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. UnpaidCritic
    Mar 8, 2011
    5
    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    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 of this praise came directly from EA itself.    … Expand
  2. salvador
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    This game is like Fallout 3. Not a bad game at all, but sucks like a sequel. I hate the new dialogue system (unfortunately games like PS:T will never return - zylions of text lines to read, I loved that), I hate lack of tactical view (and action style of combat) and I hate scrypted, miraculously spawned enemies. So if this game was called Hawke Adventures it would get 7 note from me, butThis game is like Fallout 3. Not a bad game at all, but sucks like a sequel. I hate the new dialogue system (unfortunately games like PS:T will never return - zylions of text lines to read, I loved that), I hate lack of tactical view (and action style of combat) and I hate scrypted, miraculously spawned enemies. So if this game was called Hawke Adventures it would get 7 note from me, but as a continuation of good (not a legendary, like Fallout) cRPG it could get only 5.… Expand
  3. iagree
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    I always believe that a game should be played in entirety before being judged. I would still stand by that belief if said game inspired me to continue.

    The word 'improvement' has been thrown around like confetti at a New Years party since we first heard of the sequel early last year. Does it live up to the promise? Yes, no and maybe so. There a improvements on some fronts but it seems to    I always believe that a game should be played in entirety before being judged. I would still stand by that belief if said game inspired me to continue.

    The word 'improvement' has been thrown around like confetti at a New Years party since we first heard of the sequel early last year. Does it live up to the promise? Yes, no and maybe so. There a improvements on some fronts but it seems to be at a cost of other aspects that made the first (in my mind) as good as it was and in essence put us all back at square one.

    I'm only 10 hours or so into the game (as that's all I can manage to bear playing at the moment) the lingering doubts I had from the demo, are slowly making its way to me at full force. The improvements are rare and meager to wow anyone, small minor details here and there so far, can not redeem its glaringly obvious faults. The loss of immersion is a big blow. The bigger insult is the loss of being able to forge a character you want. Even though i have full control of Hawke, I feel as though I know as much about him as I did about a random guard in DA:O. Being a gamer fond of a challenge I found myself constantly checking, double checking and in my immense annoyance, triple checking whether or not I had it tuned to the correct difficulty setting. I did, Nightmare mode and I felt like I was playing on a mode designed for a 5-year-old. The PC version seems to be a lame attempt at a port of the console versions, as I found through playing the game briefly on my roommate's PS3 that it played nicer. The classic smash until it dies games, hasn't died a horrible death it seems.

    It's a game that has snippets for all type of gamers and that sort of combination of gamer types (all seemingly unfinished) molded into one may not appeal to the masses. I'm still on neutral territory as I haven't played enough to know for sure if I should hate and trade the game at the quickest moment, for now I'm hoping for the best. My roommate is chugging the game down pretty fast, again, not for everyone but maybe a small few may find appeal to it.

    My earlier suspicion as to why the Signature Edition wasn't priced more than the standard copy has been confirmed. Nothing like freebies to win a gamer's heart, no Bioware? At the moment, I feel like it has sorely backfired on you.    … Expand
  4. Azm0dAn
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    After having a blast playing Dragon Age: Origins I had high expectations for DA2. A few weeks before the release date I read on some forums that they were trying to pull "a new audience" to the game but things would remain the same for the so called "elitist rpg player". I don't think Bioware will ever be able to please both type of players in the same game but I understand that money isAfter having a blast playing Dragon Age: Origins I had high expectations for DA2. A few weeks before the release date I read on some forums that they were trying to pull "a new audience" to the game but things would remain the same for the so called "elitist rpg player". I don't think Bioware will ever be able to please both type of players in the same game but I understand that money is what drives the world and right now the money is on the "press a button something awesome happens" crowd. Eventually some new action game will come, DA2 will be overshadowed and only the old fans will remember Bioware and most of those will probably still be enraged by this weak RPG game. - No character customization, lack of classes;
    - Cannot equip different armor on party members (that is just to cruel in a party based game);
    - Lack of in-game items! Lots of useless junk (it even goes to a section called Junk in the inventory) that you can't use. Couldn't you be bothered to create some simple items?
    - Items stats are not enough. Most rings give +stamina/mana (not even separated, it's decided based on character's needs);
    - Some parts of the story are quite good but they are just too few to make a difference. - Voice acting is not that good, Hawke doesn't really sound mad or pissed when you press the RED DIALOGUE FOR SOMETHING AWESOME TO HAPPEN;
    - Map is too small, there's no exploration and you keep on re-using the same map for different places! I went into dozens of different caves, they are ALL the same. The only difference is that in one door A is open, and in another door A is closed preventing you from going further. Even a mine used the same level design for a cave. What's going on with that? Didn't you learn anything from Mass Effect?
    - Kirkwall looks too empty;
    - Combat is spamfest of mobs... There's no tactics to it, just keep on mashing buttons, eventually you'll make it... I tried Nightmare but i spent more time fighting the camera than the enemies so i went back to hard;
    - You don't run out of reagents for potions/runes/bombs.... All you need to do is find the ingredient (on that same map you already went to dozens of times before but this time on a different quest) and you'll be able to brew everything you want (as long as you have the coin);
    Now, for the good points:
    + Some companions have nice stories;
    + There are alot of quests but since you keep going to the same places over and over again they just feel boring;
    + Some dragon fights;
    + Good use for gold, + A lot of books to read and some interesting stuff in the codex;
    + Qunari leader;
    + You press a button and something awesome happens... (Kidding on this one)    … Expand
  5. zwaps
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    1. Rogue Archer is useless. The NPC dude is much better and it's almost impossible to run from mobs with two rogues and one mage. I had to cheese every single engagement. I hope you get a warrior if you keep playing because ****
    The worst thing: The difficulty on insane is not from tactical depth. All you need is luck and button-mashing (and running around in circles, if your party    1. Rogue Archer is useless. The NPC dude is much better and it's almost impossible to run from mobs with two rogues and one mage. I had to cheese every single engagement. I hope you get a warrior if you keep playing because ****
    The worst thing: The difficulty on insane is not from tactical depth. All you need is luck and button-mashing (and running around in circles, if your party sucks).

    At least I can spec the Dwarf to be melee if I want my character to be ranged.
    Oh wait I can't. That's right, **** your RPG-ism. You play like we want.


    2. The gameplay has nothing to do with tactical RPG. Your only real option is when to press the ability buttons.
    Tactical placement of characters, stealth, backstab etc. doesn't mean **** All you need to do is press the button since _everything_ is an ability now.
    I don't even see what I could be doing differently. There are a few battles where you can chokepoint enemies in doorframes, otherwise there is little to do tactically.
    It feels like half of the elements of BG2 combat are missing. In BG2 I usually ended up planning hard engagements, leading different enemies into traps I set earlier, buying specific items and buffs just for that engagement. DA2 is so far away from that complexity. DA:O wasn't perfect, but it was at least a bit closer.
    Rogue used to be about using a few things like stealing, positioning and stealth. Now it's just like beeing a mage - a Rogue mage.

    Also, I hate the amount of enemies. The screen is littered with em and any amount of tacticality that remained is pretty much an efford in futility. Most mobs should have been about the size of your party, but with interesting foes. I don't even particulary analyze what enemies I am fighting, I am doing the same charade over and over again.
    Miles and miles away from previous RPGs.


    3. You never get to plan ahead anyway, since ALL enemies just drop on you literally. This is the worst thing ever and I can't grasp how they thought this would be a good idea.
    It's almost like Mass Effect 2 now. "Oh look an empty room. Welp, ambush. How surprising"
    Preparation doesn't get you any further. I also haven't used any potions or buffs yet previous to engagements. Maybe it was too early in the game for that though.

    4. Camera angle.. whatever. Isometric view wouldn't have salvaged the gameplay.

    5. Everything feels so restricting. You have almost no choice in what your character does and how he looks etc. Inventory has become more or less obsolete. It doesn't even feel like an RPG in that sense.
    For some reason the character creation process and the initial RPG immersiveness has - for me- never felt so disappointing in any PC RPG.
    It feels like a movie.
    Everytime. Cutscene. Go somewhere, enemies appear out of thin air, second wave, cutscene. Repeat. Every.. single .. time.
    Immersion level is very low. If you care about those things.

    6. Graphics are fine, voice acting is nice etc.

    7. Art style is ****ed. The ****ing Dalish elves look like cartoon characters. This has bothered me the most. It's like an anime. I expect this will be even worse later on. Not that the gameworld is completely unattractive. It just feels like EVERY SINGLE THING they changed is worse than in DA:O.
    I HAVE to use that dwarf with the cyberpunk Machine gun in an high fantasy RPG? Yeah thanks, totally works for me. **** you.

    8. You can interact even less with the gameworld. In the spirit of dumbing it down this is not too surprising. But there is so little loot, so little to pick up or see or get.
    You just don't get the feeling the enemies are actually carrying weapons or whatever.
    It feels like you get a generic reward, instead of actually "going through their stuff for useful ****".
    Feels wrong.

    9. The interface is **** I don't even know why, but it annoys me hugely. Probably because back in the day the interface symbolized a backback or inventory or a spellbook or whatever. Now it's literally a list of computer buttons. Just like the loot is not actual loot, but a computer-given reward. Also feels wrong.



