Dragon Age 2: Gameplay and Discussion

[Monk]

Because the other thread is about origins and is too long it's about time this game got its own thread. It'll be unlocking the 8th at 00:00 according to Bioware forums for NA (A little under 12 hours from now), so i figure its about time we made a thread to direct discussion. Times when the game is available listed below.

Unlocking is based on the official game release date for the region you live in. The PC versions, both digital and retail, will unlock beginning at the following times:
Asia/Pacific region – 0000h on March 8th

Canada & United States – 0000h on March 8th

Russian Federation - 0200h on March 8th

Western Europe – 0000h on March 10th

Australia & New Zealand – 0000h March 9th

Central and South America - 1700h March 10th

Eastern Europe – 0000h March 11th

Great Britain & Ireland – 0000h March 11th

Please keep all plot based discussion that has relevance in spoiler tags so the rest of us who don't have it yet know what to avoid.

[Kekvit Irae]

http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/8...ore-cinematic/

Dragon Age: Origins
1,000,000 Words
1,000 Cinematics
1,000 Characters
56,000 Spoken Lines
60 Hours of Gameplay

Dragon Age II
400,000 Words
2,500 Cinematics
500 Characters
38,000 Spoken Lines
40 Hours of Gameplay

Also...

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...on-age-ii.aspx
tl;dr:

1. Combat is Dragon Age meets Dynasty Warriors.
2. Classes cant be jack of all trades.
3. Inventory got the Mass Effect 2 treatment.
4. Skills are gone.
5. I hope you enjoy Kirkwall. You'll be seeing it a LOT.
6. "Not The Usual BioWare Story" I have nothing more to add.
7. Don't like certain party members? Tough. They stick with you no matter how much of a mabari you are to them.
8. Hope you like the Mass Effect dialogue wheel.
9. You know all that time you spent playing DA:O so you can see what affected DA2? Gone, reconned, or barely mentioned.
10. 40 hours total. This is pretty liberal, considering I've seen some reviews saying 20.

I feel bad I wasted 60 bucks on a preorder. :(

[Scienter]

This makes me kind of sad. I enjoyed DA:O. I need to read some more reviews. I know I'm going to play it, I just hope it isn't super disappointing.

[Kekvit Irae]

I enjoyed DA:O.

I did too. Steam clocks me in at 321 hours of total playtime. 33.3 just from this week.
DA2 had better be good, otherwise I'm going to throw a major fit.

[Mailman653]

DA2 Review, 4 out of 5
Dragon-Age-2---High-Resolution-Texture-Pack

[Husar]

I read a german review earlier today that said it's generally a good RPG, better than most, but a huge disappointment for the author, who also liked DA:O.
They gave DA:O 90% and DA2 got 82%.

Among the major complaints were enemies spawning in waves, that the strengths of DA:O hadn't been strengthened further (like love affairs etc. having almost no effect). Controls, especially on consoles, being too complicated and that levels had been re-used too often, one instance of that annoyed the author especially since two important fights take place in almost the same area, which has been recycled for the second one. Also the scale he said, had been reduced, at least in feeling, from world-changing events to local community politics and that it isn't all that clear in the beginning why you have to do all that you do.

My impression is that instead of building on the strengths of the previous game, they decided to make it more "cool", with the faster animations, more blood, the mage doing some kind of raindance etc.
In a way that's fine buit it appears they forgot that the rest is also important.

Also Qunaris got horns now.

[Monk]

1. Combat is Dragon Age meets Dynasty Warriors.

Wat. If it makes you feel better i've had to think and plan fights for DA2 a lot more than I ever did for Origins.

2. Classes cant be jack of all trades.

The combat focus is more on chaining moves together across classes. Like having Varric use a shatter move on enemies your mage froze. When it came to the higher difficulties in Origins no class could be a jack of all trades. You needed specialists or you didn't survive - same thing here only you feel it on the lower difficulties to some extent as well.

3. Inventory got the Mass Effect 2 treatment.

That implies there's no inventory, because you know: Mass Effect 2 didn't have one. That's so incredibly untrue in for Dragon Age 2.

