Dragon Age: Inquisition’s “tighter emphasis on story” and choices doesn’t fit with a true open-world game

By Stephany Nunneley

Dragon Age: Inquisition’s world will be more open than previous titles, but don’t go in expecting it to be a true, open world game because it just wouldn’t fit right with the series, according to creative director Mike Laidlaw.

Speaking with Game Informer, Laidlaw said the following regarding a fully open world Dragon Age game: “I don’t necessarily know that it would be the right challenge to tackle with Dragon Age. I think that when you make a series of games you need to find what works with that series of games, you need to cultivate fans that have stuck with you and are really passionate. You need to be consistent within.

“Is it something BioWare might look into? Maybe. That’s a pretty long-term question.”

Laidlaw said open world titles like The Elder Scrolls are “absolutely enthralling,” but with the complexities of choice and the storyline in Dragon Age, it just wouldn’t be feasible.

“You can lose yourself for 70, 80, 170 hours in an Elder Scrolls game. That’s fabulous,” he said. “But we have an expectation for Dragon Age which is that strong story, and a focus on those tough, gut-wrenching choices. Having a tighter emphasis on story helps us to maintain that. It’s never off the books but for Dragon Age I’d like to stay true to what makes Dragon Age Dragon Age–having that party, working together, and having the story progress.”

Dragon Age: Inquisition is coming to PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in northern autumn 2014.

Thanks, Shack.