You are one of the few who escaped the destruction of your home. Now, forced to fight for survival in an ever-changing world, you must gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and seal your place in history. This is the story of how the world changed forever. The legend of your Rise to Power begins now.
EDIT:
I have recently sold DA2 after three play throughs. I couldn't manage any more. The replay value isn't like that of Origins which I still own and will keep for the collection.
Dragon Age 2 is the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins but don't expect this to be exactly like Origins. It's been changed. Combat is more fast and less tactical and companion interaction and customization is limited unlike with Origins. The worst part of the game has to be the re-used areas and Act I. Act I forces you to complete the mage vs templar quests and doesn't even give a reason as to why you should do these quests that seem like they should have been in act III (when your duty is either to mages or the templars). Dragon Age 2 has many flaws and at times I would give it 7/10 but the story gets great in Act II and the many dark twists and surprises are awesome. While companion interaction is smaller than that in Origins, what is there is good and companions come out with much memorable dialogue. Some things have been dumbed down but the inventory, skill trees and statistics all remain.
If you can get past the flaws, you will love this game but to me - it's no Origins and Bioware should have stuck with Origin's style. With that said, it's still a wonderful game at times but most agree (me included) that a Origins 2 with everything Origins contained (art style, combat, companion interaction) would have been much better.
To end this review, I'll say this:
Press a button and something awesome happens! (Although in my opinion, I think not.)
Gameplay: 6/10
Story: 7/10
Role Playing: 10/10
Characters: 8/10
Areas: 3/10
Quests: 6/10
Overall:
6/10 only because the story is gripping and because the combat gets better once you unlock more abilities to use. I'd recommend crafting poisons and bombs as well as it gives you more reason to enter the radial menu when you've used up all abilities, plus on harder difficulties, these will help greatly.
7.5 is to high the game doesn't deserve it.
Disclaimer – I will try and keep this spoiler free but be warned I may imply or suggest things that you may not want to read if you have yet to play the game. Also this is not a review, but an opinion based on my experience and nothing else. If you disagree please comment below or if you feel so inclined posts your own rebuttal
Disclaimer aside onto the main event:
I didn’t expect to write this but I have been playing Dragon Age 2 since it was launched, I have tried to experience all variations of characters gender, talents and personality and I have to say that overall I feel disappointed.
It seems odd as just last week I was saying:
“To avoid any confusion, I should clarify that there is a difference between I want more, and I expect more. I want more of Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age 2(Yeah I’m a Bioware fanboy)”
I can’t say why exactly, I have thought long and hard about it but I can’t quite put my finger onto a single flaw. It seems to be a lot of little things rather than one major gamebreaker. It goes without saying that there are obvious improvements between DAO and Dragon Age 2 but I don’t intend to go into them as this isn’t a review so I can be as Biased as I want. So without further ramblings here are my
Top 10 reasons why I felt disappointed at Dragon Age 2.
The story; the first game had a huge story about a once in a lifetime blight and ended with an epic rooftop battle with an Archdemon. If you beat the Archdemon it felt like an accomplishment. YOU and only you had saved the world from war and depending on how you played the game you could have sacrificed yourself for the greater good. Dragon Age 2 couldn’t have a 2ndonce in a lifetime blight but the story they did go for just didn’t seem as heroic a task as saving the world. There is definitely more of a story to tell but the game ends on a cliff hanger
The timeline: Bioware hyped up the fact the Hawke became the champion of Kirkwall and this was his/her story of how they got there and tha
It can be enjoyable, and it has a few good parts but it is simply so dumbed down and the story and characters are so boring, and theres no savegame transition/your actions from the previous game arent taken into account in the story.
sagegf
It was good as Origins, but the story without Morrigan was sh*t.
Is a very a fun game, but it is all too different from the previous ones, and not always in a good way. Even thou the combat system is a lot more fun, the story is very good and intriguing, however, you choices dose not matter nearly as much as before in the earlier games.
I give it a 8/10, it is still a very fun game, even thou there are a lot of good stuff missing. It is defiantly worth playing and fun in it's own way.
Many people say that Dragon Age 2 sucks!
Let me make this clear. It doesn't suck, but there are changes that some fans doesn't like. For me personally, this is really good sequel to a masterpiece.
The story is really entertaining and characters feels alive and good. Just like the other Bioware games.
The combat-system is a huge step-up for me. It's less tactical, but overall better. I can now set the difficulty up, without having to use poisons and stuff. The animations are also better.
What I don't like is that Bioware has reused a lot of locations overall again and again. Let me say it like this: Have visited one dungeon, then you have visited a lot of the other dungeons too. You'll not get to see many other locations than Kirkwall and the area around, but Kirkwall is a beauty so don't worry too much.
Another thing I don't like is that you can't chit-chat that much with your companions. I loved to do that in Dragon Age: Origins, but it's not like that here. Only brief conversations, when there is something important.
The dialogue system is more like Mass Effect, with this wheel you're using. Personally I like that and I don't want them to change that, when Dragon Age 3 will arrive.
The game has a nice soundtrack and there aren't anything really bad about that. The graphics looks good, buuut it can be better.
The game has a good length. Not as long as the previous one, but it took me about 40-50 hours to complete on my first playthrough.
Overall: This is a really solid game, with some small flaws. It's different from Dragon Age: Origins, but not too much.
Once again Bioware has nailed it with: good story, nice characters and a better combat-system. I recommend this!
Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Durability: 9/10
Soundtrack: 9/10
Absolutely amazing game, carrying on from Dragon Age Origins completely different game but the same game at the same time. Brilliant sequel.