-enemies warp in from nowhere -massive discontinuities in game lore -samey-classes, indistinguishable abilities -zero difficulty -literal copy-pasted environments (didn't even bother to black out unused portions of copied minimaps) -story suddenly ends bizarrely in the super-short last act, despite all the build up -no tactical camera -waves of identical enemies, each presenting no challenge

-less interesting items

-all quest and stories are basically unsatisfying

-Basically bioware hates magic, and went through all the trouble of creating a magical fantasy world to spend the whole time telling you how evil magic and fantasy would be.

-The Male/Male love interest is a psychopathic nancy. Despite the constant complaints bioware has received on its mincing stereotypes since Skye in Jade Empire.

-At this late date, despite tireless efforts from fans, and years of negativity towards their decision, it is still not possible for two male characters to love eachother and be together. Or for that matter to even both exist and be sane.

-I mean come the **** on. The voice actors recorded romance dialogue in Both ME, ME2, and DAO. Bioware cut it because they hate gays.

-If you hate gays, I guess you should buy this game to support a company that is as bigoted as you are. Pay the hate!… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After finishing this game, I can find very little good to say about it other than the character development is really well done for the party members. Dragon Age 2 is very inferior compared to Dragon Age: Origins, and the ending is absolutely terrible. The combat is really repetative, the environments all look exactly the same, and the plot is completely linear. I originally gave this a good rating before I finished it, but after going back to try and change the events concerning the main characters nothing happened. The ending is a non-ending that leaves you confused, angry, or both.… Expand

Dejavu is simply what I've been feeling throughout the game, constantly recycling of the maps and a storyline talking about a champion whose presence is felt only in a single town simply doesnt cut this as an epic adventure nor plot.

The over reliance on tool tips is ultimately frustrating. Better time can be spent rather then when you have 6-7 item named "Ring" in your inventory and have to mouse over just to see what each one of them are. Have developers became so lazy to even make item names more meaningful. Combat is extremely predictable, instead of throwing quality fights on you, developers have decide to throw waves of predictable mobs on you with a certain fixed combination of mobs.
Even more absurd is how they do not bother to give these waves a common sense entrance.
For example, how retarded can it sound when you are in the middle of the docks and mobs appear with a 'jump down from above' animation? What are they? Para-troopers? I never knew dragon age have advanced so much in technology that mobs can make such entrances.


Money can be better spent else where, do not feel the urge or pressure to buy this just because it WAS a hit in the first release.… Expand

Rubbish- recycled areas, no variation limited game-play real estate. No character development, No decent game length for an RPG. Boring over redundant game-play mechanics. The game felt aborted, unfinished, terrible "modern" graphics hardly warmed my gpu up and to have to repeatedly see the same scenery recycled poorly quest after quest, dungeon after dungeon was very detrimental to the experience!
HUGE disappointment. In trying to please a wider market manages to please practically no one. Some people like apples some people like pears....NO ONE likes a pearpple
Bioware - for shame !… Expand

Instead of building on the Strengths of Dragon Age: Origins, Bioware created a game that failed to capture the imagination of gamers everywhere. A failed sequel in every way, the game should have been marketed as The Kirkwall Chronicles; a story that bears no relevance to its predecessor. The adventure that follows is repetitive, tedious, and very shallow. A Dragon Age for Dummies, where its strength lies in its recycled approach to maps, characters, story and quests. The Plot is miserable, your actions donâ… Expand

Dear Bioware...talking about origins.... you have forgotten your origins. I wont say anything more about technical or in-game qualities. All is said. Bioware has betrayed his own style, creating a stupid commercial game. This is not rpg, this is a &"$·%"·. Bioware is loosing his rank of "King of RPGs" creating this kind of games. Please, innovate the rpg genre as, for example, Bethesda is doing. I miss baldurs gate, I miss neverwinter nights and his PW.… Expand

Don't know what Bioware hoped to achieve with this game, or why they thought they could get away with such a rushed job...
I loved the immersion in DA:O, the little details, the variety of the different settings.... They made combat faster... FFS why? Seeing a warrior wielding his two-handed sword looked real in DA:O... Now the guys do somersaults, and struck down enemies blow up as if you'd forced a grenade in their mouth...
There are a hundred things that are wrong with this game; characters, combat, lack of variety in settings, bland environments, uninteresting dialogue choices and so on...
I'm terribly disappointed, and really hope they're gonna polish Mass Effect 3 as they should... Never pre-ordering a Bioware game again...… Expand

DA:O is one of my all time favorites. In one play through of the base game, expansion and DLCs I've racked up over 200 hours. I explored every companions back story, I've read nearly every codex entry, and I doubt there is a stone anywhere in Fereldon that I haven't seen at least once.

DA2 on the other hand has been a struggle to play. I've forced myself to give it 10 hours, and I highly doubt I'll ever touch it again. Boring, lackluster, repetitive, uninteresting, dumbed down, and just bad.

This game has no business wearing the Dragon Age title.… Expand

I would like to just say first and foremost that this is not a terrible game, just not a particularly good one either. so I shall start with the positives, the new combat system I feel is a great success, it feels fluid and powerful, the graphics with the high resolution texture pack are impressive, and the companions are generally likeable (except Fenris).

So now sadly onto the bad. It is tiny, and by that I mean miniscule, every quest occuring in the same place, or the same cave, which is somehow in ten different places but identical. I mean this game spans what, a decade, and nothing changes in that time, whatsoever. This also means that for a Bioware RPG the completion time is just not up to scratch.

Now my major pain with this game is the simplification of everything that made Origins great, and makes RPG's as a genre great, in an attempt to what, appeal to a greater market, there seems to be this idea in the world of games development that simple easy games sell in mass. I don't entirely disagree with that sentiment, but I work in a DIY store, so the employees couldn't be considered gaming nerds, they are ordinary people with consoles (and they all loved Origins by the way) and they all say Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is one of their favourite games, and do you know how many of them like Dragon Age 2. Not a single one. So the very market this game was dumbed down for hates you for it, and as a result you have very nearly alienated a strong Bioware fan, luckily I have faith Mass Effect 3 will be great.

So in conclusion, play this if you like small, simplistic RPG's with not enough character development, environments, or soul. All in all I'm pretty peeved I paid £28.98 for a game that seems lesser to Origins expansion pack. So Bioware if EA tells you what people want in games again, tell them they don't know anything about making games and to leave that to the professionals.… Expand

I don't even know where to begin...Pathetic,repetitive gameplay,reused(and reused,and reused)locations,2004 graphics,confined experience(spending an entire game in one city is NOT my idea of epic gameplay)Absolutely inexcusable PC performance-i get twice the framerate of this game on metro 2033 maxed out..which is hilarious when you consider that metro 2033 is probably the most gpu-intensive game to date-and incredible-looking to boot,and this game looks well,awful.hey,bioware,it's called OPTIMIZATION..maybe you should try it sometime..A terrible,dumbed-down,boring,massive disappointment and in my top 3 worst sequels of all time..fire up knights of the old republic and shed a tear for the good old days of bioware,because judging from this game,those days are long gone....… Expand

Verdict: NOT WORTH IT - Short shallow RPG, little replay value - Maps are very few and excruciatingly reused - Story provides no followup to Origins plot - Dull forgettable hero and characters - Stripped down inventory takes much of the interest out of finding proper loot and dungeon crawling - Whole game seems like a mere excuse for future DLC content On a more personal note and strictly regarding the story, I can't fathom how you could fail so miserably on writing a proper plot with so many rich loose ends left over from Origins.
I'm not saying the sequel should tie into the first episode to be good, but if you're going to branch out of an excellent and bestselling first story, you really do have to make it good, and DA2 isn't. A tale that boils down to climbing the social ladder while finding an ominous strange artifact (left unexplained for DLC profit) belongs in a Tombraider setting, not a Dragon Age Origins sequel. Mike Laidlaw should definitely be sacked and I should be reimbursed.

Though compelled to give less, I rate it 4 points because of the excellent art and map design.… Expand

After playing the original Dragon Age to death and back i can't help but wonder how on earth Bioware could possibly get this wrong?

The way that almost every other quest has you go to the same location over and over again is beyond a joke and is enough to put off even the most avid Dragon Age fan-boy, the entire city of kirkwall feels claustrophobic and small along with it's drab browns and grays littered all over the place.

The new cast of companions are boring and dull, you don't get the option to get to talk to them or get to know them while exploring the various areas, aside from Varric the majority of the cast are entirely forgettable ( I was shocked to find a Welsh character in the game, but to my disappointment she's just as boring as the rest)

The new U.I, while more streamlined, is by no ways as well presented as it is in origins.

Also the story is some what weird when compared to the original, for almost a third of the game your sat there wondering what you are supposed to be doing or when the game will even start.

To say they treated PC customers well with this game is a joke, buggy direct x 11 from the get go (Had to download beta drivers to get it to run), had to download a 1gig H.D texture pack separately just to get the game to look some what decent.

