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Dragon Age: Inquisition has gone gold

I played the PS4 version for 5 hours at EA.

One of the best things I played this year so far, tbh. Haven't seen much of the story yet though, so that's hard to judge atm.

They've also confirmed the max amount of potions you can carry throughout the game is 8.
 
Question: Is this game a good starting point for someone who's never played a DA game? The co-op sounds fun. I really enjoyed ME3's co-op.

I'm thinking about getting the PS4 version. I have a friend who works for EA who can me the game for $20.

The previous two games aren't required, they're designed to stand on their own, but you'll get more out of it if you play them. But yeah you should be fine just going in with this.
 
Question: Is this game a good starting point for someone who's never played a DA game? The co-op sounds fun. I really enjoyed ME3's co-op.

I'm thinking about getting the PS4 version. I have a friend who works for EA who can me the game for $20.

First games aren't a requirement for this, but DA:O, specially, does one heck of a job at world building.

At the veyr least go to the Keep web app they have out right now and watch the summary of the previous games there. And while you will definitely miss out on some context for the story in DA:I, it should still be a relatable exprience. I'm sure they'll work into introducing the game world to oyu, even if doesn't quite ocmpare to playing through the other games.
 
I played the PS4 version for 5 hours at EA.

One of the best things I played this year so far, tbh. Haven't seen much of the story yet though, so that's hard to judge atm.

They've also confirmed the max amount of potions you can carry throughout the game is 8.

How are the loading times?
 
Question: Is this game a good starting point for someone who's never played a DA game? The co-op sounds fun. I really enjoyed ME3's co-op.

I'm thinking about getting the PS4 version. I have a friend who works for EA who can me the game for $20.

If you have the time to power through about 60-70 hours of RPG before release, I thoroughly recommend you play through Dragon Age: Origins at least... you'll appreciate so much more in Inquisition from it, and use the Keep as well, to fill in some blanks world/lore wise.
 
If you have the time to power through about 60-70 hours of RPG before release, I thoroughly recommend you play through Dragon Age: Origins at least... you'll appreciate so much more in Inquisition from it, and use the Keep as well, to fill in some blanks world/lore wise.

Also crack open Dragon Age Wiki, very extensive and detailed stuff about, well, everything that is DA.

Edit: Even more new screenshots released, see them here [imgur].
 
Question: Is this game a good starting point for someone who's never played a DA game? The co-op sounds fun. I really enjoyed ME3's co-op.

I'm thinking about getting the PS4 version. I have a friend who works for EA who can me the game for $20.

Bioware games are typically pretty good at being friendly to a new audience, so I doubt you'll find yourself completely out of your depth. And neither your protagonist nor the game's story are a direct continuation. That said, this is quite a lore-rich universe, and the second game set up part of DAI's story and introduced some of the key characters.

Listen to Varric's narration in The DA Keep, check out Yeul's post on page 9 of this thread for a link to synopses of the previous games, and have a look at the Dragon Age wiki, and you should be set :)
 
Just in case anyone missed it from the other thread. Media previews are rolling out today. I put some below:



Gamespot
Kevin has ventured into Dragon Age: Inquisition and recounts his time creating a character, vanquishing his enemies, and even fighting dragons.


GameTrailers
Andrea Rene spends a few hours in the Hinterlands. Find out how she feels about the game’s scope and characters so far as this epic RPG nears release.


Polygon
Wandering around massive zones to find portals is one of the side effects of this push for more exploration. Another is a surprising mechanical change: the character you're controlling can now jump. This small tweak opens up a ton of options as you explore, from tiny platforming puzzles to sneaking your way up a mountainside that may have been impossible to scale without vertical movement.

The game provides many reasons to explore, and most of them earn you bonus experience and more power to your cause. That cause, by the way, is the titular Inquisition.
Once I arrived in the Hinterlands, I was able to explore in basically any direction at my own discretion. I quickly picked up a bunch of quests. A hunter in one village asked me to help him gather ram meat to feed starving citizens. A dropped note hinted at a particularly unruly Templar settlement along a river bank. Another villager pleaded for me to track down a potion to heal his sick wife.

These tasks are all fairly standard RPG fare and would be right at home in any of the previous Dragon Age games. What has changed is the reward: In addition to experience points and loot, my Inquisitor is rewarded with "power," a resource that I can then spend to scout new areas in the world, gather more funds for our group or call a rendezvous with another faction that I hope to sway to our side.
Inquisition stakes a middle ground between these two, but when pressed it tends toward the challenging and strategic, at least on the normal difficulty setting. Fights once again take place in real time with the player controlling a single character at a time. However, you can now pause the fighting and begin issuing commands to each individual ally. If you play smart you can maintain constant status effects on enemies, take advantage of higher ground to do more damage and just generally have a much easier time of things.

Even as I was playing through the same story elements over and over, I didn't get bored with the combat. It's a testament to BioWare's ability to forge a connection between myself and the world of its games that I was willing to replay this same stretch of game so many times while also on a deadline. But it's also a testament to the interesting systems they've built that I still wanted to fight every pack of enemies and complete every sidequest, hoarding up enough power to do whatever I want.



