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New Dragon Age Inquisition progress update and screenshots [Up: Additional Screens]

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W

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Famassu said:
No it's not. Someone might like the story in Bioware's games, but (rightfully) hate going through boring gunfights in, say, Mass Effect and would just rather get to the interactions with characters & cutscenes (or at least have the game give some options how to handle situations, let players go through the game without firing a single shot through dialogue options or stealth).
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And this is the smart, non-lazy way of implementing a no-combat system. Make it part of a gameplay feature and not a fast forward button. BioWare needs to relearn the lessons of the past, not try to shape a future where video games are indistinguishable from one another or from cinema.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
"BUT WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE TO PLAY GAMES AND I REALLY WANT TO PLAY THIS?"

Well, you either play it or not. But if you choose play it, you should also deal with everything that comes as part of the package.
 
P

pixlexic

Banned
Just wanted to chime and say I loved the battle systems in both ME and DA more than the story. I thought they were really fun games.

There is not any one way you have to feel about a game. Some people like one thing while other people like another.
 
K

Karu

Member
In a videogame, it should not be unusual to prioratize gameplay over story. There can be a debate whether this is true for all genres, cause there are obvious exceptioms. If RPGs, Bioware games in particular are one of those... Well.

Such a button would not be harmful, but I can see why a developer would not want to do this. The gamer on the other hand, well, why does he care?

Aside from that, looking forward to DA:I. Love both Origins and DA2 (though tp varying degrees), so naturally this game is on my wishlist. Since i dont particullary like open World that much (Love the idea of Rockstar games, but never care to finish them), i do hope Inquisition is more like a mix of the best of both worlds, which it is, I guess. Can't wait!
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
2San said:
Sure, but the other games tend to not have good story by themselves.
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I prefer to judge such stories by myself.

2San said:
Or the narrative experience is connected to the gameplay. Things like story pacing and such take into account the gameplay pacing as well.
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How did killing X times the same enemies in Bioshock Infinite or The Last of Us matter to their stories? In most games, random enemies are absolutely useless. They have no names, no life stories, no faces and the developers can multiply them with a single click or code line. On average you'd probably kill 100 to 500 of them in one playthrough.
Why not 100.000, while you're at it? Would they still be "essential to the narrative experience"? The truth is they don't matter and their only purpose is to slow you down, so they might as well reduce their numbers to 0.

2San said:
You always have youtube I guess.
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Trickster said:
Youtube.com. Just search for "game name" + "cutscene"

Thank me later
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I already do that when games get too tedious but I'd rather not have to rely on it. I like to control the characters and take the decisions myself.
 
S

Sulik2

Member
I am really starting to get hyped for this. Giving Bioware a full dev cycle to make a game again should result in incredible things. The game looks gorgeous and they are saying all the right things.
 
P

Patryn

Member
I am hopeful that they have a playable demo at PAX East, and super hopeful it would have all the classes playable. I'd really like to see how the combat feels, especially as a rogue.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
A couple days ago they mentioned on twitter that the new marketing cycle should still be starting this month.

Given it's the 20th, that should be pretty soon.
 
S

shinobi602

Member
Cassandra and Varric character models

Cassandra
Though of noble birth, Cassandra Pentaghast turned her back on a life of pomp and politics long ago, trading silk and lace for sword and shield. Cassandra is a long-serving member of the Seekers of Truth. The quiet order both protects and polices the Chantry, and is granted ultimate authority in its investigations. Feared by everyone from the lowliest mage apprentice to the Templar leadership, all are subject to the righteous wrath of the Seekers. Their judgment is final. Cassandra joined the order shortly after the death of her brother and quickly rose through their ranks. She is outwardly rigid and rarely shows any emotion, save anger and aggression. Sharp, pious, and driven, she is the sword in the right hand of the Divine, seeking justice above all else.
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Cass_Front.jpg


Cass_Behind.jpg




Varric
Varric Tethras will tell you the history of Thedas and everyone in it without a word or whisper of himself. Though quick to deal with the troubles of his companions, Varric buries his own problems behind a boastful front. Born among the surface dwarves of the Merchants Guild, Varric is a man apart from his people. He has no love or longing for the homeland underfoot that shuns him, and has little taste for the flamboyant displays of wealth and privilege displayed by so many surface nobles. Instead, find this clean-shaven and well-tailored dwarf at the side of an unlikely hero or rubbing shoulders with your local tavern’s finest knaves. He’s at his best with cup in hand and tale to tell, rewriting the truth as he sees fit.
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Varric_Front.jpg


Varric_Back.jpg
 
R

Reluctant-Hero

Member
Crossing my fingers for a fourth quarter 2014 release. DA:I is easily my most anticipated game right now.

Cassandra looks great. Love the detail on her chest piece.
 
V

Vagabundo

Member
ComputerMKII said:
I see nothing wrong with that and it would actually be a great idea. I'm so sick of mandatory combat.
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I agree, skipping combats would be great, not sure what peoples' problem are with it, and there should be an option in the setting to autoskip all cut scenes.

So many games I've wish for both these options. Let me play the damn game how I want I don't give a fuck about your artistic vision.
 
D

DocSeuss

Member
TucoBenedictoPacifico said:
"BUT WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE TO PLAY GAMES AND I REALLY WANT TO PLAY THIS?"

Well, you either play it or not. But if you choose play it, you should also deal with everything that comes as part of the package.
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It's like someone saying "what if I don't like to read books but really want to experience this story," or "what if I don't want to watch this movie so can you make the screen black and just have subtitles?"

