Dragon Age 3: Inquisition

[Hiromi]

Release Date Oct 7th
Cover Art

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/a...tion-6119.aspx
> BioWare listened to feedback on previous games
> “A lot of the decisions we’re making are about Dragon Age and what this generation of RPGs will look like.”

Story

> Game begins as Thedas is in chaos
> Chantry and the mages are at war
> The Seekers of the Truth and Templars are no longer tied to Chantry rule
> Ferelden continues to recover from the darkspwan Blight that ended 10 years ago
> Orlais is involved with a civil war
> Tear in the sky links the real world to the Fade
> Magic and demons come from Fade
> Rip allows demons to cross freely instead of using a mage host
> Demons/abominations are running free all over
> With everything going on, “there is a suspicious level of chaos in anticipation of this event”
> Reinstitute the Inquisition
> This is an organization that doesn’t answer to any outside power
> Inquisition puts aside politics and extracts answers
> “…about looking into what conspiracies happen, what kind of dastardly deeds could occur, when people are weak and naturally torn apart”

Inquisitor

> Your hero acts as the head of the Inquisition
> Lead the organization rather than controlling a foot soldier
> You’re left as the only survivor early on, which leads to this ascension
> Create and guide the Inquisitor however you please
> 3 classes: warrior, rogue, and mage
> At least 3 races: human, elf, dwarf(Qunari later confirmed)
> No pre-set name
> Fully voiced
> Can be male/female
> Events take place as you perform them, not being relayed by another character
> Will need to overcome resistance, but this becomes easier as the Inquisition gains more power/respect
> Inquisition’s reputation/strength go up as you finish objectives, gain items, help others

World

> Inquisition has a long reach
> Visit multiple large locations
> Several different regions
> Structural style like Dragon Age: Origins
> Access key story beats by reaching certain levels of power
> Explore to achieve that power
> Collect magical relics, solve mysteries, fight dragons, help others
> Don’t need to do everything
> Different resources to acquire better equipment and continue the story
> Won’t always be able to move from one area to another seamlessly
> “each of the areas we’re building is larger than anything we’ve built before”
> No repetitive environments
> Areas include a bog, desert, mountain range, can be explored freely in third-person
> Can take on unique quests by coming across things like an arcane device that lets you pinpoint the location of magic items
> Locations are like self-contained open worlds
> Each has a bunch of items to find and content to experience during day and night
> Game will have a mount system
> This will be more involved than just riding a horse around
> Very little is scaled to your level
> Can encounter monsters that are much more powerful than you
> Freedom is big, but BioWare has a story to tell
> Areas will change based on what time it is
> Weather impacts exploration
> Rain can make a bog muddy, making travel slower
> Still has classic enemies including ogres, elves, qunari

Frostbite

> Huge areas are made possible due to the move to Frostbite
> “We’re very happy with what we can do with the technology.”
> Will have some destructibility, game has a bigger focus on building
> Having a mage allows you to reassemble a crumbled footbridge to reach a new area
> Convert a ruined desert outpost into an Inquisition stronghold
> “If you destroy something, you can construct something.”
> Frostbite 3 allows the team to develop more easily on five platforms at once
> Better visuals on PS4/Xbox One than PS3/360
> Content being kept the same
> “Frostbite 3 is intended to bridge the gap between current-gen and next-gen”

PC

> Will be optimized for the platform
> “The PC actually is different, especially from a controls standpoint.”
> Caters to mouse and keyboard, unlike its predecessor’s tradition

Battles

> Will encounter lots of resistance
> Battle pace lies between Dragon Age 1/2
> Not always a pause-and-play affair, but not always filled with tons of action
> Directly control a character and you’ll notice control similarities to Dragon Age II
> Switch between all characters in your party at will
> Choose AI behaviors for allies if you’d like
> Commands are performed right away with a button push
> BioWare looking to make things less frantic and more deliberate
> Slowing down the speed of attacks while also creating enemies that force players to examine the battlefield
> “We’ve got that mesh of action and RPG.”
> Enemies have specialized roles that work together
> Better AI for enemies
> Enemies seem to make planned attacks based on their strengths and work together logically
> Players have a number of skill trees, specializations, abilities
> Classes have their own powers with tactical significance
> Party members can work together

Friends/foes

> Dialogue/story sequences are the best way to learn about your allies and their abilities
> This can also be done to a lesser extent in battle
> Vivienne: Inquisitor mage who was in line to hold the position of first encharter in the Circle of Orlais
> She wasn’t able to take the osition due to the Orlesian civil war
> Writers analyze the story’s main themes and conflicts, then create certain characters around them
> Not all characters are created so that you’ll like them
> Other allies and their loyalties are currently unknown
> Learn early on that there’s someone behind the demon breach and resulting chaos
> Won’t learn who you’re dealing with early on
> Cassandra and Varric from Dragon Age II are playable party members
> Morrigan won’t be a party member
> Morrigan’s role seems to be more than just a cameo

Choices

> Will need to make choices as problems develop
> Not always about dark choices
> BioWare is looking for players to think about potential consequences and deal with them if they happen
> Dialogue wheel similar to that of Dragon age II lets you make choices
> Some improvements
> Optional addition being added to the wheel for more clarity
> Choices have an impact throughout the world
> “Loose ends are a constant problem… We have a responsibility to resolve at least some of them if we’re going to introduce new ones…”
> Choices involve themes, mysteries from previous Dragon Age games
> Game will offer clarity on things such as Red Lyrium, Grey Wardens’ activities, Flemeth, Morrigan’s fate
> BioWare working on the issue of bringing over previous choices in Inquisition
> “It’s very important to people, and it’s very important to us. We don’t want people to feel like they can’t buy a new console or change the platform they’re buying this game on simply because they want to make sure their saves are maintained.”

