Dragon Age Inquisition: Worth Buying?

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I'm a few hours into it myself, and I don't want to read that many posts because I'm afraid of spoilers.

But... I don't know. I couldn't get into the first Dragon Age game, and I got the second free so when it didn't grab me I was ok with it.

I got a lot of info on this one and I found I liked what I was hearing. I decided to give it a try.

For the most part, I'm ok that I did. I like the story. I like a game world that feels lived in, and Dragon Age Inquisition has that in spades.

But the reason I play my RPGs are strictly power fantasies. The modding for Skyrim and Torchlight is an endless addiction because I can always find a new way to be special in the world.

The classes feel so dry to me. So limited. I like playing as Hybrids. As my Warrior build is going, the best I'm going to get is if I become a Templar, but I'm not really like their policies. It feels like I just started the game and in the few hours, I've seen everything the Class Customization has to offer.

I'm going to keep playing and I hope I'm wrong. And yes, I looked at the specialization part, that's why I knew about Templars. But I honestly do not think this will even being to scratch my Power Fantasy itch. But I'm liking the actual characterization so far.

 

[infohippie]

I genuinely enjoyed the combat in DA:Origins, and utterly despised the combat in DA2. Based on that, does anyone think I would enjoy DA:I's combat? Or should I just stay away?

 

[suitepee7]

Ugh you guys aren't making it easy . The game sounds right up my alley but the technical issues would annoy the hell out of me.

Running a fairly decent PC: 780ti OC, top line processor etc.

Releases in Japan in 2 days. Still torn lol.

just to put it out there, i've only had one technical issue on PC - the cutscenes are a little jumpy at times, but there's a fix for now anyway. otherwise it's been running pretty smoothly on a GTX670.

the keyboard controls are ok. they take getting used to, and then they're not too bad, but first impressions are not great. the tactical camera is arse, but otherwise i've not found any glaring control issues really.

so far i've found it pretty fun, about 20 hours or so in. i do agree that the beginning does feel a bit like an offline MMO, but the side quests are fairly decent and i'm having a blast so far. unfortunately although everything most people criticize the game for can be true, whether or not it actually is a negative depends on how you feel about it (for example the controls, i find alright, yet some people cannot stand them)

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'm just wondering, having read the comments and the like(not having played the game) why is it this game seems to be getting a pass, or at least a shallow nod, for getting better some 30+ hours in? But like FF13 got drawn and quartered for the same? Actually enjoyment aside, both games were said to get better some 30+ hours in, yet Dragon Age: Totally Not Grey Knights gets a soft but noticeable Woo, while FF13 gets an unmistakable Boo.

I've wondered the same, and I think it's because the first 10 or so hours of Inquisition aren't necessarily bad, but a bad introduction. The game starts off right in the thick of it without explaining much of the story or the complexity of some of the mechanics. There's no real tutorial to speak of, apart from small pop-ups saying 'this button does that'. Going in fresh it's like you're thrown into the deep end, and initially all the posibilities that are presented before you are kind of deafening.

The game is practically the same all the through, but it's just really hard to get to know. Once I did, the thought of doing another playthrough felt way more inviting, since I'd come to grips with most of the game's ins and outs.

With FF13 it feels like you're strapped to a set of rails for the first 25 hours.

 

[Okamiyasha]

I didn't love the first one but sort of enjoyed it. The combat killed it for me.
Second one had way better combat but the story was horrible.

Thinking about picking up #3 but have heard some bad things about it.

- Denovo DRM killing SSDs, potentially in weeks.
- Performance issues even on high level computers.
- Crashes and bugs galore.

I'm running off an SSD with no problems.
Maintaining an average of 55fps with everything maxed out except for MSAA being set to only 2x.
The biggest bug I've had is people standing on chairs instead of sitting on them. Yep.

Watch TB's video if you want an analysis of technical performance.

---

Regardless, check out reviews and other opinions around the web and you'll see that most people are having a great time with the game.

About 25 hours in and I think all you're really getting in this thread are the negative reactions.

You'll notice that anyone complaining about side quests will always reference the "Get 10 ram steaks" mission. One quest out of literally hundreds. And this particular one is as fleshed out as all the others with reasons for doing it. Plus! Those rams are absolutely hilarious to try and hunt down. They leg it at the first sight of your sword and hilarity promptly ensues. Though you can of course just hit them from range with a bow or magic for basically an insta-kill each time.

I can't speak for the people who feel lost or confused about the first few hours. I do read the lore notes that I come across though so perhaps that fleshed out the world in a way I didn't notice was lacking.

