Dragon Age III: Inquisition has been confirmed to be under development by Bioware’s Mark Darrah, slated to be released in late 2013. As always, don’t hold your breath for a Christmas 2013 release – just hope for it.
Darrah mentions that the new iteration of the title is being worked on by veterans of the franchise and new talent to make the most of the new RPG engine. This new engine will use Frostbite 2 from DICE as a base to build a more robust system to allow for better graphics and some customization – sweet, sweet customization. Even if DA3 doesn’t allow players to customize their own weapons and armor, a little more variation than has been seen in prior titles would be a most welcome upgrade for the series. Additionally, Darrah says the new engine is aimed to be more responsive and reactive – and hopefully that means loading screens will not be 20% of your play time.
Other than that, few official details have been released about the title. Darrah makes a specific point to state that they have aggressively consulted with fans of the previous titles in order to deliver story and gameplay elements that we RPG fans demand. We may be able to look forward to Bioware’s infamous “choices that matter” system in the future Dragon Age title that had made the Mass Effect trilogy so popular.
One way or another, Dragon Age III: Inquisition will likely be one of the more anticipated games of 2013. Personally, I hope they give it the love and attention it seemed they couldn’t spare for DA2 and give me that super-excited-to-be-pre-ordering-this-game feeling again.
yes, well I saw this yesterday. while I hold out hope for the da franchise ( mainly due to the fact that they tell a different person’s story every time), lets say me3 showed me bioware can not only misstep, but step into elephant poodoo waist deep.
still, i’ll say it again, i’m all for longer development times rather than rushing a half-finished product to market and ruining it. i’ll look forward to this.
I love the Dragon Age franchise (yes, even 2) and am really stoked for this next one. The only catch is I REALLY hope that your saves don’t carry over. I’ve lost all mine and I’ve played Origins for somewhere around 140 hours with all my saves and played through Dragon Age 2 somewhere around 70 and I don’t know if I can swing another play through at this point with all the responsibilities I have.
I really wish they would find some way to continue with the Grey Warden storyline, since there’s a massive gap in the series in terms of narrative. Origins was essentially the closest thing we’ve seen this generation to a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate, but Dragon Age 2 was an atrocious mess IMO.
I’m still very concerned with the direction they are taking the series. I hope I’m wrong.
I’m with you, Rob. It’s got great potential… but where’s it headed?
Way I see it this is Bioware’s last shot. Not for me, I’ve already vowed to forgo each and every potential bioware purchase, but for the community at large.
There’s something strangely concrete about the Three Strikes system. Sure it’s just a baseball reference (I personally adhere to the “fool me once” philosophy) but even the most die hard fan can be turned away by three big, consecutive mistakes.
Personally I stopped caring what Bioware did when they sided with the people that slandered their fans.
about the only good thing to come from da2 was varric, lol.
Varric was an incredible character and, as a fan of dwarven characters, a drastic departure from the norm. Really that’s the reason I love the lore and the world of Dragon Age so much.
Most fantasy worlds have dwarves as miners in the ground that make stuff, elves that are immortal and beautiful and live in trees etc etc. Instead you have a world where the dwarven society revolves around politics and abundant shadiness, elves are torn into two races: one hateful to humans and living in the woods and the other slaves and the lowest of the low neither immortal.
When you add in the Fade, the unique way mages are treated within the world, the Grey Wardens and various other details too numerous to name what you come up with is a unique and storied world that I LOVE to play in.
well, varric and we learned a little more about flemeth and lyrium, but really, that’s it as far as important plot details. we already knew the mages and templar really really really distrust and dislike each other.
I admittedly liked both games. I think they’re difficult to compare simply because they were both in terms of story and game-play so very stylistically different. Origins was an epic journey with a very formulaic progression: do these basic tasks, gather this number of allies, final battle.
DA2 seemed more focused on a personal journey and the characters you surrounded yourself with. And, it (almost) all took place in a single city. It had gutsy, artistic-time jumps to show the most important phases of a character’s life rather than some amazing feats of awesomeness.
I think the ideas of it were brilliant and had the potential to make the second more meaningful to the player, but that sort of journey requires a lot more attention than the first game’s in order to make it equally immersive. They ended up with a good game, but not a great one. Their limits to the inventory and gear systems added to the hurt.
Really, the way this series is progressing reminds me of ME. First game is an epic, concerned primarily with fighting off this big ol’ evil. The second focuses on the individual and on your companions; ME2 had a lot of companion quests, and Hawke was constantly dealing with her(or his) party’s’ sh**. Now, I’m just hoping DA 3 won’t follow in ME 3′s footsteps, with a crummy end to an awesome journey.
Personally I loved the way Dragon Age 2′s story went. I enjoyed the more personal nature and the many faceted characters that, while maybe based on stereotypes, grew into much much more than that when you delved into them. Varric was one of the best RPG characters I’ve seen in a long time.
Really the only downside to the game for me was the reusing of maps; I thought that was pretty lame. Everything else was totally solid for me.
I also have to disagree about ME3 being anything other than a great game with a flawed ending. So many people get stuck on the ending and forget that the entire rest of the game was pretty well done.
In the end I’ll play a Bioware game anyday over, say, another Call of Duty or any other vapid FPS shooter clone.
even after the founders left? or maybe they left cause they felt they ‘lost their passion’ (code for i don’t give a crap about the ending)?
well, anywho, a lot of trilogies follow the old legendary feat opening act --> more intimate, personal storyline —> grandiose, extravagant, let’s see how much we can cram in here finale (that may or may not have a strong ending in actual plot terms)
you see it in star wars, you see it in back to the future, you see it in lord of the rings, you see it in the matrix, you see it in mass effect, you see it in many, many places. doesn’t mean it’s horrible, unless the writers just screw the plot over by changing it after 2 episodes are done, lol.
I’ve got to get around to finishing origins, i only played it about an hour and it has just sat since then. Seemed like an ok game, but i just haven’t gotten the urge to play it since.
because the two games focus on different characters and storylines you can skip origins and play da2 and have almost nothing spoiled for either one. except for flemeth. so i guess i would still recommend playing origins first, but the information that would be spoiled if you played da2 first doesn’t really amount to more than, wow i didnt see that coming for a single character.
as far as origins goes, it’s great, but long (if you’re a completionist), but it’s no skyrim. i’d recommend completing the game to you if you like a good plot.