Dragon Age II

 PlayStation 3
User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1245 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 384 out of 1245
  2. Mixed: 188 out of 1245
  3. Negative: 673 out of 1245
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  1. brutback
    Mar 15, 2011
    5
    This hyped up **** is a betrayal towards the fans. BioWare has indeed sold their soul to EA and left their roots to rotten. It's basically a dumbed down version of DA:O with poor story, poor combat, poor depths and absolutely zero replayability. The graphic and sounds are only mediocre as well and the animations + gore is just way to much.
    On top of this the game is rushed! If BioWare have    This hyped up **** is a betrayal towards the fans. BioWare has indeed sold their soul to EA and left their roots to rotten. It's basically a dumbed down version of DA:O with poor story, poor combat, poor depths and absolutely zero replayability. The graphic and sounds are only mediocre as well and the animations + gore is just way to much.
    On top of this the game is rushed! If BioWare have had time to fix some aspects they could avoided some of the slaughter. Don't waste your money on this as I did. I will NEVER preorder from BioWare/EA again.    … Expand
  2. ElectricCity
    Mar 15, 2011
    10
    I am utterly enamored by this game. While I have a tremendous amount to love for Origins, DA2 improves on the formula by reining in on much of the wasted ambition of the original. Gone is the cliched save the world plot that we see in every fantasy RPG, replaced with a more intimate exploration of a city and it's inhabitants. Gone is the sterile and lifeless combat of Origins, instead weI am utterly enamored by this game. While I have a tremendous amount to love for Origins, DA2 improves on the formula by reining in on much of the wasted ambition of the original. Gone is the cliched save the world plot that we see in every fantasy RPG, replaced with a more intimate exploration of a city and it's inhabitants. Gone is the sterile and lifeless combat of Origins, instead we get a fast paced, highly strategic, endlessly fun re-invigoration. Exploring the cross class combos was one the most satisfying game experiences I've had this year. Also, for all streamlining and simplification people are complaining about, all it's really done is cut down on time wasted. Yes, DA2 is a shorter game than Origins, because you're not wasting half your time in menus with tasks that are better off automated. Tie that in with a colorful and memorable cast of characters, actually difficult choices, jokes that are legitimately funny, and a complex involving plot, you're looking at a fantastic game. I ran into a few bugs, two that prevented me from completing quests, but I can only assume these will be patched out sooner or later. I'd give it a 9, but hopefully a 10 will better balance out the damage the haters have caused.… Expand
  3. sp00kyfr0g
    Mar 15, 2011
    9
    This game had excellent, tactical combat. The overall story was lackluster in some areas, but tied together extremely well near the end and had more than a few instances of excellent writing (the whole Qunari Arishok exchange). Overall, one of my favorite games in the past couple of years.
  4. MrGerbz
    Mar 15, 2011
    7
    Is DA2 a bad game? No.
    Is DA2 a bad game by Bioware standards? Definitely.
    Currently Bioware seems to become a true EA Games drone, by wanting to release a game every year at the cost of quality. It is mostly the Bioware fans that are seriously pissed off at them, and are giving all the bad scores. People who don't care much about RPG's but much rather prefer action-oriented games like    Is DA2 a bad game? No.
    Is DA2 a bad game by Bioware standards? Definitely.

