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It is finally a good day to be a Dragon Age fan. After months of no news, middling news, and bad news, BioWare released a short teaser trailer for Dragon Age Dreadwolf earlier today, offering a glimpse at Thedas ahead of a new "full reveal" scheduled for summer 2024.
Is there any gameplay? Does this teaser tell us how the game will look? Have new story details been teased? No, no, and sort of but not really. The 48-second teaser is mostly just set dressing and evocative narration. It's bread crumbs, but after months of eating sand, I reckon Dragon Age fans will happily take bread crumbs.
"We fight for everyone, and we always will," begins the first of four speakers in the trailer. "The Crows rule Antiva."
"Glory to the risen gods that come to deliver this world," adds another.
"Grey Wardens don't hide in our castle," says a third speaker, whose voice sounds a lot like Hawke from Dragon Age 2 according to one of our resident Dragon Age scholars. That's just a passing observation, and could just be voice acting overlap rather than canon, but I do hear it. Our mystery Grey Warden concludes: "I won't ask good soldiers to turn tail and run."
Finally, the presumed villain of Dreadwolf – seemingly Fen'Harel, says: "All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign."
If we rather generously assume that Dreadwolf's visuals will match or closely resemble the lovingly lit environments featured in the teaser, the RPG ought to be very pretty indeed. In a blog post, game director Corinne Busche says "we’re sharing a look at a few of the in-game locations you’ll explore on this new adventure (and perhaps a little more for those who listen closely). The stage is set. The Dread Wolf is ready to make his move."
The same post teases that, "You’ve visited the lands of Thedas thrice before in our games and many more times in comics, books, art, and short stories. This time, you’ll be venturing to places unseen and returning to places from long ago."
"This time, however, much more of Thedas is yours to see," BioWare adds. "The desolate, beautiful badlands of the Anderfels with curtains of distant mountainous spires. The twisting canals and gleaming towers of Antiva, where Crows may lurk in any shadow. The turquoise seas of Rivain with its rushes of greenery and hardy sea-faring people. And of course, there’s more.
"We felt this was best for the tale we wanted to tell this time and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have! It’s allowed us to create many more locations than past games, including both some you’ve longed to go to… and some you’ve never heard of before!"
The most tantalizing line in the post may be this: "This long-awaited chapter of Dragon Age is fast approaching – the time close at hand. We’ll see you next summer with answers to your questions, including ones you have yet to ask."
Of course, BioWare's definition of fast is sort of like Bethesda's definition of mostly bug-free, but with trailers and gameplay coming in summer, we may actually be approaching the finish line, folks.
Earlier this year, BioWare shifted its Star Wars MMO to a new studio to double down on Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
