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

I didn't think very much of Dragon Age II at release, though I found it engaging enough to play through twice (and purchase some *ahem* DLC Legacy). My overall view was it wasn't as bad as I'd been led to believe (though not as amazing as "professional" reviews made out either). A post Mass Effect 3 perspective does this game many favours; by comparison Dragon Age II is succinct, nicely made and high quality. It is missing a number of cRPG elements present in its predecessor, but for the most part it seems this was a successful attempt at streamlining things, the (free) hi-res texture pack makes a lot of difference, as does the DirectX 11 support. So for the most part; nicely written (though not devoid of contrivance or sloppiness minimal), excellent voice acting with some engaging and likeable characters with neat arcs. DA2's positives far outweigh its negatives.… Expand

To me, dragon age 2 feels like a needed punishment for bioware. They missed the point of the franchise. The took away things that made the original so loved. However, the backlash that followed was black and white. People saw that it was worse, and dismissed it with a lower score than it probably deserved. Dragon age 2 IS a dissapointment. It's also not a 'bad game'. It's a good game. It even shows glimmers of a great game. The characters are well written the world is good looking on a dx11 pc, and the combat - is more enjoyable. Where it looses it's footing is in it's scope and everything accociated with that. It feels like a DLC to a masterpiece, rather than the original masterpiece. And it certainly does not feel like a dragon age 2. However instead of giving it 0 just to prove a point. Objectivity must remain true. I enjoyed my time with this, and more i forgot dragon age origins, the more I ended up quite enjoying the journey.… Expand

I felt that this game wasn't so much bad as it was a disappointment. While it takes place in the same world as Dragon Age: Origins and shares the same basic gameplay, it feels very different--and not in a good way. The item/inventory system has been vastly simplified but, unlike Mass Effect 2, this does not remove the need to manage loot: it just makes it far less rewarding for those who want to take the time, while still forcing everyone else to sort through a pile of generic rings, belts, and swords to see which are worth keeping. The combat system has also been changed to make it more action-oriented and fast-paced, and while it does make hacking or zapping enemies more fun, the changes remove much of tactical depth present in DA:O. Moreover, unlike its predecessor, most fights now feature waves of enemies which spawn all around your party (shades rising from the ground, thugs jumping down from buildings, etc.), making any useful strategy difficult. I did find that the characters and story in this game were pretty good--not quite as good as DA:O but still worthy--and I thoroughly enjoyed developing relationships with my party. One improvement is the friend/rival system, which means that unlike DA:O you don't have to suck up to party members to get their bonuses: each character has 2 unique bonuses, one for a friend and one for a rival. This game severely limits your main character by forcing you to be a human with the surname Hawke who must follow a single basic path throughout the game, and who has far fewer dialogue choices than in DA:O. The upside is that your character is fully voiced, so NPCs are no longer the only ones talking aloud. One significant fault of this game, however is that all the events after the intro take place in and around a single city, so you spend the whole game visiting the same locations over and over. This didn't have to be a major setback, but the developers failed to incorporate much variety into the locations: every cave, warehouse, backstreet, and tunnel look the same--they just reused the same blueprint for almost every location, with certain doors added to seal off unneeded areas. There is also a paucity of variety in enemies: you spend most of the game fighting the same spiders, bandits, and blood mages. Between these two problems, the game-play is far less fun than it could be. One final point is the graphics: overall they are improved from DA:O (except for the tiresome re-use), but for some reason the handful of characters from the first game just look AWFUL. Most look very weird and poorly done, like the artists did them over lunch one day. As someone who spent dozens of hours playing Origins, I was appalled to see my beloved friends looking so horrendous. Overall, I still think this game is worth playing--mostly for the story/character development--but unlike DA:O, this is not a game I can see myself playing again and again.… Expand

There I was loving everything DA1 deluxe was offering and DA2 come out and HOLY CRAP! what did they do to this game? combat has turned into some button bashing crap devoid of any tactics, graphically it doesn't seem enhanced at all... in fact the texturing seemed much lower even AFTER downloading the DX11 texture pack... totally ruined the gameplay so much that its hard to care about the story at all.… Expand

Bioware were pretty bold when they made Dragon Age 2. Sadly few things got improved from the first one. The combat though pretty to look at feels dumbed down, and the new conversation wheel is a complete disaster hurting a big part of the game. A lot of features from the first one has gone missing and overall it feels a lot more simplified. The writing feels uneven and has more downs than ups and the story lacks real choices despite despite being alright apart from that. The games biggest flaw however is that its feels rushed. Bioware must really like the environment because they are recycling material like never before. It really get embarrassing, especially considering that the environments weren't that great the first time.Its still a decent rpg though. Just don't expect to much.… Expand

Having now played Dragon Age 2 for several days, and having seen the incredible hatred leveled against it, I feel I must write a review for this game. Story: First and foremost, the most important thing in any RPG: the story. DA2 plays less like a grand 'let's save the world' adventure and more like 'let's do some stuff in a fantasy setting'. Now you may see this as a negative critique, but it isn't. DA 2 takes the world, politics, races, and organizations that were all introduced in DA:O and makes you intimate with them. Very intimate. The story is told through a framed narrative, but I'm sure most of you are aware of this so let's move on. Back to the intimate part. The entirety of the game takes place in and around the city of Kirkwall, a city with a long and bloody history (but, hey, that's pretty must to be expected). You and your family flee there from Ferelden following the Blight, and you decide to stay there and gain fame and fortune. In the first act of the game (there are 3 in total) you must collect 50 gold in order to fund an expedition to the Deep Roads. That's it. No evil wizard trying to kill the king, no dragons attacking the castle, and no damsels in distress. Just do quests and get gold. I feel this lack of story direction is both the game's largest strength and greatest weakness.

RPGs are often plagued with the problem of trying to make the player the center of the world while also allowing them to make the decisions they want to make. In DA2 you aren't the center of the world. Not at the beginning anyway. And the whole driving force of the game is that your character wants to make a name for themselves. The greatest strength part: you are not given a list of goals to accomplish and instead you are basically let go to do as you please. The greatest weakness: it just doesn't feel epic enough. In terms of amount of gameplay it is certainly epic, just not in scope. You don't fight armies of darkspawn, or save a kingdom. You do quests. Lots and lots of quests, and many of them are indeed very interesting and some are tied together in interesting ways. You save mages from templars, you save templars from blood mages, you fight Qunari, you rescue nobles and their sons, you stop crime, you cause crime, you go into the fade and vanquish demons, and so on and so forth. I cannot stress how much I enjoy having a huge amount of quests in an RPG. It's fun, but doesn't feel meaningful.

Combat: The essentials from DA:O are there. You have a tank with a sword 'n board and they hold aggro, you have a rogue who stands behind people and stabs 'em, and you have a mage who heals and casts fireballs. The underlying mechanics are not as different as many people seem to believe. How these mechanics are presented/implemented in different ways. Movement, attack speed, and attack damage have all been buffed while the health of many enemies has been decreased. To balance this out, there are a lot more enemies. I'm playing the game on Hard, and it's somewhat uneven. Some fights are ridiculously easy, while others are very difficult. At least it makes sense that killing seasoned Qunari warriors will take a lot longer than killing a band of hapless street thugs. The combat animations are flashy, bloody, and filled with lots of thunder and fire. Many people call the combat dumbed down, and many people call it simplified. So I'm just going to say this; the combat is fun, but if you preferred the more tactical combat of DA:O then you won't enjoy this. This doesn't mean the game is bad. Somethings just aren't for everyone.

Graphics: Looks fine on my PC. If you're one of the people complaining about the graphics in an RPG, then you're trying to hard to hate this game.

Sound, Voice Acting, and Music: Good but not great. Varric easily gets my vote for the best voice-acted character.

Bottom line: If you are someone who wants this game to be Baldur's Gate 3, then it's not for you. Don't get me wrong. I'd love a Baldur's Gate 3 to come out. But this isn't it. And you just have to live with that. DA:2 has flaws just as DA:O did, they're just different flaws. The story doesn't work 100%, but it at least was a stab at something different. There's this strange notion that Bioware 'dumbed' down DA2 for the 'stupid masses', but honestly I think this idea is overblown. In fact, many of you who hate this game must think I'm a member of the masses who plays Halo and Call of Duty non-stop. And I'm not. I'm a HUGE fan of roleplaying games. Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Morrowind, Oblivion, KOTOR, ME+ME2, DA:O, and now DA:2. I like all of these games and love some of them. DA:2 is a fun game with hours and hours of questing filled with moral ambiguity in one of the best new fantasy worlds to come out in a long time. Even if the story that holds it all together is not as good as other Bioware games, I really don't care so long as I'm in the world of Thedas.… Expand

It's true. Dragon Age II did for Dragon Age, what Mass Effect 2 did for Mass Effect. This means the combat is more streamlined and there was more time left to put an effort into an epic storyline spanning several years of the protagonist's life. To me, this is a good thing. If you're an RPG conservative though, probably not.

