinho
    Mar 25, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age 2 is a decent sequel to its hugely successful predecessor. It does some things a lot better, but unfortunately there are some major problems that drag it down. Graphically, it is a step up, but like the original it is nothing special. You will not be disappointed but you will not be blown away. There is a high res texture pack available, but you will need a DX11 capable graphicsDragon Age 2 is a decent sequel to its hugely successful predecessor. It does some things a lot better, but unfortunately there are some major problems that drag it down. Graphically, it is a step up, but like the original it is nothing special. You will not be disappointed but you will not be blown away. There is a high res texture pack available, but you will need a DX11 capable graphics card to enjoy it, which I sadly do not. A major talking point has been the combat. It is faster paced and more explosive than the original, but realism and immersion is removed by the enemies which now spawn practically in the middle of a fight and just appear out of thin air. Similarly, instead of spiders dropping down from caverns or trees, they now also just drop out of the sky. One particular delight, however are some of the boss encounters which have been beefed up and feel more challenging than the original, but it can still be a case of kiting the boss until you can use your special abilities then kite again. Nearly all the companions, apart from one or two are brilliant. The interparty banter is great and at times had me in fits of laughter, especially the chats between Merrill and Isabella. If you pursue a romance with any of them though, it somehow doesn't feel important like it did in Dragon Age: Origins which is a shame. It is also a shame that you don't really have to put any thought or effort into developing your relationships. The game practically tells you when you should be speaking to a companion, because it will add a new quest for you, and the revamped dialogue wheel tells you exactly what each option will mean. There is no longer the chance you may pick the wrong option. There are numerous cameos in DA2 by characters from Origins and Awakenings, dependant on the game history you choose at the beginning. The game allows you to import your Origins save into the game, or lets you choose from three canonical histories offering different choices. Sadly though, those choices have little to no impact on the game apart from a few different lines of dialogue. As with most RPGs, there is an element of choice, yet in this game it feels pointless. At one point, you are forced to side with a particular faction, yet you end up having to fight both faction leaders, which is perhaps a sign of laziness on Biowareâ… Expand
  61. FaceTheSlayer
    Mar 28, 2011
    2
    Obviously rushed game. Insults your intelligence at every step. Map recycling, characters saying wrong things, can't use half items, bad graphics, dumbed down gameplay... Did I said map recycling? Oh yes. This is one of the smallest games I've ever played if you consider map size. All negative reviews are true, this is one of the worst games ever.
  62. rhunter21892
    Apr 3, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age II is not a step in the wrong direction, just a confusing one. The gameplay is faster and more energetic, but less challenging and harder to control. The graphics are crisp and clean, but the textures and settings are not varied and recycled continuously. The worst part for me was the story. There are some really cool moments, and I had a lot of fun saying "Oh I wish I'd madeDragon Age II is not a step in the wrong direction, just a confusing one. The gameplay is faster and more energetic, but less challenging and harder to control. The graphics are crisp and clean, but the textures and settings are not varied and recycled continuously. The worst part for me was the story. There are some really cool moments, and I had a lot of fun saying "Oh I wish I'd made this decision earlier, maybe I will next time." But going back a second time is the problem. I have no incentive to. The game, as hard as it tries to be multi-threaded, is ultimately linear.

    I personally had fun the first time and would recommend it to anyone who didn't play the first game or wished the first game had faster combat. But I can't say that the finished product really lives up to the potential the first game had.    … Expand
  63. dare2shine
    Mar 30, 2011
    8
    As a major fan of the previous game, I had Dragon Age:II preordered since September. Having now played through the game twice, I feel i can fairly review it. There's a definite lack of freedom and choice, which origins offered to players in abundance, and the lazy re-use of locations is a critical error by Bioware, it pulls down what is in all honesty a very decent game. The battleAs a major fan of the previous game, I had Dragon Age:II preordered since September. Having now played through the game twice, I feel i can fairly review it. There's a definite lack of freedom and choice, which origins offered to players in abundance, and the lazy re-use of locations is a critical error by Bioware, it pulls down what is in all honesty a very decent game. The battle system has been upgraded and it much more efficient and enjoyable and the action is much smoother but at the cost of the lore of the game's predecessor
    The characters and dialog system, i thought, were better than the previous game, though the structured methods of character interaction was tedious. It felt harder to play the game 'your way', something Bioware normally prides itself on. The graphics were a lot smoother and generally prettier than Origins, but again the re-use of locations rather marred this. I found the game to be engaging with an interesting plot, but I didn't feel I could have such radically different play-throughs as I did on my re-plays on Origins. Personally I really enjoyed the game and it's characters, especially Fenris, and found their personalities to be deeper, if a bit more 'emo' than Origins. There is definite replay value, and Bioware should be proud of the game. It's just a shame they didn't spend a little longer designing levels and less time offering bonus DLC items on their website.
    8/10    … Expand
  64. MrGerbz
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    Is DA2 a bad game? No.
    Is DA2 a bad game by Bioware standards? Definitely.
    Currently Bioware seems to become a true EA Games drone, by wanting to release a game every year at the cost of quality. It is mostly the Bioware fans that are seriously pissed off at them, and are giving all the bad scores. People who don't care much about RPG's but much rather prefer action-oriented games like    Is DA2 a bad game? No.
    Is DA2 a bad game by Bioware standards? Definitely.

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

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

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

    In conclusion: DA2 isn't bad, hell it's sometimes pretty good even. For the industry standard. But it's far, far away from the Bioware standard.    … Expand
  65. aylw
    Mar 24, 2011
    9
    I have no idea why people hat this game so much. '4'? '1'? I can only assume that's in comparison to other Bioware Games, and not RPGs in general. I've played a lot of RPGs, and to me Baldur's Gate is the king. This game is NOT Baldur's Gate. That's fine. I don't mind trying different games.

