Dragon Age 4 wish list

My wish list is mostly things that worked in Dragon Age Origins and were missing in Inquisition:

1. A return to dungeon crawling instead of open world maps.
2. Dual wielding swords as a warrior.
3. No ability limit or limit on consumables.
4. Auto-heal outside of combat.
5. Return of the tactics system.
6. Return of a decent tactical camera.
7. Auto attack.
8. Healing abilities.

---

@darksnow67 wrote:

6. please for the love of god if you can help it do not use frostbite to make this game please

---

I don't understand BioWare's devotion to this engine. The argument I often hear is that Frostbite is an in-house engine that they wouldn't have to pay licensing fees for, but BioWare has developed successful RPG engines before, so why couldn't they do it again?

1. i think they should include both dungeons AND open world maps as main areas, i like being able to fast travel when i need to get around quickly

2. a lot of things about dragon age origins were confusing and scattered, i like the way it is in dragon age inquisition things were easier to understand and remember, wouldnt mind if they brought back the "bard" as a rogue sub class, was always curious about that

3. was never an issue for me i always got more potions whenever i teleported to the next camp in inquisition

4. couldnt hurt, maybe being able to turn the feature on and off because everybody doesnt like the same thing

5. didnt like having to manage tactics in origins, again simplicity

6. i mostly just used the tactical camera to get a better look at stuff or take pictures

7. not sure what you mean

8. as a mage sub class yes, wondered why they took that sub class out it was called "spirit healer"

you clearly like DAO and i clearly like DAI, hopefully bioware can sort us both out lol

@darksnow67 

1. If open world returns, I think a hybrid like you described could work. I think Crestwood was a great map, with some dungeon crawling (the dwarven cave). I don't like something like the Hissing Wastes, though. That was too big.

7. I mean that in DAI you have to hold the attack button. I prefer in DAO and DA2 that you can right click an enemy to auto-attack, and then you just use an ability now and then. DAI patched in auto-attack eventually as a toggle, but that method isn't ideal because the auto-attack stops once you start moving (and I like to play an archer who moves around a lot).

---

@darksnow67 wrote:

you clearly like DAO and i clearly like DAI, hopefully bioware can sort us both out lol

---

I love all the Dragon Age games, but I prefer the strategic depth of DAO.

7. oh thats whats you meant by auto attack, i wasnt sure, hopefully theyll have a way to turn it on and off properly

theyre was also some weird * with scrolling through the dai menus where the L3 button wouldnt work very well

id also like respawnable high dragons and bosses that i can farm, daddy needs tier 4 crafting materials 

---

@darksnow67 wrote:

theyre was also some weird * with scrolling through the dai menus where the L3 button wouldnt work very well

---

I played wit mouse and keyboard, but menus have always been janky in BioWare's Frostbite games. In Mass Effect Andromeda it was so bad that I didn't click anything and instead used my keyboard for menu navigation, which was far from ideal. In DAI, there's a bug where if you're in a shop, hoovering over an item will show stats in a tooltip popup, but the tooltip doesn't go away when you sell the item, so you have to jiggle your mouse first. It's really annoying.

I'm praying to the old gods and the new that BioWare is either using a proper engine or is developing a new one as they have done before.

There are so many things to wish for it's hard to even chose from.

I'd prefer to see some semblance of tactical gameplay back. After all, DA is a tactical-RPG I don't see why they made it some kind of action-RPG where your only choice in tactic is the number of potions consumed. It simply doesn't make sense.

I wouldn't be opposed to an open world map but it has to be used in the best way. Like yes give us missions please but donc make them so repetitive it kills the fun in it (and when you made it to Inquisitor how is it logical to play fetch. You do have people you should be able to ask to do the task for you). Also, giving mounts is good but I want my party with me, following me and the banter. I mean the banter is like the only reason I did not use the mounts. Plus, some kind of ability to take things from the mount.

Sub-class are a must, two blades warriors were my favorite to play with in DAO so I would certainly not complain if it came back. And yes, healers too. Though I think the idea behind the "no healer" thing was that either all the healers were trying to heal people all around Thedas and they could not spare one to help you with. Or simply to make the gameplay somewhat harder.

So yeah as I said first definitely bringing back the tactics of your party (if you don't like it you can simply put each character on some kind of "default" use of their powers depending on their class). I did not use the tactical camera on DAI more than a handful of times. It just doesn't help at all.

