Dragon Age 3 to deliver 'marriage' of DAO and DA2

Bioware's Dr. Ray Muzyka claims that Dragon Age 3 will be a "marriage of the best from both games, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2."

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Although Dragon Age 3 has yet to be "officially" announced, Bioware CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka discussed what fans can expect from a sequel. According to the good doctor, he and the rest of team are well aware of the polarizing response that Dragon Age 2 received, both from critics and fans, due to its more action-focused turn from the more methodical pace of Dragon Age: Origins. Though not a simple task, Dr. Muzyka asserts an effort to blend the best attributes of both previous games in Dragon Age 3.

"The number of the reviews was... very polarized, awesomely so. Lots of 90+ reviews, we also got fans that I think in some cases who were expecting more Dragon Age: Origins," Dr. Muzyka told PC Gamer. Muzyka points to "a misalignment of expectation" for the sequel, which explains the negative reaction some die-hard fans had when experiencing the changes made to Dragon Age 2. That said, he also recognizes an "obligation" to fans who were "surprised and delighted" by Dragon Age 2's more accessible approach.

It shouldn't be too surprising that Dragon Age 3's new direction is being determined, in large part, by fan feedback. "What we need to do as developers is take that feedback from both sets of fans to heart and see about marrying that in future games in the Dragon Age franchise," he explained.

While no specific examples were shared, Dr. Muzyka seems enthusiastic about the new direction. "The team is going to have some things that are going to surprise both sets of fans, both core fans and new fans with a marriage of the best from both games, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2," he promised.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 19, 2011 12:30 PM

    Jeff Mattas posted a new article, Dragon Age 3 to deliver 'marriage' of DAO and DA2.

    Bioware's Dr. Ray Muzyka claims that Dragon Age 3 will be a "marriage of the best from both games, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2."

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      August 19, 2011 12:35 PM

      Interesting...

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        August 19, 2011 12:43 PM

        yeah very. mixing the higher action and better animated combat of the 2nd game and mixing it with a bigger and more unique world and story would be awesome.

        i hope they don't copy over DA2's party armour system though

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      August 19, 2011 12:56 PM

      I think DA3 will hit it out of the ball park, while sort of hating by a lot to DA2 was quiet the accomplishment technically with its new engine on the PC as well as new gameplay mechanics. Personally I quiet enjoyed DA2 sure its not perfect but still a very good game.

      If they combine the two games and add some open world gameplay to the ares with the pimp DA2 engine its going to be a incredible game.

      Can not wait, I have 100% faith in them, just take your time don't rush it, having the new engine done I would think they will have more time this time around.

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        August 19, 2011 1:08 PM

        i enjoyed it for what it was. it was lacking in a few areas but i had an enjoyable time from start to finish

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        August 19, 2011 2:51 PM

        I thought it was fun until Ch3. I've had three characters never make it past that ch.

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      August 19, 2011 12:56 PM

      uh huh, I'll believe it when I see it. Bioware should look at The Witcher 2 to see how a good modern RPG is done.

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        August 19, 2011 2:09 PM

        Agreed. I've been playing through DA:O after hearing all the hype and am underwhelmed. For example, implementation of rogue stealth and tactical positioning is a joke: position team of three at end of hallway with ranged weapons and tell them to hold (check), scout ahead with rogue main character in stealth mode and (unwittingly) pass by invisible enemies that only trigger/insta-spawn when someone "unstealthed" enters the room (lame); or, better yet, tactically position team down hall or at a good, defensible choke point and tell to hold, then go forward with main character and open door, whereupon - entire team is teleported into small room for cutscene and CQB (yay!). So lame.

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      August 19, 2011 1:08 PM

      Unless it includes the strategic overhead camera, that quote is a lie.

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        August 19, 2011 1:22 PM

        Yeah, the overhead camera NEEDs to come back. Thats what made combat in DA:O enjoyable for me.

        DA2 was a pile of shit.

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        August 20, 2011 12:28 AM

        They will say it's coming back in modified form, then it will come out as a third person shooter.

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        August 20, 2011 3:44 AM

        [deleted]

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      August 19, 2011 1:22 PM

      So you'll basically be fighting in the same room for 40 hours while Alistair whines?

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      August 19, 2011 1:25 PM

      Misalignment of expectation. What a wonderful phrase to make it the fan's fault they didn't like the game. What a venerable cunt.

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        August 19, 2011 1:26 PM

        Lol, indeed. Bioware dropped the ball with DA2, big time.

