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[prosthetic soul]

Disclaimer: will be reviewing out of 5, instead of out of 10, because the out of 10 system sucks and is stupid. 

 

Gameplay - not very tactical, but if I had to pick between this and DA:O's gameplay, I'd go with the former every time.  Better to be mindlessly entertained than intently bored.  (hmm...that was rather profound.  You can quote me on that if you wish)  3/5

 

Free roam elements - Ugh.  Horseback riding doesn't work in a game where you're encouraged to pick up loot every three nanoseconds-indeed, if you don't, you wind up gimped in the late game.  Also, the horse isn't very agile and controls like it's drenched in molasses.  I honestly don't get what all the complaints about the Mako were when this horse is 1000x worse. I could make the Mako sing and dance simultaneously but this horse is ass.  Side quests are boring, we all know that. NPCs have nothing to say, and most just stand around saying the same three canned lines over and over and over.  About as immersive as standing in a puddle.  1/5

 

Characters - this is quite possibly the biggest disappointment by far because out of all the Bioware games I've played, DA:Inquisition has got to have the weakest cast of characters I've seen, relatively speaking. There are some good characters to be sure, but compared to some other games in Bioware's past, this is just not cutting it.  In Jade Empire, Sky was a great character but wasn't defined by his sexuality.  He just happened to be bisexual and it wasn't even the focus of his character; as opposed to Dorian, who appears to exist simply to offer a romance option for those who aren't straight.  This is definitely subjective though so don't get super offended please.   2/5

 

Technical aspects- You know what, I'm just going to go ahead and give this a 1/5.  This game, from Day 1, has been mired in so many bugs, glitches, animation issues, programming problems, and is still in dire need of major polishing (more like overhaul) that I cannot in good conscience give this part a score any higher than a 1 out of 5.  DA:I has NPC pop-in so bad you'd think it was one of those poorly made 3D hentai games.  It clearly needed another 6 months to a year of polish and bug stomping before it was released.

 

Music - As sad I was to see The Borgias get cancelled after a mere three seasons, I think it may have been for the best because the music in DA:I is FREAKING AMAZING.  Trevor Morris you are a musical genius!  The pieces he composed were some of the best I've heard in any RPG.  I can't even count how many times I've put the Dragon Age Inquisition Main Theme on repeat on YouTube.  My only complaint here is that Bioware under utilizes his freaking talent and mutes his music 90% of the time through the game.  Sorry Bioware, I know it was a conscience decision to do it that way but it doesn't change the fact it was a bad decision and it added nothing to the experience.  You should have just let the music run free.  Silence is never preferable to some kind of ambiance.  It just doesn't work otherwise.  Also, I don't know if Morris composed the music for Trespasser but The Dread Wolf was so stirring.  It moved me.  5/5. 

 

Story-Isn't well written and the villain is so flaccid and unimposing as an actual threat to Inquisitor and friends that I don't think there was a single time throughout the main story where I was genuinely on the edge of my seat or even fearful for any of the characters.   There can't be a story without conflict.  Just as there can't be conflict if the source of said conflict never has a chance to really exercise its will upon the heroes at some point.  The baddie gets thwarted at each and every turn....and then....you vanquish the evil.  Sorry folks, that's not how good narrative pacing works.  But, I will say this.  The story gets the job done, for whatever that's worth.  2/5. 

 

There are parts of this game that make me want to praise Bioware.  But then there are aspects of it which make me want to swear off Bioware forever.  Hence the conflict.  What are your thoughts? 

[dreamgazer]

Sounds like you hate it. Probably time to move on, unless you're actually wanting people to persuade you otherwise, which always goes well on the BSN.

[JeffZero]

I think it's pretty good.

[prosthetic soul]

Sounds like you hate it. Probably time to move on, unless you're actually wanting people to persuade you otherwise, which always goes well on the BSN.

No, it's not that I want to be persuaded.  I am just confounded at how a game with such a good premise can fail so utterly in execution.  It's like....a tragedy of monumental proportions.   Which is weird considering how many hours I've put into this game. 

