The only honest review I saw of this game from a pro was Adam Sessler (THANK YOU ADAM.) He kept it honest that it has a great story but the combat ruined it. Between the flashy animations that looked like the damn Power Rangers fighting grey faced goons to (speaking of the Power Rangers) how about that Rita Repulsa...I mean newly designed Flemeth?

Even past the initial stage its just Kirkwall...and limited dialog that does have some impact on the game...but the damn thing isn't long enough to really make you get into it. Only in the 3rd act does the story pick up.

We expect more from developer Bioware. The publisher EA? Not so much.… Expand

Not a best RPG ever. Not a worst. But what is really disapointing - it's not RPG I expected from BioWare. It's completely new-school RPG. While playing, I wasn't thinking about BG or PS:T or even about ID. Well, everything that was on my mind - Devil May Cry and Mass Effect 2. In DAO we can see camouflaged D&D, here we can see camouflaged ME. Combat system now feels better - more quick, more beautiful, BUT less tactics. Roleplay - well, for me there's more roleplay in BBC2 - I can be a medic, a pilot, a stormtrooper etc. Dialogs in DA2 are great...would be great if game would be slasher or sort of. But for RPG they're very bad.
Story - better then in DAO. But not exellent. Nothing more to say.
Visuals, sound, music, decorations - not too bad, but for BioWare this "not too bad" transforms into just "bad".
The game is not too bad for consoles - but it bad enough for PC. It's not completely awful, but I don't know for whom I can recommend it. let's just better wait for Wtcher 2, The and Skyrim. But I'm afraid DAO was last good oldschool RPG. And BW transformed into developer of casual console ****.… Expand

This game is extremely disappointing. They have removed so much of what made Dragon Age great. There is no longer a branching storyline. It doesn't even matter what dialogue options you select anymore. The characters act as if they're living a giant joke.

The graphics are mediocre in most areas of the game, and absolutely horrible in others. I haven't seen such blocky character models since the playstation 1. It feels extremely rushed and I am sad to have paid for it.… Expand

Dragon Age II sees a grand overhaul of the series' underlying systems, and the game benefits greatly as a result. The class system in particular is much improved. It revolves around the three roles you remember from the first game, but the level of distinction between variants within each class is much more defined. Your sword-and-shield warrior, for instance, will play quite differently from one wielding a burly two-hander. By the same token, Dragon Age II dives headlong into MMO conventions more avidly than its predecessor did, so if you've yet to internalize the concepts that drive those games, it might all be a little overwhelming. Though there's more than one way to skin a cat--sword-and-board warriors aren't the only viable tanks, for instance--the fact that the game is built around these notions puts some soft limits on your choices when it comes to party composition. You wouldn't dream of going into one of the key boss battles without a mage specced for healing.… Expand

Game is rushed from beginning to the end. New dialog wheel locks you in with 3 basic options, which are basically good, funny/neutral, angry but good options. No matter what you select, game moves forward, your companions loves you for it.

Quests are just MMO rehashes. Collect 50 golds, go there, do this and that. There's no driver for doing quests other than "YOU HAVE TO MAKE MONEY!" line. There are no moral dilemmas, everything is overly simplified.

Combat is both better and worse than the Origins. Better because it is overall more responsive. Worse because of the design choices. Enemies ALWAYS attacks you in waves. When you engage a group, there's usually a trigger mob, once this mob is killed, another wave that is generally at least as big as the original group appears out of thin air. All combat has at least 2 waves that includes 5+ mobs at least. Some mobs have ridiclous powers to mark up the difficulty. NPC Assassins for example, will literally disappear for a while, and then backstab one of your characters, no matter what they are doing. You cannot attack assassins while they are invisible, they are invulnerable, even though official guide says you can hit them with areal attacks, but you cant. Their attacks hit for at least 75% damage on your tank.

Area you play the game gets rehashed to death. On act 1, you run around to make money, on act 2, you run around doing a different thing, in the same area. Slightly different quests, slightly different loot. Caves are all identical, at most they'll have some other texture pack on them to disguise this fact.

You cannot talk with ANY OF YOUR COMPANIONS. Only way to talk to them is when they have a quest available. Even then, you can only get that quest from their own house/bar/keep/whatever. Most of them just utter 3 lines and give you +5 reputation. There's absolutely no character development.

Because of the limited dialog wheel, your character falls short on any kind of development. Your character either becomes extremely naive, annoying or childishly unfunny. Worse part is, no one seems to notice your characters character traits, they make a 1 line comment at most and thats it.

Graphics while better than Origins, is still leagues behind any competent game. High res texture pack is simply mandatory, its a wonder how the game got shipped without it. Directx 11 options are mostly jokes. Tessellation is minimal and game has the worst SSAO effect I've ever seen. Blur is simply over the top. Even with minimal effects directx 11 causes too much of a performance drop.

Animations are just blatant attempt at capturing "cool" kids. Characters swing heavy 2 handed swords like its a small twig. 2 handed swords really become over the top in this game, every 2 handed weapon has the "GIANT F**ING WEAPON" syndrome. Stinks of anime in a western cRPG is worst of both worlds.

I wasn't surprised when the lead designer of Bioware quit his job because of the direction Dragon Age 2 was going.

This simply isn't a Bioware game. Its a mediocre attempt at miking Dragon Age name.… Expand

How could Bioware have got Dragon Age 2 so very very wrong? Performance is terrible even if you are fortunate enough to be able to get the game running, and forget about it running in anything greater than DX9! And then on to of that Bioware have wormed their way through our collective back doors and inflicted us with securom. I honestly couldn't recommend anything more than a rental of this deeply flawed abortion, or perhaps picking it up on the cheap ... :(… Expand

I give it a 1 for the effort. The rest is honestly a typical and shallow console game. This doesnt even deserve to be called an RPG. On top of it the DX11 support is a draconic way to get people with a DX9 or DX10 card to buy a DX11 card. Why else would the textures (amongst many other things) be extremely bad with DX9?

Im not even starting on gameplay because it is what I already said. Shallow and boring with console controls and gameplay. This is BioWare now? I am pretty pissed how the gaming culture is being dragged down by corrupt developers and publishers who dont even know their own product.… Expand

It's pretty and thats just about all it's got going for it. Have been playing it on normal difficulty and it's like a damp firework pfffft. If you do buy it chuck it on the hardest setting and maybe you'll get some satisfaction from it. Shame I've been waiting ages for this sequal.

Casual game for casual players. Less races, less skills, less hours of gaming, but more speed, more jumping, more killing. Seems to be a game for people who like to run amok.

Listen, I have never taken the time to actually sit down and write a review for a game before, and I've been playing both PC and consoles for years. This game actually pissed me off to the point that I'm going to say something. I am actually angry I paid 60 bucks for this game. I have never complained about spending money on a game... even bad ones... ever.... and I bought NFL Head Coach! Who thought it was a good idea to make a sequel to a game by REMOVING content from it? Am I crazy? The story is fine, and just like Mass effect 2, I will finish the thing and just chalk it up to an expensive day at the movies, which this has basically been. I will not however play the game again. Once I know what happens in DA2, I will go back to Origins and start a new game, or maybe dig Neverwinter Nights out of a closet.
A couple of bullets:
+ I am not an RPG purist. The new talent trees is fine, I could care less about the DPS of a dual wield warrior vs Dual wield Rogue. The new COMBAT however, is ridiculous. Why does everyone turn to red jello? Why do I feel like im fighting waves of Foot Soldiers from the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles arcade game? I thought the final battle of ME2 was stupid, but there isnt a single fight in this whole game that wasnt retarded. Why are people repelling from the rooftops? Why am I fighting random gangs of people every time I walk around at night? Who are these people? why are they angry? Why do they insist on fighting me if they are all dead after two swings of the sword?
+Why is every environment I walk through identical to the last one? I actually read a forum post where a Dev said they removed the overhead view to allow for more detailed environments... ALL THREE OF THEM! WHAT A LOVELY WAREHOUSE! WHAT A LOVELY STREET! WHAT A LOVELY CAVE! I swear to god, on my last run through the same exact cave in the mountain I swear I saw Hawk yawn.
+Why have three conversation options if they all have the same result? Why talk at all? chances are the person im talking to will be red pudding after one hit with the boom stick.
+Why cant I choose my race? why cant I dress my team in the stuff I want? Better Question, WHY AM I PICKING UP LOOT THAT NO ONE CAN USE?!?! Just have everyone drop coin! why am I carrying junk?!!?
+These things wouldnt bother me if the game title didnt have a "2" at the end of it. Why would you remove content from a game in the sequel? Why would you limit the options and level of involvement in a game THAT HAD IT IN THE FIRST INSTALLMENT. I heard the Dev's were streamlining the game because it sold well on consoles and they were appealing to that group. Did the console people ask for less of a game? Did anyone ever consider that the console people bought DAO because it had a lot of immersive elements that other games didnt have? again

I PAID MORE MONEY FOR LESS GAME. I would have posted this review on Biowares social site, but I dont want to have my accounts locked and game accounts voided for daring to criticize my betters.

the three points I gave this game are out of loyalty to the Bioware I once knew.… Expand

This game make me fill insulted by the game creators. They dont respect players. They think that players is dumb and would buy only super simple things. And WE are not... anymore. STOP ruining games. Stop make **** only for money. I felt terrible when i played this game... i would rate this -100 if i can. If this is the way games would be... than its over for me. Shame to BW and EA

Is this an RPG? It might be an ok Hack 'n' Slash game, but as an RPG it falls flat almost every respect. Where's the subtle nuanced dialogue? Where's my options of talking my way out of a fight? I appreciate that often you have to fight, but why everytime? and whats with the magically spawning waves of enemies? sometimes you see them jump from roofs or come through door sure, but you also see them appear infront of you. Probably the most disappointing Bioware game ever. This isn't Baldur's Gate 3, it's not even Dragon Age 2 (in spirit). This is to Origins what Dark alliance games were to Baldurs Gate.… Expand

After amazing Dragon Age I, the Dragon Age II is a big let down. It has thrown away everything that made Dragon Age I such an epic adventure. For example in Dragon Age II you never leave the Kirkwall which makes environment more and more boring when time passes. The combat is just bad and over used. It is dull when a group of bandits or spiders jump on you on every corner. Not to talk about enemy reinforcements: seems like every gang in Kirkwall got a lot of men to spare. Reinforcement idea is also too heavily over used. I swear there wasn't a single battle without more enemies popping from ground.

