Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah recently explained a few reasons why the company has never moved forward with Dragon Age remasters/remakes, at least one of which may have been EA’s refusal to directly fund them. If BioWare were to remake the first three Dragon Age games, or even just one of them, it would need to be done with the funds already granted to them (for other projects). How, and if, this plays into EA’s reported favoritism of Mass Effect over Dragon Age remains up in the air, but we’re setting that aside today, for now.
There are plenty of reasons EA and BioWare should give Dragon Age the Mass Effect Legendary Edition treatment; if they are too busy, there are plenty of other studios who could and would do right by this beloved video game IP. I could expand this list to 1000 reasons, but to be frank with you, I’m not sure our CMS could handle it. But call me Andrastian again because I am slapping these 100 reasons on the door of the Chantry, the door of BioWare, and the door of EA (digitally, of course). No, the numbers are not weighted in any sort of way.
There are SPOILERS mentioned here and there for all four mainline Dragon Age games.
100
Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Right
In the past, any renewed work on Dragon Age: Origins has been described as hard, if not downright impossible, because of its Eclipse Engine. It won’t be easy, but anything worth doing is worth doing right. You can’t, nor should you, shortcut this work. It’s important to me and so many other people, but all of this is exactly why it is worth it. You can go for the easy layup, or you can fund the challenging work. Everyone knows it is difficult, so pulling it off is much more impressive than the standard remaster or remake. I’m not going to pretend to know all the intricacies of game development, as anyone on the outside looking in can’t ever really know, but whatever hardships it presents sounds like a damn challenge to me. Backing down from challenges isn’t what gamers do, so the challenge alone should make the endeavor worthwhile.
99
Let’s Not Pretend Sports Aren’t as Nerdy as Dragon Age
Another reason Mark Darrah mentioned that EA’s corporate people cannot understand Dragon Age is that they don’t understand if it has mainstream appeal because it is “super nerdy” and not very “attractive-looking.” All I really have to say to that is look at what became of Baldur’s Gate (BioWare made the first game back in 1998, just in case that was forgotten), but there’s more here. Part of this is attributed to EA’s massive sports catalog, because they certainly understand that, but sports are nerdy. If you don’t understand the appeal of Dragon Age because of sports, it’s because you refuse to connect the two on their most fundamental level. To speak Alabama for a second, you get a bunch of Alabama and Auburn fans in a room on game day, there’s going to be food, there’s going to be yelling, there’s going to be fights (potentially even fistfights), you are going to have player debates, you are going to have community through all the hardship at the end of the day. That’s what makes sports so special to many fans; yes, the content matters, the games matter, the team matters. But all of this is nerdy because it’s what we nerds do.
You get a bunch of Dragon Age fans together, and we don’t even need a game day/release date/more than concept art. We claimed a tree well before Dragon Age: The Veilguard was properly revealed. We will yell out lovingly and passionately over story arcs and characters. I will defend Anders like he plays for the Crimson Tide, and I know people who will defend Blackwall like he plays for Auburn. You argue over GOATs; we argue over Eggs (Solas); and there’s never the promise that fists won’t fly. You crunch numbers to look at stats and fantasy football; if those numbers ain’t some kind of character bonus, we don’t even want to look at them. Debates are everywhere on both sides of the fence, but at the end of the day, it is a community of diehard fans. You get seasons every year to feed your fandom; we get subtle remarks, images, voice lines, trees, and still make it work.
(This also just happens on the internet because a lot of us are chronically online.)
98
If You Make a Game for Everyone, You Make a Game for No One
“But Joshua, that’s still not mainstream appeal.” Sure, maybe, a few million people—with Dragon Age: Inquisition selling 12 million copies—isn’t enough for you, but I am going to direct you back to the adage of “if you make a game for everyone, you make a game for no one.” We can talk mass market appeal and need every day of the week, but sometimes, you just have to make video games for the people who want them. I want more Dragon Age; I will always want more Dragon Age. You are directly appealing to people who want this game, meaning they are more likely to buy it. You can win over the skeptics by doing it right.
97
Remaster or Remake?
Two wildly different questions (though presume I am shooting for the fences and going with the second for most items on this list), but even then, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition has the answer for that. The first game received the most work because it needed it the most; Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 may need the most work, while just enhancing Inquisition. There is a similar balance there, to some degree, at least. Either way, informing fans of this info went over well with the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. The same could be said of a proper Dragon Age collection.
96
Customization Improvements
You ever make the Inquisitor under that green light, step into the cutscene with Cassandra, and realize how different your character looks? It would be awesome for a remake/remaster to improve this area because it is one that fans love so much. Dragon Age protagonists are near and dear to everyone’s hearts, and any improvements to their appearances would go far. There’s a big selling point!
95
Ain’t Some of This Work Already Basically Done?
Need to improve Redcliffe in Dragon Age: Origins? Hey, luckily, that exists in Dragon Age: Inquisition. I’m sure not everything applies, but there are more modern elements that could easily be worked into modernizing the original games.
94
Dragon Age Has a Legacy
There is a lot of talk about game preservation, and that’s not going away. Dragon Age has a legacy as one of the hallmark RPGs from one of the hallmark studios in all of RPGs: BioWare. If nothing else, that history should be more easily accessible today. We learn from history, and Dragon Age is a historied franchise worth celebrating.
93
Dragon Age is an Inspiration
Last year, I remember attending Gamescom and speaking with an indie developer who had Dragon Age: Origins installed on a PC. The franchise has been an inspiration for developers the world over, and it can still be that. New developers will be born out of gamers today, and Dragon Age should be there for them as it was for others. A remake makes that much easier to accomplish.
92
New Engine = New Possibilities
One of the biggest stopgaps for this is the Eclipse Engine, of which few BioWare veterans may even know how to operate. That’s partially why a remake feels necessary. And while that is one already-mentioned hump to overcome, bringing Dragon Age: Origins onto a new Engine means easier future opportunities for the franchise too. Might I even suggest looking at how Oblivion Remastered works? I’m not sure whether that would work, honestly, but Oblivion Remastered understood the line it had to walk between modernizing and preserving the roughness around Oblivion‘s edges.
91
Money
Let’s talk your language. What else are you going to do with the IP? Let it sit around and collect dust when I would break the bank to make sure I am there on day one. There is a way to get reasonable profits.
