Dragon Age 2 - The 2021 Review
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- We have returned to Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon Age: Origins. Both games that have current reviews on the channel, but one was quietly left to the wayside. That game is Dragon Age 2 and today we return to this title that had everything going against it. A short development cycle, a voiced protagonist, changing the combat, and plenty more served as shocking changes from the introduction of Origins. All these years later, we can take a bird's eye view of this entry rather than just "the sequel to Dragon Age Origins." Has it aged well? Is it worth playing before Dragon Age 4? Let's dig in and find out!
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The difference in review quality when the reviewer actually knows the game lore and game INTENTION is incredible.
Yeah wish more reviewers would actually do their job correctly
@Ugh Its Travis Honestly I kind of feel Matty is missing a few points of the lore and the changes. He brought up barely two minutes in on how the Qunari are waiting because they are stuck. They really aren't waiting because they are stuck but they are shipwrecked, exiled, and ex communicated because how the "race" works is if you fail a mission you're not part of the race. Reason why I mention race in quotes is in a DLC of DA2 they fuck with this aspect by featuring a elf girl VA/d by a actress of The Guild where she is "a member of the qunari". Reading the lore of DAO/DAA and DAI the qunari are supposed to be a race not a "clan". DA2 implies "the Qunari are a clan where anyone that is a exile or ex communicated individual of any race or religion they are 'qunari' ". Not what DAO/DAA and DAI say.
@@naclynerickii I’m pretty sure there are different kinds of Qunari. Yes, there is a race of giant horned people but also anyone can convert to the Qun and are referred to as Viddathari. Just because that part was added later doesn’t mean it’s not part of the lore.
He knows some of the lore, also he didn't talk about the DLCs, specifically Legacy which is the best and the most important of the bunch. In DAO IIRC Sten talked about Kosith (the race) vs the Qunari (the people) so it isn't anything new. But ye, couldn't stand Talis either. The rest of Mark of the Assassin was entertaining, if irrelevant to the grand scheme of things.
@@MrGeoff-iv6re Well the thing is in Dragon Age 2 they didn't mention that at all. The Felicia Day (The Guild) character says that she was Qunari because despite she being a elf she was taken in. She didn't say she was what you mentioned but was "Qunari" as in the people with horns. There was no discussion or question for Hawke about this even though there was a off joke the Day character does jokingly says "Well not all Qunari have horns" or something to that effect. I dug around Dragon Age 2's lore and they didn't mention what you said at all. Was in the lore records of DAO/DAA and I believe DAI. All they had for Qunari was a "clan like description" and Arishock and a few random things but not the outsider aspect or whatever you mentioned. This set me off because I felt the DA2 team changed to much established from DAO/DAA. At least DAI fixed a few things. Mainly the Qunari and its politics and stressed they are a race that yes do accept outsiders and have a name for them and have a Arishock (even though DAO/DAA established it as almost like a president not a general).
I loved DA2 when playing as a mage. It automatically makes you care about the templar-mage conflict and centers you in the middle of it.
Good point, but as someone who didn’t go that route, I couldn’t have cared less, even with my sister being a mage, I just didn’t really care.
It always seemed to me that Hawke was intended to be a mage. Like they couldn’t realistically take away the ability to select your class because it would have been a step too far away from the RPG origins of the series, but it really felt like they WANTED you to play Hawke as a mage. The story is more effective that way, the box art and all the promotional material featured mage Hawke, the armor design for Hawke was (subjective, I know, but in my opinion) best as a mage, and the combat really seemed to be tailored to playing as a mage with the class getting the biggest overhaul and just plain being the most fun and best polished. It was almost as if the mage combat was designed to be specific to Hawke as a character, as if he/she was meant to have a uniquely physical fighting style not common among other mages which made him/her sort of a de facto hybrid class. I could be wrong, but the whole experience just gave me the impression Hawke was conceptualized as a fully formed character right down to being a mage with an unorthodox combat style, and they only reluctantly gave you the option to play the other classes to maintain at least some semblance of being an RPG.
@@bovinejoni4243 hawke was intended to be a mage, hawke is "canonically" (player canon always takes precedence blah blah) a mage who helped the mages and approved of ander's actions/let him live, according to an old david gaider blog post anyways.
@@sparkleclover the only bad thing of playing as a mage is that Bethany>Carver.
I know Carver can grow more and can be more interesting but...
My first playthrough was as FemRogue and protecting Bethany felt soo natural.
(who i never ever brought to the roads..
EVER.
That NEVER happened. NAH-ah.
Nope.
Never.
It did not cost me 1.5h of replay.
Nope.)
ahem..
I actually felt more invested when my sister was a mage. I think the game does a great job of giving you personal stakes in the conflict
I like Dragon Age 2. That being said, I love the whole Dragon Age world, and it’s a piece of the puzzle.
I just looked and it seems that the whole trilogy of Dragon Age games with all the DLC is on gamepass. Would you recommend playing trough them? Since 2 and Inquisition seem to have not so positive reviews from fans.
