Dragon Age II



Dragon Age II is the upcoming sequel to Dragon Age: Origins developed by BioWare. It was announced for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on July 8 2010. It is set for release on March 8, 2011 for the U.S. and March 11, 2011 for Europe, according to BioWare. The first CGI trailer, Destiny, was released on August 17, 2010.

Official description
Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. You may gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and become the Champion of Kirkwall. This is the story of how the world changed forever. The legend of your Rise to Power begins now.

Key features



 * You play as Hawke who may be male or female.
 * The game takes place across a decade and shapes itself around decisions made.
 * New combat mechanics designed to put the player in the heart of battle whether they are a mage, rogue, or warrior.
 * A new cinematic experience.
 * Updated graphics and a new visual style.
 * There will be opportunities for romance.

Races
Dragon Age II will feature a greater difference between races, meaning elves, dwarves and qunari are being reviewed and redesigned.

Save transfer
Dragon Age II allows the player to import saves from any completed Dragon Age: Origins playthrough. So, while you may be controlling a different character in Dragon Age II, the choices of The Warden made in Origins are still imported from your save and reflected in the world. Choices from Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt will also be imported.

Starting out the game, players are tasked to select from three builds to carry over from the first game if they don’t have a save to upload. The three builds are as follows:


 * "Hero of Ferelden" (Default): Ended Fifth Blight by killing Archdemon and survived. Placed Alistair on the throne.


 * "The Martyr": Young Dalish Elf who died to kill the Archdemon. She left the kingdom ruled by Alistair and Anora.


 * "No Compromise": Dwarven noble took command of Grey Wardens. Exiled Alistair, sent Loghain to his death against Archdemon, and left Anora as Ferelden’s ruler.

Dialogue


The dialogue system of Dragon Age: Origins will be replaced with a dialogue wheel, similar to BioWare's earlier title Mass Effect. Unlike Mass Effect however, when you move your cursor over a selection, an icon is shown in the center of the wheel that indicates the intent of the player line: flirty, violent, sarcastic, etc. The dialogue wheel will have up to six dialogue options for players to choose from.

Additionally, the player character Hawke will be fully voiced. The male Hawke will be voiced by Nicholas Boulton.

Approval and gifts
Dragon Age II will use a Friendship and Rivalry system. In it instead of only getting content and combat bonuses based on positive approval, you can either build a friendly or antagonistic relationship with your companions. Also, specific actions can still cause companions to turn on you, in spite of their approval rating.

There are fewer gifts in Dragon Age II, and the gifts are specific to each companion. Gifts will also prompt specific dialogues.

Crafting
In Dragon Age: Origins in order to make a potion or a poison or a trap PC had to first learn the recipe, then find all of the necessary ingredients. Now, rather than having to carry components around with PC, PC simply have to find their source out in the world. Once PC comes across a strain of Elfroot (for example) all crafting vendors will have access to it - no need to shuttle bits and pieces back and forth. The challenge now comes from finding the different sources of raw materials, and the different strains of components. It's a far more elegant system, one that rewards exploration over hoarding, unclogging PCs' inventory in the process.

Skill trees
The linear progression of the skill trees in Origins meant that the player frequently had to spend valuable points on talents the player never had any intention of using so that the player could get to the one he/ she actually wanted. The skill trees in Dragon Age II are actually webs, more circular in nature and offering more than one path to the different types of skills. Skill upgrades branch off from their base skills, leaving the way clear for other progressions.

Technology
In an interview with Joystiq, BioWare VP Greg Zeschuk stated, "I think one of the key things we're working on in Dragon Age II is the technology. I can confirm that we're doing a lot of work on the Dragon Age engine, and doing a lot of stuff to pump it -- to make it visually super hot."

Known characters

 * Hawke: The protagonist.
 * Bethany: Hawke's sister and a mage.
 * Varric: A dwarf who acts as a narrator.
 * Cassandra: A Chantry Seeker who is interested in Hawke.
 * Flemeth: The notorious Witch of the Wilds, seemingly no worse for wear despite her presumed death.
 * Carver: Hawke's brother and a warrior.
 * Wesley: An injured templar whom Hawke encounters while fleeing Lothering.
 * Aveline: Wesley's wife and a warrior.
 * Isabela: The captain of the pirate ship The Siren's Call, she is also a rogue.
 * Fenris: A male elf and ex-slave who was infused with lyrium by his former master.
 * Marethari: The Dalish Keeper from the Dalish elf origin.
 * Merrill: Keeper Marethari's First from Dragon Age: Origins.
 * Leandra: Hawke's mother.
 * Sebastian: An archer of noble birth seeking revenge for the murder of his family by assassins.
 * Orsino: A mysterious mage.

Romances
According to the RPG French interview with Mike Laidlaw, Dragon Age II will feature romances "for all genders and orientations."

Editions

 * Regular Edition
 * Dragon Age II BioWare Signature Edition

Downloadable content
The following DLCs have been announced:


 * Hindsight (available from the official Dragon Age II website)
 * Staff of Parthalan (available by signing up for the newsletter)
 * The Exiled Prince (available with the Signature Edition, or separately for US$7 or 560 Microsoft Points)

System requirements
Recommended System Requirements
 * CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor or equivalent
 * CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent
 * RAM: 2GB (4 GB Vista and Windows 7)
 * Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
 * Video: NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
 * DirectX 11: ATI 5850 or greater
 * DirectX 11: NVIDIA 460 or greater

Minimum System Requirements
 * OS: Windows XP 32-bit with SP3
 * OS: Windows Vista 32-bit with SP2
 * OS: Windows 7 64-bit
 * CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater
 * CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater
 * RAM: 1 GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)
 * Video: Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB
 * Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB cards
 * Disc Drive: DVD ROM drive required
 * Hard Drive: 7 GB
 * Sound: Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows Experience Index: 4.5

Trailers
thumb|400px|left|Dragon Age II trailer, "Destiny" extended, by Digic Pictures.


 * Rise to Power trailer