Dragon Age: Inquisition
It will feature the return of characters from previous Dragon Age installments, including Varric “Chest Hair” Tethras, Morrigan, and Leliana – some as playable party members! There will be 50 hours of play in the main storyline, plus side quests! Supposedly one level of DA:I will be the size as the entire map in DA:II. Be still, my revving hard drive.
I am somewhat skeptical to see resource management take precedence in what is first and foremost a medieval RPG with zombies. Training minions was my least favourite part of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Revelations, so if I have to keep switching to a world view of this to micromanage Inquisition resources that would be really immersion-breaking.
Aside from that, I’m pretty stoked about the characters revealed so far. No longer will we be leading a ragtag bunch of misfits – this time, the companions are (for the most part) skilled and established warriors, mages, and rogues who join the Inquisition out of a sense of duty or ambition instead of desperation.
Conclusion: SO STOKED
Mass Effect 4
I love Mass Effect and was disappointed when the trailer consisted of misty eyed developers talking vaguely about how awesome ME4 is going to be, alongside some concept art of figures in N7 armor. Krogans also have horns now.
Of course the developers also say “I think that fans of the series are going be surprised at just how far we’re going.” This doesn’t bode ill at all.
How will Bioware manage to work in the consequences of Mass Effect 3? Obviously it would be impossible to follow the Reaper invasion up directly – or even in the distant future, since each ending is radically different – despite what detractors might claim about the endings differing only in colour of explosions.
My personal theory is that Mass Effect 4 will address colonization of other galaxies following the abandoned allusions to “dark energy” in Mass Effect 2 and 3.
Conclusion: excited but afraid. Very, very afraid.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Set between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, Talion is a man who is possessed by a Wraith who rises from the dead to avenge the murders of his family. I’m not sure where in Tolkien’s universe this fits, or to what end: we already know that Sauron’s forces cannot be defeated until the end of The Return of the King.
Anyways, the devs really like to demonstrate the uniqueness the enemies in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. It uses a new Nemesis system which generates different traits (e.g. cowardly, immune to stealth) for each enemy, and couples them with player interactions. As a result, each orc has a personality, strengths, weaknesses, and a memory. An enemy will bear scars of their past encounters with the player, and may grow more powerful and learn new immunities.
In theory it sounds cool. In practice, I’d probably just button-smash my way through the hordes. Those poor, under-appreciated devs.
Conclusion: unimpressed.
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