    With a decent story I could see myself buying this for 10â    … Expand
  6. Amathev
    May 16, 2012
    5
    An average RPG, that's below the Bioware standard.
    Whereas Bioware used to be the flagship RPG developer, this was the game that sunk their boat.
    It feels more as if playing a spin-off series than a serious sequel. There are time when textures and models in the game will look great; and then you'll suddenly see hundreds of things that look like they were made 10 years ago. The story feels    An average RPG, that's below the Bioware standard.
    Whereas Bioware used to be the flagship RPG developer, this was the game that sunk their boat.
    It feels more as if playing a spin-off series than a serious sequel. There are time when textures and models in the game will look great; and then you'll suddenly see hundreds of things that look like they were made 10 years ago.
    The story feels rushed and there's nothing coherent or engaging about it. It's like the entire game is just a series of sidequests.
    When you do quests you will see the same cave 100 times. They actually literally use the exact same cave design over and over again, it is a laziness you often don't see in RPGs these days, what were they thinking?    … Expand
  7. scorpius952
    Mar 10, 2011
    5
    I have to say that all in all, I didn't like this game. I am a big fan of the first one but this neither looks or feels like the first at all. Although the graphics are better, I dislike the art style. The game seems to run a little smoother but I don't like the way it's played. I can see why the critics gave this a high score. Even though no one seems to really like all of theI have to say that all in all, I didn't like this game. I am a big fan of the first one but this neither looks or feels like the first at all. Although the graphics are better, I dislike the art style. The game seems to run a little smoother but I don't like the way it's played. I can see why the critics gave this a high score. Even though no one seems to really like all of the changes and omissions in this game, according to how the critics review it, it had to receive a high score. They only rate the game on graphics, sound, gameplay, presentation and lasting appeal. 4 out of five worked so it had to have a high score even though none of this is liked. Critics don't really give their opinion on games. They review it according to these factors because everyone has a different opinion. My opinion is, this game is bad. I don't like the art style, the street fighter like animations for the characters, or the button mashing. I don't like not being able to create my own character. The first time I played this game, I immediately turned it off and wrote a letter to bioware letting them know how they let me down. I've tried several times to play this game but I just can't take it. After 10 minutes or so my thumb is hurting and I am too bored to continue. That's pretty bad in my opinion considering how much I love fantasy rpg's. I have to recommend passing this game up. I honestly don't see how anyone could get any enjoyment out of this game other than the huge breast the female characters are sporting. And that's the only reason this game got a 5!… Expand
  8. Blastfurnace2k
    Mar 17, 2011
    5
    Ok, this is the third time I've revised my review. Now that I am completely finished with the game I can firmly state I stand behind everything I said before. The limitations they've put on this game are inexcusable. To all the people saying it's a seperate game and shouldn't/can't be compared, let's be realistic. Not only is this a company we expect great things from, but it's a SEQUEL soOk, this is the third time I've revised my review. Now that I am completely finished with the game I can firmly state I stand behind everything I said before. The limitations they've put on this game are inexcusable. To all the people saying it's a seperate game and shouldn't/can't be compared, let's be realistic. Not only is this a company we expect great things from, but it's a SEQUEL so there are bound to be expectations based on the first. To all the people that are crying foul that the negative scores are a conspiracy theory, grow up. Not everyone has the same tastes and not everyone will accept anything less than their expectations. If your standards were set low, don't cry foul because we were holding this game to a higher standard. They stripped the character interactions with the party members astronomically compared to the first. They removed all customizing from your party members gear except for weapons and rings etc. The relationship building has been totally ruined in my opinion, it's nowhere near the depth of DAO. The fact that it has enemy scaling is also ridiculous in my opinion. That's what difficulty settings are for, if I work to be a badass, let me be one, don't make the enemies grow stronger with me. What, are they questing doing Darkspawny things like finding an amulet for another Darkspawn in Darkspawn village for xp and sovereigns? Having enemies pouring in from all directions is also annoying. It allows for little technique in setting up tactics for random encounters. As for positives, some of the characters are truly likable thanks to some excellent voice work and writing. The combat is a step in the right direction, but I still don't understand why developers think I want to wail on the x button for 3 hours at a time just because I'm playing on a console, patch in auto attack for my thumbs sake. The story is more up close and personal which in itself is interesting, but overall if you played the first, there's no comparison. The term "epic" could easily describe DAO, the term "meh" could easily describe this story. Interesting and good don't mean the same thing and this is just interesting, not 10 material. People need to stop being paranoid and nerd raging. The game doesn't hold up to the bar set by it's predecessor.… Expand
  9. brutback
    Mar 11, 2011
    5
    I loved DA:O and some people would probably consider me to be a BioWare fanboy. I have spent countless hours with their previous games. DA2 however.....is just a money milking mediocre game! I honestly can't believe that they released this crap. It's like pissing in your pants. Keeping you warm for a moment but hurts you in the longer run. Booooo!
  10. Aedorei
    Mar 12, 2011
    5
    Dragon Age 2 is praiseworthy in many areas but fails utterly at what should have been its core strength. Compared to DA:O the game falls far short of what it should have been. Rather than being an integral part of the story and a catalyst, the hero is swept along by events totally beyond their control and has little impact on these events. There are bright spots. Some of the storiesDragon Age 2 is praiseworthy in many areas but fails utterly at what should have been its core strength. Compared to DA:O the game falls far short of what it should have been. Rather than being an integral part of the story and a catalyst, the hero is swept along by events totally beyond their control and has little impact on these events. There are bright spots. Some of the stories are well written and well portrayed, but for the most part your choices are all bad. Inter-party relationships are superficial and both the companions and villains are one dimensionally fanatical. For the most part, all the companions are either unlikable or uninspired. More than half of them would stab you in the back if necessary. Even our beloved Alistair in a brief cameo sounds trite and shallow, as if he is a well paid actor in a equal he wants to get over quickly. If you are looking for an action RPG, this is a title you will enjoy. If you are looking for more of DA:O, you will be sorely disappointed.… Expand
  11. DAOfan
    Apr 6, 2011
    5
    It is trimmed down, dumbed down ,consolised version of previous game, the story falls flat on its face and is not at all entertaining. It is better to avoid this game
  12. BiefstukFriet
    Mar 14, 2011
    5
    As a stand alone game, Dragon Age 2 is a passable and entertaining game. Nothing fancy or groundbreaking, but entertaining non the less. It's when compared to Dragon Age: Origins that things start to go south.

    First, the stand alone review: The caves, houses and locations in the City of Kirkwall - the location of the majority of the game - are constantly recycled. Does that location look    As a stand alone game, Dragon Age 2 is a passable and entertaining game. Nothing fancy or groundbreaking, but entertaining non the less. It's when compared to Dragon Age: Origins that things start to go south.

    First, the stand alone review:

    The caves, houses and locations in the City of Kirkwall - the location of the majority of the game - are constantly recycled. Does that location look familiar? It probably is, because even though the missions change, the locations quite often don't. You'll find yourself slogging through a location you visited half an hour ago. Sometimes, the game spices things up and you start of where you left the location during your previous visit.

    The combat is pretty smooth and visualy appealing but also rather simple. Positioning your party to best use the lay of the land is not needed and also not usefull because enemies spawn pretty much out of nowhere and from all sides of the map in a neverending tide. Your well placed mage, screened by your warrior and rogue just got jumped on by a group of enemies that just were not there before.

    As for the storyline, following Hawke's rise from refugee to champion is a novel idea and has merrit, but the story's lack of a clear goal and sense of urgency makes it lack a soul. As a result side-quests feel like filler and of no import.


    DA 2 is ntertaining, but with flaws and would've scored a 7. DA 2 only becomes a '4' (see my user score) when you compare it to Dragon Age: Origins. Origins had a compelling storyline, fleshed out locations, entertaining characters you could bond to, a clear goal to work towards and tactical combat. Now there is one thing that truly vexes me, the impact of my Warder from Origins in DAII. There is none, merely comments on his past actions which is a far cry from Mass Effect 2, where the choices made in ME 1 had strong consequences.

    Why Bioware took such a radical approach to a very much acclaimed game as Dragon Age Origin is beyond me.    … Expand
  13. iTimmeh
    Mar 14, 2011
    5
    I didn't think Dragon Age II would be this bad. But if you look back on DA:O. It's nothing like it's predecessor. They tried to make it too much like ME2 and it didn't work. You have many conversation options that lead to 1 outcome. This is not an RPG. It's a conversation simulator with the majority of battles being auto attacks. The maps are dull, and boring, not to mentioned there's onlyI didn't think Dragon Age II would be this bad. But if you look back on DA:O. It's nothing like it's predecessor. They tried to make it too much like ME2 and it didn't work. You have many conversation options that lead to 1 outcome. This is not an RPG. It's a conversation simulator with the majority of battles being auto attacks. The maps are dull, and boring, not to mentioned there's only about 5 different maps used OVER and OVER.

    It's getting a 5 due to the half assing of Bioware.

    Their current attitude towards reviews doesn't help this review at all either.    … Expand
  14. Zeegermintz
    Mar 14, 2011
    5
    I see a lot of 10's here from BioWare employees that are trying to increase the metascore. I've played this game and it's middle-of-the-road. Not amazing, not terrible. I'm sick of reviews done by developers to try inflating their ratings. The graphics and game play were good but I really liked DA:O much more.
  15. GooGooguru
    Mar 14, 2011
    5
    in Short, if you enjoyed dragon age origins you may not enjoy this at all... if your new to the franchise and haven't been exposed to the rich cannon or experience the sweeping grand scale of the original then you may very well enjoy this game... New combat system is good, Narattive is good, Environments are excessively overused. if your going to set a game in a city it would be a goodin Short, if you enjoyed dragon age origins you may not enjoy this at all... if your new to the franchise and haven't been exposed to the rich cannon or experience the sweeping grand scale of the original then you may very well enjoy this game... New combat system is good, Narattive is good, Environments are excessively overused. if your going to set a game in a city it would be a good idea to create a large and engaging environment that feels alive and dynamic.. not a sterile shoebox with no soul… Expand
  16. rmorgan779
    Mar 15, 2011
    5
    bioware should be ashamed as a gaming company and being for realesing this u cant go from da to this what has happened i completed game in 38 hours as warrior bearing in mind ive owned every bioware game ever made i was so dissapionted i sold game refusing to keep in my collection i will now buy mass effect 3 to finish the trilogy and thats it i think bioware has down themselves a lot ofbioware should be ashamed as a gaming company and being for realesing this u cant go from da to this what has happened i completed game in 38 hours as warrior bearing in mind ive owned every bioware game ever made i was so dissapionted i sold game refusing to keep in my collection i will now buy mass effect 3 to finish the trilogy and thats it i think bioware has down themselves a lot of untold damage by realesing this trash i rate the game a five this in my opinion is generous i dont know what game the reviewers have been playing on its a ugly world when so reviews are honest edge.… Expand
  17. Brother3Wright
    Mar 15, 2011
    5
    I get what Bioware was trying to do here. I really do, it's just too bad that they didn't achieve it. Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game by any means. Where as it's predecessor was a large and sprawling epic that was rough around the edges on PC, and struggled mightily on consoles, Dragon Age 2 is a small and focused story that excels on consoles and feels OK on PC.
    Dumbed down. It's the phrase    I get what Bioware was trying to do here. I really do, it's just too bad that they didn't achieve it. Dragon Age 2 isn't a bad game by any means. Where as it's predecessor was a large and sprawling epic that was rough around the edges on PC, and struggled mightily on consoles, Dragon Age 2 is a small and focused story that excels on consoles and feels OK on PC.
    Dumbed down. It's the phrase that RPG fans use when a game cuts the fat and gets straight to the point. Gone are all the small min/maxing numbers, replaced by one big number and simply increases over time. Gone is your ability to deck out your party with gear. Streamlined is the word that developers use to justify cutting that fat, they've made it easier! They've made is a better version of what you loved before, while getting rid of what stood in the way of it becoming mass market.
    Dragon Age 2 is both of these. Where your party is concerned, it's streamlined. Yes, gone is the min maxing, gone is the gear switching. There are upgrades, but they feel spoon fed and linear compared to the the customization you had in Origins. Honestly though, it doesn't seem all that bad. The biggest gripe I have with it is that when you get gear that's for a class your Hawke isn't, then it's just junk, instead of being a useful piece for a party member.
    Combat too is streamlined. Now hang on a second, almost every review here says that the combat has been dumbed down to a hack 'n slash. Well guess what, they're right, except for when you bring in the difficulty. On casual, normal, and even hard difficulties the game is mostly hack 'n slash, fast, bloody, satisfying combat geared toward the console crowd, and it's wonderful. To PC users however, it's a snooze fest. The combat isn't action packed or strategic, it's downright boring. That's why there's nightmare difficulty. Bioware says hard difficulty is there for this reason too, but even that's too easy. Nightmare adds Origins friendly fire, hard hitting monsters, difficult situations which require thought and strategy. I agree that those things should be there throughout the whole game, but I get that this is the "mass market" version of Dragon Age. While it's not default, the strategy and planning of Origins is there....it's just on the hardest setting.
    No, I'd say most of the game play is as Bioware says, "Streamlined". Where the game gets dumbed down, is the story, character, party interaction, and environments. Let's begin with the story. You're Hawke, your family is forced to leave Lothering during the Blight and you wind up in Kirkwall. That's pretty much it for 2/3rds of the game. There's is no "Save the world" epic here, Bioware has attempted to create a complex city state that brims with politics, greed, and many different factions vying to be heard. Unfortunately, without even the slightest breath of an antagonist it comes off as a series of side stories and jumbled fetch quests. You'll do them because they're in your quest journal but there's nothing there to propel you forward. The worst part about it is that most of those side quest are well written and genuinely good. They do a great job of telling you what Kirkwall as a city is like, they'd be great as part of a bigger whole that moves the city forward instead of just telling you what it is.
    Next up is the character of Hawke. Here again the game splits between dumbed down and streamlined. Having a voiced character is great, and Hawke is a great character compared to the mute Warden in DA:Origins. The issue comes when you compare the choices the Warden had against the one's that Hawke has. The Warden could respond to characters with a plethora of shades of gray. Hawke generally get's a Diplomatic, Sarcastic, and Bold answer. That's pretty much it. While you could generally say that it's ok, just get the tone right because in your head you're basically thinking the same thing, the problem is that while that might be true, half the fun comes from trying to say the right thing amongst all the shades of grey. The system is streamlined, to the point of being dumbed down.
    Lastly in the dumbed down category are the environments. Technically they're much more detailed and beautiful compared to the ones in Origins, but again Bioware seems to be two headed here. They might be better looking, and therefore higher quality, but there just so few of them. This is one argument where I'd go with quantity over quality. For most of the game you're restricted to the city of Kirkwall, which is quite large and expansive. There are also a few areas outside of the city which help to flesh out the "city state" feel to the whole thing. The main issue comes when you go into any dungeon, the map may tell you that there are say 14 dungeons in the whole thing. You'll salivate to get in there, then you suddenly realize that they're all the same dungeon with different areas closed off and sometimes flipped backwards.    … Expand
  18. ZZtop
    Mar 15, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Being a huge fan of previous Bioware RPGs, I could barely contain my excitement for the release of Dragon Age 2. I mean a sequel to the epic Dragon Age: Origins was bound to be great... but unfortunately DA2 turned out to be a huge disappointment. It is a rushed product marketed to be as great as other Bioware RPGs where in actual fact falls far short of standards set by it's previous titles. The new combat system had some great animations and feels fast and dynamic but in actual fact became a boring ordeal of enemies appearing from all sides, materialising from thin air, in waves to make the fights seem difficult. There was no thought on how to balance the fighting to make it meaningful, so instead the monsters you encounter just have lots of hit points. Whereas a players health stays relatively constant, most monsters(some monsters have low hp which just die in aoe and dont contribute much to a battle) have 10 times 20 times if not 100 times the health of our characters (some monsters have low hp which just die if coughed on and are not worth mentioning anyway), to compensate this high amount of hp the player's skills can do obscene amounts of damage with special attacks and combinations leaving normal attacks rather redundant against boss level monsters. The dungeons where you go exploring are filled with the same monsters over and over, Rest assured to see spiders, undead, abominations, bandits in predictable waves. The dungeons you explore superimpose on top of each other and are used over and over again with changes in where chests and loot appear. Many many doors are not interactable with until certain quests are opened then you need to visit again at a later stage to explore the same area, this happens way too much (oh there is a cave here, thats handy cause i didnt see it when i didnt have the quest). The Game has many other shortcomings but i think i have already vented enough frustration. Buying dragon age 2 is like buying a car without paint and doors, you have to pay more later to get downloaded content which should be have been included, i can seriously say i probably had more fun playing dragon age facebook than dragon age 2.

