Dragon Age 2
The main challenge with reviewing Dragon Age 2 is trying not to compare it to Dragon Age: Origins, so to make my life easier I will compare the two. Straight off the bat, or sword, Dragon Age 2 is a much nicer game to look at, the graphics have been vamped and the animations have been improved. The combat is a lot smoother and more fluidic but that isn?t necessarily a good thing but it isn?t a bad thing either, mainly I quite liked the system in Origins but the new system works well in its own way. Luckily for those fans of the strategic combat in Origins, it has not left, you can still pause the game, select abilities and tactics for your companions and then unleash an onslaught of fireballs, arrows and hacking blades at the enemy, it?s just so satisfying when you get it just right and everything dies almost instantly.
Dragon Age 2 has also change the main character?s styling from a muted manikin to an all expressing, all talking action figure, in other words, they?ve gone all Mass Effect with the lead character. Sadly they have removed the opportunity to choose a race for your character or an origin story but when you look at it the game is called Dragon Age 2 not Dragon Age: Origins 2 so really any intelligent individual should pick that up but it is always nice in fantasy RPGs to play as an Elf or a Dwarf, would be awesome if you could have played as a Qunari but I guess the sacrifice is worth it in the end with the amazing dialogue and interesting story which Bioware pretty much know how to get almost spot on every time.
At this point Dragon Age 2 starts to hit some troubled waters. The game is fun, fast paced and interesting but the level design is diabolical, I think they should of removed the ?ctrl?, ?c? and ?z? keys from the level designer?s keyboard because they have been used far too much when I say far too much I mean he has go overboard, there are only a very few locations that are unique the rest are pretty much identical. I mean they are identical from the level layout to the location of treasure and the patterns on the walls, locations of bushes, trees, crates, everything exactly the same. Some of the levels you have to take different routes but the previous route is sometimes just blocked off by a large grey rectangle slab in a doorway. This lets the game down a bit especially when you are meant to going somewhere completely new like a dangerous dungeon and it looks exactly the same as a mine or cave you entered half an hour ago. This brings a serious downer to the game especially as Origins was able to make the levels unique with the level routes, designs, textures and rooms but Dragon Age 2 has failed terribly at this, at least the quests and combat make up for this short fall.
Something else which has bugged me with the game is that they have simplified the inventory, you can no longer equip armour to your companions, you can upgrade their armour as you play though the game, you can also chose their weapons and give them your weapons, except for a the stupid dwarf who you can only give items like rings, amulets and belts. I liked that you could control how your companions look in Origins and the fact you had to be aware of what armour they may require as well as yourself, even Mass Effect has this but why remove it from Dragon Age 2? It?s a very odd move but is only a minor detail. The skill trees have also been simplified but not too much so there is still a lot of choice and you still have to consider what skills will benefit the group or what will benefit the character as an individual.
In the end Dragon Age 2 is not as good as Dragon Age: Origins, the adventure doesn?t feel as grand or as large as Origins and the companions are no where near as memorable or as awesome, the level design is sloppy and feels very lazy but Dragon Age 2 is still a good game, a very good game, the combat is awesome, the enemies are vast and varied, the story is intriguing, the main character actually talks and the dialogue is amazing. It?s just not absolutely outstanding like Origins. Dragon Age reminds me of Knights of the Old Republic, where the first game was outstanding and amazing but the second just didn?t stand up to its predecessor, I get the same feeling, I still enjoy all the Dragon Age games and KotOR games it?s just that Bioware haven?t pulled off what they did with Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. I also know that Dragon Age 2 is a brilliant game because I am sitting at work thinking about it, trying to think of strategies, trying to work out the story, thinking about the history and the adventures my group of heroes will soon have, as well as planning my second possibly third play through and I never do that with other games.
To sum Dragon Age 2 up it?s a must have in any RPG fans collection and a must have for any console owner. The game is fun, enjoyable and does have replay value, however it does suffer from a few technical hiccups. The level design is flawed but the characters, story and quests are pretty cool. I will continue to announce that ?Whomite loves Dragon Age.? And the extra bonus of Dragon Age 2 is that I now want to play Dragon Age: Origins again after I?ve completed DA2 a few times.
