Dragon Age II
Tags: revenge

Plot synopsis:
=== Setting ===
Set in the mythical world of Thedas, Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, who fled the nation of Ferelden during the events of Dragon Age: Origins and traveled across the Waking Sea to the Free Marches and the city of Kirkwall as a refugee. Within the span of a decade, Hawke would rise in power and influence to become the legendary "Champion of Kirkwall", and the center of events that change the course of Thedas. The story unfolds through flashbacks from the perspective of Varric, one of Hawke's companions who relates the Champion's "true story" to Cassandra Pentaghast, his interrogator. The story is told in three acts; a gap of almost three years separates each act from the subsequent one. Dragon Age II has a linear frame narrative, mainly based on the protagonist's choices. Although the player has a great influence on how the story develops, the game's main plot remains unaltered until the very last quest where the player must choose one of the two endings.
=== Plot ===
The story begins with Varric Tethras, a former partner of Hawke, the "Champion Of Kirkwall", being brought in for questioning. He is interrogated by Cassandra Pentaghast, a member of the Seekers, an offshoot of the Templars, who are trying to determine how Hawke started a war between the Mages and Templars. Varric begins to tell her the story, telling her that while he does not know where the Champion is, he can tell her the whole truth behind how the war started.
The game starts shortly after the outbreak of the Fifth Blight with the Hawke family escaping their home village of Lothering in Ferelden with the vanguard of the darkspawn horde in pursuit (chronologically this occurs a few days after the Battle of Ostagar). Soon however, they are forced to fight the overwhelming threat alongside a Templar, Wesley, and his wife, Aveline. Although one of Hawke's siblings is killed (if Hawke is a mage it is Bethany, and if Hawke is a warrior or rogue it is Carver), the skirmish ends with the intervention of Flemeth, a witch who can assume the form of a dragon. After promising to complete a task for Flemeth and giving the fatally injured Wesley a coup de grace, she helps the party escape to Kirkwall, a city across the sea where they hope to find refuge. Upon arriving in Kirkwall however, the party finds itself outside the city gates, which are overwhelmed by Fereldan refugees. The group is forced to call upon their Uncle Gamlen Amell, who no longer holds the fortune and estate that used to be held by the Amell family. Therefore, Hawke sees no choice but to enter the service of either a mercenary band or a smuggler group. The group Hawke chooses then pays the bribe that the Hawke family needs to enter the city, and they take up residence in Gamlen's small dilapidated house in Lowtown.
After a year of service for one of the two groups, an opportunity of prosperity presents itself: The dwarf brothers Bartrand and Varric Tethras are planning a treasure hunting expedition into the perilous region of the Deep Roads, taking advantage of the Fifth Blight's recent end and the consequent reduction of Darkspawn in the Deep Roads. The expedition is expected to be extremely risky but very rewarding. Bartrand refuses to hire any more warriors; Varric, however, reveals that they desperately lack enough funding and knowledge of the region. Therefore, he approaches Hawke and proposes a partnership in exchange for the fulfillment of the two requirements. As such, Hawke embarks on an adventurous quest to earn the needed capital and enlist the aid of Anders, a rogue mage and former Grey Warden who possesses the knowledge they need about The Deep Roads.
The Deep Roads expedition proves both a financial success and a tragedy: Hawke's party survives the perilous expedition and the proceeds make Hawke famous and wealthy, enabling him/her to relocate to a mansion in Hightown. However, both Varric and Hawke lose one of their siblings: During the expedition, a very powerful magical idol made of red lyrium causes Bartrand to go permanently insane. Consequently, he betrays Hawke and Varric, stranding them at the mercy of a merciless horde of the Darkspawn and a very powerful magical Rock Wraith. Depending on the player's choices, Hawke's sibling (Carver or Bethany) is either killed by the Darkspawn taint, conscripted into the Grey Wardens, or is forced to leave the family to join the Templars or the Circle, respectively.
