Dragon Age 2 is the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins. The Origins title commands a significant amount of respect in the gaming community. Renowned for its epic and grossly immersive story, strategic combat and lovable characters it was an instant classic and a game I enjoyed and will forever remain one of my most loved RPGs! In the short time between the two parts, does Dragon Age 2 live up to the standard set by its predecessor?
The answer is NO... but also YES!
Much like many gamers I read reviews before i play a game. DA 2 was no exception. I was suprised to see disappointment on some sites like Game Spot but was hopeful due to other sites with rave reviews like Zero Punc. So why was there such a difference? Some people loved it and some hated it but the same defining issues were brought up in the reviews but in both a negative and positive light! Seems ironic! Lets jump right into this one by first reviewing one of the most contentious issues.... THE COMBAT SYSTEM!
The Combat System:
Many mixed reactions to the restructured combat system. I wasn't too happy about the fact that the tactical camera was removed and I know this was the case for many others! I was faced with situations where I couldn't give the greatest of commands in VERY intense combat situations due to the lack of control due to this. This is the first aspect of the combat system I don't like.
The faster action paced combat I must say was strange initially but a few hours in it just felt like it flowed so naturally I came to prefer it over DA:O! There's a catch though, don't play this game on normal or you'll fly through it thinking this game was dumbed down! On the contrary, play on Hard or Nightmare and YOU must revert back to the loved tactics of DA:O. All in all the new revamped combat system makes for a really excellent improvement.
In terms of the talent tree I feel, while it doesn't significantly change the core mechanics (in terms of spells and abilities NOT crafting/poisons/professions) it feels somewhat more streamlined and organised. It allows for greater specialisation then DA:O where the spells you use most can be specifically improved. All in all there's just as much diversity and exploration in spells as there was in DA:O. I did like the cross class combinations quite a bit (seeing my rogue hit for 11k never gets old) it adds a really nice party dynamic, which transforms levelling your abilities from, "what is the best thing for this character?" to "What is the best thing for my party?". While there was something similar in DA:O i feel like this was nicely carried forward.
The use of poisons, potions and traps in the game has many implications I'll just discuss the combat side. The poison options were limited and not significant in terms of battle outcome. I could play the game without bothering with them, which in developing terms is a sin due the fact that the dev team broke something that was fixed!!! I honestly didn't use traps, in fact, I'm not even sure they were available in the game... I only found some grenades which I didn't use, again dev team you messed up one of the tools which I used heavily in DA:O. They fleshed out combat, making choke points and tactics essential, that is, you had to get your enemies to the trap, which required a choke point, which required thinking! This is the other aspect of combat which I wasn't too happy about. In terms of potions, it felt similar and unchanged in terms of combat, I'll discuss the resource/farming aspect a little later!
The UI was overall improved but character portraits were somewhat hidden, which caused my characters to die (at some fault of my own) when some of those sneaky rogue units used back stabbed. Spell accessibility felt a little organised, I didn't have to adjust the size of my UI bar which was a MAJOR annoyance in DA:O.
The Story line:
First things first, cat out of the bag, cards on the table and any other expression to strongly state the obvious is that DA:O had an EPIC storyline. Break it down for a second;
- There is a Blight, which threatens the existence of human life
- There is a political coup which sees a loved king betrayed on the battlefield, left to die and power go to a trusted general!
- You explore the kingdom meeting the different folk who individually have their own issues and skeletons, which tend to tie themselves in the resolution of the above two aspects!
To top that would either be an attempt to poke a dead horse or a blatant rip off! So I put myself in the dev team's position and asked myself... what's left to do? Reproducing something like DA:O would be like if in Star wars they rebuilt the Death Star without the self destruct shaft - seen it before? So while the story line was not of the calibre of DA:O it still had its own appeal. The good news is that the story is good, immersive and has a climax but not much of an ending (lot of what-now questions). Instead of the world is ending kind of feel it takes on a different style. It focuses of the struggle of one city and the rise of your protagonist. I wasn't eye ball glued to the screen as in DA:O but I still rate the story very good. It does take to Act 2 before your taken by it but overall the dev team did a good job of not milking the whole blight issue! The whole premise of the story is the ongoing struggle between mages and Templers, which is very interesting. However i had one issue with the choosing of sides, I saw mages getting persecuted and cornered which appealed to my sense of freedom. I felt there struggle and the injustice, which made me want to side with them from the start. However there was a side quest, not even part of the main plot and easily skipable, you are tasked with helping a female elf from her estranged husband who happens to be a blood mage. The story was rather simple and played down but the actual combat kicked my ass, several times! It was VERY challenging on the harder difficulty. By the end of it I could understand the Templers blight... i just witnessed a blood mage kill his wife and slap me around for a good part of 30 minutes - maybe the power that every mage posses is a danger to others. Maybe the Templers are justified in their anger and suppression of the mages. This however wasn't capitalised on and I was more inclined to help the mages due the idea that Templers were hunting mages which was pushing them to blood magic, which was the original problem in the first place.
