7. Ally Relations Are Improved
If you did things your allies didn’t approve of in Origins, they didn’t like you. That wouldn’t be a big deal, except that cool companion missions weren’t available unless your approval was high with the appropriate character. 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. If a party member is your friend, you’ll get one kind of bonus. If that same character is a rival, you’ll get a different one. This way, you get reward whether you’re nice or mean, plus you still get to do all of the quests. Being neutral, however, still has no advantages.