If someone were to tell me that Dragon Age: Inquisition would become one of my favorite games of 2014 I would've dismissed it without hesitation. I had tried to play the first Dragon Age and found the experience much to my distaste after a fair amount of time with it. In the 47 hours of gameplay with Dragon Age: Inquisition I can confidently say that my experience was immensely satisfying and so enjoyable that as soon as the credits concluded I hit new game and started all over again. From the political banter to the intricately crafted environments, Inquisition would appear to be a passion project for BioWare - not to mention a game that I enjoyed far more than their popular Mass Effect series.
With a game like Dragon Age: Inquisition there’s a lot to take in. Inquisition isn't without its flaws, however, and I encountered them more frequently than what could be considered negligible. Issues like audio drops, input lockouts, falling into the world, and game freezing were all encountered in my playthrough. It's fortunate that the game auto saves as frequently as it does because if it hadn't this would be a severely less forgiving review. The game definitely comes with its share of technical nuisances, but nothing that would be on par with Skyrim's console problems.
The game plays similarly to other Bioware titles: players band together in a party of 4 where commands can be issued individually while the action is suspended. The game can pose a challenge here and there, but not in any sort of clever way. Inquisition has three classes: rogues, mages, and warriors. You'd think that the Mage would comprise a healing subclass, but the best that the game offers you is a support tree. Practically all of your healing will come from a limited amount of potions with a hard cap depending on your investment into certain perks that you’ll earn by completing missions. Once these potions are depleted, you must return to camp to replenish them. It's a dubious system that seems like an artificial source for difficulty, replacing anything truly challenging or strategic - which is a shame, because the groundwork is solid enough that it should be more than capable of testing its players with tact rather than tedium. The combat can be enjoyable and there are classes such as the rogue archer that benefit from positional advantages while in combat. This helps to add a bit of variety to the combat which can occasionally feel mindless. Nightmare is where Inquisition really shows the full extent of its flawed difficulty design, where enemy health is bolstered to such an exaggerated degree that it shows how exceedingly drawn out and repetitive the combat can become. For anyone looking for more than a casual experience I'd suggest beginning on the Hard difficulty. This should also avoid some of the over-leveling issues people are having in the starting zone.
There’s other inconveniences that litter Inquisition, such as crafting weapons and armor being restricted to the main base of operations. In order to craft anything you’ll need to fast travel back to the inquisition headquarters and perform it there. Similarly, issuing any war table missions, which are non-participant missions performed in real time by NPC’s, can only be issued when in this location. The lack of convenience feels almost pointless, but it does encourage the player to return to town and find new dialogue options that become available with party members and other companions.
The classes are all useful and can make some interesting pairing, but I found myself enjoying the ranged characters far more than any of the close combat options. Some of the fights can involve multiple enemies at one time and, if you’re like me, you’re someone that will primarily be maintaining control of the character you created rather than a party member. Even so, sticking to a ranged class offers perspective over the fight and allows you to more accurately assign commands to individual party members when you find yourself requiring that level of attention. The dual-wielding rogue or the sword and shield classes feel, ironically enough, unwieldy. It might just be a personal preference but I often found that maneuvering characters so close to the action controlled poorly. I defaulted to the rogue archer and mage classes where combat felt far less chaotic and manageable.
One aspect where Inquisition definitely excels is dragon encounters. If you’ve ever played an MMO before and enjoyed the boss encounters then this is right up your alley. Some of the fights can be downright epic, taking place over a large area and involving phases that change up the dragon’s behavior, move-set, and position. Downing a dragon felt like an actual accomplishment and rewards you generously with high-tier crafting components and items.
I know it sounds like a myriad of bones to pick with the game but there's much more to love about Inquisition than to dislike, starting with its world. Aesthetically the world of Thedas feels convincingly alive and it all looks gorgeous. Colors pop and lighting hits the environment beautifully. Dungeons and landscapes all feel so uniquely designed that the enormous maps can be recalled from memory by landmarks. Taverns are frequented by bards and musicians that play numerous songs. It’s staggering how painstakingly crafted each environment is. There's very little in Inquisition that feels similar and throughout the entire game I was enticed to explore further. Where many games like this feel as if they recycle textures to cut down production, Inquisition is a love letter to world building, and I found an enormous amount of satisfaction in exploration. That's no small feat for a game of immense scope, and it left me wanting even more.
Outside of the appearance, the world is teeming with interesting politics and factions. Listening to many of your inquisition compatriots discuss their homelands and beliefs can be overwhelming. There’s definitely a lot that’s happening outside of saving the world. In fact, most of the stuff happening behind the curtain is more interesting than the main story. The antagonist is run-of-the-mill bad guy hungering for powers beyond his control. Most of the story beats are predictable or may even cause you to roll your eyes. There’s high points, for sure, but not many. I had much more fun digging into side quests and sifting through hours of dialogue while in the inquisition headquarters. Fortunately there’s a ton of content that makes up for a lackluster campaign.
If you’re someone that enjoys dungeon crawling and exploring, I can’t think of a way that Dragon Age: Inquisition can disappoint you. If you like political unrest, espionage, and betrayal, then Inquisition is poised to please. There’s a ton of things to both love and hate about this game. I know I love it because I cared enough to ponder how the next installment could be better. While I can say that it’s a hell of a game and a personal favorite for last year, I also need to be fair and say that technical issues, shallow but pretty combat, and unintuitive game design choices are a problem - but Dragon Age: Inquisition, if given a fair investment, is willing to at least redeem some of those shortcomings in a way that allowed me to come out of its final product impressed.
GRADE: B
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