What else can I say that hasn't been said? This is what happens when money hungry companies take control over everything. We get crap, crap, and more crap. Take a great game that took years to develop, dumb it down for the console kiddies, call it a sequel - since you can make more money that way - and just shout a big "screw you" to every gamer who enjoyed what the first one was about. Nothing about this game is on par with Dragon Age: Origins. Nothing. It's a piece of garbage. How the developers let this happen is beyond me, and they should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to be released.

I was looking forward to this game so much, only to find that it's a fraction of what the original game was. Don't worry though, they're bound to release tons upon tons of DLC, side quests and other trash that add nothing to the core experience, but do subtract from your wallet.

As a standalone RPG, this game deserves a 4 or 5 out of 10. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the luxury of being reviewed on its own merits, as it's following a truly great game. By that relative measure, this piece of trash deserves a zero.… Expand

While entertaining, this game doesn't come close to its predecessor. There are two problems with DA2: first it has a number of extremely silly design flaws, and second that it differs from Origins in many respects without bringing any improvement to the table.

Just to list the obvious mistakes: no tactical camera (why would anybody kill a degree of freedom that doesn't come with any development cost?), companion armor restrictions (same question), copy/paste levels (it seems there only 10 maps in the game or so), poor artwork in Kirkwall (where you spend 90% of your time), enemies spawning out of thin air every fight (which ruins tactical gameplay in a lot of ways) and last but not least nasty bugs. Those mistakes could be made by beginners in game development, sitting on a tight budget, without any established rules to build upon, but to get them from Bioware team, having EA financial backing? Shocking.

What's probably even more important for the fans of the Origins is that this game is different even where not outright bad. Everybody understands the desire to broaden the customer base and get more people to play this, but it's customary to tread carefully when naming something a sequel to something else. Combat is fast-paced while it was more tactical in Origins, the wheel-based dialogue system allows less room to role-play, you don't really get to know your companions, and their character development is weak. The strongest selling point of Dragon Age, the story seems dull and short at the same time, a collection of random encounters and errand missions. Hawke is more of a chip in the whirlpool, as it's impossible to influence most of the important events in the game. While I appreciated some changes (crafting for example), and most of the changes are a matter of taste, what surprises is the willingness of the developers to alienate their own fanbase in the first place, as none of this changes are obvious and straightforward.

What's very disappointing is that the opinion of the average critic differs wildly from the opinion of average gamer whom the critic is supposed to represent. Whether the result of the PR machine at work or just the sequel effect, that's an important lesson for those looking at the (meta)critic scores.

Financially, the results of this flawed design and sloppy execution are going to be deferred to DLCs and DA3, if it's greenlighted at all. Contrary to what "evil EA" theory suggests, EA's long-term profits are going to be negatively impacted by killing one of the most prominent franchises in the portfolio of acquired company (and honestly, if there is anything to learn from the film imdustry, it's the importance of having a good franchise and solid "customer base" aka fanbase).

What EA/Bioware have done to Dragon Age is, in Talleyrand's words, worse than a crime - it's a mistake.… Collapse

Terrible "Mass effect-style" interface, "mass-effect-style" gameplay, "mass-effect-style resources", "mass-effect-style-place here any thing from DA II"... horrific camera a-la "Lara Croft" and so on. Boring storyline, boring companions, boring enemies, boring fights, boring locations... strange product.

I'm really not going to waste an awful lot of my time on this. Wasted enough time and money by buying the game in the first place Terrible interface and camera view.
Dumbed down combat.
Dumbed down skills system.

I thought DA:O was as about as low as you can go for "Inclusiveness" - DA2 has shown me how wrong I was!!!! But what do you expect from Electronic Arse and Blow-Ware?

