It has been a little over a week since I posted What We Know So Far and additional information has come out (along with a few things I want to look at that I didn't touch on previously). Be wary of spoilers of all the DA material that's come before.
David Stonecipher (Examiner) confirms that DLC for the game won't go into development until after the game is fully finished (which, as of May 17th, it was not, although additional gameplay material will be available at E3). We'd already been told there would be no DLC characters, and I have to wonder how much the controversy over on-disc DLC (from Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3) relates to this decision (which I think is a good one).
Game Informer took a quick look at the beginnings of the Inquisitor and what his or her advisers can do for the Inquisition, but doesn't add anything new. Ability Drain offers her own general update (summarizing the former along with various bites from the official Dragon Age website and the product offers for the game)--the most interesting tidbit is that Gwendoline Christie (Brienne from Game of Thrones) is voicing someone within the game.
Parts of player specialisation have been revealed (you can see them explained by the Ability Drain link above), but I don't intend to go into them until it's more fully revealed--officially there's still a long way to go.
A few locations have officially identified and described (Mister Shizno posted a video about this yesterday, coincidentally):
-The Fortress of Adamant: this location appeared in the novel Dragon Age: Asunder, a former Grey Warden keep situated along the Abyssal Rift in the Western Approach of Orlais; in the book Pharamond found a cure for tranquility there; this is also the novel which features Cole who is believed to be one of the companions of the Inquisitor; the location was accidentally revealed back in August via the World Unveiled video, but we know nothing about how the Inquisition will interact with the location. Here's the gist of the article:
It had been built to stand as a bastion against the darkspawn spilling out from the Abyssal Rift—a symbol of how we [Wardens] had done the impossible and pushed those creatures back into the shadows where they belonged. The entire Western Approach had become a wasteland, and thus the expense of maintaining the fortress became harder and harder to justify. Many said that, even if darkspawn did still emerge from the chasm, who would they threaten other than the Grey Wardens themselves? So in the dawn of the Blessed Age, we sealed the fortress's mighty gates...retreating to Montsimmard. The dwarves did well by us, and I suspect Adamant will remain for ages to come... but should the Order ever return, they will find it difficult to resurrect this place.
-The Emerald Graves and Emprise du Lion: both of these locations are within the Dales, a south-eastern region of Orlais that borders Fereldan; the Emerald Graves are a forest born of the second Exalted March (which you can read about here) and a confirmed location for the giants we've seen in both the gameplay trailer and the Discover the Dragon Age video--what other conflicts arise there, other than likely difficulties with the Dalish, remains unknown; the Emprise du Lion is a highland setting that's been taken over by the Red Templars who have enslaved the locals--there's apparently a connection to the novel The Masked Empire here, all of which connects it strongly (thematically) to the Crestwood location. Here's the gist of the article:
"The Emerald Graves are a mix of the old elven burial ground and a noble, Orlesian playground," [Andrew] Farrell said. "You've got the lower section of the forest, which is a bit more civilized with road signs and abandoned Orlesian estates, and then as you get higher up, you come to the ancient elven areas. The elves may have moved on, but the forest is still teeming with wildlife. Explore, and you're bound to encounter black wolves, great bears, snoufleurs, halla, and even nugs if you venture underground. However, Farrell warns that they're not alone. "While adventuring through the upper regions of the Emerald Graves, you'll come across some rather large caves. Don't be surprised to find some 'gigantic' enemies using them as their homes.""You may not be a high enough level to take down everything you'll encounter at first, but you can sneak around and continue your exploration," Farrell explained. "When you are strong enough, however, this is exactly the kind of place you'll want to come back and do battle in search of better loot. You never know, there could even be a dragon nearby."
"Emprise du Lion was an interesting change of pace from the Emerald Graves," Farrell said. "The forest is very open, and the player can cover every inch at their leisure. There is still a lot of exploration to be had in Emprise du Lion, but there is a core story element that drives you there." The red templars are up to something, and the Inquisition comes in to check it out," Farrell finally offered. "When you arrive, there's an area for you to explore, but if you want to get to the heart of what's happening, you're going to have to push through an army."
