Dragon Age II Review (7.5/10)

Dragon Age II has a lot going for it, let it be said first of all. BioWare's dedication to providing a cohesive and compelling story carries through here, with a plot that's sure to keep fantasy fans engrossed for dozens of hours in the far off tales of the medieval universe. Additionally, the conversation system that worked so well in previous efforts like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect returns here too, bringing a sense of real impact and consequence into the experience unparalleled by any developer that will perhaps shift players' perceptions on a battle and their surroundings before making a choice. And all that's fine...if you're a fantasy fan. You know who I'm talking about- the sort of player who will spend three hundred hours just trying to level up their characters to the absolute maximum, the sort who will endeavour to complete even the most mundane side missions to gain XP, the sort who, well, you get the picture! In that respect, I'm probably the wrong guy to tackle something as large as Dragon Age II- you're talking to the person who enjoys playing through several games a month and often only needs one or two sittings to complete a title, so to play this all the way through would take some real endurance, of which I do not currently possess. That said, it would be rash of me to subtract 2.5 marks for the game being something of an acquired taste; no, what the sequel loses points for is a general feeling of not having developed much since the original. The visuals are still sub-par to say the least by BioWare's standards, the combat is too repetitive and needlessly visceral for its own good (did it really have to be so violent as to push the title up to an 18 rating?) and the plot, while interesting, lacks the scale and bombast the developer's other franchises are known for. Without these flaws, I could perhaps award Dragon Age II a higher score, but unless you're the aforementioned 'sort' of guy who enjoys hardcore fantasy RPGs, steer well clear, wait for it to come to half price or hell, just wait it out till Mass Effect 3.