I enjoyed DA:I as much as DA2 which also had such interesting companions. Before anyone blasts me, I know not many folks were fans of DA2. With that said, my main concerns about DAI were even after the patch, the DA:I game for Xbox 360 was still very glitchy, with many audio conversations still getting jumbled and/or not even triggered.
My first play through took about 152 hours and I didn't complete all of the side quests. I felt the side quests were getting a bit tedious.
I completed just enough quests to be a level 21 Qunari mage and finish the final boss battle with Corephyus and his dragon in about 10 minutes.
Two weird glitches happened after the conclusion of this game -- even though Morrigan said in the epilogue she was leaving/had left Skyhold, I found her and her son chilling in the garden and she joined the advisors in the War Room since I had a few left over side quests.
Also, my Inquisitor's love interest Blackwall was around after the Skyhold party, even joined me in my quarters to chill on the balcony but after Morrigan's narrated epilogue, the end credits and the cut scene with Solas & Flementh, I return to Skyhold and I can't find Blackwall anywhere. But when I go to do a remaining side quest, he's available to select. My Inquisitor didn't send him away and obviously continued the romance since he joined her after the Skyhold celebration.
Another glitch -- even though I was never romancing Solas, I only received ONE of his quests: "Measuring The Veil."
I never received the "All New, Faded For Her" inner circle quest from Solas. Not sure what was needed to trigger getting the 2nd inner circle quest from Solas?
Every time I finished a main mission and a side quest, I chatted up my companions at Skyhold so it's not like I ignored anyone at any point during the game.
A few things stood out to me regarding game choices: I outright refused to do Vivienne's inner circle quest because I wasn't a fan of hers at all. And Viv constantly disapproved or greatly disapproved of many of my decisions. I was expecting her to leave before the final battle but she remained.
Even though players would get status updates regarding approvals from their companions during decisions, it's not like we had some way to keep track of where we stood with our companions. With SO many decisions the Inquisitor had to make during the game, it's hard to remember where you stood with folks.
I KNEW I was constantly annoying Vivienne which was fine. I occasionally made decisions that some folks surprisingly agreed with and some folks surprisingly didn't. It would've been nice to have some type of visual meter to let players know where they stood. Especially helpful when pursuing a romance and not all the dialogue choices are obvious enough for you to select the one that won't ****** someone off.
The only companion that left at the end of DA:I was Solas, which absolutely made sense. But I made enough controversial decisions that at least Sera, Vivienne, Cole & Cassandra should've probably left the Inquisition. Instead, they stayed the entire time and even after the final boss battle.
I thought Bioware said if your approval rating was super low with companions, they would leave? I didn't see that happening at any time. That would've made keeping the Inquisition together a little more high-stakes.
With that said, even if some of the companions had left the Inquisition, it didn't affect the final battle whatsoever. Everyone that came on my final mission were leveled up enough with the best power options.
So as a long time fan of Bioware games, I'm left feeling a little like my choices in DA:I didn't really affect the endgame as much. At least not like in ME2 -- if you didn't do all the upgrades for your ship and if you didn't handle all the side quests for your companions, you could lose some of them on the final mission and/or even get your Shepard killed on the final mission. Now those were some high stakes.
I outright refused Vivienne's inner circle quest right before the "What Pride Had Wrought" mission and not one thing happened to adversely affect the rest of the game. I was surprised.
I think once Bioware releases more single player DLC, I'll play through again. Especially if the DLC has more material regarding Solas & Flementh.
I've also read on the forums some of the other players' reviews regarding choices and there not being much fall out DURING the game if you choose to exile the wardens as opposed to keeping them, or if you choose the templars over the mages. If there were more serious ramifications DURING the game regarding those choices, I would play through again immediately, not waiting for DLC.
The fact there were no ramifications for my Inquisitor having low approval among at least 4 of her companions doesn't make me want to grind another 100+ hours for a new play through. I definitely felt in order to level up to 21 and gain influence, I had to put in many hours.
I ended up putting in 152 hours total and only killed 3 dragons. I didn't feel compelled to kill more than that even though they provide much experience points and loot. I pocketed the dragon teeth for armor upgrades and just in case my Inquisitor was going to romance Iron Bull but never felt to kill more dragons in order to defeat Corypheus.
I was able to sail right through the final boss battle against Corephyus with the XP and loot I had. Now, I did have the best weapons with the best runes and the best armor with the best upgrades. I thoroughly enjoyed the crafting process and the potion upgrading process.
I LOVED the ability to use the Tactician Amulet to respec your character and even your companions. Whether you play on casual or nightmare, the respec option was fun, even if it could get expensive. But I used gather loot and gold as a way to afford to respec. Having to battle giants was a cool addition to this game as well.
I guess I wanted to know HOW the final battle would greatly change if companions actually LEFT the Inquisition due to low approval or if you chose to exile the wardens or if you sided with the templars?
It just doesn't seem like the outcome of the missions that advanced the plots or the final boss battle with Corypheus would've ended that differently. It's not like if you sided with the mages, Corypheus bombarded you with any remaining red templars when you fought him the final time with his dragon.
Or if you sided with the templars, no remaining Venatori mages attacked you during that final battle with Corypheus and his dragon.
I enjoyed the options during "What Pride Had Wrought" and how they either helped or hindered your Inquisitor as the game was nearing an end: Either choosing to do the temple rituals or not, either you drinking from the well or Morrigan -- those played a big part in the final chapters.
It was cool having Morrigan back in the mix. Liked the fleshing out of Flementh and who/what she really is. Enjoyed the Solas twist as The Dread Wolf at the end. Looking forward to seeing how Solas/Flementh plays out. Fingers crossed, DLC for that is coming in the near future. But in the meantime, PLEASE finish patching those continued audio bugs and fix those glitches that remain. They are STILL part of this game.
Would love to hear a little feedback from Bioware to some of my commentary, if possible?
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