If your a fan of RPG games then i suggest you give this one a miss and if you haven't already played origins i suggest you go pick up the original with all the D.L.C, it's a FAR better game by a huge stretch.… Expand

-Reusing the same four maps 500 times. -The whole game takes place in one city. -Enemies have tons of HP and come in waves so the game feels longer. -Frame narrative to avoid being too descriptive about what happens between large periods of time. -Half as much dialogue, more passive interaction. -Millions of stupid side quests that have nothing to do with anything. -Dull environment bereft of life and matter.
-Inability to customize companions allows you to skip designing different armor models.
-Collecting hundreds of-- literally, junk items-- to create the illusion of immersion and depth.
-Poor character development, so you hardly care about your companions by the end of the game. -Lack of any substantial choices that have lasting effects.
-Contrived ending, that tells you nothing, and leaves a huge gap for sub-par DLC… Expand

So very sad... a great PC game (DA:O) that had the potential to become epic is dumbed down to the button-mashing show-me-the-next-cut-scene console-centric cliché that is DA2. It isn't just that DA2 is a horrible game - but every single aspect of it is worse than DA:O and suffers horribly by comparison. And BTW something is obviously very, very wrong with the "critics" when there is this much of a gap between them and the user rating. If you must buy the game, at least get a console version so that you can pretend there is some justification for the frontal lobotomy Bioware & EA gave it.… Expand

This is actually the first time after completing a game that i felt compelled to register at this website just to state my opinion about this game and warn people who are thinking of buying this game not to make the same mistake as I did. In my opinion, the only thing that's close to being decent in DA 2 compared to DA:O is the combat system (for the Xbox 360 anyway). Any professional reviewers who gave this game more than a 3 should be ashamed of themselves. The entire game consists of repeating areas and a weak storyline not to mention the horrible graphics. The whole time I was playing this game I just felt like I was on a one-way track to the end. At least in the first Dragon Age there was a sense of adventure where you were travelling from town to town meeting new people etc. I think I spent roughly 80% of my playtime in DA 2 in one stinking city... and even when I got a new sidequest it just involved visiting an area I ran through 10 mins earlier. I must say I am very disappointed with Bioware for releasing the game as it is now and I'm even more disappointed with the so-called critics who actually give the game more than 3.… Expand

I've been prompted to create this account specifically to create a review for this game, only because of how terribly, terribly wrong all the 'official' reviews seem to have got it. I still cannot believe this slipshod piece of garbage is a Bioware game. I don't know where to begin listing it's faults. The combat is probably a good place to start as it is in my opinion the most obviously abysmal aspect of the entire game. Enemies spawning out of nowhere in waves? Final Fantasy style attack animations? People exploding into fountains of gore when you hit them? This just looks every bit the action adventure, button masher that it is, putting Dragon Age on the box was an insult to the majesty of Origins. Friendly fire now only functions on nightmare, which is has been rendered un-fun and generally terrible by the previously mentioned enemy wave spawning, so basically, lose each fight once so you'll know what's coming and what to save your abilities for next time. Everything about the inventory has been simplified and dumbed down, you can't even equip your party members fully now, there is only one kind of healing/mana potion and injury, everything is just less and worse than the original.

Locations, particularly dungeons are used over and over and over again, hardly any of the mainstream reviews mention this though it is an OBVIOUS and MASSIVE flaw with the game, adding immensely to the general feeling of shoddiness about the game. It was obviously rushed, not surprising given the barely 18 month development cycle. Also, some of the quests are just SO unbelievably dull and meaningless, I cannot imagine what was going through the heads of the developers as they created them. Find a random book in a chest, give it to a random person in Kirkwall who until now has been mere scenery, get some xp and gold and one line of dialogue, what purpose could that possibly have solved?

The dialogue I would say is a mixed bag, though more bad than good. Firstly, for a change I actually used all of the different options, instead of just sticking with the good/funny/evil thing the entire way through the game, so that was good. However, a lot of control over what your character says is gone, almost all interactions boil down to the 3 options i listed above and it usually has no real effect upon anything, also, your character now frequently speaks with no input from you, something which never happened in Origins, and really makes you feel more like a spectator than a player. When combined with the generally uninteresting story (you'll be constantly asking yourself 'why am i doing this again?' throughout the game) with no central objective or goal and no personal investment, this makes a lot of the dialogue a sad chore to be suffered through.

I didn't play the demo or read any reviews before buying this game, when I saw it in the shops I took one look at the title and happily parted with my 35 pounds while fondly remembering the original. This is one of the worst disappointments I have ever suffered as a gamer. A terrible, TERRIBLE game.… Expand

I was very upset to see DA2 go this way, I must admit. After spending hundreds of hours playing and replaying DA:O, it fast became one of, if not my favourite game ever. It was so in depth, you feel in love with the world and with the characters, such an amazing storyline etc. Like any game, it had its flaws but they were minimal compared to its successes. DA2 is frankly, the biggest letdown sequel I have ever played or seen. It has no character to it, the storyline is anything but engaging, the game itself is far too short and felt too me to be far shorter than its predecessor. The characters are bland and boring, with no particular personality or back story to them. Hawke him/herself is in my eyes a complete failure, aided by juvenile dialogue, no emotional depth and the typical generic broody hero trait ¬_¬
The graphics are apalling. Games on my iPhone have better graphics. Games on my ps2 had similar graphics. Kirkwall is horribly unattractive and plain, as are the few other locations in the game, including all the locations that are EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE REST.
The combat is I suppose interesting in its own way (I liked the actual time fighting rather than swinging your weapon once every 5 seconds) but also incredibly repetetive and easy. Even on the harder difficulties, I could wipe out a group of 10 enemies with only my mage (a feat that was impossible in DA:O)
But on to the real aspect of an RPG, the story. Well, what of it? There is no story in DA2 as such. The whole game is just a series of monotonous 'go there, do that' tasks with little story in between. It didn't bring anything new to the table because we know the Qunari invaded Ferelden and are constantly trying to conquer the land, we know the mages hate the templars and vice versa. But then anything it does tell us, it doesn't tell us anything about. What the hell was up with Flemeth? With all the media and press that had come out before DA2's release, it seemed like she was going to be heavily involved. She barely had 5 minutes in the game, all of which explained and went towards nothing. It was like 'Oh, there's Flemeth, the monsterously powerful Witch of the Wilds. Ok, that's done with.' And what the hell was up with the whole thing witn Cassandra and the ending. Ok, we gather the world is apparently on the brink of war, BUT WHY? GIVE US SOME DETAILS!!!! And then the ending is left not even on a cliffhanger, it's like the designers just gave up halfway through making the game! Nothing is explained, in fact, everything just becomes 10 times more confusing, and not in a good makes you want to know more confusing way, just in a well that **** sucks confusing way.
DA2 is an insult to DAs legacy, a less that mediocre game that was evidently rushed beyond belief due to corporate greed. It has no fire or soul to it and has not even one aspect to compare it to DA:O. I can see why the original producer left, I'd die of shame if that empty souless piece of crap was associated with me in any way.
For those of you considering buying it, here's a tip. Don't. Especially if you're a fan of the series. You will be heartbroken. There are plenty of great games out at the moment; Crysys 2, Rift, The Sims Medieval etc.
I have two words for you Bioware: EPIC FAIL.… Expand

Disappointment is only part of the story. Not to go into the repeated argument that Dragon Age 2 isn't Dragon Age: Origins, for surely it is not, the game stands very short of what one might consider entertaining on its own merits. The way that this game was designed is often times very counter-intuitive that one has to wonder what the developers were thinking when they came up with the original conception. The presentation of the levels is perhaps at the top of the list. There seems little to justify reusing maps short of economic reasons. Yes, there are plenty of games out there that reuse maps, but in Dragon Age 2, this practice goes up into a totally new level where an exceedingly large percentage of the game takes place in the same levels, over and over again. You can have literally twenty or more quests in one single area, and thus you will find yourself revisiting the same areas continuously for the entire game. Even the main storyline (if one can consider it such), takes place in the same areas, and often requires you to do a circuit on the more prominent ones. Little more needs to be said on how annoying this can be.

In terms of what you do in this game, the truth is, not a whole lot. Almost every quest, every mission, involves you either killing something, looting someplace, finding something someone lost, or simply returning a random item you pick up on the ground to someone you somehow, through the gift of clairvoyance, know who it belongs to. The graphics, while often claimed to be artistically rich, are a step down from Dragon Age: Origins. In fact, its almost a step down from Neverwinter Nights 2. If you wish to see the proof of this, then look up screenshots of Alistair or Leliana, and compare those with the same in the original Dragon Age: Origins and make an opinion for yourself. The main problem, however, is not so much in character modeling, but the overall atmosphere seems like a painting or a cartoon. I can admire paintings, but the Van Gogh depiction of the Dragon Age world probably will not seem as engaging to the average gamer, and does little justice to portray the dark fantasy setting that the original game tried to portray. The other issue with this game is the combat. The combat has been simplified slightly to make it more accessible to the console gamer. This is admirable. Some aspects of the system are in fact, easier to use. The primarily flaw, however, is not about the controls, or accessibility, but by the way combat was handled in the overall context of the game. Your encounters will almost always consist of fighting waves of enemies that spawn out of thin air when you least expect it. Actually, the more you fight these waves, the more that you will expect another wave coming every single time you encounter enemies. While this certainly makes the game more challenging, you will find that immersion will be brittler than ever before in a video game. The story is flat and unengaging. It is often argued that the story in Dragon Age II is a more personal one, without the cliche of always having some big bad boss at the end. I can certainly see the personal aspect of this, but that is also one of its crippling flaws. There is no clear cut antagonist in the game. Nothing that really motivates you to sit down and wonder why you do something in the game. All the "villains" in the game have almost nothing to do with you, and you will often find yourself doing quests for people out of philanthropic reasons (or greed, because they pay you) than for any great reasons. In essence, your character in the game is just another errand boy, or girl.

The whole game takes about 30-50 hours to complete, but unfortunately, the main plot hardly makes even a fraction of that time. There isn't really a main plot, in fact, for the game is divided up into three acts with almost completely unrelated segments of storytelling. The rest, of course, is filled in with sidequests fitting for the errand running hero that you are. Most of the characters in the game are also forgettable. Almost all of the companions you meet in the game, allies if you wish, are so two-dimensional that you just have to wonder what happened to all the magic that was instilled into characters like Thane, or Jaheira, or Morrigan, or even the scaly lizard of a jukebox bard named Deekin. With the exception of maybe one or two, most of the characters have flat personalities whose depth never goes below the skin. Their motivations only go as far as their graphical portrayal, such as as the dutiful warrior, the stuck-up holyman, the ignorant mage, and a slutty rogue. They are either black, or white, with no grays in the middle. I had to take a point off for each of the points mentioned above. It is truly difficult to, in good faith, to recommend this title to anyone. Its not a broken game, but its so poorly designed that it can hardly hold up on its own.… Expand

This game plain sucks, I loved DAO but from the game play to the storyline this game is a freaking pain, I couldn't even finished, every time I started the game I fell like pucking, hated every moment of it, I wish I could get my money back, EA and Bioware really screw this up.

