Home Gaming A look back at Dragon Age: Inquisition – Three months after release

A look back at Dragon Age: Inquisition – Three months after release

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I was absolutely filled with hype for Dragon Age: Inquisition. I pre-ordered it (one of the only games I pre-ordered all year), got the deluxe edition and played for most of the December holiday. It’s now three months since the game was released, which feels like enough time for a re-evaluation. This isn’t a re-review, but it may add some new perspective on the game.

I can show you the world

DAI dale exalted plaines

Unlike previous Bioware games, Dragon Age: Inquisition feels sprawling and massive. There are a ton of varied environments to explore, and exploration really does pay off as you’re rewarded for finding landmarks, might pick up new side missions and even discover some cool loot. Gone is the curse of one cave – each subterranean area feels uniquely designed and specifically dangerous. Added to that is a self-awareness; characters will comment on the fact that caves always seem to contain spiders, or that the best loot is behind locked doors. It helps to make the choices feel deliberate instead of rote.

However, you may not feel compelled to visit the full range of environments. If you follow the main story, you will probably only ever visit about half of the available areas in the game. Of course you are meant to complete your companion quests, but even these do not require thorough exploration of each and every area. As a result, the landscapes may go to waste for many players who do not see the value in traipsing through every single nook and cranny – something particularly noticeable after the first play through.

Story and Characters

DAI iron bull

As is the norm for Bioware, Dragon Age: Inquisition has some truly stellar characters. However, most of their real personality comes out during party chatter as you travel the countryside. This means that you might miss out on character development from those with the same fighting class as yourself. My first play through, I didn’t really appreciate Sera – she just seemed weird when I would talk to her at camp. However, having her in a party with Iron Bull, or Cole, completely changed my perspective on her. She is sarcastic and inappropriate with some of the best dialogue in the whole game. During my first play through, I was more entertained by the banter between Vivienne and Varric. Yes, your party combinations, as well as whom you choose to romance, can change your entire perception of your companions.

Unfortunately, the main story is rather weak and predictable. Oh look, there’s a bad guy who wants to kill you for interrupting his bad thing. You should go find and kill him, once you take out a bunch of his minions. Oh, and you’ll need to make some important choices that change your perception of how things progress but don’t actually seem to affect what your overall experience includes.

The companion missions can be interesting enough, although most of them aren’t unique enough to be differentiated from the bevy of fetch quests you’ll be forced to complete as side missions throughout the game. One notable exception to that statement is Blackwall’s companion mission – his has the most depth and variation in experience.

Gameplay and Aesthetics

DAI kill it with light

There is no denying it, the game is gorgeous. Environments are beautifully crafted, character models are detailed and changeable and even the various enemies you fight feel differentiated. The sound design is equally stellar with fantastic sound effects inside and out of combat, as well as a gorgeous score that can help elicit true feelings. Between the dialogue, music and animation, I actually felt like my romance option was realistic – I found myself playing with a giddy smile on my face the whole time.

Unfortunately, that experience is often undercut by repetitive gameplay. Each area seems to include the same few experiences – go get that thing someone wanted, go kill a bunch of these enemies, oh, and go close a bunch of rifts that means fighting a batch of enemies. It’s mindless fetch-quest after mindless fetch-quest. While combat feels challenging at the start of the game, it eventually becomes ridiculously easy. I completed the entire game (including killing all dragons) on normal the first time around; by the time I got to the final boss, my gear and characters were so powerful that it didn’t feel like a struggle. I’m currently replaying on hard, which is obviously more difficult, but it’s still clear that once I can craft the necessary gear, it will become straight forward again. This makes the end-game experience feel weak and predictable instead of climactic and exciting.

While Bioware is working hard to fix the various glitches in the game, these can also undermine gameplay. I had one particularly frustrating battle with a glitch – after drowning in about knee-deep water, I kept respawning in said water, repeatedly dying in a perpetual loop that I couldn’t escape. My companions also respawned in the water; I actually had to reload from an earlier save and repeat a bunch of the mission just to proceed. Other issues include intermittent hanging dialogue (or missing dialogue) that makes the experience feel broken and frustrating.