@@TheLazyFinn I might be biased (since I've played through the entire series 7 times), but I would wholeheartedly recommend it if you are a sucker for well fleshed-out characters and solid world building. I love the series, flaws and all, and would recommend it to anyone willing to give it a try.
@@morganeveritt Thanks for your input, I might check them, it's just going to be a HUGE time commitment when there is other things to play (like ME remaster)
@@TheLazyFinn Lol, I totally feel you, buddy. Way too many good games to play, far too little time.
@@morganeveritt Too little time even though I'm about to graduate and have no job in sight!.....
Sucks that you didnt get Isabella in your playthrough. Her entire companion questline revolves around the Arishok. It adds good amount of backstory as to why the Qunari are there. I honestly didn't know you could deal with the Arishock without her
Shes also just the best companion in the game imo
They overdid it a bit with that character, but she is important to the plot as you say, and does have the funniest bits and lines. Though the Avelline romance could be kind of funny as well. Of course it's best to have Isabella in the party when you encourage the Avelline romance.
@copied pasted you have pretty eyes, and I like big boats I can not lie
Yep I didn't either in mine. I honestly really disliked her for a lot of the times she seemed selfish so when she asked for a favor in a moment of great importance to us, I denied and she never returned. 🤔
She's just Zevran with boobs. Her entire character is that she's promiscuous.
I let the Arishok have her. Only character I ended up hating more was Anders. Oh Anders how they ruined you.
I replayed DA2 not that long ago and i totally missed on Isabella😲i met her in the bar but after that i totally forgot about her in the game🙄
My wife played this game and she refused to choose between her sister and boyfriend at the end of act 2 and just stopped playing the game. Also, the serial killer/mom plot was one of the most messed up things I've ever seen in a game.
@Killingdance and that plot proved that Meridith was right about Orsino he was always in contact with blood mages and actively protecting them, Orsino must be the biggest hypocrite in the entire trilogy
@@Kellenmcconnell1417 even when you help him he turns into an Harvest and betrays you, the ending of the game is a travesty, they turned Orsino into a massive hypocrite.
Granted the main reason behind it is the rushed game and lack of time
@@Kellenmcconnell1417 agreed Meredith betraying you makes sense, from an ingame and plot perspective, Orsino simply does not make any sense, even with the rushed game and lack of time I simply can't understand why the writers went with it
Me: la la la, going along in my fantasy world, making choices, romancing abominations, what have you
Game: HORRIFIC DEATH that happens seemingly out of NOWHERE to your MOTHER
Me: Well
Someone needs Witcher in their life lol
Honestly, I liked Hawke as a character and think Nicholas Boulton did a phenomenal job with voicing male Hawke. Jo Wyatt as well for female Hawke. Sarcastic Hawke also has some genuinely amazing humor.
Yeah, but the conversation wheel was the real true downer... You chose an option that said one thing, and then what came out was completely different. That is what ruined it. That and the abusive reuse of maps.
The fact that Dragon Age 2 was released in any playable state in the first place is impressive. I absolutely love the game I can't think of any other game that puts such emphasis on characters as DA2. It objectively has some bad flaws but none that make it unplayable.
DA2 could've been so much more, but it was a good play.
The story of every BioWare game ever.
I am still waiting for a Dragon Age that comes anywhere near being as good as Origins and tbh I don't think it will ever arrive now.
@@distantthunder12ck55 I want to say I agree, but deep down I also want them to redeem themselves and make suitable follow ups to Mass Effect and Dragon Age. If only Bioware had not sold themselves out to EA in the first place...
@@onionsbroccoli-on6jf yea i used to think that then i played a ton of inquisition latley and i was wrong, the game is fantastic. Grindy but im fine with grind in an rpg. If yall dont like grind, im afraid to tell you rpg's arent for ya
Who gives a fuck what "it could have been"?? It's a great game as is. You over entitled nerds need to settle down.
People can talk all they want about DA 2, but some of those companions interactions are priceless.
This actually made me want to replay Dragon Age 2
My favorite mostly forgotten feature of DA2 was the 'Friend/Rivalry' system, as opposed to ' I love you or I HATE YOUR GUTS'. It was very interesting seeing companions who were opposed to your viewpoint but had enough respect for you to stick around. Wish they'd bring that back.
da2 is my favorite entry in the series so far! i actually went into the game not knowing about it's negative reputation and was so surprised after i finished playing it and finally read the reviews 😂 im glad more people are warming up to da2 nowadays, it's truly a fun experience
I also didn't know about its reputation until after playing and pretty surprised by it. I prefer DAO but 2 despite its problems is still really good
DA2 has become my favorite in the series! Funny enough after DAI when I went back and really started to appreciate the smaller scope and narrative focus.
It has the best story imo. I liked the personal approach compared to the cliche save the world stuff in DAO and DAI.
I adore Hawke!
