On September 25, BioWare revealed choices that will carry over from previous Dragon Age RPGs in the upcoming fourth game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Over the past decade and a half, the studio has largely positioned itself as, first and foremost, a maker of games where choices matter, and that spans multiple series. Both Dragon Age and its space opera franchise, Mass Effect, have given players universe-bending choices that have carried over between games through save data transfers and external apps that let you create your world state. In The Veilguard, however, only three decisions from previous games will carry over, and that worries fans about the sequel’s handling of continuity.

(spoilers for Dragon Age: Inquisition follow)

In The Veilguard, players will import three decisions below character creation phase. In this menu, you have the chance to create your version of the Inquisitor, the protagonist of 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition. Then you will be able to make three important decisions (or report what decisions you made in these situations while playing Inquisition) that will be reflected in the story: who did the Inquisitor romance, did they dismantle or maintain the titular organization, and are they still friends with Solas , the party member turned antagonist to The Veilguard? Given Sola and the Inquisitor’s past relationship, these will obviously play key roles in how that character reacts to events in The Veilguard, as you won’t be controlling them this time around. But given how many major events have happened over three previous games, fans are wondering how much, if any, impact their previous decisions will have on the story.

In an interview with IGNexplained Veilguard creative director John Epler that the cutback in imported choices was partly due to the fourth game being set in a remote region of its universe. Veilguard takes place in northern Thedas, while previous games were in the south. So maybe it doesn’t matter if you ended up with the traditional Cassandra or the more progressive Leliana as the leader of the church at the end of the Inquisition, because it happens elsewhere.

On its face, I buy that explanation for why a large amount of choices from previous games don’t seem to be addressed in The Veilguard. If BioWare doesn’t address these choices in any dialogue or codex entry, does it really matter what specifically happens elsewhere in the world? This approach worked for Mass Effect: Andromeda, which was set in a different galaxy than its predecessors, allowing it to carefully rewrite which of the galaxy-changing choices you made at the end of Mass Effect 3. What I and several other fans wonder about is how this will affect recurring characters in The Veilguard.

There are two main characters in this discussion: the Inquisitor and Morrigan, a party member from the original Dragon Age: Origins and an important supporting character in Inquisition. Both characters have been confirmed to return in The Veilguard and both were part of one of the biggest decisions in Inquisition. Near the end of the game there is a quest line where either the Inquisitor or Morrigan drinks from the Well of Sorrows. This magical well is said to hold elven knowledge, but it will come at a price. No matter which of you two drinks from the well, one of you is forever bound to Mythal, an elven goddess who has possessed Flemeth, Morrigan’s mother.

Flemeth appears to be killed and absorbed by Solas at the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition and the decades-long theory has been that Solas may have some sort of magical control over either the Inquisitor or Morrigan after being revealed as a traitor at the end of the game. Now, without the ability to import this decision into The Veilguard, fans worry that it could go absolutely nowhere, which is strange for a game that focuses on Solas and the Elven Gods. The lack of choices specifically referencing Morrigan is also strange given that she can have a son depending on whether the player romanced her in Origins or performed a ritual to have a child in the endgame. However, the inability to import any choices pertaining to her has surprised fans.

The Inquisitor, meanwhile, is one of the biggest question marks leading up to The Veilguard. BioWare has confirmed that the character will appear in the game (I may have spent a good 30 minutes trying to recreate mine in the character creator when I played the game earlier this month), but has been tight-lipped about what their deal is this time around. But the fact that you only answer three questions about their journey has fans worried about both the content of their role in The Veilguard and whether it’s possible for the game to represent all the variations the hero players have done over the years.

That’s a tall order, of course. But it’s understandably important to players, given that the conflict between the Inquisitor and Solas is one of the most personal in the series. (I’d even argue that they should still have been the main character in the game where you meet him, but I digress.) Now we’re going to meet a version of our old hero completely defined by BioWare’s writing team with very little input on our part. If the only questions about them we’re allowed to answer are “Who are they dating?” and “Are they still friends with Solas?” it doesn’t leave much room for nuance. There’s a question now if players who weren’t very invested in Solas will get a character that’s a little too different from their own Inquisitor for their comfort level.

But even if you don’t put the Inquisitor and Morrigan under a microscope, it’s doubtful that the only choices that seem to have any impact on The Veilguard come from the Inquisition. This might make sense in the context of the entire game, but it feels diametrically opposed to a series that once let you use an app to import every decision from previous games, big and small, into Inquisition.

While many fans are understandably concerned, others have been more understanding, saying that The Veilguard should focus more on new relationships and choices as they relate to new protagonist Rook rather than being overly referential. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach, hoping that when the game is actually out, those decisions will make better sense, or that those choices will come up in another Dragon Age project down the road.

Epler explains that when choosing which choices The Veilguard would import, the team wanted to choose details that could result in more than just a cameo and changed dialogue. I could see things like the status of the Inquisition and the Inquisitor’s relationship with Solas having big implications, but like many others, I’m surprised that some very important choices won’t be addressed in a game about these related characters and factions. My playthrough of The Veilguard felt like it had very strong connective tissue between the old games even without explicitly referencing my choices, but I never met Morrigan or the Inquisitor in my demo. I don’t know how I will feel about their roles when all is said and done. We’ll see how it all ends when Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches on October 31st.

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