[pdusen]

Technical aspects- You know what, I'm just going to go ahead and give this a 1/5.  This game, from Day 1, has been mired in so many bugs, glitches, animation issues, programming problems, and is still in dire need of major polishing (more like overhaul) that I cannot in good conscience give this part a score any higher than a 1 out of 5.  DA:I has NPC pop-in so bad you'd think it was one of those poorly made 3D hentai games.  It clearly needed another 6 months to a year of polish and bug stomping before it was released.

I'm the first to point out that DAI has technical issues, but I cannot agree that it's technical problems were this bad by any stretch. I recommend you play several more games to get a sense of what a truly broken game is actually like.

[dreamgazer]

No, it's not that I want to be persuaded.  I am just confounded at how a game with such a good premise can fail so utterly in execution.  It's like....a tragedy of monumental proportions.

I really don't think it's a tragedy, and I think a lot of the negative viewpoints against this game willfully overlook evidence to the contrary (there's more to the open-world exploration and side-content; the characters are rather good; the plot's actually better than several other BioWare efforts; etc.). It's certainly not my favorite BioWare game, but I really enjoyed my two runs through it and look forward to a third with all the DLC eventually.

[prosthetic soul]

I'm the first to point out that DAI has technical issues, but I cannot agree that it's technical problems were this bad by any stretch. I recommend you play several more games to get a sense of what a truly broken game is actually like.

I haven't been so jarred by a game with such horrible technical issues since Bubsy 3D for the PS1.  To me, it is indeed that bad.   I can see what you're getting at though.

[JeffZero]

I think the worst technical thing for me is how transforming Skyhold's garden into a Chantry makes the Chant of Light stuff pop in super-loudly all over the main building. At least, it does for me. It's pretty annoying.

 

Well, I guess the genuinely worst technical thing is how the elven garden lady likes to literally pop inside Mother Giselle sometimes when I'm conversing with her, leading to some hideous blood-magic-spawned amalgamation Orlesian Dalish whiteblack woman of two separate ear lengths.

 

But I find it too funny to criticize.

[robertmarilyn]

I think the worst technical thing for me is how transforming Skyhold's garden into a Chantry makes the Chant of Light stuff pop in super-loudly all over the main building. At least, it does for me. It's pretty annoying.

 

Well, I guess the genuinely worst technical thing is how the elven garden lady likes to literally pop inside Mother Giselle sometimes when I'm conversing with her, leading to some hideous blood-magic-spawned amalgamation Orlesian Dalish whiteblack woman of two separate ear lengths.

 

But I find it too funny to criticize.

 

I've never had these things happen. I think your Skyhold is truly haunted. 

[Chimaera357]

I haven't been so jarred by a game with such horrible technical issues since Bubsy 3D for the PS1. To me, it is indeed that bad. I can see what you're getting at though.

I have Watchdogs, AC: Unity, and Arkham Knight on PC.  DA:I is a technical masterpiece.

[wyldrwynd]

I have enjoyed the game but I do have issues with it that pertain more to story than anything technical, though the technical issues are frustrating.

 

I have a real problem with the character of Iron Bull.  His dialogue is much too contemporary for a character that is, not only Qunari but also in a world built as if in the real world medieval era.  I found it jarring and it seemed too contrived. No other character speaks like Iron Bull and certainly not any of the Qunari that we've interacted with during the other DA games.

 

I suspect we are suppose to understand that Bull has 'gone native' during his years away from Par Vollen but his character is a confusing contradiction and not in the poetic sense.  His personal quest reflects the contradictions.  That Bull looks to the Inquisitor for direction as to whether to sacrifice his men seems completely un-Qunari-like.  The Qunari that we've met before committed to the Qun approach their duties and life with a single-mindedness that leaves no wiggle room.  Bull seems to wrestle - albeit superficially - with what he should do.  Sten and the Arishok would not have vacillated for a moment, they would have sacrificed their comrades for the good of the Qun.  Bull's whole personality was more quintessential 'frat boy', which might work for a character NOT a Qunari.  Truth is, if Bull didn't have the horns and physical build of a Qunari I wouldn't have believed for a moment that he was one.  

