Dragon Age: Inquisition, since its first reveal, promised a return to the more tactical and customizable gameplay that RPG gamers fell in love with when the first Dragon Age game released in 2009, a style of gameplay that was very noticeably absent in the underwhelming Dragon Age 2. In a new trailer for Inquisition, Bioware shares more details about the triumphant return of the pause-and-play system from Dragon Age: Origins that is sure to make old-school RPG fans happy.
Whereas Dragon Age 2 placed an emphasis on action and stripped players of party control, Inquisition gives players a choice of playing from the front lines in a more action/RPG kind of way or pausing the game at any time to issue orders and plan out a strategy. The tactical camera pulls the game camera over the top of the battlefield, giving you a bird's eye view of terrain and enemy positions. From there you can issue orders for your allies, such as specifying targets for spells or commanding members of your team to move to a certain location. They can also be commanded to revive fallen allies, to use items or defend certain areas.
Once orders are issued, players can unpause time to watch their actions unfold, and from there can join the action as any party member or continue to pause and issue commands. Players can also customize the abilities of party members, though it remains to be seen if there will be an extensive party AI system similar to that found in Origins.
All in all, Dragon Age: Inquisition, with its customizable party, tactical combat options and sprawling open world, looks to be a far cry from nearly everything that was Dragon Age 2, which focused almost exclusively on action combat and took place primarily in one location that would change over time as the game progressed.
It isn't only Inquisition's gameplay that is a return to form for the franchise either. Inquisition looks to draw heavily from Origins for story inspiration as well, as like the first game in the series, players will be rebuilding an ancient order to stop an invasion of otherworldly forces. Joining the player character on their journey is a cast of powerful and colorful characters, from the stalwart Qunari "Iron Bull" to the noble mage Dorian.
The game suffered a six week delay earlier this month. Executive producer Mark Darrah said it's all about improving the experience.
"While this extra few weeks may not seem like a lot, I know the game you'll play will be all the better for it," Darrah said on an official blog post.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is still on track to release this year on November 18 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
