Let me be clear, I have never played any of the former Dragon Age games.
A friend of mine introduced me to the game just as it came out. At first, I
said I was not interested in another Bioware game. I'd played Mass Effect.
The ending of the third game had been an utter disappointment. I wasn't
inclined to give the company money again for anything.
Nevertheless, my friend persisted that I would like this game. That's a very
rare thing for my friends to tell me. I have played so many games. Finding
one that really maintains the standards of older games while innovative is
almost non-existent. Oknytt, Mass Effect 1, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the
Past, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, all but the last Metroid game, and
few others stand out this way. They had their own universe. Obtuse endings.
Their worlds did not finalize at an archetype.
Dragon Age: Inquisition began pretty terribly. I was not impressed with the
beginning, sure I had wasted my money. The character creation sometimes
crashes if I'm in there for a long time. Not being able to save until Cassandra
has finished flipping out on me was not frustrating. I had this same issue with
Mass Effect 2.
- Characters really should be able to be made in some aside place, then
imported into the start on the fly. In the area where "new game", "multiplayer",
and so on are located simply have "create character". End of problem. The
current method is a headache.
Also, the hair is completely abysmal. I definitely looked like someone whose
family tree was synonymous with celtic knot-work. As a modern game, that
was disappointing.
After getting past character creation (two days later, literally) I was still not
impressed with the game. It seemed to be headed toward the oh so popular
"the world is a perpetual valley/corridor" theme. Even Skyrim did this by forcing
the terrain to dip low enough you were nearly-always constantly confronted
with something higher thirty meters ahead. Redcliffe tried this too, which made
it feel like the back end of some long neglected estate.
My friend assured me that it improved after I got out of the first and second
starting areas. She was right. It was worth it!
Having never played Dragon Age before, my character suffering amnesia was
perfect. I could really go with "I don't know" for practically everything and all of
the NPCs felt entirely in character for taking time aside to inform me of this or
that.
As the game progressed found the lore entirely fascinating. I was constantly
taking time aside to read anything so much as a stump that might imply the
scrapings of text.
I particularly liked the time-fixed missions. By the end of the week my friend was
having to ask me to not speak about side missions. While she was further ahead
than me in the main quest, I was invested in everything to do with the side story.
I have to admit, this game (for me) thrives in its side-missions. I could not care less
for anything actually "going on" in the world. The main villain was fascinating. This,
I suspect, is more due to my ignorance of the world's lore than anything to do with
the character themselves. From his past history to how he tied into the over-all lore
of the world was excellent. Particularly because he wasn't vomiting his every
characteristic at me. Much of what he told me was really only interesting after
acquiring a lot of anecdotal evidence. The same as true for most anything else I
was to learn about.
As a person who has majored in History at one time in my life, I did not enjoy the
art direction. It was rather offensive to see Muslim architecture being stealthy
paraded under a Christian style Crusader God. The roman style villas and Chateaus
of Orlais were gorgeous, but the underlying religious message (that can come from
mingling that sort of thing beyond the game) here is disturbing.
Overall, the game was very good introduction to human habits though. As a game it
felt like playing through a section of history somewhere the Ottoman Wars and the
beginning of the Enlightenment. That may forgive the art direction, but if so I'm
confused why my characters were not more sensitive to it. Particularly this sense was
more profound whenever Varric,Cassandra, Vivienne or Dorian didn't point something
out. I tried hanging various banners at Skyhold to offend people. No one ever said a
thing. It also never came up in the court.
Histories asides and that confusion aside the game shined best around about the time
I reached the Chateau d'Onterre. I had attained enough knowledge of current events
to sympathize with the commoners, completely distain the Chantry and the Templars.
I couldn't agree to let the mages do as they pleased fast enough. By then, my
awareness of the world was sufficiently dense that I could not immerse any further;
having attained some measure of buoyancy. Yet, it wasn't so vast I felt confident there
was not a vast gulf between F = and MA (force) = (mass)(acceleration). I was like I was
attaining the idea F at twelve hours into the game, had already attained =, but was not
aware, and spent several more hours entirely ignorant of the fact M and A were
contributing to anything more grandiose than their own Cartesian particulates. This
period of the game was ideal for me. I was simply a member of this world and in way
felt I understood more than the tiniest fragments of it.
The state of the game would change vastly post determining whether to save the Empress
or not. It was actually during this scene that the lore become too canonical. As I said, I
had not played Dragon Age before. I did not know a single one of these characters. For
me, I understood my character only to be a 'no-one' prisoner who climbed to the rank of
some near-holy figure because of a mishap. Consequently I got along great with Sara,
Varric, and Dorian; and peaceably with everyone else. Post engaging the mission to
save the Empress I began to dislike the game again. I was spending far to much time with
far too many shallow and banal people: party members and my own character included.
I had completed every single side quest the game had to offer by this point. After the Winter
Palace mission crazy-lady-the-nun wanted my advisers out of the blue. I told her no. Largely
because I still wasn't comfortable with her for turning me into a religious icon. That whole
situation had my skin crawling most of the game.
At the end of the game I was utterly shocked by the outcome from the lore angle. I was getting
informed of way too much. What happens with Corypheus was... well... I'd rather he had died
at the elven temple. It would have been entirely awesome, hysterical, and validated a great deal
about the power of the Old Gods and the ultra ancient Elves. Particularly this would have swung
the game into a very Lovecraftian "You don't comprehend anything" situation. Instead we got
the usual ho-hum idiot's-story. For game that challenges us to abandon clinging to archetypes
the game villain really needed to die right then and there at the bridge.
The remarkable thing is... and this may be the forgiveness uniquely granted to medieval settings...
it works. The game was beautiful. The lore rich. It was its own universe. Bioware hasn't shown any
improvements in regards to making their villains amazing, but the lore department until the dismal
'reveal' scene is wonderful. The game play mechanics feel thought out most of the time. The later
parts of the game, especially on highest difficulty, get aggravating because Tier III schematics are
like unicorns. This makes some creature and boss encounters ...let's say "challenging". However,
as someone who used to play Dark Age of Camelot and Everquest 1 I'm completely tolerant of
"Miss cons". That is, a "miss con" is a creature which is labeled level 15, but fights like level 25. I
personally enjoyed this aspect of the game as I have not had a game in nearly a decade beat me
to a pulp and yet thrill me so much when it prompts me with "Care to try again" I don't instead toss
it in the waste bin to be burned. The game is (stand alone or otherwise) fantastic.
Retour en haut
