mikemariano

Dragon Age II

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More Dragon Age!

Wired says: Dragon Age II Coming March 2011.

Which, if they hold to the same release schedule they did for the last game, means we get Mass Effect 3 two months later. Right?

I guess you're forced to be human. Sorry, other races! Sorry, converging storylines!

I don't see anything tantalizing about this sequel. Did anything from the expansion packs hint at this?

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It's the cover of the last Gameinformer, apparently it has some plot points and concept art... but my subscription is long gone, I no longer buy at Gamestop.

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More like D2agon Age.

If only Dragon Age had a multi-player element we would see a Valve-esque boycott group started for the sequel releasing so soon after (ala what happened with Left 4 Dead 2).

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Shit, I still haven't played the first one. I want to play it on PC but I can't justify building a new gaming rig while I have such a large backlog. Plus, I figure eventually there will be a GOTY edition, or something like it, with all the DLC in one package.

However, if you really can only play as human, that lowers my interest in the sequel. It will still be good, I'm sure; it's just a bit less interesting to me.

More like D2agon Age.

If only Dragon Age had a multi-player element we would see a Valve-esque boycott group started for the sequel releasing so soon after (ala what happened with Left 4 Dead 2).

I don't know. L4D2 came out about a year after L4D and DA2 will be about 2 years after DAO, plus BioWare hasn't been promising us Episode 3 for the last 4 years. Funny thought though.

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1 and a half years after the first one, with a decent web browser game, a substantial expansion in between. I think they're hitting the sweet spot there, especially when you think how long the first game was developed for (it was announced at E3 2004), they definitely had all the lore and tech nailed for the second game well in advance.

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Pleased that it's coming out. Not pleased that you are being forced to be a pre-determined character.

I guess there's not enough information out there to make judgements, but having a named character seems weird & points in a direction that almost seems antithetical to the first game.

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Dragon Age 2 with improved graphics and enhanced visual style.... YAY!

Pre-determined character? :(:(:(:(:frusty:

My lengthy exploits(the entire month of November 09...literally) where I talked at length how much I lovedwhat they were doing with the game and cringed at the main story\fiction\presentation and visual designs.

The main point of improvement was cleary visual for me so hearing Muzyka mention that months ago and the confirmation this time around excites me. Even the concept art is intriguing if thats the direction of style they are going in and the designs are staying grounded while feeling a bit fresh(though not as fresh as the GuildWars stuff)

The pre determined characte is an absolute stab at what Dragon Age executed so perfectly. We discussed this in Goty about how it was FarCry 2-esq in the fact that Dragon Age made me feel like I was the character in the game, that the decisions I was making through dialog, quests, and exploration felt like I was making them.

I even pointed out how this was the first Bioware game(or any game?) where I was playing with a set of intentions and morals(based on my real life versions... just more bold/extreme) and got slapped in the face by the outcome of those decisions because Bioware's intentions/world fiction disagreed. This very thing made it fucking amazing.

That point doesn't disapear with a predetermined character, but I think the impact is seriously diminished because of this.

I understand the voice in Mass Effect really made a main character part of the success and I liked it in Mass Effect( I even nerd raged about the first 2 minutes of ME2 where they didn't record the dialog for Shepherd in one line) but Dragon Age is a different property so it would have been nice to treat it very differently.

I wanted Mass Effects execution in fresh art direction and fiction along with a pretty solid presentation(music/UI/etc) for Dragon Age, but that's about it. While feeling luke warm about the slick, streamlined ME2 I was really banking on DA2 to step it up and become my new favorite. (though its hard to beat space and the universe ME has established)

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Well the pre determined character thing can also be a result of a shorter dev cycle. If you compared this to the development of Dragon Age which took forever, DA2 probably would take 1 and a half years(if we guesstimate they started this sometime around the development of Awakening). You can understand why making dialogue options for two alternate characters(and there could be more since you could play different type of classes) is the most practical option if they are planning to hit Q2 2011.

However, I'm quite nervous to hear about the changes to the combat system. :eek:

Oh and VIDEO GAMES!

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How can I forget this. Also, I think I can confirm.....

There will be WIZARDS in Dragon Age 2.:tup:

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More like D2agon Age.

Please don't encourage them, that is something they actually might do.

Don't forget that DA was finished in early '09, so they could have been working on a sequel before Dragon Age came out. Anyway, Dragon Age was one of my favourite games of last year, so I'm really excited for Dragon Age 2.

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I've been given the shorter development time answer a lot as soon as I voice my discontent with the decision and personally I think it's pretty bunk.

Granted, the origins stuff was pretty robust and would take a ton of time; however a pre-determined characer feels, to me, like a complete departure from one of th core designs on the original (IE: the first franchise game that should be used as the foundation for the others since it did so well)

Dragon Age 1 took so long purely because they were developing something new, the projct had a lot of hurdles, growing pains, and exporation(trying features, scraping them, repeat) even though it was based on a formula they have done before.

