New Dragon Age 2 Details Show Mass Effect Influence
Dialogue trees replaced with wheel, and console versions will have a new combat system.
By Kris Pigna, 07/13/2010
When the first Dragon Age 2 details were revealed last week, it sounded a lot like the game was moving away from the classic RPG roots of the first title and more toward the hybrid action-RPG style of BioWare's other big franchise, Mass Effect. Now new details are hitting the net from Game Informer's cover feature on Dragon Age 2 (via Kotaku), and they're only strengthening that supposition.
For starters, the story confirms that with Dragon Age 2's new hero, Hawke, being fully voiced, the game will eschew the dialogue trees of the first Dragon Age for a "dialogue wheel" system similar to Mass Effect. One new wrinkle, though, is that Dragon Age 2's dialogue wheel will show you exactly what type of response each option will give, noting whether it's "anger" or "flirting," and so on.
Interestingly, though, a whole new character with his (or her) own personality doesn't mean everything you did in the first Dragon Age doesn't matter. Dragon Age 1 save files can still be transferred over to Dragon Age 2, which actually begins during the final moments of the first game. Exactly what will cross-over into Dragon Age 2 wasn't detailed, but presumably the bigger world-affecting choices you made in the first game will have some influence in the second, even if you're playing a different character.
And lastly -- and potentially most controversially -- BioWare revealed that only the PC version of Dragon Age 2 will feature "strategic combat," with the console versions featuring a new system. "Rather than try to mimic the PC experience on consoles, Dragon Age 2 has a battle system more tailored to the strengths of the PS3 and 360," the GI story reads.
Again, no details were passed on as to how this new console battle system will work, so we'll have to wait and see what specific changes BioWare has in mind for console gamers.
