Dragon Age: Origins was a great game in 2009, and it is still one of my favorite RPG games. The game had all the great storytelling we have come to expect from Bioware and also opened up a whole new world for us. People began to wonder if the sequel would be as good as the original. It’s now out, and the big question is, “Can it?”
PROS
* Significant improvements to the chat system
* Combat feels solid and brutal but looks brutal
* Beautiful graphics and amazing animations
* Very high value
CONS
* It takes some time to understand the story
* There are some graphical glitches or clipping
* Crazy difficulty spikes
* Not for DA.O purists
A New World, A New Problem
Varric is telling the story of Dragon Age 2 through his dwarf companion, who you get very early in the game. Each act is separated by one to several decades. A Chantry Seeker is interrogating him. I believe this is the world’s equivalent of a CIA agent. Dragon Age 2 starts at the beginning of Dragon Age Origins, right after Ostagar’s defeat. Your character will discover that Lothering was destroyed by Darkspawn after he/she leaves. Your character in DA2 is escaping the destruction along with his/her family. Your mother, your sister, the Mage, and your brother. You meet Aveline and Wesley, a Templar while fleeing. You’ll be attacked by Darkspawn immediately after. Wesley, along with either your brother or sister, depending on which class, will be killed. Who will save you from this trap? Flemeth, Witch of the Wilds and Morrigan’s mother, is the only one who can save you from this ambush. If you are willing to give an Elven camp a medallion, she will help you escape from the Darkspawn. After accepting her task, she asks for an artsy cut scene. You end up in Kirkwall, where your family is supposed to be well-known and where you will spend most of the rest. Unfortunately, you aren’t the only people fleeing the Blight in Ferelden, and you must work to earn your right to live in the slave-prison-turned-city. You’ll learn as you play that the Darkspawn no longer poses a threat to the world but that the city’s political instability can be just as dangerous.
There are always changes!
Dragon Age 2 has seen a lot of changes. Before the game was released, one of the most significant issues people had was that you could not play as an original character. Instead, you can instead play Hawke, who has a specific background.
We couldn’t import our DA-O characters. All of our hard work was thrown away, we thought. We were wrong. Instead of importing a character, you can import your entire world. Your Dragon Age 2 story will be affected by every significant decision (good or bad), and even the small ones. You can choose who is the king of Dwarves and who takes Cailin’s spot. Isabela could also have an impact on your Duelist class.
Good/bad decisions have been eliminated from the game. There is no longer a clear line between good and evil. Your choices can have different outcomes depending on your character and past choices. You might find that your friends think you are weak if you try to talk yourself out of a fight. This could lead to a decrease in your friendship level. The Mass Effect adopted conversation wheels are not in Good, Neutral or Bad order. They are also not colored like Mass Effect. They have symbols that indicate how your character will use the choice. The mask is often associated with smart-ass remarks, raised fists are always angrily, and the wings and halo represent kindness. According to what I have seen, there are six or more normal symbols. This does not include the question mark for Investigate Options or the star, which I am still not sure what it means. The choices seem not to be very special. An NPC might laugh at a smart-ass comment, or it may only cause them irritation. This gives you a deeper understanding of the characters and forces you to pay more attention to them.
The Relationship Meter was also changed from the original game. This is a significant change that affects character interaction. It’s no longer a matter of whether ______ loves or hates you. Now it’s a matter of whether they are Friends or Rivals. Although being friends with your companion will bring out the best in you, it is also beneficial to be a rival. You can make your companion a friend or a rival, which will give you new stats and increase their stats. As the cost of having your character act coldly toward you, being a rival gives the best stat boost.
Dialog and interaction are as good or better than ever. The game’s outcome will be influenced by what you say and do, making it more replayable than any other game.
DA:O characters will hint at the dangers they are preparing for, making it clear that there will be a Dragon Age 3. We don’t know how DA2 will affect DA3.
It’s a Small World
Dragon Age 2 has one of my most outstanding complaints. It takes place in Kirkwall (Day and Night) and the immediate surroundings, unlike DA:O, which allows you to explore a whole continent. This new world was one of the best parts of the original game. The underground Dwarven city was explored, as well as fighting Elven werewolves and the undead in a small town. You even got ambushed in the back-alleys in the capital city. These things made the world seem more significant, even though you were only able to travel from one place to another by looking at a map.
