By KatieBeth Clark
In the 41st year of the 9th Age, known as the Dragon Age, there was an explosion at the Conclave, meant to be a summit to end the civil war that has been raging across the southern countries of Ferelden and Orlais for four long years. Nobody survived, except for you, and you have a strange glowing green mark on your left hand, and the hole in the sky, which matches your new mark, pulses with your heartbeat.
This is the first thread of story in Bioware’s most recent title, Dragon Age: Inquisition, a low-fantasy RPG released in 2014 after a development period of 3 years beginning in 2011.
In the 41st year of the 9th Age, known as the Dragon Age, there was an explosion at the Conclave, meant to be a summit to end the civil war that has been raging across the southern countries of Ferelden and Orlais for four long years. Nobody survived, except for you, and you have a strange glowing green mark on your left hand, and the hole in the sky, which matches your new mark, pulses with your heartbeat.
This is the first thread of story in Bioware’s most recent title, Dragon Age: Inquisition, a low-fantasy RPG released in 2014 after a development period of 3 years beginning in 2011.
Players control the character known first as the Herald of Andraste (Andraste is basically Jesus if he was female and married God but not in an Oedipal fashion) and then metaphorically reborn as the Inquisitor at the beginning of Act 2. The story follows the Inquisitor’s 3-act journey as they battle with demons and monsters, quarrel with their own love interests and companions, and try and make some sense of this green-hued, magic mess.
This game looks gorgeous, for one. The new Frostbite 3 engine the game runs on is a welcome addition for next-gen players (to see what I mean, look up a character from Dragon Age II and then one from Inquisition, and compare). Dynamic lighting and sound design adds to its appeal, too; metal gleams like it should in direct sunlight, and the transition from gravel to wood to stone to grass is smooth and quick.
The name of the game is player choice. Players can choose to play as an elf, dwarf, human, or Qunari, a new playable addition to the series of a race of giant, dragon-esque humanoids that come from the northern jungles of Seheron, and classed as a rogue, warrior, or mage; dialogue wheels further choice, as there are options to answer like a knight, a jester or a jerk, or when prompted, to ask questions or make game changing decisions (companions will also approve and disapprove of nearly everything you say, so be careful! They will leave if you’ve given them enough reason to!).
Luckily, the game usually lets the player know when there will be one of those decisions with audio cues, character dialogue, and scene-setting; for example, when choosing to side with the mages and templars for support in the War Room with your advisors, they will argue about whether your choice is really sound with one another, as all the characters you interact closely with have ulterior motives, moral differences, and even different orientations!
Combat has skill trees returning from the previous Dragon Age games, but with arguably more variety; rogues and warriors are not bound to being one or the other combat style (double daggers and bows/swords and shields and two-handed), while mages are compensated for this by having four different skill trees (Inferno, Spirit, Storm and Winter) along with specializations, though the latter is equal across classes (I’m partial to Rift Mages, Reavers and Tempests, myself!).
The voice acting is superb. My favorite performances (in no real order) are that of Freddie Prinze Jr. as the Iron Bull, the Qunari leader of a mercenary group, Indira Varma as Vivienne, an experienced player of the vicious Grand Game and homage to Maleficent, Brian Bloom as Varric Tethras, the best and probably only dwarf storyteller with an automatic crossbow ever, and Ramon Tikaram as Dorian Pavus, a flamboyant mage with a cool mustache and sarcastic wisecracks ever at the ready. This awesome cast, coupled with a bunch of awesome writers, makes the game as a whole extremely enjoyable.
Inquisition’s story (which is very important in single-player role-playing games) is fitting for the world it’s building, and almost never breaks established lore. The more interesting quests, which are usually story quests with a few side quests (like Chateau D’Onterre, The Temple of Pride, and The Heart of the Still Ruins) are further apart, though, so it takes a lot of grinding for Power (used to open up new areas in the game and go on quests) to get to them. My favorite quest, however, is Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, where the Inquisitor is invited to a summit held at the Orlesian Winter Palace in order to stop the civil War of the Lions, between Empress Celene Valmont I, the current leader of Orlais with a mysterious past, and Duke Gaspard de Chalons, her cousin and contester to the throne due to lineage disputes. The Grand Game of politics plays out differently depending on whether you choose to lay bare your true motives or make those you interact with keep asking questions until their weaknesses are exposed. A one-time mechanic of Court Approval is introduced, and fluctuates depending on how you play the Game, and manage your time navigating the Palace; be careful, though, if you drop below a certain number you’ll be thrown out on your butt!
The game still has some glitches, but nothing game-breaking or that can’t be fixed by loading a previous save or interacting with the environment. There are also some really weird character motivations and some of the things in the game I just really dislike (Why can’t you marry your love interest after the game’s over? Why can’t we bring a dog or animal companion along for the ride, like in previous games? How come you have to grind so much just to get a comfortable amount of health potions, so you’re not reloading 10 billion saves just to fight a flipping dragon?).
Overall, Dragon Age: Inquisition has high replay value due to the staggering amount of player choice, the setting and story, and the dialogue and characters. However, players picking up this game for the first time will have to do some research in order to get the most out of this title; returning players will likely have to do some of their own digging, as the way combat plays out and how permanent perks (like having a lessened chance of being thrown off your mount or having specific knowledge that opens up special dialogue options) are acquired are slightly different to previous games.