Dragon Age is a beloved franchise that has admittedly stumbled in the most recent iteration, Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Everything felt stretched out, fetch quests were running rampant instead of weaving fascinating side-stories and tales, and it simply felt a bit over-manufactured without a resounding soul within it. A concerning issue that BioWare has repeated multiple times since the 2014 release date of Inquisition.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was released to massive hype which very quickly fell flat when a massive slew of bugs and issues reared its head, ranging from animations glitches to bizarre facial contortions that were, allegedly, supposed to convey emotion.
Then there was the ill-fated Anthem which had more issues than Reader’s Digest: even IGN couldn’t justify a score over 6.5. There was a massive marketing campaign behind both games, and they both are deemed to have flopped by many within the gaming industry, by both fans and critics alike.
This is pertinent, as the most recent video coming from BioWare is equally exciting and concerning: it’s nearly precisely the same delivery that was used for Anthem and Andromeda. Developers talk about some varying aspects while assets are shown. Add in that Dragon Age 4 was reportedly scrapped entirely and restarted in 2019 from the beginning, and there’s a bit of merit behind the concerns growing among the Dragon Age fanbase.
For the pudding, here’s the video from 2014 showing Anthem at E3.
And here’s the latest video showing WIP scenes and models for the upcoming Dragon Age 4:
Interestingly, the video that was likely made to quell fears from fans that the project had somehow been scrapped altogether has aroused new fears of BioWare simply losing its teeth somewhere in the span of the past decade.
The video itself, and the concepts shown, are all of astounding quality and fascinating to behold; even meriting a few pauses to study some details that the artists have been adding. That, along with a bit of a sneak peek at how combat is forming, should be more than enough to whet the appetites of anyone anxiously pacing about for the title to finally arrive, or at least tide us over to the next official announcement.
This makes it seem as though the video itself isn’t the origin of the fears from fans that are beginning to voice concerns: instead, it’s BioWare’s track record since being purchased by Electronic Arts which has, frankly speaking, been poor.
If any studio can pick itself up again and deliver the delicious feast of fantasy and player agency, it’s BioWare. Here’s hoping they still have it left in them.