DA2 was the first DA game I played, didn't know about DA:O at the time. Went into it that way and found it to be quite entertaining, with a compelling story. I was surprised to read, a few years later, that people didn't really enjoy it.
I really enjoyed the smaller scale and intimacy of the story. The focus on family was nice as well.
Origins 10/10, DA2 6/10, Inquisition 7/10 imo.
If EA gave BioWare more time and BioWare marketed the game as a mass effect style spin off that sets up the next dragon age, I think people would love this game tbh the setting/story arcs had so much potential!
Sarcastic Hawke is probably one the best things to happen in the Dragon Age Series.
Agreed!
the only way to play the game lol. for all the shit writing and narrative choices this game has... man sassy hawk is a hidden gem lol
I did a ruthless jackass playthrough and managed to piss even Varric off so much that he gave Hawke negative points for offering a gift, lol. That was awesome!
Hawke was Dragon Age's Shepard. DA2 has become my fav DA game for it. I thought the inquisitor was a total doormat. Then Andromeda had another doormat of a protagonist. I hope that's not a trend....
Gimme Hawke any day of the year!
@@goblingoddessgaming608 to each their own, i actually could not take hawke seriously at all, I actually hate that they wanted to make mass effect with dragons rather than let dragon age be its own thing
Rivalry Romances are the greatest thing ever.
I love DA2. Sure it has flaws. I think DAO is the best entry still.
No! Just no man!
@@tagster6199 DAO is by far the best game, DA2 and inquisition were shit compared to Origins.
@@nova_gaze DA2 is shit this is a undeniable fact. In Inquisition the mechanics are way better that DAO and the game is not anywhere as broken and bad as DAO. In Origins the dream sequence in the Mage Tower is probably the worst in any game. The fact that none the of the origin stories really matter. Regardless of what you are a gray Warden will comes and save you. This is almost the definition of pigeonholing. No matter what you do the game is like this is the path you walk and at that point why not just start the game as a grey warden. That is just why DAO is bad if you like I can go in to more detail on why Inquisition is good. I just don't care to write a whole paper on this. (Do not get me started on how bad DAO's DLC is).
@@tagster6199 That’s not necessarily true. After playing DAO while yeah, you’re the warden, your race and background come up an numerous points during dialogue and even change the way certain main quest NPC’s and others react to you. And yeah, you become a warden, that’s the focus of the plot. Like how you’re the Inquisitor in Inquisition . So I don’t see your point.
@@tagster6199 I understand your logic here but the story telling is much better in da:o than da:i mechanic-wise though you are absolutely correct
The world of DA2 feels alive and fluid to me. I love that the story is about how Hawke and the city of Kirkwall evolve over time. You’re not racing through the game because you’re supposed to be saving the world... too many games force a sense of urgency because of some looming apocalyptic event (Mass Effect 3!) so you end up feeling strange when you stop to complete side quests. I appreciate taking the time to live in a space and complete quests when it feels natural. Mission flow in a game is important!
Yes! Something I've noticed that's made a lot of big RPGs main quests fall flat is creating that sense of urgency while still wanting the player to experience all of the side content. I'd say it could be said about fallout 4, cyberpunk 2077 (oof), ME3 like you said, and probably plenty of others. I think that the cardinal rule of "The main quest wants me to go this way, so I'm doing a 180 and doing everything else first" a lot of people who want to experience everything have is pushed aside in an attempt to make a compelling main quest, which ironically makes the overall experience less fun (imo obviously)
@@kurakaji9052 I’m glad someone else feels the same way!
I agree, but in ME3’s defense, there was conversation saying the Reaper take over would take hundreds of years.
@@kurakaji9052 The best example is in the game Tyranny. You have 8 in-game days to complete Act 1 otherwise everyone dies. Even though it was balanced well enough that you can complete all side quests within those 8 days I still felt like I didn't have enough time.
I'm currently mid way through my first time playing this game. Great review Matty, and I would say my biggest issue with the game is the constant use of the same dungeons, but some doors are blocked off differently each time. Keep up the good content my man!
Lol that’s my only real problem with the game. It’s like they forgot to create more than one dungeon and had to scramble at the last minute, opening and closing certain paths and starting the player at different entrances. It’s not a deal breaker for me though... one of my favorite games!
They had to put the game together in a very short time because of greedy publishers. Keeping that in mind - that was a very smart decision.
Dude, people give DA2 a bad rap. Considering the shit EA put BioWare through, it’s amazing they were even able to create an 8/10 game.
Its deserved it reused dungeons, spamming of enemies in waves in nearly every combat encounter, questinonable level design like Kirkwall looking like it was designed by Lucifer with spikes every where even on hand rails. Removal of stuff that made no sense to remove like intimidation and persuasion checks, multiple craftable traps , bombs and health poutices and lyrium,less abilities to build your character. Whoever side with Meredith or Orisno doesn't matter in the end as they will stilll turn you.
@@tmerchead1 the well written characters and storylines elevate this game above those minor inconveniences for me.
