By John Walker on September 17th, 2012 at 4:33 pm.
BioWare have just officially announced Dragon Age 3. It has, of course, already been discussed in public as long ago as April, making an official announcement a touch silly. But it does at least have a name now. Dragon Age III: Inquisition, and it will be made in the Frostbite 2 engine. Which if you were of a curt enough mind, you might describe as the first full Dragon Age sequel.
Of course, we already knew the name too, albeit in a list of possible candidates that were leaked last month. That leak also told us it would likely be set on the continent of Orlais, with a heavy emphasis on a schizm within the mythos’ most interesting aspect and history, the world’s dominant and dominating religious organisation, The Chantry.
That’s not been confirmed by BioWare today, and they’re not planning to say anything useful for a while. Nor have the probably also true rumours that the player will be a member of the Inquisition, with a number of choices of how to approach the game. However, we do know that the original Dragon Age: Origins team are working on the game, and have been for a couple of years already – those are promising signs, after what was obviously meant to just be an expansion pack got painfully stretched out into a first sequel.
PS. This makes an interesting time to note that after we wrote our story detailing the leaks posted on NeoGAF, we were contacted by a third-party marketing company, sending us a vaguely legally threatening email demanding that we take the information down. We didn’t, of course, and it does rather seem to have proven to be true! (We were also slightly amused by this email actually confirming that the list of possible subtitles we had posted as a rumour were in fact definitely true.)
17/09/2012 at 16:36 tlarn says:
My only reaction’s a shrug of the shoulders. I wasn’t all that interested in Dragon Age when I had the chance to rent it, nor do I have the time to sink into a long-winded BioWare RPG.
17/09/2012 at 18:27 sPOONz says:
Brilliant comment. Thanks.
17/09/2012 at 19:41 Kadayi says:
Indeed. I can sleep easy at night now.
17/09/2012 at 21:24 cowardly says:
You’ve never played part 1 and possible 2, but you think people want to hear your thoughts on part 3? Alright, thanks for the input I guess! You must be everyone’s favorite friend in conversations.
17/09/2012 at 22:59 int says:
And yet, it’s okay to do when it comes to CoD.
18/09/2012 at 10:41 scatterbrainless says:
To be fair, CoD is pretty transparently the repetition of a formula made out of money and cynical tears
17/09/2012 at 23:39 Davie says:
I love it when people make an effort to let the world know they don’t give a shit.
18/09/2012 at 11:30 lurkalisk says:
Reminds me of that Jon Lajoie song…
Edit: Ah yes, this thing.
19/09/2012 at 19:13 PopeJamal says:
What a bunch of defensive a-holes. Let the guy have a god damned opinion. Jesus Christ…
17/09/2012 at 16:38 Dick_Sweat says:
Will it be awesome like DA2?
17/09/2012 at 16:45 Tritagonist says:
Only if you press the right buttons will something awesome happen!
On a more serious note, I’m very sceptical about this after Dragon Age 2 with it’s bland texture work, some downright atrociously bad 3D models, bad recycling of environments, wave based combat that scored very high on the ‘not cool’ charts and a storyline that had an admittedly interesting concept but seemed to lack a lot of the meat on the bones.
17/09/2012 at 16:51 lcy says:
Also sceptical, for largely the same reasons. I pre-ordered DA2 on the strength of DAO, a mistake I won’t be repeating this time.
17/09/2012 at 16:55 RaytraceRat says:
Same.
17/09/2012 at 18:04 ocelot113 says:
Same
17/09/2012 at 18:23 Continuity says:
pre-ordering is a fools game.
Yes I’m calling you all fools for paying up front for a product of undetermined quality.
17/09/2012 at 18:32 mouton says:
It is not foolish, if product quality is not that important. For example, I pre-ordered Alpha Protocol because I like the developer and wanted to support them then.
18/09/2012 at 05:39 coaning6565 says:
Bioware did nothing wrong.
http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/3066-Holidays-V15-beta
18/09/2012 at 11:48 jrodman says:
What a contrary robot. Perhaps soon they will learn the art of trolling. Then we’re all screwed.
17/09/2012 at 19:04 Sheng-ji says:
Though I’m sceptical, I do intend to give this game a fair chance. I like Bioware games, always have and DA2 is unique for me in that I couldn’t bring myself to buy it after playing the demo and reading the reviews. Would be good to see if the modding community has sorted out DA2 as well, I will happily purchase it if this game turns out to be halfway decent and there are some mods that sort out some of the issues with DA2
17/09/2012 at 20:12 PsychoWedge says:
that’s a nice way to look at DA2… :D
17/09/2012 at 22:17 d34thm0nk3y says:
I preordered on Steam. Played the demo when it came out. Sent an email to Steam asking to cancel my preorder.
17/09/2012 at 23:32 pmouse says:
NEVER AGIAN!
18/09/2012 at 06:41 cragthehack says:
Same.
17/09/2012 at 17:07 Olivaw says:
REMINDER: Dragon Age 2 was made in exactly eight months.
This game has been in development two years.
17/09/2012 at 17:13 Fincher says:
REMINDER: Bioware has -changed-.
17/09/2012 at 18:13 lordcooper says:
Bioware never changes.
17/09/2012 at 18:20 EPICTHEFAIL says:
Bioware. Bioware never changes.
17/09/2012 at 18:28 Continuity says:
What did bioware have to do with fallout…. (developed and published by interplay).
Unless I’m missing the reference..
17/09/2012 at 19:26 GingerSeniorcitizenStepchild says:
I never asked for this?
17/09/2012 at 17:14 ferdy says:
DAO was in development for more than five, look how well that turned out.
17/09/2012 at 18:29 Continuity says:
It was pretty poor IMO, but I’m definitely in the minority in on that so I won’t argue the toss.
17/09/2012 at 17:29 InternetBatman says:
Dragon Age: Awakening had almost as much content, an even shorter development period, and was much better than DAII. DAII was conceptually flawed and no amount of time would have fixed that.
17/09/2012 at 17:45 woodsey says:
No it wasn’t.
Origins came out in Nov. 2009. DA2 came out in March 2011. They start pre-production on these things whilst the previous projects are winding down. Is it a lot of time? No, but it’s not 8 months.
17/09/2012 at 19:22 Werthead says:
It was seven months between DA2′s announcement and it going gold. I don’t believe – and some Googling can’t find any source – it’s ever been declared by any official source how long the game was in development for.
18/09/2012 at 00:24 vivapinat13 says:
Remember that Dragon age 2 was also mainly created by EA and not bioware so yea XD
18/09/2012 at 07:15 SentientNr6 says:
Three years ago this would have been an auto-buy. Oh how the times have changed. DA2, ME3 and origin are to blame and even raving reviews will not suffice to part me from my hard earned money this time.
18/09/2012 at 12:22 fredc says:
I’ll probably buy it unless something goes (even more) horribly in the wrong direction, but I’m another person who was terribly disappointed by DA2. As soon as you start your dude is doing forward rolls in mid-air and smacking things like fucking super mario brothers. Or given the publisher, like they recycled the Madden engine.
