Conversations with NPCs aren’t anything that gamers haven’t seen before. You still select from a pre-made list of statements and responses, and the NPCs react based on what you’ve chosen. You can do some light gossiping and ask about the local rumors, but you’ll never get into a meandering conversation with the armorer about superior smelting techniques.

People do react to you, both positively and negatively. While I didn’t have enough time to see the full extent of the AI in action, I was a bit befuddled by the new persuasion system. A person’s opinion of you can be improved through a minigame that I found mildly confusing. You are given four options of statements (boasting, joking, admiration and coercing) and must select the proper one from a dial in a set amount of time. All the while this is happening, the person’s opinion of you drops. I personally found it to be a little haphazard.