        I just it by number of playthroughs :-

        DA:O = 3 (and will happlily be playing another one after Deus Ex HR)
        DA 2 = 1 (and what a chore it was, shelved that fooker soon as I was done with it)

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        August 19, 2011 11:12 PM

        My thoughts exactly

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      August 19, 2011 1:26 PM

      if they put anything from DA2 in there, consider this a divorce!

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      August 19, 2011 1:29 PM

      So basically a divorce with DA2, right?

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      August 19, 2011 1:37 PM

      I've always ran with the assumption that DA2 was just a filler while more time went into the true sequel.

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      August 19, 2011 1:39 PM

      [deleted]

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      August 19, 2011 1:44 PM

      fool me once....

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      August 19, 2011 1:45 PM

      Funnily enough Dr. Ray doesn't even mention Dragon Age 2's biggest failing. A massive lack of art assets and ridiculous reuse of the few assets they did manage to make. Hopefully they give Dragon Age 3 more than the pitiful shoestring budget DA2 clearly had.

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        August 19, 2011 1:59 PM

        I'm of the firm opinion Bioware couldn't make a good game if their lives depended on it any more. Mass Effect 3 is pretty much their last chance to get a single dollar from me, and it already looks like they've managed to fuck that one up as well.

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      August 19, 2011 1:51 PM

      If you take a quart of shit and mix it with a quart of ice cream, what you will get will taste more like shit than ice cream.

      Full disclosure: I didn't finish DA2. I just.. couldn't. Perhaps someone will tell me that it gets much better after the first two chapters, but as it stands count me among the disappointed.

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      August 19, 2011 1:59 PM

      So what was better about DA2 over DA:O?

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        August 19, 2011 2:05 PM

        The talent trees for one, as it made certain each character had unique abilities. Also, fully voicing the hero was better than everyone voiced but the hero, which always felt weird to me in DA1.

        I could go either way with the most action rpg-esque combat...but the "wave" mentality of DA2 was dumb.

        My biggest issue with the game is the reusing of dungeon layouts over and over, everything else I was okay with but that shit was just obnoxious.

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          August 19, 2011 2:47 PM

          You were ok with literally every mage being crazy evil blood mage? I mean, that kind of undermined the entire plotline of "We are so oppressed because they unjustly think we are all crazy evil blood mages" when in fact they are. Makes supporting the mages an undefendable, illogical choice.

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            August 19, 2011 2:50 PM

            I generally play as evil as humanly possible, so no that didn't really bother me. It was all in one city anyway, so it's not like it really had implications for the larger world.

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              August 19, 2011 2:54 PM

              That's the thing though -- it wasn't set up as a choice between being an angel or a devil, it was presented as a morally grey choice with valid arguments on each side, then completely undermined itself. Really piss poor design.

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                August 19, 2011 2:56 PM

                Yeah every time Anders was like WHAT ABOUT THE MAGES and then every single mage turned out to be fucking crazy, I face palmed.

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                  August 19, 2011 2:57 PM

                  I guess I looked at it as though they largely felt they had no choice but to embrace blood magic to defend themselves in the grand scheme of things.

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                  August 19, 2011 3:13 PM

                  Yeah it seemed like Merril was the only mage in the entire world that can do Blood Magic properly.

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            August 19, 2011 3:42 PM

            I never thought of this but I would agree. Every goddamn mage turned evil at the drop of a damn hat.

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          August 19, 2011 4:46 PM

          oh ya the player character being voiced was a great improvement.

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        August 19, 2011 2:34 PM

        Sense of place! Non-faked physical bits! Best use of CGI!

        Oh wait, wrong forum.

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        August 19, 2011 2:35 PM

        Well for one there was... welll.. ummmm...

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        August 19, 2011 2:47 PM

        Some of the voice acting and banter was actually improved.

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        August 19, 2011 2:49 PM

        The combat in general felt more responsive and satisfying (except when enemies died in 2 hits and exploded)

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        August 19, 2011 4:45 PM

        DAO suffered MMO combat syndrome. hit a button and watch your character strike the air. DA2 was similar but more action oriented like you were actually hitting an enemy with every button press. the art style in the first one was pretty generic. the 2nd one had a great look.

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        August 19, 2011 4:53 PM

        The combat animations were a lot better. When I first played it I thought the combat was a vast improvement, it was only after I realized that it was the same thing over and over again with no strategy that I was like :(

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        August 20, 2011 1:05 AM

        I liked the focus of one area. Even though DA:O was a larger world it still felt like you weren't traveling through all of it commuting.

        I would think a spin off of Mass Effect set solely on the Citaldel a la DA2 would be awesome. Being something like a C-Sec detective/Agent would be awesome.

