Dragon Age: Inquisition, the next installment in everyone’s favorite ongoing BioWare dark-fantasy series, will feature a return a top-down “tactical” battle view.
This angle, which was the default in the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins but was strangely absent from Dragon Age II, freezes time and allows for a more comprehensive battle overview – allowing for more strategic and methodical gameplay. This is a stark contrast to the over-the-shoulder 3rd person view from the second game.
Perhaps due to the success of its sci-fi opera cousin Mass Effect, BioWare attempted a more action-oriented approach to combat in Dragon Age II. There was little sense of control though as your party members and Hawke, the player character, launched into increasingly elaborate canned animations, resulting in quite a mess.
The return to a more strategic play-style is a strong indicator, along with the game’s alleged massive world and the return of a variety of playable races, of BioWare’s willingness to listen to fan feedback after the lukewarm reaction to DAII.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is shaping up to be a real crowd-pleaser. It’s scheduled to be released for PC, current and next generation consoles in Fall 2014. Let us know in the comments if you’re happy to see the tactical view return.