Dragon Age 2 Afterthoughts

The lead designer for Dragon Age 2 discusses story beats, development decisions, the future of RPGs, and yes, those recycled dungeons.

By: Thierry Nguyen
March 18, 2011

Dragon Age 2 is a curious beast. It loosely resembles its predecessor, Dragon Age: Origins, due to its tweaked combat, change in visual style, and emphasis on a different protagonist. We liked it, but it certainly left us with some questions. So to that end, we chatted with DA2 lead designer Mike Laidlaw, and asked him about some lingering story questions that we were curious about, the decisions behind the companion design and other mechanics, and even about the recycled dungeon design.

1UP: First of all, it’s been a week since Dragon Age 2 has shipped. What have you guys been doing lately, now that your game is done?