Dragon Age: Inquisition

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Well that looks very promising. I'm a bit concerned about the rolling, but if it's something like a defensive roll that I can issue a command for instead of having to manually do it in "action mode" for every character, I will be happy.

[Guest Slinky]

The isometric view looks to be bit too close to ground for my liking on that video, but at least there is one. And the speed of combat no longer make it look like some anime crap.

 

But the story is once again about saving the world? Oh well, can't have it all I guess.

[Sarex]

For a better example of the isocam, there's this video. It also shows off a bit of exploration and confirms you'll be able to switch out your companion's armor and weapons.

 

I'd say that the camera is actually better than the DA:O one.

 

Also, it's for all platforms.

 

Looks very cool. I believe he was playing on a console (with a gamepad), because the camera was not very responsive. Except for the action combat (which is still not fully explained, so I'm holding my judgment), I liked everything I saw.

 

 

The isometric view looks to be bit too close to ground for my liking on that video, but at least there is one. And the speed of combat no longer make it look like some anime crap.

 

But the story is once again about saving the world? Oh well, can't have it all I guess.

 

That could have to do with the indoor environment, because there is a ceiling indoors that could be limiting the zoom out. Maybe the PCs get more zoom out (one can hope).

Edited September 1, 2013 by Sarex

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Is there any more info due to be released?

 

But the story is once again about saving the world? Oh well, can't have it all I guess.

Frankly, after the DA2 trainwreck I'll happily take a tired and true "save the world" story. Although doing something akin to MotB would be fantastic.

[Keyrock]

 

But the story is once again about saving the world? Oh well, can't have it all I guess.

Frankly, after the DA2 trainwreck I'll happily take a tired and true "save the world" story. Although doing something akin to MotB would be fantastic.

 

They're not running a Kickstarter, so they can't really do a Ziets or Avellone stretch goal. 

[Osvir]

Is there any more info due to be released?

 

But the story is once again about saving the world? Oh well, can't have it all I guess.

Frankly, after the DA2 trainwreck I'll happily take a tired and true "save the world" story. Although doing something akin to MotB would be fantastic.

Seeing the interview gives me reason to think that you can possibly choose to destroy the world as well. Specially the part where they went on and talked about losing content.

 

"Save the Keep" or "Save the Village" dilemma. If you save the village, well your keep got attacked. If you save the keep, the people got hurt instead.

 

They even brought up an example where you can, again, choose to engage in a random battle occurring whilst you are exploring the world.

 

The way he said it in the interview as well almost felt as if that was a choice too. Maybe you are running on the clock, and choosing to engage in the random battle might itself make you "lose" the content you were heading for (I.E. You are running to join an expedition, but because you engage in the battle that you came across, you'll miss the expedition. Or you ignore the battle and run straight for the expedition).

 

So if Bioware is going with lots of these potential instances where you get to choose A or B, who is to say that "Destroy the World" is not an option... depending on how you roleplay your character or how you play the game or how you decide and choose progression? And on that matter... isn't Morrigan a very intelligent woman and very powerful Mage that considers all options?

 

If she is the one who tore the Veil open to unleash horrors on the world and for whatever reason she did that ambitious task, would she simply fall by the blade in the end or... would she potentially use her charm to either remove or crown her most potential threat of closing the Veil? Namely you, the Player. Or you as the Player might be on roleplaying a powermad tyrant who wants to control the world, so you destroy Morrigan and crown yourself "leader" and win the game by becoming a Dark Overlord or whatnot.

 

*shrug* we'll see. I don't mind the "Save the World"-idea (I like to roleplay the noble good guy & naive hero most of the time in RPG's ), it feels like every game does that in it's own way, but it is the journey there that makes it most interesting (Mass Effect 3 is a 94.87% great game in my opinion but yeah, the ending feels bland. Something I believe might or might not be extended into a way more colorful deal in future Mass Effect titles).

 

Slightly off-topic, rhetoric question:

Did Bioware ever say that Mass Effect 3 ending (specifically) would answer all questions or was that simply a projection to the audience of what is to come in future installments over the course of, possibly, several installments?

