#i will save solas from himself

[nonethewiser202]

It’s done!! I now have a 3rd Inquisition playthrough under my belt.

Just in time for Veilguard. A full solavellan playthrough.

Stupid handsome stupid elf man making me want to save him from himself goddamn it.

I did a more “opposite” playthrough this time just to see some of the larger choices I’ve never picked before.

-Warrior Inquisitor (her name is Valor)

-Saved the templars instead of the mages

-Left Hawke in the fade (awful, terrible, I regret this)

-Let Cole stay a spirit

-Asked Cullen to keep taking lyrium (terrible, awful, don’t do this, it’s so sad)

-Cassandra as divine

-Celene, Brialla, and Gaspard are all “working together”

-Let Solas remove my vallaslin

-Disbanded the Inquisition (I actually like this choice, might keep it as my canon)

-DRANK FROM THE WELL OF SORROWS (I reealllyyy liked this choice the consquences are fascinating)

Beginning Valor Lavellan vs ending Valor Lavellan

[luckyjak]

I'm debating about changing my personal canonical world state for Veilguard because I fear "choosing to stop Solas at any cost" will get me a "Lavellan hates him now" ending and not the murder/suicide my Lavellan actually planned.

[kirkwallguy]

Meredith was impactful to me as a villain because she's just a. Human. A person. Who went through a trauma of her sister killing people because she was afraid of the templars, and she corrupted herself into hatred of magic and mages, which can draw a very discomforting parallel between Hawke and Bethany.

When it's a big powerful blighted "god" who wants worship and acts and speaks like a disney villain (in datv most of antagonists do that 😭) it's just nothing to deliver. Elgar'nan (what I've seen so far) is extremely dull and bland and doesn't inspire any curiousity and I'm a bit bored if I'm being honest. It would be more interesting if there was an intricate story behind or a GOOD characterisation (Flemeth) when I look at Elgar'nan I want to see some solemnity not a disney delivery

YEPPPP, meredith is my favourite villain because she feels so realistic. maybe we don't have mages and templars in real life but someone powerful letting their trauma shape them into a bigot who uses their influence to harm a marginalised group is super common. maybe it's just because i live in a country where there's a crazy rich and powerful blonde woman making my life worse due to her personal issues but it hits! it feels relevant!

i haven't actually seen much of the gods so far but it just feels like the stakes are too high for them to be compelling? you need to be more than a little traumatised for a "destroying the world" plot to have any nuance. i know making morally grey villains became a little overdone in recent years but past a certain point you need to ask yourself whether your villain can be replaced by a natural disaster and have the exact same impact. in origins, the blight and the archdemon are natural disaster villains BUT they have loghain to balance it out, he feels like the 'real' villain until he stops being a threat and you can start focusing on defeating the actual world-ending threat. dav really needed an extra 'political' villain with the same general concept that you overcome towards the end of act 2 tbh. maybe they do and i just haven't met them yet but i doubt it lol

[dragonseeds]

there’s a horrible sickness in me that makes me want to stop and replay da:i whenever i start a different game. how am i supposed to resist the story of my own unwilling apotheosis? especially as lavellan, who doesn’t believe in the maker and who has every right to hate and mistrust the chantry but chooses to use what power they have to try save people, to fix what’s broken, no matter how afraid they are or how careful they have to be. walking side by side with the great trickster god/adversary of your people without knowing, befriending him, changing his mind about this world but ultimately not his choice. he understands what’s happening to you because it happened to him once and he gives you his castle, built over the place where he sundered the world, and paints your story there in frescos that will last long after you’re gone and after the story has been retold and reshaped so many times that the truth of who you are and what you did is lost—just as he did his own story, which was lost and perverted by war and propaganda, and he shows all of this to you knowing you’ll understand because you’ve lived through something similar, grown into something larger than yourself and your true name, and it doesn’t change anything but. he wanted you to see him just for a moment, even if he can’t tell you everything (or almost anything) and you can’t save him—because he owes it to you as a someone who is a friend, almost an equal, and because there’s no one else left who knows: a direct result of what he did to your people and which he now seeks to undo at the cost of this world.