Another area of the Dales (it's featured extensively in the Discover the Dragon Age video, but nowhere else); we know from the link above that it's an area of civil war featuring the undead and Dalish Elves; in the article this is the gist of what we're told:
The first thing we [did] was try to portray the civil war and the impact it’s having on the environment and the people of that region,” says senior environment artist Andrew Farrell. “In these spaces, we try to provide opportunities for the Inquisition to come in and make its mark on the area. Then the people there rally around that.” The Inquisition arrives at the Exalted Plains during a ceasefire between two armies at war. The bodies of fallen soldiers mysteriously rose from the dead and have driven the armies back to their respective castles in retreat. As this is the Dales, one might wonder: what’s become of the Dalish elves? “They’ve retreated into an area with more security away from all the fighting,” explains Farrell. “Of course, they’ve got a few problems of their own.” The Crow Fens is one section of the Exalted Plains. In contrast to the sprawling hills elsewhere in the area, the Fens is claustrophobic, creating tension as you wonder what lies in wait for you around the next corner. According to Farrell, the Fens was the perfect playground for his imagination to run wild.
Speaking of the various book tie-ins noted above (I have yet to hear a specific reference to the comics, but that might be forthcoming), I quite like that the franchise is trying to include all its canon material. A lot of franchises (Star Wars, for example) tend to ignore this material when making their flagship medium (movies for SW), and I prefer the involvement of these elements as it lends weight to that material.
In my previous post I mentioned the revealed surnames of the Inquisitor without delving into any meaning we might derive from them. One of those names, Cadash (the Dwarven default), is the surname of Shale, a potential companion from The Stone Prisoner DLC in Origins (she also appears in the novel Asunder). This doesn't guarantee we'll see Shale in the game, but the connection would certainly have more impact if we did.
With E3 upcoming (June 10th), when we might expect a new promo for the game, I thought it was worthwhile taking a look back at the four videos that have been released thus far to see what we can learn from them. All of these videos have been examined elsewhere and I'm not interested in picking them apart shot-by-shot, instead I want to focus on just a few things within them. First, the list: E3 Teaser Trailer (June 10th), A World Unveiled (August 20th), Discover the Dragon Age (March 6th), and the Gameplay Trailer (April 22nd). So let's get to it (anything above is not included below):
-Crestwood
The setting featured most extensively in the demo at PAX Prime, it's best known for the scene of Varric sadly looking over corpses (which we know from via the demo is due to the Inquisitor allowing the village to be destroyed by Red Templars); the location is shown definitively in both E3 and AWU, but has not appeared since (which makes sense--with all the demo videos available scenes from that location would be redundant); the point being made in its use is about the impact of player choice, along with teasing out the Red Templars (who have been the most prominent enemy we've seen)
-"Owl Keep"
Just my term for the keep that appears prominently in both E3 and AWU; it's most recognisable as the place where Cassandra dramatically stabs a map of Orlais; from the iconography (the Seeker symbol) it's a base of operations (perhaps becoming the base of operations for the Inquisition)--it nicely anticipates the many scenes (in videos and concept art) of the Inquisitor and the map
-Attack on a Grey Warden keep
This battle scene has been shown in three of the four trailers (DTDA is the exception) and it's the longest sequence we have footage of; why the inquisition is battling gray wardens is a mystery and I believe it's meant to illustrate that the world has been turned on its head and we don't know who to trust (it may also be another element of player choice--the attack might be optional)
-Orlaisian ball
Featured in both AWU and DTDA, we know this is in Halamshiral (north of the Dales) and that Morrigan is there; it's a nice contrast from the various outdoor and battle environments and hints at the diplomatic/intrigue side of the game (which is difficult to illustrate in short trailers); we also know of Morrigan's connection to Empress Celene, so there's a good chance if we meet her it will be here
-Dwarven area
This environment appears in every trailer other than AWU, but beyond illustrating how good the game looks in the new engine it's not clear what we can take away from it; fans have been unable to decide where the location is, but Kal-Sharok makes little sense to me as it's not near a substantial body of water--unlike Orzammar
-Dwarven thaig
Shown only once (DTDA), but is of interest because I've seen and heard nothing about meaningful interactions with Dwarves in the game (despite the above)--no one is sure where this is (an existing thaig? a new one?)--so it adds a layer of mystery and (hopefully) complexity--Dwarven politics are a lot of fun and I'd love for the Inquisitor to get neck deep in it
A couple of points of general interest: the majority of revealed locations are in the Dales (in comparison we've had nothing from the vast Nahashin Marshes), and the enemy we know the most about are the Red Templars. In the case of the latter, I suspect the are among the first opponents the Inquisition has to deal with. If that's right, the same logic would mean the various Dalish locations are also visited early on (although given the many comments from devs about returning to areas, they are not places that would become exhausted quickly).
If you notice any errors or glaring omissions, please let me know (and, where possible, cite sources).
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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