110 réponses à ce sujet

[Auztin]

- The action bar should have never been reduced to just 8 abilities. Console players were able to play the game just fine in the case of DA2 (and to some extent DAO). Somebody is fine with 8, somebody wants more, the key is choice. Leave the choice to the player on how many abilities he wants to use, don't pointlessly restrict him.
I would like to play without pausing which you have to do every time to use more abilities in origins & DA2.To me it breaks the flow of combat.
- The 2nd and 3rd quoted points mean you would like the healing in some form back? For example asi in DA2 where it was balanced? Or you would continue without healing and lower the potion count even more? Because if it is the first case, I can support that, but if it is the 2nd case, then the game would be even more tedious during the 1st half of the game than it is now.
Yes but more of a middle ground akin to how you see healing done in the cutscenes.Long & tiresome for Mages.Heal cost 25% mana with long cool down.Specifics depending on devs.Potions not spammable & only carry 12 potions total.

- Multiplayer should have exactly zero effect on singleplayer. The fact ME3 MP had an effect on SP was problematic, it was better after Extended Cut, but if you played it extensively, you couldn't achieve a planned terrible playthrough without editing game's files. That should never be the case.
- Also I didn't mind the ME3 MP that much, since it was fun, mostly polished and it was clear that a 2nd team developed it, so it didn't take anything from SP. I don't know if this was the case in DAI.
Not a direct connection like that but more less a storyline relevance such Dead Space 3's Co-Op.It can be extra story not affecting war assets/power but like a background story in a story.

[Average Designer]

For the console binding the talk button with the jump button was a bad idea. They need to fix that.

 

Secondly getting rid of the auto-attack feature was also a bad idea. Getting finger cramps for having to hold down the right trigger button to constantly attack is annoying as hell. It should have just been hit A button or X button on the controller and let the character go to town with attacks until interrupted for healing or something else.

 

Next issue, being unable to switch between weapons while in combat. If fighting a creature strong against fire but only finding out after the fact when in battle, we should be able to switch to a weapon of an opposing element to fight against them.

 

Hair options were so sparse and the fact that the ones that were available sucked was noticeable.

 

The option to install the 2nd disc for the console version on last gen 360/PS3 is missing and needs to be fixed.

 

These are some of the things that they need to do to improve the overall game play.

[Jeffry]

I would like to play without pausing which you have to do every time to use more abilities in origins & DA2.To me it breaks the flow of combat.

Yes but more of a middle ground akin to how you see healing done in the cutscenes.Long & tiresome for Mages.Heal cost 25% or more mana depending on devs.Potions not spammable & only carry 12 potions total.

 

Not a direct connection like that but more less a storyline relevance such Dead Space 3's Co-Op.It can be extra story not affecting war assets/power but like a background story in a story.

 

Well it wouldn't break the flow of combat at all. In DAO you mostly used only a fraction of the all available abilities anyway, but you have the option to use more if you wished so and create more interesting builds. You simply put the ones you used on easily bindable hotkeys and mostly forgot about the rest for the majority of the game. DA2 improved upon that in that regard you had fewer useless abilities.

 

So basically similar to DA2, right? Cooldown on potions and cooldown and high mana cost on the heals. In DAO it was way too imbalanced (5sec spammable heals, unlimited spammable potions).

 

Yeah a little bit of story in MP I wouldn't mind at all. Or something like a little spin-off, events happening in the background, etc.

[catabuca]

Thank you so much for this thread, Caja. It's important for us to be able to have a calm, reasoned and thoughtful place to be able to set out our constructive criticism of the game without worrying about it ending up in a slanging match. I'm sure if more of the forum was as positive as this the devs might venture in a little bit more.

 

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I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm right at the end (just finishing up the Hissing Wastes, then off to the altar and end-game). I still have a good idea of what I think works and what doesn't work though, so I'd like to add my own opinions at this point as well (and might revisit it once I'm finished).

 

 

What I like:

• the environments: they are beautiful - so much care has clearly gone into designing them, from their layout to the different assets, different architecture, to the different lighting templates. It's a joy to travel to a new area for the first time. I take a lot of screenshots, so the environments are a dream for someone like me.

 

• some of the combat mechanics: archery is fun to play at last! I rerolled early on so I could make an archer (tempest) and I've had a huge amount of fun facerolling everything on hard. Using a 2H weapon feels good and meaty, whereas it was lacklustre in DA2. Some of the abilities for all classes are really interesting, and there's a good sense of progression and increased power that comes as you unlock new skills. Focus abilities (for the most part) feel as devastating as you'd expect them to be.

 

• the characters: they've done a good job of writing 3-dimensional characters who have a range of motivations. Cass' character stands out since she's given a great deal of cinematic time as compared to others (even when not romancing her): she's strong, she can be steadfast and uncompromising one moment and then full of doubt the next, and I defy anyone not to love her scenes with 'the book'. And then there's Krem - I don't think I need to explain why he's in my 'what I liked' section.

 

• the romances: I cannot give enough praise to the devs for continuing to expand upon and develop a range of characters of various sexualities so that every player has some kind of choice. Not just choice in a quantitative sense, but qualitative as well. Dorian and Bull, for example, are very different characters, as are Sera and Josie. In addition, each romance plays out in a different way, something we saw to an extent in DA2, but that has been developed upon in DA:I. There are playful romances, sweet and innocent romances, naughty and hot romances, deep romantic romances, and not every 'romance scene' plays out the same way - I think that's a step in the right direction. 

