BioWare offers a sneak peak at Dragon Age 4 lore creation

30.09.2022 22:18

Making Dragon Age 4’s lore requires a careful balancing act and plenty of codex entries, BioWare says

Keeping up with the plot and characters of any story-driven RPG is tough on its own, but the task is creating Dragon Age 4 lore is a momentous one in its own right. BioWare senior editor Sylvia Feketekuty and narrative designer Ryan Cormier provided some insight in a new blog post (which Eurogamer first spotted) about how the team is bringing Dragon Age Dreadwolf to life, including the struggles of creating a new story in the beloved franchise and how to make it accessible to all players, old and new.

The two also shared three brand-new pieces of Dragon Age 4 lore, including a codex entry delving into perceptions of burial practices in Nevarra, a region only mentioned in previous Dragon Age games.

Feketekuty said codex entries such as this are just as important for the team as character dialogue and scenario writing. Information about the Necropolis (for example) might be exactly what some fans are looking for, Feketekuty said, but having characters spout it as if they are soulless tour guides just doesn’t fit with the world. Others don’t want to hear that information at all, so these entries offer the ideal solution

“I chose the ‘Misconceptions about the Necropolis’ codex to show everyone because it was really fun to write,” Feketekuty said. “I wanted the in-game author to be frustrated with Brother Genitivi’s portrayal of the Necropolis while also trying to deny the depth of his irritation with said world-famous scholar. It’s fun to layer things like this, and players are savvy about those layers. They pick up (and I think appreciate) the character coming through.”

Both writers said their goal is to create characters players can feel strongly about, heroes they would want to spend time with, and bizarre encounters that stick in the mind long after the main story ends. To that end, the team also shared a second piece of lore, this time about The Randy Dowager Quarterly, a newsletter for the “noble of thought, but spry of step.