Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2014
Overall: 4.7/5 (i.e. awesome)
Warning: some light spoilers, possibly; I will endeavor to enclose these in brackets: [spoiler]
Update 1: 12/1/14
-------General------- Let me summarize what I'm about to say in just two words: buy it! If you're a fan of the series, like me, it's a definite must-have. I imagine those with little to no experience with the lore will have a little bit harder time understanding exactly what's going on, but there is an in-game codex to explain anything specific about which you might have questions (e.g. Andraste? Who's that? etc.) Even if you don't follow all of the nuances of the plot and everything that came before, the story is engaging enough that it won't matter.
I know a lot of people were expecting a blunder of a game, given DA2 (which wasn't terrible imho), and DAI isn't perfect, but I have to say that the developers at Bioware really listened to all the important concerns that were drawn about the game. Every important issue was addressed, at least to my satisfaction and, I should think, to everyone's. DAI will draw you in for hours and hours...and hours...and you won't regret any of it.
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Here's a more detailed breakdown (all of these are my personal opinion):
-------Graphics------- (4/5)The graphics are very good, if not exactly awe-inspiring. Graphics really aren't that important to me; an RPG-maker game like Ao Oni or a game like Limbo is no less amazing, for me at least, if it isn't rendered in HD or 4k or whatever is the arbitrary standard d'excellence atm. Even if you think that way, I doubt you'll be disappointed; some of the effects are really awesome: light shines beautifully through a forest canopy, waves roll majestically around the Storm Coast, trees (especially pine trees) are quite exquisitely detailed, and you can create a hot Inquisitor that kicks butt in style. The environments (more on that later) are stunning; everything just feels so alive. (I'm mainly referencing the Hinterlands, the first big area to which you gain access. It applies to all environments, however, just in a way that is unique to their climate. For example, The Fallow Mire feels disgusting and wet, the mountains feel cold, and so on.)
-------Playspace------- (4.9/5): Absolutely huge! I thought they were exaggerating, as developers are wont to do, but the game really is freaking huge. In fact, if you're a completionist like me, it may even be too big; I absolutely hate unexplored areas. I must have spent the entire first day I had the game navigating the Hinterlands (and I still haven't explored the whole thing), and yet it's just one of the areas you'll explore. (FYI, I do not recommend that you do this: you will become over-leveled for later parts of the game, which detracts from your rewards. It is important that you LEAVE the Hinterlands! It'll all still be there when you come back.) It's also somewhat easy to get lost, but I consider neither of these things to be detrimental because both are the complaints of the spoiled, which every DA fan should now consider themselves to be.
There is one thing, however, that I don't like: the cities I've visited feel rather small. Val Royeaux is beautiful, but not quite as magnificent as I pictured. I was expecting Paris meets Florence in an orgy of flowers and banners - but the city itself looks more colorfully Byzantine to me than anything. Also, Redcliffe has been totally redesigned, which is both good and bad. Either way, you're not gonna wanna spend as much time in the cities as you normally would in an RPG like Skyrim, mainly because there doesn't seem to be much to do in them. You will come back to cities and so forth, mainly for personal quests, but there are rather few (if any?), city-specific quests. By contrast, in each of Skyrim's cities, there is a quest that involves only that particular city. For example, a murderer is on the loose and you have to solve it. I believe there is such a quest in Winterhold, if I remember correctly; that made the city feel so alive. The cities of DAI really don't; though you may go there often to dump inventory or buy things, they don't have the same level of personality. I think this is a true waste with a city like Val Royeaux - a much larger city with 10 sidequests or so (which could totally replace The Fallow Mire map if necessary) would have been a great place to showcase "The Game". A few more cities in general would have been good; I would like to see Antiva City, Minrathous, etc. Perhaps they overcompensated for the amount of flak they took for DA2's Kirkwall setting. Anyway, I understand the constraints, but all the beautiful wilderness is better when balanced with beautiful cities.
Skyhold, on the other hand, is really awesome - it changes dynamically according to how you want it to be: you can customize the throne, the windows, the banners, and lots of other things in a way that makes you feel really in charge. And though it may be big, it comes with a bunch of handy fast travel points. However, I've yet to find any kind of storage, which I imagine is an oversight that will be corrected before long. Halamshiral and its attendant questline, which again I will not spoil, also go a long way toward making up for this. Really, it should have been incorporated into Val Royeaux itself.
