6 replies to this topic

[Archmage Silver]

I thought I'd start a thread for the general DAI game discussion (the news comments should be for the news anyway).

 

 

 

 

Thread guidelines:

Use spoiler tags for story, plot etc. You can find the tags under Special BBCode next to Font.

[Archmage Silver]

So, I've logged around 25 hours in the game so far, and I've to balance between doing the side quests and advancing the main plot, with varying success (the completionist inside me screams for finished areas even when my character level isn't adequate). When I started playing the game, I was slightly concerned about how much it looked like Skyrim - keep in mind that I hadn't really followed the news much - but it turns out that I needn't have worried. Once you get out of the Hinterlands (I don't think naming the first major area is that big of a spoiler, so bear with me here), you can definitely see the difference. I think the best advice given to those who share my concern was this piece on Reddit by jmarFTL:

But seriously. LEAVE. THE FUCKING. HINTERLANDS.

Graphically Inquisition is a beast, and I can clearly see that my rig built around an aging Core i5 2500K (@ 4.2 GHz) and a Radeon HD 6950 (@ 870/5200 MHz) isn't meant to run this game on ultra settings at 1920x1200. It's definitely playable on high settings with the latest AMD beta drivers, so I didn't end up upgrading my setup just yet. There are some nagging technical issues as well, like the dialog scenes being locked at 30 fps because of sync issues (is what BioWare said), but apparently many of these issues are being worked on and there will be a patch soon enough. In the meantime, feel free to try this unofficial fix for the dialog cap. I tested it but got some mouse camera turn choppiness in regular play, so I don't currently use the fix. Other than the nagging issues though, the game looks very good if you have the hardware for it.

 

The characters and dialog have held up well so far compared to my expectations, but like said, I need to get further in the game to be able to judge that accurately for myself. Having played a lot CRPGs, the quest system in Inquisition feels intuitive for me - even if the quest log UI is a bit annoying. To be honest, I think the entire game UI is a bit too console-influenced (scrolling, scrolling, scrolling down some more - grid inventory anyone?). If there are to be mods, the UI should be one of the first things to be tackled by modders IMHO.

 

As for the game as a whole, I've actually liked it a lot so far. BioWare needed something big here for the DA franchise, and frankly, I think they hit the nail on the head with Inquisition. Sure, there are some issues and the game isn't perfect by any means, but it's well beyond just solid in my opinion... I'd go as far as to call it excellent - so far. I don't think the level of quality is going to drop later in the game, but I'll certainly have to play more to find out what my final grade for the game will eventually be. It's been a good run so far though.

Edited by Archmage Silver, 26 November 2014 - 12:42 PM.

[Eleima]

Dragon Age: Inquisition Party Banter Issue Under Investigation @ IGN
Dragon Age: Inquisition glitch kills NPC banter @ PC Gamer

[Kulyok]

Yeah, I didn't have a banter glitch in my game, but I had fairly irregular banter - sometimes every five minutes, sometimes once in two hours. Was pretty sad, especially since I had all companions and could mix and match them. Ah well, at least I got almost all Varric/Cassandra/Solas banters - the default party turns out to be the best and most familiar one to me.

 

BTW, some kind youtube user now has videos of almost all the pairs(not videos per se, rather, audios of banters).

 

Here:  youtube.com/watch?v=3ShXTGrDR7Y (and the rest on your right).

(edited, as the forum software insists on embedding a video, for some reason.)

 

 

I finished the game yesterday. I could've gone for another few days, but I got so bored with the sidequests and especially disappointed with the Forgotten Oasis temple(I got almost all the shards, except for the Hissing Wastes, and the reward is so meager, and no dialogue? though I haven't been to the very last room), so I decided to just go with the Temple of Mythal and the rest of it, even though it was a heartbreak(but I got spoiled, so I knew, kind of). It's really sad it's done, but hopefully we'll have DLCs and an expansion and such.

 

Though the main quest was kind of really, really short. Only, what, five big quests after the tutorial, and then a boss battle? I don't know, I liked some of the side quests - Crestwood sequence, for one, was very well done, though a bit abrupt in the end. But they still felt detatched, not as vivid as the Wardens quest and especially the Temple of Mythal. And five quests is just not enoguh - even DA2 had five in each Act and three in the last one.

