New Info On Dragon Age II: Importing Origins, Conversation Wheel, More

OH BOY OH BOY, details are starting to trickle over the internets regarding the upcoming Game Informer issue on Dragon Age II…not to mention, I’ve been lurking the Dragon Age forums, watching David Gaider tell people tiny tidbits about the game. These details, I bring to you, fellow reader!

First off, let’s just get this out of the way: no, Hawke is not your demon-child baby. Honestly, it wouldn’t make sense if he was–Hawke survived the Blight, which means you must have been alive during the events of Origins. The other really important thing to get out of the way is the reveal that Bioware is not done releasing DLC for origins: they plan to support it right up until the release of Dragon Age 2. Could we perhaps see more DLC in the vein of Leliana’s Song–releases which put you in the shoes of your companions in Origins? Perhaps even a prequel of sorts for Dragon Age II? Who knows.

Alright, now we can talk about the smaller details. Gamebanshee reveals that Dragon Age II will be employing the Mass Effect conversation wheel. Not only this, but answers will be color coded to denote what sort of answer you are giving–sarcastic, funny, what have you. If this is what they are doing, I would not be surprised if they also went ahead and told you what your “paragon” and “renegade” answer equivalents are. Unless you’re autistic, shouldn’t the player be able to tell what answers correlate with what emotion/approach? Update: the conversation wheel has been officially confirmed by Mary Kirby, a writer over at Bioware.

The rest of the details all come from the same source, someone over at the Bioware forums who has received their copy of the Game Informer Issue. Rest assured that this info looks legit, because a number of people are confirming it.

Shockingly, and AMAZINGLY, yes, you WILL be able to import your choices from Origins into Dragon Age 2. I suppose this shouldn’t really be surprising, considering that they’ve already told us that they wanted to do exactly this before. How in the world is Bioware going to do this is beyond my ability to comprehend, but the fact that they’re doing so is fantastic. I’m sure I’m not the only one that really wants to see how their Warden affected the lay of the land. You won’t just be seeing the effects, though–you may be seeing the events from a different perspective as they occur. “Dragon Age II begins as the events of Origins are still taking place, so you may see some familiar events from a different angle.”

Flemeth will be back, apparently, even though you might have “killed” her. Chalk this one up for “holy fucking shit, that woman is scary.” And if Flemeth is coming back? Maybe we’ll be seeing Morrigan. Hell, this means that Morrigan may not be safe from getting possessed by Flemeth. And so the plot thickens!

Unlike other Bioware games, Dragon Age II has a framed narrative which changes the way the story unfolds for the player. “Dragon Age II has a framed narrative structure, which means that the exploits of Hawke occured in the past, but are being retold in the present.”

Mages will get their own finishing moves–crushing prison, for example, may just explode your enemies. More move combinations, like mixing cone of cold and shield bash, will be possible.

Lastly, it’s revealed that since the game takes place over a decade, we’ll see the consequences of our actions in a more comprehensive manner than we’ve ever seen before–no end of game text informing you what happens, and no waiting until the next installment, as Mass Effect does, to see what happens. You’ll be experiencing the consequences as you play.

Personally, I can’t wait to get that Game Informer issue in my hands…things are sounding pretty damn good so far.