[roguelioness]

since i have eggman on the mind

(under the break for tevinter night spoilers)

it's very fitting that it's a regret demon that destroys the murals solas painted. because regret has defined his every action, and so often has been the outcome of his actions - regret at not saving mythal caused him to create the veil. regret at what the veil did to his people made him give the orb to corypheus. regret at the inquisitor's burdens - and wanting to spare them his fate - made him paint the murals.

regret makes him break up with romanced lavellan (and, in the case of high approval inquisitor, turn away from the hand offered). why would it not be regret that destroys the visual reminders of what the inquisitor did?

in the same vein, it's also fitting that sutherland - just a random person, easily overlooked, until the inquisitor befriends them (personal gripe: i hate that it's all done through war table missions. the inquisitor BEFRIENDS them. it's a choice. they are friends. i will doe on this hill) - is the one to destroy the regret demon. because that's what friends do. friends don't let you stay haunted by your regrets, they help you move past them.

now if only solas wised up to that...

[vaguely-concerned]

I was just ambushed within the turbulent halls of my own mind by some headcanons about rye ingellvar's childhood that did 15000000 points of psychic damage to me and my heart personally and also made me almost sure of how I want to play it all at the end (very very differently from how I imagined going in!). some 'oh holy fuck this changes everything' rocking my own world bullshit going on in my neurons right now I'm reeling

[mrs-gauche]

Reading this part of a recent interview with DA4′s creative director John Epler as a fan of Solas’ character

[helluvamystery]

Okay so maybe dragon guard veil age spoilers, but I went and made sure all of my choices from the last three games were up to date in the online database, why is it that it only asked me who I kissed last game and whether or not the Inquisition became part of the church. You're not gonna ask me who the Pope is?? Whether or not Dorian or Fenris are in tevinter, the place where we are?? Whether or not, in the game where Varric is being presented as a major character, I killed Hawke???? I don't need them to remember if I gave the prisoner at the beginning of da1 some food, but come on- I know Isabela is supposed to be here somewhere. You managed to write around everything??

[tortoise-teapot]

i'm like a real good writer

[musingmycelium]

. noncoherent but also thoughts

[vivanightcity]

getting that 'damn i wish i had the follow through to make an animatic' feelings again since i was listening to this when deep in dragon age zone

and now i want it as Solas and a Lavellan who maybe agrees with him more than the game will let you.

[vivemonroi]

Lavellan meets Solas

Spoilers!

The Lost Elf reprise killed me.

I remember one comment on YouTube under the original track. There was a theory that 'The Lost Elf' summarizes the love of Lavellan and Solas, how they “speak” through the melody: she is the violin, and he is the cello.

Yet now it’s slightly different; if you listen closely, you’ll hear that the violin sounds strong, happy and melodic, while in the original, it was broken, miserable, and thin.

The cello solo sets up the narrative, but at the climax, you can finally hear the violin. They 'sing' together in perfect harmony, almost indistinguishable from one another.

I love how music deepens our understanding of the storyline, guiding us further and revealing delicate nuances that add richness and depth to their story.

It’s canon now, it’s their theme.

Also I love how in the beggining Lavellan knew only a few words in Ancient Elven, at the end of the Tresspasser she can form full sentences, and now she speaks Elven fluently. It's a unique thing only for them. She speaks his language, because she knows how important it's to him. Elgar'nan speaks in Common language, yes, because of the Blight, but still. Even Mythal and Solas, in their final conversation, do not speak in Elven.

Lavellan is the only one who accepts him unconditionally. She forgives him when he cannot forgive himself, holds him when he needs it most, and ultimately, she is the one who saves him.

This is the extraordinary journey we’ve been fortunate enough to witness.

Ten years is a long time, but their love will last forever.

[thebookworm0001]

solas planned crestwood

not to break up with lavellan, obviously

but he made plans

he had to have - crestwood is so far away from skyhold, and he is so eager to have her accompany him

I wonder what the moments before the well conversation were

amidst his fear and frustration with how the events at the temple played out, did he ask a servant to pack her a bag? Did he pack it himself? What was the chatter around the great hall as residents and visitors alike noticed the apostate’s belongings joining the inquisitors down the stairs.

What did Dennet think, when solas requested two mounts be prepared for a long journey moments after the party returned from the arbor wilds? Could he sense Solas’ anxiety? The fearful thread of hope that threatened to lighten his shoulders?

How quickly did the kitchen staff begin to gossip about rations prepared for two? Did they slip an extra skein of into the pack, their own well-wishes poured in with the good wine?

What did Lavellan think, arriving at the foot of the gates to find weeks worth of travel prepared, two bedrooms and a single tent, Solas standing taller than he ever had, save in their shared dreams, and holding out a hand to help her mount her steed. Did his hand tremble with the weight of what he would say? Or did the prospect of finally admitting the truth help him leap into the saddle?

