[REVIEW] Dragon Age 2

So this is my third installment in reviewing a game. I haven't gotten much feedback as to what I should improve upon or further detail. Hmm... I would love some more criticisms seeing as how I would love to write more serious (of course, professional) reviews for communities.

Dragon Age 2 starts off after the Blight is over, and the character in control is known as the Champion of Kirkwall. The main player doesn't quite achieve this title immediately. You play as the main hero escaping Lothering with your family only to make it into Kirkwall. The story focuses less on the Darkspawn and more on the happenings of the city. Your enemies range from Darkspawn to thugs and even Quanari. In all honesty, the storyline doesn't go as in depth as Origins did. The shift from a major roleplaying game into action can be seen here. You have the choice to switch the attacking style of the character from manual to autoattack in the options section.
I left the game on all default settings (minus the audio settings) to experience the game how the developers had intended it. After monotonous button mashing for attacking, I can see why not many original Origins players liked this playstyle. In the game, it didn't feel that much strategy was needed seeing as how there weren't split second decisions to be made. The NPCs weren't the brightest, and your allies weren't much of an improvement.
There are a lot of tedious quests as well that were only accessed in order. There wasn't much open world exploration compared to the first game. To compare it to an action game, this felt more like Dynasty Warriors than Dragon Age. Within the world, you are constricted to only a few places within Kirkwall and four or so maps outside of it.
As for Origins, you are allowed to explore almost seven places in Denerim alone not to mention all of the random events that occur while traveling to your destinations.

In presentation, this game looks beautiful compared to Origins. The game drastically improved on details. I will give it that, but upgraded graphics aren't the only thing gamers see when playing a game.
The voice acting was simply perfectly matched to the characters' movements. The witty banter between certain characters was enjoyable. I didn't get tired of them talking at all.
The choices made by the main character seemed impartial to the story. It felt as though you weren't really making a giant effect on the game. Certain things still happened regardless of the fact that you were a jerk or completely nice.
The change in music was ambient. In my opinion, it fit the situations. When a big fight was approaching, you would know.

In summary, this game is a giant change from the first game.
Its quests are lacking, areas for exploration are diminished, and use of strategy is almost non-existent.
The pros of the game are graphics, voice acting, and a more organized radial menu.

This game is an easy pick-up and play game.
It's a pretty short game for people who have played RPGs before and can last about eight hours for those who haven't played Dragon Age at all.

In retrospect, I would rate this game around a 6.5/10.

RATING: 6.5/10