 

If the purpose of Iron Bull was to make me feel the intense conflict that comes to people with devout beliefs when those beliefs are tested then I didn't feel it.  I didn't feel it because Bull never acted or sounded Qunari to me.  

 

Corypheus.  Corypheus has to be the most incompetent villain ever written.  The character is a magister and a dark spawn.  He broke into the Golden City and then survived centuries of captivity.  He carries an Elven artifact of immense power; he musters legions of mages/templars; lifts a village into the air and even though he may die he's simply reborn over and over again and yet he is thwarted by the simplest circumstances.  

 

He goes to the trouble to bind a Tevinter magister in an impressive magical cage...and leaves him unguarded.  His entire plan is stymied when an elderly, panicked woman simply slaps the orb from his hand.  And the final insult to our intelligence is that he hides his 'hoarcrux' in.  A.  Dragon!  Because, you know, NO one would try and kill a dragon!  I just can't...  Cudos though to the voice actor, he certainly made Corypheus sound sinister and powerful.

 

There is one last criticism of the story and that is the myriad bits and pieces that are left floating with each installation of the DA series.  I understand that some are addressed in other mediums but for the games I find the little unanswered questions intriguing until they become so numerous that I can't keep up. That many of the answers are addressed only in the DLC is one reason I am finding it so easy to lose interest in Bioware games.  I don't have a lot of disposable income and to fork over $60 for a game knowing ahead of time that the actual ending of the story is held back for DLC at additional cost is about as disrespectful to the player as it gets.

 

Like I said, I enjoyed the game overall, I just can't seem to find any real enthusiasm for the DLC nor for any future DA games.

[robertmarilyn]

I have enjoyed the game but I do have issues with it that pertain more to story than anything technical, though the technical issues are frustrating.

 

I have a real problem with the character of Iron Bull.  His dialogue is much too contemporary for a character that is, not only Qunari but also in a world built as if in the real world medieval era.  I found it jarring and it seemed too contrived. No other character speaks like Iron Bull and certainly not any of the Qunari that we've interacted with during the other DA games.

 

I suspect we are suppose to understand that Bull has 'gone native' during his years away from Par Vollen but his character is a confusing contradiction and not in the poetic sense.  His personal quest reflects the contradictions.  That Bull looks to the Inquisitor for direction as to whether to sacrifice his men seems completely un-Qunari-like.  The Qunari that we've met before committed to the Qun approach their duties and life with a single-mindedness that leaves no wiggle room.  Bull seems to wrestle - albeit superficially - with what he should do.  Sten and the Arishok would not have vacillated for a moment, they would have sacrificed their comrades for the good of the Qun.  Bull's whole personality was more quintessential 'frat boy', which might work for a character NOT a Qunari.  Truth is, if Bull didn't have the horns and physical build of a Qunari I wouldn't have believed for a moment that he was one.  

 

If the purpose of Iron Bull was to make me feel the intense conflict that comes to people with devout beliefs when those beliefs are tested then I didn't feel it.  I didn't feel it because Bull never acted or sounded Qunari to me.  

 

Corypheus.  Corypheus has to be the most incompetent villain ever written.  The character is a magister and a dark spawn.  He broke into the Golden City and then survived centuries of captivity.  He carries an Elven artifact of immense power; he musters legions of mages/templars; lifts a village into the air and even though he may die he's simply reborn over and over again and yet he is thwarted by the simplest circumstances.  

 

He goes to the trouble to bind a Tevinter magister in an impressive magical cage...and leaves him unguarded.  His entire plan is stymied when an elderly, panicked woman simply slaps the orb from his hand.  And the final insult to our intelligence is that he hides his 'hoarcrux' in.  A.  Dragon!  Because, you know, NO one would try and kill a dragon!  I just can't...  Cudos though to the voice actor, he certainly made Corypheus sound sinister and powerful.