Games.On.Net

One of the main problems with DA2 was lack of open areas, and the linear nature of those areas. Inquisition turns that on its head. It takes place in a semi-open world — you choose which area you’re going to send your party next — but each area is a large open space for you to explore and uncover its secrets, while being harried by randomly generated mobs of enemies.

You might now be thinking, “Well, that’s still sort of how DA2 was, really.” But I’m telling you, these areas are massive. Honestly, I got a little lost. The memory that sticks out most from the outdoors maps of DA2 was one map that was literally just a circular path that you visited repeatedly which — at most – had little side areas that were meant to be “off the beaten track”. This is nothing like that. There aren’t even any paths! Inquisition just gives you an open area with stuff in it and is like, “Go nuts!”


Techspot
Inquisition features a combination of third-person hack-and-slash-style combat with a tactical view, the latter of which pauses the game and allows you to assign commands to members of your party. With multiple ways to control the game it can be tricky to immediately master, but after a few hours in Inquisition it felt like I had a grasp of how each system functioned at a basic level.

The beauty of Inquisition’s combat system is that you have so much control over how battles play out. You can start by attacking enemies with your unique skill set in third-person mode, switch to Tactical View to plan how your allies should efficiently tackle the situation, and then regain live control to satisfyingly hack-and-slash. Combined with special moves, potions, looted items, and the ability to switch between members of your party during combat to harness their abilities, Inquisition impressed me with its rich combat system.

It’s not just the combat system that feels rich and well-designed: the game world is so deep that three hours of gameplay is not even close to being enough to explore what’s on offer. There’s quests left, right and center, NPCs everywhere to meet and greet, and romantic relationships to foster. There’s crafting, there’s skill trees, there’s a massive list of attributes, and a world chocked full with lore.
 
I played the PS4 version for 5 hours at EA.

One of the best things I played this year so far, tbh. Haven't seen much of the story yet though, so that's hard to judge atm.

They've also confirmed the max amount of potions you can carry throughout the game is 8.
You're not helping the wait go by faster. D:
 
Actually the main issue was the rediculously short dev time caused by ea trying to capitalize on the success of the original. Thats why da3 for me is a blank slate. No expectations or doubt going into the game.

Well said, I completely agree. Also, Laidlaw seems to have really taken the DA2 criticism to heart and wants to make the best game possible. When I briefly met him at PAX years ago, I knew that he had true passion for the gameplay and world that the DA team were striving for. Everything I've seen of Inquisition leads me to believe that the series is "back on track".

I actually loved DA2 and thought it was great aside from "another wave!" and recycled dungeons.
 
Interview with Mark Darrah. Love this:

PC Gamer: So, coming off the back of Dragon Age 2, what was the big ambition for [Inquisition]? What were the things you wanted to do differently?

Mark Darrah: The big thing for us coming off Dragon Age 2 was really to get back to scale and all that entails. If you look at Bioware’s track record basically since Baldur’s Gate 2, our games have been getting progressively smaller. Our fidelity’s been getting higher and higher, but the scope has been getting smaller and smaller. I guess ultimately sort of coming down crashing around us with Dragon Age 2 to a certain degree. So, really, bringing exploration back as an actual thing—big spaces to move through, with a variety of mechanics and the things that come with that, visual storytelling through the environments, jumping which is actually something we’ve never had before, horseback riding, crafting is very much this thing that comes out of exploration as a gameplay mechanic. These are all things that come from basically getting the ambition and scope back.
http://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-age-inquisition-an-epic-interview/
 
Well said, I completely agree. Also, Laidlaw seems to have really taken the DA2 criticism to heart and wants to make the best game possible. When I briefly met him at PAX years ago, I knew that he had true passion for the gameplay and world that the DA team were striving for. Everything I've seen of Inquisition leads me to believe that the series is "back on track".

I actually loved DA2 and thought it was great aside from "another wave!" and recycled dungeons.

I never made it through Awakening or DA2 (started both but got distracted by life). Playing through DA2 and it actually is quite good. The main quests are quite engaging with some actual tough decisions faced in my first 10hrs this weekend. The repetitive environs aren't bothering me too much. I play "encounter" based RPGs for the story, mechanics and lore rather than the breathtaking vistas (contrast with an RPG like Skyrim). DA2 has those 3 tied up I think.
 
No mana based healing spells though, actually ties into the lore too.. which is nice.

Oh sweet, how does it tie into the lore?

I'm a huge fan of the "balanced for no healing spells" system they are rolling with, by the way. Or at least a fan of how it SOUNDS (haven't played the game). At times, I may want to roll with three warriors and a rogue (Inquisitor, Cassandra, Blackwall, and Varric). I'm glad that might be possible, with self-damage-mitigation. Although, maybe I'll really need damage shield bubbles and crowd control from a mage...
 
Think I've finally decided on PS4 version. I want the big screen experience. First playthrough as a Male Elf Mage on Nightmare. Going to go for the platinum trophy. PC version when its super cheap.
 
This game is going to be a monster. Simple as that.
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Nice.

