Designed by focus group. By trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, Bioware has created game that never really develops it's own personality. Utterly forgettable, DA2 tries in vain to be darker, edgier and sexier, but only succeeds in trying too hard. The violence is bloody, the "sexiness" is a bit blatant and ham-handed, all the while giving the impression that behind the scenes is a 40-something game director saying "this is what the kids want, right?" Rather than focus on making a solid, entertaining game, Bioware tried to include all things for all gamers. They have created a game with something for everyone, but not enough for any one group to enjoy the experience.… Expand

Terrible game on all platforms. 2003 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!

mass effect with swords. the game is so horrid its not even worth my time to write a review about it.

I don't believe anyone could give this game a good score. I'm thinking, the reviewing sites (gamespot etc) are scared bioware won't give them any more interviews, which is why they gave it an 8, instead of a deserved 3 or 4.

the game is not dragon age 2, simple as that. if you want to make another mass effect, use a different franchise name, instead of insulting dragon age fans.… Expand

So far it's been terrible. Clunky controls, terrible graphics. The characters are shallow and have exceptionally little dialogue. 27 pieces of DLC. Not much else has to be said. They've sold out and now cater to the lowest common denominator instead of providing high quality RPGs like they used to. Terrible.

Critics, wow 80+ review average.
Us poor saps that believe them and have to spend money on the game 60- review and that is probably only because of people voting 100% for no reason other than Love of the dev's previous work.

Personally combat is terrible- stats, skills, crafting all useless. There are no tactics required. The Story and characters are poor to laughable, don't even get me started on the childish "romances".. And honestly I've said enough, not wasting anymore time on this abomination.… Expand

Dragon Age was an above average game with many decent elements that should have been improved upon. The biggest flaw of Dragon Age was the uninspired encounter design, where they tried to replace the lacking quality of encounters with the quantity of copy-pasted trash encounters. Instead of improving / enriching the character system and reactivity of the story and the game world and providing challenging tactical combat, with proper encounter dosing and design, the designers decided to cut the gameplay out of the game in order to replace their former target audience with intellectually impaired people who are unable of performing tasks like basic arithmetic and basic reading comprehension. Character customization and development and character stat based gameplay, which is the staple of RPG genre, is gone, tactical elements of combat are gone in favour of button mashing, text responses are gone, replaced by dialogue wheel for the illiterate attention deficit disorder crowd. God forbid that there are proper multiple dialogue choices consisting of complete sentences in the game, it would hurt the feelings of the target audience. Sticks and stones may break their bones, but big words hurt their tiny brains. Instead there is the game that has done away with numbers and reading, and replaced it with "cinematics" and button mashing. Of course, numerous trash encounters have only increased in number and frequency. Without a proper character system and considering the way story is presented, Dragon Age 2 is more of a homosexual porn movie than it is an RPG.… Expand

Boring, boring and boring ... Can't even compare it to DA:O not to mention BioWare's older RPG games. Incredible disappointment. No much more to say.

How the mighty have fallen. Bioworse does it again. Making a really great game, then completely destroying the sequel. Where do we even start with this? Dragon Effect II stars Hawke, a faceless human only hero. (Why did I even play a dwarf in the orginal?) That is destined to lead his friends to greatness. The first thing you will notice is the completely lack luster character creator, that they literally cut&pasted from the first game, give or take a few UI changes. It sports less choices, less variety, and terrible lighting. Don't even get me started on the EXACT same hair styles from the first game. The dialog wheel is a step back from origins and makes the game feel more and more like Dragon Effect II. The combat, while being faster, and incredibly flashier then Origins leaves little room for any real tactics, and thinking before engaging in battle. This too feels like a step backwards. After an hour or two you might grow incredibly bored with the combat, seeing as how even origins has decent blocking/parrying animations.
Rogues lacking backstabbing bonuses, and mages lacking tons of skills that I enjoying using from the first one is a disappointment. It all seems very watered down for a younger/mass audience. The graphics are absolutely sub-par, at best. Some how Bioware managed to make the second game look worse than the original. WAIT THOUGH, if you want to, you can visit their site, and download a high-res pack that was mysteriously not even included in the game itself? They could have made the High-res pack DLC, for 15 $ and most likely gotten away with it.

The writing is absolutely atrocious on all accounts, and steals from the games immersion.

Lots of things in the game they have you doing feel incredibly similar to the things they had you doing in origins. Being a jerk to merchants that make to much money, being forced to help bumbling fools.

The companions are now spineless, brainless drones. Blindly following hawke for any reason "I guess I have no choice". It all feels very forced, and not thought out very well..

I want to like this game, but I just can't bring myself to do so. For every improvement, there is easily 5 other disappointments on the screen. From the horrid looking UI, to the incredibly low detailed environment of Kirkwall. Having loved Dragon Age: Origins, this game has left me feeling empty, and pain stricken.

If this is the price we have to pay in a bioware game when the main character gets a voice actor, I'd rather they left him a mute, and focused on other areas.
This game has left me nothing but upset at bioware, for even releasing this game its very obvious the entire game was rushed, and kicked out the door, though with their recent habits I'm sure they don't even care. You can always just add the rest of the game as DLC, so you never have to release a finished product these days.… Expand

Very saddened to see the game go this way, the game itself is an ok game but from what the original Dragon Age was this is terrible. Combat has been dumbed down, on release there were over 20 DLC items available only for doing silly things such as 'likeing' the game on facebook or preordering before a set date from a set place, there we're also quest DLC's from preordering, DLC on release is crazy but that much is just insane. Not to mention that you also HAVE TO download over 1gig of data to get graphics better than the PC version. STAY AWAY!… Expand

This game is an embarrassment to the western RPG genre. Unpolished, choppy, and broken gameplay. Horrendous voice acting. And a soundtrack that makes me want to put on Justin Bieber just to drown it out. Oh lets not forget graphics. The Graphical presentation was just horrible. I strained my eyes on this game more than from playing Custard's Revenge on a 1080p flat panel monitor. The first Dragon Age was amazing, and I really had high hopes for this game, but in the end it turned into another over hyped, over advertised piece of crap. If you buy this game get ready to regret your purchase because I know I regret mine.… Expand

WNxWind has got to be the biggest idiot ever. First he claims the game isn't a console port because Bioware released a high res texture pack. Wait a sec...if the game wasn't a console port IT WOULDNT REQUIRE A HIGH RES TEXTURE PACK. And the combat? What? You would have to have an IQ of less than 10 to find the combat challenging. The graphics even on very high with the high-res texture pack aren't amazing or even that good...the lighting is **** terrible. Not to mention if you have a Fermi card (or in SLI) you'll notice massive lag spikes since nVidia's drivers suck. The overall UI (apart from spell selection) look like it was designed in 5mins with no real thought.

This game is a console port, that's been dumbed even further down to satisfy the casual market.… Expand

A slap in the face for fans of DA:O, seriously where did they get the idea to main the masterpiece that DA:O was into this piece of filth. Everything's dumbed down and simplified, what on earth were they thinking. Don't buy this game, buy DA:O instead.

An uninspiring sequel to a fairly fun and decent title that needed some minor polish. This game looks and feels rushed from the over the top, hack n' slash combat, to the horrible dialogue and environments. Throw into the mix massive piles of day 0 DLC, lack of mod tools, and a zoomed out camera, and you have a very alienated PC user base.

Overall a major disappointment.

After playing the demo, hoped that the full game would worth something. But, simply no. Basically, a hack&slash game with conversations, companions, etc... And those alone doesn't make a game one RPG. Just an insult. I'll no longer buy any Bioware games, they don't exist for me anymore.

I gotta say, this game is utter garbage. You would think that they would improve SOME things from the first DA, but no, they go ahead and make a rpg for ten year olds. Let's add a couple of curse words and then charge people ten bucks for downloadable content on the first day. I mean, you completely disrespected everyone that the first game was made for. The combat is atrocious, the dialog is too simple, so far the decisions i've made in the game are pointless and have no weight to them. The graphics are a step up though. All you gotta do is look at the main characters last name, hawke, to tell that the developers have no clue on how to make a TRUE rpg game. Hell, the main developer left in the beginning of development! That should have been a sign for me to not buy this game. It is truly one of the most disappointing games i've played in years.… Expand

Here goes...reserved the game months ago because I loved DA:O and even Awakening. Bought a couple of DLC even. Thought the game was a bone to the old-ish veteran gamers who enjoyed Baldur's gate, NWN, etc. Here's my opinion on the game: Pros: -Characters are pretty interesting so far (played about 8 hours) -Voice acting is great. Cons: -Action oriented, which is a matter of opinion. But considering this is the sequel to the 2009 GotY that used a completely different combat system more based on strategy, this just sounds like Bioware left its old fans behind and tried to reach for a new market. On that note, ''Strategic pause'' isn't very strategic. Button mashing feast.
-Graphics are unpolished. Unexcusable, especially the NPC's look horrible up close.
-Dungeons rehashed only 5 hours in the game...really Bioware?
-No isometric view. Makes me believe the PC game was more an afterthought than anything else.
-Story is unfocused. Jumping from point to point in time and following the story through someone else's viewpoints isnt a bad idea (Diablo 2 everyone?) but it's poorly done this time, at least in my humble opinion.
-Dialogue wheel was fine for Mass Effect, but it breaks the mood for this game. Having a choice between being overboard angelic, a complete **** or a wisecracker doesnt sound like a lot of choice to me.
-So little choice on how to customize the main character...human male or female. Poor immersion, I never believed for a second I was Hawke the way I identified to my warden in DA2.… Expand

I can rant a lot about the game-play being horrible, the graphics being sub-par, the CC being plain dumb; but the real thing that pisses me off is the story. This game has an awkward plot and an ending that made my eyes bleed in horror. It is unbelievable that I paid 60 dollars for a completely needless cliffhanger ending. Someone has got to answer for this crime against gamers in general...

A slap in the face to PC gamers, a slap in the face to all fans of the original Dragon Age: Origins game (regardless of which port you played). I don't understand why they'd go in the opposite direction of the original DAO. I can understand making tweaks here and there, but this sequel has been dumbed down from the original. Less focus on tactics and more on playing like an arcade RPG. Why get rid of the overhead camera? Why not allow switching armor for your companions? These changes make absolutely no sense and now it plays like a bad 25 cent arcade game. Here's to Dragon Age 3 (if it's ever made) coming back to it's former glory.… Expand

one of the worst RPG games i have ever played.

Controls are terrible and clunky There are no other control schemes (Only Point and click - click to move)
Dull story
Weak dialogues.
Graphics environments looks terrible (DX11)
Dumbed down RPG for casual wide audience.
Its ultimately feels like a step back from DA

The way Bioware changed this franchise from DA:O is devastating. I mean seriously, no isometric view? Are you serious? Plus the camera controls and overall camera is just horrible. The mediocre gameplay experience is nowhere satisfying and if I want to just concentrate on dating sims I'd play a game that's genuine dating sim. (Oh, and FYI the graphics were terrible too.)