I also like that they can end - I broke off my romance with Sera not too long ago after what happened at the Temple. My inquisitor is Dalish, but her clan died (oops), and Sera had a big influence on her as she got to know her. That being said, when it came down to it, she couldn't turn her back on all that history - not because she was Dalish, but because it's history and history is important. The choice to break from Sera felt right.

 

• the lore: as far as I'm concerned, Dragon Age games are 'lore content delivery systems' - I'm all about the lore, but this is the first game where I've read every single codex entry, note, letter, scrap of anything I've come across without eventually becoming bored and telling myself I'll come back to it later. Codex/letter/note writing has been the best so far, absolutely flawless. They are funny, moving, fascinating, cryptic, enthralling, sad.... I feel like I've read a couple of novels during the course of the game, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Even the codex entries on crafting materials are interesting. Unheard of!

 

• armour: Bull says it best when he comments on how practical Cass' armour is. More of this type of thing, please! 

 

• crafting: I love being able to craft, and I love that it's such an in-depth system. Different materials, different tiers, different designs - I think it's a step in the right direction.

 

 

What I didn't like:

• the environments: as beautiful as they are, for the most part they felt completely disconnected from the main game story (such as it was). I absolutely appreciate being able to explore, but it's very sad when it starts to feel like a chore that you have to complete before you can move onto another area, explore that, and then do a bit of main story. I both love the size of the environments and hate it. Ideally, I'd have preferred there been one or two fewer large areas to explore, and the remaining ones have been tied to the main story so that I had more justification for exploring the whole place. Perhaps instead of teleporting to completely separate maps for certain quests I had to make my own way there by going through the Exalted Plains, for example. Maybe Caer Oswin was only accessible by fighting my way through a portion of a main area. Perhaps I could have gone back and looked around Redcliffe Castle once all that was done with. 

 

• some of the combat mechanics: it's quite the frustrating experience to play a melee character with a kb&m. No auto-attack outside of tac-cam saw me spend my first 13 levels before I rerolled an archer in tac-cam for every single moment of every single fight (which in itself wasn't a pleasant experience) because staying in action mode was painful. That was on normal difficulty. Now as an archer I'm playing on hard and I barely ever need to go into tac-cam. I don't mind that tactics aren't as involved as in DA:O, but I don't like that they are so pared back in DA:I. If there had been auto-attack outside of tac-cam, and had tac-cam been better, perhaps it wouldn't have been such a problem, but as it stands it feels weak, half-hearted and not very useful. And if tactical play is meant to come from micro-managing your party instead, on hard I've never felt the need to do that. I've never needed to worry about setting up combos, or bother with much crowd control. I'm sure it's more difficult on nightmare, but certainly on hard all you need to do is make sure you stay alive longer than the bad guys.

 

• armour and hair: you did such an amazing job with every other visual element but good god, the textures for the hair and for metal are dreadful and very jarring when set against the other amazing textures.

 

• crafting: I HATE resource gathering. Hate, hate, hate. It's such a time sink and I begrudge every moment I have to do it. All hail Cheat Engine. Also, I'd love to see some kind of armour tinting ability - perhaps  a 'Dye Enchanter' you can recruit via the war table? Being tied into a particular colour scheme because stats are tied to that particular material might not be a problem on lower difficulties, but once you're managing your stats carefully you end up all looking hideous.

 

• the characters and the romances: most of this falls into the following point on pacing and storytelling, but it has specific consequences for characters and romances, so it's worth putting under its own point. While there clearly is a good deal of content in romance arcs and discussions with characters, it's so spread out across potentially 100+ hours of play it ends up feeling incredibly weak and watered down. 

I mentioned that I broke up with Sera towards the end of the game: I didn't care. I wasn't awash with emotion. It was sad, certainly, because I wish I'd been able to have a more in-depth discussion with her and put forward a more nuanced argument rather than either "I denounce all elven history, lol" or "but I'm Dalish and that is more important than anything" (neither of those reflect my standpoint). It was also sad because reading Sera's journal made it clear she wasn't as forthright and stubborn in her views as she made out in person. But I didn't cry. I didn't give it any thought once the scene was over. I just went on to the next thing. And why didn't I care? Because all of my content with Sera had been so spread out over the course of 200 hours of play (I'm a slow player) with so much exploring in between, that it never built up any kind of head of steam, it never felt real, I was rarely reminded of the fact I'm meant to be in some kind of loving relationship with someone. It makes precious little difference whether you take your LI along with you in your party or not. There is the odd comment from others now and again, but that stuff is so few and far between it does almost nothing to add anything.

 

Outside of romances, ordinary character interactions suffer from the same malaise. Out of all of them, I feel closest to Cass since she has the most content. The companion quests range from pretty decent to "why did you even bother?" For example, Vivienne's quest. Go kill a thing. I did that. I had her with me in my party, but there was no dialogue referencing the fact I was doing this for her. She didn't need to be there. Give her the thing. I did that. Then we teleport to a different location, and get a vanishingly short cutscene where a thing happens and is over in the blink of an eye. And then we teleport back, and I get a 30 second conversation with her. That's it. Solas' first quest with the demon in the Exalted Plains - need it even have happened? I understand these quests are meant to just make up a part of the overall interaction with your companions, but when it's so spread out and there's so little other meaty story in the game, I found myself desperately craving more in-depth, decently long quest lines where I actually go and do things and kill things and talk to people and achieve things with my companions.

