Game Review: Dragon Age 2 - Part 1

The time has come and gone: those few days after a BioWare release where everything shuts down, I grab myself a few bottled drinks and some junk food, and distance myself from society as much as possible. Though, this time was arguably a bit different.

Dragon Age: Origins. I've talked about it and its coming sequel quite a bit over the last year. I harbor no illusions of DA:O being a "perfect game." In fact, there were parts of it that were downright frustrating. But I still came away in awe of what I had played. "Inspired" might be the right word, actually. The characters, the lore, the story (clichéd, perhaps) all of it made a big impression on me. When I was finished, I felt like I'd just woken up: a feeling I'd not had since playing Knights of the Old Republic for the first time.

So, I patiently awaited a sequel, buying the expansion, all of DA:O's DLC, and both books in the meantime. I cannot tell you how excited I was when it was officially announced. I know the DA:O had a rocky start with an overly-long development cycle, and it sounded like BioWare was going to put the time into DA2 to make it a better experience all around. I started to imagine the possibilities, where we'd be going next.

Then I saw the trailer, learned all about Hawke, and how DA2 would have almost nothing to do with its predecessor. Gah, my heart broke that day. It was like losing KotOR 3 all over again.

So I waited to hear more news, and when more surfaced I really didn't like what I was hearing. It didn't sound so much like they were making a sequel to DA:O, but a reboot instead. New land, new main character, new party members, new combat system, an emphasis on zazz. No, no, no. Nothing about that stuff made any sense at all.

After several months of brooding, I eventually broke down and made the decision to buy the game. I wanted to see for myself: what BioWare had done to the series. I also had a gift card, so I didn't have much invested at any rate. So, I get the game, bring it home, install the long list of DLC I'd somehow accumulated, and get the game going. To my outright surprise, this game has me very torn. Part of me thinks that this is definitely one of the better RPGs that I've played in some time, and another part of me thinks that DA:O, as well as its fans, deserved better.

The Story: "The Man (or Woman) Who Would Be Champion."

"You've got red on you."

You take on the role of Hawke, a Fereldan refugee who will someday become the Champion of Kirkwall; with Kirkwall being a large city-state on the coast of the Free Marches, north of Ferelden. How you become the Champion is unclear, but a dwarf named Varric is intent on sharing "what really happened" with a templar who happens to be interrogating him. So, as you progress Hawke's story, you're really progressing the story Varric is telling the templar. A framed narrative, in other words. A story within a story.

This is an interesting way to play out the game, but it has just as many faults as it does benefits. In terms of benefits, it certainly puts emphasis on everything you do. Much like the Warden of DA:O, it feels like every little thing you do is building up to something much greater than yourself. It's also pretty damned entertaining to see how Varric embellishes the truth from time to time, and whether or not he sees you in a positive or negative light.

A downside to this is that there are several "jumps" in the story. Years will pass at certain parts, which means that Hawke will suddenly know someone or something that you do not. That means that you'll inevitably be left swinging in the dark about certain things for a time until you're allowed to catch up. And surprisingly, nothing really changes in the world after these time skips, save for the dialogue. Although everything looks the same, someone will eventually make the comment of, "Wow, how crazy were those three years, Hawke?"

Even Fable III changed up Bowerstone City after the years had started to pass. I'm wondering why DA2 couldn't even manage to move things around.

Anyway, the main plot, if it can be seen as much, revolves around a conflict between templars and mages. For those who need a refresher course, the templars are a religious organization, whose sole purpose is to keep a short leash on mages of all kinds. The reason for this being that mages naturally disrupt the fragile border between their world and the spirit realm, and too much undue disruption can result in a demon being brought into the world, which is no good. Tensions are always high between the two groups, but Kirkwall has become a veritable Salem, Massachusetts on a larger scale.

I guess that's not necessarily the plot, more like the conflict. There really is no solid story, and if BioWare intended there to be one, it doesn't really shine through the mound of random quests this game is loaded with. If it's supposed to be about Hawke's rise to power, then that, too, is somewhat lost in the shuffle.

The Quests: "They're not called 'chores' in a fantastical setting."

"Where even collecting herbs will end with you killing someone."

As soon as you find yourself in Kirkwall, you'll find yourself drowning in quests. Once you're settled, the goal is to get yourself and your sibling a position in the next excursion to the Deep Roads, the ancient ruins of the dwarven empire. This is to keep your sibling (or yourself, if you're a mage) out of reach from the templars, who have been cracking down hard on mages lately. You're denied the position, but a dwarf named Varric claims he can get you in. It's just gonna cost you quite a bit of money. Fifty sovereigns to be exact.

This is what the first third of the game revolves around: getting money. Doesn't seem very glorious or epic, I know. The first third of Dragon Age: Origins had you bear witness to the Battle of Ostagar, the evacuation of Lothering, the demon at Redcliffe, etc. But there's nothing wrong with a story of smaller scope. Indeed, most of DA2 will focus on the politics of the city of Kirkwall, and the quests you're soon after hit with are a vehicle for getting yourself acquainted with it. I was particularly impressed with the way humans, elves, dwarves, the Dalish, and the Qunari all had their place, their own pull on society. It certainly makes for a playground of ethical choices over the course of the quests.

But despite your choices, you're pulled invariably toward an ending that is certainly more set in stone than that of DA:O. Once you approach that moment in the game where you're literally forced to choose between mages and templars, you'll see how little control you've had.

I'm all for quests. I'm all for having a lot of them. DA:O had a lot of them and so does its sequel. Unfortunately, what DA2 does not have is pacing. As soon as you're given your money quest, you're hit with a laundry list of quests/chores. You'll be hit with them so fast, you'll forget how you got them, what their overall point was, and why they were significant. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if there was even the slightest amount of pacing. Remember in the last game, how you actually had to walk places? That's pretty much gone. (I'll come back to that later.)

As you're burning through the quests, you might see that some of them are actually pretty impressive. The writers from DA:O have clearly returned, but that doesn't mean you won't still get swamped by "go here, kill them" and "go here, collect these" quests. I kid you not, some took all but a minute to complete. Some will play out like this:

"I need a man killed dead."

"All right, let's do this."

Walk around the corner, kill a guy, walk back.

"Dead man's dead."

"Jolly good."

Pick up another quest, repeat. But, as I said, I don't dislike things like this. I used to play World of Warcraft a lot, after all. But I just prefer some pacing. To a point, it almost feels like you're on autopilot, with the quests and whatever meaning they might have passing you by in a blur.

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Okay, I've pretty much been 90% critical of this game so far. Can't help it, that's what I do. But the game does have some redeeming factors that'll make it worth playing for DA:O fans. I'll see if I can't cover those on the next post.

Part Two of this review can be found HERE.