Dragon Age: Inquisition

 PC
User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4838 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,277 out of 4838
  2. Mixed: 968 out of 4838
  3. Negative: 1,593 out of 4838
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  1. psydwaze
    Jan 13, 2015
    3
    This game was clearly rushed out for the holiday season, they had to hot-fix the only patch they've released and are now maintaining radio silence. Unacceptable, but hey they made their money so who cares! Broken animations, broken controls, broken quests, broken character models, everything you want in an epic RPG!
  2. Masgerr
    Jan 13, 2015
    10
    OK so start this game not realizing I skipped 2 so, I was a little lost on some of the story but all and all it was a great story anyway. I'm also an Elder Scroll fan and a PC gamer so this felt right at home with me. I never used the pause combat to set commands but I did from time to time switch toons in the middle combat. I played through 2 full times and got different experience bothOK so start this game not realizing I skipped 2 so, I was a little lost on some of the story but all and all it was a great story anyway. I'm also an Elder Scroll fan and a PC gamer so this felt right at home with me. I never used the pause combat to set commands but I did from time to time switch toons in the middle combat. I played through 2 full times and got different experience both times. Now the quest lines are little repetitive going through more than once but with different answers you change a lot the out comes and dialogue you encounter. I am going back and playing through Dragon age 2 and plan to go through Inquisition one more time after that.… Expand
  3. relik
    Jan 13, 2015
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bought this game and had high hope at the beginning was playable but after patch 2 all the bad things about this game show up, bad coding freeze/stuttering and crashes all the time.

    No communication or fix from Bioware at all and no FIX for PC version

    Stay AWAY from this game, do NOT waist your hard earned money.

    This bug ridden game won the "Game of the Year" award ???
    Did the buy it ??    … Expand
  4. MeritCoba
    Jan 13, 2015
    8
    Chased by things with long spidery legs and multiple eyes I stumble out of the fade right into the arms of Cassandra. Cassandra is a pretty short haired lassie with a French accent that I saw interrogating the beardless dwarf Varric in Dragon Age 2. I find myself her prisoner, but not for long because in a blink of the eye I am on my way back towards the rift I dropped out from. It was nowChased by things with long spidery legs and multiple eyes I stumble out of the fade right into the arms of Cassandra. Cassandra is a pretty short haired lassie with a French accent that I saw interrogating the beardless dwarf Varric in Dragon Age 2. I find myself her prisoner, but not for long because in a blink of the eye I am on my way back towards the rift I dropped out from. It was now a lot bigger as it is expanding and has become a huge hole in the sky where dangerous things spill out off.

    I am inflicted by a magic that affects rifts and Cassandra figures that I might try the magic on that big one in the sky. So she forces me up some mountain paths at sword point, where we fight demons that pop out of smaller rifts, pick up some companions and soldiers on the way to finally confront a big dude of a demon emerging from the big rift. A hefty battle occurs which I am bound to win, for this is just the introduction to the game. Or better: the preliminary introduction.

    When I wake I find myself in Haven and then and there the story starts for real. Bummer! The big hole isn't closed that easily, instead it is merely stabilized. Now it is up to me to figure out how to close it. And that is the hero quest. For the first part of the game that is. For even this is just the introduction.

    An odd hundred hours of gameplay later I think I can safely give an evaluation of the game.
    The game can be done in two ways. You either take the short route, which blows you through the main storyline in under thirty hours, or you take that long route, by exploring the expansive world of Ferelden.

    For this you are provided with cool looking war table where you, together with three advisers, plan the campaign of the Inquisition, an impromptu organization that Cassandra calls into being and you become the leader off. First unofficially, later officially. The game throws you a castle somewhat further into the story.

    The first area, the hinterlands, is expansive and kept me busy for quite some time, but it turned out there are at least nine more, varying from small to large, but non as huge as the first one. Each has a certain uniqueness to it. There is a blistering desert, a dark foreboding swamp, a rocky stormy coast(called aptly: the storm coast) and a snowy landscape.. It isn’t all unique, there are overlaps and sometimes certain things get repeated, but it nevertheless immersed me in a world and gave me lots to do: even just closing the smaller rifts is a massive undertaking. There are also attempts at variance, by introducing mini games like creating constellations by drawing lines between stars, which gives you access to special equipment.

    There are also the typical fedex games, where you have to collect things ad nauseum to the point that you start to scream in frustration because sometimes there seems to be no end to them, or the things are so hard to find or even worse: to get at, yes: to get at, because they are on places that are very difficult to reach.

    The music and sounds are very good and support the storyline and add to the mood.

    In all I found it a well done immersive game world.

    But…

    DA III has probably the most unimaginative story of the three DA games. It is basically DA I retold. There is a big evil that threatens the world, you have some kind of unique quality that allows you to deal with said evil and it is up to you to create an alliance out of the forces that are more concerned with their own selfish goals than with the obvious threat to the world.

    So it comes down to the way the story is being told: the narrative. And this is even worse. DA III has a flood of characters. So many that they bloat the narrative. Next to nine companions you also have three advisers with all of them having their own storyline and background. And because DA III also wants to wrap up some loose ends characters of the other games make an appearance as well: Flemeth, Morrigan and the hero from DA 2. And to compound the bloated narrative even more, they threw in a plethora of evil adversaries, allies and sideshows. Everything provided with a background story that remains skin-deep and never makes you care.

    But worst of all is the big evil adversary himself: Corypheus. Where a game should provide us with an evil that dominates the game and thwarts the hero’s plans every step of the way, we get a run of the mill baddie who lacks in background, personality and panache. His appearance might have been an attempt to make him terrifying, but in all scenes my twiggy elf remained unfazed by this wanna-be god. He isn’t scary, menacing or even impressive.