It's a 5.5/10 game.
Dragon Age 2 probably has my favorite companions and hero. Big fan of sarcastic Hawke.
Nah Origins had the better party.
This review is so timely. I just replayed DAII and actually really liked it. The storytelling was better than I remember and the world building was actually pretty good.
the DA 2 story was hands down one of the most unique stories told in rpg games ever. the way the story was not about the world ending but about an individual in an interesting city. i think the plot was central in that game because they had so little time for anything else, so the result is a city and characters that are shaped by the central plot and i absolutely love it. especially the darker act 2 of the story.
the story and the way it escalates are also handled perfectly and at the end of it you feel how much Hawke has grown by the events that have happened to him/her.
when you put all these as well as numerous great characters that DA2 had, you see that Bioware could've delivered a game as good as the first one if they were given the time. even another year would've done wonders to the game's final state. but even as it is i love the game, flaws and all.
I actually liked that they added a voice. It helps me connect more with my character.
Absolutely, me too!
@@MrGeoff-iv6re To me is usually the opposite, I prefer when the protagonist don't say anything and I can read what my character is gonna say with my own tone. Idk it's more immersive for me.
@@MatheusRodrigues-gm5tf that’s less immersive to me… interesting. I know I’m probably in the minority though.
@@MrGeoff-iv6re that's totally fine, sometimes the protagonist with a proper voice actor is awesome too, Geralt from the Witcher, Captain Shepard from mass effect, Hawk from DA2, their voice actors made an amazing job representing those characters.
@@MrGeoff-iv6re it's just personal preference, I grow up with the tabletop RPGs, impersonate your own character, voice tone, that kinda of stuff. It's more like a nostalgic feeling for me .
Did you also play through the DLCs? Sebastian was resident sleeper but both Legacy and Mark of The Assassin are really enjoyable! Legacy also has quite an important connection to Inquisition. You should go through them as well in my opinion!
I also liked the archer guy DLC too. Mark of the Assassin was good but hated how they altered the point of the qunari. They are supposed to be a race not a clan.
@@naclynerickii no, they are a race and a clan... both are true
I think Matty would appreciate Inquisition a lot more if he played through Legacy. Hearing that Corypheus was coming back as the antagonist for Inquisition was so exciting!
@@MrGeoff-iv6re DAO/DAA established it as a race with it's own politics and beliefs. 2 changed it to a "clan". DAI changed it to both.
@@MrGeoff-iv6re I honestly did like Corypheus in the Legacy DLC. I was surprised he was made the main villain in DAI. Agreed he was a bit underwhelming because in DAO/DAA you had Logain and the two arch fiends who were pretty darn evil. Meredith became a surprise because if you side with the mages on your first run you hardly deal with her story wise and realize yeah she turned out to be quite evil. If Templars was your first run you're like "ok she seems ok. She is a bit off center at times but she seems to acknowledge my worth". Then on the reveal you're like "uhhhh...crap? Would explain a few things. I never knew she had a demon possessed sword. Sure there were documents n all but it seemed like she was fine. I guess I was wrong". Was my feelings on those two. But DAI I felt Corypheus had alot of opportunities to do evil stuff but failed to finish the job once given and just wimped out. Legacy Corypheus was pretty evil in it.
I love the story of DA2. Has its gameplay flaws, but the story hit me so hard at the end. Better emotional impact than the other DA games. And, it's how I discovered Florence and the Machine (end credits).
might be the best written game of the trilogy in spite of its mechanical issues and short development cycle
@@mickidoesmedia Nah Origins had far superior writing.
@@adeptdamage3669 nope. I'll take a well designed greek tragedy over a traditional epic any day.
@@mickidoesmedia Not really Hawke's family barely had any affect on the plot and the game really falls a part in the end.
I honestly like the combat in this game a lot. The two handed warrior feels so fun. But I get so much hate for that opinion
I always play a Rogue in DA2. Sometimes I have been tempted to choose Warrior, but I always end choosing a Rogue, lol. In this game I definitely will never choose a mage, Bethany is my fav in this game.
A shame you didnt mention Carver. He's half the reason you should be mage Hawke, Carver is just such a fully realized character who goes through one of the best arcs in the game.
I hated my first DA2 playthrough, but when I played it again before DAI came out, I found myself enjoying it a lot more. It's probably due to the fact that I didn't have high expectations anymore, that I knew the companions better (and therefore knew which of them should never be paired together), and I was aware of the fact that Bioware didn't have a lot of time to make it (the end result is actually impressive all things considered, and I'll forever be bitter that they didn't have more time to polish it). And then DAI came out... and the opposite happened. I liked it at first (let's face it, it's pretty and it did fix some of the issues I originally had with DA2), but it's just so bland storywise and characterwise. I struggled to get attached to even half of the companions and I have to force myself to even finish it these days.
Exact same experience for me.