-------Characters -------(4.6/5): Some of the characters are great, I have to say - but honestly I don't feel the same level of depth as I normally would in a Bioware game. I'm probably spoiled, but Solas' lone wolf thing just isn't as endearing as, say, Tali's struggle to help the quarians. Nor is Sera's eccentricity as funny as Alistair's whimsy. I suppose this is personal, and some of the characters are better than others, but Blackwall for example feels rather generic, like he's the token Grey Warden or something. (After playing a bit more, I have learned that I was totally wrong about Blackwall; he is not a generic character.) Iron Bull and Cassandra are far more interesting. Varric is as meh as always. Cole's plotline lacks any kind of emotional power for me (though I haven't done his personal quest), and so forth.
Leliana, Josephine, and Cullen are actually some of the better-developed characters in this regard. Vivienne is one of the best new characters, but listening to her say "[something philosophical], my dear" just isn't as good as hearing Wynne say it. She's also extremely unlikable at times because of her condescending outlook. My Inquisitor disagrees with her about most things. Still, I'm probably just setting the standard too high, and the characters are good enough that I don't want them to leave. Which, btw, is somewhat harder to avoid now because simply not taking a character with you on a given quest will not usually spare you from their ire if you make a decision with which they disagree!
-------Romance-------(4.2/5) I was not initially inclined to think highly of the romance system if only because not a single character, except maybe Cullen, is attractive. (Dorian, shave that mustache! You look like Liberace. Iron Bull has, incidentally, grown on me immensely.) Suffice it to say, males can romance Cassandra, Josephine, Dorian, and Iron Bull. Females can romance Cullen, Blackwall (I believe), Solas, Sera, and Iron Bull. Some of these are race-gated.
The romance storylines are, generally, well-done. My personal favorite is male inquisitor/Iron Bull because it's so different from anything I've encountered before and...well...hot (but damn his initiation requirements are stringent). Dorian's has good depth as well. Josephine's is somewhat cookie-cutter imo, but Cassandra's and Cullen's are decent. Blackwall's is...well...a rough ride. It's not a fairy tale, which may be a good thing for you personally. Solas' romance is extremely well done, albeit perhaps underwritten, and is also not idyllic. I hate Sera and cannot bring myself to romance her, but I've heard her romance is lackluster. Then again, if you like the character, we probably won't agree on my assessment of the romance's quality, either.
-------Story------- (4.3/5): Remember to go to THE DRAGONAGE KEEP so you can customize your worldstate! Nonetheless, be warned that this will not have a huge impact on the game. From what I've played thus far, which I think is over 70%, the story is only minimally affected by your past choices. It mainly boils down to flavor text in dialogue and codex entries as well as the occasional, albeit gratifying, cameo. (The available operations on the War Map also change, although they are more affected by your race choice.) I will give some examples, but first, be warned that, if you have neither watched the trailers nor kept up with the DAI release buildup hype, these are important spoilers; skip the bracketed paragraphs and phrases.
[At one point during the game, you will meet Hawke again. The Keep does not import his/her face, so the game allows you to customize it with the c-creator. Hawke's dialogue is, I believe, influenced by your Keep choice as to his/her previous comportment, and s/he will have unique things to say based on your Keep choices (e.g. s/he will talk about your Keep-selected LI from the previous title, although they won't be present.). Morrigan will also be in the game: one of the most gratifying "Ah! I made that happen!" moments was getting to meet her son. Of course, he doesn't matter too much story-wise, but his inclusion and dialogue are gratifying. There is a moment toward the end that will (we are to believe) affect future installments). Any other nods to the Hero of Ferelden and her/his questline will boil down to a cameo by Alistair (for me, presumably by Anora for some others), and a letter from her/him about why they're not part of the game. So far as I can tell, the rest of your decisions sum up similarly. EDIT: I've learned since that Alistair can also be a Hawke-like companion - that is, non controllable - without divulging much, and so can Loghain. Otherwise, my earlier analysis seems correct.]
In general, this doesn't concern me very much; I wouldn't want to be a part of the team that has to realize all the possible permutations and put them into a story format that is accessible to everyone. As long as the story and its conclusions are satisfying and cogent (looking at you, ME3!), flavor text and cameos are good enough for me. Nonetheless, given that this is a founding premise for the series, my analysis of it here does not seem entirely warranted.
Not that that's out of the way...so far the story is very engaging. Some people have been saying that it's boring - and maybe it would be to some people, but it really is well-written. I won't divulge details, partially because I don't know all of them yet, but mainly because I want to avoid spoilers. If you have any kind of pre-knowledge, the story perhaps has more "woah" factor.
