Over a decade ago, before I ever truly began to understand and appreciate games beyond just playing them, I wrote a review on Dragon Age II that I can’t seem to find anywhere online anymore. I’m more embarrassed by the “edgy” style I was trying to go for, still thinking that it was cool when I was writing it, rather than the quality of the writing itself. The reason I bring it up at all is because I really laid into DA2. I criticized the protagonist, the characters, the reused level designs, a story that seemed to undermine itself, the graphics, the combat; apart from one or two comments I made about Varric Tethras, I had nothing nice to say about the game, and so I avoided it for years, choosing to play Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition instead and just skipping over DA2. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, I was convinced by a friend to revisit the series, especially because they seemed to hate DA2 even more than I did. It got me really thinking whether my opinion had changed and my memories were skewed by my initial perceptions, or whether the game was truly as bad as I remembered it being. I am utterly surprised to say that I was wrong about Dragon Age II; it’s actually a fun and deep game that greatly contributes to Thedosian lore.
One of the biggest changes I made on my second playthrough was creating a female main character, rather than a male one. I usually tended to create guys when I play, and still sometimes do, but I find myself more and more creating women instead nowadays. Male voice actors tend to sound monotonous and gruff, depicting a tough personality, but female voice actors seem to put a lot more range into their characters; or maybe I just find women’s voices to be pleasant, generally speaking. Plus, if I’m going to be staring at a character’s ass on-screen for hours at a time, might as well be one I enjoy looking at. Regardless, my experience with DA2 was significantly better with FemHawke, and I felt more drawn to her than I did my BroHawke.
Another change I decided to make was to play a rogue instead of a mage this time around. For me, mage protagonists in the Dragon Age games seem to have the most investment and the highest stakes in the story, as far as classes go. But in DA2, your class doesn’t only choose what abilities you have available, but it also determines your starting party. Create a mage, and your sister Bethany is killed, leaving you with your brother Carver, an annoying younger brother (speaking from the perspective of a youngest brother) who swings a sword around, constantly reminds everyone of his jealousy toward his older sibling, and then joins the Templars (or the Grey Wardens, depending on another story choice). On the other hand, create a warrior or a rogue, and it is instead Bethany who survives. Whereas Carver wants to step out from under his sibling’s shadow, Bethany simply desires to have a stable home life for herself, her older sibling, and her mother. Eventually, this leads to guilt over the constant running that her family must endure to safeguard her, an apostate mage, from being captured, and she turns herself over to the Circle of Magi to protect them from potential retribution. I think it’s a much more touching character arc, and as a result, the relationship between Bethany and Hawke is much nicer than between Carver and Hawke. It’s less argumentative and more cooperative while still being teasing and playful. Carver does turn around by the third act and he’s much more matured and mellow, but by that point, my impression of him had already been set. Bethany is consistent from beginning to end. It may come down to taste in the end, but something to ponder when creating your future Champion of Kirkwall.
One of my biggest gripes about the game originally was the cast of characters, who I reduced to their personalities when I met them and refused to see them beyond any depth. Now, however, learning about the secrets of Kirkwall and the dark, nihilistic aura that seems to hang over the walled city, their dismal and melancholic personalities make more sense, betraying the very optimism that the city tries to destroy. I looked beyond the initial impressions I had made of them and realized how interesting they truly are. Isabela puts emotional barriers up in the forms of random sex and drinking, in order to keep herself from falling in love and being hurt again. Merrill is torn between her people and her people’s history, forced out from her clan while trying to preserve Elvhen magics, even if it costs her own life. Even Anders, a character who undergoes such drastic changes between Dragon Age: Awakening and DA2 that he’s essentially unrecognizable from who he was before. I don’t like what he’s turned into, but maybe that’s the point. By absorbing the spirit of Justice, he no longer is that sarcastic and aloof mage who let nothing bother him. He was permanently and irrevocably changed into an avatar of vengeance, eventually sparking the game’s critical climax. I would’ve preferred to have seen this change made on-screen, to truly see that the character has utterly changed, but nonetheless, acknowledging it makes the adjustment easier to swallow.
