What is working for (and against) DA4 right now?
Mar 14, 2019 17:16:44 GMT
xassantex, Hrungr, and 17 more like this
Post by biggydx on Mar 14, 2019 17:16:44 GMT
With Anthems tepid release, Dragon Age 4 will likely be a very cautiously approached title by both BioWare and the general player population. I wanted to have a discussion with everyone in terms of where we can see improvements in DA4 - with regards to previous BioWare titles - but also where there will likely be glaring faults; in addition to stuff in between. I expect a lot of debate surrounding this, so don't hesitate to counter with your own opinions.
What DA4 will likely have going for it:
- BioWare's already got a template to work off of withDA:I Anthems codebase, so they won't need to build the game from scratch like they did with DA:I. This also means they won't spend as much time trying to unravel the technical innards of the Frostbite engine (but I'll come back to this later). [This section was edited in order to comport with recent information from Jason Schreiers reporting regarding Dragon Age 4's development].
- The story won't be written by Cathleen Rootsaert. I know the old saying goes, "It takes a village," but even a village has a chief that sets the ground rules. Cathleen has been the lead writer behind Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda. Both stories were criticized for being too campy, and with a villain that is too one-note. Without her at the helm, this could set the story for Dragon Age in a better place.
- DA4 will likely release on next-gen platforms. Mike Laidlaw has mentioned before that the biggest mistake they made with DA:I was releasing it on the Xbox 360/PS3 platforms, rather than going all in on current-gen platforms. Next-gen consoles will offer a significant boost to the games visual aesthetics, and will hopefully mean a better realized Tevinter (assuming that's the locale)
- The game will primarily be single-player focused, which is what most fans want, and having choices mattering will probably be the front-burner concern for the team.
- Facial animations, in Anthems case, have shown a notable improvement compared to their ME:A counterparts; at least with respect to the main characters. There are a few moments of uncanny valley though, and I suspect that'll be the case for many other games as we step into the next generation of consoles. The Dragon Age series is also known for having well-voiced characters, so this likely won't be an issue in the next title.
Up-in-the-air
- The story is going to be what ultimately drives people to want to play the game. Depending on DA4's plot and narrative pacing, it could either be a worthwhile campaign or a middling experience. So far as we know, Patrick Weekes is slated to be the games lead writer, and he has experience writing the Tuchanka and Rannoch story arcs of ME3, the story of Trespasser, and was the writer behind characters such as: Solas, Cole, Iron Bull, Miranda, Jack, Mordin, and Krem. Whether or not people like his storytelling or characters is largely subjective, but a common theme among all of them is that they have a conflicted past or persona. This is likely to be a welcome departure from BioWares other titles (ME:A and Anthem), where characters are much more lighthearted and more willing to retort with quips and snide jokes.
- Choices, choices, choices. Are they memorable, or nothing but yawn-fests? Will they leave a lasting impact, or will they flounder? Not only that, but how will the decisions you've made matter in the end? Will players be given solid closure to everything they've worked towards, or will they have to wait until future DLC for their actions to be fully realized?
- The open world and sidequests could still end up feeling mediocre. Over BioWare's last three titles (DA:I, ME:A, Anthem), they have shown that they haven't fully grasped the concept of a dynamic open-world with meaningful content. Though they've demonstrated a capacity for locations to change both visually & geographically, such as DA:I's Crestwood or the various planet alterations of ME:A, they've yet to populate these spaces with sidequests and world building elements that make people want to explore. Though DA:I is the better of the three, in terms of open world design, other games (ex. Witcher 3 or RDR2) have shown that they're more capable of immersing the player into the game world (based on player sentiments). Visuals and setpieces can't be enough, and it's unclear whether BioWare will be able to improve upon their open-world design.
- The tone of the world will help in defining the maturity of the game. With more recent titles from BioWare having a relatively jovial tone to the campaign, and with other prominent open world, Western RPG titles being more stoic and dark, how BioWare handles the ambiance of DA4 could end up polarizing the gaming community. How often do you inject moments of levity and humor? How dark and gritty should the game truly be? How many shock moments are enough, and should they be extremely visceral?