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

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

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

    In conclusion: DA2 isn't bad, hell it's sometimes pretty good even. For the industry standard. But it's far, far away from the Bioware standard.    … Expand
  5. pazmacats
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    Game is optimized for DLC. Disjointed story, chaotic combat. I recommend reading a book or watching 3 movies instead. If you throw a ball against an wall while wathcing the movie you can call your movie-watching interactive. You can even add a mulitplayer function by throwing the ball to some mate while watching the movie. You should however chose a good movie to watch (otherwise you'll beGame is optimized for DLC. Disjointed story, chaotic combat. I recommend reading a book or watching 3 movies instead. If you throw a ball against an wall while wathcing the movie you can call your movie-watching interactive. You can even add a mulitplayer function by throwing the ball to some mate while watching the movie. You should however chose a good movie to watch (otherwise you'll be wishing to click through stupid dialogue like in DA2)… Expand
  6. allsevens777
    Mar 15, 2011
    1
    What a disaster. This is not a "character-driven story". It is not that this is a departure from Origins which is the problem, it is that it is uncompelling in every way (save maybe for the revamped combat which was the only positive, and maybe the ability to have a decade long same-sex relationship with someone which, honestly, didn't have enough chemistry to really matter). That isWhat a disaster. This is not a "character-driven story". It is not that this is a departure from Origins which is the problem, it is that it is uncompelling in every way (save maybe for the revamped combat which was the only positive, and maybe the ability to have a decade long same-sex relationship with someone which, honestly, didn't have enough chemistry to really matter). That is the fundamental problem with this game. Other than that, there is no environmental changes, no different locations, the characters are all flat, and you can tell they tried to put all their eggs in one basket with Isabella which didn't work out well for them anyway. I'm a champion. Of what exactly? Or, what the hell is the end of that game about? Really? Feel like they ran out of time to work on this game, and tried to end it as quickly as possible. You know, like doing your final term paper the night before it's due. Crushing disappointment from a gay gamer who was such a fan of Origins. This was a simple ploy to make money. I feel cheated.… Expand
  7. Hippy
    Mar 15, 2011
    3
    I was very disapointed with this game, while it was touted at the next big thing, it plays like a single origin story from the first game. Held on it's own the game is fun enough, but compaired to DA:O it is a sore reminder what might have been, I LOVED the first game and have the Platinium Trophy easily putting in 100+ hours, I have had DA2 for all of 5 days and I am considering tradingI was very disapointed with this game, while it was touted at the next big thing, it plays like a single origin story from the first game. Held on it's own the game is fun enough, but compaired to DA:O it is a sore reminder what might have been, I LOVED the first game and have the Platinium Trophy easily putting in 100+ hours, I have had DA2 for all of 5 days and I am considering trading it in to get my money back. a big disappointment.… Expand
  8. Fujidog
    Mar 15, 2011
    9
    Dragon Age 2 is a great game. It's not as large in scope as the first game. But it's a more personal story with your family and friends in the city of Kirkwall. Don't let a few low scores keep you from playing a great rpg.
  9. Indigoman1
    Mar 14, 2011
    10
    In a strict game play sense Dragon age 2 far surpasses Dragon age : Origins as being faster paced and less clunky. The game is much cleaner and more visually striking than the first, also the protagonist not being silent does a lot to make conversations flow. The story is downright boring however and so far (20 hours in) hasn't gotten me excited one bit.
  10. DoctorSuperior
    Mar 14, 2011
    9
    Dragon Age 2 is an incredible game. The story is engaging and the action is very fast-paced. I was a fan of Dragon Age: Origins. I played through that game about 5 times already since it's released. These playthroughs include the Expansion and all the DLC for each playthrough. Suffice to say, I adored Dragon Age: Origins. I feel like Dragon Age 2 expands and improves on everything DragonDragon Age 2 is an incredible game. The story is engaging and the action is very fast-paced. I was a fan of Dragon Age: Origins. I played through that game about 5 times already since it's released. These playthroughs include the Expansion and all the DLC for each playthrough. Suffice to say, I adored Dragon Age: Origins. I feel like Dragon Age 2 expands and improves on everything Dragon Age: Origins did. The story-telling, the graphics, the action, the characters, and the villains. All were improvements on the first game and this time the story is a more personal one as opposed to a sweeping epic like the first one. While there are games coming out in 2011 that I'm expecting to usurp it, at this moment I can say that Dragon Age 2 is my favorite game to date in the 30+ years I've been playing games.… Expand
  11. tuttifrutas
    Mar 14, 2011
    4
    the game is very disappointing. The graphics seem dated, the music is ok, the game-play is simplified and poses no challenge at all for experienced rpg gamers. LOTS of the recycled content. it is the same layout for all caverns, almost all houses, and almost everything has the same type of texture applied.
    But the City Hub system is the worse, i never seen so many loading screen in my    the game is very disappointing. The graphics seem dated, the music is ok, the game-play is simplified and poses no challenge at all for experienced rpg gamers. LOTS of the recycled content. it is the same layout for all caverns, almost all houses, and almost everything has the same type of texture applied.
    But the City Hub system is the worse, i never seen so many loading screen in my life. initiate quest in district A , goto hub, Loading, do quest in district B, goto hub, Loading, finish quest in district A. This system makes the game a chore. just go play DAO this one is just plain boring.    … Expand
  12. gheed123
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Bioware for me stood for quality RPG. Dragon age Origins was a quality RPG. The quality steadily went down with each DLC and the absolute low of this decline now seems to have been reached with DA2. They tried to make an RPG that appeals to the bro's that play CoD, Halo and Gears of war and the like and ended up with this **** The story is nonexistant, enemies are lame, they raped the loreBioware for me stood for quality RPG. Dragon age Origins was a quality RPG. The quality steadily went down with each DLC and the absolute low of this decline now seems to have been reached with DA2. They tried to make an RPG that appeals to the bro's that play CoD, Halo and Gears of war and the like and ended up with this **** The story is nonexistant, enemies are lame, they raped the lore that they built up with DAO, combat is fun for an hour or 1000 exploding bodies, copypasted terrain, fetch quests.. To me yet another huge disappointment for a triple A title.… Expand
  13. Asher
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Don't listen to any of these Biodrones, this game screams RUSH-JOB. Graphics from 2006 and gameplay aimed at CoD kiddies = facepalm. Save your money, go for Witcher 2
  14. cmchris2
    Mar 14, 2011
    1
    Oops - meant to give this a lower score. I hope this 1 score evens it all out, though I'd like to make it clear that I don't believe this game deserves a 1. The true score for me is somewhere between a 5 and a 6.
  15. JaTochNietDan
    Mar 14, 2011
    7
    It wasn't as good as the original Dragon Age: Origins, it was very dumbed down fr the mainstream gaming crowd, it wasn't the hardcore RPG that Origins was. Although that's not to say that the game wasn't engaging and fun in its own way, there were plenty of fun moments and the combat was a little more fu-filling than the original game. Also, I didn't like the new way of handling dialog, IIt wasn't as good as the original Dragon Age: Origins, it was very dumbed down fr the mainstream gaming crowd, it wasn't the hardcore RPG that Origins was. Although that's not to say that the game wasn't engaging and fun in its own way, there were plenty of fun moments and the combat was a little more fu-filling than the original game. Also, I didn't like the new way of handling dialog, I preferred when you actually selected the lines of dialog that your character would say, not when you are clearly choosing labled dialog which is either good, bad or just silly, according to the picture in the middle. It was more immersive and involving when you selected lines of text, without being told what they were going to do, as it was basically depending on you to decide what to say, rather than being able to see the likely outcome of what you were saying in the latest game.