If you don't like exploration or learning about the world through experience I don't understand why you would play an open-world RPG.

I personally thought of DA2 like I believe most people did. It was average at best, buggy and constantly used rehashed areas due to their short development time.

As a fan of the original Dragon Age: Origins however who spent over a hundred hours in Ferelden, this game feels like a coming home of the franchise for me. That being said if you didn't like the first game, you most likely won't like this one.

But the reason I play my RPGs are strictly power fantasies. The modding for Skyrim and Torchlight is an endless addiction because I can always find a new way to be special in the world.

...

But I honestly do not think this will even being to scratch my Power Fantasy itch. But I'm liking the actual characterization so far.

Dragon Age is not a power fantasy. You will not get any personal feeling of "I am the greatest that ever was" in a game that's all about you and your companions working together to overcome a massive obstacle.

 

[Here Comes Tomorrow]

I'm noticing a pattern in the DA:I conversations. Most being people saying:

"It's great, but..."

After but its a mix and match of combat is terrible, graphics are ugly, writing/dialogue is corny/bad, quests are boring or its buggy.

Sounds like a lot of people really WANT to like the game, but refuse to admit that its probably mediocre at best. Which is fait enough, I understand buyers remorse.

 

[Okamiyasha]

Sounds like a lot of people really WANT to like the game, but refuse to admit that its probably mediocre at best. Which is fait enough, I understand buyers remorse.

Origin has a great game guarantee that refunds you the purchase price if you don't like the game within 24 hours of first playing it. I hardly think it's being defended because of buyer's remorse.

Do you own the game?

 

[Here Comes Tomorrow]

Sounds like a lot of people really WANT to like the game, but refuse to admit that its probably mediocre at best. Which is fait enough, I understand buyers remorse.

Origin has a great game guarantee that refunds you the purchase price if you don't like the game within 24 hours of first playing it. I hardly think it's being defended because of buyer's remorse.

Do you own the game?

No . Why would me owning the game effect the general feeling I'm picking up from people online?

 

[Madkipz]

I brought the game mostly to complete it for the story. Story as far as I have looked is fine I guess, but the combat is out of wack and unintuitive so if you're buying it for a challenge that's a thumbs down, but if you just want to see how the story goes then you should check it out. Once all the DLC is out and there's a GOTY edition up for sale, but then again this is EA games so both sale and GOTY editions will be significantly delayed. <,<

 

[Okamiyasha]

No . Why would me owning the game effect the general feeling I'm picking up from people online?

You stated the general feeling of the game with the community was that "its a mix and match of combat is terrible, graphics are ugly, writing/dialogue is corny/bad, quests are boring or its buggy". I thought you must have been speaking of your own experiences since the majority of people online express satisfaction with the game. Granted I don't really participate in the Escapist forums very much so perhaps that is the feeling more so on this forum?

If it is, I'm perfectly fine with that being the dominant opinion of the Escapist. However, to say the majority of players believe so as well would be an incorrect statement.

 

[Here Comes Tomorrow]

No . Why would me owning the game effect the general feeling I'm picking up from people online?

You stated the general feeling of the game with the community was that "its a mix and match of combat is terrible, graphics are ugly, writing/dialogue is corny/bad, quests are boring or its buggy". I thought you must have been speaking of your own experiences since the majority of people online express satisfaction with the game. Granted I don't really participate in the Escapist forums very much so perhaps that is the feeling more so on this forum?

If it is, I'm perfectly fine with that being the dominant opinion of the Escapist. However, to say the majority of players believe so as well would be an incorrect statement.

It has a metacritic score of 5.5.
Thats as close to a mediocre, average as you can get. Pretty sure the majority of the internet thinks its "meh".

 

[Terminal Blue]

Thats as close to a mediocre, average as you can get. Pretty sure the majority of the internet thinks its "meh".

Correction: Majority of the internet who writes user reviews on metacritic.

That is to say the kind of whiny fanboy who will give a game a 0 star review because they changed a character's hair colour.

 

[Aggieknight]

I genuinely enjoyed the combat in DA:Origins, and utterly despised the combat in DA2. Based on that, does anyone think I would enjoy DA:I's combat? Or should I just stay away?

I loved the combat of DA:O and liked the combat of DA2. What I didn't like about DA2 was the story and the pathetic corner cutting that Bioware executed.

The combat is a mix between DA2 and DA:O. The tactical view is fantastic for tougher fights. The combo system from DA2 returned in this but ignoring it hasn't majorly impacted my play. My only real complaint about the combat is that the tactical view doesn't zoom out far enough and if you're fighting a big boss, they can completely obscure your troops.

