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Dragon Age III: Inquisition

post #1 of 88
9/17/12 at 7:46pm
Thread Starter 

It's official:

 

http://dragonage.com/inquisition/

 

Quote:

So here's what I can confirm for now:

 

  • The next game will be called Dragon Age III: Inquisition.
  • We won't be talking about the story of the game today. Though you can make some guesses from the title.
  • This game is being made by a lot of the same team that has been working on Dragon Age since Dragon Age: Origins. It's composed of both experienced BioWare veterans and talented new developers.
  • We are working on a new engine, which we believe will allow us to deliver a more expansive world, better visuals, more reactivity to player choices, and more customization. At PAX East, we talked about armor and followers… Yeah, that kind of customization. We've started with Frostbite 2 from DICE as a foundation to accomplish this.

 

There's much more to talk about, of course, but it will have to wait until it's ready for the prime time.

 

We are going to be as open as we can. We will continue to have a dialogue with you and answer what questions we can. Keep providing us with your feedback. I'm excited about what we are working on and I hope that you will be too. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but it is just as hard for me not to tell you stuff as it is for you to wait.

 

Other stuff Kotaku's found out:

 

Quote:
  • It will have improved level design over Dragon Age II. During the Dragon Age presentation at PAX East, the team announced in no uncertain terms that they had heard and understood the feedback about recycled environments from DA2, and would be avoiding a repeat.
  • Players will be visiting at least one city or other location in Orlais, Dragon Age's equivalent of France. In the game's lore, it's the home base of the Divine, who is more or less the reigning papal figure of Thedas — and who, as head of the Chantry, of which both the Seekers and Templars are branches, may well be highly involved in the plot.
  • Players will be able to customize their companion characters' gear. BioWare have detailed at length, both in the PAX East presentation and on their blog, the way that they plan to blend unified, thematic visual appearances in the manner of DA2 with the armor customization from DA:O. Players may also be able to mess around with textiles and dyes.
  • Player decisions from the first two games will carry forward, creative director Mike Laidlaw confirmed at the same PAX East panel. Dragon Age II let players import a save from Dragon Age: Origins. If players didn't import, then at new game creation, they chose one of three possible predetermined sets of outcomes from the first game. Whether or not DA3 actually has save-game imports is still up in the air, but it seems likely to.
  • There will be an online or multiplayer component. No specifics have bubbled up yet, but Dragon Age III is guaranteed to have some kind of online or multiplayer element. Not only is EA actively and publicly putting online "universe" behind all of its games and series, but also lead writer David Gaider has confirmed as much on the forums.

 

The fact they're using a new engine derived from Frostbite 2, instead of DA:Origins/DA II's Eclipse engine...that's kind of a big deal. At least BioWare is finally getting some benefits from EA, those being that DICE is FAR better at tech than them.

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post #2 of 88
9/17/12 at 8:03pm

 

 

Can't come soon enough.

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post #3 of 88
9/17/12 at 8:05pm

Yay Dragon Age.

 

Dragon Age II was a really cool idea hampered by time constraints.  Still love the idea of following one city through a decade to see how it changes.  I just wish it, you know, changed.

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post #4 of 88
9/17/12 at 8:18pm
Dragon Age 2 was a disappointment, but no where near bad enough to stop me getting this day one. Probably 2014, huh? Ugh.
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post #5 of 88
9/17/12 at 8:35pm

Dragon Age in Frostbite 2.0? Sign me up! I actually liked Dragon Age 2 despite its flaws, so I am definitely looking forward to seeing what they come up with for DA3.

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post #6 of 88
9/17/12 at 8:41pm

The story and characters of Dragon Age II were just fine. Better than fine, actually. It was the gameplay where things got dicey. As long as that's corrected ...

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post #7 of 88
9/17/12 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post

 

 

 

Can't come soon enough.

 

DA2 shows that it can come too soon, though.  Although at least the first thing they said was that they would be putting more work into the level design, so that's a start.  Take your time, Bioware.  Origins was totally worth the wait.

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post #8 of 88
9/17/12 at 11:35pm

The gap between DA2 and 3 gives me a lot of hope.  DA2 was rushed to meet a release date.  The Mass Effect release cycle is about as fast as you can knock one of these out with A+ quality, and those took slightly more than two years between each game.

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post #9 of 88
9/18/12 at 12:41am

I found Dragon Age 2 to be okay, but I did pay bargain bin prices for it. And enjoy it. I would have been pissed had I gone in blind.

