On February 4, a Reddit person by the title revanchisto shared purported screenshots and a short gameplay clip (opens in new tab) of Bioware’s upcoming Dragon Age sequel, Dreadwolf. Revanchisto has since taken their photographs and video down, however you’ll be able to nonetheless see a few of them stay on Twitter from person @mintsoir (opens in new tab), in addition to shared by the creator Felipe Pepe (opens in new tab). We’ve reached out to EA for remark and affirmation of the leak, and can replace this story once we hear again.
Trying on the leaked Dragon Age: Dreadwolf screenshots and movies, one recreation instantly jumps to thoughts: Stranger of Paradise: Last Fantasy Origin pic.twitter.com/rRmbGLEFx1February 5, 2023
Location Spoilers for Dreadwolf to observe
The extant gameplay clip and screenshots present an elf warrior rocking a sword and board combating by means of a stone vault. The UI signifies that that is Weisshaupt Fortress, the legendary dwelling base of the Gray Wardens within the Anderfels, far to the north of Origins’ Ferelden. That is shocking, but in addition not too far-off from Dreadwolf’s previously-confirmed setting of Tevinter, and I might see this Weisshaupt stage as a traditional Bioware Candlekeep/Endar Spire/Ostagar opening space separate from the remainder of the sport.
This unnamed elf warrior (what a suboptimal construct combo!) tangos with some Darkspawn-looking opponents, deploying a gnarly drop kick capacity in addition to a charged sword assault. The fight encompasses a nearer in third individual digital camera—not fairly God of Warfare (2018) shut, however nonetheless much more intimate than in Inquisition. The fight seems absolutely actionized, the sort of Soulslite dodging, blocking, and positioning from God of Warfare or, as Pepe factors out, Stranger of Paradise: Last Fantasy Origin. Your fight skills are mapped to controller face buttons similarly to Inquisition, and I additionally spy what appears to be a reprisal of Inquisition’s charging final capacity meter.
The model of Dreadwolf’s stock we see jogs my memory quite a lot of Inquisition or Dragon Age 2: it is very minimalist and summary, with clear strains and a sort of goopy, swirling cosmic background. A full 3D character mannequin stands between slots for armor, helmets, weapons, and equipment, with a few of these obscured by a tooltip popup for a “Related Templar Protect.” Curiously, it has a lore blurb connecting it to the Mortalitasi (opens in new tab) order of Thedas’ nation of Nevarra.
Again on Reddit (opens in new tab), Revanchisto describes this gameplay as displaying a Darkspawn assault on Weisshaupt, and says that it comes from a “form playtester” of this early construct. They describe the fight as being “fully actual time” and impressed by the God of Warfare reboot collection, with Mass Impact-style squad instructions as an alternative of direct social gathering management. Revanchisto additionally notes a “vastly improved” high quality of fight animations in comparison with Bioware’s earlier work.
This leak definitely seems authentic, a minimum of at this juncture, and it doubtlessly corroborates some Dreadwolf particulars from a current Insider Gaming (opens in new tab) report. Insider described Dreadwolf as nonetheless struggling to slough off among the stay service trappings from its early growth, however claims it adheres to a traditional Bioware marketing campaign construction, with an enormous give attention to constructing out a band of followers at a house base hub space. Insider additionally described a fight system according to what we see on this leak, saying it most intently resembles Last Fantasy 15.
dragon age dreadwolf leaks //gonna put the video beneath this tweet too pic.twitter.com/3NhpJy3hYvFebruary 5, 2023
We’re seemingly nonetheless some methods off from Dreadwolf’s launch or perhaps a first official gameplay reveal, however I am extra intrigued by this gameplay snippet than anything. I’ve seen quite a lot of doom and gloom about this “ruining” Dragon Age with motion fight or Bioware “turning its again” on some legacy, however I have been round lengthy sufficient to recollect the primary time Bioware “betrayed” hardcore RPG followers 20 years in the past with a beloved dumbed down, simple console RPG by the title of Knights of the Previous Republic.
Fairly frankly, whilst the corporate struggled with Inquisition, Andromeda, and Anthem’s world constructing, characters, and pacing, Bioware’s continued to be actually good at making motion RPGs, whereas by my reckoning the one really wonderful tactical social gathering experiences it is produced since Baldur’s Gate 2 have been Origins and, weirdly, Dragon Age 2’s Legacy (opens in new tab) growth. I am a Bioware half-full sort of man, and I’ve obtained quite a lot of hope for Dreadwolf in no matter type it takes. It additionally must be mentioned that it is not precisely honest to sentence a recreation based mostly on surreptitiously-acquired in-progress gameplay footage.
Extra worrying for me has been the corporate’s exodus of senior expertise (opens in new tab) in recent times, in addition to Dreadwolf’s reported preliminary focus as a stay service recreation. If something, I really feel like Dreadwolf’s moment-to-moment fight could not be in additional succesful arms, with this gameplay leak confirming that suspicion for me. I solely hope the staff is ready to endure this lengthy, seemingly troubled growth and ship within the character and story division. You understand, your cool circle of digital mates you’ll be able to have inappropriate office relationships with.
