Open world not the 'right challenge' for Dragon Age, says creative director
Dragon Age: Inquisition is creating more open spaces for the player to explore, but creative director Mike Laidlaw doesn't feel that a true open world game is right for the series.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is opening up the world a little more than previous games in the franchise, making for more areas to explore and surprises to find. And though creative director Mike Laidlaw sees the value in bringing some openness, he doesn't feel a true open world game is the right fit for the series.
Laidlaw told Game Informer that there's a "primal joy" in finding areas tucked away with their own hidden nuggets of story and quests, and they've put some of that into Inquisition. As for whether it will ever take the trip to a fully open world, though, Laidlaw seems more skeptical.
"I don't necessarily know that it would be the right challenge to tackle with Dragon Age," he said. "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."
Though Laidlaw tipped his hat towards games like Elder Scrolls, he said that Dragon Age tends to keep a tighter grip on the story beats. "Those games can be absolutely enthralling. You can lose yourself in them 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."
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replySteve Watts posted a new article, Open world not the 'right challenge' for Dragon Age, says creative director.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is creating more open spaces for the player to explore, but creative director Mike Laidlaw doesn't feel that a true open world game is right for the series.-
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yep. DAO was so good because it wasn't open world. it was well planned and went according to direction... which was NOT player direction.
smaller maps with tactical fights and pausing was so fun in DAO. if it turns into open world button mashing it's going to be a snooze fest and it means they just completely bailed on the original framework that made it good. an identity crisis similar to splinter cell.
skyrim has like 98273982734982734824 unique dungeons. I'm sure DA:I can implement more than 2.
even if it's only 10 or so that can flip around their configuration, that's a HUGE improvement.
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I'm always a fan of open worlds and sandbox games, but I absolutely agree that certain games would lose their appeal, and like he said in the article, their emotional impact without a more rigid structure. In another 3-5 years hopefully the tech will be there to flesh out an open world with the same quality storytelling and character interaction that you find in a Dragon Age or Mass Effect game.
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On one hand I would love it to be open world like skyrim, but if that would mess with the tactical combat and pausing, then it's better off without. I am perfectly fine with the same structure as DA:O. That game was still 60+ hours of content.
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...or, they can learn a few things from first two Gothic games, and create a semi-open, challenging, close-knit, plot-connected world that makes you think about the journey more than the destination. DA:O was pretty close.
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There are enough bugs in first 2 that I don't want them to get anywhere close to Gothic.
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Could've been just you. I've never had a problem with the first two games. Please don't tell me oblivion's your benchmark.
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Gothic 2 was amazing, especially the crazy learning curve on the fighting. It really felt like you were learning how to fight then becoming really good at it and it got easier.
Gothic 3 would've not been bad, if it wasn't so buggy at release. Somehow I still got through that game. Of course, there's a huge community mod/patch now that fixes pretty much everything and makes it better.
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I would not look forward much to an open world Bioware game. And that's completely based on their less than stellar track record lately.
Ironically, I have great story expectations for The Wild Hunt, and that game will be open world. Perhaps CDProjekt can do with their third game what Bioware is not prepared to do with Inquisition.
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