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Dragon Age 3 Announced (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=263823)

Looks great but I'm more concerned about the writing. Everything after Origins was complete and utter crap. More excited for Witcher 3.

I'm excited for both. Inquisition looks really good, I don't think the writing is going to be a problem since they have openly admitted that they realize the writing was crap after Origins.

I'm not sure it will ever compare to the Witcher though. They've set such a high bar.

I'm the rare guy who isn't a witcher fan and had no real issues with the da sequel. Thought the first witcher was overrated and lost interest in the second a couple of hours in on three or four different occasions. Thought I'd like it. Really wanted to like it. Didn't. Played da 2 for hundreds of hours. Didn't like the map repetition. Liked everything else. Think the combination of Dao and da2 elements could make for an amazing game if they pull it off.

:shrug:

The Inquisition part of it is what interests me most.

An actual living, breathing war going on and the main character being a part of it sounds pretty awesome.

The novel AI concept in this game is every bit as exciting as in Shadows of Mordor.

I'm not that all up-to-date on it. Release is still so many months away that it hasn't hit my radar yet. Didn't even know there was a new bioware forum until I stumbled across it a couple of days ago, when I found the youtube vid. I figure they'll be one of the prominent games at E3, so that seems like a good time to ratchet up my attention.

I am pretty curious to see what their as-yet unannounced new IP will be, as well as the 4th completely unrelated to shepard ME game that they can apparently play internally but haven't yet shown any of the rest of us.

It was the cover story in the September issue of Game Informer. I'm not sure if that story is available online but you should read more about it.

It looks really cool.

I'll start stealing some stuff from the bioware forums.

First is a collection of info from a recent GamePro article, Apparently some of it's 'duh' and some of it's new:

Quote:

-They're using trinity tactics, meaning that a tank will soak up enemy damage while the Damage Dealer... deals damage and the healer supports us with healing spells. Also, the role of support classes was given a bit more emphasis than before.

-Enemy AI will make use of terrain, for example: archers or mages will look for high places where they can spam us from above and are well protected while we fight through melee enemies who block our path to them. Though there are of course counter measures: Casting a huge wall of ice will force them to look for alternate spots (which may be advantageous to us) or make them break through the wall with considerable effort.

-When you pause the game, placing the cursor on enemy units will tell you their level, health and class.

-Party members will be revived after battle, health will only party be restored. Mana will restore completely, but you won't be able to spam healing spells until everybody is ok again, though Bioware didn't mention how that will work out.

-It's completely optional to make use of the dodge roll.

-2 voices per gender, and it's not possible to have a woman with a man's voice. (apparently one british, one american)

-Fade sequences won't be as tedious as before.

-Nearly everything the player does is tied to the Inquisition in a way. Strengthening the Inquisition by scouting areas, defeating monsters, solving quests etc. will in turn unlock new areas or parts of the story.

-The look of our castle, the Skyhold, is tied to the strength of the Inquisition as well as upgradeable in various ways. If your organization gains more reputation, more soldiers will be running around in the castle. You can change the look of the rooms, or build new ones for crafting purposes, for example a garden to grow herbs.

You can use a map to coordinate your troops and give them various orders.

-Companions so far are Vivienne, Varric, Cassandra, Solas and Iron Bull, as well as a female archer.

-Areas are considerably bigger. The average map should be about three times the size of the Korcari Wilds from DA:O.

-Enemies will also attack each other. Like, if a giant enters a dragon's nest (which is of course patrolled by the dragon), the dragon will attack the giant.

-The optional battles against the dragons will be really hard. During the interview, even the one responsible for designing the battle system lost big way. Also, hurting various body parts will change the behavior of the dragon, like making him limp.

-The graphics will be really awesome. Waves behave realistically, and every pebble is well rendered. After it rains, puddles will form and make the ground muddy, slowing down the movement of the group.

Stuff from last month's OBX:

Quote:

1. There will be 5 regions in Dragon Age: Inquisition: Fereldan, The Free Marches, Orlais, Nevarra and the Dales:

2 of the areas you can expect to visit are; a war-torn region in Orlais and an elven burial ground, known as the Emerald Graves.
The Emerald Graves, according to executive producer Mark Darrah, is where the Dalish Elves planted one tree for every soldier killed in the Exalted Marches.
According to the magazine, while enemy levels don't scale to your characters, you can affect environmental changes to drastically influence local settlements, establish trade routes, capture territory and disrupt the local ecosystem.
Wild flora and fauna, useful for crafting can be hunted to scarcity, allowing other species to proliferate.
Defeating intelligent enemies like bandits or dragons will have a significant effect on a given region.

