Dragon Age 2: How Not To Win An Argument

[ldmax]

You girls are awesome! Why can't I meet a woman like one of you?

[bubbly4635]

I am a mage and i banged Fenris. Smile

[sugarandspice4815]

@bubbly4635 Dude, me too! :-)

[sugarandspice4815]

@bubbly4635 Me too! :-)

[skyrabbit74]

OMG have these people EVER played an actual good game?  No...no they haven't

[TheXand19]

@skyrabbit74 You shut your whore mouth, Dragon Age 1 was the best game ever and Dragon Age 2 was a solid 8/10, not perfect but not THE WORST GAME EVAR like haters are keen to scream.

[jonea16]

Just because a story doesn't go the way you want it doesn't make it any worse. I loved the ending, especially the bits with Orsino freaking out. He was backed into a corner, sick of oppression and capable of anything at that point. So he took a stand. Harvester fight was pretty epic. I had much more fun with Dragon Age 2 even though Origins was great as well. Looking back, the only thing Origins has over Dragon Age 2 is better environments. The character models in 2 look and animate much better.

[sugarandspice4815]

@jonea16 If you sided with the Templars, then Orsino's actions make sense. But if you sided with the Mages, then Orsino going all crazy and becoming a friggin' HARVESTER DEMON was a cop-out to make the endings similar, and it ultimately made the game more linear.

[jonea16]

@sugarandspice4815 I sided with the mages on my first playthrough and Orsino's actions still make sense on both sides for me. They were the product of desperation which made him make a bad decision. Upsetting? Yes, but makes sense. Besides, Dragon Age 2 is a set up for something much bigger so its naturally going to be more linear. I thought the story was still epic and much more immersive than Origins standard plot about saving the world. I can't wait to see if Morrigan returns in Dragon Age 3.

[nickchris14]

Those are weird looking kitchens.

[Dreamer1196]

I have three accounts, on one i sided with the Templars, on the other two I sided with the mages. Either way Orsino tells you he knew Quentin. You don't have to side with the Templars to find out. Plus, during "All That Remains" you can find a letter to Quentin from someone named "O" saying that his research is brilliant. :P

[sugarandspice4815]

@Dreamer1196 Yeah, in my first game I sided with the mages, and when he let slip something about Quentin I was like, "Wait... what did you just say???" But you can't ask him about it, because then he goes all HARVESTER DEMON on you!

[Hotpinkrandomness]

Pluses for DA2: far superior combat, great companions ('cept I hate what they did to Anders and romanced Fenris instead), and liked the framed narrative idea

Negatives: elf noses, there are only like ten different areas in the ENTIRE game, story was a piece of crap next to origins, wasnt as long or complex as Origins, Merril, NONE of the questions left by origins were answered, the MANY bugs and glitches, AND those mother fuckers sent me a Sig edition with NONE of the free bonus content.

[MayhemPr1ncess]

@Hotpinkrandomness Mmm, well the game wasn't supposed to come out when it did, but EA got impatient. So I can't really blame Bioware for all the negative parts of DA2, but I guess it says a lot about Bioware that even when pushed to release an unfinished game it was still a pretty good game. Not as good as DAO but they did spend years on DAO.

[Inujade]

oh man, Orsino wasn't even just hiding Quentin. He was HELPING and ENCOURAGING him. In All That Remains you find letters from the tower saying things like 'your research is brilliant!' and 'you're revolutionizing magic as we know it!" and it's signed by a mysterious O.

GEE. WHO COULD THAT BE.

[Dreamer1196]

not to mention that thebeast orsino turned to looks exactly like the harvester. real original bioware... REAL original.

[darkdesigns]

Wow, I never thought about it that way... but Cullen does kind of seem like the only sane character in this game...... 0o Seeing as how he is bat-shit crazy in Origins, that's got to tell you something about the characters in this game... :\

[VicGeorge2K6]

To be fair, though, Meredith does help you fight Orsino when he becomes a Harvester when you side with the templars.

