Dragon Age: Inquisition E3 Gameplay Footage

Trying to get a hint of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s gameplay based on its trailers would be a bit of a fool’s errand, but to BioWare and EA’s credit, we’ve actually got to see a fair bit of direct-feed gameplay at this E3. IGN had the game and creative director Mike Laidlaw on their stage for a total of about 10 minutes of footage, while Twitch had more or less the same footage but a longer interview with Laidlaw and executive producer Mark Darrah (starts at roughly 1:40).

In case you don’t have time to watch either video, I’ve taken the liberty to make a summary of some of the info I found interesting:

• Everything you do is meant to strengthen either your party or the Inquisition
• Adventuring earns you a “currency of power” you can then spend to achieve some objectives; in other words, while adventuring you become more influential and can use this influence to your advantage
• This isn’t new, but BioWare reiterates there is no level scaling in this game
• You can now target a dragon’s individual limbs and depending on which you hit, the react differently
• Dragons are designed for end game, but to reward for the effort they require to be beaten they drop “incredible loot” and valuable crafting materials
• The Inquisition was formed against the wishes of Thedas’ political powers, BioWare’s intention was to make the player the founder of the Jedi order rather than a simple Jedi
• Leliana from Dragon Age: Origins is the head of the Inquisition’s spies
• The controls are “custom for every platform” but PC players can still use a controller if they want to do so
• You can swap out your weapon’s hilt, blade and sometimes the armguard
• You can upgrade the Inquisition soldiers’ armors and equipment
• There will be places where you need to strengthen the Inquisition
• The game has apparently the biggest cast of any BioWare’s game, with 9 companions and additional “advisors” that play a major role in the story like Leliana
• Initial concepts of the game were apparently discussed even before Dragon Age: Origins shipped, though the real bulk of the development started, of course, much later; according to Darrah BioWare began to look into Frostbite 4 years ago and ramped up for development 3 and a half years ago
• The story spans two nations
• The Inquisition’s skill tree includes a lot of the non-combat advancement
• Teamwork is apparently central to the game’s combat, but the “responsive combat” mantra from Dragon Age 2 is also repeated
• Mages and templar are fighting over a rebuilt Redcliffe village
• Your character has been “marked”, and why and how is one of the biggest mystery of the game
• Laidlaw goes on to great length to explain that the game does have both a tactical camera (though it looks closer to the field than Origins’) and that the combat is real time with pause