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Sunday, December 25, 2016

Episode 31: Dragon Age: Inquisition: Part 2—The Trouble With Lord Woolsley

Episode 31:  Dragon Age: Inquisition: Part 2—The Trouble With Lord Woolsley
Platform: PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, PC
Release Date:  NA 11/18/2014, AUS 11/20/14, 11/21/14
Difficulty: Technically you can pick your difficulty level. We found normal mode pretty easy
Pricing: $39.90 for the Game of the Year edition


Find Part 1 at our website: talrpg.com!

Review

The Inquisitor is coming for you, Corypheus.

The Good
  • The graphics are beautiful and there are a lot more character customization options than the past two Dragon Age games. Inquisition also expands which races you can play as. At last, you be a Qunari!
  • The plot and characters are solid. It’s nice seeing some familiar characters—Leliana, Varric, Cassandra, Cullen, and even Morrigan—return and see what they’re now up to. The new characters are memorable and stand on their own instead of feeling like variations on what we’ve seen in past Dragon Age games.  It’s also exciting to watch as the Inquisition grows from a rag tag group of misfits to a formidable and influential organization.
  • Inquisition also does a good job with creating side characters I care about. I’d love to see more of Scout Harding and Krem in future Dragon Age games.
  • I enjoyed the world building in the two DLCs, The Jaws of Hakkon and the Descent, especially Jaws of Hakkon. Hakkon added more information about the Tribes of the Avvar and knew ways of looking at interactions with spirits—ways that probably won’t lead to demonic possession.


The Bad
  • While still engaging, the storyline seems thinner than the past two Dragon Age games. The plot of the story seems to go from a big event to big event, without much connection or build up. There’s also less character development and less interaction with the party members. Additionally, there’s some important information that
  • I was hoping for a more in depth exploration of Orlais. In Dragon Age Origins, the player really gets to know Ferelden, In Dragon Age 2, you get to know Kirkwall. In Inquitision…there’s not really any depth added to Orlais. They’re fantasyland France, they wear masks, they’re all obsessed with gaining political power and the Great Game. We already knew this. 
  • The developers overcompensated for the complaints about DAII’s lack of exploration and repeated environments. A good chunk of the game is wandering around large areas or areas that give the illusion of space by having maps that don’t clearly show paths. The areas with the illusion of space are the most annoying, since you should be two steps away from what you need, but find that, actually, you have to circle a mountain to get where you need to go. There are still limited paths that you can take, they’re just better disguised.
  • Dead enemies that you can loot or plants you can harvest don’t sparkle anymore. I miss the sparkles. L


The Ugly
  • Corypheus’ face.


You can never escape Varric's chest hair.

The Lowdown: Although Dragon Age: Inquisition is the weakest of the three Dragon Age games, it’s still an enjoyable game and a solid entry into the series. It expands the world in intriguing ways and the ending of Trespasser has me looking forward to the inevitable Dragon Age 4. Play this game, especially if you’re already a fan of the series, but move with the storyline faster than we did instead of spending all of your time in the side areas.
  
Music Credits
RPG Roundup Theme Song: “Video Game Theme,” J. Arthur Keenes Band. Creative Commons Attribution License.
Dragon Age Inquisition OST