Hi everyone, I recently finished my first play-through of Dragon Age Inquisition and feel the need to share some of my thoughts and impressions about the game. And although I’ll be criticizing some things in detail, I still think it’s one of the best games released this year.
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First off let me just point out how absolutely impressive the game world is, both in visual fidelity and diversity. Right off the bat this is something that strikes you about the game and it never stops impressing right through until the end.
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Similarly the amount of content is impressive. Just the raw hours it takes to complete is significant and some of the content is really quite good (the puzzles, some of the special temples etc.). However I felt that the amount of content was almost exhausting towards the end. As a completionist some zones like the Hissing Wastes had very little to offer in return for the time invested. In general I think the game might have benefited from slightly fewer zones in favor of a few more interesting quests and choices.
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At this point I’d like to mention Skyhold too. As much as I love the style and interactions it had, it just eats way too much of your playtime. Constantly returning to the wartable, the regular loading times, the constant need to return for crafting and dumping loot etc. all just consumed way too much time imo.
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This brings me to the next point, the wartable. Considering how central this is to the game, it’s incredibly unfun. Sending 1 of 3 advisers on time-based missions with mostly negligible outcomes just isn’t very engaging. And yet some many side-quests, optional missions and references to the previous titles are relegated almost exclusively to the wartable. I know it was supposed to cement the impression of leading a large power, but it just isn’t a very fun mechanic and shouldn't have been so crucial to the game. Feeling compelled to constantly revisit it didn't help.
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Which leads me to the next point in how I felt there was a clash of concepts with the whole Inquisition concept vs. the core gameplay of a 4-character RPG. It just seemed at odds to me that a leader of a powerful force would somehow opt to traverse the world with a “rag-tag” band of followers. While it’s not an issue in itself it does feel out of place. I feel the whole “us against the world” concept works better when the protagonists are the underdogs/outsiders, not a big military force.
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As for the characters, initially I thought some of them were a bit bland. It wasn’t until later, during or after their personal quests, that they started to grow on me. Yet still I feel that Bioware was more concerned with giving us 1 character for each specialization than actually making them all interesting, fleshed-out characters. I really don’t think that covering all available specializations is that important from a game-design point of view. In fact not having each spec available encourages additional play-throughs and more experimentation. Once you add in all the advisers and side-characters, I think there was just too much competition for screen time. I mean a lot of the characters don’t even have a real motivation to join you. They just show up and tag along (Vivienne and Iron Bull) with little connection to the plot. Of all the side characters, I’d rate Cassandra, Varric, Dorian and Sera with an A in terms of characterization, while Vivienne and Iron Bull seem to add very little to the plot or world. So for the future I’d like to see a re-emphasis on quality > quantity. Don’t add characters just to cover specializations, add them because they make sense.
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On that note I should mention just how poor the AI is. Ranged characters aren't capable of staying at range, don’t use defensive skills when they make sense and is generally just bad. Thankfully the game is fairly easy on all difficulties so this doesn't end up hurting as much as it could. Still, it’s not very satisfying because it often feels like you have very little control over combat.
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On that note, a point on just how bad the potion concept is. I get the reasoning for removing healing spells and I can get behind it. But the potion concept is just bad, partially because players have to rely so much on AI and because it just felt like an arbitrary limit, forcing regular returns to camp for not reason. If characters at least had natural regeneration outside of combat it wouldn't be so bad, but they don’t. It was an interesting idea but doesn't work imo.
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Others have already pointed out how bad the UI is. The inventory system doesn't make sense (limits the number of different items, not the amount) and is poorly structured (quest items sometimes under “valuables”). Exchanging gear between characters takes ages, crafting and modifying gear takes multiple menus and separate items to interact with making the whole process cumbersome and time-consuming. Other games have had much more intuitive inventories and menus, why not just copy them?
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Summarizing I think Dragon Age Inquisition is a great game, especially pretty with lots of content. However I do think a little more depth in terms of characters, choices and world-interaction would have been appreciated, even at the expense of one or two zones and the wartable.
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