 

One final thing that falls under this category: I really, really resented being put in the position of making the choices for both Bull's and Cole's personal quests. Neither of those things were my call to make. At least with Cole I had input from others who knew him, and you could argue he wasn't really in much of a position to make the decision for himself. But Bull? I left the computer running and went and made a rage-cake while I thought the whole thing over, angry that such a personal decision to Bull was being put on me in that way. (The cake was delicious.)

 

• PACING AND STORYTELLING: I've made this all-caps because this is the main point for me that meant I didn't enjoy the game as much as I expected to, or as much as I think I should have done considering the amount of work that clearly went into it. This makes me really sad. 

The main story was pretty weak, I barely saw Corypheus - he was as much a present threat as Harbinger in ME2 (i.e. Harbi-who?). In DA:O we had regular snippets from Loghain and the archdemon, and while they weren't great in length they were paced in such a way as the threat was always there. It was always building. (Don't get me wrong, some of the pacing in DA:O was dreadful too, but not as bad as DA:I.) While DA2 lacked a main antagonist, where this game positively shone was in its pacing. Where it lacked in openness and exploration, it really did remarkably well in keeping a sense of pacing throughout the various story elements. You were always working towards something.

 

It pains me to say it, but frankly DA:I is too large. It needed, imo, fewer larger areas, and a couple more main story beats the size and depth of the Warden storyline. In addition, it needed quite a few more smaller main story events, tied into the various large maps that seemingly serve no purpose other than to provide a time sink. This would have helped go a long way to combat the feeling that there is 15 hours of game spread unevenly and thinly across 150 hours of nothing. It would have helped - along with longer, more frequent and better time-scripted companion content - make the world feel worthwhile; it would have helped avoid this terrible pacing problem we have. 50% of the small, incidental side quests could have been scrapped and replaced by just a handful of longer quests that tied into those areas and into the main story or characters.

 

Skyrim is a marvel of a game, and I've pumped far more hours into it than I care to admit. But is that free open world model the best one in which to tell a story? Skyrim's main story might as well not exist. Barely anyone plays the game for that. I'd hazard a guess that the majority of repeat DA players play for the story and companions. 

 

 

In conclusion:

 

I like DA:I a great deal. It's beautiful, the characters are interesting, and the lore is utterly fascinating. I'll certainly replay it, maybe a few times. It suffers from many drawbacks, however, the main one being the pacing and storytelling. Such a huge open world isn't the best vehicle for telling a cohesive story, and as a result the story and companion interactions feel watered down and feel considerably shorter than they might have done had they been paced better and been seen over a shorter period of time, had there been any sense of build up. There are many improvements over the previous two games, such as the graphical capabilities, the scope of environmental design, some of the combat, the expansion of different types of romances, the inclusion of a character like Krem, etc. At the same time, both previous games handled storytelling a lot better because of their pacing, particularly DA2. 

 

I hope that moving forward BioWare are able to take the best of their improvements and finesse the way they package them and present them. Creating tighter focus on the way story is delivered and the way characters are developed would be the absolute main priority for me.

[Caja]

Thanks, catabuca. I agree with all of your points, especially this one:

 

Perhaps instead of teleporting to completely separate maps for certain quests I had to make my own way there by going through the Exalted Plains, for example. Maybe Caer Oswin was only accessible by fighting my way through a portion of a main area. Perhaps I could have gone back and looked around Redcliffe Castle once all that was done with.

 

I didn't follow press releases and interviews closely before DAI was released, because I didn't want any spoilers. But I knew that there would be large areas to explore. And I don't know why but I had always assumed that these areas would be connected somehow, e.g. you have to go through one area to get to the next. This would have been nice (with fast-travel options once you've cleared the map). But maybe this could lead to performance issues on older systems?

[catabuca]

Thanks, catabuca. I agree with all of your points, especially this one:

 

 

 

 

I didn't follow press releases and interviews closely before DAI was released, because I didn't want any spoilers. But I knew that there would be large areas to explore. And I don't know why but I had always assumed that these areas would be connected somehow, e.g. you have to go through one area to get to the next. This would have been nice (with fast-travel options once you've cleared the map). But maybe this could lead to performance issues on older systems?

 

I admit, I don't so much mind that each of the large maps are separate to one another. But I do wish that some of the smaller quest-related maps were integrated into the larger areas, to make those maps feel more worthwhile and a part of the story.

 

I must say though, I'm on 'Team Hissing Wastes'. I'm enjoying my time there. It's a welcome change of pace, and I would have been perfectly happy having this as one area where there is little tie-in to anything else, as a sort of purely exploratory respite from the cut and thrust of the rest of the game.

[Average Designer]

Me and My girlfriend agree about the pacing and the romance being so thin with characters in the game and not enough content where they talk or have more indepth quests for characters and companions. The world is too large and not enough content to bother with sinking into the story. They tried to be too much like Skyrim. Skyrim has a main storyline but that isn't why it was played. It was played because of all the minor stories that were woven into the vast world. Become an assassin, become a thief in the thieves guild. There was so much story content not related to the main storyline that it was fun to play. The main storyline was more of a footnote compared to the majority of Skyrim itself.

 

Inquisition didn't even do that. There was some stuff but it wasn't tied together and it just didn't pace itself well. And you are correct about Corypheus and being the main baddy not being seen much. It was just terrible pacing and could do with a major overhaul.

[earymir]

A couple people said areas were too large and they didn't have enough content.  I think this reflects a huge disconnect based on what devs intended/told us was happening (and perhaps even what they perceived as really happening).  [I'm assuming, so I apologize if wrong] - Devs thought all the codex entries, clicking quests (heraldry, shards, herb gathering, random notes) was going to make these spaces seem filled.  Players find that there are barely any cutscenes, basically no plot development, etc in most of the large areas.  It's not that either is wrong, just that there were very different expectations and perceptions.  

