Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Inquisition is an upcoming sequel to Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II and is currently in development by BioWare. It was first (informally) announced on Twitter, the evening of May 19, 2011, by BioWare Creative Lead Alistair McNally. It was then formally confirmed as Dragon Age III: Inquisition on September 17, 2012 in an open letter by Executive Producer Mark Darrah. It was revealed during Electronic Arts' E3 2013 press conference that Dragon Age: Inquisition will be released in the fall of 2014. The game is set to be released on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC.

Development
BioWare is planning on combining elements of earlier installments in the series, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, into the creation of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Combat is also expected to differ somewhat from its predecessors and focus more on a player's ability to prepare, position and form a cohesive team with his or her party members, requiring fewer repetitive finger strikes but better thinking. The armor customization will differ from both Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, in that each party member will have interchangeable armor pieces that will customize the look according to its specification and class. They will also refrain from reusing environments, 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 will use a brand new engine which will use Frostbite 3 as a foundation.

It has been confirmed by David Gaider that the Game will feature "multiplayer in some form." It is not known yet what the multiplayer element will be.

The game will have creatures new to the series.

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

Trevor Morris is responsible for composition of 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. Gameplay will also continue 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.

As in both previous installments, the player character can be one of three classes; warrior, rogue or mage. The player will have the ability to choose one of 4 playable races - human, dwarf, elf or qunari - and of either gender. Body sliders will not be available to customize the player character's physique; rather, the engine will support differing body shapes for each race. Two voice sets will also be available for each gender: in the English version, one will have an English accent, and the other, an American one. Like the Warden, the Warden-Commander, and Hawke in previous titles, the Inquisitor will be able to recruit companions. It has been revealed that there will be nine possible party members in total, so far six have been confirmed. All companions can be customized via armor appearance and in-class weapon style. Furthermore, in exploration they will assist the player by calling out sights of interest.

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

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.

While playing, the GUI for Dragon Age: Inquisition will include an overhead compass with pinned landmarks similar to that used in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Combat in Dragon Age: Inquisition will have a greater focus on strategy than in Dragon Age II. Party health will not 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.

During fights, the environments will also be able to 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, will also have an effect on gameplay in Inquisition. The player will have 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.

Data transfer and world-states
Mike Laidlaw confirmed the ability for players to import their save files, or alternatively their "world-states," from the first two games into Dragon Age: Inquisition to "shore up world consistency." Mark Darrah later stated that BioWare is looking into creating ways to include choices made in previous titles without the need for a Save File transfer system, as well as a method to import save files across console generations.

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 also solve plot logic issues that occurred when importing save-games in previous titles.

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 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.

Plot
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 of the Warden, the Warden-Commander, and the Champion. As was the case in Dragon Age: Origins, players will be able to choose from several playable races for the Inquisitor, and the game will recognize race flags, class flags, or a combination of the two depending on the situation. Mike Laidlaw has stated that playing as a different character "does not mean your old character may never appear in future games," which could indicate that the new protagonist will be able to meet Hawke and the Warden-Commander.

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.

BioWare mentioned that the main plot will be "saving the world from itself." The plot will involve an all out war between mages and templars, 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 countries such as Tevinter to calm or encourage the fighting.

According to Mark Darrah, the Warden and Hawke will play important roles in Dragon Age: Inquisition, but they're not ready to talk about what that means just yet.

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."

Characters

 * The Inquisitor: The protagonist of the game and leader of the mysterious Inquisition.
 * Alistair: A Grey Warden and former companion of the Hero of Ferelden. He is confirmed to not be a party member.
 * Cullen: A Knight-Captain of the Templar Order who witnessed the ventures of both the Hero of Ferelden and the Champion of Kirkwall.
 * Morrigan: A Witch of the Wilds, a shapeshifting apostate mage who disappeared at the end of the Fifth Blight and former companion of the Hero of Ferelden. She is confirmed to not be a party member.
 * Iron Bull: A Tal-Vashoth mercenary.
 * Cassandra Pentaghast: One of the last members of the Seekers of Truth still loyal to the Divine.
 * Varric Tethras: A roguish member of the Merchant's Guild, a consummate storyteller and former companion of the Champion of Kirkwall.
 * Sera: An elven archer.
 * Solas: A renegade elven mage.
 * Vivienne: A pro-Circle mage and former Senior Enchanter who joins the Inquisitor to help her fellow mages.
 * Unannounced returning character from Dragon Age: Asunder
 * Thamond: A Human captain working in the Inquisition. He will not be a party member.

New creatures

 * Behemoth
 * Nightmare
 * Troll

Factions

 * Demons
 * Venatori
 * Templars
 * Mages
 * Red templars

Locations

 * Orlesian Empire
 * Highlands
 * The Western Approach, including Griffon Wing Keep, a former Grey Warden stronghold
 * Dales
 * The Emerald Graves
 * The Exalted Plains
 * Nahashim Marsh
 * The Southern Desolation
 * Ferelden
 * Crestwood Hills
 * Frostback Pass

Gallery
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