Dragon Age: Origins Preview
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As players progress through the game, they will pick up additional party members, each with their own skills and personalities. These personalities are well formed and shine through as one of the brightest parts of the game. Even when simply traveling from point A to point B, the members of your party will interact with you, each other, and the environment. The dialog and voice acting are simply superb.There's way too much progressing going on there.
As you progress through the game, players will be able to mold these characters as they see fit. Not only can players develop these party members statistically as they level up, but they can chose what type of specializations they take, and even change the very core of the character's beliefs. This was illustrated to me this weekend through the following example (which will be kept vague for the sake of spoilers): It is possible for an instance to occur when a character will look at the player's actions, and turn on them. However, it's also possible for the character to stay with the player despite having strong opinions against the player's actions. To make this possible, a dynamic approval system was created. Low approval can create crisis situations; whereas with high approval a mechanic called "inspiration" comes into play. Inspiration can result in new powers and abilities presenting themselves to the players. High approval also opens up quest lines and romance options.
As players progress through the game, they will begin with their origin story, then travel through a fairly linear segment in order to join the Grey Wardens. After this however, the game is completely up to the player. The choices and decisions they make will change how the game is played and how it ends. Laidlaw promised a highly reactive ending, with numerous permutations.
