Dragon Age II

I wanted to wait as long as I could before making a post about this game, mainly because I wanted to play a lot of it before deciding if it was worth my praise.  I think I'm far enough through it to justify a post.  Besides, I have the time right now and this will serve as a much needed distraction.

It's obviously impossible to go into this game without making comparisons.  First, you'll compare it to the first game.  That's a given.  Secondly, you'll compare it to all other single-player epic fantasy RPG games.  Also a given.  More obtusely, I also found myself comparing it to Bioware's other RPG franchise, Mass Effect, specifically comparing DA2 to ME2.  So I'll share my comparisons of each of these three. 


Hawke in the prologue, maxed out with lovely looking gear.

When compared to Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II is far and away a superior game.  Everything has been improved, to include the graphics, the voice acting, the combat, the user interface, and the story telling.  I honestly wouldn't even call this game a sequel.  It's more of Bioware saying, “Ok, so you see what were did with Dragon Age: Origins?  Well, look how much better we made it now!”  The previous game is only mentioned sparingly, and DA2 takes place in a totally different area than the first. 

In regards to the graphics, I was utterly impressed when I loaded up the game for the first time.  And, the fact that Bioware has made available, for free, a 1 GB texture patch to make the game look even more outstanding on the PC just shows how much attention they gave the PC market on this one.  It looks incredible. 

The voice acting is top notch, and a lot of people will be thrilled to learn that your character will properly have a voice in this installment, rather than being the mute hero from Origins. 

The combat and user interface is where I saw the most improvements.  Everything is so very slick now, it's a pleasure to navigate through the menus.  Half the excitement of my character or one of his companions leveling up is just so that I can navigate through the pages and use the buttons.  It's that well designed.  The combat is quite similar to the previous game, where you can pause combat and give your character and his companions orders, but it's been improved upon and streamlined very well. 


The game's “tale-within-a-tale” has you fighting Darkspawn right from the get-go. 

When comparing this game to other single-player fantasy RPG games, it takes a rather different approach.  What made Oblivion so fantastic was that you had this huge, sprawling world where you could go anywhere, at any time, and do any thing you wanted.  DA2 is more stringent that than, and you're limited to where you can go.  The entire game takes place in and around Kirkwall, with some areas being reused more than twice.  For example, a certain system of caves is used for some escape mages.  Then, three years later, that same system of caves is being used by smugglers.  That's not to say that's a bad thing — it's simply a different way of presenting this genre.  But I can understand how many fans of this genre will take exception to that.  Oblivion has spoiled us, and Skyrim will probably spoil us further in that regard.  I don't feel that this takes anything away from DA2, though. 

Now, in the comparison between DA2 and Mass Effect 2, there's one thing ME2 does better, and that's the overall story.  DA2 is filled with a rich culture that has loads of different types of people with their own individual stories.  You have the mages, who are constantly hunted by the Templars.  You have the elves who are constantly looked down upon by the humans.  You have the politics of the humans and the troubles that come with them.  You have the mysterious Quanari.  You have the treasure seeking dwarves.  And so much more.  It's a world that is alive and in motion and Bioware did an excellent job of making you feel like a very small part of a really big world.  And perhaps that is the problem — you feel so very small and insignificant.  What exactly are you doing, and why are you doing it?  Sadly, there's no big, huge threat that looms over everything.  You don't have the Darkspawn blight from the first game.  So yes, Mass Effect 2 did a better job at making you feel like a central hero in an epic story.  Those looking for that in DA2 will be disappointed. 


Hulk smash!

That's not to say the storytelling here isn't good.  It's fantastic, actually.  So I suppose the correct statement to make here is that while the STORY may be a bit weak in DA2, the method in which that story is presented is superior to any other game I've seen.  Though, admittedly, sometimes it does get rather difficult to keep track of everything, especially when you have so many quest lines branching out in different directions.  There were times when I'd go finish off a quest, and a name would be mentioned, and I'd have NO IDEA who the person was nor when/if I had ever met them.  That could be just my inability to pay attention, though. 


Living up to the game's name, here we have a dragon.

The bottom line is, this game does a wonderful job of drawing you into a fantasy world and making you feel a part of it, albeit a small one.  You can lose yourself in this game, and as any regular RPG fan will tell you, that is exactly what an RPG game is supposed to do to you.


The Qunari are very grumpy.


The combat makes you feel epic.  Especially when you're a mage.


Some of the environments are awe-inspiring in their design.


There are plenty of “OMG WTF” moments, such as this one.


Beautiful.  Just beautiful.


Varric tends to talk to his crossbow.  He named her Bianca. 


By the power of Greyskull!  (Sorry, I had to go there.)


So a bat and a spider loved each other very much, and then…


The Fade makes my eyes hurt.