- Combat was one of the DA:I's more controversial aspects. Some people thought it was fine, while others hated its less than tactical playstyle, most notably being the auto-attack feature and frequent skill usage. BioWare could potentially alter the designs systems behind each class for a more visceral combat experience. For example, a warrior would fight similar to Kratos from God of War, while an Archer would behave more like Aloy from HZD. They could also simply make incremental adjustments for the sake of saving time. Or, they can fall back to one of the combat systems they've used in their previous titles (Origins or DA2). Another thing worthy of consideration is whether the tactical camera will still play a part in the games combat experience. Will BioWare simply do away with it, opting for a more defined ARPG experience, or will they try to have it both ways; but with refinements to both gameplay types?
- Games as a Service (GaaS) could end up breaking the traditional DLC model that fans are used to, and without having these large narrative additions to the game, the post-campaign experience for players could feel sullied. This could end up leading to smaller, bite-sized story missions that don't end up telling a greater tale. On the flipside, DA4 could take an approach similar to that of Assassins Creed: Odyssey, where small live events (like story missions, bosses, items, etc) are injected into the game for free, and more traditional story DLC is added in afterwards. Such a delivery method with bring more content for players to enjoy, but this likely means more work for BioWare. It also doesn't absolve them from not making these free, live-service updates of low-quality.
[EDIT: I thought to add this given Jason Schreiers most recent article]
- BioWare's Leadership. Based on Jason Schreiers reporting, not only did Anthem go through a number of managerial problems, but these same problems have been pervasive across several of BioWares more recent titles. Several employees have noted that (1) concerns brought up by rank-and-file devs were often ignored by leadership, (2) leadership would often enter a state of paralysis in terms of coming to conclusions on design choices, and (3) there was a general breakdown in camaraderie across several studios and teams. Juxtaposing this souring news was information pertaining to Mark Darrah, as he was noted in being decisive leader during Anthems troubled development. Given that he previously worked on Inquisition, and is now working on the next Dragon Age, it could bring better decision making to the franchise; when compared to Andromeda or Anthem. In addition, with the reintroduction of Casey Hudson as GM, he appears to be enacting stricter (but more guided) rule sets to position DA4 in better spot; presumably at least. With that said, none of this really addresses the climate of stagnation and lack of vision in BioWare's leadership. If the studio is unable to overcome this hurdle, it not only signal bad times for DA4, but bad times for future BioWare titles as well.
What DA4 will likely have going against it
- Time. Anthem likely had to siphon a lot of BioWare's dev teams, and it wouldn't shock me one bit if this ultimately halted development of Dragon Age 4 to some extent. With internal reports (made by anonymous developers) that BioWare Edmonton needed to pull teams from its sister studios as far back at 2016, DA4 may have likely lost 12-18 months of (pre)production. This means that less time would have been devoted to designing and polishing the games systems. This could lead to quests feeling unfinished or shortened, the game having a number of bugs, or the overall length and/or scope of the campaign being reduced. Right now, I'm banking on the game releasing in late 2021, or early 2022. Whether that's enough time for them to deliver a great story and fully polish up the game is anyone's guess.
- Frostbite will likely still be an absolute pain in the ass for them to work with. Even if the games primarily single-player, and with BioWare having DA:I to work off of, that still doesn't stop the fact that the engine will likely continue to be a constant roadblock for them in making changes to the game. In addition, Anthem has proven that the engine, when working in an online environment with RPG, can be a bug-filled mess. This was true as well for Andromeda and Inquisitions multiplayer components. While fans are likely not going to be bothered that much if the multiplayer aspect of the game is marred with problems, that doesn't stop such a mode dropping review scores down a notch.
- Player sentiments. Though most assuredly deserved, with how both Anthem and ME:A have turned out, people are going to have pitchforks at the ready for DA4. Ultimately, this means that people will eye the game with a far more critical eye than other titles in the same genre. Every slight, no matter how small, will be pronounced. Every fault will be plastered on YouTube/Reddit/Twitter. Every misstep, no matter what kind, will merely be another reason for people to believe that the game, and BioWare, are mere shells of what they once were.
