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. Slumlord722
    May 18, 2011
    2
    My question is this: are the journalistic reviewers playing the same game we are? And if so, why is there such a discrepancy?

    Now, I'm not gonna lie to you, I started off liking DA:2. Graphics aren't a huge deal to me, and I thought the voice acting was pretty good. Then...then I realized I was running into the same places I had been, doing re-skinned quests for dull reasons, and I just    My question is this: are the journalistic reviewers playing the same game we are? And if so, why is there such a discrepancy?

    Now, I'm not gonna lie to you, I started off liking DA:2. Graphics aren't a huge deal to me, and I thought the voice acting was pretty good. Then...then I realized I was running into the same places I had been, doing re-skinned quests for dull reasons, and I just put the game down. It just gets boring. And that's terrible.    … Expand
  2. IrishK
    May 18, 2011
    2
    After Dragon Age: Origins I was very excited at the prospect of a sequel. One of the best RPGs of our time could only get bigger and better, and improve in areas where the original fell short. Yes, you would think that would be the logical progression. While Dragon Age 2 does make some improvements - chiefly to the combat - it completely misses the mark in almost every other area. It'sAfter Dragon Age: Origins I was very excited at the prospect of a sequel. One of the best RPGs of our time could only get bigger and better, and improve in areas where the original fell short. Yes, you would think that would be the logical progression. While Dragon Age 2 does make some improvements - chiefly to the combat - it completely misses the mark in almost every other area. It's like the developers removed everything that made Origins... so magical.
    Gone are the dialogue choices that had risqué implications. Where before there was a grey area when it came to certain actions and their outcomes, everything in Dragon Age 2 is in black and white and signposted so the game's dialogue choices (denoted by icons) serve as a sort of moral compass, which removes much - perhaps all - of the spontaneity.
    Gone is the world where you could explore and suspend belief. I often found myself experiencing moments of déjà vu when I entered a "new" location in Dragon Age 2, and that is because many of the game's locations are reused. This completely breaks the immersion and makes the game's stages feel like a low budget panto.
    As for the game's difficulty level, you will be hard pressed to find a challenge at "Normal" level, which is the equivalent of Origins' "Hard" setting. While this may seem like a nitpick, I feel that it's important to point out because Dragon Age 2 seems to make a concentrated effort throughout to distance itself from Origins, right down to the nitty gritty little details.
    While Dragon Age 2 attempts to tread new ground, it is mired by its many bad defaults. In summary:

    The Good
    -Bethany Hawke
    -Some of the music
    -The new Qunari
    -Character art and detail
    -New combat mechanics

    The Bad
    -The new Avatar styled elves, with their strange Grecian noses
    -The new Skeletor styled Darkspawn
    -Repetitive environments
    -The game's time lapse, which breaks immersion when you meet characters that seem to know you, yet whom you've never met before
    -NPCs can only wear armour prescribed to them by the game
    -The new dialogue system
    -Brazen romantic dialogue that is contrived/forced on the player
    -Weak writing

    I rate this game a generous 2 out of 10.    … Expand
  3. asschun
    May 19, 2011
    0
    Okay, maybe my score isn't accurate but I do believe it deserves a 3. An average of 4.3 is too generous for a piece of trash like this. Hopefully my score will contribute to lowering the rating to where it truly belongs.

    Boring, dumbed-down, derivative, glitchy. Day one DLC. I'd like to think this isn't the actual sequel but a casual minigame to tease us for the real game. It's like    Okay, maybe my score isn't accurate but I do believe it deserves a 3. An average of 4.3 is too generous for a piece of trash like this. Hopefully my score will contribute to lowering the rating to where it truly belongs.

    Boring, dumbed-down, derivative, glitchy. Day one DLC. I'd like to think this isn't the actual sequel but a casual minigame to tease us for the real game. It's like Bioware is experimenting to see if they can make a lot of money without any effort.    … Expand
  4. varden
    May 19, 2011
    6
    The Good: I enjoyed this game and the dark storyline. Most of the characters particularly Hawke were fantastic. The combat was fast and fun, and I enjoyed many of the side quests in this game.

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

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

    I'm generously giving this game a 6 only because the production quality was high. Still was it high out of effort or because there was so little to develop for?    … Expand
  5. siremil
    May 20, 2011
    0
    BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us! BioWare do not f*ck with us!
  6. PresCthulhu
    May 20, 2011
    4
    When I first saw DA2 I was blown away. Its combat became a lot better than the first installment, it looked and felt refined. Then I started to know better. It has like 10 re-used area and they did not even bother to alter them after chapter 1. It has nothing to do with a roleplaying game it is much more like a hack and slash. Your decisions count literally nothing. You have basicly oneWhen I first saw DA2 I was blown away. Its combat became a lot better than the first installment, it looked and felt refined. Then I started to know better. It has like 10 re-used area and they did not even bother to alter them after chapter 1. It has nothing to do with a roleplaying game it is much more like a hack and slash. Your decisions count literally nothing. You have basicly one ending and cannot alter the flow of the game in any possible way. It is really what it looks like: Varrick's story, not yours and not even Hawke's. I think the worst part is that the whole mess want's to take itself seriously and ends up with a plothole ridden meaningless tale where the only thing that matters how it looks like. The problem is that after a few hours you actuall saw everything combatwise so the story should keep you interested, but it fails hardly to do so. I had to actually force myself to finish the game. The first two chapter is quite good if you can forgive several smaller plotholes, but the chapter 3 and the ending is the worst garbage I saw in a long time in an "rpg". Also it was marketed as an 18+ game. Please... The only thing that is hardcore in this is that people explode literally if you backstab them. I honestly hope BW leaves EA and fires some of the responsible guys... I love BW please do something to reverse the spiral!!! Alo this was the very last BW game I pre-ordered. I lost my faith even in ME3... :-(… Expand
  7. Michiyuki
    May 20, 2011
    4
    It's really sad they spoiled the game so much.We were waiting for something like DA:O and got nothing but a raw Mass Effect:Medieval.Thank you,EA guys...I believe it's their fault.Entirely.
    Though,battle animation is nice.
  8. Mystril
    Nov 29, 2011
    2
    The first, and hopefully last, miss-step from Bioware. After about 10 hours play time I couldn't play the game anymore, I have before noticed copy paste dungeons/tiles/textures, but NOTHING to this degree. This game is one big copy paste and, it seems, the developers have been doing ALOT of sitting around, staring into the wall, not knowing what to do. I am sorry but the combat does notThe first, and hopefully last, miss-step from Bioware. After about 10 hours play time I couldn't play the game anymore, I have before noticed copy paste dungeons/tiles/textures, but NOTHING to this degree. This game is one big copy paste and, it seems, the developers have been doing ALOT of sitting around, staring into the wall, not knowing what to do. I am sorry but the combat does not make up for it, the "improved" graphics does not make up for it, the added voice acting to the protagonist does not make up for it. Because none of these improvements actually work in any meaningful way. I was hoping for a Dragon Age II, that was worthy of the title coming from the really well made Dragon Age: Origins, but I was seriously let down here. I wish I could get my money back, but alas, I am on the pc, so I can't. I did manage to drag myself through the game and complete it, and forget it. This game is not worth your money or your time, stay well clear.… Expand
  9. spaghettiwestrn
    May 29, 2011
    0
    A god awful abortion of a game, made by a development team of pompous, arrogant children who can not take criticism in any form. David Gaider and Stanley "End of Line" Woo spent more time trolling their company forums than they did writing or developing.
  10. Hiei987
    Jul 3, 2011
    0
    One step forward, 5 steps back. This game has better interface than the original and fails at eevrything else. The ratings and sales should be a good sign for Bioware to think about with their future games.
  11. Tolhaller
    Jul 3, 2011
    3
    Nice graphics, but I never felt I was in control of anything except slashing things. Apalling game play, but no doubt delicious for the console crowd who don't demand too much depth to their gameplay.
  12. Freeman1977
    Jul 5, 2011
    1
    Baldur's Gate is Dungeon's and Dragons at it's finest. Memorable story, D&D game play, and the ability to build a character and then transfer that character into the sequel. Dragon Age has none of these virtues. It's a boring click-fest.
  13. krkbomb
    Jul 26, 2011
    2
    When compared broadly to other video games, DA2 is far above average. But when you compare it to other Bioware games, or to Dragon Age: Origins, one of Bioware's best, this game is far below anything else in the lineup.

    The combat is rendered meaningless by long cooldowns on essential spells, poor mana-efficiency, and ridiculously high respawn rates, making hack-and-slash builds the only    When compared broadly to other video games, DA2 is far above average. But when you compare it to other Bioware games, or to Dragon Age: Origins, one of Bioware's best, this game is far below anything else in the lineup.

    The combat is rendered meaningless by long cooldowns on essential spells, poor mana-efficiency, and ridiculously high respawn rates, making hack-and-slash builds the only real option (and you can forget about healing). The respawn rates are the breaking point here, because it ruins virtually every other aspect of the gameplay, because why put any effort into killing things if a million more are going to spawn when they die?

    The RPG elements are equally meaningless. The decision to automatically move items to the "vendor trash" bin in your inventory only highlights that you really aren't making any decisions, you're just playing a game on rails. Throughout the game it is painfully obvious that some items are intended for you while others are useless. About the only thing you have to recognize is whether or not an item fits your class, and usually this is done for you by making it impossible to equip another class's gear.

    The look of the game is pretty, but too cartoonish to be taken seriously, and the texture resolution is appalling. The environments are boring and repetitive (MOST areas in the game were literally recycled assets). The general aesthetic is just ridiculous: a blend of "DARKER AND EDGIER ZOMG" and japanophilic anime-envy.

    The worst problem with this game is that, unlike previous BioWare games, the player is provided with no real choice and is instead placed on rails through a storyline that really is not all that compelling. Cutscenes continually interrupt the story, only to force you to watch two people sitting in a room and talking about nothing in particular, while the main story meanders around with no real goal or purpose for your character. The "light/dark" or "paragon/renegade" system or whatever is meaningless to the story as well. Instead, your dialogue choices determine what tone of voice you will use to say EXACTLY THE SAME THING and take EXACTLY THE SAME ACTION. Your choices range from sarcastic to dry to caustic. And that's a bit of a stretch since all your choices are basically the same blend of these three.

    Without spoiling anything, the ending is actually a pretty good piece of story-telling, but the problem is, since you have absolutely no control over you character's speech or actions, this ending will either be:

    completely satisfactory (yay, FINALLY something interesting happened)

    or

    UTTERLY TERRIBLE (why did I even bother playing this?)...

    depending upon what you were trying to do. They would have been better served to simply discard the dialogue and alignment systems altogether and let the player experience the story in the way BioWare clearly intended.

    Overall, the game was generally playable but usually unpleasant throughout, and while the ending was somewhat interesting, it also left complete disappointment at the game's overall shortcomings, and guaranteed that I would never play this game or any other Dragon Age game again. I would write off BioWare entirely after this, but instead I think the ideas they were working with in DA2 were promising, just poorly executed and a bad fit for the Dragon Age franchise. Mass Effect 2 is a good example of similar ideas with better execution in a franchise better suited to those concepts. Here's hoping that they find their way again for ME3 and their Star Wars MMO.    … Expand
  14. Surg3on
    Jul 30, 2011
    3
    At its core the problem with this game is that it was too boring to push on with. I didn't feel like I was doing anything special... maybe it happens towards the end, i'll never know. being concerned with your wallet the whole game isn't very heroic!
    Some parts hint at a great story but ultimately the whole game is let down by the actual mechanics of the game, you know, actual gameplay!).    At its core the problem with this game is that it was too boring to push on with. I didn't feel like I was doing anything special... maybe it happens towards the end, i'll never know. being concerned with your wallet the whole game isn't very heroic!
    Some parts hint at a great story but ultimately the whole game is let down by the actual mechanics of the game, you know, actual gameplay!). I assume to get greater graphical fidelity the user became boxed into what seems to be a series of corridors and rooms. You never get to explore a world, you just seem to be going from point to point.
    Combat is dull. Having waves of filler spawn while you fight a boss with a crazy long health bar is not fun. Having your teammates unable to wear most loot items smacks of laziness.    … Expand
  15. Westbound
    Feb 23, 2012
    0
    This game is horrible. It's sexist, moronic, and boring. The writing is terrible at best, the gameplay is countless copy & paste cave after cave with boring combat. Also, I just wanted to share this. It pretty much sums up how I feel about DA II. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT9UDRbjm94

    Quit padding your reviews Bioware. No one likes you anymore. Just make Baulders Gate against with    This game is horrible. It's sexist, moronic, and boring. The writing is terrible at best, the gameplay is countless copy & paste cave after cave with boring combat. Also, I just wanted to share this. It pretty much sums up how I feel about DA II. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT9UDRbjm94

    Quit padding your reviews Bioware. No one likes you anymore. Just make Baulders Gate against with better graphics. Don't change a single word of dialog or combat.    … Expand
  16. desmond
    Mar 10, 2011
    4
    Dragon Age II is a slap in the face of CRPG fans. The combat system has been revamped to an action-oriented style. The aerial tactical view from the first game is gone. Targeting specific enemies is often problematic, due to the limited camera view.
    The graphics are average, and not on par with Mass Effect 2. A dialogue system, similar to the Mass Effect series, is used in Dragon Age II.    Dragon Age II is a slap in the face of CRPG fans. The combat system has been revamped to an action-oriented style. The aerial tactical view from the first game is gone. Targeting specific enemies is often problematic, due to the limited camera view.
    The graphics are average, and not on par with Mass Effect 2. A dialogue system, similar to the Mass Effect series, is used in Dragon Age II. You'll get to choose from a set of paraphrased dialogue options rather than full text lines. These paraphrased dialogue options rarely have the expected result, which turns the dialogue system into a confusing guessing game.
    Most of the game takes place in Kirkwall. There are only a few outside locations. Several cave maps are identical, despite the relatively small game world.
    The item system, or more precisely party management, has taken a turn for the worse. You only have full control over the equipment for your main character. You can't change the armor of your party members.

