There is a lot I actually liked about DA2 over Origins. I think the story, setting, and characters are all more interesting. It also had a distinct visual identity, so aesthetically was more enjoyable for me than the first game.
Even the shift from a RTwP tactical RPG to an RTwP action / tactical hybrid RPG was okay with me. DAO was tactically not a very sophisticated game, so there wasn’t much lost.
My biggest problem was how terrible the fights are. Every single fight happens in waves. Every. Single. One. Except a few like dueling the Qunari leader, of course. But you can never just fight a group of thugs in an alleyway. You fight them and their ten buddies who were just hanging out on the nearby rooftops AND their ten friends who also hang out on rooftops but arrive late to parties. It is ridiculously gamey, really breaks my immersion, and makes fighting feel like a chore. It’s the only reason I couldn’t play that game more than once.