 

 

It shit itself by the final act, with the stupid blood mage reveals. The game was also short changed majorly by EA in the development schedule.

 

 

 

I wonder if Bioware can dig itself out of the hole it's dug after SW:TOR, ME3 and whatever it's doing to the corpse of Ultima? Or will it end up like...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still, fantasy FRANCE here we come (the Dragon Age CGI Anime was pretty bad fyi)... I want to believe.


Edited by Dr Syn - 9/18/12 at 1:03am
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post #10 of 88
9/18/12 at 1:49am

I am extremely skeptical. I will wait for a ton more info before giving this even a bit of leeway. I hope DA 2 selling less than half of DA:O taught them the right lessons. The mainstream will NEVER get into this type of game. Ever. So baiting fangirls and otakus with stupid romances, or having unconfiguarable companions so that cosplayers could easier dress like them*, or everyone donning stupid anime armor and flipping around like Chinese acrobats in order to impress ADD afflicted dudebros should be categorically out. If they're not, I'm out.

 

*Actual Bioware quote.

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post #11 of 88
9/18/12 at 5:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelios View Post

 or having unconfiguarable companions so that cosplayers could easier dress like them*,

*Actual Bioware quote.

 

A mod was quickly developed that fixed this issue, enabling you to outfit the human companions with whatever you wanted...or render them naked (if you wanted).  Truth be told, the mods created for DA2 helped save the game in many respects.

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post #12 of 88
9/18/12 at 5:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd View Post

Dragon Age 2 was a disappointment, but no where near bad enough to stop me getting this day one. Probably 2014, huh? Ugh.

 

It was exactly that bad for me. I remember the excitement, then the creeping realization that I would be slowly repeating the first four hours of my playthrough all the way to the end. I will wait until the shine wears off before I pull the trigger on this one.

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post #13 of 88
9/18/12 at 6:22am

Perhaps if I weren't all medieval fantasied-out, if Dragon Age 2 hadn't been a crushingly awful piece of shit, if Mass Effect 3 hadn't turned out so sloppy and disappointing in narrative terms...

 

..well, perhaps then my instinctive reaction to this news wouldn't simply be "lol, no". Which pretty much leaves CD Projekt's upcoming cyberpunk thing as my sole RPG hope for the immediate future.

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post #14 of 88
9/18/12 at 8:56am

I couldnt finish Dragon Age 2 on either PC or 360, so i may be out on this one...unless they bring back the Morrigan/Origins storyline from the first game, which is one cliffhanger ending ive pondered a lot about.

But seriously, Dragon Age 2 really killed the franchise for me; sure, the combat was better on the 360, but i just coulnt get through all of it again; it remains unfinished for me.

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post #15 of 88
9/18/12 at 9:15am

The thing is, I really do get into Bioware RPGs for the story, and DA2 had a good one that set up some interesting conflicts that don't even involve the Darkspawn.  And it had a great cast of characters that did a good job of flipping a lot of stock fantasy set ups: you get a woman as a tank, the devout virgin is a man, a dwarf as the rogue archer, and an elf as the two-handed heavy hitter.  A nice touch, I thought.

 

That said, it's a terrible video game.  The combat was crap, with repetitive enemies, the level design atrocious, and it is just horrendously ugly to look at.  That should be enough for me to swear off, but Origins did such a job of hooking me into this world that I'll still buy this day one on the strength of the concept over the awful execution of the last one.  

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post #16 of 88
9/18/12 at 10:30am

I recognized all of DA2's flaws, but somehow they never negated the fun for me. I could see early enough that it was a very different, lesser creature than Origins, but I still found the whole deal compelling enough for a few playthroughs. Guess I'm just BioWare's whore.

 

So, yeah, I am all in for this. III:I?

 

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post #17 of 88
9/18/12 at 11:59am

Well, maybe they put out the DA3 news yesterday to build up some goodwill because this just happened:

 

BioWare Founders Ray Muzkya and Greg Zeschuk Both Retiring

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post #18 of 88
9/18/12 at 1:05pm

That's it for Bioware then. At least as far as I'm concerned. My hopes were that they would step up and right the ship. Shame, but they earned a nice retirement. Thanks EA.