    All in all this is a game that will provide you with a lot of entertainment if you like a massive world with lots to do and see, but as a story it is unremarkable and will have no lasting impression due to the bland story, bloated narrative and unremarkable adversary.

    Perhaps a wise lesson can be learned: less is more.    … Expand
  5. Tartusterre
    Jan 13, 2015
    4
    Nice story, stunning visuals but unfortunately the problems that a lot of PC users are having since they released 2 patches in December, is turning players away from the franchise. The wall of silence that these players are encountering when they ask Bioware/EA for an update on fixes is not a good advertisement for the company or the game.

    Actual gameplay; the removal of Tactics and    Nice story, stunning visuals but unfortunately the problems that a lot of PC users are having since they released 2 patches in December, is turning players away from the franchise. The wall of silence that these players are encountering when they ask Bioware/EA for an update on fixes is not a good advertisement for the company or the game.

    Actual gameplay; the removal of Tactics and the abysmal tactical camera makes combat pathetic in comparison with even DA:2.    … Expand
  6. Xenofex
    Jan 12, 2015
    10
    At the beginning this feels different than the DA:O and DA 2, which brought me some confusion. Yes I agree that the combat system has room to improve. Given that I have been used to this system, the combat is not bad.

    The good of this game is the immersively beautiful world to explore. As a fan of The Elder Scrolls I love it very much. On the other hand it retains the spirit of Dragon    At the beginning this feels different than the DA:O and DA 2, which brought me some confusion. Yes I agree that the combat system has room to improve. Given that I have been used to this system, the combat is not bad.

    The good of this game is the immersively beautiful world to explore. As a fan of The Elder Scrolls I love it very much. On the other hand it retains the spirit of Dragon Age: 5-dimensional story line where different choices bring different timelines, well-written characters, and of course, the continued saga of our heroes from the previous 2 installments.

    Yes it's different, I love it. It combines the open world of TES and the good tradition of Bioware RPG together. Hope that they will improve the user interface to make it more intuitive for everyone.    … Expand
  7. Hardtoohld
    Jan 12, 2015
    4
    Been playing for some 24 hours...Does not draw you in like the Original Dragon Age. You find yourself falling asleep pretty fast. Don't know who thinks this game is great but they need to go back to playing Frogger if they find this exciting. You spend HOURS running around finding useless pieces scattered everywhere. Game drags on and on and on. Once you start to try and get into it youBeen playing for some 24 hours...Does not draw you in like the Original Dragon Age. You find yourself falling asleep pretty fast. Don't know who thinks this game is great but they need to go back to playing Frogger if they find this exciting. You spend HOURS running around finding useless pieces scattered everywhere. Game drags on and on and on. Once you start to try and get into it you end up with the gay romance trying to jump in. Sorry.. I like woman. You just never get the feel that you had before with dragon age. Too much garbage mixed in. When I thought it could not get worse I end up at a party having to listen to gossip! Please...That was hours and hours of BORING garbage. I play a game for excitement and challenge, not to run around listening to gossip! Whoever came up with that, GET A LIFE! You already took part of mine I can never get back.… Expand
  8. Brenden7
    Jan 12, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Given the negative player response to both Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3, BioWare needed a game to answer its critics and prove that they are still the best in the business when it comes to RPGs. I will not criticize Mass Effect 3 as it is one of my favorite games despite the unsatisfying ending, but I will gladly criticize Dragon Age 2 which I felt was a dreadfully poor game and a terrible follow up to Dragon Age: Origins. BioWare needs Inquisition to breathe life back into the series.

    So how did BioWare do in the latest edition to the franchise? One of the chief complaints to DA2 was the use of recycles maps. There can be no such complaints in this area with Inquisition, the game is huge! Each area is feels unique and has a certain history behind it. While the large environments are fantastic to explore there is a downside to it which I will detail later. The soundtrack to game is also excellent.

    Another great aspect of Inquisition is the characters. BioWare has a talent of creating interesting and memorable characters and Inquisition didn't disappoint. There are nine characters to join the party as well as having three advisors with whom you can chat and learn about. Varric returns together with Cassandra and I think they are my two favorite characters. All characters were well written and had interesting back stories. The voice acting is once again incredible.

    Combat has improved from the over the top flashy mess that was DA2. The talent trees were fantastic and the battles could be challenging. I found that I often had to abandon an area which I could not defeat the enemies given my low level/poor equipment. I must give huge kudos to BioWare for the battles with the Dragons in the game! Each dragon was amazing and it was a sight to behold first seeing them in flight. The dragon in the Hinterlands and the one on the Storm Coast were in particular breathtaking!

    The party camp system has changed again. Inquisition characters have their own special place within the Skyhold fortress and which you can approach them and engage them in dialogue. Skyhold itself is huge and impressive! I do think that I have yet discovered all there is to it and it is tremendous fun exploring it. It has taken me a while to figure out how to find the characters given its size and many pathways.

    Given the lack of customization options in DA2 BioWare had to make changes in Inquisition. This time the player is offered a ton of customization options from weapons and armor and even changes to Skyhold itself! All of this allows the player to freedom to shape things to their own choice.

    While there are plenty of positive points to Inquisition there are of course some negative aspects to the game which I think detracts it from being a truly outstanding game. Firstly the controls on PC are clumsy and can get a bit irritating. Yes it is possible to re-map the controls but it doesn’t complete solve the problems. The option of clicking an area in the distance and having your character move to there is gone. Also loot gathering is a bit of a chore again as the game requires you to be right up close to the loot to get it. Also characters failed to understand the importance of the Hold Position command. The tactical camera once again makes an appearance in the series but it was terribly done! I wanted to use the tactical camera to explore the surround but Inquisition purely uses it for combat purposed. Firstly it didn’t pull up high enough to get a decent view of the surrounds and secondly the controls made it very difficult to navigate with. Apart from the battles with the various dragons I ended up not using the tactical camera. While the game has these vast and beautiful areas to explore I felt that this ended up being a distraction from the main story. The game does not force you to do things in a hurry (for which I am grateful) but while spending hours if not days in the vast maps I think the main story kind of got forgotten in the background. Much of the exploring takes place in unpopulated areas which makes the world seem a bit empty. The main storyline was ok but I think it still doesn’t compare to that of the Witcher 2.

