Dragon Age II for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

Dragon Age is back and its painted on a new canvas. Dragon Age 2 is not like its predessor in many ways. For one you are no longer auto attacking now you have to hit the A button to attack with either your swords, daggers or staves, but dont think its just a button masher because you still have access to spells or skills to increase damage, or defense etc.

The story is not as good as dragon age: origins due to the fact you dont seem to be driven forward. To me it felt like i was doing more side quests then anything else. and the characters are definetly not as memorable. There are defineitly some funny banter between the characters and some memorable moments through out the game, but i dont see me playing through the game again for any other reason besides to try out the different classes more indepthly.

The graphics are a big improvement this time around, although some of the animations dont work properly and the voice acting is very impressive.

There are still a few glitches and bugs through out the game but nothing to serious and it doesn't mess with the game play any.

The loading time is just ridiculous honestly it takes forever so i would recommend isntalling onto your console to lower them.

The skill and inventory systems have definetly been dumbed down alot and you can no longer customize your partys armor past the point of some armor upgrades that dont change the appearance at all and the trinkets.

Overall I really enjoyed this game even more than i did the first one. So i would definetly buy it.

As has been the trend lately, DA2 got a facelift and a slight change from an RPG element game into what feels more like an action game than RPG.

The overall game is still playable, though a few minor glitches during cutscenes persistant during my play, these were not so bad as to take away from the game as a whole. The biggest disappointment was the change from a classic RPG element that origins was, into something that felt more like a god of war facelift. This change is similar to how ME1 changed to ME2, also by bioware. The difference is the changes in mass effect where such that it was the combat that recieved the overhaul, but not so much so that the game itself radically changed. Unfortunately you will find that things have changed to a more action based game playing DA2, compared to origins.

Also removed was the overall character creation that you experienced in origins. your choice Is still between a fighter, mage, and thief, but the only other choice is the gender of the character (and how they look) you cannot choose to be a dwarf or elf in this game. Another disappointing feature is that weapon select is now heavily depended on what class you play, and not all weapons you could before in origins are available to your class (Fighters are stuck with 2hers or shield, but no archery and no 2 1hers at once)

the entire game however did get a much needed facelift and things look more pleasing than they did before. Unfortunately the reuse of the same maps tends to make the drag feel dragged down, afterall there's little excitment to be had going into a quest location if you already know the layout, so there's little to no surprise.

Overall however the game is still as said playable and is still a much interesting addition to the DA lore. Just don't go into the game expecting Origins, or something like it as the game has changed greatly and resembles the original only in the slightest of terms.

First a disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of Dragon Age: Origins. Origins was cleverly designed with addictive gameplay and an epic story that had me talking about it long after I put down the controller. I had a lot of hope for Dragon Age II but after playing the demo I started to have reservations. In the end I put my doubts aside and purchased the game on opening day. It turns out that my concerns were well founded as there are many serious flaws in an otherwise potentially impressive game.

Let’s start with the good: DA2 has some of the best story telling I’ve seen in a game to date. Like other Bioware games, DA2 isn’t afraid to punch you in the stomach with cold hard reality and situations that don’t have a happy ending. Also, the use of political agendas and back-biting was a refreshing change from the standard “storm the castle, save the princess” story.

Now for the bad: My biggest gripe with DA2 was the constant recycling of maps. I truly cannot comprehend the logic behind this decision. It really feels like a lazy, amateurish shortcut. While the story was excellent, it felt fragmented and lost amongst the other missions yet too linear due to the lack of available exploration. The graphics were a step up from Origins but the texture of the armor in close-ups looked extremely low-res, especially next to the crisp facial renderings. It kind of looks like a character from an Xbox 360 game wearing armor from a Playstation 2 game. The combat system felt subpar and overly simple with too much button mashing. The final cut scene was shorter than most of the other cut scenes in the game, finished with a cliffhanger, and didn’t provide any background story on the city or your characters like in Origins.