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post #19 of 88
9/18/12 at 1:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelios View Post

That's it for Bioware then. At least as far as I'm concerned. My hopes were that they would step up and right the ship. Shame, but they earned a nice retirement. Thanks EA.


get ready for "Mass Effect: Spectre Warfare" everybody!!

Seriously, these news suck ass...no wonder Obsidian went Kickstarter for its new project.

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post #20 of 88
9/18/12 at 1:26pm

I just really hope the story went like this -- BioWare founders know they're nearing retirement from the games industry, sell the company to EA so it'll live on, and stick around for a bit to smooth the transition -- rather than like this -- BioWare founders have no plan to retire from the games industry, sell the company to EA, and then are slowly beaten to submission by the bottom-dollar-oriented corporate behemoth.

 

As a huge fan of some of their games, both versions of the story are sad, but only one of them is actually painful.

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post #21 of 88
9/18/12 at 1:29pm

EA has a list of kills in their name bigger than Carlos Hathcock. The benefit of the doubt does not exist as far as they're concerned.

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post #22 of 88
9/18/12 at 1:30pm

Well, that puts a little damper on my rah-rah. Zeschuk, though, he's livin my dream "retirement."

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post #23 of 88
9/18/12 at 1:32pm

He fuckin' earned it.

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post #24 of 88
9/18/12 at 3:09pm

Tycho over at Penny Arcade had a couple of interesting tweets about this:

 

 

 

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Khoo and I looked at the date of the Bioware buyout/today's announcement. Probably isn't a coincidence that it's almost 5 years exactly.

 

 

 

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As somebody with a company people are always trying to buy, this is almost textbook. Acquisition with a five year "backend" payout.
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post #25 of 88
10/21/12 at 8:31am
Thread Starter 

New DAIII concept art:

 


 

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/10/20/first-look-dragon-age-iii-inquisition-concept-art/

 

And a whole bunch of new details, courtesy of Kotaku:

 

  • You will get the chance to take control over your very own castle/stronghold.
  • Character customization will return "in a big way" in this next game, including full follower-customization, and will be "bigger than Dragon Age: Origins," according to Mike Laidlaw.
  • Cinematic designer Jon Perry said that "one level in Dragon Age III is as big as all of the levels in Dragon Age II."
  • According to David Gaider, "You will be human," adding that, "[Backgrounds] will be in Dragon Age III, even though you will be human, it's not playable but it does significant impact on the story."
  • The game will import prior character-choices, but, said executive producer Mark Darrah, "[We're] investigating some ways without save-imports."
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post #26 of 88
10/21/12 at 8:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leto II View Post

  • Character customization will return "in a big way" in this next game, including full follower-customization, and will be "bigger than Dragon Age: Origins," according to Mike Laidlaw.

 

And if you're not satisfied, wait a few days and start downloading the mods that the players have created to 'fix' the game.

 

Seriously, if they want to understand what people WANT, they should go and see all of the mods that were created for DA:O and DA2.  Deliver THAT content and you'll have a much better game at launch.

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post #27 of 88
10/21/12 at 8:40am

I want an extensive demo and early reviews. Until then any buzz means nothing to me. Bioware has zero goodwill from me by now.

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post #28 of 88
10/21/12 at 12:35pm

I'm invested in the world enough to play it even if it kind of sucks. I also just like the Bioware template.

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post #29 of 88
10/21/12 at 4:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd View Post

I'm invested in the world enough to play it even if it kind of sucks. I also just like the Bioware template.

 

Yup.  For as bad as DA2 was, it did little to dull my enthusiasm for the world and this type of game in general.

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post #30 of 88
10/23/12 at 1:19pm

I still <3 BioWare.  Dragon Age II is pretty easily their worst game but it's still fun with some nice ideas and goals.

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post #31 of 88
10/23/12 at 7:32pm

I remember when I read someone, I think Devin, mention that DA:O was a throwback to RPGs that came with 60 page manuals. I went out and found a copy and loved the hell out of that game. Of the problems in DA2 (repetitive gameplay, recycled environments, interesting story but apparent lack of impact on the game world), it was the reduction in character options (paths, origins, playing styles) that bothered me the most. That does not mean I missed customizing my party's gear, which Bioware seems to think will fix the game.