Do not believe "professional" critics, the game is just bad and should never been released. User score speaks for the game quality.… Expand

The only way to describe this game is as if a 'collection of red but cheeked monkeys got together,got high, bashed and mixed some Final Fantasy with Dynasty Warriors thinking that they are making the next tactical mastery Baldurs Gate game". Hence, to make the monkey story short-> were the Bioware folks working on this high?


I opened the demo, expecting all the 'user' -aka 'non-professional' reviews to be wrong, trusting my soul with PC-Gamer and all the other critics with their godly knowledge of what makes a video game right. Yet, it is the users that are right all the time, thats what I understand now. As I quit the demo of Dragon Age 2 in record time, after 15 minutes of just slaying weird looking not-so-scary monsters that are supposed to be the darkspawn by just bashing 1,2,3,4 at random moments. I was surprised however that for a 'bunch' of refugees, they could slay so many, yet their town couldn't defeat these 'darkspawn'. I expected a hug of full win, yet was only received with full hairy monkey arms of fail.

Very limited options in the game-few classes, limited hair styles, limited everything. Button smashing gameplay-> only Dungeon Siege makes this type of stuff fun-yet they had button smashing tactical gameplay!

If all you like to do in life is kill endlessly, hordes and hordes of monsters that pop up and instantly die-this is your game. If you like to play a good game, something to enjoy, shy away from the comfortable looking hairy arms that Bioware currently has open for 40 euros a hug. Only PRO that Dragon Age 2 was the demo, that saved me a lot of money. Thanks Bioware.… Expand

This game is simply an apple that fell too far from the tree so to speak it is absolutely an insult...... There are too many problems to list. I have over 500 hours into the original Dragon Age and in comparison the new game is not even recognizable. Thumbs down.

Dear Bioware:
You may not see your sales sink for this game, because many of us purchased this game with hopes that it would offer the same depth of gameplay as DA:O, but you will see them sink for the next one. Basically, we had a bait-and-switch pulled on us, and you can expect most of to know what to expect next time. Your company has plummeted in my mind over the past few years, and I don't think I am the only one. This game is what I will think about in the future when I hear the name "Bioware" -- a shameless money-grab at the God of War crowd. Bioware is now the bait-and-switch company in my mind, thanks for helping me make up my mind on that.… Expand

I am a massive BioWare fan, and their games are my favorite of all time especially Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. But this game was a huge disappointment. It had no identity. The Action was too "actiony" even for a action RPG let along a RPG.

The stages and levels were rehashed and used over and over again. Difficulty was sending the same waves of mobs at you over and over again.

This is probably BioWare's worst game to date. I usually went around saying "BioWare games can't fail" I guess I was wrong. This game didn't really fail but was average at best.… Expand

Being a fan of Bioware since Baldur's Gate. I loved Dragon Age Origins, Started Playing Dragon Age 2 and I felt like Bioware just gave up on the franchise. The combat felt more like an action game, meant for 10yr olds to keep them entertained. Story wasn't even as good as the original, where I was always wondering what was happening next.. DA2 just felt like side quest after side quest. and oh your done.. With a slap in the face ending.. I feel very disappointed in the direction Bioware is going, and defiantly not recommend this game to any of my friends.… Expand

Firstly, I was always a huge bioware fan. I played all the rpg/frp games created by them (hell I finished Baldur's gate 5 times). I preordered Dragon Age 2 and I was so disappointed that I am not even sure if I'll finish the game. Beatiful voice acting, gorgeous graphics and sadly zero game play satisfaction. Sometimes you don't even know what's going on in the screen. It's just a hack and slash game with zero burden on your brain. Combats just play themselves automatically, dialogues are non existing, good evil choices are too plain with no real content in it. And on top of that, most of the dungeon maps are repetitive, copy paste, including the hidden doors and their entrances. Literally, two dungeons I visited on after the other had the exact same cave room. Do yourself a favour, go and buy Baldur's gate 2 and start playing it again.… Expand

Dragon Age 2 is essentially a blatant money grab, destroying an interesting and original franchise that is rarely found. While Dragon Age Origins did not break any new ground for Bioware, Dragon Age Origins did show us how a well written game with an intriguing storyline can boost gaming past nerdom to the mainstream.

DA 2 shows us the greedy side of Bioware (while some may blame EA), regardless, DA2 is a poor (very poor) cousin (not even a sequel) to DA:O. Terrible plotting, less than interesting conversations, boring combat, no art direction whatsoever, it's like a uwe boll movie without a budget and a script.

It's almost as if DA 2 was developed by a 2nd rate development team fresh out of design school. A terrible sequel to a much lauded development firm. If I was EA, I'd have given Uwe Boll a call and given him the money to make a DA Movie rather than this drivel.… Expand

Just played DA2 for a few days, absolutely horrid experience. It is nothing like the original DA. No depth, no interesting environment, and the combat is so boring. I mean if you are going to make a sequel, at least make the game play similar to the original, just improve upon it. If you are going to make something completely different, then release it as a different franchise please.

I loved DA 1. I waited with great anticipation for this sequel to the point where I marked it on my calender lol
I have never been so disappointed in a sequel before and that is saying a lot lolol
The characters were flat and uninteresting. The characters were so whiney I cringed when I had to pick which ones to take with me. The plot was extremely messy to the point it seemed act 3 was thrown together last minute and not actually a part of the original plot. The combat was much worse then the first DA. There was no real stradegy thinking to kill mass amounts of low grade uninteresting monsters.
There was only 1 decent boss fight in the whole game (the high dragon) and that wasn't "great". Overall I was beyond disappointed in this game! When will game designers give us combat with boss monsters that are interesting to fight?! Don't keep throwing more of the same thing at us and expect us to be thrilled ~ give us great boss fights and plenty of them! As another reviewer said, going more into my review for this game isn't worth my time.… Expand

A grand let down. From the reused locals, to the lackluster quest lines, Dragon Age 2 never stops feeling stale. If your looking for a engrossing depth defying role playing game, Dragon Age 2 can't fulfill.

An astonishingly disappointing entry from Bioware. As a fan of many Bioware games, of Dragon Age: Origins, as well as other classic RPGs, I was all set to return to the world of Thedas & continue in what should be a landmark Bioware RPG... Right? No, not so much. In fact, in complete contrast to RPGs where I just couldn't close the game, where the game cried out for 'just one more hour!' - DA2 I had to make an effort to play it.

Negatives:
Complete lack of immersion would be my number one killer for this game. Companions requiring you to be at their home before you can talk with them, terrible space-age user interface, the same unmoving NPCs for an entire decade of gameplay, in-combat spawns (!), the absolutely identical three-four buildings/dungeons reused throughout the entire game - these are just the beginnings of why I didn't immerse in DA2.

Mass Effect 2 managed to paper over any repetition issues with an engaging story, and combat that was diverse enough that you had to occasionally engage the braincell. Not so with DA2. In fact, strategic planning goes out the window thanks to the spawning system - you can never be sure when the next batch of enemies will mysteriously appear. No isometric-style view was very lacking.

The characters & story are not much better. Try as I might, I just can't engage with DA2. It's not for lack of effort - the writing and voice acting is excellent - it's just that whoever produced the overall story arc seems to have completely forgotten how to do it. Imagine if the opening of Baldur's Gate had begun with explaining how you were the child of Bhaal destined to defeat Sarevok, dropped you at the encounter with Sarevok bypassing Candlekeep entirely, and some NPC gets killed. Emotional involvement? None. Mystery? Well you've just told me the ending.

Everyone and their dog can figure out that the protagonist of an RPG will be someone important - take Mass Effect 2; everyone knows Shepard is the hero, but we got to make him/her the hero in ME1 from humble roots - Shepard's Our hero. Hawke starts the game as badass numero uno for hire, and there's no emotions of success or progression involved.

The companions are awful, barring Merrill & Varric. I found it hard to like any of the others, mainly because they spent so much time diametrically opposed to practically anything I did, for no adequate reason. I honestly felt I couldn't win; that any choice I made had the potential to have my current companions' friendship/rivalry oscillating back & forth yet again; that for each conversation, they have just met you.

No origin stories, no different race perspectives, little in the way of meaningful influence from DAO, and a story that bludgeons you over the head with the primary warring antagonists, yet inexplicably allows you to make either no meaningful decisions about them or such polarised decisions, all left me feeling railroaded. The distressing thing is that it has all the hallmarks of Bioware great storytelling, and yet somehow manages to be irritating.

The inventory & loot & armour system are so cut down as to not even be worth bothering with. Your loot is only really useful to you; you can't outfit companions with a different look beyond weapons. Even useful loot is all 'A ring' or 'A belt' with no meaningful descriptions.

Positives:
A voiced protagonist in my view really helps the game & immersion, what little was to be found.

The graphics & sound are generally excellent & good to look at. It's just unfortunate that so much potential was wasted on the same recycled environments. The stale repetitive combat is at least good to look at, with lovely animations & explosions and so on, although mages annoyed me with their ninja-like staff wielding.

Despite all the immersion-breaking, the core design of the UI is good. The actual interaction bits of the UI were sensible, with good visual feedback, and finally, a decent character level editor that explains what does what.

The dialogue wheel of ME2 makes an intro, and I loved the concept, especially a decent feedback system for what option was flirting, what was nice, and so on. However I deserve to preview the full text of what Hawke is about to say and not be incredibly surprised when my flirty flippant remark turns out to be rude & unfunny.

Applause goes to the continued adult treatment of issues like child abuse, same-sex relationships, blood (everywhere), violence, and generally treating an adult audience like adults. Long may this continue. I was disappointed the romance & sexual themes were not handled with a bit more in-depth focus and a bit less 'consider this foreplay! - fade to black', but it's a start that they're in there at all.… Expand

Well...I'm pretty sure this game could have been made better (an understatement). Looking at all the negative reviews I do understand that everyone is trying to make the point that they are very disappointed but it isn't as bad as you might think. First I'll start with the cons. It is certainly no DA:O but it still has a good story although it really suffers for a lot of the "improvements" that were added. For one thing its world is absurdly small. You had all of Ferelden to roam around in DA:O but in this? I don't know who made the decision but Bioware should have a job opening in that department. Other departments that should have openings are: where ever the decision was made to take out finishing kill animations, whoever decided ragdoll still isn't necassary (I mean really it's 2011), whoever thought up that irritating emo elf Faric or "who-the-eff-cares" as I think of him, and whoever decided it was a good idea to have day 1 DLC and have the players revisit every freaking location multiple times.