    On the whole I think that Inquisition is a solid game. There are definitely areas for improvement but I think this game does prove that BioWare is listening to their fans. There are many wonderful qualities in the game and it is easy to spend over 60+ hours playing. It is definitely value for money! I do not think however that the game itself will be enough to convince those players who felt burnt after DA2 and ME3 that BioWare can produce the best games.    … Expand
  9. Naprossen
    Jan 12, 2015
    0
    Uninteresting story, boring buttonmash combat, clunky controls, "plastic" world without any interactivity... This is basically a 1981 game with modern graphics and sound.
    NPCs are blinking statues with one line dialogues, quests are boring and pointless, all feels fake and there is no way you can get immersed in the game's world, or even suspend your disbelief for a couple seconds.
  10. Aekar
    Jan 12, 2015
    9
    This is my first metacritics review but I could no longer stand how underrated this game has been by players. For AAA titles, official press reviews have had a decline in quality for a few years already; press gives a score often far above real value.

    So user reviews on Metacritics have become my #1 quality control system. It has been rather reliable (not always) but never left me with    This is my first metacritics review but I could no longer stand how underrated this game has been by players. For AAA titles, official press reviews have had a decline in quality for a few years already; press gives a score often far above real value.

    So user reviews on Metacritics have become my #1 quality control system. It has been rather reliable (not always) but never left me with any need to send out my own review.

    However, in Dragon Age Inquisition, I see that "player scoring" failed. So I thank you for reading more...

    I played this game one year after release. And I almost canceled my purchase after reading the player reviews. I eventually tried the game - and I will never regret it!

    My game pleasure started a bit low; after a great moment customizing my character with DA very comprehensive tools, i had a bit of low pleasure experiencing the first story contents, character progression and first environments.

    The skills I could acquire while leveling didn't begin as a strong incentive; the story felt a bit "quick"; the first environments were too bright and a bit too common.

    The game doesn't give you much direction to follow, but this was a great advantage to me, considering the linear paths DA2 sent us into, I liked more freedom.

    At that time, the score I would have given the game would have been 6 or 7.

    But the flaws of the game were not any of the ones I read in other reviews: no drastic bug, no problem with dialogue contents or frequency, no problem with the frequency or variety of side missions; no problem wit the open world and no problem left clicking and aiming foes (but I have to say that I am an Archer, and also, that this behaviour might have been patched).

    Combat was simple, but then slowly grew to become super fun. 3 fours into the game it was still a bit too simple. But it improves surprisingly. 20 hours into the game it became even excellent; and the more I gained experience, the more dire the challenges, the more fun I was having.

    This applies to all other parts of the game and is the most exceptional thing about it; the more you play, the more fun, gameplay and quality you experience. And all this in its gameplay, and not even from its story progression

    This is the opposite of what I had in plenty of other games, be they roleplaying games or strategy games. In roleplaying games, it is usually the story progression that kept me in and having fun, not the gameplay in itself; gameplay-wise, the game often reaches a point where you are strong and the events are just repetitive and detrimental to the gameplay.

    I saw a player compares Inquisition to Kingdom of Amalur; I strongly disagree. Amalur sure has a large open world and repetitive action combat; repetitve killings of small creatures and small side quests you do not feel attached to; Inquisition actually starts a bit like that, but after a few hours you discover where the game shines.

    The small missions you encounter while exploring the open world are not meant to make you feel strongly attached to them. But they are a great part of your character political and heroic progression. Your hero is a starting leader and you live that experience freely and entirely.

    I have encountered dialogue options that left me thinking and pondering my choices for MINUTES; three minutes for some, and a full 15 minutes for one.

    The only game that previously left me pondering a dialogue option for three minutes was The Witcher (shall I allow the crowd to kill that witch that is innocent of that crime, but has committed others? is she actually innocent?), or maybe Planescape Torment once.

    In Inquisition, the game already gave me plenty of meaningful choices. These options, however, are mostly political. This is the first roleplaying game I encounter that focuses many of its decisions on political choices, and it feels great, compelling, challenging and very original.

    I could go on and speak of some outstanding environments you encounter maybe in you 6th to 10th hour of game time, or of how combat feels more and more enticing as you play more. I could speak of how it "feels real" when you upgrade your small camp into something more impressive.

    I have around 16 hours of game time and I can see how I could sink 200 hours into it, without feeling it as repetitive as, say, even a great RPG such as Lords of Xulima, or anopen-world such as Skyrim.

    I believe the game biggest flow is how uneven it can be. It starts out actually so weak, with its least original environment. There are other places like the swamps that are much more interesting to explore.

    I started with a score of 7 in this game; I am now at 9.
    It is possible that it will grow to 10, or will fall to 8 before it ends.

    In my experience, it is just one of the greatest RPGs I have ever played. DAI is better than Skyrim, DAO or DA2 in its decisions; and worse than Skyrim in visual quality. But overall I enjoy DAI even more and already expect a longer time with it.    … Expand
  11. emrahoz
    Jan 11, 2015
    8
    Edit:

    The game's taste changes after playing 30+ hours,my advice is not to give up the game @the begining.. If the critical bugs were fixed,i would give it a 10. Pros: +Long Story,a well created world +The best environment i have ever seen in a game +The feel that you control a party, Cons: -FPS drops in a few places (my pc-gtx 970,8gm ram,i7 2600k...full of driver    Edit:

    The game's taste changes after playing 30+ hours,my advice is not to give up the game @the begining..
    If the critical bugs were fixed,i would give it a 10.

