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[MikeB]

This is my comprehensive review of Dragon Age Inquisition for the PC. It would be nice to have reviewed it after finishing the game, but the refund period only lasts for 24 hours. I do not review the visuals and audio, games will always be better if made for PC only. Feel free to repost.

Remember that this this is my opinion, based on what I have experienced (It is sad I have to say this)

 

My creator's motto:

Nothing is perfect, but that is no excuse.

 

Dragon Age Experience Info:

I have played Origins three times, full playthroughs, with the last two runs including all the DLC. I have seen pretty much all Origins had to offer. My most powerful team in Origins is Morrigan, Leliana, Alistair, and mage. I ignored DA 2 because it did not seem as big and after seeing reviews I saw that I was right. I have played Inquisition for around fourteen hours. I got as far 90% completion of the first location, where you get the horse. I started out as a melee rogue.

 

Dragon Age Keep

Keep is basically a website where you make a world state file based on the actions you made in previous Dragon Age games by filling out a survey. I do not know why I need to go to a website to do what keep does, it can be done just as easy offline for less effort and resources. The only conslusion to make of this is EA and Bioware are doing a psycology experiment that is based off the choices players make in Dragon Age.

 

Controls and UI

What annoyed the hell out of the me the moment I experienced it was having to get close to an item to try and pick it up. This feature is a result of having the game focus be on a character instead of a party, add fun simple puzzles instead of jumping. I later realized that this does not just apply to picking up items, it applies to all interactions in the game. My favorite is walking off a ledge trying to click a damn ladder. In addition, every action has to be done personally. Take for example breaking a barrier, to begin you have to focus on the mage, then personally break the barrier.  In Origins if there was a lock and you couldn't pick it an AI that could would do it for you, however you would have to fail at picking and sometimes for some reason the AI would not react.

 

World

Unfortunately I did not have the time to explore every corner of this game and see what it did, but what I did see was very nice. I really liked the idea of the War Room, but not the perks. It looked like most perks should be rewards for quests or simply bought or crafted.

 

Combat In/Out

This is an area that Inquisition had radically changed from Origins. It is like playing a different game.

Some problems include:

• Player needs to actively attack and follow enemies

This is a game breaking mechanic that I will not explain. For rogue melee I could not deal with such a system and had to respec to archer. Its like the developers knew I would need to respec. It would have been nice to respec in Origins as well. In a group tactics game, why should you be forced to control one person instead of the party? More player involvement? I have no idea because that is not Dragon Age. I can’t watch the battle if I have to control a character. Individual character control only works in games with one character.

• No more tactics or strategy

I know you can pause and chain combos and its all fun, but as a strategist why should I. The tactics in Origins would do the exact same thing and all I needed to do was think ahead, that way I could focus on the battle when you had to. Origins did have a problem when it came to tactics and it was a simple one, not enough tactic slots. I could have three tactics per ability and my highest was six. When the default tactics would not work you changed them, it was not fire and forget. They many types of enemies and many ways to deal with them. I can’t even call the tactics screen tactics, those are only behaviors.

• no weapon switch

It exists and it is invisible because there is no reason not for it not to be there (it doesn't exist). Arcane warrior for mage was a great specialization in Origins because there are quite a few situations when attack magic is useless, hit my A-team hard with two mages, but they could switch to a sword.

• tactical camera is useless

I find the tactical camera useless, you should just use pause and zoom at your leisure don’t add a limited zoom mechanic it will just bring confusion.

• no injuries and regeneration.

Injuries was a great mechanic in origins, if you were defeated you get a penalty, plan better. Injuries are part of the strategy and were not even a problem in my best team. One time Alistair had seven injuries, it was fine his job was keep the support clear. Just because idiots wasted all of their injury kits and went to camp every ten minutes that does not mean it was a bad mechanic. The lack of health regeneration is weird. Since you have limited health potions, the only thing removing regeneration will do, is make the player go to a camp every ten minutes. Here is probably why, if you are about to lose use a rogue to turn invisible and run away, then when you are out of combat you team will teleport to you and come back to life. That is more game breaking than one thousand potions. To fix this they removed regeneration, which includes healing magic.

• traps are gone

In Origins I like having my rogue go invisible and set traps for the enemy. It is a great way to add flexibility to a game and allows for an all ranged team (didn’t like it). It appears the current system forces you to make combos instead of preparing and reduces the many ways that could have been fought.

 

Some nice things:

• armor system

I am not sure how the armor system works. It appears armor wears down during combat, then comes back mysteriously. Armor can give the opportunity to present interesting mechanics.

• looks great

Origins is not a perfect game despite all my references of grandeur. Combat looked very boring, the animations were simple and repetitive until the execution occurred. Inquisition is still repetitive but the activated abilities really stand out, in return no executions.