    Bioware turned Dragon Age II into an action RPG, and tailored it for consoles. They simplified the dialogue system, added hack-and-slash combat, and removed a fundamental RPG feature - the party members equipment management. Dragon Age II has some good points like storytelling, but that's about it. The bad parts outweigh the good ones. It's sad to see a company, which released a masterpiece like Baldur's Gate II, fall to such a low level.    … Expand
  17. Rock-o
    Mar 10, 2011
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dear Bioware,

    I just made a metacritic account for the sole purpose of giving my review(more like ranting/flaming two cents) for this game that I was so excited for......... and I am too depressed to write it. Why would you do this bioware? After so many great games you give me this. I thought that when I beat the game, I was still somewhere in the middle of the plots/storyline...nope. The credits appearing literally felt like a smack in the face. I'm just so utterly dissapointed right now that I don't even know what to type. Way to dumb down absolutely everything about the original game that I loved so much. I have never, ever, beaten a game and felt confused/depressed thereafter until I played this. I am absolutely refusing to buying a single DLC for this game as I am not giving any money to the people that just robbed me of sixty bucks.. besides the fact that this is going to be the very first bioware game I have ever traded back in as of tomorrow morning. Thanks for wasting my time setting yourselves up for another sixty dollar expansion.. With Love, Already Dreaming Of Uncharted 3    … Expand
  18. Digitalkid
    Mar 13, 2011
    5
    Payed 60$ on steam just because of a review, and got what?! DAO was weak enough, but this ...! Simplifying everything to nothing.

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

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

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

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

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

    3-4 hours of DA2 was enough. Looks like nothin left of Bioware i ones knew. Bye guys.    … Expand
  19. Jowdet
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    What a horrible game. Bioware dropped the ball on this one, don't waste your money. It's really short - It took me 17 hours to complete, and I wasn't even rushing. Compare that to the original Dragon Age which took me well over 60 hours to complete. Then you have DLC's ready to milk your wallet on the friggin same day as the game was released.

    This sucks. Bioware sucks. EA sucks.
  20. Backintime
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    A pile of ass. Really, why does this exist? Did the demo not tip you off? If you're going to buy it, I probably can't stop you... just be aware that you could buy many better games for the same $60. Also, I paid $60 for a PC game. Brb, shooting self.
  21. Pandabearparade
    Mar 16, 2011
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game gets a 0 from me as a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, which is among my favorite all-time games. As a stand-alone title I would give it a 7, but it isn't a stand-alone title, and it tarnishes a far superior game in its mediocrity.

    Dragon Age 2 gets everything that Origins did right, wrong. The characters are great, but you don't get nearly enough time with them so they feel underdeveloped and rushed. The plot is excellent for the first two acts on the first play through, but the entire narrative falls apart in the third act and on the second play through you realize that you aren't actually being given any choices in the game, merely the illusion of choices. None of your actions affect the outcome of the story, which wouldn't bother me if this wasn't a Bioware game that is sold almost entirely on the story and characters. Worse than that is the fact that your choices in Origins are barely included, and some are completely disregarded. For example, if you kill Leliana or Anders, they both still appear in Dragon Age 2 as if that never happened. The environments are great, until you get to the second act and realize that they are all reused over and over again, so that every cave and dungeon looks exactly the same. This is a common theme in the game as a whole, things are just reused over and over and I guess the developers hoped you wouldn't notice. Items have the same generic names (ring, belt, boots), and vendor items all have the same trash can icon. The music, which at first is excellent, really starts to wear you down when you hear the same repeated 60 second track over and over. Dragon Age 2 was rushed out to capitalize on the success of Dragon Age: Origins. The game does not contain a story that needed to be told for its own sake, it's just a way to milk customers out of money while the franchise still has a lot of momentum. The narrative doesn't have an 'ending' as much as a full stop with no wrap-up, followed by a (metaphorical) "To be continued..."

    If you loved Origins, Dragon Age 2 is going to be a jagged pill to swallow. I'd suggest waiting for an ultimate edition so you at least get the DLC for the same price, because as the game stands right now it isn't even close to worth your 50+ dollars.    … Expand
  22. Paulie_C
    Mar 13, 2011
    2
    I would have given this game 7 or 8/10 if it wasn't called DA2. This is not the sequel the first game deserved and is a traversty to the RPG genre set forth from its predcessor. Having said that, if you ignore the title and assume this game isn't within the DA lineage then it is actually quite entertaining, even though it is a hack & slash 'RPG'.
  23. ZieGentleman
    Mar 10, 2011
    2
    So terribly dissapointed. Don't we have enough watered down mainstream games out there? That might even have been okay if this game was a good mainstream game. But its not. It tries to be a hybrid between an action game like God of war and a classical rpg, and it ends up failing at both. The story is also the worst I have seen from Bioware. The story never picks up a main goal and all youSo terribly dissapointed. Don't we have enough watered down mainstream games out there? That might even have been okay if this game was a good mainstream game. But its not. It tries to be a hybrid between an action game like God of war and a classical rpg, and it ends up failing at both. The story is also the worst I have seen from Bioware. The story never picks up a main goal and all you do ALL game is run around in one city and do quests that all feel like side missions. Suddenly the game ends with a bam and a cliffhanger... Not only that but they reuse every dungeon like 15 times, and there are only like 6-7 small dungeons. Any real rpg elements are taken out, you never even get the opportunity to talk your way out of a fight everyone just charge you. If I want an action rpg I will rather play diablo or titan quest.... this is a bad action rpg and it shames the dragon age franchise. I might be a little harsh, its an okay game, but nothing more... don't expect anything.… Expand
  24. Waterboy2go
    Mar 10, 2011
    1
    A far cry from its glistening counterpart. The graphics feel dumbed down and is impossible to not notice all their flaws. The dialogue sounds as if it was written by a fanfic writer, and takes a lot of atmosphere and emotion out of the game. The clunky controls make the game nearly impossible to play. Overall, the game feels very rushed and is more of an open alpha then a genuine release.
  25. Lupus
    Mar 26, 2011
    3
    Bioware itself sets the bar for quality RPG, where the act out role was paramount. Now act out the role can not, in principle, the class character only changes the way of killing meat, not the sollution quests . ring of conversation way interactive system (hello Mass Effect) also does not help back the role. Since by the choice of possible answers, we only permit the tone of theBioware itself sets the bar for quality RPG, where the act out role was paramount. Now act out the role can not, in principle, the class character only changes the way of killing meat, not the sollution quests . ring of conversation way interactive system (hello Mass Effect) also does not help back the role. Since by the choice of possible answers, we only permit the tone of the conversation. (Good-neutral-evil). Sad to see how Bioware rejects all "unnecessary" gameplay elements to please a wide audience. Perhaps if the game was called Adventure not RPG, she would have received a much higher score. If only player would not be bored running around the monotonous dead locations.… Expand
  26. dopigsfly123
    Mar 13, 2011
    5
    While I think the "0" and "1" ratings here are unwarranted and a little unfair (this isn't E.T., people), I do agree that this was a shockingly disappointing game; why Bioware chose to so drastically alter a new, highly successful franchise is beyond me.

    Their mantra while developing this game seems to have been "repetition, repetition, repetition!". Most combats proceed exactly the same    While I think the "0" and "1" ratings here are unwarranted and a little unfair (this isn't E.T., people), I do agree that this was a shockingly disappointing game; why Bioware chose to so drastically alter a new, highly successful franchise is beyond me.

    Their mantra while developing this game seems to have been "repetition, repetition, repetition!". Most combats proceed exactly the same way: random group of enemies encountered - group killed - second wave attacks - group killed - end of encounter. This might not be so bad if the strategies you used to defeat these groups weren't roughly the same every single time. Alas, I found myself mindlessly clicking the same buttons to defeat the same enemies in the same number of waves for the entire duration of the game. The environments are repeatedly re-used as well. Not only do you find yourself returning to the same cave for like five different quests, but that same cave layout is used for other quests as well. Then there's mansion levels, warehouse levels, and city levels; they're all the same. How lazy can Bioware get? You never even get to venture beyond the city of Kirkwall and its four adjoining (repeatedly re-used) environments. That said, the story wasn't terrible (although I don't think it compares well to DA:O). I would argue that the basic mechanics of combat have been improved as well; it's snappier, faster-paced, and generally cooler looking. Unfortunately, they took a great deal of depth out of the game when they "streamlined" (gutted) the abilities and skill trees. The end result is a great looking combat system that is less strategic, less active, and more repetitive than the one in DA:O. They have the framework, but they didn't do anything good with it.    … Expand
  27. Kyreth
    Mar 16, 2011
    6
    Dragon Age 2 seemed like it had a good potential at first, but ultimately feels like a rushed product that didn't receive the care and love it deserves. I wouldn't say I regret the purchase, but it certainly left me a little disappointed and lowered my interest in the franchise.

    But there are some good points buried somewhere in there. The story is decent, albeit predictable, and    Dragon Age 2 seemed like it had a good potential at first, but ultimately feels like a rushed product that didn't receive the care and love it deserves. I wouldn't say I regret the purchase, but it certainly left me a little disappointed and lowered my interest in the franchise.

    But there are some good points buried somewhere in there. The story is decent, albeit predictable, and presented clearly enough that it flows naturally without those "wait, why is this happening?" moments. Voice acting is for the most part remarkable and quite possibly the strongest point of this title, breathing life into our cast of companions. Nothing as memorable as Morrigan's personality, but characters such as Varric make for decent substitutes. Combat, while overall arguably inferior to its predecessor's, is more responsive and abilities more distinct from each other, which is a good thing.

    However, there are more negative points than I'd like to list. Graphics are at best average, with low resolution textures that are very distracting, especially during cutscenes. Areas are reused over and over again (houses, caverns, warehouses) which totally kills the sense of danger, and any motivation you might have had to explore their world. Combat is more focused on killing hordes of weaklings and far too easy, bordering on hack & slash more than a strategy rpg, although some boss battles are interesting. Many fun elements from the first game have been removed (crafting, isometric camera, consumables diversity, companion conversations, etc), further supporting the hack & slash mentality while removing a great deal of depth. Menus design is inconvenient (talents all thrown together, no easy distinction between character-specific, general, unlockables), some informations are on different tabs for no reason (why are resistances shown alone on their own tab again?). At least the in-game UI is decent.

    Long story short, they tried and didn't quite get there. I can only hope they'll be given all the time they need for whatever DA game comes next, instead of getting another rushed one.    … Expand
  28. alexboculon
    Mar 16, 2011
    6
    DA2 is very impressive at first. A huge step up from Origins in terms of graphics and fluidity of the interface, making it much faster paced and exciting to watch. It's really beautifully done. However, the whole idea of a great RPG should be that it's like reading a great story (only better, since there's no reading!), so a great plot is an obvious necessity. Simply put, the plot of DA2DA2 is very impressive at first. A huge step up from Origins in terms of graphics and fluidity of the interface, making it much faster paced and exciting to watch. It's really beautifully done. However, the whole idea of a great RPG should be that it's like reading a great story (only better, since there's no reading!), so a great plot is an obvious necessity. Simply put, the plot of DA2 is boring. .
    In comparison to Origins, everything is on a much smaller scale. Rather than moving across a country to thwart the apocalypse, all you do is move around a city increasing your fame, and putting out minor fires in your personal life and local politics. Sure, the political implications of the characters' actions are sort of interesting, but on a much smaller scale than, say, saving the world. .