All the negative critique that needs to be made about this game has been, it's rubbish and an insult. For everyone who is a long time Bioware fan, this game was a slap in the face. As a lover of RPG games who has bought almost every Bioware game since Baldur's gate, I know I for one want game that are more intricate and more detailed as time goes on, not games that are dumbed down for "bros" to enjoy. There is a very specific type of gamer, like me, who enjoyed the types of games Bioware used to make, and we are the ones who pumped up their company up in the first place, who made them a success. Yet they didn't hesitate to cast us aside in the hope of getting in on the "bro" market. Stay classy Bioware, I'm done with you.… Expand

This game is an embarrassment of Dragon Age origins. The game is nothing like origins, which is the whole controversy, the story isn't compelling as Origins. The characters are so conventional they seem almost lifeless and limited interactions doesn't serve well. Combat is nicely flowed together and much more smoother then origins, but the lack of challenge and constant enemies can make it all too repetitive. But what really tears me up is that DA2 facilitates for newer gamers with neglecting the older fans. Whatever choices you made in origins have minor or no significant impact on DA2. This game suffers from an overload of enemies, recycled environments and is missing that unique fantasy element that makes rpg 's so grand.… Expand

A game so totally devoid of all the depths and charm that made the first in the series interesting that it is a wonder to me how Bioware could shove this out the door. It is so dumbed down in quests, background and especially combat that its just a travesty. I feel combat is in such a state of disrepair with teleporting waves of enemies that all tactics and thought is effectively eliminated from the game, all there is left is a "press whatever cooldown is ready" retardations that its worthy of a bungled flashgame… Expand

Okay, did anyone else think the whole.. every mage popping into an A-bom immediately was a little much? its completely unpresidented from the last origins game, and makes the mages ACTUALLY seem evil, unlike in the other game when they seemed moreso like slaves, a brutal waste of time you have to take breaks to stare at your recipt for buying the game before pushing yourself through the bogus and repetetive side quests, followed by an underwhelming finish were NO ONE WINS, and on top of that, poor graphics, compaired to the games of this time, shugun total war 2 is beautiful in compairison, and also the storyline is too linear, whether im evit or not, the story comes out the same, whether i chose one side of the other i kill them both, its a terrible plot, terrible everything, terrible game, try again Bioware… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The worst Bioware game I have played. Cost cutting decisions, more than any other decision Bioware made, is what ruined this game. Let me be clear - game publishers need to manage costs - but they still need to deliver a first rate gaming experience. Bioware needs to deliver quality story telling, rather than rush a second rate experience out the door. I've listed what I think the most glaring cost cutting flaws in the game are: 1) My choices don't matter. I am constantly forced back into the same story loop. While I understand that there are limits on story divergence, my choices need to be about more than the flavor of the game I am playing. Not every choice I make needs to alter the story line. But some do. And at least a few need to fundamentally alter the course of the game. 2) Characters should be memorable, and not flat. If characters can just sort of fit whatever I want to do, then ultimately it's obvious that I'm playing a video game and not interacting with soulful representations. The game ruins the veil of "suspended disbelief" so critical to fantasy on so many occasions by just allowing characters to go along with whatever I want. Fenris, for example, HATES mages, and refuses to join my fight with the mages. Good for him even though it would have made my end fight more difficult. Then, because I manage a pithy one liner about slavery, he joins my party. IF he hated slavery and mages all along, the game should have built up this conflict more within his character, so that we could see the final crisis and denoument, not have him flippantly choose one side because it's what the player feels like doing. 3) Repetitive use of scenery. Origins got annoying after a while with the same monsters, but the scenery constantly changed. Dragon Age II made this worse by having me fight the same monster models and in the same settings three times in a row. 4) Every male model looks like they are on roids - how about some varied body types? What about the sinewy rogue? The willowy mage? Why as a mage are my muscles still exploding from my robes? 5) Sexuality should be more than a lifestyle choice for my romantic options. In Dragon Age, some characters were bisexual and others were not. Some got offended by homosexuality. This added an extra appreciated wrinkle to the game. Cost containment I could accept: 1) Focusing on fewer origin stories. Valuable development time could be saved if only a few major storylines are played. So, if I only get three origin stories instead of 15 possibilities I am OK with that. However, these three should be divergent not as close together as possible. E.g. female elven mage, male human warrior, male rogue dwarf. 2) Reuse of monster models. Every game has to do it, I get it. 3) Limitations on the number of big decisions that alter a story arc. Understood that these cannot pop up all over the place, but there need to be some and a few need to be big ones. Mass Effect 2 demonstrated that if you have enough divergent story arcs, origin stories are less important. 4) Simpler combat systems. I get it that there are more console games to be sold than PC games. If due to economies of scale I have to have a simpler combat system, I can handle that to if it is still fun and challenging like in Mass Effect 2. I accept the above cost containment, and it's because I expect the game designer to spend extra time making sure that what it DOES do is exceptional. No one has infinite resources. Rather than wisely spending its gaming investment dollars on the areas of most return for its gamers, Bioware was solely focused on their financial returns. They have made it clear that all I am to them is a dollar sign and they plan to cash out on the Dragon Age franchise. Very well, Bioware, your gaming audience understands, and I for one will sit out the next Dragon Age unless user reviews are 8.0+. You can buy off publications but not your user base.… Expand

Bioware once a great company that produced fabled RPGs has shown an ugly side with Dragon Age 2. The first Dragon Age was excellent but this has been streamlined to become a horrible game, EA has destroyed Bioware.

I've played and liked quite a few Bioware games. I thought DA:O had a good story and the gameplay was engaging. DA:A was essentially the same gameplay and a slightly less compelling story, but hey, it can't always be The Blight. I even bought a few DLC missions, which usually seemed worth extending my stay in the game world for a few bucks. Dragon Age:II is absolutely horrible. I feel like a complete sucker for buying it. I even pre-ordered the Signature Edition based on my experience with their previous titles. The story drags along slowly and seems irrelevant. The gameplay and combat system just hack-n-slashing until so that maybe you can use a special ability during a fight. And the fights are no longer strategic. It's just hacking and slashing waves of baddies until the next waves jumps in from all sides like ninjas. The skill tree revamp was interesting and I kinda liked that, but not being able to customize your companions' gear seemed to dumb it down. I will probably still buy Mass Effect 3 on release day (or pre-order) because I think they've prioritized that as their marquis product and won't stray too far from the Mass Effect formula. But as for other Bioware games, especially future Dragon Age games, it will take much more than underhandedly gaming metacritic in order for me to buy it.… Expand

Could have worked as a stand alone title but did not feel like a sequel to DA:O. It was almost as if the developers were trying to fix what was broken in DA:O and improve upon it but the problem was there wasn't a lot wrong with the first title in the Dragon Age franchise. Loved DA:O did not care for Dragon Age II.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Alone, Dragon Age 2 is a decent game. It's not good, and it's certainly not great, but it's decent. As part of a franchise, however, it is a complete and utter failure. The decision to not include (for the most part) any of the characters and location that made the original shine, makes Dragon Age 2 a bland and mostly unintelligible mess. There's no clear enemy, the party members are bland at best, and combat has become so simplistic that it adds almost nothing to the game. Dungeons are repeated endlessly, characters that you don't care about are dragged on screen repeatedly, while the ones you do care about, Zevran, Alistair, Leiliana, get almost no screen time. The "decisions" you make have almost no impact on the actual game. No matter what you do, Anders will become a terrorist. And those are just the failings of the game. As a member of a franchise, there is nothing in this game that is a marked improvement from the first game. Yes, it's a little prettier and runs a little faster, but that was never the draw of the original. What Bioware failed to do in this game was continue with what made Origins great: Characters and story. Dragon Age 2 has neither. Dragons Age 2 features a save game transfer like Mass Effect 2. Unfortunately, the save game transfer has almost zero effect on the game. Mass Effect 2 could be radically different depending on your Mass Effect 1 playthrough, with characters that would otherwise be present for major events of the game being absent, or your status as a galactic agent. The save game transfer in Dragon Age 2 affects who you talk to a few times. Nothing is gained from transferring an old save. Sure, you can hear snippets of dialogue about your old adventures here and there, but they add absolutely nothing. Why Bioware chose to make Dragon Age into a franchise more akin to Mass Effect baffles me. They are radically different games, both in execution and in writing. Mass Effect was designed around one character, Shepard. Forcing one character into the spotlight of Thedas is awkward and does not fit. I can hope and pray that Bioware drops Hawke for the next game, but of course they won't. In short, do not go into this game expecting an experience akin to Dragon Age: Origins. Doing so will just set you up for disappointment. Be prepared for a mediocre experience that is untrue to the original.… Expand

Pros:
+ The clear abilities points distribution system is a improvement
+ Voiced protagonist dialogs
+ "Sell All Junk" button (Only a requirement when you have junk)

Cons:
- Cheap dungeon design
- Excessive gore and unnatural moves in combat animations
- Spiders drop gold (What?)
- Shallow characters and dialogues

Disappointing, a watered-down version of the first.

The game engine and UI has been improved. I prefer the newer talent trees. And the characters are quite engaging and held my interest. But the story is very watered down and it takes place in the exact same stages over and over. The repetition in stages, as well as combat, almost make the game intolerable. Aside from a (very) few key events, player choices seem largely irrelevant. For some utterly baffling reason, only Anders (and the player) can learn to heal. I felt as if I was forced to use Anders and Aveline (the tank) if I was to adopt any strategy. Characters that are unused might as well be dead to you.

