My Dragon Age II “pre-game” thoughts:

Here I am, fresh out of Dragon Age: Origins and all of its DLC. Today is May 1st, a month and a half after the release of Dragon Age II, and I’m JUST NOW GETTING AROUND TO PLAYING IT.

But enough bitching about being so late to the party—I’ve done that plenty on this site. ;)

Alright, so Dragon Age II. It would be pointless of me to state that I am excited, as everyone and their mother probably knows I’m a Dragon Age nutcase by now. Because of that “common” knowledge, fellow gamers, during mid-conversation, have let a few things slip regarding Dragon Age II. Here’s what I’ve heard so far, in no particular order:

• It’s not nearly as great as Dragon Age: Orgins
• You need time to adjust to the game before you will appreciate it
• You can’t have sex multiple times with your romance partner (BOO!)
• The combat system has vastly improved
• Alistair may be a playable character, if he wasn’t made king or killed during the Landsmeet (this is what someone hinted, anyway)
• It is SUCH a different game than Dragon Age: Origins and is not a suitable successor
• Zevran makes an appearance at one point (Ok, so I stumbled upon this mini-spoiler myself. DAMN YOU YOUTUBE!)
• The game was described as Dragon Age and Mass Effect’s lovechild.
• The setting is in Kirkwall (I may have known this at one point, but I had forgotten about it until someone tweeted me)

All in all, the general consensus is that Dragon Age II could have been better. I could care less about what others say about it (someone could say it’s the worst game ever and I’d still by a jillion copies), but I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little worried. The above opinions came from people I trust, so it’s hard to believe there isn’t any truth in them.

Before we talk about what I want from Dragon Age II, you should know that I avoided reading almost every Dragon Age II article I’ve come across. I know little to nothing about the story and the characters. I know the story takes place over 50 years or so. I know Hawke is voiced, and the dialogue is now more Mass-Effecty. I’ve seen screen shots. That’s it.

Mmmkay! A few key things I want:

• Alistair, in some form or another. I made him king in Dragon Age: Origins, so I’m assuming he’ll pop up at one point or another. PLEASE.
• Intelligent characters. Make them interesting. Make them react to their surroundings. After their approval is maxed out, don’t stop giving me different dialogue options. That was one of the issues I had with Dragon Age: Origins.
• Multiple references to Dragon Age: Origins. Now this might sound kinda “DUH” as DA2 is a sequel of sorts to Origins, but I spent SO much time reading about the game’s history and culture that it would be a huge disappointment if that stuff was ignored in DA2. I shouldn’t worry, as Bioware is known for creating game history, but it’s on my “must-have” list.
• Different settings. Exploring Ferelden and all of it’s landmarks Dragon Age: Origins was exciting, but like I said above, I’ve read so much about the game’s history that I want to explore places I’ve read about, like Orlais, Tevinter, Antiva, and the Free Marches.
• Cameos by the characters I met in Dragon Age: Origins. I know Zevran says “ohai” at one point or another (will I see him in Antiva?!), but I hope to see cameos from the others as well. The characters in DA:O are some of my favorite, and I would be a sad panda if they like, stopped existing or something.

AND with that, I’m going to install Dragon Age II.

First impression: WTF is that.