 

I'll admit that none of them feel *empty* or *lonely* (except Hissing Wastes perhaps, but that was clearly the intention, and I think it worked well), but most feel essentially irrelevant to the rest of the plot.  In that sense, I think they could cut them out and the game might actually improve.  Make them smaller, and connect them to the plot with cutscenes, real tension, connection to our followers and advisors, etc.  

[Fraevar]

Great idea for a thread, at the risk of repeating what has been said earlier, here goes:

 

Three things I really enjoyed about the game:

• The technical upgrades: The world of Thedas is beautifully realized in this game, and rather than simply being pretty based on the amount of polygons on screen, each area has a distinct look and feel to it, so even though you have three desert areas, they don't feel exactly the same.
• The diverse cast of characters: This was the first BioWare game where the choice of companions and NPCs was so great that I never really felt like I was missing out if I did not care for a particular character and elected not to have them in my party. In DA2 this was a major issue, since the cast was smaller and not as developed. DAI managed to make me rethink my opinions of certain characters as I got to know them over the course of the game.
• When BioWare are doing their thing - in-depth storytelling with political intrigue and characters playing off one another, this is definitely their best effort to date. The Winter Palace was easily the most enjoyable part of the game for me, it was a section that required you to spend time learning about the players and the situation and if you just randomly charged in, you would fail. 

The things I did not care as much for in Dragon Age: Inquisition:

• The environments felt empty and irrelevant: As gorgeous and diverse as the environments were, they felt strangely empty and disconnected from the plot. I was really hoping for areas more akin to Dragon Age Origins, where each area had several subplots, in addition to the protagonist's main goal of securing an alliance against the darkspawn, it made the areas feel vibrant and alive, like actual working parts of the world of Thedas. Going forward, I hope that BioWare scales back on the number and sizes of zones just a bit, and instead fill them with proper subplots, with new characters and scenes. That nearly every quest outside of the critical path in DAI was delivered via text-notes really made visiting those zones feel like busywork, instead of helping to progress the story and build up the Inquisition.
• Using the war table for lore-centric missions: This one was a tricky one to nail down, and does somewhat tie into my point above but I want to elaborate with what I consider the best example. Corypheus in DAI is a very underdeveloped villain - he has a great reveal but is then almost entirely absent from the rest of the game and has no tangible presence. What's worse, there is little to no content that delves into details about him or the reasoning for his new rise to power. I chose to ally with the mages in my playthrough, and the next time I saw Corypheus in any form was in the Arbor Wilds - even the critical path up until then dealt with his lackeys. But I did discover that there actually was lore in the game that involves investigating Corypheus' background, who he was, who his descendants are and so forth. But it was made into a series of three war table operations, which I personally was incredibly disappointed about, since it felt like such a lost opportunity to give him more character. I really want BioWare to keep content like that front and center as a key part of the story, not simply shoved off to a side mission.
• The changes to controls and UI: I play on PC and the Keyboard + Mouse experience has really not been enjoyable for me. The lack of a proper hotbar, in spite of there being an excess of active skills, even when just focusing on one tree is frustrating and prevents experimentation. I also really miss proper tooltips and combo indicators, it's really hard to tell which spells and abilities can execute combos in DAI. And of course, the lack of proper Tactics for the companions must be brought up as it was one of the core fundamentals of the previous two games, and I'm sorry to say the AI is not up to the task without Tactics. The camera handling has also been a source of frustration, with Tactical Cam being near unusable due to it not fading out the terrain and not zooming out far enough. I hope BioWare takes a long look at this and implements KB/M handling similar to DAO/DA2 since holding down the mouse button to attack also isn't really a pleasing gameplay experience.

Well just my two cents, good thread

[Elyunha]

Ha,ha, I never thought about that   but now that you've mentioned it - it is a bit suspicious that you only get so little from a war table mission. It might be in general a good idea to offer more alternative ways to purchase herbs, e.g. there could have been a herbalist dealer. That way players who don't like to collect herbs by themselves could just buy them.

Thank god for the duplication glitch! Doesn't work with herbs, but it sure helps with crafting armor and weapons.

[catabuca]

A couple people said areas were too large and they didn't have enough content.  I think this reflects a huge disconnect based on what devs intended/told us was happening (and perhaps even what they perceived as really happening).  [I'm assuming, so I apologize if wrong] - Devs thought all the codex entries, clicking quests (heraldry, shards, herb gathering, random notes) was going to make these spaces seem filled.  Players find that there are barely any cutscenes, basically no plot development, etc in most of the large areas.  It's not that either is wrong, just that there were very different expectations and perceptions.  

 

I'll admit that none of them feel *empty* or *lonely* (except Hissing Wastes perhaps, but that was clearly the intention, and I think it worked well), but most feel essentially irrelevant to the rest of the plot.  In that sense, I think they could cut them out and the game might actually improve.  Make them smaller, and connect them to the plot with cutscenes, real tension, connection to our followers and advisors, etc.  