It is a decent enough game (and the final battle is actually quite epic), but I felt like the media critics got this absolutely wrong. It has its charms, but it is largely an unworthy sequel and I regret spending $70 on this product. Wait for the price to drop before purchasing this one, you won't be missing much.… Expand

Ah Dragon age 2.. By far the biggest letdown so far of 2011 in my eyes. The graphics are worse than the original, the city which you spend almost the entire game in is so incredibly lifeless, stale and repetitive that you would think this game has been made in 2005 by amateur developers, but sadly this game is made by Bioware who in the past has brought us many great games.

I for one really hope this isn't a sign for things to come as Dragon Age 2 should have never been released in the state it is in, poor gameplay, poor graphics and artistic direction, poor RPG elements and immersion factor.

Extremely poor game. 1/10… Expand

Me siento estafada. Origins lo terminé cuatro veces y de este no voy a terminar ni la primera partida. Si el 3 va a seguir este camino, Dragon Age ha muerto para mí.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Very bad game... It´s not Dragon Age it´s "Dragon Effect" (but worst). It no have the essence of the firts game... bad of work EA and Bioware... In the game, your decisions are useless...you cant change nothing in the world, all the facts happen without your help...your partners are lineal, they aren´t charming like in origins...is a step back in rol´s game... (sorry for my english...im spanish...)… Expand

Horrible, horrible game. The recycled maps is completely disrespectful to all people who played the original Dragon Age and Origins. I cannot believe that they did such a poor and sloppy job on this game it even hurts to make a review for it. I for one am glad that a friend let me borrow it to try it and before I WASTED money on such a pile of crap. Dragon Age 3 better not be anything close to this or else I will most likely never, ever purchase a game from them again.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Where the exciting story? Where is the charm for which all were so fond of Dragon Age origins? The game is completely disappointed me. Why do we unnecessary flips and jumps? If you're happy with sales, you know, everyone was expecting to see a good continuation, not a game for children up to age 11. one location you placed throughout the game. Players are not interested to solve the problems of one citysave a whole lot more interesting korolestvo. What have you done with satellites player? They are horrible to them can not speak normally, do not give the gift, there is no charm. How can we produce a good game for a year, besides making many more other projects? It is better to wait for 3 years, but a really good game. The Witcher 2 will destroy you. It's as if you are good lesson, dear developers.… Expand

Une arnaque TOTALE
Jeu bénéficiant de la licence officielle de DAO, sans ne serait ce qu'en contenir un brin de son essence spirituelle. Une très grosse déception. Je n'ai même pas terminé le jeu tellement je suis dépité par la médiocre réalisation, la pauvreté générale du jeu, l'histoire creuse, les textures pauvres, les Pnj inutiles et sans relief, A éviter à tout prix... ne mériterait même pas d'exister.… Expand

Totally disappointing
Bioware should be very a shame of this cheap console port whereas, the predecessor (origin) was very good game in many ways; i.e., it was deep, complex, multiple endings and nice story.
this sequel is very shallow and unsatisfactory in many ways; i.e., no character development, no real attachment to story, shallow and speedy combat, very poor camera, silly dialogue option.
it is only achievement is brighter and shiner graphics, flashy and speedy combat system which is a shame as i was expecting a great sequel to a great game but these days the greed and rush for release date became primary objective of game publishers which resulted in these kind of games which can satisfy only young ages and new gamers (didn't play great RPG titles like Oblivion, Fallout 3, The Witcher and Dragon Age: Origin)
Few hours of play convince me that this game does not deserve the space on my HD and should be uninstalled immediately.
If anyone want to play an RPG game should avoid this title and look elsewhere.… Expand

A really bad game. Plain and simple. The 'level design' - and you have to use that term loosely - just consists of a few a very narrow corridors. The areas are shamelessly reused. How a developer can get away with making about 6 tiny areas for a 40 hour long game and calling it a day is beyond me. The game mostly takes place in a city and its surroundings. Needless to say, they never even bothered to design a city, only 3 separate and small areas that you can fast travel to.

The combat is frantic. Gone are the strategic battles of Origins. A lot of enemies bumrush you in the small corridors and you have to press the awesome button. On top of that, it is very tedious, since each and every single encounter you have will have about 4-5 waves of the exact same enemies literally teleporting in out of nowhere to bore you to death. Ridiculous game design. Not to mention that most encounters are random i.e. you just walk around and explore and don't see your enemy until the fight begins. Quite ironic from the company that bashes jrpgs. The difficulty curve is pretty much nonexistent if you keep your equipment in check since level scaling is in effect. A hurlock won't be easier to kill at lvl20 than at lvl1.

Your character, Hawke, has 3 stock replies locked in their respective places: Good, funny or aggressive. Funny is especially bad. Like "wanting to punch whoever wrote that crap" kind of bad. Good or aggressive is most of the time what you'd expect. Emphasis on most of the time, since the few words they put in the dumb dialogue wheel so you don't bother your pretty litle brain with too much reading can be misleading. Sometimes extra options or questions show up but most of the times they're just stuff that isn't worth asking or has already been answered.

The party members feel like wasted potential. You have to visit them in their homes so they all explain their backstories in about 2-3 conversations over time and all have a chain of quests tied to it. At the core, they're not all that bad but everything feels very formulaic so you end up not caring much about them. But hey, they're mostly bisexual and you can romance them since that's obviously more important than the rest of the game, so it's all good. Their armor isn't customizable but weapons, stats and skills are up to you.

Finally, the story. If you last long enough (trust me, that's difficult) to make it to the final act, you'll have a somewhat interesting story on your hands that just ends up being predictable, but at least you get the 'epic' high fantasy feel for a while and a laughable final boss. The first act just feels like a needless prologue and you will feel a general lack urgency or motivation. Act 2 is more bearable but still nothing to write home about. The side quests are all derivative and boring.

Lazy game design, bad writing, and poor production values are what make this a title that isn't just hard to recommend, but should simply be avoided by anyone. The icing on the cake is that overall, the game feels like a slap to the face for the people who had hope in the Dragon Age franchise and took it the exact opposite direction from what they were hoping for.… Expand

this is one of the hardest reviews I think I will ever write. I am a long term fan of Bioware. I fondly remember reveling in Baldur's Gate all the way through mass effect and DA1. They are, in my opinion one of the best AAA developers when it comes to story line and polish. So the best description of my play experience with DA2 was a crushing sense of loss. I can only guess at what brought about the changes in the level of quality. The monster spawning out of thin air, the feeling of a corridor like linear progression, wooden dialog that leaves the player feeling let down are just some of the elements that, sadly,make this the last game I will buy from Bioware purely based it being crafted by them! if your reading this Bioware earn me back!! one bad title doesn't break you, but it does cause future games to be scrutinized before purchase. as to the critic score....integrity is important...don't you think?… Expand

A failed attempt at making Dragon Age a mix of action an RPG. What we get is a severely dumbed down RPG with unsatisfactory action element, that take up the majority of play time. Plus and uncompelling story that has nothing to do with Origins...

I do not get how this game has gotten so many positive reviews... This is not a BioWare grade product, this is something straight from the bowels of EA's rush'n'cash department.

So where do I start? First of all, as I stated before, the story has virtually nothing to do with Origins. If you were hoping to see big time consequences of your actions in the previous game, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Nothing you did in Origins has any impact on DA2, apart for some minor and negligible side quests. Furthermore, the story itself feels incredibly forced at times. In Origins, I really wanted to defeat the Blight, even while playing an "evil" character. DA2's story didn't make me care about it's main plot, mainly because, for the most part, it was being shoved down my throat. There is a quest quite early on, which you are forced to do to advance the story, but there is no logical train of thought nor are there any circumstances in game that would make your character want to do this quest, unless they felt a certain way towards one of the main groups presented in the story. It feels more like an optional side quest than a main plot one . And the side quests themselves are a travesty. Mind you, there are some cool ones that clearly have been thought through, but they are drowned in the sea of identical, almost grind-like, minimum flavour text, quest you get in a shoddy MMO.

Let's have a look at the game mechanics then. The new stats system feels more transparent and logical, the talent trees are better designed than those in Origins, but that's where the good stuff ends. The Mass Effect style dialogue tree looks well and all, except for the fact than in most cases, all you choose is they way your character will say, "Yes I agree". Fortunately this doesn't happen too often, but it becomes very annoying if you want to play, what is after all an RPG game. And speaking of RPG elements, you cannot equip your party with armour, and by that I mean that you can't customize your companions helmet, torso and boots slots. You are stuck with what they have, until you find a special upgrade, and every companion only gets four. Not four upgrade slots which you can fill in from randomly dropped upgrades, because there are no random upgrades. Each companion will only ever get four armour upgrades, so you don't overheat that brain of yours choosing which one to give to who. The combat would be great if not for one thing: enemies that spawn mid fight, usually off camera. And again it wouldn't be so bad if the newly spawned guys were just minions helping the big boss you are currently fighting. But more often than not, they are pretty powerful, and can seriously mess up your party if you don't spot them the instant they are spawned. Also, the difficulty settings have been dumbed down, so now you get friendly fire only on the highest level. And the gap between the two top settings (Hard and Nightmare) is so big, it seems no one had any time to tweak them. On Hard the game is still laughably easy, and on Nightmare it becomes, at times, downright frustrating. Graphically it is an improvement over Origins, allthough I was never the one to dislike a game just because it had old graphics. What I cannot abide however is the endless and shameless recycling of locations. Most of the main ones are ok, but it quickly becomes apparent that there are only so many side quest ones. And it's not like some quest just take place in the same location. The cave you enter on a beach will be the exact same cave you have already visited in the mountains, but maybe with an entrance that is located elsewhere, and with some areas sealed away. You really get the feeling they either rushed the game out, or were just plain lazy about it.