That being said, there seems to be an emerging theme of religion in the games - i.e. you are [minor spoiler: the "Herald of Andraste."] It might make some people uncomfortable, because professing your belief, or lack of belief, in the Maker can affect how other people in the game perceive you. For example, during one conversation I had with Cassandra, I said "I don't believe in the Maker" and she "disapproves". That kinda angered me - nothing obliges her to agree with my Inquisitor, but disapproval of a personal belief seems petty in the context of the real world. I suppose that's a modern standard of morality, however, and I shouldn't judge her for falling short of it. I suppose we all do; debates can become heated, after all. Anyway, your Inquisitor's belief is something of a subplot within the game. The game doesn't tote a particular line of religious reasoning over any other (to great extent at least) and your Inquisition doesn't have to be anything like the period of human history known by the same name. That is, you can make your Inquisitor atheist, agnostic, or Andrastian. You can even make an Elf profess his or her belief in the Elvish pantheon at one particular point, which may [cause problems with Sera, particularly with regard to her romance (FYI)]. I haven't played as a Qunari yet, but I will update this if I do.
One of the things that I really like is the way you can judge people in Skyhold. Your verdict has an unfortunately small effect on the story, but it greatly impacts companion approval. This feature is really cool, though: it harks back to Awakening, if I'm not mistaken. I loved it then and I love it now. I feel as though there should be an advocate for the person under consideration though; Josephine sometimes fills this role, but not always. I don't like the lack of due process here, but I can live with it. Most players will actually like that part. A word of advice, though: save before every decision.
Something to consider is that the game doesn't give you a ton of direction at first; there are things you have to figure out on your own when it comes to progressing the story. I like that it doesn't baby you, but bear this is mind, because many games do baby you and I think many gamers are accustomed to it. You ARE given direction, though; it is NOWHERE NEAR the level of "here you go, you doomed masochist, you" that is Dark Souls. (And yes, I love Dark Souls!) Just bear in mind that you should leave the Hinterlands, and most other areas. Return to them later; it will still be there. You can go to all of the different places in more or less any order, in theory, assuming you have enough power to unlock them, but they are generally played best (level-wise, and story-wise) in this order:
Haven: 1+ (levels 1-4)
Hinterlands: 2+ (4-7, 8-12)
Val Royeaux: 4+ (4-6)
Storm Coast: 5+ (7-11, 13-15)
Fallow Mire: 8+ (8-10, 12-15)
Forbidden Oasis: 8+ (8-12, 5-15, 18-20)
Skyhold: 10+
Crestwood: 10+ (10-13)
Western Approach: 10+ (10-14)
Exalted Plains: 10+ (10-16)
Emerald Graves: 12+ (14-20)
Emprise du Lion: 16+ (16-22)
Hissing Wastes: 16+ (19-23)
Note that the level cap is soft. Also, there are some unique places that are not included here; a general rule is to do them as they open up. I would specifically recommend that you do Halamshiral AFTER you go to the Exalted Plains: it makes a lot of the dialogue there redundant. Anyway, do not be afraid to advance the story: it is paced well. Also, I didn't take my LI with me to Halamshiral the first time and I regret it now. You get an additional romance scene if you bring him/her.
[The ending battle is somewhat disappointing, and it's a little easy to lose track of what's going on and why we care toward the very end, but there are some huge twists that make the ending, overall, fantastic.]
-------Combat-------(4.8/5): This is perhaps the most important aspect of the game, and I really love it: the tactical view is awesome for harder encounters or just for when you're feeling nostalgic for an RTS game. I love setting up chokepoints and maximizing efficiency with this camera; it's extremely detailed and intricate. If none of that appeals to you, you don't have to use it; playing in real-time is just as fun, and I do it quite a lot. The real-time combat is more like DA2, and the tactical camera catches the best of DAO and multiplies it by 4. I really, really love how they come together to let you use your abilities.
One of the new features of combat, which really adds a lot of meaning to the RPG term "tank", is the accumulation of something called guard. It's like an extra health bar that must be depleted before you can actually be injured (and yes, enemies can have it as well). How you get guard is not well-explained, imo, but you will find your warriors all get it at higher levels. Certain skill trees have skills dedicated entirely to the accumulation of guard. It is also a property of some (usually unique) equipment, be it a weapon or a piece of armor. Through crafting, it is possible to make armor and weapons with guard-accumulation properties for any class. For example, using Fade-touched obsidian as a masterwork material when crafting light (mage) armors will allow you to accumulate guard every time you hit something. This is EXTREMELY helpful for mages, especially on Nightmare difficulty. EDIT: After playing through the game a few more times, and working in depth with the crafting system, it's, frankly, broken. It is possible to become massively OP by manipulating the accumulation of guard and the specific materials used (which can be farmed normally or via a simple, perhaps intentional glitch). Putting the game on nightmare alleviates this somewhat, and, obviously, not crafting much at all will as well (as in my 1st playthrough).
