Dragon Age Inquisition: News Update (October 26th)

 

The flood of news continues for DAI as the release date gets closer and closer.  As always be aware of spoilers below and please let me know if you spot any errors or omissions.

 

An exhausted Cameron Lee lead a Twitch stream showing off Skyhold.  The ambling, occasionally silent presentation was not the most entertaining (initial companion conversations were also plagued by an incessant echo).  Regardless, we had a tour of various parts of the keep and Lee made a brief foray into the Emerald Graves (enduring a virtual party-wipe when absently attacking a fade rift).

 

 

Along with showing off various crafting and upgrading options, some interesting conversations were shown.  Cullen revealed the existence of a sister and a brother he hasn't seen in years, while Vivienne gave a long speech blaming the rebelling mages for the current situation:

You, my dear, are far too wise to have not realized that many of our colleagues live with their eyes closed. Safe inside their towers, they only thought of the Templars and their own resentment. Kirkwall gave the world a reason to remember its fear of magic. A mage killed hundreds with a snap of their fingers. Across Thedas, a new tangible fear of magic grew. Commoners and nobles alike called out to the Chantry for protection. But the malcontents in the towers thought nothing of this. They cared only for themselves and their anger at the new Templar restrictions. When a mage attempted to assassinate Divine Justinia [in the novel Asunder], again, the mages protested the investigation. The leadership chose to vote on independence based on the intolerable conditions imposed by the Templars, sparing no thought to the fact that magic was more feared in the aftermath of these attacks than it had been since Tevinter's day. So long as they have their freedom, they could care little for riots or angry mobs or pitting mages against each other.

This will be sweet music to the ears of those who supported the templars in DA2, but won't win the hearts and minds for those who did the opposite.

 

We were then introduced to a war table mission involving an assassins plot (the House of Repose) whereby we have to choose between Josephine or Leliana's solution.  There's also a brief look at the war table that includes previously unseen icons:

 

 

You can see what looks like keeps in the Western Approach and what could be Halamshiral (both have a green glow above them).  There seems to be a potion (also in the Western Approach) and then along the Frostback Mountains what could be a totem of some kind (it's possible they are also keeps, but represented by their particular specialisation).

Cameron also said the FPS on PC is whatever you want, so presumably 60 FPS fans can enjoy that.

Subsequently the Inquisitor and Followers trailer dropped.  Interestingly, the character introductions cover two characters (Sera and Iron Bull) who were already introduced in the Stand Together trailer back in June (so only Dorian's intro is new).  I think the reasoning for this is because we begin with Cassandra, Varric, and Solas, and I feel like they want Cole to be a "surprise" for players in the game, leaving only five to show in the two trailers.  Within the video there is a brief Stroud appearance and many of Hawke.  It's clear that the conversations we have with Sera and Iron Bull are very early in the game, likely on their recruitment missions (definitely in the case of Bull); we also learn that Dorian is built as a support mage.  Incidentally, Ashe believes the trailer indicates that we'll have a chance to play as Hawke within the game and I'm largely persuaded by her argument (which is basically that they are many scenes with the party plus Hawke but without the Inquisitor).  One specific shot of note:

 

 

This is Stroud, the Inquisitor (with Meredith's sword from DA2 on his back), a pair of grey wardens and demons standing in front of a stair.  It's unclear who the figure at the top of the stairs is, but what's most interesting is that the demons are not attacking.

 

Speaking of trailers, going back to The Hero of Thedas, it's worth pointing out that the trek to Skyhold has points in common with the old DAO cinematic trailer.  Also backtracking a bit, I've been persuaded that the Orlesian dancer we were shown in the EGX presentation is indeed Empress Celene.  The devs have been pretty cagey about her appearing in the game, although it was difficult to imagine not interacting with her given the context of the Orlesian civil war.

 

 

The Storm Coast Demo on Twitch featured Mike Laidlaw and Cameron Lee playing in the optional area of that name.  The location finally revealed where the shots we've been seeing since the Discover the Dragon Age trailer (March) come from.  The area is slightly larger than the other optional zone we've seen (The Fallow Mire), having 10 regions versus 8 in the latter.  The demo featured a male dwarven warrior (the first officially shown, although illicit footage of the same from E3 is floating around), accompanied by Sera, Blackwall, and Vivienne--we finally got a tiny piece of Blackwall dialogue, incidentally, who we're told is a Grey Warden recruiter.  Mike and Cameron steered clear of too many spoilers, but showed off a giant, a dragon (the latter two fighting each other), signs of the Qunari, and the Blades of Hessarian faction (who can be extirpated or swayed to join the Inquisition).  At the end of the demo, closing a fade rift opened up a quest to speak to the mages at Redcliffe and another to talk to the Templars, but given that the area is optional this is presumably just one way to do so.

