Those "big" decisions only impact whether there is a character alive or not and doesn't really hold massive bearing on the plot. Your choice at the beginning with what faction you side with upon entering Kirkwall could have been designed where you actually play-through that year as either a mercenary or smuggler but instead your choice only leads to differences in dialogue and access to a different side quest.
Even if you bring Bethany/Carver back from the Deep Roads alive this has little bearing on the plot as they're taken away from your party anyway. Really only the choice of who you side with (Templars or Mages) is really plot significant.
In contrast Origins featured bigger decisions which not only impacted companions but the sub-plots as well. You had the Circle Tower sub-plot, the dwarven politics sub-plot, the elves and werewolves sub-plot, the Connor sub-plot and of course the Landsmeet. In fact you can actually abandon Redcliffe which leads to everyone in it dying. Fighting to defend it is an optional quest. In this instance I think Origins had more freedom too.
That's not to say I hated DA2. There were some neat features like the personality system. The companions were interesting and there were still enough choices to make it a role-playing game but the rush development shows and not just with the recycled areas. Consequences could have been more fleshed out as once promised and the city could have evolved based on our choices.
Last edited by Demonic; 23/03/13 01:36 AM.