Read these comments The majority of the people played only a couple hours of this game before realizing that it wasnt worth it to invest anymore time into playing something like this. By proof of contradiction, I will show you why this game doesnt deserve anything above a 5 Suppose, that the true rating of this game was actually 90+ as rated by PC Gamer, then it must be the case that this would be:

*The best RPG ever
*The biggest and most interesting town that you ever seen in RPG
*Many player choices with consequences on the story.
*Well written story that will make your eyes wet many times
*Much more attaching companions, more so than any of DAO.
etc.

But anyone who has played the game will see that:

*The best RPG ever?

Not by a lightyear

*The biggest and most interesting town that you ever seen in RPG

What?

*Many player choices with consequences on the story.

Im hungry

*Well written story that will make your eyes wet many times

lol

*Much more attaching companions, more so than any of DAO.
etc.

nope

And there you see by proof of contradiction 0/10… Expand

The gameplay is dissapointing at best, insulting at worst. In an attempt to streamline the gameplay for consoles, the PC version has suffered. No isometric view means it is very hard to see the action and micro manage your group. The very quick cooldowns and lack of difficulty coupled with the bad camera effectively make pausing the game a waste of time. The game reusues the same cave layout with the exact same door placement and the exact samevisuals from start to finish. You enter many caves yet somehow they are all the same. If you thought Mass Effect was bad then DA2 will blow your mind. The dialogue is very poorly written. It reads like a bad harlequin romance novel, something of the grade that you'd find in a trashy teen vampire cash in. The voice work feels dead pan and boring for any non party member NPC and that coupled with the unrealistic fangirl-like writing makes for some truly cringe worthy scenes. One character tries so hard to be cute, so hard to appeal to the "moe" loving crowd that her lines make her seem borderline retarded. It works with little girls because they are young and the stupidity can be excused. But when a grown woman speaks like a nervous 14 year old and calls swordsmen "sworderers" that "do something with a sword" then you start questioning this person's IQ. The game has the textures of an N64 game and that isn't even an exageration. There are pictures floating around the internet showing the low res (even with the supposed high res pack) of the ground, the buildings and the people most of all. All the NPCs asside from those in Hawke's party and in cutscenes look as detailed as the Happy Mask Salesman from Majora's Mask.

This is a bad game. Don't buy the hype.… Expand

This is a complete insult of a game, an obvious attempt to milk the cashcow. BioWare's reputation has taken a hit because of this game. This is a review of the PC version which is a port of console version. Before I get into the PC aspects I will open the bag and say that BioWare flat-out lied about the console version having auto-attack. They knew that feature would not be included, after openly saying it WOULD be included but admitted a mear 12 hours before release that their had "been a mistake". A BOLD FACE LIE.

Onto the PC version thoughts.

The conversation is dribble, utter dribble. For a RPG to have such a uninteresting story, AND method of story telling in a AAA title is insulting. Pressing escape is half the gameplay time, because the story is garbage. Camera view is horrible, worse then the first game. Another sign that the game was rushed. They didnt want to put in the resources in order to make this happen.

The characters are uninspiring, very generic. The textures are uneven. Some a good while other are unacceptable.

The combat is the only thing acceptable. If they had completely removed all story and dialog and just stuck with combat, called it a hack and slash and not named it dragon age, I would be a happy camper. I would have not been suckerpunched.

The fact their really is no point to the inventory system considering they cherry picked what items could be equipped, shows a complete sense of ineptitude. They refused to put in the effort for "Items" and made 10% effort in what is considered baseline expectation. Considering in the first game you could pick a multitude of races to be, in this they allow for only ONE shows their lack of consideration for anybody interested in this genre.

BioWare: Focus groups, critic bribery, lies and excuses won't save you from the laughing stock this game is, I'm sorry the only thing u can do is laugh all the way to the bank because this game is a joke and I hope you all are proud of yourselves.


P.S. Don't F'up ME3 or the MMO.....Fool me once shame on you fool me twice......… Expand

Bioware has officially alienated the entire audience that made Dragon Age: Origins the hit that it was. Graphics:
In short: The art style rework looks horrible. The new orcs and hurlocks look like rejects and don't convey a threatening visage at all. In general, all the new enemies lack a sense of danger or urgency, which I think is the main flaw with the game (main point later). The new draw distance does look great, but there are so many poor textures in the game, it honestly makes you go "What is this". Just for reference, I am playing the game on my PC with full graphics in DX11 mode, so it's not my computer it's just either laziness on Bioware's part or my standards are too high (For DA:O it wasn't). The new cities look great, as do the caves, but honestly the new landscapes look bad compared to the original.

Gameplay:
I think this is where most of the problems derive from: Combat and animations are too fast. There is no need for tactics because the game boils down to to a hack and slash (especially at the lower difficulties. This mindless fighting leads to no memorable fights unlike the first game, which is another point. Nothing in this game is memorable. Your companions feel hollow. They all have back stories and some are interesting but it's hard to connect with any of them. It might just be the fact that Hawk is voiced over himself, but I just felt detached from the entire experience unlike the first game. I was no longer able to choose my back story, choose how I started the game, and feel like I was the protagonist of the game. It honestly mimicks an JRPG such as final fantasy. It's weird, I originally thought the voice over would be similar to mass effect, but it ended up just making the game feel like a movie. Thinking back I think the main issue with the disconnect was simply the story. In most Bioware RPG's you are a normal bloke, and something bad happens and you get drafted into a special league of people to solve the problem. In DA2, I was simply "told" that I was the champion kirkwall, all I accomplished, everything that I was and would be was predefined. The story telling medium really just made it feel terrible, extremely similar to the vibe I got from Fable 3 (Also another terrible RPG). The story is simply too disjointed, where most of the story line entail quick missions that involve mindless running through hurlocks and friends, killing everything, all to recover an item or to meet/rescue someone. It just felt terrible.



I rated the game a 3. It is "meh", which in my book is a 5, but I feel that Bioware has royally screwed up on this game. The alienation gives it a 3. Note at Bioware: You can't say that you are "improving" a game by removing everything that made the original a success. You have alienated the PC gamer group (I'm sure the game is fun more so on consoles) and it will show. Catering to the console audience will be your demise, as the PC community is what originally valued your games and gave your company the notoriety that it has today. Yes DA:O had clunky issues, but what you have done in order to improve and streamline the game has backfired horrendously, and it shows. It really does. Just looking at the original and the sequel compared, it's as if the sequel should have been the original, everything just seems a stepback.



Or maybe because it's Bioware, everyone will buy it and say that it's fit for worship. Who knows, but the future of RPG's look grim.… Expand

Plagued by FFXIII-level linear maps, copy/pasted dungeons, and more dialog and cutscenes than MGS4. A step forward in terms of, well, flashiness, but a step backward in graphics, number of options, cities, and even the number of bugs on launch day seems to be greater than in its predecessor. The voice acting is bad enough to make me want to punch a baby and the dialog is horribly written with quirks like "I LIKE BIG BOATS, I CANNOT LIE". Seems to take every flaw DA:O had that was generally forgiven for its PC alternative, expanded upon those flaws, and make them the core basis of the game itself. Not worth getting, not even worth pirating.… Expand

After purchasing Dragon Age 2 and playing it for some 8 hours, I've come here to warn the people against buying this game. First of all, it is completely unbelievable that a triple A title that had millions upon millions of dollars of production budget has graphics that looks like it's from 2001. I'm playing with the high resolution texture pack that needs to be downloaded and installed separately, and DX11 on my AMD 6970 and yet Morrowind has prettier graphics. The game was also designed with 12 year old children in mind by giving laughable and ridiculous amounts of gore and sex innuendos with party members that it's on the verge of being a parody of itself. The writing is terrible, invoking cliches from the worst airport novels. Story is an incoherent mash of gibberish and stuff we've seen in Origins. Level design is boring and some maps are literally copied from Dragon Age Origins. Dialogues can only be explained as retarded; no living creatures sputter the words with no meaning and completely inappropriate to the situation so often as DA2 characters. There is no fun to be had from this game, and that's a shame to see Bioware go this way.… Expand

This game was a huge let down. From the very beginning of the game, it was obvious that there was not nearly enough time put into it. They took a huge step backwards from DA: O, and dumbed down this game in almost every way imaginable, and the sub-par graphics are inexcusable for a company of Bioware or EAs prestige and budget. They removed any tactical aspects that the original game had and replaced them with mind numbing button mashing as you get flooded by seemingly endless waves of enemies. The game also lacks the detail and overall quality of the first. There are many little things in the game that indicate the lack of development. For instance, the first thing I noticed when I arrived in Kirkwall, was that there was no collision with most of the townspeople other than guards, merchants, and vital characters. You can walk right through most of the people, which in itself is not a game-breaker, but shows how little time they put into detail. Other instances include s having to be lined up with certain objects in a very precise manner to interact with them, poorly rendered textures, and just the overall lack of detailed environments that were abundant in the first game. The lack of exploration and interaction with people other than merchants or vital characters was also a huge disappointment, and you even have to manually cycle day to night on the area selection screen. This is unacceptable as games on the NES made in the mid to late 80s had working day/night cycles. The amount of day one dlc is insane, and the Prince DLC really makes it feel like Bioware/EA are trying to milk every penny out of their fans. I gave this game a 0/10, because instead of improving their game, the developers dumbed it down in every way imaginable, and cut many corners in development, making it impossible for me to enjoy.… Expand

Unlike some who appear outraged over Dragon Age 2, all this game has really managed to do to me is make me somewhat sad. Sad that I have to see such an amazing developer fall so far in releasing an obviously rushed, horribly over-simplified game in order to target what appears to be their new demographic, the "console crowd". Where to start.. The game has been "streamlined" and simplified in areas where it just wasn't necessary.. The combat is laughable, simply wave after wave of enemies that not only die in a single hit, they somehow explode. Tactics are nonexistent.. Sure, on Nightmare you'll micromanage through waves of enemies that somehow follows the same formula regardless of what you're fighting.. Sorry, but I don't really consider that "tactical" play.

The UI is absolutely hideous, clearly having been designed with a console in mind. Yet another change that was absolutely unnecessary, all to appeal to the crowd that hasn't given a damn about BioWare while those of us that have supported them for years are casually tossed to the side.

The graphics are about the only reason this game is receiving a 2 from me.. While I noticed others are complaining about them as well, I have to give credit where credit is due and say that on DX11 with the high resolution textures the game is quite beautiful (if you can ignore the fact that every area you're in is nothing but a simple corridor). It's sad, but this game has brought me to a point where I can say that I will never, ever again pre-order a BioWare title, despite having supported almost every major release of theirs since KotOR. If you're thinking of purchasing this game, I can assure you that you really aren't missing out on much, especially if you're expecting anything even remotely resembling what made the original Dragon Age popular.

