Dragon Age II

 Xbox 360
User Score
4.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2466 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 795 out of 2466
  2. Mixed: 431 out of 2466
  3. Negative: 1,240 out of 2466
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  1. not_good
    Mar 23, 2011
    4
    This game is **** great if you love jrpg's.

    If you like $60 epic sequels from premiere developers to award winning and critically acclaimed games, you will be disappointed however.
  2. Fireside
    Mar 21, 2011
    4
    So initially I wasn't too upset with this game, but I decided to go back and play DOA over the weekend. Man, you haters are right: this game sucks. Everything about it is tragically inferior to its predecessor, even the graphics. F you Bioware. This game is garbage and you know it.
  3. Nekator
    Mar 9, 2011
    4
    Sadly DA2 is no roleplay Game in my Oppinion anymore. The only thing this game has is fighting (with much blood and exploding hordes of enemies - like the Marketing said.. for every button something flashy happens) also there are no Skills anymore, beside the fighting skills... The other thing is the story presentation, which Bioware still is good at.
    But things like the restricted    Sadly DA2 is no roleplay Game in my Oppinion anymore. The only thing this game has is fighting (with much blood and exploding hordes of enemies - like the Marketing said.. for every button something flashy happens) also there are no Skills anymore, beside the fighting skills... The other thing is the story presentation, which Bioware still is good at.
    But things like the restricted inventory and kodex entries (50% percent of the things you find are nondescript junk?? really?), the MMO Interface.. this all makes it to an Action Adventure at best. As a roleplay game it sadly fails in nearly every way :(    … Expand
  4. ErraticUnicorn
    Apr 19, 2011
    4
    Here lies a perversion of the original Dragon Age. Shedding anything that made it special, leaving it devoid of a soul and presenting the bare-bones minimum for this game to be functional. Repetitiveness lazy level, enemy, and quest design all make for a mediocre game.
  5. hokum
    Mar 9, 2011
    4
    Just dire. Did not think BioWare could make games this bad. Is it the EA effect? This is neither a proper action game nor a proper RPG - it's some mutant ugly hybrid trying to appeal to both types of gamer, and failing. And a cliffhanger ending? So much for epic story - just an ad for some DLC or DA3. The graphics are worse than Dragon Age 1, like some 2005 console port. The combat is justJust dire. Did not think BioWare could make games this bad. Is it the EA effect? This is neither a proper action game nor a proper RPG - it's some mutant ugly hybrid trying to appeal to both types of gamer, and failing. And a cliffhanger ending? So much for epic story - just an ad for some DLC or DA3. The graphics are worse than Dragon Age 1, like some 2005 console port. The combat is just a button mashing cartoon, dumbed down from DA1. LOTS of things have been cut. It's short - like 12 hours for the main campaign. The characters you meet feel lifeless, and the same scenery is recycled. To hide this, BioWare stuck in lots of bink cinematics and sex scenes. Get ready to be fleeced with tons of DLC now that will raise the cost of this disgusting trainwreck to over $100. Last BioWare game I buy - I dont even trust they can do Mass Effect 3 right after this.â… Expand
  6. Enshia
    Mar 9, 2011
    4
    After nearly 10hrs of game play I'll start with the "game is a step backwards" statement. Anyone who believes otherwise is a blind fanboy(and yes I really did and do like previous BW titles and was a fanboy). The real problems start when the game moved from a cRPG(dao/a) to a action RPG. Where your PC does lightening fast **** that makes things explode! Well I suppose if you like that,After nearly 10hrs of game play I'll start with the "game is a step backwards" statement. Anyone who believes otherwise is a blind fanboy(and yes I really did and do like previous BW titles and was a fanboy). The real problems start when the game moved from a cRPG(dao/a) to a action RPG. Where your PC does lightening fast **** that makes things explode! Well I suppose if you like that, this game is for you. There's serious problems with how bosses are dealt with. First if you attack a boss, they spawn 'friends'. Then as you keep attacking them, they spawn more, and sometimes more! This is the cheap way of making content hard. Sure I can understand having minions, but repeatedly spawning 8 groups of 10 mobs to make something difficult? No dice. The level designs are lack luster(the city itself is pretty). But you're going to revisit the same areas, again, and again, and again. Did I mention going to the same areas again? Maybe not. You will not have party conversations while out and about, nope you must goto their house/building/hideout. The difficulty scaling is messed up, no longer following a core set of rules. If you're waiting for us modders to fix the game? Well who knows, because they have yet to even say if we'll get a toolset. And the original toolset doesn't work in the game, missing assets and all that.

