We've recently gone to England on behalf of EA to take a look at DA:I
As a long time fan, I must admit I was quite nervous because said company was once one of the most beloved, a mother of western RPGs, while today seeing the gamers so doubtful every time there's a new release is like a bullet in my heart.
Inquisition looks like a true back to origins (in every way) also concerning the quality level, it's not a hasty production like DA2 but a proper, deign conclusion to the series, which turns out to be huge and able to satisfy almost all tastes.
This duality which should allow this game to satisfy both RPG and Action fans could scare a bit, but Inquisition looks like a much more tactic and complex product compared to the typical Bioware sci-fi RPG.
The game is huge, developed in an open world with Frostbite. We spoke with producer Cameron Lee who admitted the difficulties related to the development with Frostbite, but he stated that it would have been impossible to develop such a huge work with the previous engine.
You can instantly tell the difference, after a brief and rather linear intro in which you are told why your character is in charge of the Inquisition and which explains about the foundation of said organization, you find yourself moving in huge maps from the beginning. The first slot has more than 10 hours gameplay, the authors say 20 if you do all subquests. The maps are fully explorable and full of things to do, collectible items and secrets, you can jump almost everywhere, climb walls, reach almost every corner. There are still graphic issues and small bugs here and there but if you consider the dimensions of the maps it's understandable,
There's no more the chance of magic healing during battles so you have to build base camps all around in which you can resupply and recover. The combat system is as fast as in DA2 but much more tactical and re-balanced. Enemies are no more cheap but tough ones, they are very varied and well done so as are you party's abilities.
You can choose among 3 different classes with different development branches, in the inventory you can choose among a great variety of objects to personalize your character and companions, in other words it's a true RPG despite the action tinge.
The tactical view from above like the one in Origins, so vigorously called for, is back, and it's very useful when fighting gets hard.
The enemies beat hard and you have to rely a lot on magic shields and barriers to survive, it's no picnic but it gives great satisfactions. Very interesting also the management of Inquisition, once you're done with a quest you unlock the war table in which you choose the missions to do and send your companions to fulfill them. Quests are sometimes secret and you must unlock them as you go on with the storyline, it's a totally new handling of the storytelling, much less linear than before. Everything you do has consequences and brings the Inquisition to act in a certain way, there are choices which totally change the campaign, quests which nullify other quests so you have to choose between a thing or another and to use your brain starting from the relationships with your companions.
It was a short test, though short is not the right term since it was 4 hours long, but during said hours we just scratched the surface.
Sure is that Bioware put a great deal of passion in this game, over 4 years of development, an uphill struggle to import the whole game in the new graphic engine, a lot of changes and a care for detail that you can appreciate from the very beginning in the character creation, which allows you to choose even the smallest details.
If you lost you gamesaves in DAO and DA2 you can use the keep because your runs vary a great deal depending on your former choices.
DA:I has all the numbers to be as good as Origins and even better so let's keep our fingers crossed until november 18.