The Game Awards combines accolades, exciting announcements, and industry news to make a must-watch experience. Among the abundance of reveals at The Game Awards 2021 was the announcement of a new title from former Dragon Age developer Aaryn Flynn. During this announcement, Flynn took to the stage to explain a bit more about the upcoming game. A trailer soon followed, and players got a look at Nightingale and its action-adventure elements.
While the title will be a shift away from the formula of previous BioWare games, the developers have stated Mass Effect and Dragon Age, plus standalone titles like Anthem, will be inspirations for Nightingale. At first glance it may seem like the 2022 game doesn’t have much in common with any of these titles, but the ex-BioWare devs have outlined some key aspects that are important tenets in previous releases.
How Nightingale Draws From Mass Effect and Dragon Age
On the surface, Nightingale doesn’t appear to have anything in common with previous BioWare titles like Dragon Age or Mass Effect. The setting, core mechanics, and genre are all different from larger BioWare series, and with so many differences it’s hard to see where Flynn and Inflexion Games will be taking inspiration. But there are several major features informing the development of Nightingale that are taken from previous BioWare titles.
One thing that several BioWare series are known for is storytelling. The Mass Effect trilogy sees Shepard unite the galaxy to take on the Reaper threat, garnering praise by fans and provided the beating heart of the games. While Anthem followed an online multiplayer model, its gameplay was still tied together with a plot that threaded through its fast-paced action and provided insights into Coda’s history. The Dragon Age series is a textbook example of an in-depth fantasy world with nuanced socio-political struggles and centuries of lore. While Nightingale won’t have quite the same structure, Flynn insists a focus on worldbuilding and lore will run throughout the game.
The morality system in games like Mass Effect will also be used as an inspiration for some elements in Nightingale. While not copying the mechanic exactly, Nightingale will have an emphasis on player choice, with gamers able to decide on different approaches to combat that will have consequences for their characters. Nightingale will be full of such choices that have real weight and effects on the in-game world, adding a layer of depth to the classic survival-crafting formula.
Nightingale will also strive to give players a sense of place amid the vast areas they explore. The city of Nightingale is the “last haven of humanity,” and serves as a supposed safe zone for players as they attempt to find their way to it. It appears to have a similar function to locations like the Normandy or the Citadel in Mass Effect – an area with narrative significance that acts as a familiar base with potentially emotional resonance as the game progresses.
What Is Known About Nightingale So Far
The magical city of Nightingale is a human hub world with a seemingly similar function to Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Skyhold. The game will have first-person combat as well as resource management, crafting, and elements of habitat construction. Although the wildernesses players need to traverse will be largely wild and uninhabited, there will be NPCs dotted around to give out quests and provide in-game lore that helps with worldbuilding. There will be a variety of enemies that players will encounter, from towering giants to smaller creatures in the lands of Fae. Players can travel through forests, deserts, and swamps as they construct their own communities and craft tools to survive.
Nightingale is coming to PC in 2022.