In an effort to appeal to a broader audience (namely the drunken frat boy demographic) BioWare has dumbed down their game to the point you can barely call it an RPG and added a ton of sub par action and clumsy gore. If this was a game by any other developer, and not a sequel to Origins, this would be an average game with a few memorable moments. Being as it is, it is a poor game with lots of memorable failures...… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A below mediocre game that doesn't know what it is. I like dumb button-mashers - like Heavenly Sword - and I like skilful button-mashers - like Tekken, or Fight Night - but the fighting in Dragon Age II isn't nearly half as fun and doesn't need skill - its one tactical trick of tag-team combos is permanently spelled out for you. Setting difficulty to hard just means a long boring slog. Besides I bought the game expecting it to be an RPG. It kind of is an RPG, if you think they are just about superficial levelling mechanics. The game world was also really restricted, no free-roaming and interactivity like you get in Fallout 3 for example - and famously you keep going back to the same locations all of the time, sometimes deliberately, sometimes because the makers were lazy.

Some of the dialogue is funny - it's the only thing that scores any points with me. Unfortunately every 'funny' conversation option you choose as the main character is weak and pathetic. Your interaction with other characters is restricted and the story doesn't make sense, I was meant to be in a romance with Isabella for years, but you get just two scenes about that. I kept trying to avoid fighting and be diplomatic, but the game's story pushed me into killing everyone whatever I did, while giving an illusion that there were other choices.

Graphics - a few textures are alright, some of the character designs are ok, but a lot of faces are worse than the original game. The city, countryside and sewers/cellars are quite drab and undetailed. The Qunari are ok, but they all look the same. The Elves have weird unappealing faces. Compared to the first game the voice actors didn't sound convincing, though some were good (but not your main character). In fact, apart from some better textures, there were no improvements.

I feel like I could go on and describe in more detail why this game sucks, but I want to forget about it and move onto something else.… Expand

Why such a low score for Dragon Age II? there are a few reasons;

1. Why would I buy a fantasy game like this to only play a human?

2. The combat of the first installment was well thought out, on the other hand in this game it simply has been dumbed right down for console users, as it would seem they used DA 2 as a cash flow and not much else. As is seems every game that goes from purely pc to pc & console it always seems to go straight down the toilet. This is no exception, but at least they kept the pause tactical menu for pc users

3. The storyline grabbed me no where near as much as the first, I played the first for hours on end. I didn't even bother finishing DA2 for its sheer lack of interesting things

4. While the graphics looked good there was simply no amount shine that could fix all of the bugs with this. What could have fixed this however was for bioware to spend some more time on the game, rather than simply trying to push it out asap.

Overall.

The game while a great title has no real playability for me. Dirty, boring, rushed and dumbed down are NOT the way I like my games to be.… Expand

A deeply flawed game with empty world and recycled graphic assets. Limited to a single city where nothing changes over a decade and artificially prolonged with pointless quests and waves of mobs who totally destroy combat tactics. I can't remember a RPG where i wanted to single handedly slaughter most of my companions because they were so annoying. s.

A huge disappointment overall. Completely fails to live up to its predecessor. A consolized, streamlined and dumbed down game target for the Call of Duty market. Gameplay is okay; the rest is pure garbage: lack of different environments, stupid story, crappy ending, fails to deliver true choice-and-consequence mechanics, cardboard character textures, lack of an interesting roster... pick one. Not to mention the protagonist, a failed attempt to create a medieval Shepard. You might even have some fun while playing it, but if you actually enjoyed the first game, some tears of grief are along for the ride.… Expand

this game is an insult to rpgs, an insult to my intelligence, and an insult to the pc gaming itself, they fraudulently took 60 dollars from me and in return it only included just 1 freeking city with dungeons that repeats over and over and over again. whats going on with this world ? are we that dumb ? this game is an abomination! DONT buy this game please!

I had high expectations with this game after Dragon Age: Origins, the game was done without any care for the story, being short and leaving holes that may have been playable and interesting! The worst of it is repeating the same maps in the few places to go! I very much hope that Mass Effect 3 will not turn that same garbage!

One of the worst sequels you will ever buy. This game had so much promise, but then Bioware decided to rush it out so that EA could put the profits through on their end year accounts. They reuse maps constantly in this game...there is one city, yes just one. The city is lifeless, there is like 20 people in the entire place that you can talk to. Betrayal is a strong word but thats how i feel when i think of what Bioware has done.… Expand

Very poor sequel to the excellent DA:0. Just not a rpg and a very forgettable game. 4 out of 10. BUT for all those extremely unfair reviews of Witcher 2 scoring 0 - No game is a 0, only games that don't install. So for that reason my score of 4 goes to 1.

This game is the biggest turd i have had the displeasure of playing lets start with the graphics they are like a game from about ten years ago when you hit someone with a sword they explode.They have used the same locations over and over again i think there is about four in the whole game.God the side quest are so boring go to that place and fetch that object go to this place and kill that person after about two hours of this repetitiveness you fill like slashing your own wrists.And this company has turned into greedy bastards they just bought out some DLC that they charge for some sort of clothes pack need i say more after about three hours i uninstalled it from my pc and good riddance to it… Expand

How can i say it. This game is bad.
Compared to Dragon Age 1 you don't have too big choice on the character selection.
Hordes of the enemies spawning from everywhere, you cannot keep mages in the back, they are nearly always surrounded . Rouge skills - he is disappearing and reappearing at the enemies back... mercy - teleportation in fantasy game? Without magic?
I'm very happy that i could see the demo and play at my friends PC before buying. It would be big waste of money.… Expand

A huge blemish on Bioware's track record.
Dragon Age Origins was a solid entry, sure it wasn't the best western fantasy RPG but it was still very good. Dragon Age 2 getting released a little over a year later definitely had me alarmed. A smaller game in every way and absolutely not worth paying or playing. Clearly it was rushed. Stay clear of this one and pick up Origins instead.

A poor game that do no justice to DA Origins. It is full of bugs and glitches, the graphics are poor (IMHO worse than DAO), the new FF visual style doesn't fit, every combat is just wave after wave of flying enemies.... And the worse is that the story is full of gaps and holes, and the scope is too small to compare to DAO... A terrible disappointment.

I have played this game on the Xbox and on the PC. I didn't like it on the Xbox but I hated it on the PC. The camera view during combat on the PC is downright awful. The dungeons are all copy and pasted. You have very few choices in the game ( very linear playthrough), almost no interaction with your companions, and they removed the ability to customise your companion's armour and in some cases, weapons.
Bioware removed some of the best parts about Dragon Age!
Oh, and the story made you despise both sides in the "major" conflict so at the end of the day, you are forced to take sides when my character didn't even care one way or the other.
I also felt almost nothing for my love interest since as I wrote above, Bioware removed almost all of the interaction with your companions that was one of the unique and great things about DA Origens, so all my companions including my love interest, felt almost like strangers.. I hope Bioware straightens their act out with DA3, otherwise, they can forget about getting my money.
On a last note, the replayability of DA2 is crap. Both endings (yes, there are only TWO with the exception of which love interest you pick), are almost exactly the same. So, why replay the game? Where as Origens, had great replay value with many different endings depending on your in game choices. Could this mess be EA's doing? Trying to rush the game to make a quick buck? I think Bioware has lost their soul.… Expand

It's not often that a sequel comes out worse in every single way to its predecessor, yet the brilliant minds at BioWare have managed to accomplish just that with Dragon Age 2. This game is clearly rushed, likely due to the influence of EA, and doesn't even remotely resemble all of the greatness that Dragon Age Origins was known for. Try harder next time, BioWare, and you might win back my business.… Expand

what a stupid game i cant beleive i brought it the music is baaaaaaaad the graphics are baaaaaaaad the story is baaaaaaaaaaaaad the whole game is baaaaaaaaaad

What bioware have doing to the splendid dragon age universe.
The new combat system introduce in dragon age 2 is absolutely ridiculous.
It's look like an hack and slash, too much gore, too much asian H&S style.
The ennmy reinforcement pop in front of you, so you can not make any strategie as you don' know how lmany ennmies they are.
The story and compagnions are interesting, boss are the only real combat challenge
The city of kirkwall is splendid but without life (static pnj, always same group of people).
All quest use always the same environnement (kirwall, beach, etc...).
Graphic are good in dx11.… Expand

Zero. This is call to Bioware that it needs to change. NO, it's not working anymore. STOP doing the same game over and over. Gamers need something new, something evolved (it's 2011 and not 2005). I don't care that they must make PS3/X360/DS version. My PC is underused with the poor graphics I see.

One for the fans only.

Dreadful is how a good RPG game and solid studio may result in sequel that is by no means THE WORST RPG OF THE DECADE. Terrible controls & fighting mechanic, 4 freaking backgrounds ( locations all looks THE SAME ), enemies re-spawning on my god damn HEAD - I have no words how cheated I feel now

Dragon Age II is a piece of "garbage" trying to ride on the success of Dragon Age: Origins. Too bad that during the making of the game they forgot all about the fans of the earlier game and chose to appeal to a "larger audience". My advice, don't buy it and encourage Bioware to keep insulting their fans.