    This RPG is a surprisingly refreshing breath of air. It's certainly more playable than    I have no idea why people hat this game so much. '4'? '1'? I can only assume that's in comparison to other Bioware Games, and not RPGs in general. I've played a lot of RPGs, and to me Baldur's Gate is the king. This game is NOT Baldur's Gate. That's fine. I don't mind trying different games.

    This RPG is a surprisingly refreshing breath of air. It's certainly more playable than Origins, which I quit half-way through. Frankly, I'm kind of over most of the 'meta' games that are RPG tropes - equipment, elaborate tech trees, etc.

    What Dragon Age 2 DOES do, is gets what I like about RPGs - Character building, interaction between characters, and a sense that quests matter - to someone, at least. I LIKE the conversation wheel. Puzzling out what each sentence means in the traditional conversation tree is another un-fun metagame, and it breaks the flow of a fully voiced game. Dragon Age 2 is a lot like watching a movie, and THAT'S A GOOD THING. That means to me it's engrossing, while still allowing you to effect the world. The only thing that draws me in more than movies is Books, and saying that a game plays like a movie is a rather large compliment in my books.

    I'm not sure why people would say this story is worse than the previous game. The last one (dragon age: Origins) was so cliched, I expected Origins to have a huge surprise ending... but it didn't. This one, I'm actually drawn to the characters, and the plot keeps me guessing. Aveline's plot line is hilarious, and VERY different. I love how the different characters chatter with each other so often, a refreshing return from games of yore.

    As for combat, it's fast, and visceral - Very enjoyable, compared to the snooze-fest that was Origins. Hard does not equal fun, nor strategically interesting. I'm done with RPGs that claim to be strategic. If it doesn't say 'strategy' on the box, I don't trust it to deliver on mind-bending fights. Just give me fun, which Dragon Age 2 is, and I'll get my strat dose elsewhere.

    There are a few places that it falls short - Re-used environments, equipment not feeling epic, and a lack of visual flare, but it doesn't stop all the other things I enjoy from making it the best RPG I've played in a long time.

    If you're looking for 'traditional' crpgs, as in, Baldur's Gate 3, look elsewhere. But if the idea of a fun, fast-paced, character-driven game that plays like a movie appeals to you - This game delivers.    … Expand
  66. Bullfrog1983
    Apr 12, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After finishing this game, I can find very little good to say about it other than the character development is really well done for the party members. Dragon Age 2 is very inferior compared to Dragon Age: Origins, and the ending is absolutely terrible. The combat is really repetative, the environments all look exactly the same, and the plot is completely linear. I originally gave this a good rating before I finished it, but after going back to try and change the events concerning the main characters nothing happened. The ending is a non-ending that leaves you confused, angry, or both.… Expand
  67. lionalio
    Apr 19, 2011
    8
    Although there is some restriction in gameplay and not so great like its precedessor, in my point of view, this is still a good game that worth to play. Hope in the next sequence, the creator should not get the same weakness and restriction that they have made in this game. They deserve to get a praise, though. 8.0 points
  68. SilentKitty
    Apr 17, 2011
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was completely in love with DA:O and when I had beaten it I looked into the ME-universe and played them. Now I'm back in Thedas and it's not the same game as DA:O but for me this is better.

    Fighting:
    I think fighting is more fun this time around. I have beaten the game with one mage and one rogue and they feel much more responsive than DA:O. I prefer the abilty trees in DA2 to the DA:O version when you had to get them all in a straigh line. Story:
    You are following Hawke and his/her family after they have fleed their home due to the blight, so no big bad thing to fight against from the get go. I like it, it was certainly different from most other games I've played so far.

    * Act 1: You meet up with the majority of the party ( except for Sebastian the dlc-prince ) and get to know Kirkwall. You are dirt-poor and just try to get by. This is pretty much when I try to get a feel for my current Hawke. Do-goody or evil jerk? Night and day-mode was pretty nice and easy to understand on my first Hawke that I played without spilers or info. It can feel perhaps a little long but there are many fun q's and they introduce the characters and lore of the city. Many q's in this act will have a story that continues in the following acts.

    * Act 2: After a few years you and your companions are starting to get to know eachother better, some might even fall in love with you. Others might not. Things are starting to get more heated politicly and since Hawke has moved up in the world gets to be involved in it. My fave-act. I have a tremendous amount of fun with the q's and companions. This act has the two funniest q's involving Varric and Avaline and the sadest q with Hawke's mom. Great story-telling with highs and lows and romance if you choose to pursue it.

    * Act 3: Things get more and more out of hand. You and your comanions might really get to know eachoter better and if you're lucky there is a conclusion to your romance. It ended a bit abruptly. Conclusion to choosen romance if pursued. Have tried the end fight with two Hawkes and it was fun on both. Companion bases:
    Each companion has their own place where you can talk to them, think of Mirandas office in ME2. I like it, this time around we get scenes with our companions and not just see them from the shoulders and up when we talk to them. There are a mention in the q-logg when you should go around to them. I know some people dislike it, feeling that that means that they aren't free to talk to their friends when they like. For me this works better because a) I don't have to run around doing the Garrus-calibrations-routine. If there is something for me to see then I'll know. No point in running around if they've got nothing to say b) in DA:O Leliana had nothing to say for the finishing 1/4 of the game. Since I had used up all my conversations. This way I get to have the romantic conclusion in the end of the game.

    Rivalmance and romance
    One of the best changes they have done to the game. There is a possibility to develop friendship from a point of agreement or more of a agree to disagree-version. This influences dialouge and there are significat changes to the romance-path. Easily one of my favourite changes. Remember always leaving Morrigan at camp because she keept disagreeing with me. In DA2 I would simply have rivalmanced her and that would have been one hell of a romance. Great replay-value to see a romance from a different side.

    Voice and wheel:
    I love having a voice, after playing ME and ME2 I used to really dislike my silent warden. One of the big changes in the game. Prefer F!Hawke but that's just me. I prefer F!Shepard to male shepard also.