- The game may have a smaller budget. AAA companies tend to punish low financially performing companies with smaller budgets. With EA now adopting Respawn Entertainment, it's also possible that they'll invest more money into that studio, rather than the traditional single-player experiences provided by BioWare. Though developmental costs in excess of $50M is nothing to sneeze at, the question becomes whether or not BioWare will have enough resources and manpower to develop a title worthy of being placed among their more beloved titles.
What DA4 will likely have going for it:
- BioWare's already got a template to work off of with
- The story won't be written by Cathleen Rootsaert. I know the old saying goes, "It takes a village," but even a village has a chief that sets the ground rules. Cathleen has been the lead writer behind Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda. Both stories were criticized for being too campy, and with a villain that is too one-note. Without her at the helm, this could set the story for Dragon Age in a better place.
- DA4 will likely release on next-gen platforms. Mike Laidlaw has mentioned before that the biggest mistake they made with DA:I was releasing it on the Xbox 360/PS3 platforms, rather than going all in on current-gen platforms. Next-gen consoles will offer a significant boost to the games visual aesthetics, and will hopefully mean a better realized Tevinter (assuming that's the locale)
- The game will primarily be single-player focused, which is what most fans want, and having choices mattering will probably be the front-burner concern for the team.
- Facial animations, in Anthems case, have shown a notable improvement compared to their ME:A counterparts; at least with respect to the main characters. There are a few moments of uncanny valley though, and I suspect that'll be the case for many other games as we step into the next generation of consoles. The Dragon Age series is also known for having well-voiced characters, so this likely won't be an issue in the next title.
Up-in-the-air
- The story is going to be what ultimately drives people to want to play the game. Depending on DA4's plot and narrative pacing, it could either be a worthwhile campaign or a middling experience. So far as we know, Patrick Weekes is slated to be the games lead writer, and he has experience writing the Tuchanka and Rannoch story arcs of ME3, the story of Trespasser, and was the writer behind characters such as: Solas, Cole, Iron Bull, Miranda, Jack, Mordin, and Krem. Whether or not people like his storytelling or characters is largely subjective, but a common theme among all of them is that they have a conflicted past or persona. This is likely to be a welcome departure from BioWares other titles (ME:A and Anthem), where characters are much more lighthearted and more willing to retort with quips and snide jokes.
- Choices, choices, choices. Are they memorable, or nothing but yawn-fests? Will they leave a lasting impact, or will they flounder? Not only that, but how will the decisions you've made matter in the end? Will players be given solid closure to everything they've worked towards, or will they have to wait until future DLC for their actions to be fully realized?
- The open world and sidequests could still end up feeling mediocre. Over BioWare's last three titles (DA:I, ME:A, Anthem), they have shown that they haven't fully grasped the concept of a dynamic open-world with meaningful content. Though they've demonstrated a capacity for locations to change both visually & geographically, such as DA:I's Crestwood or the various planet alterations of ME:A, they've yet to populate these spaces with sidequests and world building elements that make people want to explore. Though DA:I is the better of the three, in terms of open world design, other games (ex. Witcher 3 or RDR2) have shown that they're more capable of immersing the player into the game world (based on player sentiments). Visuals and setpieces can't be enough, and it's unclear whether BioWare will be able to improve upon their open-world design.
- The tone of the world will help in defining the maturity of the game. With more recent titles from BioWare having a relatively jovial tone to the campaign, and with other prominent open world, Western RPG titles being more stoic and dark, how BioWare handles the ambiance of DA4 could end up polarizing the gaming community. How often do you inject moments of levity and humor? How dark and gritty should the game truly be? How many shock moments are enough, and should they be extremely visceral?
- Combat was one of the DA:I's more controversial aspects. Some people thought it was fine, while others hated its less than tactical playstyle, most notably being the auto-attack feature and frequent skill usage. BioWare could potentially alter the designs systems behind each class for a more visceral combat experience. For example, a warrior would fight similar to Kratos from God of War, while an Archer would behave more like Aloy from HZD. They could also simply make incremental adjustments for the sake of saving time. Or, they can fall back to one of the combat systems they've used in their previous titles (Origins or DA2). Another thing worthy of consideration is whether the tactical camera will still play a part in the games combat experience. Will BioWare simply do away with it, opting for a more defined ARPG experience, or will they try to have it both ways; but with refinements to both gameplay types?
