Comparing to other Bioware games, DA2 is really not that good, but… why am I playing it at 3:30AM?
Whatever the reason, DA2 has held me captive for about 60 hours, and now I'm prepared to share an opinion about it, which will disagree with both, the crazies that give this game ones and twos, and the crazies who say this game is better than Origins (Hi, Rich McCormick of the PC Gamer. 94? Really?).
The best part of Dragon Age 2 is the approach to narrative. Handing the storytelling duties to a less-than-reliable dwarf is a brilliant idea. More than once I caught myself thinking, "Here I'm fighting a horde of thugs, but in reality this fight may have been against three decrepit old men who passed out from booze before we ever touched them. What else could he have embellished?" It's a great way to add layers to an already rich universe. Making a game out of a decade of a character's life is another great idea, but this one is a lot harder to pull off. Bioware did a decent job of it with progressing character relationships, but there are holes, and the changes that were supposed to be happening are not as meaningful as they could have been. Yeah, there's a new statue and maybe some banners, but it's been ten years… Even Hawke, the main hero of the tale, looks pretty much the same at the end of the game as he did at the beginning, plus the fancy gear. At the very least, Bioware could have included a little touch-up minigame in between chapters, so that the players could choose where the new wrinkles go or change Hawke's haircut or something.
The story itself is not a masterpiece, but at least you're not questing to put together an army/team to battle blight/reapers anymore. It's a story of a refugee's rise to power, and it explores a lot of choices that must be made along the way. Too bad it sort of sells out the choices in favor of gameplay towards the end. Or at least that's the vibe I got. Originally, I expected to replay the game as a "badass," like I did with ME2, but now I think I'll let it sit on the shelf for a bit. Bioware's trademark romance is back, of course, though not really evolving in any way. Like in the original, you have two heterosexual choices, but the connection is just not there, especially since the game allows you to romance both choices at the same time, which makes everything goofy and awkward at the end. The companion dynamic is in general pretty good, as far as depth and development, but the trouble is it feels a lot less interactive than in Origins. Your companions will not enter conversations with you at all until they're "ready," which is somehow worse than looped dialogue options we had in previous games. Lame, constantly repeating one-liners without the "effort" of a closeup conversation just tend to damage immersion a lot more. It says, "We don't want you to hang around talking. We want you to go out there an swing a sword at meat."
Unfortunately, Dragon Age 2 is full of stuff that does that. Simplified inventory. Only Hawke can use the armor loot and change his appearance. The rest of his band of misfits will wear the same gear and look the same all game, until you complete their quests and some of them may look differently. Once. In Origins, I complained that the streets of Denerim were recycled. Guess what? Pretty much every dungeon is recycled in DA2, made "different" with slabs of concrete barring doorways that were open in "other" dungeons. Bioware didn't even bother to change the minimaps to create any kind of illusion. The population is another big one. They're okay in an "ignore-me-i-m-a-plant" kind of way when they stay in place, but wait till you step in a largish square and watch a noblewoman responsible for creating lively traffic of a bustling metropolis amble about the area in a completely random and retarded geometrical pattern. Lazy crap like that upsets me in a Bioware game. I'll go as far as to say these little things are by far the largest turn off in the game. The fact that you can't really explore anything should be tossed in here too, though that was the case with Origin's too. I don't mind the entire game taking place in the same city, but fool me into thinking that it's large at least. There's one pub in all of Kirkwall – one! There's a token whorehouse but it's completely uninteresting and uninteractive. Random encounters are barely there. And when they happen it's just more meat for the sword.
The side quests are entertaining; with good writing while it lasts, though sadly it doesn't last long. Mostly you'll be chopping things up.
Things get chopped faster and flashier this time around. They also die messier, with already copious amounts of blood complemented by bodies literally exploding into cubes of red meat. Seems pretty juvenile, actually. They should let you choose between idiotic, over-the-top gore and full animated nudity. Only the former here, by the way. The minds of children are safe. The combat ability system is actually pretty good. It feels like a lot more thought was put into it than in city traffic. The talents and spells are fun to use and add a welcome depth to the game. There are some cross class combos, but strangely the spell combos were removed. Who could possibly mind shattering frozen enemies with Earth Fist or Crushing Prison is beyond me.
The first impression you get from combat is that was made for kids whose perfect gaming experience consists of pressing a button once and watching the game take care of the rest. In fact, the only thing you need to do is switch between characters here and there to hand control of the other characters over to the AI. They'll just chop everything up for you. I thought, easy fix, let's switch to hard. But on hard the combat was too hard, and this time you can't employ the tactic of dragging creeps away from the crowd we used in Origins, because they all seem to see you at the same time. To be fair, this insanity lasts only through the first stages of the game. I guess the idea is to ease the newbs in. OK, fine. Later in the game the combat becomes a lot more involved and, therefore, enjoyable. Then Bioware will start dropping bosses on you, which provide the game's few really challenging moments, just by virtue of being completely and utterly unfair. Still, they're a lot of fun, and killing them feels like an accomplishment.
The graphics have been upgraded. The camera has been... changed. The isometric combat view removed completely. These are minor, unnecessary changes in my opinion. I'd rather more effort was directed towards immersion. There is still a ton of writing material lying around providing lore and background, but what good is it, really, if every cave looks exactly like the one next to it?
To sum it up and clear it up. There is a lot to enjoy here, if you can look past the lack of all the little things that make the game world believable, which were sacrificed in favor of meeting deadlines and shoveling cash. The story is better than Origins. The characters are… OK. There aren't any Mordins or Thanes here, but really, they grow on you. The combat is decent, once you get through the retarded early stages. The ending is disappointing, and not just for obvious reasons. Like a lot of things, it feels rushed, and just unworthy of Bioware.
Bottom line, I'll buy the next game, just not on day one.