Dragon Age: Inquisition



Dragon Age: Inquisition is developer Bioware's third installment in the Dragon Age series, continuing a player's fantastic journeys in the medieval-themed continent of Thedas introduced in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II.

Announcement and Release Timeline
On the evening of May 19th, 2011, BioWare Creative Lead Alistair McNally informally announced the game via Twitter.

The title was formally confirmed as Dragon Age III: Inquisition on September 17th, 2012 in an open letter by Executive Producer Mark Darrah.

During it's 2013 E3 press conference, publishing house Electronic Arts announced that Dragon Age: Inquisition was due for release in the Autumn of 2014.

On April 22nd, 2014, BioWare released a trailer confirming an October 7th, 2014 release date for Dragon Age: Inquisition.

On July 22nd, 2014, the release was delayed to November 18thfor North America and November 21stfor Europe.

On November 18th 2014, Electronic Arts released the title on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC (Origin) in North America.

The European release for these platforms was delayed until November 21st2014 in Europe.

On December 15, 2014 a multiplayer pack called Destruction became available as free DLC.

Also, on December 15, 2014 a Deluxe Upgrade was made available in some regions as DLC costing $9.99 USD. This upgrade essentially grants the "Inquisitor's Edition" preorder items to the Player.

Development
Development of Inquisition began prior to the release of Dragon Age II, and it was originally conceived as a multiplayer-only game, codenamed "Blackfoot" during development.

BioWare originally planned on combining elements of earlier installments in the series (Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II) into the creation of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Combat also differs somewhat from its predecessors, focusing more on a player's ability to prepare, position and form a cohesive team with their party members, requiring fewer repetitive finger strikes and more tactical thinking. The armor customization also differs from both Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, in that each party member has interchangeable armor pieces that customize the look according to its specification and class. Reuse of environments is avoided: a common criticism of Dragon Age II. Cinematic designer Jon Perry said that "one level in Dragon Age 3 is as big as all of the levels in Dragon Age 2."

BioWare uses a brand new game engine founded upon Frostbite 3.

The game introduces new creatures and enemies.

Regarding character creation, the advent of multiple playable races by necessity requires different body and armor models for the protagonist. This aspect, according to Mike Laidlaw, takes precedence over any potential body shape choices or sliders in the Inquisition character creator. Additionally, according to David Gaider, Inquisition features more race-specific content than was planned for the protagonist backgrounds originally designed for the game.

Trevor Morris is responsible for the composition of the soundtracks.

Gameplay and Combat
Although touted as an "open world" game at E3 2013 presentation, the developers quickly clarified that Inquisition will not be open world in the same way as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but instead simply feature larger locations (than, presumably, Origins and Dragon Age II) with more exploration freedom. There are 10 large "open world" locations in the game. Gameplay continues post-story completion, as opposed to retroactive DLC such as in Dragon Age II.

It is the first game in the series to feature mounts. The dialogue wheel, first featured in Dragon Age II, returns. Like in Dragon Age II, the wheel will display the type of emotion that matches your dialogue choice.

As in both previous installments, the player character can be one of three classes: warrior, rogue, or mage, with three specializations for each available later in the game. The player has the ability to choose one of 4 playable races - human, dwarf, elf or qunari - of either gender. Body sliders are unavailable to customize the player character's physique; rather, the engine supports differing body shapes for each race. Two voice sets are available for each gender: in the English version, one has a British accent, and the other an American one. Like the Warden, the Warden-Commander, and Hawke in previous titles, the Inquisitor can recruit companions. As of 12.15.14, there are nine possible party members. All companions can be customized via armor and in-class weapon style. In exploration, each assists the player by calling out sights of interest.

According to Mike Laidlaw, as in Dragon Age: Origins, the Inquisitor can speak to companions as desired, though not necessarily in every location.

Also according to Mike Laidlaw in an interview with Eurogamer, companions leave the party if approval ratings are too low, similar to Dragon age: Origins, and it is possible to only have one companion remaining in the end. It's also possible for the companion to betray the Inquisitor depending on the choices made by the player.

Part of the gameplay of Inquisition involves obtaining and maintaining power in various regions of the map. In part, this is done through strongholds, which can be seized and upgraded to accomplish various tasks, and which serve as a hub for promoting the interests of the Inquisition.

Crafting returns in Inquisition, which according to Cameron Lee, is the deepest BioWare has ever created. In addition to crafting items from raw materials, players can create different parts of the final product and then combine them (e.g. different sections of a staff may be crafted before combining them). The materials used to create the item determine its appearance.

While playing, the GUI for Dragon Age: Inquisition includes a radar displaying important points and foes. Mike Laidlaw stated that it's better for battles. The game can be played using a tactical camera view (where the party is controlled from overhead), or from the third person.

Combat in Dragon Age: Inquisition has a greater focus on strategy than does Dragon Age II. Party health doesn't regenerate automatically after an encounter as it did in Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Origins, and mage characters will not be able to repeatedly cast, or "spam," healing spells. Similarly, the ability to carry healing items will be limited, to instill a need to adequately prepare for combat and exploration.