4. Skills are gone.

I don't even know what you're talking about. Things like lockpicking and crafting? Uh.. rogues can lockpick still and the crafting system is more open. You find recipes, NPCs make stuff.

5. I hope you enjoy Kirkwall. You'll be seeing it a LOT.

Yeah pretty much, one of the one things i dislike about the game thus far. The main story takes place within and around the city. You do some dungeon hopping and fight some really cool battles in other locations. Deep roads, bandit infested beeches, ect, but the story's grounded in the city.

6. "Not The Usual BioWare Story" I have nothing more to add.

Well.. people were complaining that Bioware only tells the same structured story when DA:O came out. I remember that as one of the major complaints of the game.. same old Bioware.

7. Don't like certain party members? Tough. They stick with you no matter how much of a mabari you are to them.

Yeah that's a cool story. Too bad its total bull. I lost both Carver and Isabella during my first play through :(

8. Hope you like the Mass Effect dialogue wheel.

I do, thanks!

9. You know all that time you spent playing DA:O so you can see what affected DA2? Gone, reconned, or barely mentioned.

Um. What? I've run into countless people from Origins that my warden left around. In fact I'd think bioware put way too many ties into my playthrough of the first game, it feels like half the people i knew ended up in Kirkwall.

10. 40 hours total. This is pretty liberal, considering I've seen some reviews saying 20.

Origins took me 23 hours to complete on Normal in my final go through. Hour count is pretty unreliable.

Seriously.. I don't like everything in DA2 and there's some serious cons that I want to talk about once i finish my go. But good lord there's some outlandish fabrications on the internet, and about the craziest stuff.

[TinCow]

Only about 20 mins in so far, but I kind of like the combat system. The camera is so far a pain in the butt, but it's satisfying in the same way that ME2 combat was satisfying. It seems to fit the game better than the combat system in DA:O did. DA:O failed whenever it tried to be Baldur's Gate, so I think it's a step forward for Bioware to stop pretending that the game is something it's not.

That said... 20 mins. We'll see what I think after I've played for several solid hours.

[Monk]

Only about 20 mins in so far, but I kind of like the combat system. The camera is so far a pain in the butt, but it's satisfying in the same way that ME2 combat was satisfying. It seems to fit the game better than the combat system in DA:O did. DA:O failed whenever it tried to be Baldur's Gate, so I think it's a step forward for Bioware to stop pretending that the game is something it's not.

That said... 20 mins. We'll see what I think after I've played for several solid hours.

I'm sorry to report that you may be struggling with the camera all game. I really miss the top-down view for lining up Area of effect spells.

[Greyblades]

Yeah that's a cool story. Too bad its total bull. I lost both Carver and Isabella during my first play through :(

First play through? It's only been out a day and you're on your second run?

[Monk]

First play through? It's only been out a day and you're on your second run?

Nah, but i've enjoyed it thus far and plan to do another when i'm done. Sadly i'm stuck about 15 hours in unable to go forward. Too busy :(

[Scienter]

I second TinCow on the camera issues, they make me pause combat a lot. I uploaded my old save game so hopefully I'll see the impact of my decisions from DA:O. I like the combat system too, though the cooldown on potion drinking will be hard to get used to. I like it though, it makes me rely less on them.

[Kekvit Irae]

That implies there's no inventory, because you know: Mass Effect 2 didn't have one. That's so incredibly untrue in for Dragon Age 2.

I was able to buy/switch out arms and armor in ME2, or was that just a dream?

I don't even know what you're talking about. Things like lockpicking and crafting? Uh.. rogues can lockpick still and the crafting system is more open. You find recipes, NPCs make stuff.

News flash: Lockpicking was a talent, not a skill. I'm talking about things like Survival and Coersion. Having a character able to do everything, based on class or ability scores, takes out the stategic element in leveling up.

Well.. people were complaining that Bioware only tells the same structured story when DA:O came out. I remember that as one of the major complaints of the game.. same old Bioware.