[VicGeorge2K6]

The best revenge you can have with Meredith and Orsino is to mod them in as playable party characters in the PC version and drag them into every quest where they get to witness firsthand things that they have caused. Like have Orsino join you in the All That Remains quest and have him fight against the man who killed Hawke's mother and see how that affects Hawke.

[MalLionheart]

I think the point of Orsino was that he was forced to blood magic and he was keeping Quentin secret for fear of Meredeth invoking the Right of Annulment. I think he meant well, but he clearly went the stupid way about it.

[PreludetoExtinction]

Though I do think the ending was a bit crap, how regardless of who you chose everything still went to shit and you had to kill both Meredith and Orsino :/

[PreludetoExtinction]

Orsino was the youngest First Enchanter to ever represent the Kirkwall circle, constantly facing the pressures of maintaining the balance with the Templars, who under Meredith's insanity would stop at nothing to see them all anulled, he helped Quentin, but he was putting the circle's needs first; Quentin's work put the entire circle at risk. Ultimately he betrayed his principles, but it serves as testament to how the templars' oppression breeds monsters from even those with the best intentions.

[VicGeorge2K6]

2:38 - My favorite part of this review

[trousersnake91]

the main person girl's cute. but she's wrong about this game :/ lol except the end

[RadiioPigeon]

It was awful =\

[okami7amaterasu]

Nothing compared to Origins.

[obsydiandreams]

lol, I always side with the Templars... heh, STUPID BLOOD MAGES!!! I dont know what BioWare was thinking with what they did to the mages in this game.... the whole game was like WE HATE MAGES! i dunno.

I love Fenris. :D thats about it. you guys are awesome still.

[Conceicao4]

Personaly i liked Origins better, but this game wasnt that bad.

the story is too depressing, theres no glory, cus it looks like no matter what you choose it all comes down to chaos.

its mostly the illusion of choice.

but yeah, i sided with the mages, couldnt kill the terrorist mage, he puppy eyed me. -_-

[vegakvd]

The only thing that really bugs me is DA2 took the actual plot and tossed it out for flashy fast combat and more romances. Also..it really pissed me off when I played a blood mage who woulkd constantly make comments about how blood magic is evil and how the mages must be stopped. Poor writing. DA2 sucked.

[Marz1200]

You know something's seriously wrong when CULLEN is the reasonable one!

[ZZenoXX]

@McGriever ...says the guy who spends his time insulting people on youtube.

[ZZenoXX]

Oh yeah.. the endgame pissed me off a lot too. I was playing as a mage so of course I sided with them after seeing how all the mages were being treated. But really... I killed hundreds of blood mages. I was a free mage, a known apostate. I never used blood magic. Why can't these morons follow those ideals instead? It works great for Hawke. He became the Champion of Kirkwall. But people still turn to blood magic to be stronger? When I just kick their butts anyway WITHOUT blood magic. Seriously?!

[teddiesage]

I agree so much with a bunch of comments here... EA really killed it... :(

[Argors1]

The whole story is point less. It's being told by A bard that lies for I living. It could all be a lie in the next DLC. Am very disappointed in Bioware. We will never get a great game from them again, EA is now making them put one out every year. You can not make a great RPG in a year. Sad EA is going to kill another developer. Just watch ME 3 will be dumbed down now to.

[teddiesage]

Wow, you girls are hilarious! XD I'm subscribing.

[TheGoldenKing20]

Goddamit, why is it that girl gamers only seem to exist on the Internet? :X

[Zeldafanatic1]

Love female gaming commentary

[BeamerCG]

"They look like sheep." Thank you! A little piece of me died when I saw the terrible way the elves were done in this game. At least I'm not the only one who thought that. Don't even get me started on Zevran's and Alistair's appearance.

I agree that the ending was not so hot. I really wanted to just stand back and let the mages and templars kill each other, but that wasn't an option. Instead, you had to choose which nut you liked better and hope for the best.