    Either way I still enjoyed the game thoroughly, but do hope that they make some changes for us hardcore RPG fans, instead of making the game more casual.    … Expand
  16. Soulfighter
    Mar 14, 2011
    9
    Don't trust the spam-reviews, this game is solid.Bioware really improved DA:O to make one of the best RPG with a story that builds well and good character development if you get past the first 5 hours. Contrary to the apparent bulk of reviewers, you cannot beat the game in 10 hours even if you rush the main quest. I took the day off of work yesterday and played for 21 hours and haven'tDon't trust the spam-reviews, this game is solid.Bioware really improved DA:O to make one of the best RPG with a story that builds well and good character development if you get past the first 5 hours. Contrary to the apparent bulk of reviewers, you cannot beat the game in 10 hours even if you rush the main quest. I took the day off of work yesterday and played for 21 hours and haven't even gotten past the initial town. Dragon age 2 is definitly one of the best rpg of this year and a MUST HAVE. i recommend this game to anyone and v can't do anything about it.… Expand
  17. JohnHex
    Mar 14, 2011
    2
    After amazing Dragon Age I, the Dragon Age II is a big let down. It has thrown away everything that made Dragon Age I such an epic adventure. For example in Dragon Age II you never leave the Kirkwall which makes environment more and more boring when time passes. The combat is just bad and over used. It is dull when a group of bandits or spiders jump on you on every corner. Not to talkAfter amazing Dragon Age I, the Dragon Age II is a big let down. It has thrown away everything that made Dragon Age I such an epic adventure. For example in Dragon Age II you never leave the Kirkwall which makes environment more and more boring when time passes. The combat is just bad and over used. It is dull when a group of bandits or spiders jump on you on every corner. Not to talk about enemy reinforcements: seems like every gang in Kirkwall got a lot of men to spare. Reinforcement idea is also too heavily over used. I swear there wasn't a single battle without more enemies popping from ground.

