That is the shortest and most accurate review of the game.
Political intrigue, dodging chainsaws of both Templar zealotry and Circle's corruption would be much more enjoyable, if it wasn't served on the same plate as below average and frustrating combat system.
Don't get me wrong, switching from the "old school" style (calling it Dragon Age Origins style, belittles the glorious history of this type of combat style in RPGs) gave game a lot more dynamic feeling, allowing for more spectacular and involving combat. But it also invited all the problems the game suffered in switching from a tactical RPG to an action RPG.
As a result the game was trapped in between, neither really action-oriented, neither suited for deep tactical combat.
More challenging difficulty settings only highlighted the game inability to pick a side - as the action-oriented fighting often stood in the way of very careful tactical planning. Prime example of this duality was the "Wave" mechanic. With more enemies joining the fight as it progresses. This would feel perfect in a action game, where hordes of enemies are an excuse to preform long combos and spectacular AoE, perfectly playing into a typical power fantasy we often crave in our games.
And yet with growing difficulty, the "trash mobs" grew only to frustrate and annoy, with waves of enemies appearing out of nowhere, sometimes right behind the player's healer.
Dealing with wave mechanic instead of challenging and fun, became tiresome, as the first "try" on every substantial group of enemies involved finding out where and when the next wave will come from, and constantly promoted "deep pull", forcing the fight away from it's place of origin.
With few exceptions, each fight consisted of same types of enemies, dressed in a different texture. For example Coterie Assassin and Templar Hunter shared exactly the same abilities, that were also shared by a bunch of other, differently named enemies in the game - turning most fights into exact copies of each other, focused on following same "takedown" order.
By the middle of Act 2, the fun and challenge was replaced by running through the routine of retreats, bottlenecks and crowd control queue, bringing to mind the worst part of World of Warcraft raiding history involving over-saturation of trash mobs (I look at you, AQ40...).
Even during boss fights (except the first dragon slain in Bone Pit) game developers decided to "spice" the fight with trash enemies, joining the fight at preset health levels of the boss, leading to comical "run around" tactic, avoiding both doing and taking damage, waiting for powerful skills to go off-cooldown before triggering another trash group.
Various small, frustrating and fun defying problems brought to a PC gamer memories of poorly executed console ports of action games, trying to wear a gown of more "adult" RPG titles of previous generations.
The game came through however, on an opposite of what we expect from action RPGs - the story and personality.
Left on the other side of the Waking Sea were the world-saving heroics and over-the-top personalities. Arriving to Kirkwall the player is thrown into trenches of a conflict without well defined divide between right and wrong. There is no overbearing threat of Blight hanging over the city and without the greater "evil" there's also no greater "good".
We're slowly introduced to the conflicts of the city, which at first, seems distant as we're too busy collecting money to found an expedition into Deep Roads.
At the end of the day however, the game revolves around Kirkwall, and even by the very end of it, the scope of your actions rarely goes beyond the city (until the epilogue). It is a step down from the well established world saving business games got us used to, as the stakes just don't feel as great. But this was an intentional design, that held the game to more basic, human values.
The game leads us through more subtle, less colourful world, which at points, is just boring - relying on player's emotional investment in the story and characters. Story's biggest weakness is Act 1, which overstays it's welcome without much meaningful story to tell. The best time to introduce our companions and make us "care" for them, is wasted running around the city, performing errands for NPCs we forget about, the moment we turn in their quest.
I don't know if it's an intentional self-awareness or just cliche stereotype repeated due to lack of imagination, but when NPCs we helped before get in touch with us, they often start with "I don't know if you remember me".
To which I expressed a very honest reply "I really fucking don't!"
Beyond this issue, the game does it's best to lead a good, three act story, without greater hiccups.
Our companions, with few exceptions, are much less colourful, and much more three dimensional than their counterparts in Dragon Age Origins.
First game was comfortable picking up a stereotype and heroes and running with it:
- Obnoxious dwarf with a golden heart.
- Silent tough guy who cares, but acts like he doesn't.
- Judgemental wise sage, who still makes mistakes,
- Femme fatale who ends up hurting herself, as much as those around her.
- Low self-esteem clown who grows to be a leader
- A spy who wants to get out of her dirty past, and turn towards the light.
Throw in a copy of HK-47 and a smartass assassin with a troubled past and you're ready to go.
Those heroes fit perfectly setting or Origins, where this band of unlikely companions work together to oppose the Blight.
Dragon Age 2 goes for more realistic and less over-the-top heroes. Their personalities are watered down by internal conflicts and struggles. Surprisingly, the least relatable characters are the ones who are most stereotypical - Former slave with vengeance written all over his storyline, an apostate "rebel for life" and a sexually liberated smuggler. Most of player's companions follow their own goals over the course of the game, choices that sooner or later may intertwine with the main storyline of the game in some surprising fashion.
DA2 goes for more personal and down to earth experience, perfectly exemplified by Aveline's companion quest in Act 2, where we try to help her express her feelings to another NPC. A comedy of mistakes and awkward silences is more entertaining than you'd expect, and end result, if successful, brings a smile to your face.
Biggest innovation Dragon Age 2 brought to RPG universe is the timeline. Most RPG games remain oblivious to the passage of time. Game takes us from from Prologue in year 0, through Act 1 one year after that, Act 2 three years later, and Act 3 another three years after that. This distinct time window gives player a unique chance to see the effects of their actions in a long term perspective...
But is also another wasted asset, as the city of Kirkwall and their inhabitants don't change over the course of the storyline. Over the years, city itself looks exactly the same, characters you meet look exactly the same and even their outfits (outside of romance options) don't go through much alteration over the period of almost a decade.
Small, yet vital part that requires a strong suspension of disbelief, that in the world shaped by your actions, nothing really changes. Especially lack of customisation of your companions sting throughout the game. You can find upgrades to their specific armours across the game, but those don't change the appearance of your friends, only boost their stats.
Overall, Dragon Age 2 is a game that was heavily plagued by a hybrid playstyle, without enough development time to make it work and even less to polish it.
The game was clearly put together in a hastily manner and it shows in almost every aspect of the game, except storyline, which was probably drafted out long before the actual development of the game began.
Reuse of assets and locations becomes obvious the more you play, and while it would be excused if the game was coming from a small developer with very limited resources, it shouldn't be the case when talking about BioWare.
Stepping very closely, in the shadow of Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age 2 is a very different game, desperately trying to tell not only a different story, but a different type of story.
Falling short due to being underdeveloped and rushed.
Final Recommendation:
It's a game to be enjoyed slowly, and not for the depth fighting mechanic. Especially on harder difficulties, where frustration of fighting the system is as annoying as fighting the same trash mobs over and over again.
Enjoying the story and the characters is much more rewarding than anything else in this game.
The grey area of choices and good set of supportive characters makes it a joy to experience.
But besides that, the game should go back to development for at least another year.
989 saves.
38 hours of clocked gametime (add about 10 hours of struggling with bosses and loading earlier saves to level up different skills)
Nightmare difficulty.
Supporting Mages at the end.
Romancing Merrill.
Losing no companions in Act 2 or 3 - as they all were maxed out on the Friend side.
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