It has long been hinted that Dragon Age 4 will be set in the Tevinter Imperium, the oldest human empire on the continent of Thedas and, uniquely, a human nation under the governance of mages. BioWare released a new teaser for the next chapter in its fantasy franchise at The Game Awards 2020 last month, depicting a mysterious part of the world which only added fuel to the fires of speculation.
What few fans could have guessed, however, was just how bright and visually diverse Dragon Age 4’s landscape would be. Though never visited in-game, the available art depicting Tevinter showed an arid, grey landscape. The Tevinter of Dragon Age 4 appears to be visually different in a few significant ways.
Tevinter’s presence in the Dragon Age games has rarely come with positive connotations. Dragon Age: Origins opens with a cutscene describing how the ancient Magisters Sidereal of the the Imperium subverted the laws of nature to enter the Fade, inadvertently corrupting the Maker’s Golden City and damning the continent to suffer the darkspawn Blights for centuries.
The few depictions players had of Tevinter reflected its role in Dragon Age’s history. Stark shades of gold, black and grey dominated the color schemes of both Tevinter’s landscape and the outfits worn by its travelling citizens. This gave Tevinter a hint of the inhuman that reflected its magical governance, making its citizens appear slightly alien, while its bare countryside seemed to heighten the idea of an empire which had forsaken the natural order. This comes in contrast to the colorful spires of Elvhenan, the elven empire that the Imperium razed using blood magic.
The new trailer almost certainly depicts Tevinter, with the banner of the empire hanging from a building front shown in the video. The Tevinter shown in Dragon Age 4’s most recent trailer is far more colorful than previous depictions, without forsaking its eerie and unnatural tone. Bright magical store signs line the streets, with the city shown at The Game Awards being dark with an orange glow emanating from behind its buildings’ large ornate windows.
The landscape itself is also shown to be more diverse than fans might have expected. As well as the gothic city, the trailer shows off sunny beaches and snowy forests and bright, beautiful palaces. While previous depictions made Tevinter appear warlike in comparison to nations like Orlais, the new trailer shows that the old empire has an equal penchant for the ornate and flashy.
Ultimately, this visual approach could create a far more interesting tone in Tevinter than the older artwork. Tevinter is a nation build on slavery and blood magic; it’s even the country that executed the prophet Andraste before creating its own version of the Chantry just ten years later. However, it’s also evident that those evils weren’t without their rewards for Tevinter’s ruling class. It’s more interesting to show a place with a dark history but a beautiful aesthetic than one where its architecture and fashion seems to show a Tevinter that chooses to depict itself as evil, especially with characters like Dorian Pavus from Inquisition showing off Tevinter’s good side.
This could allow for more diverse experiences and greater roleplaying opportunities in the next game, with plenty of different angles to approach the empire from and different communities to engage with from the city’s magisters to its Qunari converts to its slaves. Though the trailer reveals little that isn’t already known about the game’s story, one thing’s for sure: Dragon Age 4‘s visuals will be vibrant and varied.
Dragon Age 4 is in development.
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