Before you read on let me just say one thing right off the bat. I spent over 120 Hours in this game and played on nightmare, I don’t normally do that unless there is good reason.
Dragon Age and I have had a love hate relationship over the years. Like most people, I loved DA: Origins but was then horribly disappointed with DA:2. I was so disappointed that I even opted to play FarCry 4 first as I was afraid Dragon Age: Inquisition wouldn’t stand up to my expectations, well I’m glad to say I was mostly wrong.
If you haven’t played a Dragon Age game before you may find yourself very lost very quickly, the world of Dragon Age is rich in back story and Lore that even the most hardcore of fans will forget somethings. Luckily Dragon Age: Inquisition does a great job of providing you with just enough to keep going on the current issues but leaves you begging for more if you enjoy it. And for long time fans of DA, DA:I does a great job bringing in both past games to make your world feel even more alive and that you really had an effect on the story so far. I will commend BioWare a great many times for their attention to detail in this matter. Anyway on to the review!
Story: In itself Dragon Age: Inquisition does a great job setting up your role in the world and who the main enemy is, the only down side will be if you rush through the story line, as it can be rather short, much like Skyrim or other popular open world RPG titles. DA:I leaves a lot of the optional progression up to you, you can either dig in deep or just skim the top.
The thing I enjoyed most is the side quests, some side quests were more epic and world changing than the actual story line missions. For example, one side quest had you talk to a mayor who flooded his old town to get away from the Blight, unfortunately you need to get to the old town for your current quest. The only way to do this is to Siege the stronghold in control of the damn, release the damn to drain the lake (opening a whole new section to the map) fight through a ghost field of undead and demons to access the underground caves, the underground caves take you to an ancient Dwarven ruin that has a mini-boss battle to rid the area of demons. Upon destroying the boss you find that the mayor willingly killed people in the old town to save himself from the blight, you arrest him and take him in to be judged (by you). After doing all of this I kind stood around for a moment and realized that NONE of this was “needed” for the main quest line but it was such an epic endeavor I couldn’t believe it was merely a side quest. Take note other developers THIS is how to side quest, no need for boring fetch quests when you can create a full experience.
Graphics: On the PS4 and Xbox 1 the Graphics are sharp and stunning, but the real show stopper is the faces and lip syncing of you and everyone you meet. Since a great deal of the Story takes place within conversations between you and your party the team at BioWare did a great job giving each NPC a beautifully rendered face with full expressions and depth. Outside of pretty people, character and enemy animations are spot on and look like you are watching a full battle rather than a typical hack and slash. Its also worth pointing out that every Battle with a Dragon is the best battle you will ever have, even better than Skyrim’s.
Sound: Voice acting is top notch, each character has their own charms and even when repeating catch phrases during battle it feels natural and not overly annoying (a nice change). The music is epic and a perfect fit for a fantasy setting, from hearing the call to the inquisition or Sara’s song by a bard each piece of music is well played and a joy to hear. I always like it when the battle music changes as well depending on who you are fighting.
Gripes: DEAR GOD THE GLITCHES. Sadly with such a large game it has become the norm for it to be plagued by glitches, it becomes inexcusable when some of them become game breaking. I would have a platinum trophy under my belt but unfortunately multiple trophies are glitched as well and wont pop even after you complete the requirements, while trophy hunting isn’t that big a deal to me it is still aggravating as hell to spend over 100 hours on a game and not be rewarded for your efforts. Not just trophies but also some story lines would break and would never be available, in my game, Cullen disappeared completely (outside of cut scenes) and could not be talked to or found within Skyhold, thus any missions requiring his interaction were now broken and could not be completed. The final battle also crashed on me twice once kicking me out of the game completely the other time freezing the enemies in place not allowing the battle to continue, forcing me to reload.
(This is also just silly)
Along with the glitches the clipping in this game was through the roof, now I understand a little clipping but when a character folds their arms their fingers shouldn’t go through their body like knives. Or if you are going to give a character a ridiculously huge hat make sure it doesn’t merge into their back or anyone around, especially in cut scenes, it breaks immersion and looks lazy.
From the start once I heard DA:I would have a mulitplayer aspect to it I was saddened as this is not a multiplayer game, and Just like Mass Effect 3 it was a tacked on experience that added nothing but another way for EA to get your money via Micro-Transactions. This in itself is Bullshit, I just wish they had spent that time fixing their game instead of making shitty multiplayer garbage. I Beg and Plead with you, PLEASE DO NOT BUY micro transactions from these AAA titles. Vote with your wallet and SAY NO TO MICRO TRANSACTIONS.
The smallest of my complaints would also be the menu system I wish it was easier to navigate or did a better way to show differences between armor or weapons, especially with upgrades. Or when I am looking at a mage, how about you dont show me all the heavy armor he cant wear or equipment he cant use. Many a time I skipped crafting a new weapon upgrade just because I didn’t want to spend the time going back and forth between menus over and over again just to see if it was an improvement.
*Sigh* After all this time however I still love the world of Dragon Age and I loved Dragon Age Inquisition I just wish EA/BioWare sent us a completed game so I could have given this a better score that it truly deserved, instead technical issues and cash grabs keeps this one from being one of the greatest games ever made.
I BEAT IT FIRST.