The sequel to the decade's best RPG game created. Now the question everybody has asked; Does it live up to the sequel?
Unfortunatly that is a BIG F NO. Dragon Age 2 fails in every single way and is not a worthy sequel. The 'enhanced graphics' was an utter sham. The health bars looks like something from Mass Effect and the dark, grim graphics approach in Origins was imported terribly in Dragon Age 2 and felt like they over done it in some areas. I would say that the only good aspect in this game is the many design concepts that they have developed and succeed.
Overall for players that played through Dragon Age Origins casually like any ol' game, Dragon Age 2 but be as enjoyable. If you're a die hard Origin lover like me Dragon Age 2 may make you cry from such failures it made. If you simply want to know the story and explore more of the worlds, I suggest renting it .… Collapse

I consider myself to be a hardcore RPG gamer, and I am a huge fan of BioWare Games. I was raised on Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and I also love their modern titles such as Mass Effect, and also Dragon Age:Origins. But dragon Age 2 is just a big misunderstanding. This rushed, inconsistent and monotonous piece of crap is just a sad, sad attempt to cash in on a promising franchise. How can such good IP deteriorate so quickly, is just beyond me. Remember how in Origins we could travel through Ferelden, have an epic adventure fighting Darkspawn, and save the whole land? You can forget that here. Action takes place in one city - Kirkwall. ONE GOD DAMN CITY! Yeah, sure, we have few locations in the outskirts, but they are recycled so often, that you will constantly return to the same places, and just fight different mobs depending on the quest that you will be doing. That is just a lazy design. And what about the plot? In Origins we were trying to stop a monster invasion, so we traveled from city to city, trying to unite the land and build an army. You can forget such epic storytelling here. To tell you the truth there is no backbone for a plot here, it just feels like one overlonged prolouge. You want to know what the plot is? Warning spoilers: How we became a champion. Thats it. We have three chapters, that seem totally unrelated with each other. And so first we will be preparing for a trasure hunt (best one), and then we will just be dealing with political machinations. It is all just boring, and uninspired. Whats more, this game is laughably easy even on hard difficulty, and has a dumbed down dialog system. Combat? Please. Characters animation during the fights reminds me a free to play korean MMO. Furthermore forget about any tactics. You will be fighting waves after waves of weak enemies, that will literally fall from the sky or even from ceilings. You will just maw through them without any strategy. it looks like a damn cartoon, and not a hardcore dark fantasy RPG. What to say more... How abou the fact, that your decisions in Origins have almost no impact on the plot of Dragon Age 2. Yeah, sure you'll meet some references here and there, and once I think you'll meet a character from the first game. But it does not change anything overall. Summarising Dragon Age 2 is a worst BioWare Game I have ever played. I hope they will takes their fans opinions to heart and improve upon in the next installment. I really, REALLY hope so.… Expand

I really enjoyed the first game a good deal and ultimately found the sequel to be a big letdown. The combat is more enjoyable and I the companion AI seems more flexible and responsive. The main character feels like it has a bit more personality having a voice. That is about as good as it gets. The narrative does not feel as cohesive as the original game nor does it feel like it has the same epic sense. The lighter roleplaying elements and the more limited character creation choices detract from the freedom of the roleplaying experience. I did not feel like I was forging my own destiny/story in DA 2 like I did in DA:O. The game world design sucks; the city hub setup that lasts for the whole game is uninspiring both in layout and in visualizations. The repeated use of the same scant amount of maps/areas throughout the entirety of the game is repetitive and speaks of cheap, lackluster game design. Overall DA2 is mostly a letdown as a sequel and part of the Dragon Age world. The overall experience feels a bit more streamlined but at the cost of being much more on rails than the sequel, as well as having a narrower and less epic storyline and being entirely too repetitive and un-immersive. Honestly, I am in the third act of the game, almost near the end, and I just can't find the interest to finish it. Poorly done Bioware, poorly done… Expand

Compared to the first Dragon age this game is lacking in the story line department. Though there are many ways to play through it I found that unlike the first, once was enough. Another Blah sequel that could of and should of been so much more.

This game irritated me SO much that I had to join this site to write a review in hopes of stopping anyone that reads it from buying this game for PC. The creators of this game decided it would be a good idea to say "SCREW YOU PC GAMERS FOR SUPPORTING US IN THE BEGINNING, WE ARE NOW ALL ABOUT CONSOLES!", so what did they do? Everything in the game now feels circular, and I'm sure that would be JUST FANTASTIC if we were playing the game with an Xbox controller, but we are not. You get thrown into the action of the game without so much as a single tutorial (The tutorial you do get is ignored because you are being attacked by 20 enemies the second you start the game, so you ignore the text if you want to live). The only thing this game is good for is that I can throw it like a frisbee into a lit fireplace. What a waste of money.… Expand

Bioware has created some great games. Dragon Age 2, when compared to most other developer's lineup, would come across as slightly above-average. Overall, it's not a bad game. But it's not a good one either, and when compared to other games that Bioware has put out, it comes across as outright bad. It has its good points:
-The combat animations have been improved
-Varric and Aveline are both excellent characters
-The storyline, at face value, is good
-The skill trees are a good way to go in my opinion However, its bad points heavily outweigh the good ones: -The combat has been "simplified" to the point of being able to click auto-attack and just let your character do the work on every difficulty level but Nightmare. -The combat situations have been reduced to randomly spawning enemies that have little to no reason to be there in the first place.
-Enemies get "reinforcements" during every battle that immediately surround you and eliminate any strategic positioning of your characters that was so key in DA:O
-Dungeons are re-used throughout the game; there are about four total dungeon maps, and every "new" area consists of those maps re-used with areas closed off or opened. Enemies remain much the same as well.
-The other characters feel very shallow. As Hawke, you get to know them over the course of ten years, yet I feel like by the end of any other Bioware game I got to know more about my companions than Hawke ever did, despite only knowing them for a year at the very most.
-Graphics seem worse than in DA:O, and certainly are worse than other recent Bioware games. Everything looks flat and dull.
That's not everything, but those are the big things. Overall, it feels rushed and very much geared towards console players, which isn't a bad thing in itself, except that Bioware left out and changed things that didn't need to be changed so that console players would have it easier, even though it made playing the game on PC more annoying and much less immersive.

This game doesn't deserve the high scores critics gave it, and, while not as bad as people make it out to be, definitely ranks among the worst Bioware games to date.… Expand

This game is terrible. There is no meaning character interaction, the camera angle is frustrating, the combat consists of mashing the same button without a thought of skill or strategy, the same three environments are used for every mission so it quickly becomes tedious plus you cannot equip any armour or weapons on your companions so exploring and looting becomes meaningless. The overall result is a tedious few hours of mindlessly pressing the same button before giving up, turning it off and wishing you could have your time and money back.… Expand

I am not a long-term Bioware fan (I have to admit never played BG or Neverwinter back in the day) but I am a lover of RPGs and Dragon Age: Origins was my introduction to Bioware's games. Needless to say I was very impressed. It was a fantastic, well-written and beautifully executed game that I fell in love with. Despite being warned that Dragon Age 2 will not live up my expectations, I had to give it a go. How can another Dragon Age be so bad? So I went into this game with a fairly positive yet cautious attitude. And... well... it's disappointing. Not just as a sequel to Origins, but as a roleplay game in general. Especially from a company like Bioware who I'm led to believe is a bit of an authority on the genre.

The combat is tedious. It's altogether less tactical and more hack-and-slash. There's no tactical camera, and wave combat with enemies appearing from all angles and even dropping from the sky that makes it pretty impossible to place companions, manage potions and generally devise a battle plan. I may be hyperbolising here, but this sort of combat is fit for games like Serious Sam, not Dragon Age. I have no idea why they dumb-downed the combat in this way. It's obvious that a lot of fights were added in as filler combat. There's various encounters that are just waves and waves of uninteresting unimportant enemies that last far too long and then just as you finish up and turn the corner... another one. And another. It gets boring.
To add to that, it looks ridiculous. Perhaps Origins' combat needed to be speeded up a bit, but not like this. It feels like a JRPG, and instead of looking cool it looks stupid. Also, far too much blood. And exploding bodies.

The companions are okay. I wouldn't say they are as well-written as Origin's characters, but they're okay. Interaction is quite horrible though. You only ever get to speak to your companions in their house, and that's only when they have something to say to you, usually involving a quest, or when you give them a gift, of which there about 2 for each. You get a very limited amount of these brief scenes with them, and that's it. For a romance, you get a sex scene and a couple extra conversations - well, I say /sex/ scenes - Origins' sex scenes may have been a little comical, but at least their was some nudity. For an M rated game, I expected a little more than a bit of making out.
I don't know about others, but I felt a lot more distant to my companions than I did in Origins. And I think that being able to speak to your companions when you want, for as little or as long as you want, is important. It's something that felt missed in Awakenings, and it's worse in DA2.
Party banter, however, is just as golden as it ever was! Hawke was an awkward invention. It seems Bioware couldn't decide on creating a blank-canvas character that can be almost fully imagined and created as your own (like the Warden was) or a pre-defined personality (say like, Geralt from The Witcher). And so they went with... both. Hawke felt half like your own creation, and half like a pre-defined character. This was difficult to contend with. It was hard to imagine Hawke as you wanted as you never knew what he was going to say or how he was going to behave. Sure you could choose 'good/funny/bad' but that isn't enough freedom. You also couldn't assume Hawke's personality and roleplay him, because you weren't given enough definition for him. Because there was hardly any of it. As a result, a lot of the time it almost felt like watching a film. You can dictate what Hawke does, but you can't really invent him and you can't really roleplay him. It just didn't work. The story was very messy. I liked the idea of the game being retold by a character, but the time skips were awkward to deal with. There was some interesting writing, but instead of being pushed along with a sense of urgency to an important goal like in Origins, it felt very much like you were just dawdling around a city and falling into trouble. Companions felt more like hirelings going along for the ride or using you now and again, then people devoted or forced into aiding your cause. There's no real drive to do anything except at the end of act 2 and the end of act 3. Not to say the story wasn't enjoyable, it was, but it wasn't great.

Overall, I enjoyed the game. But I wouldn't pay for it. Perhaps in a year or so for a knocked down price, or bundled in with an expansion or some DLC, but not now - it's not worth it. And although I feel I shouldn't compare it to Origins, surely I am allowed to, as it's supposed to be a sequel. It not only failed to improve on Origins, it failed to even reach it's level. In fact, it was considerably worse than the original Dragon Age and that is not a success. Oh, and I think the graphics got worse. The eyebrows in the game are frightening. And Zevran - poor Zevran.… Expand

Very disappointing game. Shame on you $EAWare!!! Dovreste vergognarvi di aver venduto l'anima per una manciata di dollari, la prostituzione intellettuale è la rovina della sociretà!!!