Replay value

DAI leliana

During the December break of 2013-2014, I played the Mass Effect trilogy. It was fantastic and I keep thinking about how I want to go back and replay it. I’m waiting for a remastered version to arrive on new generation consoles, but I keep feeling that itch – the game is calling to me.

In the 2014-2015 break, I played primarily Dragon Age: Inquisition. I finished the game in approximately 100 hours, and then proceeded to create a new character for a replay on Hard difficulty. I’ve had review games to play since then, and other activities that are taking my attention, but I just haven’t been as compelled to carry on with my play through. I’m probably about 15-20 hours in, but the game isn’t grabbing me.. I’ve made different choices, and my character is rather different this time around, but it still just isn’t calling to me in the same way. I don’t feel compelled to keep playing; I’m more likely to load up a quick game of Resogun than throw an hour or two into Dragon Age: Inquisition. This could be because there isn’t any new content or DLC, or I could have Dragon Age fatigue. However, previous Dragon Age games were instantly replayable for me – I played Origins three or four times and even Dragon Age II got two full replays from me. I probably will finish this second play through, but I might just wait for something specific to draw me back in.

I think the problem with Dragon Age: Inquisition is that it requires a curious mind to enjoy it. I loved it the first time through because I was curious what I would find as I explored the world. Now I know what’s there, and I’m not all that interested in seeing it again, especially knowing how shallow the whole thing is.

Last Updated: February 18, 2015

102 Comments

  1. Umar

    February 18, 2015 at 12:37

    I never enjoyed it that much as everyone did in the first place because it was so shallow. Every area is basically Rifts + Shard hunting with a few interesting little side distractions. The story is kinda boring with some good moments and the characters..are okay I guess. Now, my opinion means very little as at first I dismissed it, gave it another try and started to enjoy it, almost 30 hours later I’m dead bored with it. Combat is boring and repetitive and lacks any tactical depth, like, what was the point of tactical view even? I just use it when I need to pee. Its a very good game..but just..yeah, completely overrated…Oh well, I’m worried about Mass Effect though. This is my personal feelings but I’m craving something deep and tactical, and I doubt Mass Effect will have any sort of deep system with Bioware’s current path.

    Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      February 18, 2015 at 12:54

      That’s how I felt about Kingdoms of Amalur. It was fun to start with, but after a while it just became more of the same, and then it became a chore. Go to new area, get quests, fetch or kill everything to complete quests, move to next area. BORING.

      Reply

      • Umar

        February 18, 2015 at 12:58

        Yeah, Amalur’s saving grace for me was the combat, while not deep at all and pretty easy, it was at least engaging and fun to an extent. DA:I was just..I don’t know, felt like it was stuck in limbo between it wanting to be tactical while trying to be an Action RPG

        Reply

        • Solace Creat

          February 19, 2015 at 12:03

          It makes me terribly sad to read this. I delayed buying DAI, and now I’m glad I did. I got $30 off on the deluxe edition on origins origins for Valentines. Crazy big discount. After reading about the lack of difficulty–which Is part of what made origins so amazing, along with pristine characters–Is don’t think I would have burned 80 bucks on the deluxe edition. It’s such a damn shame. This series could have been one of the best in all gamedom, but they decided–still, even after the hideous debacle of DA2–to focus more on getting as many people to buy the game as possible. They sold out, and it makes me sad. I get why. They need to make the money. It just sucks. Tactical cam was clearly designed with consoles in mind, and it’s a shit compromise, favoring the majority and throwing the loyal customers of DAO out with a few scraps of quasi – difficulty and quasi-tactics.

          Well. Now I know enough to where I’ll start the game on a higher difficulty. What would be so hard about giving us a hardcore difficulty level above nightmare or the other one? People are already soloing the game on the highest difficulty….I miss DAO…

          Reply

      • Brady miaau

        February 18, 2015 at 14:59

        How I played that game was that, by accident, I spent so much time in the start areas I was overpowered and I just minced my way through most of the game till the end. nothing was difficult, on default difficulty. Also, played it, for the 2nd time (1st time bug hit 3/4 way through, no fix for Xbox) in a few days after a leg operation, where I had to lie down and keep leg up. So wife, on holiday at the time, just brought me food and drink, let me play all I wanted and helped my hobble to toilet and bed. Say 3 days.

