Dragon Age II Reviews, Wave Eighteen

Easily a hundred or more critiques later and it seems like reviewers are still trying to figure out whether they love or hate BioWare’s Dragon Age sequel.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun tells us what went wrong:

As a beginning it makes innumerous mistakes, but the most resounding is the complete sense of disconnect it gives you to your character. Picking him/her up in mid flow (for me it was a her, so for simplicity we’ll stick with that), she’s independent of you in her struggle. Not only is it made clear that the events you’re playing have already happened, but its emphasised upon you that you’re just an observer of an already complete family in the midst of their struggle. Why didn’t we see them in Lothering? Play as our character in our own home, talking to our mother and brother/sister about the threat, and then see it destroy our lives? It’s something DAO understood so well, each of the six openings establishing brief normality before the abnormality broke out. It’s such a critical mistake here, dumping a life on you in the middle of its story.

It certainly isn’t helped by BioWare’s strange determination to make all their starting companions as tedious as possible. While Alistair certainly bucked that trend for DAO (don’t you dare say he didn’t!), here we have people that rival Mass Effect’s Ashley Williams for the personality of a sponge cake. Playing as a mage, I had the delight of keeping my brother, Carver Hawke, alive. What a pleasure he was to have around, vacuously moaning the entire time. And I’m not sure they’ve written a major character as poorly as your mother, who stands around feebly, and flutters in the background for half the game. She’s such a shell of a character, displaying none of the gumption one might expect from a woman who’d defied the nobility of her family to marry an apostate mage.

RipTen gives it a 7.5/10:

There is something wonderful to be experienced here and there are days of fun to be had, but it shouldn’t have taken me hours and hours to uncover that. It lacks a certain polish, as though the team behind it almost didn’t want it. It shouldn’t have been the basis for a sequel- a spin off perhaps, but not a sequel.

Console Monster gives it a 90%:

Remaining faithful to, and improving upon, the original in equal measure, Dragon Age 2 is a fantastic game in its own right. Purists will hanker after the more PC-centric combat and party micro-management of the original, whilst others will embrace the new combat system and more personable protagonist; not to mention the redesigned races (the Qunari now look MEAN), improved graphics and stacks of new gear. The game world may feel smaller, but in my opinion that makes the story that much more personal this is Thedas as rinsed through the Normandy’s laundry room, an epic quest that is far more about the charismatic, devil-may-care leader than generic armies clashing on a distant battlefield. Bloodier, muddier and cleverer than Origins, this is a story as much about Kirkwall as about Hawke, a stepping stone setting up what I can only imagine will be one hell of a conflict in the threequel. Perhaps above all, though, it’s still the most fun you can have with dragons without being eaten alive.

Ten Ton Hammer gives it an 86/100:

There is no denying that this game is a stand-out product and another definite milestone in the continued evolution of single-player RPG epics. But to turn a blind eye to its blemishes simply because its story and voice acting are such incredible work, would be a dis-service to the industry, and to gamers. Calling them game-breakers, however, would be inaccurate and insulting to the hard work of Bioware’s talented development staff. Sure, the game has its warts, but in the end they are outshone by the sheer enjoyment that comes from playing this title, and becoming the Champion of Kirkwall.

GamingAngels gives it a “Rent” verdict:

I think the issues with the bugs and glitches in the game are too many, too often to warrant a BUY rating for this game, not too mention the disappointing changes to combat and the constant repetition of locations. But, I still love the game in fact, I like it a whole lot more than I thought I would after playing the demo. I expected worse than what I got, which I suppose is a blessing in itself. However, I think if you go into expecting it to be really fantastic, you may be disappointed.

And TechDay gives it a 7.5/10:

The experience is brought down by lack of polish, sometimes even lagging and locking up the console, and the end result is a game that is good. But it could have been great.