    My other complaint is that the setting is so limited. Spending the entire game in one city means they had to reuse the same settings over, and over, and over, and over. And over. I get that it's hard to design maps and textures, and that reusing them somewhat is necessary, but they really went to far with the recycling. We aren't just talking about going back to the market district a few times, or playing through a map once, then revisiting it later under different circumstances (that can even be cool sometimes, like in Origins you revisit a familiar city during a siege and all the familiar sites are burning). We're talking about repeatedly performing "new" missions in the exact same cave, with the exact same rooms, only you're supposed to pretend it's different. "Gee what a coincidence, this is the 8th quest I've been in a cave with a staircase EXACTLY like this one." There are times when they use map layouts designed for the deep roads as if they were sewers beneath the city. COME ON!! :(
    .

    It just feels like they wrote a game with about 10 hours of gameplay worth of plot, then tried to stretch it out with a bunch of filler missions, without drawing up new settings. I'd almost say it feels like an expansion pack in it's laziness, but that would be going too far since the graphics and gameplay engine really is all new. Maybe the best description would be to say this is an all new game, but just a really lazy one. One they wrote half of, got tired, and just threw together some filler in the end to round it out. .

    I won't include any spoilers, but I will say that the game's claim that you rise to power to become the most important character in the world, is ridiculous. More like you rise to power to be "pretty important, I guess."    … Expand
  29. aLIEnreal
    Mar 17, 2011
    3
    TDLR: A fun action game, but a sad disappointing follow-up to the rpg masterpiece "DA:O". It should had been named as a dragon age spin-off ( e.g DA: dynasty warrior/legend or something )||||

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

    DA2 is a fun action oriented "rpg-ish" game which sadly failed as a sequel. Its only redeeming quality is perhaps the revamped combat system which is much more action and "button smashing". The lacklustre plot, the small set of repetitively recycled dungeons/environment/enemies and numerous glitches indicate a rushed unpolished product. The game has a long long list of flaws, but its cardinal sin was the failure develop any semblance of a role playing game. Most quest were simply reduced to a generic formula of "click me ---> teleport there ---> click/kill". The fame choice system of bioware games became a mere selection of your speech tone as opposed to any significant degree of plot branching. The game has simply been reduced to an excuse for button smashing. EA/Bioware should had just brand and market this game off as a dragon game spin off.    … Expand
  30. Yddraiggoch
    Sep 10, 2011
    0
    I'm really not going to waste an awful lot of my time on this. Wasted enough time and money by buying the game in the first place Terrible interface and camera view.
    Dumbed down combat.
    Dumbed down skills system.

    I thought DA:O was as about as low as you can go for "Inclusiveness" - DA2 has shown me how wrong I was!!!! But what do you expect from Electronic Arse and Blow-Ware?
  31. nperry
    Mar 25, 2011
    4
    As a so-called sequel to DAO, DA2 is a huge disappointment. I've played through twice. Basically, it suffers from the rush to release syndrome: lack of time means lack of creativity and imagination. The game is just boring; it is stale, ordinary and cheaply made. Because the game called itself Dragon Age 2, I expected something better, even extraordinary. Not necessarily an exactAs a so-called sequel to DAO, DA2 is a huge disappointment. I've played through twice. Basically, it suffers from the rush to release syndrome: lack of time means lack of creativity and imagination. The game is just boring; it is stale, ordinary and cheaply made. Because the game called itself Dragon Age 2, I expected something better, even extraordinary. Not necessarily an exact clone of DAO, but at least a continuity in the feel of DAO, its tenor and spirit, in writing that believed in itself, in actors in whom you could tell relished their roles, in plots and subplots that got better as the game went on.

    I can tell when a game is really great: I get addicted. I can't stop playing it. I don't want to go to bed, I don't want to go to work. Even more frightening, I don't want to eat. On the first playthrough of DA2, I thought something was wrong with me because I got bored. And annoyed. I could walk away from it and not feel withdrawal symptoms. And the more I played the more frustrated I became that there was just nothing that was very interesting about it. Even the ending was a non-event.

    I scored DA2 below average, a harsher than usual judgement simply because it was a Bioware product. Next time I will know better: no more pre-ordering, never trust a demo or a trailer, and wait until the user reviews come out.    … Expand
  32. camoe
    May 18, 2011
    2
    This game is the biggest turd i have had the displeasure of playing lets start with the graphics they are like a game from about ten years ago when you hit someone with a sword they explode.They have used the same locations over and over again i think there is about four in the whole game.God the side quest are so boring go to that place and fetch that object go to this place and kill thatThis game is the biggest turd i have had the displeasure of playing lets start with the graphics they are like a game from about ten years ago when you hit someone with a sword they explode.They have used the same locations over and over again i think there is about four in the whole game.God the side quest are so boring go to that place and fetch that object go to this place and kill that person after about two hours of this repetitiveness you fill like slashing your own wrists.And this company has turned into greedy bastards they just bought out some DLC that they charge for some sort of clothes pack need i say more after about three hours i uninstalled it from my pc and good riddance to it… Expand
  33. jorge100
    Jul 6, 2011
    0
    Dragon Age 2 is epic like if pooping in your pants in public was epic. Waste of money terrible game play. Characters were lacking. Skill tree and talents were horrible. Items stunk, customization across the board stunk. I would rather chew off my own arm than play this game. If you like Dragon Age 2 you are either paid to, or your a moron.
  34. bjaz
    Dec 3, 2012
    3
    a failed rpg game
    can't found anything great
    dragon age origin was a epic game and this game unable to touch e...
    hoping dao3 would be better.....
  35. DDLRUS
    Mar 15, 2011
    3
    Dear EA, why you think i'am so stupid to buy THIS говно некаÑ
  36. Jyscal
    Mar 15, 2011
    3
    Mindless, dull, boring and generic are the first words that come to mind when playing this game.
    There is literally nothing good you can say about this game, absolutely nothing; the story is boring, the characters have very poor personalities and don't add much depth to the game, love interests are there to appeal to "mature gamers that play mature games" and don't add anything to the    Mindless, dull, boring and generic are the first words that come to mind when playing this game.
    There is literally nothing good you can say about this game, absolutely nothing; the story is boring, the characters have very poor personalities and don't add much depth to the game, love interests are there to appeal to "mature gamers that play mature games" and don't add anything to the story either, the characters themselves look somewhat decent with the texture pack, but the areas and surroundings feel very dead and generic. And oh wow, the UI, it feels like I'm playing **** alpha, it is just that bad, most custom WoW UI's (hell even the regular one) look much better than this piece of **** Luckily I didn't pay for this piece of **** as it truly is depressing for a company like Bioware to **** out a turd like this. I'm still trying to come up with something good I can say about this game, but nope, I just can't do it.    … Expand
  37. GameMasterHowx
    Mar 15, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A little dissapointment for this game im not suprissed for thisgame its been a big hype and im from begining been sceptic this game is not bad bad very bad graphics,simple combat,not so good story and many people wil sad that this games is bad but its not but bioware im dissapointed… Expand
  38. Surenkin
    Mar 26, 2011
    2
    I have enjoyed almost all the games Bioware has produced in the past. Hardly anyone can deny that games like Baldurs Gate II, Dragon Age Origins and Kotor provide tons of entertainment. They received high ratings from professional reviewers and the community was pleased.

    What happened? How is it possible for a gaming company to take such a nosedive in one year? It would have been    I have enjoyed almost all the games Bioware has produced in the past. Hardly anyone can deny that games like Baldurs Gate II, Dragon Age Origins and Kotor provide tons of entertainment. They received high ratings from professional reviewers and the community was pleased.

    What happened? How is it possible for a gaming company to take such a nosedive in one year?

    It would have been UNFATHOMABLE to even consider that the average community score for a Dragon Age sequel would be less than 60/100 but here we are.

    How is it that in almost every single installment before Dragon Age 2 we had the ability to impact the world around us and the ending of the game would change depending on our choices? But now it doesn't matter who you support, not one bit. One tragedy after another isn't the core problem here but that you can't do anything about it.

    What's the replay value people? Really, what is it? What can I do differently? Have sex with Merrill instead of Isabela and change my tone of voice while speaking during pre-determined events?

    And how is it that romances have devolved into *press heart symbol to have h0t s3x*

    What happened to gameplay? What happened to stealing, creating potions, collecting resources and having a connection with the world around us?

    Where is the possibility to lie, intimidate and charm during conversations? Isn't that what roleplaying has been all about in your previous releases? You dont even need to read your own lines in DA2 (nor can you). Just choose one option from *calm*, *joke* or *angry*. Talking yourself out from a bad spot isn't really an option if the game has already decided what is going to happen.

    What happened to being able to choose your own race. What's the point of having racism towards elves if you cant even play one anymore?

    Customizing the armor of your companions might not seem like a big deal to many people since we are forced to use the best armor sets anyway and sell all the junk. But it does look completely stupid to have some pirate woman in a prostitute uniform fighting against a high-dragon. This is something I expect to see from square and Final Fantasy, not Bioware.

    And the worst thing is that after investing over 40 hours of gameplay, there is no real ending or closure. So what's the idea behind this? Rip us off with DLC's?

    And people really need to stop being naive. I hardly doubt this is going to be a prequel to some epic tale. Why should I believe that a savegame import would matter now when it has never had a major impact in the past? It's just going to be another set of cameos, letters from the people you saved and a couple of mentions about what happened in the past.

    This game does its job as a linear adventure hack'n'slasher but that's it.

    Just one year ago Bioware put square on blast by stating that "Final Fantasy XIII is not an RPG yadayada". And here we are now....I hope CD Projekt stays silent and walks the walk with Witcher 2, because you guys need a reality check.

    On a scale from 1 to pretzel, I'm mad salty lol. I guess it's time to go back to hyping the upcoming Mass Effect 2 DLC, because atleast you still have dev-teams that know what the hell they are doing.    … Expand
  39. TheangryOne
    Apr 8, 2011
    1
    How can you possible go from something so awesome to this pile of digital crap, Bioware? Seriously! The story, characters, setting, and...well everything have been dummed down so horribly it's an insult to the original. This looks more like Bioware made it for 9 year olds.

    Nice job **** it up, Bioware. Nice job.
  40. TheArchitect
    Apr 24, 2011
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Horrible disappointment.They took everything that was good in Dragon Age Origins&Awakening and threw it out of the window.Graphics? Poor level design,recycled generic dungeons,90% of the quests are located in ONE CITY! Just terrible.Sound? Also much better in Origins,voice acting in DA2 is poor and unconvincing,music was also waaaaay better in Origins.Dialogues? The dialogue system is a very very poor copy of the Mass Effect dialogue system,with pseudoparagon and pseudorenegade answers and supposedly funny answers that usually spectacularly fail to be funny.Dialogue system in Origins provided much more to choose from and it was much better written.Party members? Extremely annoying and shallow (Varric Tethras is the only half bearable character) and you cannot change their armor AT ALL.Romance? Almost non existant options for any interesting romance,especially for male Hawke,you get to choose from retarded elf woman (Merrill) and a slut (Isabella),that is it if you dont count gay romance with Anders.Combat? One of the most annoying parts of the game,dumbed down to the console click click level catered for the very casual RPG gamers,any true RPG gamer will be extremely disappointed with the new combat system.DAO had pretty good combat system,DA2 combat system is total crap.User interface? DAO had beautifully designed user interface with detailed descriptions of items,now you get a bland black user interface that has no place in any game,let alone a fantasy game.Weapon,armor and item descriptions are also totally dumbed down.Now you actually collect "junk",way to go.Storyline,quests and ending? Unlike DAO,DA2 forces some plot developments on you,regardless of what you do or choices you make,lame.In DAO you could influence even major plot developments,often in significant ways.Now you are forced to accept certain decisions and your influence on them is cosmetics.This game is either rushed so it is half done or Bioware decided to dumb down their best RPG since Baldur's Gate to cater for wider audience,and therefore make more money for Bioware.Hopefully they will listen to the widespread criticism of DA2 and make the likely third installment of Dragon Age once again a real hardcore RPG.DA2 is a great example of what NOT to do with a sequel to a game,take everything that was good,throw it away,add horrible redesign and "new features" that are actually crap and you get this.They even managed to screw up the redesign of DAO character faces like Sandal,Zevran or Alistair.Not to mention that darkspawn now look like a joke.In some moments during gameplay I started laughing on how terrible some things were compared to DAO.I just could not believe that Bioware can screw up the sequel this much.Note-I originally posted this review in the Xbox360 section of DA2,instead of the PC by mistake,by mistake,if anyone knows how can I remove that review let me know.… Expand
  41. ref
    Feb 18, 2012
    1
    Complete and utter disappointment. Dragon Age: Origins is one of my favorite titles of all time and one of the only games I enjoyed so much that I'm passionate enough to still be angry with it's rushed, lackluster sequel years later. Everything about Dragon Age 2 is simply awful, quite honestly. All the love, time and effort put into DA:O is simply stripped away from DA2. Devoid of lifeComplete and utter disappointment. Dragon Age: Origins is one of my favorite titles of all time and one of the only games I enjoyed so much that I'm passionate enough to still be angry with it's rushed, lackluster sequel years later. Everything about Dragon Age 2 is simply awful, quite honestly. All the love, time and effort put into DA:O is simply stripped away from DA2. Devoid of life and character, Dragon Age 2 was simply made and only made to cash in on the success of DA:O.

