Dragon Age 5 [post-credit scene spoilers]

Give us another Kirkwall. It doesn't have to be literally Kirkwall, but do another city state plot. It was really cool idea

The comparison between the reception of DA2 and DATV is fascinating to me. I was around for both, and let me tell you, I think that while the backlash against DA2 is completely justified, it still had so much good stuff going for it and I think over the years more and more people who gave it another chance realise it.

If done correctly, another game like DA2, without the glaring flaws, would be great.

Well, the Dragon Age story more or less feels wrapped up. The stories that have been building up since DAO (Blight, Elven gods, titans, etc) have been addressed. Even the Grey Wardens feel wrapped up. The south was basically destroyed beyond a few holdouts so it's no longer what we're familiar with. There's not much to go from here besides whatever new order springs up.

The onlyremaining mysteries are what's beyond the sea regarding humans and the Qunari, as well this secret ending revelation. It's more or less primed for a reset if they wish, and that can start with a more contained story.

If marketing isn't an issue, they might as well call the next series Griffon Age.

While this feels like a good ending, I still want more Dragon age. But would be more than ok, if they pushed in to the next age. Maybe " Finally flowing hair age" 😋

Smaller scope story next and then maybe something epic again.

I think they said the studio was switching to Unreal Engine 5 after DAV, so I’m not sure how much of the code base might be reused. Hopefully they take notes of the design in that respect though.

Considering this reminded me of ME with the way companions worked, I was actually already thinking it’d be easier to switch. That way they can share codebase between the two franchises.

I just hope they keep the save system. I was SO happy when I found out you can make copies of auto/temp saves, since you can’t manually save during scenes/conversations. And temp decision saves are the best.

See, I’ve never really viewed the franchise that way, since the games don’t tell a single story.  A well crafted setting can give rise to virtually unlimited stories arising from its various facets if you develop it with sufficient depth.  As long as you aren’t married to the idea of each game needing an apocalyptic threat (I’ve taken issue with this for awhile and hope we’ll have a break from it), then you can tell plenty of stories exploring this world without the story needing an “end”, especially with a series that tends to tell a new story with each installment (Unlike ME trilogy for example, obviously Inquisition and Veilguard are an exception).  Just my feelings, but I’m going to take the opportunity to vent and ramble a little though I know you may not share them.

Honestly, I kind of think pulling ancient threats out of the deeps or the Fade has been a problem perhaps more than a benefit for this franchise’s storytelling.

It was fine in DAO where it created a backdrop against which the setting during a time of crisis could be explored for all the points of conflict it brought to the surface.  However, in DAI it just meant the mage-Templar conflict that had been built up for so long got swept to the wayside and resolved in underwhelming fashion.  What if a radical faction of mage rebels driven by a desire to upset the existing order created the breach instead of Corypheus, a group whose history and radicalism we would have to provide a counterpoint to to defeat?  What if actually finding a resolution to the conflict was a central part of story instead of getting being quickly shuffled off in favor of the evil mutant wizard being evil?  It feels like a distraction from more complicated conflicts to me.

Also, my feelings after the first game was that the Blight was a good threat for that game but could be left there and never be a focus of the franchise again (at least for some time).  I liked the Blight almost more as a nigh Lovecraftian source of unknowable corruption and horror in the background rather than having everything explained.  I don’t hate the explanation we got in Veilguard, but I don’t think the impulse to explicitly explain every deep mystery is necessarily a good one.  Nor do I think we ever had to face any of the other Archdemons in Dragon Age as enemies after the first one.

But after the reception of DA2 (which perhaps had stakes a little too low and ended on too much of a cliffhanger), the attitude seemed to be that we need sky high apocalyptic stakes to have an interesting story and it needs to feature the Blight.  This is frustrating to me because I generally find the apocalyptic threats to be least interesting part of these games.

I think it's a good thing the elven thing is over. Gods are dead, Solas is back where he belongs. Honestly, I was never a fan of elves being behind everything, and if the Executors are the next big bad thing, I embrace it.

I'd also like it to not rely as much on friendship is magic. Please.

Is this game secretly persona 6?

I strongly agree with this post. DA:O did a great job of presenting a setting with plenty mysteries that didn't need to be resolved and less-than-apocalyptic conflicts that could have been the focus of later games. DA2 implied that one such conflict would be the focus of the next game, and then DA:I went back on that.

There's a post I wrote on BSN Prime way back around the time DA:I came out where I talked about what I wanted DA4 to be. This was before Trespasser and the whole Solas set up, I think. Basically, I wanted a game about a new Qunari invasion of Thedas. It would have taken place in Tevinter, Antiva, Rivain, Seheron, and maybe Par Vollen. We would be captain of a ship associated with the Felicisima Armada, a kind of privateer with a mobile base going around the coast of Thedas having swashbuckling adventures and getting involved in local politics, and it would all culminate in an epic naval battle in the Nocen Sea, where we would get to pick sides. No ancient gods, no apocalyptic threat.

That's the kind of Dragon Age game I always wanted, and the promise of the setting back in DA:O was how it suggested these kinds of stories. Sure, Origins had a simplistic main premise in the Blight, but most of the game concerned itself with more compelling subplots, and I figured the darkspawn stuff was just playing it safe for a new setting and that they could afford to take more risks in the sequels. That was naïve in retrospect.

Because now I don't think Bioware ever had any intention of leaning on the more grounded, and in my opinion more interesting, parts of the setting. DA2 was an accident born of a rushed development timeline. Elven gods making a comeback was always the plan, it seems. And apparently now we've got another big bad who's been pulling the strings all along and sweet mother of God, the same thing again?