Three years later, Hawke is summoned by the Viscount of Kirkwall to help resolve a political situation that the foreign military forces of the Qunari have caused. The Qunari, who were shipwrecked in Kirkwall three years before, neither obey the laws of Kirkwall nor seem willing to leave in the foreseeable future. While Hawke investigates the reason for their presence (which they are unwilling to supply), the tension between the Qunari and the inhabitants of Kirkwall escalates. An anti-Qunari faction attempts to instigate a war to purge the Qunari from the city, while dissidents and criminals join the Qunari to evade law enforcement. Personal tragedy also strikes Hawke when their mother Leandra is abducted by a blood mage serial killer preying on Kirkwall's women; Hawke finds and kills the murderer, but too late to save Leandra. Hawke vows to find out the identity of the serial killer's accomplice, "O". Eventually, as Hawke discovers the reason for the Qunari presence (the search for a coveted artifact that was stolen from them), the tension reaches such a height that the Qunari decide to attack Kirkwall and execute the Viscount. Hawke's party successfully retakes Kirkwall and (if the player chooses) eliminates the Qunari leader. For his/her actions, Hawke is declared the Champion of Kirkwall.
After another three years, Kirkwall still lacks a Viscount due to the tyrannical rule of Knight-Commander Meredith and the Templars of Kirkwall. Meredith turns Kirkwall into a police state that she rules with an iron fist, her Chantry superiors either unable or unwilling to rein in her brutal excesses. Meredith is challenged by First Enchanter Orsino, the head of the Circle of Magic in Kirkwall, who tries to topple Meredith's leadership with public support. While the main duty of the Templars is to enforce justice amongst the mages in Kirkwall and to prevent the practice of blood magic (a forbidden branch of magic), they practically cause the opposite through their heavy-handed and oppressive treatment of the innocent, extensive use of torture, unlawful infliction of the Rite of Tranquility upon mages (which effectively lobotomizes the inflicted person by cutting off their connection to the Fade), as well as their own decadence and corruption. Time and again, the clash between the Templars and the mages becomes violent and forces Hawke to intervene, especially when a group of anti-Meredith rebels kidnap one of Hawke's family/friends and hold him or her hostage, after which Hawke distances him/herself from the conflict to avoid any more harm to his/her family.
Eventually, Anders decides to force the Templars' hand and, with or without Hawke's help (albeit unknowingly), orchestrates a massive explosion that levels the Kirkwall Chantry and kills Grand Cleric Elthina, to whom the Templars bear allegiance. This act triggers the final decisive battle between the mages and the Templars across the city, in which the player must pick a side. Regardless of the side Hawke chooses, he/she ends up killing Orsino, who is surmised to have been "O", the shadowy accomplice of the man responsible for Leandra's death; Orsino reveals that he has, in desperation, succumbed to using blood magic, turning into a demonic abomination that Hawke and party must slay. Reaching the Gallows, the main courtyard and former prison of Kirkwall, Hawke confronts Meredith, who he/she must also kill (even if Hawke sides with the Templars), as the Knight-Commander admits to buying the red lyrium idol from Bartrand, which has corrupted her mind and has convinced her to go through a mass extermination of mages. After she is killed, a Templar-aligned Hawke is elected Viscount, and he/she reluctantly accepts the position to keep Kirkwall from being torn apart even more, while a mage-aligned Hawke is allowed to leave Kirkwall unharmed and unwittingly becomes the de facto leader of the mage rebellion.
As he concludes his story, Varric reveals that Hawke's companions eventually drift apart and Hawke either disappears during his/her time as Viscount, or leaves Kirkwall soon after killing Meredith (if Hawke had a love interest, that person leaves along with Hawke). It is also revealed that the Seekers are actually a group tasked with monitoring the Templars, the Circles of Magi all over Thedas have followed Kirkwall's example and rebelled, and that the Templars have broken away with the Chantry to fight the Circles. Satisfied, Cassandra tells Varric that she believes Hawke is the only person capable of stopping the fighting, and lets him go when she realizes Varric does not know his/her whereabouts. Outside, she meets with fellow Seeker Leliana, and they both agree that either Hawke or the Warden must be found in order to stop the coming war.

Review: I had high, high hopes for this game.
The initial trailers blew me away, and rarely have I anticipated a game more.
DA2 is not a bad game, but neither is it nearly as good as its predecessor.
Furthermore, after the epic and Grandiose scale of the first game, this game seemed to add little to the overall scope of the world of Dragon Age. The Graphics have seen a wonderful improvement.
Overall, the game is highly polished and feels smooth.
The tactical battle system feels a bit faster, but basically the same.
This drives me nuts, and I find this change from the first game inexplicable.
Second, and much more confusing is that the world is significantly smaller than Origins.
In Origins, you explored a continent filled with castles, caves, mountains, villages, and cities and tunnels under the Earth.
