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. wrotos
    May 17, 2011
    4
    I,m really disappointed Abut this game. I expect good cRPG and i get game with bad history, graphics and terrible game play, Boring game, made for console,
  2. Dyalad
    May 24, 2011
    4
    Dragon Age 2 seems to be an experiment to introduce Bioware's classic RPG elements to console gaming. The result is at best disappointing.

    You play as Hawke, a human refugee from a town called Lothering. Through framed narrative, you lead Hawke's life through important events of his/her life and how they shape the world. As opposed to previous Bioware titles where several decisions would    Dragon Age 2 seems to be an experiment to introduce Bioware's classic RPG elements to console gaming. The result is at best disappointing.

    You play as Hawke, a human refugee from a town called Lothering. Through framed narrative, you lead Hawke's life through important events of his/her life and how they shape the world.

    As opposed to previous Bioware titles where several decisions would affect the game storyline, the only significant change in Dragon Age 2 is in regards to companion relationships. Discussions between companions will slightly vary depending which way they perceive you, but overall, they will still offer the same missions regardless which path you chose to pick.

    And this is where this game fails miserably. Where previous Bioware titles encouraged and rewarded replays, in Dragon Age the replay value is at best poor, arguably non-existent. On a second playthrough one will sadly realize that if they decide to pick opposite options than in their first playthrough, the consequences and dialog will be the same. By that I mean; if you refuse to complete a task, it will be forced upon you. I found that excruciating and shallow.

    The game ending is probably one of the worst I've seen out there for RPGs. It left me unsatisfied, and I basically felt I wasted 30 hours or so to get an ending that I figured out within the first 5 minutes of the game. The only comparable ending dissapointement I can think of was when I ended Neverwinter Nights 2 (original campaign).

    On to combat. The initial release on console did not have auto-attack option. The combat system was extremely tedious and soulcrushing. Had I done this review prior to be fixed, this game would've deserved a 2 at best.

    Combat is an omnipresent element in the game. Combat went to a classic tabletop style in Dragon Ages Origins to a mish mash button spam that sometimes reminded me of Winter Games or something. I think that the idea was good but poorly executed; if you hit the standard attack button 4 times, the 5th attack has an animation with a flourish and does a bit more damage. The other buttons can be used to map skills. Skill cooldowns usually were at least a dozen of seconds, which felt very long when spamming the auto attack button.

    Most combat scenes, if not all, have waves of enemies. While this concept works well in certain situations, its overuse made the game extremely frustrating; the way these waves appeared was most of the time questionable and definitely mood-breaking (bandits "jumping down" from an enclosed ceiling for example).

    Enemy variety is near non-existent. There is a handful of darkspawns (3 types), humanoids, 2 or 3 types of undeads, the odd unique-style bosses, and spiders. Did I mention spiders?

    I could continue going on, but I think I went over some of the things that made me rage the most about this game.

    Anyways. If you're looking for a RPG fix, look elsewhere, because this game has nothing that older western RPGs offer out there.    … Expand
  3. Redfordsto
    May 22, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's impossible to review this game without comparing to it's predecessor. The most direct reason being that it's billed as a sequel with the "II" hanging there rather than a sub-title indicating this is a relative concurrent adventure to the original. I played through Origin so many times, I had to remove some of the save character profiles to a flash drive because there was a limit on how many characters that I could create. For DA2, I played through four times to find any variation with regard to choice. There wasn't any. That being said...

    Pros: -The graphics engine has been improved. The set pieces are more picturesque than the original. Even the combat animations are more diverse and compelling. -The audio. Both effects and soundtrack are even better than the original. Inon Zur earned his keep yet again. If only there was someone to download the remix of Florence and the Machine's track. -Having a voiced hero does allow for a deeper connection to your hero. It's fun to hear your hero reflect your choices in tone. And the voice acting is excellent. -There are a few more character customization options as far as hair and facial hair... -You can import your saved games from Dragon Age: Origins. -Skill progression as far as branching rather than directly progressive is was more rewarding than just unlocking the next in a row or skills. -Your companions have individual skill trees that are useful. -There were a number or armor variations and weapon variations as far as appearance and textures. -The companion characters are unique and voiced well.

