Dragon Age: Inquisitionhad some great companion characters, beautiful scenery, and a powerful depiction of the Mage-Templar War, which had been building sinceDragon Age: Origins. However, its approach to storytelling always meant that Inquisition was a bridge of sorts from the past to the future. This is something thatDragon Age 4will need to avoid.
IfDragon Age 4’s trailer from The Game Awards 2020 is anything to go by, the upcoming game could be walking down the same road. That said, there’s not enough to conclude this for sure, butDragon Age 4needs to be able to stand on its own two feet.
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Inquisition Bridging Past and Future
Dragon Age: Inquisitionmay have a compelling story at times, but it’s hard to argue that the game’s story is self-contained. The Inquisition is already seen to be in the early stages of reforming during the interrogation bookends toDragon Age 2, making it clear that the player character’s involvement was not necessary to the resurgence of the organization.Inquisition’s main villain is Corypheus, but it’s revealed towards the end of the game that the bigger threat comes from companion Solas, who is in fact the ancient elven deity known as the Dread Wolf.
As a result,Dragon Age: Inquisitionjust doesn’t feel like a self-sustaining story. Its final and most powerful moments, including many found in the game’s lastDLC, Trespasser, all rely on building up the threat of the Dread Wolf inDragon Age 4without giving any satisfying resolution to the Inquisitor’s story.
In part, this is because the story ofDragon Age: Inquisitionisn’t really about the Inquisitor at all. The player character is thrown into the role after a fluke causes them to get the “Anchor” on their left hand, a power which allows them to close rifts in the Veil that separates the material realm from the world of magic, known as the Fade. This instantly launches them to the top of the Inquisition as the newInquisitor, and though there are a few important choices which can be made inDragon Age: Inquisition’s story like choosing between siding with the mages or the Templars, both the start of the story and its ending decenter the agency of the Inquisitor entirely. The start of the game launches the character to the top of the Inquisition, and the ending reveals that, in part, they were being manipulated the entire time.
WithDragon Age: Inquisition,it’s hard to avoid the feeling that the main conflict is only a stepping stone towards something greater. As a villain,Corypheuscalls back toDragon Age: Origins' Darkspawn threat, while ultimately feeling like a tamer copy. As a future villain, Solas has yet to show his full hand.
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Comparing Inquisition And Origins
Compared toInquisition, the story ofDragon Age: Originsis almost entirely self-contained. There are a few residual questions, like what will become ofMorrigan and her Old God Babyif the player went through with her ritual instead of choosing a sacrifice to end the Blight. However, the potential for Morrigan’s child to do evil in the future feels more like the morally ambiguous cost of the game’s final decision, rather than a plot-point which necessarily needs resolving in a future game.
The Fifth Blight isOrigins' main threat, and at the end of the game, the Fifth Blight is unambiguously defeated. On the other hand, the reveal at the end ofInquisitionthat Solas plans to destroy the Veil, potentially wiping out all non-elven life on Thedas, immediately dwarfs the main conflict inInquisitionin terms of its stakes. The fact thatInquisitionleavesthe Dread Wolfplotline as a cliff hanger only serves to remind the player of the comparative weakness of the Corypheus plotline, while drawing attention to the lack of resolution for the game’s more interesting antagonist.
To make matters worse, it’s already clear thatDragon Age 4will have a completely new player character, which means that while the Dread Wolf plotline will be returning, the game will likely not be able to directly deal with the relationship built between theInquisitor and Solasover the last game, and the betrayal of trust revealed in the final act. AlthoughDragon Age 4will pick up on the broader Dread Wolf arc, it is vital that the game’s story feels self-contained from the perspective of the new player character. This new PC makes this entirely possible, but how the game handles player agency remains to be seen.
The Challenges Facing Dragon Age 4
Dragon Age 4cannot end with the promise of some greater, future conflict if it’s going to tell a satisfying story. It also can’t tell its story as if it’s just picking up where the last game left off. ThenewDragon Ageprotagonistwill need time to develop in their own right first, to find their own reasons to get involved in the Dread Wolf plotline, and to be given an opportunity to develop a unique relationship with Solas and his plans for Thedas' future. At the end of the game, it will be vital that the Dread Wolf plotline is completely resolved ifDragon Age 4is going to be as satisfying asOriginsand if the new game is going to avoidInquisition’s narrative missteps here.
In one sense,BioWarehas made creating a self-contained story forDragon Age 4a huge challenge for itself. The studio’s insistence on introducing a new player character with everyDragon Agegame has created a huge disconnect between what the player understands about the game’s world and what their player character understands. The studio will have to find a way to create a unique relationship between the new PC and Solas, without it feeling like the story is retreading old ground for fans who playedInquisition,but for now, fans have to simply wait and see.
Dragon Age 4is in development.
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