    So, what specifically is wrong with DA2? Everything. The combat is now reduced to anime-like fast game play where tactics aren't really needed (I played on Nightmare, PC), re-spawning waves of enemies that drop out of the sky in combat, re spawning enemies every time you zone in and out of towns, it's just ridiculous, tedious and extremely annoying.

    The story is unfocused and has no idea what it's doing. Hawke is not likable in any way shape or form, you perform meaningless tasks all game until near the end, which is completely rushed and unrealized. The ending is pathetic, quite honestly. There are a few interesting characters you can go on with, but there way more bland and uninteresting characters then there are interesting, the only decent ones in my opinion happen to be written by David Gaider, who did not have much to do with DA2, but wrote the majority of DA:O. Anders was completely butchered and DA2 just doesn't have interesting companions compared to pretty much everyone in DA:O.

    The inventory system and skill system have been dumbed down, and BioWare likes to boast that they made every skill useful and that simply is untrue, it's not better than DA:O in any way shape or form. Restoration magic is almost gone besides "heal and group heal", and combat is now flashy and "awesome" and no longer tactical.

    Oh, let's not forget about the DLC. There is more DLC weapons and armor in this game then actual armor in the core game. There is only about 5 models for every armor type and weapon in the entire game, pathetic.

    All in all, it's so disapointing that this game was released. It's worse than Deus Ex: Invisible War.    … Expand
  42. Elco32
    Nov 2, 2011
    1
    A consolized mess of sloppy and lazy game design. DA:O is one of my favorite RPG's ever, and ive been playing them since the atari computer. DA2 shares nothing in common with its predecessor except for the core IP.

    some of the story elements were well done, but I can't give this game a higher score, because I felt betrayed as a loyal Bioware fan by what they did with thie "sequel"
  43. oliver1h
    Jan 22, 2013
    1
    A very big letdown after the previous installments! The gaming world feels empty. The rpg elements are dumbed down, and the combat mechanism feels like playing with an arcade game. The story is weak, and the missions feel generic. Art direction is lazy. Japanese rpg like huge sword (I prefer when weapons look realistic). This franchise took a very bad direction.
  44. TommyTanker
    Jun 25, 2014
    0
    How can you take such a successful game like DA:O and remove every single positive from it to create this abomination?

    Total Abortion and shameful theft of peoples money through the guise of loyalty. Disgusting.
  45. DonManias
    Oct 25, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. For RPG gamers, DA2 represents a milestone that will never be surpassed. This game managed to achieve all the below astonishing feats simultaneously:
    1. It destroyed the greatest RPG franchise after Baldur's Gate. Unlike any other RPG franchise, this is the first game series that went from perfect to trash in the collective mind of the RPG community. And it only took one sequel.
    2. It damaged the reputation of Bioware among the oldest and most consistent gaming community in the world. Sure, there are always accusations about many different things, including the EA acquisition, but all this is circumstantial. The day this game was released, Bioware died as an RPG developer and became a condole game developer.
    3. It exposed all big game reviewers (websites, journalists, magazines). A game that in the mind of the average RGP fan was pure trash was rated with an "excellent" score. You can fool many people, but if you try to fool everyone, you end up being exposed. Dear gamer, let this be remembered as the absolute evidence that you should not rely on game reviews when buying a game, but instead you should always rent and play it.
    4. It exposed the fake reviews in Metacritic: Who are all these people that "loved the first game, but the sequel is much much better!!!"? And why is it that they repeat, point by point, all the arguments that Bioware and EA brought forth when they tried to defend their choice to strip this game of all its RPG elements so that people who play Farmville and Street Fighter Turbo V X III ULTIMATE VERSION would buy it? Are we meant to believe that these "RPG fans" like button mashing? I am very surprised to find so many of them on Metacritic and other websites, when in real life I've been playing RPGs for 20 years and the hundreds of RPG fans I have met and talked to ACTUALLY HATE button mashing and appreciate a good storyline, character development and customisation and strategic gameplay? WHERE WERE ALL THESE RPG FANS ALL THESE YEARS? Where did they come out from? Could it be they are all fake reviewers? The answer is simple: YES.
    In conclusion:
    This game is an example in what not to do. It can only be compared to the toothpaste managers that took over the film industry as executive producers in previous decades and tried to replace the Scorceses and Coppolas with sitcom directors, and the De Niros and Pacinos with actors like Lorenzo Llamas and Dolph Lundgren.
    DA2 is not an RPG game. Whether people like it or not, RPG gamers want to play RPG games, the same way basketball fans want to play basketball games. There is no point in focusing in secondary issues like the graphics or the DLC when the game is not designed for the people that are meant to buy it. This is a total failure, and a DA3 must be at least as good as the Origins game, in order for people to reconsider buying another Bioware RPG title.
    TO BE AVOIDED LIKE THE PLAGUE.
    BUY THE FIRST GAME, BUY ITS EXPANSIONS, BUY ANY DECENT RPG of previous years and decades, but DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. This is an ACTION/FIGHTING GAME (and a really bad one as well), not an RPG.
    (NOTE ON FACTS: I finished DA:O and its expansion, Awakenings, and my rating for that game is 10 - probably around 150 hours or so. I played around 5 hours of this excuse of a game before I uninstalled it and wished someone would had told me what I am telling you in this review).    … Expand
  46. judini
    Mar 10, 2011
    0
    This is not a role-playing game, is this a joke?
    It should be named "Dragon Effect 2" or "Street Fighter Dragon Edition" :D What a piece of crap! I can't believe it....
  47. Hellmax
    Mar 10, 2011
    0
    n DA2 will blow your mind. The dialogue is very poorly written. It reads like a bad harlequin romance novel, something of the grade that you'd find in a trashy teen vampire cash in. The voice work feels dead pan and boring for any non party member NPC and that coupled with the unrealistic fangirl-like writing makes for some truly cringe worthy scenes. One character tries so hard to ben DA2 will blow your mind. The dialogue is very poorly written. It reads like a bad harlequin romance novel, something of the grade that you'd find in a trashy teen vampire cash in. The voice work feels dead pan and boring for any non party member NPC and that coupled with the unrealistic fangirl-like writing makes for some truly cringe worthy scenes. One character tries so hard to be cute, so hard to appeal to the "moe" loving crowd that her lines make her seem borderline retarded. It works with little girls because they are young and the stupidity can be excused. But when a grown woman speaks like a nervous 14 year old and calls swordsmen "sworderers" that "do something with a sword" then you start questioning this person's IQ. The game has the textures of an N64 game and that isn't even an exageration. There are pictures floating around the internet showing the low res (even with the supposed high res pack) of the ground, the buildings and the people most of all. All the NPCs asside from those in Hawke's party and in cutscenes look as detailed as the Happy Mask Salesman from Majora's Mask. This is a bad game. Don't buy the hype… Expand
  48. PalladiumGM
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    As the sum of it's parts Dragon Age II adds up to a soon to be forgotten game. This is not inspired storytelling or game design - it feels as compelling you would expect from a component of an over-managed, fully monetized IP franchise. It thrills me in the same way as a new release of Crystal Reports would.|||||||||

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    At $9.99.    … Expand
  49. Kjella
    Mar 10, 2011
    0
    Man, there's some serious paid trolling on this game. Look for example at this user: http://www.metacritic.com/user/GHawke

    Three reviews all for Dragon Age II, nothing but "IT'S AMAZING" and 3x10 scores. Here's my zero to even it out, because the game really sucks.
  50. Irenvelle
    Mar 13, 2011
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I even make an acc for this, but need to tell that.This is game got really got critics reviews from biggest websites and game critics, they are blind or something like that?
    Everyone who play this game more than 10h must see a 2 dungeon in whole game with changed entrance/doors/mobs and to be honest, the story is not that epic how a developers think.
    But game have good side too, good actors game and voices.Some nice fights with WoW-like boss.That's all Sorry for my eng.Don't buy this game, its waste of your money.    … Expand
  51. MonstaJ
    Mar 16, 2011
    2
    Do not expect DA:O here!. After reading some of the critic reviews shortly after DA2 was released I was excited and decided to buy DA2 and boy was I disapointed. Do not believe everything you read! I am not sure why there is such disparity between the critic reviews and the user reviews but I wish I would have waited. They really dumbed this game down. There are some things that IDo not expect DA:O here!. After reading some of the critic reviews shortly after DA2 was released I was excited and decided to buy DA2 and boy was I disapointed. Do not believe everything you read! I am not sure why there is such disparity between the critic reviews and the user reviews but I wish I would have waited. They really dumbed this game down. There are some things that I consider improvements such as giving Hawke a voice, the lip sync is good and it fits the characters but the complete lack of dialog options kills it. This really is a watered down version of DA:O.