Overall, the game is closer to DA:O than DA2. If you liked the first, I'd encourage you to check it out. I'm about 2/3s of the way through the game and really enjoying it. The story and the attention to detail just keep me moving. Some of the side quests feel like WoW fetches, but others are more rewarding and a couple have brought tears to my eyes.

IMHO it's arguably the best game I've played this year (current competitor for the crown is Dark Souls 2).

 

[endtherapture]

No . Why would me owning the game effect the general feeling I'm picking up from people online?

You stated the general feeling of the game with the community was that "its a mix and match of combat is terrible, graphics are ugly, writing/dialogue is corny/bad, quests are boring or its buggy". I thought you must have been speaking of your own experiences since the majority of people online express satisfaction with the game. Granted I don't really participate in the Escapist forums very much so perhaps that is the feeling more so on this forum?

If it is, I'm perfectly fine with that being the dominant opinion of the Escapist. However, to say the majority of players believe so as well would be an incorrect statement.

It has a metacritic score of 5.5.
Thats as close to a mediocre, average as you can get. Pretty sure the majority of the internet thinks its "meh".

Most of us are having fun playing a great game, not bothering to go on metacritic and reviewing, instead pouring hours into the game itself.

 

[Cyberstrike_v1legacy]

BEST DRAGON AGE GAME!

I didn't love the first one but sort of enjoyed it. The combat killed it for me.
Second one had way better combat but the story was horrible.

Thinking about picking up #3 but have heard some bad things about it.

- Denovo DRM killing SSDs, potentially in weeks.
- Performance issues even on high level computers.
- Crashes and bugs galore.

That said, I don't know if this is just a vocal minority or what.

So - buy or don't buy?

BUY IT! it's a great fucking game!

 

[Kathinka]

I played it some, but I won't buy it.

Lunatic DRM scheme by the friendly clowns that brought us starforce/securom.
Atrociously bad and lazy consolesque controls, especially menue management, but also those godawful camera controls.
Bugs out the wazoo. It runs fine for some, but I won't risk a glitchfest if I ought to shell out 40 bucks or whatever the price is in keystores right now. That's just not acceptable.
My money is just a tiny dent of course, but I want to do my part in showing the people in charge that this crap won't roll.

 

[Augustine]

Personally, I was SHOCKED how good the game turned out to be. Truly.

Yeah, it is not quite as polished in some areas as I would like it to be, but beneath those minor annoyances is a rich, lengthy experience.
Speaking for PC version, I had not seen many crashes in something like 80 hours(yes, EIGHTY, not even half way through main story yet).

Great game.

 

[Neonsilver]

Wait for sale.
Alot of people says that the the game's first 10 or 15 hours are very boring...like playing MMOs solo with many quests like kill 10 goats.

That is because the first area, the hinterlands, is a horrible slog (and downright impossible) if you try to complete it. Doing enough quests to keep you lvled up and continuing with the main story tends to help out with the first act a lot. Plus later on, the game really picks up tbh.

Which is a horrible way to design a game. The first Witcher had this problem too. Everyone kept saying that it really picks up later in the second act and through the third. My problem was that the game was so boring until then that I stopped playing it shortly into the second act.

I played both games and in my opinion it's far less of a problem than in Witcher, the amount of quests you need to do to gain enough lvls or influence is way less than in the witcher.

It also makes sense since you are basically founding and managing an organization which is openly distrusted or ridiculed by most of the political powers around. In the first act you need to establish a basic foundation and some influence before some groups would even start negotiations with you. For example in order to start up the mage/templar storyline branch, which covers the first act, you need 4 power, TB who spent about quite a few hours just doing sidequests in the hinterlands had 29 when he decided to actually follow the storyline out of boredom. The idea is, you must pace yourself in the first act otherwise you run the risk of burning yourself out.

That sounds horribly counterintuitive. I usually explore everything I can before I continue with playing, in case there is something valuable. When I notice I'm going to the exit of a dungeon i turn around and explore all the dead ends and I don't think that kind of behavior is unusual.

 

[Havokitten]

If you disliked the combat of Dragon Age: Origins, give this game a shot. The combat system is much more similar to the second game in that it's much more fast and flashy. As a rogue, it's super fun to rope into enemies halfway through the screen, do a backflip on their face, disappear, and then backstab them.