    I could carry on with the spell changes, and several other things but there's no real point. I'll say this, if you want to buy the game wait for the super-ultra-deluxe version, where you won't be nickeled and dimed over DLC. And hopefully by then we'll have a toolset, and be able to fix this horrid game.    … Expand
  7. Sabiancym
    Mar 9, 2011
    4
    Yet again a company decides to "improve" their game by removing the complexity and mechanics that made it great in the first place. No longer can you equip your companions with any item you find, you now have set upgrades. The skills have also been dumbed down. Removing or merging skills like trap-making, poison making, etc.

    The combat is also a mess. A slight speed up would have done    Yet again a company decides to "improve" their game by removing the complexity and mechanics that made it great in the first place. No longer can you equip your companions with any item you find, you now have set upgrades. The skills have also been dumbed down. Removing or merging skills like trap-making, poison making, etc.

    The combat is also a mess. A slight speed up would have done Dragon Age well, but they went extremely too far with it. Animations are jerky, gore is over the top, they've basically turned it into a hack and slash RPG game.

    They went away from a lot of what made Dragon Age: Origins great. It's sad that they would insult the people who supported the first game.    … Expand
  8. harmattan
    Mar 10, 2011
    4
    Dragon Age 1, although not the BGII second-coming I was hoping for, offered a close-to-perfect compromise between micro-management of Inventory, Spells and Tactics and hack-and-slash action -- this is what I buy RPGs like this for. Dragon Age 2 takes a different approach: attacking is, for the most part, fire and forget, spell management is limited and inventory is over-simplified.Dragon Age 1, although not the BGII second-coming I was hoping for, offered a close-to-perfect compromise between micro-management of Inventory, Spells and Tactics and hack-and-slash action -- this is what I buy RPGs like this for. Dragon Age 2 takes a different approach: attacking is, for the most part, fire and forget, spell management is limited and inventory is over-simplified. Moreover, the story is convoluded and didn't motivate me to keep playing. Good dialogue and voice acting redeems this game a bit, but nothing can save it from it's pander-to-the-lowest-common-denominator simplicity.

    This game is definitely not worth $60, either on PC or console. Either hold out for the bargain bin or until you can find it used, or just pass (you're not missing much).    … Expand
  9. ZieGentleman
    Mar 10, 2011
    4
    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
  10. Fef
    Mar 11, 2011
    4
    Sorry, not this time BioWare. This game is a crap and all are like "wohoooohoooo best game evah". Seriously this game sucks hard. Im off, goin play some RPGs. REAL ONES.
  11. Valhakar
    Mar 11, 2011
    4
    2o2P/AGE player. First off, this game is a narrative, not a an exploration. You know the ending before you get out of the first act. While this may have worked for the movie "The Princess Bride", if fails miserably at providing an immersion laced plot that makes you care about your party members or the story. I found that the game was pretty much a streamlined RPG to showcase the2o2P/AGE player. First off, this game is a narrative, not a an exploration. You know the ending before you get out of the first act. While this may have worked for the movie "The Princess Bride", if fails miserably at providing an immersion laced plot that makes you care about your party members or the story. I found that the game was pretty much a streamlined RPG to showcase the increased animations and spell effects. Site locations were reused over and over so they bumped up the pretty (only a little) and gutted the unique locations and non-plot based interactions. The dialogue is ONLY for plot progression. No more poking around in the heads of your party members. The combat is improved pace wise but much of the strategy of DA:O is lost. It almost feels like they were looking to compete with the now delayed release of Diablo 3. Even if it was not, it feels rushed and shallow.

