Dragon Age 4? (Possible spoilers)

civian1991

Ok so the new teaser trailer has just been released. What's everyone's thoughts and theories on what's happening next?

I also found this fan theory which is pretty interesting. What do you think?

P.S. Mostly excited to kick the egg in the head for being a douche.

kanisatha

civian1991 said:

Ok so the new teaser trailer has just been released. What's everyone's thoughts and theories on what's happening next?

I also found this fan theory which is pretty interesting. What do you think?

P.S. Mostly excited to kick the egg in the head for being a douche.

Thanks for posting that link. A very interesting read. I already was aware of the new teaser video.

I know a lot of people here like to bad-mouth DA:I, mainly because they don't like BioWare/EA, but I liked DA:I a whole lot, found the game to be very addictive and engaging, and am extremely excited about DA4 including its possible direction. I thought it was brilliant how DA:I ended and then expanded further in a very intriguing way in Trespasser.

deltago

I enjoyed Inquistions story. I didn’t enjoy its game play. I played through the main game once on my 360. When I upgraded to XBone, I traded in the 360 version (+a couple others) for the game of the year addition but haven’t checked out any of the added DLC yet even though I’ve started multiple play throughs.

With Gaider gone, it’ll be interesting to see how the BioWare team handles 4. It could be dead on arrival however as I think Anthem is Bioware’s last shot of reclaiming it’s former glory.

civian1991

@kanisatha me too! I enjoyed the game and gameplay as well, and the lore is so expansive it made me feel like I was in a living, breathing world. It will be interesting to see how it all comes to a head in DA4...

Well if it comes to that point. @deltago made an excellent point about this being Biowares last chance. It seems strange to me how that could be - like seriously ME:Andromeda was so mediocre, it's weird that it could really have cost THAT much, but I dunno, I don't really understand that side of game developing/publishing.

FinneousPJ

Wasn't there some controversy about the lead writer or something?

deltago

FinneousPJ said:

Wasn't there some controversy about the lead writer or something?

Someone they hired had racist tweets against whites, but it was one individual in a team of 100s.

That controversy had nothing to do with the state that the game was in upon release.

FinneousPJ

@deltago I mean this game DA4

deltago

FinneousPJ said:

@deltago I mean this game DA4

No idea. I rarely pay attention to internet babble and judge games purely on their quality of play and interest to me, instead of which individuals actually worked on them.

kanisatha

civian1991 said:

@kanisatha me too! I enjoyed the game and gameplay as well, and the lore is so expansive it made me feel like I was in a living, breathing world. It will be interesting to see how it all comes to a head in DA4...

Yeah I am happy to admit to being a lore junkie. That's why I love the Forgotten Realms and why I love Thedas as well.

Isandir

I loved all of the Dragon Age games (though it definitely took me a long time to appreciate 2), but the one thing that really bothered me about Inquisition was the combat. It just felt awkward. I hope that they have a better system in place for the next one.

The lore is fantastic though!

Kamigoroshi

Honestly, it would have piqued my interest more if Dragon Age 4 had took place in the continent of the Qunari, far to the north of Thedas. Instead we get another shot at what's likely going to be Ferelden... again! Only this time with a chrome copy of Fenrir as the end boss. *sigh*

Isandir

@Kamigoroshi Have they released more information about the location(s)? The speculation I had heard previously was that it would largely take place in the northern areas we haven't seen, including the Tevinter Imperium. Whether or not that's the case is entirely up in the air though.

I don't recall any game taking a huge risk with its setting since Morrowind. Imagine a Forgotten Realms game that takes place entirely in Chult, Maztica or the far East, though. It'd be fantastic!

Kamigoroshi

@Isandir No informations whatsoever afaik. My expectations of the Dragon Age franchise has gradually dropped down with each new release. And from the looks of it my hype-o-meter for DA4 won't go up any time soon as well.

Same story with Forgotten Realms as a setting, really. My interest in Faerûn has completely dried up over the course of 50+ video games, all setting on the very same continent. Give me a main plot located in Maztica, Osse, Katashaka or Zakhara any day of the week. But please save me from revisting locations I can already sleepwalk through!

Skatan

Isandir said:

I don't recall any game taking a huge risk with its setting since Morrowind. Imagine a Forgotten Realms game that takes place entirely in Chult, Maztica or the far East, though. It'd be fantastic!

PoE2 did just that, though they took a fairly generic pirate setting so it's debatable if it could be called a "risk". They did, however, leave the ever so generic medieval Europe setting which in itself is commendable.

DA3 was one if the most underwhelming experiences of late and one of those games I wish I had never bought. To this day, I still don't know why I did since it was just as bland as I had expected. It was last "open world" game I ever intend to play, the genre is just completely dead stuck in clichés and old tracks and need a serious injection boost to become viable to me again. With this said, DA4 is on my "I really don't give a rat's ass"-list together with any future Fallout, Witcher game(s) etc.

FinneousPJ

@skatan You didn't like Witcher 3 either?

