Ten years ago, PC Gamer editor-in-chief Phil Savage advised Dragon Age: Inquisition players to leave the Hinterlands, the massive RPG's gorgeous quagmire of an opening zone. Playing Avowed, I was struck by how much it presents the opposite experience in its first area, Dawnshore. I luxuriated in Dawnshore for 16 hours before finally moving on to Avowed's second zone, and I don't regret it one bit.
Dawnshore's definitely big, but I don't know how its footprint compares to the Hinterlands—in addition to the two games operating on different engines and perspectives, it's been a long time since I played Inquisition, and my memory of the Hinterlands looms large in my mind. But Dawnshore is dense in a way I found truly impressive. The map is big enough not to feel cramped, but there's also not an iota of wasted space.
