Neither the Sten nor Morrigan are fans of the changes in Dragon Age 2.

There has been a bit of a of a controversy over Dragon Age 2, or as some people appear to be calling it, "Dragon Effect", because of the changes to the game including the art style, the protagonist, and the difference between the PC and console version. With the art I haven't seen enough of it to form an opinion. With the protagonist, while it's a shame that you won't have the same protagonist as the first game or be able to choose a race besides Human, I do like the fact that your character can finally talk and that the long dialogue trees have been replaced with Mass Effect's simplified dialogue wheel. The biggest thing that has people up-in-arms is the difference between the PC version and the console version, as the PC version is suppose to keep the first game's tactical, turn-based combat while the console version is supposed to be more of an Action-RPG. Taking a game that is suppose to hearken back to Bioware's earlier PC games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights and putting action game elements in has naturally caused some outrage from the fan dumb, but for me it doesn't bother me, in fact I might prefer it. Wait, wait! Before you get your torches and pitchforks let me explain.

First off, let me say that I haven't played Dragon Age: Origins yet. I was planning to get it for the PC because I had read reviews that said that the PC version was superior because the console version, while still turn-based, was stripped down a bit. However, I was too preoccupied with other games when Dragon Age came out and more and more games came out that also caught my interest. Now that I've learned that the console version of Dragon Age 2 is going to be so different I might buy Dragon Age for the 360.

The reason why I might get Dragon Age 2 for consoles is because I do prefer real-time combat to turn-based combat. Now don't get me wrong, I love turn-based games and I understand the strategic advantage turn-based games have over real-time games. I just enjoy playing something where I directly control the actions of a character in real time more. It's personal preference, I don't think either style of game is better than the other, I just get more fun from another. I think this is one of the reasons why Bioware is doing this for Dragon Age 2. The combat is only one part of the game, in both versions you will get the same story, the same world, the same characters, and the same Bioware seal of quality.

By providing two different combat systems for the game, Bioware has ensured that gamers of different taste can enjoy the main Dragon Age experience  (the plot, the setting, and the characters) while not having to drudge through a combat system that they don't prefer. If you loved the combat from the first game then it's still waiting for you on the PC version. However if you where intrigued by Dragon Age but you are not good at and/or don't care for turn-based combat than you can still enjoy Dragon Age 2 with it's Action-RPG combat. Some people may say that action-style combat is "simple" or "inferior" in comparison to turn-based combat but I just think it's different, and different is not always bad.