14 DAY TRIAL // Dragon Age: Inquisition may be a fast-paced role-playing game that allows players to go on all sorts of adventures, but it also has a strategic metagame, as the protagonist must also lead the Inquisition in an effort to save the world.
Dragon Age: Inquisition launches this fall and tasks players with controlling the Inquisitor, a person that needs to form the Inquisition, like the name implies, and lead it in order to stop a dangerous event from destroying the whole world of Thedas.
Like in previous games, players can form a party of allies and go on all sorts of adventures, epic battles, and complex quests designed to tell them more about the world, about the dangers they're facing, and about ways to stop the major event.
However, players will also have in their home base of Skyhold a special war table from where they can lead the Inquisition's efforts as part of a strategic metagame.
Here, major decisions are made and the Inquisitor can actually feel the power he or she is wielding as the leader of the faction, according to BioWare's Mike Laidlaw, who talks with GameInformer.
"The war table is your central command," he says. "You get the sense that that the things you’re doing – from throwing little rocks in the pond to tossing a boulder now and then – the war table tells the story of the Inquisition’s growth and helps you, as commander, make decisions. You start feeling like you have this massive influence throughout the world, and you get these detailed reports back from your advisors."
During the game, players will earn quite a few different resources, with three being of the upmost importance.
The Influence is more or less the XP of the Inquisitor protagonist and grows depending on how many adventures and quests are completed. Upon unlocking a new influence level, players can spend points on different upgrades that allow them to carry more potions into battle or harvest more crafting materials during regular gameplay.
Besides earning influence, players also deal with Power, as they earn it by developing the Inquisition and must spend it in order to unlock optional areas or to advance the main story quest.
Last but not least, another resource is Time, as players can delegate different quests and adventures to their own agents, which in turn finish them in real time. While regular missions will be completed in a straightforward manner, some will require decisions from the Inquisitor.
Fans shouldn't feel like they're running in a rat race, however, as all the resources will be earned and spent organically as part of the whole Dragon Age: Inquisition adventure, according to BioWare.
The new game debuts on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in November.
