Dragon Age II campaign shorter than DA's

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 2 March, 2011

But "a bit longer" than Mass Effect's.

Dragon Age II's campaign is shorter than Dragon Age: Origins' – but it's longer than Mass Effect 2's.

That's according to BioWare executive producer Mike Laidlaw, who told PlayStation Universe the fantasy role-playing sequel is beefed up by side quests.

To determine how long the campaign will last, "Take a look at how you play games," he said. "I'd say it's a bit longer than Mass Effect but shorter than Origins."

Dragon Age: Origins' lengthy campaign weighed in at anywhere between 30 and 100 hours, depending on side quests and exploration undertaken by the player.

Side quests will also play an important part in the sequel's campaign, Laidlaw said.

"The game will take longer with side quests. At the same time, you can get through the story quite a bit faster because so much content is off to the side. Mileage will always vary, just take your habits and extrapolate."

Some Dragon Age fans have expressed concern that Dragon Age II offers a "dumbed down" role-playing experience.

In Laidlaw's view, it's a more "aerodynamic" game than the first, but he stopped short of saying it offered a "streamlined experience".

"You won't have to spend a year in character creation," he said.

Last week Laidlaw said gamers shouldn't feel intimidated by the RPG genre – they might not know it, but they already have the necessary skills to jump in and have fun.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (51) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • drchocapic #1 1 year ago

    Erm... a bit longer than Mass Effect's would be much MUCH shorter than the first Dragon Age campaign...
    Edited by drchocapic at 02/03/11 @ 09:50

  • Lexx87 #2 1 year ago

    Who was supposed to be afraid of RPGs again?

  • arcam #3 1 year ago

    It's annoying to me because it should be the other way around.

    For the first game, they've had to create a whole new world with all the artwork and lore and animations and all the rest of it. For the second game, lots of that preparatory work is already done, so you should have more time to spend on the campaign itself. But I guess that's the result of trying to produce an RPG (two, actually if you count ME) on a yearly basis.

  • Murton #4 1 year ago

    "Who was supposed to be afraid of RPGs again?"

    Game developers it seems. There's only Obsidian left who seem to understand what RPG fans want, the sooner they get cut loose from doing on-hire work for established franchises and allowed to spread their wings a little the better. I'd much rather history remember them as the people who saved the RPG genre from death by retardation than the people who resurrected a forgotten genre.

  • Kanselier #5 1 year ago

    I am happy with that. I am playing DA:o for the first time now and it starts to drag after 40 something hours. Still have three places on the map to visit (Dwarf town, Haven and one other) and I am getting a little bit fed up. I might just skip all the optional stuff and go through the story as fast as I can so I can enjoy another game before DA2 :)

  • Widge #6 1 year ago

    30 hours then? As long as the game doesn’t feel padded, the side missions in Mass Effect felt a touch ... long after a while.

  • Scimarad #7 1 year ago

    Good. DA:o was definitely starting to get a bit monotonous by the end. ESPECIALLY Alistair, the moaning git!

    -Edit-

    lol, just did a quick google search to make sure I'd spelt his name right and the first 3 video results were various 'sex scenes':)
    Edited by Scimarad at 02/03/11 @ 09:59

  • Softie2k #8 1 year ago

    They probably cut a third off the game and will repackage it as DLC.

  • asphaltcowboy #9 1 year ago

    Fine with me... no game needs to be 100 hours long! I think Mass Effect 2 was perfectly pitched pace/length-wise.

  • dangercopperfield #10 1 year ago

    Mass Effect 2 was way way shorter than DA:o. I had a terrible feeling Bioware would go with style over substance after playing the demo.

  • TheSnotGoblin #11 1 year ago

    I've got an 80 hour playthrough of Dragon Age and an 11 hour run. Likewise with the first Mass Effect I've finished it at 50 hours and at 8 hours.

    When they quote how 'long' these kind of games are it means nothing.

  • mowgli #12 1 year ago

    This is very good news! Stop padding games out for the sake of it.

  • Pac #13 1 year ago

    @Kanselier

    I agree, DAO does drag on a little, however I am not sure it was any longer than Boulder's Gate 2 (as that game was huge). You still have plenty to do. I left Orzammar till last and it takes bloody ages. however it is worth persevering as the Deep Roads are actually pretty good. I left it for about 6 months and just finished it last night. Hoping to get the rest of the game finished in the next couple of days.

