There are a number of things that I take issue with here, in order:drunken_munki said:
If it's really such a bother for you to argue about things on the internet, then why did you start? I will resolve to feel honored that you dedicate your obviously costly time and resources to educating the masses on your opinion on a video game, despite the fact that you don't want to. Good man.
How exactly are these rather favourable reviews you posted here going to convince me about...what exactly is your point? That the game is bad?
I don't intend to defend the claims made by other people, in no small part because they come from an obviously biased source.
Even if some reviews of the game shows a disrepancy between commentary and grading, and we do not attribute this to poor communication skills, why should that have any effect on other reviews? There is no causal relationship between computer game reviewers and their output.
Your counterpoints adressed, in order:
1(PC Gamer): A story can be good without being the best, you will notice that 94 < 100.
I do not know what definition of "mindless repetetive clicking" you work under, but how exactly do the controls differ from DA:O(Or, indeed, a great number of RPGs throughout time)? action bar, shortcuts, clicking? Your point that the game is challenging only on hard and above seems....inane. Is the game not supposed to be difficult on that level, and more manageable on lower difficulties? I realise that Origins essentially shifted the entire difficulty curve up a notch, but having done it once is hardly an argument for doing it again.
I do find the combat much more palatable than the first game, but that is mostly to do with the animations being more, well, animated. In origins, autoattacking(which took up a lot of my time when conserving energy) was boring and sluggish, now it is at least pretty to look at, comparable to the combat in The Witcher.
2(Gametrailers): You deliberately misread the comment. While they refer to the breadth of the game being reduced(fewer locales and the different origins spring to mind), that does in no way conflict with saying that the game has more soul(whatever that means, I assume they liked the storytelling or characterisation or setting or something)
3(Vandal Online): I don't know how games logically evolve, but it obviously can't be both identical to Origins and different from Origins without existing in some strange quantum state where humans would have a very hard time interacting with it(what with observance forcing it to assume a state). No matter how dedicated your fanbase is, it's a stretch to release the same game twice within two years, so I think it rather sensible that they shook things up a bit.
4(GamingXP): Yep, that guy(or gal) should probably have given it a lower score. Unless you have not made a faithful representation of his statement. However, only two of the statements are criticisms of DA2's own qualities, the rest is lamentation that it is not a repackaged Origins, and should not influence the score.
5(Gamers.at): Well, that's just vague. But it does have a lower score than Origins, so I don't see what's so unreasonable about it. Perhaps the points weren't that important?
6(Game Informer): Again, the commentary only states that: "the game is different, not a smart move", not "the game is bad, tsk tsk". Also exploration....there wasn't any in Origins either.
7(IncGamers): Here's why you should adjust your expectations: It's a different bloody game! On these forums we're usually up to our necks in complaints that this and that popular shooter treads about as much new ground as a completely stationary rock. But changing things is also a deplorable move? What in the hells?
Creativity is not only about creating an increasingly bloated system(You yourself critisised Vista, which is enormously guilty of doing nothing but this).
Creativity is also about honing and specialising. Allow me to max out my pretentiousness by quoting Antoine De Saint-Exupéry: "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.".
So, in conclusion: There is no basis for reviews affecting one another, I also vented a lot.
Addendum: I just finished the game an hour ago. And I find just about all your complaints(byzantine and incomprehensibly presented as they are) to be completely unfounded.
