Dragon Age II - Hawke by criz
It has been quite a roller coaster this week folks. After much trepidation, I finally put in Bioware’s Dragonage 2 and played it. After about 40 hours, I finished it…what a whirlwind. I didn’t have high expectations from the rumors and reviews I had heard already. What I loved about DA:O was the options of choosing so many different heritages and having a huge epic destiny to bring it all together. DA2 doesn’t have either but I feel it is extremely successful.
For any Buffy fans out there, I’d like to compare this game to the fan favorite season 6. Season 6 had a lame ultimate bad guy (the nerds) because the real struggle was internally in the group. It was the magics within that were tainting everything. DA2 didn’t need a huge archdemon because the battle was inside of the citizens of Kirkwall and inside your companions.
Dragonage 2 Company by *zet (From top left: Merrill, Varric, Aveline, Fenris, Sebastian, Isabela, Carver, Bethany, Anders)
What I really loved was that I felt like I was actually role playing with other people in real time. More than once, my companions would have cutscenes where they were interacting without me being around. They’d make reference to lives outside campaigning (my favorite being Varric asking Fenris if he was coming to the bar after the fight and Fenris saying he wouldn’t miss it!). I was 100% transported and it didn’t feel as contrived. I wasn’t the last Grey Warden with a huge responsibility on my shoulders to defeat the archdemon dragon. I was a refugee who fought to not waste away into NPC-hood. I made a name for myself. It was real. Right? Right??
Oh, and I should mention…while I love the look of the game, I decided against screencaps for this blog. Instead, I bring you some amazing fanart by some awesome deviantart artists! Make sure to click the pictures and spread the love!
I have so much more to say, but it may only make sense if you’ve played the game or played DA:Origins. If you haven’t, then go buy the game now and stop reading. If you want to read the rest of my ramblings about the game, click the More jump!
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