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)