 

There is one last criticism of the story and that is the myriad bits and pieces that are left floating with each installation of the DA series.  I understand that some are addressed in other mediums but for the games I find the little unanswered questions intriguing until they become so numerous that I can't keep up. That many of the answers are addressed only in the DLC is one reason I am finding it so easy to lose interest in Bioware games.  I don't have a lot of disposable income and to fork over $60 for a game knowing ahead of time that the actual ending of the story is held back for DLC at additional cost is about as disrespectful to the player as it gets.

 

Like I said, I enjoyed the game overall, I just can't seem to find any real enthusiasm for the DLC nor for any future DA games.

 

You are so right, in my opinion, about Iron Bull and Cory. I couldn't have said it better. Plus what you said about so many little unanswered questions and I'm pretty sure most of them will never get answered. I love the game as long as I don't put much thought into the game. 

 

Nothing about Iron Bull (except his looks) fits DAI. Cory sure is a big, ugly thing for someone so unable to carry out his plan. But now that I think about it (I need to stop thinking), Cory is just the person to mess everything up since Solas is so incompetent about accomplishing anything he sets out to do. 

[pdusen]

I have Watchdogs, AC: Unity, and Arkham Knight on PC.  DA:I is a technical masterpiece.

Basically this.

[Wolven_Soul]

I really don't think it's a tragedy, and I think a lot of the negative viewpoints against this game willfully overlook evidence to the contrary (there's more to the open-world exploration and side-content; the characters are rather good; the plot's actually better than several other BioWare efforts; etc.). It's certainly not my favorite BioWare game, but I really enjoyed my two runs through it and look forward to a third with all the DLC eventually.

 

Sorry but I have yet to hear any solid evidence that there is more to this game's open world exploration or side content.  Especially not the terrible side content.

[robotnist]

i think as humans evolve and games evolve, the onus to enjoy them will be 50% the developers responsibility and 50% the gamer's... 

 

i read about the things you didn't enjoy about DAI and felt like i had to dig and explore those aspects myself to find the way to enjoy and employ said gameplay areas.

 

as far as characters go, NO i wasn't "IN LOVE" with everyone in DAI, like i was immediately in love with them in DAO, but the cool thing about this is, i'm STILL getting to know the cast of DAI the more i play in the 1st year of the games release.... (you see, i play all dragon age games yearly, up until DAI released, DAO was quite literally in my disk drive for 5 years straight!!!) ...the more i like them, it's a slow burn you see, and it ends up being a deeper development that feels like it's meant to be experienced over many playthroughs...

 

as far as everyone complaints about the open world mechanics and mounted travel, i think the onus is 75% on the players here. if you don't "ENJOY" mounting a horse to cover areas you have been to, while backtracking, or rushing forward to an area you want to focus on, while saving time, i feel like it's your fault. 

 

so many gamers complain that they want the power to play the games they like the way they want, but when you give them this power, they complain that theres optional things to pick up or do as they're travelling on their mount through the countryside. i find the mounts VERY useful in DAI, and while YES, i walk more than i ride, nad i may only use my mounts for about 10% of the time i explore, i find enjoyment in collecting the mounts, picking different breeds and creatures for different missions and love that when i DO need to get somewhere fast, while backtracking, i have fun being able to use that option as i see fit.

 

giving the technical aspects a 1/5 seems plain petty to me. if you played on a console, and ran into a few bugs, that's not that bad considering the size of this game, and if it was on PC, (where i'm playing), any issues with PC gaming can stem from SO MANY areas. i could say it's your fault, your PC's fault or Bioware's, but "fault" isn't the correct word here... when dealing with PC gaming, there's just an INFINITE amount of probabilities and issues that can crop up because of the infinite amount of configurations PCs can come in. I know how this game ran on PS4, i beat it there, and i also played on PC for no less than 200+ hours and don't have any issues that would justify giving a game such a low score as far as its technical performance goes.

 

and the last, (and of course this isn't in order) aspect of your review- gameplay.

 

important aspects of gameplay are so subjective... it seemed like you meant DAI combat was better than DAO's... let me just say DAO is still my #1 fave all time game!!! its up there with Phantasy Star Online, FF7, dragon warrior 1 (on the nes) etc...