Pros: Well...its still Dragon Age. They have that going for them. It really doesn't improve on the first at all and in many cases steps back but it will feel familiar. It is undeniably in that DA universe. Another improvement is that the character you play has a voice and a control wheel for dialogue like Mass Effect.

Speaking of Mass Effect why did its sequel take such a wonderful leap forward while this one still more or less chokes on the dust of its predecessor? I… Expand

This game probably would have been better if they would have named it Hack and Slash 2. Because if you were expecting any of the greatness of Origins in this game, then dissapointment is all you'll find.
It really is a comletely different game that happens to have a dragon age theme. This is not an rpg, but an action game. one of the worst aspects is the dialogue which is as unrealistic and incoherent as it can be. That's tragic given that what made Origins a masterpiece is the fact the conversations/dialogue brought the characters to life. You could actually connnect to the characters as if they were real people. you could role play. I found myself hating my own character is dragon age 2. not to mention that what you pick on the screen and what your character actually says are two different things. also the fact that your main character speaks for himself doesn't allow you to role play. If you really want a role playing experience get Dragon Age Origins instead. The ultimate edition is 29 dollars on Steam and the game is far better than Dragon Age 2. Orgins is 100 times better for half the price.… Expand

Sorry but no, this is how you ruin a good game (DA:O) with potential.
If you liked the first one chances are you will not like much this new chapter.
My vote could be a bit higher, but form this new franchise i was expecting way more than a console hack&slash with decent graphics.
What bugged me more is the total lack of customization, you can just choose if bein female or male,mage warrior or rogue (which is just a weirdo fighter) but are forced to be human and forced to be a friggin Hawke that jumps and squeals like a weirdo to chop heads (yes even if you'r a mage you make weird moves).
Story is decent, but straight: run here do this, run there do that, skip some ages, run there again (yes locations r repetitive) , skip some more ages and BAM ..the end!
I felt abosolutely nothing about the character, it wasn't me, i didn't care at all, unlike the first episode.
Next time we'll be forced to play a male warrior named Bingo Bongo with no option to choose?… Expand

This is for sure the disappointment of the year and the reason why BioWare should've never been sold to Electronic Arts. This "sequel" is worse than the original in almost everything, except textures and skill effects. The main plot is boring and has no sense, the combat is dumb and the Hawke has no charisma at all.

Saying this game is bad would be generally unfair. Bioware's biggest mistake in this case wasn't the game not being a true sequel but being advertised as such even though it is realistically a separate game. Think of Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate both playing in Forgotten Realms but being two separate story-lines where the events of one may be referred to in another. It's title should have been Dragon Age: The Kirkwall Chronicles. Story-wise I do have mixed feelings. I am not happy about the lack of alternative storyline aspects but the few being there are still entertaining enough to keep a player happy for a while. Companions still have their own personalities and your personality being a lot less mute than in the original Dragon Age titles certainly helps to blend in. On dialogue side the game presents you with a classical Mass Effect style wheel giving you options for certain type of straight answer or investigative questions - but unlike in Mass Effect series the obvious outcome is not always that clear and not always wholly different for the entire dialogue regardless of which conversation path you chose.

Sadly the exploration side got a bit of a short straw, it is still there but due to lack of big locations quite limited. It seems a bit symptomatic for recent Bioware games: Exploration getting steadily removed from games altogether. However as saving grace it should be noted that the game allows you to progress in the main plot at your own terms without too much prescribed linearity.

The combat system got a major overhaul but while it can be challenging on its own terms especially on higher difficulty modes. Its shortcomings are minor compared to the original Dragon Age title, in this case the lack of tactical camera, enemies coming from thin air and Nightmare involving some several issues making making it favour single target ranged combat should be noted. I believe the latter will be addressed by Bioware soon. Talent trees got improved a lot and leave a lot of room for experimentation and replay. Personally I found the issue of fixed but upgradeable companion armor quite an interesting idea. It would have been better though if upgrades would allow more flexibility.

The old crafting system got replaced by a less hunter-gathering aspect but more one which people who played Mass Effect 2 are familiar with. Instead of gathering the resources into your backpack you are now mostly out for finding resource locations you'll have to tag/unlock depending on the locations you are visiting. The more resource locations you find the higher classes of runes, potions and poisons you can craft. Crafting also isn't done in the same spot but done at certain shop-like locations. While this hurts any fan of the classical gathering & crafting game I feel the old system did not actually limit you aside from backpack size whereas the new one obviously uses your cash as limiter. In the end I personally liked the old system more but to be fair the new system is achieving the same results in the end without forcing the player to reserve a large part of his backpack for resources and materials.

Graphically it's looks are stunningly good even though it does lack the deliberately dark look of its predecessor title. Animations are well-down although the game overdoes a lot on the explosions side making it unnecessarily messy-looking when there is no reason for it. I do miss effects on weapons from runes and the lack of a bit more beautiful inventory graphics. The game's locations are well done although a lot of quests do lead to several previously locations. This does lead to a certain level of repetition but amusingly also to a lot of familiarity. The game however does a good job in keeping Kirkwall more than just one town although its lack of aging, progression and liveliness as the story goes on does make the town feel static and lacking the realistic feel of years spent within it. The whole story could be in fact one of a single 24 hrs. day when taking the persistent looks of the town's scenery into account.

The GUI has been overhauled quite well and it's quite intuitive from the get-go. Nothing more to add this one is done well.

What needs to be left noted is the relative subtlety of game's score, even though the score is quite excellent it does lack the certain epic factor which the original title was known for. Otherwise the atmosphere, combat and ambient are in parts a lot better done than in the original titles.

In conclusion I think it is worth buy if you see it as a game within the Dragon Age universe or setting. If you are truly seeing a linear successor to the original Dragon Age titles you might not like it. It certainly does come with a lot improvements of its own but also another set of issues left to be addressed in another possible upcoming Dragon Age title. Perhaps both titles will give Bioware sufficient amount of material to find the real alchemy for an ultimate Dragon Age game.… Expand

The simple truth is that this game is not up to par with what I have come to expect from Bioware. The game is not terrible, but it is not great by any means. The Graphics are very good, and the animations are much more fast paced than origins, however I dont care. I dont buy RPG games for thier High end graphics engines and expansively voiced cutscenes (which the game delivers) I buy them for an engrossing story arc, which, while not terrible, is not as well written or epic as previous Bioware titles. The lack of an overhead view is not a game-killer, but would have still been nice to have, and the camera controls take a while to get used to, multiple camera modes would have been better. The thing that bothers me most, is the cut down inventory mangement, as due to the way companions are designed, I basically end up with three choices for most pices of equipment, 1. Wear it 2. Sell it 3.carry it around forever. The environmental reuse is quite obvious. they didnt even reconfigure the one cave template they had for most cave areas, I get that they did it to save time, but how hard would it have been to make it a different shape using the same art pieces. Ok so enough of the bad, here are the games actual redeeming qualities: Combat is done really well, it is fast paced, fluid and farily enjoyable. The leveling system is much better than origins, with a much more clear and customizable approach to picking abilities and specializations.
In summation, while the game is not aweful, its not up to par for Bioware, and I wouldnt consider it up to par for a AAA title.… Collapse

While the game has dialogue that seems much more fluid and the ability to hear your character speak is nice, the game placed the road block of having to be in specific locations in order to speak to each individual member of your party. I'm not sure if that is the major reason for not caring very much about my party members, but the reality is that I don't care about them.

The environments in the game are very redundant and it doesn't take very long to feel like you've been fighting in the exact same locales for the last 10 hours. It also doesn't feel like you travel much, if any when changing places in the game.

The combat system is more refined although I found from time to time that clicking on individual targets to switch was annoying, and the moment that I tried to reposition myself behind a character I found myself having to re-click the same target to resume attacking.

When it came time to ditch side quests and perform things relevant to the actual main storyline, I found myself far more interested in what was going on, but when you take into account the fact that in modern western RPG's side quests are 90% of what you do in the game that doesn't mean much.

Honestly, while this game has things that are notably better about it when compared to other RPGs and occasionally the original game itself, I found myself very quickly getting bored with this game.… Expand

As the sum of it's parts Dragon Age II adds up to a soon to be forgotten game. This is not inspired storytelling or game design - it feels as compelling you would expect from a component of an over-managed, fully monetized IP franchise. It thrills me in the same way as a new release of Crystal Reports would.|||||||||

No RPG is perfect, but the story and game system are supposed to work together to cover each other's faults. Good combat, crunchy stats and equipment obsession help you when the story lags and compelling story gets you through so-so gameplay. It just doesn't happen in DA2.|||||||||

There are some excellent quips and a few of the NPCs are great characters, but that's a given for any professional RPG. The dialogue wheel is clumsy, the male main character's voice makes me twitch, the story never really takes of in a meaningful way and the narrative style is lazy. Even a good twist or two later will not unmake 30 hours of meh.|||||||||

There are many, many, many nitpicks and issues like the horrible "loading..." mid-level and the fact that enemies are made of high explosive jello, but they are too many to name here.|||||||||

Perhaps the biggest problem is that Bioware's unconcealed purpose for making DA2 was to make you buy DLC for DA2. |||||||||

This is just part of a massive, cross promotion strategy and it plays like it.|||||||||

It doesn't deserve the 0 scores that it's getting here, it deserves this 5. It's a phoned in effort that will not be joining the pantheon of great Bioware games.|||||||||

Buy it when it's repackaged on Steam with all DLC.|||||||||

Two years from now.|||||||||

At $9.99.… Expand

Bioware: 1995-2011. RIP.

Murió de casualización aguda, agravada con una fiebre consolera que llevó a la compañía de RPG más grande a no saber ni quién es. Despreció a su antaño fiel base de usuarios, quienes aguantaron pacientemente sus desplantes hasta que DA2: El Insulto Final dejó claro que el verdadero sueño de Bioware es convertirse en uno de tantos aspirantes (eternamente fracasados) a ocupar el trono de la mediocridad en el que se sienta Call of Duty.