Thanks for all the great times, BioWare.. You've just really messed up on this one.… Expand

Super Dragon Age Fighter 2 Turbo: Tournament Edition Round 2.
Console trash. A money grab. A precisely calculated move. When you make a deal with the devil (EA), he always comes back to collect. Bioware is dead.

A horrible, wretched nightmare from which you can never awake. That is what this game feels like. The original DA:O was a lovingly crafted tour-de-force moment in the history of video games. The sequel feels like a rush-job shoved out the door to cash in quickly on its success. The levels look bland, the quest variety is paltry, the characters are boring, and the combat feels dumbed down for consoles. Shame on EA! And shame on Bioware for releasing this steaming pile of ****… Expand

I never thought the Origins was that great, but after playing DA2, I can safely say the comparison is just.
This god awful port needs some work. I would recommend waiting to buy this game, until this is on sale for around $10.
Play DA:O again, or if you're just an RPG fan in general, and don't care for Bioware, just get the Witcher 2

This game is an insulting piece of utter trash, a slap in the face to fans of the series. Even console gamers hate this game, which says something... the changes in the game were obviously made to satisfy console owners, and Bioware even failed at that. This game is so horrible it makes me want to spit.

Cookie cutter levels, horrible, HORRIBLE uninspired voice acting, boring combat, useless special moves, removed overhead view, and above all... ONE FREAKING CITY?!?! Bioware, EA, did you seriously think this tripe would pass for an AAA title? SERIOUSLY ?!?!


If anyone from any game company happens to read this: stop blaming your poor sales on piracy and using it as an excuse to release crappy console port PC games, then crying like a baby about your poor sales.

If you make a GOOD PC game, it WILL SELL. Watch the Witcher 2 blow DA2 sales out of the water. In fact, I bet that the Witcher 2 will sell more copies on the PC, and DA2 sells on all three platforms combined.


What a freaking joke. I'm so angry about this stinking, wet, rotten pile of crap that I can't stand it.… Expand

Up until release of this game, I was cursing the name of EA, and to a lesser extent Bioware, for gouging their customers with endless amounts of DLC and maiming their game in the name of money, more money and even more money. I was sure, absolutely and completely sure, that the game would be amazing, that when it came out all my fears and hatreds would be allayed and I would be dining in a smorgasbord of RPG wonderfullness punctuated by plot, intrigue, character development and strategic gameplay that rivaled the best RPGs ever made.

And then the game came out. And then I knew, exactly, why EA was gouging people for money.

Because the game sucked. Because the plot was linear, unexciting and predictable. Because there was no character development. Because everything that could be fun and important in the story was skipped over in a cinematic. Because there was no causality, there was no flow, there was absolutely no explanations given for extremely important bits of plot development aside from some badly voice acted dwarf telling a story to some equally as badly voiced french chick.

Why? Why was all of this skipped over? Why was all of this glossed over and forgotten and put on the shelf? Why did Bioware literally go through potentially one of their biggest and most beloved franchises with a blowtorch and acid?

Because NOW, dear readers, Darkspawn explode into BLOOD when you kill them! And so do people! And you swing a sword around really fast and do this really cool thing where you slide on the floor and 'scythe' through a bunch of mobs and then make a sweeping arc with your sword and take out enemies and then OMG another wave of enemies appear and THEY TOO EXPLODE INTO BITS OF BLOOD. IF YOU STUB YOUR TOE, THE ROOM IS FULL OF BLOOD.

Dragon Age 2 is a travesty. It is the apex of companies attempting and failing to bring their games to a console audience for the sake of brand recognition and more money. It is the absolute failure of Electronic Arts and Bioware.

They managed, somehow, to take a good game, a good franchise, something that would have taken minimal work to make into an excellent sequel, and run it into the ground like a mole machine.

Congratulations, EA. You successfully transmuted gold into guano.

Don't buy this game.… Expand

This is an absolute joke. Bioware took everything that made DA:O great, and then tried as hard as they could to make it suck. Graphics are worse, plot is worse, voice acting is worse, variety of locations are worse, combat is worse, special attacks are WORTHLESS unless you just like a pretty light show (or a ridiculous vaporized cloud of blood). To add insult to injury, they had the nerve to price this piece of crap ten dollars more than the previous version, which was ten times better. It PISSES ME OFF that devs whine about piracy and release games like these. Like a poster said below, if you don't want your games pirated, don't release CRAP. I'm so angry I wasted my money on this garbage. No wonder the lead developer left... I would shoot myself in the face rather than have my name attached to this travesty.… Expand

Searching for anything that even remotely made the first game appealing is futile.Without any sense for storytelling and character progression DA2 managed to look like the bastard child of DAO and Fable.
A horrible port on PC and a slap in the face for console users, that are often used as a excuse for greedy development processes.
Hawke's voice actors are completely unable to rescue the worst writing in any Bioware game ever. It's mixture of a bad budget movie and false edginess that creates facepalming moments for the player with a mindset above 14. Consoles lacking auto-attack, PC without a tactical camera.
"Think like a general ,fight like a Spartan,"Bioware's slap in the face for all the fans eager to play their game despite the DLC overflow and content already present in the game. Lack of environmental interaction , the feeling of emptiness and the spoon feeding of the player are just minor things compared to the overall inconsistency of the game.
Bugs in the PC version, broken quests, import saves and random graphical and animation glitches another welcome addition to the players pain.
DAO's combat often criticized as filler, suddenly looks realistic and appealing from the perspective of the Role -player. The player was able to decide at least something in combat , DA2 combat is just boredom , fast paced boredom. Like putting a set of Full Plate Armor set on Kratos and wondering why it's not fitting in the game.
The companion characters with the exception of two of them are created with the targeted player in mind, a apparently very young player or a player perceived as immature. Very unfortunate, knowing that the DAO characters had actual depth and where interesting even after the player completed multiple playtroughs.
Now it's impossible to relate to them, unless actually chasing only the sexual part, they tend to be just part of the feeling that Hawke is a pawn in someone's chess game. This sound incredibly edgy and mature, but serves only as distraction from the fact that players decisions are poorly implemented.
Recycling, everything is recycled the robes, armors, items, models especially painful when thinking about the negative comments from Bioware about the art style of DAO.
What is redone is redone to reduce polygon count , for the sake of performance of a very bad parallel release , that is a bigger port than actual ports.
A truly disappointing game, with a bad story , that ruins it's own lore and creates unnecessary gaps in the players vision of the world of Thedas, that was introduced in a interesting way to the player of DAO, and despite it's technical and polish flaws made him feel welcome or at least a part of it.… Expand

If you enjoyed Dragon Age:Origins, do not buy this game. The horrible dialog, the horrible combat, and the horrible camera angles reek of rushed development and sheer greed on the part of EA. Do not tarnish your memories of DA:O, stay away from this horrible console port.

One of the most overrated games ever, second to Treyarch's works. You say graphics are good? In my opinion old Dungeon Siege looks better and juicier. Game looks like poor MMORPG. Dialogues are flat, boring, predictable, and trying so hard to be epic, that are actually parody of RPG genre. The whole history of hero's family is like "The Bold and the Beautiful" or "Dallas" with dragons. The most funny thing is the masturbation mode for 12 y.o.: dragon-sized boobs everywhere. Hell yeah, I just drowned in epicness, singing the song of the old days. What is good? I really don't know, maybe music here and there? This game is not BAD, it deserves more than 3.0 (user score at the time I'm writing) - I'd say it's something between 5 and 6 (7 if you really love dragons). It still offers adventure and ugly creatures to kill and for sure it's better than Arcania.. But in order to balance these crazy optimistic rates I give it 1. Because I have enough of this stupid trend, that if BioWare made this, or Bethesda made that, or some part of the title says "Call of Duty", than we give 8 or 9 at the very beginning and then we play the game. No, folks, all the glitters is not gold! And Dragon Age 2 don't deserve to be called VERY good game (8/10), fantastic game (9/10) or masterpiece (10/10). This game has nothing more to offer, than dozens of similar RPG games. My score is my protest against such practice mentioned above. (Sorry for bad spelling).… Expand

DA:2 stands testimony to the fact that Bioware has gone the way of many other developers in the last few years; tailoring experiences and titles for a younger, more mainstream audience, and less of the gamers of yesteryear. Much of the complexity of DA:O is completely missing, and what remains has been stripped to the barest semblance of what it was in the previous title. Many of the mechanics and elements are directly attributable to Mass Effect 2 (Resource "Locating", Conversation Wheel, etc), which makes the game feel like a Dragon Age flavored Mass Effect, and what few mechanics are newly implimented (Namely the combat) feels like it belongs in a Hack&Slash, Gauntlet-type game. Pair all that with a totally stripped down Inventory/Character management system (Feels bad man) reminiscent of Fable 3 and other new-RPG titles that feel "Depth bogs down storytelling", and you've got one abomination of a title. I was looking greatly forward to this release, hoping for grand things from the people who brought us DA:O, but what I've got is an attempt to bring in newcomers to the genre which strays so far from the "Brilliance in the basics" of basic RPG conventions that it feels like i'm watching a linear movie take place in the city of Kirkwall. Overall, the reasons for score follow:

Graphics: 5 (Being an obvious console port, at least they took the time to create a Hi-Res texture pack and release specialized drivers in coordination with a major video card company. This shows effort, albeit the wrong way of approaching it) The graphics are lackluster and feel very grainy. Running on full dx11 / highest graphics settings, the game still seems to me to be less beautiful and cinematic than DA:O. Mysterious. Would have been a 2/10, but the extra effort to make the port prettier for PC gives them credit.

Gameplay: 2 The combat (I'm playing on Nightmare) is challenging but not in a tactical way, like DA:O was. I loved how in DA:O i felt like Baldur's Gate, pausing every few seconds to assess and re-assign new actions, move to new locations, and have a very rewarding experience from a tactical standpoint. DA2 feels like i'm playing a rpg-ized Gauntlet Legends and prancing around pressing one of my six one-shot-kill buttons on wave after endless wave of the same four enemies. Pausing is of little value, as the combat is instantaneous-speed for all actions and most of the important things occur too fast to feel cinematic or rewarding. Character Development/Story: 1 I'm not a fan of predestined stories being told in retrospect, but the storytelling is EXCELENT. If only the story they were telling me was any good, or the characters had any real depth to them. The voice acting is well done, the tones and undercurrents of the narrator's persona are well scripted, but that all means naught if the story itself is a weakly contrived ascent to power of a predestined hero, followed about by his caste of hollow-headed, unemotional minions. All in all, this would have been a higher score if they didn't try to use DA:O as a starting base for this game, but they're following an EXCELLENT story with a VERY poor one, maiming the legacy they're coming from in the process. The weak story is the most terrible flaw in DA2, as everything else can be forgiven for a beautifully crafted tale.