In the end I think they game was good but didn’t nearly reach its potential. Many flaws coupled with what seemed like a lazy rush-job greatly hampered my enjoyment of this game. I would still recommend this game to others but advise them to keep their expectations low.

Pros:
1.Great Dialogue.
2.Fairly long campaign. Recommend doing the side missions because there isn't many main missions.
3.Great graphics.
4.Nice loading screens.
5.Plenty of skills to choose from.

Cons:
1.The absolute worst locations/level design ever in a video game! You constantly running through the same exact areas over and over again to complete random missions. (If you see a review that doesn't say this its obviously from a die hard fanboy or someone who is literally blind)
2.Nearly no customization.(In a RPG game! WTH!!) You can't change you companions armor, you can only upgrade it. You also can't choose a different race. Only Human.
3.Low level cap! (Lets just say a 2 month old infant can count higher than the level cap)
4.No tactics. Just keep smashing the A button while your skills are cooling down. That's it!
5.Unappealing weapon skins. Most weapons looks exactly the same. For example, you have a hammer called "Mauler" and another hammer called "War Hammer". Well the only difference are the names and the stats. They look exactly the same.
6.No free roam. Choose an area,explore it, return to the city, start a new mission, go back to the same area you just where at to finish a previous mission. Rinse and repeat over and over and over again until you finally go insane. Its just an unwanted headache, disappointing.

This Game is Great! I was sceptical at first because it didnt look like my type of game but, it turned out to be one of the best games ive played in a while. Deep storyline.

I will say this right of the back, the improvements in the graphic and battle departments are astounding. Which Dragon Age: Origins reminded me of the old school rpgs the graphics at times were stiff and the battles tended to get tiresome and repetitive after a time. If you were a warrior you could do well by pressing the same combination of buttons over and over again and manage to kill almost anything.

Where as with the new battle system you actually have to think ahead and take into account the cool down times of every ability you use. Though pressing the A button over and over again tended to get a bit tiresome as well.

However what I don't approve of is the limited area covered and the fact the basically copied the same cave systems over and over again. A cave system on the wounded coast was exactly the same as a cave system in Sundermount and going through them over and over took a bit of the fun out of the various side quests. Not to mention I pretty much had the entire map of Kirkwall memorized by the end of the second year.

I also didn't care much for the party interaction. The only time you could really speak to party members was during their companion quests and it seemed then the conversations were predictable regardless of which option you choose, short of flirting.

Other then that it is a fun game that you'd likely want to play over and over again despite knowing exactly what's going to happen every single time after the first play through. It is quite a bit shorter then Dragon Age: Origins which makes the replayability wear out quickly if you don't take a break every now and again.

Note that this game is very different from DA:O. You have to take it as a different game, otherwise you'll be thoroughly disappointed.

This game is just about one person, the Champion of Kirkwall. It plays almost for the entire game in one city, Kirkwall. And the story is completely linear, with your choices not making much of a difference.

Despite all these differences to what made the original game great (exploring a huge continent, while history was taking place and playing a pivotal role in events, making a real difference in the outcome), this game is a well-executed action-adventure all in itself.

There are games with much better graphics (Two worlds II has impressive environments, for instance), but it has a tight control scheme, good character models and is a fun dungeon crawler.

you will easyly beat the game without any problem. if you flow the flowolling:

All you got to do is, on level upgrade only upgrade the characters atack power and critical chance (dexlicity). in fights you easly beat the enamy without any problem. and one more thing always have two warrior in the party member, because they keep the enamy busy while your mage or varic is inficting damage from a distance.

One more thing do not change varic's wepon, because the weapon he starts with it can elovlem with the caracter (varic). keep this in mind.

your party member should be two wearrior one rouge (i recomand Varic) and one mage.

Enjoy the game...

Soory about the horoable spelling....

Let me start saying why I give this a 7 because of repeat dungeons.what I mean by that is there is only like 8 different dungeons that they copy through the entire game and the fact that your in the same dam city the entire game and it never changes which makes third playthrough impossible for me.the good better graphics not the best but better than the first one.thumb got tired in final boss battle because I had keep pressing buttons.also why I say a third playthrough is because I wonder what happens if I do everything different.but beyond that I will see what I can get for trading it in.

