 It's time to pick sides. The Blight has thrown a small family of refugees into the city of Kirkwall. Now one refugee and his close allies have to make a name for themselves, prevent an invasion, and start a revolution. It's all in a day's work for a Champion.
1. Gameplay
Dragon Age: Origins was an awesome and popular game that was well deserving of a sequel. But while Dragon Age II is fun, it doesn’t really live up to the bar that its predecessor set. It’s not that Dragon Age II had anything particularly wrong with it. It’s just that the epic storyline that was set in Origins is clearly lacking in Dragon Age II. Dragon Age II takes place in the city of Kirkwall and a small number of surrounding areas. The player will go from a refugee from “The Blight” to the Champion of Kirkwall over the course of a few years in the game. A sort of civil war between the Templars and Mages will almost certainly break out and the player will have to take a side in order to determine the outcome. 
Neither side is perfect.
But even if the player does everything right and ends up ruling over the city of Kirkwall, it all seems a bit small. In Dragon Age: Origins, the player would always end up as a hero known nationwide as the savior of Fereldan (the fictional country in which Origins takes place). But the Champion of Kirkwall’s exploits, while notable, aren’t really on the same par as the Hero of Ferelden’s. 
It's awesome, but it's no archdemon.
While this isn’t enough to ruin the game, I felt like the writing in the game could have been much better overall. The gameplay and a number of other elements show clear improvement, but the story just felt weaker. And this isn’t helped by the fact that the player will end up seeing the exact same locations over and over again ad nauseum. After the first act, there are very few new places left to explore, which makes this game seem to get old very quickly. Dragon Age II is definitely a good game and is worth playing at least once, but I can only hope that the next sequel will have a much improved storyline.
It took me around 33 hours to complete the main campaign. I definitely had some desire to go back and correct some of the decisions I made throughout the game, but at the time it wasn’t a strong enough desire to restart the entire game. Playing as different character types and making different decisions would definitely add replay value to the game. I could expect a dedicated gamer to play this game twice before getting completely bored. There is no multiplayer mode for this game, so once the player is bored of the campaign there is no reason to continue playing this game.
This game had a few slightly frustrating aspects to it. Some of the battles were unbelievably difficult even for a high-level character playing on normal difficulty. One of the DLC battles took me a very long time to complete and felt unnecessarily difficult. The game is divided up into three “Acts”. This isn’t really unexpected, the end of an act is made fairly obvious. For example, when the player goes on a trek down into the deep roads, the completion of the trek is the end of an act. However, the game fails to properly mention that ending an act changes the availability of items or characters to a player. As a result I ended up not being able to recruit one of the companions since he is only available in the first act. By the time I realized this, correcting it would take replaying most of the game. Early in the game one of my companions was my character’s sister “Bethany”. She was a mage that was particularly useful in combat. As a result I kept her in my party throughout almost the entire first act. Unfortunately, my research into the main storyline of Dragon Age II uncovered something that greatly annoyed me. Bethany would no longer be in my party at the end of Act I. There were only three possible outcomes, and in all three she either ended up dead or was taken to be a part of a group that I did not have access too. As a result, she was completely absent from the vast majority of the game. It seemed to me to be pointless to include her as a companion when there was no scenario in which she would remain accessible to the player. 2. Parental Notices
Dragon Age 2 is a very bloody, violent game. The only thing that kept this game from being rated a 10 was that combat was not constant. Combat was definitely a prominent element of the gameplay, much more so than the previous game in this series, but it wasn’t the only thing that a player has to do. That being said, the amount of blood in this game is absurd. 
As thick as paint, and stains just as well.
If a player picks a rogue or warrior character, the player will be constantly using melee attacks to kill enemies. All melee attacks will cause a splash of blood to erupt from the enemy and get on all nearby objects and people. 
Pop quiz: How much blood does the human body hold?
The amount of blood is made even more comical by the fact that characters will keep the blood they have on them for some time. My character would often have full conversations while covered in blood. Describing it in words makes it sound gross or intimidating, but because the characters didn’t react to it at all I found it unrealistic and, at times, hilarious. 
Eww, I got some in my teeth too!
Some more powerful melee attacks have the ability to damage enemies in more significant and gore-filled ways. In particular, there was one attack that would slice enemies in half, leaving little more than bloody legs and torsos. 
They're like miniature fountains!
