Fans still await more news about 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Age 4 as they anxiously revisit other games in the franchise. From asking 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:questions about mages and elves to picking through Cod🦹ex entries, fans ar🧸e ravenous for more information.
But many fans regard Dragon Age II as the "black sheep" of the game series. It diverted from the basic formula of Dragon Age which, at its most basic, is a story-driven and player-driven game that star𒅌ted with Dragon ܫAge: Origins.
However, as𒁏 many fans replay the long reviled game, they might find out that maybe Dragon Age II wasn't so bad after all. In fact, maybe it has aged better than Dragon Age: Origins not on🦄ly in gameplay and graphics but in terms of the lore of the series, as well.
Just how well has Dragon Age ꦺII aged better than Dragon Age: Origins?
10 🐈 Combat Systeꦑm
Origins and DAII released across console and PC originally, but still do not have controller support on PC to this day. 🙈Fans can use a third-party mapping program to facilitate controller support. But it is not just hardware that determines player experien🤡ce and player comfort here.
Improvements from Origins to DAII increased combat smoothness, immersion, ♑and made it better for rogue and warrior classes. Combat remains a bit clunky in Origins due somewhat to its age but also its l꧂ack of future-proofing. Dragon Age II, in comparison, still feels as lively as the combat in Inquisition does despite the age difference.
9 🌼 More🥂 Mass Effect; Less Baldur’s Gate
This might sound like a critique of the game, but it can be viewed as a boon instead. For long-time BioWare fans, they'll remember that the studio originally came to fame thanks to the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur's Gate titles. Origins was something of a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, so it naturally featured gameplay similar to that style with a l🍷ittle extra BioWare flair.
The original 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mass Effect released in 2007, while Origins followed in 2009 and then Mass Effect 2 in 2010. BioWare had ample time🦋 to review player reactions from these three games before releasing Drag෴on Age II in 2011. This convergence of style, experience, and influence created the modern "BioWare style game" fans have come to expect and love.
8 🍒 Real Consequences ও
One of the only moments of true consequence in Origins is when Alistair or Loghain lose at the Land's Meet. For Alistair, it can just mean exile and becoming a 🐼drunk; however, for Loghain, it can mean a swift execution. However, in Dragon Age II, the cons🐻equences of each action feel more real because the player can see their effects over time.
For instance, think about the optional dragon fight at the Bone Pit bout the Dwarven merchant brothers in Dragon Age II. Hawke can directly inte𝐆rvene in these situations and live through the effects (such as dead characters). In Origins, even sweeping decisions like saving the werewolves don't feel important because there just isn't much follow-up to them.
7 A꧟☂ More Granular Story Approach
The smaller narrative scope of Dragon Age II can be considered a hindrance compared to Origins. After all, players got to explore so many places in Origins, be it the Wending Wood with werewolves or the ancient thaigs in the Deep Roads and Orzammar. 𓆉It's also quite true that the recycled dungeons in Dragon Age II were a critically bad part of the game. But the smaller scope was not myopic; rather, it was intentionally done to tell a better story.
The stories of the Origins companions are spread out and disparate. As such, there isn't much interconnection apart from the player character roping them all together. In Dragon Age II, these characters have vested interests in and around Kirkwall. The player also sees these plots☂ play out over the span of years instead of hopping from one location to another without seeing the benefits or fallout of their decisions.
6 🍎 Fantastic Villains
In🅷 Origins, the “bad guys” were never quite so clear cut. Even the demons somehow made it into the grey area of morality. Loghain, despite how many fans despise him, can even be defended for his heinous 🍌actions against the King and the Grey Wardens.
In contrast, Dragon Age II offers up a singularly bad character in Knight-Commander Meredith. Before t♒he red lyrium, she was simply austere and frustrating; however, after being corrupted, she becomes beyond zealous and extremely dangerous. Even if the player character doesn’t side with the Mages, it is incredibly difficult to defend Meredith as the corruption takes hold. And it is the red lyrium that is the true villain; not Knight-Commander Meredith.