    Pros:
    +Long Story,a well created world

    +The best environment i have ever seen in a game

    +The feel that you control a party,

    Cons:
    -FPS drops in a few places (my pc-gtx 970,8gm ram,i7 2600k...full of driver updates...sometimes fps drops when i enter a village with some soldiers and villagers in- high-*not ultra* settings)

    -Simple combat animations

    -Lots of Bugs:frozen party members,invisible conversation wheels/npcs,frozen/non-lootable elites and quest items(most of them begin just after completing Hinterlands),sudden windows returns...

    *The worst parts of the game for me;

    -The range bug in Dragon fights! I soloed 2 dragons from distance with Solas and the Dragons didn't even move :/ Need an areal/distance reset on Dragons fights-or-Dragons' aggression range/ players' spell range balance..

    -Relootable chests by save/load..

    -MOTHER GISELLE's ACCENT!!!!    … Expand
  12. rush357753
    Jan 11, 2015
    2
    Seems like a great solid game that would easily be in my favorites but it is loaded with too many problems on PC right now. Cut scenes framerate is lowered and locked at 30 FPS, problems connecting with servers, (although playable) less than ideal framerate and FPS reliability all around. And of course my favorite issue, it has bad resource utilization problems. It maxes out CPU constantlySeems like a great solid game that would easily be in my favorites but it is loaded with too many problems on PC right now. Cut scenes framerate is lowered and locked at 30 FPS, problems connecting with servers, (although playable) less than ideal framerate and FPS reliability all around. And of course my favorite issue, it has bad resource utilization problems. It maxes out CPU constantly even though it shouldn't, and although I'm not affected by the RAM problem, many people are having Memory leaks with this game on top of it. I would recommend this game 10/10 on console, do not buy for PC until problems are addressed.… Expand
  13. rego
    Jan 11, 2015
    5
    For the most part the game feels like a compromised mix of Origins and DA2. Unfortunately it doesn’t possess the strengths of either.
    PROS:
    1. Best looking RPG this side of Witcher 2. And I don’t over exaggerate. The look of DA:I is absolutely stunning. Beautiful landscapes, pretty good looking characters if only to highlight slightly stiff facial animation. Still, if only for the Fallow    For the most part the game feels like a compromised mix of Origins and DA2. Unfortunately it doesn’t possess the strengths of either.
    PROS:
    1. Best looking RPG this side of Witcher 2. And I don’t over exaggerate. The look of DA:I is absolutely stunning. Beautiful landscapes, pretty good looking characters if only to highlight slightly stiff facial animation. Still, if only for the Fallow Mire location, which the artists have absolutely bloody nailed with the spooky atmosphere, undead, rain and lighting, crooked trees, lonely castle and a massive moon in the background. Game looks very pretty indeed, I can’t state this enough.
    2. Strategic Map quests. Some get executed immediately, some take time and you have to allocate your advisors to perform it. That’s interesting, makes you care how you allocate your resources. This can lead to an new open area in a locale which you can revisit or a small quest.

    CONS:
    1. Inventory menu is only just better than Skyrim and Fallout - a scroll down list to accommodate for the armless console players. HA! But serious, it feels rather annoying. Your characters to appear on the side and are updated with the new look but the available and the items already being worn are all dumped in the same list.
    2. The story is quite irrelevant. By that I mean I have always felt quite safe, there is very little danger and loss in the sense of making the right decision. There is rarely a moment when you find yourself biting your nails to trying to salvage a situation selecting from bad and worse options. Everything is only gained and built up, troops join and life is going all peachy but I can’t emotionally invest enough to care. Sadly this makes it rather boring.
    3. The characters are not very interesting, although there is a great potential and they do appear diverse there’s hardly an emotional connection to any of them. Group banter is quite fun though.
    4. Combat, although a massive improvement from DA2 is still nowhere as good as Origins. Tactical camera feels very consoles oriented, limited, annoying and evidently rarely used by the community, which makes it pretty much useless. This is a big letdown by the devs.
    5. No options of setting up attack chain behavior like in Origins (ie if Boss is Weak Then do this) for your party. That was an absolutely fun feature to play with. And sadly, as mentioned above, Tactical mode is more annoying that is of any real use and absolutely cannot replace any Origins combat mechanics.
    6. NPCs spawn sometimes right before you, this kinda kills the atmosphere and immersion. AI sometimes is pretty dumb and just sit there watching you kill their buddies and only respond if you attack them.
    7. Loot is mostly not guarded and too plentiful I found. No one cares that you take anything and there is very little sense of value to items in general. Enemy NPCs may or may not hang around in the area but overall it feels more of a chore to pick up stuff rather than a treasure hunt. On my second character play though I spent as little as possible on loot which is a pretty sad thing to say for an RPG. This might be my own preference but I would like to see a different balance to the weapons and armor. I didn’t have any attachment to any items really since you can bet that in no less than 5 minutes you can get a better one so why bother attaching arms and leggings or improving the weapon with hits etc. It’s not that you don’t get the “Rare” items it’s that there is very little purpose in spending time looking after your inventory and lovingly upgrading your stuff since after spending time you may get a similar specced item in a few minutes, rare stuff included.
    8. Stuff to do, quests and such. Lots! Sounds like it should be a good thing right. Well, it really should, but it’s not. It’s more of a grind in this case. Go over the same map over and over and collect 20 of these things and 20 of those. Effort/Reward in this case is nothing to be excited about. Strategic map quests, again, feel exciting at first but the rewards you get is another item which you sell for a few cents. Feels like there is very little value in doing those.

