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Dragon 4 is still a long ways off, and the only consistent info we’re getting about it seems to be through semi-regular concept art reveals. That’s enough for me though, and I shall endeavor to make you all excited about each and every one. Over the weekend, BioWare executive producer Christian Dailey posted this high contrast and rather moody bit of art on Twitter, showing a mage soaked in red light in a city alleyway. It has a much different mood to the art we’ve seen so far, and I’m pretty stoked about what it could mean for the game’s setting.
We already know parts of the game will take place in Tevinter, homeland of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s best companion Dorian. Now, according to Dragon Age 4’s creative director Matthew Goldman, this concept art shows Minrathous, Tevinter’s capital city.
If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll probably know a fair bit about Minrathous. It’s one of the oldest and largest cities in the game’s world, Thedas. In the current timeline, it has fallen into decay, full of war refugees and crumbling buildings being held together by magic. We only know this from comics and lore, however, because we haven’t actually seen it in-game. With this new concept art supposedly set there, I’m hoping with all my heart that this is what the streets of Minrathous would look like when we finally get to visit.
All the cities we’ve seen so far in the Dragon Age series have been your usual high-fantasy locations. Denerim is a very murky city, for lack of a better word. It’s the sort of place I think of when it comes to medieval fantasy, with dwarven street merchants yelling about their fine wares, taverns full of rowdy people, and of course an elven slum with a big magic tree. Similar can be said of Kirkwall. We’ve also seen Val Royeaux, a gaudy and colourful place, full of people who think they’re better than you. But despite its unique look compared to the others, Val Royeaux still isn’t that different from your typical fantasy towns.
Minrathous seems so fresh and unusal compared to those. Its streets are bathed in magical light, it looks dingy, intriguing, and almost as though that mage is in some noir-esque detective story. Forget the sunny days and pompous losers in Val Royeaux, I’m dying to explore a city in Dragon Age that shows a new perspective on the game’s fantasy. There’s so much atmosphere in this one image alone, I truly hope the game can emulate it.
… If we even get to go to Minrathous. Oh god, oh no, what if we don’t? I’ll drop dead on the spot. My life is in BioWare’s hands now, I don’t make the rules.
It’ll be ages until we find out too. On an earnings call in 2019 EA said the game wouldn’t be out until 2022 at the earliest. At least we have the concept art until then. Dailey also showed off a pic of a magic archer a few months back.