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| Make sure not to get too close to demons if you're playing as an archer |
| Quick Info | |
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| Reviewed by: | Mark Goninon |
| Developer: | BioWare |
| Publisher: | Electronic Arts |
| Release Date: | 21 Nov 2014 |
| Time played: | 78 hours (54 hours for the complete playthrough) |
The Year is 2014
I have a confession to make: Dragon Age: Inquisition was the first game in the series I actually lost interest half-way through and considering this game originally came out more than a decade ago, it's been a long time since I've touched the game again. I suspect that, Electronic Arts being Electronic Arts, they wanted to ensure that the next BioWare RPG captured the zeitgeist of the early 2010s, and back then, open world action-adventures and RPGs were all the rage: think 2011's Skyrim, 2012's Far Cry 3 and 2013's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. The Witcher 3 which would come out just after Inquisition is now considered one of the greatest video games in recent history and that series started off as a fairly linear RPG before becoming an open world one.
Anyway, on a spectrum where an RPG can either have more streamlined, linear plot , with a few side quests and a greater focus on the characters compared to one that has a large area to explore and level up in, with hundreds of repeatable, radiant quests, I almost always pick the former. Consequently, especially after playing Dragon Age II, I was feeling the wrong vibe when playing Inquisition after making it to the first large explorable area called "The Hinterlands". It also didn't help that the cutscenes seemed really slow like they were all capped at 30 FPS and running below that. I mentioned all of this in a first impressions post made in 2014 but this was only hours before I would finally give up on it. I ended up spending 24 hours with Inquisition on my first run before I lost interest in the game and moved on.
So, what brought me back? Well, Dragon Age: The Veilguard actually. I wanted to finish Dragon Age: Inquisition to ensure I was up to speed with the Dragon Age lore prior to taking on the fourth entry in the series. Also, my experience with Mass Effect: Andromeda helped motivate me to give it another try. Andromeda was another game where BioWare took the original formula (in this case, the Mass Effect trilogy) and tried to give it the open world, bigger is better treatment. I didn't like it at all at the start, but I eventually persevered and ended up being glad I did. I felt that I owed it to Inquisition to do the same.
Rage of Mages
Okay, so what is Inquisition actually about? Well, the first three Dragon Age games are set in the southern parts of a continent called Thedas, and in the southern parts, the dominant religion is the Chantry. Those with an aptitude in magic tend to be sent to the nearest Circle of Magi to train to be a mage while the Templars act as guards and supervisors, to ensure the mages and their magic doesn't get out of hand. A key dilemma that you'll come across over and over again in Dragon Age is: do mages deserve to be free? Keeping mages under the watchful eye of the Templars can ensure the mages do not harm themselves or others, but should the mages be treated like prisoners? The answer isn't ever clear-cut, especially since different circles are either lenient or strict with the rules.
The events of Dragon Age: Inquisition follow shortly after the events of Dragon Age II. In Dragon Age II, the game ends with mages in Kirkwall rebelling, resulting in a war between mages and Templars that spreads across Thedas. At the start of Dragon Age: Inquisition, a meeting is organised by the leader of the Chantry, Divine Justinia V, between the rebel mages and the Templars but things go awfully wrong as a huge explosion occurs killing almost everyone and resulting in a new rip in the fabric of reality called "the Breach". Your character somehow survives this explosion and is unable to remember what exactly happened. You however bear a mark that you can use to close "Fade Rifts" and you're soon seen by some as a "Herald of Andraste" (Andraste being a holy figure said to be the wife of the Maker or God). Cassandra, a pious warrior and Seeker of Truth, calls upon an Inquisition, an organisation modelled after an ancient order that predates the Chantry and Templars, that hunted down evil magic users. Eventually, your character becomes the Inquisitor, leader of the Inquisition, and it's up to you to define the Inquisition's goals, to recruit new allies, build a base, and build up an army to fight against the evil forces attempting to enter the world through the Fade Rifts.
Slow and dated
So, after coming back to this game after a decade, the first thing I noticed is that the graphics are starting to look a little dated. It's not so bad to be a major issue (hey I grew up with games that didn't even have graphics) but it's noticeable, considering how good recent Unreal Engine 5 games look (I'm curious to see how Dragon Age: The Veilguard looks considering it is actually using the same Frostbite engine as Inquisition, I suspect it's heavily modified though). Another downer is despite acquiring two new PCs since the last time I played Inquisition, I was still encountering the same issues with the cutscenes: it's just so infuriating when you're playing a game fine on Ultra settings, and the actual gameplay has higher fidelity and framerates than the cutscenes!
The only good thing I'll say for the graphics is that the game gives you quite a bit of freedom in the character customisation department, at least for a 2014 game: you can even pick your inner and outer iris colours! Sadly, there's no ability to pick heterochromia although I've heard that you can in Veilguard, so that's actually an improvement I'm looking forward to.