 

but i see so many people complain about DAI combat, referring to its lack of tactics... i LOVE DAI's combat. and the more you read and understand the skills you level up, and how you navigate the different skill trees, make a BIG difference to me.

 

it took some time for me to really understand that theres basically 5 diff classes, and each class has their own strategies in combat, and depending on the skill trees you focus on, it alters their strategy EVEN MORE. 

 

how the 1h wep and shield warrior bolsters his guard...

how the 2h warr does mass damage or specific damage...

dual wield rogues and their ability affect the enemies on the field, the way they can maneuver on the battlefield...

the archer and his optional AoE attacks and line up strats...

and then of course the moist strategic class IMO the mage, is a blast.

 

i agree it took some time at first to realize how fun the combat was... no one has EVER done anything this creative with combat in an RPG ever, IMO.

i love how it all fits together, i think there are many people who overlook these  strategies... but you seemed to give it a 'fair' score so with less of an explanation so it seems this aspect of the game was serviceable to you, i just wanted to reference what i have seen many others complain about to offer my opinion on the games combat.

 

and just to clarify, i'm not saying you're "WRONG" or your review is flawed, i'm just offering an attempt at a healthy social rebuttal. 

cheers.

[robotnist]

PS_ some jerk made a wall of text right above me, DON'T READ IT!!!!!!

 

[Marshal Moriarty]

With the story, I think the most annoying thing is how badly it falls off a cliff after the first Act. Up until then, it was going okay. Some of the details of the fight in 'In your Heart Shall Burn' annoy me, and I never bought into the artificial way that they replaced Hawke with the Inquisitor as Corypheus' main rival, But nevertheless, it was building adequately enough. But then the plot basically just stops, you have a ton of barely relevant side qiest material, are saddled with increasing your power as an organization, despite not really knowing what threat you are facing, or even what your own organization is supposed to be stand for. The game basically stops any pretence of telling a narrative at this point and just becomes a pure open world, exploration game. But to that end, it completely fails to deliver an interesting world worth exploring, instead deluging the character with tedious collection and plant the flag in the place quests.

 

And I agree entirely about the characters (I've long argued that iron Bull is overrated), being a surprising yawn. Most of the characters are solid, but unremarkable. I just don't get how anyone can get worked up about Solas, no matter what he has or hasn't done, because the character has so little presence in the game. He's just the bald elf who keeps to himself and doesn't really talk to anyone. That's a key issue for me in this game, that I never felt like my team became a team. I just can't imagine Vivienne or even Cassandra really actually wanting to go and speak to any of the others. Cassandra might speak to say Blackwall to ask if their weapons and mounts are ready etc, but that's about all the interaction I can imagine her having with any of the team. Scenes like the Wicked Grace sequence feel so horribly stilted and forced, just as much of the banter does. Some of the banter is fine, but much of it feels like awkward small talk on a long journey between people who really don't have much interest in each other.

 

One of the most surprising moments for this in the whole game was when I unlocked the 'Have max friendship with 3 party members', because I had no idea which 3 that would be, as my character barely seemed to have talked to any of them. I certainly felt no connection to any of them to that degree. Even with Josephine who was supposedly my romance partner, it felt like my character hardly knew her and that they still had basically the same level of familiarity that they had always had.

[vbibbi]

With the story, I think the most annoying thing is how badly it falls off a cliff after the first Act. Up until then, it was going okay. Some of the details of the fight in 'In your Heart Shall Burn' annoy me, and I never bought into the artificial way that they replaced Hawke with the Inquisitor as Corypheus' main rival, But nevertheless, it was building adequately enough. But then the plot basically just stops, you have a ton of barely relevant side qiest material, are saddled with increasing your power as an organization, despite not really knowing what threat you are facing, or even what your own organization is supposed to be stand for. The game basically stops any pretence of telling a narrative at this point and just becomes a pure open world, exploration game. But to that end, it completely fails to deliver an interesting world worth exploring, instead deluging the character with tedious collection and plant the flag in the place quests.