    Don't expect to be able to equip more than a couple items on your party members or change how your party members look, don't expect to have any meaningful tactical combat it's just a hack and slash that requires little to no thought in that regard. Don't expect to spend as much time playing this as you did on Origins if you played it. Don't expect to get your money's worth. This really lacks the depth I felt in the original. I wasn't drawn into the game like I was in the original I was very disappointed, especially how critics claimed they made several "upgrades" fight like a spartan bull crap. Fight like your a god more like it. I wouldn't check this out until it hits the bargain bins or buy it used. Definitely save your 60$    … Expand
  52. Gecs
    Mar 24, 2011
    1
    Terrible "Mass effect-style" interface, "mass-effect-style" gameplay, "mass-effect-style resources", "mass-effect-style-place here any thing from DA II"... horrific camera a-la "Lara Croft" and so on. Boring storyline, boring companions, boring enemies, boring fights, boring locations... strange product.
  53. Ariolander
    Apr 15, 2011
    2
    In what feels like an EA money grab the story is uninspired, the design is repetative, and the 'dungeons' have been reduced to a grind of defeating wave after wave of the same enemies. I think this is probably the worst game I have played from Bioware and will remain a dark stain on their otherwise impeccable record. Is this what EA does to their studios? Makes them creat BAD games? BADIn what feels like an EA money grab the story is uninspired, the design is repetative, and the 'dungeons' have been reduced to a grind of defeating wave after wave of the same enemies. I think this is probably the worst game I have played from Bioware and will remain a dark stain on their otherwise impeccable record. Is this what EA does to their studios? Makes them creat BAD games? BAD might be an exagguration but it is definately not worth the 80~ critic average it recieved.… Expand
  54. HoneyCombs
    Apr 19, 2011
    0
    Disaster of a game. Hack and slash gameplay with a story that would make straight to DVD movies look like Oscar winners. Horrible clipping, textures, and unnecessary "jelly" blood. Most important is how those involved with the game refuse to acknowledge any criticism. Avoid at all costs.
  55. youknowit
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So, it takes 14 hours to get past the first 4 years of game play and during that time you're just hoping the game gets better from then on. Nope, the game stays at the same level of tediousness and is painful to complete. The ending doesn't even feel like an ending. When the credits started rolling I just wanted to throw something. Final verdict: painful waste of $60.… Expand
  56. ahpucha
    Mar 28, 2011
    0
    Giving this a 4 (should be a 6) to counteract all the lies and "user" reviews written by people associated with the company and the outright lies fed to us by the game review industry (they're obviously getting something for giving the game such inflated scores). Hard to suspend disbelief in regards to the story line, tedious gameplay, lazy environment creation, linear gameplay, nearlyGiving this a 4 (should be a 6) to counteract all the lies and "user" reviews written by people associated with the company and the outright lies fed to us by the game review industry (they're obviously getting something for giving the game such inflated scores). Hard to suspend disbelief in regards to the story line, tedious gameplay, lazy environment creation, linear gameplay, nearly every quest havingg nothing to do with the story and the inability to make the player care about the characters is enough to stay away. If we support this type of mediocre game creation that is all we are going to get.… Expand
  57. plavgo
    Apr 13, 2011
    0
    As a big bioware fan, I was hoping for another great rpg experience. Instead I've got some boring parody of a game. This game has really nothing to offer, first fallout or baldur's gate was more complex and interesting than this **** People who are talking about better fighting they're lying, it's just faster, you have the same exact moves as you had in origins. This is the first theAs a big bioware fan, I was hoping for another great rpg experience. Instead I've got some boring parody of a game. This game has really nothing to offer, first fallout or baldur's gate was more complex and interesting than this **** People who are talking about better fighting they're lying, it's just faster, you have the same exact moves as you had in origins. This is the first the bioware's game that bored me with leveling up, when I saw the mark that tells you about gaining a level I thought 'not this **** again', they're are tons of useles skills that you forget about imidiately. NPC's are just laughable: generic drunk dwarf, scared fragile elf, a generic pirate, anders that we have already have met in awakening ( best part of the dragon age for me). Music- generic, forgettable. Graphics are mediocre, sometimes ugly and even bioware admitted that by releasing a new texture pack. Storyline is just uninteresting and forgettable, you get absolutely no pleasure in following the storyline. Secondary quests are extremely boring , you are going through the same locations doing exactly the same things. Main Character is also very generic and simple with nothing instererting to offer, casual hero like hundreds before him. DLC's- dropping dlc's in the same exact date as the game is just despicable and shows you the real motives of bioware and ea. This game can only be interseting for people who are under 12 years old or have no actual clue what a good rpg should look like.… Expand
  58. Zri
    Apr 23, 2011
    5
    Disappointing. The great writing is there as you would expect, and the interaction between your character and your companions is still great, but there are some glaring problems with Dragon Age 2 that Origins didn't have. Combat is just terrible. Enemies pop out of nowhere in waves. The game itself says you should guard choke points with warrior classes to protect others, but thenDisappointing. The great writing is there as you would expect, and the interaction between your character and your companions is still great, but there are some glaring problems with Dragon Age 2 that Origins didn't have. Combat is just terrible. Enemies pop out of nowhere in waves. The game itself says you should guard choke points with warrior classes to protect others, but then continually spawns mobs both in front of and behind the party as the waves progress, meaning that tactics generally go out the window. Long cooldowns on many abilities mean that combat tends to focus on regular hack and slash rather than use of abilities. Companions can only use non-armour equipment, which means the majority of the items you find are useless.

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

    Bottom line: Dialogue good, game design bad. Might as well have been a book.    … Expand
  59. Kurrinos
    Mar 14, 2011
    6
    Good game but falls short in a few crucial areas that will put people off playing it thro to the end. First I would like to say that this is a good game if you are an avid rpg game player. Since there are not many rpg genre offerings from high profile developers it can be cursed with over critisim and over hype, unfortunatly DA2 has been jumped on in regards to massive over critism. Let meGood game but falls short in a few crucial areas that will put people off playing it thro to the end. First I would like to say that this is a good game if you are an avid rpg game player. Since there are not many rpg genre offerings from high profile developers it can be cursed with over critisim and over hype, unfortunatly DA2 has been jumped on in regards to massive over critism. Let me put is this way. It does not deserve anything above a 6 or 7, from me personaly, I enjoyed it on a game level but not on a story level. Mainly because there is no drive, no narrative and there certainly is not climax or plot twists that make your eyes water or have an emotinal breakdown. This for me, is a deal breaker, a good RPG needs to suck you in emotionaly, the better the story/game the more of yourself you invest in it and the greater the enjoyment. (Old gamer moment incoming) BG2 is a perfect example huge long game, similarly split into acts each with an overriding point to them. You must escape, you must find a way to rescue your sister, you have been thwarted but the baddie while getting your sister, you must escape again, you must stop the baddie all to the backdrop of an evolving narative of you are the child of a god and someone is screwing it all up. Its pretty simple stuff here, but DA2 has none of that. You have no purpose or anything to focus as a goal, it's a bunch of unconnected quests that don't add up to a greater whole. There is a massive void in this game called "the main plot" and without it feels like Hawk (the MC) is just spinning thier (and your) wheels as there is no purpose to what they are doing in each of the acts. It is such a shame, there are so many great things about this game that I did enjoy like the voice acting, the companions themelves with thier quests/development and enjoyed the writing itself (mostly). Sadly this only magnifies the fact that the core is missing.… Expand
  60. jfp2004
    Mar 14, 2011
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There's a lot of things to like about this game, and a lot of things to dislike. Combat is over the top, the story is unfocused and weak, and the entire scope of the game feels a lot less epic than Origins did. This has already been discussed at length in most of the reviews. For the purposes of time, however, I'm going to focus on the thing that bothered me the most. For me, the MOST annoying factor is the fate of the siblings. You only get to have your sibling for the first act of the game. At the end of the Deep Roads, no matter what you do, your sibling leaves the party, either dead or with another faction - the Circle, the Templars, or the Grey Wardens. This was annoying for me. Getting to know the family that came with Hawke was one of the big draws for me. Why give us a character and let us get to know them only to take them away before half of the game is done? It seems almost like it was done because of the development time - like they didn't have the resources to do both stories for the entire game since you only get one or the other, and so, to cut corners, they took them out of the equation for most of it. It's not even the fact that I used Bethany as my healer - I liked her as a CHARACTER beyond that, and so her fate was particularly upsetting for me. It's probably not fair for me to judge the game harshly because of this, but I do. If the sibling was able to rejoin the party sooner, perhaps towards the end of Act II or at the beginning of Act III, I wouldn' mind as much. I'd even enjoy it. It would add some drama. But by removing the ability to get around this, to find another solution, it forces you into losing the sibling and removed one of the better connections I had to the main character. Combined with the fate of the mother, it was just too much. With so many unavoidable tragedies, I started to detach myself from everything that was going on, and made me question why Hawke would stick around after all of that personal loss instead of just moving on to somewhere better.… Expand
  61. bluntinstrument
    Mar 16, 2011
    0
    This game has many problems. It deserves a zero b/c as a sequal to to DA:O, it has to be compared to DA:O. If it was just some new game in a new IP, I'd give it a 5 or 6. Bioware has really trashed this IP though.

    1. It's not "innovative" to have the whole "RPG" take place in one generic and forgettable location. It's just lazy and cheap. 2. It's a shame that the combat was changed    This game has many problems. It deserves a zero b/c as a sequal to to DA:O, it has to be compared to DA:O. If it was just some new game in a new IP, I'd give it a 5 or 6. Bioware has really trashed this IP though.

    1. It's not "innovative" to have the whole "RPG" take place in one generic and forgettable location. It's just lazy and cheap.
    2. It's a shame that the combat was changed from a complex tactical/strategy game into a more of a light show where you mash the same button over and over. Once again, if this wasn't a sequal to DA:O, I wouldn't mind so much. But you can't follow up a game like DA:O with a game like this. It's sort of like, what if Dead Space 2 had been made into a halo clone w/o any blood, in order to appeal to a "broader audience."
    3. The game was clearly rushed. You shouldn't waste 60 bucks when half the content is still in development. In a year, you can buy the game, along with the other half of the content, for less money. It's not like the game is new or innovative in any way shape of form. So why buy it now? Just wait until the DLC is packaged so it wont' be such a ripoff. Or better yet, just dont' buy the piece of garbage.    … Expand
  62. Misstotally
    Mar 16, 2011
    2
    I personally play rpg mostly for the story and not so much for the combat, so i cant say much about the combat part. It does feel a bit repetitive, but overall it is not my biggest complaint.
    Problem is they have tried to make Dragon Age 2 into a cross between Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Origins. Problem is its not close to being as good as either of these games. Its stuck in the murky    I personally play rpg mostly for the story and not so much for the combat, so i cant say much about the combat part. It does feel a bit repetitive, but overall it is not my biggest complaint.
    Problem is they have tried to make Dragon Age 2 into a cross between Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Origins. Problem is its not close to being as good as either of these games. Its stuck in the murky middle somewhere. There is little to no immersion, and you are stuck in one city with a few variations the whole game through. Apart from more side quests, which i think is good, the whole game feels like your just doing errands around the city, and not much variation in environment. I felt i had no control over (Shepard)Hawk at all. His companions are not boring per se, but the little you actually talk to them makes them feel disjointed from you and each other. The ME dialog wheel can make you frustrated, because it seems you can never convey the right emotions at the right time. Also the romance side of this game seems meaningless as you cant really talk much to them, and you get little heart icons on the wheel to indicate when its flirting time...DA:O was not perfect but it was far from this silly.
    The disappointment for many is probably due to this being called a sequel. It just a completely sub-par and different game ( in a bad way). Its DA:O and ME light. They could have done better with this story. The writing seems good, but they did not have time it seems to implement it the right way. They had to get it out the door quickly , and it shows.    … Expand
  63. Varyahen
    Mar 24, 2011
    2
    Dear Bioware...talking about origins.... you have forgotten your origins. I wont say anything more about technical or in-game qualities. All is said. Bioware has betrayed his own style, creating a stupid commercial game. This is not rpg, this is a &"$·%"·. Bioware is loosing his rank of "King of RPGs" creating this kind of games. Please, innovate the rpg genreDear Bioware...talking about origins.... you have forgotten your origins. I wont say anything more about technical or in-game qualities. All is said. Bioware has betrayed his own style, creating a stupid commercial game. This is not rpg, this is a &"$·%"·. Bioware is loosing his rank of "King of RPGs" creating this kind of games. Please, innovate the rpg genre as, for example, Bethesda is doing. I miss baldurs gate, I miss neverwinter nights and his PW.… Expand
  64. Airiak
    Mar 24, 2011
    3
    DA:O is one of my all time favorites. In one play through of the base game, expansion and DLCs I've racked up over 200 hours. I explored every companions back story, I've read nearly every codex entry, and I doubt there is a stone anywhere in Fereldon that I haven't seen at least once.

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

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

    This game has no business wearing the Dragon Age title.    … Expand
  65. metalguru
    Mar 25, 2011
    4
    I would like to just say first and foremost that this is not a terrible game, just not a particularly good one either. so I shall start with the positives, the new combat system I feel is a great success, it feels fluid and powerful, the graphics with the high resolution texture pack are impressive, and the companions are generally likeable (except Fenris).

    So now sadly onto the bad. It    I would like to just say first and foremost that this is not a terrible game, just not a particularly good one either. so I shall start with the positives, the new combat system I feel is a great success, it feels fluid and powerful, the graphics with the high resolution texture pack are impressive, and the companions are generally likeable (except Fenris).

    So now sadly onto the bad. It is tiny, and by that I mean miniscule, every quest occuring in the same place, or the same cave, which is somehow in ten different places but identical. I mean this game spans what, a decade, and nothing changes in that time, whatsoever. This also means that for a Bioware RPG the completion time is just not up to scratch.

    Now my major pain with this game is the simplification of everything that made Origins great, and makes RPG's as a genre great, in an attempt to what, appeal to a greater market, there seems to be this idea in the world of games development that simple easy games sell in mass. I don't entirely disagree with that sentiment, but I work in a DIY store, so the employees couldn't be considered gaming nerds, they are ordinary people with consoles (and they all loved Origins by the way) and they all say Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is one of their favourite games, and do you know how many of them like Dragon Age 2. Not a single one. So the very market this game was dumbed down for hates you for it, and as a result you have very nearly alienated a strong Bioware fan, luckily I have faith Mass Effect 3 will be great.

