PlanetXbox360 had the opportunity to sit down with the lead designer of Dragon Age: Origins, Mike Laidlaw, for a short interview session about the upcoming game and the industry itself. Read on to find out how Dragon Age: Origins is coming along and what to expect once the titles releases on November 3, 2009 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.
PlanetXbox360: What inspirations has the Dragon Age team drawn from, such as say “The Game of Thrones”?
Mike Laidlaw: “Drawing from” is heavy loaded, but what “The Game of Thrones” did – and other fantasy related titles such as “Conan” just because of the Cthulhu mythos lurking in the background, and I’m more talking about the comics and novels rather than necessarily the movies – all of those kind of us let us go towards darker fantasy and realize there is a space for edgy, death and betrayal rather than just big brooding evil that everyone bands together to fight. I think Dragon Age does a good job at showing that even in the face of something massive and clearly out to destroy everything its path such as the Blight, people’s ambitions can rise up and get in the way of the logical choice – which is obviously to stop it – so it’s nice to see and understand that there is a market for darker fantasy. They certainly have a punch, are fresh and exciting.
PX360: How much time will a player need to invest to complete their first play-through? Secondly, how long would it take a player was to invest time into all six origins and all the side-quests included?
ML: I would say the average play-through for a single origin, from beginning to end on average, is 80 hours. That seems to be the metric we have across. You can do it faster certainly. There’s a lot of optional content. Actually, there’s tons of optional content. There are more than 100 quests easily that are completely unnecessary, but you tend to want to do them because they have XP! Then there are the origin stories and there are six of those. There are changes, variations, return visits, meeting characters from your origins that react differently because you played through it. So you can play through the game six times and see elements that are different all the way through.
PX360: Personally speaking, what’s your favorite origin?
ML: I would have to the City Elf and it would have to be as a female.
PX360: What about your favorite side-quest?
ML: Well for me, and the team teases me mercifully about this, it would have to include one of the followers that’s an Orlesian bard named Leliana. And I have absolutely a gigantic virtual crush on her. I think her voice-acting is absolutely awesome; cutest accent ever! So Leliana, and many of the followers have this as they have stories that as they get to know you and begin to trust you they fill you in on side-stories that help develop their character and result in items and changes in items and abilities, has one of the best ones we have. I find it very compelling and it is strong enough that allows you to kind of suggest her character act in a certain way. You can actually see that play out over the rest of the game, which, to me, is just awesome.
PX360: Now when players finally finish up the single-player campaign, will players come to a conclusion that a sequel is already on its way due to any unresolved stories?
ML: The thing about Dragon Age is that “Origins” establishes and tells one story of one Grey Warden who rallies the nation against The Blight. But, there are hundreds of stories that are hinted at, elements of the past that aren’t quite revealed. If you talked to the right people, you can talk to the right people to learn far more than what the single game presents. When you look at the Codex and the journal, you can see far more history that is far from being resolved. That I think is provides fertile ground to look at doing something else and exploring new parts of the world.
PX360: Speaking about the gaming industry itself, where do you see technology advancing next? Do you think Project Natal is the way to go?
ML: I think that motion-sensing, in general, is part of trying to immerse the player. I think the Holy Grail that we are chasing – what we used to be chasing was realistic visuals – and I think nowadays is you see a slowdown in graphics technology. Certainly engines are becoming more refined, but they aren’t making those huge leaps. I think we’ve reached the point that we are comfortable with our characters and how they look really good. So what everyone now is looking towards is, “Excellent we now have the paints, the brush, the canvas, and the palette to present what we want, but how do we get the player drawn in and take advantage that one thing that the video game medium has which is pulling them in with being immersive and interactivity.” My idea is that in the future – whether it is through Natal and the physical translations of your motions into a game or through dialogue choices or recording your own voice and putting your own name in so it recognizes the player, and all of those things – it’s all about allowing the player sculpt their experience and adjust it. That’s where we are heading but I have no idea how we are going to get there.
PX360: Looking into the future for upcoming video games, are there any upcoming titles that are on your wish list?
ML: Looking forward to…hmm. I’m always excited to see what the next Final Fantasy is going to do. They are near the pinnacle of what the Japanese style of storytelling. I’m personally in love with the Persona series … In terms of storytelling and kind of the evolution of it; it’s always interesting to watch projects like Alan Wake and Heavy Rain. They are really deep character introspection as they both seem to be going for. Those really intrigue me. It’s kind of like where my head entered when I played Silent Hill 2. You know, I felt very much in that character’s space and I totally understood him. It was a very personal journey as I battled demons and nightmares. It looks like those two are heading into that direction and doing it in a way with higher fidelity.
Stay tuned for part two of our exclusive interview with fan-favorite video game developer Bioware next week.
