• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Is Dragon Age II a bad game?

It was pretty meh.

You're better off going to Awakening or Neverwinter Nights if you want to continue a similar expirience.
 
It's a great RPG, but an AWFUL sequel. Your mileage will vary depending on how much you liked origins.
 
Aveline and Varric are pretty great characters.

...That's about it really

I hear Isabelle isn't too bad either. No way I'm playing through again to find out though
 
As many have touched on, the combat was what really killed things for me. It was dull, hotkey cooldown tango combat with enemies respawning from thin air. Depending on where you were standing they'd warp in right on top of you. This was even more annoying when they'd mix in a standard enemy with an inflated HP bar for idk what purpose? Extending the playtime of a game deprived of much original content? Playing as a mage I'd often cast a crowd spell and clear the entire enemy group except for the one guy with the massive hp bar. He usually didn't have any special attacks, or features, nothing to make you think it was a special enemy type. To this day I really don't get the point of that one.

There are much better uses of your time than playing through dragon age 2. Read a book, watch a movie, play a better game, or start on some personal project. There is no reason for anyone to play this game. There isn't a single thing it does so well that you can say it's the first rpg (or first rpg in a while) to excel at feature x.
 
If has by far the fewest number of areas of any "big" RPG I've ever played, and some of the most egregious recycling of environments of any game, period. If going to new areas and exploring is something you like about RPGs, you will absolutely be massively let down by DA2 (in addition to the other problems people mentioned).
 
No, it was not a bad game but it did feel very lazy. The biggest problems is you easily see the cut-cost shortcuts taken with the game that looks bad in comparison with the first game and other wrpgs at the time. Secondly the game play and mechanics of the game felt very different from dragon age 1. Which will have most mixed on if they liked or hated the style change.
 
michaelius said:
You can check neogaf OT

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422971
Click to expand...

Heh I always loved this screenshot from the OT

da2ot-06.jpg
 
If it was a new IP without the copy/paste issues it would have been a pretty decent game. But considering it was the follow up to one of the greatest games ever made, it was an absolutely terrible game.
 
yikes, that bad huh?

well I'm still in need of more good Dragon Age. Can you explain what Awekening is? isn't it DLC for DA:O? but it cost 40 dollars on PSN, is it like an enterely new game with new characters and story? how long is it?
 
Standing on its own...its not awful. Worth a bargain bin pick up.

Compared to Origins. Steaming pile of secrets.
 
The only outright terrible thing about the game is the copy-and-paste level design. I think the game is pretty exceptional in all other aspects.
 
It's obviously a game that was rushed and that has a Mass Effect 2-like problem of streamlining and simplifying out way too many mechanics (only really without ME2's benefit of improving other mechanics).

If you enjoyed Origins and don't want to miss out, it's worth a playthrough. The characters are interesting and there are a few other redeeming qualities, but as everyone else is saying, the game is simplified and repetitive.
 
The biggest problem with the game imo was that the whole story was just a bunch of samey, loosely stitched together side quests that culminate into three decent significant events. Its a bit like ME2, but at least in that game the companion quests were actually interesting and connected coherently. I remember every single one of the quests in ME2, they all had great identity, they all mattered, but after 2 playthroughs I can still remember very little from DA2 outside the end of each act. Its just a blur of busy work. The fact that locations are excessively recycled only emphasizes that issue. Oh I gotta go kill some evil templars in this cave that looks identical to that other cave that I just finished killing a bunch of evil templars in. Cool.

Its a shame because the story that is there in the begenning and end of each act is pretty good, and most of the companions are great characters. But its hard to notice when 90% of the game is just filler.
 
Bad? No
Immensely disappointing and a huge downgrade compared to the first one? Yes.

QuickSilverD said:
yikes, that bad huh?

well I'm still in need of more good Dragon Age. Can you explain what Awekening is? isn't it DLC for DA:O? but it cost 40 dollars on PSN, is it like an enterely new game with new characters and story? how long is it?
Click to expand...

Are you sure that's not the "Game of the Year Edition? I'm pretty sure Awekening didn't cost 40$ when it was new. It's an Addon. New story, new characters, new locations, new items. Not as long as DAO (probaby around 15-20 hours depending on how you play) but it's worth the money. Don't buy any Dragon Age DLC though, they aren't worth the price and mostly pretty boring.
 
Besides the gameplay changes and the annoying repetitive levels, and the stupid as all hell ending. There were some design choices that were really baffling. Why did they get rid of the ability to customize your party's armour and weapons? Why was the two weapon stance quick switch ability removed? As I said, baffling.
 
Intheflorsh said:
The only outright terrible thing about the game is the copy-and-paste level design. I think the game is pretty exceptional in all other aspects.
Click to expand...

Completely disagree. The skill tree has this really frustrating restriction system, your choices matter very little (HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO KILL ANDERS/ZEVRAN/ETC?), and the combat is exceedingly dull absent any kind of tactical element.

How did they manage to make the sequel look so much worse than the original? Quite a feat.
 
Compared to DA:O it doesn't come close, taken on its own, its okay.

Things I hated:

-Anders
-Copy/Paste Environments
-"Waves" of randomly spawning enemies.
-Anders
-Your Uncle
-Too much button mashing/not enough strategy in battles
-Anders

The problem with Anders is that if your PC isn't a healer and you want a healer in your group you have to bring Anders along. I thought he was okay in Awakening, but could not stand the dude in DA:II.