Whilst I truly enjoyed, the immersive, dynamic storytelling of the first game, I have to say, the second installment is very much a disappointment. The scripting seems exceptionally stunted in comparison, and the voice acting, a key selling point of the first ranges from poor, to absolutely terrible. The combat feels unwieldy, and unintuitive, the party system unbalanced, and the storyline contrived. Granted, these are all points relative to the quality of Bioware in general, and the original Dragon Age, but they set the bar- And instead of clearing it, they've rushed an underdeveloped, flawed sequel to release, seemingly in the hopes that the Bioware name, and the success it's predecessor alone will create a good gaming experience. Sadly, I'm certain that it will be enough to ensure sales, at least, however undeserved....… Expand

As a so-called sequel to DAO, DA2 is a huge disappointment. I've played through twice. Basically, it suffers from the rush to release syndrome: lack of time means lack of creativity and imagination. The game is just boring; it is stale, ordinary and cheaply made. Because the game called itself Dragon Age 2, I expected something better, even extraordinary. Not necessarily an exact clone of DAO, but at least a continuity in the feel of DAO, its tenor and spirit, in writing that believed in itself, in actors in whom you could tell relished their roles, in plots and subplots that got better as the game went on.

I can tell when a game is really great: I get addicted. I can't stop playing it. I don't want to go to bed, I don't want to go to work. Even more frightening, I don't want to eat. On the first playthrough of DA2, I thought something was wrong with me because I got bored. And annoyed. I could walk away from it and not feel withdrawal symptoms. And the more I played the more frustrated I became that there was just nothing that was very interesting about it. Even the ending was a non-event.

I scored DA2 below average, a harsher than usual judgement simply because it was a Bioware product. Next time I will know better: no more pre-ordering, never trust a demo or a trailer, and wait until the user reviews come out.… Expand

Dragon Age 2, sequel to the successful predecessor Dragon Age: Origins does almost everything wrong what made the series great. I could write a long review pointing out all the negative aspects, but I figure I should just sum up the positive ones and spare you the time: well-written companions, good music, stylistic loading screens.

If you need to buy it, I recommend the console version as it is clearly designed with consoles in mind.… Expand

Disapointing... We have here a pretty litte Dragon Effect.... It could have been a perfect spin off as an action aventure game... But as a successor of an rpg, it's a zero... EA and Bioware gives us a game stripped of all real rpg elements... As for the dungeons? Well it's a matter of opened door and locked doors... The dungeons are reused over and over again. Maybe if they release modding tool, someone will make something out of it? But for now, it's a waste of money if you're looking for something that looks even remotely like a RPG...
It feels like junk food: You know it's bad, you feel it's a waste of money. But in the end, you buy it, and usually, you regret buying it... At least, the sales are here, so ea will keep going at it...… Expand

As a major fan of the previous game, I had Dragon Age:II preordered since September. Having now played through the game twice, I feel i can fairly review it. There's a definite lack of freedom and choice, which origins offered to players in abundance, and the lazy re-use of locations is a critical error by Bioware, it pulls down what is in all honesty a very decent game. The battle system has been upgraded and it much more efficient and enjoyable and the action is much smoother but at the cost of the lore of the game's predecessor
The characters and dialog system, i thought, were better than the previous game, though the structured methods of character interaction was tedious. It felt harder to play the game 'your way', something Bioware normally prides itself on. The graphics were a lot smoother and generally prettier than Origins, but again the re-use of locations rather marred this. I found the game to be engaging with an interesting plot, but I didn't feel I could have such radically different play-throughs as I did on my re-plays on Origins. Personally I really enjoyed the game and it's characters, especially Fenris, and found their personalities to be deeper, if a bit more 'emo' than Origins. There is definite replay value, and Bioware should be proud of the game. It's just a shame they didn't spend a little longer designing levels and less time offering bonus DLC items on their website.
8/10… Expand

What a shallow, only vaguely entertaining, repetitive and ugly game with a terrible plot. On the plus side, the voice acting was ok. Definitely no Mass Effect...