The plot of Origins was certainly not bad. I'd rather have something familiar (and something a company excels in) than something completely new. I didn't have to stay in Denerim if I didn't want to.

I do, thanks!

Good for you. But for those of us who want more than just Good/Neutral/Bad/Investigate, I'll take the expansive dialogue choices of DA:O.

Um. What? I've run into countless people from Origins that my warden left around. In fact I'd think bioware put way too many ties into my playthrough of the first game, it feels like half the people i knew ended up in Kirkwall.

Then please explain to me why Connor was freed from the desire demon when I loaded up a save where I allowed the demon to have her way with him? Talent point > some dumb kid's soul.

Origins took me 23 hours to complete on Normal in my final go through. Hour count is pretty unreliable.

And your first playthrough?


I'm not saying the game is bad, I'm saying the same is not what I expected nor wanted.

[Beskar]

It was pretty obvious what you were getting with Dragon Age 2 and it was obvious from the 'get go' that it will be different.

- From what I have seen from the combat system, it is an improvement over DA:O. I rather have "raindance" which looks stylish combat wise, then "uuuuuhuhhhhhoooooooooo uuuhhhttttttthhhhhhh" slowmo action the mage did in DA:O. The speed ups were much needed.
- As for 'skills', they were pretty useless in DA:O, since I went exactly the same way each time, there was no need for variation since they threw lots of skills at you anyway. As for "I HAD CHOICE", no you never, only rogues could lock pick, and it wasted a ton of points which would have been better spent elsewhere, it is an improvement.
- Inventory was an improvement for the party members, since they keep their own personal styles. In real life, I wouldn't be holding down Alistair, stripping him naked and forcing him to wear some other random gear than his beloved heirloom templar armour.
- Mass Effect dialogue wheel and voice acting was an improvement and so far, it seems to be the same about of choices.

[Monk]

I was able to buy/switch out arms and armor in ME2, or was that just a dream?

Dragon age 2 hasn't been perfect but let's be honest about it please. The inventory system in DA2 through simplistic, is far more than ME2 ever had. You actually pick up items, potions, and junk that you can exchange with a vendor. ME2 had sliders that determined what armor/weapons you carried.

News flash: Lockpicking was a talent, not a skill. I'm talking about things like Survival and Coersion. Having a character able to do everything, based on class or ability scores, takes out the stategic element in leveling up.

Point taken. But can do without the NEWS FLASH next time.

Then please explain to me why Connor was freed from the desire demon when I loaded up a save where I allowed the demon to have her way with him? Talent point > some dumb kid's soul.

Haven't experienced anything like that. Could be an oversight like what happened with Conrad in ME2. No matter how you treat him in ME1, he still thinks you were a total jerk who put a gun to his face. Thus far everything i've seen has been in line with what I did in Origins.

And your first playthrough?

34-36ish. Second playthrough was 25. Seriously, i have no idea how people ended up with these crazy numbers of 90 and 100 hours of play for origins. But I guess i just finish RPGs quicker than some

I'm not saying the game is bad, I'm saying the same is not what I expected nor wanted.

There's been things i dislike strongly about the game thus far so I'd wager you and I might agree on a certain number of points. But some things i've seen claimed online I just don't see in the final product. I don't know how else I can describe that.

[Kekvit Irae]

Dragon age 2 hasn't been perfect but let's be honest about it please. The inventory system in DA2 through simplistic, is far more than ME2 ever had. You actually pick up items, potions, and junk that you can exchange with a vendor. ME2 had sliders that determined what armor/weapons you carried.

Point. However, there are those, like me, in the gaming community who actually complexity in their inventory management systems or whatever. My loudest complaint about ME2 (besides being a Gears of War wannabe) was the removal of the strategic element in picking the right mods, weapons, and armor for the right situation. If balance was an issue- and it was, since you could blow through the game holding down the fire button with the right mods- then they could have nerfed/toned down the mods, weapons, and skills, not completely remove them.

Point taken. But can do without the NEWS FLASH next time.

My apologies. From the way you were writing, I felt like you were being antagonistic.

