Dragon Age 2 Review Round-Up

A flood of reviews of BioWare's latest RPG, "Dragon Age II", has just hit the web with the release of the game. Notable reviews include Eurogamer's harsh, but critical review that calls the game "satisfyingly epic but not an enduring classic," and Game Informer's equally critical review that takes the combat system to task.

10

escapistmagazine.com review
A pinnacle of role-playing games with well-designed mechanics and excellent story-telling, Dragon Age II is what videogames are meant to be.
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9.1

3djuegos.com review
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9.0

level7.nu review
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9.0

gamingxp.com review
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9.0

eurogamer.it review
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9.0

spaziogames.it review
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8.8

rpgfan.com review
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8.5

ign.com review
Every modification to the gameplay and structure of Dragon Age II is a clear improvement over the previous game. The combat is more responsive and bloody, you don’t need to fight the inventory system anymore, and conversations are more engaging thanks to the adapted Mass Effect wheel. There are downsides though; the semi-linear story and repetitive environments have a negative effect on what is otherwise a great role-playing game. Despite these complaints, Dragon Age II is a game I’m eager to replay.
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8.5

strategyinformer.com review
There's more to this game that we haven't talked about: Inventory and character outfitting, crafting, resources etc.. There's a lot here to do, there's a lot to experience, which is great. On the whole this is a good game, you will enjoy it, and it's definitely worth getting and worth playing. An ending is just an ending for some people, and even I'm capable of ignoring a lot of 'niggles' that drive other people up the wall. Still, this game could have been better... should have been better perhaps, but if we're going to look at the wider picture there have been far worse games, far worse things to have happened in games. Whilst very specific, the story of Hawke is an engaging and compelling one indeed, and we urge you to discover it for yourself.
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8.3

1up.com review
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8.2

gameinformer.com review
The new battle system is fun, but not nearly as satisfying or rewarding as Origins’. Since you don’t even have a main antagonist until the final hours, the story pales in comparison to the original. If you put those complaints aside and remove Dragon Age II from the impressive shadow of its predecessor, you’ll find an engaging action/RPG experience that still retains BioWare’s trademark clever dialogue, cool characters, and detailed lore.
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8.1

gamers.at review
No Synopsis Available
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8.0

eurogamer.net review
For all the ideas that don't quite take flight, for all the design decisions that feel restrictive rather than liberating, when the credits rolled I was already itching to devote another 40-odd hours to reliving it all again. An enduring classic? Not quite. A satisfying epic? Absolutely.
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8.0

joystiq.com review
By the time the last sword was swung in Dragon Age 2, I had enjoyed some great conversations, participated in some thrilling battles and even been at the center of an interesting story. I just never could shake the feeling that it was a story I was telling myself.
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8.0

rpgsite.net review
Dragon Age II is without a doubt a really good game with a few small but glaring flaws - but the discussion about Dragon Age II doesn't need to be "is it good?" - It is - but needs to be "is this what fans wanted from a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins?" It's going to take a while for the answer to that question to become clear.
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8.0

gamespy.com review
My biggest critique comes in the form of companion customization; you can't upgrade armor for your party members. My jaw dropped when I tried to buy a new suit of armor for my tank, and got a "Restriction: Hawke" message for item after item. Belts, rings, amulets, and most weapons are fair game... but BioWare opted not to allow players to choose companion armor. It's a strange direction for an RPG, and in my book, a poor one. Even so, BioWare deserves credit for having the cajones to completely overhaul an award-winning tactical RPG and eschew stereotypical fantasy narratives and characters to create one of the most impressive video game tales ever told.
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8.0

telegraph.co.uk review
That, in a nutshell, is the story of Dragon Age II as a video game too; a fragmented kaleidoscope of elements that finally form a rich, if imperfect, vision once everything is aligned. Some may find the apparent simplification disagreeable, but it's more a concentration of focus that allows BioWare to tell the more personal story of Hawke, and add polish to the world they have built around him. And noone builds a world like BioWare. For a good 40 hours, Kirkwall was my world, my city, my home. It just took a little while to settle in.
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8.0

gamezone.com review
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8.0

xgn.nl review
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7.0

videogamer.com review
There's as much maturity to the game as there ever was - DA2 is a bloody, moody thing. But despite the way narrative has been re-structured and the combat made meatier, this sequel follows the old conventions of the genre too literally to develop an individuality beyond them. Two entries down the pipe, and Dragon Age is still experiencing the growing pains of a series that's more dedicated to studying fantasy games than developing its own personality in the genre.
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