    Cons: -You can import your saved games from Dragon Age: Origins, but it makes no difference at all. The only purpose is to slightly vary a dozen or so comments made by ancillary characters. -A large amount of character customization is gone. No choice of who your character is with regard to backstory. No variation of races. You can choose your class, change your face, and upgrade skills. The opportunity to give more options to the player was lost. -The skill trees were inventive, but there was little in the way of improving skills. Rather than investing in skills that work with your style of gameplay you unlock another skill. Most skills are maxed at a single upgrade. -The endless repetition of dungeons. You see the same locations again and again. And again. -While the weapons and armor looked good, only your main character can use the armor. Your companions are only slightly customizable. -Choice doesn't matter like it once did. You side with someone or help someone escape harm and you end up getting a nice letter and do all the same quests regardless of choice. Your choices don't open up new locations or options only vary dialogue. The biggest choice you have is to not do some of the quests. -You spend 85% of your time in the same city. The story is suppose to take place over a decade but any change in the city are minimal. There are no new area or expansions. There's an occasional new wall or statue and you move live... once. And the only change to your mansion after a few year is you gain a few bottles of liquor and your love interest moves in a mandolin. -Where are the traps, the different types of arrows, various grenades, the runes, and all the potions. Instead of increasing variation, they are either stripped down or just plain gone. This also decreases tactical options. -The stories of all the potential love interests are all depressing. There are no options for happy endings. You're going to find out Fenris is alone, Merrill will alienate her clan, Isabella will do anything to get her ship, and Anders will start a war. While the stories and personalities are unique, their arcs are all downers. -The main story is a set of sidequests. While many are good, when you see the same locations more than a dozen times, it blurs into a mindless hack and fetch experience. Made more boring the second time because even if I sided with the mages on the first playthrough, I get to do the same missions on the second playthrough when siding with templars. And on the third playthrough while trying to stay impartial... which you can't. Further, the threads connecting the acts are thin. I find an artifact while trying to become rich and somehow it corrupts the final boss who I never really interact with till the final act. There's no sustained rivalry and no real growth considering you're supposed to enact the emergence of a hero. Nor do your companions really evolve over the course of the story, they seem obsessed with singular goals. It's a linear story with the false promise of choice. -The highlight that should have been the connection to your family fell way short. You have one act to get to know a sibling then you don't see them till the end of the game... or they died. The promise fell to the same overly dark theme of either killing everybody off or bitter realizations. -Plain lack of satisfaction upon completion compared to most games.    … Expand
  4. liotius
    Jun 1, 2011
    4
    Worst BioWare game I've played yet. Remarkably unfinished to such a laughable degree. Many of the zones are _exact_ copies of other zones, with easily identifiable markings to the fact. So much so in fact that they had to jury rig blockades for areas they didn't want you to go into, not even bothering to update the minimap, causing you to continually go toward implacable barriers. TheWorst BioWare game I've played yet. Remarkably unfinished to such a laughable degree. Many of the zones are _exact_ copies of other zones, with easily identifiable markings to the fact. So much so in fact that they had to jury rig blockades for areas they didn't want you to go into, not even bothering to update the minimap, causing you to continually go toward implacable barriers. The voice acting was poorest for the main character, every remark sounded like a sarcastic one, leaving no real movement on emotion.

    Buggy quests as well, some quests remain active even if there is absolutely no way to complete them.

    As far as the storyline goes absolutely felt like a beginning but if its the beginning then why number it as 2? Poor choice by some of the higher ups on naming this game.    … Expand
  5. tzedan
    Jun 20, 2011
    4
    Bioware should have released this game first and then DAO; that would at least give the impression of improvement. As it stands, this game provides no continuity of significance with Dragon Age Origins. The game play is dumbed down, the character development is no where to be found and the plot is weak. Seems like Bioware is betting all it's money on Mass Effect 3. I just hope then don'tBioware should have released this game first and then DAO; that would at least give the impression of improvement. As it stands, this game provides no continuity of significance with Dragon Age Origins. The game play is dumbed down, the character development is no where to be found and the plot is weak. Seems like Bioware is betting all it's money on Mass Effect 3. I just hope then don't mess that game up.… Expand
  6. laxleonidas
    Sep 17, 2011
    4
    Despite of all expectations, BioWare not only removed good ideas from predecessor, but also used new bad game mechanisms. Forget about tactital fighting, interesting plot and - what's most important - huge, secret world to explore.
  7. Kultur
    Sep 12, 2014
    4
    If this game wasn't preceded by DA:Origins it might have had a less negative impact on players, but since Origins was just that good (easily in my top 10 games all time), this game was a huge letdown.

    In DA2 the loot is named "junk", instead of having comparably amazing back-story for a simple painting found in a random barrel in Origins. Combat has been dumbed down, there's more    If this game wasn't preceded by DA:Origins it might have had a less negative impact on players, but since Origins was just that good (easily in my top 10 games all time), this game was a huge letdown.

    In DA2 the loot is named "junk", instead of having comparably amazing back-story for a simple painting found in a random barrel in Origins.
    Combat has been dumbed down, there's more flashiness to movement and strikes, but the depth of Origins combat has at best been preserved, often falling under the mark and never really improving gameplay.
    Promotional material touted claims of an interactive story that adapted as you went along, which was an outright lie. The ending is the same regardless of class and decisions which quickly becomes apparent and especially in the act finales.
    Dungeons - Oh the dungeons... most blatant copy/paste job performed in a AAA-title for me. No love was given to dungeon crawling, you will quickly recognize rooms and often whole sections of dungeons.
    The city - You will spend the majority of your time playing in the city which changes between the acts, giving a sense of time passing. But not enough, it's still the same levels reskinned a few times.