Although I do not think it's fair that this game is getting a score of 1, it really is disappointing. The graphics are decent but not much if any improvement from Origins, but the gameplay itself took a huge nose dive. The thing that bothers me the most is the way the maps and quests are setup, it's totally generic, rushed, and to be honest seems incomplete. Seriously, after a few hours of play all the dungeons and a lot of areas are repeated and used again, and makes the game feel lame. The story as well was overall pretty terrible, I have no idea how they went from such a well written story in Origins to a game that really doesn't add up. I would have to recommend not wasting your cash on this, stick with Origins and the DLC/Expansion/Character Texture improvement mods.… Expand

DA2 diminished, invalidated and finally RUINED everything that Dragon Age Origins achieved. It is ridiculous to pretend that this game is a free- standing experience, that needs to be judged in isolation from its predeccessor. This game is a continuation of a franchise. It is so bad that it neally killed the franchise in mid development. DA3 may 'save the day' but that is far from clear the way things are going. Why? Perhaps it's because the are too busy making games to really play them. Perhaps it's because EA replaced the competent crew from Origins and Awakening with too many greenhorns with no idea what they are doing. For destroying the franchise alone, DA2 earns scores in the range of 0-2 . DA2 earns ZERO in my book, since it represents the WORST sequel in all game design. And it is also a pretty horrible experience in its own right. I have written dozens or reviews elaborating in more detail. I will do so again when I have the time and inclination. Occasionally look out for updates in here as I try to make sense of it, without going totally insane. Players can only wonder about the work environment inside EA-ware that gave us this disaster. We can only speculate about the sources of the the massive incompetence that gave us this TERRIBLE mess. Perhaps its all caused by EA central. Perhaps Bioware failed to recognise and reward the great work of the various design and programming leads in the earlier games. It's hard to believe that the great writing that was evident in Dragon Age Awakenings: the enthralling prospects of the plot could have all been dropped dead and replaced with a new scenario coming from NOTHING and leading to NOTHING, but that's what we got. Origin's and Awakenings were unfinished games with really big potential. This game heads off on a totally new tangent, totally ignoring every facet of lore and technical parameter of the games that preceded it. Bioware actively DESTROYED every RPG system and convention they had made, for classes and character progression and inventory and replaced ALL of them with DREADFUL inferior substitutes. What in the Makers's name were they facking thinking? David Gaider's brilliant writing from Awakening was flushed down the toilet. A brief catalogue of bad design features in this game: (1) Limited environment. (2) Fully voiced character who is also a total ANUS. (3) Terrible, clinging, selfish, childish, sex-obsessed NPC's (4) Dreary quest design (5) A world where 80% of the population are homosexual (6) Smart-Assery as the standard tone of ALL conversation (7) Diluted graphics (8) Teleporting enemies (9) Retarded camera (10) Infantile animations (11) Mindless re-conception of races (12) Limited and dreary inventory options (13) Abysmal Plotting (14) Abysmal Pacing etc etc etc. This game signals a design team that combine the worst elements of arrogance, laziness and cluelessness. Some of the writers certainly do not belong in game design and should be working in travel writing as they would be more comfortable on a cruise ship somewhere far away. The absolute obsession with which homosexuality becomes the DOMINANT theme of this game suggests that some people are in serious need of counselling. If this is supposed to represent a creative argument for 'tolerance' it fails badly and is instead an embarrassment of incredibly BAD writing. Without a shadow of a doubt Greg and Ray deserved to be axed for this disaster as much as SWTOR. EA could also probably retire Mike Laidlaw, JH and others. Get Ferret back on team. Given the budget, player expectations and 'game design wisdom' these people are supposed to have accumulated over the years they would probably all benefit from a few years in the wilderness learning not to drive buses over cliffs. The final irony is that the greatest single flaw in Bioware games is not to be found in the shoddy craftwork and sloppiness that ruined this design. Even the 'good games': Origins, Awakening and ME1-2-3 have a big weakness in their founding structure: All these games are limited to narrative railroads. Even when they build great environments, have great writing and NPC's the games are always limited to a narrow chronology. The players are NEVER given the reins and allowed to write the tale. The players are never given an enduring world and invited to 'make their mark'. With the presntBioware recipe, gamers will NEVER reach gaming Nirvana. You guys want to make a good game, you have to stop resisting your medicine. LISTEN ! and PAY ATTENTION! Orctowngrot. Tim Rawlins. timtimjp@yahoo.com… Expand

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

It's good. It has a ton of flaws but I finished the game and not all games made me do that especially that I've spend a lot of time with it (more then 20 hours). - Repeated levels
- boring characters
- boging skills

+ fighting mechanics...

All I can say is - I played this for 3 hours - Stopped - and reloaded DA One
The story might be great if I had continued with it..maybe, but the gameplay mechanic and combat is nerfed beyod recognition.
Why? Bioware Why destroy the depth of a great game. You've been nerfing stuff since BG2 - what next? Pong? I fear for Star War the Old Republic - probably turn out with the gameplay depth of a spit puddle.… Expand

When compared to is epic predecessor, DA: Origins, this is a joke. It features slightly improved combat, but the story is so goddamn boring and dull! Bioware should have spent twice as much time on this as they did, to make sure it is worthy of its name, and not just some linear, uninteresting spin-off.

Dragon Age 2 is still a average to good game from Bioware. After putting 50 hours in this game, I can understand why so many people hate this game, but if you calm down and try to enjoy it you will find it has its won merit. I spent 45 hours on my first play through in hard difficulty, right now still on my 2nd play through in nightmare difficulty. Story wise, I read a lot of reviews saying how shallow the story is. However, I think the reason is most people are used to 'the lord of ring' formula. This game is not about slaying evil like the first game but a story through Hawke's life in Kirkwall. It seems there is no clear goal for the story, but there are lots of lore about dragon age world. The plot is simple, just about How the Ferelden refugee Hawke gains power in Kirkwall. But through Hawke's life you will find the conflicts between Qun and Chantry (the religion conflicts between human and qunari), you will know more about Dalish's and surface dwarves culture and of course you will learn more about the struggles between Templars and mages. The most engaging part of the game is Hawkes family and companions all have their own story, you wont feel they just suddenly pop out. Though the plot is pretty linear, you can still make lots of choices, side with different forces and influence how they will end including the companions. Origins did better Companion characters. Dragon age 2 is similar to Awakening. You can not interact with companions unless there are companion's quests. Of course there are a lot of quests from companions. Through those quests, you can push them to Friendship or Rivalry with Hawke based on your dialog choices. It's actually interesting to see how different they will treat Hawke as friend or as rivalry. And one thing I like about dragon age 2 is you actually can see how the companions are interacted with each other through cut scenes, also they will act differently as friend or as rivalry. To avoid the spoilers, I do not want to talk about companions in dragon age 2, but generally Origins' companions have more distinct personalities, of course you can see several cameos of them. Also the Warden in first game is cited a couple of times. as for combat, Many hardcore rpg gamers may hate this combat system. I can see the reason behind that. But generally combat in dragon age 2 is better and well balanced despite the animations. I did not play in easy and normal difficulties, because I know they are not designed for PC gamers. However, I found the hard mode is a satisfying tactical combat experience. Mages and rogues are vulnerable to physical damages and their actions will be interrupted often, so you will need to pause often and relocate them to avoid damage and use warrior to taunt enemies wisely. Boss fights will take quite a while, because of their huge amount of health and continuous reinforcements, however most bosses in the main plot are not very challenging, the hard parts are all in side quests. So it wont be very difficult to finish the game in hard mode. I played in nightmare for a few hours, it really takes a long time for a single battle, because you either have to relocate party members or kite frequently to avoid friendly fire or you have to kill enemies one by one without skills or spells with area effects. And bioware is being lazy on this, they put even more health and resistances to enemies but not working on AI, so some battles are just being tedious at the end. The environment design is the major flaw of this game. A lot of recycle dungeons and recycle music from Origins. I can see Bioware really rushed this game to be released (or EA forced them to rush). However, I probably will tolerate this, since this is really not the thing I care about. Because of the revamped combat system, I can see a lot of people will lose interests in this game, Though personally I do enjoy my first play through for 45 hours and I still have a couple of side quests I found but did not finish them. It's certainly shorter than Origins which took me 60 hours for first play through on hard mode. But this is still a good game if you really get into it. if you like party based tactical combat like dragon age origins and world of warcraft, I suggests you start with hard difficulty and most likely you will like dragon age 2.… Expand

Wow, where to start. I played Dragon Age: Origins. I also played other Bioware RPG games dating back to the Star Wars Old Republic games... and I haft to say... this was by far... the worst game they ever made. Thought I liked a few changes they did, I also feel they took two steps forward and 6 steps back. This game is not and shouldn't have been be called a Dragon Age game and be named something else. Since DA2 and DA:O are completely different... First off... The combat. I loved the combat style and killing-blow animations in Dragon Age: Origins. It's Lord of the Rings style hack and slash, blood gore, ect... Thats what was expecting in DA2 from DA:O... I was so disappointed. Though I liked the now fast paced style action (Without pausing). The attack animations, the sounds... it was all terrible and unsatisfying. Plus, the selectable classes were all mashed into only 3 classes. Plus where is my option to play as a tank?! I played a Tank in DA:O... For the games setting, looking back to Star Wars and Mass Effect, I though that I would be able to play my character again from previous saves, or what I did in DA:O would be immensely relevant to the next sequel. Boy, was I wrong. Besides a few differences in dialog what you did in DA:O DOES NOT MATTER, and doesn't even effect the story in hardly anyway. In DA2 it all plays out 95% the same with, or without DA:O saves. But, the meat and bones of the game is the story and the characters... The story, the game takes place in a large city, thought i was surprised at first since I was expecting another cross country adventure as in DA:O, but no. Besides venturing out of the city walls every so often, 75% of all the activity take place in the city. In the same places, same districts, same streets, same buildings, same home, same room, same alley same cave... the only thing that changes is the name of the enemies. Its absolutely repetitive! All it is, is hacking through respawns all in hope the story will get better. But, it doesn't! The story lacked depth and it felt so vague! What happened to the epic battles against the dark spawn orcs? The Arch Demons? It is all gone. Though the Darkspawn is the ultimate evil in the Dragon Age universe you will only fight them on a HAND full of occasions. You will find yourself killing spiders... more spiders... some zombies... demons, and endless re-spawns of humanoids. All in the same places you cleared a hour or so ago. For the characters, besides Varren and Hawks sister... I hated them all... All of them. They all feel so hollow as I did not care for them. Plus, Hawks sister either dies(If you bring her to the Dark Roads) or she gets captured and jailed till the very last scene in the game! WTF? So you and Varren are stuck with a Sesame Street gang... I was not to big on Romances in RPGs, but DA2 has even less to offer. For females you have a STD ridden pirate whore, A frail and awkward elf that looks under-aged and a lesbian ginger woman. For males you have a Pretty boy elf that is always pissed off, Anders who is a whiny heterosexual wuss! Me myself, I found ever reason not to like any of them. Plus, they had to make the only normal some what attractive characters your brother and sister... So scratch them too... This game was a HUGE disappointment... This game didn't even give me any nostalgia what so ever... There was also, no crafting, no armor for your companions besides weapon and jewelry... But, to end on a positive note, the game was in a way fun to play. The UI was well dressed and organized, and the game was not as long as DA:O, but it was fairly full of content. I do think i got my monies worth of entertainment (As in time wasted). Plus, the game works and is well polished as I found NO bugs or glitches while playing. It was a very solid platform, no lag, no crashes. Which is rare in games these days. I am generously giving this game a 5/10. Simply because this game would have been INCREDIBLY good and popular if it was not related to Dragon Age; with it's title changed to something else. But, naming this game Dragon Age... Bioware simply shot themselves in the foot.… Expand

A BioWare employee was caught posing as a consumer on the review site Metacritic. The employee, Chris Hoban, who posted under the name of Avanost gave a score of 10/10 saying "Anything negative you'll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference." A representative for EA responded after much online controversy saying "Of course the people who make the game vote for their own game. That's how it works in the Oscars, that's how it works in the Grammys and why I'm betting that Barack Obama voted for himself in the last election", though it is unclear if Hoban acted on his own behest or on that of the company.… Expand

To put it simply this is a total let down after the fantastic first game. I was able to play it all the way through once but had no desire to play it again, It was helped greatly by the post launch day patch but it took them several days to bring that online.

It certainly is not the worst game I have played but it was by far the WORST that Bioware ever produced and it shows that the change to EA was NOT good at ALL for Bioware… Expand

Two Bioware employees have been caught posting fake 10/10 reviews to try and prop this game up. What more needs to be said? Even the guy who did the music said the game was rushed because EA wanted to cash in on a sequel ASAP.

I expected MUCH more. Dragon Age: Origins had an excellent concept and was much more enjoyable overall. This game definitely does not deserve to be part of the main series. The fact that you're forced to be in one town for most of the game shows how lazy EA is getting.

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

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

I thought that DA:O (decent game though it was) was the beginning of the end for Bioware and this just confirms it. Bioware have, in the past, given me more value for money than I could ever hope for. And for that I am ever grateful. But this game, this game is a disgrace. Companions I know little about and a main character that I care about even less. Extremely repetitive dungeons, lack of any driven storyline, poor artwork, far too much (oversimplified) combat in any given period of time, environments pared down to the bone, uninspiring weapons, uninspiring armor, uninspiring enemies, not a few essential elements deliberately left out so that they can be put back in via DLC. The list does not end here.

This game is just disrespectful to all fans of Bioware. It is so obvious that it was rushed purely for money making purposes without any care for fans or even for Bioware's own integrity. Their marketing department nowadays is tacky, untruthful and quickly becoming synonymous with unadulterated greed on one hand and total BS on the other. It's fine making money boys, but where the hell has your pride gone?

I thought I'd get double digit playthoughs of DA:O. I managed 2. I tuned out of this one after 10 hours. I'll give you this one Bioware. I'll give you this one because you have done fantastically well by me in the past. But please, get your pride and integrity back.… Collapse

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game was a LARGE disappointment.
As a big Dragon Age fan for it's great story, character development and etc, this game was a downer.
Every aspect of the game got worse.
The only thing that kept me going for the game and not just throwing it out the window were the action sequences. They were improved over the last game and kept me playing.
However, the story and character development was horribly poor in this game.
Not to mention this game shoves homosexuality to your male character's throat.
After you have helped Anders' in his acceptable quest mission, he wants you to be his boyfriend.
If you neglect that request, Anders' disapproves of you because you are straight. This is very dumb and has made this game shameful. The story was poor and has not connected to anything, and what disappointed me the most that we did not meet most of the characters from Dragon Age 1. I really wanted to at least stumble open Oghren and Dog.
The characters have no original story whatsoever. It's like shoving down a pile of stupid stereotypical ideas down into a bucket and just accepting them into this game. Every single imaginable stereotypical character is in this game.
Emo person who hates the world? Check.
A wench who has sex with everyone? Check.
A person who keeps crying and needs your help? Check.
A person that has infinite stories to tell you? Check. (Actually, even although it might be stereotypical, this character was really acceptable and funny at times).
And what annoyed me the most is the main character.
He had NO development WHATSOEVER. This person was either the dumbest knight in existence of video gaming or the writer was he dumbest writer in the history of life.
This game is unplayable due to a very unpolished city. You could think, the game is focused only in a city and a mountain, and the city looks like crap. There are many games that have lots of locations and every location is carefully polished? But no. This game has offered no decorations or landmarks to the city or mountains whatsoever.
If you do optional quests you will be bored by the game. The game uses repetitive hallways and rooms for every single mission and you never see any new locations or interesting plot twists.
Unless you do not care about story and only the action, you can try getting this game. But it is not worth y our money. Rent it or buy it on a sale. And by sale I mean at least 50% off.… Expand

It's extremely unworthy, so unworthy it should not possess the "Dragon Age" title. Mostly everything about the game is either extremely underdone or just extremely bad, seriously. Bioware tried way too hard on attempting to make this game successful. If I were to explain what went wrong with this game I'd be writing this for hours, don't buy it, stick to Origins if you must. Bioware has always been a developer that you could trust with the uniqueness and success of their content, their trust has most definitely been shaken.… Expand

Im not a huge fan of last Bioware releases, i consider DAO a good game with something really interesting and something to be improved (like the menus,inventory, crafting, linearity and more), and the mass effect serie too, not masterpieces tbh for me, but anyway good, and different games.
I was and i am i huge fan of old Bioware rpgs, as im a pc player and im no more a kid i remember and i own every rpg with Bioware involved in, and i have to admit i prefer a lot the old titles, no doubt about it.
This DAO2 prolly wanted to be a mix between DAO and Mass effect as idea, to be something fresh going to please more the console mass then the old style rpg geeks, at the end its all business.
But the result im sorry will not please everyone im sure about it, on console you get nowadays much better action titles then this one, especially if you consider the graphics and average fps cant compete even with non so recent titles and also the market is crowded with action oriented games, and about the pc geeks there is nothing to tell, no one will even play this more then couple of hours, prolly less.
Its a real shame to see Bioware involved in a project so damn crap like this one, this game is not a sequel of DAO, its just a laggy linear arcade with minor rpg elements programmed for consoles and badly ported to pc.
At least it was more honest if they realized to skip the pc release and present this game as an arcade spin off of DAO, like it actually is.
Its interesting btw to see how the "professional critics" are nowadays controlled by those majors, look at the scores... bah.
Even if you consider this game a brand new only console game its couldn't get more then a score of 4/10.
But as im talking about the PC version, dear DAO2 you deserve a full zero.… 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

This game is disappointing, no doubt. However what's even MORE disappointing is the fact that a bunch of inept little turds have given this game false zeros to drag it down. It's still a good game, there is NO denying that unless you are just irrational or dishonest.

Dragon Age II for Bioware is what the Sendai earthquake is to Japan, A disaster. Simply an uninspired game developed to market the Dragon Age series towards children.

the worse rpg ever made...no customization, cheap web design interface that looks like a student made it, no toggle helmet key, no toggle weapon key, lame story with choices that have absolutely no effect in story line and recycled dungeons over and over again. Origins seemed too complicated for console boys, so EAware decided it would be easy to butcher the game and appeal that console crowd and rush the game...horrible graphics, that are way over demanding because they're badly coded...witcher 2 is middle ware, with an 8800gt maxing it out, and it looks 10 times better than this piece of crap...square shapes everywhere, lame environments, and coming form 150 hrs, to 30 (everything done, 15 hrs just story line) this game is the biggest piece of crap ive played in a while..i cant even finish it without cheating because its that **** you bioware… 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

Despite its wonderful action sequences and revamped combat system, I am thoroughly disappointed with this mess of a game. Wonderful voice acting, character development, and a slightly interesting plotline mixed with generic....VERY generic dungeons and caves made this game unbearable for me. The copy and paste dungeon designs made me rage as I remembered the genius level-design and immersion that presented itself in the very first Dragon Age. The developers really dropped the ball on this one.… Expand

Waste of time and money. Horrible graphics, boring storyline, boring and repetitive quests, recycled location, horrible ending, horrible game. Avoid at all cost.

With DA: Origins BioWare captured a tiny bit of the magic they used to have in their heyday with the likes of Baldurs Gate 2 and KOTOR, and in my opinion that strategic, tactical "thinking" gameplay felt like a step in the right direction, particularly the PC version with its overhead distant perspective allowing us to get a good view of the battlefield. However this game just feels so watered down and casualised its just lost all of that past BioWare magic. I felt the same about Mass Effect 2 also, which seemed dumbed down and more about mindless action. So if anyone else out there reading this felt the same about that game, then trust me, DA2 will disappoint you too.… Expand

Although there is some restriction in gameplay and not so great like its precedessor, in my point of view, this is still a good game that worth to play. Hope in the next sequence, the creator should not get the same weakness and restriction that they have made in this game. They deserve to get a praise, though. 8.0 points

I was skeptical when I heard Bioware had "made a lot of changes, but did not stray too far from the feel of the first game" (paraphrased from a Bioware dev video). Before I share my thoughts of how the parts of the game should be rated know this; I did not finish the game. "Why are you rating it then?" you might ask, well I'm here to tell you that I stopped playing the game because the ratings I'm about to share are how I felt when I decided I should stop. Here's how I rate the individual parts of the game:

Story: 6, The game is tedious, and never feels like you're getting anything done. The game just feels like a bunch of side quests that you're forced to do (whereas other games like DA:O had a main quest line, and separate side quests that you could do IF you wanted)

Combat: 5, although the combat looks nice and has some fun abilities, over all it becomes very repetitive and makes it so you don't feel any real satisfaction when completing any type of battle.

Speech: 7, the speech mechanics that they imported from the Mass Effect series was a good addition to the enjoyability to the game (instead of needing to read and choose long responses like in DA:O) however I wasn't quite satisfied with the male voice acting. It seemed too foreign for the context of the conversations. For example, in the Mass Effect series, the voice of Shepard makes you feel like you're asking the questions and accusing enemies, but the DA2 character seems too banter-like making it hard to relate to.

Customization: 1, There's is little to no customization in the game. Bioware is known for detailed character creation (including looks and abilities) so I'm disregarding that in this section of the review. Everything else doesn't come anywhere close to par with Bioware's history.

Exploration: 0, What exploration? If by exploration you mean walking around 1 city, then I give it a 10. If by exploration you mean exploring wonderful landscapes, multiple cities, beautiful mountains and beaches and more, (like in DA:O) then 0, or even -1... Basically you spend the whole game in one boring city... If you played the first one, basically think of Denerim, except 4 times bigger, and you cant go anywhere else except a patch of land for elves, and eventually a non-explorable Deep Roads map.

Mechanics: 9, Probably the only thing that Bioware actually improved upon is the UI, including menus and hotbars. Easier to use, and smoother to respond. This section includes graphics. The characters look more like Mass Effect rather than Elder Scrolls 4 (even though Bioware didn't make that :P but still)

Overall, this game is a complete disappointment as a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins. If Bioware can combine the mechanics of DA2 and the playability of DA:O, then Dragon Age 3 will probably be Bioware's console gem (That is if you don't include Mass Effect 3 and SWtOR)… Expand

For the original Dragon Age i wrote: Very immersing story, believable world, interesting NPCs, fun and demanding combat. Well, Dragon Age 2 has nothing of those.

My previous score was 2, but I have to go lower. Once you try to play a solo run, you will recognize how bad and broken the combat system is. Dodging attacks is basically going 1m to the side and that's It. I also found out this way that enemy archers can shoot through ANYTHING, another slap in the face. Because of the DLC items, you're almost immortal. And this was on Nightmare, I might add. Boss fights are a joke. After the I. Act, I didn't have any will to continue playing this game, and I probably never will.… Expand

The first, and hopefully last, miss-step from Bioware. After about 10 hours play time I couldn't play the game anymore, I have before noticed copy paste dungeons/tiles/textures, but NOTHING to this degree. This game is one big copy paste and, it seems, the developers have been doing ALOT of sitting around, staring into the wall, not knowing what to do. I am sorry but the combat does not make up for it, the "improved" graphics does not make up for it, the added voice acting to the protagonist does not make up for it. Because none of these improvements actually work in any meaningful way. I was hoping for a Dragon Age II, that was worthy of the title coming from the really well made Dragon Age: Origins, but I was seriously let down here. I wish I could get my money back, but alas, I am on the pc, so I can't. I did manage to drag myself through the game and complete it, and forget it. This game is not worth your money or your time, stay well clear.… Expand

It's in no way a bad game, it just doesn't reach the heights that the first one did. The console heavy gameplay on the PC really isn't well suited for the type of game most people expected. This should have been an off shoot Dragon Age game, not 2.

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

Yeah sure the combat isn't as strategic as Baldurs Gate II and the story isn't as engaging as the original Dragon Age, but I still had an absolute hoot.

Alright, so I finished this, and while it may have been a good stand alone game from a lesser known developer, this is not a $60 epic from a critically acclaimed company that we were promised.

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

As a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins this game was a big disappointment. You can tell this game was rushed like crazy with the ridiculous number of recycled dungeons, enemies, and graphic tilesets. This should have been a great game but instead fell victim to EA's ongoing overhype-and-overrush-quality-be-damned business strategy at making new games. The fact that most critics gave this game a 90+ score just shows how lacking in integrity game journalists are.… Expand

How can you possible go from something so awesome to this pile of digital crap, Bioware? Seriously! The story, characters, setting, and...well everything have been dummed down so horribly it's an insult to the original. This looks more like Bioware made it for 9 year olds.

Nice job **** it up, Bioware. Nice job.

Dragon Age II would be a moderately OK CRPG if it had been made by an unknown developer and published standalone. As a sequel to Origins, it's a disaster. Pluses: still a well-crafted story, side plots, romances, etc. Minuses: pretty much everything else. Forced to play as a Human. Constant location re-use, with the same map standing in for every cave in the country, for example. Top-down view gone, and teleports enemies down in random places during encounters, ruining the excellent tactical combat system inherited from Origins and replacing it with a slog (there is a *lot* of combat). Awash with meaningless side quests; I ended up scooping them up in MMO style and following glowing objectives, not remembering or caring what it was I was actually doing. Even the main quest is a flop: the main character is someone that things just happen to, and appears to have no real effect on the world, even though the game keeps insisting that you're AWESOME really. Completely fails at doing an epic story that doesn't involve saving the world, making you feel like a nobody instead (see Mask of the Betrayer for how this should be done). I no longer believe the word of the professional reviewers who gave this disappointment 90% scores.… Expand

Behold one of the worst sequels in history: Dragon Age 2, the adventure of Hawk in copy&paste Land. If you ever wanted to see serious recycling this is the game for you.

This is one of best games of the years. Don't believe any of the bad reviews. They are shills for other gaming companies. EA is one of the finest game makers in the business and Dragon Age II exceeds all expectations and will be the number 1 RPG for years go to come.

This is the worst game BioWare ever made. I think we have reached a new milestone in history where BioWare lends the crown of RPG to CD Projekt and The Witcher. The game just has no soul... it's not a bad game, but it's a game that really says nothing. I hope BioWare listens to their fans and go back to their roots (Baldur's Gate and KotOR).

I have changed my score for this game based on the fact that it has very little replay value for me since I bought and played it.
They removed most of the things I love about rpgs and especially from DAO and flashed up the combat a lot. Saying that I liked some aspects of the combat but not enough to justify the removal of all the crafting and personalising of characters and party members.
I missed terribly the immersion from being able to converse with my team members whenever I liked and of course the romances were for me totally lacking especially compared to other Bioware games.
The story was pretty dark and bleak, death of loved ones a constant theme throughout the game, not much fun to play of you are struggling with your own grief in rl. The mirror of transformation a nice idea but the awful ghastly shop with the droning and terrible shopkeeper...who likes that kind of place? Twelve year old boys?
It's an ok game but a HUGE let down after Dragon Age Origins. I've also missed the player made mods as there was no tool kit released for this game. Therefore our modding community have been extremeely limited in what they could do with the game. Such a shame.… Expand

this is such a bad game,absolutely pathetic attempt at creating an rpg,shame on you bioware,i will be never ever ever again purchasing any of your products after this abomination of a game

Now that a few years have passed I can say Dragon Age 2 is actually a pretty good game. Sure, it's not an epic game like Origins but it's still pretty good. The combat is fast paced, highly varied from class to class and even from character to character, and much more frequent. It's a lot of fun to select spells, switch characters, select attacks, switch characters, complete cross-class combo and watch health bars plummet. It's a huge improvement on Origins and you have a lot more control over your companions. The Tactics menu is even improved so you can focus most of your attention on a single character and the AI will still perform adequately up to Hard mode. Dialogue is really improved. Say what you want about the Dialogue Wheel, it has made it a lot easier to choose a response and your no longer surprised when an NPC gets angry at something you said. in Origins you didn't always know when a particular phrase was sarcasm or animosity but now it's clearer and you can make better choices. You don't generally have five or six responses but the ones you do have are just as sufficient to make your impact. The player character is now pre-set and fully voiced in dialogue. This does take away from the 'create your own experience' aspect but Bioware has always had good dialogue and they did not disappoint. You can still role-play as Penis Johnson, now he is Penis Hawke which in my mind is just as juvenilely hilarious. Your companions are just as varied and can be just as interesting as in Origins but they have a lot more companion quests and they will no longer get pissed off and leave if you do something they don't like. You now have a Friend/Rival meter which offers bonuses for being at one end of the extreme, you can even Romance a character that has a -100 opinion. There are now more Romances and you can have several without other companions getting too jealous. Ferelden was a closed world with a few dozen maps spanning a continent but Kirkwall (not the wonderful tourist destination in Orkney) is comparatively small. It has about the same number of maps but they are meshed into a single city and therefore it feels much smaller than it actually is and it fails to create the illusion of a free world like Origins. You do have a lot more quests so now you will revisit the same map a dozen times which does get tedious well before the final chapter. You also never leave the city. I think they did this because they wanted you to feel attached and care for the outcome of its inhabitants. To a degree they succeeded but it is still lacking compared to the first game. The story is a lot more low key than Origins which is where many people get pissed off. Instead of destroying an unstoppable horror from consuming a continent as the leader of a mysterious and storied order, you are just a poor refugee who pulls him/herself up by his/her bootstraps to become the most powerful person in town. You can either be help an independent city-state remain free and happy or you can destroy it. It's closer to The Witcher than Origins but it gets the job done and is interesting enough to keep you going. Each chapter has a different goal and a different theme so even though you never leave the city it does change dramatically. Just don't expect to feel like you've saved the world but do expect to feel like you've created a city. And the most important aspect of any video game: Immersion. Yes, it's easy to get lost in Hawke and the voice actor does a really good job of reciprocating my intent for each given response. The world is still Dragon Age and there is a lot of depth there, just don't expect to sink as far as you did in Origins. In conclusion, it's a good game with a lot more positives than faults and most importantly it is fun. It has the 'Middle Game' problem where they don't want to introduce the big finale but they need a lot of filler and for filler Dragon Age 2 is the best there is.… Expand

Dragon Age 2 certainly is a step backwards for the series in a few respects, but at it's core it still provides an entertaining role playing experience. My biggest gripe with the game is the control. The right mouse button is both attack and camera control. Without the tactical camera of it's predecessor the camera needs to be constantly adjusted to get a good view of the battlefield, and even then the camera moves on it's own whenever the characters do anything. This makes is quite difficult to target enemies in the heat of battle. The violence looks quite silly as the characters swing over sized weapons in quick exaggerated movements like an anime. The enemies just look slightly stunned every time they get hit until their HP reaches 0 and the pop like kind of meat balloons.

The characters and interaction however are one thing DA2 does right, and I feel it's the most important part of an RPG experience. The Dragon Age world is well fleshed out with enjoyable characters (Although some feel very familiar of previous Bioware games). I quite liked DA2's "over time" feel. The game takes place over a long period of time, and you can really feel the characters and world change.

Overall I feel that DA2 technically disappointed, but still entertained.… Expand

Mass Effect 2 meats Dragon Age: Origins. More action, devastating spells with visually striking effects. This game will make your $300 video card investment shine.

The 1st DAO was 100% better than this piece of garbage. I have had it since release and I dont think that I will even bother to finish it. The rehashed areas are boring, the plot is terrible and for a dx11 game(patched..) the graphics are not that great. If you have DX11 running just take a look at your characters(or party members) feet sink into the floor..just shoddy. This game seems rushed and has a terrible plot.… Expand

At its core the problem with this game is that it was too boring to push on with. I didn't feel like I was doing anything special... maybe it happens towards the end, i'll never know. being concerned with your wallet the whole game isn't very heroic!
Some parts hint at a great story but ultimately the whole game is let down by the actual mechanics of the game, you know, actual gameplay!). I assume to get greater graphical fidelity the user became boxed into what seems to be a series of corridors and rooms. You never get to explore a world, you just seem to be going from point to point.
Combat is dull. Having waves of filler spawn while you fight a boss with a crazy long health bar is not fun. Having your teammates unable to wear most loot items smacks of laziness.… Expand

I think people are being a bit tough on DA2. When compared against Bioware Standards, it is indeed their worst product to date. But that's like saying the smallest diamond in the mine- I'll take it. When compared to other games that have been released lately, DA2 was a good reprieve. I think it suffers from Apple-ification. Origins was slow, clunky, half the skills were worthless, half of the characters had no personality (Sten, Lelianna, Oghren Pre-Awakening? Really?), the dwarf area... ugh. The dwarf area... Dragon Age 2 tried to streamline all of Origins' flaws. Battles were quicker. Travel was quicker. Quest Markers were visible from far away. Not every conversation involves 6 soliloquies. Unlike most people, I actually rather enjoy the plot. Everything that was changed sounds like it SHOULD be better it just... it kind of plays itself- and you're along for the ride. Like the Matrix. The first had a few action scenes that were intense because of the lack of action scenes elsewhere. The second was almost entirely action scenes, and by the end you were ready to fall asleep. I think developers should look at DA2 and see what happened, what went wrong. I think a lot can be learned at what happens if you oversimplify and over-streamline your game. There is something to be said about requiring a bit of effort before the reward... otherwise it quickly loses its appeal.

I can't give DA2 less than a 6. Because it IS all good stuff. But what it lacks is what is missing between said good stuff.… Expand

First of all, amazing that the consumers en masse see this game for the filth it is, while the professionals give it 9 and 10's. Must be losing touch with the people they write reviews for.

I was waiting with the utmost expectations for this game. I mean just polish dragon age give it new maps improve graphics and you have a hell of a game.

Instead they decided to do things all over and focus not on the customers who made dragon age a sales succes but to potential new customers. I.e. action console players. In all , voice acting is bad, Reuse of maps is a disgrace, ( the same cave over and over) gameplay boring. I have decided never to buy games again without downloading and testing them first. 50 euro's for this piece of garbage is ridiculous,… Expand

Hmm.. Mixed senses.
This is not 'thrash game' like many others. Just mediocre action with some cinematic value..
But it is not Dragon Age. Where is the characters? Full, long and deep story? Nothing here. Just 1-2 story sketches in the mid-late game and then it fail. =(
All my DA hopes is for the third part.
Many graphic glitches too..

After over a year now, I still can't forget the disappointment when I first played the game. After playing Dragon Age: Origins, I'd been looking forward to the sequel in anticipation, but was even more taken aback than when Neverwinter Nights was released.
It's truly terrible in every respect, it's basically a hack-n'-slash action RPG badly ported from an outdated console (like PS2 ore something). I was so paralyzed I actually played about 10 hours, waiting for the story to kick in, or anything to kick in, really, but it didn't.
And it would have been so easy to make a great sequel to a great game - just leave mot of what made the game intact, improve upon the more technical stuff (graphics, interface responsiveness), and you're good to go. But no, they had to waste that chance and s**** it up (like what 4E did to D&D).

Sad. I'm never going to pre-order anything Bioware again.… Expand

Reposting my review, which was deleted by Metacritic:

What an insult. A sloppy console port from a company that no longer cares about the platform which put it where it is today. They couldn't even be bothered to provide a zoomed out camera. This game strips away most of the good features in Origins and compounds the worst parts, namely the encounter design. Waves upon waves of identical enemies guarantee that no tactics except button-mashing is required. This game is an insult to real RPG's like Planescape:Torment and Mask of the Betrayer. Sadly, the only mainstream RPG developer left seems to be Obsidian Entertainment.… Expand

I'm going to keep this short and simple. It's not DA:O - hell, it's barely an RPG, but it's a good game. I found myself wrapped up in the world, the characters, and the story, enjoying the combat and the tension, reveling in the soundtrack, and generally enjoying myself. There are a number of glaring flaws, but if you don't walk into it expecting Dragon Age: Origins, you'll probably enjoy yourself, just like I did.… Expand

Dragon Age 2 is a big letdown for all of us Origin fans but if we can forget about Origins for a second and compare it to other RPGs Dragon Age 2 is a pretty solid game. At first I was extremely disappointed in DA2 and pessimistic towards it but when I gave it a chance I found myself unable to stop playing it (Completing the game twice). Pros:
Many people will probably disagree but I like DA2â… Expand

I'm giving it a 7 as there are a number of features that improvements over Dragon Age: Origins. Some of those include faster combat, a better spell/talent selection and advancement method, and a voiced player character. There are some other good points as well. Bad points would be things such as a more restricted inventory system for companions, less dialogue with companions one on one, and a story that doesn't keep you as engaged as the previous game. One thing the PC version really shines on is the graphics. DirectX 11 renderer shows some excellent quality even on high settings with AAx8 and AFx16.… Expand

Expect an oversimplified hack and slash with quite dull and linear storyline and pseudo choices that does not matter for a thing for you character or storyline. Camera works terribly in this game and the overuse of generic dungeons is an absurd....This is kind of "Prince of Persia" or "Tomb Raider" game more than it is a Dragon Age" Origins successor, not mentioning Baldur"s Gate. I am very disappointed with this title, although if you like arcade games you may like actually it.… Expand

The main thing frustrates me about this game is the bad graphics and how high resolution texture pack doesn't change anything at all. It looks like crap even at 1080p with dx11 highest details but the game is more demanding than Metro 2033 or Crysis. Runs like crap even on a GTX580 or 6970. Why should people pay $60 for a game that has graphics from 2003 yet still runs like 20 frames per second on high end hardware? There's really something wrong with this game.… Expand

I try to review based on the merrits of the game in question, not on its predecessors and not on ideas about how the game should have been. Dragon age is graphically great, the fighting is enjoyable and the story works well. The dungeons and other areas are very repetetive which was a little dissapointing but did not marr the experience. The inability to enhance armour on team mates also dissapointing. These are all minor issues and overall I really enjoted the experience and would recommend giving it a spin.… Expand

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

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

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

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

Seriously folks- this game on the nightmare setting is a man's endeavor. It requires utilization of cross class combos, precise management of group member placements during AOE attacks, constant pausing to micro-manage, and twice as much mustard as DOA. The black emporium DLC is pretty much a requirement so you can respec your character and your party members (like countless times to get everything right). Again, I think the reuse of dungeons and the lack of an immersive or expansive environment really detracts from this game, and I can get behind the grumblings where that is concerned, but I am really appalled by players saying this game is too easy or requires no strategy. This is about 66% harder than DOA on nightmare (although I did play DOA with the OP arcane warrior spec, so there's that to consider). For the half-men out there, goto the dragon age nexus website and download the mod that allows you to make nightmare difficulty setting easier but still play with Friendly Fire: without it the game is for preemies.… Expand

The User ratings have this one almost dead on. No it's not the worst game out there but just because you can make a game look relatively pretty doesn't mean it's good. Dragon age suffers from one game breaking flaw, greed. EA and Bioware show their true colors here. They have changed everything that made Dragon Age Origins such an incredible game. Not in the name of improvement but to sell more copies. I do see how some of the changes could have been for the better if done properly yet others are just senseless. The battle system needed reworked if only for the console versions. However the changes they made left it feeling less like an RPG and more like a bad hack and slash. Gone are all the deep character customizations. You simply choose gender and class. No more custom backstory. If this was any other franchise it would have been better off. Calling it a sequel to Dragon Age simply ruined it. No one buys a sequel hoping it will be more simplistic with a simple story and fewer options. If you buy a sequel to a beloved franchise you expect it to improve on itself. The story is borderline garbage and the way it's delivered is even worse. Don't get excited for some upcoming exploration or engaging plotline as the game will simply skip ahead just as you're getting into it. Yes this dungeon looks exactly like the last one just make a left here instead of a right. Bioware has openly admitted to using the same dungeon layout multiple times. Here is the bottom line. I like many others was expecting a sequel. Hoping to continue my story or atleast flesh out the world of Dragon Age. Instead I was sold a crappy 5 yr old baldurs gate wannabe with modern graphics. I was not expecting Mass Effect Medieval Edition. Bioware is hands down the most overrated developer around. They consistantly make terrible games that have great stories. They really should just consider making movies instead of games. We would all be better off.… Expand

Thoroughly disappointing sequel to a fantastic RPG. Fans of Origins and/or anyone interested in immersive, character-based roleplay should avoid this like the plague. Gone are the multiple choice dialogue options of true RPG classics, replaced by the dialogue wheel seen in Mass Effect. While that works in the epic setting of what is effectively a sci-fi blockbuster, it doesn't here. Its shallow, poorly written characters and script are totally forgettable. Seldom does your choice of action or speech affect anything at all. The environments themselves would look average 10 years ago. Areas that look awful in the first place are re-used many times over. The one saving grace is the combat, but with so many other faults, it's barely worth mentioning. The bullet-point nature of this review feels apt, as the disappointments hit home one after the other. As a friend of mine put it; "About as gripping as a lubed-up hand with no bone structure." Colour me shocked and appalled, Bioware.… Expand

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

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

One step forward, 5 steps back. This game has better interface than the original and fails at eevrything else. The ratings and sales should be a good sign for Bioware to think about with their future games.

Unworthy of being the successor of DA:Origins in every single way. Bioware whored itself to EA, and this is the result. Another mighty company killed by consolization.

This game is a slap in the face for the PC gaming community. In an attempt to appeal to casual gamers they essentially ruined everything that made the first game enjoyable. I was absolutely shocked when I saw the PC Gamer review a few days before the game released and have to question any "reviewers" credibility when they gave this game such a high review.