In DA2, the entire game is in the city of Kirkwall and a few surrounding areas.
Third, and the most irritating, is that the game designers reuse the same areas over and over and over.
When I found myself in the brothel and then later a noble's house, and they had exactly the same rooms with the same layout, it made me want to punch the game.
Thank God that the quests have quite a bit of variety, but at the same time, I found myself wanting a centralized interested story to keep the game moving.
Hawke is a fun character, and his/her voice acting is terrific, but again the game finds itself wanting in the plot department.
Also, all of the supporting characters are well-developed and easy to care about.
Overall, the game is very well-made.
Most of its faults come from comparing it to the first, which again, was a much better game.
I expected this game to be an 11/10, but sadly it falls somewhere closer to an 8/10.
I will continue to play Dragon Age games, but unfortunately this game put a damper on that desire..
Okay story, great gameplay.
There is a lot to talk about in DA: II so if you get bored, just skip to the last few sentences of my review for my final judgment.Anyways, I was absolutely obsessed with Dragon Age: Origins.
The rich and epic storyline, emotional depth and involvement of the characters, along with the fantasy-RPG format and gameplay really captivated me to the point that I actually played through the game three times, with the expansion (Awakening) and all the DLC.How does Dragon Age II compare?
They changed aspects that I could see many taking issue with in the first game, such as the combat not being fast-paced enough, and seeming lack of consideration in creating a compelling visual representation of the Qunari.The combat in DA II is much more fast-paced, and difficulty levels are maintained, and the Qunari are brilliantly depicted as their menacing selves.
These changes I can agree with.What I take issue with is the significantly weaker storyline and limited itemization and customizing options in comparison to DA: Origins.
It is replaced by a general upgrading system that is based on finding character-specific items that party members will automatically add to their existing attire.
Accessory items are still interchangeable, but I feel that change was detrimental to the experience.I realize that consistent itemization is a lot of complicated work for developers, and DA: Awakening suffered slightly in that respect, however I am always against limiting the power of the player when it comes to RPGs.On the subject of DA: Awakening, the changes to the Runecrafting system for DA II was very welcome.
I do not miss the hours spent upgrading runes to fill my equipment.Concerning the use of characters in DA II, I feel was not bold enough.
This is likely due to the apparent lack of camaraderie between the central character and his/her companions that was present in DA: Origins, combined with the dialogue of DA II that appeals more to emo subculture than the vast majority of teens and young adults that play fantasy RPGs, and a lack of comic relief in an apparent struggle that seems more commonplace than a time of crisis.There is an exception to the absence of comic relief in the character Merill, whose neurotic and often clumsy dialogue is a source of entertainment.
Also, a couple of short encounters with characters from DA:O were entertaining while they lasted.
However, generally the characters are much more severe in DA II than DA:O, when the conflicts and crisis of DA II do not feel as urgent.I use DA:O and Awakening as a reference point to assess the direction of DA II because, in my opinion, DA II does not function on its own.
It requires an understanding of DA:O to assess the successes and apparent failures of DA II.Having finished both games, I highly recommend that prospective buyers play and finish Dragon Age: Origins, before playing Dragon Age II.
If you loved DA:O, you won't be as enthused by DA II as you were the first game.
This would be an easy 9 or even 10 if a better effort was made towards the storyline, character development, dynamics between characters, dialogue, and companion itemization.
A story driven game , less of an rpg than the 1st one.
Combat felt weird , the start was a little weak story wise .
But these are not this game's strong points ...Its all about the story .
While the main story is not as inspired as the 1st one , there's a distinct atmosphere built , a personal story of accomplishment , supported by the many many side and companion quests .
And your companions feel alive .
Voice acting is hands down the best I've seen in a game .
Companions have personalities so vivid and perky , that at times I forgot they are just graphics .
You can pursue relationships , loose them , there's a full story behind each and every one of them .Classes are distinct in role and fun while playing them , and I finished this game with all of them .
While the storyline is mostly linear , there are some choices that can effect the game strongly , like loosing a member of your family .
The dialogs between your party members while you run around are much fun also .Battles can be as action or as strategic as you like , since you can pause the game to give commands to every party member , or just hack away at enemies .
Higher difficulty settings may require you to pause and consider strategy more .Overall , if you value atmosphere and rich characters , this is a masterpiece ..
