While Dragon Age 2 is overall the least popular game in the series I still find it interesting how it's arguably had the most impact on the Dragon Age series. Case in point, the artistic style of DA 2 is something that has quickly become THE Style of Dragon Age.
While Dragon Age: Origins is a great game design wise it wasn't anything special, it was just another generic Dungeons & Dragons and The Lord Of Th eRings clone (again just design wise) and aside from Morrigan every character from the first game who's made a return has been given an alternative outfit that is very much influenced by the outfits in DA 2. I think the reason Morrigan's outfit is the only one that has remained largely unchanged is because it was already very DA 2 in design.
DA 2's deign in both cloths and architecture can be best described as Tolkien-esk Fantasy with a Heavy Metal Twist. Everything in DA 2 was REALLY Pointy and while toned quite a bit that style did carry over into Dragon Age: Inquisition and it looks like it will continue to carry over into DA 4.
Look at other Fantasy Series. The Owl House, Harry Potter and, of course, LOTR are all VERY visually unique and you'd be able to tell which series you were in just based on the overall design of the backgrounds. By Contrast, DAO is, again, just another LOTR clone with a heavy emphases on the color Brown.
DA 2 also introduced the Humorous option on the dialogue wheel to the series which was also utilized in DAI and will apparently make a return in DA 4. While the Dialogue Wheel was obviously included because it as a huge hit in Mass Effect DA 2 was the one to turn the middle option from boring neutral to Humorous rouge. Not only did it make the middle option more viable but it also helped to give Hawke more character as now you weren't just restricted to the good and bad options but by giving you another options that was just as valid as the other two.
And finally, the fact that the next game in the series, Dragon Age 4, seems to be going for a story that's similar to what we got in DA 2. From what we've learned so far instead of a large scale war that will decide the fate of the world you are instead going on a small scale story that focuses more on heists, spying and playing as someone who has next to no power in this story.
Now, as SF Debris pointed out in his review of DA 2 this can backfire HORRIBLY but my focus is just to note that for all it's problems DA 2 is, oddly enough, THE most influential DA game in the series.
It's kinda like the Star Wars Prequels when you think about. For all the issues they have the influence of the Prequels is only matched by the Original Trilogy and the Thrawn Trilogy, to the point that they many ideas that Star Wars is returning to are heavily tied to the Prequel Trilogy just as much as they are TOT and TTT. While DAO is still the best in the series and as much as I love DAI DA 2 should get a bit more credit for helping Dragon Age to stand out in pop-culture.
The Influance of Dragon Age 2 on the Dragon Age Series
While Dragon Age 2 is overall the least popular game in the series I still find it interesting how it's arguably had the most impact on the Dragon Age series. Case in point, the artistic style of DA 2 is something that has quickly become THE Style of Dragon Age.
While Dragon Age: Origins is a great game design wise it wasn't anything special, it was just another generic Dungeons & Dragons and The Lord Of Th eRings clone (again just design wise) and aside from Morrigan every character from the first game who's made a return has been given an alternative outfit that is very much influenced by the outfits in DA 2. I think the reason Morrigan's outfit is the only one that has remained largely unchanged is because it was already very DA 2 in design.
DA 2's deign in both cloths and architecture can be best described as Tolkien-esk Fantasy with a Heavy Metal Twist. Everything in DA 2 was REALLY Pointy and while toned quite a bit that style did carry over into Dragon Age: Inquisition and it looks like it will continue to carry over into DA 4.
Look at other Fantasy Series. The Owl House, Harry Potter and, of course, LOTR are all VERY visually unique and you'd be able to tell which series you were in just based on the overall design of the backgrounds. By Contrast, DAO is, again, just another LOTR clone with a heavy emphases on the color Brown.
DA 2 also introduced the Humorous option on the dialogue wheel to the series which was also utilized in DAI and will apparently make a return in DA 4. While the Dialogue Wheel was obviously included because it as a huge hit in Mass Effect DA 2 was the one to turn the middle option from boring neutral to Humorous rouge. Not only did it make the middle option more viable but it also helped to give Hawke more character as now you weren't just restricted to the good and bad options but by giving you another options that was just as valid as the other two.
And finally, the fact that the next game in the series, Dragon Age 4, seems to be going for a story that's similar to what we got in DA 2. From what we've learned so far instead of a large scale war that will decide the fate of the world you are instead going on a small scale story that focuses more on heists, spying and playing as someone who has next to no power in this story.
Now, as SF Debris pointed out in his review of DA 2 this can backfire HORRIBLY but my focus is just to note that for all it's problems DA 2 is, oddly enough, THE most influential DA game in the series.
It's kinda like the Star Wars Prequels when you think about. For all the issues they have the influence of the Prequels is only matched by the Original Trilogy and the Thrawn Trilogy, to the point that they many ideas that Star Wars is returning to are heavily tied to the Prequel Trilogy just as much as they are TOT and TTT. While DAO is still the best in the series and as much as I love DAI DA 2 should get a bit more credit for helping Dragon Age to stand out in pop-culture.