As others have pointed out, when you have their resources and 5 Polish dudes with a budget consisting mostly of kielbasa flavoured instant noodles can comprehensively spank you (The Witcher … both of them), you need to rethink your approach.
17/09/2012 at 16:48 Meat Circus says:
I wish I’d never fucked Anders now. Why is it every one of my gay boyfriends always blows up a church?
That’s it. I’m sticking with the psychowitches and nymphobards from now on.
17/09/2012 at 17:04 IDtenT says:
You have straight boyfriends? :P
17/09/2012 at 18:35 MattM says:
A little tape and they never suspect.
17/09/2012 at 18:48 Eddy9000 says:
You’d be amazed how many men define themselves as straight while still enjoying same-sex physical relations (I’ve had a few), but I take your point!
My dwarf, Rimjaw, screwed everyone. Morrigan, Leiana and Zevran, and a 4 way with zev, Lei and some random lady in a pub; he would have had the dog as well if he was able to. He was a blood-crazed sex-crazed great-axe wielding barbarian. Alistair hated him the prissy old virgin.
17/09/2012 at 19:15 Lamb Chop says:
To be fair, his name was Rimjaw. He and Bumgardner would get along nicely.
17/09/2012 at 19:24 Schadenfreude says:
That random lady in the pub was in fact Isabella from Dragon Age 2.
So you likely had another go of her then :D
17/09/2012 at 22:01 Bhazor says:
The day I found out Bumgardner was a real name was the greatest day of my life to that point. I was 12.
17/09/2012 at 22:58 Eddy9000 says:
@Schaden,
Oh please give me some credit, like I’d ever play DA2!
17/09/2012 at 21:15 ClockworkTiger says:
Beware Meat Circus’s “Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?” trick.
17/09/2012 at 17:16 cryocore says:
You mean the WORST game ever to be shat out by biowEAr. Pre EA BioWare were almost faultless, since EA though things have gotten very very sad. DA:O was great, ME1 was very cool… and after that EA decided the twitchtards, console jockies and the intellectually challenged needed to be catered to and we got a couple of shooters and the most dissappointing and lazy RPG since Ruins of Myth Drannor.
17/09/2012 at 17:20 DrGonzo says:
It’s very subjective. I found Dragon Age 2 far more engaging than the generic, ‘chosen one saves the world’ plot of the original. It was lazy, ‘let’s change the colour palette of lord of the rings and release it’.
An unconvincing stiff world, with stiff boring characters and pretty tedious combat, that played more like a spreadsheet.
I preferred the second game, at least I wasn’t Luke Skywalker again. Although I didn’t like it enough to actually bother finishing it.
17/09/2012 at 17:33 InternetBatman says:
The idea of a one city rpg was really neat, especially where each of your companions has their own house, but the execution was absolutely terrible. DA:O had good writing outside the plot and DA:II largely lacked it altogether.
17/09/2012 at 18:33 Ruffian says:
IMO, DA:O was a better rpg period. It was big and you could tackle story missions in whatever order, as well as resolve them in different ways. DA:2 not so much.
17/09/2012 at 19:22 Kanamit says:
Completely agree. The concept of DA2 was something I had wanted to see, more or less, in an rpg for a very long time. The execution just wasn’t good.
Anyways, count me as cautiously optimistic about this one. I’m willing to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt, and if this one has more Leliana I’m all for it.
17/09/2012 at 20:00 aliksy says:
Pretty much. Some neat ideas, some good character interaction, lots of flaws and questionable decisions.
I’ve pretty much lost all confidence in Bioware, so I won’t get this unless it gets great reviews and is cheap.
18/09/2012 at 14:00 TariqOne says:
Agreed. I think the criticisms of the waves of enemies and repetitive maps are fair, but DA2 had a much better story, IMO. I felt more engaged with my Hawke than I did with any of my DAO guys.
17/09/2012 at 17:54 Vorphalack says:
(pst, cryocore, that was a not so subtle dig at the DA2 ”awesome button”.)
17/09/2012 at 19:54 Ragnar says:
It’s not all bad. For example, I think ME1 was more interesting with a better story than ME2, but ME2 had the better gameplay by far (with planet scanning as the sole exception).
17/09/2012 at 20:01 FhnuZoag says:
‘BiowEAr’? Ow, my eyes.
17/09/2012 at 16:39 pakoito says:
I can already taste the blandness, paper-thin ruleset and the tackled-on superficial adult themes.
Sword&Conversation is back!!
17/09/2012 at 16:41 Vorphalack says:
Don’t forget the mandatory multi-player mode encroaching upon the single player experience.
17/09/2012 at 16:58 Shezo says:
Yeah, it’s gonna be horde mode, where we will fight with darkspawn, rebelled golems and some faction of rogue humans, trying to use blight/blood magic to enhance humankind and whatnot.
17/09/2012 at 17:02 karthink says:
You win.
More seriously, there was talk of one player playing as a dragon or some such.
17/09/2012 at 17:08 Maxheadroom says:
It’s all speculation.We wont know anything till we’ve seen the first cgi trailer featuring an awkwardly rendered sex scene and generic rawk music
17/09/2012 at 18:23 EPICTHEFAIL says:
Hey, that trailer was among the better ones out of the bunch.
17/09/2012 at 17:12 x1501 says:
If your definition of multiplayer includes campaign co-op, I’d actually welcome it with open arms. Unless you’re playing with someone who doesn’t interest you and whose playing style is completely different from yours, games like this can only get infinitely more interesting when played in [well implemented] co-op, not the other way around.
17/09/2012 at 17:44 Vorphalack says:
I don’t have an issue with co-op, especially if it has proper LAN support, but I doubt EA even consider that an option. They want tied in multi-player a la ME3 to promote micro payments and counter 2nd hand console sales.
17/09/2012 at 17:21 DrGonzo says:
Well considering how good Witcher 2 was. I’d really like that. The first was terrible. And anyone who longs for the actual combat and gameplay from old RPGs is nuts. It’s the plots, and interesting stories that we want. Not the awful mechanics.
17/09/2012 at 17:50 NathanH says:
Look, if what you want is choose-your-own-adventure action games, that’s fine by me, I like them too, but plenty of people actually liked old RPG games for the game mechanics and want to have more games like them. But you have the seeds of a good point: developers shouldn’t try to attract the old RPG gamers and the “I play it for choice’n'consequence, story and atmosphere” crew, because it generally doesn’t make as good a game as concentrating on one thing and just seems to me like a sneaky effort to get as many sales as possible by pretending to be everything to everyone.
17/09/2012 at 19:11 Sheng-ji says:
Agreed – in a roleplaying game, the players skill in combat should not be a factor – it’s the characters skill in combat that is important. So many actiony rpg’s (And I don’t necessarily count the Witcher amongst them) are so skill based, you can pour all your level ups into magic and still own everyone in melee. Fine for an action type game, and I enjoy them immensely but I don’t think they are RPG’s.
