Dragon Age Inquisition was Bioware's Worst RPG to Date

[Ishal]

Worst? Eh... not quite.

I only got as far as Skyhold before stopping. By the looks of things I didn't miss out on much, since the game doesn't seem to change from there til the end. Every let's play, stream, and even my friend playing it makes me glad I didn't go further. The story being generic isn't that bad imo. It's still better than DA II's story. And I make the distinction of saying "DA II's story" not, "What DA II's story would have been if not for time constraints blah blah." The time skipping for DA II alone wrecked that story and shredded any sense of coherence. Not to mention the railroading. Inquisition might have been generic, but that's fine. I'm content to go through the motions of a generic story, so long as it has a nice party with some twists and turns along the way... and there we have the problems.

1) Corypheus being the elder one was such a letdown. I recognized his profile during the prologue when they showed the divine being held up for sacrifice. I hoped they wouldn't use the villain from a DA II DLC, but I was wrong. Very lazy.

2) The party was... not for me. I can't say it was bad, but I can't say it was good either. I just didn't care. I was interested in Dorian, then I just didn't care. Sera... is the most annoyingly cringe-worthy character I've ever seen in any game, bar none. She was never in my party. I don't even know why i recruited her. Vivienne was awful as well. The more I watched my friend play the more it became apparent she was the stand in disapproving character for Morrigan. I can't really put my finger on why the party banter, and the whole idea of party RPG's just isn't my thing anymore. I plan on playing Pillars of Eternity at some point, so hopefully my attitude changes by then.

I just don't like Bioware games anymore. I watched Archengeia do his "Lore-runs" on ME2, ME3, DA:O, and DA II. If you watched all the critiques of the ME3 ending when that was a really hot topic, you probably saw him. I'm talking the time when everyone was first accused of being entitled, and were making videos about it. Archengeia was in one with Mr. Btongue and others. He was making really good points about Bioware games, their strengths, weaknesses, and what about their stories were compelling. And the whole time I just remember sitting there thinking, "I just don't care... I can't share in the enthusiasm."

The gameplay itself was something I've already played before, and so have you. It played almost exactly like SW:TOR.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I feel by focusing so much on having interesting characters in your party really hurt this game. And no, not "hur dur diversity" stuff, though that does play a part. I just felt like they tried too hard, built up hype, and came up short.

Stuff like this just rubbed me the wrong way, and to be honest, I think it says a lot.

Spoiler

They had a colorful cast of characters, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I rather liked Iron Bull up and to a point. Same with Cole and Solas. You have a diversified cast, but at what cost? Diverse cast, sub par game. wOOt.

Also... SET.IT.ON.FIRE.

Spoiler

 

[deeman010]

I agree with the OP. Despite all the rave reviews, I just couldn't get into it because of the game's mechanics. Moving between quests takes too long and, despite the gorgeous scenery, is boring (not that much to do in between deliveries). I also hate all the small animations your character has to do when he/she does something like looting. I found 2's inventory system better as well, it's such a hassle to navigate on a controller but that might just be me. Combat felt kinda clunky for me.

 

[Palmerama]

I have to say I agree! I got it for 360 & the loading times are just horrendouse and the loading screens are just black! You get the cards to read for the screens that load quickly! What's the point?

It doesn't help that the big battle isn't at all like I thought it would be. I thought this is the time to go further with what they did in Mass Effect 2 on the suicide run. But everyone is ok. No main character is ever at risk!

After the complaints about the maps in DA2 (which I agree were lazy but I enjoyed the rest of the game), they've gone the comlpete other end, amking them massive just because they could.

The combat is more flimsy as well. I liked the more dynamic parts of DA2 but just holding the trigger down to attack makes it feel lifeless. The dynamic camera is 50/50 help & hindrance.

The writing is fairly good and the interactions between the characters is definately the best part of the game.

But one thing for me is that the game is ugly as sin! Character models looked like they were sketched with charcoal and have more copy paste frames then any other Bioware game I've played. After the smoothness of DA2 (which in fairness the characters emoted quite well in cutscenes and conversations), this looked hideous and there is barely any emotion coming from the faces.

It might be their worst game to date but it's definately the worst Dragon Age game (apart from that facebook game of course).

 

[Fdzzaigl]

I disagree. Mostly for the reason that people seem to take out a couple of negative aspects of this game and then conclude that it's "the worst", without looking at the global picture. A bit like multiplying by zero once you meet a few criteria that you dislike.

Personally I did have quite a few things I disliked as well, but mostly the opposite ones of yours.

For one, the game is piss-easy after level 11, even on the highest difficulty settings. I killed high dragons in mere seconds with a well balanced party.