    Tone:
    There are 3 different major tones that your Hawke can take on in game. This, and the romance/rivalmance are the two best changes for me. You can call them diplomatic, snarky and direct. Have sofar tried diplomatic and snarky. Both were good but snarky was a bit more fun. One of the best things about it is that it made a second Hawke with a new tone feel very different from the previous Hawke. Great replay-value for me at least. There are also dialouge options that only are open to a specific tone but you won't see that if you don't play several Hawkes.

    What I would have liked to see more of:
    * Perhaps a little more intro to the Hawke family but perhaps they dropped us and the Hawkes straight into action simply so that there would take so much time for the player to get to Kirkwall. Remember having read somewhere that a large number of wardens got stranded in Ostagar and I'm not surprised. I have 2 there at the moment. But that would have made me happy.    … Expand
  69. AlienSpaceBats
    Feb 4, 2013
    7
    I didn't think very much of Dragon Age II at release, though I found it engaging enough to play through twice (and purchase some *ahem* DLC Legacy). My overall view was it wasn't as bad as I'd been led to believe (though not as amazing as "professional" reviews made out either). A post Mass Effect 3 perspective does this game many favours; by comparison Dragon Age II is succinct, nicelyI didn't think very much of Dragon Age II at release, though I found it engaging enough to play through twice (and purchase some *ahem* DLC Legacy). My overall view was it wasn't as bad as I'd been led to believe (though not as amazing as "professional" reviews made out either). A post Mass Effect 3 perspective does this game many favours; by comparison Dragon Age II is succinct, nicely made and high quality. It is missing a number of cRPG elements present in its predecessor, but for the most part it seems this was a successful attempt at streamlining things, the (free) hi-res texture pack makes a lot of difference, as does the DirectX 11 support. So for the most part; nicely written (though not devoid of contrivance or sloppiness minimal), excellent voice acting with some engaging and likeable characters with neat arcs. DA2's positives far outweigh its negatives.… Expand
  70. Dyskresiac
    Mar 17, 2011
    6
    I think people are being a bit tough on DA2. When compared against Bioware Standards, it is indeed their worst product to date. But that's like saying the smallest diamond in the mine- I'll take it. When compared to other games that have been released lately, DA2 was a good reprieve. I think it suffers from Apple-ification. Origins was slow, clunky, half the skills were worthless,I think people are being a bit tough on DA2. When compared against Bioware Standards, it is indeed their worst product to date. But that's like saying the smallest diamond in the mine- I'll take it. When compared to other games that have been released lately, DA2 was a good reprieve. I think it suffers from Apple-ification. Origins was slow, clunky, half the skills were worthless, half of the characters had no personality (Sten, Lelianna, Oghren Pre-Awakening? Really?), the dwarf area... ugh. The dwarf area... Dragon Age 2 tried to streamline all of Origins' flaws. Battles were quicker. Travel was quicker. Quest Markers were visible from far away. Not every conversation involves 6 soliloquies. Unlike most people, I actually rather enjoy the plot. Everything that was changed sounds like it SHOULD be better it just... it kind of plays itself- and you're along for the ride. Like the Matrix. The first had a few action scenes that were intense because of the lack of action scenes elsewhere. The second was almost entirely action scenes, and by the end you were ready to fall asleep. I think developers should look at DA2 and see what happened, what went wrong. I think a lot can be learned at what happens if you oversimplify and over-streamline your game. There is something to be said about requiring a bit of effort before the reward... otherwise it quickly loses its appeal.

    I can't give DA2 less than a 6. Because it IS all good stuff. But what it lacks is what is missing between said good stuff.    … Expand
  71. 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
  72. Zhijn
    Mar 20, 2011
    4
    Without going into to many details. Great voice acting, love the way your character stay in voice character should you be angry, funny or serious. However that alone does not carry a hole game. DA2 is infact incredible repetitive with the method of reusing areas for pretty much everything throughout the hole game, while the environment is very well made and detailed it gets very and i meanWithout going into to many details. Great voice acting, love the way your character stay in voice character should you be angry, funny or serious. However that alone does not carry a hole game. DA2 is infact incredible repetitive with the method of reusing areas for pretty much everything throughout the hole game, while the environment is very well made and detailed it gets very and i mean very boring really fast. Everything from the city to the dungeons are reused over and over and over, very tireing and you are constantly sitting with a feeling that somethings gotta change soon, but it never does.

    Moving on to combat. I got abit of mixed feelings on this one, while i enjoy the faster combat and the class cross combos you can do i absolutely hate the exploding bodies and massive gore that spew all over the place. Fatalities is another thing i liked from DAO but were totally removed from DA2 with exploding enemies. No much strategy in combat either, while you still got the tactical setup for your party there is no strategy to be made on the go, you can still pause and issue orders but you can no longer zoom as you did in DAO. Planning a combat in DA2 isnt to great either anymore considering the game just throw hordes of weak enms at you from all direction making it a total mess for any type of planning. Its clear the combat was not designed for your typical RPG but more of a hack n' slash type.

    Story time. The Hawke start interesting with them fleeing Lothering. Its all a nice setup for well, nothing. After that you just go around picking up side-quests and do main quests with any real story behind you, without any real sens of a goal or any sens of having a villian to fight. They make it clear that its all about Mages and Templars, but your in for a huge suprise when you realize that everything you did getting to the end didnt matter one bit. Every choice you make have zero matter on the world around you.

    Your party. You got a emo elf which is clearly some homage to J-RPGs, a naive elf, a brute ginger female, a pirate whore and a dwarf. You can romance either of em except two. Sadly DA2 have also gone taken a step back here, the romance that had a nice touch in DAO is just blend and dull in DA2.

    Dialog wheel. While i dont mind it to much, its abit to simple. Gone is persuasion, now you get a clear picture of what is what. If a romance option is ready the wheel make it clear with a heart shaped icon. Very simple, maybe to simple (?).

    Bugs and glitchs. Way to many, and that baffles me. Since iv never played a bioware game where so many glitchs and game breaking bugs actually took out the fun.

