Dragon Age Preview

The guys at 1Up have published a two-page preview of Dragon Age, based on what they learned from project director Scott Greig during a visit to BioWare's Edmonton headquarters.
Behind every good hero stands his chums--and BioWare RPGs are nothing without followers. "Every character will have access to the full set of NPCs," says Greig. "They'll treat you differently depending on the origin story, and when you get them is dependent on origin story too." Characters follow behind you in Explore Mode, and BioWare is strongly pushing the idea of party banter. Greig compares it to Saving Private Ryan: "There's a part [in SPR] when they're just walking though the area not doing anything, but the banter going on really brings them to life. We're trying to capture that."

As for A.I., "It's not just me and three meat Popsicles," Greig continues. "These are living, breathing characters...all the NPCs that join you have different agendas. If you say, 'I'll side with this faction,' that'll obviously please some of your party members, but others will say, 'I can't believe you just did that.'" Morally driven banter is one thing (party members in Knights of the Old Republic would often chide you for your dark-side decisions while blindly following your innocent-slaughtering orders) but morally driven behavior is another--and Greig hints that NPCs might even go so far as refuse to fight if they feel you're way out of line.