    Edit: DOA, DAO, bloody acronyms will be the death of me
    Edited by Pac at 02/03/11 @ 10:07

  • SClaw #14 1 year ago

    I'm starting to think that DA2 will try to be an everyman. A bit action for the action players, a bit RPG for the RPG players... not too short... not too long... and it'll come out completely pleasing no one. Just as ME2 was. Not a great move and I don't completely support it... but I have faith that Bioware know how to make a great world with great lore and compelling characters and that while the endings usually suck they do know how to tell a story. I'm keeping the faith, even if slightly disappointed with all these reveals lately.

    Anyway, it's not a big deal. BG, BG2 and Planescape may be old but they are totally playable. When I want a deeper RPG I'll go back and play those, just as I have a hundred times in the past. They age like fine wine.

  • hiddenranbir #15 1 year ago

    I like how he has taken out his thesaurus to avoid saying 'dumbed down'. Aerodynamic, streamlined...haha!

    If DA:o felt "dragged on" that is Bioware's fault at having no idea about pacing.

    Which is a shame because the pacing of sinking in 1000 hours in Baldur's Gate 1+SOT+2+TOB (modded into one engine) didn't feel like a chore at any point.

    Bottom line, how grand can the adventure be. Either you feel it or are told it through cut scenes.
    Edited by hiddenranbir at 02/03/11 @ 10:08

  • mrpsb #16 1 year ago

    I enjoyed the demo and look forward to the full game, and no snide comments about it not being a proper RPG or shorter will stop me, so nyer nyer

  • Moribundman #17 1 year ago

    Hmmm. As I recall I took me considerably longer to play through either ME1 or ME2 than DA1.

    What is counted as "campaign"? Essential plot progression? Companion missions?

    And by sidequests do they mean people in a town asking you to grab a specific item while you're already visiting a plot-specific location or do they mean completely separate locations designed for a specific non-essential mission?

    I know they're just talking about the campaign, but in DA there didn't seem to really be any out and out sidequests aside from companion quests and the Origins themselves. In ME2 the companion quests took as long as the main journey to the collector base, plus there were about 20 self-contained discoverable N7 missions. Mass Effect 1 had planet after planet you could just stumble across a smugglers base on or go mining/collecting tags/holorecords...

    I think the sort of sidequests in Dragon Age mostly consisted of going to all the seekers boards/drop bags/shifty blokes etc and accepting every quest available, then just playing the game and once you'd stumbled across objects in the course of your main game or dealt with specific individuals who approached you during while you were at main quest locations completed these sidequests and you didn't have to backtrack. Or in Denerim some of them might open up the odd identikit alley for you to knock on a door in.

    The side quests in Mass Effect are completely different - essentially separate missions or levels in new locations that open up.

    I guess DA:o's sidequests seemed a little lightweight/old school compared to Fallout/Oblivion type efforts where you have a whole open world to search for items rathe than a specifically generated two screen location...

  • GamesConnoisseur #18 1 year ago

    The fact that you could play as many different origin key character with different causes/effects, dialogues plus padded out quests make the first one much longer.

    I prefered the tighter focus on Shepard and stronger storyline but still able to play different class and approaches, this is what they are clearly trying to do with DA2. As more able to create filmic storyline which appeals to wider audience but yet yes would like to be able to play deeper and wider options in RPG.

    I m not that bothered about graphic overhaul for consoles which is a good bonus, but more interested in how it ll play and holding my interest over the game length.

    A thought, gamers harking for BG and Torment type of deep RPG may need to realise that today HD equlivant in term of production would be very expensive and main publishers not going to commit years of manhours for what they can get away with for less.

    But with GOG, rise of text adventures and popularity of Apps/download service, perhaps we could see new BG type of RPG games being produced by a small studios?

    I certainly would purchase new BG/Icewind/Torment RPG.

  • Seoh #19 1 year ago

    DA:o was an epic saga with a good length, 20-30hours core and pliantly of interesting optional content the way it should be.

    I'm not entirely sure how DA:2 will work tho in terms of side quests since they have said there will be big jumps in time due to the "story within a story" aspect

  • arcam #20 1 year ago

    @Moribundman

    Got to agree with you about the weak sidequests of Dragon Age. But I had really hoped that they would make these bigger and better for the sequel.

    I can't be the only one who nearly always prefers the sidestories in RPGs to the main quests...

