This brand new adventure is set in the city-state of Kirkwall and its surrounding areas of the Free Marches, and spanning about a decade in its timeline. You’ll be battling hordes of Darkspawn, evil slavers, mighty golems, fierce dragons and other terrible foes, whilst trying to make a name for yourself. But unlike Dragon Age: Origins, whose primary antagonist is an entity known as the Archdemon, and its horde of Darkspawn, Dragon Age II’s antagonist is much closer to the struggles of real life. Persecution, discrimination and corrupt leadership are only some of the key drivers of conflict which solidify the political theme of the game. Given the political nature of the story, it may seem that it lacks the epicness and fantasy that its predecessor exhibited. However, it displays its epicness in how Dragon Age II shines in its focus on making choices, wherein the player will be forced to take sides and make definite choices, with the effects ranging from the subtle such as changes in attitude of characters toward the hero, and to the grand, such as eventually shifting the balance of the world of Dragon Age. It is epic in a different way by exhibiting the struggles of real life, and how one conquers it and makes an impact on the world, all the while remaining grounded in its lore and universe.
The first striking difference of the game compared to DA:Origins is how the story is told. Unlike in DA:Origins wherein the story is told as it unfolds in the game, Dragon Age II tells the story through a “framed narrative” style. In other words, the story is told within a story. The game’s narrative is told through a Dwarf character named Varric, who recounts the adventures of the “Champion of Kirkwall” at the behest of a Chantry Seeker named Cassandra. Varric, who eventually becomes the Champion’s ally, was forced to tell the story, but as to why Cassandra was so interested in hearing the tales of the Champion, hints of Thedas being in “the brink of war” and the “Chantry shattered into pieces” are the only clues to the gravity of the situation triggered by the Champion.
There is some charm in this style of story telling, illustrated in the first playable level of the game. The level served as the tutorial level wherein you’re reintroduced to the mechanics of the fight sequences as experienced in Dragon Age: Origins. As you progress in the tutorial level, you’ll feel that you’re character seems overpowered, and then suddenly the story is interrupted by Cassandra, saying “That’s not what happened!” remarking the seemingly exaggerated tale of Varric. Varric then retells the story and describes how it really happened. The charm comes from the exaggeration of the story, such as the Champion wearing his/her signature armor, while displaying his/her awesome skills. Even minor details like the breast size of a companion character in the tutorial level were exaggerated, which also subtly describes the character of the story teller Varric. There were only a few moments in the game that exploited the exaggerated story telling of Varric, but this helped in keeping the story in place.
In Dragon Age: Origins, players were able to select the race of the main character, and the character’s origins story was based depending on the chosen race. In Dragon Age II however, you’ll only be playing the role of a predetermined human character – ala Mass Effect, another Bioware game. You will play as either Garett (male) or Marian (female) Hawke, a Human refugee from Ferelden seeking escape following the destruction of their home village of Lothering by the Darkspawn. In the beginning of the game you’ll get to choose the gender and character class of Hawke. Options are Mage, Warrior and Rogue character classes. After the tutorial level before Varric retells the story, you’ll get to customize the appearance of Hawke with preset options you can tweak, and his/her name if you’re not satisfied with the default name. This may seem pretty limiting, but it helps players connect with the character further and understand his particular role better in the universe.
Importing Dragon Age: Origins save file feature seemed inevitable as this was the case for Bioware’s Mass Effect. You have the option to import the save file from Origins, and depending on the actions you took in the original game, events that transpired in the original game will be referenced by characters you encounter. You might even encounter several familiar faces from the first game. Don’t fret however if you don’t have an Origins save file, as you will have the option to select a preset history that you can choose during character creation, which will influence some of the events, characters, dialogue sequences, and even the items that you can use.
Unlike in Origins, Hawke is a fully voiced character, and his/her dialogue is superbly delivered thanks to amazing voice casting. You will feel the emotion of the character thru the dialogue, and it goes hand in hand very well with the new dialogue input system – the dialogue wheel, another Mass Effect influence. In the dialogue wheel, options for the dialogue responses are presented, with a corresponding symbol representing the tone of the message, such as diplomacy, aggression and sarcasm. This helps the player to quickly select a desired response, feel its immediate effect on the situation and feel the role of the character much better. This will also be your tool in shaping the events that will transpire in Dragon Age II, as your choices of dialogue will shape the character of Hawke, and your tool in making key decisions that will impact the outcome of the story.