17/09/2012 at 17:54 Zepp says:
I liked Witcher 1 more than 2. BTW Sex cards were amazing, much better than puppet sex scenes. The one responsible for scrapping them in sequel should burn in hell.
17/09/2012 at 20:20 Ragnar says:
I too play Western RPGs mostly for the plot, stories, and character interaction. I care more about the “Role Playing” part of an RPG than the dungeon crawl part. Which is why I rather enjoyed Witcher 1, and recommend it to friends, despite being completely bored by the combat.
When I think back to Planescape: Torment or Fallout, I remember the story, the characters, and the choices I made. The best thing about PS:T’s combat were the effects it had on the non-combat game (insulting whores so that Morte could learn new taunts, or upgrading Morte’s teeth). In Fallout 2, I enjoyed being able to talk my way past a fight much more than I would have enjoyed playing through that fight.
17/09/2012 at 21:15 Jahandar says:
I am firmly inside this camp with you, and its the reason why I sunk hundreds of hours into DA:O
18/09/2012 at 12:33 scatterbrainless says:
BG2 had some of the best tactical combat in any game I’ve played though. The integration of buffs/debuffs, healing, and magical protection and dispelling was awesomely integrated into a complex and engaging whole. I’ve heard some people call it a tactical, party-based form of combat as opposed to real RPG, and I wouldn’t argue with that, but still, awesome.
18/09/2012 at 00:01 DK says:
It’s set in Orlais. The Bioware-Country of Pseudo-France in which every nobleman constantly rapes commoner women and it’s applauded by all. Of course it’ll have tacked on “Adult (read puberty ideas of adult) content”. The entire setting it’s based in is an immature unintentional parody of what Mature Themes are supposed to be.
17/09/2012 at 16:41 Ranger6six says:
Unless they’re completely redoing DA2′s combat, art style and storytelling, I’m not interested in this one.
I never again want to even come near to a game that’s the same boring, multi-wave slogfest that DA2 was. Bioware, you’ve seriously got your work cut out in order to convince a lot of people.
Also, anyone else a bit concerned after reading the frostbite bit and remembering that Bioware said that they were looking into the success of Skyrim?
17/09/2012 at 16:50 Kaira- says:
>storytelling
Well, DA2 had at least some ambition in the storytelling compared to DA:O. About the only thing about DA:Os storytelling to be said is: “it was there”. Bland as white paper.
17/09/2012 at 16:58 TillEulenspiegel says:
DA:O did a traditional thing quite well. Not universally well, but there are some good bits and good characters.
DA2 did a slightly nontraditional thing poorly. Sure it tries, but it fails.
17/09/2012 at 17:15 Kaira- says:
Well, I wouldn’t say they did it “well”, but it wasn’t bad either. I may be a bit biased though, since I generallu prefer non-traditional to traditional, even if it’s executed sloppily (see: DA II).
17/09/2012 at 17:22 DrGonzo says:
I would say they both failed, but at least DA2 wasn’t just copying every other fantasy story ever told.
17/09/2012 at 20:23 RobinOttens says:
Really? To me DA2 felt like it took a lot of beats from Assassin’s Creed 2 (with the story of Hawke’s family) and Yasumi Matsuno’s games (with the story being told from some unspecified point in the future by a subjective narrator, the balance of unresolved big supernatural events and semi-historical inquisition storyline, and the way they executed the whole ’10 years of dude’s life’ thing).
Dunno, it felt like a lot of things I already knew. But they were borrowing from something other then Lord of the Rings and Song of Ice and Fire this time, sure.
I liked DA2, as flawed as it was. I’m tentatively looking forward to this one, and kind of glad this is still an on-going franchise.
17/09/2012 at 17:56 NathanH says:
Am I the only person who is currently finding “dark and gritty and edgy” as the new “traditional” and “generic”? I mean, it’s not like we’ve had a high quality traditionally traditional “beautiful” fantasy RPG since BG2, and that was over a decade ago. Everything has to be dark and gritty and realistic and blah blah these days. Common fantasy is now rather under-represented!
Sure, there is generic fantasy waffle in lots of strategy games and action-RPGs, but allowing them to colour your perceptions of “meaty” traditional fantasy RPGs is weird to me. More tradition, please, I’m missing it!
17/09/2012 at 18:18 lcy says:
Absolutely. ‘Dark and Gritty’ often translates to ‘adolescent’. Thanks, but no thanks.
17/09/2012 at 19:14 Sheng-ji says:
At least now, there is the choice between the two – pre diablo, everything was high fantasy.
But I agree, that when games try to do things a little differently or at least base themselves on original fantasy worlds it is like a breath of fresh air, even if the execution isn’t perfect!
17/09/2012 at 19:28 TillEulenspiegel says:
Yeah, I could go for some old-fashioned Gygaxian adventures.
I’d also prefer my grit (low-powered heroes, plausible situations, minimal magic) without so much dark.
17/09/2012 at 16:59 Bremze says:
Different doesn’t exactly mean good though. Not to say that the writing in DA:O or anything Bioware has done lately could be called good.
17/09/2012 at 19:24 Anders Wrist says:
I agree. I miss the days when RPGs where things I could lose myself in for days on end. I’m not getting my hopes up for the third iteration of this mediocre/poor game.
17/09/2012 at 16:53 ALJA says:
The use of the frostbite engine I think is purely financial. In that they dont have to pay for a license as DICE is owned by EA aswell. Might mean more money for development which would be nice.
17/09/2012 at 16:58 Orija says:
People would be concerned if they gave two shits about it. Bioware has had its three strikes, the way I see it they need to win back their fans all over again.
17/09/2012 at 17:13 pilouuuu says:
Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3 original ending which they sort of fixed… Can you tell what’s the third strike?
17/09/2012 at 17:19 Tritagonist says:
I’m guessing the people who were disappointed by Star Wars The Old Republic might have added that to their list of strikes.
17/09/2012 at 17:20 Brun says:
SWTOR.
17/09/2012 at 17:40 yogibbear says:
SWTOR of course. I didn’t even play it but.
I did play ME3 and it was 50 hrs of fun and then it was a BRILLIANT ending if you believed in the Indoctrination Theory…. although the game should have kept going after I picked DESTROY DAMN YOU! But then they properly ruined it with the extended cut.
And DA2 I gave up with at some point in Act II as the wave combat got tiresome and the story felt forced and I didn’t like my character or any of the other characters (unlike DA:O).
I agree they need to win me back. Not buying until after I try this in a demo or something.
17/09/2012 at 17:47 pilouuuu says:
Oh, yes! SWTOR. I totally forgot about that because it didn’t exist for me.
Well, at least I think Bioware will be extra careful to not screw it again, considering everyone is paying attention to every single mistake they make nowadays.
I think that good endings is a priority for them now. And hopefully no multiplayer crap in my single-player game, thank you very much.