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      August 19, 2011 2:43 PM

      So I see it as the first one being a stud and the 2nd one was a ugly fat chick...how will the child turn out??

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      August 19, 2011 3:18 PM

      Christ almighty. What a load of crap Mr Bioware CEO spouts. If he'd just said, "The game missed the mark and we need to improve the sequel in many respects," I'd have no problem with him. But this verbal diarrhea is an insult to every gamer who bought the game on the strength of the first game and couldn't believe how Bioware had so badly fucked up.

      Let's just hope that ME3 doesn't go the same way, because the Dragon Age franchise is a joke now. Not because the second game was crap, but because they can't admit it was crap.

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        August 20, 2011 12:07 AM

        yeah he just cant bring himself to admit it

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          August 20, 2011 12:34 AM

          Well he has a financial obligation to the company not to trash talk its products, and an obligation to his employees not to denigrate their work publicly.

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            August 20, 2011 12:54 AM

            but the truth is product and work sucked THEY CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH'D

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              August 20, 2011 1:28 AM

              I agree it sucked, and that's why I didn't buy it. But he's not required to say "Man, DA2 sucked dick, then tongued the ass. But I fucking swear the next one will kick ass."

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        August 20, 2011 5:39 AM

        They already admitted that DA:O hat better sales longevity than DA2.

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        August 25, 2011 12:35 PM

        I agree with you, but I have trouble seeing what makes Mass Effect still such a holy grail for everyone.

        Perhaps it is because I've played both on PC, but they have both seemed disappointingly mediocre to me. None of the characters are interesting, the villains are boring, the central conflict is predictable, sidequests are lame "go kill this" type affairs, and combat is subpar compared to any full-fledged shooter or RPG. The graphics and art are well done, though. What is it that makes people so gung-ho about this series?

        DA2 did have a few strengths: the story and characters i thought were some of the strongest in any recent RPG. The environments, art, combat, gameplay, and inventory systems were terrible though. I'm not buying DA3 unless I hear some absolutely stellar reviews from a critical reviewer.

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      August 19, 2011 4:57 PM

      [deleted]

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        August 19, 2011 11:21 PM

        It didn't sell very well, it sold medium or so. I'm sure it was profitable because it was obviously a brutally cut up game made on a strict budget but it wasn't a blockbuster hit like Mass Effect or anything to justify going there again for commercial reasons.

        Developers don't necessarily push this shit because it's in the numbers, they push it because they think it will get numbers somewhere down the line. Dead Space is a franchise not because DS1 was some huge hit, if anything it was a very expensive game and a failure, but in the minds of EA producers it's a thing they can build into a success. Likewise with Dragon Age they're determined to get those CoD kids and they'll keep pushing till they get them or they run out of money to make Dragon Age games with.

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          August 20, 2011 9:59 AM

          Dragon Age 2 sold well, so you are wrong.

          See what I did there? I responded to your troll. Damnit... don't feed the trolls friedram...

          "selling well" or "not selling well" is all a mater of opinion of what is or isn't selling well.

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      August 19, 2011 10:57 PM

      Bioware has already made it clear that they believe games created in the vein of Baldur's Gate cannot be successful. They struck that cruel blow against us lovers of that genre when they made DA2. I find it extremely unlikely that the 3rd one will give us the evolution we all hoped to find in DA2. Our genre, like the space sim, is dead. I'm sure many people who never played BG or its ilk probably found DA2 more entertaining than DA1. Unfortunately for me, Bioware thinks you guys are the majority or will be in the future.

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        August 19, 2011 11:38 PM

        Well surely they know something went wrong with DA2 since it only sold half as much as DA:O.

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      August 19, 2011 11:15 PM

      Why can't they just marry DA:O to a good game?

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      August 19, 2011 11:41 PM

      I hope they keep the cinematic presentation and the huge amount of party member dialog from DA2.

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      August 20, 2011 1:06 AM

      But there was only one good thing in DA2: Varric Tethras.

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      August 20, 2011 1:48 AM

      [deleted]

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        August 20, 2011 10:38 AM

        I'll defo be waiting for the reviews and such before commiting to buy. Fuck pre-ordering it, Bioware lost a lot of cred with DA:2.

        Wish they'd just man up like Stardock and say "Sorry guys, we let you down, we made a bad game." instead of trying to big up the minor things it got right and blatantly ignore/refuse to comment on the GLARING faults (of which there are MANY).

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      August 20, 2011 11:51 AM

      So we'll be allowed to make elves and dwarves then?

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      August 22, 2011 8:27 AM

      I better be able to cheat on my wife.

      Also when you get married, all the other women in the game should start hitting on you.

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