Dragon Age II

[AndreaDraco]

Announced!

[Maiandra]

I know! I was pretty excited to hear that. I just hope they don't change the engine and graphical style too much from the first one, since I liked it.

[AndreaDraco]

Agreed. I hope they don't come up with a stylized graphic style (have you seen the two artworks?), and that they stick to the grim design we've seen in the first game. But first and foremost I hope that they don't change the combat system: I like the active pause and the game was challenging as it was.

[DeadPoolX]

I think that's just preliminary artwork. I also like the combat system; in fact, I liked a lot more than ME, which a lot of people praised. I realize ME's system was the only way to appropriately portray firearm combat, but I still didn't like it as much as DA's system.

[AndreaDraco]

Once again, agreed. And I even liked ME2's system less than the first one. Grey Wardens has a blog entry with all the known facts about DA2 so far. I'll copy/paste it here:

1. According to Dr. Ray Muzyka, senior vice president of EA and co-founder of BioWare, “Dragon Age 2 will simultaneously deliver an epic story and set a new bar for intense action in the genre.”
2. The game promises that players will be able to “think like a general and fight like a Spartan”
3. The game is also going to serve as a “new entry point” for newcomers, according to executive producer Mark Darrah. He also asserts that BioWare is working hard to make sure “fans of the original game retain a sense of satisfaction and familiarity in the world.” This may simply mean referencing events of the first game, or it could also mean a Mass Effect 2-style save transfer is being planned.
4. Finally, the new protagonist has been named Hawke. He is a “penniless refugee who rises to power to become the single most important character in the world of Dragon Age.”
5. Hawke will be a voiced character.
6. Unlike Dragon Age: Origins, the player’s character in Dragon Age II will be fully voiced. This opens the door for a more cinematic approach to dialogue and creates an identity for the character outside of the text you see on-screen. It also eliminates those awkward scenarios where you feel like your character should be reacting, but instead just stares blankly without so much as a grunt.
7. Hawke is human.
8. Yes, that means that you won’t be able to select Hawke’s race. However, just because that one aspect of Hawke’s backstory is set doesn’t mean BioWare is eliminating character creation. You can still choose your class and customize your appearance. When we visited BioWare’s studio, we only saw (and heard) the male Hawke in action, but the team promises that players can select either gender for the character.
9. Hawke didn’t just survive the blight…he escaped it.
10. As the Grey Warden from Dragon Age: Origins was fighting darkspawn, Hawke was living in Lothering. Fans will remember that the small village was raided and destroyed (an event that occurred off-screen in Origins), and Hawke was one of the survivors. However, rather than stay and fight the darkspawn menace, Hawke flees Ferelden and heads north.
11. Hawke is the Champion of Kirkwall.
12. Kirkwall is a major population center in the Free Marches, a collection of city-states north of Ferelden. This means that at least some of the action in Dragon Age II will be set in Kirkwall itself, though Hawke will also spend time in other areas of the Free Marches. What exactly Hawke does to earn the honorary title of Champion, however, is up to you.
13. Hawke drives the story.
14. Dragon Age II is not about killing an ancient evil or about quelling another blight; Hawke is the driving force behind the narrative. Over the course of the game’s 10-year timeline, players’ actions and choices will determine Hawke’s history, relationships, and regrets…all in service to answering the larger question: Who is the Champion of Kirkwall?
15. We’re getting the ME2 conversation wheel, but this time instead of having some dialogue be a particular color the center of the wheel will show a symbol to show what kind of reply it is. (The article uses the examples of them being something like aggressive or sarcastic)
16. The PC version’s combat system remains mostly the same. “The PC version implements the same strategic approach afforded by a mouse-and-keyboard control scheme.” “Rather than try to mimic the PC experience on consoles, Dragon Age II has a battle system more tailored to the strengths of the PS3 and 360.”
17. You can choose your class between a Warrior, Rogue or Mage.

[DeadPoolX]

Fully voiced, eh? Well, I hope Hawke has more social skills than Shepard does. Granted, I haven't played ME2 (so he could've changed a bit there), but from my experience with ME1, Shepard often seems rude.

At last the male Shepard acts that way. I don't know about the female Shepard.

[AndreaDraco]

You nailed my biggest concern regarding the full-voiced character. That, and the fact that I would like to imagine my character's tone and inflection, rather than hear a delivery that could be entirely different fra what I had in mind.

And let's face it: who likes the Mass Effect's dialogue wheel?

[DeadPoolX]

I didn't hate the dialogue wheel, although I much preferred the old tried-and-true selection scheme. I'd simply press the number and my character would say whatever I wanted him to. Whereas in ME, I had to carefully spin the wheel or accidentally choose the wrong option.

Probably what I disliked most about ME's dialogue conventions is that Shepard doesn't say what I pick. I can choose someone the type of response, but he'll say whatever he wants to and although that doesn't affect gameplay itself, I like to know what I'm going to say.

[AndreaDraco]

Exactly! They are trying to get rid of this issue by adding an icon at the center of the wheel signaling what kind of emotions (flirty, angry, suspicious, etc.) will the voice actor convey upon selecting, but it's not the same as selecting the exact sentence the character is going to say.

[AndreaDraco]

Don't know if you noticed, but there's a new article out on GameInformer.com, well sort of. It's an interactive map that highlights some important places in the Dragon Age setting.

I bet that at least Llomerynn, Minrathous and Sundermount (naybe even Par Vollen, but I wouldn't be so sure) will be playable locations in DA2.

[Datadog]

Trailer'd!

[Tawmis]

Petitioned! (But not what you think!)

[Tawmis]

Pre-Order before Jan 11th to get "Upgraded Signature" Edition...

[AndreaDraco]

Which choices do you guys think will carry over to DA2?

I'm pretty sure our appointed ruler of Ferelden will make an appearance, for example, and we already know that the Dalish Clan from the Dalish Elf origin will be back, so if we import a Dalish Warden it might be nice to see what happened to the characters we influenced during the prologue.

It has also been confirmed, at least I think, that Morrigan and the Old Gold Child won't be featured in the sequel, even if her story is not over.

It also seems possible that Anders will be back, so if someone turned him to the Templars, this should be interesting.

[AndreaDraco]

All the companions have been revealed.

To see them go here and click on Dragon Age 2.