17/09/2012 at 22:18 realitysconcierge says:
Oh you didn’t hear? A game from EA won’t be released unless it is always online and has some form of multiplayer in it :D
Source! http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/09/06/ea-turns-its-back-on-single-player-games-embraces-the-cloud/
17/09/2012 at 16:42 FFabian says:
First Dragon Age was awesome. Dragon Age II was horrible – seemed like a quick money-grabbing move to milk the success. They wont getting any eurodollars from me this time. Fool me once …
17/09/2012 at 17:00 Orija says:
DA:O was one of the blandest games I have played, I couldn’t even get myself to finish the damn thing. Repetitive combat punctuated by snarky one-liners that was all there was to it.
17/09/2012 at 17:23 Bhazor says:
But it was a party based tactical rpg. That automatically makes the gameplay better than anything they’ve produced in the last ten years.
As a general rule
Bad party based tactical rpg > Average third person action game
17/09/2012 at 20:33 BillyIII says:
^ This. More TRPGs please, there are enough action games already.
18/09/2012 at 03:35 noodlecake says:
I’m hoping that you wrote that with at least a degree of irony.
17/09/2012 at 17:23 DrGonzo says:
Thank god I’m not the only one who thought it was rubbish.
17/09/2012 at 17:44 Chmilz says:
Nope, I also thought it sucked. Bought it day 1 since they made it where I live (Edmonton) and I know one of the game designers and a few game testers personally.
My Facebook was a bit awkward after I ranted about how stupid and boring the game was, not to mention the subtle* DLC tie-ins.
*If subtle was a Captain Kirk-style dropkick to the mutherfukin face
17/09/2012 at 20:46 SkittleDiddler says:
You’re not alone, friend, you’re not alone.
17/09/2012 at 17:47 Rymdkejsaren says:
I quite enjoyed DA:O. I think first of all you need to turn the difficulty up so that the game actually becomes interesting tactically. The story is not amazing but certainly entertaining enough to keep going.
17/09/2012 at 19:23 mckertis says:
“turn the difficulty up so that the game actually becomes interesting tactically.”
Cooldowns will never be “interesting tactically”.
The only good thing i can say about Dragon Age Origins is…dialogues were nicely acted out.
17/09/2012 at 16:44 shadowy_light says:
I really enjoyed DA, if the original team’s on DA3, and they are truly as repentant about DA2 as they appear to be, then I’ll be happy.
17/09/2012 at 18:11 ninnisinni says:
But… I thought it was the original team that made DA2 as well?! I hope I’m wrong and you guys are right, because otherwise my scepticism regarding this game hasn’t diminished one bit.
17/09/2012 at 16:44 DClark says:
I don’t want Dragon Age 3, I want Dragon Age: Origins 2.
17/09/2012 at 16:44 SteamTrout says:
I hope it will have more than 3 locations copy-pasted all over the game like DA2 did…
17/09/2012 at 16:44 Zanchito says:
Well, I liked Dragon Age 1 and I liked what they wanted to do with Dragon Age 2 (didn’t like the combat all tha much, but whatever). There should be more games building around long term relationships with your environment and comrades, and showing how things change over time. I’m looking forward to Dragon Age 3.
17/09/2012 at 16:48 jalf says:
Hmm, hope we’ll get some more details soon.
DA:O was pretty bland, so I’m inclined to give this a miss, but would be nice to know more about it before dismissing it entirely.
17/09/2012 at 16:56 abandonhope says:
Indeed. I’m not really willing to slog through more generic Tolkien/D&D nonsense just for a combat system I enjoyed.
17/09/2012 at 17:57 jalf says:
Huh, you enjoyed the combat system?
Different strokes for different people, I guess. To me, it was felt like they’d taken the combat system from NWN2 and made it *worse*.
I thought there were some interesting aspects to the setting and the story, but sadly it completely drowned in the bland Tolkienesque porridge that was generously heaped on to fill in all the gaps.
So overall, blah. But again, some interesting aspects to the setting, so if they do their job right, this *could* actually be a game worth playing, even for those of us who didn’t care for the first game.
17/09/2012 at 18:14 Grygus says:
How can the setting be completely bland porridge and still have interesting aspects? The latter would seem to contradict the former.
17/09/2012 at 18:48 Kaira- says:
Every bland and boring thing can have a bit of good in it. Doesn’t make the whole thing any less boring, though.
17/09/2012 at 18:53 jalf says:
Read what I said, then. :)
It’s like vanilla icecream with little chunks of caramel in it. Mainly a pretty bland uniform mass, with the occasional lump of sugary goodness. (the analogy only stretches so far, of course, because vanilla icecream is not at all bad. It just pales next to every *other* kind of icecream. I’d much rather have vanilla icecream than the blandness of DAO’s non-exciting bits.)
Makes perfect sense, right? :D
17/09/2012 at 16:50 DanPryce says:
Yes, but will there be a Facebook tie-in?
17/09/2012 at 17:02 codename_bloodfist says:
Multiplayer gay scenes with your Facebook friends? Yes, please!
17/09/2012 at 17:07 Klaus says:
Of course. Hopefully we’ll get real-time tweet update tool as well.
“Just killed the Grand Cleric. LOL” #murder #lol
“Anders is blowing up a templar orphanage. LOLZ” #omgwtf
17/09/2012 at 17:23 Hoaxfish says:
and a mobile game, both of which will be removed from market as soon as the marketting promotion/hype for the main game is over.
17/09/2012 at 16:52 CaspianRoach says:
Just give me Dragon Age 3: Merrill and you can have ALL OF MY MONEY
17/09/2012 at 17:04 Bremze says:
Cheering about the inclusion of a mentally handicapped character that had a “romance” arc ending with sex in DA 2 is not exactly good form. It’s also extremely creepy.
17/09/2012 at 17:09 Klaus says:
They’re all mentally handicapped in some way, and Hawke is their therapist/lover/employer. So… it’s ok.
17/09/2012 at 17:12 Jackablade says:
You could sleep with the enchantment kid?
17/09/2012 at 17:16 Casimir Effect says:
It’s a well-known fact in Bioware games that you can fuck your friends better. Works every time.
17/09/2012 at 22:25 Bhazor says:
Your friend suffering emotional pain and anguish? I know the solution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmFp0I8AZqw
18/09/2012 at 03:36 noodlecake says:
Eh?
17/09/2012 at 17:18 Ghoulie says:
But Merrill as a companion was like rubbing a cheese-grater up and down my spine.
17/09/2012 at 17:24 Klaus says:
Most of them were kinda annoying because they were all so EXTREME in everything they did. Compromise was the game’s and subsequently the characters’ antithesis. Aveline and Varric, the non-romanceable characters, were the only ones I didn’t tire of by the end. And I liked the game.
17/09/2012 at 16:53 Lambchops says:
I wonder if the player character will be an inquisitor or an inquisitee?