    Do not believe "professional" critics, the game is just bad and should never been released. User score speaks for the game quality.    … Expand
  18. StanleyWoo
    Mar 14, 2011
    10
    Dragon Age 2 is the one of the best RPG is have ever played. Story is well thought and really complex. Dark and gloomy setting is incredible. Game play has noticeably improved since Dragon Age: Origins. If you are true RPG fan, you just have to play this game. Be excellent to each other. End of Line.
  19. Erenthorn
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    This an extremely sad attempt for an rpg, before continuing i will point out the first obvious flaws in the game. -Reusing the same four maps 500 times.
    -Setting the whole game in one city.
    -Enemies have a ton of HP and come in waves so the game feels longer. -Frame narrative to avoid being too descriptive about what happens between large periods of time. -Half as much dialogue, more    This an extremely sad attempt for an rpg, before continuing i will point out the first obvious flaws in the game. -Reusing the same four maps 500 times.
    -Setting the whole game in one city.
    -Enemies have a ton of HP and come in waves so the game feels longer.
    -Frame narrative to avoid being too descriptive about what happens between large periods of time.
    -Half as much dialogue, more passive interaction.
    -Millions of stupid side quests that have nothing to do with anything.
    -Dull environment bereft of life and matter.
    -Inability to customize companions allowed you to skip designing different armor models.
    -Collecting hundreds of-- literally, junk items-- to create the illusion of immersion and depth.
    -Poor character development, so you hardly care about your companions by the end of the game. -Lack of any substantial choices that have lasting effects.
    -Contrived ending, that tells you nothing, and leaves a huge gap for sub-par DLC
    -Generic UI showing a lack of creativity and effort.