Overall, it's about a 3/10, not because it actually deserves a 3/10 as an independent title (It'd be closer to a 6 or 7), but because it's Dragon Age 2. Not an independent work, or a new series basis. It's the much anticipated sequel to an amazing game, and fails in almost every way to advance or even match it's predecessor. It feels like a half-hearted attempt to drag Halo and Fable players into the Dragon Age universe and hold their hands all the while. 0/10 for naming it Dragon Age. 6-7/10 for actual production value and quality of product.

p.s. I registered with Metacritic just because of this game.… Expand

This is the worst steaming pile of poop i have ever played. I am not joking. This second is not even comparable to DA1. And to top it off they paid reviewers and are making fake reviews for it on metacritic. Wow... This is sad and probably the worst sequel i have ever played. If you are considering buying this dont, its a total step backwords in every way. It is better to just buy three decent games off steam for a regular price POS, Its stupid they sell for as much as they do as there arent even packaging costs or anything. Worst game i have played in a while… Expand

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Dragon Age: Origins was basically the last frontier of Classic RPG's out there, and it's follow-up can't be further from that title. Dragon Age 2 is a massively dumbed down version of DA:O, with shallower combat that basically negates the need to pause the game and issue orders, which doesn't help you at all on Nightmare mode. Items are basically useless at this point as well, since the only person that can use armor is Hawke. Yeah, you heard me, you can only use the armor you collect during the game on the main character. You can't equip anything except belts, rings and amulets on your companion. The characters themselves are emotionless and don't even begin to compare to the first one. Remember how fun it was to hear Morrigan and Alistair fight about every small little thing? None of the new characters even begin to reach that. They're boring beings with only a superficial motive, and most of the time they won't have an opinion regardless.

There are many more bad things I could say about this game, but I don't feel like spending the time to write them, because BioWare certainly didn't feel like spending time to make this game good.… Expand

While I was somewhat optimistic even after playing the demo most of that optimism faded when I actually played the game.

Revamped combat does not work too well, stiff character animations are also very off putting. And is it me or did Dragon Age Origins have better character textures? Also what's with the Critic's score, my god. Those are NOT honest reviews, because metascore's user ratings clearly does not reflect that.… Collapse

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My experience with Dragon Age 2 has been a complete mess (similar to all the Bioware/EA PR incidents that have been happening lately) since I picked the game up on release date, fully regretting it. While the presentation, graphics and sound of the game are bordering on average the biggest difficulty lies with this less than mediocre game relying on the name of it's predecessor for sales while failing in all the areas that should have been improved. While the graphical style is good and does make for a nice looking game the extremely low resolution textures and terrible models of certain people in Kirkwall stand out extremely badly, not only that but because every location in the game is repeated ad naueseum you notice it every single time. There is literally nothing in the soundtrack that stands out compared to some of the tracks in DA:O that really drives home the point that the composer mentioned in an IGN interview about being rushed by EA to push the game out as soon as possible. Now it is the gameplay that really causes the game to fall apart and where the poor work that was put into the game is clearest. The two main portions of the game- combat and conversation- were terribly done due to their desire to appeal to as many non-RPG fans as possible without attempting to cater to their true fanbase, the most insulting part of the game. The combat was pointless and repetitive where fights without 20 enemies falling out of the sky as reinforcements was an oddity and a severe lack of tactics became obvious as I never had to make custom tactics on the hard difficulty. Conversation under the mass effect wheel was even worse than it was in mass effect with the vaguest statements being available on your "choices" which hardly change a thing in the game and only give you an illusion of having a decision. Not only that but the story was so terribly written it must be embarrassing for anyone from the original DA:O team to play through it: a refugee where everyone that you care about dies, constant fast-forwarding that give you no incite on your character, random plot devices being thrown in such as the lyrium idol turning into Meredith's sword which seemed more like a "HEY REMEMBER THIS FROM 3-6 YEARS AGO?", random DA:O cameos that make absolutely no sense without explanation, stupid decisions by NPCs that they make for no reason and without any explanation such as Orlin using blood magic, Merril being kidnapped without any mention and still having the ability to use her to save her from her own kidnapping, terribly written romances (obviously Twilight referenced)... I can't keep going on without feeling sad for the state of this sequel, Bioware and the current direction video games are taking. There isn't even any lasting appeal to the game as you already play through the same area 100 times by the end of the game anyway. The idea about centering the story and game around a single city and how it was influenced by your character and what changed during your life isn't a bad idea but the implementation where nothing else changes in the scenery and absolutely everything remains the same for the 7 years of gameplay just pulls away from any semblance of immersion this game can give you. Just save your money, you'll find way better RPGs from budget studios than you will from Bioware now it seems.… Expand

Instead of a zero, I should be able to give this game a negative number - somewhere around -7, because I'm comparing it to Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age II can be summarized easily in comparison to its predecessor:

1. Simplified combat mechanics that equate to hack-and-slash via button mashing. This makes the core gameplay tedious and boring.
2. More linear gameplay choices. You can experience this from the start of the game, where it's clear exactly how you will get to Kirkwall, what you will do to get in, etc.
3. Less choice in general. Fewer starting character options (human or human?) and no varried starting stories etc.
4. A UI failure. It's control and layout is excessively modal. Everything you want to do (like manage inventory, attributes, skills requires more UI clicks and more screens.
5. Graphics that require more video card pixel pushing but offer poorer views compared to Dragon Age One. This might have been easier on the Artists, but it certainly takes away from the atmosphere.
6. Undirected, non-epic, boring story.
7. Characters are less memorable.

If you liked Dragon Age: Origins, there is practically no correlation between that and liking this. The games are barely second cousins. In summary - Bioware has really jumped the shark with this one!… Expand

Ive never reviewed a game on here before, but after about 10-15 hours into this, i just could not do it anymore. i needed to tell people not to buy this game. you might argue that that game has good RP systems, or whatever, and it dosent deserve a flat out 0, mabye a 3 or 4, but a game that when i play it, all i want to do is **** STOP playing it, deserves a 0 in my eyes. god i hope i can get my money back on this junk.

it is a total insult to all DA:O fans, and PC gamers in general. terrible console port, from a company that once made such great games. Bioware, if you are reading this, do NOT let your DA team ANYWHERE near Mass Effect 3.… Expand

Never good when you make a game worse than it's prequel. So many problems with the game. So much hype over it by DA fans. The "professional" reviewers are giving it a high score for some reason I do not know.

This game is an absolute joke. They've taken the best parts of DA:O and excised them, choosing instead to distill the franchise through a Mass Effect 2 flavored filter and then serve the resulting abomination with a nice glass of Console Port. The funny thing is, I played the demo on my PC and was already disappointed; I don't know why I was expecting the actual game to be any different. There's a big difference between "simplified" and "dumbed-down," and DA2 gruesomely illustrates the latter. Options, preferences, camera controls and dialogue options, all reduced to the absolute minimum of interaction and usability. Bioware (likely at EA's behest, with the aim of broadening market appeal) has created a hobbled gameplay experience that is neither pedestrian enough to appeal to mainstream console audiences nor nuanced enough to appeal to hardcore PC RPG enthusiasts. In trying to please everyone, they've pleased no one.

It's truly misleading to call this a "Sequel," as this game has very little in common with its predecessor, choosing to ride the coat tails of name recognition instead. And the promise of perpetual DLC down the road from day one (arguably content that should have been included for the price but was held back in favor of stretching profits) only further exposes this shameless $60 cash grab for what it is. The fact that it's receiving such glowing reviews by paid critics leads me to believe that somewhere, someone was crossing palms with a few "gold pieces" of their own to get some good feedback.… Expand

console, dumbed down game, since the first trailer I knew this would happen, no distance view, fast paced hack and slash, no freedom do develop YOUR character, uninteresting companions ... it is and failed attempt to make DRAGON EFFECT tried the demo, hated it, thank heavens I did not pre-ordered it bioware is dead to me, but we still have obsidian, paradox and cd projekt

The slovenly PC gamer review is the worst of all. Everything I want to say has been said. Save your money and teach Bioware a lesson

That is all...

The game was advertised to me as the second coming of Baldurs Gate 2, as a game that would save the wrpg genre, and as a sequel to the DA: Origins, which although had it's own problems, was good enough.

Well, DA2 is bad. It plays more like action-jrpg than a wrpg. Many things that made DA: Origins so good and appealing to me were butchered in the sequels, most prominent amongst all are the options for creating your character, which were severely limited.

The dialog is laughable, I've seen fanfiction better written. The dialog wheel is atrocious compared to system in the previous game. Many times choosing an option, that didn't relate to spoken words much, and hearing the dialog made me cringe.

The graphics and art direction are godawfuly bad. the textures and locations would look good in a PS2 era game, but not on PC in 2011. Textures are low resolution, object blocky, and locations empty of decals. Completely void of anything worthy of interest - just plain ground with a texture pasted on. Games from 5 years ago are eye-candy compared to this.

And why are there so few people everywhere? Wasn't Kirkwall supposed to be a city bursting with citizens and other scum?and end up with, what, five people at most on screen? It's ridiculous.

Also, DLC. On day one. DOZENS of DLC. Publishing a half-finished game and then making you pay for the rest of your goddamn game is just **** And the high-res texture pack released as a patch only few days after the game? Really? If someone tells me this game wasn't rushed, I will smack him in the head.

This game shouldn't have been released for another few months at least. Maybe it will get good, after a year or two, with multitude of patches and mods... but relying on the community to fix your half-finished game is just plain pathetic.

3/10 , had some minimal fun, would get a refund if could.… Expand

Wow, can you say dumbed down? This game is terrible. From the terrible Playstation 2 quality graphics to the ridiculous button mashing gameplay that seems to be design more for a mentally challenged fratboy than any serious role playing games fan. There are no redeeming qualities to this abomination. The original Dragon Age was no masterpiece of narrative, but at least it's story was competent. Dragon Age 2 on the other hand is the epiphany of terrible story telling. But not only has Bioware ruined this one game with their cliched and moronic revelations, they have destroyed everything that was even remotely interesting from the Dragon Age Universe. In truth, Dragon Age 2 deserves a score of -10/10, because not only is the game terrible, but it has also destroy what was once one of the best Western role playing franchises ever created.… Expand

What a Disappointment.!
Why did they dumb down the game like that?!

There is not any fun in the combats anymore!
The camera mechanics are extremely frustrating. There is not enough dezoom to think any tactical choice. You can't even move the camera around. The combats are way too fast paced and look completely ridiculous. Since you pass most of your time in combat, it's hugely unsatisfying.

It feels super scripted with cinematic every two seconds. Loading times every two seconds.

I'm really sad for bioware! They are loosing a lot of credibility with this joke of a game.
It's an insult to rpg players. It has lost almost all the elements that gave some interest to the first opus. And it was already pretty dumbed down compared to Baldur's Gate.


