Hey! Hallie here!
If I haven’t mentioned this before, I love video games. Criticize me as you will, but “Dragon Age: Inquisition” continues to be my favorite video game. So when I say that I squealed when we received a new teaser for the long awaited “Dragon Age 4” at Gamescom 2020, It’s definitely an understatement. Unfortunately, the teaser didn’t give much away considering the team isn’t very far into production. But that doesn’t mean we don’t know anything about the upcoming game! Here’s what we know so far (and a little bit of speculation to keep things interesting). SPOILERS if you haven’t played “Dragon Age: Inquisition”. Go do that. Right now.
Solas: Solas has long been confirmed to be the main antagonist of “Dragon Age 4”. This was hinted at from the release of the “Trespasser” DLC that served as an epilogue to “Dragon Age: Inquisition”. Whether your Inquisitor liked him, hated him, or even loved him (Damn, I’m so sorry), he leaves you after the events of the main game and appears to you in the DLC as almost a neutral party. He’s helping you, but only because he feels guilty that you will be suffering so much more later when he destroys the universe. Yeah. That’s kind of harsh. He isn’t just doing this for no reason, however. We know Solas now as the Dread Wolf, a perceived elven deity who freed elven slaves. He created the Veil, the barrier between the current universe and the Fade, or the spirit world, in order to protect others from the other elven deities, the Evanuris. But now Solas is guilty about locking away the Fade, and subsequently, the entire culture of his people. As much as bringing back his culture sounds like something to get behind, he makes very clear that bringing the Fade back into the world will result in the destruction of, well, everything. He might think it’s worth it, but I’m pretty confident in going with the “genocide is bad, no thanks” route. Solas has appeared here and there since, most prominently in the book “Tevinter Nights” where he expresses regret for his betrayal of the Inquisitor. But, nevertheless, he isn’t to be trusted, and if his dialogue in all of teasers we’ve seen so far is any indication, he won’t be so friendly when we see him next.
Tevinter: Once again we have something that has been hinted at us since the “Trespasser” DLC. At the end of the DLC, as the Inquisitor uses a map to decide where to look for Solas next, the Inquisitor places a knife in the heart of the Tevinter Imperium (Sorry to whichever mapmaker spent DAYS making that). This, plus the release of “Tevinter Nights”, seems to indicate that the story is heading in that direction. While it hasn’t been confirmed, some sharp eyes caught what looks like a very familiar Tevinter mage in some of the concept art released for “Dragon Age 4”. If you don’t know, I’m talking about Dorian, the best “Dragon Age” character of all time. The style. The sass. Tevinter has been a hot topic since the beginning of “Dragon Age”. It’s a nation known for it’s hierarchy of mages, enslavement of elves, and overuse of blood magic. It is also known for it’s hostility with the large and intimidating Qunari. It’s dark background makes it an interesting place for players to explore, and we know from Dorian that not all of those who live there are not to be trusted. Plus, Patrick Weekes, head writer of the new game, has emphasized that a main difficulty players will face will be corrupt leadership. What place has more corrupt leadership than Tevinter?
New Main Character: This might be surprising to some considering the Inquisitor’s strong ties to our main antagonist. However, “Dragon Age” has always been different from BioWare’s other major franchise, “Mass Effect”, in one major field. “Mass Effect” is the complete story of one main character where as “Dragon Age” is the conjoined stories of many main characters. In every game so far we have played with a new character: The Warden, Hawke, and then the Inquisitor. There is no indication that this formula will stop any time soon. So while the Inquisitor might appear just like Hawke did in “Dragon Age: Inquisition”, it’s likely that along with a new set of companions, we’ll see an entirely new main character. Honestly, I look forward to exploring a new customization system for my new character. As long as it isn’t anything like “Andromeda”.
New Romances: This is another reason why introducing a new main character in the new game makes sense. I like my Inquisitor with dreamy Cullen, but what is a BioWare game if you can’t explore a new romance? BioWare has become well known for the romance aspects of its games. In fact, the new teaser gave us concept art of some vague silhouettes and fans are already debating which ones they’ll be able to make out with. Don’t worry guys. BioWare knows what it’s fan base wants and has promised to deliver.
That’s about it so far. As you can see, it isn’t much. But it’s definitely enough to get us “Dragon Age” fans excited. I look forward to letting Solas break my heart all over again and I’m excited to see what new characters I’ll meet along the way. Hopefully I won’t get backstabbed by a mage all over again. That’s probably wishful thinking. Regardless, I will not-so patiently wait for the next update on this game when I can lose my mind all over again. And eventually, eventually, we’ll all get to sit down and play this amazing game.
Don’t do anything fun until I get back!
Hallie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 