The Mog Blog

Bioware’s Dragon Age 2 is right around the corner, in fact it’s out this week for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. There are some things to keep note of about Dragon Age 2, more specifically the DLC and how this game is related to the first Dragon Age game. Those that have not played the first Dragon Age for whatever the reason should read on. There are a few tidbits of information that might be of interest for you!

The Dragon Age series introduces a fantasy world that is under constant attack by these evil creatures called the darkspawn. The series feature many stories that is told not only through the main games but also in comics and books. The games themselves also introduce separate story campaigns that further flesh out the world of Dragon Age.

With how vast Dragon Age is, those that have never played it up to this point might be wondering if it is even worth picking up Dragon Age 2. There are many reasons might have not wanted to pick up Dragon Age the first time around and one can figure more reasons why they shouldn’t start now. I’m here to sort that out for you.

If you have never played Dragon Age: Origins for Gameplay Reasons

As I said, there are a bunch of reasons why one would have skipped DA:O. One reason could be the fact that the game is an RPG and a fairly slow one that didn’t work “too” well on the consoles. Perhaps one of the biggest things about playing DA:O is that the game lets you control so many things at once in that it felt like a Real-Time Strategy game much like Starcraft. The console versions were limited and even tweaked to make it manageable. It isn’t to say that the console versions were that much worse as it was still a great game. However, the playing the console version was very different from the PC version. If anything, I recommend playing DA:O on PC over the consoles.

With Dragon Age 2, Bioware realizes this and decided to change the combat system for consoles and PC. The PC version retains the core of the battle system as it was with DA:O. The 360/PS3 releases now have you take more control over the character you’re playing. You will attack every time you hit the attack button instead of auto-attacking and the movement feels much tighter, allowing you to dodge quick attacks on reaction. If you want to see what I mean, you can download the Dragon Age 2 demo on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

If you have never played Dragon Age: Origins and want to play Dragon Age 2

Dragon Age 2, the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, is not so much a continuation but rather a new story set in the same world and time. There are a few characters that have appeared in DA:O that will make an appearance in DA2 but going into DA2 without playing DA:O will not leave you in the dark with the story. You can, however, import save data from DA:O and some of those choices will be reflected onto DA2. However, unless you want to know more about the world of Dragon Age, you are not required to play DA:O.

If you enjoyed Mass Effect and want to play Dragon Age 2

Bioware’s Mass Effect series was a hybrid of a shooter and an RPG. Dragon Age 2 is a hybrid of an action game and an RPG. Not only that, the game has more focus on the character that you play and the stories behind that character. Unlike DA:O, Mass Effect had a fully voiced main character that had a set personalities and a voice. DA2 uses that for the main character. Because of this, there is more personality for that character you created instead of having a complete blank slate where you “fill in the information.” Expect the same Shepard shenanigans with the Hawke, the main character of DA2.

So you want to buy Dragon age 2!

Good! You can still preorder it and get the preorder bonuses as of this writing.

Dragon Age 2 for Xbox 360
Dragon Age 2 for Playstation 3
Dragon Age 2 for PC (Steam)