Even crossbow bolts have an uncanny ability to cause serious violence. One of my characters was able to somehow explode an enemy with a bolt. However, instead of the typical fire or shockwave, the explosion would be an explosion of blood and dismembered body parts. 
I'm not sure if a crossbow bolt could actually do that...
Magic attacks, almost in stark contrast, were fairly mild. The effect of the attack would vary, but at worst enemies would be lit on fire or sent flying. There were very few that caused any meaningful blood or gore. 
Who wants toast?!
Dragon Age: Origins, the predecessor to Dragon Age II, was the first game I have ever played that not only included romantic options for both genders but also included romantic options for all sexual preferences. Dragon Age II takes this a step further by allowing a player to develop a romance with all potential romance options regardless of gender. So where previously some characters were straight and some bisexual, the romance options in Dragon Age II are all bisexual. The game makes it absurdly easy for characters to romance other characters. Flirtatious lines will come up in certain conversations and by selecting enough of these lines, the player can eventually have sex with the character. 
But Isabella will sleep with anything.
Dragon Age II makes it really easy to enter a romantic relationship, and even easier to enter multiple romantic relationships. It is possible to have sex with every romance option in a single playthrough except for one (who is chaste). I managed to have sex with both of the female love interests in a single playthrough with no consequence. The fact that you’re getting it on with multiple people is hardly mentioned. 
She could use a cheeseburger or two.
It is also possible to participate in a threesome, if certain specific conditions are met. The conditions are a bit too confusing for someone who has not played the game before, but the threesome can only include the player and two specific characters. The player will encounter a number of enemies known as “desire demons”. These are purple women with large breasts, horns, and very little clothing. They wear some sort of metal covers over their nipples but it leaves very little to the imagination. 
Why bother wearing anything?
One woman, who has been possessed by a desire demon, attempts to get the player to sleep with her. She seduces men (and women evidently) by sleeping with them and, eventually, kills them. The player ultimately resists the attempt, however. 
Control, control, you must use control!
The game also includes a brothel called “The Blooming Rose”. The player will have to complete at least one mission involving the brothel and can call upon the services of the prostitutes inside. The brothel is described in more detail in the “Miscellaneous” section below.
Substances do have a presence in Dragon Age II, although they are fairly mild. There is a bar in Lowtown where the player will commonly meet with some of the characters for conversations and quests. In at least one scene, the player will order some sort of drink from the bar (presumably alcoholic in nature) and drink it. Characters will also talk about alcohol numerous times, especially in the bar. 
It comes in pints?
Lyrium is also discussed a number of times. Essentially, lyrium is a sort of very dangerous drug that increases magical abilities. It is used in a number of magical rituals but is extremely addictive. A number of characters go completely insane due to prolonged use. The player cannot directly use lyrium. 
Pure lyrium. It's as dangerous as it is shiny.
The previous game in this series featured a system of alchemy where the player could make potions and poisons from ingredients found around the game. There were many instances when this skill was useful since health was a constant issue in combat. Dragon Age II has a somewhat similar system but with a few major changes. First, the “herbalism” and “poison-making” skills that were the basis of potion making in the previous game have been removed. Instead, the player can find a much smaller variety of raw ingredients and use them to obtain potions from specific sellers. However, I found potions to be fairly useless. There is a decent variety, most of which will increase a character’s stats temporarily (usually making that character better in combat for a short period of time). But my characters were generally powerful enough to deal with all but the strongest bosses. The only potions that were of any use to me were the health poultices, but even these I rarely used. My mage companions had healing spells that were much more reliable and much less costly than health poultices.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
Dragon Age 2, like its predecessor, includes a number of mods. For the majority of mods are high-resolution textures that make the game look more detailed and fixes to bugs and other problems that players encountered. Some of these mods are absolutely brilliant and solve problems that the developers should have addressed when the game first came out. The modders clearly spend a lot of time fixing problems and making new content. However, as always, there are plenty of mods that increase the nudity. While I have yet to find a mod that increases the amount or “quality” of the sex scenes, there are plenty of custom “armors” that significantly increase the nudity level in the game. I have made my opinion on nudity mods clear on multiple occasions, so I’m not going to go into it in detail here. I will mention, though, that finding mods for this game wasn’t exactly simple, so one would have to want to actively find and apply these mods in order for them to work.