As for armors, helmet and everything I'd rather have each separate piece to equip the characters with than the default armor of DA2 or the kind of "all in one" we do have in DAI, it kind of does not make sense I mean, you do not put an armor on like you can put your hoodie. Plus it adds flexibility to the gameplay and the way your character look (more different models too I mean except for the "special" armors you had only two models of each armor to use which can get tiresome pretty fast). I do agree with more helmets or at least some sort of headgear for Qunari that is not paint. Even with Qunari being formidable warriors, I kind of doubt it is very effective in a lot of situations (the same can be argued about some trinkets but at least it could be enchanted).

Meaningful quests and not just the main storyline would be great.

Crafting and not the Skyhold kind but the "I'm on the move" kind of crafting. Sure you'll certainly not craft a blade or an armor while on the move but potions, traps and poisons would be awesome.

Getting some kind of prologue like we had on DAO for each character, it was interesting to see each character's story unfold and to realise that they kind of all were connected and it kinda affected your choices when you played the game again because you simply knew more. Plus it helped to learn more about how things were for every faction at the time. It would have been great in DAI to play as a mage who went to the Conclave, experience first hand the opposition Mage/Templar and so on...

I did like the idea of being able to give gifts to your party in DAO, it would be great to have some kind of thing to find in the world for each one of your friends. It could help get an understanding or see an aspect we did not see before (sure there are the quests of each character but it simply is not the same). Finding poetry and the like for your lover is a thing but to go out of your way to find a gift for a friend who is helping too would show some kind of recognition.

I think I said everything that in my opinion would make a very good game.

Sure there are a couple more things but I think they're mostly wishfull thinking. For exemple real consequences from your choices in the first three game. I have yet to see how siding all the time with Mages or Templars affects Thedas. Or something as simple as siding with the werewolves in DAO. It would have me playing the first three games to try and have the best or the worse world state ever.
Choices properly uploaded in the Keep too would be great. It's great to be able to change them but you don't always keep in mind if you did this with what's is name or if you did that. Sure since there's basically no consequences you won't have to spend too much time worrying.
A complete story where you don't end up asking yourself "wait, that plot there... What's its point since we never really circle to it". I mean, I understand why you'd have to keep the story open with "what's the next big bad guy gonna do" and the like. But that should be all you ask yourself. Well along with "what will the next character be ? How long in the future will the story be set ?" and so on.
A darker story too. DAO and DA2 both had some very dark and depressing parts, I did not find this when playing DAI. I mean, the deeproads in DAO (and to some extent in DA2) were one of the best gruesome stories you found on your journey. In DA2 you had the bloodmage and your mother if you succeeded in not getting your brother/sister killed or changed to a Warden in the deeproads.

I'm not saying they should make an other DAO in another setting (I always find Andromeda less enjoyable because it's so much like they tried to take what people enjoyed the most in each of the three games of the trilogy and glued it together in a kind of improved remake of the first Mass Effect story but with the big bad guys being the perfect opposite of Reapers) that would definitely take away the fun. But I think that it's a shame to strip DA of what it was at the beginning. They do have two different RPG games and it's like they are stripping each one of what's making its franchise unique. As I said, DA is at its core a tactical RPG and it should stay that way. It's still playable if you don't want to play in any kind of tactical way (though probably not in the highest difficulty). On the other hand ME is an action-RPG (and a third person shooter to boot) and I don't have a problem with having less control over my squad when I play the games.

I'm not trying to say something like "don't like, don't buy", I guess that it's my way of trying to say they should not make a game with a "what will please the most people" mindset but with "What made the game so great at first".

honestly,for me the most painful level to play in inquisition was the trespasser dlc: a long aisle full of enemies with nearly no exploration. i liked the idea of inquisition maps because they were not really open world. it had large maps separated from each other with "skyrim like" dungeon entrances, like you said crestwood or western approach are good examples. plus i think if they returned to the DAO type of map it would seem too old school. btw the hissing wastes was my favourite map, dont really know why, maybe was the desert and dunes setting, kinda like ac origins

---

@Elena_Chase wrote:

And yes, healers too. Though I think the idea behind the "no healer" thing was that either all the healers were trying to heal people all around Thedas and they could not spare one to help you with.

---

I think the explanation was that they want the player to feel like having a mage in the party wasn't mandatory, but then they put the "energize" mechanic in the game so you still need mages to access certain areas.