    Closing. Being a bioware fan and a fan of Dragon Age Origins i say that BioWare did not come through this time around. DA2 is short, unfufilling, lack and sens of purpose with the characters and the hole game have been simplified beyond words, it dosnt feel much like an RPG anymore. I think might have tried to appeal to a to wide of an audience and came up with something that didnt quite work. In short, it feels very rushed like it had a deadline they just barely made.

    I will look forward to Mass Effect 3 and hopefully Dragon Age 3. And i hope BioWares once and for all start improving their sequels, and dont let a deadline or something else get in their way of making a great game.

    My first thought was a solid 7, but after completing DA2 and learning that nothing you do matters it has lost all appeal to me. So sadly, very sadly i give DA2 a 6. =(    … Expand
  73. Skoltnik
    Mar 22, 2011
    7
    I just finished the game on pc and i'm still not sure how I should feel about this game. It's definatly a fun game. The story, dialogue wheel and combat mechanics is a positive change for me but the fact to you play the whole game in 1 city and that all the dungeons are the same puts alot of it's charm backwards.

    I give it a 7 cause it has dragon age slap on it and i'm a fan of the    I just finished the game on pc and i'm still not sure how I should feel about this game. It's definatly a fun game. The story, dialogue wheel and combat mechanics is a positive change for me but the fact to you play the whole game in 1 city and that all the dungeons are the same puts alot of it's charm backwards.

    I give it a 7 cause it has dragon age slap on it and i'm a fan of the series.If it had been a new rpg I would have rated it a 5 or maybe 6.    … Expand
  74. Varnol
    Mar 28, 2011
    7
    The game is good. At first I was surprised there are so many negative reviews, but after reading through some, I realized that they were not about a game. This talk is about feelings, which were apparently hurt, as the ritual accusation of "dumbing down' a game surface again. Some people obviously fell in love with DAO and feel "cheated" now when the sequel proved to be a differentThe game is good. At first I was surprised there are so many negative reviews, but after reading through some, I realized that they were not about a game. This talk is about feelings, which were apparently hurt, as the ritual accusation of "dumbing down' a game surface again. Some people obviously fell in love with DAO and feel "cheated" now when the sequel proved to be a different game. Well, BG2 is very different from BG1 as well, but it was better (more dialogs, better graphics, less B/W approach to quests). Same goes for FO2.
    Same thing with DA2 - it's different from the original... So what? it's still better! The battles are not as boring, voice acting is good, NPCs are interesting, and there's plenty room for strategy and tactics (well, let's be honest, DA:O was not exactly ummm Total War kind of game, so what can you expect from a sequel...) I played both games on hard difficulty and I can't say DA2 is any less challenging - only it's more pleasant to look at which is apparently a CRIME in the eyes of some people. Oh and you can actually see to the end of a battle without looking at the watch a dozen times now. For those of us with jobs â    … Expand
  75. TJGeb180
    Apr 12, 2011
    8
    (Note: I basically explain in this review the actual game there is no spoilers or anything but it will basically give you the idea of why this isnt really a DAO sequel)

    Alright so after playing through Dragon Age Origins and the Mass Effect series, I picked up real quick on what Bioware was doing with Dragon Age 2... A lot of people expected this game to pick up, fill in some gaps and    (Note: I basically explain in this review the actual game there is no spoilers or anything but it will basically give you the idea of why this isnt really a DAO sequel)

    Alright so after playing through Dragon Age Origins and the Mass Effect series, I picked up real quick on what Bioware was doing with Dragon Age 2... A lot of people expected this game to pick up, fill in some gaps and give use a new cause to well save the world as usual... This however is a middle ground game with a strong prologue plot. So itâ    … Expand
  76. alexania
    Aug 21, 2011
    9
    I know everyone slates this game and while everything everyone says has some merit to it, I still enjoyed this game IMMENSELY. I enjoyed the Rogue combat much more than the first game, I enjoyed that two shades of grey they made me pick between, I enjoyed stabbing a certain character in the back and watching him die. They could have added more fully straight guys though... just saying.I know everyone slates this game and while everything everyone says has some merit to it, I still enjoyed this game IMMENSELY. I enjoyed the Rogue combat much more than the first game, I enjoyed that two shades of grey they made me pick between, I enjoyed stabbing a certain character in the back and watching him die. They could have added more fully straight guys though... just saying. Can't wait for three.… Expand
  77. Ghost67
    Jan 12, 2015
    7
    There is alot of hate for this game. Some of it is warranted - while some of it is not.

    Alot of the hatred that comes for DA:2 is the fact that the original game was a much different animal than the sequel. The original - Dragon Age: Origins was described as a modern love letter to old traditional Western RPG classics, A la Balder's Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights. While DA: O    There is alot of hate for this game. Some of it is warranted - while some of it is not.

    Alot of the hatred that comes for DA:2 is the fact that the original game was a much different animal than the sequel. The original - Dragon Age: Origins was described as a modern love letter to old traditional Western RPG classics, A la Balder's Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights. While DA: O is a very solid game, Bioware decided to take a very far left turn with Dragon Age 2.

    It's kind of funny, they did a similar turn with the Mass Effect series as well. With both sequels, Bioware took some big risks changing core gameplay mechanics.

    And I can respect that.

    The main difference is that Mass Effect 2 did an exceptional job at this transition. Dragon Age 2's attempt however, was sloppy.

    But it's not a bad game.

    I feel like alot of the hatred for this game just stems from the fact that its not as complex as Origins. There are things that DA2 lacks. It lacks a deep character customization system. It's inventory system, like ME2, has been stripped down. Some people really enjoy decking out their characters - you can't really do that in DA2. Even the skill trees themselves have been scaled down.

    Moreever, I agree that running through the same dungeons can be tedious and it's "kind of" lazy. In DA2, there are dungeons that are reused, over and over. The layouts are exactly the same, the same location is reused. It's kind of lazy, and its recycled content.

