Dragon Age: Inquisitionwas a popular and critically well-received game, but it was not without some serious flaws. The design of the game’s open world, and in particular the way that design affected questing, should be avoided in the next game ifDragon Age 4is going to take the series to new heights.
Dragon Age 4will take players to the Tevinter Imperium for the first time, an expansive and ancient northern empire much-discussed in the series' lore, but never seen in-game. Tevinter’s size presents opportunities for a massive in-game world and a huge number of quests. When it comes to its world and quest design, however,Dragon Age 4should look toMass Effectand other older BioWare games, notInquisition.
RELATED:Dragon Age 4 Might Technically Have Two Solases
Inquisition’s Questing Problem
Dragon Age: Inquisitionis full of side quests, but the vast majority of them play far more like a quest from anMMORPGthan the story-driven missions found in other BioWare RPGs. This left some of the huge areas created forInquisitionlike the Hinterlands looking great but ultimately feeling shallow, at least outside of the main story.
In MMOs players have motivation to “grind” through relatively tedious quests because they form arbitrary objectives around which player relationships can be formed. Slowly poisoning pumpkins inWorld of Warcraft’s Tirisfal Gladescould be boring by itself, but getting help from another player and getting to know them adds a whole extra dimension to the game. Similarly, the multiplayer aspect creates a competitiveness that motivates players to strive beyond just getting the loot and experience they need, instead pushing them to go above and beyond to keep up with and impress their fellow players, motivating them in a way most single-player games can’t.
InDragon Age: Inquisition, players were offered little incentive to complete many of the game’s side quests. There was loot, experience, and the occasional interesting nugget ofDragon Agelore, but not much to draw most players away from the game’s main story.Dragon Age: Inquisitioncan be finished with relative ease without completing the vast majority of these side quests, and with little story motivation to drive them many players left most of these missions behind.
In fact, many ofInquisition’s side quests felt strangely immersion-breaking at times. Why isthe Inquisitor, the Herald of Andraste, the only person able to close the rifts in the Veil, commander of an army and judge over the life and death of those the Inquisition captures now completing the sort of side quest a random mercenary might pick up for coin? That might make sense in series likeThe Witcherwhere the side quests are part of the player character’s profession, but not inInquisition.
Dragon Age: Inquisition’s huge, semi-open world had some very impressive areas, but once the player had completed the main quest there were few reasons to stay beyond the view. Part of the problem was that most of the game’s many side quests were completely detached from the main quests. Inolder BioWare RPGs— and even well-designed MMOs — the player arrives at a hub because of the main quest, and then picks up several story-driven side quests along the way. These side quests may then have relevance in some of the areas players end up visiting while dealing with the main quest, continuing the main story while finding out more about their surroundings.
Mass Effect: Legendary Editionis a reminder of just how well BioWare can design these kind of questing areas. On Noveria, for example, most of the missions that the player picks up in the labs at the start then have objectives which are on Shepard’s journey once the player and their squad have used the Mako to venture beyond the base. This focus is possible in part becauseMass Effecthas fewer side quests thanDragon Age: Inquisition, but that isn’t a bad thing.
RELATED:Dragon Age 4 Leak Points to EA Play 2021 Showcase
Changing Questing In Dragon Age 4
There are even examples of better side quest design in earlierDragon Agegames. The quest to help theMabari war-houndin Ostagar, for example, ties back into the main quest when the dog follows the player following the battle, and becomes a part of their group. In bothMass EffectandDragon Age: Originsthe player feels compelled to complete many of the side quests they come across because they might have implications for the player’s journey through the main story.
InDragon Age: Inquisition, it quickly becomes apparent that many of the side quests have little to contribute to the main story, and aside from the few side quests with compelling and self-contained stories of their own, there’s a massive lack of urgency when it comes to anything other than the fight againstCorypheus.
Dragon Age 4needs side quests which feel integrated into the main quest, even if that means the game will have a smaller world. The nextDragon Agegame is set to take place inthe Tevinter Imperium, but that doesn’t mean that players should have access to the entirety of the region. If they do, it’s likely BioWare will end up repeating the same mistakes fromInquisition. Previous BioWare games have found success cultivating smaller quest hubs that the player goes to for a main mission, where the side missions both flesh out the setting’s story and can be conveniently completed while focusing primarily on the main quest.Inquisition’s larger world leaves its questing feeling spread very thin.
It could be risky forDragon Age 4to take the series back from a semi-open world to a series of segmented quest hubs, but ifDragon Age 4ends up feeling as unfocused asInquisitioncan at timesthe Dread Wolf plotcould end up feeling distant. BioWare’s exact design philosophy forDragon Age 4has yet to be seen, but hopefully when fans get more news about the game that news will include a dialing back of some ofInquisition’s more experimental and less successful design features.
Dragon Age 4is in development.
MORE:Dragon Age 4: Every Faction Practically Confirmed for the Sequel So Far
