How was it? In a word, intense. Mind-bogglingly intense.
But this cannot be summed up in a word, so lets go into more detail, eh?
The combat system is keeping to the point-and-click method of targeting enemies, but the combat overall is much more intense. The slashes feel powerful, your powers feel dangerous, and with the familiar ability to pause the action, you can freeze time when performing incredibly cool looking actions.
The magic system got quite a boost too. Instead of just simple casting of powers, your character actually does some pretty impressive stuff involving the business end of a staff, and whatever element it happens to be. That means that if you are a fan of fire, then you should use a fire based staff, the same for ice and any other elements that may be in the full game. This effects the mage's ability to enchant the parties weapons. Instead of having separate power for each enchantment, like in Origins, there is a single spell that changes the element based on whatever staff the mage is currently carrying. Beyond all that, all of the spells feel much more tangible. The spells move quickly, and they always look dramatic, no matter how weak they actually are.
One addition was the "rain" method of spells and rogue attacks. This encompasses a few specific skills that cause your character to rain fire, ice, arrows, etc. down on your foes, which I found to look, feel and even sound impressive.
Here is a great video which demonstrates much of what I just outlined, but I highly recommend actually playing the demo to get the full combat experience.
Another welcomed change was the switch to a much more Mass Effect-esque form of dialogue. That means a fully voiced player character. Yeah. It also means a handy wheel for dialogue decisions, with much shorter, paraphrased choices. It even displays a little picture in the center that gives you an idea of what kind of choice it is. A green object for good karmic choices, a few purple masks for playful responses, a purple symbol for neutral decisions, and a red fist for being a terrible person who everyone hates. Except Morrigan (who did not make an appearance in the demo. I remain hopeful).
I could go into more detail about exactly what happened, but I would rather save all the juicy stuff for you to find out on your own, but let me tell you, you won't be disappointed! It may seem like more of the same, but pay careful attention to the dialogue, cutscenes and combat animations and you will see some pretty impressive improvements. Couple that with the new, apparently expansive storyline, that will span the course of 10 years, and Dragon Age II is shaping up to be an extremely satisfying sequel to an already spectacular game.
-Eceleptium
