The Fall of the Old, The Rise of the New

There were only a few reasons why I enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins more than Mass Effect 1 & 2, but they were enough. More than enough.

In DA:O, the graphics were shit, the story was ripped right out of Tolkien, Jordan and Martin's discard pile, and the glitches were many. But that didn't change the fact that they had BioWare's creative force full-on behind this title. The characters were well-written, the lore was detailed and expansive, and I loved the whole concept of the Grey Warden. On top of all that, the Origins were a fantastic concept: playing different races, different sexes, different classes and knowing that you were going to get a new story every time was absolutely brilliant!

But the one thing that the game did that allowed for absolute immersion was the classic dialogue tree. By making the playable character silent and giving him/her a set of detailed reactions to a given situation, this helped the player create their own voice, habits, and peaceable/violent tendencies for their character. You weren't playing the Warden, you were the Warden.

This was in sharp contrast to the Mass Effect series. Giving Shepard a name by which everyone could refer to him, a voice that allowed him to respond back, and only giving the player "degrees" by which to have Shepard respond, it didn't feel as much as an immersive role-playing experience as much as it felt like you were deciding how a movie would play out. Sometimes, it was hard to even predict what you were going to have Shepard do. There were a few times when I would select an option that seemed reasonable and Shepard would go about kicking people out of windows.

There is a very big difference between a reaction like:

"One more word out of you, dwarf, and you'll find yourself on fire."

and:

"No."

The reason I bring this up is on account of the details that have been released regarding Dragon Age 2, and they were very dramatic details. Here are a few:

1) You will play as a character named Hawke.

2) The combat system will get an overhaul.

3) The story will take place outside of Ferelden, in a new part of Thedas.

4) The story will begin after the destruction of Lothering, and will then continue over the course of a 10 year timeline.

5) You will be forced to play as a human.

And lastly:

6) Hawke will be a voiced character.

There are many things I'm all right with. New combat system? Sure, that's fine by me. I'll miss the KotOR-like system, but that's okay (I'VE LEARNED TO LIVE WITHOUT IT). Experience a new part of Thedas? Fantastic!

Being forced to play as a human? I...yeah, I had trouble with this one. It's odd to go from a game that allowed for three races, multiple origins, and have a sequel that has none of these. Seems like a step back to me, but I can sorta live with it (though, I'll miss playing as an elf). Having a character named Hawke? I...I guess I can live with this, too. After all, there's little difference between being called Warden or Hawke. I did like not being referred to by name and by title only but, again, I guess I can deal with that.

But the one thing I absolutely cannot deal with is the fact that HAWKE will be voiced. It just sucks! and let me tell you why. Dragon Age: Origins represented a classic RPG experience, where you could play your character how you wanted to play him/her. You could be who you wanted to be, act how you wanted to act, love who you wanted to love. When someone asks you something in-game, you get a list of responses, and what your mind does when you select a response (similarly to what it does when you're reading dialogue in a book) is attribute a voice to it. And that voice isn't that of Mark Meer or Jennifer Hale. It's yours! And the game responds to your voice!

This almost (almost!) allows for complete immersion, because suddenly a part of you is floating around in the game. Characters are responding to it, laughing it, loving it, dying for it. You feel like you're a part of the story. The reason I say "almost" is because DA:O was a last generation game. There were a lot of technical hangups that were frustrating to deal with, and I always assumed BioWare would change all of these things in the sequel. Better graphics, better gameplay, more detailed world.

But it's as though BioWare made a list of all the aspects of DA:O that I absolutely fell in love with and wiped them out from the sequel. I really, really Do Not want "Mass Effect: Dragon Age Edition." I do not. BioWare had a winning formula that needed improvement but, instead, they created a game that no self-respecting RPG lover could possibly want. Because Mass Effect 1 & 2 were not Role-Playing Games, they were Shepard Simulators. DA:O was a true RPG, which is why it actually sold BETTER than any of other BioWare title to date!

There is an easy solution, and that is to give players the option to keep their main character silent. Assign HAWKE some celebrity voice actor if you must, but give us the choice to stick to dialogue trees if we want to. Please! I don't want to look back at DA:O and know that it will be the last BioWare game that calls back to the good ol' days of the RPG genre. Because, BioWare, Bethesda just isn't as good at this writing thing as you are.