Leaked Gameplay Demo Shows Off 30 Minutes of Dragon Age: Inquisition

[Michael Epstein]

Leaked Gameplay Demo Shows Off 30 Minutes of Dragon Age: Inquisition

Shaky-cam footage is better than no footage at all, right?

Dragon Age: Inquisition isn't a game you hear about every day. Small details have come into view every so often, but our vision of what's to come has been fairly opaque. Fortunately, the picture is much clearer thanks to a leaked fan recording of a 30-minute gameplay demo Bioware has been showing at trade shows and events for the past few months.

The video was taken during a demo at Kotaku [http://www.messukeskus.com/Sites1/DigiExpo/en/Pages/default.aspx], the demo is similar to the one shown at PAX Prime in September. While some of you may have already seen it, for the rest of us, it's a sight to see. It's an off-screen "shaky-cam" recording, but the game looks good even in less-than-ideal conditions.

The demo really pushes the notion that Inquisition has much more to offer than its poorly-received predecessors: The first section, for example, takes place in Crestwood; an area that's "bigger than all of Dragon Age II."

We checked out Dragon Age: Inquisition back at PAX Prime, so check out our preview [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escapist-news-now/8018-Dragon-Age-Inquisition-PAX-Prime-2013-Preview] if you want to hear the important stuff, but don't have time to settle in for a 30 minute demo.

Source: Kotaku [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=713743]

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[luvd1]

Sorry. I had to stop watching. My eyes were stinging from the tears of laughter when in all seriousness and no hint of sarcasm who ever was doing the sales pitch said "this area is bigger then the whole of dragon age 2!" That was funny.

 

[luvd1]

Nope, still can't make it pass that bit. People are starting to look at me oddly.

 

[ecoho]

Sorry. I had to stop watching. My eyes were stinging from the tears of laughter when in all seriousness and no hint of sarcasm who ever was doing the sales pitch said "this area is bigger then the whole of dragon age 2!" That was funny.

yeah that comment includes all the dlc as well, and at pax prime the guy went on to say the area was larger then most of DA:O (I think it was 3/4 the size of the whole original game) so yeah think skyrim big maps.

 

[neppakyo]

Hahaha, nice selling feature. "Bigger than all of DA2!!! omg guys, we're serial!"

So basically they're saying is big large brown and grey areas that are sparsely populated. No thanks, I'll wait for a good game, called The Witcher 3.

 

[luvd1]

The game atleast looks bearable.

But hey, its still pre alpha, who knows they could still make a retarded decision to include parachuting enemies, copy paste areas to drag the game out/be lazy, and retcon characters back to life because they felt like it!

Maybe if they include those the escapist will call it the pinnacle of RPGs again

Nope, still can't make it pass that bit. People are starting to look at me oddly.

Well come on, its not really that hard to do! The game had, what, 5 or 6 different areas total, just copy and pasted over the whole of the game? (its an exageration DA2 fanboys, I know there were more than 6 maps)

Let's face it. A gnats bum hole is bigger then DA2.

 

[Ishigami]

The BioWare hate is still in full swing I take it.

I like it. Tactical view and the equipment for companions is back. The open world always suited this sort of game so I?m glad BioWare is finally there. Visuals are nice for a BioWare game as well.
Too bad they didn?t show the PC interface. Additionally the interface all in all resemblance DA2 a little too much. I always thought the interface was a little bit ?disconnected? as it didn?t belong to a fantasy RPG.
Different enemy types and tactics are nice addition as well. After all aside from ?get the mage first? there wasn?t really much tactic to the fights.
Yea looking good.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

What console is this for? the XOne?
Never played the first 2. Only a demo of DA2 and the horrific voice acting put me off straight away. Is Origins any better?

 

[INVALIDUSERNAME]

Visuals look great, game itself looks big as fuck. Let's just see how it pans out next year.

 

[Lokoloshe]

Looks promising though we´ll have to wait and see. Still a year at least before release.

What has me kind of excited it that it seem your decisions will actually impact the world. It always annoys me in games such as Skyrim and Kingdoms of Amalur when your actions (even stopping a war) seem to have very little impact on the world you are inhabiting.

One of my favorite moments in DA:O was leaving that one town (forget its name) to its fate only to come back later and seeing all the destruction brought about by you not helping.

 

[Adamantium93]

What console is this for? the XOne?
Never played the first 2. Only a demo of DA2 and the horrific voice acting put me off straight away. Is Origins any better?

Considering DA2 was released for Xbox360, PS3, and PC, its safe to assume that the same systems (or their next gen counterparts) will all be getting this game.

The general consensus is that Origins is far superior to DA2 (they're almost completely different games tbh). The voice acting isn't any better (also the main character has no voice acting, in classic RPG fashion) but it is a game with a great deal of depth and a lot of choice in how you tackle problems (unlike DA2 where choices all ended the same way).

Its incredibly absorbing if you're into those kinds of RPGs. It certainly is a time sink, but despite its length it still keeps you glued to it.

That's not to say its a perfect game, but if you're a fan of classic RPGs like Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, or Knights of the Old Republic than you'll probably enjoy DA:O.

 

[FinalDream]

This looks good to me, and I enjoyed DA2! Easily one of the games I am looking forward to next year. Graphics have never been the series strong point but even under shaky cam conditions, they looked a huge improvement for the series.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

What console is this for? the XOne?
Never played the first 2. Only a demo of DA2 and the horrific voice acting put me off straight away. Is Origins any better?

Considering DA2 was released for Xbox360, PS3, and PC, its safe to assume that the same systems (or their next gen counterparts) will all be getting this game.

The general consensus is that Origins is far superior to DA2 (they're almost completely different games tbh). The voice acting isn't any better (also the main character has no voice acting, in classic RPG fashion) but it is a game with a great deal of depth and a lot of choice in how you tackle problems (unlike DA2 where choices all ended the same way).