    So in conclusion, play this if you like small, simplistic RPG's with not enough character development, environments, or soul. All in all I'm pretty peeved I paid £28.98 for a game that seems lesser to Origins expansion pack. So Bioware if EA tells you what people want in games again, tell them they don't know anything about making games and to leave that to the professionals.    … Expand
  66. LinkeWimpie
    Mar 28, 2011
    3
    This is actually the first time after completing a game that i felt compelled to register at this website just to state my opinion about this game and warn people who are thinking of buying this game not to make the same mistake as I did. In my opinion, the only thing that's close to being decent in DA 2 compared to DA:O is the combat system (for the Xbox 360 anyway). Any professionalThis is actually the first time after completing a game that i felt compelled to register at this website just to state my opinion about this game and warn people who are thinking of buying this game not to make the same mistake as I did. In my opinion, the only thing that's close to being decent in DA 2 compared to DA:O is the combat system (for the Xbox 360 anyway). Any professional reviewers who gave this game more than a 3 should be ashamed of themselves. The entire game consists of repeating areas and a weak storyline not to mention the horrible graphics. The whole time I was playing this game I just felt like I was on a one-way track to the end. At least in the first Dragon Age there was a sense of adventure where you were travelling from town to town meeting new people etc. I think I spent roughly 80% of my playtime in DA 2 in one stinking city... and even when I got a new sidequest it just involved visiting an area I ran through 10 mins earlier. I must say I am very disappointed with Bioware for releasing the game as it is now and I'm even more disappointed with the so-called critics who actually give the game more than 3.… Expand
  67. Slay247
    Mar 28, 2011
    2
    I've been prompted to create this account specifically to create a review for this game, only because of how terribly, terribly wrong all the 'official' reviews seem to have got it. I still cannot believe this slipshod piece of garbage is a Bioware game. I don't know where to begin listing it's faults. The combat is probably a good place to start as it is in my opinion the most obviouslyI've been prompted to create this account specifically to create a review for this game, only because of how terribly, terribly wrong all the 'official' reviews seem to have got it. I still cannot believe this slipshod piece of garbage is a Bioware game. I don't know where to begin listing it's faults. The combat is probably a good place to start as it is in my opinion the most obviously abysmal aspect of the entire game. Enemies spawning out of nowhere in waves? Final Fantasy style attack animations? People exploding into fountains of gore when you hit them? This just looks every bit the action adventure, button masher that it is, putting Dragon Age on the box was an insult to the majesty of Origins. Friendly fire now only functions on nightmare, which is has been rendered un-fun and generally terrible by the previously mentioned enemy wave spawning, so basically, lose each fight once so you'll know what's coming and what to save your abilities for next time. Everything about the inventory has been simplified and dumbed down, you can't even equip your party members fully now, there is only one kind of healing/mana potion and injury, everything is just less and worse than the original.

    Locations, particularly dungeons are used over and over and over again, hardly any of the mainstream reviews mention this though it is an OBVIOUS and MASSIVE flaw with the game, adding immensely to the general feeling of shoddiness about the game. It was obviously rushed, not surprising given the barely 18 month development cycle. Also, some of the quests are just SO unbelievably dull and meaningless, I cannot imagine what was going through the heads of the developers as they created them. Find a random book in a chest, give it to a random person in Kirkwall who until now has been mere scenery, get some xp and gold and one line of dialogue, what purpose could that possibly have solved?

    The dialogue I would say is a mixed bag, though more bad than good. Firstly, for a change I actually used all of the different options, instead of just sticking with the good/funny/evil thing the entire way through the game, so that was good. However, a lot of control over what your character says is gone, almost all interactions boil down to the 3 options i listed above and it usually has no real effect upon anything, also, your character now frequently speaks with no input from you, something which never happened in Origins, and really makes you feel more like a spectator than a player. When combined with the generally uninteresting story (you'll be constantly asking yourself 'why am i doing this again?' throughout the game) with no central objective or goal and no personal investment, this makes a lot of the dialogue a sad chore to be suffered through.

    I didn't play the demo or read any reviews before buying this game, when I saw it in the shops I took one look at the title and happily parted with my 35 pounds while fondly remembering the original. This is one of the worst disappointments I have ever suffered as a gamer. A terrible, TERRIBLE game.    … Expand
  68. Switch296
    Apr 30, 2011
    1
    Ah Dragon age 2.. By far the biggest letdown so far of 2011 in my eyes. The graphics are worse than the original, the city which you spend almost the entire game in is so incredibly lifeless, stale and repetitive that you would think this game has been made in 2005 by amateur developers, but sadly this game is made by Bioware who in the past has brought us many great games.

    I for one    Ah Dragon age 2.. By far the biggest letdown so far of 2011 in my eyes. The graphics are worse than the original, the city which you spend almost the entire game in is so incredibly lifeless, stale and repetitive that you would think this game has been made in 2005 by amateur developers, but sadly this game is made by Bioware who in the past has brought us many great games.

    I for one really hope this isn't a sign for things to come as Dragon Age 2 should have never been released in the state it is in, poor gameplay, poor graphics and artistic direction, poor RPG elements and immersion factor.

    Extremely poor game. 1/10    … Expand
  69. ecronishe
    Apr 29, 2011
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Where the exciting story? Where is the charm for which all were so fond of Dragon Age origins? The game is completely disappointed me. Why do we unnecessary flips and jumps? If you're happy with sales, you know, everyone was expecting to see a good continuation, not a game for children up to age 11. one location you placed throughout the game. Players are not interested to solve the problems of one citysave a whole lot more interesting korolestvo. What have you done with satellites player? They are horrible to them can not speak normally, do not give the gift, there is no charm. How can we produce a good game for a year, besides making many more other projects? It is better to wait for 3 years, but a really good game. The Witcher 2 will destroy you. It's as if you are good lesson, dear developers.… Expand
  70. Ravenshield
    May 2, 2011
    1
    Une arnaque TOTALE
    Jeu bénéficiant de la licence officielle de DAO, sans ne serait ce qu'en contenir un brin de son essence spirituelle. Une très grosse déception. Je n'ai même pas terminé le jeu tellement je suis dépité par la médiocre réalisation, la    Une arnaque TOTALE
    Jeu bénéficiant de la licence officielle de DAO, sans ne serait ce qu'en contenir un brin de son essence spirituelle. Une très grosse déception. Je n'ai même pas terminé le jeu tellement je suis dépité par la médiocre réalisation, la pauvreté générale du jeu, l'histoire creuse, les textures pauvres, les Pnj inutiles et sans relief, A éviter à tout prix... ne mériterait même pas d'exister.    … Expand
  71. kizza
    May 9, 2011
    1
    Why such a low score for Dragon Age II? there are a few reasons;

    1. Why would I buy a fantasy game like this to only play a human? 2. The combat of the first installment was well thought out, on the other hand in this game it simply has been dumbed right down for console users, as it would seem they used DA 2 as a cash flow and not much else. As is seems every game that goes from purely    Why such a low score for Dragon Age II? there are a few reasons;

    1. Why would I buy a fantasy game like this to only play a human?

    2. The combat of the first installment was well thought out, on the other hand in this game it simply has been dumbed right down for console users, as it would seem they used DA 2 as a cash flow and not much else. As is seems every game that goes from purely pc to pc & console it always seems to go straight down the toilet. This is no exception, but at least they kept the pause tactical menu for pc users

    3. The storyline grabbed me no where near as much as the first, I played the first for hours on end. I didn't even bother finishing DA2 for its sheer lack of interesting things

    4. While the graphics looked good there was simply no amount shine that could fix all of the bugs with this. What could have fixed this however was for bioware to spend some more time on the game, rather than simply trying to push it out asap.

    Overall.

    The game while a great title has no real playability for me. Dirty, boring, rushed and dumbed down are NOT the way I like my games to be.    … Expand
  72. LordOFlibertY
    Jun 1, 2011
    4
    The sequel to the decade's best RPG game created. Now the question everybody has asked; Does it live up to the sequel?
    Unfortunatly that is a BIG F NO. Dragon Age 2 fails in every single way and is not a worthy sequel. The 'enhanced graphics' was an utter sham. The health bars looks like something from Mass Effect and the dark, grim graphics approach in Origins was imported terribly in    The sequel to the decade's best RPG game created. Now the question everybody has asked; Does it live up to the sequel?
    Unfortunatly that is a BIG F NO. Dragon Age 2 fails in every single way and is not a worthy sequel. The 'enhanced graphics' was an utter sham. The health bars looks like something from Mass Effect and the dark, grim graphics approach in Origins was imported terribly in Dragon Age 2 and felt like they over done it in some areas. I would say that the only good aspect in this game is the many design concepts that they have developed and succeed.
    Overall for players that played through Dragon Age Origins casually like any ol' game, Dragon Age 2 but be as enjoyable. If you're a die hard Origin lover like me Dragon Age 2 may make you cry from such failures it made. If you simply want to know the story and explore more of the worlds, I suggest renting it .    … Expand
  73. Aiden_Cora
    Oct 9, 2011
    0
    What a horrible, horrible sequel. Boring story, boring quests, recycled locations, boring and shallow dialogue and insulting ending. This game should have been called "Flashy Hack & Slash OMG!" And to all that said to judge DA II on it's own and not as a sequel, well it IS a sequel. It's called Dragon Age II, that's like saying not to treat Spider Man 3 like a Spider Man movie...
  74. icarusorigin
    Oct 25, 2011
    0
    Worst game I have ever played. I have nothing much to say about it but man I am disappointed with it..after dragon age 1 being such a great game this was a huge let down
  75. HerHavuzun
    May 11, 2011
    6
    Bought the game on release day before reading any reviews, installed it but not even entered kirkwall after reading the user reviews. The massive changes in the game and the negative reactions to it left no enthusiams in me and made me stay away of it. The only advise I can give: Don't read any reviews after you bought a game.
  76. MathewRD
    May 27, 2011
    2
    With Bioware rigging the user reviews, you can't help but think they're rigging the critic reviews as well. Bioware was already caught rigging DA II's user scores on Metacritic by having employees give it good scores. Bioware's response was that it was the same thing as Barrack Obama voting for himself.

    Anyways, about the game. It targets a larger audience by dumbing things down but loses    With Bioware rigging the user reviews, you can't help but think they're rigging the critic reviews as well. Bioware was already caught rigging DA II's user scores on Metacritic by having employees give it good scores. Bioware's response was that it was the same thing as Barrack Obama voting for himself.

    Anyways, about the game. It targets a larger audience by dumbing things down but loses its original audience it once had. You stay in the same area for most of the game, the dialogue wheel is incredibly limited, and the voice acting isn't very good. Dragon Age II went from being a strategic form of game to more of a Devil May Cry clone without the fun that DmC had.

    You'll be better of with the Witcher 2.    … Expand
  77. akelz7
    May 15, 2011
    6
    This game is disappointing, no doubt. However what's even MORE disappointing is the fact that a bunch of inept little turds have given this game false zeros to drag it down. It's still a good game, there is NO denying that unless you are just irrational or dishonest.
  78. SleepyDad
    Mar 20, 2011
    6
    Just finished a first play through. Diverting and enjoyable enough to finish, but a far cry from DA:O. The story arc was certainly less compelling. I found the "voiced protagonist" a nice addition, and found the new dialog system to be rather nice overall (though sometimes a bit *too* explicit about which dialog routes to take -- especially for developing romances). The combat systemJust finished a first play through. Diverting and enjoyable enough to finish, but a far cry from DA:O. The story arc was certainly less compelling. I found the "voiced protagonist" a nice addition, and found the new dialog system to be rather nice overall (though sometimes a bit *too* explicit about which dialog routes to take -- especially for developing romances). The combat system was much less enjoyable than DA:O. Everything looked and felt a lot more like a console game, with talents that were sometimes awesome to see in action but hard to fathom as "making sense" in the DA:O universe. I really missed being able to scroll back to the "tactical view" of the battlefield. I was shocked that the anti-magic powers of Templars seemed to be diminished to the point of non-existence. I experienced at least one serious glitch in a chapter 3 quest (rescuing a kidnap victim, but the "bandit leader" I found on Wounded Coast can't be interacted with -- I presume that some interaction is necessary at this point to kick off a conversation and/or battle -- there's no other hint about how to proceed beyond "Go to the Wounded Coast" and I certainly searched that area thoroughly and found nothing else). I'm also not sure whether there's a bug related to finding the "Spindle weed" crafting resource -- I think I checked all areas pretty thoroughly, but ended the game with "3/6" found (and I needed 4 for a particularly spectacular potion). Despite all this, I'll probably play it at least once more -- it had its moments. There was enough of a cliffhanger ending involving a character from the original game that I can at least hope for the possibility of another sequel that hopefully recovers some of the strengths and plot interest of the original game.

