Dragon Age Origins was a finely crafted, traditional Western RPG; a fine spiritual successor to the legendary Baldur’s Gate. Sure it may have had pretty awful graphics, but it delivered where it counts most – excellent gameplay and an engaging, sprawling narrative filled with endearing, realised characters. Dragon Age 2, released earlier this year made up for the visual shortcomings of its predecessor, but was an RPG “lite” took away pretty much everything else.
Bioware seems to be genuinely surprised by fans’ negative reaction to the game – and will use its newfound knowledge to make the next game better.
“Our goal is to take all the feedback we get on any of our franchises and use it to make the next game in the franchise better,” BioWare’s co-head honcho Ray Muzyka said in an interview with Xbox World magazine, reported by CVG.
“Dragon Age 2 was incredibly polarising and it caught us off-guard, honestly. It appealed to a new fanbase and we were delighted by that, but we’ve heard fans who wanted more of the Origins experience. We have to take all that feedback and find a way to marry those together, so we can bring everyone on the journey with us.”
I don’t know if that’s enough, really. While the new Dragon Age 2 DLC “Mark of the Assassin” featuring the lovely Felicia Day seems to make amends, the damage may have already been done. I’ve tried to get excited for this DLC…I really have – but I just don;t think I can spend any more of my time in Kirkwall.
BioWare is readying Mass Effect 3 for release next year March, while it gets its Force-filled MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic ready for release this year. I’ll pick up ME 3 on release date – because it’s Mass Effect – but it might be the last time I do pre-order a Bioware game. Once bitten, twice shy they say.
Last Updated: September 30, 2011