Save your money!… Expand

At the time of writing this, the user score (based on 143 ratings) is *3.6*; the critic score (based on 12 ratings (11 "positive")) is 8.4. You could not have a more embarrassingly obvious exposition of the vapid, dead vacuum-of-integrity that is games journalism. Really, it should be obvious to everyone now that the people who wrote these reviews don't have a single atom of sincerity or regard for truth. As far as the game itself is concerned, it's a lobotomized, bordering on the retarded, dumb-down of a game which was itself a lobotomized rehash (of the Baldur's Gate series). You really could not remove more depth from this if you were desperate to. We're at rock-bottom here, and hopefully that means the only way is up. Generic, unremarkable, uninspired, utterly forgettable fast-food for the masses. Nobody who worked on this should be proud.… Expand

Terrible and primitive RPG. Can't even compare it to DA:O not to mention BioWare's older RPG games. It's like fail of Arcania: Gothic 4. Shame on BioWare.

A major step back from the DA:O and Awakening. As I loved DA:O and all the addons, now I'm really disappointed. It's not even RPG, it's now just hack&slash console game - and as for a console game it might be pretty decent, but as for PC gameplay - it sucks.

I am extremely disappointed in Dragon Age II. I should have done the research, I should have waited a few days and read the reviews. Instead at 10 AM today I was at Gamestop picking up my copy not knowing just how disappointed I was about to be. I expected a lot of this game, what I did not expect to receive was a dumbed-down almost direct console port of a video game. The graphics look terrible even with the "high-res" pack installed and running. The vegetation is so sparse it is comical. The inventory system is deplorable. For every character other than your main character you can only change their weapon, rings, and amulet and belt. No boots, no gloves, no helmet, no grieves. The battles amount to nothing more than, "Here fight these 8 enemies you can one shot. You killed them? Here is another 8. You killed them!? Bet you didn't see this come, here is another wave. Good job, you won." There is no strategy involved, indeed, there CANT be strategy when just about every one of your abilities one-shots your enemies. There just isn't time. I am writing this review in the hopes of saving someone else the disappointment I am feeling. I just played 13 hours of Dragon Age 2. All 13 hours of the same thing was going through my head, "This game is nowhere near as epic as its predecessor because it is FIRST a console RPG, and then a pc RPG, not the other way around like DA:O was". Save your money if you own a pc, rent it if you on a ps3 or 360. Don't make the mistake I did.… Expand

Pretty much everything there is to be said has been.

The game is bad, it is every obviously a console port. It is a really, really, porty port. Additionally Bioware's "whenever you push a button something awesome should happen" just makes the entire game very bland.

The single worst gaming experience of my life. The demo was, bar none, the most horrid thing I've ever been through.
Demo's are supposed to make you WANT to buy a game, right? Put the best foot forward and all that? DA2 made me want to chop my feet off so that I'd be forced to lay in bed for the rest of my life forced to look at nothing but my walls and ceiling as such would have been a fate a million times better than ever seeing the like of BioWare's latest offering.… Expand

What else is there to say? This isn't an RPG, this is an Action title with a 'fantasy-skin' completely dumbed-down and Consoltized...Extremely disappointing. Bioware has made a lot of great titles in the past and used to be the premier RPG studio out there. Not any longer. Sure, they'll still make great games (Mass Effect 3), but not true, traditional RPGs any more.

Beyond that, even if the game were decent - the graphic performance on High-End nVidia hardware is attrocious and the graphics, while better than DA: Orgins are poor. Plus, on the merits of the game itself, this isn't truely a sequel...more like a sidequest....Save your money and time, wait for the Witcher 2 or Skyrim.… Expand

Were all the critics bribed? how is this game managing to get such a high critic rating!? this is a terrible game, awful graphics & rubbish story held together with average gameplay. Avoid at all costs, I wish I had...

I really appreciate the detail that is evident in the texture pack on the PC. I've got a hefty desktop, but with settings on the DX11 renderer on very high, my system lags. Apparently it's an issue with nvidia drivers, I installed the beta ones. Still lags. If I can run Bad Company 2 on Max Settings and Pull 45 FPS, there is NO reason this game should stutter. I've got an i7-960, 6 GB of Ram, GTX 470 1280 mb GPU...I can only imagine the problems for people with midrange systems.

I though the art is a standout feature, the lighting is significantly improved.
Disappointed by the streamlining in general. Not being able to equip my companions with better armor seems counter intuitive at times. Combat seems faster but I don't like watching people explode from dagger hits or arrows. I thought the "300" style finishing moves in DA:O was more realistic and gritty.

Animation is choppy and ridiculous at times. Watching Avalene poke someone with a mace thrust is just silly, running looks choppy. I miss the "sync kills" (dawn of war term for cool finishers). It appears that the number of animations has actually decreased. I find myself wishing that Bioware had created a Return of The King Styled action game or something. It just feels awkward. In Mass Effect shots are based on skill, in addition to the stats for your weapons so it feels like you have an impact. In Dragon Age 2 that's not the case.

Locations are recycled several times. I found myself getting lost because I thought I'd already been in an area, but it was a new quest using the same resources.

My biggest disappointment is in the dialogue and character development. Conversing with Sten was a challenging experience. Now talking to my new companions, I know how they will react based on a picture.

I don't like not knowing what I'm going to say and just having a picture to base it off of. It really doesn't translate intent that well as summarized at times. I don't feel as attached to my characters because I can't chat to them anymore except when the game allows it.


I miss isometric view. I find myself having trouble aiming skills and hopping between characters to get formations for combat because the camera swings wide to compensate for being in a wall. It's frustrating.

The UI isn't as pretty. I miss the portraits with the Mana and Health Bar. Looks Sleeker than the Red and Yellow. Also, found myself bored with the quests. No sense of urgency like the warden had. Just, oh I returned some random trinket. Cool. One Gold. Some neat twists. If you wanted to take something from Mass effect, wouldn't have minded those "action interrupts" where I end up shooting someone in the middle of their speech.

I'm pretty disappointed. I played 20 hours. I know everyone is passionate on both sides. I hope those of you who enjoy the game have a good time. Bioware is an Amazing Studio despite this game and all the crappy DLC you've made. I will buy this game when it's 20 dollars on Steam just becuase I love you guys. And I might even beat it. That being said...

rant:

It feels to me like another "Witch Hunt" that is 60 dollars and with pretty streamlined tweaks to appeal to Angry Birds fans that want to "Hit a button and make something cool happen so they can get back to playing Madden or Call of Duty on their Xbawkz."

Console games for me, are a disposable experience, fun but fleeting. I can enjoy a round with a friend, but when I PC game, it's a big deal for me. It's my only hobby that I can still enjoy in my pathetic life.

I mean to say that I don't feel immersed in the world. I was actually getting bored and having to try and struggle through. I know some games take some time to warm up, (here's looking at you, KOTOR 2) and then get (mostly) good. So far 20 hours and I'm glad I can take this back tommorow and get a refund.

/rant

Mount and Blade was a lot more fun combat wise and there was no story, made by a small dev team. Would have liked either more animations or direct hack and slash. I really don't like action games though.

Except Crash Bandicoot. That game was Amazing. Like, all of them. Maybe you should make DA3 like Crash Bandicoot, Wrath of Cortex. I feel let down overall.… Expand

Just dire. Did not think BioWare could make games this bad. Is it the EA effect? This is neither a proper action game nor a proper RPG - it's some mutant ugly hybrid trying to appeal to both types of gamer, and failing. And a cliffhanger ending? So much for epic story - just an ad for some DLC or DA3. The graphics are worse than Dragon Age 1, like some 2005 console port. The combat is just a button mashing cartoon, dumbed down from DA1. LOTS of things have been cut. It's short - like 12 hours for the main campaign. The characters you meet feel lifeless, and the same scenery is recycled. To hide this, BioWare stuck in lots of bink cinematics and sex scenes. Get ready to be fleeced with tons of DLC now that will raise the cost of this disgusting trainwreck to over $100. Last BioWare game I buy â… Expand

really dont like what bioware and EA have done to this game i really liked the first game but this one doesnt fill like an RPG to me it feels more like a action game.I got very bored very quickly of the combat in DA2 i dont like the dialogue wheel it is fine in a game like Mass Effect but not in a RPG its just stupid.Also why cant you change your teams armour all rpg in know have that option sorry but this game is poor… Expand

I don't understand how IT was born?"OK, let's make some fighting system for kids, dialogs which can't change storyline, AND SEX with woman, than man, man, man, woman".So, is it a boylover simulator or it was made for a schoolboys? I can't understand why enemies are crashing into pieces from one knife slash?It's hilarious game from fathers of RPG. And some words about graphics - it sucks.

It's amazing how you somehow succeeded in making this worse than 1 in every way. Was it really that hard to not change everything and just address the criticism that the first game got and go from there? It's just so sad to see a company you've loved for years turn to ****

I was honestly hoping the demo was a quick hash together of what Bioware was trying to showcase. But unfortunately, it isnt.

For a company that has prided and based its core values on polish and presentation, Bioware has let out a sloppy, poorly executed let down -Technically and creatively.

The creators made a fatal error in judgement storywise, telling the game in flashback (which instantly detaches you from your character, because subconciously you dont believe you are making choices which will affect the outcome. You've already made the choices, now you're just "replaying" them back).

On top of which, the actors were badly miscast. Hawke sounds like he is trying out a bad imitation of Sean Bean, and spends so long getting his Queen's English correct, it completely loses all emotion from the role. The others fare just as poorly, with the exceptions of the pirate woman, Isabella, and the cameo of Flemeth, Kate Mulgrew reprising her role and as expressive as ever. When you compare it to Origins, the diversity and depth of character in the actors voices alone made the experience feel more like a movie than a video game. The gameplay is repetitive and dull, with no thought seemingly gone into expanding on Origins' systems, just simplfying them for a console audience. This goes into the animations and art, which are leaning purposefully towards Japanese RPGism. Fast, unrealistic animations and a complete detachment from your characters movement all lose the charm the original cast, even with its minor flaws. The darker, more brooding look could have worked in its favour, if it had held to the principles Origins set out. Also, for some reason, cities like Kirkwall seem far less cluttered or "lived in" than places like Lothering, or the cities from the previous game. No litter, or copious amounts of barrels or gear lying outside houses or places of work. Again, you get the nagging suspicion this was cut for speed of production.

The Qunari (an important race in DA), also, are completely redone - as if the creators didnt like the idea they had already set in motion 2 years and 6-12 months of production thinking ago. So they changed their look completely.... midway through a trilogy. Granted if George Lucas had done this with Gungans, we'd of all breathed a sigh of relief. But to do this seriously in what a company was billing as one of its major franchises is a little bit ...unnerving. What if Tolkien had decided he thought Dwarves were too small midpoint through publishing Lord of the Rings? Just changing things willynilly through a series or trilogy pangs of a lack of creative integrity and professionalism. If this becomes a trend, whats to stop JJ Abrahms changing the character of say... Chekov, in the next movie, to a female? It is these sort of amateurish small mistakes that pile on top of one another in Dragon Age 2. The small things that came off in Origins were what made and built up the game a popular following. The only, and i mean only, really redeeming feature of Dragon Age 2 - that not only lives up to, but equals, and then betters the original - is Inon Zur's wonderful soundtrack. He got the feeling of epic brutal savagry mixed with dark, poigniant despair in the original immediately, and he pulled off the grander, more unrelenting nature of what this game was *supposed* to be brilliantly. This man should be writing scores for Hollywood, not games.

