This review contains spoilers
What I really appreciate about Dragon Age II is its narrative structure. It plays out almost like a TV show with different seasons broken out into a well-paced triptych. There is something undeniably cool about how seemingly inconsequential side quests from Act 1 get further development in later parts of the game. And the way the three-act structure allows for a series of mini-climaxes to play out certainly helps build engagement (with the Act 2 conflict with the Qunari being a clear highlight).
What I really dislike about Dragon Age II, sadly, is pretty much everything else.
The encounter design in this game is some of the worst I've seen - the near-constant fights against bland trash mobs are bad enough, but the fact that random enemies consistently teleport in as the fights are ongoing eliminates even a basic semblance of intentionality. Infamously, the game has about five maps for the entire 50 hour experience - none of which contain anything that's particularly interesting to look at. More surprisingly, the companions are a mixed bag. I'm a big fan of Avelline and Varric, sure. But the cast beyond that is pretty suspect. Isabela, for instance, is a mostly one-dimensional sexpot the likes of which are no longer really acceptable in 2023. Fenris feels like an angry 12 year-old's idea for a DnD character. Merrill and Anders both have interesting personal conflicts that suffer from being cartoonishly overdrawn. Merrill's thirst for knowledge creating tension within her Dalish community, for example, is an interesting pitch that descends into absurdity when it becomes clear that her ultimate choice is basically to SLAUGHTER HER ENTIRE CLAN in exchange for learning a few more (largely uninteresting) facts about a magical artifact?!? And don't get me started on Anders, an extremely charming character from Awakening who has been profoundly changed after absorbing a spirit of Justice. His anguish over the mistreatment of his fellow mages is actually pretty affecting - until Act 3, when it's revealed that this seemingly complicated character has literally become a church-bombing terrorist.
This lack of subtlety is ultimately a death knell in main narrative as well. Through the first two acts, you might have been fooled into believing that this game is telling a complex story about the dangers of fanaticism and importance of building bridges between peoples. Then comes Act 3, in which the writers at BioWare smarmily inform us that your choices didn't matter, both sides are only as good as their worst individual, conflict is inevitable, and trying to alleviate tension and build friendship between dissenting groups is a total waste of time. This, to be quite frank, is some lazy bullshit. It's like someone who reads X-Men and comes to the conclusion that maybe all those xenophobic congressmen have a point - because Magneto exists, right? Well, no. Not even close.
How much of the bullshit in this game is there because of some greedy asshole in the EA executive suite? Probably a good amount of it, to be honest. But that doesn't excuse the writers at BioWare, who took an interesting pitch and decided to use it to tell a story that says nothing.
What I really dislike about Dragon Age II, sadly, is pretty much everything else.
The encounter design in this game is some of the worst I've seen - the near-constant fights against bland trash mobs are bad enough, but the fact that random enemies consistently teleport in as the fights are ongoing eliminates even a basic semblance of intentionality. Infamously, the game has about five maps for the entire 50 hour experience - none of which contain anything that's particularly interesting to look at. More surprisingly, the companions are a mixed bag. I'm a big fan of Avelline and Varric, sure. But the cast beyond that is pretty suspect. Isabela, for instance, is a mostly one-dimensional sexpot the likes of which are no longer really acceptable in 2023. Fenris feels like an angry 12 year-old's idea for a DnD character. Merrill and Anders both have interesting personal conflicts that suffer from being cartoonishly overdrawn. Merrill's thirst for knowledge creating tension within her Dalish community, for example, is an interesting pitch that descends into absurdity when it becomes clear that her ultimate choice is basically to SLAUGHTER HER ENTIRE CLAN in exchange for learning a few more (largely uninteresting) facts about a magical artifact?!? And don't get me started on Anders, an extremely charming character from Awakening who has been profoundly changed after absorbing a spirit of Justice. His anguish over the mistreatment of his fellow mages is actually pretty affecting - until Act 3, when it's revealed that this seemingly complicated character has literally become a church-bombing terrorist.
This lack of subtlety is ultimately a death knell in main narrative as well. Through the first two acts, you might have been fooled into believing that this game is telling a complex story about the dangers of fanaticism and importance of building bridges between peoples. Then comes Act 3, in which the writers at BioWare smarmily inform us that your choices didn't matter, both sides are only as good as their worst individual, conflict is inevitable, and trying to alleviate tension and build friendship between dissenting groups is a total waste of time. This, to be quite frank, is some lazy bullshit. It's like someone who reads X-Men and comes to the conclusion that maybe all those xenophobic congressmen have a point - because Magneto exists, right? Well, no. Not even close.
How much of the bullshit in this game is there because of some greedy asshole in the EA executive suite? Probably a good amount of it, to be honest. But that doesn't excuse the writers at BioWare, who took an interesting pitch and decided to use it to tell a story that says nothing.
BlazingWaters
5 months ago
Your last point is also something I've been thinking about when going through this again. David Gaider did mention in several 2021 tweets about what he would've done if he and the rest of the team had more time, especially regarding Act 3. While some of these things are stuff that really would've been appreciative, he was still deadset on that "both sides!" angle regardless... despite that not at all working for several reasons, chief among them being the real-world allusion the Mages are representing. No EA suit can be blamed for that intended, game-ruining mess.