I couldn't finish inquisition the game is just empty
Rivalry vs friendship mechanic was great. It emulated real relationships between people instead of being a yes-man and agreeing with everyone at the camp to put that number as high as possible.
I mean, there was still a slider, but you could challenge someone's opinion without a negative impact.
Arishok was such a good antagonist. I actually grew to really love him and talking to him between quests and I found myself feeling a little bad when we fought to the death. Respected the character since he was much more honor bound than a lot of other characters
Dragon Age 2 was originally planned as Dragon age Exalted March. In the game, Bioware planned that after Anders blow up Chantry Divine Justinia calls Exalted March on Kirkwall. This game was supposed to be a prerequisite of Inquisition but later it was changed. Those days Bioware had amazing writers even if players hated DA2 but its story was really good. Sure technically, DA2 is not up to the standard, but Dragon Age 2 introduced some plots that will be a very big plot point for the upcoming Dragon Age 4.
Literally just thinking yesterday, I wish you would do this review! Just finished orgins again myself. Thank you!
What I thought about Arishok, initially, that he was well and deeply written. Then, on a second playthrough, I came to conclusion he was blowing hot air out of his arse, just to look deep. But he did make me think.
Fenris is great and basically 100% morally in the right even though IIRC the game presents him as sort of morally grey.
I checked out Dragon Age 2 because of this review. I just beat it and I wanted to thank you Matty. Your retroactive reviews actually have a real impact especially for games that got a lot of hate at the time. Glad I checked this game out.
I have replayed DA2 many times, and it's still my favorite.
same here
Completely honest question:
How exactly is Inquisition's combat more complex than Dragon Age 2's?
- Personal trees for characters are gone.
- Player specializations are the same among characters. (Can only choose one, so no hybrid builds)
- Most of the skill upgrades are minor one. (Except a few really good ones)
DA2 is a masterpiece traped in developing time deadlines.
I still want them to remake it with Inquisition resources because it would be leggit times better than inquisition.
I also recomend everyone who play DA2 to pick mage Hawk, because mage gameplay in DA2 are superb. Its probably even better than Inquisition, maybe even best one period. And i think fully voiced person was good idea, Hawk is generaly awesome.
This game is so underrated. If your a Dragon Age fan, this game is a gem
yeah, but its raw, that was the problem back when it came out, its the same problem now, also, the reviews never where bad, they were mostly dampend
@@Nietsewitch I disagree. That’s actually one of the reasons I loved the game. You don’t get games like that anymore
Nah it was beginning of Bioware's downfall.
My biggest disappointment moving from da2 to dai was playing as a mage. I love the different classes and stuff they added in dai dont get me wrong, but compaired to 2 it felt a lot less responsive or satisfying to play. and I'm sure it was more a mechanics thing but I still hate that healing magic isnt really a thing in inquisition. I think 2 is my favorite overall just bc it was so easy to digest, it wasnt overwhelming the first time through. But I'm a sucker for literally any game w/ romance options and being able to romance anyone w/o regard for hawkes gender was wonderful to me :)
I completely agree. The mage combat in dai isn't bad and it can be fun but it just felt better and more fun in da2. I felt so powerful as a mage in da2 and I liked the fact that the staves had a melee attack along with the ranged projectiles. I hated that they took that out in inquisition like why can we craft staff blades if we cant use them🤦🏿♂️ and we 100% should have had healing magic in inquisition especially given the fact we can only have 12 healing potions max along with a few regen potions.
Underrated gem of a game, second best in the series, doesn't have that atmosphere from Origins but it's a worthy successor... Also has the best soundtrack in the series (shame that Inquisition didn't bring back Inon Zur - one of the many reasons it sucked)
yea, sure, uNdErAtEd. It's consistently rated at 8 or 9 out of 10. But yea, sure, uNdErAtEd!
🙄
I’ve been doing a long play through of the series right now and I’m somewhere in the middle of Inquisition at the moment. First time replaying any of the games in like 7 years.
As a sequel to Origins, Dragon Age 2 is just as underwhelming as I remember. However, if you look at it as some sort of a spinoff-esque story in the Dragon age universe, it’s pretty good in that regard, and kind of a nice break in between the two behemoths of Origins and Inquisition.
Replaying Origins for the first time in forever it was still as great as I remember, but it legitimately burned me out towards the end game. I completely forgot how much of brutal, slog the Deep Roads quest was on the higher difficulties. Luckily by that point I was nearing the end-game, so I was fine with just powering through to the Arch-Demon.
Dragon Age 2 was kind of a breath of fresh air after all that, as it felt more bite-sized and less of a tall task. By the end-game, I found I was really charmed by Hawke’s story + companions - which is not how I remember feeling about Dragon Age 2 when it first released.
Honestly it was a genuinely fun break from the the gargantuan scope of Origins. A silly rest stop between Origins and Inquisition.
