Dragon Age II Announced

It’s official, Dragon Age II (http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/) announced.

Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. You are one of the few who escaped the destruction of your home. Now, forced to fight for survival in an ever-changing world, you must gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and seal your place in history. This is the story of how the world changed forever. The legend of your Rise to Power begins now.

Key Features:

* Embark upon an all-new adventure that takes place across an entire decade and shapes itself around every decision you make.
* Determine your rise to power from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land.
* Think like a general and fight like a Spartan with dynamic new combat mechanics that put you right in the heart of battle whether you are a mage, rogue, or warrior.
* Go deeper into the world of Dragon Age with an entirely new cinematic experience that grabs hold of you from the beginning and never lets go.
* Discover a whole realm rendered in stunning detail with updated graphics and a new visual style.

As I love the Dragon Age series, I know I’ll be grabbing this soon as it’s out. I do wonder how this will tie in with Dragon Age: Origins/Awakening though, and if like Mass Effect 2, will characters from DA: O/A make cameos?

(Unsure of how to remove the thumbs down icon on the main page for this topic. Could a moderator please check it, and remove it if possible?)

Two things put me in full ‘red alert’ mode here…and that’s not a good thing.

1. Your character is pre-determined to be human.

2. It’s not your character from DAO(10 years later, different part of the continent).

Now granted, I’m not that hung up on 2, but number 1 kinda ticks me off. I had a lot of fun making different characters. I’ve also heard that there will be no origins, which is another strike against it.

Not hatin’ on it(I’m willing to hold out some cautious optimism up until its release), but stating some concerns I have about rumors I’ve heard.

Playing a pre-determined character is pretty lame, but my biggest concern so far has been all the talk about a new "dynamic, action packed" combat system. I like action RPGs and all, but I bought Dragon Age because I wanted a new game that played like Baldur’s Gate. Hope they haven’t moved too far away from tactical RPG territory.