Dragon Age II is an entertaining and beautiful game, but its content cannot live up to the previous game.
This is how I felt about Dragon Age II when I finished the game the other day. I loved the game, but it was missing the same charm and epic feeling as Dragon Age: Origins had.
Resume
Dragon Age II tells the tale of a person named Hawke. It is told from the perspective of one of Hawke's companions, a dwarf named Varric, who is being interrogated about the wherebouts of Hawke and his/her companions.
Hawke escapes his/her home village, Lothering, from the blight with his/her family, only to fight through a horde of Darkspawns. Most of the game takes place in a city called Kirkwall, a place tainted by the hate between templars and mages.
As Hawke, you'll fight your way from homelessness to noble-like life, torn between the templars and mages and which choices to take underways.
Gameplay
While I was waiting for my game to arrive into my arms, I had intensely played Dragon Age: Origins, just to make sure that my memory was refreshed in case there would be some references to the previous game when it comes to characters and events. The first thing that I noticed that had changed drastically, was the combat system, which has turned really over-the-top with its vivid animations and variety of skills.
Albeit the flashy animations, the inventory part has been stripped down to a minimum. Equipping your characters fully has been totally removed, so now you can only equip Hawke from top to toe, while your party members will have to do with only weapons, rings and belt. But all is not lost, you can still buy or find upgrades to your companions that gives better bonus to their respective class and extra rune slots.
Plot
Now here comes the major letdown.... I really enjoyed how the story progressed through DA:O; you're more or less forced to save everybody and you have a really good way to develop a good friendship with most of your partymembers throughout the game. The story was catchy, there were a couple of twists and turns that made you gasp for air and say "Oh snap!".
As much as I love RPG's I couldnt help to turn up my expectations all the way up to the sun, only to find out that Dragon Age II lacked the kind of plot that I was crawing for frem the previous game. It felt that you were basically controlling a random person in the world of Dragon Age that so happen to stick his/her nose into everyone elses business and then get in trouble because Hawke is dreadfully annoying.
Not only that, the romance seemed to have suffered a lot as well. Although there are some major time skips, it just didnt feel like I managed to develop a personal feeling for the companion that my Hawke character romanced.
The game has some interesting turns as well, but it i not until the end that you fully see them.
What bothers me the most is the fact that quests almost fills more than the plotline itself. You're not entirely sure if what you're doing is a main quest or if it is just another side quest. It seems a little blurry, but the quests are absolutely fantastic and enjoyable. Some of them are rather humourous, though.
Graphics
There is not much to say about the graphics, the game looks absolutely stunning! If you look away from the fact that most of the roaming npc's and characters from the first game arent exactly that detailed (the armor of the DA:O characters are rather pixelated, or is it just me?). The first thing I noticed is how much time they have spent to make the buildings look so stunning and the effects as well.
Overall
Although my review might sound more negative than positive, I give the game an 8 out of 10. The game itself is actually rather fine; it is bloody and gory, fun boss battles and enjoyable quests, amazing graphics, but what it lacks is the lenght and the epic feeling of the story from the first game. To me it should rather be a Dragon Age: The story og Hawke, than a Dragon Age II, but maybe BioWare will make a couple of DLC's that will extend the story of Hawke and also improve the plot even futher.