    I wouldn't recommend a true DA:O fan to rush out and buy, but it may be worth a play through once it becomes a loss-leader or if you can purchase it used.    … Expand
  79. RikersBeard
    Mar 22, 2011
    6
    First off, I am a veteran of Dragon Age: Origins, but still enjoyed this game. I played the game to completion in about 25 hours. Instead of going into a mega-rant about why I gave this game a 6/10 instead of a higher score, I will break it down into simple Pros and Cons: Pros: - Character development is more enjoyable than in DAO
    - Player can feel "connected" to these characters and    First off, I am a veteran of Dragon Age: Origins, but still enjoyed this game. I played the game to completion in about 25 hours. Instead of going into a mega-rant about why I gave this game a 6/10 instead of a higher score, I will break it down into simple Pros and Cons: Pros: - Character development is more enjoyable than in DAO
    - Player can feel "connected" to these characters and immerse themselves somewhat into the world
    - Desire to finish the storyline (which is not very cohesive)
    - References to DAO Cons (Much more substantive list)
    - My biggest gripe is that the game is not finished. The ending is lackluster, incomplete and basically set up to sell you, the customer, more DLC's and expansions that will inevitably finish the story
    - Huge let down with character development - after Bioware spends so much time connecting you to your side characters, everything is just left "hanging" at the end of the game
    - Battle system significantly dumbed down
    - No customization for other character's armour, limited weapon customization
    - Glitchy, Buggy quests ruin the game in some spots (crucial quest points with Merill are still bugged at time of writing)
    - The script is extremely corny in some places, making things absolutely cringe-worthy in many many parts of the game
    - EXTREMELY limited environments. Dungeons are recycled over and over again, by the end of Act 1, you've probably seen every environment that can be offered to you. This ruins the game environment in many places when you think to yourself "Wait... haven't I been here before?"
    - Non-cohesive storyline in many cases, quests do not seem connected
    - Choices don't really affect your ending, contrary to many other Bioware games

    Tl; Dr? If you are a fan of the original game, you will be disappointed with the dumbed-down combat, story, environments, incomplete ending, and so on. If you are looking for a hack-and-slash game, without much development, you may enjoy this game more.    … Expand
  80. Ender008
    Mar 23, 2011
    4
    Ender008
    Mar 23, 2011
    4 I honestly cannot justify going into very much depth on the mechanics of DA2--all I can say is that I feel horribly betrayed. It's nothing short of a tragedy to see the squandered potential of the title of sequel to DA:O. Dragon Age 2 is a step back for the series, and after playing a few hours of it, I found myself starting a new character in Origins. DA2 is    Ender008
    Mar 23, 2011
    4
    I honestly cannot justify going into very much depth on the mechanics of DA2--all I can say is that I feel horribly betrayed. It's nothing short of a tragedy to see the squandered potential of the title of sequel to DA:O. Dragon Age 2 is a step back for the series, and after playing a few hours of it, I found myself starting a new character in Origins. DA2 is unsatisfying, and barely tries to even present the illusion of choice. I felt no attachment to Hawke; the fact that he's fully voiced actually managed to push me away even further. This game doesn't even deserve the title of RPG, nor does it deserve the lore of Dragon Age. I pray to the developers that they'll rectify this disaster of a game by returning to RPG style gaming for the next Dragon Age. I honestly felt my IQ drop as a played the unfortunate mess that is Dragon Age 2. The only thing positive to come of this is that I will be joining the modding community of DA:O to help extend its lifespan for those of us who appreciate what a work of art it is. Please stay away from DA2 if you have any sense.

    [EDIT TO MY FIRST REVIEW:] I started to read through other reviews to see what others thought of the game to see if I could find any redeeming qualities and I stumbled on something that I absolutely needed to share, because it sums up what's so horrible about DA2. Someone posed this as a positive point, yet where's the roleplaying aspect in this? Here is the quote: "There's also the thing where no matter what speech option you pick, Hawke comes off sounding completely badass and awesome."    … Expand
  81. pcFanMan
    May 17, 2011
    0
    game sucks compared to the first end of!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I want It gone from my steam account now!!!!!

    & watch out for bioware employees giving this Sh!t game 10s...
  82. Lorderan
    May 7, 2011
    1
    I really don't understand the almost universal positive scores the official reviewers are giving this game. I loved the first game, but this game is absolutely terrible. Painful even. Its a disgrace that the official reviewers gave it the scores they did. Totally underminds their objectivity, I'm not going to believe their reviews into the future. Damn I'm disappointed. Bioware we are finished!!!!
  83. freckleface
    May 14, 2011
    5
    I'll say it simply. As a standalone game, and not as the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, I might have rated it a 7. It is a pretty good game, I had fun playing it. But in all honesty, it has very little replayability and the story and characters are far from compelling. This may be the first game I ever sell back.

    The best parts of Origins, for me, were the characters, story, and general    I'll say it simply. As a standalone game, and not as the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, I might have rated it a 7. It is a pretty good game, I had fun playing it. But in all honesty, it has very little replayability and the story and characters are far from compelling. This may be the first game I ever sell back.

    The best parts of Origins, for me, were the characters, story, and general feeling of immersion. I felt like I really shaped my Warden, and that her relationships really mattered. I felt like I was the driving force behind the story, and my character seemed to actually affect the characters around her. The little side characters (such as Kaitlyn in Redcliffe, where you could help her out and see that one day she might end up marrying Teagan) made Ferelden feel like such a living place where I liked to spend my time. The main villains were complex (Loghain) and had deep-seated motivations (Howe). It wasn't a perfect game, but it's one that I love to play endlessly and never feel I've had enough of, even after 5 or 6 playthoughs.

    Dragon Age 2 just feels totally severed from what Origins started. The story sounds very interesting in theory; the frame narrative seemed like a cool idea. At the end of the day, it ends up feeling more like a gimmick that puts a sort of barrier between you and Hawke. It's hard to feel close to Hawke when 7 of the 10 years of the story are narration, retold to you by Varric. Also, because the story of your protagonist is being told to you in the past tense, it feels more like discovering what has happened instead of MAKING something happen. To me, this is a downgrade. It's ESPECIALLY a downgrade when you have played through the story and realize that it isn't really compelling enough to be WORTH finding out what happened. When you finally know what they've been talking about this whole time (and how dire it supposedly is) it does feel like a big let-down.

    One of the biggest disappointments about this game, for me, was the relationships with the characters. You can't talk to them outside of their "homes" (i.e. out and about in the world), and not only that but when you do talk to them in their homes, they will only have a conversation with you if it's part of a quest (whether a mini "conversation" quest or an actual sidequest for that character). Romance is also a joke in this game. After having just picked up Anders as a character, I hit on him once and we were basically in a full-fledged relationship. There is no build-up, no complexity. I feel cheated.

    This game was a big disappointment, and I say that having had pretty low expectations (thanks to the demo and all the information that came out prior to its release about the 'new' systems). The best thing I can say is that combat is more fun to play, and the classes are MUCH, MUCH more balanced and (in my opinion) no class is inherently more fun than any other class. However, I'd GLADLY go back to slightly boring combat but a killer story. This game is just meh. I'm praying that Bioware realizes their mistakes and if/when they make DA3, they take a few steps back in the direction of Origins (story/character-wise). If they do, I will probably forgive them :)    … Expand
  84. Elitist_Magi
    May 14, 2011
    0
    I loved the First DA and Awakening but god damn does this game suck or what. Well its quite obvious why. PC was the lead platform for DA and Awakening, but thats not the case for DA2. Anyway I pre-ordered this game thinking it was like its predecessor but it was all but anything like it sadly. Stay away from this game, spend your money on better RPGs like Witcher 2.

    Bioware, you've f'ed    I loved the First DA and Awakening but god damn does this game suck or what. Well its quite obvious why. PC was the lead platform for DA and Awakening, but thats not the case for DA2. Anyway I pre-ordered this game thinking it was like its predecessor but it was all but anything like it sadly. Stay away from this game, spend your money on better RPGs like Witcher 2.

    Bioware, you've f'ed the PC community for the last time you ain't ganna get a cent of my money anymore.    … Expand
  85. Subsidence
    May 15, 2011
    0
    After all that has been said about Dragon Age 2 one thing stands; the game is not even a shadow of Dragon Age Origins. Many criticize others that it is the sentiment after playing DA1 that makes people disapprove of DA2. Even so, DA2 remains a flat story. It is like watching a second rate tv series. Yawn.
    What kind of audience had Bioware in mind with DA2? Certainly not the ones that loved DA1.
  86. speedyzia
    May 17, 2011
    1
    Biggest disappointment I ever experienced. Repeated locations, dull combat system, 1 big city instead of many places. It just doens't feel right. Graphics are very poor, AI is moronic, plot is linear as much as it can be, hell, whole game is linnear to the pain. (1.0)
  87. azure12
    May 17, 2011
    2
    Dragon Age 2 has seen some big changes in gameplay since the first game, Origins. Long gone is the tactical combat system reminescent of Baldur's Gate. Instead, now it's "button = awesome", according to EA marketers. Combat tactics revolve around spamming special abilities at enemies as soon as the cooldowns wears off, making any kind of strategizing redundant. Micromanagement is put onDragon Age 2 has seen some big changes in gameplay since the first game, Origins. Long gone is the tactical combat system reminescent of Baldur's Gate. Instead, now it's "button = awesome", according to EA marketers. Combat tactics revolve around spamming special abilities at enemies as soon as the cooldowns wears off, making any kind of strategizing redundant. Micromanagement is put on the back seat in this "bold" sequel, rather, now your party members are completely automated and act on their own, and the classic party-based gameplay is nowhere to be experienced, unless the player happens play the game on the hardest difficulty. Party members act as AI-controlled side-kicks now instead of full-fledged player characters. Furthermore, friendly-fire has been removed from all difficulty levels except the hardest one, which takes another elements away from micromanagement. Obviously whoever made these design changes most likely thought a "thinking-man's" game isn't going to sell well in today's video game market, which is why the combat has been extremely streamlined and reduced (read: dumbed down) into mere hack'n'slash. The fans of the old Bioware games are surely not happy about this. Dragon Age 2 reeks of consolization. Unlike the first game, which was developed for PC for years, and then ported to consoles, DA2 is a straight multi-platform game from the get-go. This hurts the PC version the most. It is evident by changes in graphics, camera control, and the general streamlining of the game.

