While Dragon Age: Origins is easily one of my favorite RPG's out there, that isn't to say that there wasn't room for improvement. The mechanics are a bit dated and were definitely focused on the PC end, the graphics were old and stale, and the jobs were not very well defined in some way or another. Dragon Age 2 does takes a lot of steps to fix those problems, but it also takes a few steps back. Now given that Bioware did pump this game out in just about a year, we can let a few things slide; unfortunately, there are things within this game that cannot be forgiven. Let us just dive right in and hammer this one out shall we?
Let's start with what they did right.
Dragon Age 2 was promising updated visuals, better combat mechanics, and heavy choices - and for the most part, they delivered on that. The art style of the game is very clean and sharp, lending itself to be a good palette for the series and the character models (at least for the main characters mostly) are very well done. Most of the scenes in the game were better crafted, more mirroring the Mass Effect side of things rather than the stale standing around that was more in the first Dragon Age.
Character models look great, but the areas could be a little less bland
With the combat, it sort of goes in two ways. The guys at Bioware wanted to make the game more friendly for consoles, and in turn, make it more of an action based game. So, when playing on Playstation 3 or your Xbox 360, you would tap the 'X' or 'A' button respectively to hammer out your basic attack on enemies while your other face buttons acted as they did before; your hot keys to special attacks. Overall this was alright to start, but tapping a button grinds on you fast as most enemies and encounters take a while to knock out. However, Bioware did put a patch out to put in place auto attack for those of us who preferred that style, and in all honesty, the game is still built around that even when your tapping the 'A' or 'X' button anyhow. However, the skills in the game really feel like they change the way your character plays out and greatly change the effectiveness of each class. The right skill will change something that was once very hard, to something that feels way more capable, and that to me was very strong. The weight and effectiveness of each ability really shown through to me this time around, giving each class a very specified feel with skills complimenting that class alone, making it stand out on it's own. No longer could my warrior do everything a rouge did and vice versa.
Varric, the dwarf without a beard, telling the tale of the Champion to the Chantry Seeker
The story in Dragon Age 2 is much less of an over-arcing story and more of a struggle for the characters and focusing more on their relationships throughout. Where Dragon Age: Origins did well setting up the plot of the Archdemon and set your goal right off the bat, Dragon Age 2 does a really neat job of not really giving you a clear picture of what it is your doing. Now I know this sounds like a negative, but the game creates itself as it goes and does a decent job if it as well. You start as a refugee from Lothering; the town that was ransacked by the Darkspawn in Origins. When fleeing with your family, you decide to go to Kirkwall where you have family and some money. So when getting to Kirkwall you find out stuff isn't how it supposed to be and you need to find a way to get money to take care of your family. The only task that has been given to you at this point is a package that needs dropping off from Flemeth, and that's it. So the narrative in DA2 sort of builds up like a TV series like Legend of the Seeker or the old Xena Warrior Princess. The only hint of story that you get is the battle between Templars and Mages and the bad feeling you get from the Qunari (who, by the way, are the horned guys you see advertised all the time and on the back of the box). It's a fine way of presenting itself when the game is told from your dwarf companion Varric who is being held by the Chantry Seeker so that she may find out about the "Champion of Kirkwall". The game cuts back to the two often to sort of build upon why the seeker needs to find where you are and your actions effect how she reacts in those scenes as well - it's pretty interesting. Lastly, I just wanted to note that some of the characters just really felt right in the places they were in. Varric was that sarcastic buddy in the game and it worked well to "shoot the #@&%" with him, Anders is the guy who needs your comfort and support, and Aveline was your strong female buddy. And that all just felt right, and worked out well. One other thing that the game does well is fast forwarding the time between chapters, allowing you to see the consequences of your choices right away so you don't forget them, forcing you to feel very excited or sad about the outcome. There were some instances where I just felt devastated, and the game is filled with instances that carry strong moments within them. What you chose to do or not to do in chapter one, may kill someone in chapter two, or change what happens in chapter three, and those sometimes just straight up made me angry or sad, really carrying the emotions with you throughout the game. It's heavy and works well.
Here comes the downsides though - we can hit these in the same order.
While the style really hits home for the game, the environments feel narrow and bland. Each area doesn't give you that sense of exploration that they did in the original and there just isn't much to it. The textures are simple and there just isn't anything to see. On top of that, and this is the biggest and easiest complaint, they recycle every map for everything. For example, if you go into the 'cave' at the top of a mountain, that is the same 'cave' you went to on the Wounded Coast except they locked different doors. Another example would be the foundry that is in the game; that area is used for so many different instances and all of the recycling is absurd. Even with the short development window, there is no excuse for it to be THIS bad. I also really like the concept art of the game and wish that was either utilized more or even the style for the game, but ah well.
Now the combat I already hit upon for the most part. They patched the part that didn't work for the actual fighting, but the only thing that drives me crazy is that enemies spawn out of nowhere mid-fight, negating your tactical situation. Playing as a warrior, this didn't effect me as bad, but anytime you have your mages set in the back for ranged combat or your rogues playing it safe, every battle will spawn some dudes so that you had to go help them out. It was just sort of a weird balancing thing. Also, once you figured out the cross class combos, you could really put a beating on your foes, but I feel that is more of a reward than a broken system.
Lastly, the story.
As I posted earlier, the thing with Anders really irks me. Dragon Age 2 reads from your save files to make your story consistent, but the only thing I noticed was Allistar getting drunk at the Hanged Man pub because I didn't make him king. Although I used Anders often for his healing ability, I still find it distracting. And speaking of distracting, the game seems to distract from itself often I felt. I spent 20 hours before doing the first main quest that takes you to the Deep Roads because they kept throwing quests at me. The idea is that you can do whatever you need to save the money to go on the expedition, which is all fine and dandy, but most people try and finish the quests that are given to you, and those quests were plentiful. At one point in chapter 3, right in the beginning mind you, I sat my controller down to just let the "new quest available" thing keep popping up for a whole minute it seemed - it's just a little overkill. Most of those were quests forcing you to talk to your characters, which I feel take away from you personally making the connection to them, and rather, just felt like fetch quests almost. After a while of doing those, I sort of really lost track of what the main story was really going for, and even when the whole Qunari thing popped up, I felt like it took me by surprise even though I know it was the focus of the first 2 of 3 acts. Dragon Age 2 just needed to help drive you towards the point, but it took more time issuing side quests that distracted away from the overall theme of the game. Also, they bring Flemeth in, and she gives you this important errand to deliver, and they do nothing with what seemed like a decent plot. The only other thing that really bothered me was all end of game stuff, so I wont go into detail here, but I'll just say that it sort of just happened, and really felt like it should not have been the end to me.
Overall, I think that Dragon Age 2 is still a decent game. While the first one really gets you focused on the plot and drives you towards the finally with the Archdemon, it is really nice to have a more down to earth character interaction in what could be an everday for Serrah Hawke. And even though the combat mechanics eventually went back to how they were in Origins, the skills and classes really stand out a lot more and carry much needed weight with them. They streamlined a lot of the inventory stuff, which actually is really bad, but in some cases are nice ways of handling potion ordering or runecrafting; but not being able to equip your party with any armor or all your rings just being called 'ring' is just not right. If you enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins I would still say that you should play through DA2, if anything, it feels like a set up piece for the eventual third game.
-Eddie
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