 

Leveling up and Levels

I like how the enemies have levels. I do not like how the entire character growth sector is taken care of by ability points. To level up an attribute you buy certain abilities which can raise it. Attributes are fun and allows you to develop your party in the way you want it, but as I mentioned in the combat section Inquisition does not like tactics and strategy. Origins has problems as well, the rogue is unbalanced. It needed to level up quite a bit till it becomes useful because in the beginning you want to max lock pick and stealth first which resulted in few combat abilities. In addition, rogues need more attributes for cunning or wait until you get the perk which uses the cunning score instead of strength, then at the end you will have the most powerful melee character, back stabs at full power are scary.

 

Crafting

If there is one section Inquisition was superior to Origins, it is in the crafting. It appears very diverse an it looks like you can make a lot of custom equipment. They are many crafting ingredients, lack of ingredients was a problem in Origins, and you can make many things including custom armor. Hopefully there are more than the 12 tiers of materials in Origins, it is a 25 GB game after all.

 

Items

Another area that the radicals have invaded.

• The ping search is evil.

It is a mechanic taken from the Witcher. I do not even know why it was added, show all items was a perfect feature in Origins. When you are in a party why should the main character have to do all the looking. It is not really hand holding because sometimes there are little things in the game that you are unable to notice, but if you were the person in the game you would. The Witcher is another amazing game series that can compete with Dragon Age. However mechanic wise these games are completely different you cannot copy even the simplest mechanic or you will ruin the flow Origins has made.

• Equipment is evil.

A mechanic that looks inspired from the Witcher. You only have the one suit and one one helmet and the suit can be customized. Making armor sets with custom gloves, boots, and helmets would be very fun. Armor sets were finicky in Origins, they would have to made from the same tier material and type (Scale Mail T1, Scale Mail Gloves T1, Scale Mail Boots T1). Type was just appearance with the materials doing all the work. Any enhancement would break the set and leave you with a fatigue penalty (ex. Commander’s Scale Mail T1). It makes the game simpler but I like special items. If you combine Inquisition's crafting systems with Origins' item system you will have an amazing equipment planning mechanic in your game, I can even say the best in gaming history. That is still basic, it can be further improved if you add world interactivity. For example there is a cold place and many creatures have frost attacks you make some frost resist armor and store the extra armor at the base. While we are at it make accessories craft able as well. Add major rings and minor rings. One major ring with three minor rings per hand. The minor rings are to prevent game breaking. If magic rings were real I would wear them on my toes.

• Potions and grenades are evil.

This time it is a mechanic from Dark Souls, limited potions that restock at camp. I know what they are trying to do and why, Inquisition needlessly took the idiot’s approach (looking at other games). Basically they didn't like that a the party had access to one hundred health and mana/stamina potions. I had around three hundred potions at any time during origins, which is a bit game breaking. However, this is a simple fix and there are many good ways to deal with it. One way is to use a double inventory system. A character inventory which is limited and cannot change during combat and a party inventory where you carry your stuff. Dark Souls may be popular and fun, but it is not a good game (no arguments, there is a reason the clones fail). Potions can be a great mechanic in a game like Inquisition I see no reason why to simplify it. You can even make a new class or specialization that is based on potion combat, the alchemist.

• Inventory is evil

Why do you have to spend a perk to expand your inventory? Is inventory a perk? No it is not. Upgrade your inventory through crafting. Origins did not mess with the inventory mechanic which is nice, simple and to expand it all you had to do was buy a backpack expander. You can even use the inventory mechanic in potions and grenades are evil.

 

Bugs/Crashes

I have experienced a few of them, mostly the blank screen, they are understandable and a good developer fixes them. Remember the creator's motto

 

Final Remark

If there is anything else you want to know just ask and if I can answer I will.

Score 4/10

Dragon Age score 0/10 (score as a sequel)

If I just want the story I can read a book, that is what they are for, it is not a reason to buy a game. Inquisition does not build on the foundations Origins built up. However there are many nice things about Inquisition, if I treat it as a different game. If the PC version was more playable (I will not touch a controller) I have no doubt the game can hit a score of seven or eight. There are some more minor and nitpickity issues that are not as important as the ones I have mentioned. Bioware makes the types of games I like and have been a long fan, SWKOTOR anyone. Dragon Age is not the average Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty. It is a game with great story and unique gameplay in harmony with each other. It is a shame when all the hard work that went into its' development goes to waste for mediocrity and money, a repitition of Mass Effect 3, that is why I made this review. Inquisition is inferior to Origins because it is not a true sequel. If you made a game using these mechanics without the Dragon Age universe that is fine and I would rate it accordingly (it would probably fail). Unfortunately the changes that need to be made to make Inquisition into a Dragon Age game can not be fixed by a simple patch, so it is unlikely that I will continue with Dragon Age. I want this game remade, call it Dragon Age: Return of the Inquisition and send me the Ultimate Edition please.