by Christopher West
Most seem to think so including me. Let me start out by saying that character creation is a streamlined experience to say the least. There are but three classes to choose from- warrior, mage and rogue. Characters are good but not as engaging and funny as in Dragon Age Origins. You get a few cameos from people you ran into from the first game as well as awakening but other than that the character interactions aren't as memorable as they were in the first.
Characters in combat seem to make more use of their available space, and furthermore the overall pace of combat is quickened. The element of strategy remains, and it's still impossible to navigate the game without using careful strategic planning, but the actual combat itself has a more refined flow and serves to help immerse the player in the game.
Conversations and actions still affect the friendship as well as rivalry scale, but a teammate won't leave if they're a rival. A teammate gets certain buffs if they're a friend or a rival. Conversations do affect your relationship with your party members. If you go into a fight with some fighting words to go along with the blows, then some characters will like you more while others will not.
Combat has been tweaked but not overhauled. You can still take on the pause and plan approach that was often vital to defeating the tougher foes in Origins. Combat is fairly easy because it feels better than the combat mechanics that was in the first game. It's somewhat sensitive now.
Combat in Dragon Age 2 has been simplified to be more accessible along with action oriented. That isn't to say that it's been dumped down though; players with advanced skills will be able to tweak and modify the command schemes to amazing levels and become battlefield ready with enough practice.
Players can make Hawke any class they want at the start of the game, and each class has several disciplines that grant new abilities as their options are unlocked; specializations can be assigned later on. The entire character progression system has been reorganized, and plus skills have been done away with entirely. In particular, rogues as well as warriors have been thoroughly differentiated from one another, with the former now only capable of using bows or daggers and the latter are able to use two-handed weapons or sword and shield combinations.
Events that took place in the first game will determine how things will happen in the sequel. Dragon Age 2 will start off at the end of the first game, so hopefully a brief re-cap will occur to jog your memory. Events lead to the blight being defeated, and in the process players are given the chance to choose how history plays out. They may either load the ending from a previous game of Dragon Age: Origins, or choose from one of three preset outcomes.
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