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)
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