 

 

Along with all those elements, the pair talked about how the system repopulates the world and it seems as though extensive hunting or fighting of factions only temporarily removes them.  Given that levels of difficulty do not adjust, these respawning enemies will become easier and easier to deal with as the game goes on, so I'm not unduly bothered by the idea.

 

Finally, scout Harding's appearance has been tweaked (you can see her original appearance here):

 

 

I like the freckles. 

 

DAI's ESRB is out and while it varies slightly from those given to DA2 and DAO, descriptions do not make it sound very different from the previous titles.

 

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Dragon Age Inquisition: News Update (October 17th)

Dragon Age Inquisition news continues to flow like a torrent with the game's release barely a month away.  As always be aware of spoilers below.  If you spot any errors or omissions, please let me know!

 

I mentioned last week that I hadn't seen any banter from Solas in the Let's Play videos of the Emerald Graves, but at long last we got to enjoy some with he and Varric.  The same video suggests the Emerald Graves might unlock the Western Approach for us (as seen below)--that's speculation so take it with a grain of salt.

 

 

The PC UI video included a number of story-reveals.  While we'd seen the war table before (in the GamesCom demo), here we experience our introduction to it in the game while at its temporary home of Haven (including meeting Cullen and Josephine for the first time--this also invalidates one of my guesses about where we would meet the former Templar).  I was glad to hear Josephine's voice at last (I'm a big fan).  Speaking of Jospehine, there's been a slight tweak to how her character looks (her hair bun was up, now it's down):

 

 

From conversations that were shown we learn that the mark on our hand was not initially stable--it seems Solas helps stabilize it--and that while our power was enough to stop the rift from growing, it wasn't strong enough to close it, so one of our goals is to power it up.  Our advisors inform us that the Chantry has denounced both the Inquisition and the Inquisitor specifically.  We also delve into the "Herald of Andraste" title--something we can reject (as I've long said), but it seems it's something the common people have foisted upon us whether we want it or not.  No one seems to know who the glowing woman is that we see in the Enemy of Thedas trailer (some think it is Andraste, which plays a part in us being called her Herald).  I like this element and I'll be interested to see how it evolves throughout the game depending on whether we embrace it or not.

 

 

Along with the chatter we saw more of the war table in action.  It turns out the Inquisition pins in the map are advisor-only missions, whereas the tent-shaped icons are for our scouts.  I'm as yet uncertain if that means we can travel to all the scouted areas, as some occur in places we've been told we will not be travelling too (like the Free Marches--you can see ones there here).  We were also shown a background-specific quest and learned that various quests are tied to our origins, so they form exclusive content depending on our initial racial/class choice (the latter seems grouped into warrior/rogue and mage).

 

 

From the war table Mike Laidlaw took us to the Emerald Graves (with Sera, Iron Bull, and Cassandra), where he and Cameron Lee talked over what sounded like more amusing Sera banter (between she and Iron Bull and she and Cassandra).

 

The Hero of Thedas trailer came out on Tuesday (the 14th) and while it didn't have the same number of reveals as The Enemy of Thedas, it did have interesting elements.  Here are the lines from it (it's worth noting that I've seen people suggest the Dorian lines below are from Solas):

 

Vivienne: For almost a thousand years, the world believed it was in the hands of the Maker. And now many believe you are the agent of His will. Whatever the truth is, that belief gives you power.

Solas: There is a place that waits for a force to hold it. There is a place where the Inquisition can build and grow [ie Skyhold].

Elder One: You will resist. You will always resist. It matters not.

Dorian: All of this happened because of fanatics and arguments about the next world.

Elder One: I will not suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die.

Dorian: It's time we start believing in this one [ie the world].

Solas: Every great war has its heroes, I'm just curious what kind you'll be.

 

Along with the dialogue, these are the images I found most interesting:

 

 

 

These two show the nascent Inquisition finding Skyhold.  We can also see the NPC who is the focus of our first war table mission (via the PC UI video, link above) walking with us in the first image.

 

 

Some are speculating this is the Elder One, the Formless One, or even a misty Corypheus (you can see visual comparisons for the latter here).  I'm leaning towards the Corypheus interpretation.

 

 

Here is Stroud fighting the weird spider creature we saw in the Enemy of Thedas trailer (his appearance in the game was mentioned only last week--presumably in anticipation of the trailer).

 

 

Here's the latest Inquisition group shot.

