Dragon Age 2 is a very different game from Dragon Age Origins. The goals of the game seem to be more about understanding the world of Dragon Age and the characters that inhabit that world than to focus on a main story that may or may not have a descent pay off at the end.
The player begins the game by choosing a male or female Hawk; Warrior, Mage, or Rogue. All the classes give the player a fun and unique experience, depending on talent choices and specialization. Some of the more obvious changes are that there are no duel wielding Warriors, no way to switch weapon sets on the fly, and Rogues must make the hard choice of whether to go ranged or melee practically at the beginning of the game.
While this certainly bares resemblance to Mass Effect 2 it also is a necessity in a game focused so much on telling a story rather than the player making a bunch of choices that would impact that story. This story seems to be pretty linear but considering there is nothing saying the player has to do all the quests in the game; whether player does them or not effects the way the player views the world.
These choices may seem somewhat arbitrary when they are made; but these choices can matter more than one might think in the end. There are pivotal points in the story that may make one wish different choices were made in the beginning. But no matter what one chooses the experience will still be fun and engaging.
The story in Dragon Age 2 is a winding tale that takes place over many quests and side quests that inform the world. Very rarely is a quest highlighted as either main or side except if one were to actually look at their journal. I only rarely ever opened my journal in all my hours of gameplay. And then, only to actually check if I had to do a quest. Also going from one area to the next is much easier than in the previous game as everything on the map is marked with with quest or quests one has to choose from in that area.
Unlike in the first game there is not some kind of end goal that is trying to be achieved. At least not at first anyway. Although there is no big bad to defeat; the culmination of all the side plots and storylines end up being much more effective in the end. Unlike in the first game where only one or two characters were completely fleshed out. In Dragon Age 2, I was really attached to every character in the game. Especially my own, which was informed by the fact that this time he/she was a voiced character.
Dragon Age 2 as a whole is more dramatic and compelling game than the first one. The first game wanted you to be interested in your companion character's stories, in this game, you are usually a big part of those stories. I really liked the improved Friend/Rival system. There was nothing more annoying than saying the wrong thing in the first game and ending up losing a key party member. I loved the way this game handles your romances and characters that are your friends. They just show up in your house to ask you for help or to bring you a quest. I think the dialogs that the main character has with them are some of the best written in the whole game. While some of the models are not exactly my cup of tea(why are all the women so bosomy?) Other than that Bioware has really stepped up it's game making these interactions more realistic than ever. That is awesome.
Although in Dragon Age 2, the developers found their own way of making grouping characters a challenge. Do you put the mage hating elf with the mage advocate? Do you put two party members that are basically swindlers and thieves with the captain of the guard? Oh and the best of all, I hope you didn't need that person for anything, cause your losing them(either permanently or for a few quests).
My main problems with Dragon Age 2 are that the developers decided to drop the ability for the player to pick the armor and equipment for their party members. While one can change some of their accessories; their armor or weapons cannot be changed. This certainly limits the amount of strategy that can used when equipping party members.
Also, I wasn't too big on the tactics system from the first game. I felt like it was a waste of time. In Dragon Age 2, they haven't changed anything. Not that the tactics system is needed on the lower difficulties if your playing a mage or don't mind dropping health potions during battles. But if the difficulty is increased and probably even closer to the end of the game on Normal, tactics are going to need to be set properly. All of this can be effected by class and the party makeup. However, even with tactics set perfectly there are going to be instances where characters die for no reason. Or any reason that can be determined once they are dead.
The audio in general in Dragon Age 2 is amazing. Everything from voice acting to background music hits the mark every time. The voice acting is exceptionally good. While the Dragon Age Origins cast was really good, these folks are great. Many of the interactions in the game play out so well, based solely on the inflections in the actors voices. This is a wonderful touch that is usually reserved for animated movie hits.
The graphics in this game are great, with all skill animations having different and interesting effects. I wasn't very impressed by some of the rune animations. Some appeared, some did not. It was hit or miss, much different than the flaming or frozen swords in Dragon Age Origins. This only occurs when the weapons are enchanted by a spell, rather than a rune. While this is a draw back, it didn't significantly impact the game.
While I do find some of the game to be tediously linear especially on a second play through. I also find that this tedium is mitigated by the excellent combat and voice acting. Also with the different responses possible through the conversation wheel, it makes it easier to play through a boring section over again.
With a game as long as this one, I think having an unreliable narrator was an interesting and unique way to go and because of this decision Dragon Age 2 had none of the open world or individualized main character options that Origins had. But considering how well this story came off, I'm more interested in something like this than a game where I can create my hero from scratch and name them whatever I want.
Dragon Age was never trying to be in the same genre as a Elder Scrolls, Two Worlds, or Fable. They are looking more towards games like Mass Effect 2 and Uncharted 2 in terms of storytelling. As this game is potentially just as long as the first, I would say that the developers did a much better job of handling the different situations presented in the game.
What I love about Dragon Age 2 most, is that it tries very hard to talk about how the lower classes are squeezed into crime and unlawful behavior by the higher classes or in this case the government or quasi-government. There is a lot of meat on this bone, and while people can compare this to tons of political and social situations in our world. It's a great way to think about incredibly complicated situations in a less complicated or fantastical way. That's why this game is most important to me. While Origins certainly laid similar ground work and you can even see hints of all this in the novels. It is never better represented than it is in this game. My suggestion to any player is to play all of the side quests to get the full effect of this social commentary.
I would say that with downloadable content this game could be playable for years. As setup of the game certainly lends itself to additional content and add-ons would be quite easy to accommodate. This game is more than worth the money at the retail price, it will provide the player a complete and fun experience for at least 30+hours for one play through. Probably even more if another play through is involved.
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