Its incredibly absorbing if you're into those kinds of RPGs. It certainly is a time sink, but despite its length it still keeps you glued to it.

That's not to say its a perfect game, but if you're a fan of classic RPGs like Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, or Knights of the Old Republic than you'll probably enjoy DA:O.

RPGs are generallly agreeable for me, if they are well made. Very much liked KOTOR, i shall probably check out origins once i get the spare time Thanks for the advice!

 

[Quazimofo]

I like it. Tactical view and the equipment for companions is back. The open world always suited this sort of game so I?m glad BioWare is finally there. Visuals are nice for a BioWare game as well.
Too bad they didn?t show the PC interface. Additionally the interface all in all resemblance DA2 a little too much. I always thought the interface was a little bit ?disconnected? as it didn?t belong to a fantasy RPG.
Different enemy types and tactics are nice addition as well. After all aside from ?get the mage first? there wasn?t really much tactic to the fights.
Yea looking good.

Agreed. I like how this is turning out so far. I'm a little sad that the keep management isn't as extensive as it was implied way back when it was announced, but I also REALLY like the having multiple keeps and bases and the like scattered around the land. The distribution of resources for direct and implicit gains is also pretty good. Sure capping the vents gives you sulphur, but it ALSO opens up an area!

I hope though that they put consistent timers on choices though. By that I mean something like the defend the village or defend the keep situation. Have a solid timer so someone could try finishing up the village attackers very quickly then proceeding to the keep or vice versa, rather than having an ista-fail for one objective if you attempt the other. I don't expect the "perfect solution" to be easy or immediately apparent, but I dislike it being explicitly impossible. If someone is good enough to do both options in the given time limits, let them! Or at least make the time limit short enough that there is a sense of urgency to pick one or the other, rather than having it be rather leisurely as soon as you decide which you want to do.

And it's worth noting the combat looks MUCH improved over DA:O and markedly better than DA 2: fast enough that the tactical map is necessary, slow enough it's not a mash fest, and with enemy variance that requires alternate tactics besides "kill the caster immediately, keep the big guy in place with wizard crowd control while you wipe the little guys, then focus fire the big guy". I hope there is more enemy variety to be shown as we come nearer to release, but it is looking promising so far.

The way the guy pitched it was annoying though. No, I do not have absolute control. Such a thing is impossible without giving me the dev kit. I have a variety of choices to make. Don't over-sell it. The guy seemed to be reaching for buzzwords throughout the presentation, like a nervous high-school student doing a product presentation for the first time.

 

[Karadalis]

Hrm.. add big monsters that you can scale and the combat definatly looks like dragons dogma... not that this is a bad thing.

About their claims for size of the maps... yeaaaaaah... bold and most likely untrue but hey... bioware has claimed alot of things that turned out to be big fat lies in the past right? *cough*masseffect3*cough*

Graphics wise its nice enough to look at and fits with the artstyles of both Origins and DA2

What leaves to be seen is if they will be able to pull off this "decision" making off rightly.

In the example with the village being burned down i really saw no reason to sacrifice it... seemed that the keep was able to fend for itselfe long enough for them to arrive there, especialy if they hadnt taken the route through the cave and instead went directly to the keep.

All you really need to do it seems is make sure that you have the apropriate or higher then necesary level for the event and you can save everyone.

Also for a game thats called "Dragon Age" the dragons get the short end here... they are pictured as mindless natural hazards that fill in as mid bosses then rather the creature that a whole age is named after.

I would have wished for a more nuanced aproach to the whole dragon issue.. like being able to make costly alliance with them or engage otherwise in diplomacy with them. But nope... either you get rid of them and get the loot or you leave them alone and have them terrorize the countryside.

To bad.. would have been an interesting opportunity to explore the dragons of DRAGON age a bit more besides "fire breathing winged lizard.. go kill for phat l00tz!"

 

[otakon17]

"Poorly recieved predecessors"? Only Dragon Age II sucked. Origins was pretty acclaimed, overall.

Thank you, glad someone beat me to it. As for the video itself... haven't watched it yet. I'll be back in 30 minutes or so.

 

[ecoho]

Hrm.. add big monsters that you can scale and the combat definatly looks like dragons dogma... not that this is a bad thing.

About their claims for size of the maps... yeaaaaaah... bold and most likely untrue but hey... bioware has claimed alot of things that turned out to be big fat lies in the past right? *cough*masseffect3*cough*

Graphics wise its nice enough to look at and fits with the artstyles of both Origins and DA2

What leaves to be seen is if they will be able to pull off this "decision" making off rightly.

In the example with the village being burned down i really saw no reason to sacrifice it... seemed that the keep was able to fend for itselfe long enough for them to arrive there, especialy if they hadnt taken the route through the cave and instead went directly to the keep.

All you really need to do it seems is make sure that you have the apropriate or higher then necesary level for the event and you can save everyone.

Also for a game thats called "Dragon Age" the dragons get the short end here... they are pictured as mindless natural hazards that fill in as mid bosses then rather the creature that a whole age is named after.

I would have wished for a more nuanced aproach to the whole dragon issue.. like being able to make costly alliance with them or engage otherwise in diplomacy with them. But nope... either you get rid of them and get the loot or you leave them alone and have them terrorize the countryside.

To bad.. would have been an interesting opportunity to explore the dragons of DRAGON age a bit more besides "fire breathing winged lizard.. go kill for phat l00tz!"

ill tell you this they had the alpha at pax prime and the guy ran not walked ran for 10 mins just to show how big the lvl was and he didn't even make it halfway(this could be good or bad but I assume they'll have fast travel or horses to lessen the time sinc)