The Story

Setting

• Dragon Age: Inquisition is set in 9:41 Dragon Age, 10 years after the end of the Blight in Dragon Age: Origins. (This means it is also set 10 years after Awakening and Hawke's expedition into the Deep Roads, 9 years after Witch Hunt, 7 years after the defeat of the Arishok, 4 years after the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry, 3 years after Alistair's journey to Antiva, and a year after the dissolution of the Circle of Magi and Varric's interrogation)
• The Chantry and Mages are currently at war due to the actions of Anders in Dragon Age II
• The Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order have broken away from Chantry rule (this was shown in Dragon Age: Asunder)
• Ferelden is still recovering from the Blight 10 years ago.
• Orlais is embroiled in a Civil War between Empress Celene and Duke Gaspard du Chalons (hinted at in Dragon Age: Asunder, to be explored in Dragon Age: The Masked Empire (TBP: April 2014))
• Every group with power and authority is preoccupied, then the sky opens up and demons start pouring out.
• All of the Southern nations (Orlais, Ferelden etc.) and major powers (Chantry, Mages, Templars, Grey Wardens etc.) are basically rendered powerless due to their infighting.
• You learn early on there is a single mastermind behind the tear in the Veil who has been planning all this chaos to distract everyone for an unknown purpose. You don't find out who it is early on, but you have to get to the bottom of it yourself.
• You recreate the Inquisition to find out what is going on, and later how to stop it.

Unlocking the Story

• The story does not progress as in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II.
• The story is unlocked gradually by reaching specified levels of reputation in the game world.
• To gain reputation, you must explore.
• You don't have to do everything (I'm a completionist so I will try to!) just enough to bolster your reputation. When you reach a certain threshold, you can progress.

Plot Points that will be Revisited

• Remember the Red Lyrium that was really mysterious and drove Meredith crazy in Dragon Age II? We'll learn more about that!
• The activities of Morrigan will be explored more.
• The activities of the Grey Wardens will be explored more.
• The nature of Flemeth will be explored more.

Reactive Story System

• The game has a reactive system so that your decisions have short and long-term effects.
• If you reload and change your decision, you can see the effects. No more "hollow decision making"

Importing Save Files

• You can import your world.
• A direct quote from the article: "Just because the PS4 won't read your Xbox 360 save file, don't worry that Inquisition doesn't reflect your choices. It does."