    DA2 is akin to dating a blonde coed in college. Pretty to look at and fun to play with for a while, then you find it lacking and uninteresting. Add in the immediate DLC offering, you also get a lighter wallet like said coed. I'll stick with the "quirky brunette" that is DA:O. This will be a financial success for EA, so look for more of the same. I will not be ordering the next installment.    … Expand
  12. pizzigol
    Mar 11, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. El juego es muy repetitivo las locaciones son siempre las mismas y aburre , la historia es muy buenas y las batallas estan biern realizadas , no se pueden usar armaduras en los personajes jugables salvo en el que iniciamos como nuestro jugador… Expand
  13. Masterbrew
    Mar 12, 2011
    4
    I'm a person who very much enjoyed Dragon Age 1, Mass Effect 1 and 2. And RPGs in general.
    I hadn't read any reviews or any info really on Dragon Age 2 before impulse buying it in a store. I never thought it could be bad given it's frikkin' Dragon Age by frikkin' Bioware.
    After having played it for 8-10 hours it became clear to me that I'm not really having fun. I don't care about the    I'm a person who very much enjoyed Dragon Age 1, Mass Effect 1 and 2. And RPGs in general.
    I hadn't read any reviews or any info really on Dragon Age 2 before impulse buying it in a store. I never thought it could be bad given it's frikkin' Dragon Age by frikkin' Bioware.
    After having played it for 8-10 hours it became clear to me that I'm not really having fun. I don't care about the characters, I'm not sure who the bad guys are, the quests just seem unimportant.
    So I played for another 3 hours thinking SOON I will be hooked like I had been so many times before by Biowares stories. But I just got more and more disconnected. Running straight to main plot quests, skipping dialogue - something I usually never do.
    Now I'm done. 10 hours spent on the game and $70 later. The game is going on a used games market website. If I'm lucky I can get 2/3rds of what I paid for it.
    This leaves me worried for my favorite franchise, Mass Effect 3. Lets hope Bioware finds their way again.    … Expand
  14. peroxxi
    Mar 12, 2011
    4
    This game in crap. No exploration, tons of bugs, tons of more bugs, awful difficulty calibration, crappy graphics. They made this game in few months just because EA command it!
    It's turned to a great rpg to a casual action rpg.
  15. Qwik
    Mar 12, 2011
    4
    Corrupt save files just like the last one. Game over Dragon Age. The game is OK story wise but so many corrupt game saves and just bad everything. It's a big miss on their part. I wish they would have taken 6 more months and actually came out with a quality experience.
  16. Diogenes4evr
    Mar 12, 2011
    4
    In a world where there already exists a Mass Effect 1 and 2 why would you buy a third; smaller, shorter, more repetitive and poorer version of it? Dragon Age is a great IP as demonstrated by Origins and DA2 could have been great. Longer and more in-depth quests with greater exploration could have made a mediocre game good; as it is the constant recycling of areas makes the story andIn a world where there already exists a Mass Effect 1 and 2 why would you buy a third; smaller, shorter, more repetitive and poorer version of it? Dragon Age is a great IP as demonstrated by Origins and DA2 could have been great. Longer and more in-depth quests with greater exploration could have made a mediocre game good; as it is the constant recycling of areas makes the story and characters carry the entire weight of this game and it's them that you will play through it for. Combat is repetitive and needs to either be more strategic or require better talent useage (the cool down times are far to long). Still very well written with solid characters and better than the majority of games out there but if you are looking for a BioWare masterpiece or a worthy successor to Origins; this is not it.… Expand
  17. usernam322
    Mar 12, 2011
    4
    From DA:O to DA 2 seems like a pretty big fall for Bioware. It almost seems like they didn't even try this time around. One of the biggest grips I have is with where the game takes place.
    DA:O had you traveling all over the place and DA 2 has you running around one city and a few other locations near the city. The main character is supposed to be this great champion but one would wonder    From DA:O to DA 2 seems like a pretty big fall for Bioware. It almost seems like they didn't even try this time around. One of the biggest grips I have is with where the game takes place.
    DA:O had you traveling all over the place and DA 2 has you running around one city and a few other locations near the city. The main character is supposed to be this great champion but one would wonder how he would pull that off running around just one city. Even then the city doesn't seem all that big as dungeons seem to be copy and pasted over and over again. The only real break is the Deep Roads but that doesn't last too long.

