Dragon Age 2 in 10 points...

[talking sausage]

Article from Game Informer. Shows 10 things you should know about Game Informer (most us know all if not most of these things):

Link

Just taking the points quick:

1. Combat Feels Like An Action/RPG
...fights take place in third person and focus more on fast-paced action...

2. Classes Are More Specialized
...Rogues are more about precision and support, though their position in relation to enemies is less important...
...Mages still nuke foes, but they aren’t quite as helpless when faced with direct combat...

Never played Rogues so I don't know how important positioning was and if it made much difference. Tactics?

I played a mage and positioning was simplistic. Heavies in front and mages in the back. From the text above it sounds like you're more likely playing a battlemage then a mage. Maybe an over exaggeration on my part.

3. Inventory Management Is Better
...This means that you can’t equip them with the helmets, boots, and gauntlets that you find in your quest. This may sound disappointing at first, but it results in you spending much less time in the menus sizing up and optimizing equipment...

I'm guessing to prevent the "break" in the action.

4. Skills Are Gone

...You no longer get skill points, because skills as they existed in Origins are no longer present. Your character can still do many things that used to be skills, like crafting and lockpicking, but these have migrated to other parts of the game...

Less to worry about to keep the action going.

5. Kirkwall Is The Main Setting

Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke’s rise to power in Kirkwall, and as such, almost all of the action takes place within the city.

Good, bad, dunno. I can see myself getting sick of city walls (wood or stone) eventually.

6. Not The Usual BioWare Story

...Players go through an introductory sequence, and then the world opens up to four larger areas with their own quests and storylines. When those areas are complete, the tale converges for the thrilling finale. I won’t spoil anything about specific events in Dragon Age II, but I will say that the narrative does not follow this structure at all...

Might be interesting.

7. Ally Relations Are Improved

...In Dragon Age II, you can do these missions regardless of whether your ally loves or hates you. Instead of gating story content, the approval system now bestows passive bonuses...

Never really worried too much about relations previously. So, meh.

8. Conversation Flows Better
...This means that you don’t spend your time reading through a list of responses before selecting one. Instead, you choose a brief response from a wheel that gives you the gist of what Hawke will say next...

...One benefit to this approach is that conversations are not start-and-stop affairs; they flow naturally and Hawke emerges as a more defined character instead of a voiceless cipher...

Too keep the action going. Less reading, more slaying/sexing.

9. You’re A Long Way From Ferelden
The Free Marches are influenced by the events from the previous game, but don’t expect every little choice you made in Origins to change the world...

...However, be aware that some minor story points in Origins and Awakening have been retconned, so even if you import your save, the events of the previous games aren’t necessarily set in stone...

Interesting. I wonder which one's will it be?

10. It’s Shorter, But Not Short
I finished Dragon Age II, along with every sidequest, in approximately 40 hours. While that isn’t the 70 hours it took me to play through Origins, it’s still a large chunk of time, and I certainly didn’t feel cheated by the amount of content.

Meh.

 

[DarthBehemoth]

It kind of looks like a list of excuses

 

[Serious_Business]

WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH

 

[tennishero]

if you pirate DA2 it proves you dont know shit about rpgs, and in fact- you fail

in you BUY DA2, you suck dick. and you are not homosexual- you jst enjoy cock

 

[sgc_meltdown]

if you pirate DA2 it proves you dont know shit about rpgs, and in fact- you fail

in you BUY DA2, you suck dick. and you are not homosexual- you jst enjoy cock

if you touch volourn will the both of you disappear

 

[attackfighter]

10. It’s Shorter, But Not Short
I finished Dragon Age II, along with every sidequest, in approximately 40 hours. While that isn’t the 70 hours it took me to play through Origins, it’s still a large chunk of time, and I certainly didn’t feel cheated by the amount of content.

he seems to have padded both these figures out by about 30 hours...

 

[Xor]

Oh for fuck's sake.

Never played Rogues so I don't know how important positioning was and if it made much difference. Tactics?

Positioning for rogues was important in the sense that you had to stand behind enemies to do any damage. So pretty much not at all.

3. Inventory Management Is Better
...This means that you can’t equip them with the helmets, boots, and gauntlets that you find in your quest. This may sound disappointing at first, but it results in you spending much less time in the menus sizing up and optimizing equipment...

DA3 won't even have an inventory at this rate. Who cares, it just slows down the action amirite.

4. Skills Are Gone

...You no longer get skill points, because skills as they existed in Origins are no longer present. Your character can still do many things that used to be skills, like crafting and lockpicking, but these have migrated to other parts of the game...

This is something I haven't even bothered bitching about, but it bears mentioning. It seems like Bioware has been removing non-combat-related abilities from their games. BG and NWN had plenty of non-combat spells and a handful of skills, KOTOR just had some crafting and diplomacy (again, skill-based), and DAO had those feat-type abilities. Now DA2 doesn't have any social skills at all and crafting isn't even skill-based, at least from what I've seen.

...One benefit to this approach is that conversations are not start-and-stop affairs; they flow naturally and Hawke emerges as a more defined character instead of a voiceless cipher...

This is like that thing Alpha Protocol was talking about.

...However, be aware that some minor story points in Origins and Awakening have been retconned, so even if you import your save, the events of the previous games aren’t necessarily set in stone...

So what the fuck is the point of a savegame import feature if they're just going to change whatever they want.

 

[Noddy]

Is it just me or does this sound eerily like the 'interview' the codex had with mass effect.