    Not included in this review Linear Story Line
    Main Character talks (doesnt add much to the game, at least it doesnt say what you select)
    Targeted to a broader market, possibly little children would enjoy this game if the character dialogues could be censored (full of sexual innuendo and some nasty words)
    Lack of customisation to character Chests and traps progressing too quickly compared to attribute gains (couldnt open most locked chests)
    Cities feel empty, unable to interact with most npcs, no pickpocketing
    As a stand alone game DA2 scores 6-7 maybe...
    compared to its predecessors 0-1    … Expand
  19. xenomorf
    Mar 17, 2011
    5
    With the reputation that Bioware built in the past years, I really wonder whether Bioware is actually satisfied with the performance they delivered and if they would ever be honest about it. Its not about the combat, which in some ways I found satisfying and enjoying despite its less tactical. Its not about the simplification of the RPG system. The worst thing in my opinion is theWith the reputation that Bioware built in the past years, I really wonder whether Bioware is actually satisfied with the performance they delivered and if they would ever be honest about it. Its not about the combat, which in some ways I found satisfying and enjoying despite its less tactical. Its not about the simplification of the RPG system. The worst thing in my opinion is the lifelessness of the story, the characters, the environments. Bioware games stood for epic and immersive storylines, atmosferic environments, deep and evolving charachters and overall...choice. That is gone with DA2. No epic beginning of the story that leaves you wondering where this is all going. The first 8 hours you spend time to try to 'get into the city' jumping from the same locations to the same locations and worse, a lot of 'different' environments are exactly the same. Not just in textures or anything, but EXACTLY the same map with the only difference is that sometimes certain areas of the map are not accessible by a locked door. Compared to ME 1&2, DA:O, KOTOR etc, Bioware should be ashamed of themselves. If this is the new direction Bioware is taking, I am already worried about their future games. I already bought this one blindly like everyone else being negative about the game, but their next game I will consider with greater care. Sorry Bioware, next time better I hope… Expand
  20. djekna
    Mar 17, 2011
    5
    I`m big fan or RPG games, hell big fan of Bioware but come on, OK from the start visual really great
    but who play RPG games for great visual, we play for story, making our character more and more better with next level, going trough lots of mission to get that perfect item, so at the end of the game we can see how our perfection look like. Fighting well big zero click this and yeee this    I`m big fan or RPG games, hell big fan of Bioware but come on, OK from the start visual really great
    but who play RPG games for great visual, we play for story, making our character more and more better with next level, going trough lots of mission to get that perfect item, so at the end of the game we can see how our perfection look like. Fighting well big zero click this and yeee this explode click that and wow another explosion, story well i can dig it but this is part 2, the story should have been much better come on i have finish 5 time allover ahead Dragon age origins and now i`m level 11 and still trying to find good reason for play(damn how a great commercial and reputation can make you feel stupid for paying 50 euro). Skills really you can chose what ever you want, trust me i`t going to look great when you click to use it and there it end it`s value , inventory well i like how they handled resource but that is it if you want to upgrade armor of your companion you need to look out trough all town just sad. Items also i don`t see some great innovation there, if you liked first dragon age this one is going to be huge disappointment, really how it get that great critic review i don`t know, this is what it is a mediocrity game with nothing special, and please guys from game industry enough of DLC and promo item that we need to pay, make it free or don`t make it at all    … Expand
  21. JunnuW
    Mar 19, 2011
    5
    The new combat system gives more feeling to the fighting but can bit repetitive in the end. The biggest flaw in the game is the story IMO. If i want to see 3 different political stories i open my tv and turn on the news. And all tho the small quest to get money works in the beginning it gets really boring after that.. come one not 1 good longer fantasy quest? Just quest that take 15 min toThe new combat system gives more feeling to the fighting but can bit repetitive in the end. The biggest flaw in the game is the story IMO. If i want to see 3 different political stories i open my tv and turn on the news. And all tho the small quest to get money works in the beginning it gets really boring after that.. come one not 1 good longer fantasy quest? Just quest that take 15 min to do x 100. I like Dragon age 1 style more. 3 Long stories where u can get into the story better. But the game still does have lots of good things like good characters and some nice quest lines. I started to like the game most, just before the end.. finally something is happening. then comes the credits... Funny enough the game has more loot than DA1 but now only main character can use armors. others can still use weapons tho. but they all have armor that u can upgrade but not change.

    IMO Good characters and good story telling saves this, but i really would like to see more fantasy themed stories not some political fights over same city in 3 different times. Come one 3 same quest with different people on other sides? cheap.    … Expand
  22. JustAGamer
    Mar 20, 2011
    5
    First of all: in my 20 years of C-RPG experience I've never written a game review before because I've never felt the need for it (by the way: apologies for my bad English, I'm not a native speaker). With Drageon Age 2 I believe a worrying tendency emerges I have to adress: short development periods (18 month for DA2), incomplete game world and story, simplistic gameplay to broaden theFirst of all: in my 20 years of C-RPG experience I've never written a game review before because I've never felt the need for it (by the way: apologies for my bad English, I'm not a native speaker). With Drageon Age 2 I believe a worrying tendency emerges I have to adress: short development periods (18 month for DA2), incomplete game world and story, simplistic gameplay to broaden the audience, demanding full prize while preparing DLCs that shall fill in the remaining gaps. Bioware was once regarded as "the bringer of rain" after a drought in the genre of RPGs (for the PC). But now they could play the opposite role: if they are the most prominent agents of the genre (besides Bethesda) and their games are setting trends, then other companies will follow their example, if they haven't already. To be more detailed I'll point out aspects that annoyed me the most: Game World:
    - The most insolent re-use in an state-of-the-art RPG I've seen so far: dozens of times you walk through levels which are IDENTICAL, and I mean identical. Every corner, texture, modell, architecture, lighting etc. are exactly the same, just with another label (for example "cave xyz" instead of "cave abc").
    - The main game world consists of just 15 to 20 small or very small locations in a city (small means an area which takes 20 seconds to 60 seconds to cross, very small means a simple flat)
    - There are no (more or less) diversified regions like snowy mountains, deserts, jungle, forest, real dungeons, castles, other towns etc., just this one city and three outer regions that are not noteworthy
    - The few existing places look sterile and somehow empty although there are a few people standing around, but they are just copies doing nothing. There are no animals, no interesting props, no interesting architecture, no waving foliage, no sounds of wind, loud chatter etc.
    - Most of the levels are extremely tubular: just one way, no possibility for exploration. If you use such level design, you should use it for thrilling script events like in COD to propell the storytelling, but that's not the case for DA2. A proper game world would have been to expensive...

    Gameplay:
    - 90% of gameplay consists of running and killing: go to place X, kill everyone, talk to person Y to have a reason for killing and then go to place Z and kill everyone. Most of the time there are no alternative ways to solve problems (the only exceptions are found in dialogues with companions). But hey: that's what's the world about, ain't it?
    - There are no possible interactions with the environment, just run, fight, talk, (rudimental) barter. No environmental riddles, no forging, no eating, no sleeping, etc. Would be to complex, eh?

    Items and Inventory:
    - Companions can't be equipped with armor, just with a weapon, a ring, a belt and an amulet. Would be to complex...
    - In the inventory and shops items look absolutely uninteresting and the same: each type of item has the SAME grey and white icon, for example the same symbol for a sword. The only difference are the values of the item. To much effort giving them a distinguishable look?
    - Most of the time the few items you can purchase outvalue the few items you find in your travels
    - There are no real item sets or unique items
    - Why does a plate armor take exactly the same space / weight in inventory (= 1 Slot) as a ring or an amulet (= 1 Slot)? Too much to think about?

    Combat:
    - Remember, you have to fight and fight and fight, and sometimes to fight, but don't worry: there isn't much to do, sit back and watch, no tactics needed (you could raise the difficulty but that just means opponents don't take as much damage and hit you harder).
    - No overview allowed: forget Dragon Age Origins or Baldur's Gate, not immersive enough, has to be a close look over the should like Mass Effect 2 or say COD!? Another "advantage": the game world seems to be larger than it is.
    - In many fights there are up to four or five waves of the same opponents like in good old arcade gaming. That's a challenge RPG-players really like. - If a fight ends successfully health, mana and stamina of all your companions are restored instantly. No need for rest, healing etc.... Waste of time, there are more interesting fights waiting 10 yards ahead.
    - Ammunition is for prigs: arrows and bolts are created the moment they are shoot, no buying needed.