The medium is the message.

Hey, game developers: If your gameplay is not an essential part of your story, or your story is not an essential part of your gameplay, then something is wrong with your game.
 
A

Artea

Banned
The Dragon Age franchise has got to have some of the worst art direction I've ever seen. Those Qunari look laughably stupid.

I read Hepler's comments as an indictment of the type of RPG's Bioware makes. There are plenty of RPG's where story and gameplay blend seamlessly and where non-combat gameplay is an important part of the experience. The type of RPG Bioware makes doesn't really fall in that category: there is a distinct separation between cinematic dialogues and fighting the same few monsters over and over again.
 
V

Vagabundo

Member
DocSeuss said:
It's like someone saying "what if I don't like to read books but really want to experience this story," or "what if I don't want to watch this movie so can you make the screen black and just have subtitles?"

The medium is the message.

Hey, game developers: If your gameplay is not an essential part of your story, or your story is not an essential part of your gameplay, then something is wrong with your game.
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OR maybe it is like: this chapter is boring, skipping forward to the next one, or hitting the fast forward button on a movie or TV show. People do that all the time, why should games be any different.

Games can be a significant time sink and there can be parts in game where you stop dead in your tracks. Allowing me to skip parts that are a drag is a no brainer.

Bringing it back to the games series; there are mods out there that allow you skipp the Fade in DA:O.

So fuck the message, I'll play as I want dammit.
 
R

Ridesh

Banned
From this:

Varric.jpg


To this:

Varric_Front.jpg


It's a pretty good leap.


Also, David Gaider made a post about the conversation system in DA:I :

David Gaider wrote...

Just to be clear as to what Mike was and was not referring to:


What is the same about Inquisition's writing style, compared to DA2:

  • Dialogue options are picked from paraphrases, off a wheel interface.

  • The player character is voiced, and dialogue is written with that in mind.
What is new:

  • No dominant tone. Meaning your most-selected tone does not carry through to influence other lines outside of the conversation in which you selected it. In DA2, dominant tone changed the actual line the PC spoke when action choices were made as well as those spoken inside of cutscenes ("auto-dialogue", as people like to refer to it here). In Inquisition, those are all relayed in neutral tone.

  • A question is often asked of how much "auto-dialogue" will exist in comparison to, say, Mass Effect 3. The answer is that the amount will be less than DA2 (and it is always neutral-toned, as mentioned above). This is generally just used in situations where the PC is saying something innocuous ("Go on" or "What is that?" ...things that don't really call for a wheel).

  • Addition of a "reaction wheel" (on top of the "tone wheel", which is for flavor responses, and the "action wheel", which is for places where the player is decided to do something), which allows for emotional responses to important events. The player always has the Stoic option (essentially the neutral response), or will have options such as Sad, Confused, Enraged, Surprised, etc.

  • Dialogue options on an action wheel now sometimes display a pop-up if the option is hovered over long enough, elaborating on what that action is intended to do. This only applies to actions where elaboration is felt necessary. It does not display the actual line which will be spoken by the PC.

  • The three major tones are now Noble/Clever/Direct (as opposed to Diplomatic/Humorous/Aggressive). These are primarily internal designations which affect how we write those tones, the idea being to reign in the difference a bit between the three. There are no longer alternate tone variants (which in DA2 were Helpful/Charming/Direct), as I don't think we communicated very well what those meant anyhow.

  • Similar to how the Investigate option off any wheel "breaks out" into a sub-wheel for questions (if there is more than one question), there can be a Special option off any wheel which breaks out in the same manner. This is where we put conditional things, such as dialogue options that depend on having a particular party member, being a particular race/class, romance options, having made certain choices previously, etc...and thus allows us to add as many of these to a wheel as we like without breaking the interface structure. Some of these now "grey out" if you don't have the requirement, meaning you can see an option you might have had, but currently cannot take.
Some people will find these things very different. Some will hardly notice, as these are largely structural and procedural differences for writing. Ultimately, as Mike says, the writing style is the same--but your mileage may vary. Nothing else is really referred to by "writing style" than how the dialogue itself is functionally written.
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L

Luthos

Member
I just replayed Dragon Age Origins, and am currently replaying DA2, and I gotta say, I'm more hyped for Inquisition than ever before.

With the longer development period and some of the info they've given us, I actually have faith it's gonna be good. At least not another DA2.
 
A

Asiriya

Neo Member
Vagabundo said:
OR maybe it is like: this chapter is boring, skipping forward to the next one, or hitting the fast forward button on a movie or TV show. People do that all the time, why should games be any different.

Games can be a significant time sink and there can be parts in game where you stop dead in your tracks. Allowing me to skip parts that are a drag is a no brainer.

Bringing it back to the games series; there are mods out there that allow you skipp the Fade in DA:O.
Click to expand...

The people that do that are idiots. If you are committed to actually watch a show then watch it, don't just skip when things slow down. Those parts are usually the most important. Obviously it is a little different with a game but you still miss out on party banter etc as you are running around.

Honestly, I don't find the fade much worse than any other part of DA:O and if I wanted to skip it then I should do the same for the whole game, at which point I'm not playing, I'm just reading (and making occasional decisions I suppose). If that's what you want just go on the wiki or open up the game files and read the damn text logs.


So fuck the message, I'll play as I want dammit.
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Not without Bioware's support you won't.
 
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