With regards to the PC edition of Inquisition, Laidlaw revealed that the tactical quickbar will be locked at 8 slots, because "32 abilities (along with passives/upgrades) across the party provides a broad spectrum of tactical options."

During fights, the environments may be exploited and manipulated to a greater degree than in Dragon Age II. This capacity goes both ways, however. For example, a mage character may cast an "ice wall" spell to create cover on a battlefield or hem an enemy into a corner—a similar idea to a mage casting a fire spell after using a grease spell in Dragon Age: Origins—but the enemy may respond by melting the ice wall, eliminating the player's advantage.

Eliminating other NPCs, including wildlife, also affects gameplay in Inquisition. The player has the ability to forage or hunt an area into scarcity, which will allow other species of plants and animals to proliferate instead. Furthermore, clearing an area of intelligent enemies like bandits or dragons will impact the locale greatly. Each dragon is unique from a gameplay standpoint.

Data transfer and world-states


On August 28, 2013, it was announced that players will be able to create their own specific canon and customize all important decisions from previous games in a cloud-based system called Dragon Age Keep. This new system will prevent plot logic issues that have occurred when importing save-games in other titles.

Dragon Age Keep also has the ability to give a narrative based on the world state to players, using the framing device of Varric telling a story, to reacquaint returning players to the significance of their choices and to introduce new players to the world's lore and backstory.

The Keep system aims to allow the player to customize cross-generational and cross-console world-states, ideally circumventing import bugs or other issues. According to Mark Darrah, BioWare is looking into the possibility of traditional save game transfers via the Keep, as well. Unconnected consoles will not be able to access the Dragon Age Keep, though it will be able to be downloaded onto a PC or tablet initially and then introduced to a console. Players who do not have or choose not to import a world-state into Inquisition will be provided a default "canon" as in Dragon Age II: an "Ultimate Sacrifice" Dalish Warden, Alistair made King, and Hawke a male mage who sided with the mages in DA2. Mark Darrah and Aaryn Flynn indicated as well that choices from Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening and other DLC will also impact playthroughs. The prologue of the game is designed in a manner that players new to the series will not be overwhelmed.

Players will not be able to directly import save files from previous games into the Keep, regardless of the platform the games were played on. However, Inquisition save files will import into the Keep if you're online while playing (or they will import next time you go online).

Plot
The game starts in 9:41 Dragon, one year after the end of Dragon Age II.

According to Aaryn Flynn from BioWare, the narrative of Dragon Age: Inquisition will involve investigating a tear in the Veil, a breach into the Fade.

The protagonist of this installment will be known as the Inquisitor, following the player characters of previous two games: the Warden, the Warden-Commander, and the Champion. As was the case in Dragon Age: Origins, players will be able to choose from four playable races for the Inquisitor, and the game will recognize race flags, class flags, or a combination of the two depending on the situation. There would be no option, however, to create a dwarf mage for lore reasons.

The game will be set in Thedas, covering parts of Orlais and Ferelden. The game will cover more geographic territory than its predecessors, with one map being described as four to five times the size of Ferelden, the setting of the first game in the series.

Mike Laidlaw and Cameron Lee have stated that the main quest alone will be 50 hours long and sidequests are 100 hours long, making a total of 150 hours of gameplay overall. Choices made by the players will impact the game's ending, with 40 different variations reported to be present, from a best to a worst possible outcome.

BioWare mentioned that the main plot will be "saving the world from itself," sealing the Breach and defeating the Elder One. The plot will also involve the Mage-Templar War, the foundations of which comprise the main plot of Dragon Age II. Along with the larger size of the game map, the player will be able to travel to various areas to either calm or encourage the fighting.

The subtitle Inquisition has been previously hinted by the Dragon Age 2 strategy guide's epilogue, which asked "Will some kind of inquisition be at the heart of events of the next Dragon Age title?" David Gaider has also said, "It'd be interesting to see if the Inquisition ever rose up again."

Major characters

 * The Inquisitor: The protagonist of the game and leader of the Inquisition.
 * Cullen: Advisor to the Inquisitor and a Knight-Captain of the Templar Order, who witnessed the deeds of both the Hero of Ferelden and the Champion of Kirkwall. He leads the Inquisition's military forces.
 * Elder One: A mysterious entity who is served by the Venatori and the Red Templars.
 * Josephine Montilyet: Advisor to the Inquisitor, a skilled diplomat and an old friend of Leliana.
 * Leliana: Advisor to the Inquisitor, the Left Hand of the Divine and, depending on player choice, former companion of the Hero of Ferelden. She leads the clandestine division of the Inquisition responsible for espionage and assassination.
 * Morrigan: A Witch of the Wilds, a shapeshifting apostate mage, and former companion of the Hero of Ferelden. She disappeared at the end of the Fifth Blight and reappeared years later as the arcane advisor to Empress Celene.

