Maybe it should have been called DragonAge: Redemption.....
Its not often nowadays that a AAA game comes along which truly had the hopes, dreams and some would say fate of the developers and the fans riding on it. It is rare for me to feel compelled to write a review of..... well anything and rarer still for me to stay up way past the bounds of my rigorous sleeping pattern (we're talking 4am here) for just one more quest.
DragonAge: Inquisition is that game.
Whether is the whisky I've just necked or my general state of happiness I don't know, but this is the best damn thing I have played in such a long time.
Its the perfect antidote to all the boring stuffy shooters that have flooded my library (and that's just the whiskey), even destiny has become more than a little stale (and I was hyped enough to buy the ghost edition), no other game lets me be a mage/jedi, who returns home to make a captured enemy his court jester, follow that up with a game of fantasy poker with all his merry band and finally venture out for a nice stroll only to walk straight into the lair of a massive (and quite colourful) dragon who vastly out levels him.
this 3rd outing in the series, blows number 2 out of the water and makes number 1 feel a little...... well.... inadequate really.
I'm going to avoid spoilers so I wont touch much on the story or characters, (which are damn good BTW), instead I'll point out the good and bad things I had the pleasure of witnessing in my playthrough.
Oooooohhhhhhhh pretty...
My first playthrough was a human male mage inquisitor/herald, I finished the main story in around 110 hours at my own casual pace, I'd say maybe 65% of quests completed.
I know this is a small thing but I did like very much how the main menu blended into the start of the game when you hit "new game" (explosion goes off in background, fade to main character in the "fade") which is a nice little touch. I love smart menus.
So first things first, you select your characters, race, gender and class (all pretty standard), and you go to the wonderful character creator. Now often I find myself disappointed in character creators, either its ultra detailed and you barely get to see them in game or it's really limited and you get nice close-ups of ugly who wasn't ugly when you made them.
here its a nice change, because not only can you make a good looking character, you can make good looking dudes!, why is this important you cry? well most male characters in character creators have a serious case of "meathead", but here you can make well anyone you can think off.
And so began the adventures of John Trevalyan (who basically looks like the illegitimate love child of prince charming and Jesus Christ).
The story gets off to a strong start, the characters immediately feel much more "alive" than previously in the series, however one of the greatest strengths of the game is a double edged sword, see once you are let loose upon the world and you've founded the fledgling inquisition, it loses a bit too much focus, see the hinterlands (the first major area) is f*@&ing massive (and damn good looking), but without a bit of linear quest driving you kind of forget all about the plot, because "that skull showed me shinies!" "I MUST FIND THEM ALL!".
There the game would have benefitted from holding back the quests until the first 1/2 main story quests had been accomplished (get the horses, kill the wolves, contact mages etc.) sadly this happens a lot during the game, more tightness and perhaps an extra cutscene or two would go a long way to improving this game and making the story feel a bit more relevant.
the first major quests are to gain the allegiance of one of two factions to help you close the demon spewing hole in the sky, either the Mages or Templars, its a great example of how the game can truly branch and offer quite different experiences, in the end I sided with the Templars, cause I'm sick of helping mages and it all going ****** up (ala DA2).
the end of Act 1 is where the plot actually gains some significant momentum, bad guy appears, you get attacked, some exposition, bad guy showdown, escape to Skyhold. (I'm really over-generalising here but this was perhaps my favourite section of the story, but no spoilers).
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy....
The first time I got to Skyhold was the first time I really paid attention to the war table, which is TBH a bit boring, it could have been so much more entertaining if there was sense of jeopardy and importance to it, like assassins creed brother hood, where each mission, had a chance of success/failure and you had to choose which of your sexy blonde women Assassins, you would send, and weighing up whether risking your agents was worth it, (losing a master assassin on a mission sucked).
The missions are really a bit naff, because even though there's no risk, there's not really any payoff either, "you have saved this nobles lands, here's an amulet". Whether you send diplomats, soldiers, or spies, the only real difference is the time to complete which isn't much.
It was also at this point that I started to get to grips with the crafting system, (I was wondering what all this obsidian/iron was for), crafting your own weapons and armour is a little confusing to do at first, but once you get your head around the various materials it is and absolute delight. My only two criticisms of the system are, why can I not just have the schematics for weapons and armour that I already own so that I can make better versions of them (I really like the look and style of some weapons, but the ones with better stats are sometimes really ugly). and secondly, flames of the inquisition weapons and armour don't allow for switching out parts like other weapons and the tier 2 stats are lacklustre compared to everything else.
customising Skyhold was also a very nice feature, though a few more options such as the colour of the drapery and also a clearer view of the window designs would be nice, otherwise nothing bad to report there.
What a wonderful woooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllldddddddddddddddddddddddd........
Act 2 is really where the game begins to drag a little, but that's really splitting hairs about something to pick at. what I mean to say is that I detest maps which I have to unveil, (what's the point of a map if I cant bloody see what's in that direction?) and the main plot doesn't really make full use of the stunning environments, I.e. why not show me the entire map so I can see the various locations and then add the secondary quest markers in an area once the main story has taken me there and shown me something pretty.
