Dragon Age II Preview

Destructoid has a hands-on preview of Dragon Age II, where they dismiss “ostensible” fans as Dragon Age II still offers the “labyrinthine systems and mechanics” of the Dragon Age franchise.

You’ll notice, perhaps, that the fundamentals of combat in Dragon Age 2 haven’t changed much vis-a-vis their Origins counterparts. Mark Darrah’s go-to comment on the combat has been that, “When you push a button, something awesome happens.” But Darrah needs clarification: the presentation layer has changed, but the mechanics haven’t. Dragon Age 2 is still a stat-driven, Dungeons and Dragons-based game — replete with inventory screens, if-then tactical Rube Goldberg machines, and little numbers coming out of heads.

Standard melee attacks trigger a little bit faster — thanks in large part to smoother animations — and while it looks like a kind of combo, there’s nothing mathematically different than four straight melee attacks from Origins. However, the combat has changed somewhat: BioWare has added a layer of spatial awareness to each character’s skillset, which the team call “closing attacks.”
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If you look at Dragon Age 2’s combat and still can’t contain your apoplexy, take a deep breath and open your character menus. Marvel at how clean and intuitive they are, spend a minute experimenting with your equipment, and watch as the game automatically derives your damage-per-second. With the power of math behind you, I’m sure you’ll find the strength to admit that there isn’t much hack-and-slashing going on.

Perhaps the truly hardcore like doing their own calculations, but Dragon Age 2 is full of small design changes that make the user-experience a lot smoother and clearer, including (perhaps most importantly) an overhauled skill tree.

Several familiar abilities make the cut from Origins, but the new focus on spatial relationships calls for new skills to take advantage of them. The new skills — in conjunction with melee options for ranged attackers — make, for example, a rogue archer build is useful for the first time. There are also warrior skills that, for example, get stronger when your tank is surrounded by enemies. It’s obvious that BioWare took time looking at different builds and playing to their strengths.

I also particularly like the new skill trees because they’re so much more flexible than the Origins tables. Very few of the skills have prerequisites, and you can choose to spend points improving your useful skills — make them faster, or cost less — instead of wasting them on skills that don’t fit into your build or play style.

The last major improvement in user experience includes crafting — instead of collecting individual ingredients, Hawke has access to resource deposits that any craftsman in Kirkwall can use. Natural resources — elfroot patches, lyrium veins — can be found in the caves and hills surrounding Kirkwall, which gives players an extra incentive to explore and complete quests that they might’ve otherwise ignored.

The preview is worth a read if you can get around his clumsy attempts to insult and dismiss anyone who has any concerns about this title.