Will or should DA4 return to the darker roots that DAO had?

I can't see how DAO was darker than DA2. The first had an uplifting "save the world" ending whereas the second ended with the world in flames and nothing saved at all. If anything, DAI was a return to the conventional high fantasy of the first game.

Yes, Origins was a true Dark Fantasy. In the Origin stories alone you encounter more dark fantasy themes than you do in all of Inquisition. City Elf origin had rape, dwarf noble orgin had prostitution and plots of murder, human noble had your whole family slaughtered, dwarf commoner had alcoholic mom, sister selling herself for money, carta gangs, etc...

Origins was always marketed as a true, traditional, brutal, dark fantasy. The persistent gore was a unique feature when it came out. Everything from the nudity in the desire demons and twisted nature of the darkspawn and broodmothers showed BioWare had the balls to do what they wanted.

But with BioWare's rise in popularity, they seemed to get embarrassed by these things in their past. I remember reading some interviews when Inquisition was in development, and Gaider was making comments about how having a lot more people on board made them more aware of things that aren't politically correct. He even specifically mentioned they cut out a quest line with implied rape because it made some new writers on the team uncomfortable.

In short BioWare going mainstream made it lose its edge. I dont think there is much hope of it returning to its dark roots.

Actually DAO was more Dark Fantasy whereas DAI was a straight high fantasy.

There's a lot of dark stuff happening in DA:I, but the execution is pretty lackluster. For example, when we discovered that Tranquil were being killed to make those skull (whatever they're called) it was just a quick "I can't believe they've done this."

So many things are just in the background or just via codex/writing. Things were better in the DLC, but not by much.

If you get rid of the blood,gore and nudity, DA:I feels very "Disney-esque" as some have mentioned.

Overall, I care more about the story than any darker tones, but at the same time I do remember more quests from the previous games than in DA:I

Patrick said something recently that I thought was pretty telling. I hope I'm not botching the quote too badly, but he said - Don't write anything you aren't willing to stand up in front of a crowd and defend.

I suspect that is at least part of the reason why they moved away from the darker tones. And if the David Gaider quote is accurate, they may simply not be comfortable writing these darker storylines. And who knows, there may even be an imperative from higher up in the food chain to move away from that tone.


EDIT: The more I think on it, the more I'm interested in getting a more definitive answer on this, so I've fired off a tweet to Patrick...

But using TW3 as an example, it is clear that a game can be dark and still sell well and review well. So if EA/Bioware is afraid they will lose sales, it doesnt make sense.

I think this is more of Bioware trying to position themselves as a niche developer who focuses on lighter narratives. I believe Bioware has this view that darker tones is offensive and Bioware has made a reputation out of being as non offensive and safe. Thing is, with games like GTA5 and TW3 having the success they are having, it is clear that gamers are mature enough to embrace such content.

One problem with DAI is that it had a "tell but not show" approach to the narrative and darker elements such as war, poverty, and racism whereas TW3 had a "show and not tell" approach. With the game possibly being set in Tevinter, a place that Bioware has since DAO, hyped as a dark and oppressive setting....it will be awkward if suddenly Tevinter is depicted in a safe and non offensive manner when everything we've been told about the place is not safe and offensive.

I really do not get it. What logic is Bioware following?

I found a tweet of Patrick Weeks

"I enjoyed Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, noped out on Daredevil for torture and Iron Fist for tropes I dislike. Defenders worth watching?"

He didn't like Daredevil for the torture bits and since he is the lead writer of DA, it should give you some idea.

Well.....shit!

Why is Bioware like this?

Did you not watch Jessica Jones? 

What does Jessica Jones have to do with the way Bioware handles mature/dark themes and tones in their games?