Most of the other issues can be tracked down to improper pacing.

Loading screens were short enough on PC and "loot all" didn't ever bother me. Then again, I'm trained like a monkey to press those loot buttons due to being an MMO veteran. There are mods out for PC now to reduce those times as well.

 

[Zydrate]

I have 80 hours played and haven't beaten it yet. Must have done something right. Granted not every hour was enjoyable and each character restart takes ~6 hours before the game really 'begins' but beyond that, it's solid.

 

[runic knight]

Well, this is not an encouraging look at the game to be sure. I like DA:O ad while it has problems, I still enjoy it. I avoided DA:2 because aside from a strange perfect score here, it seemed a step in a direction I didn't like much and never got back around to scooping it up on the cheap. Was looking forward to DA:I, and even played a little on a friend's console which I did enjoy some, but I noticed a lot of the issues raised here even for the short play time. I may still catch it for cheap sometime down the line like I planned, but This does suggest I wont miss anything much if I don't bother.

 

[Carzinex]

I played origins countless times, even liked da2 enough for multiple play throughs. Mass effect.....even liked 3 (sorry folks).

So when Inquisition came out I booked a weeks holiday, found out how to use a vpn so I could play it day 1 in the UK and told the girlfriend she was getting no attention for a while. I have to say I thought it was great.....but I've completed it once, just once, no interest to play it more, no interest in finding out differing outcomes I've just lost interest in it completely. I can't put my finger on why and I also have no real interest in figuring out why.

 

[K12]

I don't know what it is about the internet where everything either has to be the worst thing ever or a triumphant return to the glory days.

 

[PirateRose]

To me what's disappointing about this game has a lot to do with the story.

I think doing open worlds(in this case, semi-open world) and a good, captivating story at the same time is extremely difficult to do right. Also, from my understanding the game started as an MMO. Which I can really feel the elements of that in there. The world for DA:I Is very gorgeous, but the story suffers so much as a result. The story is so in the background and so light and safe, you forget it. 80 hours into the game I overheard an NPC say I ended the Mage Templar war and I was completely confused when that had happened. I thought it was still ongoing and I just picked a side to fight along. Nothing is very engaging, the only thing that really made me want to replay is to see the other side of the Mage/Templar decision, but I can't be bothered. I even know I can look it up on youtube, but I'm very meh about it.

The whole story feels extremely safe too. They were really afraid to take too many risks with this game or have too dire of consequences to choices. Even that big choice everyone has freaked out about that involves two characters from previous games. That is extremely easy in retrospect. Literally it affects nothing but potentially a players personal feelings if they care about both of the characters(which the majority of the time, they really are not going to give two shits about one of them). I doubt they'll make it do anything in the DLC because they won't want to make people replay this game for that other person. It's probably a result of the overwhelmingly negative feedback with ME3 and DA2. They have literally caved to what a certain portion of the fan base has wanted. A lot of real easy black and white choices, a barfing quality happy ending with a party of people making out with your ass and a sunset, and finally to feel like the unstoppable perfect god that can't do anything wrong (especially if they are being "morally good").

Also, let's not forget how some serious personal stuff for the Inquisitor happens in stupid war table missions. From my understanding, the elven Inquisitor's entire dalish clan be massacred and there is absolutely no reaction in the main game to it. I know for my playthrough, I was pretty shocked when my qunari Inquisitor's mercenary team was rounded up by crazy fanatics and were nearly all massacred, three or four of them die no matter what you do, and there was absolutely no reaction in the game. Oh hey, everyone you know and love is dead. Isn't that moving and dramatic and deep, lol, moving on to the next random moving and dramatic and deep thing.

The companion characters all felt very shallow and incomplete. I was really looking forward to all of them, only to spend the entire game wondering when I'd actually get to know them. Apparently a lot of their personality is in their glitched out ambient conversations out in the fields. Which was a horrible choice considering they can't set up easy conversation trigger points in the semi-open world like the previous games. Once I finally got the companion side story quests, I'd think that was the just beginning of their story only to realize no that's the end of their story unless I romance them. It was like Mass Effect 2 all over again. And if you couldn't romance them, it was like meeting Aveline at the beginning of DA2, and not learning she had a husband until the third act where she brings you randomly along to see him slowly dying of blight. Then she makes you decide whether she should do the stabbing or you should do the stabbing. Afterwards, she just shrugs it off after a little pep talk and then tells you how wonderful you are.