    The other major gripe with this game is the quests. DA2 suffers from Side Quest syndrome. You are given a ton of quests to complete in DA2. Unfortunately, many of these quests do not relate to the main story. So it feels as if you are working towards the main course. Other RPG's also do this, and its frustrating. A couple side quests is OK, but the fist Act alone has you probably do over 20 side quests. On the one hand, I can appreciate the work that has gone into these quests. But - I don't really care. We're not emotionally invested into these side quests.

    But DA2 excels in is where it counts; roleplaying and characters. And let's face it, the characters are generally better in DA2 than DA:O. They are better. If you liked ME2's storytelling, you will like DA2's, as the dialogue options and the general rythmn of characterization is there. And it's GREAT.

    Hawke is probably the best PC that I've roleplayed to date. His voice acting is fantastic. Credit needs to given where its due. You're usually given 3 options to respond, an agreeable/nice/peaceful option, a hardass option and everyone's favorite, the dry sarcastic humorous neutral option. The joking dialogue option is a great addition and Hawke can be pretty funny at times. In my opinion he even beats out Shepard.

    Characters evolve with you over time. DA2 is a long saga that takes place over many years. A very ambitious project attempted by Bioware and I applaud them for it.

    Part of the charm of running through these same dungeons is the way that they change. DA2 is about change, it's a long saga over a long time period. You see character change and evolve, relationships are not formed for one adventure - but multiple adventures in one overarching story. Your actions really do matter, and they ripple across the story.

    My main problem with DA2 is that its wandering away from strategic parts of gameplay. The complaints of it being dumbed down are not completely unwarranted. The challeges presented in DA2 are...iffy. But then again, the pause and play combat of these titles have always been questionable. It's difficult to judge, because at the core this is a Roleplaying game, and DA2 executes the roleplaying aspect flawlessly. That is the heart of Bioware's games.

    DA2 is not a perfect game, but alot of the hate is unfair. Metacritic can be a cruel master, and does not always reflect the true value of a game. Like this one. This is due to a rabid fanbase feeling betrayed upon release. At the end of the day, I had fun playing DA2. If you can grab this game with some of the DLC's for $20-$30, it's money well spent. In fact, I think I had more fun playing this game than DA:O. Hate to say it, but its the truth.

    And that's what matters.

    At the end of the day, DA2 is a good game. That is the bottom line.    … Expand
  78. huss2215
    Nov 14, 2013
    9
    Graphics: The graphics are definetly an improved compared to the previous game, and the blood couldn’t look any better. Character models look smooth, environments look okay. It’s not the best looking game out, but it still looks great. 9.
    Sound: The soundtrack has some moments but overall it’s not as good as the themes from Dragon Age origins. 9.
    Gameplay: The gameplay is an    Graphics: The graphics are definetly an improved compared to the previous game, and the blood couldn’t look any better. Character models look smooth, environments look okay. It’s not the best looking game out, but it still looks great. 9.
    Sound: The soundtrack has some moments but overall it’s not as good as the themes from Dragon Age origins. 9.
    Gameplay: The gameplay is an improvement from the previous game, but also some elements are missing. It plays similar to Dragon Age origins but a lot faster paced, and casual. The mechanics are much more fluid, meaning every hit is now more realistic, and the spells look a lot more action packed. Some of the new specs are great and like Origins I played a rogue, and the gameplay felt much better and more simplified (one of the reasons for the hate of this game). I enjoyed every last moment of the game, and I highly recommend this title. This is an excellent sequel but it does have its fall points. Unlike origins, when you meet a group of enemies and you kill all of them on screen, the game feels the need of spawning more enemies that drop in from random spots around you. This makes the game more frustrating and annoying. Another fall point is the fact that every place you travel is within and around Kirkwall, meaning you will revisit the same areas over and over again, and the funny thing is, the maps become undiscovered even though you fully explored it 3 times earlier. 9.
    Story: I enjoyed the story of Dragon Age 2, and I did import all of my decisions from the previous DA:origins/awakening/witch hunt, and you get the idea. It is amazing how moments in the game you meet up with familiar faces. Bioware has always been known for its fantastic storytelling, and connect from a previous game to the next. Only one fall point was that in Origins I never recruited or interacted with Leliana, and in Dragon Age 2 supposedly she helped the hero of Feraldin. The game follows Hawke instead of your previous imported character, which could also be a fall point, but the fact that Hawke is an amazing character, makes this acceptable. The story always progresses nicely, although you never know your main end game goal, just playing through the story is quite fun. The ending leaves room from a 3rd, and I cannot wait. 9.
    Lasting Appeal: Definitely worth getting, I bought the game and played all the expansions as well, definitely worth playing Mark of the Assassin and Legacy. The exiled prince is also a nice addition to the story. I won’t separate them into impressions because they aren’t known as other campaign like DA:Origins had it. Either way if you haven’t played this game, it is worth getting. 10.
    Overall Score: 9.2 out of 10.    … Expand
  79. Peregrinati
    Jul 14, 2011
    8
    Overall a great game. Excellent story / acting. Play on Hard though, normal is too easy but Hard isn't too difficult if you've got a brain and plan out your builds / cross-class-combos a bit (or build some good tactics to have your companions use them). Fairly different feel from DA:O, but it's only a feeling - at the core the mechanics are very similar it's just that things happen faster.Overall a great game. Excellent story / acting. Play on Hard though, normal is too easy but Hard isn't too difficult if you've got a brain and plan out your builds / cross-class-combos a bit (or build some good tactics to have your companions use them). Fairly different feel from DA:O, but it's only a feeling - at the core the mechanics are very similar it's just that things happen faster. The story also feels a different - there's few things that characterize a direct sequel (like, the same characters, for example. Imagine if Empire Strikes Back had Luke and Han return for the occasional cameo!) However the new characters are very good and interesting, and there's enough tie-ins to DA:O that it doesn't feel like a different world. It's also hinted that the connection between Hawke and the Warden may be stronger than anyone realizes... I'm very much looking forward to DA3 to see if it's true!

    The only major downside is the lack of different levels - so many of them are reused that you can visit a "new" dungeon and have a pretty good idea where to go right away.

