![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dragon Age 2 Official Announcement
Jul. 9th, 2010 08:24 pmA mere three weeks after E3, we get some video game news I actually care about! (All right, so I will eventually be getting a 3DS. Only because it has Nintendo Cats and Dogs and future Professor Layton games, though. I don't anticipate getting much use out of the 3D function.) BioWare have announced that Dragon Age 2 will be arriving in March 2011. To those who weren't hanging on the developers' every word before DAO was released, that must seem like a very short time since the first game. However, Origins was largely complete by February 2009, held back six months due to issues with the console port.
There isn't much solid information at the moment, but naturally fans are running around like headless chickens anyway. Of the things we do know for certain, I like some and don't like others. Let's analyse the press release a bit:
Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. You are one of the few who escaped the destruction of your home. Now, forced to fight for survival in an ever-changing world, you must gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and seal your place in history. This is the story of how the world changed forever. The legend of your Rise to Power begins now.
In DA2, multiple origin stories are gone, which is the thing I'm going to miss the most from the first game. You play as a human Blight refugee (surnamed Hawke) but at least you can still choose your gender and class. I can see why BioWare have gone the Mass Effect route here, since it's a lot easier to craft a story based on one background than it is to take account of six. I'm interested to see how this turns out even though I'm sad to see the origins go.
Key Features:
- Embark upon an all-new adventure that takes place across an entire decade and shapes itself around every decision you make.
This is an interesting statement that could mean a number of different things - maybe there's a prologue and the main game is set ten years later, or there are different chapters set in different time periods. That would make the story more linear, but it will be interesting to see how things play out on that time-scale. Will companions come and go during that time? Will you be able to form long-term romantic relationships? Have kids, even?
- Determine your rise to power from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land.
I'm thinking we may get more of the management stuff from Awakening in the sequel, which would be fine by me. I thought it was perfunctory there, but given more time and development it could be interesting. Kirkwall (the place Hawke ends up Champion of) is the Free Marches, so you may end up in charge of an entire city-state.
- 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.
People are waving their arms about how this means we're getting dumbed down hack-'n-slash combat, but that phrase could mean anything. I don't want Dragon Age turning into Diablo either, but I'm not going to worry until we get some actual information about how combat will work.
In other news, Hawke seems to be holding some kind of pole arm on the provisional box art. I can has spears?
- Go deeper into the world of Dragon Age with an entirely new cinematic experience that grabs hold of you from the beginning and never lets go.
- Discover a whole realm rendered in stunning detail with updated graphics and a new visual style.
That's some standard marketing speak for 'we have new zones!'
All in all, the only thing I'm less than happy with so far is the loss of origin stories, and the game may provided sufficient trade-offs for their absence. I'm actually glad that the protagonist from the first game is not graduating to the sequel. While I would appreciate another DLC/expansion to wrap up the dangling plot from Awakening, after that I'll be ready to put my Wardens to bed. I enjoyed playing them, but it was Thedas that I really fell in love with during Origins, and I want to see it from more than one angle.
I am already trying to work out what to name my first Hawke. (And no, Mike is not my preferred option.)
There isn't much solid information at the moment, but naturally fans are running around like headless chickens anyway. Of the things we do know for certain, I like some and don't like others. Let's analyse the press release a bit:
Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. You are one of the few who escaped the destruction of your home. Now, forced to fight for survival in an ever-changing world, you must gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and seal your place in history. This is the story of how the world changed forever. The legend of your Rise to Power begins now.
In DA2, multiple origin stories are gone, which is the thing I'm going to miss the most from the first game. You play as a human Blight refugee (surnamed Hawke) but at least you can still choose your gender and class. I can see why BioWare have gone the Mass Effect route here, since it's a lot easier to craft a story based on one background than it is to take account of six. I'm interested to see how this turns out even though I'm sad to see the origins go.
Key Features:
- Embark upon an all-new adventure that takes place across an entire decade and shapes itself around every decision you make.
This is an interesting statement that could mean a number of different things - maybe there's a prologue and the main game is set ten years later, or there are different chapters set in different time periods. That would make the story more linear, but it will be interesting to see how things play out on that time-scale. Will companions come and go during that time? Will you be able to form long-term romantic relationships? Have kids, even?
- Determine your rise to power from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land.
I'm thinking we may get more of the management stuff from Awakening in the sequel, which would be fine by me. I thought it was perfunctory there, but given more time and development it could be interesting. Kirkwall (the place Hawke ends up Champion of) is the Free Marches, so you may end up in charge of an entire city-state.
- 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.
People are waving their arms about how this means we're getting dumbed down hack-'n-slash combat, but that phrase could mean anything. I don't want Dragon Age turning into Diablo either, but I'm not going to worry until we get some actual information about how combat will work.
In other news, Hawke seems to be holding some kind of pole arm on the provisional box art. I can has spears?
- Go deeper into the world of Dragon Age with an entirely new cinematic experience that grabs hold of you from the beginning and never lets go.
- Discover a whole realm rendered in stunning detail with updated graphics and a new visual style.
That's some standard marketing speak for 'we have new zones!'
All in all, the only thing I'm less than happy with so far is the loss of origin stories, and the game may provided sufficient trade-offs for their absence. I'm actually glad that the protagonist from the first game is not graduating to the sequel. While I would appreciate another DLC/expansion to wrap up the dangling plot from Awakening, after that I'll be ready to put my Wardens to bed. I enjoyed playing them, but it was Thedas that I really fell in love with during Origins, and I want to see it from more than one angle.
I am already trying to work out what to name my first Hawke. (And no, Mike is not my preferred option.)