[Gromnir]

Mixed feelings after watching, i'll try to summarise succinctly:

 

1. The combat looks a lot more satisfying than the silly overexaggerated DA2 combat, still don't like the batting stance the zweihander idles with.

2. Saw the protagonist roll, is this automated or do we control it? I don't wish to be controlling a party and have to manually dodge for all of them, too action gameish.

3. Scenery was exceedingly dull and brown, rather washed out, where's the colour?

4. The scenery reacting to ones actions, fireball on the boat for instance, is definitely an improvement and I look forward to setting long grass on fire etcetera if I have full control of my forces actions.

5. Are these companions mandatory? Obviously the unmotivated and poorly written caricatures of DA2 are not something I wish to see in the game, the boring dwarf and cutscene woman in armour especially. Really like to kill them both as well as Lilly Alan if possible.

6. Nice to hear that the large bronze skinned chaps are included in the character creation, can we create one without the silly horns?

7. Drop the sub par Joss Whedon attempts at humour, they only appeal to the lowest common denominator and are very painful to have to listen to.

8. Tone down the music telling you when to be sad etcetera, overemphasis is not really needed and is a little blatant.

9. Other than that the little music I heard was very nice.

10. Ditch this simplistic Templar - Mage - Veil nonsense and go with a more personal and human story, DA2 was ruined with the forced reliance on this illogical and pointless binary conflict, as well as any human motivations being over ridden by the plot boiling down to a standard evil McGuffin plot device. A personal and entirely human approach is far more satisfying to me.

11. The large map with different routes looks very promising.

12. Unsure about the talk of choices and consequences, they lied about this in the story trailer for DA2 so until refuted i'll belive they're lying again.

13. The chain's silly, drop it, emulate Mr Sawyer's idea for Eternitys engagement zones. Far better and more organic method of crowd control.

14. For your own good drop romances and stop catering to that crowd.

15. Make sure your political correctness is without any flaw, having campaigned on that agenda and rubbished many complaints as the work of homophobes and misogynists, you will be being watched for any slips that you make. The unmotivated, idle, moronic and slavelike representation of characters in DA2 will not be allowed to pass without challenge in my opinion.

couple points...

 

am recalling that early screenies had folks complaining 'bout da2 environment being dull and brown and sparse... very similar to your complaints. were based on the starting/tutorial area. were hardly indicative of game entirety.  *shrug* is kinda silly to assume entire game looks like what you see in some small bits pre-released. 

 

we didn't think that the da2 joinable npcs were particularly poor developed/written, and most know we is a stickler for such.  characters were given back-stories which were developed to a good degree. characters had personalities fleshed-out and were given motivations and opportunities to grow. that being said, bio does has a strange formula for making their characters dramatic: add equal parts o' personal trauma and abject stupidity, then throw in some lugubrious dialogue.  you know, one reason we ain't a fan o' horror movies is 'cause they only seem to work if at least a few characters is shout-at-the-screen stupid. heard a noise coming from the basement, perhaps we should investigate. shucks, the lights seemed to not be working. oh well, the psycho axe wielding psycho that killed 8 of our friends and is after us couldn't possibly be in the basement. gonna investigate.   da2 joinable npcs frequent had bouts o' similar stupidity that drove us nuts.  

 

humor, whedon or otherwise, is a good thing. could no doubt blame shakespeare for doing similar. take most serious shakespeare tragedy or history and you will find some humor in it. am recalling some elmore leonard interview we read wherein he were mentioning influences and authors he admired. Hemingway gets noted, with one proviso: Hemingway didn't do humor enough.  our initial reaction were rejection o' leonard's criticism, but we thinks he got a point. a clean, well-lighted place don't need humor, but am thinking that Some larger works benefit from inclusion o' some moments o' mirth or levity. is a tough read when is nothing but a slow steady crawl through increasing darkness and filth. bioware is making entertainment, not a Joseph Conrad novel, so levity is probably good.