EA + BioWare shot itself in the foot by marketing this game as a sequel, because in no way does it feel like a major sequel to an RPG classic. Maybe if it was called something else like ‘Dragon Age: Kirkwall’ or whatever and was marketed as its own romp before the next big release, it would have been an easier pill to swallow for big fans of the franchise.
So yeah, Kinda done a 180 on my thoughts of this game now that I’m older and have been seperated from the series for a while. It’s definitely got issues, re-used assets, lack of polish and maybe a bit tone-deaf to the pen and paper routes of what made Origins fantastic. But as it’s own seperate thing, I think it’s a fun time leading up to Inquisition.
I completely agree on the Arishok as a villain or nemesis. By contrast, Corypheus always like a very cartoony villain by comparison; however, Corypheus is also important for other reasons, mainly pertaining to what we know and don't know about Blights, and also acted as kind of a doorway into the old Imperium (mainly in the DLC here I feel, rather than in Inquisition itself).
I'm once again playing through DA2, and I think if you view it in a similar manner to something like the Awakening DLC then I think it becomes a lot easier to love this game. It's not a main story of epic high fantasy in this universe like Origins or Inquisition, it's a side story about an important character that we're given some amount of agency in telling.
You forgot about Isabela & Sebastian, guessing you didn’t like them much.
Very underrated game. I went and played it again, not even a year ago, and I actually enjoyed it more than DAI
It is way better than da i
oh yea, "hey everyone it's 'uNdErAtEd'! Look at me, I'm the 'uNdErAtEd' comment guy! There's something I like that's 'uNdErAtEd', ain't I cool?"
🙄😂
@@BurningChrome ... get some help
I thought it was fine. Nothing like Origins but still good.
Also no mention of Isabella? She's definitely.. interesting in her appearance lol
I f'n LOVED DA2! Played through it three times. A lean, mean, no-fluff, consequential RPG - tragically underrated.
What? Literally the entire plot of the game up until the very end, is fluff lol.
Great video, Matty. I understand it's flaws, but I still really loved the story and characters in this game, and like you, really respected the fact that it tried tell a more small and intimate narrative than something like Origins or Inquisition. Honestly was ready to hear you to tear this game a part, but sounds like you really gave it a fair shot.
This man got me going back to dragon age origins lmao
Hard disagree on The Arishock. He didn't make a single good argument regrading his philosophy imo. If anything, He made me think Sten was the only decent Qunari for awhile
I don’t understand why people even like sten he literally says he’s gonna invade eventually even if you help him
@@elmovanners7091 Mostly because he seems more reasonable. Plus he's not the one who makes that choice
@@Smashguy96 I guess I get it I just don’t really care for sten
I want the Architect to come back in some way for DA4
Please Bioware
Did you set up tactics for your companions? It was one of my favorite aspects to the combat in DA2, and really helped on the higher difficulties. I really missed being able to decide "if this, cast that" for my party in DAI, the AI was mostly fine, but I loved being able to micromanage without necessarily switching to an NPC, and it made builds more important.
Finished Dragon Age 2 on January of this year, first time, having finished Origins years ago, after a quick catch up diving into the game, as you mentioned, the first 2 things that felt terrible were the protagonist voice acting and the re used assets, not the voice acting itself, both female and male characters sound fine, but the direction that was taken felt more like an afterthought, they didn't spend enough time polishing the writing on Hawke that much and less in the impact of the moment to moment dialogues.
After finishing it plus all the DLC's I felt excited going into Inquisition, but at the same time it felt like a relief finishing the game, then after finding out how long it took this game to be done, all my negative comments felt like banished, 18 months to make a compelling story with interesting characters and decent gameplay? Sounds almost impossible.
I don't regret one bit playing through DA2, I just regret we did not get the last planned DLC for it, the Free Marches, that would have probably been the icing on the cake for it.
People finally coming around and appreciating DA2 is so nice to see! DA 2 when compared to the other games is such a unique game. Especially when you know the development hell it went through everyone in Bioware really pulled out a fantastic game
It had good ideas but it was super shallow.
I loved this game so much personally literally my favorite of all the dragon age games so far
Gosh darn it, you are making me want to go back and replay these.
DA2 is a masterpiece in storytelling and nothing will change my mind. Also the combat is really fun.
dude wolf heart literally just did this too like yesterday
imagine if bioware were greenlit to revisit the first 2 dragon age games like they did with mass effect.
Merrill is my fave romance-able character in Bioware games (even above the lovely Liara), so DA2 always has a special place in my game collection. Yes, the re-usable assets grate after a while, but the story & characters stand out and make this a fine companion piece to Origins & Inquisition in my own humble opinion. Hopefully EA will do a remastered collection like ME in the near future (fingers crossed)
Came in cautiously ready to hear this game get ripped apart, was pleasantly surprised. I appreciate that you gave it a fair shot, and it was refreshing to hear someone’s take on the game that actually knows the universe and was aware of the real world constraints during development. While admittedly it’s not GOTY or anything, I’ve always had a soft spot for da2.