    Overall, I very much enjoyed it. Played it through twice, on Hard both times.    … Expand
  80. 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
  81. TheXand
    Oct 8, 2013
    10
    Well you guys, I loved it. The characters, music and setting were all spot on. My only qualms about it was that it didn't develop much in the lore, because obviously the first Dragon Age was the first game and introduced a whole new world of fantasy to me as well as only being able to choose the one race to play as. The combat was a vast improvement where attacks felt more powerful andWell you guys, I loved it. The characters, music and setting were all spot on. My only qualms about it was that it didn't develop much in the lore, because obviously the first Dragon Age was the first game and introduced a whole new world of fantasy to me as well as only being able to choose the one race to play as. The combat was a vast improvement where attacks felt more powerful and the skill tree was much more tightly focused with less useless "filler" spells. I think the only reason people hated this is because Bioware took the game in a different direction and focused on the one city and a genuinely unique story this time around instead of the clichéd "evil horde, one saviour to stop it" plot. PC gamers don't like change, which is why new things bomb. Dragon Age 2 actually put me in mind of Planescape in many regards since it's setting revolves around the one central hub, which is the city of Kirkwall, and a lot of the enjoyment from the game stems from your companions, all of whom were excellent in DA2 and easily the equal to, if not superior to those seen in Origins. Even Anders was given a much needed overhaul so he's not just an Alistair clone this time around.… Expand
  82. Pantheon
    Jan 18, 2013
    8
    I could write paragraph after paragraph here about why DA2 isn't even 25% as bad as the majority of critics here would want you to believe, but it would be to no avail I'm sad to say. In the first place, I'm suspect of any rating between 0-3, I'm also suspect of 10's. I could see some people finding this game enjoyable enough to give it a 9, or annoying/disappointing enough to give it aI could write paragraph after paragraph here about why DA2 isn't even 25% as bad as the majority of critics here would want you to believe, but it would be to no avail I'm sad to say. In the first place, I'm suspect of any rating between 0-3, I'm also suspect of 10's. I could see some people finding this game enjoyable enough to give it a 9, or annoying/disappointing enough to give it a bland mediocre rating of 4-6. I can see where some people don't think the graphics are better than in DA: Origins, but the graphics are fine --- not exceptional. The storyline was interesting and some of the characters were downright hilarious, so I really don't understand any complaints on that end. Sure, some of the dialogue could be better ... and all games seem to suffer from repetitiveness, some more than others. I do agree that they overused the same areas/caves which almost gave the game a DLC quality, but I can't see how that merits a drastically diminished overall rating. It's true that combat is simplified and any difficulty encountered relies more on the excessive respawning of mobs than on the mobs' AI and innate abilities .... and it's true that they removed the complexity (or hassle to some) of having to outfit/equip your companions ... still though, the story is fun and intriguing despite its slightly bizarre ending. Yes, it falls short of DAO, then again how many sequels truly surpass their predecessors? I was hesitant to give it an 8, but giving it a flat 7 seemed a bit too low. I think this is one case where the Critic Reviews are closer to the truth than the User Reviews ---- note that they range from 58 to 95. Buy this game on sale and decide for yourself.… Expand
  83. 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
  84. 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
  85. 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
  86. Garian
    Jun 26, 2020
    5
    All the reviews seem to say pretty much the same thing here. The game is incredibly mediocre, to the point where there's no way I could rate the game below or above a 5. The voice acting for most of the characters in the game is absolutely dreadful, so much so that I had to skip roughly 80% of the dialogue. Fetch quests probably take up 50% of the content in the game. The first act is aAll the reviews seem to say pretty much the same thing here. The game is incredibly mediocre, to the point where there's no way I could rate the game below or above a 5. The voice acting for most of the characters in the game is absolutely dreadful, so much so that I had to skip roughly 80% of the dialogue. Fetch quests probably take up 50% of the content in the game. The first act is a facade for progression and for the rest of the time it banks off of the interest of the completionist. The worst part is that all of these quests pretty much keep you stuck in the same city - FOR THE ENTIRE GAME. There are a few moments that make you chuckle and even fewer that invoke emotional responses from you. The combat system has so many flaws that I changed the difficulty to Casual so I would cut through all combat as fast as possible to progress through the somewhat bearable story. Overall, it just felt like a downgrade from DA: Origins.… Expand
  87. aborle
    May 2, 2013
    7
    More like Dragon Age Episodes.
    If DA O was like a tasty soup, then consider DA 2 a watered down version of that same soup. Hence my rating doesn't go lower, because there is still some goodness left. enough to enjoy the game. Still, here comes the bad:
    So what happened? It honestly appears as though EA has twisted Bioware's nuts and asked them to make a sequel in such a short time. The    More like Dragon Age Episodes.
    If DA O was like a tasty soup, then consider DA 2 a watered down version of that same soup. Hence my rating doesn't go lower, because there is still some goodness left. enough to enjoy the game. Still, here comes the bad:
    So what happened? It honestly appears as though EA has twisted Bioware's nuts and asked them to make a sequel in such a short time. The main problem in Da 2 is the content, or rather the lack of it. 3 different stories occur and then the third one leads to a cliffhanger ending. Choice system this time is annoying this time which leads to the mages screwing up no matter what you choice is. Half the character roster is annoying and we are limited to 1 city (which still manages to be repetitive in itself).

