Quick Summary of Info, I pulled from the forums.
-Wants to make the action less frantic and more deliberate, returning to more tactics-oriented approach to encounters. Big return to party-based tactics
-Part of that is slowing down speed of attacks, more important is designing enemies that force you to examine the battlefield and choose actions carefully
-Battles veer away from button mashing toward a structure where observation and reaction take precedence
-Instead of swarming enemies, your foes have specialized roles; work together and force you to size up the battlefield
-You won’t regularly see waves of new bad guys appearing out of nowhere to extend encounters
-PC gamers getting an optimized version; “PC actually is different, especially from a controls standpoint”, trying to “recapture the very tailored experience of DA:O on PC”
-Going from Eastern Ferelden to Western Orlais; repetitive environments are nowhere to be found in DAI like in DA2.
-Players aren’t just funneled down narrow corridors, the demo showed a bog, desert, a mountain range, all enormous and freely explored in third person.
-Lots of hidden things to find, caves, dungeons, corpses, etc that create other unique sidequests
-“Trying to drive exploration- something that frankly, Bioware hasn’t done in a while.” “In a way like Baldur’s Gate, areas that existed in part just to spaces that you went to, but they had a story of their own.”
-Want to make sure there a sufficient number of caves in the game that are each unique, and optional. If you have a mage in your group, you can use a spell to reassemble a crumbled bridge to reach a new area.
-Can also restore a ruined desert outpost into an Inquisition stronghold
-So much ground to cover that mounted creatures are implemented
-Monsters, and dragons for example, do not level up with you. Some are vastly more powerful, forcing you to come back later with proper experience
-Some environmental destructibility
-Warrior class has grappling chain that can pull enemies in close (eww makes me think God of War)
-Enemy scenario: Fighting a massive, armored dragon, you can target a leg, send warrior into melee range to bash off armor, rogue can sneak up and poison the exposed limb, dragon stumbles around allowing others to unleash spells etc (seems like improved cross class combo system)
-Weather effects can impact exploration, ex. Rainfall, desert sandstorms
-Rainy weather can make areas muddy, slowing down your traversal/agility in combat, while sandstorms can inflict damage causing you to seek shelter
-Both Varric and Cassandra also join you
-Working hard to make large areas interesting; slopes, rocks, elevations and your character has tailored animations for overcoming each. Ease of movement key.
-Morrigan is not a party member; not a cameo role though
-Collect resources/materials and craft armor for you and all your party members; heavy emphasis on customization
-Each armor retains a certain iconic look, but looks different on each character. They want the squadmates to each have an iconic look, but customize armor to tailor to each while retaining elements of that iconic look
-Your racial choice colors your interactions with others; for example elves may be persecuted in some parts, but an enclave of elves is more likely to open up to one of their own.
-Chantry/Templars don’t respect your Inquisition, you have “persuade” them through your own means. You can come across a fortress and if refused entry, you can lay siege to it and break down the doors. What you do from there is your choice.
-Hinting that you have a base of operations, maybe a castle to call your own
-Dialogue wheel returns, but the team has focused a lot on making the selections accurate to what your character says. They’ve now added an optional addition to the wheel that gives you better idea of what to expect
-A lot of loose ends will be resolved in the story; expect full resolutions to things like Red Lyrium, the activities of the Grey Wardens, and Flemeth, and also Morrigan
-Working very hard to ensure your saves/decisions will carry over to next-gen consoles (not sure how they plan on doing that or if it will matter if the pull another Anders/Leliana resurrection.
-No health regeneration after encounters (that's interesting. I really didn't expect that reminds me of the old school BG days. That or its means you'll always need a mage in party.)
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