    Thank You to Sharkey1337 from the Bioware forums for pointing this out. This "game" is a sad excuse for a rushed rpg that lacked any standards of innovation and i ask anyone who thinks about playing this game to not do so. At most, rent and DO NOT BUY, YOU WILL HAVE WASTED 60$ IF YOU DO. Dragon Age Origins compared to this is an absolute masterpiece and anyone who was not played it should do so over buying this short pathetic game.    … Expand
  20. UnpaidCritic
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    As someone who deeply enjoyed DA:O, I am immensely disappointed by this sequel. Dragon Age 2 is inferior to its predecessor in basically every way. And how Bioware manged to even implement worse graphics than DA:O is completely beyond me. Ratings are always subjective but if you see game reviewers give this game a 10/10 praising its superior graphics .. you cant help but wonder how much ofAs someone who deeply enjoyed DA:O, I am immensely disappointed by this sequel. Dragon Age 2 is inferior to its predecessor in basically every way. And how Bioware manged to even implement worse graphics than DA:O is completely beyond me. Ratings are always subjective but if you see game reviewers give this game a 10/10 praising its superior graphics .. you cant help but wonder how much of this praise came directly from EA itself. Also nice try Avanost.… Expand
  21. Hude
    Mar 14, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. DA2 just didnâ… Expand
  22. Icee
    Mar 14, 2011
    1
    Dragon Age: Origins its a great game. Dragon Age 2 just **** sorry but its true. Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game Don't buy this game
  23. MushroomMethod
    Mar 14, 2011
    8
    I really like the changes to combat, i enjoy that it takes less then three years to swing your two handed sword. However, the game does get bogged down by terrible aggro systems and the simplicity of it all. Also, the story is incredibly weak compared to the first game. I still give it an eight, however, because despite the hold-backs, I was still playing it for hours and hours on end andI really like the changes to combat, i enjoy that it takes less then three years to swing your two handed sword. However, the game does get bogged down by terrible aggro systems and the simplicity of it all. Also, the story is incredibly weak compared to the first game. I still give it an eight, however, because despite the hold-backs, I was still playing it for hours and hours on end and was still engrossed in every minute… Expand
  24. Viraglue
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Bland and watered down, DA2 was a huge disappointment, visually and conceptually. Judging this game solely by itself (I haven't played Origins), I joined Metacric just to say, don't waste your money. If you have to, rent the game first before you flush it down the drain. What I want to know, is how are all of these so-called "Critics" rating this game +86? I wonder how much BioWare spentBland and watered down, DA2 was a huge disappointment, visually and conceptually. Judging this game solely by itself (I haven't played Origins), I joined Metacric just to say, don't waste your money. If you have to, rent the game first before you flush it down the drain. What I want to know, is how are all of these so-called "Critics" rating this game +86? I wonder how much BioWare spent on getting those ratings.… Expand
  25. cameronhodgkins
    Mar 14, 2011
    7
    Don't believe the haters...this game is a lot of fun. It hasn't revolutioned the industry, and no, it's not the same as DA:Origins. Much like the differences between Mass Effect and ME2, Dragon Age II has decided to simplify things to attract a wider audience. Consider me attracted. I understand why some players might miss the need for pause and assign gameplay, but I do not. I highlyDon't believe the haters...this game is a lot of fun. It hasn't revolutioned the industry, and no, it's not the same as DA:Origins. Much like the differences between Mass Effect and ME2, Dragon Age II has decided to simplify things to attract a wider audience. Consider me attracted. I understand why some players might miss the need for pause and assign gameplay, but I do not. I highly recommend this game.… Expand
  26. Rubyjones
    Mar 14, 2011
    9
    Wow whats with the ratings below, an anti-bioware fan club on the prowl? lame. DA2 may not be DA1 but the Art direction is much improved, ldetails have more clarity, scenic views are more darmatic and colorful. Combat looksgreat with spells lighting up the screen, you may have to up the difficulty more than normal to up the challenge.
  27. wiwefak
    Mar 14, 2011
    7
    Dragon Age 2, isnt something what i expected it to be. Maybe i was hoping for DA:O sequal. The game does have improvment at some points. The combat is more fun now, it isnt clunky and the animations are smooth. It was nice to see my rogue just kill stuff with style. The spells and skills look nice, First time i casted rock armor i was amazed how much better it looked compared to DA:O. TheDragon Age 2, isnt something what i expected it to be. Maybe i was hoping for DA:O sequal. The game does have improvment at some points. The combat is more fun now, it isnt clunky and the animations are smooth. It was nice to see my rogue just kill stuff with style. The spells and skills look nice, First time i casted rock armor i was amazed how much better it looked compared to DA:O. The new Qunari look nice, but in the game you dont see any female Qunari's also you dont see any female Dwarfs. The dialogue wheel is something they tried to take over from ME2, but it dosent fit for DA2. In a rpg i wanna be the character and choose what i say like i did in DA:O, but with the new dialogue wheel i often felt like i didnt bother reading any options. Making me pay less attention to the story. I always knew top was good, middle was neutral and bottom was evul. So i always clicked the top one and didnt bother reading anything else. Which was a huge letdown. In DA:O you had so many diffrent choices and you chose the option which felt what you would have said so you were thinking what you would do, you were in the game. Also the dialogue options were sometimes confusing, because i hoped it to say something diffrent and it kept me sometimes wondering if i pressed something wrong or could the other options say what i wanted to say.