 

I agree about differences of expectation. I think this is something that gets overlooked. I watched a lot of the footage that was coming out as the game was still in development, and combined with things like "this is our biggest game yet" it created an image in my mind of a world that would have a lot more to do in terms of cohesive story. But of course, they're not wrong: it is their biggest game yet, and there is a lot to do. It's just that it isn't particularly related to the main story, or even to interesting and multi-layered side stories. It didn't help that I saw footage like the level in Crestwood, where you can choose to save the town or take the keep. Of course, this was alpha footage, so strictly speaking there's no reason why what's in that will be in the final game... but of course that footage was shown, and I think any reasonable person might go on to assume it's largely representative of one of the things we'll be able to do in the game.

 

I still really enjoy the game, and I'll continue to play it, purchase dlc, and be one of BW's biggest fans. But I do think that the hype machine can ratchet things up a little too much and that more attention could be paid by both BioWare and fans to manage those expectations in the future. 

 

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I forgot to add something in my 'what I like' section under 'characters': I really liked the inclusion of Vivienne,and I think she's particularly emblematic of why I like characters who have a range of viewpoints. On paper I should disagree with everything Viv says and stands for. Personally, I'm super super Team Anders (a reflection of my own politics). In-game, I like to create a range of characters who follow different paths, not all of whom will reflect my own beliefs. But I'm usually fairly steadfast and unwavering in terms of which side of the fence I come down on. With Vivienne, I've been forced to reconsider everything that the circle is, and what the future could hold for mages, what the best way forward is. This questioning has been helped in tandem with Cass and Dorian in the main, and other characters like Sera, Bull and Solas. In the end, I now currently believe in having some kind of Minrathous-style circles, whereby they are academies for learning and not prisons for mages. They would be able to be attended by non-mages as well, like Dagna, who are interested in the arcane, and would be open to outdoor events, be part of the community in some way - all of which would help, over time, reduce the stigma around magic and mages. But I believe this has to go hand-in-hand with changes across all of society, and there needs to be more support for mages outside of circles, so they don't have to go if they don't want to (and they would be a mixture of boarding and day-classes anyway). I didn't really have this nuanced view before talking to people like Vivienne in the game.

 

At the same time, I like that she has good points and bad points. She's compassionate (I loved finding the little notes around Skyhold that she wrote about recognising the importance of workers), she cares very deeply - in a way that we are unfamiliar with because it is very, very Orlesian in nature and bound up in the Game - but she's also incredibly privileged and completely blind to that privilege. That last point is something I'm really glad was written for her. At one point she's extolling the virtues of the circle, and saying how it was absolutely wonderful for her, gave her everything she has, talking about her beautiful suite and how she has the freedom to do as she likes. And yet she's completely blind to the fact that not every mage can become first enchanter, not every mage will become important in the Orlesian court, not every mage has the benefit of being under a more tolerant circle. She has freedom borne of her privilege. And that's before we even consider that she's human... what of elven and qunari mages who might end up in the circles? What is society like for them? This part of the writing for her was very well done, and all in all she's a far more nuanced character than I was expecting her to be. I'd really like to see more characters like her in the future (with more content!).

[earymir]

I forgot to add something in my 'what I like' section under 'characters': I really liked the inclusion of Vivienne,and I think she's particularly emblematic of why I like characters who have a range of viewpoints. On paper I should disagree with everything Viv says and stands for. Personally, I'm super super Team Anders (a reflection of my own politics). In-game, I like to create a range of characters who follow different paths, not all of whom will reflect my own beliefs. But I'm usually fairly steadfast and unwavering in terms of which side of the fence I come down on. With Vivienne, I've been forced to reconsider everything that the circle is, and what the future could hold for mages, what the best way forward is. This questioning has been helped in tandem with Cass and Dorian in the main, and other characters like Sera, Bull and Solas. In the end, I now currently believe in having some kind of Minrathous-style circles, whereby they are academies for learning and not prisons for mages. They would be able to be attended by non-mages as well, like Dagna, who are interested in the arcane, and would be open to outdoor events, be part of the community in some way - all of which would help, over time, reduce the stigma around magic and mages. But I believe this has to go hand-in-hand with changes across all of society, and there needs to be more support for mages outside of circles, so they don't have to go if they don't want to (and they would be a mixture of boarding and day-classes anyway). I didn't really have this nuanced view before talking to people like Vivienne in the game.

 

At the same time, I like that she has good points and bad points. She's compassionate (I loved finding the little notes around Skyhold that she wrote about recognising the importance of workers), she cares very deeply - in a way that we are unfamiliar with because it is very, very Orlesian in nature and bound up in the Game - but she's also incredibly privileged and completely blind to that privilege. That last point is something I'm really glad was written for her. At one point she's extolling the virtues of the circle, and saying how it was absolutely wonderful for her, gave her everything she has, talking about her beautiful suite and how she has the freedom to do as she likes. And yet she's completely blind to the fact that not every mage can become first enchanter, not every mage will become important in the Orlesian court, not every mage has the benefit of being under a more tolerant circle. She has freedom borne of her privilege. And that's before we even consider that she's human... what of elven and qunari mages who might end up in the circles? What is society like for them? This part of the writing for her was very well done, and all in all she's a far more nuanced character than I was expecting her to be. I'd really like to see more characters like her in the future (with more content!).

 

I agree, I really like those things about her too.  I really fundamentally disagree on most things she says, but on the other hand, it was nice to *finally* hear a cohesive and logical argument from a person in power talk about the Circle, the politics of such destructive methods of protest (Anders), etc.  She's really great as a force of reason, even if you think she's missing other things that are reasonable (e.g., Leliana's viewpoints).  

[Average Designer]

Thank god for the duplication glitch! Doesn't work with herbs, but it sure helps with crafting armor and weapons.

