Grab your pitchforks because I'm going to get this out of the way and say I preferred Dragon Age 2 to Dragon Age: Origins. (I also prefer it to Inquisition, but we'll leave that be.)
DAO was fun, yeah, with a great story that I've played through several times, but I prefer DA2's personal scope as compared to DAO's epic one.
DA2 introduces you to, and as, Hawke, a refugee. I, unlike many others, didn't mind that they took away all the backstories and race- choosing. This meant I was getting a character with a voice and a personality and more than one facial expression. And that's what I got. Hawke has three personalities you can attribute them and all three are great and very well written. (Really, my Warden from DAO made the same face when she was executing Loghain as when she was putting the pants to Zevran. What the what?)
As this human, Hawke, you explore a single city (and some outlying stuff) and you explore relationships, on a more focused level, with your party. Something all the DA games have done is write compelling characters with interesting things to say and stories and secrets that you have befriend/force out of them. Now, a complaint people have most often is that they didn't like that some characters (namely Anders and Leliana) changed. Well, guess what? People change. Anders, the once cheeky apostate we knew, has had a rough life, is co-habitating with a spirit, and is seeing his people subjugated and oppressed. That's going to wear on a guy so excuse him if he's not exactly chipper. I guess I just don't understand why people are so upset at the concept of character development. I do have a single complaint about the relationships on a sexy level. I liked the exclusivity in DAO: Alistair liked ladies and only ladies, which was fine. Zevran put the pants to anyone, that bifurious little rogue, and that was also fine. Those made sense. I feel that one-size-fits-all everyone-bones-everyone was a cop-out in DA2. I'm certainly not saying I want anyone to be excluded from sexy elf lovin,' only that by fitting them into an either/or there was a chance that some intimacy was compromised. This is a problem that Inquisition fixed and I am hugely pleased with.
As for combat, I again, preferred it. I played these games for the stories and choices, not so I could pause the game every six seconds sending my characters scurrying about the map. Combat for me was always an inconvenient barricade to the story. So, if they made it flashier and easier, then I have no problem with that. They really didn't take anything away; players who like sending their pawns in still have a way to do that (albeit less complex and "tactical.") I admit that the tactical thing in Origins was better orchestrated than the one in Two, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who said "The tactical capacity of Dragon Age is its best feature!" A complaint (especially as one treats combat like a rush hour gridlock): they make you fight too many trash mobs. Literally nearly endless mobs. Just when you think you've mopped them up, a rogue falls out of the sky with a dagger for your kidneys. Every. Single. Time.
So, how about Kirkwall, that city you're exploring? I loved the concept. I liked having a small area that you could get intimate with because the entirety of Ferelden was just too big for me. I didn't really care about anywhere that I was going with my Warden. Please, note, I loved the "concept." In practice, Dragon Age 2 is full of repeat dungeon scenery. If you ever fight in a mansion, it's the same mansion every time. Same cave, same coastline, same mountain path, same dimly lit street. It, along with the endless sky-rogues, got pretty irritating. I concede that point and blame it on a rushed game production.
One thing I don't buy is that the game takes place over 10 years. If you blinked during the part where it says "X many years later," you'd never believe you'd been kickin' it in Kirkwall for a decade. So, that feels a bit forced.
Finally, DA2 simplified a lot of things, that I was grateful for. Honestly? I don't really care what my party's armor looks like. Mine? Yeah, I can totally get behind changing my appearance, but having to do that for six people? It was a pain I was glad to be rid of (and then saddled with again in DAI, but I digress.) Also, crafting. Same thing. I hated crafting, didn't have time for it, it got in the way of my story. I appreciated that they streamlined that and simplified it.
But I get it, guys, I do. Some people see DAO as a legend, and I'm not knocking that. It was a great game. I don't feel that way, but I understand why *you* do. People are very quick to tear DA2 apart because it's not DAO. But look at it from over here, from my point of view, and cut it some slack, because it's its own creature, and a majestic one. Like a unicorn.