 

And I agree entirely about the characters (I've long argued that iron Bull is overrated), being a surprising yawn. Most of the characters are solid, but unremarkable. I just don't get how anyone can get worked up about Solas, no matter what he has or hasn't done, because the character has so little presence in the game. He's just the bald elf who keeps to himself and doesn't really talk to anyone. That's a key issue for me in this game, that I never felt like my team became a team. I just can't imagine Vivienne or even Cassandra really actually wanting to go and speak to any of the others. Cassandra might speak to say Blackwall to ask if their weapons and mounts are ready etc, but that's about all the interaction I can imagine her having with any of the team. Scenes like the Wicked Grace sequence feel so horribly stilted and forced, just as much of the banter does. Some of the banter is fine, but much of it feels like awkward small talk on a long journey between people who really don't have much interest in each other.

 

One of the most surprising moments for this in the whole game was when I unlocked the 'Have max friendship with 3 party members', because I had no idea which 3 that would be, as my character barely seemed to have talked to any of them. I certainly felt no connection to any of them to that degree. Even with Josephine who was supposedly my romance partner, it felt like my character hardly knew her and that they still had basically the same level of familiarity that they had always had.

 

Agree with all of this. You've brought up a point that I've never consciously realized before, that one of the problems of the companions/advisors is that they don't seem to have much interaction with each other. I do enjoy most of the companions, but they have always felt to me like employees rather than friends or partners. Part of this is due to acting as the leader of a growing organization, sure, but the Inner Circle should be closer than just subordinates like Sutherland and co.

 

Maybe it's coming from DA2 where your companions felt more like a group of friends and family that makes the DAI dynamic seem more impersonal. And having scenes when visiting DA2 companions where they're visiting each other, and their banters reference hanging out without Hawke being involved. But the DAI companions banter exists without any mention of spending time together outside of the PC's control.

[Marshal Moriarty]

Exactly. DA2 was a huge step forward for party interaction, because you always knew exactly how the others felt about each other. And they would use their banter to talk about a variety of topics, not just their usual soapbox issues as well. But it always felt like they had a natural reason to be discussing those topics. It wasn't just that old gag that Garrus makes in ME2, that the banter in ME1 felt like completely out of nowhere 'Hey, let's talk about.... er.... this!' which is exactly how the Inqusition banter often feels. At least ME1 had the excuse that the team were talking long, awkward life rides and had to fill the time with small talk!

 

But yes, I also felt like the Inquisition party were more like your employees. It also made no sense to me why they in particular were your constant travelling and combat partners. The Inqusition has lots of soldiers, mages, scouts etc. It never felt like the game really addressed why these people specifically were considered so vital that they always came with you, especially as your character can not get along with them, if that's how you want to play it. It also didn't feel like the explanation for why people like Sera were even in the party at all, stacked up to even the most cursory of scrutiny. She's with you... because she just is.

 

Team building doesn't necessarily need lots of banter or lots of cutscenes/sequences of the gang hanging out. It just needs a few specific examples to promote that general feeling, and then add scenes as and when it feels natural to do so. Mass Effect 1 and 2 particularly do a good job of this by having your team convene at important moments so everyone can have their say on the missions and what's going on. Inquisition only does this with your advisors. Its true that the ME games weren't perfect at this by any means, but they did a much better job than this game did! As for Dragon Age, the previous games had far more depth to even quite small quests, and proper conversations with NPCs, where the right combinations of allies could send the conversation in new directions, and show what those characters felt about a whole variety of topics that they never normally discuss.

 

Inquisition has none of that, because the quests have almost no narrative depth, no interaction with NPCs beyond 'Go here, kill that' and your companions hardly ever have any reaction at all to what's happening, let alone make significant contributions about how they feel.

[giveamanafish...]

There actually were complaints about the character interactions in Da2 when they occured out side the roaming party. People didn't like the fact that Hawke felt like an outsider in these situations. I seem to remember at least one instance where someone I think Anders, ends his convo with Varric with a "oh look there's Hawke" and then quickly moves away.  In contrast to this, there were in DAI at least two multi character interactions in Skyhold, where the Inq. is a full participant. The in party convos also did offer some character insight, at least in my opinion. There was at least one set of interactions that helped fuel speculation about Sera and what she really was.

