Dragon Age II, The Making Of

As far as a game concept in itself, I like it, but I understand why some people are seeing this as using the Mass Effect framework in the Dragon Age universe, with the focus on a single legendary character of a more focused origin.

With the framed narrative and long timeline, I sort of got an Assassin's Creed 2 impression.
 
Not that it's a bad thing. I think Ubisoft pulled it off in a great way, and hopefully BioWare will live up to their own expectations. For me, all of BioWare's games have had decent but too-predictable narratives. Let's hope this new direction is a good one.

"I seem to be in the minority that didn't enjoy Dragon Age. I'm an avid fan of the sword and sorcery genre and of Bioware as well, but I thought the storytelling in DA was lackluster. The pacing was rushed, but not in a way to create tension or a sense of urgency. The storyline was generic, and wasn't refreshing in any sense. Oh no! We have an enemy that's ugly looking, doesn't speak our language, and every couple hundred of years gets pissed off and decides to attack us. I'm tired of the antagonist with no motivation and are the embodiment of inherent evil. Give me factions that disagree over cultures, religion, prophecies etc and war breaks out over that. Or a group that wants to take over the lands for some complex motivation like an arch demon basically ransoms the world and selects a group of people/country/faction as the chosen ones through treachery and deceit, and threatens if they don't lay siege to the neighboring country and conquer them he/she will destroy everything. So then the story becomes about the motivations and morality choices of the characters; is it better to exist and live albeit depraved of your once innocent self, or die in a futile rebellion for what you deem a just cause. Suddenly then enemies are characters and not just people, I find the enemy who is just trying to survive and is driven to extreme measures much more interesting than a grunting orc. (Orcs can be interesting in their own right but this has the more tolkien/jackson feel of generic bad guys) For example the enemy who is a father and his wife and kids are being held ransom, is forced to kill you(for whatever reason his ransomers deem you needing to be killed, but you get the point) much more interesting that of mindless pawn for some bigger baddie. it creates conflict this man is going to kill you because he'll go to any lengths to save his family, you don't want to die but to live it means the death of an innocent family.   The whole spreading destruction because our color palate are darker tones annoys me. The most compelling villains are the ones we can relate to in my opinion. Given how most of their titles do draw me in with excellent storytelling, it further proved to disappoint me.    The game itself didn't look that good either. Although, a good game isn't dependent on good graphics, it's just DA's are a bit jarring. And the massive amounts of blood on the characters was funny at first then it kind of just seemed corny. And the lack of variety  of Darkspawn was disappointing as well.  This trailer made me a little wary. I hate to harp on the graphics but it look unfinished to me. Maybe I just don't like the art style it's going for. I will give them props though I love that sword/staff thing Hawke wields. And in the original there were sporadic story lines I enjoyed. I'm not trying to totally insult this game and say there was nothing redeeming about it, just that it had too many flaws for my liking. "

The in-game Hawke's beard is freaking ridiculous looking.  Just thought I'd point that out.

I'd never go hardcore in gaming . It's just me. I only have MW2 and Black ops for my ps3

Story within a story? 
 
Um isn't this exactly what Witcher 2 was doing?

Ok, NOW I'm interested. thank you, BioWare.

looking forward to this game but this trailer didnt really do it for me.

TELL US ABOUT THE NUMBERS

I do hope that its the 360 version they are showing in the background cos it looks like crap if you compair it to DA1 on PC.

I hope this time THEY LET YOU PAUSE AND QUEUE UP YOU PARTY'S ACTIONS !!! Seriously What was with the forced execute every time you chose an action, It ruined the combat in DAO.

I love you Bioware, but Alpha Protocol got you beat at this narrative thing.

