PixlBit

After Dragon Age 2 underdelivered, Bioware seemingly went on a mission to do the exact opposite of that game with Inquisition. There were too few areas to explore? Inquisition will have big areas to explore like Bethesda RPGs! There wasn't much connection like with Mass Effect? Inquisition will have Verrick and Leliana right from the start while revealing how all the big Dragon Age players/fan favorites are connected to this plot in some huge way for part 3! Dragon Age 2 wasn't about anything? Now you're fighting a dark being trying to become a god!

Ambitious to be sure, but also felt like a clusterfuck. But, having played it I can say that Inquisition absolutely does deliver on all its promises. The best review of the game I can give would be this, which will become clearer as the review goes on:

 

Full disclosure, however: I have only played as a rogue archer so far. I like the idea of the class the most and while the mage is the most fun in those games, I like the idea of the rogue the most. A character who fights smart, not hard is my kind of leader. So maybe this is the only fun class, I don't know. It's a massive game and even if I wanted to immediately replay, I wouldn't have time to play all of them.

The story at first is almost nonexistant and the game is super directionless, but once you get a base at Skyhold, everything seems to magically click. The characters develop more, you gain more urgency and roles as Inquisitor, and the gameplay really starts to get interesting. Initially, you have few options and exploration is limited as your healing is similar to Dark Souls: A finite amount of potions, but going to camp will regenerate them. So early portions are full of getting to a certain point, running back, and trying to get further until you level up. Which is problematic as leveling is super slow.

Fortunately, the early parts at least have something by borrowing from the Ubisoft formula. There's rifts with demons coming out you need to close, camps to discover, areas to conquer, with each granting you more power and influence. You can then use this power to have your council accomplish tasks across the land to net neat rewards while influence will get neat perks. Like Far Cry, it's really addicting and was just enough to keep me playing until the game opened up. After which, it made exploring all the more sweet and worthwhile.

These areas are varied and fun to explore. Each has its own personality to it, which is also helped by how most also have their own dragon. These dragon fights are by far my favorite part, they take preparation and strategy all while feeling epic. The dragons themselves have similar patterns, but each has its own unique move and if you're not careful, they can easily take you or a party member out.

Power is especially important as it unlocks story missions.I honestly was not expecting much from these initially as the game's opening was pretty bad and unfocused. The first, however, had a few neat ideas while the post-Skyhold missions were varried, with a well told story and fun objectives. There's even one where you must prevent an assassination at a ball which remains the one of the highlights of the game 

The party is not even close to Bioware's best but a step up from usual video game characters. Verrick is obviously fun, but not as funny as 2. By the end, only Solas felt like the weak link (but god that guy sucked). Cassandra starts out insufferable, but gets good development later on. Sera and Iron Bull are a riot, Vivienne and Dorian are really well written, Blackwall isn't always great, but has his moments and Cole has one of the most interesting ideas behind a character I have ever seen. I won't spoil it, but definitely do Cole's side missions.

More importantly, however, the game knows the smaller moments can often be the most fun. A poker game with your companions is Bioware humor at its finest while every character has great conversations awaiting you at Skyhold. Except Solas. Like I said before, he really sucked.

The game also ties into 1 and 2 exceptionally well. It's not like Mass Effect where everything has built up to this. Rather Bioware brings back the right characters, where it makes perfect sense how this character would be involved in the plot in this way. The exception was Hawke coming back, however, who everyone treats as the second coming of Christ, while I kept thinking how she wasn't that great. It's fun bringing her back, especially outside of my own control, but everyone's reaction to her felt like overkill.

My advice with Inquisition is to just give it time. My feelings early on were pretty meh overall. And if you feel eight hours is too long of a time for a game to get good, even one as massive as this (I have over 50 hours clocked in with a few more dragons to hunt), I completely understand. But this was by far my favorite in the series. 

And with that cliffhanger, I have never been more interested in Dragon Age's lore and universe. It's not a bullshit cliffhanger either, you get your resolution to the game's plot. Think of it more like a Marvel post credits scene. You have your resolution to this story, but there's still something even bigger brewing from an event/characters you didn't even give a second thought to at the time.