Dragon Age: Inquisition (not a bad game)

I've never done this before ever. Writing a game review. Thought I'd give it a try with a new game I simply can't put down. Just a note this is a review that is not going to spoil the story line for you. I'm only about 20% and about 10 levels into the game upon writing this anyway. I also played this game on PC.

It occurred to me that I haven't played a funner game for passing time and enjoying it since the MMO City of Heroes was out. It's been a week since it came out officially and I thought I'd throw my hat into review this game.

As of writing this piece I am 30 hours in and just finished up the first zone after the intro sequence. I decided to buy this game after watching a twitch live stream of the pre-release trial people had on xbone eaacess. Upon getting the game I found myself up till 4am planning out my story on the dragon age keep website which lets you tailor your DA:O and DA:2 story. Every little decision is in there right down to did you help the dog while at ostigar. I was thoroughly impressed with that whole process. You even get to watch an interactive flash movie of the choices you make to bring you up to speed with what happened in the two games before.I loaded in my storyline and then started the game.

The game started off likely enough almost as Fallout 3 in a way. Felt like just being thrown into the world. Then you kind of have to just piece the story together by yourself while responding the NPC's around you. You get this sense that the story around you is happening to you while you enter the game.

The graphics even on 360 make this game awesome. I don't know what wizardry Bioware employed to get the game even on 360 to look fantastic. The graphics on PC are insane. Right away the game detected my 3 monitor setup and scaled the game to the three monitor resolution across my 3 24" monitors. The graphics are almost too good.

The gameplay is much like DA2. Which is the only thing good about DA2. You're allowed to tailor your bar out but because this game is also on console you're limited to 8 powers only. That to me is the only draw back from DA:O on PC where you could have every single power and potion, and then some with space left over on the skill bar. The gameplay is very engaging the camera system they put in to get whatever perspective you want is great. You can play as a character just behind them in 3rd person like DA:O or you can take a 'God-like' look and jump outside third person and control the camera yourself. There's also combat pause as well just like the other DA's.

The sound is nothing short of a Star Wars movie. From the ambient yelling of combat to the epic fight scenes with dragons and such they really nail down good music and sound FX. Just a side note too in every bar there's a bard playing and there is something like 20+ songs to hear. It's pretty random what they play but the game keeps track of how many songs have been played.

The good things of this game is Bioware spared no expense on this game. They really took the time to deliver a very good game. Even though they are partnered with EA and tainted by that in a way they really took it upon themselves to polish this game before release. Lets give credit where credit is due. The game plays well although there is a few little bugs to work out. Sometimes the auto attack breaks but anybody serious into the combat will be micro-managing every single step those 4 combatants do anyway. The only other gripe in the game is that 8 skills at a time even though you can have nearly 20 powers in say a mage you can only use 8 at a time. For instance on my mage he only has 1 ice, 2 fire, 2 electricity, barrier, rez, and dispell on my skills bar. 

In closing this game is great. It was a refreshing surprise to say the least that EA didn't @#$! it up and ruin this game. If you're craving an epic action adventure RPG then try this game out. This game is also replacing my need to skyrim which is saying alot since I have alot of time in that game.

Thanks for the review.  Do you think it's a different game from DA Origins?  There are two things about (Bioware) RPGs that, in my opinion, highlight their similarities: instead of being a game about power -- human vs human -- they are a game about absolute evil vs good.  And the second thing is that the player trudges from room/area to room/area, kills monsters, reads text, and talks to wooden people, in a dead world.

I guess my complaint would be there's no sense of world or simulated reality, it feels dead and repetitive.  But all I'm really saying is these games seem to me highly similar to one another.

 

The maps is pretty open compared to DA:O. There's also vertically in the game. The lore in the game is much like DA:O there's probably thousands of codex entries to read. There is some sequences that are linear and goal oriented but there are areas I've been in so far and what I've seen is open world style maps. It's kind of like a mini skyrim where you want to go over the next hill to see whats there.

Thanks.  I went and viewed the prologue and you're right on about the graphics.  Obviously I have issues with these games but I can see why it appeals.

 

31 hrs in and I love the game, I just cant stop playing it. Really is a beast to run as well. My 980 is only just keeping its head above water @2560x1600 with everything turned up. All 8 cpu threads close to being maxed out as well.

So much to do and explore. My only sort of gripe is the inventory system.

A very polished game from what I've played through thus far.

Nice review!

I also find my self loving this game more so than DA2 and almost as much as DA: O

I've got something like 80 hours in to Inquisition so far on my first playthrough with a female qunari mage, I can't stop playing it pretty much cause of the same reason that I want to see what's around the next corner and see what happens next. The maps are quite large taking me several hours to fully explore and find/complete every quest and talk to every npc within until I have to move on to the next map.

As much as I am enjoying DA: I there are a few things that I am a bit nit-picky about like:

-the new inventory system and lack of storage/chests

-the mage combat animations (imo seem too action-y if that makes any sense, kinda like the DA2 animations which I didn't like either)

-lack of the bigger hotbar like DA: O has

-the lack of being able to queue actions

-the lack of the tactics menu that DA: O has where you could customize the party a. i. to your liking

-m/kb controls in this game feel awkward to me so I'm having to use a gamepad

-so on and so forth

Other than that I am thoroughly enjoying Inquisition from the lovely bard singing in the taverns and cafe (bard at the cafe sings in french! which I know not a word of lol...), to the visuals, tactical camera/overhead free-cam (probably my favorite feature so far), story and lore, characters, size of the maps, spell particle effects, etc. etc., I could keep going..

Performance at 1440p with my GTX 970 (at stock atm) isn't that bad either, I have to lower some settings though because trying to play this game maxed out gives me too many fps dips for my liking. I haven't had any issues playing the game at all and have yet to encounter any game braking bugs which is a plus.

There was a part of me that did not want to like this game since back when it was announced but after my time with it it has become a favorite and has made it to my list of top favorite games for this year, and I am pretty sure there is still a whole lot left of the game for me even after my 80 hours, not to mention more playthroughs as I have done with the previous DA games.

Nice nice, I am a big fan of DA: O, and was going to get Inquisition upon release, but alas, money as of the moment is hard to come by. Thankfully Christmas and my birthday are coming up LOL So I'll be finally getting me a copy.

Thanks for the review guys, I'm even more sold now to get it. 

I don't care about the game, always online DRM = EA can go suck a bag of donkey cocks before they get a single penny from me.

My girlfriend plays her games on a computer that doesn't have internet. She was gifted a copy, and threw it in the trash as soon as it asked her to make an origin account. I'll gladly give my money to these fellows instead: 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDE4rsLVB9A