Likewise, I originally believed the game’s story collapsed in on itself at the end. Hawke can decide to side either with the Templars and express caution toward magic, or side with the Mages and advocate for their freedom. The game makes it seem like siding with the mages is the “right” decision to make, as they are severely oppressed by the Templars, who are severely paranoid and, for the most part, believe all mages can and will turn to blood magic when desperate. Every blood mage you’ve met until now, between Origins and DA2, has been evil, tried to kill you, and allows themselves to be corrupted by demons (with the exception of Merrill, which adds more complexity to her character). Hawke and the others can protest that not all mages are like that, but throughout the course of the game, almost every mage character you encounter, including their leader, First Enchanter Orsino, succumbs to the forbidden art, thereby proving the Templars correct. I had believed that the story got caught up, confused, and ultimately, undid itself. My moment of epiphany took place when I finally understood the games’ tone. I believed them to be like Lord of the Rings: high fantasy, swords and sorcery, quests and dangerous monsters. But even with all of these elements, the games are more akin to A Song of Ice and Fire or The Witcher: abrasive, unclean, a world where good and evil often take a similar face, where there may not be a “right” choice. That small shift completely changed how I viewed the conflict between the Circle Mages and the Templars. The notion of virtuous idealism cannot survive long in Thedas, a cruel and unfair world that seems to be falling deeper and deeper into conflict. So the idea of mages truly turning to corruption when they have no further options, rather than undo the plot, instead shows how all sides have darkness hidden within them, and it is up to you to decide how much of it you can stomach and from whom.
Part of the reason for DA2‘s noticeable shift in style from Origins was the abbreviated development cycle the game had underwent. I lambasted developer BioWare for putting out a game of much lower-quality as a direct sequel to Origins, when, in fact, it was the publisher, Electronic Arts, that was to blame. Part 3 of BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development covers the development of Dragon Age II and unveils some interesting operations. Tumblr user Felassan goes over the highlights, but you can find the entirety of the story in the aforementioned novel. Key points about this chapter speak to how DA2 was originally supposed to be Dragon Age: Inquisition. It was BioWare’s goal to make a game that spanned across the world of Thedas, dealing with large-scale political conflicts. However, with Star Wars: The Old Republic being delayed numerous times, EA forced BioWare to release something that would fill the gap in their quarterly sales targets, even if it meant removing major features like being able to customize party members’ equipment and recycling locations to cut down on costs. Making a game of even a small scale, like the ones I had attempted, is a major endeavor; expecting a major studio to release something in nine months is absolutely insane. BioWare was set up for failure; either they miss the deadlines and face financial retribution from EA, or release a game in a severely-shortened development cycle that does not live up to their standards and would be critically panned.
What should have been known as Dragon Age: Exodus became Dragon Age 2 at the insistence of Electronic Arts, forcing the title change, no matter what using a numbered title implied. This may have been the largest contributing factor to why I believed there was a dip in quality between the games. By having it be a numbered entry, the perception was that the follow-up to Dragon Age: Origins would be a direct sequel, continuing the story set before. With the change in direction, setting, character, dialogue, and gameplay, it felt like a completely different game. Because it was supposed to be a different game.
A planned expansion, Exalted March, was cancelled in summer 2011, a decision BioWare made in order to step away from DA2 and try to recover their renown as creators of amazing story-driven RPGs by focusing fully on Inquisition. Despite the poor fan reception and lower sales numbers, EA still considers DA2 to be a financial success.
Lead writer and developer David Gaider was ultimately mixed on his feelings about DA2, saying, “A lot of corners were cut. The public perception was that it was smaller than DAO. That’s a sin on its own,” while going on to praise the writing, particularly stating that the characters as among the best in the series. 10 years ago, I would’ve argued with him (not really, he’s the lead developer, why would I pick on him?), but today, I believe he’s right. Through no fault of their own, BioWare had to put out a project with a greatly diminished scope, reused assets, an unreviewed and unedited plot, and numerous bugs and glitches. And yet, it’s still ultimately a good game. The combat is fast-paced yet tactical, the characters are deep and complex, the lore is rich and immersive. Despite everything that went wrong, it’s still fun and enjoyable.
Something I noticed between playthroughs was how Hawke actually has a personality mechanic. Instead of having fully written-out options to select from and a silent protagonist à la Knights of the Old Republic, a dialogue wheel will pop up with paraphrased responses you can choose from, more akin to Mass Effect. The very first dialogue you pick will set this initial personality, and every time you select a similar option, the counter stacks. As you make dialogue choices, whether diplomatic/helpful, humorous/charming, or aggressive/direct, every option you pick adds to the hidden counter that will set Hawke’s tone when speaking while not being controlled by the player, like in a cutscene or when wandering around. This is something you’d only notice on a second playthrough, if you decide to play Hawke differently. Your first time around, you wouldn’t know that picking different dialogue would change your character’s delivery of lines. It keeps Hawke having a consistent voice throughout the game while still being able to let players select the lines they want their character to speak.
It’s small details like this that make me really appreciate a game, and I think it speaks to Dragon Age II as a whole: at first glance, it seems to be rough and shoddy, but under the surface, there’s a gem waiting to be uncovered.
LAFworks 