Dragon Age Builder Interviews
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GameSpy: Are you embracing this new world, compared to let's say, the Forgotten Realms? Do you think this new plot, this new setting, has as much depth to it as the previous game worlds you've worked in?
Alan Miranda: It's too early for me to tell, I don't have the campaign settings book to say "Yes, Dragon Age, I've read it, and it's as in-depth as Forgotten Realms." Just from what I've seen, though, I would say that so far, I'm impressed, in terms of checking out the game and seeing the story, and finding it compelling enough to go, you know, this isn't like some other RPGs that "I can't get into, this feels generic." I can feel that there's depth. I just need time to play the game. I need time to read documentation that they'll release at some point to feel this is as rich as Forgotten Realms.
GameSpy: From all the different new features that you've seen in the game, what's the one that's most impressed you?
Alan Miranda: The emotional impact of the storytelling through cut-scenes. It's convincing. Moreso even than in Mass Effect, because in Mass Effect you'd see the characters standing there, usually, and maybe move back-and-forth. Here, it's so much more believable with all the animations you can have.
I was also impressed by the combat. It's not real-time Diablo-hack and slash or Oblivion-style combat, but it still feels like it's turn-based in the background and real-time on the surface. When you looked at Neverwinter 1, you had people fighting, and it was kind of neat because they would parry. Then Neverwinter 2 came along and you didn't have any of that, you had people just hitting each other. So this is a return, as far as RPGs go with toolsets, to that kind of combat where it looks really interactive.
And it's rewarding when you're actually clicking on certain icons in the game, like Shield Bash, and you push your opponent and they just go flying down. It's nice to see that visual cue, versus, say, feats that you might have in D&D where there's something happening and you don't see anything. So, I'm impressed with the combat from what I've seen so far.