[dakscar]

Act 1 and 2 were nearly perfect. Act 3 felt like a rushed mess capped off by that crap ending. I sided with the mages on my first character and had a real life face-palm moment when I realized Bioware was going to force one ending no matter what the player wanted. Most Bioware games do a much better job of giving the player meaningful options but this just felt like a gigantic set up for (hopefully) an epic DA3. Very disappointing Act 3.

[Estelindis]

I agree with you so much. I already realised that Orsino knew about Quentin because there's a note from him (signed "O") that you find in the same place as Leandra's creepy body. Or, rather, I knew out of character that O was likely Orsino, but the chance to ask him about it in-game never turned up. Anyways, Orsino turned out to be a tool. Meredith wants a blood mage.... so we'll give her one? Give our enemy what she wants? What a great strategy! Idiot.

But handsomest elf in the game, yes.

[spence2321]

He mentions Quentin even if you side with the mages, but the Champion doesn't respond. Pissed me off like whoa.

Also Cullen? Sane? ikr?

[aprilshowers1987]

I can only play on the weekends and thus have not gotten that far, but it's good to hear this for future preparation.

[TearsOfWar1]

I can't find anything "awesome" about Dragon Age 2, and yes I HAVE played it.

[KaiasMama123]

I felt the EXACT SAME WAY about Orsino.

But, Meredith was NUTS, and even an ass can't think that the Annulment is a good idea when it's obvious that there are innocents.

Ugh.

Loved the game, but I was really annoyed at Orsino's idiocy.

[gyllybug12349]

"He didn't look like a sheep!"

YES <3 I love you.

[Joyride37]

I really wanted a Kill Em All option. Both sides were messed up, and my Agressive!Hawke had no time for either of their bitching. He sided with Orsino just because they were both mages, but the minute Orsino turned into an abomination was a huge facepalm moment.

I remember he even mentions "Quentin was right, blah blah" BITCH I WILL END YOU!

[myrasis]

The entire game was just this bleak, depressing mess. The fact that the game just completely limits you from being able to side with Thrask and forces you to kill them is just BioWare dangling the nice shiny happy ending in front of your face.

and then blowing it up.

[starjennn]

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig­ht?! Holla. (Orsino's redeemable quality = you kill him and you get his awesome snake staff)

[ramzoor]

It's funny cos the game makes you think that the right side is by the mages, everyone knows that not all are blood mages and you aren't going to wipe them all and beside your sister is a mage (or even better yourself, can you side against yourself??!)

BUT honestly, mages are on the wrong side, them all keep disappointing the hero for the whole walkthrough, so you will play the whole game again just to know what's different siding with the templars.

Nice rant, very appreciated :)

[ultimatexAJ]

Oh and by the way, I personally liked the redesigns of the Elves. I like elves, why can't I play as one Bioware? Why? :(

[ultimatexAJ]

I love you girls. I can't wait for another DA2 rant.

Though I'm quite surprised that ya'll liked the story because the thing I hate most about the game was the story. I mean Origins wasn't Shakespeare, but it had depth we're this doesn't. No matter which side you take it comes to the same outcome so theirs no sense of consequence.

Just my opinion.

[ignorantsheep]

@ultimatexAJ I liked the story because I like depression. XD I liked not really having any effect on the ending, just kind of being this kid that got swept up in something bigger than herself, and having to make all these decisions, and in the end, everything kind of went to shit anyway. I also feel like there's more opportunity to have fun with fandom for less than perfect endings, so. That's my reasonings as to why I liked the story, anyway.

[ultimatexAJ]

@ignorantsheep I'm not saying I wanted a happy ending because in Origins no matter what path you take the ending is bittersweet, at best. But the point is that both sides are gray and you have to side with one, but you end up kicking all their asses anyway. So what was the point of choosing a side insted of just taking them all out and come to the same conclusion. The story as a whole was just seemed lazy and not thought out and thats REALLY saying something from a Bioware game.