This game deserves 3/10 but because of Bioware employees posting their fake reviews here I decided to give it a 1/10. Like all the other negative comments, stay away from this game. Save your money. If someone told me this was Bioware game I would laugh at them but unfortunately Bioware's name is on the box.
The people who says this game is good should give you back your $50 after you throw this game out your window. This game destroyed bioware's reputation. This game has destroyed the reputation of all the critics who gave this game a good review. This is not a RPG. The story is full of plotholes. Your decisions makes no difference in the ending. The settings are constantly reused. Your companions are all gay too lol. Makes me wonder if Mass Effect 3 will still be called a RPG if bioware "streamlines/consolize" it like DA2.… Expand

The crticial reception of Dragon Age II is one of the most glaring examples of just how terrified the enthusiast video game press is afraid of upsetting publishers. They wouldn't dare tell you at what point this is a focus-driven rushed-to-market insult to video game consumers everywhere. I never played the original Dragon Age so I'm not an irate fan of the original... there is just not much to defend here. There isn't a single battle in the game (including bosses) that doesn't involve waves and waves of enemies spawning out of thin air waiting for you to mow them down. Sometimes, even when you give them a gentle whack, they explode into a dozen pieces... which I guess is suppose to make me feel like a bad ass. The entire game takes place in one city made up of a few small disconnected areas and the same two or three dungeons that are reused for the entire game. They even try to trick you into thinking this is a new area by blocking off doors you were previously able to go through and opening other ones. Why can't you go through that door you see this time around? Who knows! You just can't click on it! Look, when asked about this problem in an interview, the developers claim they had two choices: give us all original content and cut the game length down to a couple hours or reuse the same areas over and over until the game lasted twenty-five hours. If that doesn't give you an idea of how rushed this product is, I don't know what will. There is not 60 dollars worth of content here and yet so many people have already bought this game because the video game press is looking out more for themselves and not for us. The sad part of this is that underneath it all, the character interaction is great even if the overally story arc, like the rest of the game, is not well thought out at all. It's clear there were talented people working on Dragon Age II, but they weren't given the liberty or time to make this into a good product. Buyer beware.… Expand

Dragon Age II is terrible when compared to Origins -- which is a one of my favorite games in recent times! It's a rushed cash-in and not a sequel at all. It's not worth its asking cost and should have been nothing more than an offshoot expansion pack.

For fans of Dragon Age Origins and Awakenings, DA2 is a Epic Fail, which pales in comparison to the original. DA2 will only bring you disappointment. Its a tiny world with recycled maps, recycled music, shallow characters. It is a tedium to play.... and unlike the original you wont want to play it through again.

It's a rushed game and console port. It's not a roleplaying game either, it's an action game where with too much dialogue, and it's also a terrible action game. It lacks tactics, especially because enemies appear from thin air (from nowhere) in wave after wave after boring wave. The story is absolutely lineal and makes your choices pretty much pointless. Forced character deaths are also a big design flaw, proof that the story desperately needed faked intensity in order to appear well made (which is not, in fact it is predictable, slow and unimaginative). The classes have been dumbed down, with very little choice. The boss fights often end up on absurd "benny hill" scenes where your character runs around so the timers for healing potions comes up, proof that the gameplay was poorly designed and barely tested. Overall it's a extremely dissapointing game, especially if you compare it to the first, although it's not a big surprise considering the tiny developing cycle that they went for.… Expand

This game is a joke comparing to Witcher 2. **** graphic, poor gameplay, boring story. It's a typical example how to fast steal the money from gamers. Shame on You Bioware!!!!

Feckless. Uninspired. Redundant. The development and marketing of this game is an affront to RPG aficionados, the PC gaming community and Dragon Age I loyalists. This game isn't bad because it didn't faithfully follow in its predecessor's footsteps or because it borrows elements from Mass Effect 2 -- it's bad on its own merits by any sane standards. Don't believe the positive magazine reviews for a minute; they are written by a bunch unlettered sychophants (PCGamer I am apalled) without the gumption to really put this shoddy RPG in its place. EA-Bioware set the bar so high with a truly careless and gaudy marketing campaign only to deliver so precious little. The story and setting are unprecedentedly fragmented, insipid and provincial. It's a sandbox game in the sense that the game-world is about the size of an actual sandbox (broken into narrow fragmented chunks) and the game's main and basically only setting (the tiny city of Kirkwall) is about as interesting and varied as sand. If the mildly amusing dialog in this game impresses you -- with its incessant and jarring close-up head-shots of your character "voice acting" -- you need to quit playing video games and start watching daytime soap operas. It has good combat mechanics that quickly grow tiring as you fight the same type of battles against the same type of enemies endlessly. DA2 has some good action elements but that's not nearly enough to redeem this game. After all, if we are judging it solely on the basis of being an "Action RPG" it is tiers below Diablo or even Torchlight in terms of combat and fun. This game deserves the ridicule. EA-Bioware deserve our scorn. I beg of you not to buy this game. If you unfortunately already have, at least do not buy any of its meager and pathetic DLC. Tell your friends to avoid this game. Write on internet forums. I'll tell you why -- I had a nightmarish epiphany. A talented and capable game developer had an idea for a grand and inspiring RPG only to be turned down by a publisher who offered the following advice: "can't you make it more like Dragon Age 2? That did well." We can't let that happen. Bioware needs to suffer for this sham. If they suffer they might actually risk doing what they and their customers really love… Expand

