Dragon Age: Inquisition
Producer: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 18, 2014
Platform: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PC
Rating: Mature
Genre: RPG
One For The Ages
Written by Jesse Seilhan
Bioware is one of the last great RPG studios, pumping out classics such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, defining each generation with their blend of real-time combat and turn-based strategy. Regardless of the setting, a true Bioware game has certain hallmarks: massive universes, great characters, and tons of branches. From branching storylines and branching paths, to their trademark branching dialogue trees. Bioware helped bring high-fantasy back to the fold with Dragon Age: Origins years ago, but flopped hard with its eventual follow-up. With a new engine, new consoles, and a new sense of identity, Dragon Age: Inquisition sees Bioware going back to their roots while pushing the genre forward just a hair.
As most RPGs start, so does Inquisition. You go through a lofty character creator to build your champion, choosing race and class amongst the various facial features. Who you are matters quite a bit, as the rich political tapestry woven within these games means certain people from certain backgrounds will either be in low or high regard depending on what region they are in. This can affect dialogue and cutscenes, but rarely influences anything beyond temporary relationships. The classes play vastly different, with the rogue, warrior, and mage classes all getting multiple skill trees and a unique specialization for even higher powers. Whether you like to play ranged or up close and personal, you’ll find that the other three party members you have with you at all times do a fine job balancing the scales. If you have any MMO experience, using strategies found in that genre, like building characters into tanks, can help turn the tide of battle.
Combat is done one of two ways: either by holding down the trigger and toggling various powers with the face buttons, or by pausing the game and queuing up those same attacks only to unpause and let them fly. Either way is satisfying, but the battles aren’t really the draw: it’s how you get to them. This new Dragon Age is beyond massive, packing in multiple areas that feel like the size of Skyrim but with a much larger draw distance. Rolling mountains, barren deserts, boggy swamps, and frozen tundras are just some of the well-worn territory you’ll be traversing across, but the amount of nooks and crannies jammed into just about every corner make each experience a blast. Caves and dungeons abound and each one offers a better weapon or armor set than the last. The foes that reside within range from mad warriors to unholy demons, most of which come from the game’s demonic storyline involving tons of political and religious intrigue.
Everything about this game is top notch, from the beautiful score to the dynamic characters. The only thing holding it back from perfection are a few poor design choices in the UI and weapon upgrade department, as well as bad explanations for where to go at what level. The difficulty never reaches a dangerous point, as long as you find a zone that fits your level. Also, the voice acting is kind of all over the place, with one or two characters standing above the crowd while most fall flat. Also, if you never played the other games in the series, don’t worry a bit, as the game allows you to make choices as if you had, giving everyone a shot to shape the world in their image. From there, the game does a great job filling in the gaps and letting players feel some agency in this sprawling epic, with very few reasons to skip out. If there is a single ounce of you that thought Skyrim was a blast and want more of that kind of thrilling open-world journey, there is simply nothing as good as Dragon Age: Inquisition.