I was really annoyed by all the over the top hero worshiping. Literally, half the stuff the Inquisitor does is handed to them and the other half are complete accidents. Yet everyone acts like the world would have ended without the Inquisitor because the Inquisitor is so amazing and perfect and amazing and perfect and god like and amazing and perfect *everyone breaks in fanatic religious singing.* If you ask me, the world would have ended with the Inquisitor if they were not given all of the Elder One's plans and most of the supporting characters are just blind idiots rushing towards a cliff.

If you play a morally "good" character, you can make people change their opinions on a dime just because you're nice. There were so many times I thought I was about to get an argument because my Inquisitors views were different from a companion characters, and then be utterly surprised that the other character would be like "Nah, you're right. I'm wrong." Hardly any argument at all.

That whole rivalry function in DA2 has me spoiled rotten. Cause here's the thing, people can co-exist and not agree on everything. Your closest friends can be the ones that make fun of you and call you horrible names. Your closest friends can be the ones who call you out when you make a mistake, or dare to call you out even if you are right. And you can make horrible mistakes when you're a good nice person. Even with some of the romances it was just real, because real couples do get into arguments a lot and then make up later and are stronger for it.

Also, it was just incredibly nice in DA2 to be playing a small time hero. Why the hell do we have to go about saving the entire planet or entire galaxy every time. It's just boring. I was talking to my friends about how Hawke is obviously the weakest of the three Dragon Age heroes, but that's what makes them the most interesting of the three. And unfortunately it seems like the fan base wants the same old boring stuff.

 

[snekadid]

I agree, tho Mechanics #4 is inaccurate as in Diablo 3 you can get gear upgrades from trash mobs, in DA I you can't, its always garbage and good loot only ever drops from set named mobs and specific loot chests so looting for anything but research items is completely pointless.

To add to the colossal fuck up that is this game:

The AI doesn't work most of the time. Unlike previous DA games(even the crappy DA2) there is no real AI control for your companions, making the poor effort they put in absolutely horrible. They only recently made it so that archers don't run into melee range in combat "as often". Let me repeat that, ARCHERS, 5 MONTHS AFTER RELEASE, NO LONGER RUN INTO MELEE COMBAT AS OFTEN. This of course does not fix the problem of archers not attacking enemies while the rest of the party is in combat because they didn't enter the archers standing range. Also, the Necromancers minion does not attack if the enemy was
A. doing any action such as charging, attacking or using any ability. If they were then they will continue with the action and then stand still until you release them.
B. CCed in anyway, in which case they will again, stand in place until you release them after the CC lets them go.

They made a game with a max of 40 hours of content and stretched it to over 100.

The game has no actual challenge. This is because they went with the MMO school of stating where your level is actually its own stat and not just a number representing how far you've come. This means that fights are either piss easy or literally impossible regardless of gear equipped since the enemy damage dealt and received is more affected by whether you out level them or not. You can of course win against enemies that out level you, however they become difficult to find as you level ridiculously fast and their levels cap out far under yours. This is most obvious when you fight dragons, which under test conditions, can wipe you with little damage taken if they out level you, but one level later (equal leveled) with no gear changes or even using the skill points are dead with almost no potions used.

Possible spoilers: some of the characters are flat out Bipolar, and this is coming from someone that is actually Bipolar. Liliana is perhaps the worst, and the reasoning given is ridiculous. Check out the wiki if you want clearer details but essentially, you get 3 conversations with her and if you pick any option but a specific one in each conversation she becomes evil at the end of the game. What? And she blames you for it too! WHAT?!

Finally, fuck ORIGIN or the Dragon age servers or w/e the fuck they want to call them. Constantly disconnected during gameplay which while playing single player wouldn't be a big deal, but since it never reconnects the next time you start the game Origin asks you to delete your local game data because your cloud data is less recent.... WHAT?! You can refuse and delete the cloud data but why is that even a option?! The most recent one should be the one you keep, why is the first option on the box to delete the more current saved data? And fuck the 2-3 minute load times for doing anything.

 

[Def25]

Well i dont think this is worse than 2, but the truth is its nowhere near GOTY quality, lets face it this year had bad games. When witcher 3 comes out, no one will talk about this game.

It is clearly going towards action and console audience dont let bioware fool you with HUR DUR we are going back to the old days nonsense. The game is pretty good as a game itself for being a large open world game with alot of stuff to do. Now best rpg in a long time? Nope. It is clear that the game is designed with shortcuts ripped from mmos such as fetch quests and generic loot. I think it really need work on the animations sector. It shares alot of problems of da 2 and i also believe it got a free pass because "progressive". Just like many other games in 2014 it is full of bugs. Yes the game has some weird design decisions and the cutscenes are running on 30 fps for some reason. Oh and yeah it is typical bioware chilche story chart and the dialogues are subpar.

