Here's what we've learned about the game so far:

1. You play as the leader of the Inquisition. Apparently this happens early on, as you're the last surviving witness to the mysterious "breach." You lead the Inquisition, shaping it from the ground up.

2. Multiple PC races are back. I suspected we'd only get to play humans, but Inquisition is bringing back Elves, Dwarfs, and Humans. This is one of a number of ways the team is trying to recapture the Dragon Age: Origins spirit after Dragon Age II ditched multiple races in favor of just humans. BioWare isn't saying if there will be other playable races like the qunari or not.

There won't be different origins, but all races will have their own unique pros and cons that can affect both gameplay and story.

3. The game will be fully voice-acted. Beyond that, you can customize your character as male or female and pick your own name. No more being confined to Hawke.

4. The Inquisition is independent. And since it's your baby, you can shape its trajectory. You can also determine where you'll investigate, who you will forge alliances with, and more.

5. You can lay siege to fortresses. The game is all about navigating the politics of the various political power centers in the world. You may be independent, but that doesn't mean everyone, everywhere will just let you in to peak in their private affairs. That's okay though, because you can do things like lay siege to stubborn lords' fortresses.

6. The Inquisition "levels up." Or, rather, it grows in strength and political power as you acquire new influence across the land. No word on whether this means you get your own fortress or not. I do wonder if this is a way for EA to slip in some multiplayer functionality. Play the multiplayer game or download the iPad app to further spread your organization's influence, etc.

7. Story follows exploration and the powering up of the Inquisition. The story of Dragon Age Inquisition is not linear. The world is apparently huge, with the Frostbite 3 engine allowing for huge levels and the game design promoting exploration across multiple kingdoms and major cities. Better still, the game's narrative progresses as your organization ratchets up its power. The way to do that is to explore as much of the game world as possible.

8. Choices, choices everywhere… BioWare calls this approach a "campaign" that hearkens back to old tabletop games, where things are still story driven but more open-ended. The idea is that you can approach the game how you want. Go hunt Fade shards, solve mysteries, help those in need, or solve mysteries. You have choices about how you approach the world, based on a common thematic framework.

9. The game isn't truly open-world, but its open areas are huge. They are also filled with little tidbits of lore and secrets that you can just stumble on, that might not even have anything to do with the broader story. And the new Frostbite 3 engine makes it all possible.

"I've been trying to drive exploration, something we used to have more of in our games," executive producer Mark Darrah told Game Informer. "It's something that, frankly, BioWare hasn't done in a while…In a lot of ways, I'd say we're a lot like what you saw in the Baldur's Gate series, with areas that existed in part just to be spaces that you went to, but they had a story of their own."

10. Mounts. Yes, you'll get mounts this time around, helping you traverse those huge levels.

11. Dragons. But there will be dragons and other monsters and oftentimes these won't be scaled to your level or anywhere close. Retreat and return later.

12. Balance. BioWare isn't making this a Skyrim-style open-world game. Like The Witcher 3, there will be balance between traditional BioWare-style storytelling and more "organic" story elements conveyed through exploration and environment. Striking this balance is crucial to the Inquisition team.

13. Manipulated environments and structures. You can use magic to restore a bridge, or convert an old outpost into an Inquisition-controlled base. The world is your oyster, in other words, or your pallet to paint the Inquisition's future. Opening up new areas by magically restoring a bridge sounds pretty excellent.

14. The game will be optimized for mouse-and-keyboard. PC gamers will have an optimized mouse-and-keyboard system, something left out of the second Dragon Age. Gameplay will be basically the same across all five systems, but next-gen and PC will look prettier.

15. Combat will be both tactical and action-based. BioWare is trying to hit the middle place between Dragon Age II and Origins where tactics do matter but the action and responsiveness is crisp and satisfying. I wouldn't mind this at all, as I enjoyed the tactical nature of the first game and the better animations and action-y feel of the second. Combine the two and we could have a really great combat experience on our hands. The sweet spot may be hard to hit, but I'm glad to hear that they're trying.

The AI also sounds more advanced, with enemies using strategy and not just mobbing individual characters. And you'll have the ability to set your own characters' AI and fully control each member of the party individually.

Actually, Game Informer's description of combat sounds really exciting, with deep strategic elements. They describe a fight where a fighter bashes off a dragon's leg-scales and then a rogue sneaks up and poisons the exposed area.

This reminds me that I think there's room for a separate co-op game here. If co-op is the multiplayer option we get, I'd be pretty happy.

Weather effects, day and night cycles, new demonic enemies, and much more are all coming to the third Dragon Age game, and I for one remain optimistic in spite of BioWare's recent issues. I know a lot of people are more cynical than myself, but I'm happy to be optimistic for the time being.