This game is a massive downgrade from the original. Tactical camera is missing, enemies respawn in waves making player positioning essentially worthless for most fights, dungeon maps are recycled, player companions can not equip any armor you find which makes acquiring new gear mostly a case of selling gear to vendors, the non combat trade skills have been removed (granted many were pointless but I would have preferred something different rather than complete removal), the Mass Effect style dialogue wheel is stupid, forcing the player into one role takes away quite a bit from the experience of the first, higher difficulty settings result in a kite fest rather than actual strategy, DLC content marketed AT LAUNCH and extra items given out for crap like "LIKING DRAGON AGE IN FACEBOOK" which makes a pirated copy of this game more convenient than just buying that game on STEAM since you won't have to jump through hoops to get the extras you want. I'm not sure if I could have been any more disappointed by this game. Terrible! I was hoping for another game similar to Baldur's Gate and I ended up with what feels like a crappy console port.… Expand

With Bioware rigging the user reviews, you can't help but think they're rigging the critic reviews as well. Bioware was already caught rigging DA II's user scores on Metacritic by having employees give it good scores. Bioware's response was that it was the same thing as Barrack Obama voting for himself.

Anyways, about the game. It targets a larger audience by dumbing things down but loses its original audience it once had. You stay in the same area for most of the game, the dialogue wheel is incredibly limited, and the voice acting isn't very good. Dragon Age II went from being a strategic form of game to more of a Devil May Cry clone without the fun that DmC had.

You'll be better of with the Witcher 2.… Expand

Okay, the combat in this game is really fun: you can simultaneously choose the moves of every member of your squad, can switch perspectives to complete the fight as a different squad member, and are asked to be highly strategic during some intense battles. Also, the story is fun, even if it pales in comparison to the more nuanced narrative of Mass Effect. Why the low score? Well, in some ways, this feels like a beta-test version of the game. The dungeons are all obviously using the same one or two maps. The shopkeepers simply run out of items if you buy their whole supply. Enemies don't regenerate when you return to areas later. All of this leads to a game that feels unfinished. It is entertaining enough, but I would never recommend this game without pointing out its serious weaknesses.… Expand

I find the 4.2 too low for this game. Yes, it's not DA: Origins, it's not as good. Yet as a standalone game it's not that bad. It looks as good as DA:O (though it's supposed to look better, even if it feels like there was no progress...), combat system is waaay better, but everything else is worse. Your companions are not as interesting, your voiced hero feels wrong, and the responses a la Mass Effect are too few comparing to how much freedom you felt on the first game. Also, the game keeps reusing the same places over and over again, making it boring.… Expand

First of all this game doesn't deserve 0 or 1 Come on people stop whining that it was not as epic as dragon age origins .Overall it is quite dissapointing after the hype it created along with th success of its predecessor but it still it is not that Bad.Basically what bioware is trying to do is make it a mass effect that's the biggest mistake dragon age is something different and whats with this small map and playing with only one human is another negative but still has its positive like the story is pretty good along with the character models and the r.p.g elements Overall Its quite playable but still i recommend the predecessor why the hell the product was rushed I was suppode to give it a score of 7 but with all those negative comments its better to give it a 8… Expand

I don't care what any Bioware employee posting on here says, if you want to capitalize and maximize your profit, then this does a good job of that. It does not do a good job at being the game everyone was expecting, it just doesn't. But whose fault is it anyway? YOURS, not the consumers, because the consumers didn't make the game. They buy, and they choose weather they want to buy it and play it or not. And if you think its "individual opinion" then take a look at all the negative reviews on here, I don't think it's individual anymore buddy. I thank those who lost their money to this game for warning others about it, it's consumer rights, and the consumer should be able to protect themselves form these kinds of scams, because it is their hard earned money. With that said, this game is bad. The graphics are terrible, low resolution, no color whatsoever. These graphics are like the kind you would find in Warcraft III (2002-03) and DX11 doesn't make a difference. Story is bad, no development, no character intros, doesn't make any sense, hard to follow, too many cut scenes with more of the same. Hack and slash...rinse, repeat. game ends. bad.Don't buy. And if you do you just wasted 40 bucks, and I am sorry, sucks for you.… Expand

I haven't seen a more confused collection of polish and poor design choice since, well, ME2.... Like BrutallyHonest points out: Bioware now design games via marketing research and focus group responses! This is a game entirely designed with the ADD addled, "ewwww, look at the Shiny object!", celebrity crotchshot demanding, Corporate pablum swilling, Generation Shallow, in mind... In otherwords: Gaming's "Brave New World". Existing fans? **** 'em. This, to me, isn't about the console-ification of gaming... nor, is it about being upset with a company trying something new... It's about sacrificing quality and depth to appeal to a greater market. Some people just don't like RPG's... and, it's ridiculous to sell out on what made you famous in the first place, in the hope that you'll expand your market into that group. Out: game affecting choices, In: "Choose Your Own Inflection'... Out: Epic storytelling, In: episodic confusion... Out: any attempt at graphical realism, In: graphic novel inspired art style... Out: tactical combat, In: Devil May Cry enemy wave spawns... Out: depth of any kind, In: skin deep surface veneer... And, On and ON it goes, ad nauseum.... Cutting out the "RPG", only to replace it with ideas from other game genres, in a sad attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Again, as I stated earlier, it's the maddening production decisions I'm having the hardest time with! Why work so hard to develop top quality voice acting... and then decide to reuse the same 4 - 5 minimaps 7, 8, 9 ^*%#* TIMES EACH!?! IT MAKES NO SENSE! Polish this... be mind bogglingly lazy with that! I mean, seriously, WTF! There are more headscratching story flaws in this game than ALL OF THE PREVIOUS BIOWARE GAMES COMBINED! Some of the plot twists are beyond obsurd. Choices, in this game are merely illusions... The dialog wheel is nothing more than changing how your character's voice sounds as the exact same oucome occurs 95% of the time IRREGARDLESS of what, or how, you say shiite. Bioware is in decline, folks. Mark my words. More fans have been alienated by their recent turn of direction than any new ones have been picked up. A 5/10 rating SOLELY for the games level of polish in comparison with the game industry as a whole. Ptew!… Expand

This game, in almost every way is poor. Lets forget for a moment that it is the sequel of what was heralded as the spiritual succesor to one of the greatest roleplayng games of all time and try to judge the game on its own merits. The problem being, that the game has very few merits. It is Biowares obvious step into stripping out the crpg aspects and going for the more action orientated market. The game however totally fails in both areas. As an action game it is boring. Compared to a game like God of War (the game i think it is most akin to) it lacks finesse, momentum and ends up playing like a chore instead of an immersive entertainment medium. The combat is laughable. You press attack and your character does a silly anime styled move. The skills are over the top and too quick and the tactics are almost non existant. The enemies just appear from the sky and the battles are so numerous that once your half way through this very shoprt game you will be dying for it to end. The characters (Normally one of Biowares strong points) are actually pretty boring and 2d i this game. Some are fun and make you want to learn more about them but for he most part they are straight out of a kids cartoon, trying to be cool to the point of cliche. Im afraid this isnt just a poor game for Bioware (who have been steadily getting worse for a number of years now). This is just a poor game and i wouldnt reccomend it even it is in the bargain bucket. Leave well alone.… Expand

People are very negative about this game, and quite frankly, it doesn't deserve the hate it gets. Sure it isn't as good as Origins, but it is still a good game. I'm going to divide my review into Pros and Cons.
Pros: The combat: Fighting in this game feels very fast paced, a very big improvement from Origin's which feels sluggish compared to 2's. Graphics: Being a sequel, it naturally has improved graphics. Voiced Player character: This is the first Dragon Age game that has your character voiced, and uses a dialogue wheel similar to Mass Effect's. I really didn't mind the way dialogue worked in Origins and KoToR, but when your character actually speaks, you kind of get more of a feel to what you're saying.

Cons: Reuse of areas: A lot of caves and buildings are reused environments, just with different monsters and items, this is due to the publisher EA rushing BioWare for an early release. NPC Companions: The companions in this game are a step down from Origins, in Origins, you liked pretty much all of them, at least I did, they had a good back story, and you learn to like them as the game goes on, in 2, not so much, I really only like 2 of the companions, Merrill, and Varric, Anders is a character from Awakenings, DA:O's expansion, they really messed him up in this game, changing his personality completely. The Story: It's just not as good as Origins, it doesn't feel as epic, and no matter what you do, the endings are pretty much the same, feeling like you didn't have much choice in the story, which goes against normal BioWare games. Exploration: In Origins you got to explore a whole country, in 2, you get a city, which changes at day and night, and a little bit as the story progresses.

Overall, it's a good game, just not as good as Origins, Bioware tried something new, and it didn't work out, hopefully they'll spend more time on Dragon Age 3… Expand

This game, despite being somewhere between resoundingly mediocre and offal, was foisted onto the gaming community by a clueless industry and corrupt, bribe-accepting "journalists." If you like RPGS, don't play this. If you believe in journalistic integrity, don't play this. If you like video games and want the industry to improve, don't play this. I'll give this game a 3, because it's prequel was excellent and it held much (squandered) potential.… Expand

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!

