BioWare confirms Dragon Age 4 will be set in Tevinter
Homeland of best companion, Dorian
BioWare have confirmed that Dragon Age 4 will be set in Tevinter, homeland of the best companion, Dorian. From the teasers and images we've seen so far, there's been plenty to suggest this would be the case. The first hint to it was way back in 2015 at the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition's Trespasser DLC, while more recently a new teaser trailer showed a city full of magical buildings and snake motifs. So, it was a pretty safe guess I suppose, but it's nice to have the confirmation all the same.
This comes from the studio's big new behind-the-scenes book, BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development, which Eurogamer's Tom Phillips managed to grab a copy of this week.
"As BioWare entered its twenty-fifth year, the Dragon Age team was hard at work on Morrison, the code name of the long-awaited follow-up to Dragon Age: Inquisition," it says in a little box in the corner of page 324. "The game, helmed by executive producer Mark Darrah, will take players to Tevinter as the events of Inquisition and Trespasser threaten to forever change Thedas."
Tevinter is the only country in Thedas (The Dragon Age Setting) governed by mages, which none of the other countries like because they enjoy locking all the mages up. As a result, the series largely paints Tevinter as "the evil place" (I mean, they don't help themselves because they practice taboo things like blood magic), so I'm intrigued to finally see it from the inside.
Dragon Age 4 could take us to some other locations in Thedas, however. BioWare's book also has artwork of Antiva City, the capital of Antiva (where best advisor Josephine is from), which sits on Tevinter's eastern border. There's also concept art of an Antivan Crow assassin, as well as the Mourn Watch - who "guard Theda from occult threats" and could be linked to the Nevarran necropolises.
Dragon Age: Inquisition was set across the series' southern countries, Ferelden and Orlais, and as great as they were to travel through, it made the game absolutely huge. For as much as I'd love to visit Dragon Age's other countries too (Antiva, Rivain, Nevarra, Seheron, etc.), I think it'd be quite nice just to stick to Tevinter in this one, and investigate one place a little more thoroughly.
Still, who am I to turn down lore? I'll be happy wherever BioWare choose to send us. I'm easy to please when it comes to Dragon Age - as long as they don't make me play through The Fade more.
Slowly but surely the next Dragon Age is becoming more and more real. The recent trailer shown at The Game Awards teased the return of Varric, and implied the player character would be a new hero. Then at the centre of it all, it seems Solas is still the big baddie. Man I can't wait to murder that guy.
Dragon Age 4 is likely still a little ways away, unfortunately. The last titbit of news on that came during an EA earnings call in 2019, where they suggested it wouldn't come out until after April 2022. Oh well, I guess it's time to start another Inquisition playthrough.