    In conclusion – DA:I is not really a bad game if you look at it without the Origins baggage., which, sadly, a lot of players have. It’s just not a very good one. An absolutely awesome game like Origins sets the standard high, too high for DA:I unfortunately. It could have been a great game but it feels bloated with meaningless stuff, over saturated with quests and loot collection, dumbed down combat system and strangely for Bioware (again? DA2) un-immersive story. There is nothing really you can take at the end of the day and feel like an achievement. It’s not the items, it’s not the story, nor the characters, nor the decisions, it’s… really nothing. The only thing I could recommend this is to see the graphics which are pretty damn goo    … Expand
  14. MCErick
    Jan 11, 2015
    9
    Epic story and and tremendous amount of content. Well over a hundred hours of gameplay here. Loses a point because of some niggling bugs and a slightly underwhelming final conflict.
  15. Charade
    Jan 11, 2015
    0
    I've played a lot of bad PC ports but this is the WORST!!! Lazy lazy Bioware. This is unplayable. And metacritic wont let me post unless this is 150 characters long. I'd give this website a 0/10 if I could too. Dbags.
  16. Vio
    Jan 11, 2015
    3
    Poor PC kb/mouse controls, bloated UI, poor tactical view, lack of auto attack path finding, low FPS/stuttering in dialog.

    Dragon Age: Inquisition built by pc gamers for pc games (best experienced with a xbox controller)
  17. Fra-k
    Jan 11, 2015
    9
    Dragon age 2 meets Skyrim.
    an almost-open world, dozens main and accessory quests, crafting, modding and a lot of lore.
    incredible landscapes, mountains and marshes, dungeons. everything that a fantasy-lover could need. what is really really missing? a decent inteface/camera system, not a porting from console. if Bioware enhances tactical view and allows movement with mouse +    Dragon age 2 meets Skyrim.
    an almost-open world, dozens main and accessory quests, crafting, modding and a lot of lore.
    incredible landscapes, mountains and marshes, dungeons. everything that a fantasy-lover could need.
    what is really really missing? a decent inteface/camera system, not a porting from console.

    if Bioware enhances tactical view and allows movement with mouse + autoattack, it can easily become the best-ever RPG.    … Expand
  18. SugarCayne
    Jan 11, 2015
    10
    Wow! Here's the PC game I've been waiting for!

    It is instantly familiar to those who play MMO's There's the hotbar with all my spells that are so often missing from other solo-player games! There's no clunky fixed keybindings that so many games force you into -- you can customize to fit your playstyle. The game is completely immersive, detailed and rich. You can craft to upgrade gear    Wow! Here's the PC game I've been waiting for!

    It is instantly familiar to those who play MMO's There's the hotbar with all my spells that are so often missing from other solo-player games! There's no clunky fixed keybindings that so many games force you into -- you can customize to fit your playstyle. The game is completely immersive, detailed and rich. You can craft to upgrade gear (yes, you have to collect resources and obtain recipes, which frankly got me curious about the game to begin with), you get a mount that you can upgrade with its own barding and plate gear, there's endless quests and the story lore is quite engrossing. I am completely surprised by this game. I expected more of the same console-games-applied-to-PCs as an afterthought.

    Couple that with three other adventurers that you can mix and match as you discover new ones, who constantly add to the storyline with occasional dialogue with each other, and who help you as you quest, and well, this game is a delightful surprise for me. I'd highly recommend buying it. Best solo-player game I've played in ages.    … Expand
  19. Paladinus
    Jan 11, 2015
    7
    First of all, I would advise not to pay attention to any review that gives this game a score lower than 5 or higher than 8-9. In my opinion, it was a decent game, but not a masterpiece.

    CONS - The tactical camera is not half as good as in the previous games. It does not provide a good perspective of the battlefield and gets stuck on terrain elements. When fighting indoors, it does not    First of all, I would advise not to pay attention to any review that gives this game a score lower than 5 or higher than 8-9. In my opinion, it was a decent game, but not a masterpiece.

    CONS
    - The tactical camera is not half as good as in the previous games. It does not provide a good perspective of the battlefield and gets stuck on terrain elements. When fighting indoors, it does not work as it should, as it doesn't allow you to have an aerial sight of the combat.
    - You can neither select your whole group, nor click on the place you wanted to go to. If you want to collect items or loot, you have to move close to them since you can't click on them and see your character move towards it to do it (I found this incredibly annoying).
    - Some passive skills make little or no sense since the benefits they provide are very circumstantial. Activated skills only have one upgrade (they generally had two in DA II).
    - Certain skill builds allow your party to become nearly invulnerable (I admit it requires careful planning, but it is something that I consider that should never happen). Plus, the enormous amount of healing potions provided during that main quests makes them barely challenging.
    - Tactics are so simplified that the margin for customization is almost nonexistent (I am glad I never use them).
    - Combat mechanics are totally different for your party and for the enemies. Enemy mages only cast runes and barriers. Enemy warriors only use bull rush or whirlwind. Enemy rogues only use stealth or full draw. To compensate this lack of skill variety, they are given a ridiculous amount of health points. Their AI apparently doesn't allow them to see beyond the room they are in.
    - Side quests (and most war table operations) have no impact on the epilogue (not even the most relevant ones). Many of them are based on collecting a large amount of scattered objects.
    - I also missed gifts for companions. Not indispensable, but it would have been interesting.
    - The "no healing spells" thing would have been great... if you couldn't quick travel anytime to get more free potions. Quick travel should have been limited to travelling between camps/settlements in order for that idea to work properly.

