14 DAY TRIAL // 
Dragon Age 2 is a clear sign that, when it comes to the role-playing experience, BioWare is determined to innovate and not just iterate. Unfortunately, innovation is not always a good idea when it comes to a franchise with apparently established rules and the opinion of gamers will be divided on the changes that the developers made for the second game in the Dragon Age series.
The developers could have played it safe to create something more like Dragon Age: Origins 1.5, with more areas to explore, a better party management system, more complex quests linked to yet another Blight and better graphics.
Instead they chose to rewrite some of the ground rules of the franchise, simplify some of the most important elements of the role-playing genre and craft a story that, while not revolutionary, has some very bright ideas that could have been implemented better and some old tropes that are well used.
Because BioWare has two big franchises that share a common heritage, one set in the science fiction space and one linked to fantasy, comparisons are impossible to avoid. I believe that Dragon Age 2 is not the instant classic that Mass Effect 2 was when launched last year and will not get any Game of the Year award. Still, this is a significant role-playing game that does a lot of things right and needs to be experienced by all fans of the genre, if only to see how BioWare is looking to push the series forward.
Story and writing
BioWare has long been praised for the narratives it builds and initial talk focused on the unreliable narrator concept that they would be employing in Dragon Age 2. Unfortunately, the mechanism is not that important to the story told, only making two brief appearances that have little impact on the actual game.
One good choice is to extend the time frame of Dragon Age to a few years, allowing developers to create choices that feel more important than in Origins, often taking the time and effort to show the player exactly how one early decision from him played out in the universe.
The quality of the writing can go from mediocre to great in the space of just one or two quests and the same inconsistency in quality affects the characters. There are some great moments in there, but also conversations where I kept mashing the Escape key to get to the next line and just get the information I needed.
Here's a look at Dragon Age 2 in action:
One major problem with the pacing of the story is that after the pretty momentous first few hours, when getting away from the Blight and moving into Kirkwall is a matter of life and death, the game settles into a rhythm where the sidequests sometimes become more important than the main story.
BioWare often makes these just as or more compelling in terms of narrative and characters, and I often found myself actively looking for more small diversions to occupy myself with rather than just push the game forward and actually seek to fulfill Hawke's destiny.
Dragon Age 2 can be very funny at times, especially with a certain dwarf that sees it fit to start conversations with the female characters in the party. Isabella is one of his favorite targets for barbs and even the main character managed to say some things, especially after some of the battles that drew a chuckle out of me. Most of the banter is reserved for the incidental dialog that pops up while adventuring, and here rotating the characters really makes an impact.
I believe that a lot of fans will also draw less enjoyment from Dragon Age 2 because of Hawke, the main character. He is well written and has many interesting choices to make and a number of good lines to deliver, but the game seems too simple after the variety that the first game in the series could deliver. Yes, it feels more like the story of a champion and hero, but it also feels like the story of someone whose soul never completely lines up with that of the gamer who controls him.
Gameplay
I am happy to report that Dragon Age 2 has interesting, pretty varied and at times tough battles, where tactics, good planning, use of the right abilities and good tactical movement make the difference between a victory and defeat. As the game progresses, use of the tactical pause becomes crucial and making sure that party characters are programmed for the right moves at the beginning of encounters is also central to the experience.
The thing that still nags me about the battle sequences is the speed of the fights. Characters move like they are constantly fed a speed potion from a well-hidden pouch and so do the enemies. It's very over the top and never feels consistent with the game universe and the precedents established in Origins. This, sometimes coupled with more enemies attacking at the same time than the battle space can hold, means that frustration can set in at times, which rarely happened in Origins.
Yes, the tactical view, which allowed PC gamers to pull well back in order to see more of a battlefield, is also gone, but after a few hours of playing Dragon Age 2, I found that I did not actually need it. It represents a good addition but most of the time just switching between characters and doing a 360 view is enough to show me their situation and how they can work together with other party members. The gamer's ability to plan and execute is not affected at all.
Another significant change in the battle mechanics is the sudden love that BioWare has for waves of enemies, specifically designed to deliver tougher enemies later on, with casters and powerful commander characters entering the fray after less capable enemies have softened up the party and forced it to use some of the special abilities and consume mana and stamina.
Overall, BioWare seems very much decided to simplify the role-playing game structure but the results are mixed. There are no more weapon images in the inventory, which makes me less likely to truly appreciate a nice weapon for more than its stats. Most of the skills linked to anything other than fighting have been eliminated. Injuries are no longer specific and there's no mini game in managing who gets an injury kit and who doesn't in the longer dungeons. The equipment mini game built around armor size and stamina is also gone.
It's true that most of the game mechanics mentioned are on the periphery of what Dragon Age 2 means, but their loss is unlikely to please those who saw Origins as the spiritual descendant of Baldur's Gate 2 and expected the same from the sequel.
Another disappointment is the fact that the developers chose to reuse the various dungeons segments rather than design whole new areas for each sidequests. This is lazy and annoying for the player and can even be disorienting. I can understand that the time spent designing unique dungeons might have been better spent elsewhere, but the move shows a lack of respect for the player and for the game.
Graphics and audio
After playing more than 20 hours of Dragon Age 2, I am still not sure what I think of the graphics style that BioWare has adopted for the game. On one hand, it manages to deliver pretty impressive vistas, especially when it's working with big cities, high battlements and shinny, combat ready armor. The faces of the characters also have more expression than in Origins, pretty close to the quality seen in Mass Effect 2.
One the other hand, there are some pretty visible glitches, like the way arms sometime mingle with the big armor pieces and hair goes through the backs of some characters. There's also a conscious choice to move to a more jagged look for the terrain, a lot of the armor on characters and the weapons. It feels a bit foreign at first but I have grown quite fond of the way BioWare designed their new game by the time I wrote the review (familiarity might have a lot to do with it).
The game also has a problem with the balance between light and darkness, making sun-bathed areas pretty well lit while making most underground or night-shrouded places almost pitch dark.
Voice wise, the quality varies quite a lot from character to character and, after playing both male and female Hawke, I believe that again getting through the experience as a female is more rewarding when it comes to the feelings conveyed by the main character.
It starts slow and fails to deliver an end game that feels as important as that of Origins, but it has a number of companion and sidequests that are very well written and force interesting choices on the part of the gamer. But the overall simplification that BioWare seems determined to bring to the role-playing genre is a big disappointment for those who grew up playing six or seven times through Baldur's Gate 2. I will probably only go through Dragon Age 2 three times, and for me, that's the best way of showing the difference between the two experiences.
The Good
The Bad
Conclusion