I’m remaining neutral on this. Dragon Age II might not have been my favourite game ever but it did have its good ideas scattered throughout. Plus is did refrain from the boredom-fest that was the Deep Roads in Origins. Still Origins did more right in terms of characterisation (particularly character customisation) and combat so hopefully they return more to that sort of thing.
17/09/2012 at 18:05 Stellar Duck says:
Inquisitee is the best word I’ve read today. Thanks!
17/09/2012 at 18:32 Hoaxfish says:
Inquisitor… oh wait, wrong game
17/09/2012 at 16:54 mbr says:
Why is the subtitle so big and what’s up with the N? Looks pretty stupid.
17/09/2012 at 17:01 abandonhope says:
Because they want you to forget that it’s a Dragon Age game.
17/09/2012 at 18:38 Hoaxfish says:
Because it’s the eNd
18/09/2012 at 05:34 particlese says:
Weird…I was so distracted by those poor neutered Ns that I didn’t even notice how huge the subtitle was as a whole. Think they’re compensating?
And so I feel a little more constructive: I liked what little I played of the first Dragon Age, but Skyrim came out before I got sucked in, and I was already entrenched in that universe. If BioWare does well with this third game, though, the first might just move up in my RPG queue.
…man alive, that N looks strange…
17/09/2012 at 16:54 alice says:
This is reminding me that DA: Origins was one of my favorite games ever but I never went back and played Awakening let alone DA: II. ARGH.
17/09/2012 at 20:03 Ragnar says:
Same, they’re on my “To Play” list.
17/09/2012 at 16:57 westyfield says:
Orlais? Damn, that means more of the atrocious French accents we’ve come to know and hate from the previous games.
17/09/2012 at 17:15 bodydomelight says:
TEEEEEEEE-AAAAAAA-GAAAAAAAAAN!
17/09/2012 at 17:20 Hoaxfish says:
not-French is the language of Love… expect lots of animation which would make Pinocchio look like a real live boy.
17/09/2012 at 17:47 randomkeyhits says:
It could have been worse, it could have been spanish voices. I mean, who would expect a Spanish Inquisition?
17/09/2012 at 18:34 adamsorkin says:
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
17/09/2012 at 18:34 adamsorkin says:
(thanks)
18/09/2012 at 00:16 d34thm0nk3y says:
The first thing I did before even reading the article was press ctrl+f and type “spanish inquisition” :D
17/09/2012 at 16:59 codename_bloodfist says:
Cool. Will this one have icons above each character displaying whether they are hetero, gay or bi at all times? Bioware’s been catering to their conservative right-wing audience for far too long.
Maybe we’ll even get some glorious femdom in the inquisition’s torture chambers now. I feel that that community has been severely underrepresented in gaming as of late.
17/09/2012 at 17:01 reggiep says:
Sure they have. I’m sure it has nothing to do with you reading into things too hard.
17/09/2012 at 20:44 SkittleDiddler says:
Oh for fuck’s sake.
17/09/2012 at 16:59 reggiep says:
I think this is worth following for a number of reasons — perhaps least of which is that I don’t want to be another one of these gamer tools having a knee jerk reaction to a simple announcement. Snap judgments are childish.
17/09/2012 at 17:01 AmateurScience says:
It will be interesting to see how this and whatever Obsidian come up with for project eternity compare. Two companies that effectively started in the same place but with different trajectories. Fire up the compare-o-tron!
17/09/2012 at 17:04 Popcornicus says:
It’s tempting to make excuses for Bioware’s serial failures, but they’re a AAA studio and really should be putting out top-notch games for the level of talent, development time, and money they have access to. If they cared about making the best games possible, they would make better games. DA2 was a bizarre, rushed money grab created on a “do-this-or-you’re-fired” mandate for no apparent reason. Didn’t DA1 make more money than Mass Effect (2)?
If you compare Bioware’s output to Blizzard’s or Valve’s, they really are shameful. And the writing, which is supposed to be their games’ strong suit, is sub-Saturday morning cartoon level, inferior to the writing in every game Obsidian has ever created. As with the crap animations, combat, and writing in Bethesda games, Bioware has no incentive to improve as long as the studio has no AAA competitors in its genre and so continues to make money. I guess it doesn’t matter if your games are stunningly mediocre, so long as you maintain your artistic integrity by refusing to admit mistakes *tear*
Post-kneejerk I have to admit Mass Effect 3′s combat was baller and DA3 may turn out to be awesome, but after riding the hype train into DA2′s shameful darkness, I’d rather overcompensate by hating from this day of the announcement. Guilty until proven innocent.
17/09/2012 at 17:05 Phinor says:
Frostbite 2 will be interesting. So far it has been disappointing but EA is betting everything on that engine now so maybe they can vastly improve from BF3 and NFS: The Run. BC2 with Frostbite 1.5 was excellent though so there’s hope.
17/09/2012 at 17:07 Hug_dealer says:
sorry bioware, after mass effect 2 and 3, and dragon age 2. I have completely sworn off your games.
I tire of playing your saturday morning cartoon plots, with shallow gameplay. No more.
When a developer with 2 games under their belt “CDProjekt” can create deeper and better stories than you, and actually blow peoples minds. you have officially jumped the shark.
Seriously though, how many times will they reuse their stereotypes for companions.
17/09/2012 at 17:25 DrGonzo says:
Weird, I’d say Mass Effect 2 was the best in the series by quite a long way. Dragon Age 2 was better than the original but still a bit shit.
17/09/2012 at 17:39 Hug_dealer says:
ME2 would have been a good game if you didnt spend 75% of it gathering and doing stupid quests for your companions. Very little was actually related to the bigger picture.
17/09/2012 at 18:20 Grygus says:
(Nearly?) all of the gathering and crew quests are optional.
17/09/2012 at 18:31 V. Profane says:
That doesn’t solve the problem of them being the majority of the content. The actual main plot is weak and feels like a cynical set up for a third instalment rather than one in its right.
17/09/2012 at 21:01 skyturnedred says:
The shooting mechanics were very much an improvement, but everything else…not so much.
17/09/2012 at 22:34 D3xter says:
HAHAHAHAHAHAha ha hahahaha haa…
18/09/2012 at 03:39 noodlecake says:
I love your insightful responses to people having different opinions to you.
18/09/2012 at 12:16 johnnyan says:
ME1 was the best in the series, by a long shot if you ignore the visuals and the boobs.
17/09/2012 at 17:08 Jackablade says:
Dragon Age’s hip, vaguely Whedon-esque writing style really bugs me. Coupled with the sophomoric way that the relationships are handled, I think I’ll just wait for some of the metric buttload of Kickstarted RPGs to come through.
17/09/2012 at 17:17 Casimir Effect says:
Can we have some sympathetic mages this time? Or how about at least a couple who don’t turn into demon-consorting blood mages at the drop of a hat? I spent all of Dragon Age 2 giving each one the benefit of the doubt only for all of them to flip out over issues equating to stubbing their damn toe.
