The announcement of the release date for Dragon Age: Inquisition has brought the hype and excitement around the third instalment of the franchise to an all-time high. As someone who enjoyed both Origins and Dragon Age 2, I've kept a keen eye on developments and with pre-order's available and the game at a complete Alpha stage, I thought I'd put together what we know. Spoilers for the first two games (and books/comics) ahead, so be forewarned. A note: most of my information comes from a trio of Youtubers: Lady Insanity, Ability Drain, and gamermd83 (check them out!).
The premise has been out for quite some time (it's nicely recapped in the most recent trailer), but here's the gist:
A cataclysmic event plunges the land of Thedas into turmoil. Dragons darken the sky, casting a shadow over lands on the brink of chaos. Mages break into all-out war against the oppressive templars. Nations rise against one another. It falls to you and your allies to restore order as you lead the Inquisition and hunt down the agents of chaos.
The Inquisitor is male or female of any race (the only restrictions seem to be that the Elves must be Dalish and the Qunari must be Tal-Vashoth), who has the unique ability to close the tear in the veil (caused by an unknown antagonist). Four different voice actors were used for the lead (two male, two female, with British/American accents as the possibilities), so we can pick the one we like best (doing more voices than that is apparently impossible due to the amount of disc space that would be required). The game will take place in Orlais, Fereldan, and the Dales (the latter is a region between the other two countries), three years after the events of Dragon Age 2.
Players cannot directly import their saves from the previous games, but Bioware has set up a system (Dragon Age Keep) whereby those choices can be added into the game. For those who never played the previous titles or want a completely new start, the default background is: a Dalish Elf was the Hero of Fereldan (Origins) and died ending the Blight (Alistair becomes king), while Hawke is a mage (Dragon Age 2) and sided with them against the templars.
The Inquisitor (whose last names, dependent on race, have been revealed: Trevelyan (human), Lavellan (Elven), Cadash (Dwarven), and Adaar (Qunari)). He or she will have nine companions in addition to NPC's (judging from the final scene in the trailer, three NPC's are part of the main crew).
Some of these characters have been revealed, while others remain a mystery. The following companions and/or NPC's are confirmed (left to right): Cullen (DA1-2), Vivienne, Varric (DA2), unconfirmed, Solas, Cassandra (DA2), the Inquisitor, Iron Bull, unconfirmed, Leliana (DA1-2), Sera, unconfirmed, and unconfirmed. This leaves four unidentified characters. Two we can say something about: one appears to be Cole (from the novel Asunder; the first unconfirmed on the left), and another a grey warden (far right). This leaves two largely unknown characters: the male may be Dorian Pavus (also this link), but there are virtually no clues who the woman is ("scribe" is the most common term I've seen, although it's worth noting Lady Insanity refers to her as an "archer").
Varric, Cassandra, Vivienne, Sera, Iron Bull, and Solas are confirmed as actual companions. We also know that Cullen is an NPC; it's believed Leliana is also. The fact that the latter two have no weapons in the picture above has given rise to the theory that those without them are all NPC's (thus, intimating that the "scribe" is the other). Whatever the case, as in both previous games the active party will consist of the Inquisitor and three companions.
Other characters from previous games have also been confirmed in unknown capacities: Morrigan (from DA1; she was featured in the E3 teaser from last summer), Flemeth (DA1-2), Alistair (DA1-2), Dagna (DA1), and I think Sandal (DA1-2), but I can't find a link for that so take it with a big grain of salt. There's also an unidentified character from the novel The Masked Empire who can be encountered in a side mission.
The developers have hinted that Hawke and the Hero of Fereldan (if alive) will be involved or referenced in some capacity, but in my opinion they are unlikely to appear given the huge amount of variables those characters can have via players choice in the other games (even though cameos have been reported, later changed to a "solid possibility", I don't believe that guarantees they will be in person). Bioware has emphasised that characters who appear from the previous games will be more than simple drop-ins, as they were in Dragon Age 2.
Various dangling plots, like the Architect, Morrigan's Old God baby (both from Origins), or Corypheus from Dragon Age 2, will not significantly impact the Inquisition storyline given that it can be played without those elements being present. However, those plot lines will be addressed in some way if they were involved in your story in the previous versions.
As for the gameplay itself, the story can be played in 40-50 hours for those who eschew side quests and speed through the main story line, but there's 100 hours of play available. There are four unique endings, along with about 40 major variances based on your choices (there are hundreds of minor differences beyond that). Romances are back, but so far only Cullen and Cassandra are confirmed as potential partners. Players will be able to heavily impact their environment as they extend the influence of the inquisition. In terms of your enemies, they will not level with you (ala Elder Scrolls), so you will have to be cautious when you fight. The tactical camera from Origins is back (as an option--you aren't locked in), so it will be much easier to manage battles. In an effort to make combat more interesting/challenging, players will no longer auto heal after an encounter. You can watch a thirty-minute demo from the pre-Alpha stage (from November) to get a sense of it (the demo also illustrates the kinds of choices you will face in the game).
I'm not sure how much more will be revealed over the next five months--we'll learn the names and identities of the other companions, at least. The game's official site already has class-specific and world-specific tidbits to comb through and I expect much more along those lines will be added before October 7th.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
