Oh, to slay dragons and more.
G'day everyone! The first rant for the month of May will be about BioWare's awesome rpg Dragon Age 2. This is another one of those games that you really need to spend time with before you can make a final judgement. I personally just finished the game and put in well over 30 hours of gameplay. If you're unfamiliar with the Dragon Age series you really need to play them. They are the kind of game that draws you in and you find yourself wanting to play more and more. So let me jump into what Dragon Age 2 is about, and what I enjoyed.
First off let me explain the premise of the story in a nutshell. You play as a character named Hawke. You work your way through various quests and unravel the story of how you become the champion of Kirkwall. Throughout this journey you will meet many different characters. Some will be enemies, some will be friends, and some will even team up with you and help you battle against evil. I found the story in Dragon Age 2 to be good, but it didn't seem quite as good as Dragon Age Origins. Don't let that keep you from playing this game because the story is still compelling. You can still choose from three different character classes and whether you want to be male or female. The classes are the mage, rogue, and warrior (the mage being my favorite). Each class has their own abilities and attacks.
One area I love about Dragon Age 2 is the dialogue system. This is something that BioWare is known for and they do it very well. If you've played any of Bioware's other games (Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect 1 and 2) you know how this works. If you haven't let me explain. Throughout the game you will communicate with both friend and enemy characters. When a dialogue is started you are given several choice on how you want to respond. If you respond harshly, characters will fear or hate you. If you are more sympathetic and kind, characters will like you more. You can even carry on romantic relationship with another character. Based on how you interact with characters the game will change. Scenarios will slightly differ from this. It's because of this dialogue system that you can experience different outcomes from multiple plays.
As far as the graphics go they are better than Dragon Age Origins. I wouldn't say they are a huge leap though. Character models look better and there is plenty of detail to all the different armor and weapons you can find. One small complaint I have is that there are only a few different landscapes you fight in. You mainly find yourself going back and forth from different areas in the city of Kirkwall. You will occasionally go outside the city and this leads you into more mountainous areas as well as some caves. They all pretty much look the same and it tends to get a little bland after a while.
Another thing I loved about Dragon Age 2 is the new combat system. To me, Dragon Age Origins seemed a little static when it came to combat. Dragon Age 2 feels more like an action game. You still map out your different spells or attacks to three buttons (alternate attacks are accessed by pressing the right trigger). It just seemed to move faster and more fluid. I didn't get the feeling that I was just standing in one spot pressing the same button over and over. For those of you who are strategy nuts, you can still pause the battle and map out where you want your teammates to attack and how. I personally played the whole game like a third person action game. Slay and pray baby!
In the end I was very pleased with Dragon Age 2. Even though I thought the story wasn't quite as good as the first game, I still found myself wanting to push forward to see what happened next. If you played Dragon Age Origins and liked it, it's very safe to say you'll like the second. The combat is much more fluid and there's still plenty of side missions to keep the game going. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start slaying dragons, dwarfs, elves, and demons. Oh, and try to play nicely with your teammates.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10
Written by: Alter Ego 83
First off let me explain the premise of the story in a nutshell. You play as a character named Hawke. You work your way through various quests and unravel the story of how you become the champion of Kirkwall. Throughout this journey you will meet many different characters. Some will be enemies, some will be friends, and some will even team up with you and help you battle against evil. I found the story in Dragon Age 2 to be good, but it didn't seem quite as good as Dragon Age Origins. Don't let that keep you from playing this game because the story is still compelling. You can still choose from three different character classes and whether you want to be male or female. The classes are the mage, rogue, and warrior (the mage being my favorite). Each class has their own abilities and attacks.
One area I love about Dragon Age 2 is the dialogue system. This is something that BioWare is known for and they do it very well. If you've played any of Bioware's other games (Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect 1 and 2) you know how this works. If you haven't let me explain. Throughout the game you will communicate with both friend and enemy characters. When a dialogue is started you are given several choice on how you want to respond. If you respond harshly, characters will fear or hate you. If you are more sympathetic and kind, characters will like you more. You can even carry on romantic relationship with another character. Based on how you interact with characters the game will change. Scenarios will slightly differ from this. It's because of this dialogue system that you can experience different outcomes from multiple plays.
As far as the graphics go they are better than Dragon Age Origins. I wouldn't say they are a huge leap though. Character models look better and there is plenty of detail to all the different armor and weapons you can find. One small complaint I have is that there are only a few different landscapes you fight in. You mainly find yourself going back and forth from different areas in the city of Kirkwall. You will occasionally go outside the city and this leads you into more mountainous areas as well as some caves. They all pretty much look the same and it tends to get a little bland after a while.
Another thing I loved about Dragon Age 2 is the new combat system. To me, Dragon Age Origins seemed a little static when it came to combat. Dragon Age 2 feels more like an action game. You still map out your different spells or attacks to three buttons (alternate attacks are accessed by pressing the right trigger). It just seemed to move faster and more fluid. I didn't get the feeling that I was just standing in one spot pressing the same button over and over. For those of you who are strategy nuts, you can still pause the battle and map out where you want your teammates to attack and how. I personally played the whole game like a third person action game. Slay and pray baby!
In the end I was very pleased with Dragon Age 2. Even though I thought the story wasn't quite as good as the first game, I still found myself wanting to push forward to see what happened next. If you played Dragon Age Origins and liked it, it's very safe to say you'll like the second. The combat is much more fluid and there's still plenty of side missions to keep the game going. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start slaying dragons, dwarfs, elves, and demons. Oh, and try to play nicely with your teammates.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10
Written by: Alter Ego 83
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