 

There weren't that many scenes with the characters, either. I got only three romance scenes, and my non-romanced folks also got four or five, maybe. I got almost everyone to max approval(Vivienne and Sera were less than max, I think, but I got all their dialogues, since they professed their friendship and so on). I guess that's happens when you got twelve characters instead of six.

 

 

But 99% of why I love the game was Solas. Just like Anders did it for me in DA2. Origins may have been the best of the three, but the romances didn't work for me on a number of levels - just wasn't for me(except for Tamlen, but well).

Edited by Kulyok, 30 November 2014 - 10:36 PM.

[Yovaneth]

It's currently unplayable for me. The cutscenes stutter horribly and even low-mid range battles start stuttering. I've no idea if I've got the banter bug; I haven't even closed the first rift yet. It's not my PC either: GeForce 970 4Gb, 16GB RAM and and 4.2GHz i7. That should be able to push DA:I around without any trouble. So, it's back to Mass Effect again until the first (or maybe second) patch is released. It's promised but there's no date on it yet.

[Solar's Harper]

Just finished the game too, and in all honesty, I'm shocked I have barely anything negative to say about it in general.  One of the rare times going in blind was a good thing in recent memory.  So much for getting the sterling cynical critic reputation.

 

Worth mentioning that the areas are damned impressive even with moderate settings; long, though a bit more fulfilling in a environmental sense, and the dragons! If I'm in love with anything in this game, it's them through and through.  Darkspawn not so much, a bit sad, ever since DA2 they've kinda fallen by the wayside.  Still trying to puzzle out how Awakening even matters in this one.

 

Though the main quest was kind of really, really short. Only, what, five big quests after the tutorial, and then a boss battle? I don't know, I liked some of the side quests - Crestwood sequence, for one, was very well done, though a bit abrupt in the end. But they still felt detatched, not as vivid as the Wardens quest and especially the Temple of Mythal. And five quests is just not enoguh - even DA2 had five in each Act and three in the last one.

 

There weren't that many scenes with the characters, either. I got only three romance scenes, and my non-romanced folks also got four or five, maybe. I got almost everyone to max approval(Vivienne and Sera were less than max, I think, but I got all their dialogues, since they professed their friendship and so on). I guess that's happens when you got twelve characters instead of six.

 

Well, technically speaking Origins wasn't much longer in terms of the main quest either, it just seemed that way thanks to how long it took.  Dear lord the deep roads are forever, good for a underground darkspawn tainted environment, but forever.

 

The approval thing is worth mentioning as definetely improved from previous titles, almost impossible to honestly please everyone and make the hard decisions.  That said, some decisions don't seem overly necessary sometimes in hindsight, one particular moment sticks to mind near endgame when a particular option appears to be completely ignored despite being mentioned as a choice.  And let's not get started on the long waiting time one might get with the war table, one wasn't even worth a hundredth of the time required.

 

Companions, well now here's a mixed bag of impressions if one could ever find one.  On one hand, they all more or less actually engage the hero as a person and symbol both.  The fact alone that many react to something you recently did, or you can say something during or after a certain banter pops up adds considerably to the desire to actually interact and connect with these people.

 

On the other hand, development of characters is a bit lopsided towards the sudden change or no change in some respects.  Sera, in particular stands out in mind for me anyway, that said the differences there between who you are are definitely worth re-runs to see... and maybe get a little angry at in the process.

 

Overall, I'd say the years of waiting for Inquisition were worth it.  Especially considering what could've otherwise been the case.  Engine's a bit resource intense, character and plot development's a mix of everything, the voice-acting was a delight to listen to, and dragons fights are magnificently uh, engaging?

 

Darkspawn still look silly though.  And have bad hat styles.

Still waiting on darkspawn griffons.  This was all disturbingly positive, wasn't it?

 

Edit: Oh! And the combat system, higher reliance on manually dodging the hit? My goodness, approval gained! Still, it's selectively destructible terrain Bioware, not completely.  Close, though.

Edited by Solar's Harper, 13 December 2014 - 05:09 AM.

[Kulyok]

A great Dragon Age: Inquisition song by a popular rock band (mild spoilers in the visuals, I guess): youtube.com/watch?v=3MVqdYcbDp8

Edited by Kulyok, 18 December 2014 - 12:45 AM.