Dragon Age II has been the subject of some minor controversy since its release, with fans complaining about a number of Dragon Age: Origins features that were absent in the sequel. Complaints range from removal of full customization of NPCs, map re-use, and a lousy narrative - resulting in many thinking Dragon Age II was taking a step backward from the original.

Mike Laidlaw, the lead designer for Dragon Age II, has taken to the BioWare forums in an attempt to address fans and belay their fears of the company not listening to the complaints.

Laidlaw isn’t the first figurehead from BioWare to address Dragon Age 2’s reception. Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare, has also commented on fan complaints and added his own explanation.

Laidlaw’s forum post talks about some of the complaints fans have regarding Origins’ sequel and goes on to discuss some of the reasons changes were made. Take a look an excerpt below.

You can read Laidlaw’s entire post at the BioWare forums.

“I am absolutely aware of the concerns voiced here. Issues like level re-use, the implementation of wave combat, concerns about the narrative and significance of choice and so on have all been not only noted, but examined, inspected and even aided me (and many, many others on the team) in formulating future plans.

“Further, I’m not only aware of the concerns, but I agree that there are aspects of DA II that not only can but must be improved in future installments. And that is precisely our intent.”

Our own review of Dragon Age 2 did reflect similar criticisms. Overall, the title offered some very good changes to the series’ formula - although at the sacrifice of some things that made the original great. DA2 definitely seems like a game that was created with consoles in mind - and the changes that came from that decision certainly had some (negative) influence over the final product.

Viewed in a way that expands the universe of Dragon Age, DA2 does a great job. Origins was huge in scope, but the sequel zoomed in and concentrated more on a specific aspect of the world, namely Kirkwall. However, one glaring issue with DA2 was the ending.

Whether or not there will be some sort of continuation via DLC that will focus on Hawke remains to be seen.

Dragon Age 2 is available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

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Source: BioWare Forums