The choice system:
The choice decision system was remarkable and requires a play through before you can appreciate the small subtleties. I didn't appreciate losing my whole family, hopefully the next time I play i can avoid some casualties.
The characters:
DA:O had some remarkable characters like Alistar and Morigan and there backstory developed quite impressively. DA 2 does well but falls short slightly in this department. I've narrowed down the reason. The characters in DA:O were tied closely with the main plot from start to end. Seeing Alistair go from Warden to King (if you chose to let him) gave him value beyond his humour and voice acting. In DA 2 its to a much lesser extent and while your characters have their own issues and importance with the main plot, I don't feel that there existences are all as justified! However, the characters in DA:2 are very compelling have interesting personalities, interact humorously with each other and have compelling origins that allow for quests which at least give them a reason to exist. The characters I chose were Aveline (introduced early in the game but somewhat uninteresting), Andres (one of the more interesting characters due to his tie to the main plot and his own personal experiences) and Fenris (my favourite of party members due to his original and unrelated backstory which evolves at times more interestingly then the main plot!). There are a few other notable characters but I specifically chose the above characters due to an awesome combat dynamic, which is a tragedy in itself - all the other playable characters did not interest me enough to reconsider my party.
The simplifications:
This aspect of the game is something i was also disappointed by. A lot of the key things i appreciated about DA:O were removed. As mentioned above in combat section, poisons and traps are pretty irrelevant. In addition the crafting and resource along with the gearing aspect of the game are either non-existent or simplified to the point where it becomes uninteresting.
Herbs and potions:
In DA:O there was a sense of scarcity in terms of using potions, I needed them and had to use them wisely. Not until later in DA:O i had to use my potions smartly but it eventually got to the point where i had so much resources that i crafted potions in a quantity that was not required. In DA 2 i was hoping for a more consistent system but its worse. All i have to do is discover the resource once and I pretty much have an unlimited supply of potions at a cost but seeing you are given so much gold, you could potentially stock up with potions for the rest of the game with the gold you make early on... which is stupid.
Gearing your characters:
Simplified quite a bit which i was disappointed with. I liked gearing up my characters - I didn't like having to compare armour that was only marginally better after ever second fight but it was still something i enjoyed doing. To remove that and only allow for the customisation of rings, belt and neck was a let down. While you can upgrade the gear of your characters it doesn't allow for the improved and the specialised talent system to be used to improve the focus of your spells a greater potency with stats derived. This aspect was something that was done good in DA:O, while i didn't like constantly comparing gear and at points got quite sick of it - if it was improved in DA 2 the potential for character customisation would of been very impressively better. Runes were interesting but lack of options made there usefulness limited... I'd prefer 5 magic stat as opposed to 700 electricity resistance for the whole 5 units in the game that have the ability to cause the damage.
Hawke and the lack of:
I liked having the option of choosing between human, elf and dwarf. Taking this away baffled me. A lot of people like the R in RPG (role playing game for an simpletons). While I played a human whic h looked like Alistar from DA:O - when considering that the majority of the people who played DA:O loved the game because of the elaborate universe to take it away was just plain stupid. Couldn't think of a reason this was done - Mass Effect 2 does it but because the protagonist was the same in part 1. Why dragon age 2 does it is beyond the ability of my simple human brain...
Using the same places:
While I didn't mind visiting the same places in the city like my former slum of a house, my eventually improved mansion and other character's homes I didn't really appreciate visiting the same mines, tunnels and mountains 1400 times. If the total war series can generate a random map based on a whole continent why can't DA 2 develop some interesting scenery? If you are going to remove much of the universe at least bring some changing back drops to keep it interesting. WHY dev team WHY?
The final verdict:
Dragon Age Origins is a classic. Enough said.
Dragon Age 2 is in itself a very enjoyable game that has significant replay value. While i outlined several things that annoyed me, i still love this game. It was enjoyable the first play through on hard and even more so on the second play through on Nightmare. A lot of the clunky aspects from DA:O were improved significantly and created a more efficient system BUT a lot of the 101 RPG rules were simplified more than special education classes. If DA 2 would have kept a few of the things it had in DA:O i would dare say that DA:2 is better. Here is the problem, Dragon Age Origins was a great RPG, fresh and exciting in a market of drones. Given this fact Dragon Age: 2 had the fan base, the experience and dev team to make a 10/10 game but sadly it falls short of it but still does a bloody good job!
