14 DAY TRIAL // Dragon Age: Inquisition Artist Matt Rhodes has shared a piece of artwork that appeared after the team debated the possibility of allowing players to become the next Divine, showing how a male Qunari Inquisition could attain the throne and what effect it might have had on others.
Dragon Age: Inquisition delivered a sprawling experience last month when it appeared on the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One platforms. The title allows players to take control of a custom protagonist, either male or female, from four different races – Human, Elf, Dwarf, or Qunari. They then become the Inquisition, leader of the actual inquisition movement, and try to save the world.
Players were able to become the Divine
Besides already putting players in a position of power as the leader of the inquisition, BioWare also debated, at some point during the creation process, the possibility of allowing players to become the next Divine, one of the most powerful positions in the fictional land of Thedas.
There were even contingencies for player choices, according to concept artist Matt Rhodes, who confirms on his blog that players needed a certain amount of power to become the Divine, twice as much if they were male, and even more if they were a Qunari. Traditionally in the series, the Divine is a human female, so the obstacles make some sense.
Ultimately, however, the idea was scrapped as it broke the lore of the universe, not to mention some of the actual mechanics the studio wanted for the new game.
"Another one of those moments that never saw the light of day, but made for some interesting and heated discussion internally. We thought it would be interesting if you gained enough power you could name yourself Divine," Rhodes explains.
"It would be twice as hard to do if you played as a male, and for the hardcore player it would twice as hard again to do it as a male Qunari. An effectively game and lore breaking act of heresy. Not even a little bit surprised we backed away from this one."
Different choices can be made in the game
The concept artwork displayed above shows what impact a Qunari male as the Divine would have on two of the important characters in the game, Leliana and Cassandra.
Spoilers: In the actual game, you can choose to support Cassandra, Leliana, or even Vivienne and help them become the next Divine, as the actual story opens with the murder of the current one.
Check out our review of Dragon Age: Inquisition on PC.
