It's a cool feature, as it really makes your character seem like a unique individual. A nice addition is that Hawke will spout off different one-liners in cutscenes that you have no control over depending on your conversation tendencies. Who would assume that a purple gem would mean charming? If you don't check out the manual, you may get confused by odd choices like that. Hawke can be aggressive, peaceful, sarcastic, romantic etc., but there are almost too many varying icons to represent all the different feelings you can express. The difference is that Dragon Age II sports icons that help guide your decision making. Talking to folks will cause a wheel of dialogue options to appear that looks similar to what BioWare uses in Mass Effect. I prefer chatty main characters, so I'm pleased that Hawke was given a voice in the sequel. Although Origins featured a silent Hero of Ferelden, Dragon Age II offers a fully-voiced Champion. The plot is very entertaining though and chockfull of crazy moments that will make you go "OMG" and "WTF." Occasional slow spots can make what you're doing feel pointless, but the ending makes it clear that Hawke's time in Kirkwall is incredibly important to the Dragon Age canon. Another problem is that the ending is a cliffhanger, which makes it feel more like a prologue rather than a standalone title. I thought the narrative style was to allow for branching storylines, but aside from a few impactful choices, it's actually fairly linear, which is disappointing. I appreciate that there are distinct parts of Kirkwall like Hightown (a bright, clean spot for nobles to hang out) and Darktown (a dingy, underground area), but there's so much to explore in the Dragon Age universe that it's rather puzzling to set an entire adventure in just one area. It's a gutsy move to say the least – this is a 30-hour game and most of it is spent in and around the city looking at similar architecture. You can imagine my surprise, then, when Dragon Age II threw most of those ideas out the window and instead opted to document the political struggles of the city of Kirkwall. Most role-playing games depict a prevailing evil presence that only your hero can defeat after an epic journey across the world. It's easy to forget that what you're doing is technically in the past, so it's fun to discover Varric's embellishments when they pop up, such as Bethany's giant rack at the start of the game, which later goes down to a normal size. Varric dutifully recites the tale from start to finish, complemented by stunning water-color cutscenes to add an interesting visual element to the dwarf's clever storytelling. It turns out that your part in this play is major, and you'll figure it out as you go along. What isn't known is your amount of involvement in the chaos, and why a Chantry seeker named Cassandra is interrogating a former friend of yours, a dwarf named Varric. It's also clear that the world is on the cusp of war, and the Chantry, the main religious faction in the Dragon Age universe, is coming apart at the seams. It's known that your character, Hawke - a male or female human mage, rogue, or warrior - will eventually become the Champion of Kirkwall.
To kick things off, the plot is told through a framed narrative, much like the movie The Princess Bride. Yet despite all these improvements, there are still some issues with the story and setting in the sequel. The gameplay, user interfaces, and conversation system have all been modified to the point where the game is much more functional and fun than before. There are a few things I'm certain of in life: Darkspawn must die, dragons must die, and, from a technical perspective, Dragon Age II is the best game in BioWare's fantasy role-playing franchise.