The Dragon Age series has some pretty deep religious lore. Characters will make frequent references to “The Maker”, most of which are benign. Characters saying things like “Thank the Maker” isn’t uncommon but can be quickly overlooked. However, it would be impossible to overlook “The Chantry”, which is the main religious organization of the land. Its members will constantly talk about Andraste, the female prophet of the Maker. All of the members of the Chantry are women, since Andraste was a woman. They behave very similarly to Catholic nuns. 
Say ten Hail Marys and your sins are absolved.
It is impossible to avoid the Chantry. Numerous missions will involve the Chantry, both directly and indirectly. As the leader of the Chantry is supposed to be the middle ground between the Templars and the mages, her involvement in their conflict will be obvious despite her neutrality. Other races will have different religious teachings, but most of these are fairly mild compared to those of the Chantry. 
The Chantry has some stunning pieces of art.
From the moment the player enters Kirkwall it is clear that there is serious tension between the mages and the Templars. The Templars are partially in charge of keeping the peace in Kirkwall, and part of that job is to make sure the mages stay in line. Unfortunately, this has led to some extremely oppressive conditions for the mages. This has forced some mages to turn to immoral “blood magic”, which never ends well for anyone involved. Eventually the tension erupts into a full civil war between these two sides. The player will have to help one side or the other. In the ensuing chaos, any semblance of law and order breaks down completely. In addition, one of the party members ends up slaughtering a neutral party via a magical bomb.
There is no multiplayer mode for this game.
Extreme sports are not a factor in this game.
Magic, in various forms, is an ever-present aspect of Dragon Age II. If the player is a mage, the player’s abilities will almost all be drawn from magic. Even if the player chooses not to be a mage, a number of the player’s allies will be mages and will use magic both to attack enemies and to support allies. 
You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
While there are a number of subforms, magic can be neatly divided into two main types. Combat magic is what the player uses to injure or suppress enemies. There are dozens of different combat-magic spells that can be cast, each with its own unique effects. High-level mages can cast epic spells that cause raging, swirling infernos or massive earthquakes. 
Muy caliente!
The other type of magic is known as support magic. These spells are meant more to complement or supplement an ally in order to make that ally more formidable. These spells range from basic healing spells to spells that can increase the attributes of the entire party. One type of magic that the player will never be able to use, with a few rare exceptions, is known as “Blood Magic”. Blood magic is essentially necromancy and voodoo combined, but usually involves the spilling of a living person’s blood in order to cast the spell. Blood magic is the means by which demons and other unfriendly spirits make their way into the world and begin causing trouble. 
You can tell this is blood magic because of the blood.
The player will run into a number of demonic possessions during the game. Almost all of these are caused by some sort of blood magic that goes horribly wrong.
Suicide At the end of a series of quests, the player is talking to a Quinari mage. Since he isn’t welcome amongst his people, he ends up lighting himself on fire. 
Put your hands in the air if you just don't care!
Human Disfigurement In one mission, a crazed man ends up using a combination of body parts from different women in order to recreate something that looks like his deceased wife. He uses magic to animate the Frankenstein-like zombie, but she doesn’t survive long. 
She could've at least worn a scarf or something.
At the end of the game, one of the characters ends up using blood magic to morph himself into a horrible monster. The player ends up having to kill the monster. 
Gives a whole new definition to "morbidly obese".
Prostitution As mentioned before, the game contains a brothel called “The Blooming Rose”. The player will have to complete at least one mission within the brothel. These missions don’t directly involve sex, but they usually involve seduction. 
Photobomb!
The player can, however, use the “services” that the brothel provides. The specific type of service depends on how much money the player is willing to pay, but for the most part the outcomes are basically the same. The player will tell the madame how much money he is willing to spend, the madame will give the player three potential partners to choose from, and the player will make a choice. The options are always mixed gender, usually two women and one man. Once the player makes a decision, a cutscene plays where the player is taken into a room. Both the prostitute and the player are in their underwear. The screen fades to black, then fades back in to the player putting his belt back on. That’s it. It’s really not all that interesting and does nothing to forward the storyline. On the contrary, it can easily annoy some potential romance options for the player. I avoided it for my playthrough and never regretted it.
2 Comments
Sean H.
6/26/2015 02:08:13 am
hey carmine, would you recommend playing this game to understand the basic story in inquisition. or can i skip it, because i really want to try inquisition after i play origins.
Carmine
6/26/2015 05:16:18 am
You don't need to play it technically. Inquisition is its own story, but you won't understand the importance and backstory of a number of key characters. You could get by without playing it, but I would recommend it. Leave a Reply. |
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