RPG all hype but weak punch....the inquisition
Dragon age inquisition
They talked themselves of the inquisition as it would be like founding the Jedi order
When the concept of the inquisition was talked about, I thought what was going to separate this from the war assets of me3?
Whats going to differentiate all forces joining the inquisition from origins all forces join the wardens through treaties story arc?
Sadly nothing
The key difference was suppose to be precise control over war assets[inquisition forces] which isn't the case here.
Different projects, opening up roadways, rebuilding bases and creating new infrastructure is actually very linear and only slightly impactful on gameplay and has little to do with player agency
I thought that maps would have enemy bases that would make deployment of inquisition forces a tactical and key element of the game
Info governing the inquisition needed to be explicit. I should know inquisition funds, soldier numbers, locations, and gear.
Instead its application is linear and simply implied.....this is next gen not genesis, there's no reason to be vague.
I was so excited about capturing a keep for the first time and then realized it didn't really mean much, its not as if its near essential to a campaign or allows a foothold in territory
Recruiting agents is nothing more than a time buffer for advisors, some have a little join cutscene and then are promptly reduced to irrelevance.
This could of been a very interesting subplot of the game if these decisions actually had weight, like what if those agents could betray you or be double agents but they are operation time buffers...nothing more
Its easy to end up with a lot more points than you need. Also I believe 85% of those operations are just gloried text and a few item grabs. Yes deciding which advisor should take the mission has some effect but nothing notable.
1 of things DA dev's talked about is every game, new character; however i think differently on this philosophy
This means that the main character will never truly grow or develop anymore than the generic template for every game they commit to this formula, unlike Sheperd, a preset char that can be customized like Geralt, and in certain respects Hawke. Instead its more companion centric
The dialouge system that was spoken of as having been overhauled still suffers at its philosophical core foundation level, that cursed approval system. ME was great because conversations, actions, things said in conversations gave an opportunity for those convos to be more organic and when controversy did happen your Shep could have his reasons or actions no matter what.
Since your decisions are only slightly impactful you can say that companion approval is the only meager influence on them
You should always want decisions and actions to impact the player multidimensionally, part of this is why you want a living world, but I'll get to that latter
They promoted it as burden of leadership, all i can say is "not really"
Speaking of player agency most of the decisions are to simply complete or to do, rather than divide into "either this or that",or "consequence severe or less severe"
The decisions that are suppose to be significant hardly impact the living world in which you play, they are just simply spoken of, and in text, or in endgame pictures.
The regions are big and varied however
An alive world means ecosystem, it means global econonmy to a degree, it means ripple effects, that people in the game are alive not just muted cosmetic space ram, that consequence just isn't felt by the player but by everyone to the appropriate
degree.
Games like Witcher 2 I think of Flotsam in particular as the identity of the city living and breathing along with the living Npcs. Skyrim, even fable2 you can interact with every character, Fallout3/ new Vegas
The point is not to copy those games, rather understand the inherent advantages that come with having real places with real npcs that have full identity and stories happening on their own, and for you to impact it.
It allows for far more versatile story telling and immersion instead of a glorified playset in the background that's detached from you in the foreground
The ability to press down on a button to have a closeup cam would of been nice, some conversations very in weight and it would of been nice to have had this option
Not much on combat except I'll say its more based on skill than previous dragon ages, and none of your characters are helpless simply because of class in certain situations as in previous games, this was a tremendous improvement
"Spoilers"
!!!!!
I know decisions like Mages/Templars, new Devine are suppose to be significant they just don't feel like it because they aren't. Decisions in these games need to impact the player multidimensionally during the game, not here's a tarot card of the character at the end of the game and this is what may have happened.
The other disappointment is that there was great potential in Thedas for many agendas to challenge the inquisition, but all are simply subservient
to Corephiyus which ultimately took away from the field
Discrepancies in the keep i noticed if alive Warden romanced Morrigan even if he stabbed her in witch hunt, she responds the same in inquisition even if romance continued in witch hunt
Why Justina?? What is it that she was a powerful obstacle yes, however its implied that it was simply an accident. Where did the wardens kidnap her, where did they take her, how did the inquisitor end up there? Was he bringing the wardens milk and cookies? Where were her guards?
It would of been better to have all that in the game and then let the mystery unfold
Disappointed, keeping a story going is not about stringing people along, but rather bringing to a close certain issues which in turn should create and open up new things naturally, instead its just grown stale along with their tired formula.
This game was not what next gen rpgs needed to be about. The inability to change, improve and evolve in the way I felt they should've doesn't mean they can't....will see by me4 if there is a true decline inside the bioware halls