BioWare is relying on the success of Dragon Age 4 more than ever. After the disappointing reception of Mass Effect: Andromeda and the even more financially disappointing launch of Anthem, the studio needs to get back on track with its flagship fantasy franchise if it’s going to regain the confidence of both its fans and its investors.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was the last ME franchise RPG released by BioWare, with it going on ice thereafter (but hopefully being revived now), and there are many things BioWare did in that game that the studio will need to avoid in the next Dragon Age to make the game a success. Here are just some of the ways BioWare can help Dragon Age 4 avoid Mass Effect’s disappointing fate.
New Races
One of the problems with Mass Effect: Andromeda was that the races of the Mass Effect universe were no longer the series-defining novelty they were in the first Mass Effect. The Turians, Asari, Quarians, and Salarians were completely unknown in the first game, which not only made the universe of Mass Effect feel like one worth exploring, but also encouraged players to get to know their companions of those races as a window into those parts of the setting.
By Andromeda, the squadmates of those races no longer draw the same interest. Most Mass Effect fans already know a decent amount about the Asari from the original Mass Effect trilogy, for example, leading the game’s Asari follower to be far less compelling in part because players have lesson reason to engage with them. It is likely for this reason that Jaal, part of a new alien race found only in the Andromeda galaxy, was by far the best received companion in the game, as engaging with him gave both personal and cultural insight into the main narrative and setting.
Dragon Age 4 will need to deal with the fact that Thedas is no longer as mysterious and compelling as it was back in 2009 when Dragon Age: Origins released. Players who have played through the first three Dragon Age games will be familiar with most of its established cultures and countries, and Tevinter risks feeling underwhelming as a setting if it feels to similar to locations in the previous game.
One way Dragon Age 4 could make itself more compelling is by adding new races. Some fans have speculated that BioWare may be setting up the Executors as a new race in Dragon Age 4, with their agents coming from “across the seas” and no character having been able to provide a first-hand account of their appearance. If BioWare does decide to introduce a new race, this could help make parts of the Dragon Age setting feel mysterious and compelling again, breathing new life into the series by hinting at the world beyond the familiar continent.
New Origins
Dragon Age 4 should include some new origins options that allow for a greater breadth of roleplaying opportunities in the game. The Descent DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisition implied that dwarves like Shaper Valta may be able to become mages or something similar through the power of the Titans. If that is the case, then players who begin Dragon Age 4 as a dwarven mage should have an Origins-style prologue which helps explain the new mages and their recent history within dwarven society as a basis for roleplay.
BioWare said in its recent Dragon Age Gamescom video that the story would be about “what happens when you don’t have power,” a turnaround from the Inquisitor protagonist of the last game. There are many different ways that a character can be powerless, however.
They could be a dwarven mage shunned by a society unused to magic wielders. They could be a Qunari who experiences life under the Qun in their introduction and is cast out at the end of the first act for breaking it. They could be an elf living in the Dales who is witness to the return of the elven god the Dread Wolf and feels compelled to act, or a human from Tevinter who shows what it’s like living without magical powers in a society run by mages.
The possibilities are huge, and they should be explored if BioWare wants each player’s story to feel as unique as it did in Origins. One of Andromeda’s problems was that, without much backstory work, Ryder felt a bit like a discount Commander Shepard as not enough was done to distinguish them. Similarly, the player character in Dragon Age 4 cannot simply feel like a new version of the Warden or the Inquisitor, but should have origins which give them their own unique story and makes the change of protagonist between games feel interesting rather than simply obligatory.
Rippling Effects
The controversial ending of Mass Effect 3 had such radical effects on the galaxy that, no matter which ending was chosen, Andromeda necessarily had to take place far away. However, as a result, it also made the choices made in the originally trilogy feel even less relevant.
Dragon Age 4 needs to ensure that when players enter in their choices for things like the new Divine, the outcome of the Mage-Templar War, and some of the other biggest and hardest decisions in Dragon Age, the effects cause some considerably differences in the story. In Inquisition, past choices usually only affected which characters appeared to fill in certain roles, such as whether the Grey Wardens are represented by Alistair or Loghain.
By this point in the series, however, choices from Dragon Age: Origins like who sits on the Throne of Ferelden should have had considerable effects and players should be able to at least hear of the long-term consequences of their actions in past games so that they can believe that their decisions in Dragon Age 4 matter. Whether or not Dragon Age 4 will implement any of these features, however, is up to BioWare. The franchise has a lot of heavy lifting to do as BioWare dusts itself off and prepares to try and stick the landing on the next generation of consoles. Whether it succeeds in doing so remains to be seen.
Dragon Age 4 is in development now.