I was a huge fan of the first game with multiple playthroughs and was looking forward to the sequel being as impressive but unfortunately DA2 is bland and hugely disappointing. The amount of reuse maps get is really something I have never seen before and its impossible to get excited about visiting a new area when you have already seen the same textures 20 times before. I gave up on the game half way through, just couldn't get myself to play it anymore 4/10… Expand

Oh god. Why? They have ruined such a good thing. When you chop away the roots, the tree falls. I couldn't even bring myself to finish this game. Horrible voice acting, horrible story, worse game play than the first, no top down view anymore, linear, no real consequence of any actions, terrible decision wheel that consists of "i will help you" i am hungry" or "i hate you", the dialogue options don't even match what you choose most of the time.… Expand

Pleasant, but a little bored me. And the graphics ... This is not the DA1.
Good entertainment, but not an outstanding game. I expected something more.
Now I'm waiting for DA3 - I hope it will be much better!

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I frown upon games that seem to have more money put into marketing than into the actual art/engineering from under the hood. Dragon Age II seems like such a game. I envision the developer being forced by the publisher, maybe even against the studio's strategy, to release something that would appeal to the mass of COD players out there. Had my hopes pretty high after Dragon Age: Origins.
The character design is clunky at most (the hero's sibling death scene from the beginning feels like "ok, let's get this over with, and fast, because we have an awesome button to mash" - no emotional involvement, sterile at most), the remaining developments feel rushed and often interrupted by fast-forwards in time (you don't get to experience the "impending doom" from DA:O anymore). You're basically this Hawke person, bullying and pimping around through a world nothing links you to.
The spell effects look way better than in the first game, the camera is worse, the combat dynamics also lack, the story is weak, characters unmemorable, level design through copypaste, If this is what gaming is going to, I'll first boycott the $$$ hungry a$$e$ in charge, then I'll resort to more lucrative activities if my efforts prove to be in vain.… Expand

I'm disgusted. Disgusted by what Bioware have done to a good franchise, by their attitude, and by the reviews of the so called "professionnals' of the video games magazines. I shouldn't have bought this game, and Bioware shouldn't have made it.

Supposedly this, thing is suppose to be the sequel to one of the best RPGs seen on the PC since the days of Baldur's Gate. However, for some unfathomable reason Bioware decided that the best thing to do was make a quick cash in rush job and completely eliminate every element that made the previous game good. The writing is flat and lazy, peppered with too many Internet memes and out of place profanity in some lame attempt to make the game appear edgier. No effort was spent in actually making any of the party members seem believable or unique, when the characters aren't being completely two dimensional stereotypes or boring they're irritating to the core. If the game had admitted that it was entirely linear it wouldn't be so bad, but you're given the illusion of freedom and nothing you do ever really has any lasting effect. Nearly all story events will play out the way the writers wanted it, It's Bioware's world, you're just playing in it.

Combat is artificially tweaked to make it appear to be fast paced when in reality it' handles much like a MMORPG, waves of monsters literally rain from the sky as you try in vain to use any special abilities against all but the weakest of them. The same system also causes all boss battles to slow to a crawl as you're forced to whittle away at them bit by bit. The inventory and loot system have been reduced to a Diablo clone style to try to make the player feel better about having to kill so many monsters before moving on to the next boring fight in another generic warehouse. The skill system was also redone to reflect a Diablo clone style with many of the abilities from the previous game being done away with and most of whatever is left over either being useless or forcing the player to be shackled to a particular set of abilities or spells thus removing most of the strategic elements from the game as well. In fact all the game play changes can be summed up as Bioware trying to removing everything that made the player actually have to think.

