A big world to explore and to enjoy however one sees fit

Dec 31, 2014 11:09 GMT  ·  By

Dragon Age: Inquisition is so big that the development team at BioWare could have taken just the Hinterlands major area and the small locations associated with the core narrative and it could have delivered a role-playing game experience that most fans would have loved.

The actual game has at least eight times as much content to offer and the sheer quantity of experiences, battles, and stories that it delivers make it my Game of the Year, a title that I plan to continue spending time with during the first few months of 2015.

The moments that best illustrate why Dragon Age: Inquisition is the best game of the year are the dragon fights, when the player needs to use the resources of his party members and some innovative tactics in order to take out the huge beats that live in the various regions of Thedas.

The flying creatures tend to have a variety of powers and breathe everything from fire to electricity, and combat against them involves solid preparation and well thought-out orders.

The four slots of the player party need to be filled with characters that have complementary powers and the Focus abilities can deliver some important advantages, but dragon battles are always very tense and immersive moments that make Inquisition feel special.

Dragon Age: Inquisition creates a world that feels alive

BioWare has long aimed to create a living world for their major releases and the new Dragon Age shows how far they have progressed, creating a complex web of small stories that create a world that feels believable and engaging.

The dragon combat is impressive but smaller moments, like simply talking to Varric or to Dorian, can also create emotion, even when BioWare tries a little too hard to link Thedas with the real world and its issues.

Sure there are those who will criticize Inquisition for the faster than normal combat, the limited Tactical Mode, or the fact that romances are still weird and too mechanics-driven.

But BioWare’s most recent effort captures the Game of the Year award because it is big enough to accommodate a variety of play styles and choices while also having enough replayability to make sure that the player who put in 50 hours to finish it will be eager to jump in again for a second run through.

A full evaluation of Dragon Age: Inquisition can be found in the official Softpedia review.

Dragon Age: Inquisition GOTY 2014 Images (15 Images)

Story and tactics
Dragon combatWar table view
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