Poll: Has Dragon Age Inquisition out-skyrimmed Skyrim?

[thejboy88]

For a long time, Skyrim has been thought of as the top dog in terms of fantasy video games, at least in terms of games made in the last few years. However, recently, the latest entry into the DA franchise, Inquisition, has been getting praise after praise, to the point where people are starting to say that it's the new king of fantasy video games, usurping Skyrim's spot.

Do you agree with this?

 

[Gengisgame]

I don't know what parallel universe your from traveler but I would very much like to play your version of DAI.

In all serious maybe someone has said that but personally DAI is a pale shadow of Skyrim in terms of scope and it's an ok but dissapointing Bioware game which is a massive dissapointment when Bioware games should not be simply ok.

The quest design is mostly bog standard filler content that most companies use when they use open worlds which eats into the smaller amount of well rounded quests they use to do and breaks up the pacing of a shortened story campaign. Skyrim was a world filled with lots of miniature campaigns and although it's story telling isn't as good as the standard Bioware game the gameplay, world building, lore and immersion are top notch.

 

[Barbas]

Nah, not at all. I think EA tried to do what several other companies have done, without knowing why those companies are very good at it. As a result, Dragon Age: Inquisition is a good game but a hodgepodge of ideas and mechanics that don't work ideally in the game's setting. The dialogue also doesn't seem to make as much sense as it did in Origins. What I've seen so far is a highly entertaining game that's visually well polished and has a lot to do, but is held back from being great by its design elements conflicting rather than meshing well and complementing one another.

 

[Evonisia]

I certainly felt the ripples of Skyrim's cultural impact well into 2012. Inquisition was insanely popular but has been quieting down since like January, at least from my perspective.

Hell, Grand Theft Auto V couldn't even unseat Skyrim from its throne, and Inquisition hasn't even touched that yet.

 

[Casual Shinji]

No.

And that's because Inquisition isn't an open-world adventure game where you more or less craft your own story. It's a story driven game with huge stretches of wandering around doing inconsequential side quests that totally exhaust you and break up the flow of the story.

Seriously, whenever I think of maybe replaying DA:I the thought of having to trudge through those ludicrously huge areas instantly make me go 'Yeah, the hell with that.'

 

[BloatedGuppy]

And that's because Inquisition isn't an open-world adventure game where you more or less craft your own story. It's a story driven game with huge stretches of wandering around doing inconsequential side quests that totally exhaust you and break up the flow of the story.

Well put, echoes my sentiments. There's a good game buried in there amongst all the chaff and wrongheaded design decisions but lord knows it can be hard to find sometimes.

Skyrim is positively elegant by comparison.

 

[Joseph Harrison]

First of all, Dragon Age is not an open world game, not first person and is a completely different game from Skyrim in so many ways. Second of all, Skyrim was a good game, a great time sink, immersive, addictive, and great modding community, but it is hardly the best fantasy game. Skyrim had elementary game mechanics, completely shallow story, world and just everything, it had the scale of an ocean but the depth of a puddle.

On the other hand, I think Dragon Age Inquistion is an amazing game, possibly best in the series, definitely one of the best games I've played in a very long time but even then I don't think its one of the best fantasy RPG's out there. I could go on a rant about how limited the RPG mechanics and lack of choice in character customization in the game compared to even Origins simply because you cannot change your ability points. Maybe I've been spoiled because I've been playing a ton of Pathfinder recently, but I don't think either game is one of the best.

Truly the best fantasy game is and always will be



Mount and Blade Warband

 

[Nixou]

Even Dragon Age 2 didn't beat Skyrim when it comes to the sheer number of copypasted caves and necropolises.

 

[endtherapture]

Let's see...

The Witcher 2 does story better than DA:I

Skyrim does open world questing better than DA:I

Pillars of Eternity is going to come along and do party combat better than DA:I

So no.

Also The Witcher 3 is coming out soon.

No.

And that's because Inquisition isn't an open-world adventure game where you more or less craft your own story. It's a story driven game with huge stretches of wandering around doing inconsequential side quests that totally exhaust you and break up the flow of the story.

Seriously, whenever I think of maybe replaying DA:I the thought of having to trudge through those ludicrously huge areas instantly make go 'Yeah, the hell with that.'

Couldn't have put it better myself. Going back and replaying DA:I is actually daunting for me. The story content is interesting for sure, but half of my game time was load screens, and to actually get to the story content you have to fight so many boring trash mobs and trudge through so much open world banality that I frankly can't face going back to the game.

