Dragon Age II

A true role-playing game, players are encouraged to spend much of their time interacting with other characters. They can choose whether or not to act morally and how they want to develop or sabotage their relationships with others. Recurring themes throughout the game include loyalty, love, honor, and betrayal. Outside of dialogue sequences the game tends to focus on and glamorize fantasy violence.

Though more accessible than its predecessor, players new to the series will face a steep learning curve as the learn the intricacies of the game's sophisticated real time battle system, which includes a module that permits customization of individual companion's battle behavior. Newcomers would do well to play on the easiest difficulty, though the level of challenge can be changed mid-campaign.

The player can choose whether to flirt with some characters. At first flirting simply results in suggestive responses -- “Does your dwarf shy away from the deep roads?” -- but if continued throughout the game the player’s avatar will eventually have the opportunity to have sex with other characters, both male and female. The characters do not remove their clothes, but they do embrace, kiss passionately, and throw themselves onto a bed before the scene fades to black. Many female characters dress provocatively, showing deep cleavage, while antagonistic “desire demons” bare nearly their entire bodies, including their breasts.