    Combat from DA:O to DA 2 is much like from ME 1 to ME 2 where its more of an action RPG than anything else. Ultimately it just seems like they stripped down DA:O for some reason and ended up with this. Not worth your money in a time when games cost $60 new. Wait for it to hit the bargain bin if you really need to play it.    … Expand
  18. freo14
    Mar 13, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game very disappointed .. .. do not even believe that *it* makes developers NWN. Cool RPG turned into a dull meat grinder. I really, really sorry for the fans DE. Although children from 10 to 14, this game is really like .. Although there since age limit 18 ))… Expand
  19. 27raven
    Mar 14, 2011
    4
    Why the lack of interesting and diverse locations? Why one repeating cave and houses over and over again? Why waves of enemies spawning from the ceiling? Why the brutal requirements in DX11 in 5 year old looking game? Why no interesting and surprising puzzles? Why many other things i don't want to even remember? If it wasn't for DA:O and if it wasn't Bioware I would give 7 points but likeWhy the lack of interesting and diverse locations? Why one repeating cave and houses over and over again? Why waves of enemies spawning from the ceiling? Why the brutal requirements in DX11 in 5 year old looking game? Why no interesting and surprising puzzles? Why many other things i don't want to even remember? If it wasn't for DA:O and if it wasn't Bioware I would give 7 points but like this i fell it deserves 5 points max.
    Btw. I didn't like many things in DA:O (skill system, class imbalances) but it was still a pearl in comparison to this game.

    PS: Why so high scores from magazines? Does EA pay that well? It was the same with NFS:Shift and I completely understand people who give 0 points as a defense against so exaggerated ratings.    … Expand
  20. EricNeo
    Mar 15, 2011
    4
    No multiplayer, Huge amount of copy paste, allot less skills, allot less items, enchantment system could have been flushed out and made far better then it is, and worst of all this game will not have a toolset.
  21. lobotomy42
    Mar 15, 2011
    4
    This game has lots of cutscenes. In between the cutscenes, you press the "A" button.

    On the plus side, I do not believe the game has given me any infectious diseases.
  22. Goldnugget
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm very sorry to say that Bioware's latest visit to Thedas represents for me everything that is wrong with the RPG genre of late, if inventory management, character customization/development and epic storytelling aren't for you then stay clear of the genre, there are already genres out there that cater for players who don't want to micromanage, who don't want to get involved in the fine detail. If you're an RPG purist then a small piece of you will die if you play this game.

    Saying that, I don't think the game deserves a reactionary score of 1-2, I also certainly don't think it deserves a score of 9-10 and have to wonder if the people giving these high scores are new to the genre/series or gaming in general. It has some good points and some very very bad points.

    The Good:
    Varrick - Possibly one of the best characters in any RPG of late, I played alongside this character throughout the whole game and he made a significant improvement to the experience!

    Narrative - The perspective is fresh and makes a nice change from the usual 'mysterious prisoner' opening of many other RPGs.

    Combat Looks - The combat looks good I have to admit, even if it feels somewhat empty, the manoeuvres and magic effects are excellent and the Rogue feels like a force to be reckoned with now that the archery skills and damage have been beefed up.

    Qunari     … Expand
  23. Kalaha
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    The immersion and combat of this game is matched by nearly every consol game for the last 10 years. See what i did there? :). The folks at Bioware clearly wanted to make Dragon Age 2 accessible to the greater masses. And i'm pretty sure they succeeded in that. It just didnt do it for me. I bought this game at the EA-online store and even before i had inserted my creditcard information, iThe immersion and combat of this game is matched by nearly every consol game for the last 10 years. See what i did there? :). The folks at Bioware clearly wanted to make Dragon Age 2 accessible to the greater masses. And i'm pretty sure they succeeded in that. It just didnt do it for me. I bought this game at the EA-online store and even before i had inserted my creditcard information, i was spammed with FREE Downloadable Content - order now. order now. Already at this point, i figured something was fishy in the state of bioware. The game is filled with re-used dungeons. Even in the first act, i ran through the same mine 3 times. What the hell is that about? I wont attack the battle-system - i didnt like it, some would. The graphics actually ARE improved from the first game, but you gotta love red - since most of your screen will be filled with it throughout the game. All in all this just seemed like a rushed game. 4/10… Expand
  24. Rizla
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    It's sad that this game has turned out how it has. Where i would play DA:O hours on end cause it immersed me into a beautiful world with diversity and a compelling story, i have to take a break from DA II every half hour because of the fatigue the game gives me, it's the same thing over and over, covered in bland and repeating surroundings and a general 'meh' feeling toward anythingIt's sad that this game has turned out how it has. Where i would play DA:O hours on end cause it immersed me into a beautiful world with diversity and a compelling story, i have to take a break from DA II every half hour because of the fatigue the game gives me, it's the same thing over and over, covered in bland and repeating surroundings and a general 'meh' feeling toward anything character or story wise.