DAO was fun, yeah, with a great story that I've played through several times, but I prefer DA2's personal scope as compared to DAO's epic one.
DA2 introduces you to, and as, Hawke, a refugee. I, unlike many others, didn't mind that they took away all the backstories and race- choosing. This meant I was getting a character with a voice and a personality and more than one facial expression. And that's what I got. Hawke has three personalities you can attribute them and all three are great and very well written. (Really, my Warden from DAO made the same face when she was executing Loghain as when she was putting the pants to Zevran. What the what?)
As this human, Hawke, you explore a single city (and some outlying stuff) and you explore relationships, on a more focused level, with your party. Something all the DA games have done is write compelling characters with interesting things to say and stories and secrets that you have befriend/force out of them. Now, a complaint people have most often is that they didn't like that some characters (namely Anders and Leliana) changed. Well, guess what? People change. Anders, the once cheeky apostate we knew, has had a rough life, is co-habitating with a spirit, and is seeing his people subjugated and oppressed. That's going to wear on a guy so excuse him if he's not exactly chipper. I guess I just don't understand why people are so upset at the concept of character development. I do have a single complaint about the relationships on a sexy level. I liked the exclusivity in DAO: Alistair liked ladies and only ladies, which was fine. Zevran put the pants to anyone, that bifurious little rogue, and that was also fine. Those made sense. I feel that one-size-fits-all everyone-bones-everyone was a cop-out in DA2. I'm certainly not saying I want anyone to be excluded from sexy elf lovin,' only that by fitting them into an either/or there was a chance that some intimacy was compromised. This is a problem that Inquisition fixed and I am hugely pleased with.
As for combat, I again, preferred it. I played these games for the stories and choices, not so I could pause the game every six seconds sending my characters scurrying about the map. Combat for me was always an inconvenient barricade to the story. So, if they made it flashier and easier, then I have no problem with that. They really didn't take anything away; players who like sending their pawns in still have a way to do that (albeit less complex and "tactical.") I admit that the tactical thing in Origins was better orchestrated than the one in Two, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who said "The tactical capacity of Dragon Age is its best feature!" A complaint (especially as one treats combat like a rush hour gridlock): they make you fight too many trash mobs. Literally nearly endless mobs. Just when you think you've mopped them up, a rogue falls out of the sky with a dagger for your kidneys. Every. Single. Time.
So, how about Kirkwall, that city you're exploring? I loved the concept. I liked having a small area that you could get intimate with because the entirety of Ferelden was just too big for me. I didn't really care about anywhere that I was going with my Warden. Please, note, I loved the "concept." In practice, Dragon Age 2 is full of repeat dungeon scenery. If you ever fight in a mansion, it's the same mansion every time. Same cave, same coastline, same mountain path, same dimly lit street. It, along with the endless sky-rogues, got pretty irritating. I concede that point and blame it on a rushed game production.
One thing I don't buy is that the game takes place over 10 years. If you blinked during the part where it says "X many years later," you'd never believe you'd been kickin' it in Kirkwall for a decade. So, that feels a bit forced.
Finally, DA2 simplified a lot of things, that I was grateful for. Honestly? I don't really care what my party's armor looks like. Mine? Yeah, I can totally get behind changing my appearance, but having to do that for six people? It was a pain I was glad to be rid of (and then saddled with again in DAI, but I digress.) Also, crafting. Same thing. I hated crafting, didn't have time for it, it got in the way of my story. I appreciated that they streamlined that and simplified it.
But I get it, guys, I do. Some people see DAO as a legend, and I'm not knocking that. It was a great game. I don't feel that way, but I understand why *you* do. People are very quick to tear DA2 apart because it's not DAO. But look at it from over here, from my point of view, and cut it some slack, because it's its own creature, and a majestic one. Like a unicorn.