Review: Dragon Age 2

Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, a survivor of the Darkspawn horde's destruction of Lothering (a village featured in Dragon Age: Origins) who rises to become the Champion of Kirkwall. Varric, one of Hawke's companions, tells Hawke's story to Cassandra Pentaghast, a Chantry Seeker; decisions made in the game by the player determine more than a decade of history that changes the world of Thedas forever.

Release Date: March 8, 2011
MSRP: $49.99
Also on: PS3, Xbox 360
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Content, Violence
Genre: RPG 
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare

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Gameplay:
- You play as Hawke (human male or female), champion of Kirkwall.
- The game takes place over the course of a decade and shapes itself around decisions made.
- New combat mechanics designed to put the player in the heart of battle whether they - are a mage, rogue, or warrior.
- A new cinematic experience.
- Updated graphics and a new visual style.
- There will be opportunities for romance.

Dragon Age II will feature a greater difference between races, meaning elves, dwarves and qunari are being reviewed and redesigned.

Dragon Age II allows the player to import saves from any completed Dragon Age: Origins playthrough. So, while you may be controlling a different character in Dragon Age II, the choices of The Warden made in Origins are still imported from your save and reflected in the world. Choices from Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt will also be imported. The player must import his or her save games in a single chain tracing all the way back to Dragon Age: Origins to be able to import all game data (i.e. rather than two separate transfers from Origins/Awakening to the respective DLC).

In addition to importing, players can also select from three pre-built histories to carry over from Origins. The three builds are as follows:

- Hero of Ferelden" (Default): A young man from a noble family rose to become a Grey Warden, then ended the Fifth Blight by killing the Archdemon himself–-and surviving. He always strove for the greater good, and placed his friend Alistair on the throne of Ferelden.

- "The Martyr": Ferelden will forever remember the young Dalish elf who died to kill the fifth Archdemon. Even though she had reason to be cynical, her actions always benefited others. She left a kingdom ruled jointly by Alistair and Anora.

- "No Compromise": A ruthless dwarven noble took command of Ferelden's Grey Wardens, then let nothing stand between him and victory. He exiled Alistair, sent Loghain to his death against the Archdemon, and left Anora as Ferelden's ruler.

The dialogue system of Dragon Age: Origins will be replaced with a Dialogue Wheel, similar to BioWare's earlier title Mass Effect. Unlike Mass Effect however, when you move your cursor over a selection, an icon is shown in the center of the wheel that indicates the intent of the player line: flirty, violent, sarcastic, etc. The dialogue wheel will have up to six dialogue options for players to choose from.

Dragon Age II will use a Friendship and Rivalry system. Instead of only getting content and combat bonuses based on positive approval, you can either build a friendly or antagonistic relationship with your companions.[11] Also, specific actions can still cause companions to turn on you, in spite of their approval rating. In Dragon Age II the friendship and Rivalry Mechanism does not affect respect. 

In Origins, making potions, poisons and traps required learning recipes for them and obtaining the required ingredients. In the new system, rather than carrying components around, it is simply necessary to discover sources for them in the world. For example, once a strain of Elfroot has been found, all crafting vendors will stock it. The challenge is now to find sources for raw materials and the different strains of components. A far more elegant system, it rewards exploration rather than hoarding and unclogging the inventory in the process.

The linear progression of the talent trees in Origins meant that the player frequently had to spend valuable points on talents the player never had any intention of using so that the player could get to the one he/ she actually wanted. The talent trees in Dragon Age II are actually webs, more circular in nature and offering more than one path to the different types of talents. Talent upgrades branch off from their base skills, leaving the way clear for other progressions.

Final Thoughts:
Every modification to the gameplay and structure of Dragon Age II is a clear improvement over the previous game. The combat is more responsive and bloody, you don’t need to fight the inventory system anymore, and conversations are more engaging thanks to the adapted Mass Effect wheel. There are downsides though; the semi-linear story and repetitive environments have a negative effect on what is otherwise a great role-playing game. 

Rating: 4.5 = Great
Recomendation: A must Buy