    But i guess there is enough good that will still make DA O fans play this. For other ppl, pick up DA O instead its a better game    … Expand
  88. 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
  89. 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
  90. XxSoULxMaNxX
    Oct 25, 2015
    9
    The limited environment/game world is a negative. Otherwise, after enhancing just about every enhance-able aspect, who can deny the appeal of strange Merrill, Isabela (who basically forced me to "romance" her), getting the mansion, the Qunari in the city all with the fast-paced, no frills combat - this game is a solid, undeniable 9.
  91. Inkgazer
    Nov 18, 2014
    3
    Wow.
    I picked up Dragon Age 2 recently, having played and very much enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins. This game utterly fails as a sequel. Everything people played Origins for seems to have been skimped on, dumbed down, or just completely removed in DA2. The combat system, for example. On paper, it seems like an improvement (to DA:O's somewhat lacking system), but in practice it gets very    Wow.
    I picked up Dragon Age 2 recently, having played and very much enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins. This game utterly fails as a sequel. Everything people played Origins for seems to have been skimped on, dumbed down, or just completely removed in DA2. The combat system, for example. On paper, it seems like an improvement (to DA:O's somewhat lacking system), but in practice it gets very boring very fast. It's insultingly easy and repetitive, with little to no thought involved. That's the least of this game's problems, however. The plot is a mess; it's packed full of sub-plots which just fade out with no real resolution, and aren't really that interesting to begin with. Things just sort of happen, leaving the player with no feeling of agency or importance in the world. The characters as a whole weren't very engaging either, with many a stereotype and one-dimensional character. The characters are, in my opinion, the most important part of any Dragon: Age game. Without compelling characters, Dragon Age doesn't have much going for it. Had I not been such a huge fan of Origins, I wouldn't have played it through if I hadn't been such an avid fan of DA:O. A waste of my time, and certainly a waste of yours. Do not buy this game.    … Expand
  92. 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
  93. Athansor
    Nov 30, 2014
    3
    Frankly, I found this game boring. The intro promised an exciting story, but once I actually got going, things seemed to slow down. The entirety of the first "Act" is just trying to make money by doing random small quests. I don't mind a bit of build up in a game where we get to meet characters and find out what's going on, but in Dragon Age 2 you simply don't find anything out at all.Frankly, I found this game boring. The intro promised an exciting story, but once I actually got going, things seemed to slow down. The entirety of the first "Act" is just trying to make money by doing random small quests. I don't mind a bit of build up in a game where we get to meet characters and find out what's going on, but in Dragon Age 2 you simply don't find anything out at all. You meet some characters, but they're an odd bunch. They claim to have their own lives and goals, but they just stand around waiting for you. And even when you do come along, they only say the same one liners over and over again!
    The combat is fine, but that can be found in any given video game. It needs to be great in order for a game to be good, but it isn't enough to make a bad game good again. Even if it was perfect (which it isn't) it's impossible to carry a game this large all on its own. It got boring quickly because it was the only thing to really do in the game.
    The recycled locations that get used over and over again are painfully obvious. You can't help but notice and be disappointed.
    I figured it couldn't be as bad as everyone said it was, so I laid down my 20 bucks and wanted to set up my world state for Inquisition. I had more fun looking at the decisions in Dragon Age Keep than I did playing them in the game. Don't bother with this stinker.    … Expand
  94. Smilingcookie
    Mar 31, 2015
    4
    This is terrible. This is a completely different game to Dragon Age: Origins. What worked for Mass Effect does not for Dragon Age. In Mass Effect you are basically either shooting or talking at any given time. The shooting is fun and so that's ok. In Dragon Age it doesn't work like that. There is way too much focus on action, but the worst thing is the action is not even good. It's becomeThis is terrible. This is a completely different game to Dragon Age: Origins. What worked for Mass Effect does not for Dragon Age. In Mass Effect you are basically either shooting or talking at any given time. The shooting is fun and so that's ok. In Dragon Age it doesn't work like that. There is way too much focus on action, but the worst thing is the action is not even good. It's become a clickfest where you actually have an "awesome move" button. If BioWare had build in a combat system like in Dark Souls or even Risen, it could have worked out. In Dragon Age II it's just button mashing. On top of that, everything (from environment to NPC's) feels generic. I cannot play this.… Expand
  95. mmort75
    Nov 6, 2015
    2
    Gee Bioware, thanks for taking one of my favourite games ever Dragon Age 1 and making a dumbed down sequel which is so bad it sullies the first game just through association. Why make a great RPG turn based tactical game and make it into some silly Playstation type arcade game? It is very sad.
  96. Kaizoku2793
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age 2 is a big letdown for all of us Origin fans but if we can forget about Origins for a second and compare it to other RPGs Dragon Age 2 is a pretty solid game. At first I was extremely disappointed in DA2 and pessimistic towards it but when I gave it a chance I found myself unable to stop playing it (Completing the game twice). Pros:
    Many people will probably disagree but I like    Dragon Age 2 is a big letdown for all of us Origin fans but if we can forget about Origins for a second and compare it to other RPGs Dragon Age 2 is a pretty solid game. At first I was extremely disappointed in DA2 and pessimistic towards it but when I gave it a chance I found myself unable to stop playing it (Completing the game twice). Pros:
    Many people will probably disagree but I like DA2â    … Expand
  97. Peckpogydah
    Mar 25, 2011
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 1st I would like to say to everybody sorry for my spelling im from KY :( 2nd to those who gave the game a low review are you sure we are playing the same game? Graphics look amazing, (DX11 FTW) not only is combat auctly fun, its a challenge (on hard setting ofcourse, only noobs play on normal or easy), while the story is nowhere as good as DA:O, Its still very nice and engaging, I played a mage, let me tell you, I hate templars even more. I could see how if you didn't play a mage in DA:O, and especally in DA2 you might not get the same experience I did. In DA:O there were times where the story was very stale, coupled with the fact it was walk walk walk, dialoge, walk walk walk, dialoge. DA2 is more like Mass Effect 2 where interactions are Directed, and auctly have production value, not just people facing each other with blank stares talking. Everybody who gave it a bad review did so because its not what they wanted, Classic Bioware, not because the game is a bad game. Anybody who says the graphics are bad, they are nutz, it looks 10x better the the 1st one, and about 3x better the ME2. Granted im using DX11, max settings, with the Hi Res pack. My only complaint is the inventory, Mass Effect 2 has more options in armor. 5billion Bow drop, yet nobody is an archer, excpet the DLC guy, which you don't get in the 1st act, staffs NEVER drop, and you can only change your party members Weapons, Belt, Kneckless, and Rings. (which SUUUUUUUUXXXX). In conclusion it seems like DA:O and ME2 got togeather and had a baby named DA2. Granted its not Biowares best work by anymeans, With the only negitives being crappy invo, and a lesser story, (Its bioware people, their crap stories are still better then 90% of others out there) its still a very good RPG and well worth the 60Dollars if you can run @Max settings and play on hard mode. (Normal is mind numbingly easy.)… Expand