  • Embar #21 1 year ago

    I never enjoy seeing the road ahead, it only forces you to hurry through the current zone/quest to get to the next one. Sure you need a goal, but your goals should be properly paced. When I was in Orzammar and I saw all the quests and, being a Bioware fan, knew the formula (intro -> 5 "zones" of content -> finale ) I knew I had at least 10 hours to go in that zone. I prefer a better paced experience without padding but with the oppertunity to eek it out a bit longer if I choose.

    When a developer comes out and says "200 hours of gameplay!" it's only ever daunting and I'm reminded of how much little free time I actually have and all the other games I want to play.

  • NewbieZilla #22 1 year ago

    On facebook, they now have a thing of sharing links, and if 1 million links get shared another item will be unlocked.

    Link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1...

    Edit: Well, fuck me for pointing out some news.
    Edited by NewbieZilla at 02/03/11 @ 10:43

  • TheApologist #23 1 year ago

    You don't have to spend ages in character creation? Booo - that's my favourite bit!

    As a long time fan of them, I'm really beginning to feel left behind by the direction RPGs seem to be going in.

  • Centrifugal #24 1 year ago

    Was it even possible to get 100 hours in one playthrough in Origins? Christ, mine was only forty hours and I think I did a hell of a lot. You've got to love the die-hard fans.
    Edited by Centrifugal at 02/03/11 @ 11:06

  • geeza2020 #25 1 year ago

    /yawn

    I dont care about how long it is, all I know is after the playing the demo, they should have just tried to make DA2 AS GOOD AS DA1 before fucking about with all this streamlining aerodynamic corporate bullshit.

  • Ellusion #26 1 year ago

    Of course, when you have Medieval Mass Effect in the first place, why not make it equally long.

  • jstar #27 1 year ago

    I WANT to spend a year in character creation you thick twat.

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #28 1 year ago

    I've clocked 80 hours in DA:o through the month of February, and I'm just about ready for the landsmeet. Not sure if I'll continue into Awakenings through next week, or if I should jump straight into DA2 when that arrives. I'll probably do both..

  • Gunship #29 1 year ago

    An 'aerodynamic' game. Good. So it should fly nice and smoothly into the trashcan of gaming history.

    Exact figures are DA:o 1,000,000 words, DA2 400,000 words. DA:o 56,000 spoken lines, DA2 38,000 spoken lines. And note that for DA2 that's INCLUDING the lines of the newly voiced protagonist. Swedish PC gamer reckons the main campaign can be rushed in 15-20 hours. But "don't worry!" says Fernando Melo "there will be plenty of dlc!"

  • Sunyavadin #30 1 year ago

    Dear Bioware - please farm out DA:3 to Obsidian. Thanks.

  • comedyjack #31 1 year ago

    What if I WANT to spend a year in character creation?

  • Tryhard #32 1 year ago

    Shorter than DA:o,well you'd have to make it shorter or your finger would drop off spamming the A button on Xbox for that long a period.

  • Murton #33 1 year ago

    "Dear Bioware - please farm out DA:3 to Obsidian. Thanks."

    While I agree with the idea, I think that would be the worst thing in the world. DA3 needs to be made by Bioware so that they can complete their fall from grace and allow Obsidian, who should be working their own IPs by then the chance to supplant them and become the new kings of the RPG genre. And that's not a prediction, that's Prophecy, it will be, mark my words.

  • Saxo #34 1 year ago

    Well gonna play DA: 2. But if what Gunship #31 says is true it does look watered down. Which is a shame. Good thing i just bought Fallout New vegas, which certainly is an rpg in all senses, with very long and fun side quests.

  • arcam #35 1 year ago

    Shorter than DA:o,well you'd have to make it shorter or your finger would drop off spamming the A button on Xbox for that long a period.

    What is with that? On PC you're attacks are much faster if you keep spamming the R button during combat (particularly as mage or archer). I'm assuming that has to be a bug of some kind because it can't be designed to give you RSI after every battle.

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #36 1 year ago

    Irrony is that people complain 40 quid isn't value for money, and yet a 100 hours for 100% complete is deemed 'too long' - I'm starting to think most of the 'masses' would count 'value' on how easy it is to get their gamerscore points and how quickly they can trade it in for maximum cashback not how long the game will actally last.

