Knights of the Old Republic ranks amongst my favorite games. Neverwinter Nights is a classic, even if D&D aficionados will place Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale first. Passing the torch to Obsidian brought other important RPGs, like NWN 2 and KotOR II: The Sith Lords, while Dragon Age: Origins (from its position of spiritual successor the Baldur’s Gate) also received high praise and introduced a new land, adventures and characters to the fantasy RPG universe.

The irony is that the release of Dragon Age II has put things a bit into perspective. A year ago I was criticizing DAO in various regards, but once you put next to its sequel, you realize that Origins has „more” story, more attractive secondary quests, more variety, more… whatever you want. Of course, many might cry „Dragon Age II was developed for consoles as well, that’s the problem”. Well, I’m sorry, but Origins was also a multiplatform title and you can’t find consoles guilty for a weak story, with plenty of holes and rabbits pulled out of the hat to get to a disappointing end. Among other things.

City of chains

From the beginning you have a number of certainties, like the fact that your character is the Champion of Kirkwall, a mysterious and strong hero, protagonist in events told by one of his party members, the dwarf Varric. The whole story is seen through Varric’s eyes, who is interrogated by the mysterious Cassandra, a Seeker for the most important religious faction in Ferelden, The Chantry. And it was obvious, at least for me, that Varric was an attempt to recreate Oghren, the womanizer, drunken and amusing dwarf from Origins. Mission only half-accomplished, because while Varric does have some parts of the humor, he lacks the prestige of his race in a way, since we are used to dwarfs being fierce warriors, not square, hairy-chest creatures with huge golden chains around their necks.

The hero (or heroine for me) can be warrior, rogue or mage, but unfortunately you can’t choose the other races and the different beginnings from Origins, so now you’re just human. More to that, although you can import the saved games (actually, the state of the world), don’t expect major influences on the story. If you start from scratch, Dragon Age II has 3 scenarios you can choose from.

The whole adventure starts with the hero and his family running from Lothering, with the Darkspawn on their tail; the run is quickly plagued by tragic events, but you also get to meet a mysterious character from the first game: Flemeth. Yet despite having a huge potential to become a second Kreia (those of you who played KotOR II know what I mean), she just throws around some lines and disappears, probably until the next DLC.

After many efforts, our heroes arrive in the Free Marches and Kirkwall, a city already filled with refugees. Hawke’s family has relatives here, but it will prove a chore to get pass by the guards and the thick walls, but once in, the hero must cater to the needs of its citizens, be they mercenaries, smugglers, mages, warriors, nobles or beggars. The story is spread very thin and the ending is a mess; mostly you get political intrigues, the need to side with a faction or another and, many times, the decisions you make will take you to the same result, no matter what you choose. Which also goes for certain party members that you will lose regardless of your dialogue options.

Many events happen as if by magic (the final resting place of an evil artifact is surprising and has no story-wise explanation) and I can only go back to the DLC part, since the story seems chopped off only for the sake of money. Unfortunately, what you get is an unclear mix and not even after almost 50 hours of killing, I wasn’t sure why I did it: no matter what, the result was the same. And I think we had the right to at least two different endings, but really different, not just varying in minor details.

The missions aren’t very original either: kill, recover, transport. At least you get some nicer ideas for the companion stories: for instance, you have to clean up a haunted house and Varric’s comments sound like he’s a hysterical woman faced with a rat. In another case, you have to help with a romantic story and offer gifts and organize dates in unusual places.

The quests are separated into several categories: the main (political) line; party member stories, secondary missions (linked somehow with the main plot or that of the allies) and side quests (finding books, swords, kidnapped girls) that aren’t usually marked on the map, so you have to explore to find them. I must admit I didn’t fancy the side quests too much and going round in the same places all the time doesn’t help in stimulating the exploration of every corner.

An interesting choice was the separation of missions for night and day, as illegal activities take place under the cover of night and you are often attacked in the worst places of the town and even Hightown has its share of aggressive villains. But for the rest, the game takes place in the same areas, Kirkwall and some exterior zones (Soundermount and Deep Roads) plus some caves and sewers.