 

[Elfgore]

Inquisition's world is neither interesting nor fun to explore. It may be better story-wise and character-wise, but it is not a better Skyrim.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I hate to say this, because I do enjoy the Dragon Age series, but Skyrim blows Inquisition out of the water. As other people have already said, Inquisition feels very stuffed and stretched with pointless stuff, and to me personally, the main storyline gets thrown out the window pretty close to the end of the game in order to sequel-bait for the next game, and I'm never okay with that. Complete the story you're working on, don't just sweep it under the rug.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

And that's because Inquisition isn't an open-world adventure game where you more or less craft your own story. It's a story driven game with huge stretches of wandering around doing inconsequential side quests that totally exhaust you and break up the flow of the story.

Well put, echoes my sentiments. There's a good game buried in there amongst all the chaff and wrongheaded design decisions but lord knows it can be hard to find sometimes.

Skyrim is positively elegant by comparison.

Not sure it's entirely accurate to say the MMO style filler fluff breaks the flow of the story - because ultimately the player determines that.

...but in general, I definitely echo both sentiments. DA:I's a game stricken by an identity crisis; it doesn't know what the fuck it really wants to be. I don't think Skyrim's a masterpiece of anything (well, except great environmental world design and scale), but it's more assured, and its design choices at least feel cohesive. Whereas DA:I feels as if it's been cobbled together from other RPG's, and somehow lost what makes those elements great in more focused games.

I was genuinely surprised by the critical reception it got, ditto its sales.

However, I still enjoyed Inquisition, eventually. And patch 5 will improve things rather nicely, too. I think the key to enjoying it is to understand just how useless and meaningless most of the 'content' is. Which isn't exactly high praise, to be fair.

So no, Inquisition's an interesting, partially successful experiment in MMO SP design [with some awesome/epic music].

 

[G00N3R7883]

Nicely timed thread, because I'm actually replaying Skyrim now.

I voted no because for me, Dragon Age Origins is top.

Dragon Age Inquisition has a superior story and characters than Skyrim.
Skyrim has superior combat and side quests to DAI.
DAO is superior to both on all counts.

 

[TakerFoxx]

All I know is that my (modded) copy of Skyrim has allowed me to become a vampire kingpin of crime living in a jungle mansion that looks like it's been molested by King Midas surrounded by scantily-clad bodyguard babes while taking care of adorable vampire kids that adopt bunny rabbits. And from the looks of it, I may also be able to get a pet velociraptor. I don't know if DA:I mods will allow all that, but between the two, I know where I'm sinking my time!

 

[OpticalJunction]

dragon age inquisition has some very nice open world sections, not unlike skyrim. but the scope of skyrim is much larger, and skyrim really is an open world do-anything-you-want kind of game. dragon age is story driven with a lot of filler. and closing rifts in DAI reminded me of oblivion's gates more than anything in skyrim.

 

[Saetha]

Absolutely not.

To say nothing of the fact that it's kinda like comparing apples and oranges (Or apples and oranges that want to believe they're apples) Skyrim simply knows what it is. It knows that you're not here for the story, you're not here for the characters, you're here for the massive open-world, and it gives that to you as soon as possible. As soon as the intro quest is done, you're turned loose. It don't give a shit about what you do, because that's kinda the point of the game.

Dragon Age, though? People play Dragon Age for the characters. For the story. If everything else in the game is good too, awesome. But that's not what pulls people in. DAI, however, drew very little focus onto the characters. After every quest, even minor ones, I was rushing back to base to hope I'd earned more story. That's not how game content is supposed to work. I'm not supposed to suffer through endless side-quests with the hope that I'd "get to the good part." The questing should be it's own reward, or it shouldn't be in there at all. And yet, it's neither. It hedges it's bets and, as such, doesn't succeed in what it set out to do. It's not even sure what it wants to do.

Seriously, I like DAI, but unseating Skyrim? Please.

 

[laggyteabag]

Apples and oranges.

One is an open world, fantasy sandbox in which you can run around and do whatever you want, and the game is pretty much built to be a canvas for mods (why do people play these games on consoles again? I mean, seriously? Don't they get bored?)

The other is a more story focused experience, with party based combat, and in which what you can do and where you can go is railroaded by the story.

Sure, the maps in DA:I are a lot bigger this time around, and you are a lot more free to just run off the beaten path, but I wouldn't really say that these games are comparable in any way other than "They both have magic and dragons".

 

[deathbydeath]

The only thing I enjoyed about Skyrim was the ability to download as many crafting/house/companion mods as I felt like and play Fantasy Dress-Up Dolls until the cows come home. If that is possible in Inquisition it will be the only Bioware title in years I feel like purchasing.