So all in all. The graphics are a let down if you dont have DX11 (cant even access high rez textures if you dont). The gameplay is a detached, unfeeling, boring mishmash of the original. The story also detaches you from your character in a way Origins never did; and the rough edges are enough to cut yourself on.

If you love music scores though, you'd be better served waiting for the inevitable Dragon Age 2 soundtrack to be released however, rather than buying the game itself.

So sad. One of the most anticipated games of the year has been a complete and utter let down. ... It was only time i guess before Bioware's tremendous record of creating wonderfully playable and engrossing games, came to an end. I just didnt expect it would be Dragon Age to do it.

I rated it a 3 purely for Inon Zur's music. If not for him, i would've put this even lower. Dont listen to the professional game critics - they get paid and given incentives by the big companies. Listen to all these reviews from actual *gamers*… Expand

I tried to like DA2, but I cant. This console centric garbage isnt worth the effort. Yes it looks better, the combat is smoother, and im sure the story is good (Bioware always excels here), but come on removed customisation, NPC interactions, put big bloody flag on the next objective, quests are almost all self fulfilling. Its like an RPG made for 6 year olds. Bioware peaked with 2 epic games. Baldurs Gate II, and KoTOR. Both epic, complex and requiring intellect to play. DA2 breadcrumbs the entire game... garbage, utter garbage.

After ME2 I thought Bioware would have learned, but it seems the EA dragon has once again put down the "APPEAL TO THE MASSES!!!!" mantra and ensured that a rich, deep and complex title wont get made by any dev under its umbrella of mediocrity.

I'm sure there will be cries of "PC Elitist" or some such, but when the muelling mob is appeased by sunstandard and lesser entries from a previously high sepc developer its really hard not feel better than them.

Just another example of the big publishers slowly eroding away the quality to lower the barriers so Joe Casual wont get lost.

Well Bioware I WAS a loyal fan. BG 1 and 2 + exp. KoTOR, NWN, DA:O, ME1, and even Jade Empire were epic and enjoyable RPGs worthy of praise and what your reputation was built on. ME2 while an epic tale was the first obvious step down the path to Casual land. Strip out RPG mechanics, focus on twitch/non RPG gameplay and profit.

I hope EA rides Bioware into the ground, as I have lost all respect for the company.… Expand

First off I want to say that before today I didnt have a user here on metacritic I registered solely so I could share my utter hatred for this abomination called "Dragon Age 2", it's the bastard child of Bad Console ports, and stupid greed. First off I was a mega DA:O fanboi, i loved it to death, and aside from Mass Effect 2 which I consider a poor port aswell and not deserving of any praise what so ever, I was actually a bioware fanboi, this changed today, and let me explain why. 1. Removal of tactical overview, this does not need to be explained if you're a PC gamer, this was a **** decision and it proved to be one of the worst side steps EVER! 2. You Can't upg. the armor on your companions now what the **** is this? That is the stupidest **** I ever heard, you can't upg armor in an RPG? Makes you feel VERY disconnected from your party. 3. Targetting, and inability to use out of combat spells? I can't for the life of me figure out why I'm not allowed to throw a fireball through a door and hit like i could in DA:O, you have to wait until the enemy engages you thats down right retarded, pick your battles much? 4. Bugged combat on nightmare, basically with the removal of multiple spells from the wizard cycle you have less tactical manevouring to do which means that you get stuck in some awful situations that you just can't get out of. Not saying it's impossible to complete on nightmare at all, im saying is there really such a thing as constant permanent knock downs? If you played the game, you know what I mean. 5. Removed the interaction with NPC's all together, and shop keepers are now tables, and chests? Now what the **** is up with that? Unless they have a glimmering ****ing ! like in world of warcraft over their head, you can't speak to them? Why did bioware decide to make a city feel this ghost like instead of building on from denerim? 6. Boss Fights / Spawn points, now here is a thing that really bugged the **** out of me in this game there seems to be random spawn points, just build for a console so you don't have to look to far around to find some action, which means if you actually TRY to be tactical and position your mages behind a shield walled tank, dont feed safe, and why not? Well because soldiers in this game have wings, which means they land from the ****ing SKY and drop down like command troops in second world war, to my disbelief a good tactic turned **** because my mages suddenly got pummeled, removing once again the tactical aspect of the RPG. 7. This brings me to the hack and slash aspect, they talk about the new mechanics like it's soo refined and polished, all i see is alittle more combat animations, sure it's nice and all, but all you do now is move a rogue behind people and hit them, and watch things die, it's no challenge on anything but nightmare, and on nightmare you will suffer from the removal of tactic, which makes this another dumbed down diablo 2 hack'n'slash clone with a little prettier graphics and some voice acting, big whoop. This is a review written after 9 hours of gameplay on nightmare, and I'm not returning to the game, I will try to get a refund on this piece of **** I do not want it in my house, if I can't get it refunded im selling it in resale.

And all those fanboys who give this game 10, does not mean what true RPG means, I have played all the old fall-out games, all the old black isle games, and i would trade good graphics for decent gameplay any day of the week, so i piss on your "graphics" and say this in return "consoles are killing the PC"… Expand

I'm totally disappointed. Simplified combat, recycled and small enviroments, weak dialogues. No isometric view. Bad character graphic (they look way worse than those from Dragon Age!) and animation (completely unrealistic - mage is turning left and right while casting a spell and characters that jump all the time while attacking - such animation is not 'cool and awesome' but stupid, this is not Devil May Cry). Also, no possibility of changing armour for anyone else than main character and enemies spawning behind player in most stupid locations are unbelivably annoying. Dragon Age: Origins was a truly epic RPG game. Don't believe critic reviews of Dragon Age II. DA II is just another action game for consoles (and imported for PC) that simply lacks depth in every field. It is a perfect example of ruining a game instead of improving it. Sometimes it just looks like a really bad Fable clone...… Expand

I rarely play ports on PC since they're generally always garbage, but Bioware has a decent pedigree so I chose not to follow my guts instinct and I bought this on PC.

This may have been the worst mistake I have ever made. The instant that I read I actually had to download a hq texture pack from the developers themselves said it all. The utter contempt that they have shown by releasing this is actually crazy. Bioware is smart that they catered to the forever lonely crowd by making DA2 into middle ages mass effect with commander hawke and his harem. I don't think this would have ever selled without the prospect of middle age fat balding men and hambeast whales modding the game for their bishonen romance dreams. Oh wait, this game didn't ship with a toolkit. Good thin they made every character bisexual then. I can't wait until they release the marriage dlc so I can finally take isabelle on the honey moon she really deserves.… Expand

My God this is SO awful that i can't even describe it. Baldur's Gate they say? HAH!!! Bioware is drowning deeper every time. Few years will pass and they gonna make us just stand at the center of the world, killing waves of monsters and sometimes talking bullsh*t with party members. If you care for your artistic taste DO NOT buy it. Greatest disappointment of the year.

I waited to buy the game because I was tentative and, after having played it at my friend's house (and seeing the reviews), I'm glad I didn't.

My short playthrough of the demo and my long play at my friend's house has shown me that Bioware has given us a throwaway in DA2.

-The locations are bland. Flat, color-less, empty (and I mean devoid of life... ME2 felt like a bustling galaxy, even in empty places. Here... everything just seems disjointed and static). The beginning area of the game, which would have been an amazing opportunity to kick off the game the right way by showing the full range of the Darkspawn destruction, was instead limited to a couple brown ditches, a small, crumbling structure, and a battle on a flat, brown field. The "bustling, and over-populated" city of Kirkwall, which is the ONLY CITY YOU WILL SEE ALL GAME, is full of bland, repeated textures, and claustrophobic, bite-sized map chunks.

-The story is almost non-existent (we're several hours in and have yet to encounter anything that resembles a coherent plotline, save "go here, do this."). I wish I was joking, but this game jams side quests down your throat like you wouldn't believe. And, unlike DA:O or ME2, every single one of these side quests is boring beyond belief.

-The combat is clunky. Between targeting issues and camera fowl-ups, I've easily MISSED enemies with attacks and had to repeat entire battles because my Defender is too stupid to defend my mage (who goes down in three seconds from EVERYTHING attacking her) when I tell her to. Babysitting the Defender through the pause menu makes no difference whatsoever, because fights are too fast, flurried, and often too spaced out for abilities like (AoE) Taunt or (cone) Shield Bash to prove effective.

-Shepherd in ME1 *and* ME2 felt special, because she was uncompromising, strong-willed, and experienced, which showed in every playthrough on either Renegade or Paragon. However,in DA2, everyone keeps saying Hawke is a "Champion"... but I can see no clear reason why Hawke is special, other than she's the PC and Bioware said so.

-The poorly-written dialogue reinforces this, as Hawke is bland and uninteresting. Her compatriots are similar in this regard, as they sign on to her party without question, offer help for no reason, and become fast friends for no reason other than it's convenient to expedite the pace of the game. Much of the dialog (lore, expository, AND romantic) is downright abysmal and actually forced me on numerous occasions to stop playing so I could find someone to point out how stupid they were. No joke... there is actually a portion of the game where one character admits their love for Hawke... and an available response is "I'm hungry." *facepalm*

-The first two hours of the game emphasize combat only by making you play through the beginning... the play through it AGAIN, just in case you didn't enjoy the SAME EXACT BATTLE the FIRST time. It barely touches on specialization (which is confusing unless you spend 20 minutes reading all the different branches and even then, some of them are locked to your characters), and are filled with endless waves of cookie-cutter enemies. Hell... even the writers seemed to get bored with it, because I was allowed into the city with two short walks on the same, small map, before I was consigned to a ONE YEAR fast forward and then introduced to a bunch of NPCs (lacking any discernible personality besides being gruff and shrewd) that knew my character as a slave, but had yet to be introduced to me. This actually ends up being the tone of the game, where you complete numerous side quests before completing a few big ones and fast-forwarding the story a year into the future. This ended up making me frustrated to the point that I lost all interest in character progression, because I was missing large gaps of time. Oh, and my first big quest is "make mom happy." Fantastic.

-Inventory system is broken and clunky. Companions are almost stuck with the gear they've got.

-Game is unoptimized for beta drivers, comes without the HD textures pack (God knows why, but you have to download it from Bioware separately), and has some of the ugliest, blandest... and creepiest... character models, textures, and weapon models. Google "Dragon Age 2 looks" to see what I mean.