 

I've seen a couple of theories on who the Elder One is recently.  One comes from Amazingly Average Gameplay who argues it's Dumat, and the other is from angelarts who believes it's Corypheus.  The latter's argument hinges on Corypheus surviving his encounter with Hawke in DA2, which I think is broadly accepted, so I don't believe that fact alone speaks to his role in DAI.  Anthony's theory is more of a meta-consideration, which is that he thinks all the games references to Dumat (in DAO and DA2) must be lead-ins to his involvement--which is an interesting idea, but by itself a bit too thin on its own for me to accept.

 

A fan has posted a very thorough image of all the revealed abilities in DAI thus far.

 

Speaking of fans, sharp eyes have noted that in the Emerald Graves Let's Plays there are variations within them.  Specifically, the Freemen leader Maliphant apparently can have a different class (no one is sure if it's randomly generated or based on who the Inquisitor is), and he can faced in different parts of the villa he occupies (this may be more a factor of how some of the battles played out, but for the moment it's possible he's generated in different places).  This kind of variation is excellent for replay value and hopefully exists throughout the game.

 

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Dragon Age Inquisition: News Update (October 10th)

 

What a week it has been for DAI fans!  As the original 2014 release date arrived a flood of Youtube videos appeared showing off the Emerald Graves.  Hold on to your hats and prepare yourselves for spoilers below as I break them down.  If you spot any errors or omissions, please let me know!

 

A variety of Youtubers were flown out to LA on the 6th by EA to play for 6 or 7 hours with what one (claymore90) of them described as an "early build."  Most of these players were unfamiliar with DA, but all have solid followings (the minimum seems to have been 100,000 subscribers, although I've now seen one exception to that).  Jesse Cox, who seems to have had his own session with the game, somehow did not figure out there was no healer in the game despite a pair of devs babysitting him.  He did say, incidentally, that he really enjoyed the experience, only critiquing the menu (which he found clunky) and expressing uncertainty about the story since he didn't see enough of it to judge.

 

 

Wading through the deluge of videos, I found that John Tarr Jr. (Wiki Game Guides) had the best of the lot for story coherence.  John spoke about his experiences (4:30 onwards; apparently the German Youtubers brought along spent their time screwing around and causing trouble).  John mentions there were a couple of restrictions (one of which John broke accidentally by leaving the Emerald Graves, where he had the option of keeping or dismissing a companion--my theory is that he went to Skyhold and that companion was Blackwall, but see below), but obviously he wasn't allowed to show that video.  The other restrictions, besides the aforementioned, were largely to avoid plot spoilers.  Despite that, there are a ton of minor spoilers below, so be aware.

 

Before I get into specifics, I'll note that John (link above) really enjoyed the game; he liked the voice acting and felt the side quests were very organic and story-related; he was uncertain about the loot system because not much of what he found was better than the gear he already had (he admits the crafting system may have sorted that out--he didn't feel like he had time to get into that).  He said he had the most fun with the archer (Varric) and the mage (Solas).  He thought fans of Skyrim would enjoy the game and that the combat in DAI was better than Skyrim.  In a later video he said the mage will be his personal choice when he creates his own Inquisitor.  DooM49's first impressions video contains quite a few mistaken impressions, but given how little he was told they are understandable errors (virtually all the Youtubers kept wondering about multiplayer, as they were never informed how it's going to be implemented in DAI)--how he arrives at his 7.5/10 rating is difficult to say, as no criticism was offered.

 

Gator was told the Emerald Graves is about the same size as all of DAO combined--the same description that was given for the Hinterlands back at E3--which is not the biggest map there is, with Gator saying he was told they have a large and extra large size as well.  Speaking of maps, I'm much happier with what I saw of the mini-map in these playthroughs versus the version shown at GamesCom (which I found quite indistinct).  John revealed the world map as he saw it as well, but the video has subsequently been removed because he missed covering a particular spoiler in it (not shown below):

 

 

The large symbol near the lake is Skyhold (the scale is so large it could be in Haven, Crestwood, or between them, but I suspect it's in Haven), while the other shows the Emerald Graves (proving my surmise that it is near the Arbor Wilds).

 

John mentions that we can fast travel to a camp at any time, regardless of where we are, as long as we're not in combat (something shown at the E3 demo, but not discussed as far as I can remember).