It's no Dragon Age Origins..
You've 'bought' Dragon Age 2 and loaded it up.
The Hero from the first game (IE you) is now a story told by bards and chatty NPCs. Instead you play Hawke, a male or female human only.The first thing you'll notice is the lack of elf or dwarf.
If you want to switch between daggers and a bow, pause the game and change it manually.Of course, that's assuming you're playing on an ATI card.
If you're playing on Nvidia, you're likely to be listening to the audio pause whilst the game freezes for a second.
The side quests are actually more interesting then the main plot.But luckily the combat system will take your mind off the plot.
The combat is waves of bad guys.
Fight a bunch of thugs, then just when you think it's all over, like a space invader a new spawn of bad guys appears.
I guess then the only advantage is the game is a lot simpler in combat and not as many tactics.
Either all your NPCs hold firm or they all move freely.Look, overall it's not terrible.
I've played far worse RPGs in my days.
But I've also played better.
This feels like a consolised, simplified, rushed version.
It feels more like a large DLC to DA:O rather then a sequel.
I gave it 6/10 as compared to DA:O, I could probably give it 7/10 if it was a stand alone game, but expectations to RPG of the Year and Game of the Year do matter.Here's hoping they don't stuff up Mass Effect 3..
The most overrated game of the decade.
This game is a terrible garbage that tries to represent itself as Dragon Age and an RPG, but it's not either.
Weak storyline, boring quests, copied and pasted maps, uninteresting characters, ruined qunari, terrible graphics, unbelievable and illogical scenarios.
Don't believe the illusion, because this game is NOT an RPG.
Do not bother to import your saves from Dragon Age:Origins.
You might even meet some characters you have killed in a previous game.
And there are DLC's that were actually part of the main game, but were cut out for extra profit and released just a few hours after DA2.
RPG fans should avoid this game.
And according to the Bioware itself, Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 3 will be even worse.
Game that didn't live up to its name.
Sadly not a very successful sequel to the masterpiece of its predecessor Dragon Age: Origins.
Because of the development time being cut short, game is visually ugly and embarrassingly repetitive in its area designs.
In fact, with the only visitable location being one city and its outskirts, it's really a shame that all caves and even houses are in fact only one cave, mansion or a house with different passages closed off during different entry times to simulate some kind of variety.
Some people prefer DA2's playability - especially during fights - to the one of DA:O for its quickness, though the combat and tactics options are no longer as rich as they were in the first game..
Dragon age ; Orgins was legendary.
I never played a game like that in my life !!!
All the dialouges,the character development the choises you can make : the game had just so much in it !!!!
I was waiting for Dragon Age 2 for quite some time, hoping for something just as good, maybe even better.
I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed :( .Although Dragon Age 2 has better graphics, more combos etc.
The storyline isn't good enough.
In Orgins everything the characters said seemed so poetic, as if Shakespeare himself wrote it...But DA2 had it's good sided to.
And our main character finally got a voice !!!
Dragon Age 2 was pretty good, but it could have been better..
Grab your pitchforks because I'm going to get this out of the way and say I preferred Dragon Age 2 to Dragon Age: Origins.
(I also prefer it to Inquisition, but we'll leave that be.)DAO was fun, yeah, with a great story that I've played through several times, but I prefer DA2's personal scope as compared to DAO's epic one.DA2 introduces you to, and as, Hawke, a refugee.
This meant I was getting a character with a voice and a personality and more than one facial expression.
Hawke has three personalities you can attribute them and all three are great and very well written.
(Really, my Warden from DAO made the same face when she was executing Loghain as when she was putting the pants to Zevran.
What the what?)As this human, Hawke, you explore a single city (and some outlying stuff) and you explore relationships, on a more focused level, with your party.
Something all the DA games have done is write compelling characters with interesting things to say and stories and secrets that you have befriend/force out of them.
Now, a complaint people have most often is that they didn't like that some characters (namely Anders and Leliana) changed.
People change.
I guess I just don't understand why people are so upset at the concept of character development.
I do have a single complaint about the relationships on a sexy level.
Zevran put the pants to anyone, that bifurious little rogue, and that was also fine.
This is a problem that Inquisition fixed and I am hugely pleased with.As for combat, I again, preferred it.
I played these games for the stories and choices, not so I could pause the game every six seconds sending my characters scurrying about the map.
Combat for me was always an inconvenient barricade to the story.