    Overall, a rushed and passionless sequel that rightly disappointed most fans. For some reason critic reviews were generally very favorable, the most flattering thing I can say about that is that maybe they got to play an alpha/beta build. I have a hard time believing any reviewer played the whole game before writing the review.    … Expand
  8. Ishman
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    Played on its own merits without any idea of DA:O this game would be quite solid.
    Having loved the original, and feeling like I was taking part in an epic quest that actually meant something, I was sorely disappointed with the follow up. Admittedly the first 10 hours or so were pretty Rad I thought, this was in part due to the fact that I was high as **** when I first got the game, but    Played on its own merits without any idea of DA:O this game would be quite solid.
    Having loved the original, and feeling like I was taking part in an epic quest that actually meant something, I was sorely disappointed with the follow up. Admittedly the first 10 hours or so were pretty Rad I thought, this was in part due to the fact that I was high as **** when I first got the game, but soon enough not even a big stack of weed couldn't improve this bland follow up. The action orientated combat didn't bother me as much as it has others, where it really let me down was the constantly repeating environments, the original had me trekking all over the place to a number of awesome locations, the sequel has going through the same old bland locales over and over. One of the few reviewers who must not have been paid off by EA put it best with "you can't have an epic storyline in your own backyard" or something like that, you get the gist. All in all its not a "bad game" in my mind, but not worthy of being the sequel to the excellent original. If you come to the game having never played the first you will probably enjoy it for what it is. Bioware really need to rethink there game plan for no. 3 especially since Skyrim is now out and has absorbed 80 hours of play time and I haven't really done jack **** so far. In summary, pay more and get Skyrim instead. Shame on you Bioware.Shame on You.    … Expand
  9. TolHydra
    Jan 7, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game really is a letdown...as a person who played Dragon Age: Origins 9 times through by writing this review. There are only a few things improved in Dragon Age II...Combat and in the aspects of character creation don't get me wrong, NOT being able to play any other races sucks badly but i loved creating a female hawk I could live with the voiced character..it didn't seemed very odd since i also love Bioware's other franchise Mass Effect; Only god knows how much would i enjoy to blow up a certain mage companion (the elf one) I mean i could live with the emo character but the thing made me frustrated was especially moral choices..AND MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER RESURRECTIONS REGARDING THE CHOICES OF THE FIRST GAME...You see i killed this lovely companion in the first game and imported my save to only see BIOWARE SIMPLY DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN THING about your moral choice..or role playing therefore this game has a real RPG value its a "auto-attack hack'n slash" yeah that's it .… Expand
  10. Resplendent
    Jan 27, 2012
    4
    Scoring this game is complicated for me. One the one hand, I will admit to it being a good time killer. But as a sequel to DA:O, which I absolutely loved, it falls completely flat. The story felt unimportant, several of the characters were just annoying, and the copy-paste maps were simply insulting to the player. If "epic adventure" is what you had in mind when you picked this up, you'reScoring this game is complicated for me. One the one hand, I will admit to it being a good time killer. But as a sequel to DA:O, which I absolutely loved, it falls completely flat. The story felt unimportant, several of the characters were just annoying, and the copy-paste maps were simply insulting to the player. If "epic adventure" is what you had in mind when you picked this up, you're going to be sorely disappointed. For $10 though, there are worse ways to kill several hours. Get it if you have absolutely nothing better to play, but prepare to end up wanting to strangle whoever green-lit DA2- truly a mistitled game if there ever was one.… Expand
  11. huzz
    Jun 13, 2012
    4
    A disappointing sequel. It seemed like Bioware left their core fans behind in an attempt to try and gain a more mainstream audience. DA2 fell short do to things like: re-used maps, simplified combat, boring characters, a weak story, a lack of important decisions, locked companion armor and many useless items.
  12. Aeryx
    Sep 20, 2012
    4
    Requires no brains to operate. STAY AWAY fans of Dragon Age Origins. As a long-time of Bioware, Dragon Age 2 for me was the first tangible indicator that something was really wrong with them and they were no longer interested in making great games--- only milking their franchises. The gameplay is bland, the dungeons freakishly recycled and the gameplay requires no brains. It you hate yourRequires no brains to operate. STAY AWAY fans of Dragon Age Origins. As a long-time of Bioware, Dragon Age 2 for me was the first tangible indicator that something was really wrong with them and they were no longer interested in making great games--- only milking their franchises. The gameplay is bland, the dungeons freakishly recycled and the gameplay requires no brains. It you hate your money, burn it in the fireplace just don't buy this game.… Expand
  13. Riven126
    Oct 28, 2012
    4
    Dragon Age 2 is a bad game. It may be a sequel to Origins in name, but the game itself tells a very different story, and that;s the ultimate problem. Not only is Dagon Age 2 a huge departure from the original, but it's also worse in almost every way.