    Companions:
    Companion customization is dumbed down. You can't change ur companion armor, except rings,necklace, belt and weapon. In a rpg i always want to customize all my characters. Or maybe it was too much to expect. 1 and half years to make a sequal isnt that much, comparing to DA:O and i guess Bioware didnt have the time to make armors for your companions. But not being able to change armors, resulted my main character who was a rogue, have more armor/defence than my tank. Even though you can upgrade your companion armors, by getting some special upgraders or doing companion quests it isnt as effective compared to DA:O, where you could give them your old set.

    Another thing about companions, you cant talk to them everytime you want. Basically if you want to know about them you need to wait for the companion quest to open. I always was checking all my companions, because i wanted to know about them more, but i never was able to talk with them unless they had a quest and that wasnt really what i was looking forward to. In DA:O you could talk with them everywhere, which was great, but now the only chance to talk with them is during companion quests and occasionaly cutscenes. In DA:O, you talked with them everytime gave them gifts, laughed at their jokes and dialogues, but now it feels like they removed it from the game. True the companions to have funny dialogue with eachother from time to time, but here i don't bother listening to them at all, unless its Varrick whos talking. Varrick will probably be the companion i will remeber. Compared to DA:O, where i loved Alistair, Morrigan, Shale, Zevran, Oghren and so on. The companions in DA2 arent that memorable.

    The theme is Kirkwall, you spend all the time in Kirkwall and its surrounding places. Kirkwall is a huge city and you can choose to visit at night and day, which is nice, but the city is empty. I mean there arent npc-s. The huge city seems kinda empty, but that isnt a big problem, the biggest problem is the dungeons and recycled areas. After ACT1 you will spend ur time revisiting the places u visited for several more times. Basically after ACT1 you have seen the whole game. Compared to DA:O, where there were so many diffrent places, citys this seems like they didnt have money or the time to make new dungeons. After revisiting a dungeon the 20-th time you know where the most treasures are and it isnt as rewarding and the game lacks exploration.

    What is the deal with DLC before the game is even released. They are trying to milk too much money out of the gamers who like the Dragon Age universe. There are 2 dlc-s already, which 1 has a new companion and the other has some bonus items. You can play DA2 without dlc-s easily, because those dlc don't add that much depth to the game. Also on hard/nightmare the game is challenging, however some places are unbalanced and make you wanna tear your hair out. To play on nightmare you gotta exploit all the weakness and the stupidness of the enemys ai. The game started feeling like hit and run. The game isnt as tactical as DA:O, yes you can play it tactically, but after waves and waves of enemys ur tactics mostly end up being useless, because enemy's come out of nowhere and just take out ur mage or rogue. So you never can be prepeared.

    Dont get me wrong Dragon Age 2 is a good game, but i always kept comparing it to DA:O. DA2 was rushed out, it wasnt polished like DA:O. If there wasnt DA:O i would give DA2 a score of 8, but it felt for me that it isnt as good as DA;O and i always compared to it. So imma give it a 7.0    … Expand
  28. RavenZD
    Mar 14, 2011
    4
    This games claims to be mature RPG from one of best RPG developers in the world, It simply is not true.
    Before i start with pros and cons, let me just say a thing or two about mature rpg:
    1. It is not mature (yes there is sex and some quests are rather interesting), but flashy combat, quests that are so dumb (discover a item on floor and bring it to someone for reward is insult of    This games claims to be mature RPG from one of best RPG developers in the world, It simply is not true.
    Before i start with pros and cons, let me just say a thing or two about mature rpg:

    1. It is not mature (yes there is sex and some quests are rather interesting), but flashy combat, quests that are so dumb (discover a item on floor and bring it to someone for reward is insult of intelligence). There is no real group dynamics, story so far is refreshment from usual rpg epic default, but i don't mention this as a necessary good thing - you are driven solely by making a name for your self in one rather small town. It is ok to have this, but you expect more at the end. This is just: ok, and that is it, what now?