The story in act 2 is great, plenty of the personal character quests kick off here, to give you something to do that isn't the never ending void of shard collection or just massacring the main plot in quick succession. there are some really nice personal ones (Dorian's), some slight disappointments' (Iron bulls, I mean seriously I wanted to see a Qunari dreadnought and all I see is a really poorly animated model, obscured by every smoke and mirrors trick in the book) and some real surprises (Blackwall's).
But here we come to the biggest problem with the story in that the main antagonist takes a back seat from here on out and it takes needless amounts of dialogue to remind you why you are collecting f*cking elfroot/blood lotus Soldiers/forces..... to fight the elder one of course!
But wait he hasn't really done anything evil really has he? I mean sure he looks big/bad/creepy but he doesn't do anything that makes me go "HE NEEDS TO DIE!" like, you know going after my friends or lover or attacking us at our stronghold. he just kind of does his own thing off screen which we keep hearing about yet when it comes to confronting him much later, there's no real emotional reaction to him so why do I care. In short, I cant help but feel that there should have been a twist where we really get our asses kicked by the elder one or he say kidnaps/kills your friends/lover.
Now this sounds bad but you'll really be very busy with everything else to care all that much, its only looking back that this will come to you.
And speaking of keeping busy, the main quests of act 2 are brilliant, a dramatic siege on an enemy keep and a cloak and daggers night in the imperial court. I wont spoil them save to say that towards the end of act 2 the ball at the winter palace makes for a nice change of pace from "SLASH, BURN AND STAB ANYTHING THAT MOVES!!!!1!!!".
If it has stats we can kill it....
combat in the game is great, really great, its fast, punchy and each ability feels like it has purpose. the tactical cam is great to use too so if you tire of mashing your way to victory, you can do something equally boring and switch to the top-down tactical display to micromanage the entire fight instead. using the tactical camera is essential on harder difficulties which does lead me to some criticisms of the combat in general.
although I have recently discovered the settings for the characters AI ability choices, the AI settings are skeletal compared with origins, and it would definitely benefit the game to go back to the "If X happens/Do X" equations of the previous instalments. currently this leave it limited because the AI is sometimes so stupid, that it forces me to use tactical camera, instead of doing what I really want to do and getting up close and personal with that dragon and smashing its face in with my spirit blade (yes I'm a masochist).
removing healing spells is annoying to veteran players and has either one of two effects, either they adapt to the new combat and stack shields and guard to protect from damage (which is actually fun)or they constantly have Vivienne or a Spirit warrior inquisitor in the party to use resurgence, (the only sort of healing spell in the game) which can be somewhat limiting.
the last main criticism of combat is that some enemies don't really have enough abilities, I've seen one too many videos of a rogue soloing a high dragon on nightmare because the dragon had now way of keeping the rogue from running under its legs where it can't get at them, perhaps a ground pound attack to knock everyone back? oh and bring back the ability for them to pick up party members and maul them (makes them way more difficult and terrifying).
Don't give up on us now baby, we can still come throooooooooouuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhh.
The end of the 2nd act starts what I like to call "a series of revelations" as opposed to a 3rd act, "Act 3" isn't bad far from it, its just that it lacks a sense of purpose or finality to what you have been building towards, and instead sort of reveals really loreshattering secrets that make you go "wait.......... OMG!" unless you aren't a DragonAge fan in which case a lot of this will be lost on you.
The final battle against the elder one isn't a let-down, its suitably epic to be sure, yet as I mentioned the lack of him doing anything well... evil.. makes it feel a bit hollow, in fact the only point I felt emboldened was when his dragon showed up and I wanted to beat its head to a bloody mess, since it kept showing up and f*cking with my plans all game.
the ending however ties up nicely albeit a bit too predictably, to say that I was disappointed with the game would be a massive injustice, however I cannot shake the feeling that this game has the bones and potential of something greater.
Well that's different.....
you know how marvel keeps adding post credit scenes to each of its movies to link them into the next? well that happens here and boy oh boy is it a mindf*ck which kind of links into what I just said about the bones of something greater, and if we don't get a massive expansion to this game (big like awakening) then I'll be surprised.
And so the final curtain calls....
to sum it up inquisition is the game that will reignite your faith in bioware's ability as a developer to create an adventure you will seldom wish to leave. there's room for improvement and a lot of the flaws feel like collateral damage of what seems to be biowares knee jerk reaction to criticism of DA2. A "directors cut" that tightens it up and polishes away the flaws (hint hint wink wink nudge nudge bioware) would take it from not just great, but to instant classic.
and there's so much more that I haven't even mentioned, but if I were to leave you with my golden moment: it would be my haphazard exploring winding me up in a highland ravagers lair, there were screams on my part and I may have thrown my controller at the wall...
Final Rating:
94%
pros:
excellent characters
utterly beautiful and massive environments
slick weapon/armour crafting
nice balance of tactical and hack/slash combat
Really great main story missions
Cons:
main villain needs work
so big it loses its focus at times.
p.s. if anyone can guess who I romanced, they win a prize....
Retour en haut
You just KILLED A DRAGON. How is he not supposed to be positively throbbing at the thought? 