Props ✌🏽
I've always loved Dragon Age 2, it holds a special place in my heart and I could never enjoy Origins or Inquisition as much as I enjoyed 2
This game deserved a little more. More scenarios, more armours, more dialogue. A good story without the proper platform.
The transition sound makes me think I have digestive problems 🤨
After experiencing the wide open and immersive world of origins, trying to play this when it released felt claustrophobic and suffocating.
My Hawk was male rogue and romanced Isabella and I prefer voiced over non voice protagonist
Same here, those are my choices too, and I also preferer voiced over non voiced protagonist (even so, My Female Warden Elven Mage is still my favorite protagonist).
Dragon Age 2 is my favorite game in the series. Flaws and all, I really enjoyed it.
I still believe that the repeated dungeons were a thematic element; remember, Varric is a storyteller, and he's telling a story of ten years in the life of one person. After that long of time, certain places are going to seem the same to him, and the details of the locations aren't as important to him as the action and the characters themselves. But then, this is the lone game I've gotten all the gamerscore on, so I have a special spot for this game in particular. Maybe that's why I'm not as critical of the repeated dungeons as most others are, because I can at least rationalize it from an author's point of view.
I thought the same thing! It does make sense from a storytelling POV, because Varric is probably just describing things as “another cave” or “a nice house” or similar vague descriptions.
Dragon Age 2 had imo, the best control scheme for setting up your companions to respond to your combat style for awesome combos. You could really go deep with their instruction sets. I felt the story was legitimately really good as well, regardless of the changes from Origins.
Hey Matty, awesome video! Hope you have an awesome week! God bless you man!
Clicking on this hoping for no spoilers as I've started origins last night for the very first time.
Edit: so the spoilers here are massive. I'll drop a like and headout 😂
(No spoilers). You're in for a ride. Dragon age is my favourite series of all time. You're about to go through some crazy shit haha
Currently on a dragon age bender right now in preparation for Dreadwolf. So far 1 hour into DA2 (after many many false starts) and I’m liking it very much. Male warrior voice is a bit too monotone for my liking but I can get used to it…
I like dragon age 2 as much as origins, Hawke is my favourite protagonist in all of bioware games second only to shepard. He is more solid and fleshed out than the inquisitor. Hawke deserved much better :/
I got into Dragon Age with Inquisition. I just got an xbox series s cause i had money saved up and i’m mainly a PlayStation 5 player. The backwards compatibility was one of the big reasons I thought to get an xbox. Originally I wanted to play Dragon Age Origins for me it’s just incredibly dated. Similarly to that I got the witcher 2 after playing 3 because the first witcher game is also very dated. From what I’ve seen and heard Dragon Age 2 is very story focused which is very much what I’m looking for so I went for 2 instead of origins. If Bioware makes an origins remake or remaster i’ll play it but for now Dragon Age 2 will do. I prefer proganists that are more than a blank slate think Bethesda protagonists versus Geralt of Rivia and V from Cyberpunk so I’m very exited to see what Hawk is like.
Combat on PC was closer to DAO. I definitely played it more tactically and utilized the pause function quite a lot. It could feel janky and off pace at times, but I personally enjoyed DA2 combat more than any of the other games overall. Fast paced, but still able to think and position properly. Certainly necessary for the higher difficulties too.
This game is great. Just finished it and origins for the first time
Combat DA2 is certainly not "all action". When I played through it I was basically constaly hitting the pause key and swiching between characters to issue commands. If any entry is all action, it's DAI for sure
When I think of DA2 I think of the glorious sarcastic Hawke and how much I loved her
Just want a complete remaster/remake of the series like ME.
@@onionsbroccoli-on6jf yes, you're right. I just want the ability to play them on the PS5 🤫
This gave me so much nostalgia, thank you. I bought DAO off the strength of KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect etc. Had a great time but it was almost a little TOO dice-roll RPG for me, personally. I really enjoyed the more linear, controlled narrative of DA2.
Agreed, we all need a bit more Fenris in our lives. I do hope he'll show up in DA4. Can you imagine having him and Dorian in the same crew? Those discussions ought to be epic :-)
Good review. Thanks for reminding me, I actually did enjoy DA2 and not only because of Fenris. "Ansty porcupine". Yes I adore Varric as well, flirting with him/choosing the joking answer through out the game is hilarious :-)
I absolutely LOVE DA2
It's right up there with the O.G Mass Effect
Origins was a hit & miss throughout my 3x play throughs...which I did beat as a Mage,rogue,warrior
DA2 had a much better narrative & a very underrated antagonist
I didn’t really care about the reused dungeons because you enter them sometimes differently , and the stories within the dungeons are what matter to me
Great video Matty. I have one achievemeny left to get on DA2 (the plant collectible one) so will go back through it at some point. Am glad its aged decently well
Sarcastic femme Hawke is awesome
Yep, my canon Hawke is sarcastic femme mage Hawke.