This is complemented by improved facial animations, which makes the characters’ dialogue delivery and facial expressions a lot more believable and a lot less robotic and bland like in Origins. However, this still feels a bit dated compared to facial animation in other games, especially in upcoming games like LA Noire, so don’t expect too much in this area. It’s just enough to keep it believable, but they could have stretched it a bit further to make it a lot livelier.
Characters are further brought to life thanks to their detailed modeling, with clothing rendered with fine detail and skin with freckles and spots making them look as natural as they can be. Their detailed modeling and how they were dressed gave each character an identity, and helped clearly convey their roles.
Each character’s sense of identity helped shape the liveliness of Dragon Age II, and sometimes I was drawn to some of the characters. For example, I was particularly annoyed with Merill, an elf who’s struggling not to be out of place, yet she always tries to justify her use of blood magic, a taboo in Dragon Age, resulting to dire consequences. Being able to convey such feeling of annoyance is evidence of effectiveness of that character. Each of the characters has his/her own quirks that you’ll find annoying or adorable, but this is an effective way of keeping you immersed and in the shoes of Hawke.
Thanks to beautifully rendered environments, each location clearly conveyed the feeling of that environment, bringing the setting to life. As I made my way through the environments of Kirkwall, I felt the majesty of the city as I was surrounded by towering stone buildings, and as I moved down to the lower levels, I felt the anguish of the people. Large bronze statues of slaves and their masters, although depicting the history of Kirkwall, gave a feeling of what is actually taking place – persecution and discrimination, particularly towards refugees, and other races seeking refuge in Kirkwall. It made the adventure a lot more enjoyable, compelling and visually appealing. This is brought to life further by its fantastic music, fit for each location, with deep tones conveying a sense of fear and awe, and light tones conveying the need for adventure. However, like its facial animation, textures are a bit dated, and given the standards set by recent games, there’s a lot of room for improvement in this area.
The story at first seemed quite lacking in terms of direction, with only the objective of making a name for yourself and rising to power the only direction given. You’ll be performing quests here and there, and taking sides and choosing which characters to give your aid, but basically you are just reliving the story of Hawke without a clear idea of the purpose. It is only as you make your way towards the middle of the game that you get to feel the sense of purpose of Hawke, and towards the end will you only realize the relevance of Hakwe in the overall story.
In terms of gameplay, Origins players will be very familiar with how it plays, yet easy enough to be picked up by newcomers as well. An attack is executed by pressing the “X / A” button for PS3 / Xbox 360, and all other commands are mapped to the other face buttons, with additional commands toggled by a corresponding shoulder button / trigger. For a more tactical approach, players can utilize the radial menu, which contains all commands that can be executed, including a quick health or mana recovery via potions, spells, sustained skills, hold position, move to position, poisons and potions. When using the radial menu, the game pauses, giving you time to think of your next action, and enable you to tactically position your characters depending on their character class and advantages. For example, mages and archers are better off positioned in a distance while shielded warriors absorb the damage, while rogues deal critical backstab damage.
Combat is fast paced, and a lot faster than Dragon Age: Origins. Rogues when coupled with the spell “Haste” move at a blinding speed. Aside from that, attacks now flow from one move to another, rather than just repeatedly executing the same generic strike. And melee characters perform a jumping attack when switching targets. The battle is brought to life further by amazing and colorful magic animations, the surround the battlefield with raining fire, lighting and other effects. This definitely made the fight sequences feel a lot more fluid and natural, but it made Dragon Age II feel a lot more of a hack and slash game rather than a tactical action RPG.
 |
| Combat is fast paced, gory, and fun. |
Relationship management is also simplified. No longer will you need to give several items to increase friendship, as much of the character’s relationship depend on the actions you take, and the companion quests that you perform. Gift giving was simplified to finding an item that is particularly special to one character, and once given to the character, will trigger a dialogue sequence.
Overall, Dragon Age II presents a nice fast paced RPG with focus on decision making, and is a kind of an epic in its own way, which would take about 40 hours to complete, including most of the side quests. The change in the pace of the action is a welcome change, however, simplifying most of the mechanics that made DA: Origins such a unique and complex, but very compelling RPG, somehow reduced its charm for me. But still, Dragon Age II is still proves itself worth picking up and very replayable due to freedom of choice and varying storyline. It also presents a very interesting premise for future Dragon Age titles. If you’re planning to get this, I recommend that you go ahead, pick it up and enjoy the adventure ahead.
Overall Score: 4.0
Graphics: 4.0
Sound: 4.0
Replayability: 4.0
Gameplay: 3.75
No comments:
Post a Comment