Having played kingdoms of amalaur the game does not feel much diffirent and it is sad it got such high recognition and sales. I dont understand why bioware even has fans at this day and era with all the things they have done, them and ea have dug themselfs so deep that i dont think anyone can take them seriously.

However id play a new mass effect game if it had open world and tons of sidequests like this, i dont care about dialogue that bioware is famous i just want a sci fi far cry if that makes any sense.

 

[kampfturke]

I agree with OP.
DA:I was very poor and the hype is not earned.

Here an example. I completed all my Bioware games in a few days. I also played most repeatedly and still remember them with fondness.
I have played DA:I till level 11 (I bought it on release) and I struggle to play it.
The combat system is terrible as I play a close range fighter. I guess as a mage it works better, due to not having to move much to attack an enemy.
The looting system is shit and feels like Bioware took a time machine to the 90's.
The side-quests remind me more of MMORPG grinds then anything else.

It is a "nice" game with some nice story and some nice ideas. But overall as a gaming/rpg veteran and a once huge huge fan of Bioware, I can only say they have gone backwards and have forgotten what makes a good game.

Please Bioware reply your old maserpieces for some inspiration.

 

[OpticalJunction]

I haven't finished the game yet, but the entire redcliffe castle quest was reminiscent of Dragon age origins, same with the approach to Skyhold. There are some gems in this game, they're just spread out across hours and hours of MMO filler. Also the world is TOO open for a game like this, the hinterlands could've been cut by half and been just as good. It's too easy to get distracted by menial side quests. Environment designs are generally beautiful though, kudos to them for that. And the music score is quite good too. Companion characters I can't really comment on, because party chatter is too infrequent, and the visual camera not focusing on the character's face, like it used to in DA1, makes it somehow less personal. The main story is quite generic and forgettable, especially when key plot points are interspersed with miles of filler, destroying any sense of momentum. The keyboard and mouse controls are terrible. It plays well with a gamepad though, and was obviously designed with one in mind.

Overall DAI is a seriously mixed bag. It is a GOOD game in many technical areas, it ticks all the right boxes, graphics, game length, story driven, multiple companions, etc. Yet it lacks the magic of DA1 or even the idiosyncratic charm of DA2, which despite being a rush job, still had a better sense of what it wanted to be, a personal story about Hawke and his friends and family. In DAI, what is it supposed to be, an action game or story driven RPG? Open world or linear? And what's the Inquistor supposed to be? What is his motivation? Why am I the one closing rifts, and why should I care about the mages vs templars, when I'm a Qunari rogue? Why does everyone just automatically assume that I'm the best person to lead the Inquisition? It's just strange. It's like they looked at Skyrim's success and thought OPEN WORLD is what people want! Or Witcher's loot system and thought, LOOTING is what people want! Ignoring whether or not it makes sense in the context of dragon age.

Each iteration of this franchise has been significantly different from the last. DA 2 was nothing like DA1, and DAI is nothing like DA2 or 1, except for the visual style in some respects. Mass effect 2 was also quite different from mass effect 1, but they kept the direction in Mass effect 3 to its benefit. They also kept the 3! Didn't hide behind an alternative title like Mass effect: Reaposition, or some crap. Here it's as though they're starting from scratch every next game. They might as well create a new franchise if they're going to do that, because having Dragon Age in the title implies it's going to be a continuation of the past games. Bethesda manages to retain the general direction of each elder scrolls game, while still improving its features and adapting it to a modern audience, it's clear they have a strong vision for that series. Bioware could learn from that kind of organization.

 

[JustAnotherAardvark]

They made a game with a max of 40 hours of content and stretched it to over 100.

Amen. I would add "for no apparent reason".
I knocked out DAO in an absurdly obsessed weekend; this didn't diminish the later replay value.
DAI ... I don't really want to load again after completing it.

 

[RobXSIQ]

I read the first sentence of the OP, stopped and just came down to comment due to spoiler issues.

I am about 40 hours into the game..its taken me forever to get to this point because although it is niceish to look like (a slightly modded skyrim is far superior), it just isn't really gripping me. its wordy but not really drawing me into the story. there is tons of lore, but nothing that is intriguing me. I want it to. I spent a fair amount of money on this game..am gonna assume that as the story progresses more, it will be a slow but strong draw thing...but so far here is my views:


+dull story. It just is. the herald of andraste..still not sure how that is meant to be anything special outside of portal closing..but what a weird superpower to have.