Menos mal que nos queda CD Project. Y que esto sirva de advertencia para Bethesda.… Expand

Man, there's some serious paid trolling on this game. Look for example at this user: http://www.metacritic.com/user/GHawke

Three reviews all for Dragon Age II, nothing but "IT'S AMAZING" and 3x10 scores. Here's my zero to even it out, because the game really sucks.

I can't begin to explain my disappointment in this game. I thought DA:O was one of the best RPG en newer times, and i was hoping they would just fix the few problems the first game had and just continue with excellent story. This is what i think of the new "enhanced game-play"

- They made combat look like a bad hack and slash game, with no real need for tactics. And yes i did play on nightmare
- The graphics are even worse than the first game. And yes i did use the high res texture pack
- The characters mean nothing to me and has no real background story
- The menus and inventory look like crap (no graphics what so ever)
- You are unable to use half the gear you find be course you cant equip you team mates
- They removed skills from the game (not feats)

This is the worst that they could do to this game. I just don't know what to say. DISAPPOINTED!!!!!… Expand

Dragon Age II is a slap in the face of CRPG fans. The combat system has been revamped to an action-oriented style. The aerial tactical view from the first game is gone. Targeting specific enemies is often problematic, due to the limited camera view.
The graphics are average, and not on par with Mass Effect 2. A dialogue system, similar to the Mass Effect series, is used in Dragon Age II. You'll get to choose from a set of paraphrased dialogue options rather than full text lines. These paraphrased dialogue options rarely have the expected result, which turns the dialogue system into a confusing guessing game.
Most of the game takes place in Kirkwall. There are only a few outside locations. Several cave maps are identical, despite the relatively small game world.
The item system, or more precisely party management, has taken a turn for the worse. You only have full control over the equipment for your main character. You can't change the armor of your party members.

Bioware turned Dragon Age II into an action RPG, and tailored it for consoles. They simplified the dialogue system, added hack-and-slash combat, and removed a fundamental RPG feature - the party members equipment management. Dragon Age II has some good points like storytelling, but that's about it. The bad parts outweigh the good ones. It's sad to see a company, which released a masterpiece like Baldur's Gate II, fall to such a low level.… Expand

Since I have to keep things short;
Things that are wrong:
-Poor graphics (gnarly arms, clipping, npcs spazzing out in the background during conversations. Bad textures (yes, there is a high res pack available, but it should have been shipped with it.), poor character proportions (the elves tend to look like absolutely stupid.), generic idle npcs in towns with n64 graphics. Have your world designers ever tried to make rocks that aren't octahedron-shaped? And every enemy looks exactly the same, with no variations. Heck, even the mercenaries tend to have full face masks. Stormtrooper effect anyone?
-Poor writing, and at times voice acting. Everything about Merril makes me want to hurt cute animals.
-Poor combat system. It tries very hard not to be a traditional rpg, as it wants to be a action game with rpg elements. It fails at both things. The combat system is very uninspired. It seems as if the general thought behind it was to just autoattack, and use cooldowns whenever they are up for some flashy moves. It is very dull, and you hardly even have to think about strategy. Stick with the traditional mode, or go full action rpg ala Demon's Souls. Don't go for a inbetween abortion of a combat system.
-Enemy npcs spawn reinforcements. Often right on top of you. Playing primarily as a mage, this system just makes me seethe with rage. How are you supposed to play with strategic positioning when the enemy is likely to spawn on top of you? It would seem as the only viable way to get some enjoyment out of this game is to play at lower difficulties, since the enemies just get more hp and lower cooldowns on the harder difficulties. They don't do anything extra, they just take longer to beat. And as a mage that is cooldown strangled, this is just ragefodder.
-Stripped out most forms of custiomisation options for your companions. All you can give them are weapons and belts+jewlery. So this means that Carver will run around in his shirt all game? This also means that there is very little in the way of min/maxing your characters, except for skill setup.
-Constant reuse of areas. I'm looking at you, cave, coast and mountain areas. In act one, I had to enter the exact same cave more than three times. Can't you just make a little effort to actually make areas? It is very monotonous and dull.
-Timeskipping. This completely ruins immersion. Suddenly, a year has gone, and when you go talk to random people, they act as if they have known you for years, leaving the player absolutely dumbfounded as to who they are, and what they do. And then, three years have gone. I honestly feel that this is a very, very big immersion breaker, and should have been scrapped from the start.

All in all, I feel that this game shouldn't have been released in this state. They should have actually worked on it for another year, possibly half a year. This game tries too hard to be a cross between some random anime (melee skills. Seriously. What is going on there?), rpg and action game. And it fails in all aspects. The animation works are shoddy, often outright lazy, leaving multiple *main* characters with severely deformed bodies and gnarled limbs. Many items and armors are practically a copy/paste from DA:O. How did you spend your time and money, Bioware? Because you surely can't have spent it on this game.

Try again with the recipe you used for DA:O. It worked better. Heck, even better: use the BG2 recipe.… Expand

Terrible, terrible game. Even worse than the game itself, are the actions of EA and Bioware... banning people from playing a game they purchased if they criticize the company on their forums. Its the equivalent of a car maker remotely disabling the ignition on your car because you complained about its performance. Imagine the uproar? I don't understand how EA thinks it can get away with it. Will never, ever be purchasing an EA or Bioware game again.… Expand

Previous game was miles better. This one is just average at best, definitely not worthy of a good score. But I can see EA payed every relevant reviewer to have a descent score on Metacritic, though If you see the user scores It clearly shows the discontent of gamers about DA2, too much hype and all we got was a game where the only descent point is the combat mechanics (just at hard). Even the graphics are really bad. I have a high end PC were I can run Crysis at max at 60fps, but DA2 consumes a ridiculous amount of resources even on medium settings, and it's not like it has state of the art visuals or employs real time physics in every interaction either. I was going to give it a 5 but now. Bioware, banning a gamer and not letting him play the game just because he talked bad about your overlord, EA? That's low, and not just Activision low. See if I ever buy another game from you.… Expand

I can't believe I spent money on that. I've seen the teasers, gameplay videos, I've played the demo. I could forgive them this "combat system" 'cause I really wanted to know what happened to Ferelden, Morigan, the Circle and stuff....until yesterday. The plot is simply awful. Instead of solving global problems we have to play as a not-that-smart character who is always in the middle of every solid battle in one single city (ONE SINGLE CITY!!! WTF, BIOWARE?)...and usually these battle are caused by the stupidity of your companions (Isabella and Andres).

The whole game is just a disgrace.… Expand

I rated DA2 4/10. Let me explain why I deducted 6 points from maximum to get this score.
First: you cannot equip your party members. This is an RPG for god's sake and most of the equipment you find gets trashed as it cannot be used by anyone except the PC. Sorry Bioware, this is not how RPGs work.
Second: dumbed down dialogue system. Again, RPG means role playing. How can you "play the role" if you have no idea what your character is about to say?
Third: copy-pasted locations. You will spend a lot of time there and you will learn them by heart. One particular foundry is where three different quests take place. Four quests will have you search one particular warehouse. All caves are similar, etc blah-blah-blah. Trust me, you will be tired of visiting the same locations over and over again.
Fourth: glaring errors in lore and storyline. The dalish camp stays in one place for six years even though they are supposed to move. Mages (mostly enemy mages but your companions as well) can teleport even though official "laws of magic" say this is impossible. And I'm just scratching the surface here.
Fifth: boring combat. Bioware designers believe that sending in waves after waves of enemies on party from all sides is challenging. It is not, it's stupid, unimaginative and overly repetitive. First I was outright laughing at enemies appearing out of thin air then it just became annoying. And by the way, you can throw tactics out of the window too: what point is "trying to hold a chokepoint" as in-game tips suggest when you have enemies popping out of nowhere all over the place?
Sixth: immutable storyline. Sure, your hero does have a profound impact on the game world but your choices are of little, if any significance.
There's only one thing that does matter in DA2 - the story. It is indeed set in stone but it is great and keeps you moving forward despite all of the game drawbacks. I suggest to knock down the difficulty level to Easy and just enjoy the narrative. Pretend you're watching an interactive movie and you might actually enjoy it - even though the endless battles can still bore you down to death.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dear Bioware,

I just made a metacritic account for the sole purpose of giving my review(more like ranting/flaming two cents) for this game that I was so excited for......... and I am too depressed to write it. Why would you do this bioware? After so many great games you give me this. I thought that when I beat the game, I was still somewhere in the middle of the plots/storyline...nope. The credits appearing literally felt like a smack in the face. I'm just so utterly dissapointed right now that I don't even know what to type. Way to dumb down absolutely everything about the original game that I loved so much. I have never, ever, beaten a game and felt confused/depressed thereafter until I played this. I am absolutely refusing to buying a single DLC for this game as I am not giving any money to the people that just robbed me of sixty bucks.. besides the fact that this is going to be the very first bioware game I have ever traded back in as of tomorrow morning. Thanks for wasting my time setting yourselves up for another sixty dollar expansion.. With Love, Already Dreaming Of Uncharted 3… Expand

Feels more like Dynasty Warriors, which is really sad considering the series started out as a spiritual successor to Baldurs Gate, DA 1 did a decent job and people had high expectations for an improved version. I remember when ''improved'' meant adding more features, more complexity, more stats, perhaps improving on the writing quality, not change the genre into a derpg and ''streamline'' all the fun parts of the character building process. I really cant be bothered to raise any further points because the game has just been ruined in almost every aspect. Train wreck.… Expand

Dragon Age 2 feels completely rushed, streamlined and dumbed down. The writing is generally sub par, dialogue is childish and cheesy, and quests are mostly just delivering items around the map and killing trash mobs. Voice acting is also bad and doesn't fit the characters. Don't waste your money on this garbage.