    PROS
    - The story is pretty good. More interesting and well written than most people would admit. Presents you with some hard/ambiguous choices.
    - Companions are well written and developed. They personalities are complex and appealing. They have a fair amount of dialogue.
    - The maps are beautiful and huge. Wherever you go, there is always something interesting there.
    - You need not visit all areas in order to complete the game. This means that some maps are entirely dedicated to secondary quests (some of them are hard to find).
    - Some side quests are quite interesting. Puzzles are also well done.
    - It has an epilogue with many different endings. Though it is not as good as Origin's one (which reflected many more choices), it is pretty decent.
    - You can see the effect of some of your actions. When you complete certain quests, the areas or the enemies present in them, change. Companions and advisors comment on your progress or decisions.
    - Dialogue is better than in DA II, both in quantity and quality. You are told when your companions like what you say, but there isn't an approval bar (something that I consider good).
    - There are skill combos. And the game doesn't tell you how to make them (I think this is good as well). Focus-powered skills are also interesting.
    - I liked the "click to search" idea. It is something new that makes harder to miss important quest-related items, while adding the feeling that you are truly looking for something.
    - The new potion-making/upgrading system is, in my opinion, the best of the series. The limited amount of potions is also a great idea.    … Expand
  20. Dhoulmagus
    Jan 11, 2015
    3
    I'll begin by stating that I have put over 100 hours into this game, and reserved my opinions on DA:I until completion. I have played through the entire "story" and completed every side quest I could find. I played as a 2h Dwarf Warrior and also have spent quite a few hours messing around on a Qunari Rogue and a Human Mage.

    I ultimately found myself painfully wishing it would end within    I'll begin by stating that I have put over 100 hours into this game, and reserved my opinions on DA:I until completion. I have played through the entire "story" and completed every side quest I could find. I played as a 2h Dwarf Warrior and also have spent quite a few hours messing around on a Qunari Rogue and a Human Mage.

    I ultimately found myself painfully wishing it would end within hours, but I chose to stick it out (since the majority of 10/10 reviewers are citing the bad reviews as people who "only played a few hours").

    I decided to play this game with an open mind, I had neither high nor low expectations going in, I loved DA:O and struggled to enjoy DAII. I played the PC version using a 4770k / ASUS 290x, all settings maxed.

    Visually with the settings maxed the environments are very nice, especially coastline scenery with waves crashing into the beach. I do agree with most reviews that it seems most objects and characters in the game are coated with "wax", giving a plastic effect on everything from characters to paintings on the walls.

    The opening of the game made it seem like this would be a great game with an in depth story, but after being released in the Hinterlands I became quite confused and the boredom began to set in. After opening each new area in the war room, I was never certain which quest was even main quest related, I just cleared the entire area and that was enough to progress. The story line became utterly non-existent, it seems the story had an intro, a half way event (leading to skyhold) and the final events, packed with ~70 hours of filler in between. Every area felt the same, find the oculara shards, complete the astrariums, loot plants and ore, kill nonhostile and hostile creatures for crafting quests (that did seemingly nothing upon completion as far as the strength of my "army" and character development, which ultimately had zero bearing on anything). I literally only found one side quest in this game rewarding as it resulted in an upgraded sword for my character. Everything else only left me with a bit more experience, which leads to the point: This game is a mindless grind festival, every reviewer stating "Single Player MMORPG" hits the nail on the head, I felt like I was playing a dumbed down WoW alone. Also, the war table scout missions were mostly worthless, send somebody out anywhere from 14 minutes to 23 hours and receive an ultimately useless reward, again no noticeable bearing on the story. And the amount of Oblivion gates, excuse me I mean fade rifts that were all the exact same to close was mind numbing. I literally spoiled and covered 99% of this game in this paragraph.

    Character Development: I was left supremely disappointed. The acting has almost zero appeal to this type of fantasy game. Never in my life have I had a problem with women in video games, I thought Morrigan was awesome in DA:O, but this game is just over the top. Nearly every character in a position of power was a woman, and their attitudes were typical of a rotten "empowered" liberal. I don't care that Sera "likes girls too", it just makes my head hurt. I understand wanting to cater to minorities and LGBT crowds, but this game is at a level of insanity IMO, of course people will rant and rave over this comment but it's true, this was clearly done for PR and sales. I'll leave the neo-political rant at that. Aside from that, development was very boring, one minute everybody hated me because I was a stupid dwarf guilty of murder, then I'm the Herald of Andraste and worshiped by all, nothing in between.

    Customization: Nonexistent in this game. Stats are automatically increased based on the skills you pick, I found that for each character you just pick a tree, put a "point" in everything, after that mostly working to get every passive possible and working up the specialization tree. It had no effect on the difficulty, this game is 100% run into a pack of monsters, mash every spell that's recharged and keep swinging. I played on normal, did not set up any tactics for my allies, never told them what to do, and I believe I did not die once in battle.

    Other: Within 10 minutes I realized this was a console port, I gave up on playing with K+M and switched to an xbox controller. Tactical camera as pointed out relentlessly is totally unusable, don't even bother with it. There is little diversity to equipment, no item sets, just armor and helm (with a few moddable additions in slots), I had zero interest in "finding" gear. No party tactics, no control over allies like DA:O and as promised. The game was jokingly easy and required ZERO thought to beat. This was NOT a game for PC gamers, that statement is an utter lie. It was designed for consoles, with console players in mind. This was NOT an RPG. It's also very buggy.

    The good: My 3 year old nephew enjoyed jumping off of cliffs and dying. That's the only thing I've gained in my time with DA:I.    … Expand
  21. 0javis0
    Jan 11, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 1st: Im a huge fan of the series (all games + books, comics). 2nd: Sorry for my english. 3rd: almost 2 months after finishing this game, I just cant calm down... Biggest dissapointment for me in the year 2014 (thank god that It´s 2015 now) I was waiting for this game 3 years. What did I get? well: Lets make one thing clear, we have more questions from this game, less answers. pros: soundtrack, dorian, cass, bull, solas, cole, josephine, cullen. most memorable: "alexius alternate reality" mission, chant scene (dawn will come), the fade level, the exploration part of the game, ancient elven history reveal "about their fall", dragons! cons: TONS!!!
    most dissapointing: repetitive, purpose of influence?, blackwall, vivienne, sera!, empty "not living" world, NPC just "there" doing "nothing", I think this game wasnt finished yet. where´s sandall (Iconic character from pervious 2 games)?!!!, no deep roads location/map?, no ogres?, no desire demons?, no abominations (with so many mages in this game)???, no sylvans?, genlocks?, emissaries??? shrieks?, genlock alpha?, qunari faction/enemies? bugs everywhere, not enough free slots for abilities in HUD,
    the specs are TOTALLY bad (necromancy - redesigned spirit (only 3 active spells), rift mage - force mage mixed with primal)!, NO BLOOD MAGIC!!! (this is the biggest dissapointment for me too, ICONIC POWER FROM previous games),
    more and more new gods?, again CORY? OMG, we know there were more ancient magisters, you just reused a villain from the last DLC from the 2nd game! come on!, the final fight was the easiest!,
    not tactical combat, just repetive (barriers, slow, weaken,... fire everything! and again),
    epilogue? approval for companions (no meter?) - my epilogue was a big mess - I was awaiting a different epilogue (another divine, dont know how the game done this)
    WTF??? HOW CAN SOMEBODY GIVE THIS GAME A 8-9 points, come one people, BE REALLY HONEST!!!
    Gaspard? In books he was great, here? Briala looks like some "mistress", I was waitng to see an assassin/agent like tallis? and Felassan? what happened to him? Imshael? fight him and kill him, or let him go and he kill "somebody" and you cant kill him later.
    And the "reveal" about "the old lady" is for me the biggest shock! She is just one of the most important thing in this series and after credits they just twist the whole story more and more........ OMG!
    the launch was too soon, at least another 6 months was required.
    The 2nd game was Great, Origin was Perfect, but this.... just average.
    Never again pre-ordering to have the game first. THE MULTIPLAYER IS A JOKE, really!!!!!!!!
    I was feeling a hype from the mega trailers you realeased every week, but dont expected this. really.
    just have finished the Witcher 2 and I can tell you BIO, thats a story and game (dark, bloody, mature, sexy and fantasy)!!!!! Now Im waiting for the 3rd game.    … Expand
  22. Razhomon
    Jan 11, 2015
    3
    Bought it first day of release, was very excited to play only to be disappointed that the PC port I am playing is terrible. I was forced to use a controller but the interface is what enrages me just is just made really for a console. Up to now I cant finish the game even if I tried. I just hate it. just 8 hrs into it and can not tolerate it no longer. In short don't buy this for PC!
  23. Damsel
    Jan 11, 2015
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game became the biggest disappointment of the year for me. And the problem not only in the game-play itself - tactic camera, no auto-attack (which, by the way, was very unnerving) all of mmo-like quests and so on. What pissed me off is absence of role-play itself in the RPG. It sound odd, but it's true. I got the feeling that I'm playing the game made up by some fun-fiction writer with no talent or so ever. The Inquisitor is a Mary Sue character that has a god-like powers, everyone worship him(her), he(she) can do anything and everything he(she) touches is turning to gold. There is no personal motivation to the main character - why would he (she) want to join the Inquisition? To save his(her) own skin? But the threat is very vague. The only option at the end is to save the world. The easiness with which he(she) becomes the leader of the Inquisition was very surprising for me. Just because of a green thing in the hand. And that is the only reason I could see. He(she) did nothing to get this position - absolutely. All that he(she) do most of the time - is collect herbs, kill animals and make stupid side-quests to find someones goat. And that thing with the Wardens - is Inquisitor became a ruler of Orlais that he (she) can just banish them from this Empire? WTF? Maybe we should name the main character not Inquisitor but The-All-Mighty-The-Ruler-Of-World?
    There is no feeling of coming disaster, no atmosphere of coming evil. Why would we need to close those rifts if almost all of them are situated where is no people who would suffer from them? And the funniest moment is that there is no reaction of NPC that are near by when you fight someone. Most of the NPCs are not moving at all, even if you try to pass them by - you just stuck if you try to go through several NPC chatting. And the chatting, ohh... when I tried to listen what they say... well, let's say they talking like crazies.
    Now let's see what Inquisitor we can play. We don't have an option to play any character but good. For example, when we make Cole's quest, we don't have an option to kill a Templar - because we are good, we can't be evil. No-no, we can sentence to death someone, while sitting on the THRONE, bot not when Cole wants to kill someone: "It's unthinkable!" - says Inquisitor. Where is the CHOICE I'm asking you, bioware? Where is the real choices? The only one I could remember - is at the ball, but I didn't even care who to chose.
    The dialog wheel - is just one big fail. Want to romance character - why think? - jut push the answer with the heart - no problem. There is no wrong answer - everyone loooves you - Mary Sue it is. And sometimes I pushed the answer and my Inquisitor yelled like hysteric, which I couldn't expect from the answer I chose.
    It seems that Bioware just want to show you picture. It's like Michael's Bay popcorn movie. You CAN watch it, but there is no soul in it.    … Expand
  24. gameinspector
    Jan 10, 2015
    1
    Warning ;- Best to wait until the game is finished before buying it. Releasing unfinished games is becoming a habit with companies these days. Fight back - do not pre-order any games ever!!! Then read reviews from the suckers who did buy before doing so yourself. Also the more the hype is the more suspicious you need to be, don't believe anything the devs tell you till you see it forWarning ;- Best to wait until the game is finished before buying it. Releasing unfinished games is becoming a habit with companies these days. Fight back - do not pre-order any games ever!!! Then read reviews from the suckers who did buy before doing so yourself. Also the more the hype is the more suspicious you need to be, don't believe anything the devs tell you till you see it for yourself. OR you can ignore this advice and continue to be ripped off with unfinished buggy games like this DAI is.… Expand
  25. Makarash
    Jan 10, 2015
    1
    I'm Big fan of RPG, i love Dragon Age 1, i really like Dragon Age 2, but this... i really don't have idea why this game is so bad. I try to play it, but i cant try more than 5 hours. It is just terrible, no story, no game-play... just nothing. I also don't believe in all this negative reviews, so i have try it by myself. But believe me, this game is not worth trying. I play only by XBOXI'm Big fan of RPG, i love Dragon Age 1, i really like Dragon Age 2, but this... i really don't have idea why this game is so bad. I try to play it, but i cant try more than 5 hours. It is just terrible, no story, no game-play... just nothing. I also don't believe in all this negative reviews, so i have try it by myself. But believe me, this game is not worth trying. I play only by XBOX pad, so my review is not determined by controling (it is ok). This 5 hours i play this game, feels like playing very poor MMORPG...… Expand
  26. nnstuovr
    Jan 10, 2015
    5
    This game is average as hell. Only good points are the graphics and the voice acting, neither of those can save it from its mediocrity. Everything else, from the story, dialogue, characters, mediocre as hell combat, open world maps, is so mediocre. DA:I is the pinnacle of mediocrity.
  27. asoliuy
    Jan 9, 2015
    10
    Очень хорошая игра. Провел в ней 20000 часов. До сих пор играю! Тростенюку (мой кореш) очень понравилось. Он наиграл в ней 30000 часов и открыл в ней самое эксклюзивное стекло. Также, у моего другого кореша Захара не было никаких лагов, кроме вылетов!Очень хорошая игра. Провел в ней 20000 часов. До сих пор играю! Тростенюку (мой кореш) очень понравилось. Он наиграл в ней 30000 часов и открыл в ней самое эксклюзивное стекло. Также, у моего другого кореша Захара не было никаких лагов, кроме вылетов!
  28. Moonknight313
    Jan 9, 2015
    6
    Seeing that this game gets totally awesome reviews I was a bit bedazzled when I finally starting to play it.

    RPG elements has been further dumbed down to please causal gamers and consoles even beyond Mass Effect 3 level (but at least in Mass Effect 3 you still had story, better fights and guiding). DA3 takes more from Star Wars Online but not in a good way, the massive areas are    Seeing that this game gets totally awesome reviews I was a bit bedazzled when I finally starting to play it.

    RPG elements has been further dumbed down to please causal gamers and consoles even beyond Mass Effect 3 level (but at least in Mass Effect 3 you still had story, better fights and guiding).

    DA3 takes more from Star Wars Online but not in a good way, the massive areas are beautiful but the majority of the quests fetch this and fetch that and this is even rooted into all the strange changes they have dont to the RPG, like crafting, leveling up, low XP gain and so on, so while Bioware tells us they want us to choose how to play it, in reality we are forced to explore and gather and craft (I am not one for crafting) and do all the dumbed down bits and pieces, and it is obvious that the game has been designed not by gaming experts but by some kind of executive board, answering questions like "How can we make sure they gather every single flower?", answer should have been, they dont it should be up to the player.

    THe combat as other has mentioned does not have much tactical flowered, you cannot control a lot of commands and behavior control is limited to idiocity and the AI is not that clever either (what happened here Bioware, have you forgotten your past?) The skill/spell three is limited which has unfortunately become some kind of Bioware standard which means that already at level 3 you pretty much unlocked most of the pleasures or pain of combat (ok some things come later but its not like in a true RPG where you masterfully build up charactes and unlock new great fighting capabilites)

    I didnt even thing DA 2 was that bad, yes it did reuse a lot of areas but at least it had some story, and again even though some people find the story good, I find DA3s story to be really boring, as well as your companions and all the talk, it is like they somehow magically made all the characters really irritation, boring and you just keep wondering "Who are these people around me? Get away!" anyone that has played earlier Bioware games knows how interesting the person gallery can be and how the story and the people drives the story and the game, but this? What is this? It's a kind of Star Wars Online (which is still a good game) in DA universe, not online and without star wars and somehow without the magic touch to make it a great game.

    Controls are also an issue, as guessed it was for consoles, and even though you can somehow learn to live with it, there are quite a few irritating aspects here, also the tactical view is somewhat totally useless. (I would think that is something they would fix in a patch, but has not happened till now in patch 2)

    Still, there are good things, the game world is large and consists of many, many areas and you can get a little Elder Scrolls (IV) Feeling. And it is not as bad as some people say, you can still waste some time playing this game as long as you accept the shortcomings and it will give you an experience which is a little above ok. Bioware during time has made some of my favorite games and with a little bit of old love they could still make more of those, but they need to look deep into themselves and rediscover some of that magic.    … Expand
  29. art_23
    Jan 9, 2015
    10
    I don`t understand why people give it negative score??? this game much better, than DA2. BioWare really tried hard and fixed all the problems they had with DA2. Until Witcher 3 will be out, this game is the best RPG! No other one can compete them!!!
  30. 22G
    Jan 8, 2015
    10
    This game is awesome i think people are just disappointed because its not Dragon Age Origins. I have played all the Dragon Age games and this is an awesome addition to the series if your a fan of the series this is a must play
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Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best PC Game of 2014
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 45 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 45
  3. Negative: 0 out of 45
  1. Hyper Magazine
    Feb 9, 2015
    90
    Best Dragon Age so far, hands down. Pity about the naff writing. [Issue#257, p.51]
    Read full review
  2. GameOver.gr
    Jan 22, 2015
    100
    The masters over at Bioware have done it again. This epic journey into the world of Thedas will steal more than 100 hours of your time, hours so full of superb gaming that you'll never forget them.
    Read full review
  3. Eurogamer Portugal
    Jan 14, 2015
    80
    Despite numerous shortcomings, the new BioWare project is undoubtedly worth your attention. One of the best RPGs of 2014.
    Read full review
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