This instalment in the Dragon Age series is an improvement in some areas and lacks in others.

the first thing I noticed was the change in the combat system. It was smoother, more entertaining, and an all around improvement from DAO. The removal of the D Pad control was the only mistake they made.
Most DAO fans said they lacked the RPG feature in combat. As I recall, on the default difficulty in DAO, I did not have to change characters often. I rarely had to infact, even without spending an hour setting up tatics. In DA2, this was not the case what so ever.

Tactic set up in very very important in the harder difficulties and is advised for default.

The environment was a let down. It all just seemed to blend in. Nothing really stood out and made me drawn to seen the textures or structers of any building. The consistant use of map layout was getting old very fast as well as staying in kirkwall 95 percent of the game.

The story at first was boring. The first year there you have to make a name for yourself. After that, you being to see the story unfold into a Templar VS Mage that was, infact, determined by your choices every step of the way, even at the end. That idea is kind of interesting but still hard to follow with no real set guide lines to how the events should unfold. They try to insist that there is not clear good or evil. not even a "foggy" view of who is in the wrong. The story will shape around your morality entirely.

All in all, I liked DA2. A vast improvement in combat and character develpment such as the jump from Mass effect 1 to Mass effect 2. (in a sense). The metafiction used throughout the story only implys a third DA. Not excited about it but not dreading it.

BTW, my review took a one grade drop from 8 to 7 when i learned Bioware released multiple expasion packs the very same day DA2 was released. What a greedy way to make more money by taking advantage of the DA fan base who want a full experience.

This review is for all the people out there who are complaining about this game (haters), there are a lot of great things about this game with few flaws so people are complaining that this game isn't perfect. Let me come right out and say if you think they dumbed down the tactical gameplay, play it on hard on the computer then talk about tactics, Second of all anybody notice the graphics make DA:O look like an original Xbox game? The graphics on this game are great the only problem i've had with them is the blood textures. Yes they use a lot of the same maps this is one of the fatal flaws that got this amazing masterpiece a 9, but the skills (especially for mages) are VERY engaging. The only other thing i can complain about is Aveline's chin (resemblance to Quagmire?) and the fact that you have to be that exact character i miss my Dalish elf and i really am intrigued by the new look of the Elvhen race.

Overall this game is worth a try then a buy!

To start, I'll say that I'm an all around gamer. I play FPS, RPGs, Sports, etc. I lean towards RPGs however and always look forward to something that just wows me. Dragon Age: Origins(and DLC) was such a game. I had my complaints, but gave it a solid 9. I'm still playing it, to be honest. So when I saw the previews for DA2 I was stoked!
And then reality set in. Bioware went for the money it seems and didn't even give a dang about depth or character development or customization or anything that makes an RPG worth playing. Or the time it takes to create a great RPG.
My biggest problem with any RPG is the redundance factor. Go here, kill this, receive item, return item to owner. Throughout the first few hours of DA2, you come across random items that when you pick it up a quest update is given to you. You find a person to give it to, you get money and your character says, "I think you dropped this." Quest complete. You never talked to this person, and you never talk to them after. Its simply a way to get money.
Now there are quests that you do get to talk to someone to set it up, and it feels like you're the big brother of everyone in the city where you live(Kirkwall). Every quest is about the same, go here, kill enemies retrieve item, and return. There is no depth to any of it. Its redundant and the maps are always the same!!!! Did someone hit the copy/paste function because they forgot to do their job on level creation? The few times there's a quest that goes with the storyline, it never really makes you feel apart of it.
The great thing about Origins and the depth with characters was being able to talk to them and it was fun finding out which gifts to give them. And your companions felt almost like a unit as you traveled together and camped. In DA2 all of your characters have their own home base, and if you want to talk to them you go there and don't really get much.
In the end its a button masher with RPG elements thats off the mark