    I miss bird eye view alot when positioning party members, which is a shame since you haveto reposition alot due to enemies spawning out of nowhere. Simplified loot system is so uninteresting and easy to get around with that it's an annoyance to be bothering with.

    Managing companions has been reduced to giving them jewelry. I never liked Massive effect to start with and the introduction of that wheel selection thing is just horrid to me.

    In the end i felt like all options that would activate some braincells have been reduced to such simple tasks that i can't find it more challenging than setting one foot in front of another. It's so straightforward and linear :-S

    The character selection system is restrictive and doesn't offer in any way what DA:O did, not at all. I don't feel like i'm playing a unique character at all in this game.

    This game might of been received better if it hadn't been named the sequel to DA:O. But even if you take the first game out of the picture it still doesn't add up to a very good game in it's genre. I'd say i would rate it a 6 without ever playing DA:O. It's just not good. :(    … Expand
  25. IslandMonkee
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    This over simplified pile of crap would not even bare the name Bioware a couple of years ago. I am not going to go in depth about the hack and slash gameplay or the repetitive use of the same environments over and over again. Just read the negative reviews from others, you will get the picture.
  26. Mythe87
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    After enjoying Dragon Age: Origins and Awakening, I've been waiting for Dragon Age II with much excitement. I grabbed my hands on a copy of DA2 on release date, went home, unwrapped the foil from the box and put the disc in my PS3. After setting up the options to my personal liking I was ready to start the journey. Let's start playing.

    I'm writing this review while I am 18 hours in to    After enjoying Dragon Age: Origins and Awakening, I've been waiting for Dragon Age II with much excitement. I grabbed my hands on a copy of DA2 on release date, went home, unwrapped the foil from the box and put the disc in my PS3. After setting up the options to my personal liking I was ready to start the journey. Let's start playing.

    I'm writing this review while I am 18 hours in to the game, somewhere in Act II I presume. The reason I play RPGs are to feel immersion, connected to the main character and it's companion, a interesting story, to explore the world and to find epic loot. Dragon Age 2 is lacking major in every department. Let me tell you why.

    The characters feel too generic, except for Varric and Anders. Their personalities are boring, their stories are boring and the fact that BioWare doesn't give you an opportunity to feel connected with them makes it even worse.

    The story is telling the tale of how you become the champion, but to be honest I don't see it going anywhere. You do some side quests to make money, go on an expedition and after that do some more side quests. In my 18 hours of play I still don't have the feeling I am doing something important or amazing. To end with a positive note on this subject I do like the way they are presenting the story.

    Exploring the word in DA2 is just drama. 90% of the game is taking place in a not so appealing city to say the least. So there's not a lot to explore, but hey we still have dungeons, right? You can scrap that from your list. There are just a few layouts and they are, sadly, reused for every dungeon. So there goes all your of exploring the world. While killing some mobs, you mostly find some loot. It might contain something epic, but sadly you can't wear it because it's another class. So you'd say let's equip one of my companions with it. But some genius at BioWare decided no one cares about equipping their party members, instead we let the player buy upgrades of armor for their companions. Thanks for not taking the weapon and accessory slots away. To end on a positive note the improved combat system is something I enjoy. It's a lot more action based and a lot smoother. From time to time you just don't want to pause the game to play it like a strategy game, but just like a hack 'n slash game.

