Despite flirting with the choice of being an ass, ultimately it was decided that we would save the village. The choice was met with positive reactions from some party members, while others disapproved. Whether or not your party members agree with your choice in accepting/declining side quests will alter their approval of you. If it gets higher, they'll be more effective in battle, trust you more, etc. On the other hand, if they disapprove, they may be less effective, and if you go against their wishes enough times, they'll flat out leave, and won't offer their services for your mission(s) anymore.

Even within these optional side quests—there are further optional side quests. (Layers within layers; think of quests like onions?) Knights are helping the town militia defend their homes, but the militia gear is … well, crap, because the blacksmith has shut down his forge due to depression over his daughter being held captive at the monsters' castle. If you convince him you'll save her, he'll fire the forge back up, and come battle time the militia will be sporting good gear. If you can't, he'll lock his doors once again, and come battle time the militia will be fighting with rags and worn out gear.

Eventually, the time for battle had come, and after talking to the town mayor (who sports an epic mustache), a rumbling and dust cloud down the mountain path played herald to the undead onslaught. During the battle, we were shown a bit more detail on it works. As promised, you can play the game in one of two ways: focus on one character and let AI handle the others, or switch between characters, pausing at times in order to utilize the best strategy.

AI can be set using the types of statements you would expect; things like, “If less than 25% health, use Weakest Healing Spell.” Thankfully, there will be plenty of preset AI with names such as “archer,” and these will repopulate all AI settings with ones based on that archetype. As your character levels up, they will also automatically change, keeping current.

Combo systems were also showcased. In one instance, Morigan (the mage character) cast an earthquake spell in the middle of a narrow path. Sten, another PC, after activating a skill became immune to knockdown, and was sent into the center of the tremor. As enemies approached, they began to stumble and fall amidst the buckling ground. Sten, meanwhile, held his ground, and simply picked them off one by one as they struggled to remain on their feet.

Another example was also shown with the spells Cone of Cold and Stonefist. Morigan cast the cone, froze enemies, and could then use Stonefist and instantly shatter one of them. All sorts of combos such as this are available, and as you figure them out they're added to your tome, so that in the future you'll know, “If I use this spell, this one will cause that!”