Dragon Age 4 has big shoes to fill. Fans of the series have already defeated arch-demons, closed rifts through space and time, dealt with corrupt mages and fanatic templars, and have had political influence on some of the most powerful characters in all of Thedas.
However, BioWare’s Gamescom video for Dragon Age 4 revealed that the game will focus on “what happens when you don’t have power,” in contrast to the previous game. This might mean that while players can expect many recurring characters from the series to return, it could be with one big twist.
It is likely that Dragon Age 4 is set at least partially in Tevinter. This makes the return of Dorian from Dragon Age: Inquisition extremely likely, as well as the fact that the charming mage was one of the best received companion characters in the previous game. In Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC it is revealed that Dorian has been made a magister of Tevinter, part of the nation’s ruling class of mages.
Between previous games there was a dissonance when it came to returning characters. Varric, for example, is one of the most likable characters in Dragon Age 2, and forms a close relationship with Hawke, the player character. This makes it a little jarring when the relationship is completely reset for the Inquisitor, and creates an ironic situation where the player has a greater relationship with the character than their player character does, despite not actually existing in that world.
However, the nature of Dragon Age 4’s protagonist could help set this straight in a roundabout way. If Dorian is still a political leader in Tevinter, then it is very likely that he will be seen in some form during the game. However, if the Dragon Age 4 protagonist truly explores what it is like when the player character doesn’t have power, then it is likely that, at least at first, the player character will have almost no access to high ranking characters like Dorian now that he’s a magister.
While this could risk creating an even greater dissonance between the player and the player character, part of the difficulty in transferring characters like Varric between Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition was that his relationships with Hawke and the Inquisitor were just similar enough for the fact that the player protagonist was reset to make it jarring.
If the player character has completely different relationships with returning characters in Dragon Age 4, not simply recruiting them as companions as if picking up where they left of, then the new game could provide an immersive experience that takes old player decisions into account while still making the new player character feel like they have their own story.
The same can be said for any of the potential returning characters in the game. Varric is the leader of Kirkwall now, Sebastian from Dragon Age 2 is the Prince of Starkhaven once again, and multiple characters could have been picked as the new Divine of the Chantry in Inquisition.
It will be very interesting if, for example, the effects of a character like the Divine Leliana are felt in the life of the Dragon Age 4 protagonist while they do not have literal personal access to such a powerful figure. If BioWare does this, the new game could feel uniquely like the new player character’s story will still taking old choices meaningfully into account.
Dragon Age 4 is currently in development.
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