    Level re-use is easily the worst offense. The game lasts about 30-35 hours on normal difficulty and if you complete all the side quests.    Dragon Age 2 is a bad game. It may be a sequel to Origins in name, but the game itself tells a very different story, and that;s the ultimate problem. Not only is Dagon Age 2 a huge departure from the original, but it's also worse in almost every way.

    Level re-use is easily the worst offense. The game lasts about 30-35 hours on normal difficulty and if you complete all the side quests. In that time, you will revisit the same three or four dungeons over a dozen times. To call this game repetative would be an understatement.

    The combat in the game is a mixed bag. It often feels like Bioware was trying find a happy middle ground between God of War and the original combat system. Because of this, combat suffers and both camps are left unsatisfied. While the combat is more flashy than the original, things quickly become chaotic when "waves" of enemies begin attacking. Combined with overly long cool downs for your main abilities, combat feels more like a chore.

    Graphically, the game also fails to impress. From the art direction to the textures, the lighting, and atmosphere (or lack there of) all fail to rise above the mediocre level. Kirkwall (the city you are imprisoned in) is full and lifeless. NPC's are tucked away in corners and never interact with you. The city lacks detail and looks very unfinished because of it. Character models are too clean and also lack detail. That said, animations have been improved from the original and look more fluid.

    The UI has been redesigned and for the most part, it looks a bit cleaner. Sadly, functionality has taken a hit. Unlike Origins, the "tier" system that was used to determine the value of an item has been replaced with a "star" system. This makes it very difficult to manage inventory and find matching sets of armor. The "junk" bin still exists, but is primarily used to store things that you randomly pick up around town instead of it's role in Origins as a folder to store all your unwanted gear in before selling it to a merchant.

    The story fails to make a compelling case for the player to care about what's goin on within the city. The two central conflicts are the Qunari invasion and the Mage/Templar conflict. This may come as a shock to those who expected the story to pick up where Awakening left off. These two major conflicts essentially go nowhere and leave the player out in the wind. They feel very forced thanks to the abysmal writing that's present.

    Because the writing is so poor, the characters and character interaction really suffer. Unlike Origins, you cannot simply talk to your companions whenever you like. Instead you have to wait until you get a message in your journal telling you to go visit that character. Interactions are often very brief and feel forced. The most annoying part about this is you must travel across Kirkwall to preset destinations in order to talk with your companions. Which means you have to sit through load screens before you get there.

    The characters themselves range from uninteresting to almost interesting to "I want to kill that guy". Unlike Origins, which had truly interesting and deep characters with a a good amount of dialogue, Dragon Age 2 offers characters that feel like cardboard cut outs that are simply there to amuse or frustrate you. Anders frustrates you and Isabela amuses you. Banter is actually far more interesting to listen to than real dialogue.

    Unlike Origins, Dragon Age 2 uses a voiced-protagonist. The voice acting is terrible and sounds like there was just no effort put in. The dialogue wheel has been imported from Mass Effect to replace the dialogue tree from Origins, leaving the player with only three responses in most situations: Good, sarcastic, and evil. The wheel simply doesn't work as well as it does in Mass Effect despite Bioware adding pictures to the center of the wheel to help players understand what's good, sarcastic, and evil.

    At the end of the day, Dragon Age 2 is an uninspired mess of a game. While there may be some redeeming qualities to be found, it is without a doubt a step backward for the series. It does to many basic things wrong that the first game got right the first time. It fails to deliver compelling characters and a strong narrative. The world of Thedas has never felt smaller and Kirkwall is more of a prison than a city. My advice to anyone who enjoyed Origins and Awakening is to replay those great games and forget about Dragon Age 2. But if you absolutely must play it, I strongly suggest you rent it or borrow it from a friend.    … Expand
  14. yowave
    Jan 4, 2013
    4
    Dragon Age 2 is a bad game.

    The Bad: The game is short almost feel rushed, the story is lacking beyond believe, characters are not memorable, encounter areas get recycled throughout the game, your followers can't equip armor, the soundtrack is bad, enemies appear out of nowhere. The Good: Mediocre combat mechanics. It's almost as if they didn't really gave their all to create    Dragon Age 2 is a bad game.

    The Bad:
    The game is short almost feel rushed, the story is lacking beyond believe, characters are not memorable, encounter areas get recycled throughout the game, your followers can't equip armor, the soundtrack is bad, enemies appear out of nowhere.

    The Good:
    Mediocre combat mechanics.

    It's almost as if they didn't really gave their all to create this game, and i think the one to blame should be EA, the publisher who probably rushed this game and didn't gave Bioware enough time to make yet another master piece.
    I bought this game on day one solely because it's "little" brother Dragon Age: Origins was such a great game, and i was disappointed.

    When comparing Dragon Age 2 to it's "little" brother Dragon Age: Origins, you start to wonder what went wrong. it takes some effort to ruin such a game, especially when the ground have been taken care of by their previous game.