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post #32 of 88
10/23/12 at 10:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeI View Post

I remember when I read someone, I think Devin, mention that DA:O was a throwback to RPGs that came with 60 page manuals. I went out and found a copy and loved the hell out of that game. Of the problems in DA2 (repetitive gameplay, recycled environments, interesting story but apparent lack of impact on the game world), it was the reduction in character options (paths, origins, playing styles) that bothered me the most. That does not mean I missed customizing my party's gear, which Bioware seems to think will fix the game.

 

It wasn't just Devin, it was Bioware's offcial pitch for the game. "Remember all those huge, complicated RPGs that you used to love but no one is making anymore? We're making one!" 

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post #33 of 88
10/24/12 at 4:23am

Dragon Age 2 makes an amazing visceral first impression with the cool violent impactful animations. 

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post #34 of 88
10/24/12 at 6:20am

Yes I agree. Especially with them removing the tedium of having to position your rogues behind an enemy's back so that they could, you know, backstab and it replacing with a button that makes them wire-fu over him and backstab no matter where they are placed. But I feel that DA 2 would have been even more visceral if the weapons were 50% larger.

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post #35 of 88
10/24/12 at 7:05am

I will say that I really appreciated that DA2 made the wizard attack animations more physical and dynamic than just pointing a stick repeatedly.  Shame the actual combat was a repetitive bore.

 

And ugly.  Did I mention how fucking ugly DA2 is in this thread yet?  Because it be ugly like stelios's fat, promiscuous mamma.

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post #36 of 88
10/24/12 at 7:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post

I will say that I really appreciated that DA2 made the wizard attack animations more physical and dynamic than just pointing a stick repeatedly.  Shame the actual combat was a repetitive bore.

 

And ugly.  Did I mention how fucking ugly DA2 is in this thread yet?  Because it be ugly like stelios's fat, promiscuous mamma.

 

There are several mods that fixed the ugliness issues ('Dragonage Redesigned', I think they were called).  Add in a few nudie mods for the female characters and bam...you're set.

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post #37 of 88
10/24/12 at 7:25am

It shouldn't take mods to make a major release not look like a plate of warm ass.  And even if it fixes the NPC models, there's still the level/art design.  And do mods even work for consoles?  And, oh yeah, it shouldn't take mods to make a major release not look like a plate of warm ass.

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post #38 of 88
10/24/12 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post

It shouldn't take mods to make a major release not look like a plate of warm ass.  And even if it fixes the NPC models, there's still the level/art design.  And do mods even work for consoles?  And, oh yeah, it shouldn't take mods to make a major release not look like a plate of warm ass.

 

Not disagreeing with you in the slightest.  I merely wanted to point out the fact that others agreed with you and did something about it via mods.

 

And no, the mods didn't work for consoles.

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post #39 of 88
10/24/12 at 8:03am

Not any help for me in that case.

 

Still, for all my griping, I'll be dropping the 60 for DA3 on the day of release.  I'm such a mark for these type of games.

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post #40 of 88
10/24/12 at 8:39am
Quote:
I am extremely skeptical. I will wait for a ton more info before giving this even a bit of leeway. I hope DA 2 selling less than half of DA:O taught them the right lessons. The mainstream will NEVER get into this type of game. Ever. So baiting fangirls and otakus with stupid romances, or having unconfiguarable companions so that cosplayers could easier dress like them*, or everyone donning stupid anime armor and flipping around like Chinese acrobats in order to impress ADD afflicted dudebros should be categorically out. If they're not, I'm out.

 

Yes..this was the first Bioware game that heavily catered to "fangirls" and the like.

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post #41 of 88
10/24/12 at 8:59am

I'm so in the bag for this series I expect to play at least one more time through Origins, Awakening, and II leading up to III's release. Hell, I'm about ready to start getting geeky on story predictions, all that pathetic speculative fanwank stuff. Am I proud of this? Nope. But I'm not ashamed, either. Aw Hell --

 

Morrigan has established herself in the court of Orlais and is the mysterious benefactor who's hired Sandal!

 

Phew.

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post #42 of 88
10/24/12 at 10:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LaurenOrtega View Post

 

Yes..this was the first Bioware game that heavily catered to "fangirls" and the like.

 

To the detriment of the stuff its initial fanbase liked, yes.

 

I'm just basing the fangirls comment on anecdotal personal experience from my extended online circle. The cosplaying comment is literally out of Bioware's mouth.

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post #43 of 88
10/24/12 at 10:30am

Dragon Age 2 caters to the fangirls about as much as Dragon Age Origins did. And I don't even know what the alleged fangirl appeasement was even all that detrimental to. Unless somehow adding one other handsome man prevented Bioware from crafting another epic storyline that I've come to know and tolerate.