        Reply

    • oVg

      February 18, 2015 at 13:21

      “what was the point of tactical view even? I just use it when I need to pee.”

      BWAHAHAHAHAHA Me too 🙂

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        February 18, 2015 at 13:31

        BWHAHAA

        Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        February 18, 2015 at 13:41

        • RinceThis

          February 18, 2015 at 13:44

          Oh no you didn’t!

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            February 18, 2015 at 13:45

            I’m dangerous!

        • oVg

          February 18, 2015 at 13:50

          Needs more Elfroot.

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            February 18, 2015 at 13:54

            NO MORE ROOT FOR YOU!

          • oVg

            February 18, 2015 at 14:00

            I picked them all BUT THEY KEEEEEP RE-SPAWNING 🙁

        • Captain JJ the crafter

          February 18, 2015 at 14:12

          I WAS having lunch. Thanks.

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            February 18, 2015 at 14:23

            Dangerous!

      • Spy Master Tokashi

        February 18, 2015 at 15:17

        tactical view is useless if you play on easy or medium. I have used it a lot on Hard, especially when my Rogue keeps on running in and getting 1 shotted.

        Reply

        • Amer Alharbi

          February 19, 2015 at 00:47

          I use it when one of my part members die, I hold the dragon, a member head to revive the fallen member, another member defend the member who’s going to revive the fallen one, this great tactic helped me beat the last dragon while i’m on level 20 and playing as a Warrior with 3 mages.

          Reply

          • Spy Master Tokashi

            February 19, 2015 at 07:44

            You should try with a Rogue – Tempest build – Tier 3 gear (utility) stack Agility.

            Death Blows were hitting for 6-7k when the dragon was on 50% and lower. The damage my rogue did on the end was just insane. The last boss was a breeze in the park with my Rogue setup. My whole party was just pure support .. (keep the rogue alive)

    • tthreat23

      February 21, 2015 at 08:11

      What difficulty were you playing on? I’m a firm believer in games are meant to be played on their hardest difficulty, and on nightmare, DA:I is just damn difficult. I heard it opens up a lot after you reach sky hold and do the specialization quests. But levels 1-10 have been awfully punishing.

      Reply

      • Umar

        February 21, 2015 at 13:06

        I played on hard. Not sure how punishing Nightmare is though, sounds harsh, but it was hard though, but the only way I could manage was grinding and better gear, I was never pushed to think in a different way or try different tactics. This is just my experience though but I was challenged in a way that forced me to approach situations differently.

        Reply

      • Sean Cosenza

        May 16, 2015 at 07:13

        Games are not at all meant to be played on their hardest difficulty. Usually they made the game on normal, and then for harder ones just give them more health. IMO adding more health, or more enemies to the game doesn’t make it more difficult. It just makes it more tedious or frustrating. A game like Dark Souls is designed to be balanced, but Dragon Age on nightmare is just some number changes from normal.

        Reply

        • tthreat23

          September 2, 2015 at 23:11

          You’re stating that as fact, but it’s really not. My opinion is that games should be played on their hardest difficulty. And if they weren’t then why would developers make a hard mode? Normal is default; here’s the game, learn the mechanics, then play the game as we meant it to be played.

          Reply

  2. Uberutang

    February 18, 2015 at 12:39

    Lovely ‘re-take’ on it. It now goes onto my ‘maybe’ list.

    For some reason I played through mass effect 2 4 times! I almost never do that with games.

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      February 18, 2015 at 13:32

      But what a game!

      Reply

    • Rock789

      February 18, 2015 at 13:51

      Yeah, I’m sitting on 7 playthroughs of ME1, 5 of ME2 and 3 of ME3. And I have the “play through the entire trilogy again” itch at the moment… Such an awesome set of games!

