Its not DAO. Its still something but NOT a RPG.
* Like what bioware does with every one of its games, it has a epic story. The game takes you in and be the champion.
* It should be noted that some of the choices you make from DAO actually matter here.
* Nice graphics, especially mages now look awesome. Details, very through. Also loved the new elves, look much better.
* Seeing some content from DAO makes as if the two different stories are connected, and makes you feel better for some reason.
* Beatiful music.
* It's like watching a really good movie, game actually forces you to make difficult choices and throws you into complex situations.
* Whatever people say, tactics are still important but in a different way. People should comment about tactics after they try the Nightmare difficulty.
Bad points:
* Inventory options are dumbed. Seeing this pains me more then you can imagine. Epic fail.
* You feel like trapped in a certain route most of the time, your path drawn for you. Actually this crap is in every Bioware game , not so different, which is far from being a RPG element. No exploration, no freedom...
* The game is now action oriented mostly. The game isn't too easy when you play at a high difficulty but still, what you do is point and click now.
* Somehow the interface reminds me of a MMO, which is a really bad thing. Nobody wants to play a single player game with MMO interface.
* You can customize Hawke, you can not pick his race.
* The game nice cutscenes, but you still can not play it as if its some free RPG. Your choices matter, but its really narrow.
* The game is so short. You expect more from it, it takes you in but doesn't go too far.
* When you finish the game, you may want to try it the second time to try other dialogue options, but there will not be a third time. In that, DA2 is a total failure, no replayability.
Anyway, this has been a nice try from Bioware, but it didn't work out. The original formula they had with DAO was awesome, it was like the last stand of the old RPGs. Now that's gone, DA2 is an action oriented game proving us that old good RPGs are behind us now. Just for this sin, i hated this game.
It's a good game, but i still am disappointed. Right now im really hoping that they won't touch the old Baldur's Gate or anything, killing the series and definitly not worth the 59.99$ at steam *cries*.