    All of the things really break the immersion for me. I want to equip my characters, I want to have cool traveling bunch, I want to explore the world and I want to feel that I am in something big. Sadly DA2 doesn't do any of that.    … Expand
  27. Stocky
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    The game for me has had it's ups and downs. But the lack of depth with characters, rehashed environments and the extremely shallow game play personally proved too much to bear. What is even more annoying from a consumer point of view is the DLC on day one. Why provide extra content from the release date especially after consumers are paying £30-40+ for such a lackluster title?
  28. Nightfish
    Mar 17, 2011
    4
    Dragon Age 2 is the "Phantom Menace" to Dragon Age: Origin's "A New Hope". Thank you George for making this comparison possible and instantly recognisable by nerds everywhere. In many ways, I wouldn't need to say anything more than that, but I will anyway: When writing a review of Dragon Age 2, you probably have to say a few words about where you are coming from first. Are you theDragon Age 2 is the "Phantom Menace" to Dragon Age: Origin's "A New Hope". Thank you George for making this comparison possible and instantly recognisable by nerds everywhere. In many ways, I wouldn't need to say anything more than that, but I will anyway: When writing a review of Dragon Age 2, you probably have to say a few words about where you are coming from first. Are you the wide-eyed fanboy or the disgruntled, estranged hater formerly known as a "true" fan? Then you claim to be neither, but the one true voice of reason who's got a neutral view on this issue. Personally, I have bought and played repeatedly pretty much everything Bioware published since Shattered Steel and I've enjoyed each game on his own merits. I loved Planescape Tormet, Baldur's Gate 2 just as much as Jade Empire, even though that game is radically different in terms of combat. I'm saying that to illustrate that I am very well capable of enjoying a game that does not have the traditional isometric view of tactical combat.

    Dragon Age 2 however, I cannot get into no matter how much I want to like it. This game is a train wreck of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age and not in a good way. Let's take a look at some of the "bad" things. First of all: Combat. I cannot, for the life of me, see how anyone could view the new system as an improvement. They tried to make combat incredibly fast paced and action packed, but somehow this does not play out the way it's intended, at least not for me. Seeing a guy in full platemail armed with a huge two-handed weapon move faster than Neo in the Matrix doesn't just break immersion for me, it shatters it beyond all hopes of repair. Most enemies die in one hit now and they do so in a spectacularily silly and over the top gory way. There's more blood in here than in the silliest splatter movie I ever saw. There's a fine line between "adult" and "graphic violence" and enemies EXPLODING into 20 gallons of blood and shishkebab upon being stabbed in the chest once. To compensate for all the insta-kills, enemies now spawn in waves by the dozens. This robs the individual enemy of any significance. How can I be intimidated by a blood mage or a horrible demon if there's 20 of each under every other rock? Beats me. The sadest thing about DA2 is that it actually fails where bioware usually excells. The story and dialogue. Take the human noble origin story in Dragon Age Origins, for example. Before everyone dies a gruesome death you spend some time to get to know them. Thus, when they do die, their death has some impact on you. In DA2, we skip the first part in favor of turning the gruesomeness of the death up to 11. The thing is, if some random red shirt dies twice as horribly, I don't care twice as much. The "main story" if it can so be called, is anything but an improvement over the original as well. Granted, you are not saving the world, which in theory can make for an interesting story as well, but many people take this fact alone to mean the story is brilliant. Unfortunately, that is not quite true. The writing is incredibly ham-fisted at times. I cannot count how often the game prevents you from using obvious solutions to problems simply because the plot requires that this problem cannot be solved in a simple manner. This adds to the "rushed" vibe the game gives off in general. There's barely any "fluff" anymore. You cannot talk to your companions at will anymore, for example. Some of the events of DA:O are imported and the game shoe-horns them into DA2, but if you spend even 2 seconds thinking about "Why was Alistair here just now?" you'll notice that he had no significance to the plot, provided no insight whatsoever and was there simply as a little bit of fan-service. Oh yea, and the RPG part got dumbed down some more, but that was to be expected I guess and is barely worth mentioning in light of all the other shortcommings the game has. Still, rating the game a 0/10 as many people do is just as silly as rating it 10/10. There is good to be found if you can look past your expectations for a bit. Some of the quests are indeed well written and fun. The voice actors did a really good job, almost without exception. Flemeth's new look is a vast improvement over her old one, too bad she is in the game for about 5 minutes, tops. It's almost like she notice "Oh snap, this is gonna hurt!" and flapped out of the game on her dragon wings. I cannot say I blame her. In conclusion, Bioware lost a lot of credibilty with me for this game. No longer will I blindly buy whatever they release. Once burned, twice shy. The shady things they did here on metacritic are not helping that image. I hope they learn a lesson from this disaster and can recover and return to what made them successful in the first place instead of succumbing to EA's corruption for good.    … Expand
  29. Skyduke
    Mar 18, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First of all: if you thought this game was going to be a successor to Dragon Age, my advice to you is: don't buy it. You will be sorely disappointed. It has nothing of the depth and immersion of the first game; the dialogue is trite, and there is little to no party interaction (you can't even chat to your companions at a camp, for crying out loud...).
    The quests are very much disconnected; there is no central theme to it, like there was in the first game. There is no overarching goal. You are basically just doing random, WoW-like quests. The "main" quests make little or no sense, and I'm honestly not sure your choices matter that much, except for one or two major exceptions. To give you an idea: I sided with the mages: Orsino turning to blood magic when we had been killing all the templars and had been supporting him all the way made no sense at all.
    Now, I'll just tell you what I think the good and bad points are:
    Positive: Faster, more reactive fights (with the downside that they are now a little too fast; feels a lot like button mashing to me, and waiting for your cooldowns...). Your choices do have real consequences on the plot/setting/companions.
    That's it.
    Negative: Watered down story, which at times will make no sense at all. Feeling of disconnection and "just wandering around".
    Very little meaningful party interaction.
    Quite a few bugs left.
    Ending was very unsatisfying: no summary of what happens to the participants depending on what you did during the game.
    No truly horrific elements, like the Deep Roads in the first one.
    Trite, often juvenile, canned dialogue. "Steer my boat" Hurhurhur!!!
    Graphics are actually worse than the first (all things equal).
    Canned, cut-and-paste repetitive dungeons with no character.