 

Not all of the videos begin at the same place, but this point (which seems to be John's initial playthrough; he covers some of the same material with commentary, but that video was clearly recorded after he'd played through the area previously) seems to be the beginning of their adventure (the Inquisitor is level 12 in all cases).  In broad strokes we've come to help a man named Fairbanks deal with problems encountered with Freemen, an Orlesian faction, who he tells us have made a deal with Red Templars.  There's some banter betwixt Cassandra and Varric here that sounds like it belongs to very early in the game (as in, earlier than we as players would encounter the Emerald Graves), so it's worth keeping that in mind (Alan Schumacher mentions that certain dialogue options occur depending on our level and the state of the Inquisition, so the latter is likely in play to avoid spoilers)--there's a lot of good banter between those two throughout, whereas there's none with Solas that I've seen--he talks, but no banter.  Also of note, while there are two fade rifts in the area to start, dealing with demons is very much a secondary consideration among the plots I saw.  Fairbanks refers to us as the Herald of Andraste, echoing the references from GamesCom demo (but not from last year's Crestwood demo or E3)--I remain uncertain if that's due to choices in the game, or if we'll always be known as the Herald.  I still believe we'll have the choice to either embrace that entity or not.

 

The game opens with discovering the first of 26 regions within the area.  We see from the build that the party choice was limited to Varric, Cassandra, and Solas, while the Inquisitor is locked in as a male, human, dual-wielding rogue (Gator said they were told it's 15%-20% into the game, whereas Super Beard Bros said they were 35%).  Speaking of the SBB's, one of them had one of my favourite comments: "What do they call the ranged guy [Varric]?  A ranger?"

 

 

John's play begins by claiming the first of 22 landmarks (he mentioned that he found all 22 landmarks, but wasn't powerful enough to claim all of them.), with a partial codex entry talking about the ancient days when wolves were allied with Elves.

 

 

A game prompt tells him to go to the Watcher's Reach Refugees (a camp), and heading there he comes to Andruil's Wall (Andruil was the Elven god of the hunt), where he battles Freemen (soldiers in Orlesian garb).  Whenever I see "Andruil" I can't help but think of Aragorn's sword Anduril, but that's neither here nor there.

 

Afterwards the Inquisitor moves to Watcher's Canyon (2/22) where the game tells him to speak to Fairbanks about the attacks; Varric's dialogue triggers as he notes the strange runes he's never seen before (presumably like the Veilfire markings seen below via the Crestwood demo and elsewhere).

 

 

We arrive at Watcher's Reach (3/26) and Fairbanks addresses us as the Herald of Andraste, telling us he and his folk are being attacked by Freemen.  He talks about how the Freemen are colluding with the Inquisition's enemy (Red Templars) and that by destroying them they will lead us to them.  Initially John refuses to help him and the quest (and the rest of the Emerald Graves) are closed off, but he's able to reinitiate the dialogue on the spot and agree to help without any negative consequences.

 

 

After the conversation there's a prompt telling him to examine Fairbanks' documents, which gives him the quest A Fallen Sister and tells him to go to the Veridium Mine (Veridium is a tier-4 metal in DA, stronger than ordinary steel, but weaker than other exotics).  He explores the camp and finds a map of Watcher's Pass, which gives him a marked spot to find (a secondary quest).  In the commentary playthrough he climbs some ladders to claim The Watcher (3/22), which includes a little codex entry about it, but does not do so here.

 

Leaving the camp, he discovers Nettles Pass (4/26; you get the picture with these) where he fights more Freemen (whose cry is "No Crown, No Nobles, No Inquisition!").  There is a choice bit of Cassandra/Varric banter triggered after the battle where we learn why the Dwarf was in Haven: "I questioned you, and then brought you to Haven so you could tell your story to the Divine."  It sounds like the events of DAI take place very shortly after the end of DA2's final moments.

 

After the banter they entered the Veridium Mine where a game prompt says to deal with Sister Costeau (whose type is a Freeman Veteran).  There are more Freemen inside the mine; all are defeated and the prisoners being kept there freed (returning to camp, as we discover shortly).  John finds a letter by Costeau which talks about another Freeman named Duhaime and rather casually about the possibility of eliminating the peasants; a second note indicates Costeau is not worried about the other Freemen and believes she (and her unspecified allies, possibly the Red Templars if they made separate deals with specific Freemen) will rule the Dales.

 

 

John fast travels back to Fairbanks (having completed the Not Everybody's Free quest) and picks up the A Vicious Thug (find the freemen villa) and A Deluded Chevalier (go to Argon's Lodge) quests automatically.  He talks to one of the rescued people who wants him to prove that Fairbanks has noble blood (opening up Noble Deeds, Noble Heart--proof of Fairbanks' nobility).