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| Character customisation options are quite impressive for a 2014 game |
Content for Content's Sake
As mentioned earlier, the first time I tried Inquisition I was a bit put-off by how much busywork there was: I was very much overwhelmed by side quests and the game very much feels like a Far Cry: Dragon Age or The Elder Scrolls: Dragon Age. The Hinterlands, the first major explorable area in the game, is pretty large, but it's only the tip of the iceberg as you'll unlock many more areas to explore as you progress through the game. For those that do equate lots and lots of quests, regardless of their importance to the plot, as good content, then they'll definitely get their money's worth playing this game. However, despite focusing on the main quests and doing side quests only for the sake of reaching the recommended level before unlocking new areas (thankfully, the game gives you these hints up front), I still felt I was doing a lot of grinding, especially when it came to the final epilogue DLC called "Trespasser" which recommended you reach level 20 (mind you, in the case of "Trespasser", it was totally worth it in the end, more on that later).
Oh, and another way the game pads out the playing time is by providing you the opportunity to craft items. Crafting items with different materials will confer different benefits (such as +1 in Consitution or +1 in Cunning) but it does mean you have to go around hunting for the materials and finding schematics. While I don't think you need to craft items in order to beat the game, as there are plenty of armour and weapons dropped as loot, you can definitely create more effective heroes if you can tweak which attributes you want to maximise with each of them.
If there is one thing I'm thankful for though, is that when you craft potions, you only need to do it the first time as any used potions are replenished if you visit a camp. Small mercies…
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| The number of quests and places to visit can be quite intimidating |
Same same, but different!
There is a saying amongst Dragon Age fans that no Dragon Age game in the series plays the same: the gameplay in the first Dragon Age is quite different to what they did in the sequel, and this is again the case in the third instalment. While Origins felt more like a traditional D&D CRPG like Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age II felt more like an action RPG, probably trying to capitalise on similar gameplay seen in the likes of Mass Effect 2 which was released not long before. Inquisition attempts to create an experience for both groups of fans: although the game plays a lot like an action RPG, similar to Dragon Age II, it does also give the player greater tactical control with the ability to pause time and give specific orders. You're even able to tweak sliders to customise how your followers will react to certain situations in combat if you prefer not touching the tactical screen at all. You can tell BioWare definitely tried to cater for all camps and yet, I still found the interface to be fiddly at times, that or the game is just really buggy since occasionally, I found it impossible to pick things up off the ground, as they were often embedded in the terrain making them hard to select.
Inquisition wouldn't be a BioWare RPG if you couldn't romance your party members so fans will be glad to know there are plenty of options for you in this game. Unfortunately, the romancing mechanic is similar to other BioWare RPGs which means initial flirting with characters can sometimes feel forced, unnatural and as the youth of today say, "cringe". Flirting often lacks any form of subtlety which meant if I were to truly roleplay my character, I'd probably remain single for the entirety of the campaign. On the other hand, some of the flirting options in the game were often humorous or teasing comments which meant despite trying to break the tension with humour, I was inadvertently flirting with one of my followers. I guess one could argue that is exactly how real life is though, otherwise there'd be no such thing as "mixed signals" right? Anyway, despite the clumsy manner it's implemented, they actually do go to a lot of effort developing the romantic sub-plots in this, so BioWare should ultimately be commended for what they achieved.
As the Inquisition becomes a powerful faction in its own right, the game gives you the opportunity to decide how the Inquisition will eventually shape the world. Will it become the dominant, authoritarian regime, keeping the other powers in check? Or will it disband and return the world to the status quo? You even get the ability to sit on a throne and decide how to address the issues brought by various petitioners, where your wishes will have an impact on how your followers and even other factions see you. The introduction of this extra layer of politics is cool and I definitely dig it.
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| Varric doing what he does best, telling tales |
One for the Fans
What I loved most about Dragon Age: Inquisition and what kept me persevering, is the fact there are a lot of throwbacks to previous Dragon Age games and its characters. Thanks to the Dragon Age Keep website, all the decisions you made in the previous Dragon Age games can be imported into Inquisition and characters that you will reunite with, will recall what happened. You'll come across characters from both Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, and the most crazy thing is being able to meet Hawke, your player character from Dragon Age II!
The icing on the cake for Dragon Age fans though, has to be the final DLC in the game called "Trespasser". This DLC is Mass Effect 3 "Citadel" tier and acts as one giant epilogue where you get to meet all your friends two years after the end of the main Inquisition campaign. There were some bugs and I found the DLC to be more difficult than earlier parts of the game but thankfully, there were times I was able to circumvent combat altogether and really put my rogue's sneaking skills to good use (I love it when games give that as an alternative). Most importantly, Trespasser works as a bridge between Inquisition and Veilguard so I feel vindicated for returning to this game and finishing it.
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8
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Dragon Age: Inquisition tries to do more of everything and this can be somewhat intimidating for a Dragon Age fan or for those who are worried they lack the time to invest in an open world RPG. The game is also starting to show its age and there are still bugs and graphical issues despite it being over a decade old. However, for the fans of Dragon Age, this is one I still recommend they persevere with since they'll be rewarded with memorable new characters, reunions with older characters, a game where you literally dictate the fate of Thedas and one of the best epilogues to be experienced in a AAA title. |
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