This game reeks of crappy console port and is a slap in the face to the PC community that has become Bioware's fanbase of the years. The game has been dumbed-down (repetition, repetition) significantly to appeal to the console gaming crowd and it's painfully obvious. No game should make you feel like you have to struggle to enjoy it and DA2 made me miserably bored and angry for hours before my friend and I uninstalled it.

This game is God-awful pitiful at the on-set and several hours through does not appear to be getting any better. Do NOT buy.… Expand

I couldn't believe it when playing the demo. EVERY aspect of the game is bad : visuals ( characters and places - I mean corridors, sorry - ), dialogs, camera management, combats, dumb down from DAO, and so on....
It's clear now that Bioware does not want to be involved with RPGs anymore. And if I want to play an action game, I buy a good one, Castlevania or gods of war, not that thing.

Console port FTL. Simplified and dumb down. What happened to the Bioware of the Baldur's Gate era? Let down and disappointed Bioware of that past is no more and is now fixated and focused on the consoles. This game feels like a punch to the face of dedicated and loyal PC Gamers. Was a sequel even needed or necessary? Should have left Dragon Age with just Origins, as Origins is far superior in terms of gameplay and enjoyable.… Expand

Dragon Age 2 is an abomination. The gameplay is boring and primitive, the story is linear and cliched, the writing is godawful fanfiction.net Naruto fanfics-level crap and the characters are ranging from mediocre to awful (especially Merrill, who is a disgusting moeblob without any personality). Oh, and it's ugly, and i'm not only talking about graphics - the artstyle is... bad. Very, very bad. DA2 looks like something that a 12 year old with ADHD could make.

Oh, and the Nightmare difficulty that was hyped as being super great stuff for truly hardcore gamers? It's crap too. Instead of giving new abilities to the opponents and making them smarter Bioware just gave them really high stats and called it a day.… Expand

Dragon Age 2 is very rushed sequel composed of dense , uninspired characters and shallow combat.
Companions are huge step backward compared to Origins - boring , unoriginal with very little dialog to help build their personality.
World where the game takes place feels empty and full of invisible walls . Most of npcs in Kirkwall cannot be interacted with , you cant even highlight them , they are just a background.
Overall it feels like Bioware decided to make that sequel very fast and in as inexpensive way as possible , achieving developement cost reduction by simplifying , streamling and removing a lot of elements from the game(for example item description knowns from myriad of other rpgs are gone).… Expand

This game is a clera example on how a company maximizes profits using a brand name, lot of resouces to advertising and marketing (INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL REVIEWERS... SHAME ON YOU) and an awful product.
This "Sonic-like" game doesn't deserve a review, this game doesn't deserve nothing. Stay away, save your money, it's the best thing you can do.

I could not say it better than the many reviews here. I expected DA2 to build on DA1; instead it removes and dumbs down many of the features of the original. I also do NOT want publishers throwing day 1 DLC at us. It its ready for day 1 then include it in the game for free - we paid premium cash for this game and milking us at release for more money is shameful.

Coming from someone who has played and loved cRPGs for his entire life, I have to say that this game is just plain mediocre, and comes as an insult to all hardcore RPG fans. When Dragon Age: Origins came out, Bioware claimed it would be the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate. I know quite a few people who normally pirate their video games, who instead chose to buy that game in order to support Bioware's return to the cRPG market. Dragon Age: Origins may not have been perfect, but it still seemed like it could be a sign of things to come- Bioware finally giving a new series to the very specific audience that brought Bioware such success in the first place. With DA2, however, Bioware practically spat in the face of those fans, in favor of a quick cash-out. Everything about this game is either dumbed-down for the lowest common denominator, or horribly broken. The story and dialog is simply horrid; rather than offer the choices and consequences one expects from a good cRPG, Bioware chose to implement the dialog wheel from Mass Effect. Any role-playing aspect is utterly demolished, as the character is forced into one of three choices in every conversation, which essentially boil down to "Generic Goody Two-Shoes," "Evil Bastard Just for the Sake of it," and "Snarky Bastard." Furthermore, the options displayed on the dialog wheel are often completely different from what the character actually says. Some of the dialog options are just laughably bad, too: "I Want to be a Dragon"? Seriously, Bioware? Combat is extremely easy, and even on Nightmare difficulty, the average cRPG fan will simply not be challenged at all. Graphics, though by no means the most important part of any game, still ought to factor into the score, as they show just how little Bioware cares about making a good PC game. The graphics are just plain horrible- it honestly looks as though the game is from 2004-5. In order to increase the graphical quality of the game, one must download a high-resolution texture pack from Bioware's website. The fact that this wasn't even included on the disc on release reveals Bioware's complete lack of respect for the PC platform. Another large gripe I have with the game is the DLC- Bioware does it precisely in the manner one should NOT do DLC. DLC is supposed to be extra content that had to be cut from the game because it couldn't be completed in time for release. With Bioware, however, they practically cut chunks of the game out, then decided to sell it back to the player. Some of the DLC is actually located ON the game disc. In conclusion, if you have any respect or love for the game industry, classic cRPGs, or the company Bioware once was, I highly suggest that you avoid buying Dragon Age 2, or any other new Bioware games, for that matter.â… Expand

Utter disappointment. They say Dragon Age II hasn't been dumbed down, it's just more welcoming. The truth is somewhere in-between. The new art direction doesn't really cut it (Dragon Age is a gritty fantasy epic, not some cartoon-ish gorefest), the combat is terrible, lacking any kind of tactical capabilities, it is just mindless button-mashing (even on Nightmare, there is simply not enough challenge), rendering the pause and play system completely useless. The environments are uninspired and the gameplay is restricted to a single corridor (most of the time). Mr. Gaider did his best to support the poor combat experience, by some mature storytelling and the framed narrative, but He fails to live up to the example of Alpha Protocol. The plotline is dramatic enough, but the undeveloped C&C, along with the cliched dialogues are well below the standards. The main protagonist is voiced, which would be good thing, had it not been for the removal of the Origin stories. The only redeeming factor of Dragon Age II is the immense work put into the soundtrack and acting. Inon Zur is brilliant as always, even though the score is not as memorable as Prince of Persia or Icewind Dale II. And whoever designed the new UI, should start again from scratch; it reminded me of Morrowind, and that masterpiece came out a decade ago.

All summarized in one sentence: Dragon Age II is an insult to the first game and the RPG genre.… Expand

When everyone around me was telling me how bad this game was going to be, I couldn't believe them. I defended this game till my last stand. I even replayed all of DA:O including its expansion and some of the DLC. Finally the game was out, and I was pumped, I loaded up my game and imported my save and shortly after an hour I was a bit dissapointed: I was questioning every move that Bioware made, and there are so many plot holes it hurts, and by the time I beat it (Only took me 10 hours, which, by the way was 40 hours shorter than origins) I was so depressed in how awful the game was.


Most of the characters were interesting, but other characters (Isabella) who comes back as a minor character from origins has a complete make-over and is a walking stereotype of a pirate. She greets you in a standard "Captain" Jack Sparrow fashion and asks you-- a person she has never met before to guard her during a duel. Once you are at this duel you do all of the fighting for her, and once you are done with the fighting? She tells you that she wants to have sexual intercourse with you.

It's this type of crap that I was tired with throughout the whole game, the "mature" theme (M RATED GAMES FOR MATURE GAMERS LIKE MYSELF GUYS!) that didn't even need to be there. The story was uninispired, the voice acting was standard-fare, and the graphics were that of a PS2. Bioware has turned their back on the PC gaming community and are just showing how much of a joke their games can really be.

Oh, and by the way: There are two endings, and the only difference is a about a line of dialogue. Game of the year!… Expand

This isn't a RPG! It's a hack'n'slash! There is nothing else to say: it's a game for casual gamers! At technical level there's only one interesting thing: the soundtrack! Everything else it's really really poor!

Terrible. This is slasher and it is BAD slasher. cRPG? It is bad joke. This production technically is terrible too - probably worst port for PC in last years. It is worse then latest NFS HP - I dont know how it is possible but it is true. This "game" is stupid and boring like Mass Effect. Remember: absolutely awful and terrible production.

BTW: Dragon Age 1 was a very good game, real modern&classic cRPG but, again, unpolished, no patched, without support. Thank You EA and never again with my money.… Expand

This game is so disappointing to me. I can live with the unintuitive new UI, the new fast-paced (hack and slash) combat, and the uninspired art design. I really can. What I can't live with are the forgettable characters you encounter and the abysmal "story". There really is no "arc" to speak of; just a bunch of loose ends. Your companions have no personality. I can't even remember their names most of the time. If they had numbers instead of names it would not make one bit of difference. They are forgettable and so is this game. I do not have the feeling of becoming "attached" to anything or anyone, including the main character (Hawke). There is no reason for me to care. Terrible, terrible writing. There really are no redeeming qualities. If Dragon age 2 wasn't made by Bioware, the professional critic scores would be much, much lower. This game is a generic, uninspired, rushed piece of trash. I am incredibly disappointed. Please do not waste your money like I did.… Expand

Dragon Age II will be recorded as one of the worst blunders in video game history. Bioware somehow managed to take a promising series, and do a Tomb Raider with it. The game visually looks like a mod for Knights of the Old Republic, if that mod were to lower all the games textures and was inspired by minecraft.

The writing in this game is exactly what you'd expect an autistic 12 year old farm hand. Gone are the "grey" moral areas, and choices that affect the story. Instead, a dialogue wheel now lets you choose between 3 options, Sissy school girl, comedic relief in b-movie, and complete jerkwad. With such rivieting dialogue options as "Hey, I wunna be a dragon too!" and "Boy, I'm hungry", it's hard not to believe that Bioware is doing a psychological experiment to see how much punishment masochistic fans will put up with.

Most of the game takes place in the confines of a single "city". I say "city" loosely, because it is actually nothing more than a collection of buildings, devoid of life. All areas outside of the city and bland and repetitive. Let me be clear on this: EVERY SINGLE OUTDOOR AREA outside of the city consists of a rock wall on one side of the map, and a large, lifeless, poorly textured vista on the other. I've seen 2 year olds that can color better than the job Bioware did with this vista. Dungeons are frequently repeated. Yes, you heard that right, the exact same cave is used over and over and over again.

You can no longer equip armor to companions, and the new companions are dull and lifeless. Every voice actor in the game sounds the exact same, and they all sound utterly bored with their jobs.

Of course, I needed even comment on the combat to anyone who has played the demo. Bioware decided to strip out all tactical and RPG elements, and instead turn the game into a poor man's Dynasty warriors, complete with waves of spawning powder rangers running at you, while you perform the same over the top animations over and over carrying massive JRPG styled swords.

I award this game no points, and may God have mercy on it's soul.… Expand

This is without a doubt one of the laziest, most poorly designed, poorly made, and just plain awful games i have ever played. Although i have to congratulate Bioware on making a game that requires impressive system specs, particularly the need for DX11 to use the higher graphics settings, AND still somehow manages to look like a first generation PS2 game.