 

In the next console patch this will be gone. So if you love the dupe glitch don't download it. It's already out for the PC.

[Average Designer]

One thing I miss in this game that is present in both previous installments of Dragon Age. Whenever a player character spoke to a companion they always got a close up of the characters faces so that they could see their expressions and other things. Now whenever a player character speaks to a NPC or party companion that has depth it only happens in certain cutscenes. Any other time and it's just a side view and them bantering back and forth. This is a complete disconnect from the previous two games. It doesn't feel as if the player is in control. It's more of being an outsider looking in from across the room than actually being apart of the story and apart of the conversation as in the previous 2 games.

[Auztin]

Well it wouldn't break the flow of combat at all. In DAO you mostly used only a fraction of the all available abilities anyway, but you have the option to use more if you wished so and create more interesting builds. You simply put the ones you used on easily bindable hotkeys and mostly forgot about the rest for the majority of the game. DA2 improved upon that in that regard you had fewer useless abilities.
 
So basically similar to DA2, right? Cooldown on potions and cooldown and high mana cost on the heals. In DAO it was way too imbalanced (5sec spammable heals, unlimited spammable potions).
 
Yeah a little bit of story in MP I wouldn't mind at all. Or something like a little spin-off, events happening in the background, etc.

Yes.
Yeah but a little of Inquistion mixed in it.Damage Mitigation over heals.
Background battles with relevence to story with extra details like if you don't do MP it's all good but if you do MP you get little references towards it in SP.

[bluebullets]

I honestly think DA:I was meant to be perfect, but things just made it worse than it should have. regardless, it was a step in the right direction from  da2.

 

I think my gripes stem from presentation. The few "big moments" were spaced out way too much. I'd play for 100 hours before i ran into an emotional moment. As much as i disliked da:2s companion quests in comparison to dao, at least they were spaced out between act sand the plot was orchestrated in a way that grew my emotional connection.

 

1) if you want ada/skyrim hybrid, you need to separate the 2. I don't want to have to gather 100 hours of berries to continue the main quest, nor do Open World fans want to have to do too much main story to explore. You need to space plot out and ramp it up in away that makes me care emotionally.

as it stands, I can't give a crap about anything in da:i because it has terrible build up.
epic quest -> 20 hours of random crap -> epic quest -> 20 hours -> bonding moment -> 100 hours -> another bonding moment

find a way to orchestrate the plot to have a nice emotional build up

 

2) please redesign cutscenes and conversations.. the 3rd person camera is TERRIBLE.. I can't see emotion, it just sucks.. movies, the witcher, and mass effect handle this well. take it from those.

 

3) have more "moments" and more banter

 

4) have companions get involved in the story like in dao and da2.Have them comment in cutscenes, and actually do something other than stand there in silence

 

Basically, I'd just like presentation to be better because while the writing, acting, and characters were all loveable, I just couldn't care.. timing and presentation werent good.

 

Also fix tac cam and make quests less mmo-ey and fix up the storytelling a bit so its "DRAGON AGE RATED M FOR MATURE" and not "barney and friends go fight the big bad guy and you cannot be anything but morally exceptional." The plot was fine, but it'd be nice to have a few evil options, more decisions, and maybe some other things.

[Dagorgil]

 

crafting: I HATE resource gathering. Hate, hate, hate. It's such a time sink and I begrudge every moment I have to do it. All hail Cheat Engine. Also, I'd love to see some kind of armour tinting ability - perhaps a 'Dye Enchanter' you can recruit via the war table? Being tied into a particular colour scheme because stats are tied to that particular material might not be a problem on lower difficulties, but once you're managing your stats carefully you end up all looking hideous.

 

 

I would like to add to this a bit.  It is really frustrating that some crafted things in this game have the wrong stats on them.  BattleMage staves with Metal Utility slots, giving them strength instead of magic.  Heavy Armors for Warriors only with Leather Utilities, giving them Dexterity and Cunning rather than Strength and Constitution.

 

Examples:  Formal Attire - Light Armor - Leather Utility slot. 

Prowler Coat (and Carta Coat) - Medium Armor - Metal Utility Slot

Templar Armor (Tier 3) - Heavy Armor - Leather Utility Slot (Dex + Cunning for a Warrior? pfft)

Anderfels Cleaver - Two Handed Axe (Warrior Only) - Cloth Utility (Willpower + Magic)

First Enchanter Staff - Mage Only - Leather Utility (Dex + Cunning)

Staff of the Dragon - Mage Only  - Metal Utility (Strength + Constitution)

Sacrificial Dagger - Rogue Only - Metal Utility

Multiple Upgrade Schematics (One handed Haft for Warrior weapons, for example) with wrong stat utility slots.

 

The saving grace for a lot of things that are wrong?  Some of the metals give Constitution only, so you can still use those items if you happen to have those specific metals on hand, and not be a big deal.  The bad thing about it is, you have to give up items that may have had Magic and Willpower (Or Dexterity and Cunning) on them.

 

I would also like the option of choosing the armor style I am crafting.  For instance, There are some armors that have the perfect look for your characters...  such as the Templar Armor from Tier 3 crafting schematics.  That armor looks PERFECT of Cassandra, but because of the Leather Utility slot, I won't waste precious resources crafting it just because I think it looks fantastic.

[mutantspicy]

But you could craft everything you ever needed from the unlimited supplies those vendors provided. Especially the ones in DAO:A. In DAI you can craft only very mediocre gear from the supplies they sell. The schematics in Val Royeaux are downright useless, just rush to Emprise or Hissing Wastes. The problem is, they sell only the minority of all schematics available. For the best ones you have to pray to RNG gods and sacrifice a goat in order to have a chance of getting at least few of them without running Cradle of Sulevin again and again.