 

I never played the area quests as side quests. Your party was there for specific reasons to pursue specific goals. Along the way you planted flags yes, but you also set up camps to establish the Inquistiion presence and to restore order. You also closed rifts, cause they ate people (well not litereally). Other stuff happened, fetch quests and the like, but to me not overwhelming. I did pick up a lot of ****. I actually liked that a bit, so there are at least two... I'm sorry I mean one of us.

 

 

 

All this could and should be better discussed in the Spoiler section.

[vbibbi]

There actually were complaints about the character interactions in Da2 when they occured out side the roaming party. People didn't like the fact that Hawke felt like an outsider in these situations. I seem to remember at least one instance where someone I think Anders, ends his convo with Varric with a "oh look there's Hawke" and then quickly moves away.  In contrast to this, there were in DAI at least two multi character interactions in Skyhold, where the Inq. is a full participant. The in party convos also did offer some character insight, at least in my opinion. There was at least one set of interactions that helped fuel speculation about Sera and what she really was.

 

I never played the area quests as side quests. Your party was there for specific reasons to pursue specific goals. Along the way you planted flags yes, but you also set up camps to establish the Inquistiion presence and to restore order. You also closed rifts, cause they ate people (well not litereally). Other stuff happened, fetch quests and the like, but to me not overwhelming. I did pick up a lot of ****. I actually liked that a bit, so there are at least two... I'm sorry I mean one of us.

 

 

 

All this could and should be better discussed in the Spoiler section.

 

I can see how players could be put off by companions interacting "behind their backs" and I think this feeds into one of the major non-technical complaints about DA2, that it felt more like an interactive novel than an RPG. We are an actor in the world but not the main narrative drive. I personally don't mind that, as I get tired of playing the special snowflake who solves everyone's problems and can do things no one else can. That breaks my suspension of disbelief.

 

I did enjoy the Inquisitor interjecting in conversations, and I think they had added that in the DA2 DLC's, where Hawke could add something at the end of banters.

 

Exactly. DA2 was a huge step forward for party interaction, because you always knew exactly how the others felt about each other. And they would use their banter to talk about a variety of topics, not just their usual soapbox issues as well. But it always felt like they had a natural reason to be discussing those topics. It wasn't just that old gag that Garrus makes in ME2, that the banter in ME1 felt like completely out of nowhere 'Hey, let's talk about.... er.... this!' which is exactly how the Inqusition banter often feels. At least ME1 had the excuse that the team were talking long, awkward life rides and had to fill the time with small talk!

 

But yes, I also felt like the Inquisition party were more like your employees. It also made no sense to me why they in particular were your constant travelling and combat partners. The Inqusition has lots of soldiers, mages, scouts etc. It never felt like the game really addressed why these people specifically were considered so vital that they always came with you, especially as your character can not get along with them, if that's how you want to play it. It also didn't feel like the explanation for why people like Sera were even in the party at all, stacked up to even the most cursory of scrutiny. She's with you... because she just is.

 

Team building doesn't necessarily need lots of banter or lots of cutscenes/sequences of the gang hanging out. It just needs a few specific examples to promote that general feeling, and then add scenes as and when it feels natural to do so. Mass Effect 1 and 2 particularly do a good job of this by having your team convene at important moments so everyone can have their say on the missions and what's going on. Inquisition only does this with your advisors. Its true that the ME games weren't perfect at this by any means, but they did a much better job than this game did! As for Dragon Age, the previous games had far more depth to even quite small quests, and proper conversations with NPCs, where the right combinations of allies could send the conversation in new directions, and show what those characters felt about a whole variety of topics that they never normally discuss.

 

Inquisition has none of that, because the quests have almost no narrative depth, no interaction with NPCs beyond 'Go here, kill that' and your companions hardly ever have any reaction at all to what's happening, let alone make significant contributions about how they feel.

 

They don't even need to have cutscenes or anything outside of what is already in the game: they need banters which discuss things other than the business at hand or their personal philosophies. For Solas it makes sense, he has no real personal life in the physical world, and he is all about his personal philosophy. But most other companions should have conversations referencing Sera's latest pranks, or the latest Wicked Grace loser, or just ANYthing social.