17/09/2012 at 17:25 Hug_dealer says:
congrats on finishing the game though. DA2 is pretty much the only RPG i have not finished, most even if i find them rather blah, i can trudge through it for enjoyment.
17/09/2012 at 17:28 DrGonzo says:
Yeah, DA 2 was a slog, compared to the firsts hundreds of hours of tediousness.
17/09/2012 at 17:33 Klaus says:
Because the game is about extremism. I feel they thought if they added in compromise then several important things could be easily sidestepped. I think there could have been a way to showcase someone’s morality or willpower without making them seem crazy. But no, murder/genocide/terrorism is the only solution.
17/09/2012 at 18:25 Grygus says:
*Edit* I re-read your comment, and you weren’t saying what I thought you were saying. Never mind, please continue.
17/09/2012 at 18:30 lcy says:
The ending always felt to me like the developers had designed two different bosses, and were then determined to foist them upon us, no matter what the cost. The old ‘trident’ choices once again.
17/09/2012 at 17:18 Hoaxfish says:
17/09/2012 at 17:48 yogibbear says:
“Developers undergoing indoctrination may complain of headaches and buzzing or ringing in their ears. As time passes they have feelings of being watched ‘watched’ and hallucinations of ‘ghostly’ presences. Ultimately the EA gains the ability to use the victim’s body to amplify its signals, manifesting as ‘alien’ voices in the mind.”
Pick DESTROY!
17/09/2012 at 17:29 povu says:
Since EA wants every game to be Social now, perhaps we’ll be able to have sex with other players.
17/09/2012 at 18:18 ninnisinni says:
Seems like the natural next step for EA: becoming cybersex-pimps…
17/09/2012 at 18:47 ferdy says:
Been there, done that.
http://www.gamesradar.com/sims-have-sex-680000-times-day-sims-social/
17/09/2012 at 17:43 InternetBatman says:
This was an incredibly bland announcement. “Hey, it’s me. I’m a nerd. Here’s my nerd cred. Trust me. We’re making a new game. Here’s its name. I’ve been talking to some people, working through some stuff. Umm. I guess that’s it.” It sounds like a tedious answering machine message left by an ex.
17/09/2012 at 19:51 Lawful Evil says:
What are the chances of this announcement being a bit rushed because of the “Project Eternity”, in a way that they (EA) needed to divert some of the attention the Obsidian has received lately (in the last three days to be more precise)? Would be logical thing to do, from a certain point of view, to announce the game even this way, and not wait any further while Obsidian gives a show.
17/09/2012 at 22:44 InternetBatman says:
I was wondering about that. If so, it’s a churlish thing to do. If they waited till Monday, then it was the right thing to do. Reminds me of West and Zampella holding up an announcement to give the competition time in the spotlight.
17/09/2012 at 17:45 yogibbear says:
The only cool thing in DA2 was having my fem-shep get freaky with Isabella’s boobies.
There is something wrong with that statement but I’m still smilling. :) [I wish I could have played DA2 with ma Dead Space armour!]
17/09/2012 at 17:49 Mordsung says:
I didn’t hate DA2 as many did, so I’ll wait with cautious optimism.
17/09/2012 at 17:53 Nokterian says:
If i have to choose to Obsidians next game on kickstarter Project Eternity and this? Well Obsidian is getting my money. No ea i will not fall in your trap anymore.
17/09/2012 at 17:53 Demiath says:
Dragon Age 2 means a lot to me; especially as an antidote to the oddly conservative and criminally heartless Witcher 2. Hopefully DA3 doesn’t go too far in the blandly epic direction which DA:O suffered from – the messy humanism of DA2 is a thousand times more interesting to me than spending hours obsessing over the intrinsic nature of confusingly renamed Orcs.
18/09/2012 at 03:44 noodlecake says:
oddly conservative? You mean it felt like it was written by someone very right wing or just that it was incredibly bland, safe and traditional?
17/09/2012 at 18:07 yogibbear says:
Dragon Age IV – Kickstarter – Unsuccessful.
17/09/2012 at 18:14 Dunbine says:
I quite enjoyed DA:O. I also recall a time when it seemed like almost everybody raved about DA:O, but when I read the comments here, I see many more negative than positive comments.
Has the game not aged well/the shine worn off, have the naysayers found their voices, or is it cool now not to like DA because of the poor showing of DA2 and other recent Bioware games?
17/09/2012 at 18:20 yogibbear says:
Re-read the comments or stop smoking the pipe. Everyone here generally LOVED DA:O and HATED DA2 [for good reasons]. There are some people that liked both. Or liked the “concept” of DA2 but still thought the delivery failed (repeated maps, terrible phased combat for no f******* good reason, ridiculous plot). Then there are the minority that loved DA2 and hated DA:O, but that is because they don’t like warm red stuff flowing through them. Am I right?
17/09/2012 at 18:26 ferdy says:
No.
17/09/2012 at 18:27 Dunbine says:
But the pipe makes the days pass by so blissfully.
18/09/2012 at 03:47 noodlecake says:
No. I liked both but gave up on origins because it dragged on and felt pretty generic. Probably slightly preferred DA2 but The Witcher 2 is much better than either.
17/09/2012 at 19:49 soco says:
DA3 will be like DA:Origins = Good
DA3 will be exclusively tied to EA’s Origin client = Yuk
17/09/2012 at 20:43 SkittleDiddler says:
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve loathed DA:O ever since I spent good money on the game only to be bored to tears by it after a few hours. Overrated game is overrated.
Not everyone has to jump on the Hatewagon.
17/09/2012 at 18:17 craigdolphin says:
DAO is my favourite game to-date but I was bitterly dissappointed by the cartoonish look and feel of da2, as well as the much more restrictive conversation system and curtailed party customization in the sequel.
I view this announcement as something I find hard to be excited about. Until they start talking specifics, and start showing screenshots/gameplay, there’s nothing on which to form an opinion. But if they continue in the same direction they took with da2, then it’s unlikely I’ll be buying it. Multiplayer would be a big turnoff for me unless it’s local (lan) co-op. and a required origin client install would ensure i didn’t buy a new copy at all (would buy a secondhand copy for console instead) unless they also provide an opt-out of data collection by the client.
One thing is certain though: there’s no way in heck I’ll be pre-ordering this time around, and i won’t be buying a copy for both pc and console as i’ve done with the previous installments.
17/09/2012 at 18:17 SkittleDiddler says:
As far as I’m concerned, the entire DA series is laughably bad, so I’ll be avoiding a third (fourth?) just out of principle.
17/09/2012 at 18:37 Klatu says:
Brilliant comment. Thanks.
17/09/2012 at 20:18 SkittleDiddler says:
The donation box is over there. Thank you for your support.
17/09/2012 at 18:24 Shralla says:
Project Eternity exists, so why would anyone give a shit about the other game that was supposed to be a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate?
