Interesting interview with Zeschuk where he talks abit about Dragon Age 2 and the changes (DA2 stuff on pages 2 and 3):
http://www.eurogamer...nterview?page=2Eurogamer: You revealed Dragon Age 2 recently. The art style has changed and you now play a pre-determined hero. Why have you decided to make those changes?
Dr. Greg Zeschuk: It's a weird way to say it, but part of it's the passion of the team. The art style example is an interesting one. We changed art directors. The art director on Dragon Age 2 is the same guy who was the art director on Jade Empire. He worked somewhere else for a while then he came back. He's a fan of our stuff, but he also has his own ideas on how to take it.
There was some commentary that Dragon Age could have been more visually unique. We said, 'Okay! You want visually unique? Here's visually unique.' It's usually a combination of things that drives our decision-making. It's not like we're designed by committee. Nor are we beholden to fan and press feedback. But we really do look at all that stuff.
We like changing it up. We like challenging the players. We're not the kind of group that wants to deliver the same thing over and over. What tends to happen on that is you get two or three iterations and then you're dead. The interest is lost. In some ways it's keeping it fresh and challenging the player.
We had a lot of commentary on Mass 1 to Mass 2. Mass 1 to Mass 2 is a radical shift. We just felt it would make a better game. That's largely what we're thinking in terms of the Dragon Age 2 stuff. And then we'll see what people think of it and then do something different again probably.
It's almost like a twist on what Square does. Square keeps the gameplay largely the same but everything else changes. We, in a sense, are going to keep the world the same, but we'll change the gameplay around. But in a smart, careful way. People will be pretty happy with what we're doing with gameplay, largely.
You can't please everyone. But we're largely trying to make sure we've got something that stands out and is competitive. The team is really excited about it. They're the biggest fans of the game that there are. Some of the fans out there are pretty huge, but they're big fans as well.
Eurogamer: People are saying, 'I loved Dragon Age. Why are you changing it?' It must be a difficult balancing act to keep the fans happy while implementing the changes you want to.
Dr. Greg Zeschuk: Yeah. We're careful about it. Sometimes we'll do stuff for effect. You go back to Dragon Age 1, everybody was freaked out about that one trailer with the Marilyn Manson music. They were like, 'ah!' It was another facet of the game.
The interesting thing about doing PR is there is no way at this essentially early moment we can reveal everything. We can't show all the facets. Say we show one facet, and everyone freaks out. Then we show another piece, and they say, 'Oh, well, I'm okay now.' When you play it, you get a sense of what the gameplay is like. You go, 'oh, okay, it all fits together'.
From a PR perspective, just people talking about something is a good thing. They'll give it a look regardless. You'll see when we show all the elements, people will go, 'oh, okay'. They'll probably be less freaked out.
Eurogamer: Some people are saying you're turning Dragon Age into Mass Effect?
Dr. Greg Zeschuk: It's different. It's not quite going that way. You could make that case based on what we've shown. It's like looking at the game through a keyhole. You go, 'oh, well that's all there is'. Well, there's a lot more than that. But that's what we're showing right now.
So yeah.... the little Square Enix name dropping is rather damning in my book. So basically, each DA game will be totally different gameplay and character wise the only thing tying them together will be Thedas. DA3: Dance Off here we come!!
And the little bit on how DA2 is "not quite" going the ME way....ugh... I understand the want to change things up in sequels, but I just want some damn consistency- which seems like they're ditching in the name of change. *sigh*
Honestly I never thought the art direction in DAO was that bad- it was the crummy technology of the engine which failed to adequately translate the art to the game. And based on the screens, it still looks like th technology is subpar. The only thing changing the visual style will do if the engine still blows is that it just introduces inconsistency between the games and to me thats really annoying.
Modifié par Brockololly, 15 juillet 2010 - 09:20 .
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