The Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo was held today, and because the BioWare Edmonton branch lives there (a.k.a the one that makes Dragon Age), Dragon Age III was there in a major way, and actual details about the game were revealed in a panel devoted to the newest Dragon Age title.
First off: a release timetable! They’re aiming for late 2013 people. Which is good, because most of the criticism for Dragon Age II is that the game felt rushed. Cinematic designer John Perry also said at the panel that DA3 has had a longer pre-production time than any of the other BioWare projects he’s worked on, which again can only be to the game’s benefit. It was also revealed that “one level in Dragon Age III is as big as all of the levels of Dragon Age II” which makes me so happy.
But what about character customization? And follower customization? This was also something that bothered players about Dragon Age II — you could buy upgrades for your followers but otherwise had no control over their look or their armour stats. Creative Director Mike Laidlaw confirmed that character customization was going to be even bigger than in Dragon Age: Origins, and that follower customization would be in this game. I’m not sure if this also means you will be able to alter follower appearances, though. As for the character itself, Lead Writer David Gaider said, “You will be human.” But it sounds like while you will not be able to choose your race, there will be different origin stories for the character, and they will impact the story significantly. However, these origin stories will not be playable.
One other exciting thing that was revealed at this panel by Laidlaw, as some concept art was being revealed: “Here’s a castle! And… *cough* you may or may not get to take it over.” To which my reaction is: !!!! Because there is nothing I like more than owning a palatial virtual homespace.
Other tidbits, via producer Cameron Lee’s Twitter: “It feels wrong not to have a little Flemeth in your game.” AND “You may see what happened to some [DA2 followers].
All that said, here are the concept images also shown at the panel, via the BioWare blog. Could that first one be Weisshaupt Fortress!?
