When the Chantry is destroyed, leaving only one survivor, demons are loosed up on the world. In an attempt to restore order and save the world, the survivor–now the inquisitor– recreate the long forgotten inquisition. A cataclysmic event plunges the land of Thedas into turmoil. Dragons darken the sky, casting a shadow of terror over a once-peaceful kingdom. Mages break into all-out war against the oppressive Templars. Nations rise against one another. It falls to you and your party of legendary heroes to restore order as you lead the Inquisition, hunting down the agents of chaos. Bonds will form - and some will break - as the campaign for truth takes its toll. Talk about overcompensating. Fans rightly complained Dragon Age 2 was too short and small, so BioWare dishes out one of its biggest RPGs yet. Strongly inspired by Skyrim, Inquisition is overflowing with locations to visit and things to do… too much so. Quests are everywhere, sprouting from every conversation; however, many are of the "collect 20 wolf pelts" MMO variety. One could argue those are not mandatory, except they kind of are: you need at least SOME grinding to gain enough "power" points, which unlock progression of the vastly more interesting main quest.<br/><br/>Overall, while not as good as Origins, Inquisition is a step forward from the second chapter of the series - it feels like DA2 done right (without cutting corners). <br/><br/>Writing-wise, lore is interesting (although the codex collecting it is poorly thought-out). Companions are mostly well-developed, voice acting is solid.<br/><br/>There are several good news in terms of gameplay. Exploration is back: climb mountains, ride mounts, find secret locations. The world is fairly vast and sometimes large maps are used well, such as a fun treasure hunt in a desert. The main city in the game is a joke though (compare it to Vizima in the Witcher 3…). <br/><br/>The strategic elements of being a faction leader (planning quests through counselors, managing a stronghold, holding trials) are simplistic but compelling. Combat is on the easy/chaotic side, but at least friendly fire is not tied to difficulty setting anymore. Character building isn't deep, but race selection is a welcome return; companion approval level is wisely hidden from the player. <br/><br/>A special praise for the Dragon Age Keep, which allows players to import decisions from previous games: this is something every series with the "import saves to see consequences of old choices" feature should do. This game is a LOT of fun. Let me just be up front about that. It beats out Destiny by far. I know they aren't exactly in the same genre, but if you have to pick only one game to get on your shiny new PS4 or XBone or pc, get this game. So for the good: Most of the voice-acting in this game is superb. I mean it doesn't sound like your typical vanilla washed-out dialogue. Your companions interact with each other in the background as you are questing, and some of their banter is hilarious. It kind of really is like co-workers speaking to each other, because that is basically what they are. There is so much to do. I am chomping at the bit to keep pushing through the main story line, but I have to force myself to cool my jets and level up before I try to take on things like, say, dragons. The dragons are beautiful and scary. My last session I accidentally went too far into an zone I wasn't prepared for, and well…hilarity ensued. Your butt will be kicked gloriously in this game. Its not always apparent what monsters are stronger than you are and what aren't. It keeps you on your toes, but it doesn't make you anxiety-ridden either. Which brings me to another big plus: I get excited when I play this game, but it doesn't make me have anxiety attacks like other games do. Another nice thing is the characters in the story and your own character look like real people for the most part. I loved Mass Effect and the play-style is similar to that. Now for the cons: I won't complain about the glitches, because they have been very minor. What I don't like is the fact that there isn't a stash you can use in your home base, so you are constantly having to do inventory management. There is no way to know what quality drops you can get, or how often they may happen, so you kind of don't want to part with a whole lot until you play more of the game. There are areas and bosses that require specific types of damage like fire, ice, spirit, etc, and you have to have gear that protects you from what they dish out. Plus, you are not only putting gear and weapons on your own character- you're also doing it for your companions. Its not that easy to keep up with what you have and don't have. Another thing I don't like, which a previous reviewer mentioned, is that the hair styles that you can choose from are the same for both male and female characters…as far as the female hairstyles go, there are maybe 3 or 4 that are not hideous, the rest are men's avante garde asymmetrical cuts, flat tops, small 'fros, or you could go bald. There isn't even a decent mohawk (that can usually work for anyone.) Maybe you can tell that I'm a chick because I'm going on about the hair, but come on guys…you have to look at your character for 150 hours…you want to look fierce and awesome- you need options in order to not get sick of looking at your character's grape- shaped head. Have the ability to respec the hair style/color in exchange for gold or something. Having said all that, those issues are relatively minor. I'd rather have a fun game to play versus a game that is gorgeous but not fun to play (like Rift). This game won GOTY, and it absolutely deserves it, imperfections and all. Its worth the money.
Celkha replied
295 weeks ago