  98. OldWolf
    Mar 13, 2011
    7
    At the the time of writing this review I've left Ferelden behind in the wake of the blight and have arrived in Kirkwall, where I'm now preparing to leave on an expedition into the deep roads (Yea, they apparently reach this far). It's worth mentioning that I've done this twice, once as a warrior and once as a mage, to get a feel for how the story, dialogue and combat differs. I'm startingAt the the time of writing this review I've left Ferelden behind in the wake of the blight and have arrived in Kirkwall, where I'm now preparing to leave on an expedition into the deep roads (Yea, they apparently reach this far). It's worth mentioning that I've done this twice, once as a warrior and once as a mage, to get a feel for how the story, dialogue and combat differs. I'm starting with the general stuff, and what I've seen of the game so far hasn't been bad. Character generation: I'm not going to bash the lack of a racial choice since the story is explicitly written for shemlin (human, for does who haven't played DA). A nice touch that has been added is that you start off by picking gender and class, after which you are thrust straight into a mock-up battle against hordes of darkspawn, culminating in a fight against an ogre and an epic takedown (now THAT is a good way to start a game). During this battle you get introduced to some of the abilities available to your class by allowing you to gradually use more and more of them, and you are also taught the basics. After the battle you are introduced to the actual character-creation screen, where you can modify your Hawke's appearance. You are unfortunately not allowed to distribute starting attribute points or selecting starting abilities. Those that have played DA:O will also note that the skills are missing entirely. Interface: In my opinion, the general interface of DA2 is an improvement over DA:O. There is less embellishment and more solid information. Other than that however, the general interface has changed little, mainly just replacing the the icons for items and abilities with simpler/more generic ones. In conversations the dialogue wheel feels rather simplistic, generally having 3 options ("kind", "joking" and "forceful") that will advance the conversation, with a 4th option to "investigate" the current line of conversation further. Sometimes, however, investigating may yield a new conversation-advancing option, and sometimes the game drops this system entirely opting instead to give you an explicit "bribe" option, a "take-action" option or a set of "unspecified" options, showing both the strengths of this approach (conversations can be more expressive, but don't HAVE to be) and the weaknesses (conversations can get really confusing when the dialogue is poorly written and/or acted). Combat: This is clearly a more action-oriented game than DA:O. Battles flow smoothly, without an obvious turn-system your character will chop away at the enemy as best they can, your character will make a lounge attack to close in on an opponent quicker when you order them to attack and the addition of "physical force" modifiers means that combatants may be staggered or interrupted while in combat (Something sadly lacking from DA:O). That said, pretty much all battles now follow the same formula: You engage an enemy that is (generally) in plain sight, as you wear them down they will receive a wave of reinforcements (they've apparently been hiding the whole time) that will generally attack you from behind. Depending on the battle, there can be as many as 3-4 such waves. On the up-side, this means that you have to plan ahead, conserve your strength and pick your targets well. On the down-side this means that combat will get very predictable, and you generally end up formulating a master-strategy for all battles. On another note, the injury-system is greatly simplified. An injury is just a handicap to your health, if you receive an injury (either from falling in battle, or setting off a trap) your maximum health is reduced. Thats it, don't expect any depth. The abilities are generally well balanced, and the addition of abilities that decreases the threat-level of a character (like the rogues "Evade") while disengaging them from close-combat are definitely welcome. In conclusion the combat-system is very reminiscent of DA:O with a few modifications (mostly for the better imho). Story & quests: Well-written and interesting so far, however with at least one major plothole. It is nice to have a story that let's you start without the weight of the world on your shoulders, letting you acclimatise to the world. The quests are generally more convoluted than they first appear and will often twist and turn to keep you interested. Graphics: The Game looks pretty good, in the sense that DA:O still looks pretty good. The graphics do not seem to have been hugely improved since DA:O. Buggy-ness: The game has been running rather smoothly for me. I pre-ordered the game off-of Steam and have been playing it a little each day since it became available. The one bug that I've noticed is that when you alt-tab out of the game and re-enter all menus stop working (i.e. they cannot be opened). Thankfully the game auto-saves as default. Conclusion: DA2 is worth playing, but it does not appear the part of a masterpiece.… Expand
  99. Shepard
    May 18, 2011
    9
    Holy ****
    What's wrong with these people? Seriously it may not be as good as other games of Bioware but still it kicks ass. Quests and combat are enjoyable and the story is good. Characters are also deep but not as deep as Origins or Mass Effect.
  100. Talvrae
    Mar 20, 2011
    7
    As a Bioware fan girl i will try to make as much of an unbiased review i can do for this game. I'm not blind to it's flaw. But dont want to bash it rediculously for some of the scandals on the game reviews.
    Even if some of the features of Dragon Age Origins return, this is not the same game at all, for the good and the bad. We return to Thedas the same universe and we still are playing a    As a Bioware fan girl i will try to make as much of an unbiased review i can do for this game. I'm not blind to it's flaw. But dont want to bash it rediculously for some of the scandals on the game reviews.
    Even if some of the features of Dragon Age Origins return, this is not the same game at all, for the good and the bad. We return to Thedas the same universe and we still are playing a tactical RPG like the first one, who let you customise the enemies tactics (Richards that's not an unfinished feature, it's necesseries with all the customisations possibles, and it allow to to addapt the tactics to your liking).
    .
    I wills tart out with the bads
    Less customisation than the first one, It's no longer possible to play an elf or a dwarf.
    Recicled environements
    Lack of environement variety
    straight lined missions

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

    It's not as good as the original but still a good game    … Expand
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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.
    Read full review
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