DA: 2

What's this? I'm playing a game only recently released!? Quick, run outside because it's probably raining candy as well.

So actually this was just a case of good timing. Around this time last year, I gave up video games for Lent so I had to stop playing Dragon Age Origins. Then I got consumed by other things happening in my life that prevented me from coming back to the game until a week or two ago. I finished DA:O finally and DA:2 had come out only a week or so prior.

To be honest I wasn't all that aware of this sequel nor of what it would be like. I wrote it off as a disinterest until seeing a video review on it. So I knew of the disappointments beforehand. And therefore set my bar pretty low.

Right before buying, I check the DA wiki for information about the stuff I cared about...the romance options. This is always a selling factor for me in a game. And lo! What did I find?

A. CHASTE. ROMANCE. OPTION. <---------- <:O WAHHHH?

Despite it costing 7 bucks extra, I bought that.

I'm actually quite proud of you, writers of Bioware. And making him the best looking male character of the game also earns bonus points.

HOWEVER, I am not so shallow as to be won over by a single element in a game. Only mostly. Dammit I'm a sucker for gimmicks.

I was expecting things I had heard about in other reviews.

-Weaker Story

-Weaker Characters

-Weird Voice Overs

-Changes to Combat

-Smaller Map

-Worse Graphics

-UI Changes

But here is my take on them.

Weaker Story - Yes and no. It's a different story. It's not a save the world from the Blight in an over the top good vs evil that rivals the doom of Middle Earth. It doesn't have that same "save the world" storyline. But you know what? That's OKAY. I see this as a chance to get to know more parts of the world. Local problems are big problems in a sense and more realistic. The problems are more individual and human. There is depth to be explored.

I'm not sure they do it completely well, for me it feels rushed and I'm personally not quite hooked or interested in the whole thing.

Weaker Characters - I think that it's not that they are uninteresting characters per se, they are interesting. However, they're not presented in a way that makes me sympathetic with them.
I mostly feel like I've met them all before.

I do however, have strong feelings about some of the new characters. I LIKE my character Hawke. They have some entertaining dialog for her/him. I like the family situation. I like HATING the brother Carver. I like HATING the mage elf girl.

The others I don't hate, but I don't really care too much about them. I like how strong the female warrior is, how snarky the dwarf is, and there is a slight bit of smarm in Anders.

I think the weakness is how quickly they are introduced and become my "best friend". Morrigan hated the main character and there was a sense of development of the relationship with her. So far the only character that immediately hates my character seems to be my character's brother. And I really don't care that he hates me because I hate him too. (Like real siblings do.)

Another perceived weakness can be in the way they can be compared to their Origin counter parts as it were if you look at the character's "role" in the story.
Both parties have:
-A religious, innocent rogue (Leliana/Sebastien)
-An angry "non-human" with a big sword (Sten/Fenris)
-A Dark magician girl (Morrigan/Merill)
-A healer touched by the spirits (Wynne/Anders)
-The Whiny Warrior (Alistair/Carver)
-The overtly sexy rogue (Zevran/Isabela)
-The Dwarf with a sense of humor (Ogren/Varric)
-The Dog (Dog/Dog summon...I tried.)
It's very easy to compare and contrast. In some cases it feels like the same character was used but got a sex change. (i.e. Zevran is now Isabela)
However, this is a "stereotype" or "trope" of this style of game by Bioware. Each character has a class and unique specialization in that class. You can pull similarities from non-Dragon Age titles.
Carth = Alistair = Carver (All are whiny warrior type.)
HK-47 = Shale (killer robot/golem with no respect for humans...meat sack.)

So I think it's because this game type does limit the role of the character and Bioware titles have a tendency to reuse character types with some changes to suit the environment.

Voice Over - Holy cow my character gets voice over? That is AWESOME. It's not terrible either. This is pretty huge. The other voices so far are interesting as well. I like the distinct Celtic accent they gave the Dalish Elves. There's some Spanish accents, British of course, and a Russian at some point. And so far the voices fit the characters.

