Why is Dragon age 2 hated on so much???

[BEDROOM BULLY]

Seriously i played DAO and really got into it and it was an excellent game (with some flaws) i had moved and had no console/pc at the time of DA2 so i basically checked it through reviews and walkthroughs on youtube..

And it was slated hard.. basically every were i read it was ****..

But having tried it a few weeks ago.. i really dont get the complaints..

The combat is FAR superior to DAO..

I prefer the character interactions on this one.. other then morrigan on the first game and that golem.. none of the characters were great..

I get that the settings were recycled to much (thanks to EA and deadlines) but i knew that from all the critical reviews.. and honestly i didn't bother me much..

Templar/Mage conflict was interesting as were the Qunari.. i agree the mages looked like physcos for the most part but there were good ones.

DAO story was typical lord of the rings kind of **** to me.. this was more of a tragedy.. i dunno i liked it...

But the combat is the main thing for me.. if i want a good story (and DA2 was passable) i will pick up a book or watch a movie.. i had a 2h warrior in both games.. in DA2 the warrior was a fluid whirlwind of death but in dao he looked like he just shat himself or he was a crab...

The new game comes out soon and its hopefully awesome and a mix of both.. the customization lost in DA2 seems to be back.. different races etc..

[bojangles1987]

The main story was weak, the dungeons were all the same, and it was full of glitches. You couldn't talk to and get to know your companions like in Origins. The game was rushed by EA and suffered greatly for it.

I still like it. It's not as good as the first game, but still good.

[Big BRICKS]

love BioWare but Dragon Age is easily the weakest thing they've put out. I've played through both and was not impressed by either. We're talking about the makers of Neverwinter, Baldur's Gate and Knights of the Old Republic.. The series is a non factor on their resume and frankly a pretty surprisingly *****ty couple of games when compared to both what BioWare usually puts out and what what other western style action rpgs are available

[DARKSEID]

I loved both.

I went on a pretty long hiatus from gaming.. basically the entire ps3/360 era. This was the period where I was struggling with student loans, rent, and starvation so dropping money on games didn't make much sense at the time.

I played dragon age because my girl gave me a powerful laptop on my birthday and I downloaded it for free with BitTorrent. I had never played anything like dragon age and I was so unbelievably immersed into the story like I never had been before or since I could remember. It was my first real next-gen experience and one I'll never forget.

I really felt like a grey warden, and the champion of kirkwall. I loved the rags to riches dynamic of DA2, and I hope they embellish that aspect more in the third one.. The way the characters and the world interact with you on your come up, and how they change as your stature changes.

Until at the end, you're a big **** baller, and the world trembles before your footsteps.

[Miburo]

The combat in the first game was perfect, provided you played it on PC as intended. Pure old-school Baldur's Gate style.

[Grand Champ]

You have to be a mental ****** to prefer DA2 over DAO

- DAO had strategic combat (try it on nightmare) unlike DA2 with their waves and their hackn'slash
- DA2 was a fruitcake experience. Some final fantasy **** elf with an oversized sword and gay, whiny Anders trying to hook up with you every 5 minutes
- Repetitive fucking cave crawling! They had 30 missions in the same two ****ing caves! They moved the entrance from time to time.
- The story was fucking dull! Barely an interesting mission throughout.
- The city layout was atrocious! They couldn't make all their fetch missions more annoying, even if they tried!
- They limited your costumization options in DA2! What ****** limits your options in an RPG? You can only equip your main character and only certain armors fit him.

I could go on, but seriously - don't compare DAO and DA2 it makes you look like a dumbass.

DA2 killed the franchise for me. Unless the new DA game is critically acclaimed from major AND independent game reviewers I ain't touching it. Even then, I might only get it on sale.

[BEDROOM BULLY]

You have to be a mental ****** to prefer DA2 over DAO

- DAO had strategic combat (try it on nightmare) unlike DA2 with their waves and their hackn'slash
- DA2 was a fruitcake experience. Some final fantasy **** elf with an oversized sword and gay, whiny Anders trying to hook up with you every 5 minutes
- Repetitive fucking cave crawling! They had 30 missions in the same two ****ing caves! They moved the entrance from time to time.
- The story was fucking dull! Barely an interesting mission throughout.
- The city layout was atrocious! They couldn't make all their fetch missions more annoying, even if they tried!
- They limited your costumization options in DA2! What ****** limits your options in an RPG? You can only equip your main character and only certain armors fit him.

I could go on, but seriously - don't compare DAO and DA2 it makes you look like a dumbass.

DA2 killed the franchise for me. Unless the new DA game is critically acclaimed from major AND independent game reviewers I ain't touching it. Even then, I might only get it on sale.

I said areas of the game were superior to the original.. and that hopefully a mixture of the 2 would result in a great third game..

Basically i was expecting DA2 to be a big pile of steaming **** based on the negativity.. having never played it and now playing it what.. 2 years after release.. it wasn't half bad especially given how EA pushed Bioware and it was barely over a year in development..

I played both on nightmare.. the combat on DA2 was dumbed down heavily on anything below hard and even hard was not that hard () apart from a few fights. However on nightmare DA2 party control was needed and it was pretty strategic.. you certainly couldn't use one character and let everyone else do as they wished.

DAO was harder combat wise.. mainly because your team was so ****IN slow and it took them years to do what you ordered.. like i mentioned in the OP.

The companions were on par.. imo.. Fruitcake?? what about that **** elf zevran.. i don't like how Bioware has gay relationships personally but both games featured that. It was a good game thats all i am saying well worth the tenner i spent.. i even got the DLC which was really good and different

Hopefully DA3 is a mix of both.. more story from dao and changing scenary with added customization + da2 combat.. possibly with slowed down animations

[Grand Champ]

I said areas of the game were superior to the original.. and that hopefully a mixture of the 2 would result in a great third game..

Basically i was expecting DA2 to be a big pile of steaming **** based on the negativity.. having never played it and now playing it what.. 2 years after release.. it wasn't half bad especially given how EA pushed Bioware and it was barely over a year in development..

I played both on nightmare.. the combat on DA2 was dumbed down heavily on anything below hard and even hard was not that hard () apart from a few fights. However on nightmare DA2 party control was needed and it was pretty strategic.. you certainly couldn't use one character and let everyone else do as they wished.

DAO was harder combat wise.. mainly because your team was so ****IN slow and it took them years to do what you ordered.. like i mentioned in the OP.

The companions were on par.. imo.. Fruitcake?? what about that **** elf zevran.. i don't like how Bioware has gay relationships personally but both games featured that. It was a good game thats all i am saying well worth the tenner i spent.. i even got the DLC which was really good and different

Hopefully DA3 is a mix of both.. more story from dao and changing scenary with added customization + da2 combat.. possibly with slowed down animations

The ONLY things I hope they bring to DA3 from DA2 are:
- the better graphics
- Varric
- Fluent combat - But for **** sake, no more waves and bring back the strategic elements again!
- Isabelas *******

When it comes to an RPG as a whole, it was an utter disaster. It did have a few acceptable improvements. Too bad they ****'d everything else up.

Oh, and Zevran was an awesome womanizer assassin comfortable with his ***uality. NOTHING like whiny ***gy Anders and Final Fantasy wannabe, depressing, emo, **** elf.