17/09/2012 at 18:35 Drinking with Skeletons says:
I actually liked DA2 more than DAO, primarily because I really liked the emphasis on characters, so much so that I forgave the meandering plot and poor mechanical decisions (particularly the waves of enemies).
The one thing from DA2 that I absolutely hope returns is the voiced protagonist. That may sound odd, but I really enjoyed that aspect of DA2. Hawke had as much personality as any of the party members but was still defined by me, which is just…I can’t think of another game like that. I went “smart ass” Hawke, and the extra lines that the game would play based on your overall choices really just made my day, especially in the last DLC.
The writing from DA2 + the mechanics of DAO? Mmmm…
17/09/2012 at 22:43 D3xter says:
http://kusogedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/i-want-to-be-a-dragon.jpg
18/09/2012 at 12:21 johnnyan says:
What characters ?
17/09/2012 at 18:44 Paul B says:
As long as DA:O 3 does away with the painfully limited conversation options of DA: 2 (good, terrible joke, evil) then I’ll be happy.
Please bring back the text options of the original Dragon Age so you can, y’know, have proper nuanced conversations with your party and NPCs.
17/09/2012 at 18:56 The Magic says:
So… many… sarky…. people….
I’m not saying you can’t be sarky but i liked DA:O quite a bit, I loved Mass Effect 3 (one was a rough diamond and 2 was a roughly cut diamond.) and it always appeared that bioware/EA realised how fully they screwed up with DA2 since they bundled it with ME2 just to get pc gamers to buy it. maybe they wont make the same mistake twice.
Maybe.
17/09/2012 at 19:07 FuzzyPuffin says:
I have no desire to play DA2, so I hope the plot of III is entirely separate.
17/09/2012 at 19:17 Strangerator says:
Even though I kinda liked DA:O, there were a couple times where I had to force myself to keep playing. The world was just so bland at times, that I’d hit a boredom stall. I had been really sucked into the hype. Needless to say, it did not live up to its promise.
They went with a combat style that I usually like, but it somehow just became boring. I think it has to do with the modern tendency of RPGs to give each character, fighter/mage/rogue the exact same number of active skills and force the player to manage all of them. Leave the MMO tedium to the MMO players please! It works when controlling only one character at a time, but when I’m managing party combat it would be nice if I’m primarily deciding who fights who for most of the characters, in most engagements. Make special abilities powerful but very limited, so that the choice to use them is more meaningful than “well, it cooled down, time to use it again.”
Did not get DA:2, because I played only some of the demo before quitting with disgust.
Anyone else notice how “dark and gritty” fantasy worlds always wind up being really lame? A culture as obsessed with political correctness as ours should NOT attempt to claim something to be “dark and gritty.” It’s like a little kid wearing a scary mask, you just chuckle and say, “well, at least he’s having fun.” It’s sad really. BG2 didn’t claim to be a “dark and gritty” fantasy world, but it was moreso than DAO. Irenicus was a sadistic bastard, who went so far as to give you nightmares where you killed your party members. I don’t know if people have gone softer, in addition to being dumber, but RPGs are really starting to suck.
Here’s to Project Eternity!
17/09/2012 at 19:25 NailBombed says:
Dragon Age 3: Enchantmentface? ENCHANTMENTFACE!
17/09/2012 at 20:21 SkittleDiddler says:
Dragon Age 3: BOREFACE
17/09/2012 at 19:31 Jimbo says:
Don’t really get the ‘oh noes you posted details from NeoGAF’ thing. Bioware themselves had already made it obvious where it was going to be set by then, and the end of DA2 makes it obvious what the most likely storyline of the next game was going to be.
I’m expecting a good game, but I think it’s a mistake to continue the storyline from DA2. They lost too many players last time and should have started a new story arc so that everybody could get back on board (actually I think it’d just be much better if each DA game had a self-contained story). Instead we’ll have to listen to the ‘New players can definitely start here! Honest! It’s actually the best place to start if you think about it!’ nonsense like we did with ME3.
17/09/2012 at 19:32 Dys Does Dakka says:
Disenchantment.
17/09/2012 at 19:37 Cytrom says:
5-10 years ago I would have been super excited about this news, but i don’t expect anything good coming from EA-Bioware anymore.
CD project red took the western rpg crown with the witcher 2 (and their excellent support and fan service). Bethesda makes decent games too.. not the best rpgs but very good games overall and obsidian is hit or miss.. thats about all that is left of the western rpg scene. Bioware is just a bunch of sellouts making primitive action games posing them as rpgs and they only make them to serve as shells for the dlc filling.
(I’m currently replaying KotOR.. yes the original not the stupid mmo, and its just mindblowing to think that the same people who were capable of creating such a smart and delicate game and universe, were capable of making dragon age 2 and selling its dlc with a straight face, not to mention how they made every mass effect sequel stupider and more action oriented than the previous, completely eliminating the weight of choices)
17/09/2012 at 19:44 Jason Moyer says:
DAO and DA2 are among my least favorite of Bioware’s singleplayer RPG’s, but I still enjoyed them and will eventually pick up 3 + DLC down the line. They were better than pre-expansion NWN but that’s not really saying much.
17/09/2012 at 19:44 grenadeh says:
Oh goody, now the Shittyshit 2 engine can ruin another game for me. As much as I hate BF3 (and not because I’m a CoD fan, because I’m a severely disappointed hater of shitty games) I will be able to do nothing but notice the clunky shittiness of Frostbite 2 in this game. Not that I ever finish a BioWare game, way too much dialogue.
17/09/2012 at 19:52 dorquemada says:
Eurogamer today:
But will it right the wrongs of Dragon Age 2[...]
Eurogamer 1,5 years ago:
An enduring classic? Not quite. A satisfying epic? Absolutely. 8/10
Heh. :)
Cannot wait for Bioware to start shitting on their “Greatest RPG of decade” as well, just like they did with DA:O in DA2 hype time. Funny how EAware’s absurd hype generation is more entertaining than their games of most recent years…wait, did I say funny? Whoops, sorry, I really meant “sad”.
18/09/2012 at 10:29 zeroskill says:
Oh you will love this:
“The best RPG combat ever.” http://www.pcgamer.com/review/dragon-age-2-review/
18/09/2012 at 11:00 dorquemada says:
I see your pcgamer and raise you Escapist:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8701-Dragon-Age-II-Review
17/09/2012 at 19:54 njolnin says:
Bioware certainly has their work cut out for them. They stumbled majorly with DA2. I enjoyed ME3, but its ending shows that they still don’t quite get it.
The Witcher 2 felt like leagues above anything Bioware has done-it was like comparing a well-produced modern movie with the stilted conventions of an old black and white movie. There are a lot more reasons to be optimistic about Project Eternity than DA3.
Nevertheless, I hope Bioware doesn’t get the wrong message. I appreciated DA2 for at least trying something new. The way forward is definitely not to make another “gather the allies to win the war” type plot. They need a consistent artistic vision, with strong endings planned from the start, and no lazy shortcuts taken.