    All in all, I am really disappointed. I expected much better.    … Expand
  30. Landor
    Mar 19, 2011
    4
    Besides the discussion of to much action, gore, comic like design and the Hack ´n Slay fights which is a question of taste for sure. You can see, that DA2 had not enough time.The hardcore recycling of enemies and levels ist just bold. Dialogues are simple, predictable and don´t go into depth. And the hero Hawk never shows any kind of emotions. I love Bioware gamesBesides the discussion of to much action, gore, comic like design and the Hack ´n Slay fights which is a question of taste for sure. You can see, that DA2 had not enough time.The hardcore recycling of enemies and levels ist just bold. Dialogues are simple, predictable and don´t go into depth. And the hero Hawk never shows any kind of emotions. I love Bioware games for the epic story lines and great emotions. I even loved Mass Effect 2, so its quite clear that I´m not that kind of hardcore traditionalist, but DA2 has nothing to do with RPG any more. Its RPG light or RPG fast food. Easy to consume. Easy to forget. I miss the spark, which brings me to play this game again and again. I finished the game one time now and I not going to play it again. So my recommendation: DON´T GIVE MORE THAN 10 BUGS. If this is the future of Bioware´s understanding of RPG, I will never buy a game of this company again. EA and Bioware are going in the wrong direction .… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2011
3
#3 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2011
19
#19 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 75 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 75
  3. Negative: 1 out of 75
  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. Gaming Nexus
    May 1, 2011
    75
    Faulty game mechanics and disappointing maps, combat scenarios and storyline direction aside, Dragon Age II still has a surprising amount of intrigue hidden beneath the blemishes. The depth of character relationships, as well as the complex nature of the world of the Dragon Age franchise are a savior to a game that would otherwise forever be remembered by its mistakes.
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  3. Game Chronicles
    Apr 22, 2011
    90
    Above all, it seems like Dragon Age II is an experiment. If you're a fan of the first game and expect a direct continuation, either in story or mechanics, you'll be disappointed. If you're not willing to put up with some rough edges and some mechanics that don't quite work as intended, you'll end up having a hard time. But if you're going for a game that has some of the best storytelling in RPGs in a while, or you're looking for a BioWare RPG to tide yourself over until Mass Effect 3, you won't do much better right now than Dragon Age II.
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