SimonG: That is actually what I found interesting. There was no "good side" (or bad side). Black on grey morality at best. You had the bad fascist who were basically from the beginning made out to be the bad guys. Only to find out during the cause of the game how evil magic can really be and how uncontrollable it is. So those Gestapo stand ins actually have a point. No siding with them is of course a whole different decision.
In my opinion, they were both overwhelmingly bad and I didn't wish to be involved with either. Of course, I didn't really have that choice since it's the main scenario. What I would've liked is a third option where I choose neither and instead opt to take down both of them to cement my own claim for power in Kirkwall. Which is ironic since you do take both factions down no matter what in each of the two endings.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I fundamentally disagree with Bioware's concept of "the circumstances being the villain" and that you merely get swept up in events that are bigger than you, so that your impact on what's happening is mostly negligible, because things will fall apart anyway. If a game centered on C&C basically doesn't give you any real influence on what's happening, why should I play it. That's probably a conservative view of a player's role in a game, but that's how I think about the whole thing.
Additionally the game is very dark, which I generally like in writing. The game was basically one player punch after another. No matter how hard you tried, everything was falling apart left and right.
See above. That's one of my fundamental problems with the game.
I like dark, but there's such a thing as too dark and bleak. And IMO DA II crossed that line to be "relevant" or possibly "edgy".
This could very well be a general difference of preference. Silent VS voiced protagonist. There is probably no "better" answer. Personally, with very cinematic games like DA or ME I prefer a voiced protagonist, while on more "personally based games" like Morrowind or Fallout I like the silent one.
Hm....that one's kinda complicated. True, in general I like my protagonists to be silent in an rpg, especially when it's a user-created character. Shepard and Hawke walk the line in that regard, as you decide their class, gender and their looks. Still, they don't feel like a character I roll up in a D&D game. And whereas I didn't feel Hawke at all, Mike in AP didn't give me any trouble with being invested in his fate. Food for thought, I'd say.
