GreedFall 2: The Dying World is going full-on Dragon Age: Origins

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

While I never played the original GreedFall, I’d had it described to me enough that I thought I knew its deal. Friends described it to me as an action RPG in line with The Witcher. I had a pretty clear picture of it in my head, but I second-guessed myself the moment I sat down to play two hours of GreedFall 2: The Dying World. It was nothing like I was expecting. Had I been lied to?

My mind wasn’t playing tricks on me. The upcoming sequel is a surprising departure from its predecessor both in terms of story and, more crucially, combat. It’s a total reinvention that takes its notes from Dragon Age: Origins more than anything. While the build I played still felt very early, that direction couldn’t be bettered timed. With a new Dragon Age game around the corner, I imagine that RPG fans might be hungry for something like it while they wait for its release date. With an early access release planned for this summer, GreedFall 2 could become a tasty first course.

Native perspective

The most immediate change inGreedFall 2 is that players no longer take on the role of a colonizer coming to a foreign land. Instead, they inhabit the role of a native inhabitant. That makes a major tonal difference right out of the gate. The opening prologue I played put me in a small village where I was asked to help solve some local troubles. After a quick combat tutorial (more on that in a moment), I was given two mysteries to solve: find out why some villagers are getting sick and figure out who is killing local wildlife.

• New World: Aeternum made a lot of necessary changes to work on console
• Age of Mythology: Retold will have controller support on PC from day one
• This surprising Capcom game is the best thing I played at Summer Game Fest

From there, I got a quick feel forGreedFall 2‘s RPG systems. I’d explore every corner of a colorful forest as I followed leads, looked for clues, and spoke to nearby factions to get to the