I DO have to admit that I did not finish the game, I could not force myself to go any further after I reached the 3rd Act and I realized I that was completely trapped within the city and it's excuse for an outdoor area, but somehow I doubt that the game magically became 95% better after I dropped out. The fact of the matter is this: This game is completely inexcusable and unacceptable from a company that KNOWS better. And they knew exactly what they were doing when they choose to produce this game the way it is, but I imagine they couldn't have anticipated the sense of betrayal the player base would feel or the amount of negative backlash they would receive for it. There is no patch they can develop for this game that will "fix" it or turn it into something it's not and it is NOT a sequel to Dragon Age:Origins.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It looks like it was designed by a two teams: a group responsible for combat/character design and another responsible for story. The trouble is that they didn't talk to each other, and the resulting game doesn't make any sense. People on these review threads complain about other things: the GUI, the recycled areas, the waves of goons, but the crux of the problem is that the game didn't do anything for them and they don't even know why... and so they blame it on the details. Well, I'll tell you why: it's the story. To begin with, it's one of the least interesting sub-plots of Origins made into it's own game. The beauty of western RPGs is their appeal to moral ambiguity, but this only works if the conflicts within the game are an analogy for something in the real world. That doesn't happen with the concept of mages and blood magic. (Why is blood magic evil? Well, who cares really.) But it goes beyond the basic concept, the trouble is the game ignores what choices you make in the game. It ignores who you decide your character is. It gives you almost exactly the same plot whether you're a mage or not. It gives you whiny companions who keep following you and fighting for you even if you denounce them. You can get the captain of the guard help you assist smugglers and assassins. You can get mage-hating Fenris to help you fight for the mages. ...and the NPCs very rarely acknowledge anything about who you are or what stance you've taken. That's if they acknowledge anything at all: many of them stand around quietly as if stoned. The plot is full of holes and cringeworthy scenes, and there are at least two dangling plot threads that are never addressed (Flemeth and the return of the Wardens). If you don't know much about the game before playing it, you'll have no idea what the goal is or where the game is heading because the dangling plot threads create the misleading impression that something important will happen, but it doesn't. The result is an alienating experience. You don't feel that the character you've created matters and the world he inhabits doesn't make sense. It's not an RPG. There is no role here. Stay away from this game.… Expand

A letdown compared to DA1, expected more. The combat system is more hack/slash with little need to think. Extensive reuse of certain area maps. Story telling isn't as good as DA1, characters are forgettable (I didn't feel for or connect with any character).

Dragon Age 2 is epic like if pooping in your pants in public was epic. Waste of money terrible game play. Characters were lacking. Skill tree and talents were horrible. Items stunk, customization across the board stunk. I would rather chew off my own arm than play this game. If you like Dragon Age 2 you are either paid to, or your a moron.

Huge disappointment. Combat was speeded up absurdly so it it felt like a cheesy arcade fighter game. Animations were corny, characters were uninteresting and contrived. DA:O was not a perfect game but DA2 failed everywhere that DA:O succeeded.

Bioware said they made Dragon Age 2 more 'accessible" and that is true... is worth remembering that "accessible" is an industry code word for two things: "aimed at a younger, less thoughtful demographic" and "not a role playing game". If you are looking for an RPG and a dev says their game is "accessible", keep your credit card in your pocket and look elsewhere.… Expand

Pathetically Simplified to what is basically a hack n' Slash fest.
The only reason i have not given it a 0/10 is for the second act plot. the first act was dull and the third act seemed as if it had been cobbled together by a drunken 13 year old. the second act however was very interesting and presented intriguing questions of morality, and a growing tension between the qunari and the citizens of kirkwall.
User choice plays little role, repetitive non varied environments, no need for thought about combat, and a cast of forgettable characters + a darkspawn redesign that changed them from creatures that i was at times genuinely scared of to waddling clowns… Expand