I seem to be in the minority that didn't enjoy Dragon Age. I'm an avid fan of the sword and sorcery genre and of Bioware as well, but I thought the storytelling in DA was lackluster. The pacing was rushed, but not in a way to create tension or a sense of urgency. The storyline was generic, and wasn't refreshing in any sense. Oh no! We have an enemy that's ugly looking, doesn't speak our language, and every couple hundred of years gets pissed off and decides to attack us. I'm tired of the antagonist with no motivation and are the embodiment of inherent evil. Give me factions that disagree over cultures, religion, prophecies etc and war breaks out over that. Or a group that wants to take over the lands for some complex motivation like an arch demon basically ransoms the world and selects a group of people/country/faction as the chosen ones through treachery and deceit, and threatens if they don't lay siege to the neighboring country and conquer them he/she will destroy everything. So then the story becomes about the motivations and morality choices of the characters; is it better to exist and live albeit depraved of your once innocent self, or die in a futile rebellion for what you deem a just cause. Suddenly then enemies are characters and not just people, I find the enemy who is just trying to survive and is driven to extreme measures much more interesting than a grunting orc. (Orcs can be interesting in their own right but this has the more tolkien/jackson feel of generic bad guys) For example the enemy who is a father and his wife and kids are being held ransom, is forced to kill you(for whatever reason his ransomers deem you needing to be killed, but you get the point) much more interesting that of mindless pawn for some bigger baddie. it creates conflict this man is going to kill you because he'll go to any lengths to save his family, you don't want to die but to live it means the death of an innocent family.
 
 The whole spreading destruction because our color palate are darker tones annoys me. The most compelling villains are the ones we can relate to in my opinion. Given how most of their titles do draw me in with excellent storytelling, it further proved to disappoint me.  
 
The game itself didn't look that good either. Although, a good game isn't dependent on good graphics, it's just DA's are a bit jarring. And the massive amounts of blood on the characters was funny at first then it kind of just seemed corny. And the lack of variety  of Darkspawn was disappointing as well.
 
This trailer made me a little wary. I hate to harp on the graphics but it look unfinished to me. Maybe I just don't like the art style it's going for. I will give them props though I love that sword/staff thing Hawke wields. And in the original there were sporadic story lines I enjoyed. I'm not trying to totally insult this game and say there was nothing redeeming about it, just that it had too many flaws for my liking.

i feel like marrying bioware

should be called somthing other than dragon age 2. 

One thing that is unclear to me: can you have Hawke be any kind of class you want? In other words... will I still be able to play as a Wizard?

Yet another video trying to pimp the storytelling of DA2.  I think that is the least of people's worries.
 
As an early adopter of Origins, I will be passing on this.

" @Doctorchimp said:

" @Bwast: I'm sorry what part about Mass Effect 2's combat was less complicated than the first game's?  Say what you will about the inventory, leveling system, and the mako, but saying the combat in Mass Effect 2 was weaker is moronic.  Please start up Mass Effect 1 again and look how everything works against everything with very little depth before you start shouting your ill-informed opinions. "

I didn't say the combat was less complicated than the first. I said there wasn't a lot of depth there to begin with, which there isn't compared to a game like Dragon Age or Icewind Dale. Mass Effect is a shooter with RPG sprinkles on top. Read the post before you start shouting your ill-informed responses. "

I like the ambition in the story telling. Should prove to be an interesting game.

it looks really linear...
sigh i miss Bauldars Gate

Something about Hawke seems off to me. His talking animations look kind of awkward. 

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN!

" @Iceland said:

" Dragon Age: Proud owner of worst marketing team in Franchise history! "

dude..... just eat a dick. I hate people like you.  "

Parts of me want to play this... Parts of me dont, and part's of me NEED to upgrade my computer. 
 
One thing with a game like this. I kind of wish it was more mature like The Witcher. Not for the bare chests or anything like that ( however in a romance scene..it looks odd for people to "get it on" with clothes on) but more or less for better expression. They did it with Mass effect 2. Made the game more meaningful when shit went down or people got hurt, you were not the only person cursing. 
 
Here's hoping.