This is ridiculous. Nobody can tell me that EA didn't buy off the reviewers. This is without a doubt the worst way I have ever spent $60. A perfect example of what happens when a company gets too big. EA just told Bioware to grind out another Dragon Age game in a year to milk more money off the franchise and that is exactly what it feels like. No thought was put into this game whatsoever. The blatant level recycling is unbelievable. The gameplay is dumbed down. I only forced myself to play through this boring mess because I spent money on it. I will never buy another Bioware game without waiting on user reviews first. Your money is better spent on the first Dragon Age or a different RPG franchise altogether.… Expand

To be blunt, I cannot believe that EA has whored Bioware out to the point that Bioware as a name no longer means anything to me. I have been a avid fan of Bioware to the point they were like Blizzard I saw the name and bought, no matter the reviews or anything else. The blatent laziness of reusing maps, same crowds over and over again, no epic novel to live through and honestly to buy the end of the game is totally unacceptable. When I buy a novel the I don't expect to get the last three chapters torn out. Thats DA2 is lazy development no story (you don't feel like a hero) and you have to pay for the end.

What a load of crap. EA you don't understand your market and you have ruined some really good houses in gaming. I will never ever from now on will buy another EA game without some serious time before I know how useless the game is.… Expand

The first game was awesome: nearly perfect graphics, involving (and evolving) story-line, decent story-telling, very likable characters with good nuances on their relationships, good game dynamics and so on. NONE of that is found at this second instance.

Graphics are on the same level (actually, the design is cartoonist instead of realistic like the first), but system requirements are bigger (try to understand that), characters are simple and plain, there is actually no story and you have NO CLUE why you are playing - you just play, you know you are supposed to do something but have no idea why, and all of the sudden, the game ends. If you try and pursue relationships with your companions, you will be disappointed - and don't expect anything spicy for the more intimate moments, for there are none!

Add the fact that strategy was ruined with friendly-fire not existing, and the dumbing-down of most game mechanics, and what you have here is weak and pointless, and the hard fan will only play it just to see it though and pretend he/she got a minimal worth from the money ill spent.

In short: a perfect example of how to ruin a good game because of consoles, money and dumbing it for "the masses". Result: 4.2 user score, hope E.A. and Bioware get the message.… Expand

I was completely disappointed by this game. I kept playing only because I thought it could get better, but it actually got worse.

The things I didn't like: The new combat system. It's extremely consolish - I play on a PC for a reason (and any tactics completely wasted by enemies springing from mid-air in the middle of a fight!)
The reused graphics (over and over)
Quests that finished without me even knowing they were a problem
A end-story line that completely blew featuring "choices" between two directions I wouldn't go when the most obvious choice wasn't listed, NPC's making completely illogical choices, etc.

I was very disappointed with this because I loved DA - Origins and played through it multiple times, have the DLC, etc. I won't be purchasing any DLC for DA2, nor do I intend to jump into another bioware game without waiting first (sorry MA3 and SWTOR).… Expand

This is the most disappointing sequel I've played in the last few years... Poor interaction, ugly interface, stupid AIs, feeble script... You get bored during the first two game play hours. I don't know what were the people of Bioware thinking when they planned this, but I can tell you they didn't dedicate much time into it. Boring, awful, hideous!!!

I clearly expected to play another ... This is an absolute failure! Boring gameplay, repetitive locations, stupid plot, monotony of what is happening ...

Never ever have I been so bored playing a BioWare game. While I liked the original DAO this followup was a HUGE disappointment in so many ways. I will go so far as so say I have lost faith in BioWare if this game is the new direction they are taking. I recommend you stay clear of this inferior over-hyped mess of a game and instead feast on the delicacy that is The Witcher 2.

I feel very generous today so I will give a 3 to the game. If you have played DA:O don't bother to play this. It is far below expectations and it does not match DA:O in any point... If you have never played DA:O then DA II can be considered an average game with nice graphs, which you can use to kill some spare time... As an RPG sucks.. you done even have control of your parties armor!!! Dialogs... suck if you are over age 12..story.. the same...… Expand

+2 for the artistic effort. But even if you look at it like a hack and slash, it's not fun and repetitive. If you look at it like a sequel to Dragon Age , it's ... not that ... it's just a name + II on a box. The scenario is no so bad ... realization is so very bad. It's not a bioware game at all ... just a bad-o-ware game. Too Human was really more interresting in the same game style. (how is it even possible :( )… Expand

A true disappointment. I loved the original, but this couldn't be less engaging. I don't care about any of the characters and running back and forth through this stupid town has become a chore. I'd love to know how the Critic score is so high.

What a horrible, horrible sequel. Boring story, boring quests, recycled locations, boring and shallow dialogue and insulting ending. This game should have been called "Flashy Hack & Slash OMG!" And to all that said to judge DA II on it's own and not as a sequel, well it IS a sequel. It's called Dragon Age II, that's like saying not to treat Spider Man 3 like a Spider Man movie...

Worst game I have ever played. I have nothing much to say about it but man I am disappointed with it..after dragon age 1 being such a great game this was a huge let down

Playing Dragon Age II is like having a bad case of food poisoning... Some new things happen in the same old areas, but none of it is any good and you wish it would end almost before it begins. I preordered the game to ASAP to get the free upgrade to the collectors edition and even upon receiving the game box I was already disappointed. It was just a DVD case with a single disc and some cards with codes on them. Couldn't even be troubled to send the sound track on a cd. Instead I had to download it. Then I started the game, I liked the beginning until the game play started then it went down hill fast. The choices didn't feel natural at all, the characters were forgettable and their motivations lacking. By the time I got to Kirkwall and started doing quests in the same dungeon I was thoroughly bored. Last time I preorder a Bioware game.… Expand

It's hard to think of anything that probably hasn't been said already about this game, short of just how badly Bioware has handled it. Before this i was convinced they could not make a bad game but DA2 will dissapoint you especially if you enjoyed Bioware's earlier work. Suggest getting Baldur's Gate instead.

Terrible game on pc mediocre graphics, mediocre gameplay, underwhelming story. Just go replay Dragon Age: Origins or Neverwinter Nights 2 instead and avoid this disaster. Spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, MY **** ASS!!!!

There were high expectations after the retail success of DA:O. I've decided to rate DAII a '3'. Here's my reason's for a 7 point deduction:
Objective reasons: Recycled places. Every area in the game is copy and pasted several times throughout the game. A lot of RPG's do this but DAII takes this to the extreme. Enemies are spawned in 'waves' and often times magically appear above your head in mid-air and drop onto the play field. Characters; because of the dialogue wheel any characters that are the same sex as your PC will appear to be gay. You'll feel that you are 'hit' on by every same sex character. This was a major negative for me. For example, as you play though the game as a male, both anders and fenris will 'make a pass' at you. You can either hit the 'heart' or 'break-heart' icons in the dialogue wheel. The end result is that you will feel like all romancable characters of the same sex are gay regardless of what you do.
Subjective reasons: The art style, while I could have liked it had of this been the first game in the series, it was so drastically different from the first that it ended up changing the very lore and make up of the game. Darkspawn were now goofy looking stooges and such. I did not care much for the combat. It was much better paced but I found it to be considerably easier than DAO as far as tactics go. I played the PC version and on "hard" setting. The combat was quite easy and only challenged me on a handful of encounters.
To date I can easily say this has been Biowares worst game. For the year 2011 there were a lot of noteable RPG's released. Bioware who in the past has always had the top RPG of the year will probably not be winning any awards. They were quite honestly beat at the own game by several other studios who released RPG's that were in a different league when it comes to excellence. Even the non-user metacritic scores will bear this out. Take a look at how many other RPG's scored much higher than DAII for the year 2011.
I gave DAII a '3' for the reasons above. It would have been '0' had I of written this in March. It earned a '3' because I did manage to end up finishing the game, though with much perseverance and hope that at some point the game would actually redeem itself. DAII is now sitting on my shelf and I can quite confidently say that I will never touch it again after just one playthough. A sad first with all the Bioware games I have played since 1998.… Expand

A very big letdown after the previous installments! The gaming world feels empty. The rpg elements are dumbed down, and the combat mechanism feels like playing with an arcade game. The story is weak, and the missions feel generic. Art direction is lazy. Japanese rpg like huge sword (I prefer when weapons look realistic). This franchise took a very bad direction.

What a disastrous disappointment. The first Dragon Age definitely ranked among the top 100 games of all time, a story that you controlled - going where you want when you want, chatting with your allies for hours to boost to earn their love and respect, starting off in different areas depending on your race and class... what Dragon Age II leaves us with is a replica made of dookie. Never, ever give Bioware your money, it only encourages this inane garbage

This game reminds me of that movie Idiocracy, in which society becomes so stupid and uncouth that potty humor becomes high society and a man with the middle name Mountain Dew becomes president. That's exactly what this game is - the very worst of society hoisted up and mislabeled - as if Gigli were marketed as Citizen Kane 2.

Only contempt and revile live in my heart for this abomination.… Expand

Utterly disappointing. I've been a Bioware fan since the first Baldur's Gate and I can't believe what they did to Dragon Age 2. What were they thinking? Maybe they were blinded by the buzz of how Mass Effect 2 was received and decided to implement a same kind of system to DA2, who knows?

I loved the DA: Origins, it essentially resurrected the classic computer rpg genre for me. I even welcomed the few compromises for the console versions in the Origins, because despite those alterations it was still basically the same game we all know and love.