    Bioware has made DA2 far more linear than the first DA game. The levels in this game are what you would describe as "corridor". It is a game that is supposed to be a "role-playing game". computer RPGs have generally had the pleasure of having an element of exploration to them -- a living, dynamic, open world. However, Dragon Age 2 has no exploration. Even the little things you can do, are mostly the same areas used many times over in different places, cheaply just copypasted. A big emphasis has been put on "romances" in this game, even more-so than in the previous game. Strange how a mini-game is given more thought than the actual overall game. Dragon Age 2 is a short game (much shorter than DA:O). The typical character interaction and a Biowarean type of story (which I don't even bother going into in this review) simply cannot elevate Dragon Age 2 past how weak the game is in almost every way. It is a horrible sequel after the decent Dragon Age: Origins. Bioware is truly in decline after being acquired by the Electronic Arts.    … Expand
  88. Wikary
    May 17, 2011
    0
    Probably the worst RPG I've played and one of the worst games ever. Terrible graphics, Idiotic story for 10 year olds and paid DLC Hahahahah. i Can't stop Laughting.
  89. wrotos
    May 17, 2011
    2
    I,m really disappointed Abut this game. I expect good cRPG and i get game with bad history, graphics and terrible game play, Boring game, made for console,
  90. InternetowyHejt
    May 19, 2011
    0
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    !!!!pozdrowiena dla bioware !!!!!
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  91. Dariune
    May 17, 2011
    3
    This game, in almost every way is poor. Lets forget for a moment that it is the sequel of what was heralded as the spiritual succesor to one of the greatest roleplayng games of all time and try to judge the game on its own merits. The problem being, that the game has very few merits. It is Biowares obvious step into stripping out the crpg aspects and going for the more action orientatedThis game, in almost every way is poor. Lets forget for a moment that it is the sequel of what was heralded as the spiritual succesor to one of the greatest roleplayng games of all time and try to judge the game on its own merits. The problem being, that the game has very few merits. It is Biowares obvious step into stripping out the crpg aspects and going for the more action orientated market. The game however totally fails in both areas. As an action game it is boring. Compared to a game like God of War (the game i think it is most akin to) it lacks finesse, momentum and ends up playing like a chore instead of an immersive entertainment medium. The combat is laughable. You press attack and your character does a silly anime styled move. The skills are over the top and too quick and the tactics are almost non existant. The enemies just appear from the sky and the battles are so numerous that once your half way through this very shoprt game you will be dying for it to end. The characters (Normally one of Biowares strong points) are actually pretty boring and 2d i this game. Some are fun and make you want to learn more about them but for he most part they are straight out of a kids cartoon, trying to be cool to the point of cliche. Im afraid this isnt just a poor game for Bioware (who have been steadily getting worse for a number of years now). This is just a poor game and i wouldnt reccomend it even it is in the bargain bucket. Leave well alone.… Expand
  92. Mjolnir
    May 18, 2011
    2
    Please... please don't waste your money on this steaming pile of rushed garbage. The one-dimensional characters, weak story, lacklustre level designs, recycled meshes (and not to mention copy / pasted levels such as cave instances and dungeon instances) provide us with a concise orchestra of formulated **** It's a waste of everyone's time to discuss it further.
  93. dasiu
    May 18, 2011
    3
    I liked this game, seriously. Finally they voiced the main character, some original approach to story, but if I can only give a Witcher 2 a 10/10, then 3/10 is the most I'm giving this game. Don't get me wrong, it's not all that bad, It's just like rating an Suzuki Swift after driving a Ferrari. The first one is not bad, just the other is so much better it spoils all the fun
  94. tobas1
    May 27, 2011
    3
    I have only one thing to say - don't fix things that are not broken-this will never work. Instead of fixing working ideas when you have clearly not enough time given to you by investors than just focus at content. Coz if you have not enough time and still trying to change not only scenario and environment but also game-play, mechanics and graphics and doing it for few platforms at the sameI have only one thing to say - don't fix things that are not broken-this will never work. Instead of fixing working ideas when you have clearly not enough time given to you by investors than just focus at content. Coz if you have not enough time and still trying to change not only scenario and environment but also game-play, mechanics and graphics and doing it for few platforms at the same time you just can't win. If this game would have unchanged gameplay and only little more polshed graphics it would be also bashed for not being creative but wouldn't get REAL avarage rating less than 7-8, but with focusing at scenario and as a sequel of good game i would expect at least 8,5-9,5. now it has 4 and in my opinion still too much… Expand
  95. shadowsreaver
    May 24, 2011
    4
    The discrepancy between user and critic opinions says it all about bioware. This game is a travesty. I still rate it 4 and not 2 is because of respect towards other bioware game series and sometimes the mindless action is enjoyable. This game is far worse than origins which itself was only an okay game. Everything in this game is done wrong. EVERY character is cliche (except Varric thoughThe discrepancy between user and critic opinions says it all about bioware. This game is a travesty. I still rate it 4 and not 2 is because of respect towards other bioware game series and sometimes the mindless action is enjoyable. This game is far worse than origins which itself was only an okay game. Everything in this game is done wrong. EVERY character is cliche (except Varric though the only one i liked was Fenris), the story is almost nonexistent, caves and even ROOMS are recycled a thousand times, graphics are terrible, enemies explode into a shower of blood when poked with a knife.....it goes on and on. A complete and utter failure. Shame on you bioware. And screw you EA for i feel you had a big hand in this abomination.… Expand
  96. UWHusky
    May 25, 2011
    3
    I found this to be a very difficult game ot review. I was extremely excited about getting this game as I am a long-time fan of bioware's products: Knights of the Old Republic, KOTOR II, DA:O, Mass Effect, and Mass Effect II were all games that I greatly enjoyed, and as such I had rather high expectations from Dragon Age II. I guess I should say that my first hint at my concerns showed upI found this to be a very difficult game ot review. I was extremely excited about getting this game as I am a long-time fan of bioware's products: Knights of the Old Republic, KOTOR II, DA:O, Mass Effect, and Mass Effect II were all games that I greatly enjoyed, and as such I had rather high expectations from Dragon Age II. I guess I should say that my first hint at my concerns showed up with the initial watching of the trailer where the main character summons something to rip the arms off of his enemy. The trailer itself didn't make any sense, and I was wondering to myself why he just didn't do that in the first place.

    I guess you could say that this about sums up the game.... It doesn't make any sense. I played the game for hours, continually expecting some sort of solidified story to show up, and after what seemed like an eternity, I realized that I was no longer interested in the game whatsoever. The story line never materialized, the combat, while initially was intriguing, rapidly became frustrating as I realized my NPC healer, Anders, couldn't heal anything, my tank couldn't hold aggro, and generally, as a rogue all I did was mash buttons. My biggest letdown though was something many people have already brought up: Bioware apparently ran out of ideas in creating their areas as they decided to create one area and make it work for multiple areas by opening and closing doors. The first time I saw it I didn't think much of it, but later I realized that it was the norm rather than the exception, I quickly started losing interest in the game.

    So.... breakdown:
    Pros:
    -Improved combat in that you no longer just point and click, but this does get old when you realize all you ever do is button mash.
    -Characters: this has historically been bioware's strong suit, and Dragon age II doesn't disappoint. I was generally intrigued with the characters, with the exception of Anders who simply came across as a big crybaby.

    Cons:
    -No longer can choose multiple races, like in DA:O. This offered a slightly different option for multiple playthroughs.
    -Lame, boring storyline. I have to be honest and say that I gave up on the game before Act III, so maybe a storyline does eventually appear, but I don't think a game should take 6 hours of gameplay to create the rudiments of a storyline that is intriguing.
    -Lame, boring side-quests.
    -Poor combat balancing. Initially I enjoyed the multiple waves of enemies that appear which makes combat sequences last longer, but later in the game I came to realize that this was a huge pain because your tank's taunt ability doesn't keep up with these waves, your healer can't heal anything because his heal skill takes what seems like 10 minutes to recharge, and everybody ends up dying unless you continually use healing items, which cost money. Frustrating.
    -DLC content abuse? Don't know how else to put it. I was rather shocked when I checked the DLC content and found about 100 things to download on the first day I played the game. This tells me that I paid 60 bucks for an incomplete game. I don't mind buying DLCs down the road, but it makes me wonder when such a huge amount of DLC content is not included with the game on day one. It screams of Bioware attempting (and succeeding) in extorting more money from their fan base.

    Overall... Very disapointed. Was very excited about this game, which is why I think I put up with the game for as long as I did. This game reeks of mass-produced money raking. Shame on bioware. I traded it back in to Amazon today with a tear in my eye. Here's hoping they don't mess up Mass Effect 3.    … Expand
  97. jim008
    May 26, 2011
    3
    This is a prime example of don't trust the critics to be objective. This game tried to reinvent the wheel and instead completely alienated those who enjoyed the first Dragon Age. Problem is that they designed this game to be a cheap action thrill. After awhile you completely lose interest in the story and might as well skip every scene. Seriously, how can anybody be interested in aThis is a prime example of don't trust the critics to be objective. This game tried to reinvent the wheel and instead completely alienated those who enjoyed the first Dragon Age. Problem is that they designed this game to be a cheap action thrill. After awhile you completely lose interest in the story and might as well skip every scene. Seriously, how can anybody be interested in a story so thin as you are now the badass so keep on questing because that's what badasses do. The combat is good and that's basically it because cheap action games only focuses on game play. The graphics are so good that the developers decided that you must run through the same areas over and over again until you want to poke your eyes out. I'm sorry but if DA origins was anything like this game, it would have flopped and nobody would have purchased this sequel. I think they purposely made this game horrible so that DA3 would be like a legend among the Dragon Age series. This game tried to be an RPG but the story sucked and there is absolutely no real feel in the world as monster just randomly spawn when you're running through the same area for the 12th time. This game tried to also be an action game but it's not really fun since it only has pretty good combat. Basically it tried to be good at multiple things but failed at being good with anything.… Expand
  98. magsix
    May 26, 2011
    1
    I have played pretty much every major pc title released since i was 10 years old , now im 23 and I've played alot of games. RPG's are my favourite games by far and I absolutely loved the original Dragon Age , having put over 200 hours into it on steam.

    Now they release this hoax and dare call it a sequal.. it is really quite a shame believe me. Loving different RPG's from the Gothic    I have played pretty much every major pc title released since i was 10 years old , now im 23 and I've played alot of games. RPG's are my favourite games by far and I absolutely loved the original Dragon Age , having put over 200 hours into it on steam.

    Now they release this hoax and dare call it a sequal.. it is really quite a shame believe me. Loving different RPG's from the Gothic series to the elder scrolls and the classics icewind dale and baldurs gate. I can honestly say I quit this game before even getting halfway , it's that bad... It says its an rpg but its really just a bad fighting game with overexaggerated blood effects to appeal to god knows who! i wouldnt even think kids found that cool... dont support bad sequals guys... for your own good.    … Expand
  99. google_calasade
    May 27, 2011
    3
    In a word, this game is atrocious. The NPCs are shallow. The graphics are cartoonish. The storyline is, well, boring. This is not its predecessor. Indeed, I am not sure what it is, or what it tries to be. It attempts action, hack n slash and RPG and succeeds at NONE of those. In my life, I've never rated a game below a 5...until now. Being an optimist, I start at 10 and deductIn a word, this game is atrocious. The NPCs are shallow. The graphics are cartoonish. The storyline is, well, boring. This is not its predecessor. Indeed, I am not sure what it is, or what it tries to be. It attempts action, hack n slash and RPG and succeeds at NONE of those. In my life, I've never rated a game below a 5...until now. Being an optimist, I start at 10 and deduct points (normally decimals) for those areas where I believe a game is lacking. If it lacks enough, I will subtract a whole point.

    Immersiveness = -2

    Repeated Areas = -2

    Wow, we're already down to 5. There is no immersiveness here. Kirkwall is a blank slate. The people within it stay the same and have no life cycle during the game's timeline (10 years). They do not react to you nor what happens around them. Fun, huh?

    The repeated areas? No game prior to this has offended by repetition quite so badly. It is AWFUL.

    Storyline = -1
    Graphics = -1
    Gameplay = -1

    And voilla, we're well below a 5, which is average.

    Do not waste your time or money with this rushed hack job.    … Expand
  100. MachShot
    May 30, 2011
    2
    If "Requiem for a Dream" could be made into an adaptation for a corporation instead of individuals, the main actor would be BioWare. This is a company that was legendary years ago, and somehow in the span of time following their purchase by EA it has eroded into a cesspit of bad ideas, bad production, and just plain bad employees. I'll be honest, I didn't finish the game. I couldn't. ButIf "Requiem for a Dream" could be made into an adaptation for a corporation instead of individuals, the main actor would be BioWare. This is a company that was legendary years ago, and somehow in the span of time following their purchase by EA it has eroded into a cesspit of bad ideas, bad production, and just plain bad employees. I'll be honest, I didn't finish the game. I couldn't. But let this review start off with the few good things about this heap of a game.

    Sound track is pretty good, some would say its generic medieval lore stuff but that main theme almost makes you think that your about to play a great game.

    Combat for rouge classes has improved in some ways, now an entirely useful class.

    Now for the things this game is horrible at. The games idea of difficulty is just more enemies that spawn behind you. The game's idea of a plot was lead by a woman who the internet has widely renamed as "Hamburger Helper" who's past works make Sonic the Hedgehog/Twilight crossover fan-fiction look like Pulitzer prize winning literature. The main plot has no real presence until the end of the game if the summaries I'm reading are true. To save processing power the game's non-vital NPC's in the ONE city available have facial graphics comparable to that of Morrowind (on lowest graphical settings). Again I'll say that this game has ONE town, so don't expect exploring anything to be a part of the game. It recycles dungeons and textures to the point where you think Greenpeace would give them a happy face sticker. it's "art design" is just a graphics reduction. It's dialog is focused on either being respectful, a jokester, or a prick with no actual effect on dialog results. It's romance is focused purely on being respectful to the homosexual community, but to the extent that would disturb even a San Francisco pride marcher with the realization that in BioWareLand it's biologically normal for the majority of people to be bisexual. And to top it off, the lack of correlation between professional and user reviews demonstrates "incentive" offered by EA for better reviews, and virtually all 10 ratings of this game can be traced directly to staff members on the BioWare forums if you just Google their username.

    This game tried to appeal to all demographics. The result was pissing of all but the most stupid of people. An RPG that tries to get "Call of Duty's audience" according to their chief employees is about as stupid as a radical communist trying to get the libertarian vote. And to think I was a fan of Mass Effect in the past, it's obvious now that the final installment of that trilogy however won't even be worth a pirate. BioWare is but a shell of the business they once were, its sad really.

    Note that if you forget every RPG you ever played in your life, and if you devote weeks of your life to bioware forum indoctrination and END OF LINE banter (head over there if you want to understand that), you can brainwash yourself to thinking its a decent game if you already made the unfortunate mistake of purchasing it.

    One point for good music and one point because I still remember when BioWare made great games.    … 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.
    Read full review
  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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