On Tuesday, Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw sat down with the 1099 podcast to talk about potential upcoming entries over at Bioware. To say that Laidlaw was reticent would be a regrettable understatement, though he did definitively state that a sequel to Dragon Age Inquisition is the primary focus for the creative team at this point in time. In fact, the lead up to this news suggested Dragon Age titles are often a primary focus, as the kind of mechanics and storytelling involved to make a game of its type a good one, is apparently quite extensive.
I’m on record as being somewhat of a hesitant Dragon Age fan. I’ve played all the games, to varying degrees enjoyed them, though none of the entries after Origins managed to transcend the fleeting engagement to be had in any competently made tactical party based RPG. It all comes down to storytelling. The unique style of combat and exploration introduced by Origins has been commendably improved upon whilst the plight of the Warden and his nuanced band of fantasy misfits has been long since left by the wayside.
After discoursing with other fans of the franchise, it seems I’m not the only one that finds the story of The Warden to be the vastly superior one, despite sales suggesting the contrary. According to EA, Dragon Age Inquisition boasted the best sales of any previous BioWare release. A fine game to be sure, but still a pale comparison in my eyes in regards to characters and world building. Its most inspired moments were tethers to the first entry in the series. Morrigan still remains the MVP of DA . I can’t tell you what a torturous ordeal it was to have my inquisitor be privy to the goings on of the witch of the wilds since her debut, told rapturously through expositional dialogue trees.
Enough time has passed that the excitement of knowing The Warden is still out there in Ferelden, cultivating his legend status, would do his return well on the next gen consoles. Brew up a new cataclysmic prophesy plot that leaves it up to Morrigan to get the band back together. Imagine a party roster that featured Alistair, Varric, Ogren, Cassandra, Leliana, Morrigan, The Warden and Hawke. Holy SHIT, could you imagine? All the melodrama? All the quippy banter? All the awkward CGI coitis?! That game would RULE. No one creates choices with consequences like Bioware. all the studio has been missing is the memorable characters to give that feature some gravitas.
There could be a sequence that has The Warden, Morrigan and Varric traveling around Ferelden recruiting the party. A considerable amount of time has passed and, depending on the outcome you got in Origins , there’s a lot of baggage associated with you and the characters that are now back in play. You’d have to choose your dialogue wisely because saying the wrong thing would mean major players don’t join your quest to take down “fill in thing here,” but instead work against you.
It would be nice to see the various characters over the course of the three titles attempt to get on with each other in spite of their starkly opposing political and religious viewpoints for the sake of a greater good. Doesn’t that seem like the sort of Dragon Age schmaltz that writes itself? A chance to pontificate about faith in the context of interpersonal party dynamics, an intricate plot that features threads from the entire series, and the challenge to truly flaunt the game changing choice based narratives Bioware does so well.
No release date has been set for the upcoming sequel to Dragon Age Inquisition , but here’s to hoping Bioware makes good on the captivating epic they teased back in 2009.
