Dragon Age 2 Review (Xbox 360)

STAFF REVIEW of Dragon Age 2

Thursday, March 31, 2011.
by Adam Dileva

It feels like its been a long time since Ive finished and absolutely enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins, yet its only been a little over a year. It was expected that a sequel would come out shortly after considering how well the first game did, though I wasnt expecting it this soon. Now Dragon Age 2 is here finally, though despite the 2 in the title, it feels almost like a different game.

You dont continue your quest from Origins; instead you are now a completely new protagonist that takes place in the same era and setting. Dragon Age 2 (DA2) tries to be a sleeker and more streamlined experience that emphasizes on gratification in smaller but more frequent doses.

Rather than a huge undertaking and becoming the savior of the world like in Origins, DA2 feels much more like a hometown adventurer trying to make a name for themselves in a much smaller area. Just like how the difference in the two Mass Effect games changed from slower pace and tactical to almost a quicker paced shooter, thats how it feels like in DA2. Everything is much more streamlined and faster paced, but this might alienate the fans that loved how the first game played. Tactical control is still there for those that want it, but its completely unnecessary now that DA2 is more of an action-RPG rather than a tactical one.

If you have a saved game from Origins (and Awakening) you are able to import your save when starting DA2 which will bring over any decisions and outcomes that youve completed over the course of the games. While you cant import really much else, its entertaining to see events that transpired in the first game be referenced to based on what you decided while playing.

Unlike the Origins, you play as a human named Hawke (just like how Shepard was always the name of the protagonist in Mass Effect) and choose whether to be a mage, rogue or warrior (and male or female). DA2s story begins essentially as Origins is finishing, with Hawke fleeing Lothering due to being destroyed by Darkspawn. You need to get your family to the next known safe haven city Kirkwall. As you arrive, you find that the city has been closed due to the flood of Ferelden refugees.

Hawke starts as just another citizen but will eventually become the Champion of Kirkwall; the first section of the game is explaining (with you playing and determining the choices) how Hawke got to that point. The story telling is done in an interesting manner where your friend Varric is being interrogated by a mysterious Chantry Seeker named Cassandra trying to find the whereabouts of Hawke. As Varric tells his story, sometimes hell embellish what actually happened and you get to play a sequence where youll be killing Darkspawn in one hit and making them explode before Cassandra interrupts and wants the truth of what really happened (where youll replay the section being much harder of course).

One thing youll notice instantly is that DA2 doesnt do a very good job at explaining what actually happened in Origins (and Awakening). Sure you get some of the basics, but if youve never played the first game, youre going to be confused what a Grey Warden is, where Darkspawn emanate from, what the Fade is, and simply the sheer scale of how important the champion from the first game was in relation to saving the world. My wife who was watching me play (and didnt while playing Origins) kept asking whos that or so what happened before? when certain events were referenced as if you are supposed to know (or remember).

The majority of DA2s story will take place in and around Kirkwall. This makes the story feel more community driven and that youre supposed to care for your new home town, but it also makes the sheer epicness of Hawkes story seem downplayed and nowhere near as important as it was in Origins. Youll sometimes wonder what the main overlaying plot is at times, and it does get tied together at points, but there are long gaps between plot narratives that can make some lose overall interest in the overlaying story. Instead of crossing the continent to take on the Archdemon like in Origins, youll be taking sides of different factions within the cities and doing many errands which simply didnt feel as important or encompassing.

The biggest game changes in the sequel would have to be the combat, skill trees, dialogue wheel, and the way the story is told. Lets begin with the combat as its what youll be doing for the majority of gameplay. As mentioned before, fans of the tactical style Origins excelled at can still be done on a whim whenever you please for absolute control of your characters in battle, but honestly aside from a few boss fights, I never needed to (though I played a warrior).

As a warrior, I was able to play the whole game (combat) as a button masher (though obviously toggling buffs and skills as I went) without much need for tactics. Theres a new mechanic called cross-class combos which allow party members to debuff and then exploit openings on enemies for massive damage. Each class can eventually debuff an enemy that another class can exploit easily to take down hoards of enemies quickly. Rogues can leave an opening for warriors to do massive damage, warriors can leave enemies open for mage spells which they can leave an opening for a rogue to finish them off. If you do use the tactic style of gameplay youll make use of these exploits quite often but I found I never really needed them until later on against much harder enemies and bosses.

