Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Can’t Leave the Original Games Behind Entirely

While BioWare might be keen to ensure Dragon Age: Dreadwolf appeals to players both new to the series and long-time fans, it could be detrimental to the fourth Dragon Age game to ignore its origins. Despite its reputation as a developer for creating complex, player-driven narratives spanning multiple games, BioWare has assured players that understanding the original Dragon Age trilogy won’t be required for DA: Dreadwolf. However, between Dragon Age: Inquisition’s DLC ending with Solas’ twist reveal and DA: Dreadwolf’s various trailers, it doesn’t seem possible for the upcoming game to deny its position as a direct sequel to this ongoing narrative.

But since BioWare appears to acknowledge that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is still dependent on the earlier games, its accessibility to new players shouldn’t completely overshadow the continuation of the series’ story. Already DA: Dreadwolf’s trailers have seemed to tease the return of characters like Varric Tethras from Dragon Age 2 and DA: Inquisition alongside Solas, something fans of the series could take as an assurance that BioWare will keep its word. Yet, with little else confirmed about the upcoming game beyond a few key characters and locations, there is still a risk that DA: Dreadwolf could stray too far from the original games for long-time fans.

The Larger, Interconnected Story Behind Dragon Age

Though each Dragon Age game has established its own story with bespoke heroes and villains, the series is still best experienced as a whole, starting from Dragon Age: Origins up to Inquisition‘s final Trespasser DLC. Much like BioWare’s work on other games, including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur’s Gate, and, in particular, Mass Effect, one of the defining features of the Dragon Age series was how player choices shaped the story, characters, and world at large. As a result, these decisions will even impact future games.

By extension, this means there has been a larger, overarching story unfolding throughout the Dragon Age series, a narrative that seemed to converge in its most recent game, DA: Inquisiton. For instance, as the series’ first game, DA: Origins introduced key world-building elements ranging from the Grey Wardens, Blights, and Darkspawn, while its sequel added new depth to the socio-political turmoil between Dragon Age‘s various playable races, classes, and factions. DA: Inquisition saw these narratives come together between Corypheus, its Darkspawn antagonist, and stronger divisions between magi and both the Templars and the Qunari, with Solas leading a potential Elven uprising in its Trespasser DLC.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Has To Continue This Story

Since DA: Inquisition has brought many of these narratives into a larger, interconnected story, it seems that DA: Dreadwolf will have no choice but to continue to build on Dragon Age‘s previous games. Considering that the sequel’s subtitle takes after Solas’ given name, the “Dread Wolf,” and DA: Dreadwolf‘s expanded setting will likely include Tevinter and Anderfels, which connect to the Qunari and Grey Wardens, distancing Dreadwolf from the original games could be detrimental, especially for players who have kept up with Dragon Age so far. No matter how determined BioWare might be then, a compromise between DA: Dreadwolf‘s accessibility and overarching story is inevitable.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Could Conclude This Story

A more radical solution might be for DA: Dreadwolf to bite the bullet and bring the franchise story to an end. Though this might risk losing the more particular Dragon Age fans, it may be better in the long run for DA: Dreadwolf to tie up the series’ loose threads from the original games and provide a final, climactic conclusion to a story more than a decade in the making. Ultimately, long-time players can be rewarded for their loyalty to the series and, following DA: Dreadwolf, BioWare can work on new Dragon Age games open to players both new and old.