[Insert Monty Python “Inquisition” Joke here]

I have had a lot of difficulty staying invested in games lately. Mostly, I can only handle small spurts before having to stop due to an utterly-shot attention span. Dragon Age: Inquisition, however, has been the combo breaker. It took me a little while to sit my butt in the chair long enough to really get going, I admit, but once I did – whoo boy, you could make an impression of my rear-end from my computer chair. (Please don’t.)

Is it a game for everyone? Of course not – no game is! But the overall response has been positive – BioWare did good. That extra year of development disappointed us all at first, but they have definitely delivered. To think, if they had released it on the original release date before next-gen, there would have been no Iron Bull romance for all races OR no Cullen romance at all! I don’t know how I would have coped! If you compare the graphical progression from Dragon Age: Origins to Dragon Age II to Dragon Age: Inquisition, DAI took a gigantic leap for gaming kind. And the world-size is immense! It’s not open world like Skyrim, but with the sheer mass of each area, it really doesn’t need to be.

There are plenty of blogs, reviews and Let’s Plays to show you how the game looks and plays. So rather than extol all of that again, I thought I’d contribute a list of things personal to my experience.

 

The War Table makes me feel like a megalomaniac – in the best way possible.

I’m not an RTS player. Strategy is not my strong suit. I don’t have the calculating mind for it, really. (Or maybe it’s over-calculating to the point of detrimental?) But it’s mostly the patience. For someone whom is OCD, likes making lists, and organising her own assets, I surprisingly couldn’t give two shakes about managing massive armies and wars.

Which is why I was shocked at how addictive I found the War Table. The War Table gives weight to an important, oft-neglected story element. In Dragon Age: Origins, you were a Warden – part of an elite organisation, but you were stranded from your brethren and alone with only Alistair for aid. In Dragon Age 2, you were a refugee in a big city, your only concern being your family and friends. You are now part of the Inquisition – and damn it, that’s a lot of responsibility and people to care for. The War Table reminds us of what many games make us forget – you are part of something bigger, and you are not alone in the endeavour.

When the Inquisition is small, you will run out and do a lot of your own questing for resources and such. But once you get bigger, you have more important things to do – someone else can go gather those resources. You can’t be everywhere at once and some things don’t require your personal attendance – a diplomatic envoy, a small party of scouts, or a garrison of soldiers will suffice instead. You don’t feel like very little detail is your personal problem – there are other people able to investigate things too, with your leadership to guide them.

What’s nice is you still decide how you want to approach it. For example, I found myself straying mostly towards Josephine’s diplomatic approaches, but there were sometimes when I thought her nobility ass-kissing was too much and went with Cullen’s more direct approach. I tended to shy away from Lelianna’s “subtle” approaches because I didn’t agree with many of her methods. But there were some cases where sending scouts to investigate discreetly was the best course. It just depends on how you want to play.

 

Companions that I was surprised to love…

I purposefully avoided reading up about companions and their backstories when they were announced. I knew who would be companions, but I wanted to learn about them organically. I wanted to encounter them and discover who they were as my Inquisitor would – without foreknowledge. As such, I made some first impressions based on what little I had, from pictures and previous games, and was surprised to have all of those notions turned on their head.

For example – I had forgotten that Gareth David-Lloyd was voicing Solas. So when I encountered him, I wasn’t really expecting anything. But I instantly found myself hypnotised by the elf to the effect of “Tell me more, Solas. <3” Unfortunately, wooing him will need to wait for another game. Dorian has been my surprise bestie. For some reason, everything about him just compliments the nature of my Inquisitor so well. We all know the pairing of a diplomatic “good” friend with their more mischievous, sarcastic right-hand man, and they fit that mould quite nicely.

At first, I didn’t have much opinion about Cole. I didn’t now his backstory or anything, so when I met him, I didn’t know what to make of him. Being with him a little bit, I feel like adopting him as my little puppy-son and helping to teach him what’s right and wrong…is that weird? I think it is, so you can think so too – don’t worry.

 

Companions that I was surprised to just not like…

I will say first that I think all of the characters are written very well. But we must agree – as with life, there are just some characters we don’t like. Again, it’s not because they’re bad. They just don’t suit our tastes. And I was surprised to find that to be Sera for me. For some reason, her snarky, dismissive and rambunctious attitude annoys the hell out of me. Perhaps another character might find her more tolerable, but my do-gooder Inquisitor just finds her to be obnoxious. She will not dismiss her, however – merely tolerate her. I know her attitude appeals to a great many people – just not me.

Similarly, Blackwall – now, I do LIKE Blackwall. I think he brings the gruff veteran into the mix in a refreshing way. But his romance options…I’ve decided not to pursue him in my planned playthroughs right now. I won’t reveal why just yet, because what I dislike about his romance is in fact what other people love about him (and, of course, spoilers). Which is why the variety of characters and the way they are written is so nice – there’s someone for everyone.

 

 Need a Heal! Where’s my Heal?!