    Dramaturgy:
    - The backgrounds and dialogues preceding and following missions are of high quality, BUT what about a larger conflict, to what end am I killing hordes of idiots? Is there any greater inner or outer threat than a killer whom the player seeks to kill? The Qunari are a threat, for twenty minutes of gameplay. Templar and Magicians don't like each other and there's a fight, but that's it. No threat and no thread. Calling Hawke "Champion" is an exaggeration to cover that he hasn't achieved much. The whole game is "unepic" and seems to be a chapter of an epic game.    … Expand
  23. odysseus2
    Mar 20, 2011
    5
    Before playing Dragon Age 2 Bioware could do no wrong in my eyes.Even merging with EA ,i hoped they could be working towards a dungeon & dragon style mmorpg which truely could take Blizzards bored customer base.
    Looking at the previous titles it was clear that Bioware have very talented people working for them which i got the impression looked at what their fans had to say.
    Thats what    Before playing Dragon Age 2 Bioware could do no wrong in my eyes.Even merging with EA ,i hoped they could be working towards a dungeon & dragon style mmorpg which truely could take Blizzards bored customer base.
    Looking at the previous titles it was clear that Bioware have very talented people working for them which i got the impression looked at what their fans had to say.
    Thats what makes this game release totally unforgivable in my eyes. The characters lack dept, the fight mechanics are terrible, be it a hack & slasher or rpg ,its just wrong. The world is small, barren & uninteresting, i found myself rushing through areas rather than enjoying the game.The game truely lacks any story, ive seen better on first person shooters.

    Perhaps Bioware have their people spread too thin with mass effect 3 and star wars on the horizon, that been said i cant help but dread to see what these major titles will turn out like.
    I hope bioware will learn a lesson from this rather than just faking reviews.    … Expand
  24. Tent27
    Apr 1, 2011
    5
    After the initial shock I decided to make a third attempt at Dragon Age 2. I couldn't do it. There are indeed a few things RIGHT with this game like the better flowing combat and re-used mass effect 2 engine, but there are so many things wrong with this game that make it unplayable to me. For one, it feels insulting. This isn't an RPG, there is not a suitable amount of depth to be had forAfter the initial shock I decided to make a third attempt at Dragon Age 2. I couldn't do it. There are indeed a few things RIGHT with this game like the better flowing combat and re-used mass effect 2 engine, but there are so many things wrong with this game that make it unplayable to me. For one, it feels insulting. This isn't an RPG, there is not a suitable amount of depth to be had for a bioware level RPG. Through my entire 16 hours of play I found one particular thing eating at my head, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was playing a beta. The game has an overwhelming unfinished feeling to it. It literally seems like the developers had so much more in store, but were rushed out the door before they got completely dressed. Dragon Age 2 could use some polish in ALL departments. The product I'm playing is at best a raw attempt at people trying to capture the dragon age feel, but failing to do so. This is the first time I've ever been able to put down a bioware game without finishing it. My 5/10 review is only as such because 5/10 denotes that yes, there is indeed a game somewhere in here, but it's so lost in a pile of problems that it's nearly impossible to find and enjoy. Sorry bioware, it has to be said.… Expand
  25. webcamsio4
    Mar 28, 2011
    5
    This game will get a 5 or a mixed review from me. The game was such a mix of good and bad. On the one hand, the characters were awesome,( perhaps a little too exaggerated at times) the quests were fun and actually had a story behind some of them, the combat was greatly improved from the first game, and Bioware did something different, not the standard four to five main missions beforeThis game will get a 5 or a mixed review from me. The game was such a mix of good and bad. On the one hand, the characters were awesome,( perhaps a little too exaggerated at times) the quests were fun and actually had a story behind some of them, the combat was greatly improved from the first game, and Bioware did something different, not the standard four to five main missions before confronting th final boss. The bad side is something that could have been fixed if the 'EA Overlords' allowed this game to become more than a cash grab: development for a couple extra months. Seriously, how hard is it to release a *finished* game? The game itself is so buggy, the last quarter of the game convinced me it was rushed out the door, no polish or final testing. I pre-ordered the Signature Edition, and enthusiastically looked forward to a game from the best developer of rpg's out there. They did put out a great story,but they also put out a mess of a game. As a college student/casual gamer, this game convinced me to put down the video games for awhile. I have sadly never been more convinced what a waste of time video games can be.… Expand
  26. Apotts
    Apr 3, 2011
    5
    This game would have received a 9 from me, but I am giving it a lower score due to the fact that it has very unacceptable game breaking bugs, which prevent people from finishing the game. I liked the game enough to forgive the bugs if only Bioware had been prompt in releasing a patch, but nearly a month after the release we are still waiting. I liked the game too much to give it a 0-1This game would have received a 9 from me, but I am giving it a lower score due to the fact that it has very unacceptable game breaking bugs, which prevent people from finishing the game. I liked the game enough to forgive the bugs if only Bioware had been prompt in releasing a patch, but nearly a month after the release we are still waiting. I liked the game too much to give it a 0-1 like some hater have done, but I cannot give it a high score either, because as it currently stands the game is broken. I cannot encourage others to buy a broken game. I am surprised that the so called professional game reviewers could score the game so high, did they actually play the same game that I did, and did they do a complete play-through? It is really a shame, because unlike the a lot of the people who felt negatively towards the game, I was really loving it, until my Hawke character slowed down making him unusable in battle. I still want to love this game, but the way that Bioware is handling the patch is killing my respect for them. They make excuses, but no apology, they seem to feel they are entitled to screw up this way and it is perfectly acceptable, but it really isn't. I don't work in gaming, but considering that I have seen other companies put out patches in one-two weeks after release, why is it different for Bioware? Please Bioware, get it together. From the looks of the customer reviews you have already lost a lot of fans, and I would hope you would do everything in your power to hold on to the ones who still love you. Fix the game please, and QC future releases better. Please do not become the next SquareEnix - a company that used to make good games but now just pisses fans off.… Expand
  27. Theorn67
    Apr 8, 2011
    5
    I like role-playing games. I do not by-and-large like any other genre. I do not like action games nor FPS. And the ability to role-play is the main think I look for in a game. And though I do enjoy aspects of action/combat, story, moral choices it is the ability to play out the role of my character in the world he/she is placed based on what I believe the character might do is veryI like role-playing games. I do not by-and-large like any other genre. I do not like action games nor FPS. And the ability to role-play is the main think I look for in a game. And though I do enjoy aspects of action/combat, story, moral choices it is the ability to play out the role of my character in the world he/she is placed based on what I believe the character might do is very important to me. With that said, losing the abilities to lie, intimidate, persuade people lessons my ability to play out interesting role-playing scenerios within the world as does the greatly limited npc interactions. A major part of rpgs that I enjoy is the non-quest non combat interactions with the environment (i.e. conversations etc).… Expand
  28. spanky36
    Apr 7, 2011
    5
    Take a great RPG, turn it into a decent hack'n'slash with pretty visuals. I loved DA2 at first. from the first combat sequence I was pretty hooked. 40 hours later it was over, with me not gasping, not in amazement at this epic story, but gasping at how bad it actually was. For the first 25-30 hours I was enjoying it a lot, but the rest was more of a "well I made it this far, might as wellTake a great RPG, turn it into a decent hack'n'slash with pretty visuals. I loved DA2 at first. from the first combat sequence I was pretty hooked. 40 hours later it was over, with me not gasping, not in amazement at this epic story, but gasping at how bad it actually was. For the first 25-30 hours I was enjoying it a lot, but the rest was more of a "well I made it this far, might as well finish it" feeling instead of playing because I couldn't wait to see what was next. Your decisions have no impact really. The story does not flow. It is kinda like watching the first half of a Batman movie, then replacing the last half with Tron...it makes about that much sense. Fortunately, I can play a game with a bad story and enjoy it just fine, if the rest of the game is great.

    So much gear to upgrade for you and your party! I love it...oh wait, I can't really upgrade my party? And I wore most of the same gear from about the 10th hour until the end? Well, so much for that part.

    So many spells to cast! Wait what? Everything has a long cooldown, so I can only use it once, maybe twice, in a battle? Well, so much for that part.

    So many ways to progress in this open RPG! Uh-oh, what's this? Everything is about as linear as you can get? Well, so much for that part.

    So I give it a 5. If you are one who believes the story is awesome, play a mage, and all of the inconsistencies will present themselves, especially for a blood mage. I go with a 5 because of the amount of fun I had in the first half of the game. I kept thinking ok this game is gonna open up, but once I realized I would see the same locations over and over and over again and follow a strict story line with a few side quests, it became no more fun.    … Expand
  29. oldmanyounger
    Apr 14, 2011
    5
    Short review: Game is ok, not as good as the first one. Too many recycled environments, uninspired missions and combat. Best part of the game are still the companions and their conversations.
  30. Calita
    Apr 15, 2011
    5
    Much worse than the previous game. Besides, this game will make you homophobic. Really, despite the fact that I am tolerant. A lot of members of sexual minorities in the game. In the story there is no epic and the whole game is boring. Side quests just sad.
  31. Shadenuat
    Apr 19, 2011
    5
    First RPG from Bioware that can be humbly summarised as a mediocrity or even below. While it still shows us that the team has decent writers and artists, a lack of strong design leadership and quality is something we did't see in Bioware RPG's before. It's a linear adventure with watered story and, to some extent, fun to banter with characters, so-so combat and.. that's it. Dragon Age 2First RPG from Bioware that can be humbly summarised as a mediocrity or even below. While it still shows us that the team has decent writers and artists, a lack of strong design leadership and quality is something we did't see in Bioware RPG's before. It's a linear adventure with watered story and, to some extent, fun to banter with characters, so-so combat and.. that's it. Dragon Age 2 lacks freedom of choice (one we have is actually a masterfuly done illusion, which waves if you try to replay game second time), exploration; to some extend, character customisation; puzzles; it does't give player any tactical challenges. Dragon Age 2 also laughs at many DA:O aspects and characters, beating any decentness from them with black emo stick, and fails to deliver long, gripping dialogues. Overall, one can have some fun with this game, but it's almost painful experience to begin with. This game does't worth it's 60$, and makes you sorry and sad for yourself, your time and money after.… Expand
  32. smooth_operator
    Apr 24, 2011
    5
    I have put over 100 hours into DA2 and I do not see how anyone can give this game anything above a 5 with a straight face. This game was clearly rushed. Did you know they ripped a character and all their missions right out of the game and sold separately as DLC on day one? The 60 dollar game you bought was an incomplete version of the game. The game is also one of the most glitchy I haveI have put over 100 hours into DA2 and I do not see how anyone can give this game anything above a 5 with a straight face. This game was clearly rushed. Did you know they ripped a character and all their missions right out of the game and sold separately as DLC on day one? The 60 dollar game you bought was an incomplete version of the game. The game is also one of the most glitchy I have ever experienced. The stats that rpg gamers spend so much time perfecting doesnt even work! all those points you're spending on skills isnt being calculated properly. There are tons of mission and AI glitches they are already working on a 2nd patch. I hate the dialog wheel. Hawk will always say something completely different than what you select on the wheel. I want to feel part of the conversation not alienated. I'd rather no voice acting at all than to have my main character always say something different than my selection. The combat and tactics are sloppy. As I mentioned earlier the stats do not calculate and the tactic behaviors conflict with each other leaving your AI useless on the battlefield. Your only choice is to manually control each attack or action on lengthy pauses. The original KOTOR for xbox would put this game to absolute shame. The graphics praises is nothing but brainwash propaganda. The framerate is less choppy but the actual graphics and art is a huge step back. The entire game is done in kirkwall not to mention the countless recycled caves, rooms, etc. Like I said this is a rush job. The only joy I got out of this game is the challenge of trying to beat it on nightmare mode. Look no further than your broken achievement list and store items as proof that they ripped a piece of the game right out and sold as DLC on day one. I didnt find this out until I was already somewhat deep into the game but had I known what I know now I would NOT have purchased this game. I think it's safe to say that EA has ruined Bioware like they ruined so many other developers.… Expand
  33. Mercz86
    May 17, 2011
    5
    Run off the mill RPG-Lite action adventure.Bland quests alot of reused content and hack and slash combat all amount to a shadow of DA:Origins.More like a HBO programme than an RPG.
  34. Travie
    May 18, 2011
    5
    The only saving grace of this game is the storytelling. Every feature of the original game was scaled down or removed. I literally am not able to name one aspect of the original game that they made deeper or more involving. This has 'rush job' written all over it, a real disappointment for me personally since I loved the original so dearly.
  35. lewoij
    Jun 2, 2011
    5
    Dumbed down RPG, with so-so story , 1 cave and 1 coast combat maps. Console-like, PC unfriendly UI made me rage hard. That is until I saw Witcher 2 implementation which is a new LOW.

