Dragon Age II Interview

Dragon Age II lead designer Mike Laidlaw took the time to address another handful of questions about the RPG sequel in a new interview at 360 Magazine. Your usual excerpt:

360: If you look at the evolution of the modern Western RPG, particularly BioWare’s games, you can really see how the .ood’ and ‘˜bad’ choices colour player’s perceptions, why is this one feature so prominent and what are doing to evolve it in Dragon Age II?

Laidlaw: It’s a prominent feature because it plays to the strengths of gaming as a medium. In a movie, I can watch someone be bad, but I don’t get to explore the possibility space between good and bad. In a game, it’s all in my control, as I can shape my character and how they interact with the world. For Dragon Age II, we’re staying true to our goal of delivering a dark fantasy, where good and evil aren’t clearly defined, except in how people react to your decisions. Along those lines, we’ve gone even further with the party, making it possible to not just develop friendships, but also rivalries with your party members. Unlike Origins, there’s no (win) condition to your followers. Sometimes you’ll want to disagree with critical life choices they are making. Being a rival is just as valid a path as being someone’s friend, and the only poor decision is to be inconsistent, or ignore them altogether.

360: In many ways Origins was a very traditional experience with some modern underpinnings but Dragon Age II seems like a much more progressive experience, why the change and why did you decide to alter the dialogue options and combat and how has this affected the game?

Laidlaw: With Origins, we wanted to introduce players to the world and evoke a lot of the experience of the original Baldur’s Gate games. With Dragon Age II, our goal was to refine that experience. Adding voice to the player means that instead of passively watching the landsmeet unfold, for example, I could now cut in, and make the inspiring speech that moves the world. Why shouldn’t my character get to be center stage, after all? With combat, we’ve tightened down the responsiveness, meaning that when you issue an order, or push a button, you see instant, immediate and gratifying results. I like to think of it as (cutting the shuffle.) The change is more an evolution than some sort of drastic alteration; an evolution that looks and plays significantly better.