I am really disappointed with DA2, it has poor story, poor characters and npcs, combat system is completely awful, with mobs constantly spawning in waves from absolutely random locations you can forget tactics and positioning.
Why is there an inventory and loot in this game at all is a mystery to me, you donâ

The game simply awful. When compared to the first part of the second and next to it is not necessary, the first part, I took just 8 and a second difficulty was the first time. The game is almost nothing more than me is not caught, no atmosphere, the action takes place in a city that for all time never changed, and several completely identical areas, so the dialogues in general was killed, two characters copy the characters from ME2, terrible job, no goals in the first part had a goal to collect an army against the plague, but now everything is happening as a matter of old friends, Anders, Alistair, Zevran them that all these years of booze from morning to night? End so do what you cut. I think one that is very similar to DA2 was in ME2?… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I won't go into details about the "technical" parts of the game (UI, combat, graphics, etc.) some were fine, some weren't. What disappointed me more was the story. It seemed...vague and vain to say the least. A lot of things left unanswered in DA:O which I was expecting to be answered in DA II. Yet they remained as vague as they were. Maybe it was wrong of me to expect something like that...The only way to be pleased by DA II is to see it like an expansion of DA:O, a story that is preparing you for what is coming next.… Expand

OK so I left a review of this awful game, and Meta critic went and deleted it.

Seriously this is starting to get seriously out of hand. I left my review so that people would be aware of how much of a boring crass waste of time this game is, and I get censored? LOL

Gaming has hit an all time LOW guys, seriously. EA have taken one of the last bastions of hope in gaming (Bioware) and turned them into a driveling group of money sucking leeches.

If you want the depth generally assumed in an RPG, then you will be disappointed. This is action rpg at best, with rpg being used very loosely here. for me that is not good enough OK. It was marketed as a sequal to DA:O, an RPG. That is what I expected.

What I got was linear corridors, poor graphics in terms of immersion, weak plot and paper thin characters and dialog. This is not the game I was expected. Please stop telling me that I should change my point of view or call me a troll because I feel totally ripped off here. My GS user name is the same for those curious. Cheers.… Expand

i must confess i played only 2 hours and after that i uninstalled the game, reasons: -u cant equip ure teammates -the potion system is f*cked up, i liked it when i had 234234234 items in my inventory and it was hard to manage it, its how its supposed to be in an rpg -and the whole story is in 1 city? come on!!! -too linear story (i want a huge world to explore as i wish like in fallout 3) when i played it it felt like prince of persia or assasins creed only worse. i want a normal rpg not an action game.… Expand

This is a hack & slash console action game. If you're looking for an RPG game, look elsewhere. If you like arcady-console-street fighter-action-games, then this is it. The original DA game was a lot more RPG and more similar to the BG saga. To even compare this game against older RPG games such as BG and Planescape is crazy because it would be like comparing a shooter against Civ5.

This game is a complete disappointment considering the high hopes of the original DAO fans.
The plot is transparent and boring, the companions are wooden puppets with no real emotion, the dialogues are as bad as if somebody intended them to be this way, and the maps are no more than an afternoon's boring copy-past work,the quests are horrendous repetitive errands in the same damn bland city,the humour present in the original DAO is nowhere to be found,and the ending will make you punch your screen and then your face for being an naive idiot enough to give over 50euro for this piece of rushed ****… Expand

Let me start out by saying I liked dragon age origins. It had a good story, memorable characters and a real good setting. The only problem I had with the game is that combat became very tedious. Dragon age II fixes the combat by making it fast-paced and a better leveling system. Sadly it removed everything that made the first game worthwhile. Boring characters and story realy put me of the game.

Dragon Age Origins = RPG Masterpiece Dragon Age 2 = Casual Action RPG

Do not say a bad game, it is not, but compared with its predecessor is casual garbage. Maybe if not take the name of Dragon Age would be a good idea.
Anyway, Bioware you went to the dark side of force.

Greetings.

All good in Orgins is gone, this is an insult to rpg players from EA/bioware, where is the spirit from Baldurs gate?. Simply, it is dead.
- Dialog wheel breaks any rpg experience. Good/Bad/Stupid decisions insults human intelligence.
- No tactical view, wtf! Baldurs legacy!? ( for me the best of the battles in Origins)
- UI terrible, consolized, ugly and ridiculously small for 1920x1200 ( subtitles hurts my eyes)
- Corridors maps once and once again, repeat maps once and once again.
- Companions/history/inmersion far far far from Origins. ( for me the best in Origins)
- Graphics/Art Design and Music/Effects far worst than Origins.
- a lot of bugs/side effects in pc because is a very very bad port. (DAO was designed for PC, ME was a bad port, ME2 was a very bad port, and this is extremely bad port, whats the next bioware?)
- very poor performance for main characters (i like me/me2 character performance but this not)
- uninspired side quests and typical main quest, always in the same place.
- etc..., all good in Origins is dumped down extremely.
- this is not a rpg game, is a kick in the face from bioware for all loyalty customers who support them since their beginning.
- From more than 900 hours in Origins and still playing to 18 hours in DA2 and uninstalled, this is the evolution for me.… Expand

It's hard when reviewing a sequel to separate the game itself from the series. If this was a review of this game alone it would definitely score a 7, however, this is a poor showing by both Bioware and Dragon Age standards. I'd like to pick up some of the features that haven't been highlighted that much in the negative reviews, the main one being the story. The main quests and side quests felt entirely disconnected from both each other and themselves. The main story itself was so convoluted it made virtually no sense (especially the last act and very especially the ending). Featuring both unbelievable characters, limited choices and hammed cameos from the cast of the original game (at one point someone pops up says "hello" and then, for no apparent reason, disappears with no explanation).

Dragon Age: Origins, Awakening and its various DLC's were wonderful in that they fleshed out a remarkably believable, intriguing and novel world. This sequel has failed not only to enrich or develop that world but in some places has completely ignored things that were established in the first game (e.g. the relationship between mages, blood mages and abominations). Add to this the fact that, although many of the strategy features remain (for instance the ability to pause) enemies now come in waves (appearing - often quite literally - from the ether) making it impossible to plan out a battle; thus reducing the pause feature to a safety net to use potions. In addition there are roughly six different enemies and maps in the game which are reused ad infinitum and combat becomes little more than an endless wave of indiscernible creatures. One unfortunate consequence (among many) is that the game lulls you in to a sense of complacency broken only by a contrived boss fight, which crop up once in a while. These battles are so unbelievably and incomparably difficult compared to the trash that winning them always appears to be more a matter of luck than judgement.

All this said this is a very good game, but it bares a very similar relation to Dragon Age: Origins as Mass Effect 2 did Mass Effect 1. Faster combat, better graphics, with a less gripping story, poorly fleshed out companions and a very disappointing amount of RPG or customization elements.… Expand

If you're looking for a Bioware RPG, this is not the game for you. Poor writing, flawed combat, near zero customization (I hear that names for items besides 'belt' and 'ring' will be released as DLC), recycling on a level that would do Al Gore proud, and a plot on rails are a serious turn off. This game should have been named Dungeon Age, but that would be insulting to the plot of Dungeon Siege 1...… Expand

Payed 60$ on steam just because of a review, and got what?! DAO was weak enough, but this ...! Simplifying everything to nothing.

Dialogs reduced to 2-3 phrases, and thats great! Cause world and chars are totally empty. Their acts are so nonlogic and unpredictible, that in a half an hour i was just clicking icons. "Be nice", "be rude". Why DA2 is so gay?! Seriosly, in a few hours 3 f.. proposing "their services" and not even one girl blinking.

Enemies are just fallin at you from nowhere like in some DMC. Do you need any tactics in chess when opponent can put any figure anywhere he wants?..

Plot reminded ME2. Just get 50 sovereins (10 companions) to get to the new chapter. And you call that a scenario? Written in 15 minutes?! I dont even know what i'm doing when takin quest in 2 clicks, killing some more enemies, done in 2 clicks. What was is?!

Locations look like Orzamar entrance. Sooooo lowpoly. No more to say.

3-4 hours of DA2 was enough. Looks like nothin left of Bioware i ones knew. Bye guys.… Expand

They tried to appeal to the masses and in doing so did not make a deep RPG. IF it was called something else it might be a good game. But it is no Dragon Age. I recommend playing DA Origins and not DA2 .

It's probably not that bad of a game but they should have made it an entirely different series. This one is just blatantly riding the coattail of the much superior origins and other bioware rpgs. This is the worst RPG by bioware ever. There's no exploration at all, you get guided at every turn. Hell even FF games made me think. DA2 is just a mindless hack and slash arcade game much like Onimusha. Unlike Onimusha where combat is enjoyable where you need to get used to timing and position; DA2 needs you to just mash keys mmo style, the simplest kind. Dialogs is sub par and doesn't hold a candle to most RPGs out there. The only saving grace is that all of it is voice acted.

Story is told by the trite flashback routine. What is this Black Ops 2 ? Graphics are cartoony even with the downloadable texture pack, a lot of textures are still absolutely horrendously low res. This is not a big game, the monotone environment should have made it easy to make a hires texture versions for most of the elements in the game.

The characters models are all the same except for the head part, which doesn't have much variations either. Spell effects are low rate. Old FF games was a lot more flashier and looks a lot better. I'm mentioning this because the people who actually liked DA2 can't stop praising how chaotic it is. Oh please as I mentioned before FF games are better at this sine FF7. And whats more pathetic is that DA2 renders these effects with DX11 with a lot of the latest lightning techniques. Go play The Witcher Enhanced Edition instead while waiting for the second version. ME3 will be garbage as well if you keep letting EA walk all over you. DO NOT PRE-ORDER MASS EFFECT 3! Otherwise they will pull the same stunt. ME1 was superior to ME2 and I can't imagine ME3 getting more dumbed down but DA2 made me a believer. EA will find a way if you don't voice your dissatisfaction!… Expand

Dragon Age Origins was the way to go.
The only good things I can mention about this game are some combat animations, and even those, while pretty, belong in an anime.
Was it that hard to leave a mage thrusting forward to atack with his magic staff, instead of spinning like a mad man every time?
So many bad things I could mention, not the least of all the writting and quests.
I read so many reviews and I can't tell if they are paid or just ignorant of how games were written a few years ago.

On IGN I read the following retarded statement:

Lasting Appeal ---> 8.0
Keeping you in one area for almost the entire game means youâ… Expand

Bioware should be ashamed of this game. I am truly astounded on the sheer lack of content and quality of this game. Every single aspect of this game reeks of being an unfinished money grab. The game has also been blatantly gutted of content so it can be sold as DLC.

Shame on your bioware, shame.