Be warned, the camera controls on the PC are a hassle to deal with. Something else that might become an issue is that you only get 8 ability slots on the hotbar. However, 5 or 6 hours in, I got used to most of those issues. There's a bunch of bugs, but nothing game-breaking (running it on a GTX 770 with an i5-4670k). Most of the time, it's just weird-ass shit that made me laugh, like my character getting stuck in a moonwalk animation until I jumped again, party members freaking out during a conversation and getting stuck in walls, or my character flying off into the sky after getting hit by a dragon. They'll release a patch soon enough what with all the complaints they're getting.

Graphics-wise, it's nothing special, but it's pretty to look at. Environments are diverse and level architecture is interesting. Most questing areas are way bigger than the first two games combined. Bioware still can't model hair. Faces look much more realistic this time. Kinda waxy, too. Makes me scared that everyone's going to melt.

As for the complaint of the game having too many vapid sidequests from the get go: The Hinterlands is a big tutorial area; you're really not supposed to do all the sidequests there, only the ones you enjoy and just enough to advance to the second act. Do three or four quests, get your big base area, and do something else in the areas that get unlocked or go back and finish things in there or stop playing the game or whatever it is you want to do. It gets better from there, imo. I spent hours just exploring the home base and it was a blast. Nevertheless, there are a lot of MMO-style sidequests. Some of them more interesting than others. It's a big game.

The main story itself isn't that long. Four or five big quests and you're done, but you can still keep playing afterwards. Let's you go at it on your own pace. I personally found the main quests enjoyable. Lots of variance depending on who you bring along, what kind of character you're playing, and what you choose to do.

- How do I know how tough an enemy is? I'm getting party wiped for attacking a stationary ram. I also got insta wiped by a dragon but that at least warned me it was out of my league.

You can tell what an enemy's level and name is if you press Tab, which locks onto whichever enemy is in your line of sight. Press Tab again and you'll cycle through them. Also, as silly as it is to say, finding the particular ram you're referring to is part of a side quest, and it's overpowered for a reason that you find out if and when you complete that quest. I thought it was funny, to be honest.

 

[Sarusas]

I didn't love the first one but sort of enjoyed it. The combat killed it for me.
Second one had way better combat but the story was horrible.

Thinking about picking up #3 but have heard some bad things about it.

- Denovo DRM killing SSDs, potentially in weeks.
- Performance issues even on high level computers.
- Crashes and bugs galore.

That said, I don't know if this is just a vocal minority or what.

So - buy or don't buy?

Short answer yes,

...but

i'd wait for a patch and do some research.

SSD things is rumour spread people who pirated the game, there is no demonstrable issues with SSDs

I get consistent frame rates hovering around 50-60 fps in game on my high(ish) level computer (crossfire 2× R9 280Xs, AMD 8350 and 16 gb of ram) with all settings to max accept MSAA. However cut-scenes stutter due to them being locked at 30fps (this is being fixed in the patch and there is an unofficial work around on the internet).

I'ved logged in about 40 hours so far with no crashes at all. I've encountered 1 bug, I was unable to close fade rift in story mission causing to me reload a save.

Key board and mouse controls are weird (again being address in a patch) and many people are rightfully upset, i however prefer to use an Xbox 360 controller which greatly improve the experience in my view. I'm playing on nightmare and making extensive use of the tactical camera and genarally having a great time with combat my only gripes being that I wish the tactical camera would allow me to zoom out more, and i wish they hadn't simplified the customization of the party AI.


The story starts out a little slow but is improving, it's highly focused on politics with branching arcs on plenty of decisions to make whether they mean anything by the end of the game remains to be seen (i'm looking at you Mass effect 3).

The world consists of several large open areas that are interesting to explore (up there with Bethesda's best games, Skyrim, Morrowind Fallout 3) with plenty of side quests of varying quality, some are the tedious MMO collect x amount of y, others are more interesting mini side stories.


There's four races to choose from human, dwarf, elf and Quanri and three classes warrior, mage, rogue that play very differently also you can customize your own characters face to ridiculous extent if that's what you are into. Character builds and skills follow the DA2 model with decent but not extensive variation although i've not managed to unlock any specializations yet


There a great amount depth to armour and weapon customisation allowing you to craft custom equipment with different stats based the materials you make it from.

there's also a potion, tonic, grenade crafting system that seems pretty extensive but i've not really explored it yet.

Biowares strong point is their characters and the ones i've met so far are well written and voice acting is good (there seems to be alot British or Irish regional accents flying around though, which is strange if you are from the UK like me, i often wonder why i'm surrounded by northerners, and why does the elf Mage talk like he's from South Wales?)


Overall I really like the game its huge and very ambitious with lots replay value and great value for money, the best RPG game i've played in a long time. but it's not without it's flaws which may spoil the experience for you depending on your tastes.