Haven't experienced anything like that. Could be an oversight like what happened with Conrad in ME2. No matter how you treat him in ME1, he still thinks you were a total jerk who put a gun to his face. Thus far everything i've seen has been in line with what I did in Origins.

I hope that it wont effect my game very much, if at all. I'm very careful about the choices I make in roleplaying games. My character wanted more power, and didn't give a single thought to the safety of that little kid. Having it retconned felt like a slap in the face. It was a choice that was more personally involving than Conrad sidequest.

34-36ish. Second playthrough was 25. Seriously, i have no idea how people ended up with these crazy numbers of 90 and 100 hours of play for origins. But I guess i just finish RPGs quicker than some

I believe mine was around 50-60ish. Most of that time was spent hunting down side quests and being utterly confused as to what to do or what choices I should make. And save-scumming. Lots of save-scumming.

There's been things i dislike strongly about the game thus far so I'd wager you and I might agree on a certain number of points. But some things i've seen claimed online I just don't see in the final product. I don't know how else I can describe that.

I wont have a complete opinion until I play the game the entire way through, and it'll have to wait until I have completed my Awakening game to see what else can transfer.

[Monk]

My apologies. From the way you were writing, I felt like you were being antagonistic.

My bad then.

I believe mine was around 50-60ish. Most of that time was spent hunting down side quests and being utterly confused as to what to do or what choices I should make. And save-scumming. Lots of save-scumming.

That may be it then. I normally restrict myself to main-plot and all companion quests, simply because i tend to 'get lost' and lose interest if i try to hunt down everything. I also tend to ignore DLC on subsequent play throughs.. except for Shale. Loves me that Shale.

- From what I have seen from the combat system, it is an improvement over DA:O. I rather have "raindance" which looks stylish combat wise, then "uuuuuhuhhhhhoooooooooo uuuhhhttttttthhhhhhh" slowmo action the mage did in DA:O. The speed ups were much needed.
- Mass Effect dialogue wheel and voice acting was an improvement and so far, it seems to be the same about of choices.

Combat feels really fun as do some of the bigger boss battles. The Deep Roads has to be my favorite thus far in terms of boss movement, positioning and tactics. Really, it reminds me of running raids in WoW. Telling people to not stand in fire and then starring at disbelief when they do anyway. Can't count the times i've muttered a variety of curses towards Anders. Always finding ways to stand where he shouldn't...

As for the wheel system it has for the most part been a change I like, but I am really hating party interaction. Without spoiling too much my party doesnt feel like my team, like they did in Origins. They just feel like friends who hang around and get into trouble with me from time to time. It makes sense, i guess, since we're not out to save the world - but I'd be lying if i said i didn't miss feeling like The A Team.

[Kekvit Irae]

Really, it reminds me of running raids in WoW. Telling people to not stand in fire and then starring at disbelief when they do anyway.

Oh man, tell me about it. I hate running Cata Heroics. There's always that *one* person in the group. DA:O wasn't much better, but at least I could pause and take control.

[TinCow]

Played a few hours now and have some more comments.

-I'm getting used to the camera and am able to manage it, but it's still a horrible system which was clearly imposed due to console requirements. Stupid consoles.
-I'm startled by the load speeds of pretty much everything. My computer is decent but certainly not a speed machine by modern standards, yet everything, from the game to saves to new areas, loads in about 5 seconds flat. I've never seen a game load that fast.
-I like combat. It's quick and intuitive and sufficiently challenging to be interesting (playing on Hard, though had to drop to Normal for the early-game Ogre fight). I love me some Infinity Engine style tactical combat and I love me some ME2 style action combat. Everything that tries to be halfway between those seems to be less enjoyable than the extremes, and I count DA:O in that category. I'm glad they didn't try to stay in the middle with DA2.
-I like the ME2 conversation wheel in ME2, but for some reason it doesn't seem to fit as well in DA2. Yes, it works, but it makes me far more aware that I'm playing an RPG-on-rails. ME1 was on rails, so that was fine for ME2, but DA:O kept trying to insist it wasn't on rails, so their decision to not even try and disguise it in DA2 is a bit jarring.
-Inventory system is fine. Here they walk the line between Infinity Engine and ME2 and succeed. We get loot, but management of it is easy and I don't have to do the hand-me-down dance with my entire party every single time I get a new piece of armor. I approve.