      Reply

    • j

      February 19, 2015 at 03:30

      I did it 6 times but I was very disappointed and ME3 only played 1 run…

      Reply

    • Mark Baxter

      February 19, 2015 at 14:56

      Am I the only person that thought Mass Effect 2 was easily the weakest of all three games. Pointless filler story (except for the Arrival DLC), no real sense of exploration, huge amounts of RPG elements removed… nice polished fighting and some decent new buddies, but no dice.

      It was like moving from Dragon Age: Origins to Inquisition. I just finished Origins for the first time, straight on to Inquisition and was like WHAT. I like it so far (only like an hour or so in), but WHAT.

      Reply

      • Travis

        February 19, 2015 at 15:01

        OMG yes defintely, ME2 was the best by far, followed by 1 then 3. ME2 was one of the games of the generation, story and character development way better, no stupid forced multiplayer, no irritating Mako etc was way better. But each to their own

        Reply

        • Mark Baxter

          February 19, 2015 at 16:00

          Ah, ME1 was the best for me. It had action, betrayal, drama, suspense, mystery, twists (oh man, the twists).

          Two had the flashy lights, and the pew-pew, but the story just seemed… well, lacking to me. It struck me as “Shit, we want a trilogy, but what can we do until the Reapers arrive?”. The collectors just weren’t scary or cool enough after that colossal twist at the end of ME1 (holy shit, Reapers are badass). For me, ME2 felt dumbed down.

          That’s probably why I like ME3 more than ME2. It almost mixed the previous games together, with enough from each to satisfy both my RPG-completionist side and my apparently intense desire to look cool as fuck while shooting and psychic-ing bad guys.

          Glad we can actually get into a discussion about this without someone calling me a douchebag though. I seem to be in the vast minority, but that’s tastes, eh?

          PS. Why did the Human Reaper look completely different to every other Reaper? I honestly never got that.

          Reply

          • Travis

            February 19, 2015 at 16:04

            Ok, nice reply as I said each to their own, The one thing I agree is I dont like the dumbing down of the RPG elements. But I loved the story of ME2. Anyway heres hoping the RPG in ME4 has a lot of depth, and I personally wish they woul cancel the multi player altogether.

    • aerociviz2

      February 19, 2015 at 21:58

      I understand why you now put it on your “maybe” list but if you’re a fan of Mass Effect, you’ll definately enjoy this as its like the elves and dwarves version of it. You can also play through all 3 dragon age games like the ME trilogy for different playthroughs (using the dragon keep of course to put in your decisions and actions)

      Reply

  3. Admiral Chief

    February 18, 2015 at 12:40

    Dat Mass Effect!

    Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      February 18, 2015 at 13:02

      Mass Effect! The game you will be raving to your grandchildren about when they come around the old age home and tell you about this rad game they are playing.

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        February 18, 2015 at 13:02

        Indeed

        Reply

        • Dutch Matrix

          February 18, 2015 at 13:04

          And you will go into that 100 yard stare, as you recall Liara T’Soni, sigh and say: “Yes… we had GOOD games…” (I of course will forever be married to Ashley Williams…)

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            February 18, 2015 at 13:05

            Well, Liara won’t have aged a bit by then!

          • Dutch Matrix

            February 18, 2015 at 13:06

            True that. But you will be a wrinkly old raisin…

          • Admiral Chief

            February 18, 2015 at 13:16

            WON’T MATTER!!!! Huehuehue

  4. Captain JJ the crafter

    February 18, 2015 at 12:42

    I’m still very intrigued by DA:I
    My backlog is huge though.

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      February 18, 2015 at 13:23

      clear it. Push this to the top. Even with negative comments here, it is still the bees knees.

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the crafter

        February 18, 2015 at 13:27

        I’ve tried to not take in too much from reviews and such. Watched 2 gameplay vids on YouTube and it’s looking quite nice.

        Reply

  5. Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

    February 18, 2015 at 12:43

    I played and enjoyed the game these holidays too..but I certainly did not love it. I found the whole game to be pretty flipping shallow, hollow even. A neverending series of dull-as-dishes fetch quests. It’s mostly mindless, boring and repetitive.