Also, the game was nearly 200 hours, it was cool, but I mean really? How about scrap the predetemined character, keep the awesome open ended western pc rpg aspect and just make a 60 hour game?

That would shorten dev time considerably and allow them to keep a core feature for the series. Also, let's not forget they now have a proven, well executed foundaion to build off of, and not starting from scratch.

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Considering the Dragon Age world & mythos is not interesting, I'm not sure what's left if they tie us down to a predetermined character.

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I don't really get all the pushback against a predetermined character.

Planescape Torment didn't let you choose race/appearance/gender and that didn't hurt it any.

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Planescape Torment didn't let you choose race/appearance/gender and that didn't hurt it any.

It was also a very, very different game. Much of the main story thrust in Torment was discovering your forgotten past, determining which parts of it were true, and how learning these truths would affect your development as a character in the present. The journey was as much about self-discovery as it was about affecting the world around you.

Dragon Age had a much more traditional cRPG story structure - your character is expressed mainly through your interactions with the world, and siding with one faction or another in various conflicts. The origin stories complemented this nicely, as it gave you some additional insight into how one or two of those factions worked, and potentially a bias one way or another. ("Here's what it's REALLY LIKE to be a city elf in the ghetto; aren't those humans bastards?")

From what little we know about the game, it sounds like DA2 is going to follow much more in the footsteps of DA:O than Torment (as it should.) Removing the origin stories means that the scope of the game is in some way reduced.

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Well, it isn't Dragon Age: Origins 2. I'm fine with not having the different origin stories, that was the purpose in the first game, to introduce the players to the backstory of each race/background of the universe they created.

Just imagine the time they spent creating the different origin stories, I certainly didn't play through more than the one I began with, I can't imagine more than 10% of people who played did that. While it still made sense in the first game for anyone avid to know more, it makes far more sense to expand the main story line. Also, the amount of variables in the main quest depending on your origin must've also been quite daunting, I don't blame them for restricting it this time around.

Let's not hate until we know more and play some of it...

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It was also a very, very different game. Much of the main story thrust in Torment was discovering your forgotten past, determining which parts of it were true, and how learning these truths would affect your development as a character in the present. The journey was as much about self-discovery as it was about affecting the world around you.

from http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/09/five-facts-about-hawke-in-dragon-age-ii.aspx

5. Hawke drives the story.

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?

Admittedly, "Who is the Champion of Kirkwall?" isn't as catchy as "What can change the nature of a man?" but it seems to be pulling in the same direction.

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The character's nameis Hawke? /groan.

Not obe crapping over this because Im sure it's neat, its just that Dragon Age(origin stories aside) was about my character and my decisions, not me playing a character figuring out what some nob named Hawke would do in this sitution.

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The point that worries me is: "Think like a general and fight like a Spartan with dynamic new combat mechanics that put you right in the heart of battle whether you are a mage, rogue, or warrior."

I don't want combat to be any different. I loved it on the PC version. The only thing that could make it better would be the ability to queue attacks a la Baldur's Gate and other RPGs of that era. Also, I didn't really dislike the visual style, aside from the random blood spatter, so I hope it's not completely different. Basically, I hope they aren't trying to make it "more accessible" after they made such an awesome throwback to old school RPGs with Origins.

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All the more reason for me to go finish the first one and then the expansion as well. I can't remember why I stopped playing DAO but it has been quite a while.

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I'm glad they're getting the hell out of Ferelden. I was interested in the Feist style world they'd written for Origins and dissapointed that Awakening and other DLC all took place in the backwoods country. Even the Lelliana story seems to take place in Ferelden for some reason.

There needs to be more political intrigue and less orcs vs humans.

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awww, shit.

With Mass effect & Dragon Age, Bioware was doing story-driven rpgs in two very different lineages. They were both cool, but it looks like they are letting one die (the one I am more interested in) and focussing on the other.

I'm sure they will make a very good game that I will enjoy playing, but I was looking forward to the resurgence of the kind of game that Dragon Age was, and this isn't it.

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Also, I didn't really dislike the visual style, aside from the random blood spatter

I disabled that almost immediately. It was a huge immersion breaker for me that people would have lengthy conversations without wiping the blood and gore of assorted creatures off their face first.

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3. Hawke didn't just survive the blight...he escaped it.

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.

I hope this is game informer talking, not BioWare. However, we all know their marketing department is batshit crazy.

also wtf:

4. Hawke is the Champion of Kirkwall.

...

5. Hawke drives the story.

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?

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However, we all know their marketing department is batshit crazy./QUOTE]

Yessss! I can't wait until we see badass Hawke switching to shotgun.

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