Dragon Age: Inquisition
comes out in ten days in the UK (seven days for the US, nine days for
the EU outside the UK), so now seemed the right time for a proper
preview (regulars will know I’ve posted quite a bit about this game
already but we’re at the maximum level of pre-game knowledge now).
It comes out for the PC, Playstations and Xboxes. Naturally the PC
and current-gen consoles have better graphics, but in terms of
gameplay and content all platforms have the same offering. If you have an Xbox (not sure if it's only One or 360 as well) you can get early access in a couple of days via the EA subscription service.
I’m going to adopt a
minimal spoiler approach. There will be some relating to how gameplay
works, very basic details (some of which have been known about for
over a year) regarding the plot/companions, but I will do my best to
keep spoilers to a bare minimum. So, if you’re deliberately starving
yourself of info to avoid the venom of spoilers poisoning the
delicious cake of Inquisition, this should be the preview for you.
It’s pretty lengthy, I should warn you.
Dragon Age Keep
This
is either very good news, if you’re connected to the internet, or
very annoying news. The Keep (which you need an Origin account to
access) is an online, browser-based feature which basically allows
you to customise the choices that were made during Dragon Age:
Origins, Dragon Age 2 and DLC (you do not need to have played any of
that to make the choices). These will then have an impact on
Inquisition, and your world state will be imported during character
creation. The upside is that if you’re shifting consoles (or going
to/from PC) you can recreate or amend past decisions without playing
through whole games, and that if you’re new you can easily get to
grips with the backstory (each decision is concisely explained). The
downside is that you cannot import saves directly and that if you
lack online connectivity to your console then you cannot alter the
world state from the default. I think it’s a shame there isn’t a
basic Keep for major decisions on-disc. If you’re online, this
should be fine, if you’re not, it’s a bit disappointing [NB I
know it’s not encouraging to start on a downer, but I should stress
this is about the most negative view I have of the game].
The
Keep is now in Open Beta, so you can access it but it isn’t quite
finished. I strongly advise getting this sorted ahead of time so that
you can just import your finished world state on the day.
Character creation
Character
creation is more in-depth and has more options than any previous
Dragon Age game. There are four race choices (dwarf, elf, human,
Qunari), both genders and two voice options per gender (one English,
one American [you can test them during character creation to see
which you like]).
There
are the usual options you’d expect, but many features (eye colours
for inner/outer iris, tattoo colour, makeup colours) use a colour
wheel which effectively means you can pick any colour on the
spectrum. For the first time, scar intensity and location can be
altered.
Certain
features (ears, noses) can be altered using not only presets and
sliders, but also a grid system which gives great versatility when it
comes to how wide/pinned back ears are, and so forth.
Female
dwarves can have beards, although it’s fuzz rather than full-blown
man-beards. Adam’s apple size can also be altered, for both
genders, and male characters have full access to makeup. Qunari horns
can be varied considerably, though there are fewer hornless/hairstyle
options, and hair colour is more limited in range than for other
races.
As
with previous games, classes are only limited in that dwarves cannot
be mages for lore reasons. If you choose rogue or warrior then you
also choose archer/dual-wielding daggers and sword &
shield/two-handed weapons respectively but this does not
lock you into that play style (you cannot change class in-game but
you can shift from dual daggers to archer, for example).
I’ve
seen a few videos of character creation and, to be honest, it looks
tremendous. The lighting has been designed to be neutral, giving a
good indication of your appearance (usually a problem with character
creators), and it’s worth noting there is no capacity, at launch,
to alter your face once you’re in-game.
Crafting/customisation
A significant complaint
about Dragon Age 2 was the lack of capacity for customising
companions (almost none, in fact). This has been very, very
dramatically improved upon for Inquisition.
For a start, you can
actually change their armour. I know this is Videogames 101, but you
couldn’t in DA2.
Even better (and quite
surprisingly because it must’ve taken a huge amount of time) almost
every piece of armour changes shape to suit the style of the
individual on whom it is equipped. I think a few stay the same on
whoever wears them, but the vast majority will change. So, a robe on
an Inquisitor will look very different than it would on the mage
companions.
For the first time, we
can craft our own armour and weapons. Better still, using varying
materials (whether metal, stone or cloth) will alter both the
appearance and the stats of armour and weaponry. Multiple colours of
each armour can be changed this way (NB you do need to acquire
schematics to do this), and it suggests a very high degree of
crafting customisation.
In addition, the home
base of the Inquisition can be customised in both stylistic terms
with decoration, and in terms of more practical advantage (for
example, making a garden in which you can plant herbs to grow more).
Potions and the like
can also be crafted and customised, so the infamous Jar of Bees can
be improved by adding wasps.
The crafting looks very
good.
Gameplay
This is one of the
hardest things to assess without actually playing, so I’ll
summarise what we know factually and then try and surmise how well,
or badly, it’ll work.
Combat will be fairly
fast-paced, but the tactical camera will return and be available on
all platforms this time (for those unaware this will enable the
player to pause combat, issue orders and then either end the pause or
run time forward a little and issue more orders).
There is very little
magical healing [reports of there being none are false, but it is
rarer and more difficult than past games, and there is no ‘healer’
set of spells]. Potion healing (with a limited number that can be
increased via perks and the like) does come back. Health regeneration
out of combat is strictly limited based on difficulty. There are
various ways to increase health through perks or to diminish damage
likewise (a barrier spell, for example, makes a barrier that takes
damage instead of health so long as it lasts).
A character who runs
out of health in combat can be revived by a spell or by a nearby
character, provided the reviver is not attacked for a little while.
Spells seem to offer
more tactical options (for example, you can make a wall of ice which
could close off a corridor) than past games.
There will not be
second waves of enemies all the damned time (as in Dragon Age 2) but
this might happen very occasionally.
Combat can often be a
weak spot in RPGs (except for Dragon’s Dogma, which somehow managed
to be an RPG with fantastic combat and somewhat rubbish
world-building/story). My guess at this stage is that it’ll work
pretty well, without being trouser-explodingly good.
Is it open world?
Jein. There are
specific areas (forested, desert, mountains etc) but these are very
large (many are larger than all of Origins) and I believe there are
well over 20. Within
these areas there’s lots of scope to explore, so much so steeds
were introduced so you could get around more quickly (fast travel is
possible within areas).
Reports from
journalists who’ve played the game suggest a total size comparable
to Skyrim, and possibly even bigger.
So, it’s not a true
open world, but there is a very large world and plenty of room to go
off the beaten track. One thing Mike Laidlaw, Beardmaster of Bioware,
said was that he wanted every area to have at least one location that
wasn’t part of any quest and that was just there to be found by
exploring.
How the Inquisition
works
The Inquisition will
almost be a character in itself. It will gain power as you progress
through the main and side-quests, enabling you gain perks. In
addition, the choices you make will have a lasting impact (choosing
between rival sides in a war, for example). You will also be able to
send agents out on missions independently of what you and your
companions do. So, it’ll be more than the Grey Wardens were in
Origins. If you played Awakening, it sounds like a much more
developed version of how that worked.
As you conquer areas
you can ally or destroy certain groups, and the forts you take can be
dedicated to trade, espionage or military might.
The Inquisitor will be
able to make judgements about certain individuals, with a wide range
of options over the course of the game (I’d guess only a couple per
individual).
Very basic story
outline
The world is embroiled
in war and attacked by demons, and to quell the turmoil the
Inquisition is formed. It is not loyal to a nation or religion, but
is a law unto itself and seeks to impose order. This can be done
through nice or ruthless means, and whilst there isn’t a ‘full
evil’ option (after all, you’re there to save the world, not end
it) it seems you’ll have a pretty wide range of options from
pragmatic brutality to peace-making compromise.
That’s based on many
things I’ve seen and read ahead of the game’s release, but
that’ll only be proven (or disproven) with the game itself.
Once the main story is
complete, unlike all previous instalments, the game will not end.
Instead, you will be able to keep playing. There is no New Game Plus
option.
Characters
The Inquisition is not
a one man band. In addition to the Inquisitor (the player-character)
there are nine companions (three each of warrior, rogue and mage) and
three advisers who advocate diplomatic, espionage and military means
to resolve problems.
Several characters
return (Varric, Cassandra, Leliana, Cullen amongst others) and others
may or may not based upon the choices you make in the Keep. There’s
a large number of romance options (I think at least four regardless
of gender/race, with more possible for certain combinations). Those
characters interested in amorous relations have a set sexuality (gay,
straight, bi) unlike Dragon Age 2, where anyone would shag Hawke
given the chance.
Longevity and review
plans
Given it’s been
described by many developers and journalists as a massive game (I’ve
heard 30-40 hours, or more, for the main storyline and 150-200+ hours
for all the things in the world) I won’t wait until I’ve finished
my first playthrough to do an initial review. As I’ve done for
other games (such as Skyrim) I’ll do an Early Thoughts review,
indicating my view based on the first few days or so. Once I’ve
completed my first playthrough I’ll do a more comprehensive review
(not sure whether I’ll go straight arrow through the storyline or
dilly-dally picking mushrooms, so it could be over a month before I
finish it).
Anyway, that’s my
preview. A week to go if you’re in the US, and a few days more if you’re
in the UK or other bits of the EU.
Thaddeus
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