At least from the outside, there is already some reason to believe that DA3 is aware of what went wrong and what can be improved. I think it would be a mistake for them to focus on aping Origin’s style to every degree. I hear the call for customizing the armor on companions always announced as this major feature, but I think it’s secondary for what makes a good RPG.
17/09/2012 at 20:24 Slinkyboy says:
No thanks EA, I’m not playing your AAA games for a very long time.
17/09/2012 at 20:57 PsychoWedge says:
My own cynicism is starting to really piss me off…
So there I was reading Mark Darrah’s little introduction of himself and all I saw was the pathetic attempt to make Bioware look like a developer with actual people working behind the scenes. A developer who isn’t just a faceless machine behind EAs walls. And with Darrah being forced to formulate the announcement in exactly this way by some pr-suits and marketing-goons. In my head I could hear them talking to him, saying stuff like “Listen, you gotta appear to be a geeky dude who just doesn’t know how to do big announcements of AAA titles. Someone who’s rather sweet and a little clumsy. You know, someone real, someone they could meet on the streets. All the kids like that! Do not forget, you are THE marketing prop for this game!” And he smiles painfully and they leave the building to go screw some customers over.
Then I started to get annoyed at myself because apparently I can’t take anything at face-value anymore. But then again Bioware just destroyed most of their fan relations with their answers to the DA2, ME3 and SWToR fan-reactions. Maybe they trained me to be so cynical.
Anyway: They listen to thers fans… Like they did with DA2? Their fans who are sooooo widespread by now that they don’t even have one fanbase anymore but a couple of fanbases who exist indepentently?
Well, I expect literally _nothing_ and therefore can only be positively surprised. That is something good I guess….
17/09/2012 at 23:49 fiendling says:
I couldn’t agree more, I was just about to post something in very similar vein.
17/09/2012 at 21:03 kud13 says:
super-cautious about this. and then there’s also the matter of Origin to consider…..
17/09/2012 at 21:26 tybality says:
frostbite 2 ? ok, then if we already bought battlefield 3, we could expect that it unlock a kind of special item (M4a1wand or HK47crossbow) ingame :/
17/09/2012 at 22:06 jezcentral says:
I am incautiously happy at this news. Bioware’s NPCs are a source of great pleasure to me, even the ones I don’t shag. Get rid of the environment re-use and wave-combat, and I’ll be well pleased.
17/09/2012 at 22:16 zeekthegeek says:
I’ll be over here, throwing all of my money at Obsidian instead.
17/09/2012 at 23:16 Lemming says:
You know, it actually feels quite nice being able to disregard a Bioware game now that all the proper RPGs are coming via Kickstarter. After what they did with Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic they’ve lost their good will with me.
17/09/2012 at 23:16 RaffyS says:
Bioware’s final chance to convince a lot of disillusioned gamers that they’re still a talented RPG dev. I don’t have much hope.
18/09/2012 at 00:47 Mattrex says:
The thing that we need to remember–the lesson that we should be taking away from this years-long debacle–is that people matter, not the names of the companies they work for. Bioware circa 2012 is not Bioware circa 2000 in anything but name.
18/09/2012 at 01:23 someone else says:
You’re mistaken, many of the people who worked for Bioware back in 2000 still do. People and company values change.
18/09/2012 at 02:19 Johanz says:
Bioware did nothing wrong.
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18/09/2012 at 04:44 MadTinkerer says:
Well it was about time they announced a sequel to Dragon Age. Strange that they numbered it “III” when there is no “Dragon Age II” and I refuse to admit otherwise. Here’s hoping Inquisition doesn’t slip into non-existence.
18/09/2012 at 12:02 jrodman says:
I’m not really sure what you’re talking about. But there’s always the *risk* this one might not get to market. We’ll have to “see”.
18/09/2012 at 05:49 chargen says:
Thought this was an announcement for Space Marine 2 :(
I wanna play an Inquisitor’s bitch.
18/09/2012 at 10:18 The_Great_Skratsby says:
I want to look forward to it but I dread the horrible fanbase pandering, the games bizarre focus on hurling waifus and husbandos at the player, and outright terrible game design and writing.
I found the first forgiveable in its blandness, but the second was enough for me.
18/09/2012 at 10:19 Hmm-Hmm. says:
They’ll really have to outdo themselves to get me to become interested in one of their games again.
18/09/2012 at 11:35 Hanban says:
Hi guys! I’m here to tell you that I actually enjoyed Dragon Age II. It wasn’t amazing, but neither was DA:O. Peace!
18/09/2012 at 11:58 Zanchito says:
You are not alone! :)
20/09/2012 at 19:09 fooga44 says:
The people who loved DA: O are forgetful idiots. There is so much wrong/broken in DA: O it’s not funny. Great artistry coupled with poorly paced story and combat sections. The fade was just god awful, I’d cut it from the entire game. Most boring monotonous bullshit ever stuffed in a game.
Here’s a comment from someone who loved DA : O — ” I loved Dragon Age: Origins. I played it over and over and over. But for the life of me, I tended to skip all the combat because it felt clunky and unnatural. DA2, I loved my mage animations. Delicious staff waving! I hated DAO animations for everything. They were pretty bad (In combat).I was much more interested in the story of DAO and it delivered. The one thing I hated about DAO was the fact that you had the typical cliche, “Guy saves world from bad dudes who overrun it.” Ugh.”
How can you love a game you want to skip the combat and an entire section of the game? Thats 90% of the game right there. Christ. DA: O was a neat (if generic) world chained to poor level design and a crap combat system.
DA2 was much better then DA: O in terms of story and dialogue system even with the simplification the story flowed infinitely better. The only difference between combat systems in DA : O and DA: 2 is speed and visual impact thats it. They are both autocombat. Watching nerds get their pants in a twist when they are the same combat system with different models running at slightly faster pace and then decrying it as the downfall of bioware is hilarious! Bioware has always been a middling game developer who had lucky streaks every now and then when they put out bad games because RPG players are just so fucking tasteless.
21/09/2012 at 12:16 Megakoresh says:
I feel like I should comment on this.
DA2 was not a bad game. I don’t understand why would you think that. True, it was inferior to Origins, but at least you didn’t have to install “Skip combat” mod to enjoy it. I mean the story was not interesting and, most importantly, the game didn’t allow us to know the characters nearly as well as Origins did, but it was still rather enjoyable on PC after the HD patch came out.
ME3 was a really bad game for example, it screwed over fans of the series in every way, it had no exploration and very little content and the autodialogues were more annoying than in DA2. But while ME3 was an awful game, DA2 was simply worse than Origins. Don’t pre-order, but I wouldn’t discount the possibility of DA3 actually being a good game.
17/09/2012 at 23:59 xsikal says:
In my opinion, no, you’re not missing anything. The two are very different games, with the first being styled more after the old school tactical RPGs and the second being more of an ARPG, but they have several things in common:
(1) a boring world
(2) a mediocre advancement system
(3) they are not nearly as good as the company’s earlier output