    There were bits I liked, of course; the characters, the development with companions, killing dragons. But the game is most certainly not all it’s cracked up to be.

    Reply

    • oVg

      February 18, 2015 at 13:11

      I think that gameplay of multitasking 4 character classes should stay in hardcore mode with an RPG top down mode. Playing those sort of games in Casual button mashing with the odd potion was rather shallow.

      Give me a sword and let met lob some heads off Shadow of Mordor style and it would have been brilliant for the casuals.

      Mass Effect gets away with it because they have guns. Dragon Age gameplay has aged.

      Reply

  6. Ryanza

    February 18, 2015 at 12:44

    Let’s see. Re-playability. Dialog, cool cut scenes with bad ass dialog, combat, missions. These are the factors that contribute to re-playability.
    When I replay a game it’s always dialog that keeps me playing. The GTA games, Gears 1, Bioshock 1, Mass Effect 1, maybe 2, Witcher 2 just has a long lot of stuff I like, ect. Dialog.


    Dialog. I am hoping that The Witcher 3 has a lot of good dialog, which it should, and interesting missions, which it should.

    I knew Dragon Age wouldn’t be fun a second time around. #haterade

    Reply

    • oVg

      February 18, 2015 at 13:20

      NEW GAME PLUS 😉

      Reply

  7. Blood Emperor Trevor

    February 18, 2015 at 12:50

    I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything by not getting this game. And I quite enjoyed the previous ones.

    Reply

    • geel slang

      February 18, 2015 at 13:21

      Get it, ignore the moaning, its a great game

      Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        February 18, 2015 at 13:35

        EA games… I don’t buy them any more.

        Reply

      • Arcendus

        May 21, 2015 at 22:26

        Who’s moaning? Not everyone agrees with you. If that sounds like moaning, get your ears/head checked.

        Reply

        • geel slang

          May 22, 2015 at 09:11

          lol, ok Ill have my head checked then, thanks for the advice.

          Reply

  8. Umar

    February 18, 2015 at 12:50

    Do you know what I dream of when I get a wet dream…Shards. Oh man, shards everywhere..hnnnng *not really*

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      February 18, 2015 at 13:34

      Not tentacles? And you ‘get’ wet dream’ Where? In your jean pant? *RUNS

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the crafter

        February 18, 2015 at 14:11

        I’ll haf you know there are nofing wrong wifff Umar.
        Tentacles aside ;P

        Reply

  9. oVg

    February 18, 2015 at 12:53

    Why was there no new game plus?
    I would have loved skimming through the Narrative as a harbinger of death controlling my own PACE.
    But Noooooo you are forced to do all those OCD side missions to raise the power meter to progress the story.

    Fail on the replay value.

    Reply

    • Umar

      February 18, 2015 at 12:54

      Hated that part of the game, being forced to get power to partake in missions.

      Reply

      • oVg

        February 18, 2015 at 12:56

        The Narrative was long and the Lore was deep. But having long periods in-between story progression kind of ruined it.

        I still need to understand a few more things but really don’t feel like grinding all over again.

        Reply

        • Umar

          February 18, 2015 at 12:59

          The lore was insanely deep, a bit too deep for me. SO MUCH text, damn, felt like I was drowning, but there is a crowd for that.

          Reply

        • Brady miaau

          February 18, 2015 at 13:22

          Me too. So wait a year or so.

          Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        February 18, 2015 at 13:16

        i never really had an issue with it, theres always something to do.
        by the time there isnt anything left to do, you have enough power to move on.

        Reply

      • Brady miaau

        February 18, 2015 at 14:42

        I have never had an issue with enough power. Never had, just played and always had too much.

        Reply

  10. Matthew Holliday

    February 18, 2015 at 12:56

    pretty much the same thoughts, especially on the replay value, also a few hours into my second playthrough, but just cant get into it the same as i did on the first.

    the game did so many things right that make it amazing, but there are a few niggles that stop it from being mass effect level.