When Ea pick over a game ,it is always become like this.I can not play this game after 5 hours.It is not dragon age which we known.Ea shows us how a mighty have fallen...

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I even make an acc for this, but need to tell that.This is game got really got critics reviews from biggest websites and game critics, they are blind or something like that?
Everyone who play this game more than 10h must see a 2 dungeon in whole game with changed entrance/doors/mobs and to be honest, the story is not that epic how a developers think.
But game have good side too, good actors game and voices.Some nice fights with WoW-like boss.That's all Sorry for my eng.Don't buy this game, its waste of your money.… Expand

It's my fist review on metacritic but I can't keep my mouth shut this time. This game is unforgivable! How Bioware can do this with such a wonderful beginning as DA1? We waited DA2 so much! And now I still can't believe that it's so bad. I spend 34 hours playing this game till it's final. It has it's moments but that's all. I really like and respect Bioware but this game is disaster. I hope that it's not going to happen with ME3. I was very disappoint with it's story, locations, dialogs and rpg-part. This game is boring and monotonous. You don't have any interesting events there - it's just an endless killing of identical enemies. Locations are small, identical and dull. Why they place a ME dialog system there? There is even no reputation or special dialog options! This game is like a personal insult to all rpg-gamers. I was waited the journey that never began. Bioware should be ashamed.… Expand

Excellent combat and crafting system likable characters (for the most part) go a long way to making this a great game, unfortunately this is an rpg and as such is dragged down by linear quests, boring and extremely repetitive quests.

What can I say? at the end of the game I felt extremely disappointed, some things are improved and yet we're still stuck crawling through narrow and claustrophobic dungeons which seemingly include the city you spend all your time in...This is just a massive let down from an amazing franchise. Wish I was a professional reviewer though, they must be paid very well....… Expand

Abysmal game. Graphics same as Origins, retarded dialogue system, japaneese-style combat, TERRIBLE camera, lack of tactical mode( as in Origins), dumb story with no actual choice. Forcing decisions upon player that actually got no alternative.
Complete and utter degradation compared to OriginsAwakening

As a stand alone game, Dragon Age II is a passable and entertaining game. Nothing fancy or groundbreaking, but entertaining non the less. However, it does have its flaws. The caves, houses and locations in the City of Kirkwall - the location of the majority of the game - are constantly recycled. Does that location look familiar? It probably is, because even though the missions change, the locations quite often don't. You'll find yourself slogging through a location you visited half an hour ago. Sometimes, the game spices things up and you start of where you left the location during your previous visit.

The combat is pretty smooth and visualy appealing but also rather simple. Positioning your party to best use the lay of the land is not needed and also not usefull because enemies spawn pretty much out of nowhere from all sides of the map in a neverending tide. That well placed mage, screened by your warrior and rogue just got jumped on by a group of enemies that just were not there.

As for the storyline, following Hawke's rise from refugee to champion is a novel idea and has merrit, but story's lack of a clear goal and sense of urgency makes it lack a soul. As a result side-quests feel like filler and of no import. Now there is one thing that truly vexes me, the impact of my Warder from Origins in DAII. There is none, merely comments on his past actions which is a far cry from Mass Effect II, where the choices made in ME I had strong consequences.


DA Ii is ntertaining, but with flaws and would've scored a 7. DA II only becomes a '4' (see my user score) when you compare it to Dragon Age: Origins. origins had a compelling storyline, fleshed out locations, entertaining characters you could bond to, a clear goal to work towards and tactical combat.

Why Bioware took such a radical approach to a very much acclaimed game as Dragon Age Origin is beyond me.… Expand

If you bought this thinking it was a sequel, like I did, you're going to be disappointed. What you're getting is really Dragon Age:Kirkwall with a very heavy handed dose of Mass Effect.

You have a home that serves as your mail box, storage chest, crafting station and all of your companions have their own designated spaces in town much like ME. No more cozy campfires where someone bursts into song or confesses their deepest regret and you can forget about getting 'one public display of affection'. Other than picking who you want and chosing the sparkly heart on the dialog wheel, the game decides the path and speed of your courtship, not you. Not that it matters because the companions are fairly one-dimensional or in Isabella's case bluntly stereotypical-- I can deal with her giganormous boobs and lack of pants, but couldn't you have given her some brains instead of making her a running sex-joke?-- though Fenris had the potential to be interesting if they'd bothered to give us more than the Cliff Notes version of his life. Instead we we're just supposed to accept that magic did it and he wasn't a biotic like in ME

My biggest pet-peeve all the pieces were there for another multi-option game. Qunari. Surfacer Dwarf, Lothering Refugee (human), Kirkwall Native (elf). Instead they decided to go the ME route and do a singular character, linear story and game defined looks for your companions. The game may be bland but the improved graphics and Why all the changes to the format though? DA:O sold well. People liked it and bought all the DLC. In ME you gathered a team to chase down a rogue spectre and saved the world. In ME2 you didn't go to Earth, you got into your brand-new spaceship with a new evil to fight and went out to save the world again. So if they were so keen to borrow so much from ME why couldn't they give us a new evil to fight with our hand-picked character?… Expand

I, as a good fan of Bioware am disgusted that they would even release this game, EVERTHING is a downgrade from the previous Dragon:Age Origins!

Dialogue is atrocious (Not just for a Bioware game, for any game), even without the dialogue, just the number of choices for each piece of dialogue received has been reduced far too much.

Graphics: Another let down with a download required to gain full access to the graphics which should have been included, other than that you are looking at pre-2003 graphics at best. (Even if you do manage to get the high-res pack, I hope you have fun with all the additional bugs and rendering fails it has!)

Combat: System is a mess with no real effort even needed on the higher difficulties, you either steamroll through the waves of trash or get steamrolled back, use of tactics doesn't make a difference, just mindless button-bashing in comparison to DA:O with no thought needed.

Story: ..Just.. Wow... The amount of ret-con and even complete destruction of anything happening within the storyline and of DA:O..Just..Wow..

Characters: Characters are either bland or just plain stupid. Even characters from DA:O have somehow completely changed all traits and act like essentially a completely different person (Anders anyone).

DLC: Loads of DLC on launch day, an inexcusable grab for more money made worse by players actually buying the data that should already be available with the retail game.

Control Scheme: PC users will know the woes, a console game back-ported to the PC.. ouch! Safe to say the irritating camera detracts from the already abysmal gameplay available.
This is all made worse by the reviews planted by Bioware on various sites (Including here) giving it 10/10 reviews instead of listening to fan feedback and tackling any problems. Metacritic user Avanost using a Bioware Devs personal handle and creating an account as soon as it could be rated on.

Although DA:O was an above-average game athough I did thoroughly enjoy it, Dragon Age II is just a step in the wrong direction in almost every way. All the good aspects have been destroyed, if you liked Dragon Age: Origins but have not yet purchased Dragon Age II, STEER CLEAR! Those memories of DA:O will be forever tarnished.… Expand

This game does not deserve a rating of zero, but it's going to get one - Because I think a statement needs to be made to Bioware (and all these oddly fawning press sites) about the direction this franchise is headed in.

When Dragon age : Origins came out, it was a refreshing throwback to the classic RPGs of yore (specifically the Baldur's Gate series) and it had just enough depth and complexity to live up to its predecessors. It wasn't quite what they were, but it was bloody close - and it had all the modern bells and whistles on top. I played the hell out of it. Along comes "Awakening", and suddenly we're starting to see a change. The role playing is getting "lite" , the combat is becoming more and more prevalent and repetitive, and the depth of choice is suddenly shrinking. Where once we had a vast world to explore, dozens of characters we could converse with in each area, and a variety of possible story outcomes, we are now being limited to a small selection of areas with very linear paths, and characters who exist solely to sell us potions, or do battle with us. Very Diablo-esque. Only Blizzard knows how to do all that much, much , better. And that brings us to ... Dragon Age II. Or Dragon Effect, or God of Dragon Age, or whatever you want to call it because it doesn't really feel like a sequel so much as a mash-up with some other action oriented game. The world has now shrunk to the point of ridicule - literally, a single city. The quests have been simplified to the point they more or less complete themselves (pick up an item, follow the quest marker, click on guy who takes item from you automatically and gives you 50 silver pieces) and the combat has become this frenzied slash'em up style thing with obvious anime influences (your characters waltz around the battlefield like in fast forward, and one of the swords you can wield is actually a direct replica of Cloud's Buster Sword in FF 7 . The story is as flat as the gameplay, failing in its attempts to evoke emotion (family members in peril) by fast forwarding through all the potentially dramatic stuff and leaving a few quick cut scenes which are poorly animated and awkwardly voiced. The game always feels like it is in a rush... You are never allowed to contemplate what has happened, its feels like the developers are just telling you to "be sad now!" or "laugh at this joke!" and then they move you immediately back to the action, and the buster Swords and Final Fantasy Hair do's. I will end this novel by saying that Dragon Age 2 will probably appeal to a certain demographic of gamers who enjoy heavily action oriented games and fantasy settings (God of war, Diablo) but to the (apparently old, and forgotten) Role playing gamers who grew up on the likes of Icewind Dale, BG, Planescape torment, etc. This game is a joke. It is a bastardized, dumbed down ( do NOT tell me that being unable to change my companion's equipment is anything other than this) farce, which squanders the good will I had toward Bioware and the Dragon Age franchise and leaves me cold to the thought of a DA3. Thanks for DA:O Bioware. I think I'm going to play that one again, instead.… Expand

What a horrible game. Bioware dropped the ball on this one, don't waste your money. It's really short - It took me 17 hours to complete, and I wasn't even rushing. Compare that to the original Dragon Age which took me well over 60 hours to complete. Then you have DLC's ready to milk your wallet on the friggin same day as the game was released.

This sucks. Bioware sucks. EA sucks.

