When it rains it pours as yet more information has spilled out about DAI. For those who missed my look at the recent Q&A, demo release, and advisor reveal you can find it here; as always, be aware of spoilers (there and below).
First a bit of bookkeeping: it's easy to lose track of all the video previews and demos for the game, so for convenience I've made a list of them chronologically:
E3 Teaser (June 10, 2013)
A World Unveiled (August 20)
Live Demo Play (aka Crestwood demo) (posted September 1, fan recorded)
Live Demo Play (November 12; fan recorded, as above but includes a few missing minutes)
Discover the Dragon Age (March 6, 2014)
Gameplay Trailer (April 22)
Lead Them or Fall (June 9)
Stand Together (June 12)
E3 Demo (part one) (July 9; originally shown at E3 in June)
E3 Demo (part two) (July 11)
The fan-recorded Crestwood demo was been allowed to stay on Youtube (unlike this year's E3 demo), so presumably has the tacit permission of the devs to be viewed. Thematically both demos include character choices that damage a relationship with a companion (Varric) or advisor (Leliana) and both include decision points that could change events (very explicitly in Crestwood).
David Gaider was interviewed at length by Lady Insanity at GaymerX and had a number of things to say (I've listed them in order):
-Iron Bull was originally race-gated as a bi-sexual romance, but due to some technical magic is now available to all races; prior to the fix there were three race-gated romance characters
-He clarified that all human Inquisitors have a noble background from the Free Marches, but the mage origin involves coming from a Circle
-He confirmed that the Inquisitor doesn't begin in a leadership position (something I thought was already heavily implied given that Cassandra starts the Inquisition, but it's now confirmed)
-In terms of the enemies we face, they will be a mix of completely evil and morally grey
-The Red Templars can be interacted with (beyond combat) unless they have had too much exposure to red lyrium--so they aren't just a mindless faction
-The same applies to the Venatori (minus the red lyrium element, of course)
-He implied there will be other factions (as yet unrevealed)
-Discussed the ambiguity of blood magic when it comes to absolute notions of good and evil--posing questions more than providing answers
-Blood magic offers more power than lyrium in terms of cost effectiveness
-The two colours of lyrium (blue and red) aren't different in terms of the amount of power they offer, but rather have different kinds of effects (he compared them to the varying colours of kryptonite)
-Hedge mages: are like a river that gets damned so that the power seeks an alternate way of expression; what you end up with is someone not actually doing spells; their natural magic talent is expressing itself in ways that normal mages consider a waste of your talent, because once it does that you can't turn it back
-For those playing a Qunari mage you are not a Saarebas
-Saarebas are essentially hedge mages
-Was asked which nation has the most advanced magic and the response was that there's no real leader--each style has its advantages
-Nevarran death practices: spirits are invited into the bodies of the departed (something of a raw deal for the spirit, Gaider notes)
-The Tevinter magocracy believes in breeding practises to create more perfect mages
-Gaider said Tevinter is not a strictly homophobic nation, but believe homosexuality should be kept under wraps--that a citizen's public face should strive for the perfection all mages are supposed to seek
-Dorian rejects the Tevinter façade
-Because Elves with magic can achieve limited status in Tevinter, it has some appeal to them (the answer to this is quite long, but absent nuance this is the gist)
-The Orlesian "great game": doesn't have official rules and isn't even an official thing, but evolved as a way for the nobility establish superiority over one another
-Default DAI game state: any time there was a choice of a character being dead or alive, or a plot being unresolved in the previous games, they always went with whatever closed the option to make the game more newbie friendly
-DLC's occurred whether or not you played them
-In some romances, you can refuse sex and the romance will continue (but it depends on the character)
-He discussed companion sexual orientation at length (nothing new, but for those interested in their approach to the devs choices, particularly in DA2, it's worth listening too)
-There's reactivity to the specialisation that you choose (which is why blood magic was excluded because it demanded too much reactivity, meaning it would swamp out or marginalize other choices)
-Skyhold will be shown soon
-He's not aware of plans for something like the Black Emporium, which doesn't mean it won't happen (or isn't happening), but he was sure if it appears it won't be filled with codex entries ala DA2
-"If you are disappointed you can't [romance a particular companion, that's] totally understandable"
-There isn't a rivalry arc like in DA2; there's negative approval that can lead to hostility and eventually the person will just leave; the approval system works much like DAO
-If a companion leaves they are gone from the game
-Some characters you will meet no matter what, while others are optional
-They are trying to avoid obtuse methods of meeting companions (mentioning the quest to meet Fenris in DA2 as being an example they want to avoid)
One thing I failed to mention from the Q&A last week: we may get to meet some Avvar or Chasind characters. You can read about the Avvar and Chasind via the Wiki--the latter live in the Kocari Wilds (near the Hinterlands), while the former inhabit the Frostback Mountains. I'm not sure how integral either would be to the plot, but it has the potential to be interesting.
Mark Darrah clarified that the extra DLC content for the X-Box One Inquisitor's Edition will be available as a separate DLC purchase for all platforms.
A new, odd criticism of DAI has emerged via Metro:
our only real qualms being BioWare’s famously stodgy dialogue and the typically awful attempts at British regional accents (they probably are British actors but they still sound absurd).
It's hard to know what to say about that, as I'm no expert on British regional accents (but stodgy dialogue? It's reminiscent of Jesse Cox complaint that the demos didn't look next gen). It's followed by this:
The Tolkien-esque setting always seems to bring out the worst in BioWare’s writing
I think the writer is using "Tolkien" to mean a non-urban fantasy setting (I doesn't seem like the Metro's writer is very familiar with fantasy narratives), nor is there an attempt to justify the statement that their fantasy writing is bad. The two ad hominem attacks are contained in what's generally an optimistic appraisal, but it boggles my mind how lazy that kind of critique is.
If I missed anything or you spot any errors please let me know!
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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