Dragon Age II Preview

The Game Informer website has reproduced a preview from the March Issue of the magazine, an expansive read based on the first five hours of Dragon Age II, hands-on. Spoiler warnings for said 5 hours apply.

Like in Mass Effect, the upper-right and lower-right conversation options can broadly be interpreted as the good and evil choices, respectively, but in Dragon Age II they’re better identified as positive and negative reactions to whatever was just said. Most conversations also provide a middle choice that is usually sarcastic or cynical, which allowed me to play Hawke as a smart-ass who asked Flemeth to teach him how to become a dragon. Sadly, she turned down this request.

Conversations flow faster and smoother, partially due to this new system allowing quick dialogue choices and partially because of the more cinematic feel. Lengthy discussions are punctuated with more action, emotion, and camera movement to help keep players engaged.

Faster-paced dialogue also helps maintain interest. Since the world and people of Dragon Age were already built up in Origins, the conversations in Dragon Age II are filled with less exposition. No more staring at a static, unmoving NPC as you slog through hours of dialogue explaining the intricacies of each culture and race in Thedas.