 

 

 

That is impossible because of the soft cap current level system has. Also expansion is out of quetion, too much money, DLCs are far more profitable.

This is where I feel the war table failed.  If we take the josephine route then we should get to be able to buy the high end schematics.

[Elyunha]

In the next console patch this will be gone. So if you love the dupe glitch don't download it. It's already out for the PC.

Booo....T^T..Thanks for the info though.

[AppalachianApex]

While I love that we have small fuzzy animals running around our semi-open regions, I'd appreciate if the members of my party weren't so keen to slaughter them without provocation. Wandering around, taking in the sights, and suddenly I'll see a red enemy dot on my mini-map. What's this, I ask. A Venatori? A Red Templar?

Nope.

Turns out it's just a perfectly innocent August Ram, an August Ram my party members seem quite intent on murdering. It was funny at first, but it seems to happen every time I walk over a hill! So mabe a tweak to give us more, shall we say, wildlife-friendly party members XD

 

I have yet to download any of the most recent patches, as I've heard they can do terrible things, so if this issue has already been addressed, forgive me.

[Jeffry]

While I love that we have small fuzzy animals running around our semi-open regions, I'd appreciate if the members of my party weren't so keen to slaughter them without provocation. Wandering around, taking in the sights, and suddenly I'll see a red enemy dot on my mini-map. What's this, I ask. A Venatori? A Red Templar?

Nope.

Turns out it's just a perfectly innocent August Ram, an August Ram my party members seem quite intent on murdering. It was funny at first, but it seems to happen every time I walk over a hill! So mabe a tweak to give us more, shall we say, wildlife-friendly party members XD

 

I have yet to download any of the most recent patches, as I've heard they can do terrible things, so if this issue has already been addressed, forgive me.

 

Wait till you get to Hissing Wastes, although it is a beautiful and well designed location, there is this bug - neutral animals suddenly taking dmg from god knows what (tripping over a rock? being attacked from below the sand by sandworms? who knows) and turning red, getting your party into combat. I think I saw it in other locations, but very rarely, but in the Wastes? Once every few minutes.

[Average Designer]

Booo....T^T..Thanks for the info though.

You're welcome. So yeah... Dev's are patching out good stuff while not patching the broken stuff that needs it.

[AppalachianApex]

Wait till you get to Hissing Wastes, although it is a beautiful and well designed location, there is this bug - neutral animals suddenly taking dmg from god knows what (tripping over a rock? being attacked from below the sand by sandworms? who knows) and turning red, getting your party into combat. I think I saw it in other locations, but very rarely, but in the Wastes? Once every few minutes.

 

That's exactly what I'm talking about lol. The Wastes are the worst, but it happens in most areas.

[CuriousArtemis]

Okay Caja-dear, I finally have a chance to respond to this awesome topic I will start with the negatives first so that the post will end on a positive note

 

1. Romances

So anyone who knows me knows this has been my biggest overall disappointment with the game. I try not to talk about it much because there's no point harping on it (even those of us unhappy with the romances hate seeing those rude posts about how the romances all suck and BioWare should die blah blah blah). I'm also leery of giving insult or offense to those who very much like the romances. 

 

Generally speaking, I am a fan of all-bi over gay/straight/bi; however, I 100% understand those who are a fan of it, especially LGBT fans who are excited to see a romance created "just for them." So I'm reconciled to all-bi being pretty much out the window at this point. My disappointment centers around the options for a gay male inquisitor. Overall I think straight (and of course bi) female inquisitors did the best; they got a very pleasant variety, a couple plot-heavy romances (Cullen and Solas), a "traditional" romance (Cullen), and then the outliers, "beefy and beardy" guy (Blackwall) and BDSM guy (Bull). Straight males did okay with Cassandra (plot-heavy, beautiful) and Josephine (well, she does have her fans); I feel for the ones who wanted Sera or Vivienne. Lesbian females did okay as well, though it stinks they can't have Cassandra. But gay males have to choose between two very specific "types" of romances. One if BDSM and the other is kind of a traditionally flamboyant gay man type. Now, both are excellent characters, and I did romance Bull; the romance was not to my taste, but there were a lot of scenes and a lot of effort had clearly been put into it. I've heard similarly from Dorian fans. So it's not the writing or anything like that. I'm just disappointed and crushed by the choices themselves. No plot-heavy romance and no kind of traditional type guy. Like your standard soldier "to the right thing" kind of guy (a.k.a. Alistair, Kaidan, Cullen). So it is just a massive disappointment. And to top it off, audio was leaked of a bi-Cullen romance and possibly bi-Solas (not sure about that one). 

