Dragon Age: Inquisition has gone gold on all consoles. Today BioWare announced that they've wrapped up four years of development for the medieval fantasy RPG.
"This milestone is a testament to the hard work of the developers (and their families!) who put so much into this game, and took on every challenge that was put before them," said Dragon Age: Inquisition executive producer Mark Darrah on BioWare's blog. "That we’ve made it this far is also an acknowledgment of tremendous support and patience from our fans: you’ve been an inspiration to us since the beginning."
BioWare's work on Inquisition started before they released Dragon Age 2 - which is interesting because Inquisition rolls back several changes from DA2. The streamlined, hack-and-slash combat is gone. Players will once again be able to choose their character's race, among other details.
Darrah added that Inquisition has the largest supporting cast of any game in the series.
"These are characters who can challenge you, support you, fall in love with you, and maybe even betray you over the course of hundreds of hours of playing. Perhaps you’ll do the same with them. Looking over the vastness of the game we’ve finished, it really is the Dragon Age experience we’ve always wanted to make for you."
The development team also switched to a new engine for Inquisition. Origins and DA2 utilized BioWare's own proprietary technology. With the third game in the series, though, they chose DICE's Frostbite 3. Frostbite 3 is the same engine used by Battlefield 4, Mass Effect 4 and several other EA-published games on new-gen platforms.
Inquisition is set after the first two games but isn't a direct continuation of either. You're not playing as the Warden or Hawke. Instead, you're a brand-new hero who must lead an army in restoring order to the realm. Players can import their choices from Origins and DA2 using an online tool called Dragon Age Keep. Keep can also be used by series newcomers to catch up on the story. The decisions made through the tool will then impact the storyline of Inquisition.
Dragon Age: Inquisition will debut in North America on November 18th and arrive in Europe on the 21st. While you're waiting, I'd recommend getting your storyline set up with Keep. Also, if you want a taste of the game, play the sound clip below. It's the main theme of the game. BioWare published an interview with audio director Michael Kent.
"Early on in the project we set out to redefine the audio for the Dragon Age series," Kent said in the interview. "We started by reviewing the last two games and came up with a top 10 do’s and don’ts list. We also spent some time figuring out what sets Inquisition apart from the other two games. We decided that we wanted the game to sound very dynamic, where the audio was always moving and changing, lots of highs and lows, loud and quiet moments."
