iamfangu replied to your post: kudos to bioware's art team
The art was the first thing I noticed about DA2 - it immediately raised my interest. The loading screen for Darktown, for instance. Very nice.
I'm a huge fan of DA2's loading screens and of the animations that play while Varric summarizes portions of the story. Something about that style speaks to my visual sensibilities. Very "graphic designy" for lack of a better phrase. The art is powerfully simple. Symbolic and iconic. It reduces settings and events down to their narrative essence rather than clutter it up with too many unessential details. Yet, it never strips things all the way down to their most simple form. "Decorative" elements still exist for the sake of giving the eye something to enjoy. :)
This isn't to knock realism -- realism is great for many things -- but when the art needs to quickly and unambiguously communicate a lot of meaning, iconic representations tend to win. At least for me. I like the balance Bioware has struck between iconic simplicity and eyeball-seducing decorative. (if that makes any sense????)
Also, that style is now distinctly Bioware's style. When I see something in that style, I automatically know it is a Dragon Age thing.