    Reply

  11. Lardus-Resident Perve

    February 18, 2015 at 13:05

    That ME itch, still scratching it myself. The entire trilogy of course!

    Reply

  12. Nikola

    February 18, 2015 at 13:17

    I absolutely loved the game definitely game of the year for me had everything I wanted heavy fantasy rpg, storytelling, interesting characters, gameplay was fun for me playing on PS coming from playing on PC the previous two games, however if you want a very tactical RPG this is not one!! THis game for me ticked all the right things and what I wanted from it, it is not perfect in anyway it has it’s issue’s but it is for me the best RPG I’ve played in a looooong time. This is of course my personal opinion I might be a bit biased as I love the franchise and RPG’s in general.

    Reply

    • Nikola

      February 18, 2015 at 13:20

      However I agree with no replay value I thought I would go straight and play with another character but never did but I might in future!

      Reply

  13. Brady miaau

    February 18, 2015 at 13:21

    I agree with you about replay value, but I think that ME had some of the same issues for me.

    With games like this, Fallout, ME, Et al, I replay them when several expansions (DLC for you youn’uns) come out. Never, ever directly after finishing. I just would not have the strength.

    I took a two week break from playing and played on Sunday night again. Game was great, played each night since. But why did I need the break? I think because of a little bit of repetitive play. I love most of the characters, not Sera or Cole though.

    I think it was one of the top 5 RPG’s I have ever played (not yet finished). For sheer joy it matched ME 1+2+3 and Eye of the Beholder 1+2. Also Baldurs Gate 2. So, overall, a very, very good game. I do not compare it do DA:O, cause some world.

    I think the one flaw is the size of the game. They wanted to brag about massive environment because it looks good on press release day. But with big size comes, in a linear curve, bigger responsiiblity to add more gameplay value to it. That is very, very hard. They did an impressive job for the most part, but still something felt a bit lacking once you got past the “each area looks different” thing.

    Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      February 18, 2015 at 13:33

      I loved EotB back in the day. Ever tried Legend of Grimlock? It’s like EotB with a shiny coat of paint.

      Reply

      • Brady miaau

        February 18, 2015 at 14:08

        I did, but it is not the same for me. Also, I played a LOT of AD&D back in the day, so I loved the fact that EOTB stuck to the rules and such

        Reply

  14. RinceThis

    February 18, 2015 at 13:31

    Is it worth getting on the Xbox 360?

    Reply

  15. Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event

    February 18, 2015 at 14:12

    Confession time.

    Still have not finished it and currently in my 40 something playthrough of ME:1.

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      February 18, 2015 at 14:47

      40 something? Cough***** 40 Something? Are you serious? 40 *cough* something?

      Wow. I am actually typeless. Like speechless, just less tongue involved

      Reply

      • Kromas Votes LAG WCMovie Event

        February 18, 2015 at 18:24

        What can I say. As far as Sci-Fi space opera goes (and that is what it is) it beats everything else out of the water including non game franchises like Star Wars for me and I am a HUGE Star Wars fan (original trilogy and maybe some of episode 3).

        Reply

        • Brady miaau

          February 18, 2015 at 21:05

          Well, I must admit it is good Space Opera. Sort of like a 6 series Sci-Fi book in terms of epicness, Sort of Like Deathstalker, by Mr Green

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            February 18, 2015 at 22:01

            Those books were silly space adventure goodness.

          • Brady miaau

            February 18, 2015 at 22:48

            Just amazing! Cannot realistically work on any other medium. Owen is just a character unto himself.

  16. Ghost In The Rift

    February 18, 2015 at 14:33

    Gameplay could have been better, and i only hope they explain the ending or add a dlc for it.

    Reply

  17. N@te

    February 18, 2015 at 15:10

    I could never get into Mass Effect. Got half way through the first one the bailed….meh.

    Reply

  18. Spy Master Tokashi

    February 18, 2015 at 15:22

    I like your tag. Opinion 2.0 …

    This game has replay ability especially when you pick a Elf Mage.