    Bottom line, although DA2 is action oriented like TW2, and although having a weaker story and MUCH weaker graphics, DA2 is couple of milestones ahead FUN and GAMEPLAY wise.
  36. Sci-Fi-Dude1456
    Jul 28, 2011
    5
    A bland Role- Playing game with boring maps, same caves, same dungeons, linear maps, and everything takes place in one city. The story is average and the dialogue is very predictable. I recommend you not to buy this game as this is one of the worst Bioware game , or I are say worst Role-Playing Game. I hope Bioware won't mess up with Dragon Age 3 or Mass Effect 3, because I expect highA bland Role- Playing game with boring maps, same caves, same dungeons, linear maps, and everything takes place in one city. The story is average and the dialogue is very predictable. I recommend you not to buy this game as this is one of the worst Bioware game , or I are say worst Role-Playing Game. I hope Bioware won't mess up with Dragon Age 3 or Mass Effect 3, because I expect high standards for their games.… Expand
  37. Las7
    Aug 27, 2011
    5
    Dragon Age 2 is not a horrible game by any means, it's just a completely underwhelming sequel to one of the better RPGs in the last decade. It's quite obvious that development time was cut short - I don't mind the combat mechanics that much; but the mob respawn; the no overhead strategic view; the complete lack of customization for companions; the linear story line; the lack of dialogDragon Age 2 is not a horrible game by any means, it's just a completely underwhelming sequel to one of the better RPGs in the last decade. It's quite obvious that development time was cut short - I don't mind the combat mechanics that much; but the mob respawn; the no overhead strategic view; the complete lack of customization for companions; the linear story line; the lack of dialog choices; the lack of character development and lastly the lack of effect the main character has in terms of shaping the world around him that the game is not an RPG. Now Hawk Age is a fine game if it is taken out of the context of being a sequel to a pretty tactical and thoughtfully enjoyable RPG DA: O but keeping in mind that we fans of the original Dragon Age Franchise bought this game based on the DA: O we do feel cheated. This is an RPG with no replay value. Which isn't good considering I played DA: O 4 different times; I'm not sure what Bioware hoped to achieve with this game - but it was a grand failure. Hopefully they take note and don't mislead us again. One final note Critic Reviews are complexly out of sorts - I'm wondering if most of them even played the game. They might be on EA payroll or just based their reviews on just a few hours of game play; instead of figuring out that those few hours would be recycled through out the game and none of your choices will actually make any sort of difference to the final outcome. It's truly sad and I can understand my fellow games giving this game lower scores then the game deserves but I guess people want to warn other potential buyers of Dragon Age 2 not to expect a sequel as promised by Bioware.… Expand
  38. technoboy2008
    Nov 17, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game didn't meet my expectations and failed miserably on some fronts.
    I don't understand how people can rate it 9 or 8.
    I gave this game a fair 4 for the following reasons.

    The Positives:
    1;The Non-Linear plot of the game keeps you interested in this game to the very end. I used to take different decisions at a save point just to see how the story unfolded in each case.
    I finished the game as "Male Warrior",then beat it again with a "Male Mage".The point here is that the game doesn't end once beaten but there is a possibility to explore the game in 6 different classes/genders each having substantial effect on the story-line.
    2;Then the choice to choose your character's Gender and class in the beginning of the game is something which is unique and deserves praise.
    3;The graphics are just "fine".
    4;The XP system is quite good.

    The Negatives:
    1;The game has very few main quests which are actually a part of the story.a good chunk of quests are wasted on "Deep Roads Expedition" as a means to raise money for the expedition. They should have had more main quests which would gradually unfold the story and keep the Gamers interested not just the side quests which are meant for gaining XP,money,Amulets,Junk e.t.c
    The side quests are a liability.
    2;Even on "Nightmare" difficulty level,the battles seem too easy.
    3;i personally felt that the "Warrior" and "Rogue" class had very few good moves as compared to the "Mage" class.

    ***The worst part is that the "Negatives" overshadow the "Positives" of this game.***

    This game did all that was needed to defame it successor DA:Origins which was the "Game Of The Year" and succeeded. The success of sequel should not be expected to come from the reputation of the prequel.The "Dragon Age" name carries a distinct weight and importance but this game leaves you disappointed. I am very disappointed with this game and i don't think i'll be following "The Dragon Age" franchise in future.
    Bioware truly didn't deliver what was expected of them.    … Expand
  39. Warlike
    Dec 13, 2011
    5
    This game just didn't feel like dragon age, the story was just a series of side quests and then some longer (but not by much ) story quests. The combat system was OK but i preferred the original. I would rate this game lower but i played this game all the way through and did pretty much all the side quests possible that i could find, which lately i haven't managed to do with new gamesThis game just didn't feel like dragon age, the story was just a series of side quests and then some longer (but not by much ) story quests. The combat system was OK but i preferred the original. I would rate this game lower but i played this game all the way through and did pretty much all the side quests possible that i could find, which lately i haven't managed to do with new games these days. after finishing the main story i felt cheated, especially as the choices you make don't really affect the outcome at all. It will be worth it if you can pick it up cheap, but don't expect the game to live up to the originals glory.… Expand
  40. otakon17
    Sep 18, 2013
    5
    This is a disappointment when compared to Dragon Age Origins. The story is haphazardly told, on the first release the combat is lopsided with difficulty spikes and cheap tactics(enemies that literally spawn on top of your weakest characters with no time to react or regroup), your characters are mostly one note individuals(they butchered the character of Anders), lackluster loot, buttonThis is a disappointment when compared to Dragon Age Origins. The story is haphazardly told, on the first release the combat is lopsided with difficulty spikes and cheap tactics(enemies that literally spawn on top of your weakest characters with no time to react or regroup), your characters are mostly one note individuals(they butchered the character of Anders), lackluster loot, button mashing combat, simplified ability tree's. However there is some joy to hear your party members converse with each other and the graphics are improved over DAO with a more unified art style. This is a lackluster sequel in nearly all ways and doesn't really let you PLAY a ROLE in the world of Dragon Age despite the illusion that you are. The story ends the same exact way every time, every major event that happens in the game happens the same way every playthrough, unlike DAO that allowed you to affect the major events through dialogue and gameplay choices. After the patches and DLC, this is playable and is only recommended for die hard fans of the series. If you're interested in Dragon Age, do NOT start with Dragon Age 2, it is a black spot on the world that will most likely turn you off to the rest of the series released.… Expand
  41. seriousgamer
    May 15, 2012
    5
    Yes, its dumbed down and no, its not really a RPG game anymore. Its a hack-and-slash action game with some RPG content in that you can chose which silly sidequest you want to do next and you can chose skills and attributes when you level up. The whole point with the baldurs gate series and neverwinter night and DA:1 was the delightful strategy moments in the battle. You planned yourYes, its dumbed down and no, its not really a RPG game anymore. Its a hack-and-slash action game with some RPG content in that you can chose which silly sidequest you want to do next and you can chose skills and attributes when you level up. The whole point with the baldurs gate series and neverwinter night and DA:1 was the delightful strategy moments in the battle. You planned your battle, you skills, your ability points, what characters to pick for what quest and so on. Forget all that. Just take the characters that bores you the least and spam powers until every spawning mob is dead.
    With that said, and realised, its actually kinda fun. Its actually a great hack-and-slash game. I sit in my chair and click until everything is dead, i loot some stuff, i click past conversations that only annoy me. But its not boring. Its not an RPG game, its not in the least challenging (and i play on the most difficult setting), but its casual fun. Therefore i give it a 5/10. Its ok. Not good, not bad, its enjoyable when you feel like you dont have energy to think.    … Expand
  42. billy755
    Aug 23, 2012
    5
    I liked origins quite a bit but this sequel disapointed me. First, positive: Um... the loading screens were cool i guess. The writing had some funny bits, and there were... maybe two characters who weren't really annoying. So Negative: The choice of different races and histories are gone from the first game. You play as Commander Shep- i mean "Hawke". Speaking of Mass Effect the game has aI liked origins quite a bit but this sequel disapointed me. First, positive: Um... the loading screens were cool i guess. The writing had some funny bits, and there were... maybe two characters who weren't really annoying. So Negative: The choice of different races and histories are gone from the first game. You play as Commander Shep- i mean "Hawke". Speaking of Mass Effect the game has a similar dialogue wheel. You can choose between 3 types of dialogue Angelic, Evil or Funny. It's a pain in the ass because you aren't sure what Hawke will say so all of a sudden you'll mean to be intimidating but end up being racist. The actual gameplay isn't extremely different the major change is that instead of a single group of enemies you'll usually start a fight and then have to fight of several waves of enemies. This gets really tedious and can drag on a lot. The rpg elements are really dumbed down. The absolute worst part however is that there are maybe, if i'm being generous 20 different environments in this game. You'll be going throught the same areas about 5- 7 times each. It gets realy annoying. The story's not awful but there are some real annoyances. The framing device is good and it leads to one or two great moments since the narrator's somewhat unreliable. The party members are almost universally obnoxious though. All of them have One character trait and they neer shut up about. One guy used to be enslaved by a mage, so he never shuts about how he hats mages and being a slave. Other memorable characters include slutty pirate and naive elf girl who consorts with demons mage who is literally posessed by a demon. It's a bad sign when you should really have killed several of your party members. This game was clearly rushed. It's certainly not awful and it may be worth checking if you got it for like five bucks or just borrow it, or particularly like the setting but overall i'd say wait out and see what happens with Dragon Age 3.… Expand
  43. rawrieatchu
    Apr 29, 2013
    5
    If DA2 came before Dragon Age origins, I think then that this would have worked a little better.

    Alas, this is not the case, and when we compare Dragon age 2 to Dragon age Origins, most of us feel disappointment, but if DA2 was a standalone game however, it would have done a little better in my eyes. Downgrade in graphics, lazy design, less customization, and a cast of characters I    If DA2 came before Dragon Age origins, I think then that this would have worked a little better.

