Bioware loves to let players continue their characters from one game to another, as demonstrated by Mass Effect. But what about its other big franchise, Dragon Age? Both games in that series have been set in different places with different lead characters. Is there any point keeping those old save files, especially if the next game is on a next generation console?
Yes, is the simple answer, though Bioware is keeping schtum about the details. "We know what we want to do," producer Cameron Lee told the audience at PAX Australia. "It will absolutely come across - your decisions carry [and] will matter."
"The goal is that you can have an equally rich experience no matter which platform you're playing on," added writer Patrick Weekes, for those worried about picking up the third entry in the series on a different platform.
Community manager Chris Priestly also chipped in, reminding fans that while Mass Effect told the story of one character - Commander Shepard - the Dragon Age games can be more flexible, since they revolve around an entire world, rich in backstory. "There will absolutely be some ties to some of the previous games," he explained. "Maybe some of the books or that sort of thing that you'll recognise if you've played the previous games, but they're not going to be reliant on the previous games."
Dragon Age: Inquisition is in development now, using the same physics-heavy Frostbite engine used for Battlefield, and is expected to release in 2014 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, as well as other formats yet to be confirmed.