Crafting system

> Use materials from around the world and enemies you defeat to make customized armor
> “Crafting in Inquisition is about customizing yourself, your character, your looks…”
> You can, technically, eventually create any colored version of the armor your start out with on par with what you find late in the game
> Characters will keep their look, but the armor will have huge influence on how they look

Somewhat newer
http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/25/bi...rced-our-hand/
basically more evidence pointing to Bioware at least admitting some of the core flaws with DA2 and a desire to fix it..

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/25/dr...acter-classes/
some subclass information, it looks like we'll see the return of the Arcane Warrior and they're actually bringing back traps except attempting to make them useful this time

http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/04/22...he-open-world/
interview for PCgamer

gameplay video from earlier in the dev cycle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8xJMWRI-cA

new Gameplay Trailer(mayhaps we leave the drama over this particular video on the old board?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aK0z8xeAus

Article breaking it down
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...n-trailer.aspx

A shot of the full party, Varic is obviously returning, from what I've read it's been confirmed that the hooded sister is in fact Leliana, so she's also returning to companion status, and the Templar pictured is Cullen.
http://www.nerdacy.com/wp-content/up...quisition1.jpg

[Jabare]

so I'm about midway through Dragon Age 2 as a rogue archer and loving it.

Really torn about what class I should go for in Dragon Age 3. I almost want to know what companions I will get first. I just tend to chose the companinos I like instead of balancing my party.

Once Bethany got taken by the Chantry I was running 3 rogues (Hawke, Isabella, Varric) and a warrior (Aveline) and let me tell you makes some of the fights a little tough. I have to swap Anders for some quests because now and than you need a mage.

So just really torn right now. I want to go rogue but I kind of want Varric in my party. I could go mage but I kind of want Vivienne in my party because she looks cool.

I don't really want to go warrior (use to be my default choice for these type of games) because they were just so boring to play in DA 2.

Also the male inquisitor's default armor is really ugly can't play with that. oh boy Decisions, Decisions.

[heystacy]

I'm exited to play DA:I when it comes out in October. My first play through is going to be a human mage. Next play through will be a rogue. Not sure what race I will choose for that, but likely not human, to get a different experience.

[Daemon]

I remember reading/hearing about something called the castle or something like that, that they would allow you to upload your story from DA:O and DA2 to to "customize" your DA3 story.

I don't remember what the name of this feature/function was called so I haven't really been able to find out much about it.

Any help?

[Hiromi]

You're thinking of the Dragonage Keep
http://blog.bioware.com/2013/08/28/the-dragon-age-keep/

which I believe is currently in Beta

[Carabas]

You're thinking of the Dragonage Keep
http://blog.bioware.com/2013/08/28/the-dragon-age-keep/

which I believe is currently in Beta

That does sound incredibly cool.

[Daemon]

You're thinking of the Dragonage Keep
http://blog.bioware.com/2013/08/28/the-dragon-age-keep/

which I believe is currently in Beta

Yup that was indeed it.

*adds to bookmarks*

thanks!

[tsaimelemoni]

Just preordered the game! Love this franchise

[Hiromi]

So we now know pretty much the entire party, and it's a large one

Cole, lost Fade spirit likely similar to Justice, rogue
Blackwall, Grey Warden, warrior
Dorian, Tevinter Mage, ...err mage
Leliana, returning cast member
Cullen, 3 game veteran, first time as a party member, templar warrior
Vivienne, Mage from Orlais
Cassandra, Warrior
Sera, City Elf archer rogue
Solas, city elf apostate mage
Varric, is Varric, what more need be said?
The Iron Bull, Qunari spy, warrior

Morrigan is Morrigan
Josephine is an Antivan diplomat

don't believe those two are party members, just advisors

two E3 videos showing a combined 30 minutes of gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdXvFEEBZeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCGJACVoMPI

[Michael P]

So I just spent an hour or so on the DA wiki reading up on the various details released over the last month or so, and man, am I pumped. I know that developer promises don't always translate to what you imagined, but I'm thinking if they can pull this off, it'll be something damn special.

[Hiromi]

New Trailer


Just a warning there's a MAJOR potential spoiler at the 1 min 36 seconds mark
spoilers:

Hawke and what can only be the friggin Warden both confirmed!!!

end of spoilers

[Carabas]

I guess I won't be watching it then...

Creepy looking freak though.

[simbob4000]

I can't wrap my head around this games terrible mishmash of styles. It's got (bad) cartoony designs with realistic textures, weird cartoon character portraits, and bright neon green heath bars that clash with the look of the actual good. Nothing about the visual style of this game seems to make any sense at all.

[Michael P]

It looks no different from the visual style of the previous two games to me. Maybe it's just not your bag?

[simbob4000]

It looks no different from the visual style of the previous two games to me. Maybe it's just not your bag?

It looks very different. The last two game also look different from each other too. The last game has a cartoonish look to it, but that game didn't have realistic textures; I would also say the last one didn't have as bad design. Although I should say the bad cartoony design in this game only seems to really be there for stuff like armor and weapons. The hub elements also fit better into the game in before, you didn't have bright neon green health bars in Dragon Age 2. The character portraits next to the life bars also looked like your characters in the game; in this game they don't, now they're a cartoony style that doesn't quite look like anything in the game, and looks nothing at all like your character.