    Alas, this is not the case, and when we compare Dragon age 2 to Dragon age Origins, most of us feel disappointment, but if DA2 was a standalone game however, it would have done a little better in my eyes.

    Downgrade in graphics, lazy design, less customization, and a cast of characters I hated half of. The argument here is that DA2 did better on the action standpoint, but I disagree, and found that it was even less fun than the first game.

    DA3 will have to pull of a sodding miracle to save this game franchise, Bioware is going down hard, and not much can pull it's boots out of the fire from the damnation it received from this game, and ME3.    … Expand
  44. Viktory_Gaming
    Jan 10, 2018
    5
    A disappointment. Compared to Origins and even other fantasy RPG's Dragon Age 2 fell short of the mark. The entire game is spent in a single city or the outlying areas around it even recycling and reusing those same areas many times. The main character who you create feels like a glorified errand boy instead of a champion and is completely boring. The story is basic and basically boilsA disappointment. Compared to Origins and even other fantasy RPG's Dragon Age 2 fell short of the mark. The entire game is spent in a single city or the outlying areas around it even recycling and reusing those same areas many times. The main character who you create feels like a glorified errand boy instead of a champion and is completely boring. The story is basic and basically boils down to 3 major events nothing more. Most of the characters are wasted potential. The graphics and art style make the areas so bland and uninteresting, I believe they were going for an acrylic painting style but it just looks bleak and devoid. If the art style and graphics were better it would certainly help make the reused areas of the game a bit more enjoyable to explore even though they would still get tedious. To be fair however there are a few positives. I like the change in combat style, it's more fast paced and fluid as opposed to the MMO like style we had in Origins. A few of the characters from Origins that we grew to love appear. And finally the events that take place here have an effect on the events, locations, characters and story in Inqusition.… Expand
  45. Shimmeywill
    Feb 27, 2020
    5
    The lacking mission design, story and setting make this an overall mediocre RPG experience.
  46. L3Fari0us
    Jan 10, 2022
    5
    Dragon Age 2 feels like BioWare's shot at a more accessible RPG while trying to maintain the quality and depth they're known for.

    Pros: +Gameplay is more action orientated & faster than DA:O +Solid voice acting for the most part +Art style still holds up to this day +Returning characters, making the games feel connected +Story, while linear, is very interesting, albeit a bit    Dragon Age 2 feels like BioWare's shot at a more accessible RPG while trying to maintain the quality and depth they're known for.

    Pros:
    +Gameplay is more action orientated & faster than DA:O
    +Solid voice acting for the most part
    +Art style still holds up to this day
    +Returning characters, making the games feel connected
    +Story, while linear, is very interesting, albeit a bit frustrating at times
    +Armor looks great, specially endgame sets
    +All classes feel good to play
    +The twists are all well executed

    Cons:
    -You can't play as different races, unlike the previous title
    -Your origin story is always the same one
    -Narrative is extremely linear
    -Most dialogue options don't matter
    -Dialogue options are extremely ambiguous
    -Dialogue options are always extreme (either be a super nice person, a terribly mean one, or a jokester)
    -The protagonist's delivery isn't always what you are expecting
    -You can only interact with your companions during their specific quests, aside from that they only offer generic dialogue when you try to speak with them
    -Romance feels like an afterthought
    -There are a lot of reused dungeons
    -Most enemies are too bullet sponge
    -Enemies spawn in waves and sometimes out of thin air
    -The first 1/3 of the game feels like an endless stream of mostly uninteresting side quests & there's a lack of motivation for the player to push through

    Overall, Dragon Age 2 is a game that while it improves on some aspects that the previous game lacked, it drastically misses on the ones a game needed the most in order to be recognized as a sequel for Dragon Age Origins. If you are looking for a well thought RPG with a more tactical and slow combat with meaningful choices and a narrative that warrants different playthroughs, then I do not recommend this game.    … Expand
  47. Magikcarp
    Jul 19, 2023
    5
    Gameplay - 5
    Plot & Characters - 7
    Storytelling - 7
    Pacing - 6
    Music & Sound - 7
    Replayability - 5
    Performance - 10
  48. 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.
  49. 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.
  50. 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
  51. 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.
  52. 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
  53. 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
  54. 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
  55. 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
  56. 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
  57. 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.
  58. 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
  59. 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
  60. 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
  61. 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.
  62. 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.
  63. 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
  64. 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
  65. 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
  66. 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
  67. 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.
  68. 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.
  69. 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
  70. 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
  71. 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
  72. 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.
  73. 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
  74. 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?
  75. 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
  76. 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
  77. 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
  78. necro128
    Mar 19, 2011
    4
    simple.. repetitive and predictable. good bye dragon age.....
    now you have a action game masked as rpg. run around the same caves and "dungeons" one time and other let you with the feeling of be playing a bad chinese MMO made to extract you money with micropayments. and probably thats what EA want with the forthcoming dlc,s.
  79. UserJuicer
    Mar 20, 2011
    4
    Story is interesting, voice work is great.
    Most quests involve running through sewers, caves or country side - all of which you have seen 100 times before.
    During combat enemies come in waves. Killing 10 will almost always guarantee that 10 or 20 more will follow. The combination of the repeated environments and awful, grating combat proves the game didn't receive enough development time    Story is interesting, voice work is great.
    Most quests involve running through sewers, caves or country side - all of which you have seen 100 times before.
    During combat enemies come in waves. Killing 10 will almost always guarantee that 10 or 20 more will follow.
    The combination of the repeated environments and awful, grating combat proves the game didn't receive enough development time and has been padded beyond belief.
    Disappointing.    … Expand
  80. Andyuk101
    Mar 21, 2011
    4
    Dragon Age 2 has been awaited ever since its announcement, and given Bioware's Reputation, it can be forgiven if people where mouth watering over the release of this game.

    Dragon Age Origins / Awakening rearly set the benchmark for fantasy world RPG'S, more in depth and detialed than any other fantasy type RPG game before it. Emulating the success of Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights    Dragon Age 2 has been awaited ever since its announcement, and given Bioware's Reputation, it can be forgiven if people where mouth watering over the release of this game.

    Dragon Age Origins / Awakening rearly set the benchmark for fantasy world RPG'S, more in depth and detialed than any other fantasy type RPG game before it. Emulating the success of Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Mass effect. all truely great rpgs and excellent ways to spend your free time playing. However after playing the game for 12 hours or so, i started to notice alot of things that seemed , to be the same, I ignored these at first, these being the same map layouts of caves, alleys, coasts etc constantly visited but with different enterances and exits. Then i started to noitce how bland the backgrounds were, how average the graphics felt, and the sense of epicness seemed to be vanishing the further i progressed into the game. Then i started to notice the quests started becoming quite tedious, go here kill something, go here talk to this person and kill something, go here get ambushed by more mobs etc, felt very disjointed. There rearlly isnt any choice, just the illusion of choice, one of the most frustrating things for me is the lack of gear, and gear / weapons you can equip yourself and your allies with almost everything you pick up being vendor trash and mostly useless. You cannot spec any ally , they all have set roles, with only 1 choice of tank (really annoying), one automatic choice of healer (unless you are a mage) and a real lack of companion and character development that was so enjoyable in the first DA:O / DA:A. The voice acting in my opnion is good, but some of it felt "static", Varric and Isabella are excellent, and Hawkes Male voice is okay, but the Female voice of Hawke to me sounds alot better. You are able to customise Hawkes appearence which is great, because i felt that the default male hawk looked like something of of thunderbirds with his rediculiously looking square face and jaw. If you think Dragon age 2 would be an excellent straight sequeal to DA:O , then just like me you will be terribly disapointed.

    There are some good additions to the game however, the simplifed gear / options menu is nice and feels like the same system they used in mass effect 2, however i feel its to simple for people like myself who are RPG veterans and i feel its a little insulting. There should be an option to use the default system from DA:O or choose the "New and improved" version from DA 2.

    Combat has been completely toned down, there is almost no tactics involed at all, like some people say, its all AOE spam / Keep tank on main threat mob, AOE SPAM / Heal, AOE SPAM, Kill main tank mob, repeat for almost every single fight. The freedom of combat is much better than DA:O however but its so simple my 8 year old son could win every fight without evening trying.

    Im going to finish this review buy breaking it down into "PROS" and CONS", so its easier to make my points.

    PROS:

    - Good Story - Hawke is an excellent addtion to the DA Universe.
    - Simplified Combat easy to pick up and play for new RPG players.
    - Credible Voice Acting.
    - Lots of side quests to keep you enterianed along side the main storyline.
    - The Graphics are good once you have downloaded the textures pack.
    - The Improved crafting system in favor of the tedious one from the first game.
    - 25+ Hours If you do every single side quest and explore everywhere in the game.

    CONS:

    - Combat is too easy, its no challenge to good RPG gamers.
    - The simple gear interace is frustratingly hard to read and compare item to item.
    - The same areas re-used over and over again, simply cut and pasted with different enterances, very boring and bland to play threw.
    - There is no epic feel to the game, the story pans out and leaves you hanging, you feel as if you have only played half a game.
    - The lack of customise options for your crew is rearlly frustrating.
    - Hardly any major boss fights.
    - Once you have played it twice with a male and female hawk, it will gather dust until decent DLC comes out for it.
    - Bioware have sold an unfinshed game, it costs £34.99 at least and you have to pay a further £14.99 or so to get the DLC available straight away, IT should be included in the game!.
    - Leaves you hanging and wanting more, and leaves you feeling very dissapointed.

    Theres an old saying "If its not broke dont fix it", so then why did bioware ruin such a promising game with a seemingly rushed production.    … Expand
  81. Greggor
    Mar 20, 2011
    4
    The only redeeming quality of this game is its combat system, but even that system is flawed. Enemies tend to come at you in waves. So be aware that any time you think you're picking a fight with three bandits, their entire bandit army is waiting around the corner to punch you in the sack. This wouldn't be so bad except for the implications it has for aggro control. New enemies can't beThe only redeeming quality of this game is its combat system, but even that system is flawed. Enemies tend to come at you in waves. So be aware that any time you think you're picking a fight with three bandits, their entire bandit army is waiting around the corner to punch you in the sack. This wouldn't be so bad except for the implications it has for aggro control. New enemies can't be aggroed until they spawn, so they are gong to immediately jump on your mage/healer/rogue/weakling and ignore your fighter until you scramble to save the lives of your squishy party members.
    That said, the combat is a bit more fun and manageable than its counterpart in DA:O.