    Finished the game as a Human Rogue and now I am playing an elf mage and the dialogues are different, they treat you differently. I really like it …

    I can say the same to Skyrim, the story is shallow and the world is also not that interesting but I have spent 160 hours in it! o_O All boils down to personal taste…

    Like people play COD every day online, the same DAMN map … DOTA .. wtf same map every time …

    I still say that DA:O is the best of the 3 but DA:I comes very close to it.

    People should still try it out who have not tried it out. really it is worth the money

    Reply

    • Her Highness the Hipster

      February 18, 2015 at 15:30

      Agree, really worthwhile. First time I played as Dwarf Rogue, this time as Qunari Mage. Some different dialogue options and treatment, but still ends up feeling like the same core experience. Will still probably pour more hours into it, but I think will need some DLC or something to make it new

      Reply

      • Spy Master Tokashi

        February 18, 2015 at 15:50

        I think it is because the game was so long, 100 hours is a lot of time to get to the ending and it feels like all the hard work you have done throughout the game did not make a big difference.

        Mass effect 2 had it perfect, you had that risk of losing your companions.

        They played it safe in DA: I

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the crafter

          February 18, 2015 at 15:57

          I need to set a weekend aside and just delve into the Mass Effect games. I have the first one, just haven’t gotten around to it.

          Reply

        • Brady miaau

          February 18, 2015 at 17:17

          No risk of losing your companions if you played the side quests. Well, a bit of risk right at the end if you choose wrong people for the jobs at hand on the station

          Reply

    • Captain JJ the crafter

      February 18, 2015 at 15:51

      Very interesting.

      I’m yet to play DA:I, but I liked DA:O least of all. By a long shot. But I think each person goes into it with a certain expectation. Especially with these types of games.
      With Skyrim I went in expecting not that much and was struck by the immensity of it. I agree it doesn’t have the greatest story, but it’s the little things like notable characters and moments that just makes you love the game.

      Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        February 18, 2015 at 16:14

        Because Skyrim is about exploration, and it nailed that.

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the crafter

          February 18, 2015 at 16:37

          True.

          Reply

  19. konfab aka derp

    February 18, 2015 at 16:18

    I think most people have this problem since they explored every little corner of every single cave the first time around.

    I think if you did a speed run of the game, only doing what is necessary for the romances, it would be much easier to play.

    Reply

  20. Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

    February 18, 2015 at 18:33

    It takes forever to load on my PC, so I’ve only played about 6 hours of it. It hasn’t grabbed me yet either, I can see that lot of work has gone in to it, yet I’m not compelled to load it up and wait 10 minutes to get to the gameplay…

    Reply

  21. Tom Keefer

    February 18, 2015 at 18:50

    90 days and your feigning for a DLC – you’re addicted. You can;t have it so you downgrade the games overall grade. Opinion piece’s never gave me a good look into the game either, you are judging on what you think should be done to this game. When you also use “unfortunately” numerous times throughout this article, it makes me feel as if you are trying very hard to discredit the game over how much you have enjoyed it. Please re evaluate yourself, thanks!

    Reply

  22. Caleb Longoria

    February 18, 2015 at 19:24

    I absolutely agree with you here. I love the Dragon Age Series, but as beautiful and large this one is, I think it lacked in story. They could have done a lot more with Corypheus, and I felt his boss fight in DA2 was much harder. I did like the characters and companions as much as the previous games however. I am on my second play through (this is my 3rd attempt. I tried new species, class, and personality and I think I finally got it to grab me in the story and gameplay again.), though other than choosing templar or mages, everything else feels the same. I still don’t think it’s as good as origins and I even liked the story of DA2 than Inquisition.
    And maybe it’s just me, but this game doesn’t FEEL like Dragon Age. Even as different as DA2 was, it feels like dragon age to me. I think with Flemeth and Solar, and whether or not Corypheus really found the golden city already corrupted and black is true or not all could have been touched in. These elements go back to Origins and hopefully there will be some DLC to further explore these elements. I would hate till the next game to find out whether the Chauntry tales are right, or the elven.
    Great game, but story is what draws me. This is to me the most disappointing STORY Bioware has made. Gameplay and certain elements in this game are excellent however.

