Today the Bioware creative team for Dragon Age: Inquisition released their latest behind-the-scenes production video: “A World Unveiled.”
“A World Unveiled” has few surprises. Most of it confirms information we already know or have reason to expect from BioWare – the new Dragon Age will be open-world, will incorporate moral choice systems with action and consequence, and will have a largely player-defined protagonist, the Inquisitor. The expected trumpeting of player freedom and the capabilities of new hardware to represent the massive diversity of Thedas’ geography were also common themes.
The central conflict in Inquisition concerns a massive rip in the fabric of reality, allowing hungry demons to pour into the world of Thedas from the world of dreams, the Fade.
However, there is one new tidbit of information: Inquisition seems to have a focus on commanding political power. “This is the first time that we’ve created a main character where you are not only at the head of an organization, you seize and control that power directly,” said executive producer Mark Darrah. The Inquisitor will command numerous agents to accomplish missions, although the nature of those missions remains ambiguous.
The video is after the break.
By and large, the video suggests that Dragon Age: Inquisition will have more in common with the nation-trotting, heroic epic Dragon Age: Origins than the more personal and political tragedy of Dragon Age 2. Trumpeting player choice and a globe-trotting narrative in the production video suggests BioWare’s eagerness to win back customers alienated by some of their more recent games and play off nostalgia for past RPGs.
It remains to be seen how much of Dragon Age 2’s design philosophy, narrative, and plot points Inquisition will retain. While the official site makes mention of the Mage-Templar conflict set up in Dragon Age 2, the focus on “A World Unveiled” is clearly and unmistakably on the more conventional fantasy conflict of a heroic leader uniting disparate factions against otherworldly invaders.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is scheduled for a Fall 2014 release.