    But the rest of the game has just gone downhill. Bioware really disappointed me with this title. The story is watered down and hard to accept. The breadth of its predecessor was sacrificed for "accessibility" to a wider audience. In fact, the whole game takes place in one (small) town. But besides that, other features I dislike are: Your companions don't get new armor, period. You can purchase "upgrades", but you can't put any loot on them. You don't get to choose a race anymore: you're human, and that's all there is to it. The game reuses the same areas for quest after quest after quest. Most of the loot you find (50-75%) is junk. Literally, it's junk. It goes in the junk tab of your inventory. And its only purpose is to be sold for a pittance to merchants. Really, Bioware? You couldn't just give us more cash in treasure chests? You had to add "broken chair" or "mangled darkspawn dagger" into the mix? Are you kidding? This whole game was a massive disappointment. I will never pre-order another Bioware or EA title again. No, you can earn your money from now on. You don't get to get away with crap like this anymore.    … Expand
  82. GentlemanMoogle
    Mar 21, 2011
    4
    I wanted to like this game. I really did. It was one of only two games I've ever pre-ordered in my life. I've been playing Bioware games since the original Baldur's Gate, and I've loved them all almost without reservation. And then there's DA2. I'm a gamer who values a coherent narrative, a sense of immersion in a game, and -- if nothing else -- at least the illusion that the choices II wanted to like this game. I really did. It was one of only two games I've ever pre-ordered in my life. I've been playing Bioware games since the original Baldur's Gate, and I've loved them all almost without reservation. And then there's DA2. I'm a gamer who values a coherent narrative, a sense of immersion in a game, and -- if nothing else -- at least the illusion that the choices I make in a game will matter in some way. Unfortunately, DA2 falls short on all three areas. I'll admit, I enjoyed the combat until about half-way through the second act, then it just got repetitive and bland. I didn't mind the lack of companion customization, and I could even forgive the lack of item descriptions. But this is a game that seems to go out of its way to destroy any immersive qualities it may have had. Kirkwall never changes, regardless of your decisions and in spite of the fact that the game supposedly takes place over a ten-year span. Nothing is ever different. If you visit a marketplace in act 1, it will look exactly the same TEN YEARS LATER in act 3. I can forgive a lot, but when Fenris still has the battered corpses of the enemies I killed in his mansion after ten years? Yes, it's a little thing, but the little things matter. Oh, and they use the same four or five maps for every single quest line in the game. Given that most people will put thirty to forty hours of gameplay into this thing, you can bet that you're going to be tired of seeing the same damn map and killing the same damn enemies on that map after the twentieth time you visit. But for me, the biggest kick in the shorts was the overall narrative. Or rather, the fact that there wasn't one. There is no overarching story to this game. Instead, you're given three 'mini-stories' separated by the passage of time. I could forgive this, if Bioware had put in some decent plot and storytelling into these three acts. Unfortunately, they didn't. The totality of Act One's plotline can be summed up as follows: "You need money to get to Act Two." That's right, the entire first third of the game is a glorified toll gate. Admittedly, Act Two is far better, and actually held my interest all the way through to the fantastic end-of-act finale, but then it devolved into a massive Charlie Foxtrot (look it up) in Act 3, with nonsensical revelations flying fast and loose from every corner. And, naturally, Act 3 is where the bulk of the games bugs show up, causing some quests to fry out and become un-completable, and causing other quests and cutscenes to start out-of-order in a manner that yanks me right out of any immersion I might have attained. By the half-way marker in Act Three, I realized that I just didn't care a whit about anything. Thanks to the lack of any extended narrative, I had no reason to care about Kirkwall and its citizens (which wasn't helped by the fact that the entire city seems to live in a static bubble of time where nothing ever changes), and I didn't even care about my companions all that much, despite each of them being fairly well-realized in their own ways. I suppose one could argue that the main narrative was supposed to be Hawke-centered, but I couldn't muster up a shred of care even for my character, because he never felt like a protagonist. All throughout the game, I felt like little more than a glorified errand boy, a bystander relegated to the sidelines while I watch the game's story unfold without my help or the need for my direction. Oh yes, you do rise to power over the years, but it's an empty power, a power forced on you by the game's narratives rather than by your own conscious decision to pick it up. I felt as though every choice I made in this game was superfluous, that no matter what I did, everything would work out exactly the same. This game was supposed to be the story of a man struggling to power in a new and dangerous city. I honestly felt like I was an NPC in what was supposed to be a me-centered storyline. There were some things I loved about DA2. The characters were fun to play around with, and the dialog was top-notch throughout the game. My favorite parts in the entire production were the banters between your party members. But ultimately, they are fluffy sweet icing on a cake made of asphalt and failure. The lack of immersion, the lack of a coherent narrative, the endlessly-repeating levels, and the nagging sense that nothing you do really matters in the grand scheme of things make this one of the most disappointing Bioware entries I've ever had the misfortune to play.… Expand
  83. Vaeleth
    Mar 22, 2011
    4
    I could write an essay on this game. I'll keep it short....

    Good: *Classes and skills have much more synergy. *Companion dialog remains witty and amusing. *Companion quests are fun. *Initial story is OK *Crafting is streamlined. - Some don't like this change, it made the game less tedious. The BAD: *The game and environments are hollow. Kirkwall is nice, but it is a ghost town. All    I could write an essay on this game. I'll keep it short....

    Good:
    *Classes and skills have much more synergy.
    *Companion dialog remains witty and amusing.
    *Companion quests are fun.
    *Initial story is OK
    *Crafting is streamlined. - Some don't like this change, it made the game less tedious.

    The BAD:
    *The game and environments are hollow. Kirkwall is nice, but it is a ghost town. All dialog is scripted.
    *Copy and pasted environments are a kick in the balls.
    *Imported saves from DA:O hold no impact.
    *Dialog wheel is misleading.
    *Most boss fights are just tedious attrition kites.
    *Linear environments. You literally cannot explore at all. There are no hidden goodies to be found.
    *Para dropping enemies. All fights come in waves of enemies that appear out of nowhere.
    *Linear story. Your actions have zero impact on the MAIN story.
    *You cannot interact with companions past the rare and quick scripted events.
    *Character cameos from DA:O are forced and hold no meaning.
    *Day 1 DLC that tries to milk more money out of you. Another kick in the balls.
    *The game falls flat in the end. The outcome is the same, regardless of everything you've done.
    *Most equipment is junk, most loot is junk. - Literally. You just killed a boss? He drops... Junk and one good item. -If you are lucky.
    *Bugged quests.
    *Side quests are hollow and pointless. You loot an item and magically know to give it to x or y stranger for gold. ZERO dialog.
    *Enemies just explode, not finishers are satisfying animations.    … Expand
  84. konda210
    Mar 23, 2011
    4
    Same review I've posted in other forums...One word. Unfinishable. This was like watching a long bad direct-to-video fantasy. Wow. I'm really shocked at how bad the storytelling was here. Just so unlike Bioware to utterly fail at the story. Possibly it was the production timeline? I can excuse the repetitive maps, the hack-and-slash, the idiotic AI, the auto-spawn enemies that always seemSame review I've posted in other forums...One word. Unfinishable. This was like watching a long bad direct-to-video fantasy. Wow. I'm really shocked at how bad the storytelling was here. Just so unlike Bioware to utterly fail at the story. Possibly it was the production timeline? I can excuse the repetitive maps, the hack-and-slash, the idiotic AI, the auto-spawn enemies that always seem to materialize out of closed spaces, even the giant spiders who web down from a clear blue sky. Over-powered rouges and buggy system that clearly handicaps damage when there are more enemies than less, no problem. I can even excuse the locked companion armor, nameless equipment and the disjointed, often-times mindless quests, but never, ever have I bought a Bioware game and was so frustrated where I just preferred not to finish. I'm a hardcore RPG fan and not only is this worse than Dragon Age Origins, it's more like some strange alternate world spin-off. It doesn't even feel like Dragonage. I got to the final part of the end of the final act and was so disgusted with the story, I turned my Xbox off. It's been a long, long time since I've done that.

    Look for copies to show up on the pre-owned shelves soon. Remember it's a very LONG game and Bioware earned credibility with DA:O that despite bad experiences people are still trying to give it a chance. I think some are coming to the conclusion that I've arrived at. I'm done. Not even a DLC can save this .......... abomination. LOL.    … Expand
  85. DenofLionsx
    Mar 25, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (TL;DR at bottom)

    I give this game a 4 only because if you ignore the fact that this was suppose to be a sequel to Origins/Awakening it can be sort of fun. This game took the "Spiritual Successor" to the Baldur's Gate Series, killed it, mutilated its corpse, burned it, and pissed on its ashes. From characters that have the depth of a pot hole to the entire campaign being one giant linear repeat of the same 4 rooms. Everything has been dumbed down to the point where if you want a classic tank/healer/dps style part you're character locked into almost a singular party setup due to only ONE CHARACTER IN THE GAME HAVING THE ABILITY TO USE A SHIELD, and one other character being the only one who can AoE heal and ressurect. Spoilers below on characters:

    Your initial tank in the game, Aveline, is probably the most annoying character in the Dragon Age universe (Yes, even Anders makes an appearance and redeems his stupidity from Awakening). Mrs. Goody two-shoes cry about my dead husband. She is the anti-Morigan. Characters that lean entirely to one side with uncompromising ethics are boring.

    Isabela is a character who seems to have been written by the same brilliant 13 year old boys who wrote Lara Croft. Her only redeeming factor, like Lara, is that her **** are the size of watermelons... wait, how does this redeem anything? Anders, along with Justice, is, imo, the best character in this game. He actually has an interesting story since Awakening and isn't a whiny little girl anymore. Sadly he does not make up for the rest of this game's failings.

    Combat:

    The combat system has been dumbed down to the point of, to be blunt, console standards. Once you get a mage with proper end of tree spells the game becomes "Gravity well, AoE the **** out of everything, loot" which I guess is right on target for the kind of audience this game is shooting for. Dialog and Choices:

    Your choices honestly don't mean dick in this game other than party friendship. Kill the templar? What consequences does this action hold? Oh, nothing, -20 Aveline rep and +20 Anders. The Mass Effect style wheel dialog options are rather bad, though I do enjoy my character being voiced this time around. You see the text on the wheel but what comes out of Hawke's mouth isn't even close to the option you chose half the time. Final Thoughts (TL;DR):

    I have no idea who at Bioware thought locking characters to a specific role was a good idea. One of my favorite aspects on DA1 was changing a characters role to better fit the party I wanted to run. The characters lack depth and the entire story is a linear romp with no real choices of consequence. The entire game feels like it was designed to try and lure in Call of Duty fans to make more money. EA boosting the Metascore by having employees post as critics just shows they screwed up and they know it.    … Expand
  86. CitizenCook
    Mar 26, 2011
    4
    A very disappoint sequel.
    The original was disappointing in itself, but this game manages to undermine that effort in almost every way. The combat mechanic has been improved, but the story is boring, and play areas are extremely uninteresting and repetitive. A rushed sequel, one to avoid.
  87. ahpucha
    Mar 28, 2011
    4
    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
  88. LadyDumrotten
    Mar 29, 2011
    4
    I'm really digusted with how the critics have managed to forgive this game's glaring flaws. Not that there aren't things about the game that I love. It has excellent characters and an addictive, refined battle system... It's just a shame that the ridiculous amount of recycled content really kills it for me. There aren't even that many explorable areas in the game, and those that areI'm really digusted with how the critics have managed to forgive this game's glaring flaws. Not that there aren't things about the game that I love. It has excellent characters and an addictive, refined battle system... It's just a shame that the ridiculous amount of recycled content really kills it for me. There aren't even that many explorable areas in the game, and those that are there are all narrow corridors that are re-used over and over for the entire game. Also, the storyline apparently spans nearly a decade, except the only way you would know that are the cut-scenes at the end of each act (of which there are three) telling you a number of years have passed... except, NOTHING, literally NOTHING changes over the years. At the beginning of Act 3 your party starts off standing in the exact spot where you finished Act 2 as if no time had passed at all. Laughable. This game could have been a classic had only more time been put into development. As it is, it's only recommendable if you think you can overlook these huge flaws and enjoy the strong combat and fairly interesting cast.… Expand
  89. wastelander75
    Mar 30, 2011
    4
    Without a doubt, a middling, muddling attempt to cater to the hack and slash / Mass Effect fans while TRYING to lightly cater to the fans that made Dragon Age Origins a hit. In the end it succeeds at doing neither. From reusing maps that are surprisingly similar in design from random quest #33 to random quest #85 (which was surprisingly similar in design to the map used in random questWithout a doubt, a middling, muddling attempt to cater to the hack and slash / Mass Effect fans while TRYING to lightly cater to the fans that made Dragon Age Origins a hit. In the end it succeeds at doing neither. From reusing maps that are surprisingly similar in design from random quest #33 to random quest #85 (which was surprisingly similar in design to the map used in random quest #10), to the tactic-less approach to combat. Companions who were, for the most part, never really a "stand out" kind of lot. No Urdnot Wrex, no Tali vas, no HK-47. They're OK, but they are no Wrex. I also felt no real sense of purpose, no feeling that what I was doing was shaping or changing the future of Kirkwall, other than having Hawke move from rags to riches. Every event I played, seemed lifeless and self contained in their Acts, with no real significance or impact on the overall. My only one true praise is that it at least looks better than the drab lifeless world experienced in the first (and still superior) game.… Expand
  90. n00bdream
    Mar 31, 2011
    4
    Very disappointing. The game lacks almost everything that made the first one so enjoyable. The characters are uninspiring, the story is almost non-existing and the interactions with your teammates are boring. The gameplay works, but everything else is inferior to the first game.
  91. Saul
    Mar 31, 2011
    4
    Dragon Age Origins was an excellent game.

