Summary
Dragon Age: Dreadwolfhas had a very quiet development cycle, with only a couple of teaser trailers to tide over fans waiting on news.Baldur’s Gate 3’s success as a CRPG, its mechanical and gameplay similarities toDragon Age: Origins, depth, and sheer volume of quality content without microtransactions has put even more pressure onDragon Age: Dreadwolf. The fourthDragon Agegame has to meet expectations after such a long development cycle, recent layoffs at BioWare, and a string of disappointments from the developer.
With six origin characters to choose from and a massive variety of races, classes, and subclasses, there aredozens of variations of potential characters to create inBaldur’s Gate 3. The Forgotten Realms are a diverse place, including not just Faerun but all the different planes including the Hells and the Astral Planes, all with their own inhabitants. The player gets introduced to the world through the party members, which needs to encompass a variety of classes to create a balanced party while adventuring.
RELATED:Why Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s Companions Will Be Its Most Important Feature
Gathering a Party in Baldur’s Gate 3
WhileBaldur’s Gate 3has received praise from critics and gamers alike, it has faced some criticism in regard to the balance of its companions. While there are far too many races in the world ofBaldur’s Gate 3to be represented across just 10 companions, classes and races were duplicated in favor of others that would have been welcome.
Despite there being 10 recruitable companions, there is a distinct disparity of representation across the board, with two druids, three humans, and two half-elves. None of the shorter races, such as dwarves, gnomes, or halflings are present, nor are there any dragonborn or half-orcs in the party.
TheBG3NPC Withers makes possible to respec companionsat any point, but the distribution of classes among companions is uneven, especially considering the two druids, and some players may not want to respec companions such as Wyll, Halsin, or Shadowheart as their class is closely tied to their background and story. Minthara adds some variety in being both a drow and a paladin, but many players will forego having her in their party because of the steep price to get her, demanding a very specific, ruthless playstyle that sacrifices several party members and includes some reprehensible choices in Act 1 that many won’t want to follow through with.
Why Companions Will be Important in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
One of the areasDragon Age: Dreadwolfcould improve onBaldur’s Gate 3is balancing its companions. The series is set to move away from southern Thedas to the northern nation of Tevinter, with new threats, politics, and cultures, and these need to be represented through the lives of the characters living there. To do so, there should be a companion with experience living under the Qun, a mage with experience living in Tevinter, a Dalish elf, a City elf, a dwarf with ties to Kal-Sharok, and so on.
These companions need to provide perspective on thenew cultures explored inDragon Age: Dreadwolf, but also provide an opportunity to give compelling arguments on new difficult situations, such as why anyone would want to join the Dread Wolf’s cause, or the ongoing Qunari war with Tevinter.