    2. RPG - where to start....it just doesn't feel like one. Inventory is a big part of rpg for me - i like to play around with items, have meaningful icons, distribute with my members, combine what is best and generally play around with crafting etc. Here they take most of it away. There are no icons, party customization is awful, if you get DLC armor & weapons, you will be using it alot because it is very powerful...crafting is just basically purchasing from a stand...no open world, feels very limited with location recycle... i just can't get into the character and into setting.


    To be clear, haven't played game through...i started by single session of 8 hours, than 6, than 4, than 2.. yesterday i just chilled on couch, had absolutely no wish to turn it on (in DA:o it was quite opposite, my desire to play got bigger with progression). Not really sure if i will be able to finish it (difficultly is not an issue).. it just doesn't captivate and mesmerize like RPG should.


    PRO: no bugs, some very interesting quests, combat can be fun sometimes, top notch voice acting
    CONS: inventory, party chars not very interesting, fight is not tactical at all, no open space, narrow corridors or walls most of game (don't mind dungeon crawl now and then, but this is nowhere near so far), dialog wheel (absolute rpg abomination) and yes for me - no epic struggle as culmination of all the efforts...


    For me a big letdown, if you liked origins and enjoy classic RPG experience do not buy this game until it is not on some discount or used...don't think I'll ever play this more than once if i manage to get interested enough to complete.

    P.S. If this is what RPG is going to be from now on - i must be getting too old and this simply is not for me.    … Expand
  29. zinc007
    Mar 14, 2011
    1
    Designed by focus group. By trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, Bioware has created game that never really develops it's own personality. Utterly forgettable, DA2 tries in vain to be darker, edgier and sexier, but only succeeds in trying too hard. The violence is bloody, the "sexiness" is a bit blatant and ham-handed, all the while giving the impression that behind theDesigned by focus group. By trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, Bioware has created game that never really develops it's own personality. Utterly forgettable, DA2 tries in vain to be darker, edgier and sexier, but only succeeds in trying too hard. The violence is bloody, the "sexiness" is a bit blatant and ham-handed, all the while giving the impression that behind the scenes is a 40-something game director saying "this is what the kids want, right?" Rather than focus on making a solid, entertaining game, Bioware tried to include all things for all gamers. They have created a game with something for everyone, but not enough for any one group to enjoy the experience.… Expand
  30. MistOne
    Mar 13, 2011
    10
    What sucks is all the hype around this for a lackluster game. "Oh DA2 is da best game ever!" Then once you play it, you trade it in and say "I can't believe I gave into hype." I can't believe the words "hype", "improvement", and better yet, "critics." Improvment. What? I thought this was the first game. Hype. Yeah, hype over noth
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Awards & Rankings

44
#44 Best PS3 Game of 2011
7
#7 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2011
80
#80 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 52 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 52
  3. Negative: 0 out of 52
  1. GamingExcellence
    Aug 3, 2011
    85
    I'll give Bioware points for trying to do something different in their world, but they really did have it right the first time in terms of character building and the scope of the story.
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  2. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    May 27, 2011
    80
    Ultimately Dragon Age II feels like a one step past, and two steps back from Origins. It has been specced purely with us console gamers in mind and now has a low barrier of entry that will rally new fans to the Dragon Age banner. That's admirable, but fans who did get into Origins will lament the less masterful storytelling and the noticeably uneven visual presentation. [May 2011 p.78]
  3. Gamers' Temple
    May 16, 2011
    85
    A smaller gameworld and recycled environments make Dragon Age II feel less expansive than Origins, but a number of console friendly game changes may make it more appealing to console gamers than its predecessor.
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