What was wrong with Dragon Age 2, exactly?

[Renegade-pizza]

Okay, I'll get this out if the way first: The areas were all identical, spawning waves of baddies and bugs.

What else? And please no:"They changed the combat system" or any other fanboy BS about changes that are bad because they changed it.

 

[Amondren]

I disliked that the world seemed quite small and that the story seemed linear with the false sense of being open-ended. Other then that I liked it perfectly fine the new combat was great.

 

[Lacsapix]

in dragon age origins is a adventure, all the places you see al the people that you can be.
DA2 is one city one person.
that is my number one complain bu there are many more.

In dragon age origins you can stare at the map and think: "where will I go now?"
In DA2 you know that you can go anywhere and it still feels the same.

In dragon age origins your goal is clear: rescure A land in civial-war from an army of darkspawn.
in DA2 your goal is:.......whell there is none its diffrent in all three acts.

In dragon age origins your companions where all rounded out,you get to known Allistar in one sentance but at the end he still suprises you.
In DA2 companions had no personality at all just goals you are forced to complete in quests.

Still DA2 is a great game but dragon age origins is so much better.

 

[Zhukov]

Man, it's like someone stepped out of a time machine from March 2011. This is going to be such a lovely thread.

...

Well, apart from the obnoxiously recycled dungeons, my only real issue was the narrative being a bit skew-whiff. It was rather disjointed and lacking in structure. Also, a few of the quests felt like filler.

However, I hasten to add that I had plenty of fun with the game. I'm certainly not in the hate camp. Loved most of the characters, didn't mind the waves of enemy reinforcements, had no problem with the stats and inventory mechanics, thought the ME style dialogue system was an improvement, enjoyed the combat as much as I did in DA:O.

 

[Robert Ewing]

The world is bad, it was so figity, full of decapping bugs, the story was shallow, the enemies where boring, the characters was boring, you name it, it has it.

 

[DirgeNovak]

Apart from the recycled dungeons, nothing. It was a pretty sweet game.

 

[weker]

the main thing that was wrong with Dragon age 2 was the number afterwards, they made it a different game and people were not happy to see that.

 

[rohansoldier]

For game that I paid something like £9 for (pre owned) I really can't complain. It has given me a fair few hours of fun gameplay and I am only just at the point of going to the deep roads.

I can see a fair bit of game play ahead in this one yet. Also, I haven't played much of DA1 so I don't have anything to compare it to. I don't like the fact that the player character is silent for the whole game though (in DA1 obviously).

That was the only thing that I didn't like about GTA3 when that game came out, so it was a shame to see it in a much more recent title for a more advanced game system.

 

[Nimzabaat]

I disliked
The dumbed down combat system.
The recylced dungeons.
The wave after wave of enemies like a 1980's arcade game.
The story that shoe-horned you into conflict when a better written story wouldn't have. (Seriously when the end bit about Hawke leaving town and soon separating from his companions... I felt that it was because he/she was going "F*** Kirkwall! You're all idiots! I'm out!", (any npc) "Do you want to talk about it?" "NO!" anyways...)
It just felt like it could have been dlc.
Also still pissed at ME2 and hoping that DA2 would have made up for it. Which it didn't.

 

[VoidWanderer]

The story seemed to plod along instead of being an epic tale like DA:O. The plots for the three 'acts' were meager at best. I found the game very hard to get into because it didn't have the immersion of the first game.

It was very hard to get into the game. It's like the Bioware version of the Pixar movie Cars.

 

[BLAHwhatever]

Okay, I'll get this out if the way first: The areas were all identical, spawning waves of baddies and bugs.

I really didn't need more reasons than those you already stated. If every friggin' fight is the same, every area you encounter matches a previous. Broke the game for me.

That and the stale cast of characters.

I didn't have a problem with the story, that there's no higher purpose you're supposed to follow other then your own welfare and your rise to wealth and power.

But there's tons of threads, reviews, and I mean tons. Go do a little research. It's all been said that there is to say

 

[YawningAngel]

Okay, I'll get this out if the way first: The areas were all identical, spawning waves of baddies and bugs.

What else? And please no:"They changed the combat system" or any other fanboy BS about changes that are bad because they changed it.

The combat and areas sucking is a fairly significant sticking point, no?

 

[Lacsapix]

I don't like the fact that the player character is silent for the whole game though (in DA1 obviously).

I sort of agree there but not with DAO.
In DAO you can create your own voice with your own imagination. It gives me the feeling of being one with my Warden. I can decide what I should say and not some lazy programmer that made three dialog options.

Most of the time silent-protagonists are cheap but if it can be combined with your own fantasy you'll get a jewel from the Maker himself.

 

[viranimus]

Okay, I'll get this out if the way first: The areas were all identical, spawning waves of baddies and bugs.

What else? And please no:"They changed the combat system" or any other fanboy BS about changes that are bad because they changed it.

Hrm, perplexing.

Couldn't you use that to essentially refer to every flaw the game has other than what you mentioned (as by mentioning it yourself and setting the guidelines your portraying that suggestion as one that is in compliance with those guidelines) as Fanboy BS?

The game isnt bad, it feels like it is either

A: Not a truly worthy successor to the franchise

B: With the games deviation from the original, the installment in the franchise that is trying to set up for a sequel much more grandiose.

In the latter its like how you can forgive "The Fellowship of the ring" for not being that entertaining of a book/film because it is setting up for "Return of the King"

 

[Chris Mennell]

Well repetive areas, diminished conbat and inventory and one dimensional characters aside what really bugged me was the lack of choice and option, the "world" was supposed to be open but it really wasnt and the fact it forces you to be a human really pissed me off, we had quite a few options in the first but because they wanted to add a voice (which i do like) they got rid of race choices, i wanna be an elf damnit.

 

[Pearwood]

It was alright. It could have been much more than just alright though.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

The thing that was really wrong with Dragon Age II is the amount of identical threads it's started on these forums.

You pretty much answered your own question in the OP. But on top of that I guess you could say that the world felt small and linear, only two of the characters were likeable (Merrill and Varric). The story was pretty crap, I didn't like the way they did it in separate acts.

I did like the combat in it and some of the boss fights were fun, but, compared to it's predecessor it was a terrible game.

 

[Ziggy]

when i go behind a wall i want the arrow to hit the wall, not go through and hit me
also rogue bosses that goes invisible and kills any mage that is under 80% HP (i played on normal)

 

[emptyother]

Awesome story (imho).
Wave of baddies and horrible areas was the only bad stuff.
Yeah, and the fact that a wizard can walk openly in a city where wizards are forbidden.