I want to congratulate Bioware on the critical success of DAI. It is wonderful to have so many people optimistic and hyped about a Dragon Age title again.
I only just finished the main campaign about an hour ago. I was underwhelmed by how the entire Corypheus conflict played out, but then you all turn around and have me shocked and hyped by the after-credits teaser.
I wanted to write out my first impression of the game while the ending is still fresh in my mind.
The Open World
My overall experience playing this game is one of feeling… distant. I might be what someone would call a non-completionist, more casual gamer. I play games all the time of all types , but I greatly favor the complexity of their interactive narrative over the complexity of their mechanics.
When I finished the main campaign in this game, I couldn’t help but feel like the game is not as focused as previous titles. It’s actually too big. There is *so much* stuff in this game that just isn’t important. It has way too many filler quests. I left the Hinterlands fairly early and started exploring but for the most part, following the main quest (even companion quests) only led me into a few of the areas for a short time. Looking back, I barely explored any of the huge zones. There was just no reason to go out there and do a billion boring extra fetch quests. I suppose they are out there for players who like that sort of thing, but I’m not one of them.
Choice and Consequences
The choice system in this game still isn’t as impactful as I’d like it to be. I barely remember any choices that I made that had any negative consequences to deal with. Ally with the mage rebels and you’ll barely hear a protest from anyone. Pick a ruler of Orlais? It doesn’t affect anything. Refuse Qun allies? Doesn’t matter. Rumors of a Tevinter mage manipulating the Inquisitor? Makes no difference. There is just bound to be a way to add more gravity to the choice system. If your choices can never have a negative impact, then you never have to struggle with the potential consequences of doing the right thing or not knowing what the right thing is.
Romances
Before I acquired the game, I was trying to avoid spoilers so I knew very little about the companions and romance options. I’ve only played through the game once so far, so I’ve only participated in one of the romances, but I already wish all the romanceable characters had remained romanceable by both genders, like in DA2. I must be in the minority on this, given that it changed.
DA2 was actually really great for my preferred playstyle, as far as roleplaying goes. In DA2, I could pick a character of either gender, decide on a general personality, and then just play the game and discover whom that character had the most chemistry with. A romance could form based entirely on personality with gender being only part of the consideration. Now gender and race is the most important part of the consideration because your choice in that locks out the other possibilities.
I lucked out in this playthrough because I chose to play a human male and unexpectedly genuinely adored Dorian. However, earlier in the game, I was considering Solas, only to discover that that story option is not available. Oh well. I suppose because I am willing to play any gender of any sexuality, no choice is truely closed to me. But I thought it was more fun before when I didn't pretty much have to choose who I was going to romance *first*, rather than just playing it out and seeing how it went.
It’s actually kind of a no-win situation for me, because I know that specifically Dorian and his story would be quite different and certainly not as great if he were romanceable by both genders. Maybe it could have worked, though.
Graphics
As early as the first cut scene in the prison I noticed that the body language of the characters in this game can be really strange. It is great that they are mobile and have body language at all during conversations, but sometimes they move so unnaturally that it ruins the suspension of disbelief. Normally, this isn’t something I would complain about, but it was so distracting that it really did affect my experience.
Why are there so many scenes where the characters are talking with their head tilted so sharply to the side? Why do so many people look over their shoulder and talk to me with their back to me? Why do some characters lumber around like hunchbacks and others jerk around spastically? I’ll have to get some video samples of what I’m talking about because it’s something that really took me out of the game.
On the other hand, there are some scenes where the body language is so perfect it hurts.
The scene where Dorian rejects a female character is so good that I forget that Dorian isn’t real. Every movement of his head, his shoulders, his eye contact, the voice acting from both characters. There is so much real personality in these characters. Just holy s***, this scene looks and sounds good. http://youtu.be/FLVXSV0_oTc
The tavern scene with Dorian is a good example of both the really good and the really bad. Dorian is so expressive and real, and yet the scene is damaged by the weird head-tilting and talking-over-the-shoulder thing the characters always do. I mean, look how much better this scene is just by having Dorian actually turn and face the Inquisitor when talking him him/her: http://youtu.be/h3t9ov8GOUM
Character Cameos
This was easily one of my favorite things about this game. The opportunities to use DAO and DA2 cameos in DAI was done really well.
Specifically, I cannot describe how appreciative of the way the Loghain cameo was handled. When Solas mentioned Ostagar early in the game and suggested that the events there may not have been as black and white as the tales, I was pleased just to have that. But then the game went so far beyond my expectations concerning Loghain that I couldn’t believe it. Thank you so much for indulging the few of us who kept Loghain in our worlds.
Voice Acting
The voice acting in the Dragon Age games remains top-notch. I can listen to a game like Guild Wars 2 and be really distracted by how bad the voice acting is. But not in Dragon Age. The characters voice acting is just excellent.
Atmosphere
There was some epic and memorable scenes like getting thrown into the future and seeing the impact of a world consumed by the Breach, and the scene where Corypheus lifts the final battlefield. Those scenes were mind-blowingly epic-looking. Well done.
Rebooting the setting
Another thing I really liked about this game was the way the narrative worked to effectively change the world as we’ve known it. Many of the societal structures (the Circle, Chantry, Templars) were deconstructed and no longer resemble what they were in DAO. I find that really interesting because it totally refreshed the setting in place. Admittedly, many fantasy settings have magic schools/guilds/colleges and the Circle was something unique to Dragon Age. But going forward, I trust Bioware to do something clever with it.
Thank You, Bioware
Overall, as frustrated as I remember being when playing DA2, the story and characters did leave a lasting impression on me. I felt a personal connection to the stories I had been allowed to participate in. I don’t know if I’ll remember DAI game so fondly, given that feeling of distance that I mentioned earlier, but I do know that I’m super excited to see what adventures the Dragon Age world still has in store for us.
Thank you, Bioware, so much for this experience you’ve given me. Playing through all the Dragon Age games is an experience I treasure and I am sincerely grateful for it.
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