 

I remember a banter between Carver and Varric where Varric was mocking Little Hawke's surly attitude and Carver sniped back. It ended with "Drinks later at the Hanged Man?" "Wouldn't miss it." Something so simple speaks volumes as to the personalities and relationships of the characters, without needing to have a 3 minute cutscene of Carver arguing with Hawke in Gamlen's house and then storming out to drink with Varric.

 

Compare that to DAI where even friends Sera and Blackwall seem to recount stories of their lives before the Inquisition rather than reference spending time together outside of camp. Why wouldn't they mention how they went to the Skyhold tavern and drank Dorian under the table, or if he wasn't recruited replace it with Scout Harding.

 

That to me is a large reason why the relationships seem so static and impersonal; the characters have a background, go to "work" when in the party, and then come home and have their separate lives until the next day of "work." Even though they all live together at Haven or Skyhold.

[Darkly Tranquil]

Above all else, DAI feels like it wasn't properly finished, and had to be rushed to completion, because there are so many places where it feels like corners were cut and the various finished bits were just sort of bolted together and rolled out the door. It's obvious in the main plot, which falls over part way through and just dumps you at Corypheus once you tick the requisite boxes, in the amount of stuff we saw from demos that got cut, the lack of animations on NPCs, the lack of coherent plots in some of the zones, the lack of variety in NPCS character models, lack of variety in equipment models, side quests just presented as notes, the lack of full cutscenes for many dialogues, ropey animations and frame rate issues, etc. I almost get the feeling that they put so much effort into building the open world zones, that they didn't leave themselves enough time to populate it all with interesting quests and stories, to finish the main story, and to technically polish the game. It's still a decent game, but it feels like unrealised potential to me.

[Panda]

Well if I were to give numbers on same criteria:

 

Gameplay: 3/5, it's nothing special and lacks bit of finesse, but compared to other DA games it hangs in there.

 

Free roam elements: Umm.. 2,5/5. What was there wasn't that bad. It's just.. that I like narrative games lot more than open world one's. The world was bit too empty for my liking as well and did they really need to make all those climbing and jumping up to mountains parts so annoying and time-consuming?

 

Characters: 4,5/5 overall good, of course they could always be better somehow, but I liked most of DAI's characters. If only the party banter wasn't bugged I would have enjoyed them more.

 

Technical aspects: 1/5 (PS3 ver), 2/5 (PC trial ver). It's buggy game, has always been and will always be. PS3 has slightly more problems than PC version, these problems being hard freezing, clitches in the game, sound clitches. In PC to biggest problem for me still is being stuck in the limbo in the beginning which is annoying.

 

Music: 2/5, forgettable.. and influenced by sound clitches and bugs. I just found Inon Zur's stuff more interesting and stand-outish.

 

Story: 3/5, it's not that bad and there is parts that felt strong like In Hushed Whispers and In Your Heart Shall Burn, but pacing was bad due to open world and overall the story didn't leave as much impact as previous DA games stories. Corypheus wasn't that good as villain either.

 

Overall score 16,5/30 so 2.75/5. I guess that is very accurate when thinking about my feels towards this game.

[pdusen]

Music: 2/5, forgettable.. and influenced by sound clitches and bugs. I just found Inon Zur's stuff more interesting and stand-outish.

 

Everything else aside, I will never understand this opinion. I remember literally no music from DAO or DA2, but the song that plays when Corypheus walks out of the fire at Haven gives me chills to this day. I suppose taste truly is subjective.

[Darkly Tranquil]

Everything else aside, I will never understand this opinion. I remember literally no music from DAO or DA2, but the song that plays when Corypheus walks out of the fire at Haven gives me chills to this day. I suppose taste truly is subjective.

It is subjective. DAI's soundtrack, while effective, sounds to me like something from the Two Steps From Hell school of generic bombastic orchestral movie soundtracks. Inon Zur's Origins soundtrack was much more ethereal, subtle, and distinctive. However, DA2 soundtrack was utterly forgettable in my view.