Things I enjoyed:
-Arishok (NPC),
even more so if you gain his respect.
-Varrick
-Liked that in the story you aren't really "saving the world," it expands and plays off of conflicts that you see in DA:O.
 
It's fairly average - great battle system (minus the invisible reinforcements), good skills and character trees, basically good mechanics. The story was all over the place (though Chapter 2 was mostly good), with copy/pasted environments. The game is best played on PC (which plays far more similar to DA:O with overhead view) where you can most of the shit out and add in cool stuff like equipment for your party members, more skill tree options, etc.
 
If you enjoyed the lorof dragon age and characters then please.play DA 2. Yes they recycled stages and areas ALOT but the story and characters are still pretty good.

you can get this game for cheap now, its worth it. Even with all the issues with it, its better then a majority of rpgs released recently
 
QuickSilverD said:
Not being an RPG entusiats it was the story that gave me the most enjoyment, so that's why I ask since it seems DA2 is considered a worse game, or at least that's the impresion I get when I've seem people talking about. Could people who played both give their opinion?
Click to expand...

If you didn't go to DA: Origins for the RPG elements, then I would say give DA 2 a shot. Really, when compared to other games in the back half of the last gen, the action in DA2 is solid. There's nothing wrong with the combat. The places it really got hammered were the pacing of the story (it straight up skips forward several years at two different points by using a cutscene) and the dungeon/level design (only about 4-5 models, they get copy and pasted all over the place).

But, in terms of gameplay, it's pretty tight with a few more action elements. It's worth it to check out if you find it for $10 or less somewhere.
 
I wasn't baaaaaaaaaaaad, I know I enjoyed it. But compared to BioWare past efforts, it's by far the most lazy and rushed game they've made.
 
It has issues that make it inferior to Origins in some ways, but it's an improvement over the first game in others. Better, less generic story, better characters and dialogue for the most part. More fleshed out classes.

The parts where it's worse are clearly a product of its rushed nature: lack of customization of supporting characters armor, repeating dungeons. (every mansion in the city is identical, with different rooms closed off).

Don't believe the bullshit. It's a mixed bag for sure, but like its contemporaries FFXIII and MGS4, nowhere near deserving of the overblown hatred it gets.

The copy/paste environments ARE an unforgivable sin, no doubt, but that's by far the worst thing about it.
 
There were a ton of issues, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it more than DAO. I much preferred the cast this time around (Anders being a bit of an exception), and I thought it was really comfortable to play with a controller.
 
I would say compared to Origins it is but, I blame EA for rushing it. some of the characters and the story were good but they didn't have enough time to add actual choices and make environments. The party equipment management being removed baffles me though

I just hope we can get Pre Crisis
EA
Bioware back
 
It was not a flawless game but I really enjoyed the story and characters, in that respect it's actually one of my favorite games of the last generation.
 
Havel said:
Compared to Origins.
Click to expand...

Yep. It's more action-based, but the biggest problem is the repetative nature of the dungeons. There's like... eight dungeons total, and everthing else is just a varation, with some sections closed off in this one, while others are in that one. If you ever played Dynasty Warriors 4, then you'll know what I'm talking about.
 
It's not a bad game. But it's not a good game either. And for Bioware and DA series this means that it's bad.
 
I didn't lose interest midway and managed to finish it, so it must be somewhat okay for me. But it was nothing really special either. Copypaste dungeons certainly didn't help. Quite a letdown coming from excellent game like Dragon Age Origins.
 
Yes it is a bad game. It's not just bad compared to DAO, it's bad. The game was a total rush job and it shows.

Recycled dungeons
No top down view/tacticle combat
Waves of enemies
No companion inventory/customization
Can't pick your race
Whole game takes place in one city
Shitty companions
etc etc etc
 
I've said this before in these kinds of threads, but it's interesting to compare DAO to DA2 because one was a game that was in development for a very long time and it shows in so many ways, whereas the other was a game that was incredibly rushed, some say less than a year total, and it definitely shows.

DAO was kind of bloated, so much of it felt like it had been redone and reworked over the years and the final product felt like something they had crammed all these things they'd come up with over the years because after nearly 7 years they need to put out a product. DA2 meanwhile felt like a game that was done on the quick, so many assets were reused throughout the game to cut time, many plot lines were bare bones and didn't seem to have the proper vetting and depth necessary, lots of the gameplay mechanics, especially the waves, felt like starter points that could be good if properly developed.

At the moment DAI looks like the not too hot, but not too cold porridge of Dragon Ages. It being cross gen still worries me though.
 
Given that Bioware were practically the god-kings of the WRPG, for them to release Dragon Age 2 in the shocking state it was in, an unpolished mess of nonsensical storylines, terrible characters, lack of any ability to influence the story, copy pasted dungeons..

Goddamn I hate it so much. Such an incredible disappointment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Dragon Ball Game, Project: Age 1000, Revealed
News 
20
668
Knight of the Round replied
Xbox Game Studios' Age of Empires II DE comes to MacOS May 28th
News 
3
35
MrRibeye replied
IGN Review: Code Red "is a bad game"
2
76
959
Heimdall_Xtreme replied
Square Enix removed Denuvo from DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake
29
488
Soodanim replied
Is the switch 2 ssd a bad joke?
27
433
FoxMcChief replied
Top Bottom