Dragon Age II is filled with choppy, wooden animations, it suffers worse soulless faces than the Mass Effect series had, graphics worse than Origins, and it is not an immersive RPG despite the high budget and amount of voice acting. They dumbed down the UI and spell casting system to appeal to people who's first RPG was probably Dragon Age 2 and to take in the casual Call of Duty players (http://n4g.com/news/696379/bioware-we-want-call-of-dutys-audience). This is without a doubt Bioware's worst RPG by far. It's a shame to see that the name they've grown through RPG treasures they made like Jade Empire and Kotor are smeared by trash this. I've decided to give up on Bioware until I hear some enlightening news about TOR… Expand

I always like the games of Bioware, all of them are greats. But this one, was really disappointed for my: -No character creator (Race and origin like the first part) -To short dialogues and with the companions its worst -The characters looks like comic a not like the DAO (darkspawn looks like living dead, Qunari looks like a ogre) -The main character, in my opinion, its no a good choice. I dont like his appeareance, the voice.
-The combat its to low qualiti in comparation to DAO.
-The skils are to simple and the spells too, has no details.
-No air camera

Sorry, but im disappoint.
I really expect a sucesor of Origins, and this one was another type of game.
This is no Dragon age 2, its an Action Game based in the world of Dragon Age.
I Hope Bioware make a great game in the Tird part

Best Wishes… Expand

A pile of ass. Really, why does this exist? Did the demo not tip you off? If you're going to buy it, I probably can't stop you... just be aware that you could buy many better games for the same $60. Also, I paid $60 for a PC game. Brb, shooting self.

Welcome to the first game to be designed by a focus group. Made to appeal to everyone and ends up appealing to nobody. Poor story, poor characters, no exploration, retarded romances and just a general dumbing down of all the core elements of the first game. (an RPG where u spend the entire game in the one place???). Hugely disappointing.

After enjoying Dragon Age: Origins and Awakening, I've been waiting for Dragon Age II with much excitement. I grabbed my hands on a copy of DA2 on release date, went home, unwrapped the foil from the box and put the disc in my PS3. After setting up the options to my personal liking I was ready to start the journey. Let's start playing.

I'm writing this review while I am 18 hours in to the game, somewhere in Act II I presume. The reason I play RPGs are to feel immersion, connected to the main character and it's companion, a interesting story, to explore the world and to find epic loot. Dragon Age 2 is lacking major in every department. Let me tell you why.

The characters feel too generic, except for Varric and Anders. Their personalities are boring, their stories are boring and the fact that BioWare doesn't give you an opportunity to feel connected with them makes it even worse.

The story is telling the tale of how you become the champion, but to be honest I don't see it going anywhere. You do some side quests to make money, go on an expedition and after that do some more side quests. In my 18 hours of play I still don't have the feeling I am doing something important or amazing. To end with a positive note on this subject I do like the way they are presenting the story.

Exploring the word in DA2 is just drama. 90% of the game is taking place in a not so appealing city to say the least. So there's not a lot to explore, but hey we still have dungeons, right? You can scrap that from your list. There are just a few layouts and they are, sadly, reused for every dungeon. So there goes all your of exploring the world. While killing some mobs, you mostly find some loot. It might contain something epic, but sadly you can't wear it because it's another class. So you'd say let's equip one of my companions with it. But some genius at BioWare decided no one cares about equipping their party members, instead we let the player buy upgrades of armor for their companions. Thanks for not taking the weapon and accessory slots away. To end on a positive note the improved combat system is something I enjoy. It's a lot more action based and a lot smoother. From time to time you just don't want to pause the game to play it like a strategy game, but just like a hack 'n slash game.

All of the things really break the immersion for me. I want to equip my characters, I want to have cool traveling bunch, I want to explore the world and I want to feel that I am in something big. Sadly DA2 doesn't do any of that. ***Posted my review in the PC deparment, because for some reason it doesn't allow me to post it in the console department***… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game gets a 0 from me as a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, which is among my favorite all-time games. As a stand-alone title I would give it a 7, but it isn't a stand-alone title, and it tarnishes a far superior game in its mediocrity.

Dragon Age 2 gets everything that Origins did right, wrong. The characters are great, but you don't get nearly enough time with them so they feel underdeveloped and rushed. The plot is excellent for the first two acts on the first play through, but the entire narrative falls apart in the third act and on the second play through you realize that you aren't actually being given any choices in the game, merely the illusion of choices. None of your actions affect the outcome of the story, which wouldn't bother me if this wasn't a Bioware game that is sold almost entirely on the story and characters. Worse than that is the fact that your choices in Origins are barely included, and some are completely disregarded. For example, if you kill Leliana or Anders, they both still appear in Dragon Age 2 as if that never happened. The environments are great, until you get to the second act and realize that they are all reused over and over again, so that every cave and dungeon looks exactly the same. This is a common theme in the game as a whole, things are just reused over and over and I guess the developers hoped you wouldn't notice. Items have the same generic names (ring, belt, boots), and vendor items all have the same trash can icon. The music, which at first is excellent, really starts to wear you down when you hear the same repeated 60 second track over and over. Dragon Age 2 was rushed out to capitalize on the success of Dragon Age: Origins. The game does not contain a story that needed to be told for its own sake, it's just a way to milk customers out of money while the franchise still has a lot of momentum. The narrative doesn't have an 'ending' as much as a full stop with no wrap-up, followed by a (metaphorical) "To be continued..."

If you loved Origins, Dragon Age 2 is going to be a jagged pill to swallow. I'd suggest waiting for an ultimate edition so you at least get the DLC for the same price, because as the game stands right now it isn't even close to worth your 50+ dollars.… Expand

Dragon Age 2 is the "Phantom Menace" to Dragon Age: Origin's "A New Hope". Thank you George for making this comparison possible and instantly recognisable by nerds everywhere. In many ways, I wouldn't need to say anything more than that, but I will anyway: When writing a review of Dragon Age 2, you probably have to say a few words about where you are coming from first. Are you the wide-eyed fanboy or the disgruntled, estranged hater formerly known as a "true" fan? Then you claim to be neither, but the one true voice of reason who's got a neutral view on this issue. Personally, I have bought and played repeatedly pretty much everything Bioware published since Shattered Steel and I've enjoyed each game on his own merits. I loved Planescape Tormet, Baldur's Gate 2 just as much as Jade Empire, even though that game is radically different in terms of combat. I'm saying that to illustrate that I am very well capable of enjoying a game that does not have the traditional isometric view of tactical combat.

Dragon Age 2 however, I cannot get into no matter how much I want to like it. This game is a train wreck of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age and not in a good way. Let's take a look at some of the "bad" things. First of all: Combat. I cannot, for the life of me, see how anyone could view the new system as an improvement. They tried to make combat incredibly fast paced and action packed, but somehow this does not play out the way it's intended, at least not for me. Seeing a guy in full platemail armed with a huge two-handed weapon move faster than Neo in the Matrix doesn't just break immersion for me, it shatters it beyond all hopes of repair. Most enemies die in one hit now and they do so in a spectacularily silly and over the top gory way. There's more blood in here than in the silliest splatter movie I ever saw. There's a fine line between "adult" and "graphic violence" and enemies EXPLODING into 20 gallons of blood and shishkebab upon being stabbed in the chest once. To compensate for all the insta-kills, enemies now spawn in waves by the dozens. This robs the individual enemy of any significance. How can I be intimidated by a blood mage or a horrible demon if there's 20 of each under every other rock? Beats me. The sadest thing about DA2 is that it actually fails where bioware usually excells. The story and dialogue. Take the human noble origin story in Dragon Age Origins, for example. Before everyone dies a gruesome death you spend some time to get to know them. Thus, when they do die, their death has some impact on you. In DA2, we skip the first part in favor of turning the gruesomeness of the death up to 11. The thing is, if some random red shirt dies twice as horribly, I don't care twice as much. The "main story" if it can so be called, is anything but an improvement over the original as well. Granted, you are not saving the world, which in theory can make for an interesting story as well, but many people take this fact alone to mean the story is brilliant. Unfortunately, that is not quite true. The writing is incredibly ham-fisted at times. I cannot count how often the game prevents you from using obvious solutions to problems simply because the plot requires that this problem cannot be solved in a simple manner. This adds to the "rushed" vibe the game gives off in general. There's barely any "fluff" anymore. You cannot talk to your companions at will anymore, for example. Some of the events of DA:O are imported and the game shoe-horns them into DA2, but if you spend even 2 seconds thinking about "Why was Alistair here just now?" you'll notice that he had no significance to the plot, provided no insight whatsoever and was there simply as a little bit of fan-service. Oh yea, and the RPG part got dumbed down some more, but that was to be expected I guess and is barely worth mentioning in light of all the other shortcommings the game has. Still, rating the game a 0/10 as many people do is just as silly as rating it 10/10. There is good to be found if you can look past your expectations for a bit. Some of the quests are indeed well written and fun. The voice actors did a really good job, almost without exception. Flemeth's new look is a vast improvement over her old one, too bad she is in the game for about 5 minutes, tops. It's almost like she notice "Oh snap, this is gonna hurt!" and flapped out of the game on her dragon wings. I cannot say I blame her. In conclusion, Bioware lost a lot of credibilty with me for this game. No longer will I blindly buy whatever they release. Once burned, twice shy. The shady things they did here on metacritic are not helping that image. I hope they learn a lesson from this disaster and can recover and return to what made them successful in the first place instead of succumbing to EA's corruption for good.… Expand

Combat system improved, but everything else is worse than Dragon Age: Origins.
Nobody needed a game like DA II. There are tons of titles like that.
We needed an improved realistic, revolutionary & innovative npc interaction. Because there wasn't an RPG like Origins for that aspect before.
In DA II you cannot talk to your company whenever you want, you have to wait for a Cutscene (quest or gift). You cannot talk to your party friends about your accomplishments, while the old good Origins did.
We got a step back to something pointless, instead to improve the innovation, they killed it.
A static location into the same city for the whole game and some anonymous random cave, BAD.
No longer an epic journey like Origins, but the dumb match Templars Vs Mages.
Efforts reduced on DAII, a team weakened to work on an other project like SWTOR. BioWare revealed in July that the ME2 system has been adopted cos the Dragon Age system requires too many efforts and resources, despite the higher quality / success of DA compared to ME2.

The DA2 sales are pushed by what people know about DA:Origins.
If DA3 will never ship, it will be a fail, because DA2 won't push anything.… Expand

This game represents exactly what is wrong with the video game industry these days. What's more is that developers are attempting to inflate the scores of these games by creating fake reviews (see "Avanost"). For that, and the fact that this game is a travesty, I'm giving the game a 0.