    There were days that i swore loyalty to Bioware, those days are gone.    … Expand
  15. houyi111
    Dec 16, 2013
    4
    If the title is not "dragon age", I might give it a 7 out of 10. The voice acting and the dialogue are good and often funny. The combat and customization is easy to adapt. The whole game is neat. The auto-saving is handy and well-done. However, it is supposed to be the sequel of the DA:origins, but it just goes horribly wrong.
    I didn't play many WRPG games, but I also never played a    If the title is not "dragon age", I might give it a 7 out of 10. The voice acting and the dialogue are good and often funny. The combat and customization is easy to adapt. The whole game is neat. The auto-saving is handy and well-done. However, it is supposed to be the sequel of the DA:origins, but it just goes horribly wrong.
    I didn't play many WRPG games, but I also never played a modern game where the game setting is A SMALL CITY. The abuse of reusing maps is just unforgivable. None of the characters is interesting. The romance is just dull. The story is way too linear and stupid to say the less. I am also amazed that Bioware surely has a twist way to turn an epic story to something beyond turd. Like in ME franchise, you think the whole plot is to unite everyone to fight reapers, but it turned out synthetics vs organics is the only core. In dragon age, you got the idea that unite everyone to fight the blight, but no, no, no, the actual and the only conflict in DA is Templars vs Mages. wtf, bioware.    … Expand
  16. mnKx
    Jun 23, 2020
    4
    Coming fresh from beating DA:O and all of it expansions it makes really frustrating playing this game
    It has basically the same type of combat and commands as DA:O but executed very differently.
    The combat (and the animations) got a lot faster mostly because of the way they design the levels and the combat encounters. Instead of having all the enemies placed on the map, you will find a    Coming fresh from beating DA:O and all of it expansions it makes really frustrating playing this game
    It has basically the same type of combat and commands as DA:O but executed very differently.
    The combat (and the animations) got a lot faster mostly because of the way they design the levels and the combat encounters. Instead of having all the enemies placed on the map, you will find a small group and when you start combat they will have spawning waves of enemies that come from pretty much everywhere in the surrounding area of the encounter, which would be fine if the gameplay itself was something more appropriate to this kind of design (something like Devil May Cry or even Diablo), instead we have very generic and streamlined gameplay mechanics that doesn't fit the type of game that was supposed to be.
    The gameplay changes are probably the worst part about this sequel (even though I liked the new animations compared to the dull ones from DA:O), but another thing that buggered me the most was the reused scenarios and the way they did it, because a lot of times you would do a few missions in a row that used the same scenario but in a different part of the map, which was very bad for immersion
    There are a few things good about the game, but as a Dragon Age title is a disappointment    … Expand
  17. RimJobson
    Sep 27, 2014
    4
    Dragon Age II is the best representation of games that suffer due to new elements leading to neglect of old ones.

    Change is never a bad thing, but its execution is what makes or breaks games that label themselves as the "next step" on the series' evolutionary ladder. Dragon Age II is no different, change is what made the parts of the game that were praised and change is what broke the    Dragon Age II is the best representation of games that suffer due to new elements leading to neglect of old ones.

    Change is never a bad thing, but its execution is what makes or breaks games that label themselves as the "next step" on the series' evolutionary ladder. Dragon Age II is no different, change is what made the parts of the game that were praised and change is what broke the parts of the game that were hated.

    The best thing about change in regards to Dragon II is definitely the combat. While not extraordinary, the fact that you play a bigger part in how things unfold allows for a more fun combat experience rather than treating it as a "Press A and watch until someone needs micro-managing" chore.

    However, that is where the well-executed change ends. The new system of personality was not developed upon enough, making it seem more as a meaningless statistic rather than one that actually impacted the story, with friendship and rivalry following the same path. Companions were not as developed as in the first game, making them seem more like something you would like to read a Wiki article on than do a personal quest for. Maps were a joke, with many environments being recycled to the point of being ludicrous (fighting at least 4 different factions in the same cave or warehouse at different times, for instance). The plot was not completely terrible, but paled in comparison to that of the first, which is a serious problem if you're dealing with a series and not just a standalone game.

    All in all, the game suffered from lack of force concentration: attempting to "revolutionize" so many aspects of the game that you dilute the framework of it to the point of decaying its value.

