I’m really excited about Dragon Age 4. The game extends one of my favourite franchises even further, adding all sorts of lore and stories into the mix. However, up until now, all we’ve had are trailers and vague promises about the universe being explored further. Earlier this week though, a new artbook from BioWare, titled BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development, revealed the major location for the next Dragon Age game. It’s going to be mainly set in Tevinter. Now that doesn’t mean that it’s purely set in Tevinter, but it does show that the main hub of the game, and the bulk of the action, will take place in this unexplored area of the Dragon Age universe.
The Tevinter Imperium is the oldest extant human nation in Thedas. It’s ruled by a magocracy, which is very different to how the rest of Thesdas treats those with magical abilities. In the past within the Dragon Age universe, Tevinter was a powerhouse. The control the nation exerted almost stretched across the entire world. At the time of Dragon Age Inquisition, and the other Dragon Age games, though, it’s a shadow of its former self. While it’s still a powerful nation, and a force to be reckoned with, it’s nowhere near as powerful as it used to be.
Interestingly, the mages in Tevinter seem to be the nobility there. In the wider world of Thedas, Mages are feared and controlled. They’re locked away in towers to ensure that they don’t exert too much power over the rest of the people around them. It seems as though Dragon Age 4 will follow the overall conflict between Mages and those seeking to control them, pushing it out into a region where Mages are free. I think that could be extremely interesting, and it’ll be nice to see such a polar opposite to the world of Dragon Age that we’ve already seen in the franchise so far.
However, the game could also see the conflict between Mages spread into Tevinter, which may well cause absolute havoc as the nobility there decides that they’re going to take on those that oppose Mages around the world.