Alas, the wisdom that is BioWare decided that “Heal” had no place in our DA universe anymore. I’m not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. As a more story-driven, combat-casual player, I miss it. There was less to worry about. On the other hand, not having to reserve a party slot to a healer leaves you open for more combat-orientated party setups. I think it’s just taking some getting used to, really, after years of the Party Trinity (Quadrality?) being punched into us. So far, I’ve had fun with a Rogue, Two Warrior, and Mage setup, as well as Rogue, Warrior and Two Mage setup. Someone has advised me to try a full Mage setup, which does sound interesting.

 

Arts & Crafting 

(I’m sure no one’s made that joke before)
As an advocate for customisation in gaming, I’ve been bit by the crafting bug hard. Normally, I don’t actually care much for crafting in games because the recipe I have will look identical to the next person’s. But the crafting of items, the mixing of different materials and the addition of section upgrades makes each crafting feel unique to me (even if that is only an illusion thanks to probability). I’ve not felt the need to make every little piece of armour I get schematics on, but I do take it a bit too seriously. I have read other reviews that said armour crafting was worth it, but weapons was pointless. Well, too bad! I will waste my resources on lovingly making each of my party members customised, Inquisitor-crafted weaponry if I damn well want! I almost wish that party members “slightly approved” when you gave them crafted items, like they acknowledged that you didn’t just give them stuff – you made it special.

 

Wishlist

There are, of course, spots where things are a little lacking. They’re not major things – just small things that might push it that much further. What’s better is that BioWare seems to be open to releasing new content via updates or free DLCs, so hopefully we’ll see some progress on these things.

• Choice of “Casualwear” for Inquisitor
  In your main base, you at times wear an unarmoured outfit. Many people are not pleased with the outfit. I’m borderline – but even I just want to wear something different now and then. The ability to choose your casual outfit, like you could in some of the Mass Effect series, would add just that bit more to your Inquisitor’s personality. For example, would a Dalish Inquisitor wear the same attire as a Human Noble? Or would a pious, more diplomatic Inquisitor wear the same thing to a rogue-ish sarcastic atheist Inquisitor? Probably not. In the start, it might make sense that you wear just anything that was lying around. But really, as time goes on, it’d be possible for your Inquisitor to source a wardrobe that they are more comfortable in. Hell, you have a whole country devoted to being fashionable! Vivienne even invites to take you shopping, because “appearances are important”! As an idea, you could make them like craftable schematics and allow for the materials to dictate the appearance. What about instead of upgrade Arms or Legs, we have Sleeves and Embellishments? Shoes/Boots and Belts? Oh god, the more I think about it, the more I want it…
• Hair & Make-Up Vanity Mirror
  There is a point where your Inquisitor has a room (you know, the kind where a handy wardrobe of Casualwear would reside *hint hint*) – it’s not too much of a stretch to think they could have a mirror and various grooming products to keep from being stinky. So, it wouldn’t be farfetched to imagine a Vanity change system that allows you to use said-mirror for adjusting some of your character’s less fixed features, such as makeup and hair style, maybe even hair colour if the lore allows it. Think of it as the mundane alternative to the Mirror of Transformation, sans magical plastic surgery. This would also leave open for the expansion of adding new features, such as the better hairstyles everyone is clamouring for. If they were ever done (big IF), it would then be easy to switch to them on an existing Inquisitor, rather than saving them for new games only.
• Party Banter on Mounts
  There are a lot of reasons people have for NOT using mounts. Some don’t like the controls, other say the mounts feel sluggish compared to just running. These points are true, but for me the real bugbear is that my party STOPS TALKING. When you mount your, well, mount, the rest of your party disappears from screen, leaving just you with your ride. I can understand the gameplay logistics involved with this. However, your party is not just disappeared in body – they don’t have any banter during these long rides. And that kills the journey. If I could still at least listen to party banter while mounted, I’d probably do it more often. Until then, we’re all running marathons in this woman’s army!
• Tracking the War Table Operations in the Field
  I supposed I can KIND OF understand why you can’t – but really, I can’t. When you set a War Table operation, there is a timer until that operation is finished and that advisor is available for another operation. When I am out in the field, I receive a little notification that an operation is complete and my advisor is ready with a report in the war room. That’s great – but what if I’d like to check on the progress WHILE the operation is going on? Would it be so hard to have a codex section or quest section of Active Operations, showing me which operations are in progress, in which areas, by which advisor and what time is left on them? I could better plan around them, such as NOT starting a massive questline when an operation only has 5 minutes left on it. Or, even better, not starting a questline that interferes with an ongoing mission and causes bugs (I’m looking at you, Iron Bull).

 

All and all, I’m pretty enamoured with the game. So far, I’m 50 hours in with my first Inquisitor and there’s no signs of slowing down. There are changes and improvements that can be done, but that’s true of anything that ever sees the light of day in this world of ours. I’m hoping that BioWare keeps momentum and releases updates, DLCs and expansion packs. Hopefully the smaller features will be free updates as well, but we’ll just have to see what the horizon holds.