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

This is ridiculous. The scores metacritic has listed for this game are nowhere near accurate, as evidenced by user reviews. The story is ridiculous... I don't even understand why people are traveling with me. The main quest is short, devoid of story and back-story, and to make matters worse I suddenly am having intercourse with two females at the same time. I don't even know them; I don't even remember hitting on them.
The combat is ridiculously easy, even on Nightmare difficulty. Bosses can be kited (as in, you can run around in circles over and over again and they will never catch you) as your friends continually shoot them, essentially making every boss nonexistent. For combat, all you have to do is rack up as much damage output as physically possible and nuke EVERYTHING. And by everything, I mean waves and waves of random people who are attacking me for reason unknown. I'll just be running a little errand for some guy in exchange for money, and SUDDENLY 50 people will charge out of nowhere to prevent me from delivering an old man his medicine (I made up that scenario as to prevent spoilers).
I am not usually one to care about graphics (especially considering I still play 8-bit games), but in all seriousness this game makes me feel like I am playing on a Nintendo 64. And that's not saying the N64 was bad, it's just very old. Every character seems to be colored in a poorly textured splash of blood at all times, and it's just not realistic. Speaking of realism, every character seems to have 100 pound swords that they swing around like baseball bats, which seems a little lame. I'm going to stop here; as I write I am continually lowering the score I am giving this game, and so I should stop before it gets down to 1 for the sake of Bioware.… Expand

There are lots of people writing hateful and malicious reviews about this game because it didn't live up to their sky high expectations and in my opinion when you're expectations are as high as theirs then you are bound to be disappointed. But that's just my opinion. While it's true that this game feels somewhat rushed and quite simple compared to its hard, strategy-heavy predecessor, it's not the complete disaster many people make it out to be. The combat is fun for the first two acts of the game but becomes kind of repetitive towards the end because of the fact that it has been simplified to the point where not much strategy is required in battle and there isn't much variety to the enemies that at certain points towards the end feel like they are endlessly respawning to drag out the length of the game. The story is split into three acts, with an overarching plot that is somewhat present in the first two acts and eventually builds up to the events of the third act and an ending begging for a third game. The problem with this is that the acts don't really feel connected to each other as a plot, so it's almost like you are playing three completely different stories. The characters, however, are very interesting and complex, and by the end of the game I really grew to like them all. Graphically the game looks great, with colorful environments and nice character models. However, as you are always in the same city throughout the entire game, the scenery can get repetitive. The music and voice acting are fantastic, and they really sold me on the world the developers have created. Overall, this game absolutely does not deserve all the hate its been getting for the fact that it's a solid sequel to an incredible first game, because despite failing to live up to it's predecessor, it's still a very good game and with a length of about 40 hours, it's definitely worth buying if you're a fan of Bioware or RPGS.… Expand

Dragon Age II feels like it want to statisfy the customers basic needs but nothing more. You can buy it and may get up to eight hours of basic entertaiment. However, it's not enought for me. This game doesn't look finished after one and an half year. It hast a great story development but all ends up in some mess of trivial stuff. Freedom of choice is only an illusion - nearly no one of the huge ammount of descissions you doing have any effect. So, why a 3 out of 10 when it is 'basically statisfieng'? Because i think Bioware doing things in a bad way. Someone there may've got that you only have to do 'the basic things' to get the customers money, but it's the wrong way. I really wish that the next Bioware product get the time it needs.… Expand

Before game came out I had big hopes for it. Demo was pretty good ..but very misleading for what the game really is. DA2 is very linear game that take place around one location with very linear quest (go and kill, or bring me this and that) graphics are better then first Dragon Age but not much engine was just tweaked and updated to 2011 standards. Combat is satisfying, changed to more hit&slash paste so you font have to pause game on every encounter but it's still available for those playing on harder difficulty.overall game is a let down after what dragon age 1 was and not worth 30£ (full price) good rent material

6/10… Expand

I have only one thing to say - don't fix things that are not broken-this will never work. Instead of fixing working ideas when you have clearly not enough time given to you by investors than just focus at content. Coz if you have not enough time and still trying to change not only scenario and environment but also game-play, mechanics and graphics and doing it for few platforms at the same time you just can't win. If this game would have unchanged gameplay and only little more polshed graphics it would be also bashed for not being creative but wouldn't get REAL avarage rating less than 7-8, but with focusing at scenario and as a sequel of good game i would expect at least 8,5-9,5. now it has 4 and in my opinion still too much… Expand

In a word, this game is atrocious. The NPCs are shallow. The graphics are cartoonish. The storyline is, well, boring. This is not its predecessor. Indeed, I am not sure what it is, or what it tries to be. It attempts action, hack n slash and RPG and succeeds at NONE of those. In my life, I've never rated a game below a 5...until now. Being an optimist, I start at 10 and deduct points (normally decimals) for those areas where I believe a game is lacking. If it lacks enough, I will subtract a whole point.

Immersiveness = -2

Repeated Areas = -2

Wow, we're already down to 5. There is no immersiveness here. Kirkwall is a blank slate. The people within it stay the same and have no life cycle during the game's timeline (10 years). They do not react to you nor what happens around them. Fun, huh?

The repeated areas? No game prior to this has offended by repetition quite so badly. It is AWFUL.

Storyline = -1
Graphics = -1
Gameplay = -1

And voilla, we're well below a 5, which is average.

Do not waste your time or money with this rushed hack job.… Expand

I played the first game, which was amazing and unique. I loved the story and the gameplay, the sound and the graphics and the characters! And I had high expectations for Dragon Age 2 (DA2). However, I was surprised that they tried to make the game more action packed for the more causal gamer. The graphics have been improved and they have added a story that is more like a movie. The story telling is very typical Bioware which I always enjoyed, but I found that the impact of my decisions had less effect then in the previous game. The characters were also not as well built (no backstory, don't really get in touch with the personalities like in the first game). The gameplay is okay if you enjoy fast action/adventure type games, as opposed to the traditional 'pause' and lets plan our next move...which has been the tradition. Gamers who enjoyed the old system may be quite disappointed (hence the negative reviews). Overall a pretty okay game, but overshadowed by its predecessor. (Score 7.0)… Expand

This game really gets a bum rap as far as games go, and the reason for it is two fold. 1) The gaming media has so skewed the ratings system that most people think anything less than a 9 or a 10 is positively awful. This is a belief shared by big publishing houses, and by developers also. It has rendered the ratings system useless; and is, I believe, responsible in part for the negative overreaction to this game as evidenced by the inaccurate and unfair Zero's, One's, and Two's. 2) Bioware's Marketing Department is really really bad. They gave a distinct impression to the fan base about what Dragon Age "2" was going to be like, and then what was delivered was quite different. Which explains much of the backlash. Granted none of this was helped by the extremely short development cycle that resulted in a game that feels incomplete and has a really crappy, bland, and boring ending. In spite of this however I still feel like a lot of the really low user reviews are unfair, because IMO the game is decent. The engine runs much more smoothly, and is much more stable than in Dragon Age Origins. The Character based textures are much cleaner, and much prettier. The dialogue, and interpersonal interactions with NPC companions are much deeper and more emotive than in Dragon Age Origins. And the overall story arc is coherent and mostly complete, even if it ends a little abruptly, and crappily with SuperEvilNinja!Meredith. Claims that the combat has been dumbed down to flashy hack'n'slash mechanics are untrue. Combat runs almost exactly the same as in DAO. The differences are mostly cosmetic, with faster animations, a lack of "finishing" moves, and the missing isometric camera. Or are different in the execution/presentation of the combat scenes - example: The Parachuting from the Sky Heavily Armoured Waves of enemies, or occasional cut scene "finishing" move. Tactics work the same, and talents (although streamlined) work the same. The guts, the actual mechanics of combat are exactly the same. If DA2 were an exam, it would get a solid and respectable B IMO (with DAO getting an A).… Expand

Dragon Age 2 has been very much criticized by fans of the first game, and I understand why. It's true that the areas in the game are way to few and that the story and characters aren't as good, but I enjoyed this game a lot. It may not be one of my favourite rpg's, but it provides at least 40 hours of content. I'm not saying the game is flawless, cause the combat is certainly not as good as the previous one. It's less tactical and more like an mmo, but it's still fun to control 4 characters at once, and the boss battles are probably a little better. There's also better graphics, voice acting and music, and all in all it's actually a pretty good game… Expand