Single you wont be crossing the world on a massive quest, youll actually be spending most of your time within the walls of Kirkwall in the slums and underground dungeons. Yes youll venture out into the mountains and marshes sometimes though not very often unless youre doing many sidequests. Youll be backtracking and visiting the same areas over and over again looking for new items for quest or whatnot. Because of this, the world in DA2 feels extremely small once you visit the same dungeon or area for the fourth time. Youll quickly learn your way around Kirkwall because of the repetition, but dungeons being constantly recycled was quite a downer. Oh, I have to go back there.again?

As you fight enemies and finally clear a batch blocking your way through, more waves will spawn either right on top of you or behind you out of thin air. This can make it hard to round around and place your team exactly where you want them, as the battlefield could change as soon as a certain wave of enemies is complete. Oh, and you see that bag of money on the ground you want to pick up? You cant until every enemy in the vicinity is cleared. Ive actually not picked up quite a bit of loot because Ill go to loot something but cant because something just spawned and I have to clear them before doing so; fair enough. I kill the wave but then another wave appears (out of nowhere) way up ahead, so I need to go kill them. After I do Ive either long forgotten about the loot in the first place or dont want to backtrack to get the coin and items. Its a good thing I never need to buy many upgrades as I always forgot to go back for loot (until the next jaunt through the same area later on). You can see where this annoyance is going.

Youre going to notice pretty early on that you also cant upgrade any of your partys armor, only weapons and accessories. While this doesnt seem like a big deal, and Im sure it was done to make things more streamlined, it feels like a downfall as I dont really have much customization outside of Hawkes armor. It took a while to actually figure out until I saw every armor piece will always say Hawke only. Youll find some upgrades for your party as in theyll get bonuses to specs, but youll unfortunately never be dressing them how you wish or giving them hand-me-downs.

Leveling this time around has also been changed (though I prefer the skill tree method now) for the better. As you level, youll have attribute points to spend into the main stats like strength, dexterity, willpower, magic, cunning and constitution much like more and Bioware has done a great job at explaining what each stat does (and your current bonus) for your character and how it will affect them. Youll also gain skill points to put into a skill-tree to build your character exactly how you want to play them. For example, my warrior uses a one handed weapon and a shield, so I dumped all my early points into that spec to make them a better tank. Eventually I branched out and learned skills (activated and passive) from other trees becoming a much better rounded character overall. You can determine what role you want to play and what skills to learn whenever you wish. By the time you max level, youll have more than enough points to learn almost every skill, but its all about how you develop your character as you go.

Obviously inspired by Mass Effect, the dialogue wheel returns with much more emphasis on choosing what you want, not just simply the good, bad and neutral choices. Amazing voiced as always, conversations can be quite entertaining themselves and sometimes youll see the good, bad, neutral choices, but many of the times youll have to actually decide on your own on how to progress the conversation without the visual aids. All your choices will affect how your teammates feel towards you which can then make them a true friend or rival (which they then receive a strong bonus either way).

All these changes make it feel like Bioware is trying to appeal to a broader and newer audience rather than quench the thirst of the original fans. I know I felt a little disappointed to be playing the majority of combat as a hack-and-slash rather than a much more tactile approach that was needed in Origins.

Aside from Hawke and Varric (which is a given because I was making the decisions), I never really emotionally connected with many of the characters like I did in Origins with Shale, Alistair, Morrigan and others. Some familiar faces will make cameos and I actually found those quick visits to give me the biggest smiles throughout Hawkes story. All the simplification felt very unnecessary and the closed in feeling I got from the story telling just didnt have the big impact on me that Origins did. Not that Dragon Age 2 is bad in any way, but it doesnt hold a candle compared to its predecessor and feels completely different.

Youre going to get what you always do with any Bioware game; amazing voice acting, dialogue and a story that will have you playing for dozens and dozens of hours while trying to complete everything before its all over. There are moments that were compelling and felt very strong but it was too far and in between to keep you hooked like Origins did. I enjoyed the game for what it was but you have to go in expecting a new experience and something different from Origins and I dont want to knock it for what was I expecting, but rather rate it for what it is instead. This may be Dragon Age 2, but it is not Dragon Age: Origins 2.

Overall: 8.3 / 10
Gameplay: 8.2 / 10
Visuals: 8.0 / 10
Sound: 9.5 / 10

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