  • fleeboy #37 1 year ago

    So what your saying is COD players of the world please come and try our RPG.. you might be afriad of it, you know with complex stats and mild brain power required but honestly it's not that hard. Look we've made everything Duplo Simples for you!

    and normal RPG fans.... oh I'm sorry did you want a complex character creation syste like our previous games?? Sorry we're pandering to the COD crowd right now.

    If I wasn't sure I'd almost call COD's success a GameCrime

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #38 1 year ago

    @flee - blame the need for instant gratifcation these days, 'skill' is more twitch then planning these days.

    RIP 1990-2001 RPGs

  • ccfb #39 1 year ago

    70hrs on DAO, without side quests. Enjoyed 90% of it. Don't remember spending that long in character creation, unless he means the ORIGIN STORIES that the whole game was based around. Am disappoint.

  • metalangel #40 1 year ago

    @NewbieZilla: same shit as they tried with NFS: HP. They failed to hit the target, but unlocked the shitty content anyway.

  • hiddenranbir #41 1 year ago

    EA so desperate to beat Activision and the CoD franchise they're willing to make all their games appeal to the average CoD player. Maybe.

  • coomber #42 1 year ago

    Even more reason for me to hold out until the GOTY edition then. And there are so many decent games around this year I won't even notice!

  • dirtysteve #43 1 year ago

    Skyrim has a job to do this year, hopefully it can drag the RPG's up, smack them about, and teach them to dream again.

  • uknortherner2000 #44 1 year ago

    @dirtysteve: "Skyrim has a job to do this year, hopefully it can drag the RPG's up, smack them about, and teach them to dream again."

    I think the fact it will have a proper character creator already puts it light years ahead of DA2. Also, if it's anything like Morrowind and Oblivion, I can expect over 200+ hours of gameplay and exploration too.

  • paulf #45 1 year ago

    best thing about this game (well the demo anyway) - skippable cut scenes from the off

  • Gunship #46 1 year ago

    @SirFuzzyDunlop - you have named one of the very few positive changes from DA:o to DA2, combat wise (slightly better positioning requirements). The rest is dismal. Pause and play is optional by design - the pace of combat is too frantic to get the much-hyped 'think like a general' feel of what is going on. Unlock the demo difficulty setting (bioware forum), set it to nightmare, and try to keep track of what's happening with all the instant on-crack animations and ninja backflips. Friendly fire only on nightmare - and even then it's slightly pointless bacause no usable tactical view. The armor you wear cannot be changed whenever you want, so no more agonizing over +20% resistance vs -10% fatigue is better for play style - the equipment comes with kiddie star ratings to help you out. Fewer skills and spells.

    The 'mash the A button' point you make - I don't know - the devs have u-turned on this so often I've lost track if it auto attacks or not in the final release. Etc etc. ALL THAT is the problem, not the "RPG snobs" making up stuff to complain about.
    Edited by Gunship at 02/03/11 @ 13:50

  • spekkeh #47 1 year ago

    Wow, talk about a fanboy infested comment section.

    Well, I'll just risk the negs and side with the other critics here. I'm really enjoying DA:o so far (still playing it) but it's starting to outstay its welcome, the dungeons are way too long and a bit of a slog really. Could do with some heavy editing to retain the pacing. It's like movies people, longer is definitely not always better. Especially once you get a job and a wife and everything.
    Edited by spekkeh at 02/03/11 @ 14:12

  • spekkeh #48 1 year ago

    Irrony is that people complain 40 quid isn't value for money, and yet a 100 hours for 100% complete is deemed 'too long' - I'm starting to think most of the 'masses' would count 'value' on how easy it is to get their gamerscore points and how quickly they can trade it in for maximum cashback not how long the game will actally last.

    No value is when you enjoy it enough to spend 40 quid on it, length has absolutely dickall to do with it.

  • Cloud-Strife #49 1 year ago

    No game should be a hundred hours long? Persona 3 Fes disagrees.

  • silversun #50 1 year ago

    i think what could help the game out in a big way for people that think it is being a lesser game than dragon ages 1, is if sometime after launch they made a tool set availible for mod comunity.
    I am not sure if dragon age 1 had this on pc but the neverwinter games did and bioware had a huge community of people that made mods for the game , dragon age would also be perfect for this.

  • apoc_reg #51 1 year ago

    What a dosh this guy comes off as. What was wrong witht he sales of origins?!?! There was no need to strem/dumb"aero" the mechanics fool.

    All games are not for all people...!