Dragon Age: Inquisition is shaping up to be one heck of an ambitious step forward for the series. The game world will be much larger this time around, but BioWare has been quick to point out that calling it "open world" doesn't necessarily capture what the studio is going for.
Speaking with RPS, BioWare’s Mike Laidlaw explained why "multi-region" is a better descriptor for Inquisition's world. "'Open world' I think is a really loaded term because everyone immediately thinks of Skyrim and assumes everything will be exactly like Skyrim," he said. "In our case, there are extremely large regions you can explore."
He then went on to add:
It’s a multi-region game, which means that you’ll travelling with a world map. You’re travelling across this chunk of the continent in which the game is set. And each of the regions is purposeful. It has a reason you would be brought here. It ties back to the story, or at least to the overall themes of the game. 'These are my enemies and they’re very active here. I should find out why.'
That kind of stuff. That means that they aren’t necessarily laden with story, because story is the antithesis of discovery, right? It tends to lead you along. But when you’re discovering things, you should feel like they’re part of the overall game and not random. I would say that it has elements of open world for sure, but it’s something closer to the feel we had in the Baldur’s Gate games or in Origins, even, where it’s larger areas, big spaces, and the chance for you to move around and see a wide variety of different terrains and locales and so on.
What do you think of BioWare's approach? Does a "multi-region" experience sound more compelling than the alternative? Are you psyched for this game's release sometime next year? Sound off in the comments below and let us know.