I uncovered something I didn’t expect with the new engine – natural chokeholds. We’ve seen demonstrations where warriors are able to hold a gap to keep softer targets behind them safe, but during one sequence I was able to use the tactical system to drive an enemy backwards into a small tree grove. With his back to the foliage and no way to escape, I was able to pin him into this spot, holding him in place with a Shield Wall power and ripping him apart with my casters. It was unexpected, but also served as a healthy warning – I don’t want this happening to me. Position matters more than ever.
The conversation system has received a bit of an overhaul for Dragon Age Inquisition. Gone are the obvious good, neutral, and bad options, instead replaced by more of a general ‘feeling’ than the exact verbiage of your response. The team has also used this opportunity to inject more opportunities for special outcomes based on race, class, companion in the party, and more. Maybe Varric knows a guy who knows a guy, maybe Solus has hidden knowledge of a nearby rune — anything is possible. During one interaction I had busted a smuggler and was given the option of asking Cassandra or Varric their opinion on the subject, yielding a more steadfast and just response, or a more pragmatic and possibly profitable response.
but I am happy to say that no matter how much chaos was unfolding on the screen, the framerate never dropped.
The other thing I want to point out is a promise we hear so often and very rarely see realized — “if you can see it, you can go there”. In Dragon Age Inquisition, in the six hours I played, I found this to be entirely true. Standing on a hill I was able to see no less than 50 trees, some shrubs, a mountain range covered with foliage, a well, a fence, a small encampment, a few rams and fennec foxes, rocks, and much more. These things aren’t just sitting static in the background either — everything is in motion. It was surprising to see just how alive the world of Thedas has become in this new engine.
As I explored, I uncovered a place called Lady Shayna’s Valley. It rang an immediate bell, and Varric quickly confirmed my greatest fears. “Up she goes”, he remarked as a massive dragon swung wide around a nearby bluff where she was perched, clipping the edge with her wing. Everything after this moment was fire and pain. With a single fireball hurtling at my party, all I could do was stand in horror and watch. The impact was devastating, killing three of my party members instantly, their brief screams and frantic attempts to escape the immolation entirely in vain. I thought the dragons in both previous games were rather easy to take down — the dragons in Dragon Age Inquisition are not to be trifled with and will quickly punish you for invading their space.
http://gamingtrend.com/2014/11/03/d...hands-preview-game-theyve-always-wanted-make/
 
So, there is
9 total characters
to recruit? Then how come in the followers video at the map table you can clearly
see more than 9.
I guess some attainable in different ways then others?
 
So, there is
9 total characters
to recruit? Then how come in the followers video at the map table you can clearly
see more than 9.
I guess some attainable in different ways then others?

A few those, 3 at least, are mentors of the Inquisition and not actual party members.
 
So, there is
9 total characters
to recruit? Then how come in the followers video at the map table you can clearly
see more than 9.
I guess some attainable in different ways then others?
There's no need to spoiler tag anything, the party members have been known for a while.

There are 9 total:

-Blackwall
-The Iron Bull
-Cassanda
-Varric
-Solas
-Sera
-Dorian
-Vivienne
-Cole


The other 3 are advisers to you in your Skyhold: Leliana, Cullen and Josephine.
 
A few those, 3 at least, are mentors of the Inquisition and not actual party members.

There's no need to spoiler tag anything, the party members have been known for a while.

There are 9 total:

-Blackwall
-The Iron Bull
-Cassanda
-Varric
-Solas
-Sera
-Dorian
-Vivienne
-Cole


The other 3 are advisers to you in your Skyhold: Leliana, Cullen and Josephine.


Cool, is there pictures of Blackwall or Cole? The only 2 I have no clue what they look like.
 
This and Sunset Overdrive will more than likely be my Christmas games. Admittedly, this will be my fist Dragon age game.
 
If you have the time to power through about 60-70 hours of RPG before release, I thoroughly recommend you play through Dragon Age: Origins at least... you'll appreciate so much more in Inquisition from it, and use the Keep as well, to fill in some blanks world/lore wise.

Downloading Origins now since it was free few weeks ago on Origin. Please tell me it supports Xbox controller...
 
So a friend of mine playing the PS4 version said they don't know where the '30-40 second' load times are coming from. They've experienced 10 seconds at most while entering a new region.
 
Cole looks like a bad ass, is he romanceable with any gender?

No. Cole has a childlike mentality, just in a very dangerous and kickass body. No romance with him for either gender. Male romances are Blackwall, Cullen and Solas (for females, Solas female elf only), Dorian (for males) and Iron Bull (for both genders).
 
No. Cole has a childlike mentality, just in a very dangerous and kickass body. No romance with him for either gender. Male romances are Blackwall, Cullen and Solas (for females, Solas female elf only), Dorian (for males) and Iron Bull (for both genders).
Josephine and Cassandra are also romanceable for males.
 
Cole looks like a bad ass, is he romanceable with any gender?

Like others said, nope!

Romance options:

Cassandra: Males only, any race
Josephine: Males and females, any race
Sera: Females only, any race
Dorian: Males only, any race
Iron Bull: Male and females, any race
Cullen: Female only, Elf and Human only
Solas: Female only, Elf only
Blackwall: Female only, any race
 
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