This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. Dragon Age 2 is one of the most controversial role-playing games of recent years. Highly anticipated after the successes of BioWare's previous two games, Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, it was released to strong sales and initially positive reviews. Yet it didn't take long before there was both fan and critical backlash to the game. What seemed like an unambiguously promising release turned into a lightning rod, and Dragon Age 2 went missing from many Game Of The Year lists. On the other hand, I noticed a small but extremely devoted cadre of fans, including some people who loved it so much that they immediately replayed it, four or five times, touching no other games for months.

So it was with both trepidation and excitement that I finally approached Dragon Age 2, as I missed it on initial release and then was warned off of it afterward. Having finally played it, I can see what the fuss was about, both good and bad. Dragon Age 2 almost demanded to be controversial thanks to its structure. In a genre filled with narratively complete, balanced games, DA2 ambitions push it in less balanced and incomplete directions. That's risky.