Dragon Age 2 review.

I'll get this out of the way quickly. I'm a Bioware fanboy. With the likes of Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR and Mass Effect you can hardly blame me. I was also a huge fan of Dragon Age Origins. Internet haters and the demo had me worried about 2. After playing it through across all classes I can lay that fear to rest. DA2 is fantastic.

I'll start with the combat which has split people down the middle. Yes for the first few hours it is button mash central. Stick with it though and it becomes about clever tactics as some of the later encounters are quite ferociously challenging. If you try and button mash through those you will be dead, fast.

Each class (Mage, Rogue, Warrior) plays so differently with vastly differing skill trees that combat wise its like three different games. I started as a warrior with a two handed weapon. Very powerful and with the best defensive option in stonewall (it reduces all physical damage but roots you to the spot) you quickly learn that you are the defensive backbone of the party. With other skills unlocked you are able to draw enemies away from mages (they are vulnerable to physical attack) meaning that while you keep them occupied the spellcasters can do some serious damage. Even within the warrior class switching to a sword and shield gives even more offensive and defensive possibilities. Add to this sustained abilities which stay active until you turn them off reducing the amount stamina you have available for other attacks and I'm still just scratching the surface of the warrior class alone. For example you can turn on might which improves attack damage, turn the blade which improves defence and (if you learn it as a specialisation at lvl 7 or 14) Berserker which further increases your attack damage. Does this sound dumbed down to you?

I could write in that much detail for Rogues and Mages too. It really is quite incredible the amount of options this game gives to you. When you realise you can adjust the tactics for each of your other 3 party members it gives you an idea of just how deep it is because they each have skilltrees to. It makes you think about how you develop them. Do you want your offensive mage with you with powerful spells or your parties natural healer (Anders)? It throws questions like this up all the time and I haven't even mentioned inventory management.

The story too is well thought out told in a framed narrative by your dwarven party member Varric who is very well voiced. In fact bar a few NPC's the voice acting is pretty top notch. He tells the story of your character Hawke's rise to be champion of Kirkwall after fleeing the blight from the first game. It chucks in plenty of nods to Origins as well with some cameos thrown in for good measure. Without ruining it rather than being an all out epic with a big nasty bad guy, it goes for a more personal story about family, politics in Kirkwall and even deals with racism but not in the way you might think. The overarching theme however is the plight of the mages against the templars who treat them like prisoners. This leads to some interesting banter between party members some of whom are pro mage (ie the mages) and some are not. At the end of the day though you have to make the choices that will shape Kirkwall. This is made easy by Mass Effects dialogue wheel and depending on whether you want to be nice, a smart arse or a complete bastard Hawke reflects it naturally throughout. You really can make he/she your own character.

The game looks half decent too. Its no God of War 3 but its a noticeable step up from Origins and most of Kirkwall is well designed. The same can't be said when you go out of the city as it can look a bit dated. Dungeons are also reused mercilessly which Bioware was also guilty of in Mass Effect but despite this I was always having too much fun with the combat to care.

There is plenty to do as well with a bucketload of sidequests and despite the fact Kirkwall can feel a bit empty there is always something going on. It really is worth exploring every nook and cranny. Even if it is to find that extra bit of loot.

I could write a lot more about every aspect of the game. I barely touched on the characters and the relationships you can have with them and the great companion quests. I didn't go in depth about the epic and challenging boss fights. I barely mentioned the inventory system and the depth that can be found there. I didn't mention the sweeping musical score. Dumbed down? I think not.

Overall 9/10

In retrospect (i'm adding this on the 28/5/12) I was far too generous. DA2 doesn't deserve a 9. Since it has released we've had Dark Souls, Skyrim, Kingdoms of Amalur and most importantly The Witcher 2. All of these games The Witcher 2 in particular make DA2 look average. I also purchased Dragons Dogma today. Keeping my fingers crossed that it's good.

Hindsight is lovely. I'd give DA2 a 6 or 7 now.