Today we review the 3rd install of the Dragon Age franchise in Dragon Age: Inquisition, I was a bit hesitant to pick up this game coming off the back of what was arguably a massive letdown in Dragon Age 2, but I'm glad I did, Inquisition caused a bit of controversy among gamers with a few design choices and perceived slights, much to the effect of Mass Effect(hah)
Andromeda, but today we're going to lay it all out on the table and really dive into the game, it's legacy, choices and place in the Dragon Age world, so lets get straight into it.
Welcome to the end times.
Story and Setting.
Dragon Age Inquisition takes place some time after the events of Dragon Age 2 and is set in both Thedas and Orlais, after the events of the novels, The Masked Empire and Asunder, the two countries are in a constant state of Civil War after the circle of Magi abandoned their conclaves and rebelled against the Templar, the Templar also rebelled against the Chantry and have been waging a brutal civil war again the Magi and any who get in their path, it isn't until a peace summit is called by Divine Justinia to half the bloodshed that the war consuming all of thedas is finally halted, with both factions sending representatives to the meeting to seek an armistice.
At the summit meeting though a catastrophic explosion kills everyone there, including Divine Justinia, it also tears a massive portal to the fade, the realm of demons, open to our world, the only survivor of the ordeal is you the player and with the Divine dead her last orders to Cassandra and Leliana are to reestablish the Inquisition, the order that served the world before the chantry, and to hunt down who or whatever caused the massive explosion and breached the fade into our world, you join the ranks of the Inquisition as the "Herald Of Andraste" as you served the explosion and somehow have the ability to close the fade rifts that now plague the world.
Setting up close to the massive fade rift, you are left with a choice, side with the Magi or the Templar to close the fade rift, whoever you choose to side with you set up with the inquisition to close the rift, after a gruelling with the demons coming out of the rift you finally close it and return back to your base, Haven, as you begin to plan your next move however before you can rest Haven is assailed by the faction you didn't side with who have now been horribly corrupted into abominations that are led by the ancient tevinter mage known only as Corypheus who has the power to control an Archdemon.
Haven is quickly overrun and destroyed by the rampaging abominations and Corypheus himself confronts the Inquisitor(your character) saying the mark on your hand that allows you to close the fade rifts are the means for him to enter the fade in physical form to claim the throne of the Black City, the black city was Heaven before man corrupted it with war and created the first darkspawn, if Corypheus was to claim the Black City for himself he would achieve Apotheosis, becoming a literal god and have the ability to control anything in it's creation, Corypheus attempts to remove the mark but finds it is permanently affixed to the Inquisitors hand, sensing the end, the Inquisitor sets off a massive avalanche that buries haven and Corypheus' army before escaping with the survivors.
Now on the run with an army of demons chasing them you arrive at the abandoned fortress of Skyhold, to forge alliances with whoever will fight and help the Inquisition to stop Corypheus and his demonic army, once arriving at Skyhold, Cassandra and Leliana name you the grand inquisitor of the Inquisition as you prepare your armies and strategies to not only retake the lands Corypheus' has purged, but to finally end him and secure peace across the world by forever shutting the fade rifts.
I'm going to leave it here because unlike Dragon Age 2, Inquisition has a lot of in-depth story, arcs and plots to go through, it also takes you across much of Thedas and Orlais so it's best left unsaid until you play it for yourself, so lets get right into the game play.
Gameplay
As I said in my review of Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition feels like the real sequel to Origins in the sense that it goes back towards it's roots, Inquisition boasts the biggest maps and most unique content of any of the games as well as having numerous new mechanics, characters, quests and side mechanics such as upgrading bases and mini map missions, but there were a few downsides to it, so we'll list them below along with the positives of the game.
Combat System and Classes
Arguably this is the best combat system in all of the games, smooth and fluid with unique class mechanics and flawless switching, the combat of Inquisition feels like the best of 1&2 combined into the 3rd, the fluidity of Dragon Age 2 and the tactical pause of Dragon Age Origins, however the tactical pause option might be a bit jarring for some people who are new to RPG's as it's set in the style of classic RPG which means you need to position and queue up attacks in the sense that you want the tactical menu to be used as a combat simulator rather than just pausing to use one attack then switching back, personally I love it, but I know a lot of people didn't.
Likewise the class system has undergone a revamp to make it work better with other classes, instead of everyone bringing incredible strength to the party, Dragon Age Inquisition instead relies on cohesion and synergy between your party members, for example, getting a mage to freeze front line infantry so that your warrior can charge through them and shatter them while your ranged class pins down their back line and your rogue manipulates it's way around the battlefield to take out easy targets, it's much the same as Dragon Age Origins, but it has been done a lot better.
Leveling is still here and better than ever, while not quite on the level of Origins in terms of stat allocation and auxiliary mechanics it's a bit more streamlined so that you can play your class the way you want and continue to evolve it into something powerful and unique such as the Knight Enchanter who uses magic from the fade itself to shield their allies and crush the enemy, likewise the unique rogue class, Tempest works much like a crazed alchemist throwing random concoctions all of the battlefield as well as buffing themselves with it.