Companions

 * Blackwall: A Grey Warden of Orlais.
 * Cassandra Pentaghast: The Right Hand of the Divine and one of the last loyal members of the Seekers of Truth.
 * Cole: A mysterious ghost-like rogue, originally appearing in Dragon Age: Asunder.
 * Dorian: An Altus mage from the Tevinter Imperium.
 * Iron Bull: A Qunari mercenary and agent of the Ben-Hassrath.
 * Sera: An elven archer and member of the enigmatic group of rogues known as the Friends of Red Jenny.
 * Solas: An apostate elven mage and expert on the Fade.
 * Varric Tethras: A dwarven rogue and member of the Merchant's Guild. He is a consummate storyteller and former companion of the Champion of Kirkwall.
 * Vivienne: A Loyalist Circle mage and First Enchanter of Montsimmard as well as Enchantress to the Imperial Court of Orlais.

Secondary characters

 * Alexius: A member of the Magisterium who leads a band of Venatori into Redcliffe.
 * Alistair: A Grey Warden, former companion of the Hero of Ferelden and, depending on player choice, King of Ferelden.
 * Anora: Queen of Ferelden, depending on player choice.
 * Briala: Ambassador for the elves of Orlais.
 * Celene I: Empress of Orlais
 * Connor: Son of Arl Eamon and Isolde. He discovered his ability as a mage when he was young and fell victim to a Desire Demon.
 * Dagna : A smith caste dwarf or scholar of the Circle of Magi, depending on player choice.
 * Fiona: Former Grand Enchanter of the Circle of Magi, now leader of the mage rebellion. She is also a former Grey Warden.
 * Flemeth: The legendary Asha'bellanar, Witch of the Wilds, and mother of Morrigan.
 * Gaspard de Chalons: Grand Duke of Orlais, rival of Celene in the Orlesian Civil War.
 * Harding: The dwarven head scout and lieutenant of the Inquisition.
 * Hawke: The protagonist of Dragon Age II, Champion of Kirkwall and, depending on player choice, Viscount of Kirkwall.
 * Justinia V: Divine of the Andrastian Chantry.
 * Krem: Second-in-command of the Bull's Chargers.
 * Loghain: Former Teyrn of Gwaren, father of Anora and, depending on player choice, companion to the Hero of Fereldan.
 * Mother Giselle: A Chantry Mother and early supporter of the Inquisition.
 * Roderick: Grand Chancellor of the Chantry.
 * Stroud: An Orlesian Grey Warden.
 * Clarel: Warden Commander of the Grey Wardens of Orlais

Romance
There are eight romances available in Inquisition. Six are companions and two are advisors. Some romances are restricted by gender, and two have been confirmed to be restricted by race.


 * Blackwall (female Inquisitors only)
 * Cassandra Pentaghast (male Inquisitors only)
 * Cullen (female human and elven Inquisitors only)
 * Dorian (male Inquisitors only)
 * Iron Bull (male and female Inquisitors)
 * Josephine Montilyet (male and female Inquisitors)
 * Sera (female Inquisitors only)
 * Solas (female elven Inquisitors only)

New creatures

 * Behemoth
 * Despair demon
 * Fear demon
 * Fennec
 * Giant
 * Terror demon
 * Envy demon
 * Wraith

Factions

 * Inquisition
 * Avvars
 * Grey Wardens
 * Mages
 * Red Templars
 * Templars
 * Venatori

Locations

 * Skyhold, headquarters of the Inquisition
 * The Deep Roads
 * Valammar
 * The Fade
 * Ferelden
 * Crestwood Hills
 * Fallow Mire
 * Haven
 * The Hinterlands
 * Redcliffe
 * Storm Coast
 * Therinfal Redoubt
 * Orlais
 * Val Royeaux, capital of Orlais
 * The Dales
 * Emerald Graves
 * Emprise Du Lion
 * Exalted Plains
 * Halamshiral, once the capital city of the elven nation of Dales
 * Winter Palace
 * The Western Approach
 * Forbidden Oasis
 * Hissing Wastes

Multiplayer


Dragon Age: Inquisition will feature a four player co-op mode. At launch there will be three multiplayer campaigns. Maps will be randomly generated and BioWare expects the matches will last between 20–30 minutes.

Initially there will be twelve heroes to choose from, four rogues, four warriors, and four mages. All will have distinctive looks and abilities. The player will be part of the Inquisition, running a behind the scenes operation.

There will be no subscription or premium services. However, you can purchase platinum, which is described as a "time saver" currency.

Multiplayer characters
Equipment
 * Warriors
 * Korbin: The Legionnaire
 * Tamar: The Reaver
 * The Katari
 * Belinda: The Templar
 * Rogues
 * Argent: The Assassin
 * Hall: The Archer
 * Luka: The Alchemist
 * Thornton: The Hunter
 * Mages
 * Neria: The Keeper
 * Rion: The Elementalist
 * Cillian: The Arcane Warrior
 * Sidony: The Necromancer

A list of available weapons, armor, runes, upgrades, and crafting items can be found on the BioWare Social Network.

Gallery
Promotional media=