I played on the Xbox 360, and had the Signature Edition of the game.
I decided to go with a Mage Hawke, and bought the Strategy Guide so that I wouldn’t miss a thing in the game.
So the first things I noticed were the new graphics and updated combat mechanics.
I was little hesitant at first when I first heard about the new art direction, but I’m happy to say that my fears were never realised. The graphics looked great, and seemed to run much smoother, and simple things like the sky and ground made the game so much better. I was especially impressed by Knight-Commander Meredith’s armour shining and glinting in the sun.
It was hard not to make Hawke a clone of my original Warden, and in the end they did end up looking pretty much alike; I wish the options in DA: O had been available in Origins for Character Creation. The armour and weapons in the game were much more ‘gritty’ looking, if I may say, and I was glad that not every staff was identical, and that some were blade-like. The spells and talents looked much better, and really gave attacks a more ‘accurate’ look, unlike Origins where attacks seemed to just plop down onto targets.
I’m afraid that I didn’t approve of the way the elves looked in the game, who seemed to me to be a cross between a Hobgoblin and Star Trek’s Bajorans, however I do commend Bioware for at least trying to make them look original, because let’s face it; we’re all getting rather tired of the fair-haired, sexy and tall elves that while once original have now been used to the point of cliché.
The Darkspawn looked terrible and deviated way too far from their original look for my liking.
The Dwarves and Men remained relatively unchanged, if not better and hair actually moved!
The combat mechanics were a vast improvement over Origins. I thought that I would tire by constantly mashing (the A button in my case), but once again I was wrong. It was much more satisfying to see something happen when I tapped the button, and the speed at which combat happened made fights seem fluidic and smooth. I thought there was a little too much flipping and jumping on the Rogue’s part, but it was better than just being an offshoot of the Warrior class like in Origins.
It was also good to speed up while in combat rather than slow down, but it definitely hurt while not in combat; I resorted to twirling my staff around at all times to get to places quick. Perhaps a run/walk toggle may have been appreciated.
I’m sorry to say that the ‘skill trees’ were terrible!! It was really annoying not being able to see all my available talents at once and clearly, having to cycle through all of them was tedious.
I did miss the cool finishing moves from Origins.
Plot-wise the game was sound, if very different from Origins. It offered many interesting twists, and the involvement of children and younger people within quests was a welcome addition, making the game more realistic (if it could be, you know with magic and the sort). Having a companion quest for each character in each Act made for good character development. There were far too many abominations and demons in the game for my liking, while it seemed a big thing in Origins; it was belittled in DA II. They may have been there to set the stage for the mage rebellion, but for me it was just too much.
When I read that the Chantry was destroyed, I didn’t take it quite literally, but I’m glad that it did end up happening literally, and the cut scene was delightful. The ending of the game was epic, but not in the same way as Origins. Somehow a crazed Templar and Harvester just didn’t top Archdemon, or the Mother on that note, however both of them would have been largely out of place in Kirkwall.
The Blight also seemed like such a tiny thing while in Kirkwall, and it made me worry about how much of a part my Warden will get to play in future titles.
I liked the way quests were categorized and the quest interface in the journal was great.
The world of Dragon Age II seemed vast, but somehow compressed compared to Origins. Kirkwall was huge, and offered good contrast between it and Denerim, showing us the grand scale of events in Dragon Age II, and once again belittling the Blight. It may have been necessary, but I can’t help feeling nostalgic!
The maps in the game were much more straightforward, more to the style of Mass Effect. It was better to know where to go, rather than running around the Wending Woods or the Deep Roads aimlessly for hours wondering where to go.
There was too much of repetition of maps for my liking, mostly cave maps and secret lairs, and I felt there could have been a little more variation than cemented up doorways.
Companions in this game, while more involved in the story fell short of Origins favourites. They didn’t seem as deep and romances where confused and unrewarding. Perhaps it was the fact that I couldn’t interact with characters for a conversation whenever I wanted, and not being able to make them essentially ‘hate’ you as much as you could in Origins cheapened the characters. I doubt that many Origins fans would embrace these new characters anyway, but I was glad to see cameos characters as companions.
Also, seeing Leliana, Zevran and Alistair again was great, although Alistair and Zevran looked way too different to feel much nostalgia, and it seems that Leliana has gone back to her religious ways…I thought she was past that when I hardened her character in Origins.
Dialogue in the game was much easier, and it was interesting to ‘form’ Hawke’s personality throughout the entire game through dialogue options (I ended up being the aggressive and humorous types.)
The voiced Dialogue on Hawke’s part annoyed me, I had always imagined my own voice (not my own voice) for my Warden and I had imagined another for Hawke, and the VO just didn’t catch. I preferred the way you could select what to say in Origins and you knew that that was what he said, not hoping that he would say something as half as cool as written.
I have to admit that while the Friendship/Rivalry scale was imaginative, and a slight improvement on the Approve/Disapprove scale, I would have preferred separate scales like in Mass Effect, because it was way too hard to max out in either Friendship or Rivalry with some characters, while extremely easy with others.
I have to admit that I missed the item descriptions like most items had in Origins, but it did make it easier on me at the end of the game. In Origins I carefully made a list of all notable items in the game, and chose my favourite 120 items or so, making sure that I would have enough space for extra loot that I would pick up in DLCs, even going so far as to read entire walkthroughs and to see whether any item of note appeared and if I wanted it or not.
Luckily it wasn’t so in Dragon Age II, but if it comes down to a Witch Hunt-like scenario in a future DLC, I’m telling you, it could happen!
The enemies in the game were varied and many, with very few Darkspawn and a near excessive amount of humans and spiders. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing though; you can never get tired of frying Templars…and Varterral.
The music in the game was once again brilliant, utilizing a very wide range of instruments and a lot more singing. There was however a lack of ‘epic’ themes, like the part from the Dragon Age Origins Main Theme (you know the part), and the Florence + The Machine song was very different from 30 Seconds to Mars, but fitting I think for the ending. Rogue Heart was a very beautiful song, and much more exciting than I Am The One, which I loved also.
This game was a HUGE improvement on the amount of bugs and glitches in Origins. I only had issues with a few quests and some importing inconsistencies which I’m confident will be fixed, and a useful glitch to get to level 50, however all in all, these were very, very few in comparison to Origins, and that can only be a good thing.
Compared to Origins, Dragon Age II was played on a much grander scale, with a new more serious plotline. The graphics and combat were superior, as were the cinematics and general running of the game.
The music once again was great, voice acting also. The companions lacked the same depth as Origins, but a good attempt nonetheless, and if those few glitches are cleared up, this game will be next to perfect (as long as I get to see my Warden again in the future!).
This is posted on a discussion, so that’s its purpose! I don’t expect everyone to agree with my review and it is my personal response to game, so please be kind! :]
Modifié par Shade of Wolf, 28 mars 2011 - 08:51 .
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