[MP-Ryan]

I know this game had some pretty bad reviews among HLPers, but I'm wondering - in light of the new DA game coming out - if its worth picking up for cheap to play through the story.  I enjoyed the heck out of DA:O, so I'm contemplating whether or not to continue on with the franchise.

I see I can get DA2 through Aamazon for $10, versus $20 through origin.  Does Origin have epic sales like Steam?

[Spoon]

Press button = Something awesome happens.

[Phantom Hoover]

button is connected to awesome, sadly no button is connected to compelling gameplay or story

[General Battuta]

The button and the awesome are connected now, in Dragon Age 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMcVZQI6ybw

[MP-Ryan]

Witty though you all may be, none of these comments are particularly helpful thus far...

[Phantom Hoover]

the clear message i'm getting here is 'don't play dragonage 2'

[Hobbie]

If you don't mind going through incredibly simple gameplay and a really forced storyline, then sure, go ahead. Admittedly, if it weren't for the opportunity to play Hawke as a scatterbrained smartass (with probably the only good voice acting in the game) then I would have passed on it.

I mean, it's worth knocking over just so you have a save for Dragon Age 3, but it's not worth paying money for.

[An4ximandros]

Mass Effect being any indication, there will be a "Select What Happened Before" DLC. Or you were just a colossal ass-dick-head.

[General Battuta]

Most of the dungeons are the same map, just with piles of rocks moved around to block different corridors

[The E]

DA2 is one of my favourite games in terms of story and characterization. It does things in those areas that are somewhat unexpected, and certainly alienating to those coming off of Origins; DA2 is all about inevitability and the grinding gears of history, whereas Origins was all about being a heroic worldchanging badass. DA2 doesn't want you to shape history, it wants to see how you survive it.

I find it hard to give a firm recommendation either way about whether to buy or not to buy. In terms of the grand story of Thedas, DA2 isn't that vital (yes, what you're living through in this game is one of the pivotal moments that lead into Inquisition, but your inability to shape these events in anything but the most minor of details may be frustrating), but on the other hand, it has some of the best character writing and interactions I have seen in a Bioware game so far.

[karajorma]

All I can say is that Dragon Age 2 is to date the only game to ever make me Rage Quit followed by Rage Uninstall.

And it wasn't cause the game was too hard even, just because the penultimate battle in the game is such a kick in the teeth I immediately lost any interest whatsoever in seeing how this pile of utter tripe ended. If you can play DA3 without ever playing Dragon Age 2 then my recommendation is to avoid wasting your life ever playing it.

[AdmiralRalwood]

My sister is a huge Dragon Age fan, so I'll have to play the whole series at some point. This is also how I wound up playing Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect, so I suppose I owe her that much, regardless of whether or not I actually wind up liking it.

[Grizzly]

I think it is worth playing just to see what your opinion is on the whole thing.

[karajorma]

I should point out that I've played Origins and ALL the DLC for it. In fact, I've played through all the character origins and completed it twice. So it's not like I don't like the universe or the game itself.

Quite frankly I don't think the second game is worth the time you'd have to invest to get through it. If you've got  $10 and 40 hours to invest, there are plenty of much better RPGs to play. So unless you've played all the Baldur's Gates, all the Icewind Dales, Planescape Torment, The Witcher, etc there is something better to play.

And if you have, **** it. Play one of them again. It's still better than playing Dragon Age II.

[MP-Ryan]

I guess I'll see what DA3 needs (if it is even worth playing) to get going, and go from there.  Yeah, I have a huge backlog of other games so I'm not hurting for things to play that are actually good.

[Aesaar]

DA2 has a good story and good characters.  I'd say it's worth playing for those alone, especially since DA:O lacked both (IMO).  The gameplay has issues, and the level design in particular is complete and utter ****. 

I personally like it more than DA:O, but that isn't saying much.

[TrashMan]

DA:O didn't have good characters or story?

[Veers]

Loved Origins and all it's extras, DA:2 is still in its wrapping after several years of ownership. I'll play it before DA:3 is released however, I an silently dreading opening and installing it.

[Aesaar]

DA:O didn't have good characters or story?

It had Sten.  That's about it.  The rest are a chronic whiner and selfish moron (Alistair.  I was pretty pleased when I found out you could have him die), a person who's such an asshole that it's become a minor meme in the Bioware community (Morrigan), a stereotypical dwarf (Oghren), a really annoying girl with a terrible, terrible accent (Leliana), an old lady so boring I have difficulty remembering her at all (Wynne), Zevran, who's actually somewhat tolerable, and Loghain, who the story forces me to oppose because Alistair's a douche.  I'm oversimplifying, but none of them were remotely interesting to me except for Sten and the last two if I'm feeling generous.  After a while, I was talking to them just for completeness's sake. 

Oh, and the player character, who manages to show less emotion than the Tranquil.  When every single line of a game is voice acted, the lack of VA for the player gets really jarring.  I had my character sacrifice himself at the end because I didn't give a **** about him.

As for the story, yeah, no.  The Darkspawn are actually remarkable for just how boring and one-dimensional they are, and the story is just one tired cliche after another.  The only part I'd call interesting is the part in Orzammar because it actually manages to conjure up a bit of atmosphere.  Awakening was a bit better in both departments, but DA2 beat them both, IMO. 

I actually liked most of the characters in DA2.  And the fact that 2/3 of the game had you deal with the very interesting Qunari made up for how rushed act 3 was.

DA:O billed itself as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2, a standard it didn't even come close to meeting.  Hell, it didn't even match Neverwinter Nights 2.  For DA2, my standards were a lot lower, and it ended up exceeding them.

[karajorma]

I found the characters in DA2 far more boring than those in DA1. I'd rather have Morrigan or Alister back any day than Mr "I'm a tourtured soul. I hate mages" any day. Even Anders managed to be less interesting than he was in Awakenings.

WhatHerName from the whorehouse in the first game was about the only character who has a single line I can even remember in the entire damn game and I spent most of the time she was in my party wondering why on Earth a pirate captain would feel the need to sail around with a boat full of salty sea dogs in an outfit so short you could give her a gynaecological exam without the need to take it off! Does she gain experience points from being a prick tease? I swear that if you add a nude patch, she'd put clothes ON! 

I generally don't give a **** about a lack of voice acting for the main character given that I've already read and selected what they have to say anyway. Having to sit through it a second time tends to bring me out of the game much faster in fact.

As for the storyline, well the fact I had to go to wikipedia and read the storyline before commenting on this thread pretty much says how memorable I consider the storyline to be. Sure it's less clichéd than DA:O, but it's also vastly less interesting, especially given the fact that in the end the railroad plot leads you to a conclusion so devoid of player agency that it even lacks Mass Effect's choice of colours.

Game Informer gave the console versions of the game a score of 8.25 and the PC version an 7.75, criticizing the poorly designed combat system, stating "On all platforms, Dragon Age II caters to an audience that didn’t connect with Origins, while alienating those who did" and "improving the polish doesn’t do much good when the basics still need work".

I think that pretty much sums up my opinions on the game pretty well.