LogFAQs > #976217492

@ZaziGuado Alright, lets talk about Dragon Age 2

I fully get why people dont like/have issues with this game. It was clearly made with cost cutting in mind. The number of areas is extremely limited and you just are constantly going back through the same areas. Outside of the city of Kirkwall there are like three main areas, a mine and two outdoor areas. It's very repetitive and definitely a huge flaw in the game. I will say the one time they break this and go to the deep roads is a great section. And the game does take advantage of its bottle episode nature to do some interesting things plot wise by really focusing on the city of Kirkwall. Years pass in the game and you, your companions, and your places in the city all change as time passes.

You also lose the choice of race and background that people loved in the first game. Instead you just pick male/female and class, and the only change that makes is which of your siblings survives the opening (which really just comes down to mage or not mage).

The other big issue to me is Anders/Justice. I played the Dragon Age games in order in about a year or two so Awakening was very fresh in my mind when going to DA2. Anders was a favorite from the game and Justice was really interesting. They were among my most used party members, and they were my least used in DA2 (even below Sebastian). This is essentially a pure character assassination. All the things that made the character fun are gone, Justice is used as an excuse to turn him into a violent amoral freedom fighter/terrorist. Just awful.

But outside of Anders (and Sebastian who was a DLC addition and is basically just there to represent the opposite side of Anders) the cast is great. I think the companions here are the best in the series, which is a big statement cause all the games have good casts. They are unique, interesting, and fun to have around. And the dynamics between them are the best without a doubt. The party members have their relationships with each other, completely independent of the party leader. Every combination has its own unique dynamics and its just great. My biggest disappointment going from DA2 to DAI was how much less the party members talked to each other. Its a very frequent thing in DA2, with 2, 3, and even 4 person conversations happening regularly. It felt like if I wasnt fighting I would never go more than 5 minutes without some unique conversation. I loved it and it is part of what makes the cast so strong. My favorite party was Varric, Isabela, Merrill just for their conversations or Isabela and Aveline for their rivalry. The game also takes advantage of the time skips to give everyone stronger connections and give you the chance to really see your companions grow and their relationships with each other develop from strangers to close friends. Its much more natural than in some games and everyone really feels connected.

Speaking of companions, I love the change in how the affection system works in this game. Rather than just gaining/losing affection like most games do, DA2 uses a Friend/Rival spectrum. Positive interactions move the person towards friend, and negative towards rival, but neither is inherently bad. Rivals wont just leave your party or hate you, instead your relationship is built on challenging each others views and actions. You can even have your love interest be a full Rival. The dialogue and personal quests between your character and the companion change based on which end of the spectrum they are on. This is such a good idea and I was so sad to see it gone in DA:I. Please bring it back. It makes for more natural relationships and interactions where you can actually do/say what fits your character without worrying about pissing your companion off.

One last mechanic that I love but can see others not liking is how they handle equipment. Only your MC can equip armor you find, everyone else has set armor they wear. Upgrades for their equipment can be found, it gets stronger as they level, and their outfits can change based on what happens in the story/their personal quests. I honestly liked this. It was nice not having to worry about figuring out the best equipment for everyone and made inventory management much faster. Even with the things that can be changed, weapons, accessories, Hawkes stuff, it is common to have the items get stronger as you level. This means if you have a weapon or item that is important to that character story wise they can actually use/wear it the entire game without making you weaker. Everyone basically ends up equipped with things that are meaningful to them or with some special/legendary option. Again it just made inventory a much smaller part of the game, which I really liked. Imagine if in FFX Tidus is able to use Chappus sword the entire game without being a handicap, or Cloud with the Buster sword. It also means you can do something like give Varric a truly unique weapon without figuring out what to do with finding new ones for him. It carried over a bit in DA:I with Varrics weapon working the same way along with a few key items, but I wish they used more stuff that improved with you so you dont need to replace them. In most RPGs I end up with a chest full of out of date weapons/armor/accessories because I want to keep ones that had story importance or would be meaningful to the character. This was a change that was perfect for me.

Overall for me the good of the plot, characters, and mechanics more than makes up for the games limitations. My wife and I had a blast with this game. We loved the characters, we cared about Kirkwall and its fate. Dragon Age is one time where I can be confident in my rankings of the series because of how I played through the series all together.