 

Leaving camp, John discovers the Villa Maurel area where he fights additional Freeman ("Do not let them interfere with Malifant's plans!"); there's a reference to rats (ie Fairbanks' people) being sent to Suledin; Duhaime is confronted and killed shortly afterwards ("The Inquisition is nothing but meddlers!"), which opens up the Corrupt General quest.  John finds notes referring to Auguste (a colleague of Duhaime) and to Malifant, the leader of the Freemen; he finds also plans for the Exalted Plains and a reference to the runes.

 

 

John moves into the Villa proper and fights and kills Maliphant.  He learns that the Freemen have been smuggling red lyrium, finding a note from "C" [revealed in yet another video to be Knight-Commander Carroll of the Red Templars; there's reference to Samson, but I'm not sure if it's the Samson from DA2; apparently Carroll has been stealing Freemen soldiers].  John spends an eternity finding the three pieces of a lyrium key; once reconstructed they are able to fully loot the villa and get the first of twenty-two banners to collect.  This marks the end of his.

 

I referenced the warden and Blackwall above because at various points in some of the videos a prompt comes up indicating that a warden is waiting at Skyhold ("Go to the war table to find the Warden").  I think this is Blackwall rather than an unknown warden, largely because of the build shown here (just three companions)--with the dialogue referenced between Cassandra and Varric, it seems as though in terms of story elements the characters are at a very early stage (despite being level 12).  That's all speculation on my part, so take it for what it's worth.

 

 

John also posted a video of him fighting a dragon and a giant.  The dragon was called Greater Mistral and looks quite a bit like one of those shown in the Enemy of Thedas video.  John was unable to defeat the dragon or (he says) pairs of giants, but he could fight a single giant.  In the piece we can see a counter for Shards being found (something we've seen before, ala the E3 demo).  John said another player was able to defeat the dragon, but it was a laborious process (taking two hours).  He also revealed that, at least in this build of the game, there were ten dragons in the entire game (a change from when Cameron Lee said there were twenty back in June; Lee confirmed the change to IBT--I like it, as the smaller number makes encountering them more significant).

 

DooM49 shows off a puzzle within the game which links to the astronomy talk David Gaider made awhile ago (subsequently I found a better image via Jesse Cox, link above):

 

 

John posted another video showing off the skill trees (he goes into further detail here, but I found a nice chart on Tumbler here).  Most of the trees boil down to 4 active and 4 passive abilities, which makes sense given that we are limited to eight active abilities when we go out on missions.  The look of it matches DA2's trees (but arranged vertically rather than horizontally).

 

Mike Laidlaw confirmed that:

assigning stats is not part of level up. They grow as you level, buy talents, and, notably, equip gear

Alan Schumacher confirms we won't pick our ability scores, although apparently there are respec potions we can use to adjust things in-game.  He also mentioned the human racial bonus (an extra ability point) is applied the first time you level up (as opposed to right when you start the game).

 

 

There was yet another character creation stream on Twitch featuring Mike Laidlaw and Mark Darrah, both of whom were quite sick.  They created a male elf and both genders of dwarf before jumping into gameplay.  Apparently the Hinterlands is one of the first areas we access and Mike's party consisted of a human female, dual-dagger wielding rogue in charge of Cassandra, Varric, and Solas (confirming that's who we start with), all of whom were level 3.  They talked about the variance with two-handed weapons depending on the type (a maul does a lot of damage to a single target, whereas a two-handed sword or axe does less damage to multiple targets); the same goes for dagger-using rogues who equip the double-bladed variety.  In terms of abilities, upgrades increase damage, while passives powers increase the duration of effects.  There's a default response to companions drinking healing potions, but it's customizable.  Other potions also have healing effects, as does the "guard" and "barrier" powers in a sense by absorbing damage (as will your armour).  You can travel without companions or with less than the usual three.  We don't start with mounts, but get them very early (in the Hinterlands, in fact).

 

The PC specs were released and included in the link is a mini video that includes this:

 

 

You can see on the right-hand side "Meet Hawke and Stroud in the Western Approach."  For those who don't remember Stroud from DA2, he is a Grey Warden who we can run into twice in that game (optionally in the Deep Roads and then optionally during the Battle of Kirkwall).  It seems as though our encounter with Hawke won't be by chance.

 

Speaking of specs, PS4 and Xbox One were confirmed as:

resolution is 1080p on PS4, and 900p on Xbox One. We maximized the current potential of each platform.

Ali Hillis Tweeted out that she has a role in DAI, but initially wasn't specific with what it was (fans suspect she is Harding, the Dwarven scout seen in the GamesCom demo, which she subsequently confirmed).

 

 

There was yet another art book leak as Kindle allowed the sale of the title (due November 18th) for some time on Tuesday (the 7th).  Potential spoilers abound and it's difficult to imagine a lid being kept on those revelations for long.

 

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)