How quickly did the entire castle know that solas intended to devote himself to the inquisitor

and how quickly did all their smiles turn to ash when he returned alone

[vigilskeep]

i forget how good varric is in the opening of dai. i like that he goes out of his way to mention to the protagonist that solas—who, we learn later, at this point has been being threatened by cassandra and in general as an elven apostate is in a really dangerous position here—helped them and saved their life. he also goes out of his way to align himself with the protagonist—technically he’s a prisoner, just like you—despite them being basically powerless and there being no discernible benefit to siding with them here. there’s a particular version of a cadash exchange that i love

varric: so, let me guess: fellow surface dwarf, maybe part of the carta?

cadash: what makes you say that?

varric: i can tell a proper orzammar dwarf from twenty paces. also, you have that shifty-smuggler look to you.

cadash: i’m not the only one with a shifty-smuggler look.

cassandra: varric did not destroy the conclave.

varric: that you know of. we shifty-smuggler types can be tricky.

cadash basically throws the line of questioning back at varric, and cassandra finally seems to be almost defending varric. varric did not have to respond to that in the last line by defusing cassandra’s hostility towards cadash and cheerfully accepting the comment that tars him with the same brush as the person under the most suspicion. nor did he have to point out solas’ usefulness or keep an eye on him during the journey up to the temple, turning back to wave him onwards. but he did

idk i don’t have a strong point here i just think looking out for the underdog, and not only that but being subtle and clever about it, using words to manage it when he doesn’t really have any power here either, is some of the true best of varric’s character and i like how it gets shown here

[emmg]

I want Solas to go full "tragic, emotionally unavailable, disappointed stepfather who’s constantly on the verge of tears" on Rook.

Like, this man is done. He’s stuck in the Fade, possibly forever, with the person who singlehandedly derailed his ancient, meticulously planned ritual. Now, instead of pulling the god-killing lever himself, he’s got Rook, who can't even pull their shoes on without falling over.

Might as well adopt them, right? Since this is his life now.

But here’s the twist: every interaction is just Solas trauma dumping like it’s his new favorite hobby.

It’s like the entire journey is just Solas remembering how much better Lavellan was at literally everything, and Rook being forced to listen to the most tragic, histrionic commentary ever while bumbling through the apocalypse.

Rook: "So... I found this artifact we need to stop the gods—"

Solas: deep, world-weary sigh “Ah, yes, that artifact. Ellana once pulled one just like it... from a pile of bear dung. She didn't even flinch. She was so graceful, so brave. You... well, you’re holding it upside down. I... suppose that’s a start.”

Every step of the journey, Solas is spiraling deeper into a well of despair that Rook accidentally dug.

Rook: trips over nothing

Solas: eyes glistening with the weight of a thousand broken dreams "Ellana never tripped. She glided across the ground as if Mythal herself carried her. You... you fall like the world is conspiring against you. Perhaps it is."

And then there’s the constant emotional whiplash of him being both disappointed and overly dramatic, as if Rook is physically siphoning his will to live.

Rook: "So we need this rune to—"

Solas: "Ellana carved runes like they were extensions of her very soul. She would have whispered the words to the stones themselves, and they would have sung in response. But you... yes, go ahead. Scribble on the ground like a child with a crayon. I’m sure the Fade will be very impressed."

He’s so wrecked that it’s painful to watch, and yet... he’s the one who dumped her. Solas is out here, pouring his heart out about Ellana like he didn’t personally decide to break up with her to pursue his ancient, god-killing, megalomaniacal goals. It’s like watching a Shakespearean tragedy unfold, but the tragedy is just… him.

Rook: "So... do we take this path or the other—"

Solas: staring longingly into the void "Ellana would have known. Instinctively. She always knew which path to take. But you... sigh... you stand there, confused, as if the very concept of a 'left turn' is foreign to you. How... fitting."

Rook: "It’s literally just a left or right choice—"

Solas: voice cracking "Ellana would have chosen left. She would have led us... together. But no. Now I must follow you. Into the unknown. Alone. Forever."

He’s not even trying to hide the fact that he’s emotionally wrecked. Every single time he mentions Lavellan, it’s like watching someone recite their own tragic poetry at an open mic night—except the mic is the only thing keeping him from sobbing.

Rook: “So we just need to—”

Solas: cutting them off “Ellana once saved an entire village using only her wit and a single lockpick. And now, here we are. Together. Alone. In the Fade. It’s fine. I’m... fine.”

Rook: quietly “Are you though?”