[seireikhaan]

Ok, game has some pretty good strong points. Combat is more balanced- a 3 mage party doesn't walk in and win fights. Talents all seem somewhat useful. Textures are nicer. Armors look much nicer. Voice acting is all pretty good. Not having much of a problem on the pc camera, although I do miss being able to pan top-down.

However, a lot of the fights in general aren't well designed- I don't need four waves of assassins dropping out of nowhere on me in a back alley just because its night. Party mechanics don't feel nearly as good as Origins. Pretty much echoing Monk's comments there. My biggest irk so far is reused levels- there's been like two different cavern levels that I've run like 20 times fighting different enemies. Thankfully the Deep Roads offered something new. HOWEVER.... whoever designed the Rock Wraith fight deserves to be canned. Horrible, terrible, awful fight.

[Monk]

Ok, game has some pretty good strong points. Combat is more balanced- a 3 mage party doesn't walk in and win fights. Talents all seem somewhat useful. Textures are nicer. Armors look much nicer. Voice acting is all pretty good. Not having much of a problem on the pc camera, although I do miss being able to pan top-down.

However, a lot of the fights in general aren't well designed- I don't need four waves of assassins dropping out of nowhere on me in a back alley just because its night. Party mechanics don't feel nearly as good as Origins. Pretty much echoing Monk's comments there. My biggest irk so far is reused levels- there's been like two different cavern levels that I've run like 20 times fighting different enemies. Thankfully the Deep Roads offered something new. HOWEVER.... whoever designed the Rock Wraith fight deserves to be canned. Horrible, terrible, awful fight.

Target aquisition feels.. off. Avelyn is my go to bruiser/tank and i love to run heavy ranged groups. Typically i'll have two mages (hawke and anders), Varric for shatter combos and miasma, and then Ave. This means that Ave is really the only person in my party who can take a hit and not get burned down. Most the time it runs swell, but every over fight she'll go charging way into the back of the enemy ranks to focus on an archer first.. when there's two assassin's that need threat on them starring my team in the face. I'm not sure if it's a case of tactics or just the AI not picking its targets smart.

Anyway I've been able to play some more and i'm a sufficient point in where I can comment on a couple things. I've already mentioned my two biggest negatives thus far, party interaction and targeting mechanics. Khaan mentioned the third which is the repeating dungeon maps - it bothers me but not to the point that it breaks up the fun or the action. More of an annoyance.

Honestly what I find most jarring is how tightly they tried to tie this game into Origins with cameos of minor players, and things you did in the first game. In ME2 I love those tie-ins because i'm playing the same Shepard. I can stroll into a room and laugh at some guy who i punched in the face.. and even do it again for kicks! In DA2 i'm playing Hawke.. and all this seems pretty insignificant in the story at hand. I understand a need to tie the games together, but DA2 has such a different feel than origins did.

The fact I'm contending with all these folks who hold a significance to me in a meta concept, it feels like the developers are saying "HEY LOOK KIDS, IT'S X!" I think it detracts from what is otherwise a solid experience. I mean seriously. Did every person I ever know end up in Kirkwall? Maybe I should try to arrange a worst case scenario so i won't have to put up with it...

[rajpoot]

Right I still don't have my copy.....Going to reach me tomorrow, or maybe day after on the 13th I think.
Already I've beginning to feel disappointed read a ton of negative user reviews on Gamespot. Anyway, what I was really wondering whether anyone has downloaded the High Resolution Texture pack and is it really worth it? Because if it is then I'll start now and if I'm lucky it'll finish downloading in two days.
So, opinions?

