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Former Dragon Age Producer Mark Darrah Says What He’d Change in Each Game

By Freedom251 Team · · 3 min read

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Former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah has offered hindsight suggestions for all four released games: cut or reduce the Mage Tower dream sequence in Origins, rethink parts of Dragon Age 2’s ending and progression, trim Inquisition’s scale and Power gates, and add the Dragon Age Keep to The Veilguard. These are his opinions about past design choices—not announced changes or promises from BioWare.

Darrah shared the ideas in response to a TikTok prompt asking what he would remove from and add to each game, according to Jody Macgregor’s September 28, 2026 report for PC Gamer. The report covers Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

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What Mark Darrah would change in each Dragon Age game

Game Darrah’s proposed change
Dragon Age: Origins Reduce or remove the Mage Tower’s “Lost in Dreams” sequence; add another human origin tied to the Avvar in the Korcari Wilds.
Dragon Age 2 Change the forced endgame confrontation; add a few more levels and reconsider how the Act Two expedition is gated by gold.
Dragon Age: Inquisition Trim a large area such as the Hissing Wastes and lower the Power required to unlock critical-path missions.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Add the Dragon Age Keep; he did not have a good answer for what he would remove.

Dragon Age: Origins — shorten the Mage Tower dream

Darrah said he would be tempted to cut or substantially reduce the dream sequence in the Mage Tower’s “Lost in Dreams” quest. He described it as “not very good content” and “kind of filler,” adding that it was completed quickly late in development, as quoted by PC Gamer.

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His addition would be another human origin involving the Avvar in the Korcari Wilds. He also called that a costly addition. This is a retrospective wish, not evidence that the origin was a finished feature or that its production cost was formally estimated.

Dragon Age 2 — make the finale and expedition incentives fit player choices

The endgame confrontation

Darrah objected to the ending requiring a fight against both mages and templars regardless of the player’s alignment. PC Gamer points to the example of siding with Orsino and the Circle of Magi, only for Orsino to use blood magic and trigger a fight. His criticism is about how the game’s resolution undercuts the player’s chosen side.

More levels and a reason to do Act Two side quests

He said he would add “probably just a couple of more levels to use.” He also revisited the Act Two expedition economy: side quests were meant to help Hawke raise the gold needed for the expedition, but the critical path alone could provide enough. As he put it, “If you just do the crit path, the crith path gives you enough gold to go on the expedition so it kind of doesn’t work.” He suggested cutting a critical-path mission as one way to restore the incentive to complete side quests.

Dragon Age: Inquisition — reduce map sprawl and Power gates

For Inquisition, Darrah suggested trimming a large area, naming the Hissing Wastes as one possibility, and reducing the Power needed to unlock critical-path missions. He proposed a 40–60% cut to that Power requirement, saying the game would be paced better. That percentage is his design recommendation, not a measured finding or demonstrated result.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard — bring back the Dragon Age Keep

Darrah’s proposed addition was the Dragon Age Keep. PC Gamer quotes him saying, “Veilguard, the thing that I would add is the Keep. I told them to.” He joked that it would not take “that much” effort, then conceded, “I mean, it would.” The report says he had no good answer for what he would remove. His comment does not announce a planned update or confirm that the Keep will be added.

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These are retrospective opinions, not BioWare announcements

Darrah’s comments describe what he would change with hindsight. The PC Gamer report does not say BioWare has committed to those changes. It attributes the remarks to his response to a TikTok prompt; the original video is not linked in the report, so the quotations here are presented as PC Gamer reported them.

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