    Is it a terrible game on its own? No, it is mediocre but certainly not the worst I've ever played.
    Is it a terrible installment of the Dragon Age series? Without a doubt.    … Expand
  18. PlutoniumTiger
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    First of all, just to clear things up, "Avanost" is a Bioware engineer. You see, as long as the critic ratings are positive, Bioware care about their "fans", & their opinions. But when the user reviews are negative, Bioware just dismiss them as an "overreaction". Thats right, we are all far too stupid to play proper RPGs - all we want is dumbed-downed drivel, but we just don't know it!
  19. Hynda
    Mar 10, 2011
    3
    Bioware have abandoned us, they just wanted more money, so they got rid of every kind of complex aspect about this game, people blames wii for being casual, but sadly the whole industry is everyday more and more casual. And with Dragon age 2, I just reached the limit, everything on this game, from the lack of story and complexity, the lack of any sort of deph in the gameplay, and the wayBioware have abandoned us, they just wanted more money, so they got rid of every kind of complex aspect about this game, people blames wii for being casual, but sadly the whole industry is everyday more and more casual. And with Dragon age 2, I just reached the limit, everything on this game, from the lack of story and complexity, the lack of any sort of deph in the gameplay, and the way its portrayed as a hack and slash, is just an example of how much companies, like EA or bioware really care about their fans. They dont give a crap. This is the last time I am buying a bioware game, I guess they'll do the same with mass effect 3, I bet they will make a game for casual people who dont want to think about anything but follow instructions and pressing buttons to kill things to the end. The RPG is dead this generation gentlemen.… Expand
  20. Dracowyr
    Mar 14, 2011
    3
    A company that once saved the RPG genre, is now destroying it. Poor production value, and dumbed-down gameplay aims this game at a more 'casual' console market. I was a fan of Bioware for over 13 years - they were one of the few companies that I would buy a game from without having tried it out first. They were shining examples in the game industry. No longer.

    A terrible disappointment, I    A company that once saved the RPG genre, is now destroying it. Poor production value, and dumbed-down gameplay aims this game at a more 'casual' console market. I was a fan of Bioware for over 13 years - they were one of the few companies that I would buy a game from without having tried it out first. They were shining examples in the game industry. No longer.

    A terrible disappointment, I feel this game would have been better received as a DLC rather than a full game.

    Is this EA's hand at work?    … Expand
  21. defive
    Mar 11, 2011
    3
    Sad to see how far the once great Bioware has fallen. DA2 is a rushed, dumbed down travesty of a game designed to cater to the lowest common denominator of brain-dead console gamers. The mechanics are overly simplistic, the plot and characterisation are bland and the supposed 'dark' side of the game feels like it was driven completely from EA's focus groups. And that's before we even getSad to see how far the once great Bioware has fallen. DA2 is a rushed, dumbed down travesty of a game designed to cater to the lowest common denominator of brain-dead console gamers. The mechanics are overly simplistic, the plot and characterisation are bland and the supposed 'dark' side of the game feels like it was driven completely from EA's focus groups. And that's before we even get to the isse of Day 0 paid for DLC.… Expand
  22. alien5
    Mar 10, 2011
    3
    DA:O Managed to take Biowares "tried and true" formula for action RPGs and make it neither a compelling action game, nor a compelling RPG. DA2 continues with their woefully generic lore and improves the overall story a bit, while trying to put a strong emphasis on action oriented combat this time. What's left is a clunky mess with fewer options, and an overall worse product than DA:O whichDA:O Managed to take Biowares "tried and true" formula for action RPGs and make it neither a compelling action game, nor a compelling RPG. DA2 continues with their woefully generic lore and improves the overall story a bit, while trying to put a strong emphasis on action oriented combat this time. What's left is a clunky mess with fewer options, and an overall worse product than DA:O which is sure to appeal to fewer people. If you need romance trees, go for it. It's Bioware's strong suite. If you're looking for an RPG or action game with engaging combat, deep or original backstory, and meaningful character building options, where you aren't shoehorned into a terrible 'alignment' system, look elsewhere.… Expand
  23. L0stR3negade
    Mar 26, 2011
    3
    Horrible ending and just like the first game it just falls really short. This game needed more time in development. Not worth 60 dollars at all =(....
  24. Devil_Man_X
    Jul 5, 2011
    3
    The User ratings have this one almost dead on. No it's not the worst game out there but just because you can make a game look relatively pretty doesn't mean it's good. Dragon age suffers from one game breaking flaw, greed. EA and Bioware show their true colors here. They have changed everything that made Dragon Age Origins such an incredible game. Not in the name of improvement but to sellThe User ratings have this one almost dead on. No it's not the worst game out there but just because you can make a game look relatively pretty doesn't mean it's good. Dragon age suffers from one game breaking flaw, greed. EA and Bioware show their true colors here. They have changed everything that made Dragon Age Origins such an incredible game. Not in the name of improvement but to sell more copies. I do see how some of the changes could have been for the better if done properly yet others are just senseless. The battle system needed reworked if only for the console versions. However the changes they made left it feeling less like an RPG and more like a bad hack and slash. Gone are all the deep character customizations. You simply choose gender and class. No more custom backstory. If this was any other franchise it would have been better off. Calling it a sequel to Dragon Age simply ruined it. No one buys a sequel hoping it will be more simplistic with a simple story and fewer options. If you buy a sequel to a beloved franchise you expect it to improve on itself. The story is borderline garbage and the way it's delivered is even worse. Don't get excited for some upcoming exploration or engaging plotline as the game will simply skip ahead just as you're getting into it. Yes this dungeon looks exactly like the last one just make a left here instead of a right. Bioware has openly admitted to using the same dungeon layout multiple times. Here is the bottom line. I like many others was expecting a sequel. Hoping to continue my story or atleast flesh out the world of Dragon Age. Instead I was sold a crappy 5 yr old baldurs gate wannabe with modern graphics. I was not expecting Mass Effect Medieval Edition. Bioware is hands down the most overrated developer around. They consistently make terrible games that have great stories. They really should just consider making movies instead of games. We would all be better off… Expand
  25. tobi963
    Mar 8, 2011
    3
    Never good when you make a game worse than it's prequel. So many problems with the game. So much hype over it by DA fans. The "professional" reviewers are giving it a high score for some reason I do not know.
  26. NoWisdomAtAll
    Mar 9, 2011
    3
    After the scam EA/Bioware pulled with the Signature Edition I decided to buy the regular copy of the game and my experience wasn't very good this whole game seems more like a scam project than a game, as many have said it's shorter than the previous title, the characters are quite interesting upon first meet but then it goes downhill from there. The areas seem different in some ways butAfter the scam EA/Bioware pulled with the Signature Edition I decided to buy the regular copy of the game and my experience wasn't very good this whole game seems more like a scam project than a game, as many have said it's shorter than the previous title, the characters are quite interesting upon first meet but then it goes downhill from there. The areas seem different in some ways but more or less copied and pasted work and for the story.....it wasn't one of Bioware's best. Overall this game as I said in the beginning feels like a giant scam.… Expand
  27. GlenAllenHill
    Mar 9, 2011
    3
    Classic case of a game developer "dumbing down" a franchise to appeal to a larger audience. Dragon Age: Origins laid a great foundation for the future of the DA franchise. It was a deep game with complex RPG elements.

    Dragon Age II, however, basically stripped down most of the RPG elements to the lowest common denominator. So instead of a deep, fulfilling game that appeals to RPG fans,    Classic case of a game developer "dumbing down" a franchise to appeal to a larger audience. Dragon Age: Origins laid a great foundation for the future of the DA franchise. It was a deep game with complex RPG elements.

    Dragon Age II, however, basically stripped down most of the RPG elements to the lowest common denominator. So instead of a deep, fulfilling game that appeals to RPG fans, the result is a watered-down "hack-and-slash" game that tries to call itself an RPG that appeals to no one.    … Expand
  28. jigoku
    Mar 10, 2011
    3
    (skip to the paragraph starting with "Then along came DA2" to skip the DA:O-related intro)

    As a PC gamer, DA:O was my introduction into RPGs. And I have to say, even getting started was daunting to me. I had envisioned a vast open world of freedom, choice, adventure and fun, based on the reviews I had read and all the buzz I had been hearing about the game. Instead what I got with the    (skip to the paragraph starting with "Then along came DA2" to skip the DA:O-related intro)

    As a PC gamer, DA:O was my introduction into RPGs. And I have to say, even getting started was daunting to me. I had envisioned a vast open world of freedom, choice, adventure and fun, based on the reviews I had read and all the buzz I had been hearing about the game.
    Instead what I got with the first Dragon Age was a linear, repetitive, unimaginative and boring affair where nothing really seemed to come alive and "choice" was a thinly-veiled illusion conjured up most ham-handedly by uninspired developers.
    Also I did not care for the looks of this world and its inhabitants, which does not help immersion one bit (bland lighting, unimpressive structures, flat and unexpressive faces, goofy armor, ...).
    What got me the most though was a thing called "level scaling". Gone is the thrill of slaying a beast that once seemed completely indomitable, after having spent hours "training" your characters in preparation for your revenge. Instead everything and everyone simply levels up along with you. Disgusting.

    Then along came DA2. From what I was reading this true sequel to the Dragon Age saga promised to be substantially different from DA:O, and I was excited. Even though DA:O was a huge letdown, it had kindled within me the hope for something truly epic and inspired.
    I had been reading various outcries from die-hard RPG fans and DA:O fans, but since the latter game had disappointed me so these outcries only strengthened my conviction that DA2 might actually be different; and I might actually enjoy it.
    Not so.
    Take all the negative comments on DA:O above (uninspired, unimaginative, linear, ugly, repetitive, devoid of actual choice, ....) and multiply them by any factor you may deem impressive, and you have DA2.
    * The corridors of DA:O have become even narrower and more confining;
    * The level design is unapologetically lazy (copy-pasted dungeons and caves);
    * The choice of story-progressing replies has dwindled to a basic three;
    * The graphics are at a playstation 2 level (although the overall style has improved);
    * Combat has been dumbed down to a button-mashing fest artificially rendered more difficult with mid-fight enemy spawns (only remotely enjoyable difficulty setting is "nightmare" but as said before the difficulty is artificial);
    * Kirkwall (where all but the entire game takes place) feels and looks artificial and devoid of any bustle and - indeed - life itself;
    I could go on and on about how much I have started to loathe DA2, but in the end it really is my fault for pre-ordering a game which promised to be "different" but turned out to be merely "worse".
    Much worse.    … Expand
  29. babyfarmer
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    Dragon Age II is my biggest letdown in video game history. DA: Origins is one of my favorite games this generation, and I was very stoked for DA2. Alas, I was just set up to be disappointed, everything that was great about the original has been replaced or removed. The entire game takes place in one city, unlike Origins, where you went from city to city in the world. The combat has beenDragon Age II is my biggest letdown in video game history. DA: Origins is one of my favorite games this generation, and I was very stoked for DA2. Alas, I was just set up to be disappointed, everything that was great about the original has been replaced or removed. The entire game takes place in one city, unlike Origins, where you went from city to city in the world. The combat has been sped up, dumbed down, streamlined, however you want to describe it. The combat devolves into mashing the attack button over and over and OVER. Against mobs that respawn out of nowhere, simply to inflate the game's difficulty by throwing more enemies at you, instead of making the enemies harder. If I wanted to mash the attack button all day long, I would play Dynasty Warriors, I thought this was an RPG? The writing and the "story" are laughable, especially by BioWare standards. All in all, a major letdown and the start of a once great video game developer going down the toilet. R.I.P. BioWare.… Expand
  30. Al_Borland
    Mar 10, 2011
    3
    The biggest mistake Bioware made with this game was calling it Dragon Age 2 and not something like Dragon Age: Refugee or Dragon Age Adventures. The game feels like a very disappointing follow-up to Dragon Age Origins.