 

 

Like I think there's a lot of major problems with the game(due to things like a rushed timeline) but all the romance stuff is not one of the negatives.

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post #44 of 88
10/24/12 at 10:49am

It was rushed. Right. That means resources, time especially, are scarce. You cannot work on one thing without leaving something else aside when the man-hours are limited. You cannot be writing romances and branching quests at the same time.

 

Say, you have two hours to complete a table. You can use a better glue that will make the table sturdier but takes a long time to dry leaving you with little time for varnishing. Or you can use a glue that will dry fast, but is not as strong. The table will not be as sturdy but you'll have ample time to do a great work varnishing. It's a matter of priorities. I disagree with the priorities Bioware had for DA 2. They changed priorities in order to "expand their audience" and I was glad to see them fall on their faces.

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post #45 of 88
10/24/12 at 10:58am

I will defend the DLC that they made for DA2, though.  

- LEGACY had some interesting and varied environments, and the final battle was fantastic.

- MARK OF THE ASSASSIN had some real wit to it, particularly in the party sequences.  It wasn't as challenging as LEGACY, but it was quite a bit of 'fun'.

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post #46 of 88
10/24/12 at 11:05am

Legacy was better designed than anything in the game proper by a decent margin.

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post #47 of 88
10/24/12 at 11:18am
Quote:

It was rushed. Right. That means resources, time especially, are scarce. You cannot work on one thing without leaving something else aside when the man-hours are limited. You cannot be writing romances and branching quests at the same time.

 

Say, you have two hours to complete a table. You can use a better glue that will make the table sturdier but takes a long time to dry leaving you with little time for varnishing. Or you can use a glue that will dry fast, but is not as strong. The table will not be as sturdy but you'll have ample time to do a great work varnishing. It's a matter of priorities. I disagree with the priorities Bioware had for DA 2. They changed priorities in order to "expand their audience" and I was glad to see them fall on their faces.

 

It was rushed and that was a problem.

 

 

However given time I'd actively want them to concentrate on MORE romance and character bits! Expand the rooster even further for love interests(I want my cute Qunari girl!) and give more dialogue and more quests for the followers. I'd add more branching quests to the main storyline(because those are great) but I'd still want them to keep it small scale since fantasy(or Mass Effect) is at it's worst when it decides everything needs to be a giant saga.

 

I'd want a combat system closer to the first game's for sure, but that's not actively important compared to lot of other stuff I want. Since I tend to play my RPGs on the easiest setting and tune out whenever I'm not actively engaged in the storyline.

 

 

So yeah, I'd want them to take more time on it. But even then I have a sneaking suspicion that what I'd like would be drastically different from what you'd want.


Edited by LaurenOrtega - 10/24/12 at 11:36am
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post #48 of 88
10/24/12 at 11:38am
Quote:

I will defend the DLC that they made for DA2, though.  

- LEGACY had some interesting and varied environments, and the final battle was fantastic.

- MARK OF THE ASSASSIN had some real wit to it, particularly in the party sequences.  It wasn't as challenging as LEGACY, but it was quite a bit of 'fun'.

 

Both Legacy and Mark of the Assassin are tons of fun.

 

 

The only flaw Dragon Age 2 possesses is a rushed time table. A lot of the actual stuff inside the game is still more interesting than any number of other franchises.

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post #49 of 88
10/24/12 at 11:43am

You like what you like, I like what I like. I'm not laying down the Mosaic Law or something. I just regard romances as a fancy sauce. If the meat is shit (the fundamentals) the sauce won't save it. If it's great you can even eat it without any sauce.

 

What's the matter with me and metaphors today? I apologize.

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post #50 of 88
10/24/12 at 12:07pm

And in the end I'm cool with people having different wants with their games. I think my negativity comes from the fact that every so often we'll get people talking about how games can "grow and shit" and I'm ardently supportive of them doing so by expanding their audience.

 

 

Like people can argue about the success of Origins until the cows come home. But I'm almost certain the game coming out hot on the heels of Bioware's other big new franchise and being generally friendly to a large swath of people helped it more than anything else. I know my girlfriend shows more interest in Dragon Age related media than any number of other equally(or superior from a gameplay perspective) good franchises because she's not deeply put off with the world.

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