Unfortunately, in Dragon Age 2 they took it all away and created a some kind of deformed monstrosity of a dumbed down hack'n slash action game with adhd-button-mashing-orgy of a combat. No space for tactics or strategies, and the teammates' AI is retarded. Even the abilities/talents system was simplified and aside from few exceptions, worse than in the Origins. To give the game some slack, I won't even go to the graphics thing (which was later remedied a tiny bit by the high-resolution texture pack, at least for PC). The only good thing is the storytelling part (which has always been Bioware's strong suit), and even the story lacks in some parts.

I honestly can not recommend buying this game for any reason, except if you're so into the story or settings that you think you can bear with the game to the end. I could barely finish the demo when I first played it. I'm so sorry Bioware, but this time, you screwed up. What happened?… Expand

A dumbed down collection of kicks in the balls version of ORIGINS. Don't bother. But probally the biggest kick in the balls, is at the very start: You can only pick one race. What a rip-off! That's part of what made Origins so fun! Another kick in the balls, is that they dumped the whole "Go from place to Place" aspect (Another feature that makes Origins so fun) and instead you're stuck in this boring, lifeless, dumb town with NPCs who keep spouting the words "Hello. Hawke, is it?" every time you get within a 5-feet radious of them. GAAH!!… Expand

Per quanto concerne la mia esperienza di gioco, in un'ottica GDR, dopo diverse ore di gioco a questo nuovo titolo, devo dire che è davvero poco appagante.
Non c'è immersione: ci si limita a galleggiare in superficie, intuendo che poteva esser fatto molto di più.
La grafica è abbastanza curata, anche se preferivo i toni più maturi di DAO. Quello che non va proprio bene è che ci saranno una cinquantina di location che vengono riproposte allo sfinimento, il che non aiuta certo ad immergersi in un gioco di ruolo, dove l'ambientazione dovrebbe essere resa minuziosamente a video.
La grafica dei menù è a dir poco oscena. Mi chiedo, con una grafica tanto scarna, come sia stato possibile rendere il sistema di menù più confusionario rispetto al precedente DAO... mah: ci sono riusciti, proponendo, ad esempio, un sistema grafico di avanzamento nei talenti che richiede ogni volta di visualizzare un albero di skill, impedendo una visione globale ed un confronto veloce tra le varie abilità.
Il sistema di dialoghi è abominevole: in base a quale malato ragionamento non si può più cliccare sulla esatta frase che il nostro PG dovrebbe pronunciare, con senso chiaro, ma si deve interpretare una linea di scelta che spesso ci mette in bocca cose che non volevamo dire?
Lasciamo perdere il combat system, e la gestione dell'inventario, il sistema di crafting, la possibilità di interagiore con gli altri personaggi in senso ampio, che di ruolo qui hanno mantenuto solo ed esclusivamente la dicitura.
Coerenza a video rispetto alle abilità dei PG, a quelle che dovrebbero essere le loro effettive capacità e limitazioni: inesistente.
Si salva qualcosa? Forse la storia sì, quella si salva, anche se è raccontata in modo non più che discreto.

Ma parliamo di altri aspetti: COERENZA ed IMMEDESIMAZIONE..
Ogni mondo, quello reale, ma anche quelli immaginari, ha delle regole.
Regole sia fisiche imposte dalla natura, forza di gravità etc, sia convenzionali imposte dalla società, sistemi giuridici, etc., sia di altro tipo.
Queste regole sono fondamentali perché qualsiasi mondo possa funzionare.
Stessa cosa in un gioco fantasy, in cui i personaggi si muovono in un mondo di certo immaginario, ma comunque con delle regole.
Se, ad esempio, un mago passa tutto il suo tempo a studiare magie, di certo non avrà potuto studiare le tecniche di combattimento corpo a corpo... se volesse imparare queste tecniche dovrebbe sacrificare parte del suo tempo (leggi: punti abilità) e così si creerebbe un personaggio ibrido mago/guerriero, che però non eccelle in nessuna delle due classi.
Stessa cosa per le caratteristiche fisiche del guerriero: un'arma a due mani implica colpi più lenti, ma più potenti.
Insomma le "regole dei mondi" fanno sì che se tiri la coperta da una parte, la accorci dall'altra...
E allora?
Semplice, tutto ciò è fondamentale per due cose importantissime: CREDIBILITA' e, quindi, IMMEDESIMAZIONE.
E l'immedesimazione è tutto ciò a cui punta un GDR.
Se faccio venir meno il realismo fregandome delle regole, tutto il mondo immaginario creato crolla, e non è più credibile: e la mancanza di credibilità fa venir meno l'immedesimazione.
Per questo la COERENZA è tanto importante, in ogni sistema-mondo fantasy: perché rispettando il realismo (con riferimento alle regole del mondo immaginario creato) permette l'immedesimazione.
Se in un film di cawboy ambientato nel passato del nostro mondo ad un certo punto gli indiani si mettessero a volare come pipistrelli, lo spettatore verrebbe catapultato di forza fuori dalla storia e comincerebbe a ridere.
In un mondo fantasy, quindi, il realismo è ancor più importante che nel mondo reale: per il semplice motivo che nel mondo reale il realismo c'è per forza... e ci mancherebbe! Mentre in un mondo immaginario va creato e mantenuto con arte e sforzo e fatica: ma è prprio da quel realismo che nasce la magia!
Ora, Dragon Age 2 non rispetta le regole del mondo in cui è ambientato, e quindi non è credibile, e quindi non è coerente e quindi chiude le porte in faccia all'immedesimazione.
Cosa comporta ciò? Che:
- se DA2 fosse un DGR, sarebbe davvero un pessimo GDR
- se DA2 fosse un gioco action, sarebbe un brutto gioco action se paragonato ad altri del genere (soprattutto dungeon siege...)
- se DA2 fosse un misto action-GDR, lo troverei tirato via e poco studiato.

CONCLUDENDO
Dopo aver giocato per diverse ore la versione definitiva di DA2, purtroppo, devo confermare le mie impressioni inziali.
Brutto gioco, fatto in fretta e male: basta guardare la ripetività delle location o la scarnissima grafica dei menù.
Coerenza zero, tatticità zero, personaliazzione zero.
La storia si salva, ma non è assolutamente ai livello di DAO.
Io ragiono nell'ottica GDR, che è quello che mi aspettavo di trovare e che mi sarebbe piaciuto giocare.
Peccato!
Spero che alla Bio ritrovino presto il senno e sfornino un GDR che sia un GDR vero!… Expand

Bottom Line: Wait for a serious price drop. My price of admission was $70 because they are selling DLC that should have been in the core came (Exiled Prince) and having almost one hundred percented the game I can tell you it's worth $30 on a good day. Quality is very uneven. Endless waves of magically appearing enemies made of nitroglycerine and jello are just stupid. Story is meh. Dialogue has it's moments. My advice: Try Fallout NV, Batman Arkham Asylum or Just Cause 2 until it's $19.99.… Expand

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This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. â… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As you can see from the Score i am more then disapointed...
a Few Questions and Answers

Does this Game really deserve 0 rating when you look and play the game?

No it doesnt, but game publishers like EA needs to be reminded that they cant just Ruin or push/rush games without backlash or consequense.

EA takes a product that works and Milks it, it is unacceptable.


But the game...

You start the game and choose your class, you will then be put into a combat sequense where you learn too use the Combat system. Pretty neat... but this cant be switched off and gets rather anoying.

After playing the game for a few hours i had too push Exit to windows never too return.
The amound of short cuts that has been taken in this game is insane, ever group you meet is set up the same way, every Map you discover you will return too again and again.
The items you use you will have to change out for a better set after each act, your companions armor has been removed too save Items in the game.

All item drops are fixed from bosses, theirs no suprises any where in this game.

Its boring and an insult to the Gaming industry.… Expand

ILL make this short and sweet, i loved dragon origins and played the hell out of that game, but when i played this game, i could not be more shocked to see they would actually sign this game off as bio ware approved. I never at any point felt i was an epic character, or felt a huge attachment to my characters as i did in part 1. This sequel should of been easy to make. keep what worked and fixed what didn't. its like bio ware didn't think twice about how there fans really felt and instead killed everything i loved about the first.

if you like half assed then this is the game for you :(… Expand

enemies appear out of nowhere, item names have no back story - you can't even attack enemies that you SEE until you get close enough that they turn red

I'll just leave this here:

http://www.gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/dragon-age-ii-review#comment-38510

............. btw I'm giving this a 0 to do my part to offset the 10s given by the EA/Bioware review writers.

I was really impressed with DA and DA:O but unfortunately DA 2 was a total let down. The whole game has a recycled cookie-cutter feel, especially with the quest design. All the game does is take you around to the exact same areas in each Act, but just with different quests. Laziness anyone? There isn't even a true world map like the original Dragon Age. It feels very constrained, and there are about 3 different types of enemies: humans, darkspawn, and spiders...what a joke. If I could return the game for a full refund I would do so in a heartbeat these guys will never get my money again charging 60 dollars for something that is probably worth about 10. I could go on but wasting more time with this game is pointless, just want to warn people out there in case they are wondering about buying the game, and just look at the "Critic" reviews being all positive and the Users (who actually play the game more than an hour, unlike the critics) and decide for yourself. Wait for a better game this isn't it.… Expand

WARNING: Most of the 9's and 10's on this site are obvious attempts by BioWare employees to skew the negative reviews this game has been getting. It's already been confirmed that an engineer at BioWare named "Avanost" (real name: Chris Hoban) left a 10/10 review for this game -- with ridiculous praise, to boot! Google it yourself if you like. Anyhoo, I am now 2/3 of the way through in this game and am finally giving up. I'm going to trade this puppy in before its value goes below $7.00 (which is what EB Games offered me). I thought the game would get better but it definitely _doesn't_! I finished the first one (on the PC) and after playing through the second, I feel that the name "Dragon Age" shouldn't be anywhere in the title. This is a hack'n'-slash game through-and-through -- and when I say that, I don't mean in a good way either. I'm saddened to say it, but buy this game at your own risk.… Expand