Dragon Age II

Uninspired and sorely lacking invention. [Issue#70, p.78]

It continues to be a good RPG, with some flaws and it's very similar to the first, but if you are thinking of starting up in the Dragon Age saga, buy Origins.

It's a deeply flawed game, to be sure, wasting a wellspring of potential for no discernible reason, but one that should be played for being unafraid to show people at their weakest and most vicious. If the metric of a good game is that I keep coming back to it despite it's faults, Dragon Age II certainly qualifies.

Dragon Age II felt unfinished. Bioware gave too many restrictions with the adventure in terms of where you can go and where the story might take you. They also unnecessarily changed things up in the inventory system which didn't help the overall experience at all. The game still feels fun, but it's a lot more tedious/frustrating than the original.

Slightly dissapointing. It's not a bad game but a much worse one than the first chapter of the saga, and we're sure that BioWare can do far better than this.

Dragon Age 2, like the first, feels like a whisper of a promise rather than a burst of fresh air, always heralding that maybe – just maybe – the next sequel will be better. For now, it is robust, enjoyable and promising. But most of all, it's safe. It's safe.

Despite its game mechanics being streamlined to cater the console-audience with a high tempo and a smaller set of statistics, Dragon Age II is still a massive role-playing adventure. With its immersive storyline and good class system, it its yet another Bioware game in the collection of great role-playing experiences.

While Dragon Age II doesn't quite measure up to it's predecessor, the streamlined approach was a solid effort - if Bioware can somehow marry the best parts of Origins and Dragon Age II, it will produce one of the best RPGs the world has ever seen.

The frustrating thing is we have a feeling Dragon Age II is going to be criticised most for its gameplay changes than its storytelling failings. You might not like the new direction but it works as BioWare intended. But the story you carve with your new combat skills doesn't always seem worthy of such risky innovation.

Despite the way narrative has been re-structured and the combat made meatier, this sequel follows the old conventions of the genre too literally to develop an individuality beyond them. Two entries down the pipe, and Dragon Age is still experiencing the growing pains of a series that's more dedicated to studying fantasy games than developing its own personality in the genre.

There are occasional strong moments, but unless you're desperate for more of the Dragon Age setting, it would be best to replay Dragon Age: Origins or Mass Effect 2 instead.

It's quick, painless and will leaving you wanting more. Perhaps it doesn't bear the weight other RPGs do, but it carries its own and smoothly enters players into its world. Overall, it may not challenge, but it does please.

There's a lot to like in BioWare's latest, but the sad truth is that even before the halfway point you'll have seen pretty much everything the game has to offer, several times over in many cases. [Issue#107, p.86]

Dragon Age II isn't a bad game, but it is a huge disappointment from such a respected and otherwise consistent developer. While the combat has been improved significantly, its failings in other areas – areas in which BioWare usually excel – are numerous and baffling. In the 32 hours it took me to finish the game, I spent the last 10 wishing it would hurry up and get to the good bit at the end. And then it turned out the ending was a bit non-committal and rubbish, too. A shame.

The claustrophobic setting is the game's most glaring weakness: you can't have an epic adventure in a single city any more than a child will be content to endlessly explore his own back garden. [Apr 2011, p.82]

Dragon Age II is blessed with a deep universe and a ton of content, but it's sadly undermined by its technical side. Even though, visually, the game goes beyond the original, it still forgoes some elements of its predecessor in order to become more action-oriented, which is a choice that will most probably keep dividing opinions. We'd have hoped to see this sequel install the franchise as a must-have by correcting the shortcomings of the original. Instead, we'll have to make-do with finding it most entertaining indeed, but without any added praise. Too bad.

Bioware has stripped away the veil of grandiose adventure, and what's behind the curtain is a truly uninspired RPG.