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[matt j kauth]

Let me begin by saying that I’ve been a long-time fan of
Bioware’s products, and I appreciate their constant attempts to improve and
evolve the RPG. That being said, Dragon Age II is by far their most
disappointing effort. I do not enjoy writing this, but this game cost me good
money, and I feel a little ripped off. Not ripped off in the
“Comic-Book-Guy-from-the-Simpsons” kind of way, but instead in the “Wow, these
guys aren’t even trying anymore” kind of way.

Where do I start? Let’s begin with practical issues. I’ve
got a fairly large television set, but trying to read any of the text – from
load screens to codex entries – in DA 2 is nigh on impossible. This may seem a
small issue to some, but one of the things I loved about Dragon Age: Origins
was the sense of history established by the different notes, letters, and such.
If these are difficult to read, it becomes an eye-straining chore, thus not
worth my time. Another issue comes up with the sound. I love the Mass Effect
style of conversation, but did anyone else notice the voices were almost
impossible to hear over the strange background music? Finally, and perhaps I’ve
got a lemon, but the cut scenes are glitchy, with many of the characters
flickering and vibrating in an amateurish fashion.

On to the actual gameplay. The collection of “dungeons” in
this game strike me as the laziest effort I’ve seen in quite some time.
Revisiting some of the same caves is not necessarily a bad thing, but if two
different locations – much less fifty – use the same exact map (sometimes from
a different direction), I have an issue. Much has already been said about the
tedious nature of some of the side quests, so I’ll leave that for now, but
there are glitches on many of the quests (I had at least two remain on the Journal
while not being able to complete them, and another disappear entirely). As far
as the action-like nature of the fighting, I don’t really mind that. Nor do I
mind the new leveling choices. I don’t really think they needed to change so
much, but that wasn’t a huge issue for me.

Finally, let’s talk story. This, to me, has always been
Bioware’s strong suit – and DA 2 makes an attempt at something great (the story
told by another character had so much possibility). Unfortunately, they failed.
I’m not complaining about the plot; if they want to tell a political tale, so
be it. However, a story like that must be a good one, and if the player’s
choices affect the outcome, there better be different outcomes. Now, I’ve just
finished the game for the first time, so I may be wrong, but when dealing with
the Qunari in Act II, it seems that no matter what the player does, the Arashok
will still end up cutting off the Viscount’s head. And why bother choosing
between the mages and the templars if you end up fighting both anyway?
Throughout the story, there was a feeling of certain doom, no matter the
choices made. Either this story was written by a sadist, or perhaps by a writer
who felt he or she was writing for a masochist. Some of the characters are well
developed (Varric in particular), while others are inexplicable (Merril),
completely opposite to an established nature (Anders), or disappear for the
majority of the game (Bethany).

At the end of the day, what I liked so much about DA:O was
the sense of an inhabited world with a unique history – a world worth saving.
From the cult guarding Andraste’s Ashes to the small histories written about
items like the Rose’s Thorn; from notes leading to new quests (Gaxkang the
Unbound, or whatever his name was) to the “Superman” nod when finding star
metal; these are the details that create a world. Even the traveling map lent a
feeling of adventure absent in the newest incarnation. This city and its
surrounding environs seem nothing more than a collection of places, each
existing by themselves, randomly repopulated by new collections of bad guys. If
someone at Bioware ends up reading this, please take it in the spirit
delivered. I want to love your games, and I think you’re better than this.




 

[The Train]

while i respect your opinion of the game, and share just about all of your concerns, there are already several threads expressing variations on your views. there's really no need for anyone to create a brand new thread just to announce their views about this game.

but if anyone else simply must create a brand new thread to call attention to their original take on DA 2, here's the standard template:

1. announce your bioware fandom cred: games you played, how long you've loved bioware, etc.

then

2. complain about (choose any or all): repetitive layouts of dungeons, close quarters of kirkwall, lack of detail in kirkwall, poorly developed quests, lack of epic story, speed of combat, boring companions, dialogue wheel dumbing down conversations, the uninspiring trip to the deep roads, size of Isabela's breasts/ridiculousness of her wardrobe, not being able to micromanage inventory, button-mashing, cooldowns being too long, no friendly fire except at nightmare difficulty, lack of immersion.
3. bonus points: getting in a jab at CoD players and/or console users, or mention "consolification"

alternately:

2. praise (any or all): speed of combat, freedom from micromanaging inventory, better tactical play, PC having a voice, the political intrigue of the story, the quality of the story, cross-class combos being awesome, characters looking better since players don't have to change their armor, increased cooldowns so you can't spam spells or potions and have to "be more tactical,"
3. point out map spamming in DA:O, pointless questing in DA:O, poor animations in DA:O
4. bonus: say something about PC elitists trying to control the computer RPG genre.

there. i have written everyone's review for them. i may have forgotten some items in the template but this should be more than sufficient for anyone who wishes to create their own original review of the game.