They really didn't take anything away; players who like sending their pawns in still have a way to do that (albeit less complex and "tactical.") I admit that the tactical thing in Origins was better orchestrated than the one in Two, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who said "The tactical capacity of Dragon Age is its best feature!" A complaint (especially as one treats combat like a rush hour gridlock): they make you fight too many trash mobs.
Just when you think you've mopped them up, a rogue falls out of the sky with a dagger for your kidneys.
Time.So, how about Kirkwall, that city you're exploring?
I liked having a small area that you could get intimate with because the entirety of Ferelden was just too big for me.
Please, note, I loved the "concept." In practice, Dragon Age 2 is full of repeat dungeon scenery.
If you ever fight in a mansion, it's the same mansion every time.
It, along with the endless sky-rogues, got pretty irritating.
I concede that point and blame it on a rushed game production.One thing I don't buy is that the game takes place over 10 years.
If you blinked during the part where it says "X many years later," you'd never believe you'd been kickin' it in Kirkwall for a decade.
So, that feels a bit forced.Finally, DA2 simplified a lot of things, that I was grateful for.
I don't really care what my party's armor looks like.
Yeah, I can totally get behind changing my appearance, but having to do that for six people?
I hated crafting, didn't have time for it, it got in the way of my story.
Some people see DAO as a legend, and I'm not knocking that.
It was a great game.
I don't feel that way, but I understand why *you* do.
People are very quick to tear DA2 apart because it's not DAO.
Had Dragon Age 2 been called "The Kirkwall Chronicles", an original game by unknown developers, I would have cut it a lot more slack and praised some interesting choices and compelling characters.
Since, however, it was made by BioWare, the people behind Dragon Age: Origins, the Baldur's Gate series, the Mass Effect saga and Knights of the Old Republic, its missteps are glaring.Let's give credit where it's due: at least the developers attempted to do something different from the usual "chosen one saves the world" formula, going for the more personal story of Hawke (the protagonist) and his rise in the city of Kirkwall.
Now, you can set a whole RPG in a single location, but in that case the place needs to be EXTREMELY well-done.
Kirkwall is nothing special; the main cities in Skyrim are far more realistic and detailed, featuring NPCs with daily routines and most buildings being accessible.
And Skyrim had MANY cities and a huge world all around them.While the story's structure is questionable (various acts don't really glue together all that well), characters are OK, although not on par with Origins'.
Anders from Awakening makes a comeback; as irritating as his new emo self can be, he has an interesting arc.
An intriguing unreliable narrator idea is vastly underused.Combat is a bore: if you thought the Deep Roads in Origins were tiresome, wait and see this.
Characters jump and rush, covering huge distances in a split-second - more "teleporting" than "moving" - making tactical placement pointless.
Friendly fire is tied to difficulty, so it's present only if you play on "nightmare" (which means even more boring encounters).
Tactical camera is gone.There is an interesting game buried beneath Dragon Age 2; too bad they obviously rushed it, cutting corners.
Let's hope they'll learn from their mistakes for the next one.As a stand-alone game: 6,5/10 As a sequel: 4,5/10.
Take this game on its own merits.
Almost all of the complaints I have heard about Dragon Age 2 have one common theme.
They all revolve about its differences to its predecessor Dragon Age Origins.In the interests of balance I will state this from the off, I love both this game and DA:O.
When Bioware announced a sequel to DA:O I was extremely hopeful.
Following almost all of the news released during the development process left me knowing what to expect I new this game would not just be an Origins clone and so I went in with my eyes open.
Do the same and you will see this game for what it is, a deep and engaging personal tale.This is the crux of the matter.
The story (less epic, but more personal than that of Origins) really drew me in, the relationships with both your party and your family feel very real, largely in part to the excellent writing and acting, and losing one, (it can happen) does feel like a blow.The new combat system is excellent and the classes are now far more clearly defined, I can honestly not find any real fault with it.
Perhaps if I was being picky I could mention the excessive numbers of enemies, but all this does is make you feel bad-ass for pummelling your way through them.As for the inability to play as a non-human character, again I must say that taking this game on it's own merits this does not cause a problem.
Hawke is a great character (especially the sarcastic version)and I never felt the need to play as an elf or dwarf.So in conclusion, DA2 is a great game if you treat it as a game in of itself and not just as a follow on to Origins you will have a great time.