That makes for a more visceral experience throughout the game as the player watc🍸hes her descent then finally must take her down at the end.
5 ꦆ Unique Representations Of Other Cultures
The world-building of Dragon Age was still in its infancy even after Origins released. This can be seen directly in how much the Qunari alone changed from Origins to Drag💝on Age II. The 🙈latter has aged better than Origins when it comes to showing fans about other cultures in Thedas rather than just telling them.
For instance, consider the costume and demeanor of the Arishok versus the Sten. Consider the differences in perspectives from Fenris to Merrill versus the elves in Origins in the alienages or the Dalish. Moreover, compare Hawke's interactions with Tevinter slavers and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fenris' history with what fans saw in Origins.
The only culture that faired worse ꦉin this realm was the Dwarves, but fans hope to ret🌌urn to Orzammar with future games.
4 🅘 Leandra And Malcolm’s Stories
Though 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Hawke has plenty of adventures of her own, the lives of her parents were thick with drama, to𓆉o. Leandra belonged to the Amell f𝔉amily (the same as the human Mage Warden from Origins) and nobility in Kirkwall. But Hawke's father, Malcolm, was also a Mage of note and power.
Paired with a Romeo and Juliet love story, Malcolm had to help the Grey Wardens with a clandestine problem. Fans will recall that this "problem" later became with the Big Bad in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Age: Inquisition.
These kinds of in-world connections age better in comparison to Dalish Keepers player never hear about again or Templars whose homicidal killing sprees get retconned so that they can become the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Inquisition Military Advisor.
3 More Mea🔥ning In World Lore
Corresponding directly with the roles Leandra and Malcolm play in Thedosian history, Dragon༺ Age II proved connections to be a theme. After all, the game starts with Flemeth, someone the player could have killed in Origins. It establishes itself as more rooted in l🔴ore from first blush. Apart from Shale's storyline and Morrigan's blood baby shenanigans, Origins doesn't really compare.
Sure, Alistair becoming King of Fereldan is a ThingTM. But that doesn't ripple throughout history in the same way that 168澳洲幸🌠运5开奖网:a mag🧜e abomination blowing up a Chantry does. And it doesn't have the same, in-world effects that a ꦰmagꦏe-hating Templar group going around beating Mages to bloody pulps does.
Dra♛gon Age II sets the stage for the events of I𒆙nquisition by taking the small parts of Origins (Eluvians, Grey Wardens, Deep Roads) and extrapolating them into bigger implications for Dragon Age lore.
2 🦹 More Memor💛able Character Relationships
Despite the impressions that Morrigan, Zevran, Alistair, and Leliana lefts on fa⛄🔯ns, they didn’t do that for each other. Origins has a ragtag group running around Fereldan attacking Dark Spawn, but the most memorable relationship established outside of a romance is that of the player character and Dog (if recruited).
But Dragon Age II shows how Hawke becomes friends with their companions. Hawke carries Varric through his troubles with his brother. She (or he) helps 168澳洲幸运5开奖网𓂃:Merrill come to terms with blood magic and its true cost. Varric adopts nicknames for ♔everyone and he and Isabela can be found at the bar together. Aveline and Fenris work together𒐪 to keep the streets safe.
The more granular approach to the story enables Hawke (and fans by proxy) to become much more attached to the characters whoꦏ seem to also have relationships with each other, too.
1 🥀 ⛄Isabela And Rivain
So this should maybe fall under cultural representation, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Isabela is a force to be reckoned with🌄 and deserv🉐es her own section. Not only is she a badass pirate queen, but Isabela also hails from Rivain, a country northeast of Antiva that, up until Dragon Age II, was wholly left out of the franchise's lore.
But Dragon Age II and subsequent media starring Isabela (like The Silent Grove) expound upon the culture. For instance, Rivain has a chantry, but it♋ isn't the dominating religion or governance in the country as it is across Ferelden and Orlais. This inclusion in Dragon Age II continues to spark theory-crafting and questions in the fan community.