Overall i'd say the combat system in Inquisition is the best one we've seen so far in terms of keeping the game fluid while not compromising on tactical features such as positions and skill queues, likewise the leveling system of the game and the upgrades you can achieve add even more to the game, coupled with the ....lets just say....strange? crafting mechanic in the game that takes some time to get your head around, it make for an extremely enjoyable game on all sides.
Story and Direction.
One of the biggest problems I had with Dragon Age 2 was the lack of depth in the story coming off Origins, thankfully Bioware listened to the fans this time and did away with the linear ideal of following someones life and instead decided to focus on a massive problem that affects the entire world much as the Blight of Origins did, It also has some nice little throwbacks to the previous games and without spoiling the ending, sets up what should be a monumental Dragon Age 4, Inquisition does what all great RPG's should do and have done, it gives you a massive situation that you have to chip away at to achieve victory, sending you to all corners of the world to seek support, just like Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion.
What's intriguing about this story is that the Dragon Age universe gets expanded upon quite heavily here as you find out in the end with a certain someone revealing themselves to be something enormous, it also gives us our first look into Orlais and other cultures and places we'd only ever heard of and gives you a better sense of feel for the world of Thedas as a whole, but the main story is what does it a great justice as it's straight forward and explorative at the same time, also giving you access to multiple side quests and expanded lore, personally this is what an RPG should have as stock standard when it's released, the more content an RPG has the better it becomes.
That being said though there is a few questionable design choices when it comes to the story that ties into the questing system, there are a lot of quests in this game and some take you dreadfully far away from the main story, usually there is a trade off, for example Skyrim's main quest was roughly 2 or 3 hours long but has hundreds of hours of side quests, Inquisitions main story is roughly 15-30 hours with about 50-60 hours of side questing, I think they hit the right mark here with keeping the story fresh and moving while not skimping on the overall content of the game.
However on the main quest front, it's actually an awesome tale, Corypheus and his army of abominations is a great tale as well as tearing the fade open to enter the Black City leads to an amazing confrontation throughout the game and a climactic ending, usually I would poke holes in story lines but it's important to remember that Inquisition is going for a more "casual" approach in their story telling as opposed to extremely deep lore that only some people(myself included) find to be entertaining, it's more like a very interactive movie in the sense that you're "going through the motions" while at the same time enjoying a great story with an awesome pay off.
"Open" World.
One of the biggest...well lets be honest, THE biggest flaw with Dragon Age 2 was it's abysmal level of maps and fresh content, spending 50 hours in one city was just terrible regardless of how the story played out, Inquisition instead gives us an "open" world feel in the sense the maps are huge and populated for you to explore, however bioware did this right, instead of giving you an "open world" that's largely unpopulated or one that sets you loose on it, it gives you the sense of progression and achievement starting from the beginning of the map and working your way into more dangerous areas, on this front that hit all the marks and i'd love to see more of this in more games.
Thankfully again, Bioware decided to take time with Inquisitions map design and gave us several unique maps with different enemies, environments, settlements and quests, it also gave us a chance to expand and understand the Inquisitions history as some maps you're sent to had previously been help by the Inquisition before the chantry absorbed them, and just from a graphical perspective iv'e gotta say they're pretty well cared for and created, my favorite map being the Storm Coast as it starts off as a lush jungle with high peaks and the further you make your way down the more jagged and...stormy it becomes as you hit the beaches with massive waves and rock formations.
Personally I can't wait to see what they do with the design in Dragon Age 4 if they go the route they have in Inquisition.
Critical Review and Reception.
Dragon Age Inquisition thankfully breathed new life into Dragon Age after a lackluster showing in 2, nearly everything has been retuned for the better and the story is in-depth and on point for much of the game, there were a few complaints about characters and perceived SJW intrusion into the game but personally I just didn't see it, it was more of a reaction to the GamerGate fiasco, but as I said in my previous reviews, Inquisition feels like the real sequel to Dragon Age Origins for numerous reasons.
Combat is more effective and fun, classes and leveling aren't as bland as they were, there's more than one god damn city to play in, the story is in-depth and enjoyable and the characters that are in the Inquisitors party aren't as generic or one sided as they were in Dragon Age 2(okay maybe Sera was annoying as hell) but the biggest thing i'd say that Inquisition did right was bring it back to the RPG roots it was founded on, while number 2 was a tighter more succinct story, Inquisition is more like Origins in the sense that you can explore and do more on the maps to get a better understanding of what's going on.
Personally I enjoyed the story expansion and the reintroduction of some key characters from the first two games and the fact that Dragon Age Origins is continued in Inquisition is something that a lot of people wanted in Number 2, If you played the Witch Hunt DLC in Origins you know what I mean well, who I mean, but ultimately it's the combination of all of these things that made Inquisition a great game and got interest back in the Dragon Age franchise, and with number 4 now in development it seems that it made enough of an impression on the dragon age fans to warrant a follow up game.
I can't wait for number 4 so until then why not do another play through of the games while we wait.