This also allows you to get to know the city. You won’t want to move from one area to the next, but you will have to make more thoughtful decisions as this has been your home for six years. Each area is about the same size as a city and has its own look and feel. Hightown feels wealthy, while Darktown feels almost like a sewer.
Bioware may also have pulled a Mass Effect 1 on ours and copied a lot of the areas. The only difference is that you will be visiting the same cliff-sides and same caverns repeatedly. It can be a bit strange to walk through a cave and then see another cave on the map. But when you click on that loading screen, you are taken to some dead-end ruin. They should have edited the maps to show us where the area ends, rather than just showing us that it would have usually continued.
Picture
You’ll find at least six more locations by the end of this game.
Polish and shine
Although the world isn’t quite as varied as the original game, it does look SIGNIFICANTLY more beautiful. Character clothing in DA:O was primarily flat. The textures were the only way to visualize details, such as belts or what-not. DA2’s models are much more detailed, and the high-resolution textures (something DA2O lacked) make everything look amazing, even if you haven’t seen it before.
Animations are also much better. This time, there are a lot more facial expressions, gestures, and animations. Women can actually walk and run as realistically as men. The emotion conveyed by the face is real. When characters move or there are wind, hair bobs, and waves. The light makes the eyes glisten. It’s simply stunning. Although the game could be prettied up in certain aspects (equipment still lacks detail or seems flat), the visual aspect of the game is outstanding.
The effects received a nice overhaul. You can now gore enemies in many different ways. Some cause them to explode, while others leave bloody traces on the floor and walls. Great mage spells. Everything, from energy shields to falling fireballs, has the detail they deserve.
What about the music? Bioware’s epic soundtrack is what you get. There’s not much to it.
However, it’s not possible to be perfect. There have been a few issues with the graphics, such as facial hair not connecting, gaps between clothing and neck, clipping, and so on. DirectX 11 is currently having issues. DirectX 11 can sometimes cause the game to crash or refuse to open up, and you will often be forced to use DX9 to continue using it. This also stops you from setting the graphics to Very High. DX11 DOES improve the game and allows for things like tessellation. It is definitely worth it.
There are many ways to dismember
Skills have been completely reimagined, with the exception of an auto-attack that has new animations. You no longer have to choose from a limited number of skills. Each class now has 6-9 talent trees, with each companion having their own talent tree. You can unlock different trees by using a separate pool from your skill points. These points are more frequent than DA:O class points, which would only provide you with two skill points for the whole game. You can now choose from many trees instead of just one. My mage also has an upgraded and fully unlocked Primal spells tree, with abilities and talents from Elemental and Spirit.
The ability to upgrade talents can not only increase their effectiveness and damage, but it also has other effects like causing Brittleness or instantly destroying an enemy. These upgrades allow you to create class combinations. A class combo is when one class inflicts a special status on an enemy, and another class follows it up with an attack that exploits that. These combos can be used with different classes. For example, while my mage’s Petrify will instantly kill a foe, my Frost spell’s Brittle won’t offer the same combo and will only work with a Rogue. This restriction forces you to think about the people in your party as well as what skills your companions have.
Put the drama on hold.
Bioware’s ability to tell great stories and create relatable characters is what people love about it. This is the same as before.
DA2’s characters are as rich as ever. Each character has its own charm and a deep, emotional story. Each character has their own quirks, which makes them easy to like even if they are not your favorite.
Although the actual story is a little lacking in the first act of the film, it’s mainly because it introduces you to the problems facing the city and its residents. Things pick up once you reach the end of the Act. This is when you realize just how good Bioware can tell stories and make you care about the characters. Even though I enjoyed the characters in DA:O, there was not much that made me mad or sad. DA2 has many events that completely changed my view of certain factions. They made me feel legitimately sorry for Hawke or pissed that someone did such a thing (sorry, spoilers). ).
Nutshell
Dragon Age 2 is a worthy successor to Dragon Age: Origins. However, DA purists may not like the changes. Although the story is not easy to grasp, it’s definitely worth it. It’s worth spending the effort to get to know your friends and make the game more fun. Combat is enjoyable and looks fantastic. My only complaint is the inability to equip armor for your companions. Hawke is the only one who can equip armor. Hawke is the only person who can equip armor.