    Dragon Age 2 is a big disappointment for me. Specially because there's no epic feeling at all. Why I have to spend 90% of the game going around Kirkwall doing small "kill this guy", "bring this stuff" missions? I'd like to battle hordes of enemies, be part of an epic story, command an army, lead a desperate mission or kill the king.. I don't    Dragon Age Origins was an excellent game.

    Dragon Age 2 is a big disappointment for me.

    Specially because there's no epic feeling at all.

    Why I have to spend 90% of the game going around Kirkwall doing small "kill this guy", "bring this stuff" missions?

    I'd like to battle hordes of enemies, be part of an epic story, command an army, lead a desperate mission or kill the king.. I don't know, something EPIC, difficult, impossible for no one but my character and his foes.

    But what I got in exchange is... hey, you can be a small smuggler/assassin.. and spend hours and hours of gameplay just moving around this city, doing "no one cares about it" missions.

    **** I want to be a hero! That's why I buy a game with "DRAGON" in its cover!    … Expand
  92. AlekKolchak
    Apr 3, 2011
    4
    Honestly, Bioware's first bad game and a poor successor to a great first game. All strategy has been taken out of combat, making it a "point and click" game until all waves of enemies are destroyed. The role playing aspect has been cut, leaving the player with only the ability to select one of three dialogue choices: "peaceful, humorous, aggressive." This has no affect on how the gameHonestly, Bioware's first bad game and a poor successor to a great first game. All strategy has been taken out of combat, making it a "point and click" game until all waves of enemies are destroyed. The role playing aspect has been cut, leaving the player with only the ability to select one of three dialogue choices: "peaceful, humorous, aggressive." This has no affect on how the game plays out. Environments are rarely as detailed as the first game and are recycled to an amazing degree. Most of the game play is uninspired delivery quests. Loot is random and you cannot equip armor on the other team characters. The main story feels more like an expansion pack. The pros? Good graphics and excellent voice work. Hopefully player created mods will eventually add the content that the developers did not. Still, it is sad to think that EA has purchased and eliminated another creative game company.… Expand
  93. junglepat
    Apr 3, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been a follower of BioWare's games since the release of the Baldur's Gate series - they generally put out high quality products. Dragon Age 2 is not of the same caliber as previous games, but it is moderately entertaining. They have made some changes to improve the overall game play experience - some are successful, while others are not.

    PROS:
    - Combat system feels more responsive and visceral. While the option to manage companions and their tactics remains, you can definitely get right into some button mashing fun without every combat being an agonizing tactical slog or ending in a funeral pyre for you and your friends.

    - I enjoyed the way the the story unfolded as a combination of cut-scene dialogue and direct player involvement. The cut-scenes between Varric and Cassandra are excellent and work to unfold your time in Kirkwall.

    -Great character companions, with involving stories, certainly made the game interesting. They were well voice-acted and written. More dialogues would have been even better.

    CONS:
    -Some quest bugs had me running around scratching my head as to what I was doing wrong - all of which can be fixed with a patch. Although I did find it funny when my character assumed the daggers ready stance for 1/3 of the game while moving and talking to people - she looked like a car crash victim, hobbling along. Seriously, buggy games are not cool.

    - Player options are severely limited. After the tour de force that was Dragon Age:Origins, with multiple races and origin stories, your time as a human male/female seems downright pitiful. Not the usual buffet of choice presented in BioWare's games. It is not inconceivable that there may have been other survivours from Lothering, or characters that had been related to the Battle at Ostagar in a different way. -Player choices don't have the same impact that they have in Dragon Age: Origins. Whether you are an apostate or a supporter of the Templars does not make a difference to the game ending. You fight the same boss and the game ends exactly the same way - as a cheap cliffhanger. Choices made during the game have no actual impact on on how the story unfolds. As an example, I supported the mages and Templars during different play throughs and got the same result. I felt like decisions made during the game were pointless. -The story is somewhat limited. In other games like ME, ME2 and DA:O there were extensive plot lines and character development. In comparison, DA 2 felt short and contrived. It did not have the same epic feel as these other games. Most of the time you are completing mundane fetch/carry/find quests. The plot which is suppose to be the back bone of this story is sometimes non-existent and when it does rear its head you are left wondering how things got to this point. The idea of a rags to riches story is great in theory, but falls short in this game. On my first play through I stumbled on the end game - very annoying since I had unfinished quests. -Environments and NPC's - I don't know if BioWare was under pressure to save money or if they only had one guy working on these but, the places you go and the people you see are severely limited. Just because you make me run through a place backwards doesn't mean I don't realize that it is the exact same environment. At one point, when an NPC said that I could meet him at his base on the Wounded Coast, I felt like asking if everyone in Kirkwall was time-sharing this place, because three other NPC's were using it as their base as well. No effort was made to change any of the layout's or anything. I understand that the story takes place in one city - it's good to be familiar with a place that you are living in for an extended period of time, but creating one cave and two outdoor sets really seems like someone got lazy. It really makes the game hard to replay when you know you will be trudging through the same 10 rooms over and over again. Character models are also limited - the mobs that you meet in the streets wear the same outfits. At one point I was like "Hey! Didn't I kill you guys in the other alley over there... at least 30 times!?" -A lack of really memorable foes. Besides the Arishok and the High Dragon (which really came out of nowhere the first time I fought it) the villains you meet really are not that memorable. Meredith seems like a foe of convenience rather than, someone you have been building to face - like the Archdemon or Saren/Reaper.

    While not un-fun, this game is certainly a shadow of its predecessor. It lacked the momentous choices of DA:O and the involved story that went along with that. It worries me that this may be a trend that BioWare's games are going to follow. Perhaps BioWare will take player concerns into account when releasing DLC and DA 3. I certainly hope that the issues with this game are not the result of being tied to EA - generally more concerned with profit than quality.    … Expand
  94. CTR8008
    Apr 7, 2011
    4
    DA2 was a very basic game to me. Quest seem more like chores and the story seems flat. I did like the combat system though it put you more into the action in every battle. I'm very suprised at Bioware for this one they usually never put out average games like this.
  95. Makaveli
    Apr 14, 2011
    4
    Is this an action game or an RPG? Perhaps a ARPG? I played the first dragon age and I give that one a 7 out of 10, DA 2 gets a 4 and that is being genourous. I have never seen such a game, where they copy and paste areas. I know a lot of games do this because the creators are lazy, but that is all this game is. Take out all the copy and pasted elements in this game and what do you have?Is this an action game or an RPG? Perhaps a ARPG? I played the first dragon age and I give that one a 7 out of 10, DA 2 gets a 4 and that is being genourous. I have never seen such a game, where they copy and paste areas. I know a lot of games do this because the creators are lazy, but that is all this game is. Take out all the copy and pasted elements in this game and what do you have?
    It's like going to a museum and seeing the same painting with different color. This game is only good enough to wipe your ass with, and even then, it aint charmin..    … Expand
  96. mareo2
    Apr 18, 2011
    4
    First I believed it was great deserving a 9 or 8, then after a few hours of playing the game I understood that it was a poor plot with characters not as likable as in ME 2 or DA:O and deserved more like a 7 or 6. Then I discovered a bunch of bugs piling up that underscored the impression of a rushed game and deserved more like a 5 or 4. The average user score of 4.4 is correct in theirFirst I believed it was great deserving a 9 or 8, then after a few hours of playing the game I understood that it was a poor plot with characters not as likable as in ME 2 or DA:O and deserved more like a 7 or 6. Then I discovered a bunch of bugs piling up that underscored the impression of a rushed game and deserved more like a 5 or 4. The average user score of 4.4 is correct in their unbiased verdict.… Expand
  97. Jumper_351
    Apr 23, 2011
    4
    Negatives: Dumbed down combat. Consists of mash this button till that guy dies, now do it again here. Simplistic level design. Honestly, I was insulted that they pushed this half-finished game onto us. Terrible.
  98. Kosma
    May 8, 2011
    4
    Simple, dumbed down, lacking everything that made the original have such potential. Bland story, constant reusing of the same locales.

    This is the most disappointing game of 2011 so far, feels like a budget cash-in for Bioware.
  99. Nyurena
    May 18, 2011
    4
    The combat system was a new streamlined approach that was enjoyable. Story was decent and your decisions had some weight. At first I felt it had far surpassed DAO in every way. Then the extensive level reuse and boring arbitrary fights set it. Every time I started to get immersed in the story a quest would send me to the same reused level and it would all evaporate. Kudos to bioware forThe combat system was a new streamlined approach that was enjoyable. Story was decent and your decisions had some weight. At first I felt it had far surpassed DAO in every way. Then the extensive level reuse and boring arbitrary fights set it. Every time I started to get immersed in the story a quest would send me to the same reused level and it would all evaporate. Kudos to bioware for trying some new and well implemented things, like the combo system, but you sold us a cheap and dragging game in the end. Don't let EA force to you cut so many corners to release early like this, or your well earned rep will suffer. I turned it to casual and ignored sidequests just to be able to finish it by the end.… Expand
  100. sid4975
    May 15, 2011
    4
    Im just so incredibly disappointed in this game that im actually taking the time to write about it. even though im sure no one will read it. when it comes to sequels why must developers dumb down and ruin everything that made the previous game great?! Will someone please tell me this. I must have played through DA1 about 20 times. I cant even get halfway through this game. its a damnIm just so incredibly disappointed in this game that im actually taking the time to write about it. even though im sure no one will read it. when it comes to sequels why must developers dumb down and ruin everything that made the previous game great?! Will someone please tell me this. I must have played through DA1 about 20 times. I cant even get halfway through this game. its a damn hack fest! They did the Same with mass effect 2 although not half as bad as this, but dumbed down none the less. I cant help but think any reviewer on here that gave this higher then a 5 has to be a developer. If you looking for an action/rpg experience look elsewhere. dragon age 1, mass effect 1, the witcher, and the soon to be released witcher 2!… 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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
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