[felassan]

Cliff notes on the new info on Dragon Age: The Veilguard in today’s issue of Game Informer (magazine hub link):

Edit/update: I tidied up this post. ^^

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In CC you can customize things like shoulder width, chest size, glute size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, nose crookedness, and more

There are hundreds of sliders for body proportions

CC detail: “Features like skin hue, tone, melanin”

There is nudity in DA:TV, “which I learned firsthand while customizing my Rook” in CC

Rook’s backstory also affects “reputation standing”, along with the other previously-known things like in-game dialogue etc

Lords of Fortune are pirate-themed, “piratic”

Rook ascends because of competency, not because of a magical McGuffin, contrasting with the 'destiny-has-chosen you’ angle DA:I has for the Inquisitor

Rook is here because they chose to be, “and that speaks to the kind of character that we’ve built. Someone needs to stop this, and Rook says, ‘I guess that’s me'”

The 4 voices we can choose for Rook each have a pitch shifter in CC

The game starts inside the bar (as previously detailed in other coverage)

In some dialogue wheels there is a “romantically inclined ‘emotional’ response” option. These are the replies that will build relationships with characters, romantic and platonic alike, but you can ignore them if you want to. Giving a companion the cold shoulder might nudge them into another companion’s embrace however

Bellara’s surname is Lutara

In the streets of Minrathous (in the opening segment of the game), there is a wide, winding pathway with a pub which has a dozen NPCs in it (is this The Swan tavern?)

The devs used the DA:TV CC to make each in-world NPC, except for specific characters like companions

There is smart use of verticality, scaling and wayfinding in the gameplay

If you play as e.g. a qunari Rook, the camera adjusts to ensure larger characters like them loom over those below. The camera also adjusts appropriately for dwarves to demonstrate their smaller stature

Neve Gallus is described as being capable

The Venatori Cultists we fight in the opening segment of the game are seizing the chaos caused by the demons unleashed by Solas’ ritual to try and take the opportunity to take over the city

As you traverse deeper and deeper into Solas’ hideout, more of his murals appear on the walls, and things 'get more elven'. Rhodes says “this is because you’re symbolically going back in time, as Minrathous is a city built by mages on the bones of what was originally the home of the elves”

At the heart of Solas’ hideout is his personal eluvian

Demons are fully redesigned in this game, on their original premise as creatures of feeling that live and die off the emotions around them. “As such, they are just a floating nervous system, pushed into this world from the Fade, rapidly assembled into bodies out of whatever scraps they find”

In the opening, we stop Solas’ ritual and save the world. “For now” anyways. Rook passes out moments later and wakes up in a dream-like landscape to the voice of Solas. He explains that a few drops of Rook’s blood interacted with the ritual, connecting them to the Fade forever. (I guess this is why they said in the Discord Q&A on June 14th that Rook has good reasons to want to avoid blood magic)

He also says that he was attempting to move Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain (confirming who the two Evil Gods are) to a new prison, because the one he had previously constructed was failing. Unfortunately, Solas is trapped in the Fade by our doing, and the two gods are now free. “It’s up to Rook to stop them”, thus setting the stage for our adventure

Rook wakes up after this with Harding and Neve “in the lair of the Dread Wolf himself”, a special magical realm in the Fade called The Lighthouse. It’s a towering structure centered amongst various floating islands. This is where the team bonds, grows, and prepares for its adventures. It becomes more functional and homier as you do. “Already, though, it’s a beautifully distraught headquarters for the Veilguard, although they aren’t quite referring to themselves as that just yet”.

Because it was Solas’ home base, it's gaudy, with his fresco murals adorning various walls, greenery hanging from above, and hues of purple and touches of gold everywhere. Since it’s in the Fade, which is a realm of dreams that responds to your world state and emotion, the Lighthouse “reflects the chaos and disrepair of the Thedas you were in moments ago”

Clock symbols over dialogue icons signal optional dialogue options

At this point you can head over to Neve, engage in dialogue, and try and flirt with her

There is a dining hall in the Lighthouse. A plate, cutlery and a drinking chalice are at the end of a massive table. Matt Rhodes says that this is a funny and sad look at Solas’ isolated existence, and an example of the detail BioWare’s art team has put into DA:TV. “It’s like when you go to a friend’s house and see their bedroom for the first time; you get to learn more about them”

There is also a library, which is the central area of the The Lighthouse. It’s here that the party will often regroup and prepare for what’s next