    Reply

  23. Mrs Cullen Rutherford

    February 18, 2015 at 19:33

    I didn’t pick this game up til Christmas but I’m currently on my fourth play through and still loving it. The different classes and romances and, especially, the ability to change your world state makes this super re-playable for me. This is my first time with the DA series though so that might be part of it. Trying to decide if going back for the first two is worth it or the tech/graphic/etc differences will be too painful….

    Reply

  24. rooislangwtf

    February 18, 2015 at 20:46

    For some reason this game just Skyrim’d the hell out of me. Only finished it yesterday, since I only got to it this year (thanks Super Smash Bros, Far Cry 4, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Super Smash Bros (again), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (first half) and whatever else I’m forgetting). For some reason I had to explore each new region completely, do everything; eventually do the reason for being there and then move on, (un)fortunately I ran out of stuff to do and then finished it. So yeah, really wish the game had more meat on the bone, nevertheless was glad for what I got from it.

    Reply

  25. Gabriella Ferreira

    February 19, 2015 at 12:49

    I love the Dragon Age series, but I must say when I started Inquisition it felt like a whole load of work. I landed up finishing Assassin’s Creed Unity and all the side quests in that game before I could muster the strength to get back into the Hinterlands.

    Reply

    • raptorsigh

      February 20, 2015 at 10:03

      You need to get out of the Hinterlands to see anything interesting, that was my problem too. I wanted to establish my character before I moved on with the story but honestly there’s nothing to establish. Without an origin story that matters and with DA2’s personality system cut out (they like to cut out everything that works, it seems) you’re just a glowing hand doing fetch quests, killing everything and listening to companions talk to eachother as you travel.

      It is pretty though.

      I liked the characters well enough (my lady Inquisitor and Dorian like to hang out in their underwear in her room and evaluate butts… or so I imagine), but there’s not much closure with past companions. I kinda miss them… I kinda miss DA2… is that okay? Is my brain ok?

      Reply

  26. Amber Woods

    February 20, 2015 at 22:18

    The only game I’ve ever pre-ordered. Beating this game made me want to play Origins again with the DLC’s. Why? Party banter was nothing like the banter/character chemistry in Origins. I had fun playing Origins and even DA2. The dialog was great. The characters came to be companions I actually cared about. All of the work done in DAI I thought would lead to some epic battle at the end. In Origins you had teams of either mages, elves, etc..to fight with you against the Archdemon. You had choices that really made a difference.
    Also, the game was glitchy and buggy. I get that, it happens. I tried not to judge the content of the game and gameplay on that. I didn’t enjoy playing this game. It actually made me appreciate DA2 more than I did before. All in all this game was boring. I wanted my ending to be something I felt like I had worked very hard to accomplish (almost 200 hours). I wanted my companions to be happy and invoke emotion. I wanted an ending like Origins. Nope! I thought there could be another battle happening, maybe things were just too easy, for a game you invest so much time in-I figured it would be something totally epic. Very very disappointed. Despite the primitive graphics of DA Origins, that has to be my #1 game and I was hopeful that DAI could have come close to that with the story/dialog. I don’t know if I would want to do another playthough with DAI and I’ve done 9 with DA Origins.

    Reply

  27. Kaleigh Chamot

    September 2, 2015 at 16:31

    fully agree. on top of the never ending (and identical in banality) fetch quests in albeit beautiful environments, the main story feels like cosmetic options used to mask a very uni lateral story line consisting of, naturally, all elements we’ve seen before in the DA:O and Mass Effect series. the choices didn’t feel particularly significant to me and I was so disappointed to hear that Blackwall’s personal quest, indeed the only one I had any emotional involvement in, was the only one that escaped the fetch this, kill this person, bring this person x amount of weeds pattern. people say the key is to leave the Hinterlands, but then you open up 6-7 more areas that are chock full of the EXACT same type of content. having 100+ hours of gameplay is obviously great, but what exactly is the point when you’re doing 100 hours of the same shit over and over and over again?

    Reply

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