Hmmm, maybe I've been too hard on DA2. Hopefully we'll get a remaster one day. I loved that in Origins you could assign "if, then" statements to your crew which made them into competent AI teammates. Great review, thanks!
This "if, then" system to program companion ai is super usefull in games like this but for whatever reason is not popular with developers, the only games i can think of that do something like that are DAO and Final Fantasy XII
I agree, it's a solid game. The story is pretty good, and I liked the companions.
The entirety of the Dragon Age series so far has been great for me. Especially the DLCs.
I thought the gameplay and linearity were ok. The story, on the other hand, is awesome. It sets up Inquisition in such a great way. Inquisition was my first DA game and I wish I would have started from the beginning. The story in the DA games is the series' best quality without question.
Dragon Age 2 is my fave Dragon Age game. I've played it 27 times or so. lol. I also love DAO and DAI, but I just fell in love with Team Chaos. Some of the best characters in all the games. I adored Aveline, Anders, Fenris, Isabela, and everyone.
Nice reconsideration of the game, Matty. It's a game that I really (really!) enjoyed playing - not only the first time, but in the subsequent 5 other plays I've done of it. I hear so often the criticism of the "reused assets" when it comes to the dungeons and stuff, but I almost never hear the same criticism applied to Mass Effect (the first one.) They also used the exact same set pieces/dungeons over and over (and over), but I rarely hear people come down on that as hard as in DAII. Hm. I actually found it more tiresome in Mass Effect than in DAII. (Yup, that's probably "just me.") Thanks for your review here!
Looking back, I definitely still like my 2 times with DA2. The repeating parts with the dungeons not but the story was solid enough for me.
Despite a lot of the environments being recycled I really love this game, probably even more than Dragon Age 1. The Journey of Hawke to become the Champion is one of my most cherished gaming experiences.
Recycled? I always thought this game was about a group of people living in a cavern who go out into the city, every once in a while, only to find bad people have taken over their home...
The first time I played the game I must was disappointed with the recycled environments, after replaying the game countless of times now, I barely even notice them. DAO and DA2 are two of my most favorite games ever.
@@SeventhheavenDK it didn't really bother me a whole lot I think that the cast of Dragon Age 2 and the journey is much better than the first game
I actually enjoyed DA2, flaws and all. While the repetitive dungeons could be annoying, it made it easy to find certain items especially crafting stuff. I really appreciated the voiced player character. I tend to find it annoying when everyone except my character talks. I'm more invested when my character has a personality which is hard to show with a muted character. And I definitely enjoyed the faster action based combat. As much as I enjoyed DA:O, and Kotor.... I find it hard to replay them because the combat is sloooooow. I think DA:I has the perfect blend of tactical and action. All in all... I enjoyed the game, and actually replay it at least once a year.
I love DA2. I hope they bring back Force Mage in 4.
1:00 Not “Dragon Age: Annulment” ?
For its time, the dialogue wasn’t that bad however Todd Howard should’ve realized that this wouldn’t fly in Fallout 4.
I actually love this game and even its pacing. The major issue comes from environment and quest structure. It was: talk to person > go to repeated cave environment > return to quest giver.
Otherwise, the companions, family and mage vs templar politics were extremely fun and interesting to become immersed in. The only bad thing about the scope of the game is that we couldn’t choose a race/lineage. All in all, I love this game, especially for how companion banter works and how most of them hate each other.
I love all three dragon age games. Dragon Age 2 is one that has a special place aswell. I just think for some people they ended up liking the smaller scope of things more than others. Every game has you being the hero saving literally s whole universe in some cases, so it was kinda refreshing to be a smaller scale hero. A champion of a city in this larger world while so many other things happen around you. Made you feel like an important character, but not literally the chosen one.
I never liked DA2, i've came to the point were i always leave Hawke in the fade, i just don't care about it, but i cannot deny that i love the combat and the skill trees, and some of the characters like Varric who i meet first in Inquisition (i played the trilogy backwards), Aveline and Merrill. Overall it's an ok game in my opinion.
This game felt like you was in a good fantasy novel. Loved it despite the technical flaws.
2 was my first Dragon Age game, since i couldn't find a copy of Origins for PS3 in a long time in my area, so i of course has some bias towards it...
But even though it was a game burdened with MASSIVE time and technical constraints, i always felt that what actually got into the game was pretty damn good! The stories and characters were good. What little time they had to expand the world was limited, but ultimatly came out pretty interesting. The combat also got more fun, even if Mage was again insanely overpowered...
All in all, it was a game where the developers did the best with what they could, and it is still clear to me that the people involved were still incredibly devoted to make it work, even with the EA axe hanging over them...
It was only the second game i got a Platinum trophy for on PS3, that's how much i enjoyed playing it, and i still have my old guidebook/walkthrough of the game, and even THAT i still enjoy reading through once in a while, to relive the memories of using it to 100% the game!
The only really bad thing about DA2 is the lack of dungeon variety, it's the use of the same dungeon repeated ad nauseam.