Boring combat system, boring story, boring graphics. I thought bioware turn everything into gold but I was wrong. Mass effect 2 and Dragon Age 2 have both been disappointing for me. Compared to the RPGs of the past, you cannot put this in the same category. Baulders Gate and DA:O was captivating making me wish the game would never end, Dragon Age 2 on the other hand, I find myself pressing ESC button a little too often to skip speech so I can mindlessly press 12345 while right clicking on boring enemies at every corner, just so I can finish the game and be done with it. lol. Give this one a miss or at least try the demo first.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Story was my greatest disappointment. I understood that Bioware wanted to make a smaller story this time, but rpg is about making choices which have effect. I did not feel like I had the ability to choose in this story. Certain things happened no matter who I sided with, and the ending and main story remained the same. No replay value here. Different dialogue choices were just for flavor, sarcastic Hawke will have the same story as heroic Hawke.

Lack of build-up with companions and family. I would have expected that time span of ten years would have added more depth to relationships instead of losing it. There was very little companion interaction.
The family focus was a joke.

Recycled areas. All caves look the same, all ruins look the same etc. Only some doors won't open, depending on location. Irritating.… Expand

Disappointed at how Bioware could deliver a half-finished game. The intention was there, with the interesting characters and some development, but the game feels rushed and unfinished as whole.

i cant believe what bio did with this game. they take the name of a good rpg and put it on a hack and slash dungeon crawler for consoles. the name of the game reminds of dragon age origins and the theme. nothing else. everything is made with consoles in mind. i don't want to destroy my keyboard and mouse after all. graphics are a joke and the hi res texture pack for pc is nonsense. many say that a good rpg doesn't need good visuals but no one plays text based adventures anymore. we live in 2011.
the only good thing about the game is that with its lunch dao ultimate edition sells for 18 euros for pc.… Expand

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Along with several other people here, I have never written a review or commented on a game before, but I felt the strong need to voice my opinion about DA2. It just isn't a good game at all. How is it possible that the gaming industry critics have given the game such a favorable review?? Surely they are getting paid by EA in some form or another - we already know that at least one bioware employee (name of Avalone I think?) has posted here with a perfect score. That isn't really bad, and I don't mind that so much, but it sure makes me wonder what else EA/bioware is up to. Here's a message to all RPG fans out there wondering whether to buy this game or not... you will be hugely dissapointed if you enjoyed DAO - because all of the things that made DAO great are missing in this game. Trust me when I say this (because I have no hidden agenda), the general consensus of the user reviews is a lot more accurate than the critics reviews. All of the things that you've read about the game from the user reviews (repeatiing dungeons, hack and slash style play, poor dialogue choices, non-immersion, no caring for characters, no sense of being part of a bigger world), it's all true. Stay away from this one - you can find a much better way to spend $60!… Expand

Like everyone else, after i played through DA:Origins i was really thrilled to see that the DA2 is coming so soon. The problem is that it never occurred too me that it is perhaps a little too soon. That said DA2 feels more like a sketch of game than like a fully finished product. Story although not bad in concept (tension between mages and templars) turns out too be just a big pile of random crap, with characters changing their sides all the time and doing really retarded things, that are just way too irational too be believable. Number of stupid situations starting from Bethany going too the circle are too numerous too count. Even at the early beginning, when your brother/sister die, the characters react more like a neighbours dog got hit by car than like one of their own siblings had died. Same with Hawks mother death. Flemeth appearing also doesn't makes any sense, and all the other characters appearing just feels way too forced,and you get the feeling that they are there just to remind you that this is a DA game. But the biggest problem is that the presentation of the whole game is just INSULTING to any average gamer. Recycled areas are really annoying, combat although somewhat improved was dumbed down by waves and waves of magicaly reapearing enemies(I mean WTF people?), totally removing the tactical aproach to fighting(i mean for example, you put your mage in a corner, back to the wall, thinking he is safe there, an then in a second or two while you are not looking some flying ninja falls from the sky next to your mage and starts F###$$ng him in the a...), items are few and verry stupid and there is a general lack of money through out the game, meaning you can only buy one or two of the better items in the game, a large number of the stupidly placed traps are irritating since unless your main character is a rouge, the other party members will warn you way too late, and you get instant injury,buged quests....There are just way too many stupid things to list here.BOTTOM LINE-IF THIS GAME DIDN'T HAVE A DA TITLE IN IT'S NAME, you would probably play through it and forget about it in a day or two. The main reason for the verry low rating is that I felt INSULTED while playing the game and that developers probably thought that we will turn a blind eye to all their crap. And also i don't mind gay rights and all that stuff, everyone should have the same rights in real world BUT WHO THE **** WANTS TO HAVE A GAY TWO HANDED ELF WARRIOR IN HIS TEAM. They should have had the gay romances tied to some random side character....… Expand

A So So game. Doesn't feel like Origins at all. A good analogy might be. Dragon Age Origins = An Interview with a Vampire.. Dragon Age 2 = Twilight.. I gave it a 7 because, compared to other games, its a 7 but compared to DAO its more like a 5 or a 6. I still had fun, but it felt like a B movie type of fun..

I am very, Very disappointed with this game. Worst game in the history of BioWare. They should be ashamed of releasing such crap. Dragon Age 1 was in every respect better than the DA2.

After having played DA2 for a while and calming myself down from the initial rage - it took months believe - I can write a review of this game with reason.

Is DA2 a bad game per se? No, it's not. It's fun in its own way, but If the game was called "Grandma Hawke killing ugly monsters" I wouldn't have problems with it, maybe I would have enjoyed it, but fact is it's called Dragon Age 2; THAT is a problem.

The combat system, with all its flaws is fun and well thought. With a higher level of difficulty it manages to be quite tactical and yet frenetic. But for all it's bloody glory it's still not as good as the first title's system.

The graphics are not bad, but they're not improved either. They look more polished, but the old flaws of the first Dragon Age - like the low quality textures - are still there. The fact we see the same locations all the time it doesn't help much.

The companions, with the exception of Varric and Aveline, are not very imaginative. Moreover there is one I loathe with passion: Fenris. If a "Mary Sue Grand Prize" will ever be created I think he'll win the 2011 edition hands down. I don't think I've ever met a character so predictable and uninteresting I could speak his own lines before he delivered them.

The thing that puzzles me is that Dragon Age 2 looks more like a Mass Effect 2 sequel than a Dragon Age one, and it just does not make sense, given the fan base. The game mechanics, the storytelling, even the character design are very similar, DA2 manages to be even more linear. For example trying different dialogue options in a different play-through gives similar results in a lot of side-quests, and sometimes even in the main ones. Of course there are multiple endings, but the fact is that they are poorly executed and some of the companions will end doing things that don't have sense at all!

One of the problems is that Dragon Age was marketed as the spiritual successor of Baldur's Gate; and it was. It expanded the concept, added a great storytelling, compelling characters, but it was true to its roots. Everyone who loved Baldur's Gate loved Dragon Age too, maybe more. So we were expecting a title that was similar, expanding the concept, but remaining true to its roots. With DA2 it was not the case, the game was something different and at times not even a roleplaying game. There is no exploration, limited character development and interaction.

Looking for innovation is not a bad thing, but the game is not innovating in any field and so it's hard to appreciate it, even if, as I said, it's not that bad, but it's a rushed job and it looks like one.… Expand

The game's a bit of a rushed mess. I don't mind the streamlined combat, inventory, or even the cookie cutter locations, but at the end the story just breaks down under it's own weight. Character motivations make no sense, both factions are so unlikeable that it's hard to really choose who to go with, and to top it off it makes absolutely no difference who you side with anyway since you're just going up against waves of lunatics on both sides the whole time.… Expand

This trend (as it seems) of dumbing down the essence of what RPG has always been ...must stop. My rating is nothing more or less than a protest, a much needed one at that. The industry must cease this behavior, it's banishing the role-playing auditorium - effectively erasing the genre from existence.

Compared to Origins, this game suck ass. I was expecting much more from Bioware, but they dumped down this game for American kids.

This is just a bad console port, period!

This sequel I must admit was a big letdown they took what was a challenging strategic game for PC and dummed it down to a button mashing console game. The combat system in DA: O was a bit slow but turning every kill into a messy kill just makes it boring, every time I slice a group of foes in half with one swing I feel like pulling out my hair...aah! Nonetheless the narration has improved though the story has suffered, regurgitating codex from the previous game no use reading them. I must say I was very disappointed with the leveling up too, who told them to dumb it down to attributes and abilities that clearly don't add anything as I can hack all foes to death with normal attacks. I must say that the graphics though are better and the narration actually gets you to like your character.
I don't see myself playing it the 4 times I have played through DA: O( maybe one more play through is in order to remember a true masterclass).That said my only salvation is that the Witcher is coming out later this year I hope they don't disappoint… Expand

Dragon Age: Origins was one of the best RPG games I have played so far and I really loved it. But this, so called "sequel" was such a disappointment and it had nothing to do with Origins. I have a very hard time understanding why on earth would Bioware let this game come out when it wasn't even done. The game is full of bugs, very bad graphics, bad story, very short gameplay for being a RPG game.

I only recommend getting this game when its less expensive. I paid 50 bucks for a half @ssed game.

Bioware you should be a shamed!… Expand

Problems with Bioware turning into a pretty shady company aside, I can't believe they thought this would pass as a real sequel. There is no main plot, you're playing a tactical rpg that's mostly in a city, and the reinforcements thing is just retarded. Your party members are still a hoot and the gameplay isn't awful tuned like this, but they needed more than 18 months to make it amazing. Oh and it looks worse than Dragon Age: Origins, and even sadder is the HD graphics mod that isn't from Bioware doesn't even make it look better. I guess the company that made Baldurs Gate and Mass Effect is long gone; hope Mass Effect 3 isn't crap like this.… Expand

I hate 'simplification' and 'dumbing down' - this game is the epitome of that. If you loved DA:O you will HATE this game. If you loved ME2 you will probably love this game. Made for unintelligent morons, like most games, unfortunately there are dramatically more morons than intelligent people - so Bioware is going to make a lot of money, and smart people no longer can trust Bioware. If you liked this game your intelligence is in question.… Expand

Terrible. Repetitive. Boring. Major disappointment. Plus Bioware will suspend your access to your games if you say something on their message-board they don't like. EA and Bioware will never get another dollar out of me. End of line.