The dialog is awkward and uninteresting even by bioware standards, the area design is so linear and simplistic, everything is just dull and awful looking. The combat is annoying, far too simple and just plain boring. When DA:O came out i was hoping for a modern day version of Baldurs Gate 2 or Icewind Dale and was fairly disappointed but at least that game was playable and even enjoyable at times. DA2 on the other hand somehow took the dumbed down, simplified gameplay from DA:O and sucked every last bit of fun from it.

Every moment i spent playing this game felt so shallow and tedious. DA:O was an RPG with some depth, strategy, exploration, a nice amount of content. DA2 on the other hand is a huge step backwards, i've played free flash games with more depth and content. Bioware take note, this is what happens when you compromise your game to try and appeal to the lowest common denominator. I'm sure you'll make a huge profit and your shareholders will be happy, but brand recognition is everything and i now recognize Bioware as a company that have lost the ability to produce RPGs.

The only redeemable quality this game has is the satisfaction i received from uninstalling it. The most remarkable thing of all however is the high ratings this received from game journalists compared to the almost universally bad ratings from actual gamers. I guess Bioware probably should have spent more on making a decent game instead of all the marketing and advertising dollars spent on strong-arming good reviews out of the useless and dishonest game journalists.… Expand

Bioware has created what could go down as the worst "RPG" ever made. Of course, I have to say RPG in quotations, because all RPG elements have been stripped. It is a "role playing" game I guess, but that role is a very strict one laid down by Bethesda. There are no choices to make now, as has become a Bethesda trademark, and very few dialogue trees. The dialogue now is just a linear rambling between two bored sounding cookie cutter people, and the instead of influencing the conversation, you are only allowed to select whether the character will do the conversation angry, soft, or sarcastic.

Gone is any hint of stategy of depth to combat. The game is a click fest, a poor mans devil may cry, that requires no skill to beat on hard or lower difficulties. On nightmare, a mode they obviously ran out of time on balancing, is just frustratingly impossible, not because it provides a good challenge, but because instead of balancing it, they just added 10000hp to every enemy and said "done".


The graphics represent and huge step back not only from Dragon Age origins, but for the whole generation. This looks like something you'd find on the Playstation 2. The game lacks any art direction, and any sense for colors other than brown.

Dragon Age 2 is not only a huge step back for the series, but a huge step back for video games in general. The dumbing down of the series marks the biggest leap in what has become a trend in video game design. I can only hope that Bioware listens to the fans after this outing and, pun intended, return to their origins as RPG designers in their next outing.… Expand

Biggest disappointment of the year. From the Mass Effect copy pasted dialogue wheel, to the terrible graphics regardless if the settings are set on the highest possible settings. Combat that has devolved into nothing but a button mash festival irregardless of the difficulty settings. Dragon Age 2 was an experiment, a failed one at that. Bioware was clearly testing to see if Mass Effect's 2 lazy, casual formulaic gameplay style would translate well into the Dragon Age universe. ME2 has its fans amongst sad lonely people with no lives and Gears of War fanboys. Sadly Dragon Age fans aren't that stupid. Though we were stupid enough to purchase Dragon Age 2.… Expand

This is as much an RPG as Sesame Street is PG rated. The low score therefore does not just concern the product, but the way it is advertised: as catering to the RPG crowd. It does not, yet it has deliberately been marketed that way, and even been branded as such.

If BioWare/Electronic Arts had wanted to be honest, they would not have published this game as part of the Dragon Age franchise, a franchise that was named the 'spiritual successor' of Baldur's Gate. Instead, they could have branded it as 'Hawke's Adventures', or God knows what, and I would not have felt the need to be this straightforward with my criticism. For then they would have been honest. Selling this as a Dragon Age game is tantamount to fraud: it is dishonest advertising and BioWare deserve all the criticism that is currently being hurled towards them.

Dragon Age 2 may be a good game, but it is a terrible RPG and that is how it is being marketed. Therefore, I have to judge it that way. It gets one point for having a story that courageously avoids the 'big bad' RPG trope and frankly that's being generous, as normally frauds shouldn't get away with any points.… Expand

Shortly summed up, i thought DA2 was awful.

To go a little more indepth, Bioware has done away with things like companion equipment (apart from accessories), changed the camera to an "up your butt" forced view, and max zoomout isnt far at all, its extremely difficult to see much if you are playing a ranged character (like a mage).

To top the insult off, they have introduced spawning waves of enemies, and lots of "flashy" deathmoves with gore whipping all over the place. This has a lot more in common with an action game than it does a role playing game. Definitely the low point of Bioware's career :/… Expand

Dragon Age 2 is a step backwards in many ways from Dragon Age: Origins. DA:O was supposedly the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and while it fell short of that lofty goal, it did manage to be a great step in the right direction and a great first entry for a new RPG franchise. A sequel merely needed to build upon that success by giving the fans more of the same with a new story to sink their teeth into. Sadly DA2 fails to do this. Many of the great features of the original have been removed. The origins choice and playthrough at the start where a race/class is chosen and it affects the character entirely, has been removed. Full dialogue options have been removed in favour of a simple good/bad/neutral choice. Combat has been made very simple and less tactical. The overhead camera has been removed.

It has the better graphics that we would expect from a sequel but the substance and the depth and richness that would have been needed to cement this is as a great RPG franchise have been forgotten in favour of flashier animations, extra voice acting and simpler gameplay to appeal to a mass market.

This is bad enough but the game was also rushed. The environments are recyled to a very noticeable extent that ruins immersion and the gameplay feels linear in comparison to better rpgs.

I do not know if it is possible in the modern gaming market to produce something with love and care like BG was but Bioware, if you are listening - please go back to your roots and make a TRUE baldur's gate successor! Or at the very least make sure that Dragon Age 3 is more like it's origins.… Expand

I've played the first part of the game (PC version). Well, DA2 is absolutely below any average expectation, an insult to RPG games: the combat mechanics are directly mutuated by a consolish system which simply brings the player to "press a button repeatedly" (or by clicking in my case)... And "something awesome" DOESN'T HAPPEN. Animations are mediocre and feels like watching a japanese cartoon. During dialogues, npc's are stuck like mannequins and facial animations are poor. Did I say dialogues? Oh, yes... Dialogues are simply awful, are they written by a 12 years old boy? They are poor in content and in words themselves, with no "verve" and inspiration, the same fantasy rpg-like pattern always replicated. Well... Wow! Technically the game is discreet, neither generous in details, nor scandalously lacking of polygons (don't expect something great anyway). To finish, the plot isn't interesting at all, there is a sensation of deja-vu everywhere, and voice acting doesn't help. A reccomendation: don't buy this game and wait for The Witcher 2.… Expand

Origin was not perfect, but it was a good game. Here, on DA2, every aspect of the game is a downgrade. No more strategic battle, no armors for companions in inventory, no crafting (NPCs make it for you), no dialogue skills like persuasion or intimidation (you can ask a companion to interfere in conversation, but it's an automatic succes). This game is a waste, and I'm worried about Mass Effect 3.

Geeze, can they possibly dumb down these games any more. Blatant copy-paste areas and revisiting the same locations over and over, very lazy design. So many waves of mobs that its almost border-lining on hack and slash game. that wouldn't even matter so much if the combat was good but it's not, like everything else totally dumbed down. I just can't stand to play this game any more, its just bad in just about every area, way to linear and tedious and an incredible disappointment, a huge step backwards in my opinion. Total proof that publishers are paying these top reviewers to give good reviews.… Expand

This is probably the worst RPG I have ever played. I have a hard time even calling it an RPG. I don't even know what to classify it as. Interactive movie, maybe? I really didn't like the first Dragon Age, but it wasn't that bad. I never got around to beating it. My friends kept telling me how awesome this game will be and I checked out reviews which gave it a really high score. From the sound of the reviews it looked to be GOTY quality. I bought it and played it and was unimpressed through about an hour playing. I just wanted to get through with playing it and it was so repetitive after only an hour. I can't take it any more and I had my stomach sink like when you lose money. I felt like I had been scammed and that my $60 was wasted. I really hate judging a game without even beating it but I just don't have to willpower to wade through this game. Bioware could of at least spent some of the money on commercials for this game on the development instead. It played like World of Warcraft. It was horrible and the only thing I liked about it was the fire that looked pretty cool.… Expand

All I do is follow my little icon that tells me where to press A some more. No party banter, no cool icons for your trash, everything is white and streamlined and boring looking as far as loot goes, not to mention the fact that all the interesting loot is reserved for me alone. Worse than all of the hack and slash button mashing combat is the fact that even though I've made it to the Deep Roads, I still don't give a damn about any of my companions. For a Bioware game, that is a crying shame. Just how are they managing these (generally) high reviews from gaming sites? The payoffs must have been epic. Taking it back to the store today and going to reply DA:O on PC to wash the bad taste out of my mouth.… Expand

I can't believe I paid full price for this game, what a total let down. I absolutely loved DA:O, and this game was a total kick to the pants. I've never felt so strongly to actually leave a review before on here, but this game has really rustled my jimmies. Even FFXIV is better than this game. Shame on you bioware for releasing this absolutely disastrous videogame. You should consider yourself lucky people can't get a refund!!!!!!!!!!!!… Expand

This is not Dragon Age, despite the game's title, the game itself has precious little to do with Dragon Age. It's almost an insult naming this game Dragon Age 2. Very saddening to see a once great rpg turned into something like that. Almost every aspect of a rpg is dumbed down beyond words to better appeal to the console users, seriously. What the hell is the Mass Effect conversation style doing in Dragon Age, it basically give u 3 words and a face beside you to hand hold you telling you that the choice is an evil/good/neutral one. Only one default race, seriously? Much of the appeal, and re-playability, of the previous Dragon Age is that one can choose a different race on each play through and the NPC will react accordingly to your race. Now you are better off deleting the game after your first run through, no re-playability whatsoever. There is so many things fundamentally wrong with this game I dun even know where to end.

Bioware better off naming it Mass Effect: Origins which tells the story of how Shepherd's ancestor save the world. If we wanted something like Mass Effect we would have waited for the next Mass Effect. In a nutshell, this is NOT Dragon Age, anyone looking forward to reliving the hundreds of hours spent on the original Dragon Age will be sorely disappointed. Better off grabbing Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition and play any dlcs that you missed out previously, even replaying Dragon Age: Origins for the 1000th gives you a better experience. Give us back our original Dragon Age!… Expand

Well just played the demo and it was enough to make sure i wouldn't be buying it. What a disappointment as i loved the first game. It would seem every decision they made was designed to alienate fans of the original. Could go into all the faults but others have already, don't believe the press this game is not anywhere near the caliber of origins and plays like a dumbed down jrpg. No thanks Bioware.… Expand