Dragon Age 2

I recently finished Dragon Age 2. Here are some pros, cons, and other thoughts...

Pros:

• The storyline is incredibly personal to your character, and your party. No, you're not saving the world in this one, but character growth and development is greater than any RPG I've played -- Mass Effect 2 included.
• The combat is more exciting. Bioware implemented a more action oriented style of fighting that makes combat feel more exciting while keeping most of the combat tactics from the first game. The ability to quickly bring up the combat wheel to issue commands to party members is still there while not completely destroying the flow. Combat is improved from the first game, and this is honestly the point I seem to be totally disagreeing with most reviews I have seen; maybe RPG nuts don't know how to cope with an enemy ambush.
• Party forming allows for much more flexibility than before. In Origins, and most RPGs of this sort, you are forced to make a party consisting of a tank, healer, rogue, and one damager of your choice; while in dragon age 2, many characters have great survival talents that allow for you to make a party consisting of any 3 allies you would like. This has been the most understated value (if not completely omitted) in most of the reviews I have read.
• The rogue class was awesome... I look forward to trying the other classes.
• Imported stories from Origins help make your individual experience unique.

Cons:

• Specializations for each class are good, but not as great as they possibly could have been.
• "Boss" fights don't have a great deal of imagination, but they didn't really in the first game. (Actually, when I think of it, not many Bioware games have great "boss" fights)
• In Dragon Age: Origins, you traveled a great deal of Ferelden, allowing you to enjoy a great deal of unique environments. In Dragon Age 2, you are pretty much stuck in Kirkwall the whole time. For me, this was the biggest con of the game.
• A few eyesores with the graphics still remain. It honestly makes you wonder how this is the same company that produced the Mass Effect games.
• Unlike the first game, you don't have a choice of an origin. You will always be a human from Lothering.

There are many more that I could add to each list.

In the initial analysis, this game is an enormous departure from the first game. It feels almost nothing like a true sequel. The combat, storytelling, and exploration have been completely revamped for better or worse. The game isn't what you expect, and that can easily be disappointing.

Yet, in the final analysis, the game has to be understood for what it is: a very fun action-oriented RPG that isn't perfect. I had a lot of fun playing the game, and I would recommend it to anyone that isn't some sort of loyalist to traditional RPGs.

Rating: 9/10

(Proof reading is for pussies)