Dragon Age II Preview

NowGamer has cranked out a two-page preview of Dragon Age II, though it’s unclear if the article is based on firsthand time with the game. A few paragraphs to digest:

The first thing to make clear is that this is very much a game being designed with the console market in mind and by that we don’t mean that it will be watered down or less challenging. What we mean and what BioWare means by that is optimised controls, tighter interfaces and more responsive combat. There are ultimately different conventions to RPG combat on PC and console and we like to mash buttons sometimes.

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The events of the first game and the choices you made, as well as the relationships you built, will all have a bearing on the world you enter in Dragon Age II and will likely be spoken of by characters in the game, but with a fresh start you also get a fresh new world to explore with new areas of Thedas to explore that were not seen previously. The total map area for Dragon Age II is intimidating and several times larger than in Origins. New areas will likely mean new enemies as well as new allies, although key figures from Origins are set to have a big role.

However, the real twist to Dragon Age II is what BioWare has described as a ‘˜framed narrative’. The game will begin with a Dwarf named Varric and an Enchantress named Cassandra discussing your great deeds and how you become the Champion of Kirkwall. As such you are essentially playing flashbacks to these events, strung together as a tale told by the Dwarf.