The team decides that it must reach the ritual site back in Arlathan Forest. Corinne Busche said that the writer was "missing unique dialogue options here because I’m qunari; an elf would have more to say about the Fade due to their connection to it. The same goes for my backstory earlier in Minrathous. If I had picked the Shadow Dragons background, Neve would have recognized me immediately, with unique dialogue”

The team decide their next move. They go to Solas’ eluvian and back through to the ritual site in Arlathan Forest. However, it’s not fully functional without Solas, and while it returns them to the Forest, it’s not exactly where they want to go. Then a demon-infested suit of mechanized armor known as a Sentinel attacks them, and two NPCs appear to save you: the Veil Jumpers Strife and Irelin. Harding recognizes them, which you would expect if you read the comic Dragon Age: The Missing. They are experts in ancient elven magic. A cutscene ensues and we learn that Strife and Irelin need help finding Bellara Lutara. This cutscene is long and has multiple dialogue options.

“There’s a heavy emphasis on storytelling and dialogue, and it feels deep and meaty, like a good fantasy novel. BioWare doesn’t shy away from minutes-long cutscenes”

For Rook, this story is about what does it mean to be a leader? We define their leadership style with our choices. “From the sound of it, my team will react to my chosen leadership style in how my relationships play out.” This is demonstrated within the game’s dialogue and a special relationship meter on each character’s companion screen

Bellara is deep within Arlathan Forest, and following the events of the prologue, something is up here. Three rings of massive rocks fly through the air, protecting what appears to be a central fortress. Demon Sentinels plague the surrounding lands.

In gameplay/combat, players complete every swing in real time. Special care was taken in development for animation swing-through and cancelling. We can dash, parry, charge moves, and a completely revamped healing system that allows us to use potions at our discretion by hitting right on the d-pad. You can combo attacks and even ‘bookmark’ combos with a quick dash, which means that you can pause a combo’s status with a dash to safety and continue the rest of the combo afterward

Abilities can be used to customize your kit. They can be used on the fly as long as you account for cooldowns

When you pause and pull up the ability Wheel, it highlights you and your companions’ skills. There you can choose abilities, queue them, target specific enemies, and strategize with synergies and combos

Each character plays the same in that you execute light and heavy attacks with the same buttons, use abilities with the same buttons, and interact with the combo wheel in the same way, regardless of which class you select

Sword and shield warriors can hip-fire or aim their shield and throw it like Captain America

Warriors can parry incoming attacks which can stagger enemies. Rogues have a larger parry window. The mage the writer played couldn’t parry at all. Instead they throw up a shield that blocks incoming attacks automatically, so long as you have the mana to maintain it

On the start/pause screen: it has the map, journal, character sheets, skill tree, and a library for lore information. You can use it to cross-compare equipment and equip new gear for Rook and their companions, build weapon loadouts for quick change-ups mid-combat, and customize you and your party’s abilities and builds via an easy-to-understand skill tree. There aren’t in-depth minutiae, just "real numbers". For example, an unlocked trait might increase damage by 25 percent against armor, but that’s as in-depth as the numbers get. Passive abilities unlock jump attacks and guarantee critical hit opportunities, while abilities add moves like a Wall of Fire to your arsenal if you’re a mage. As you spec out this skill tree, which is 100 percent bespoke to each class, you’ll work closer to unlocking a spec, complete with a unique ultimate ability

“Sentinels and legions of darkspawn”

Combat is flashy and quick, with different types of health bars. Greenish-blue represents a barrier, which is taken down most effectively with ranged attacks

The game is gorgeous, with sprinkles, droplets, and splashes of magic in each attack a mage unleashes

The game looks amazing on consoles both in fidelity and performance modes

The mission to find Bellara is called “In Entropy’s Grasp”. You find her. She is the first companion you recruit (as Neve auto-joins). If your background is Veil Jumper, you get unique dialogue here with Bellara. She explains that everyone there is all trapped in a Veil Bubble, and there’s no way out once you pass through it. Despite the dire situation, she is bubbly, witty, and charming. She is spunky and effervescent

Companions are the faces of their factions, and in this case with Bellara, their entire area of the world. She is our window into Arlathan Forest. She is described as a sweetheart and a nerd for ancient elven artifacts, which is why she’s dressed more like an academic than a combatant. Her special arm gauntlet is useful both for tinkering with her environment and taking down enemies. While Neve uses ice magic and can slow time with a special ability, Bellara specializes in electricity, and she can also use magic to heal you. Her electric magic is effective against Sentinels. “However, without Bellara, we could also equip a rune that converts my ice magic, for a brief duration, into electricity to counter the Sentinels”