 

is nothing MacGuffin 'bout templar-mage conflict. is not a behind-the-scenes plot element that is ultimately o' negligible importance. also, Gromnir am not a fan o' Epic conflicts, but not because the preclude human interactions and motivations of most characters. typical love, hate, greed, jealousy, fear motivations is just as viable in epic. the thing is, in a crpg wherein you gots a villain whom you is eventually gonna have an opportunity to fight, you has a real problem constructing somebody that dont seem... ridiculous. da1 and da2 is heavy focused on combat and combat abilities, so is no way you compete do different an reinvent the wheel. game focused so  much on combat is gonna have a possible combat resolution. gotta have an opportunity to confront some UBG (ultimate bad guy) at some point.  no abstraction works satisfactory.  the thing is that we is genuine daunted by the task o' developing a satisfactory UBG in a crpg. if your villain sux, your story is handicapped severely... and crpg villain almost necessarily need to be disappointing. 

 

romances is popular. bio makes entertainment for folks who pays money. catering to audience is what they DO. that should be kinda axiomatic. as much as we personally loathe crpg romances, we is not expecting bio to drop them as they is popular, particularly with female gamers who comprise an ever growing portion o' gamer demographic. do better? sure, we is all in favor o' improving romances, but only way we see to do that is to make 'em integral... which would, ironically, make us hate them more. romance is Not fodder for a tangential and optional side-quest. you wanna do a full romance arc  in a handful o' brief and optional dialogues that is insular from main plot?  nuts. wanna make moving romance that is brief w/o seeming puerile? write poetry.

 

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited September 1, 2013 by Gromnir

[aluminiumtrioxid]

 

isn't Morrigan a very intelligent woman and very powerful Mage that considers all options?

 

 

Not really?

[licketysplit]

Now that I seen more combat it really looks like Kingdoms of Amalur more than anything. A little too crazy on the effects for me.  

[Volourn]

"Not really?"

 

More intelligent than you that is for sure.

 

That said, I don't see Morrigan opening up a portal to commit mass murder. L0L

[Osvir]

 

 

isn't Morrigan a very intelligent woman and very powerful Mage that considers all options?

 

 

Not really?

I want to write up a short story of my reasoning but I fear too much come to mind that indicates that Morrigan is very intelligent as seen in the lore but I am too lazy to write it out

 

But some things, in a non-chronological order:

- As a child she snuck into villages without being seen

- Is a Mage (implying she controls magical arts, which usually indicates a sort of "higher enlightenment" in fantasy stories)

- A known shapeshifter

- Tricked many men

- Has the Book of the... the... sod it I don't remember the name but Flemeths dark magic book (regardless, she knows how to read and write)

- Manipulates the Player to take out Flemeth in DA:O

- Has a greater agenda that seems to be shrouded in lots of mystery

- Upbringing by an ancient being (Flemeth) who knows many things and probably colored her way of thinking and provided her with lots of knowledge 

 

Just some of what I can think of. She has had many tools at her disposal in terms of learning and to become an intelligent person in contrast to other characters in the Dragon Age universe and timeline. Comparatively to other characters in the Dragon Age universe I'd say she seems pretty intelligent.

 

EDIT: My friend got a pretty neat little quote: "You're as old as your experience" and looking at Morrigan's experience within the universe of Dragon Age/Ferelden and within the Fade. So, my reasoning "more experience = more age = more knowledge = more intellect".

 

And Volourn also said, tearing open the Veil (if she's the one to do it) seems to require quite a lot of effort seeing as she didn't appear in DA2. Which is also something to consider, Morrigan didn't make an appearance in DA2 which would allow her to grow further as a power being.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Osvir

[anubite]

 

 

isn't Morrigan a very intelligent woman and very powerful Mage that considers all options?

 

 

Not really?

 

What are you saying? All women are intelligent. Morrigan especially.

[Guest Slinky]

All women are intelligent.

Pass the joint, you clearly have some A-grade product.

[HoonDing]

Why doesn't Vivienne have a Frenchie accent?

[Maria Caliban]

Morrigan was high int, low wis.

 

 

Why doesn't Vivienne have a Frenchie accent?

 

Not a clue. :/

 

Vivienne has an English accent and the Inquisitor is, once again, from Ferelden.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Maria Caliban

[Volourn]

"Morrigan was high int, low wis."