The main challenge with reviewing Dragon Age 2 is trying not to compare it to Dragon Age: Origins, so to make my life easier I will compare the two. Straight off the bat, or sword, Dragon Age 2 is a much nicer game to look at, the graphics have been vamped and the animations have been improved. The combat is a lot smoother and more fluidic but that isn?t necessarily a good thing but it isn?t a bad thing either, mainly I quite liked the system in Origins but the new system works well in its own way. Luckily for those fans of the strategic combat in Origins, it has not left, you can still pause the game, select abilities and tactics for your companions and then unleash an onslaught of fireballs, arrows and hacking blades at the enemy, it?s just so satisfying when you get it just right and everything dies almost instantly.
Dragon Age 2 has also change the main character?s styling from a muted manikin to an all expressing, all talking action figure, in other words, they?ve gone all Mass Effect with the lead character. Sadly they have removed the opportunity to choose a race for your character or an origin story but when you look at it the game is called Dragon Age 2 not Dragon Age: Origins 2 so really any intelligent individual should pick that up but it is always nice in fantasy RPGs to play as an Elf or a Dwarf, would be awesome if you could have played as a Qunari but I guess the sacrifice is worth it in the end with the amazing dialogue and interesting story which Bioware pretty much know how to get almost spot on every time.
At this point Dragon Age 2 starts to hit some troubled waters. The game is fun, fast paced and interesting but the level design is diabolical, I think they should of removed the ?ctrl?, ?c? and ?z? keys from the level designer?s keyboard because they have been used far too much when I say far too much I mean he has go overboard, there are only a very few locations that are unique the rest are pretty much identical. I mean they are identical from the level layout to the location of treasure and the patterns on the walls, locations of bushes, trees, crates, everything exactly the same. Some of the levels you have to take different routes but the previous route is sometimes just blocked off by a large grey rectangle slab in a doorway. This lets the game down a bit especially when you are meant to going somewhere completely new like a dangerous dungeon and it looks exactly the same as a mine or cave you entered half an hour ago. This brings a serious downer to the game especially as Origins was able to make the levels unique with the level routes, designs, textures and rooms but Dragon Age 2 has failed terribly at this, at least the quests and combat make up for this short fall.
Something else which has bugged me with the game is that they have simplified the inventory, you can no longer equip armour to your companions, you can upgrade their armour as you play though the game, you can also chose their weapons and give them your weapons, except for a the stupid dwarf who you can only give items like rings, amulets and belts. I liked that you could control how your companions look in Origins and the fact you had to be aware of what armour they may require as well as yourself, even Mass Effect has this but why remove it from Dragon Age 2? It?s a very odd move but is only a minor detail. The skill trees have also been simplified but not too much so there is still a lot of choice and you still have to consider what skills will benefit the group or what will benefit the character as an individual.
In the end Dragon Age 2 is not as good as Dragon Age: Origins, the adventure doesn?t feel as grand or as large as Origins and the companions are no where near as memorable or as awesome, the level design is sloppy and feels very lazy but Dragon Age 2 is still a good game, a very good game, the combat is awesome, the enemies are vast and varied, the story is intriguing, the main character actually talks and the dialogue is amazing. It?s just not absolutely outstanding like Origins. Dragon Age reminds me of Knights of the Old Republic, where the first game was outstanding and amazing but the second just didn?t stand up to its predecessor, I get the same feeling, I still enjoy all the Dragon Age games and KotOR games it?s just that Bioware haven?t pulled off what they did with Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. I also know that Dragon Age 2 is a brilliant game because I am sitting at work thinking about it, trying to think of strategies, trying to work out the story, thinking about the history and the adventures my group of heroes will soon have, as well as planning my second possibly third play through and I never do that with other games.
To sum Dragon Age 2 up it?s a must have in any RPG fans collection and a must have for any console owner. The game is fun, enjoyable and does have replay value, however it does suffer from a few technical hiccups. The level design is flawed but the characters, story and quests are pretty cool. I will continue to announce that ?Whomite loves Dragon Age.? And the extra bonus of Dragon Age 2 is that I now want to play Dragon Age: Origins again after I?ve completed DA2 a few times.