    While they did manage to fix several issues with the origin series it seems in the end their solutions only caused more problems. The game feels closed in with little to no    The biggest mistake Bioware made with this game was calling it Dragon Age 2 and not something like Dragon Age: Refugee or Dragon Age Adventures. The game feels like a very disappointing follow-up to Dragon Age Origins.

    While they did manage to fix several issues with the origin series it seems in the end their solutions only caused more problems. The game feels closed in with little to no immersion in the environment. A bustling city supposedly packed with thrones of refugees is empty and barren yet manages to feel small at the same time.

    Emotional connection to characters within the game is bland at best and you will often find yourself rolling your eyes at the campy writing provided within the game that barely manages to hold your attention long enough to keep going.

    Combat while feeling a little bit more engaging than Origins will quickly grow old on you as every fight is thrones of cannon fodder thrown at you that literally appears out of thin air repeatedly during the fight. Leaving little to no room for any kind of strategic fight. This is usually accompanied by one tough enemy in the middle of the fray that you have to try and deal with while fighting wave after wave of "zerging" minions. This isn't just a few fights - it is almost every fight in the game, which is extremely disappointing.

    On the plus side inventory management is no longer an issue in this game as all characters besides the main hero/ine is the only character that actually has equipment (aside from weapons and accessories) that you can actually change. While you have limited inventory space you never feel any need to pick up loot off the monsters or treasure chests as generally everything your character already has given to you is several times better.

    The game on a whole feels sloppy and lazily made. Empty town and little to no interaction with what NPCS in the game - including your own party members really dumbs down any immersion in the game and constantly ruins any chance of getting into the game. An example of the lack of immersion in this game would be the majority of merchants in the game. You are unable to engage in conversation with them or even haggle on prices. Instead you simply click on a box that opens up the shop, no welcomed greeting, no discussion of their wares, just opening a box and buying what you want or selling the garbage you loot. It just feels lazy and uncaring. Even the icons in the game are recycled and sloppy looking. Health potions have a heart on them and injury kits - which used to be elaborate in DA:O are simply potions with a + sign on them.

    It is these little details that show the overall lack of care put into this game. Audio and music in the game also appears to be recycled from the previous game and some sound effects seem to date even further back to early Neverwinter Night days.

    If you absolutely have to have this game I suggest waiting a year for the ultimate edition which will be cheap, and contain all the DLC and extra materials you've already missed out on and would end up paying more of your hard earned money for. While the game keeps you mildly entertained - there are better games to spend your money on.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 75 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 75
  3. Negative: 1 out of 75
  1. GamingExcellence
    Aug 3, 2011
    85
    I'll give Bioware points for trying to do something different in their world, but they really did have it right the first time in terms of character building and the scope of the story.
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  2. Gaming Nexus
    May 1, 2011
    75
    Faulty game mechanics and disappointing maps, combat scenarios and storyline direction aside, Dragon Age II still has a surprising amount of intrigue hidden beneath the blemishes. The depth of character relationships, as well as the complex nature of the world of the Dragon Age franchise are a savior to a game that would otherwise forever be remembered by its mistakes.
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  3. Game Chronicles
    Apr 22, 2011
    90
    Above all, it seems like Dragon Age II is an experiment. If you're a fan of the first game and expect a direct continuation, either in story or mechanics, you'll be disappointed. If you're not willing to put up with some rough edges and some mechanics that don't quite work as intended, you'll end up having a hard time. But if you're going for a game that has some of the best storytelling in RPGs in a while, or you're looking for a BioWare RPG to tide yourself over until Mass Effect 3, you won't do much better right now than Dragon Age II.
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