The headline says it all. Summary:
Bought it. Played it. Sold it. All within 48 hours.
But why? (a bit longer explanation)
For a start EA is bad company for Bioware they treat their old fans and new customers as money milking cows only. On top of that their forum polices are random and really hostile against critical voices. Then the complete DLC rip off, the complete focus on merchandise, comics etc. I have no problem with making big bucks on things but I believe EA draged BW into things that completely took the focus off the game. I wouldn't even call it a finished game. It's a very pretty box with impressive advertising. Nothing more.
I have bought every single Bioware release. Some of them as NWN, IWD and BG I've bought multiple copies of for multiplayer purpose. I love the worlds they've presented and the stories they told. But DA2 is a laugh in my face for being stupid enough to willingly handing over my money for the game.
My language is not English (as you may have noted) but I really suffer from the dialogue and the often unbearable party banter. It's like an porno movie conversation, but worse.
The quests as far as I played was 90% like reliving WoW. A few were okay and had some interesting ideas but not much more.
The combat is a total disapoinment. Were are the cool animations, the tactical choices they talked so much about? It's fast but boring. Just hack and slash all the way and when you killed the last badie, they spawn a bunch more and guess what's happening when you have killed them? Yeah, a new bunch.
The background story could have been interesting but it's like commercial TV. All the breaks destroys the mood and you soon forget what you're watching.
It's really ugly. I could take that if it was a good game. Everyone talked about how pretty it would look. But if the engine is so good why did they let a bunch of monkeys use the LSD supply before doing the design work?
Isn't there something good then?
Of course there is. The music! It's great and I really love some of the tracks.
So should you buy DA2?
If you like the BW classics, Mass Effect and even DA:O: No don't do it, spend your money of something you like. Buy your mother a present, eat a good dinner. Buy the Wrath of Ashardalon boardgame. Or take a chance with Dungeon Siege 3 (who knows it may be an okay hack and slash)
This is not a review just my own frustration over one of my favorite game developers doing a bad job and the publisher screwing me big time for getting my money without any effort.
Thanks for reading, as always
/Amraphael