Next ‘Dragon Age’ Game Likely To Change How Companions Are Controlled, Says BioWare Producer

While BioWare titles generally put players in control of a central protagonist, the developer also tends to let users recruit a team of companions to support the main character throughout the game. Beyond building relationships with these characters, Dragon Age and Mass Effect fans can also decide which team members will fight alongside them.

Once a party is selected, players have had varying options for directing them in the past that have included setting up automated tactics or even taking direct control of each character. However, it now looks like BioWare has plans to make some changes to how different party members will be controlled in the next Dragon Age game.

Fans of the series have already seen several changes to party controls with each Dragon Age installment. For example, the first Dragon Age game allowed users to choose from a wide selection of individual tactics for how each character would behave under certain conditions. For instance, players could choose when a character should take a potion, which enemy types should be prioritized based on remaining health, and more. Tactics were also seen in later Dragon Age titles, but they were less comprehensive and presented users with fewer choices as the game evolved in different ways.

After being asked if the more advanced tactics found in Dragon Age: Origins would ever be returning in future titles, Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah recently revealed that they are probably going to rethink how companions are handled in the next installment of the popular fantasy series. According to Darrah, the development team is “likely to take party control in a different direction.”

The Dragon Age series producer didn’t provide any hints on how, exactly, they will be changing party controls for future games but the development team is likely working out the details while the next Dragon Age title is being written. In fact, as the Inquisitr recently reported, BioWare already has a general idea of what might happen in the next two Dragon Age games.

According to Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw, the writing team likes to plot out the events of the of future installments so that they have some idea of where the franchise is going. While these are just rough plans, Laidlaw admits that even he doesn’t know how the series will end, so the Dragon Age story won’t likely conclude any time soon.

[Featured Image by BioWare]