 

2. Story: In my opinion the story fell flat for two reasons: one, it was overshadowed by the 50+ hours of tiny insignificant quests, and two, it really was not all that great. It could have gone so much deeper. Corypheus was a poor choice for a "big bad." Solas's plot thread proved to be the most (if not only) interesting thing about the entire story. Eluvians played a minimal role. Grey Wardens were nothing but a "play through the dungeon and pick whether to recruit them or not: result being mere approval or disapproval from companions (more on that later). I just did not care about the story, and that was devastating. I'm not a HUGE DAO fan, but I did enjoy the "us against the world to save the world" storyline, even if it was a bit cliche. Hawke's personal story was the true strength of DA2, and the DLC only added to that (Legacy was delightful). But I really have very little interest in DLC for DAI; I've lost faith in believing any answers will be given or tantalizing questions raised. It just felt like the issues and themes were gently scratched instead of delved deeply into. Instead of stomping through empty zones for 50 hours, I'd much rather have spent that time dealing with Morrigan, Abelas, Celene, or Michel and all the interesting stuff swirling around them. Anyway, not much else to say about this, so moving on

 

3. Choices:

I feel the game failed at making both past and current choices seem significant. The Keep really did give us a false sense of believing past choices would be significant. Merrill and the eluvian... it doesn't remotely matter what she did with it. Anders alive or dead...? Doesn't matter. Likely this is my fault for believing these games are prequels to one another in the same way Mass Effect is. I suppose the idea is that you can easily play one without having played the other. Each is supposed to be its own self-contained delight. Okay, I get that. I do, however, think it was a mistake to bring back Hawke. I'm still frustrated and annoyed over how my Hawke's relationship with Fenris was handled. The writers seemed to completely negate their own characterization of these characters. And I can't think of any other significant decision from past games that had a major impact on the game, with the possible exception of Morrigan's child. Alistair or Anora being on the throne only resulted in a 10 second cameo.

 

Add to that -- choices within the game. Who did you recruit, templars or mages? What did you do with the Wardens? Who did you subtly manipulate to rule Orlais? The truth is, none of the answers to these questions matters. They did not impact the storyline AT ALL. Furthermore, our companions reactions to such major issues are virtually nonexistent. We were promised confrontations similar to Alistair's confrontation post-Redcliffe Castle, but instead we get a listing in the corner of the screen of approvals and disapprovals. Wow.

 

And now... moving on to the positive

 

1. Environment:

Well, what can be said that hasn't already been said? It's clear that this is where the majority of the team's focus was, and it shows. These environments are just to die for. Many complain about trooping the Hinterlands or the Hissing Wastes, but I genuinely enjoy it, especially on a second playthrough. (It's a shame banters hardly ever fire, but oh well.) The background music just works, too. The wildlife is nicely varied. The sound effects of my feet stomping through the sand or snow are just perfect. They just simply knocked it out of the park here.

 

2. Voice Acting:

Top. Notch. Only minor exception is Iron Bull. He could have been better directed so that his voice was more consistent. But Dorian, Cullen, Solas, and a few others were just beyond exceptional. I've played the English male and American female inquisitor voices and both are excellent. I do feel the PC voices were directed to be less emotional than, say, Hawke, and to me that is unfortunately. But it is not the fault of the voice actors themselves. I think the acting in and of itself was stupendous. Some voices did get repeated by various NPCs a bit too much, and hearing Gideon Emery seem to be several characters in the game just made Fenris' absence that much more painful. But eek, back to the positives lol Seriously, I'm in love with the voice acting. As expected from BioWare!

 

3. Combat:

Know what, I actually like it. It's hard -- I still wish there were an optional story mode (makes sense for a game this size). But I enjoyed casual; I'm enjoy normal, and eventually I'll enjoy playing on hard, I know I will. I use a controller on PC and the mapping works well for me. The skill trees make sense. Combat is a bit too flashy sometimes so that I lose my character, but that's my fault for not pausing and going into tactical mode. Followers need to be tweaked so that they follow orders better; that can be (hopefully) eventually patched. But so far I've played an archer and a S&S warrior, and I've enjoyed both immensely. I don't miss the lack of healing, not with the barriers and revival spells. It does force me to bring a mage, but that's okay.

 

Okay, that's enough from me Thanks Caja for the chance to get all this stuff off our chests in a contained and respectful manner lol This was fun.

[Morroian]

The Good:

Graphics and environments are obviously good

Companions are great and romances on the whole well done

The writing is the best of the franchise

I like the broad idea of the wartable aspect

Dialogue wheel and paraphrasing was well done

 

The Bad:

Lack of variety in ability trees and reduction in the number of abilities. In DA2 they improved on the DAO trees and abilities and had them in a pretty good place, in DAI they needlessly streamline it even further and is 1 factor in making combat tiresome.

8 ability limit leading to a lack of variety in combat and is another factor in making combat tiresome.

Lack of healing options. I don't necessarily mind the lack of healing but the combat is not well balanced for it and it led to a lot of tiresome busywork going back and forth from camps from even the most minor fights.

KB&M controls are sluggish and unresponsive leading to the game being hard to play tactically in normal mode and the issues with tactical mode mean I cant play in that mode for more than 1 move. This also reflects 1 of the problems with the game in trying to shoehorn the 2 conflicting approaches of action oriented gameplay and tactical gameplay together, it hasn't worked. 

Tactical mode as stated above is poorly implemented, we're unable to scroll out far enough, it is hard to see sometimes with trees and whatnot being in the way and the controls have issues eg. no camera movement when cursor is on the edge 

AI is poor and combined with the removal of tactical scripts again is a factor in making combat tiresome.

Lack of attribute control. I don't necessarily mind the removal but it has to be replaced with other options eg. perks like in Skyrim or Fallout New Vegas. We need more options to be able to build a character.

 

The Ugly 

Wartable and power. Power should be a scarce strategic resource leading to more strategic choices in the wartable and would help make sidequests for the acquisition of power more meaningful.

The wartable and main game are largely disconnected. Wartable decisions need to be reflected in the actual game.  

The Inquisitor in general is bland. I know this was a reaction against the dislike of SOME to Hawke but it would be nice if they were able to include both options.