14 DAY TRIAL // Dragon Age: Inquisition is the game that has so far occupied 150 hours of my life and will probably manage to do the same for another 50 or 60 in the coming winter months, and while I also enjoy the combat and the exploration, I mostly appreciate the new BioWare experience for its impressive use of role-playing game features.
The development team knows how to create a world that slowly draws the player in and makes them part of the action without eliminating their need to learn more information and to often make decisions that require a bit of guessing or faith.
Dragon Age: Inquisition manages to make the protagonist settle into his role as soon as the detailed characters creation process starts, with more options than ever before and the capacity to deliver a wide variety of results.
The first 10 hours of the experience feel like a rather classic take on the genre and I was actually a little disappointed with the work BioWare had done, but then the team manages to deliver a solid surprise and put the title on an entirely new different path.
Dragon Age: Inquisition offers many interlocking stories
The world of the game, now comprised of locations in both Orlais and Ferelden, is designed to be one filled with choices, even if most of them will not have an impact on the core narrative.
Dragon Age: Inquisition does have plenty of classically designed quests and combat moments, but the title is at its best when it presents a situation to players and asks them how they plan to react.
Morality is no longer an issue, gifts are not featured, and that means every gamer can choose to react as they would in a similar situation, pushing themselves into the world of the game, or as the backstory of their characters dictates, playing a role.
The writing in the game, from the codex to the banter and the cutscene conversations, is also very solid, as is the voice acting for most main characters.
Both are equally valid approaches and they show how good BioWare is at creating compelling situations.
The only problem with Dragon Age: Inquisition is the relatively limited characterization linked to the main villain, who does not particularly inspire fear and seems even less of a threat than his many henchmen.
A full Softpedia review for Dragon Age: Inquisition is also available with more info on game mechanics.
