14 DAY TRIAL // Dragon Age: Inquisition allows characters to engage in make-shift trials for certain characters they meet during the campaign, casting judgments and deciding their ultimate fates, for better or worse.
Dragon Age: Inquisition, like its name suggests, follows the adventures of the inquisition, a new faction that spawns in the continent of Thedas in order to save it from a deadly upcoming event, and is led by the actual player, who takes on the role of the Inquisitor.
Besides going on sprawling adventures, engaging in epic battles, and deciding the fate of the continent, players will also set up their seat of power in the castle of Skyhold, where they'll occupy the grand throne.
Here, besides ruling over the forces of the inquisition and growing the faction's power, players can also cast judgments on different characters that are presented to him or her during the story campaign.
All trials are important for the story, according to BioWare's Mike Laidlaw, which has talked with GameInformer about the special mechanic.
"Judgments serve two purposes. One is feeling in command, but they also provide a way for us to wrap up some of the loose ends," he explains. "They’re never just arbitrary. Because you did X, or because you dealt with Y, then the characters are brought before you. As a result, you already have the context. You have been dealing with these guys – or opposing them in many cases – and now they are brought before you."
Many of verdicts end up affecting the inquisition, for better or worse, so they shouldn't be taken lightly, although some outcomes are certainly outlandish, according to Laidlaw. Also, some take into account previous actions made in the earlier missions of the role-playing experience.
"One that I enjoy is a character who, over the course of the game and depending on what you do, it’s possible to almost talk them down rather than going into direct conflict," he says. "Sort of a social victory."
"I don’t want to into details as to how, but that character is then brought to you for trial. In terms of consequences, that character has a ton of information and could end up working with your spies, making them globally more effective. It is also possible, depending on your mood, to sentence that character to permanently become your court jester."
Dragon Age: Inquisition is set to include quite a few interesting situations when it launches later this fall for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One around the world.