 

How so? She seemed to have a lot of common sense. What she lacked was proper (modernized) social skills since had no problem verbally assaulting people when they annoyed her. And, she wasn't as empathetic as she could be towards strangers.

[Sarex]

"Morrigan was high int, low wis."

 

How so? She seemed to have a lot of common sense. What she lacked was proper (modernized) social skills since had no problem verbally assaulting people when they annoyed her. And, she wasn't as empathetic as she could be towards strangers.

 

She was you.

[Monte Carlo]

Volo is brilliant, you just have to know how to read it.

 

Love him as much as I do, he's been on ignore for at least three years now.

[Monte Carlo]

Why doesn't Vivienne have a Frenchie accent?

 

Because French accents are associated with running away, gelatinous cheese, duplicity and small, unreliable motor cars.

 

Only accents from This Blessed Plot can convince 'Muricans that there is a proper villain about.

[Osvir]

"Morrigan was high int, low wis."

 

How so? She seemed to have a lot of common sense. What she lacked was proper (modernized) social skills since had no problem verbally assaulting people when they annoyed her. And, she wasn't as empathetic as she could be towards strangers.

I suspect he's onto the mechanical bits, "High Int, Low Wis". Though, doing some research, there is no "Intelligence" stat (Cunning I suppose, but in DA:O and DA2 Cunning ~ Charm/Accuracy/Intelligence Hybrid stat. A Rogue stat).

 

http://social.bioware.com/forum/Dragon-Age-Origins/Dragon-Age-Origins-Characters-Classes-and-Builds-Spoilers-Allowed/Morrigan-Starting-Stats-837130-1.html

She's normally level 6 when she first joins the party after the battle in Ostagar and her starting attributes are as follows:

 

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 15

Willpower: 21

Intelligence* Magic: 26

Cunning**: 12

Constitution:12

 

Taking a gander at the Attributes in DA:O I come to the realization that they are strange from a roleplaying perspective. D&D got it right, the attributes reflects the character. But in Dragon Age they reflect more or less a mechanical "power".

 

* Magic = Spellpower, in Baldur's Gate it's more spells per level (in a redundant sense, "Spellpower") and some other bits (Lore and something else)

** Cunning = Admittedly this is the best candidate for an "Intelligence" attribute, I do not think it is a "traditional" Intelligence attribute as seen in many other RPG's (Intelligence in many RPG's is usually tied with in Magic some way). Furthermore, Morrigan got 12 Cunning and she seems to be a Cunning personality (Specially how she tells you how she sneaked into villages as a child and a bit when you're talking to her about her shapeshifting abilities and the history she's had with it).

 

Curiosity:

What kind of attributes do you expect to see some from Dragon Age: Inquisition? Like I said above, DA:O (and DA2) have a kind of vague attribute reflection to the characters. They are kind of user-friendly, to say the least. Diablo-esque in a way.

 

For instance, the stats of the IE games feel like they are a "part" of the character, but in DA:O they feel as if they are more or less "Proficiency" points being spent with leisure. I expect DA:I to have a similar thread like it's predecessors, but I kinda secretly wish it takes some "innovative" steps towards being less about "point distribution" and more towards "character development = stronger character" as you progress the game (achieving milestones) and or by doing quests.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Osvir

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Osvir, I think you're over thinking this a tad bit.

[Agiel]

While things are looking pretty rosy so far, any word on mod tools? Even if it leads to the inevitable "Animated Prostitution" mods, the fact that they were taken away in Dragon Age II (as was the overhead camera, which thankfully has been restored in Inquisition) when they were available for Dragon Age: Origins did feel like another slap in the face to PC gamers.

 

Of course given the state of Battlefield 3, I'm not holding my breath.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Agiel

[Volourn]

PC gamers deserve to be slapped. repeatedly. Then thrown in the trash. Some of the biggest, whiniest, selfish, pieces of crap losers I've encountered on the internet.

[NOK222]

Fishing for replies he is. 

[Sarex]

PC gamers deserve to be slapped. repeatedly. Then thrown in the trash. Some of the biggest, whiniest, selfish, pieces of crap losers I've encountered on the internet.

 

More then console players?

 

Fishing for replies he is. 

 

I am gonna bite.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Sarex