Ex-Dragon Age Producer Mark Darrah Reveals What He'd Change in Every Game, Including Cutting the Fade and Adding the Keep

Mark Darrah, former executive producer on the Dragon Age series, has shared what he would alter about BioWare's cherished fantasy franchise after over two decades at the studio.

Darrah held director or executive producer roles on all Dragon Age titles, but left the company in 2021, well before Dragon Age: The Veilguard's final release. He later returned as a consultant in 2023 to help finish the game.

In a TikTok Q&A, Darrah looked back at the franchise's four main entries and discussed what he would remove or add if he could remake each one.

Starting with Dragon Age: Origins, Darrah said he would be inclined to cut or significantly trim the dream sequence in the Mage Tower, the lengthy trip into the Fade that he admitted felt like "filler." He added: "It's not great content, and it was definitely done pretty fast in the end." On the flip side, he would have liked to include more character options, such as another human origin and possibly the Avvar.

For Dragon Age 2, Darrah would rework the ending, where players must choose between the templars and the mages. Regardless of the choice, things end badly for the mages' Orsino, while templar leader Meredith is vindicated, making the decision feel hollow. "[I'd change it so] if you side with the mages that you don't fight Orsino," Darrah explained. "Because essentially it makes Meredith right. My feeling is Dragon Age 2 ends with, no matter what you choose, Meredith is right because the mages lose control."

Turning to Dragon Age: Inquisition, Darrah unsurprisingly would tighten the critical path—the main story missions—to speed up the pacing and reduce time spent in the infamous Hinterlands. He also suggested cutting an entire zone, as the game felt unnecessarily bloated. "I'd probably cut Hissing Wastes maybe, or one of the big levels," he said. "It's too big. And the other thing I would change is to dramatically reduce the amount of power you need to go on crit path missions. That's there for not super great reasons, and I think you could cut it by 40-60% and the game would just be paced better. Also, to make sure you ship with the thing we added later which tells you to leave the first level and actually go into the game." Most players would likely agree with that last point.

Finally, for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Darrah had a simple addition in mind: "I would add the Keep," he said, referring to BioWare's cloud-based tool that let players import their choices from previous games. "I told them to. It wouldn't take... that much. I mean, it would," he admitted. As for what he'd remove from Veilguard, Darrah didn't have an answer.

So what's next for Dragon Age? Apparently not much. BioWare is now a single-project studio, fully focused on the next Mass Effect game, which is still years away.