[Krusader]

Forum bans locks you out from games

Don't go saying Dragon Age 2 is bad or EA sold souls to devil or you might not be able to play your EA games

Definitely going to pick up Dragon Age 2, but as I said in other thread, it will be the Ultimate Edition two years from now. From what I've seen on forums, reviews and Metascore user ratings/reviews it seems the discontent crowd is bigger or maybe even not the minority this time around compared to Mass Effect 2 & DA:O.

[Kekvit Irae]

Right I still don't have my copy.....Going to reach me tomorrow, or maybe day after on the 13th I think.
Already I've beginning to feel disappointed read a ton of negative user reviews on Gamespot. Anyway, what I was really wondering whether anyone has downloaded the High Resolution Texture pack and is it really worth it? Because if it is then I'll start now and if I'm lucky it'll finish downloading in two days.
So, opinions?

There are some things that are better in DA:O, and some things that are worse. To me, it feels less like Dragon Age and more like a fantasy Mass Effect. Take that for what you will. It's best if you make up your own mind about the the game rather than rely on the internet to influence your decisions.
I have downloaded and installed the high resolution pack and installed it before playing, so I really don't know what kind of a difference it really makes.

Forum bans locks you out from games

Don't go saying Dragon Age 2 is bad or EA sold souls to devil or you might not be able to play your EA games

I feel absolutely no pity for him. While preventing him from playing a 60 dollar game is a little overkill, he accepted the EULA just like everyone else. It's not EA's fault he just scrolled down and clicked "I Agree". Ignorance is no excuse.

[Monk]

I have downloaded and installed the high resolution pack and installed it before playing, so I really don't know what kind of a difference it really makes.

A very noticeable difference.

edit: Character models, armor, weapons ect are unchanged. Terrain, buildings and generally everything else gets a much needed jump in texture quality.

[Techno Viking]

[Greyblades]

edit: Character models, armor, weapons ect are unchanged. Terrain, buildings and generally everything else gets a much needed jump in texture quality.

Oh you have got to be kidding, the clothes & armour textures are what is putting me off the most!

[seireikhaan]

Well, about 33 hours logged on the current character, and just recently became "champion". Now I'm stuck on another crazy hard fight....

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Stumbled into a High Dragon fight back at the mine after. Holy dicks, that fight's just not fair. Thought I was doing decently well after fighting off the first 'ling rush and continuing to whittle down the high dragon's health. But that second 'ling rush headed by an adult dragon, all while the high dragon was nuking from... on high. Right, I might try it later.

[Monk]

23 hours and DA2 is in the bag, signed and sealed, completed. I had an amazing time but I can't help but feel this represents one step forward and two steps back for the DA team. On one hand they introduce some really nice, refined combat that's a load of fun to take part in. On the other, it can get incredibly tiresome having to fine tune positioning of every single party member so they dont get rushed by the enemy reinforcement surges. Bioware claimed to have eliminated "difficulty spikes", but they're still there in full force.

In Origins i always felt these spikes came from the grapple moves random mobs would hit you with. You're doing fine, then suddenly a mob pins Alistair to the ground and rips his throat out. Hurray, now you have no tank! It was a very cheap way to ensure fights were hard and I never really learned a good counter (I know stun movies free companions, but they'd almost always fail in a clutch for me ). In DA2 it feels more like the fights are hard because they've been balanced poorly.. or just not at all. I like challange as much as the next guy, but see Khaan's spoiler for an example of one that just isnt fun nor fair.

Add to it that Dragon Age 2 feels like it abandoned genuinely good ideas in order to get its way. Not everything in Origins was perfect, but there were things that it did do right, like characterization. I can't help but feel your companions this time around are a little.. flat. Not being able to hang out with them unless I have a quest to go to talk to them doesn't help either. I'm not asking to play 20 questions (a la origins), but at LEAST let me stop by and talk about what they're up to when I feel like it.

There's also a number of odd glitches and immersion breaking bugs in relation to a certain quests near the ending. Things like hair colors of companions suddenly turning white, quest givers not wanting to talk to you despite sending me a letter to talk with them, and encounters not loading correctly all give off a certain impression. I've been hearing rumblings that EA forced Bioware to rush out the gate with this game, and once i hit the 16 hour mark I really started to see where those rumors were born. It's not that it lacks content, it's that it lacks polish, which is a true surprise coming from Bioware.

Looking back on the experience as a whole I am reflecting positively on it, despite my disappointment in the areas above. It's a really good game that offers a lot of fun, more than that it's a worthy entry into the Dragon Age universe. However, I dont feel it's a worthy sequel to Origins simply due to too many stumbles taken in the mechanics department. There is an interesting story to be seen here, but it's held back by a lot. I hope the Dragon Age team gets their act together in the future or else they'll be getting shown up by the very people they were trying to emulate (their coworkers over on the Mass Effect team).

Plot related stuff.

For you all playing morally upright characters i'll warn you now to have one of your mages take up healing as a secondary.

For the final act:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Your team picks sides in the Templar/Mage dispute, the only people left alive/left supporting me by this time were full friend, but I got the feeling they may have turned on me if they were Rival. I'm unsure, but you don't want to get caught on the other side of the isle from your tank/healer. There are some ROUGH fights ahead of you. Also.. Terrorism. Seriously.

[Kekvit Irae]

23 hours and DA2 is in the bag, signed and sealed, completed. I had an amazing time but I can't help but feel this represents one step forward and two steps back for the DA team. On one hand they introduce some really nice, refined combat that's a load of fun to take part in. On the other, it can get incredibly tiresome having to fine tune positioning of every single party member so they dont get rushed by the enemy reinforcement surges. Bioware claimed to have eliminated "difficulty spikes", but they're still there in full force.

23 hours? Steam clocks me in at 26 hours, and I've just now completed

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

the Arishok's quest to track down the thief of the poison plans.

Of course, I'm OCD when it comes to side and secondary quests. Leave no stone unturned.

In Origins i always felt these spikes came from the grapple moves random mobs would hit you with. You're doing fine, then suddenly a mob pins Alistair to the ground and rips his throat out. Hurray, now you have no tank! It was a very cheap way to ensure fights were hard and I never really learned a good counter (I know stun movies free companions, but they'd almost always fail in a clutch for me ). In DA2 it feels more like the fights are hard because they've been balanced poorly.. or just not at all. I like challange as much as the next guy, but see Khaan's spoiler for an example of one that just isnt fun nor fair.

Or how about one fight early on during a secondary quest which pits you against

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

a revenant, two rage demons, a desire demon, an arcane horror, and a crapload of shades and abominations? All in the same room. I wiped so many times, mostly because, at that point in the game, I only had access ONE healer. Stupid Merrill and her "unique" specialization. I'm stuck with Anders for most of the game, unfortunately. At least Morrigan had the ability to choose Creation spells in Origins.

Add to it that Dragon Age 2 feels like it abandoned genuinely good ideas in order to get its way. Not everything in Origins was perfect, but there were things that it did do right, like characterization. I can't help but feel your companions this time around are a little.. flat. Not being able to hang out with them unless I have a quest to go to talk to them doesn't help either. I'm not asking to play 20 questions (a la origins), but at LEAST let me stop by and talk about what they're up to when I feel like it.

Interparty banter is often hilarious, but I certainly miss the ability to personally talk to my party members at any point in the game. Being able to talk to a companion only at their home base and only if there's a companion quest is like a slap in the face for me. I feel like this game was made for min-maxers, not roleplayers.

There's also a number of odd glitches and immersion breaking bugs in relation to a certain quests near the ending. Things like hair colors of companions suddenly turning white, quest givers not wanting to talk to you despite sending me a letter to talk with them, and encounters not loading correctly all give off a certain impression. I've been hearing rumblings that EA forced Bioware to rush out the gate with this game, and once i hit the 16 hour mark I really started to see where those rumors were born. It's not that it lacks content, it's that it lacks polish, which is a true surprise coming from Bioware.

The only "bug" I've encountered so far was bad clipping on armor models (including my companions' armor). Hands should not be able to clip through your thigh when talking, nor should your butt clip through your chest armor.