I just am not feeling very strong, after 40 hours, I have a few basic moves that repeat over and over with a slow crawl down of life, meanwhile, my party and self get pummeled fairly frequently..herald of wimpy. perhaps its because I am a mage, but I heard fighters have issues..as in you cant move and swing, so its basically a frustrating battle overall..let npcs deal with that

+village of the ugly. Seriously, not a single attractive female. you got pignose, scarface, pudding, baldy, hell, they even managed to make Liliana look plain...how..but why..and what?!

Obviously bioware is going more for the whole gender equality/androgony thing while focusing on the female demographic..fine, whatever, but since when is it cool to purposefully make females exclusively unattractive? are women no longer allowed to be sexy/attractive?
I can only hope my former crush Morrigan will save the day here, because I feel defaulted to be with the dull butch warrior chick verses the far more interesting personality lesbian with the pig nose (given I am a male)
one of Bioware's crowning achievements is romance in their RPG...I frakking love..LOVE their romances. it is one of the main reasons I get bioware story rpg games. I got so crazy hooked on KOTOR back in the day due to it being a good game, and one of the best romances developed.
This game...honestly I think so far I accidentally became more interested in freaking Cullen than anyone else..considering I guess only men enjoy sex in the dragon age universe. (that escalated quickly..one errant click and he went full Mr Mackey)
My god Morrigan..show up already and save me from these vermin choices...and please be as interesting as you were in Origins..they all but lobotomized Liliana.


+Mod support minimal: ok, so the above situation would be improved slightly if there was a option to mod the game a bit. maybe take off some of the 2 gallons of sweat on Sera, and give her a slightly human nosejob, etc..perhaps grow the hair slightly of the warrior chick I find so disinteresting that I literally can't remember her name, etc...also maybe add in a few different animation variations for battles..but nope..none of that..modding is seemingly either just not cared about, or so difficult that the nexus all but gave up trying.



That's about it. I will eventually get through this, and perhaps once I get to the end, I might be all..wow, that turned out awesome after all, and play a game.

Am I whining? yep...I paid for the digital deluxe edition a week after it came out, I am allowed to whine.


I will most definitely be playing Mass Effect 4 when it comes out..so don't be thinking I am some bioware hater. I know the potential for the company, and think most of the people working there are actually really cool people (if a bit pretentious at times...some are gigantic bags of wangs mind you, but most are really cool)...I am just wanting a better experience for this already.

 

[BarryMcCociner]

? Pacing is horrible it gets better after about 20 hours sort of like Final Fantasy 13 but that's not really a strong suit

Here's my issue with statements like that. If you need to honestly wait that long for things to get bearable then it's not worth the wait.

Think ASoIaF, two chapters in and you're completely and utterly hooked, not only has the book already proven itself competently written at that point but it's already established its own identity.

But I don't find Inquisition competently developed, and I don't feel like it has any identity of its own (a sad fact I'm saying that about more and more games recently.)

A good story makes you want to finish it before you've even started.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I can only hope my former crush Morrigan will save the day here, because I feel defaulted to be with the dull butch warrior chick verses the far more interesting personality lesbian with the pig nose (given I am a male)

one of Bioware's crowning achievements is romance in their RPG...I frakking love..LOVE their romances. it is one of the main reasons I get bioware story rpg games. I got so crazy hooked on KOTOR back in the day due to it being a good game, and one of the best romances developed.

Morrigan is not romanceable, unfortunately.

My girlfriend spoke well of the Cullen romance. Not wanting to tread the same waters she did, my Fem-quisitor romanced Blackwall, and it was the most tedious non-event of a romance since Jacob Taylor. Really poorly written, oddly accelerated, zero payoff. Terrible stuff. I almost started the game over at the 75% mark to romance someone else, and might have done if the sheer weight of the busywork side-quests hadn't dissuaded me.

 

[RobXSIQ]

Morrigan is not romanceable, unfortunately.

-just cries.


I mean, in a weird way, I am kinda happy about that, due to her and my char from Origins being quite the couple, so would be weird imo if she simply moved on without any resolution there, but still...
.
welp..looks like Arnold swordbitch with the Prussian accent is default lay. Thanks bioware...you had one job...ONE JOB!!!

 

[BloatedGuppy]

welp..looks like Arnold swordbitch with the Prussian accent is default lay.

Hey I liked Cassandra. And there was always Josephine if you needed someone more "femme".

Just be happy you didn't get stuck with the female options. Solas was Elf-only, Cullen was Alistair-Lite, and the rest were a mixed bag of awful to say the least.

Bioware has been sticking it to female protagonists in terms of romance options since they first trotted out Anomen Delryn.