Dragon Age 2 Announced: New Character, Revamped Combat on the Way

With a game as successful as Dragon Age: Origins was, it’s probably inevitable that a sequel would be coming. But today’s announcement of Dragon Age 2 indicates that Bioware and Electronic Arts plan to take the fantasy RPG into a somewhat different direction than its predecessor.

It appears that you won’t be reprising the role of the Greywarden you crafted in Origins and that there’ll be some changes to the combat system and improved graphics, too. Below, pertinent nuggets from EA’s announcement scroll (which arrived by seagull this afternoon):

Dragon Age 2 thrusts players into the role of Hawke, a penniless refugee who rises to power to become the single most important character in the world of Dragon Age. Known to be a survivor of the Blight and the Champion of Kirkwall, the legend around Hawke’s rise to power is shrouded in myth and rumor. Featuring an all-new story spanning 10 years, players will help tell that tale by making tough moral choices, gathering the deadliest of allies, amassing fame and fortune, and sealing their place in history. The way you play will write the story of how the world is changed forever.

No word on a release date yet, The game is coming out in March and is being developed for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Stay tuned for more DA2 info.

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I have a really bad feeling about this. This smells like Dragon Age is moving further away from the Baldur’s Gate roots and more towards a Mass Effect experience.

Being a PC and console gamer, I actually picked up Dragon Age for the PC, better graphics, improved party and camera controls – it was a great CRPG experience, and early preview builds had me convinced my choice was correct and avoid the console version. In full disclosure I leaned towards consoles for the Mass Effect titles, as the experience was crafted with consoles in mind. I fear the era of the classic isometric RPGs may be coming to an end, though I hope against hope that it isn’t.

Us PC RPGers apparently are a dying breed; even iconic classic PC rpg series like the Divinity games (Divine and Beyond) saw the “console dumbing down/perspective change” with Divinity II.

Ungh… I am worried. I mean, we will still get the rich dialogue trees that Bioware (and Black Isle before them) were famous for, but woe, woe if DA2 puts the final nail in the CRPG coffin by becoming more of a console experience.