BioWare was quite active during PAX 2013, making several Dragon Age: Inquisition announcements at its panels. The first was that the mysterious, martial Qunari race will be playable, joining humans, dwarves, and elves. As with all characters, Qunari can be male or female, marking the first time we've seen female Qunari in the series.

In a situation that sounds just a bit familiar, the world of Thedas is facing an unprecedented demonic invasion in Inquisition. The player character portrays an Inquisitor who is working to seal up the rifts in reality that are allowing demons to pour into the land. This won't be easy, as tensions between Templars and mages have finally boiled over and the two groups are currently engaging in an epic-scale civil war.

Dragon Age: Inquisition isn't a completely open-world game, but it contains explorable areas that are far larger than those found in previous series entries. In order to allow players to cross these large areas, mounts have been added to the game.

Players will open up new areas by conquering keeps that have been occupied by the enemy. These keeps will serve as home bases for the player and assist the Inquisition, but they must also be protected from attempts to re-take them.

A tactical camera, allowing for more strategic battle planning, will be available in both the PC and console versions of the game. Some hardcore RPG dynamics have been added back into the combat system, including a limited number of healing items and health pools that don't immediately regenerate after combat.

Here is a short gameplay video that was released in conjunction with these announcements: