Every gamer plays for their own reasons. For me, a video game needs to have a riveting story, intuitive gameplay and beautiful character design.
I have been anticipating DA:I since the release of DAII. I loved Dragon Age Origins and even enjoyed Dragon Age II, even through repetitive dungeons and a smaller world than Origins. I purchased a Deluxe edition for the 360. I really, really,Every gamer plays for their own reasons. For me, a video game needs to have a riveting story, intuitive gameplay and beautiful character design.
I have been anticipating DA:I since the release of DAII. I loved Dragon Age Origins and even enjoyed Dragon Age II, even through repetitive dungeons and a smaller world than Origins. I purchased a Deluxe edition for the 360. I really, really, wanted to love DAI.
To say that Dragon Age: Inquisition is a disappointment is putting it mildly.
The game rates a 4 from me solely due to my love of the previous two incarnations and I would love, love, love to see Bioware given their head to make a really riveting story, in an open world, utilizing some of the better design concepts and ideas that are out there.
The character design is better - but not by much. Hairstyles are limited and very plastic looking. Everything has a super shiny look in game.
However, you can alter the shape of the face, jaw, chin much better with their new tool. The ears are okay. Make-up is hilarious whether you are using it on the men or women. EA (because I don't think this is Bioware's fault) would be much better to learn from some of the amateur modders.
Eyeliner should not put a strange ring several centimeters below a character's lower lid. This happens for both sexes when the eyeliner is used.
No highlights for the hair, no multiple hair tones, etc. We can make Qunari. Yay. No long hair, only four hair styles and you cannot alter horn color.
Companions can have armor. Crafting will give each armor set an unique appearance based on metal, cloth and/or leather hide used.
Gameplay is somewhat boring. Conversation between your party members is few and far between. Sometimes the banter has little relevance either to the characters or to the story. There are a lot of MMORPG style quests, gather 'x number of items' for x person/thing. These quests do not push along either character development or story plot. They are simply there.
Cannot see how much approval rating any party member has. The people look plastic. Shiny. Very, very shiny. My male Qunari rogue's black hair looks like a shining metal helmet.
Tactical View is clunky and not very user friendly.
The treasure hunting aid is like playing a 'hot and cold' game with defective bat sonar. If you are really into collecting stuff: loot, codex entries, metals, and other items for crafting, you will spend endless amounts of time clicking down on your left stick, watching the glow light up minimally, and disappearing. You will be walking every few steps using that locater while asking yourself is the sound louder? is it gone? is there a directional arrow (important to the game in some way). And find yourself retracing steps. I began walking a grid like I use in an archaeological dig.
At some point, even an avid collector, like myself, will throw up their hands and say an expletive and just stop looking.
The game world is beautiful, yet everything you need is hidden. Sometimes even when you are on top of a piece of ore or a plant, it's still nearly impossible to spot. It's almost like playing a hidden puzzle game. Some areas in the game are so dark, it's easy to wander into walls and mountains.
There are no belt lanterns and no really good light spells that the mage can cast, although there is something called 'veilfire' that is like a torch that you have to carry and lose as soon as you enter combat. Which is usually just a few seconds after you've lit the torch.
There are no really good healing spells and your party can only carry a max of 8 health potions for the entire party, that's two a piece.
There are 'valuables' but you have no way of knowing what is safe to sell. Later on some of the valuables are required to complete quests and/or needed to craft an item. Since you will find yourself often hesitant to sell valuables on the off chance you will need them 60 hours down the road, inventory space is extremely limited and there is no camp storage.
The scenery is beautiful. The world is more open. And some things regenerate: creatures, not bosses, (spiders, deep stalkers, some of the bandits), and crafting supplies regenerate. Which is a relief, because for some items you will need a lot in order to craft an item.
And you can jump. You can't grab hold of a ledge and heft yourself up, but you can jump a reasonable height and leap onto and over stuff.
At this point, I have the game for the 360, but unlike the other two games, I cannot see buying a copy for the PC, unless the toolset is made available for modders and some intrepid gamers take on the task of making this game more palatable for the PC.… Expand
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