2. Dragon Age Inquisition Companions:

There will be no DLC Companions: According to Creative Director Mike Laidlaw: "Because of how deeply enmeshed in the system companion characters are, we can't just add them on the fly; part of them has to be shipped on the disc...which was led to criticism that we're forcing people to pay for content they already own. It's not the case, but we've decided this time to not go that route. There will be no DLC party members."
Solas is an apostate and an expert on the Fade.
The Iron Bull is confirmed as a companion, who is described as "a one-eyed mercenary and outcast from the Qunari faith"
Sera is confirmed as a companion, and is described as "an elven archer. Little is known about them [referring to both Sera and the Iron Bull] at this point, particularly Sera, who turned up seemingly on accident during one of several combat demonstrations..."

3. The Dialogue Wheel:

"We have three wheels that we use in response to any given piece of dialogue" says Gaider. "One of those is what we call the 'tone wheel', which is mostly for role-playing choices. The other two are the 'choice wheel'- for taking an action or stating an opinion-and the 'reaction wheel,' for emotional moments"

4. The Inquisitor:

There will be 4 voices for the Inquisitor 2 for each gender, for all races
To address why the same voices apply to all races, Mike Laidlaw made the following statement: "It's a matter of file size...if we were to have eight voices, two for each race, we would be shipping on 14 discs or something. We figured that with four voices, that would give players enough options while staying within our size limitations"
Bioware is currently exploring options to differentiate the voices, like changing the pitch of the audio.
The Prologue Section (or the "Origin" section" will be the same for all players. The player's appearance, class and dialogue responses during the prologue section will fill in the details, presumably of the Inquisitor's background, and in particular inform how other characters respond to you throughout the story.
The Inquisitor is the sole survivor of a reality-shattering event which results in the Fade tearing opening throughout Thedas.
"Presumbly as a result [of the Fade tearing open throughout Thedas], you're also endowed with a singular ability: you can close these rifts wherever they appear throughout the continent."

5. Endings:

"Bioware is promising a staggering 40 possible endings for the game, dependent not only on choices made in character generation but by actions taken throughout the storyline. [Mark] Darrah stresses, however, that the endings will all be meaningfully different from one another. You won't find 40 endings with only slight degrees of variation between them."

6. Customization:

Armour weights are no longer class specific. Meaning a rogue can wear a mage's robes, and a mage can wear a warrior's armour. The magazine speculates the penalties will be similar to the fatigue penalties used in DA: Origins

7. Other information:

There will be a jar of bees, which can be used as a combat item which according to Bioware: "You throw it, the jar breaks open, and little bees fly around stinging your opponents."

Box art revealed.

The game looks good so far -- much more like an iteration of the first one then the second one. I'm pretty optimistic about it.

And a new gameplay trailer.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uO2h4qUNJ60?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Release date is official: October 7!

Dragon Age: Inquisition - Biggest RPG Ever Created by BioWare

Quote:

"For three years, Dragon Age: Inquisition has been the focus of our BioWare studio," Darrah said. "It's the biggest RPG we've ever made - A multi-region open-world to lose yourself in and experience the best stories you can play."

Here's some of numbers Darrah pointed out to prove his claim:

"In Dragon Age: Inquisition, there are nine followers for you to find and recruit, the most of any Dragon Age game to date."
"Ten massive, open living regions that span two nations."
"Your Inquisitor will be uniquely yours with four playable races, two genders, and a choice of voices, as well as our unique, brand new facial customization system that offers over a billion possible faces."
"Twenty-one different combat skill tees with over 250 combat abilities, talents, and upgrades allow you to fight the way you want."
"16 million armor combinations that can be equipped on both you and your followers."

One of the most interesting things of this iteration is how the story will morph and change based on your actions (or even inactions). "The world of Dragon Age: Inquisition will react to your presence and to the actions you take," Darrah said. "Our brand new Emergent Life System changes based upon the decisions and actions you make, evolving the world as you progress in the story. The Inquisition is your primary tool of influence. Use the War Table to send your agents on missions and decide where the story goes next. Rebuild and customize a stronghold to make it your own, or use the Judgment System to capture enemies in the world and decide their ultimate fate."