- Games as a Service (GaaS) could end up breaking the traditional DLC model that fans are used to, and without having these large narrative additions to the game, the post-campaign experience for players could feel sullied. This could end up leading to smaller, bite-sized story missions that don't end up telling a greater tale. On the flipside, DA4 could take an approach similar to that of Assassins Creed: Odyssey, where small live events (like story missions, bosses, items, etc) are injected into the game for free, and more traditional story DLC is added in afterwards. Such a delivery method with bring more content for players to enjoy, but this likely means more work for BioWare. It also doesn't absolve them from not making these free, live-service updates of low-quality.
[EDIT: I thought to add this given Jason Schreiers most recent article]
- BioWare's Leadership. Based on Jason Schreiers reporting, not only did Anthem go through a number of managerial problems, but these same problems have been pervasive across several of BioWares more recent titles. Several employees have noted that (1) concerns brought up by rank-and-file devs were often ignored by leadership, (2) leadership would often enter a state of paralysis in terms of coming to conclusions on design choices, and (3) there was a general breakdown in camaraderie across several studios and teams. Juxtaposing this souring news was information pertaining to Mark Darrah, as he was noted in being decisive leader during Anthems troubled development. Given that he previously worked on Inquisition, and is now working on the next Dragon Age, it could bring better decision making to the franchise; when compared to Andromeda or Anthem. In addition, with the reintroduction of Casey Hudson as GM, he appears to be enacting stricter (but more guided) rule sets to position DA4 in better spot; presumably at least. With that said, none of this really addresses the climate of stagnation and lack of vision in BioWare's leadership. If the studio is unable to overcome this hurdle, it not only signal bad times for DA4, but bad times for future BioWare titles as well.
What DA4 will likely have going against it
- Time. Anthem likely had to siphon a lot of BioWare's dev teams, and it wouldn't shock me one bit if this ultimately halted development of Dragon Age 4 to some extent. With internal reports (made by anonymous developers) that BioWare Edmonton needed to pull teams from its sister studios as far back at 2016, DA4 may have likely lost 12-18 months of (pre)production. This means that less time would have been devoted to designing and polishing the games systems. This could lead to quests feeling unfinished or shortened, the game having a number of bugs, or the overall length and/or scope of the campaign being reduced. Right now, I'm banking on the game releasing in late 2021, or early 2022. Whether that's enough time for them to deliver a great story and fully polish up the game is anyone's guess.
- Frostbite will likely still be an absolute pain in the ass for them to work with. Even if the games primarily single-player, and with BioWare having DA:I to work off of, that still doesn't stop the fact that the engine will likely continue to be a constant roadblock for them in making changes to the game. In addition, Anthem has proven that the engine, when working in an online environment with RPG, can be a bug-filled mess. This was true as well for Andromeda and Inquisitions multiplayer components. While fans are likely not going to be bothered that much if the multiplayer aspect of the game is marred with problems, that doesn't stop such a mode dropping review scores down a notch.
- Player sentiments. Though most assuredly deserved, with how both Anthem and ME:A have turned out, people are going to have pitchforks at the ready for DA4. Ultimately, this means that people will eye the game with a far more critical eye than other titles in the same genre. Every slight, no matter how small, will be pronounced. Every fault will be plastered on YouTube/Reddit/Twitter. Every misstep, no matter what kind, will merely be another reason for people to believe that the game, and BioWare, are mere shells of what they once were.
- The game may have a smaller budget. AAA companies tend to punish low financially performing companies with smaller budgets. With EA now adopting Respawn Entertainment, it's also possible that they'll invest more money into that studio, rather than the traditional single-player experiences provided by BioWare. Though developmental costs in excess of $50M is nothing to sneeze at, the question becomes whether or not BioWare will have enough resources and manpower to develop a title worthy of being placed among their more beloved titles.