If you don’t direct your companions in combat, they are fully independent and will attack on their own

You progress at this point through the Forest, encountering more and more darkspawn. Bellara says that they have never been this far before because the underground Deep Roads, which they usually escape from, aren’t nearby. However, with “blighted” (BLIGHTED!) elven gods roaming the world, and thanks to the Blight’s radiation-like spread, it’s a much bigger threat in DA:TV than any prior DA game

The Forest has elven ruins, dense greenery and disgusting Blight tentacles and pustules

The style of the game is more high fantasy than anything in the series thus far and almost reminiscent of the whimsy of Fable. Matt Rhodes says that this is the result of the game’s newfound dose of magic: “The use of magic has been an evolution as the series has gone on. It’s something we’ve been planning for a while because Solas has been planning all this for a while. In the past, you could hint at cooler magical things in the corner because you couldn’t actually go there, but now we actually can, and it’s fun to showcase that.” The Forest’s whimsy will starkly contrast to the game’s other areas. The devs promise some grim locations and even grimmer story moments because, without that contrast, everything falls flat. Corinne says it’s like a “thread of optimism” pulled through otherworldly chaos ravaging Thedas. At this point in the game, Bellara’s personality is that thread

We can advance our bonds with our companions on their own personal quests and by including them in our party on main quests. Every Relationship Level you rank up, shown on their character sheet, nets you a skill point to spend on them. “The choices you make, what you say to companions, how you help them, and more all matter to their development as characters and party members”. Each companion has access to 5 abilities.

Each companion has issues, problems, and personal quests to complete. “Bellara has her own story arc that runs parallel to and informs the story path you’re on” (They’ve said that all of the companions have this too in previous promo material)

You progress deeper into the forest and Bellara spots a floating fortress and thinks that the artifact needed to destroy the Veil Bubble is in there. To reach it, we must remove the floating rock rings, and Bellara’s unique ability, Tinker, can do just that by interacting with a piece of ancient elven technology nearby. Rook can acquire abilities like Tinker later to complete such tasks in instances where Bellara, for example, isn’t in the party

Bellara has to activate three of these in the Forest to reach the castle. Each one you activate brings forth a bunch of Sentinels, demons, and darkspawn to defeat

You can create Arcane Bombs on enemies. It does high damage after being hit by a heavy attack

It sounds like mage characters can charge heavy attacks on their magical staffs. “then switch to magical daggers in a second loadout accessed with a quick tap of down on the d-pad to unleash some quick attacks”

Some enemies are “Frenzied”, meaning that they hit harder, move faster, and have more health

After a few more combat sections, including against a Frenzied sentinel, we reach the center of the temple. In there is an artifact called the Nadas Dirthalen. Bellara knows that this means “the inevitability of knowledge”. Before we can progress, a darkspawn ogre boss attacks, hitting hard with unblockable, red-coded attacks and a massive shield that you need to take down first. It is weak to fire

After defeating it (it’s a climactic arena fight), Bellara uses a special crystal to power the artifact and remove it from the pedestal, which destroys the Veil Bubble. Then, the Nadas Dirthalen comes alive as an Archive Spirit, but because the crystal used to power it breaks, we learn little about this spirit before it disappears. Bellara thinks that she can fix it (fixing broken stuff is her thing), so the group heads back to the Veil Jumper camp. The writer’s demo then ended.

The design of the game is not open world. The devs describe it as a “hub-and-spoke” design where the needs of the story are served by the level design. A version of DA:I’s Crossroads return (the network of teleporting eluvians) and this is how players will traverse across northern Thedas. “Instead of a connected open world, players will travel from eluvian to eluvian to different stretches of this part of the continent”. e.g. Minrathous, tropical beaches, Arlathan Forest, “to grim and gothic areas and elsewhere”. Some of these areas are large and full of secrets and treasures. Others are smaller and more focused on linear storytelling. Arlathan Forest is an example of this, but it still has optional paths and offshoots to explore for loot, healing potion refreshes, and other things.

Each location has a minimap, though linear levels like In Entropy’s Grasp won’t have the 'fog of war' that disappears as you explore like in some of the game’s bigger locations

The game has the largest number of diverse biomes in DA history

The Thedas of DA:TV “lives in the uncertainty”. “the mystery of its narrative”, “the implications of its lore”

The writer is surprised by BioWare’s command over the notoriously difficult Frostbite engine, and by how much narrative thought the dev team poured into these characters, even for BioWare.

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[source: the Game Informer pages from Issue 367 - the cover story from June 18th (link), two]