BioWare Unveils Dragon Age 2 - UPDATED

[SonicWaffle]

Drunk or no, you're right. Dragon Age came out in November 2009, and Mass Effect 2 in January 2010.

Huzzah! Another win for alcoholism!

Spoiler: (caution: spoilers to the ending of DAO ahead, but you wouldn't be here if you hadn't played it, right?)

If they start telling me that he's the bastard deamon child of Morrigan, I will have a fit. And don't start telling me that's the canon ending, it was bad enough when they told us the canon Revan, canon Shepard and canon DAO protagonist were male, but this is just crossing the line.

How can that be the canonical ending? The Grey Warden was a hero, whereas that was certainly the more evil path. I know there are multiple endings, but surely the canon one is that the hero makes the good, noble choice rather than being the bad guy?

As for your fears,

Spoiler

I very much doubt it. In the newspost, it says the character will be a refugee from the Blight. Unless it's set far in the past, or far in the future, then this person will have been an adult or at least a late teen at the time of DA:O. They may try and wrangle out of it by claiming that demon-babies grow up really fast, but then why would he be a refugee?

 

[scnj]

Back on topic, I've mixed feelings on this. On one hand, I'm glad that Dragon Age 2 is in the works and making its way to the shelves (not that it's much of a surprise). On the other hand, I'm a little disappointed that they're making us play a predefined character. We'd all become accustomed to creating our own characters, tweaking strength, dexterity, intelligence, facial structure, etc. It's going to be hard to relate to this guy, this Hawke.

Where'd you get the name Hawke from?

Never mind, found it.

 

[Tarakos]

So I guess you still get to pick your origin, which is good. Hopefully there are more to choose from now.

 

[TheZapper]

Very welcome news. Nice to see mention of improvements to the graphics and combat mechanics, which were easily the weakest aspects of DA.

 

[twistedmic]

As long as they change out the original clunky and somewhat lack-luster combat system with a newer and more fluid system, and if they update the graphics so that the characters actually blink and have different facial expressions I'll be happy.
The first's combat system left quite a bit to be desired, you couldn't actively use any shield you had and the attack button just switched you over to attack mode. And the characters in the cut-scenes were unbelievably creepy with their never ending wide-eyed stares coupled with blank, emotionless facial expressions (even when they were near death or furious over a betrayal or attempted murder).

 

[DustyDrB]

Awesome. How about voice acting for the player character - wait for it - done by Bruce Campbell?

 

[spartandude]

hmmm... so soon? the first dragon age was a massive game with hints that (from very small references in ME1) it was in development for a few years, now dragonage 2?

i mean dont get me wrong i love origins with a passion and am planning a third playthrough, im just a little concerned the seaquel is coming out so soon

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Exciting. Though I wouldn't mind a romp with Sten in the post-Blight setting of the first one, where he ventures back to his homeland, to deliver his message. And while yes, there was that whole loose thread, the way they kept saying "Don't come after me" kept me thinking they don't want to make that part, or at least not yet. And while I'm excited for DA2, I still wouldn't mind a few little tidbits of DLC to tide me over...

 

[geldonyetich]

I should probably get around to finishing the first Dragon Age. Solid game with a riveting plot line, but I get distracted easily.

 

[10thDegree]

Am I the only one that doesn't really like Bioware?I just dislike them for forever changing what people consider RPGs are.

Think Final Fantasy 1, or 10, it doesn't matter. You have no story options. You can only go from point A to point B.And has anyone EVER questioned if it was an RPG?

I mean, KOTOR was fine, still focused on stats and whatnot, but leveling up isn't that big of a deal in Mass Effect. It focuses more on the story, like an adventure game, and less on the leveling and stats.

They still are good games, I must admit, but it is kinda like my feelings with Activision/Blizzard, just a thousand times less intense...

 

[[zonking great]]

Great news, this!

Kalezian is right, though. Very stereotypical world with regards to "good" races.
At least it lead to some hilarious comments from Oghren:
"Hey, look at me - I'm an elf! 'Trees are pretty! Tra-la-la!"
Not to forget the whole incident with Anders and Oghren trying to one-up each other.

But I digest.

The loose thread is indeed loose. Because it depends on part of your decisions. I wouldn't be surprised if they chose one way to make the story go when starting part 2, like they did from Mass Effect 1 to part 2. Of course, this renders the multiple endings gimmick fairly moot...

 

[HobbyJim]

well the fact that its coming in early 2011 is making me nervous. its almost like they're rushing it. I don't like this trend....

 

[Slaanax]

What loose thread?

Spoiler

Morrigan's demon-child abomination, of course. Which not everyone will consider "canon" (one of the many failings of the "choose your own adventure" bullshit that modern RPGs insist on using) but certainly significant enough to warrant a follow-up.

Spoiler

What if said Refugee is her child that's a possibility

 

[Meggiepants]

Yay! I was hoping that annual report wasn't a bluff. Now that gives me much more hope ME3 will be released next year as well, seeing as how that title was also listed as a 2011 release in their report.

 

[Walkchalk]

HUZZAH! While it seems like I wont be playing as my old character I'm at least hoping you can carry over your story descisions, and maybe make that have an effect on Dragon Age 2. It would also be nice if we could explore the entire world rather than just a continent.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Am I the only one that doesn't really like Bioware?I just dislike them for forever changing what people consider RPGs are.

Think Final Fantasy 1, or 10, it doesn't matter. You have no story options. You can only go from point A to point B.And has anyone EVER questioned if it was an RPG?

Yes. Many, many people. In fact- believe it or not- The 'RPG' predates Finaly Fantasy entirely. They were originally these things you played with books and dice.

:::::* The more you know!

 

[Deacon Cole]

I don't really like the concept art. I guess I just don't like so-called dark fantasy in general. It strikes me as a thirteen year old boy wearing eyeshadow and fishnet stocking trying to be all scary and intense rather than laughable.

Must be piss-easy to make dark fantasy art all you need is two colors. Black and shit brown. Dark fantasy artists must be cheap bastards to only buy two pots of ink.

 

[Feriluce]

So something just hit me. When the hell did Bioware become so massive that they can simultaneously work on whats possibly the largest (in terms of development size not the game itself) and expensive MMO ever created, Mass Effect 3, AND Dragon Age 2, not to mention whatever secret projects they might be working on that we don't know about.

When Mass Effect 2 became wildly successful. Followed immediately by Dragon Age's success.

What? ME2 came out a full half year after dragon age.

 

[Korten12]

What loose thread?

Spoiler

Morrigan's demon-child abomination, of course. Which not everyone will consider "canon" (one of the many failings of the "choose your own adventure" bullshit that modern RPGs insist on using) but certainly significant enough to warrant a follow-up.

Spoiler

I got that ending, thats what I really hope is explained more what happened to them in this sequel...