But is the voice acting good? Well, it doesn't blow me away, it seems like a video game recording. I'm sure the recording sessions were a beast to perform and the actors do well, but don't quite OWN the character like the previous title did.

Changes to Combat - Ummm...what were these changes? It looks and feels the same to me. This is probably because I have the PC version of it but the system is pretty much identical to Origins. The animations were a bit nicer and the actions were performed faster. I suppose that the console version is really where this shines.

Smaller Map - Yeah...the setting doesn't feel as vast as Origins. It limits the character to one city and some outlying parts. The various parts of the city are not super distinct. Neverwinter was more interesting and distinct in its city plan. Oh wells. The decor is pretty nice.

Worse Graphics - Again...really? They look the same to me. This must be another console version complaint. The backgrounds really are not as interesting. All the outdoor areas are about the same. There's caves and buildings. No forests, no swamps, no frosty mountains. So perhaps the graphics aren't worse, but they are not as diverse or interesting.

UI changes - These look stupid. I don't feel like I'm in a fantasy game anymore! Yeah it's cleaner, I'll give it that. But I liked how things were in the pages of a book. But I do appreciate the graphic that indicates the "tone" of a response. The battle layout for abilities is exactly the same as before for the PC version.

Overall, I like the game. The spirit of Dragon Age is in there but not executed in a way I expected. The design choices were interesting when it came to the in game tutorial and presenting the story. I was worried though that I would not get to customize my character when the tutorial started.

There also nice little tie ins about my Origins play-through that I loaded.

I think it suffers from being a "middle child" and a drive toward something unique. It feels like it's more of an interim story.

I'm certainly hoping that the franchise doesn't burn out. I really want to see more of this world and its characters.

UPDATE:
So I'm about 2/3 of the way through the game now and I have to note a few more things.
-This game feels a bit shorter but battles are a LOT faster so I get through them pretty quick. (Okay so I'm cheating and playing on casual). However, this easy setting is...well...easy. I've only had a couple of challenging battles with boss fights. But I was well prepared and have not had to go back and grind my character levels. Yay.

-And yay I managed to get rid of my brother Carver. LOL. And the pirate slut. At least for the time being. Carver is less annoying when he shows up on occasion.

-Sebastien...in someways slightly disappointed. I can't place the accent I swear it keeps changing. But I still like the fellow so my characters becoming a nun with him. >_> I think Bioware writers misunderstands the idea of "chaste marriage". Caste does not equal Celibate. I know that's confusing for some.

I also wish that he wasn't so f***ing indecisive!!! 15 years of wondering should I be prince or not? Maker's Ass warts...he could have been better written. And the flirty romance for Hawke really did not jive well with the character. Granted the character never says verbatim the response (it's usually phrased better in dialog) but seriously "Princes are sexy"? That is not flirty, that's being a ditz.

However, his conversations with the other characters make it all worth it. Making him the least unliked of the bunch. However, I had to kick Anders out. No one seemed to like him that much.

-Speaking of time: I don't feel the same sense of years passing as the story implies. It's sometimes tough putting time skips in a game.

Anyway, still good game and I will be replaying it a few times.

Update 2: I finished the game about a week ago. And honestly...that's REALLY fast for me. I blame it on the "easy" setting but I got through the game like grease lightening. I'll probably change my next playthrough to normal.

In anycase, really the story doesn't get GOOD until the last 3rd of the game. The final boss fights were well done. I can understand comparing this final boss to the Archdemon can seem like a bit of a let down.

I've gone back to playing DA: Origins for a bit and taking note of the differences a bit better.
For the PC version: DA2 Loads MUCH faster.
The models look a little better somehow.
Alister gained weight in the face I think. Well, I guess a decade will do that to a person. (Except for me. I age like a champ.)