Looks very interesting.

why does this game look worse than the first? not just the graphics, which i'm not fond of, but the character animations (conversations, etc.) are even stiffer than in the first game, and that's saying lots.

Ugh...I hate the new art style.

" Cant wait for crazy lesbian sex, again. "

While this "making of" is merely PR bullshit, I do agree with the sentiment of "why make the same game twice."

" @Bwast: I'm sorry what part about Mass Effect 2's combat was less complicated than the first game's?  Say what you will about the inventory, leveling system, and the mako, but saying the combat in Mass Effect 2 was weaker is moronic.  Please start up Mass Effect 1 again and look how everything works against everything with very little depth before you start shouting your ill-informed opinions. "

That's it.  I'm going into black out until release.  I'm stuck with my pre-order and I will hear no more.

They really need to update that engine or at least allow upscaling on the PC version. Other than that, it looks like it will be fun, though clichéd and mildly tedious. I think I will also forgo any DLC this time around, enough is enough...

Dragon Age: Proud owner of worst marketing team in Franchise history!

Very excited. DA2 is probably the game that I'm most looking forward to currently.

Nerd parade!

" But does the Dwarf tell her about the numbers? "

I wish es would start using steamworks to show off there achievments , so i can actually show other people what i achieve in there games a little easier

Dragon Age II... 
 
The question is why are they fixing things that are not broken? 
The first DA sold rather well, some figures saying it sold more than Mass Effect 2... 
Why change some of the crucial core gameplay wholesale rather than improving on the success?  

Fuck, and I thought my beard sucked. Poor ginger guy.

I haven't really seen much of the gameplay. So I'll have to seek that out.

I'm not concerned about the graphics at all. I'm worried that I will not like this method of story telling. It works in movies because you are being presented with a completely linear, non-pausing experience in a single sitting. On the other hand, I haven't played a Bioware game I didn't like, so we'll see.

Dragon age 2: Black OPs? 
 
But seriously, I like what they are getting at here. 

seems like assassin's credd + mass effect ...cool

But does the Dwarf tell her about the numbers?

"

I'm starting to warm up to Dragon Age 2, but the fucking pre-order thing is retarded! It has left a very BAD after-taste.
I couldn't find a single LOCAL retailer that actually used this pre-order deal. Holland seems to have been left out. But they even went and left Steam out of the deal! Leaving me with no legitimate option to pre-order it...
The EA Store has a limit of a year to download a game purchased, and after that you need to jump through hoops (really? that's not how to get direct sales EA. Offer proper service or GTFO!). And I aint going to make an account on EVERY fucking digital platform there's out there.
Gah - I'll see if there's a reason to play it as soon as it's out. Otherwise I'll try an look at deals to get Dragon Age 2.

"

Pre-Purchase Offer

Pre-Purchase now to receive two special in-game items!

FADESHEAR (sword)

The core of this blade is old. As old as the first smiths who sought a way to battle the nightmares from the land beyond. It has fought the demonic hosts in countless battles. Sometimes it has been held high in triumphant victory. Other times, it has lain broken besides its dying owner. But after every defeat it has always been reclaimed, reforged, and made stronger. Fadeshear has passed through many hands before yours. Now it is your turn to make the demons of the Fade pay for crossing the Veil into the waking world.

• Improves with each level-up
• additional damage vs. demons and undead

THE LION OF ORLAIS (shield)

At the height of the Summer War all of Orlais was embroiled in fierce battles. Over the course of the war dozens of contenders for the Imperial Throne emerged – most long forgotten except as footnotes in scholarly tomes. But everyone remembers the gallant young lord Emile Deveraux, “The Golden Prince”. Thought outnumbered at every turn, he racked victory upon victory culminating in the Seventh Battle of Roses. While wearing this shield he broke through his uncle’s vanguard to win the day. He never knew the taste of defeat, instead meeting his end at the hands of a jealous lover in the dead of night.

• 2 rune slots
• Adds to health
• Adds to % XP gain