Dragon Age: Inquisition

Description

Dragon Age: Inquisition follows the rise of the Inquisitor, the sole survivor of a metaphysical explosion that tears a hole in the sky known as the Breach. The narrative centers on your efforts to lead a newly reformed Inquisition to restore order to the continent of Thedas while a civil war between mages and templars rages on. The atmosphere is one of high-stakes political intrigue and burgeoning hope, focusing on themes of faith, leadership, and the burden of power. It creates a sense of immense scale, where your decisions as a leader carry weight that can reshape the socio-political landscape of multiple nations. While Dragon Age: Origins focused on a traditional underdog struggle against a blight, and Dragon Age II explored a decade of personal growth in Kirkwall, this title expands the lore to a global level.

Gameplay features a semi-open world structure across vast, diverse regions such as the rain-swept Storm Coast and the politically charged Orlais. The mechanics feature a tactical camera that allows you to pause combat and issue precise orders from an overhead perspective, or you can engage in real-time action-oriented combat. It introduces the War Table, a strategic map where you deploy advisors to complete operations and unlock new areas. The engine supports deep character customisation and complex relationship building with nine unique companions, including the returning rogue Varric. A power and influence system to measure the Inquisition’s global reach and progress the main storyline.

The reception to Inquisition was overwhelmingly positive at launch, with its stunning visual variety, a top-tier ensemble cast, and complex development of companions. Some called it Game of the Year, though it was not without its BioWare caveats. It had an over-abundance of filler content, specifically in the Hinterlands region, which many players found tedious and overwhelming. Technical issues were a significant part of the early conversation, with buggy quests, dialogue hangs, and graphical glitches on the Xbox One version. While many of these were addressed in subsequent patches, the “clunky” nature of the tactical camera remained a point of frustration for fans of the original PC game.

The later released Dragon Age: The Veilguard would scale back the open-world elements in favour of a more directed experience but relies heavily on the consequences of the Trespasser DLC. The series has evolved from a dark, tactical PC-centric RPG into a cinematic, choice-driven franchise that prioritises character-driven drama and accessible action. It remains the only entry to utilise the Dragon Age Keep, a cloud-based tool that allows you to import complex world-states from previous games without needing original save files. Despite its flaws, the game was lauded for successfully marrying the depth of Origins with the visual spectacle of modern hardware.