14 DAY TRIAL // Dragon Age: Inquisition Creative Director Mike Laidlaw believes that the new role-playing game is going to impress fans with its romance options as they focus on delivering genuine affection and systemic reactions to the things that happen in the story.
Most BioWare titles, including the past Dragon Age games, have delivered some form of romance options, allowing players to gain the affection of different characters during a playthrough. However, with the upcoming Inquisition, the studio wants to take things further and explore genuine affection between players and their virtual friends.
According to Laidlaw, the new AI and friendship systems are built around the events in the actual game. The best example is after one of the few sprawling dragon fights. Party members who participated in the slaying might want to go out for a celebration, while those who stayed in the Keep might not partake in these events.
"And suddenly it’s a friendship moment, or maybe more. Maybe there’s flirting, who knows? It all depends on that state. It’s reacting to what happens in the game," Laidlaw tells IGN about the specific example.
What's more, Inquisition will eliminate the gifts seen in previous titles, which could be given to allies in order to improve their friendliness and ultimately lead to the consummation of that romance option. Instead, players will be able to go through some unpredictable moments.
"Let’s not have gifts that buy affection. Let’s not have [consummation] be the end goal. Let’s instead try and reach for something that’s like genuine affections and let you go up and say, 'Hey you, we’re going to kiss now.' And let players enjoy that, and feel like, yeah, that’s a real thing."
In order to achieve these things, the Dragon Age team has laid out certain plot lines and forged the reactions of each character to them, so that they feel genuine and different from one another. One character might enjoy a certain quest being completed, while others might be annoyed or indifferent.
"What the writing team has done is they’ve laid out certain beats which could cause reactivity," Laidlaw added. "That’s something I think the writing team’s done a really good job of. Playing with your expectations to some degree, and none of them feel the same."
Dragon Age: Inquisition will allow for plenty of romance options, as most players, no matter their gender or race, will be able to interact with their party members and allies.
