So Bioware may have lost some franchise loyalty with Dragon Age 2, which after the fantastic first game seemed like a rushed, sloppy effort with more action-oriented gameplay (though still fun at parts). However, even if you think you've checked out of the franchise after that, or never gave it a try, I implore you to watch this Dragon Age: Inquisition trailer, because the game looks amazing.
The trailer itself is good--everything you'd expect from a big budget teaser with grim voiceover narration, shots of scenic fantastical landscapes, and increasingly dramatic music with a foreboding ending--but the game itself is the star here. Everything looks incredible, both graphically and the size of the game's scope. Bioware says, impressively, everything in the trailer is in-game footage.
It certainly has a more of an Elder Scrolls vibe about it, which as a fan of that franchise I will not say is a bad thing. The developers have talked about how the game world will be more open, and we're seeing what sort of sprawling landscapes we will be traversing when it arrives.
The lighting and textures look gorgeous, water, weather and flora are pretty damn realistic and the buildings' interiors are suitably medieval. Also, dragon. You'd think that would be a given with the game's title, but there were disappointingly few in the first two games. Bioware released a statement about what we're seeing in the trailer:
"Each area in the video has its own realistic ecosystem with predators, prey, factions, and opportunities to expand your Inquisition. The world's population is based on an emergent system that adjusts what you'll encounter based on how your actions tip the balance in the area. You'll see towns attacked by bandits, deer fleeing from wolves, giant's feeding on bears, and countless other scenarios.
"The artists, designers, programmers, animators, audio and VFX specialists and many others are the most talented I've ever had the pleasure of working with. They are the people bringing the world of Dragon Age to life for you to discover. They've built incredible graphics systems like weather that creates naturally-formed puddles, spider webs that blow in the wind, and huge amounts of various materials that look more realistic than anything we've ever created in a BioWare game!"
Emergent systems! The circle of life! Natural spider webs and puddles! Could you really ask for anything more? In all seriousness, those do sound like impressive graphic and engine features, and it's funny how such little details can really get us excited.
But it so far does look as good as they're saying, and hopefully is a massive improvement on the frankly subpar job that was Dragon Age 2. The game has no exact release date, but is due out sometime during this Fall for Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, and PC. After all of my raving, I hope you'll watch the trailer below.