Skatan

No, unfortunately not @FinneousPJ, I am one of those (probably very few), weird, odd people who didn't like it. I loved the quests, the setting, the grim dark scenery, the graphics and all the fluff. I absolutely scorned the "build 5 bombs, burn down 5 ghoul nests" and "take out 10 bandit camps in the area" additions that are always so prevalent in "open world" games to add obnoxious, meaningless and empty "content". It's just the way I feel about this decaying genre of games. I have considered many times to play the game on leisure level difficulty just to experience the magnificent story, but so far I haven't. Maybe one day.

I know this lie solely on myself and it's not like I blame the whole industry or the developers for the choices they made, but the MMO-esque additions that plague all open world games just isn't to my liking. In MMO's those quests serve a purpose of leveling and loots, thus they are just means for an end. In single player games that doesn't revolve solely on levels and loots, they add absolutely nothing. I really coulnd't care less about some redundant achievement that is logged on my Steam account and I completely fail to see why anyone does. Quests like that only remove immersion for me personally. Same with Mafia 3, a game I had anticipated since I loved Mafia 1 über alles and really liked Mafia 2 as well. Same with the LoTR game which name now eludes me, where you play a ghost ranger. Same with ME:A. Same with all open world games that try to squeeze in an MMO experience in a single player game.

FinneousPJ

Skatan said:

No, unfortunately not @FinneousPJ, I am one of those (probably very few), weird, odd people who didn't like it. I loved the quests, the setting, the grim dark scenery, the graphics and all the fluff. I absolutely scorned the "build 5 bombs, burn down 5 ghoul nests" and "take out 10 bandit camps in the area" additions that are always so prevalent in "open world" games to add obnoxious, meaningless and empty "content". It's just the way I feel about this decaying genre of games. I have considered many times to play the game on leisure level difficulty just to experience the magnificent story, but so far I haven't. Maybe one day.

I know this lie solely on myself and it's not like I blame the whole industry or the developers for the choices they made, but the MMO-esque additions that plague all open world games just isn't to my liking. In MMO's those quests serve a purpose of leveling and loots, thus they are just means for an end. In single player games that doesn't revolve solely on levels and loots, they add absolutely nothing. I really coulnd't care less about some redundant achievement that is logged on my Steam account and I completely fail to see why anyone does. Quests like that only remove immersion for me personally. Same with Mafia 3, a game I had anticipated since I loved Mafia 1 über alles and really liked Mafia 2 as well. Same with the LoTR game which name now eludes me, where you play a ghost ranger. Same with ME:A. Same with all open world games that try to squeeze in an MMO experience in a single player game.

I see. Sounds to me like you're blowing it out of proportion; isn't all of what you dislike optional. It's like "I enjoyed all the courses and wines but I disliked the coffee afterwards. 1/5." That would be an unreasonable restaurant review, don't you think?

Skatan

I don't agree with you there, for me it's more like "I like the restaurant building, the interior, the service and the chairs but I hate the food they serve". Would you go back to eat the food a second time if that were the case? I won't, since I might have excused the service, the chairs, the interior, but at the end of the day, I go there for the food. In Witcher's case, I play the game (and all games) for it's gameplay value. Gameplay derives from a number of parts, eg combat, questing, scripting, writing. Graphics, scenery etc are nice to have and add value, but they are not what makes me feel immersed and invested into a game. Wicher (edit: I mean witcher 3) had many great qualities, but for me personally, too many flaws. Contrary, Witcher 2 had a very good balance and was a game play experience I still treasure to this day.

Also, IMHO, there's really no such thing as blowing things out of proportion when it comes to personal taste. You either like something or you don't. It's always 100% personal and might not be rational of based on facts, but rather feelings, but that doesn't make it less true or real for you anyways.

But perhaps I am derailing the thread a bit with my ramblings, so I should probably stop now

kanisatha

Isandir said:

@Kamigoroshi Have they released more information about the location(s)? The speculation I had heard previously was that it would largely take place in the northern areas we haven't seen, including the Tevinter Imperium. Whether or not that's the case is entirely up in the air though.

I don't recall any game taking a huge risk with its setting since Morrowind. Imagine a Forgotten Realms game that takes place entirely in Chult, Maztica or the far East, though. It'd be fantastic!

This was my understanding as well, that we will be going to Tevinter, which I'm personally ambivalent about because I'm very strongly swords over spells.

kanisatha

I'm playing Witcher 3 right now for the first time. I'm liking it overall. Playing with keyboard and mouse the combat has been rather rough even on the lowest setting, but slowly getting used to it. My main gripe is, of course, that it is not a party-based game. That's usually a deal-breaker for me, but I decided to make an exception for TW3 on account of everyone raving about it.

ThacoBell

Da:I killed all of my interest in the series. Open world games are full of so much fetch quests, time sinks for the sake taking time, and empty content that tries to streatch 4-5 hours of actual story into 120+hours of "gamplay", the whole genre seems irredeemable to me. Also, the combat was pretty awkward and un fun.