A similar stat called focus is used for the most powerful specialization abilities (e.g. the Knight-Enchanter's Resurgence spell, as described below). This mechanic can be seen in many games; God of War, Watch Dogs, and GTA V, to name a few, all use a similar system for the usage of unique abilities or increased damage output. It works essentially the same way here. Exactly how it's gathered is, like guard, something of a mystery (to me at least).
Some other random, cool things about combat:
1) Your squadmates all seem to lightly "customize" the armor they wear. With exceptions, an enchanter coat will look totally different on Dorian or Vivienne than it will on your Inquisitor, as will a set of armor put on Cassandra versus Iron Bull. In general, Iron Bull likes to show off his pecs; Cassandra likes to paint Andraste's eye on everything.
2) Crafting is really detailed in this game, so you can make all sorts of weapons and armor and improve the ones you already own, depending on how much time you want to spend in the Undercroft. It is possible to remove the upgrades from any item that you find, but that doesn't mean you can take any one of its special properties and transfer it, unless that ability is tied to the specific upgrade (which is something like a "superior hilt" or a "superior staff blade"). (However, the system is, frankly, broken. See 'combat'.)
3:) There's a total of TEN HIGH DRAGONS for you to kill. I sometimes feel extremely guilty killing dragons, and indeed any creature whose nest I enter uninvited, but the skill it takes to beat them on nightmare and the rewards you get make it extremely, well, rewarding.
4) Finally, there is an option to reset all of your skill points, which imo is a NECESSITY in any RPG.
Some random bad things:
1) healing is largely gone. Other than potions, which are in limited supply, one spell for the Knight-Enchanter (Resurgence), a few other specialization abilities, and a quasi-healing series of spells from the Spirit tree, you just have to wait until you get to a camp to heal. There are a few other healing abilities, but none of these can be directly invoked. I get that this is probably a polarizing issue, but this is where I stand on it. There /is/ a revive spell, but I still miss the days of Wynne saving all our butts against a Broodmother or something equally horrendous, using Spirit Heal, and then dealing damage. Also, I may just be too lazy to figure out how, but lyrium potions and so on don't seem to work as they have in the past. I don't remember DA2 very much, but I remember using them frequently in DAO as part of a strategy to maximize offense or defense, as required by the situation. That is, to continue my earlier example: Wynne, Cast Revive!, Drink lyrium potion!, Cast Spirit Heal!, Now use Glyph of Paralysis! or something like that. And there's another bad thing:
2:) I miss the other types of glyphs! I loved combining two contradictory glyphs and causing widespread paralysis. They were awesome and I want them back! Ice wall, fire wall, etc. are cool...I suppose they fill this spot, perhaps even more effectively, but I find them somewhat less satisfying. There *are* elemental-mine glyphs, but they have somewhat less versatility. Overall, though, the combat is better than in Origins. Magic is more balanced now: in Origins, it was kind of OP. It was almost too weak in DA2, I thought.
3:) EDIT: Prior to my earlier impression, tactics are not fully customizable. Item-use customization is still possible, but abilities-use tactics are not. I apologize for not examining this more carefully before.
-------Music, Voice Acting ------- (4.7/5): Both are superb. I may not like some of the characters as much as I have in previous games, but they are nevertheless very well acted. And go Specialist Traynor for being the voice of the female English Inquisitor! You can choose either an English or American accent. The English accent is close to RP, at least to my ear, whereas the American accent is General American or something like it. I am somewhat disappointed that you can't choose a French accent, but with thousands of lines of dialogue I suppose they have to cap it somewhere.
The music is great, if forgettable. I will always remember the scores from LOTR and Mass Effect, for example. I hum them in the shower all the time (no judging!). However, I can't bring any of the songs (or symphonies or whatever) from DAI to mind at the moment.
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-------Some Things to Know-------
The game has some glitches: it's brand new and huge, after all. Here are some of the ones that I've encountered so far:
Some dialogue fails to progress properly; just press L1 and bring up the potions wheel if this happens. It usually solves the problem. There will probably be a patch for this soon. Similarly, during cinematic cutscenes involving dialogue choices, the wheel will sometimes fail to appear. One work around is the mash "x", which skips one line of dialogue. The more satisfying thing is to simply wait for 2 minutes or so: this way, you don't lose any dialogue. This has happened to me several times: in my first conversation with Dorian at Skyhold, an important conversation between Josephine and a grand cleric, many of the mid-game cut-scenes with the character I mentioned in the spoiler paragraph, and in some other places. Twice, the game crashed to the dashboard. EDIT: After an update, this was fixed in my game. It may persist in others or non-updated copies.
- In Haven and a few other places, the player will occasionally freeze as if in tableau: this passes and does not seem to affect anything. It is somewhat annoying, however. It will be fixed, I am certain; I don't think it's an issue with the hardware.
- Some map icons don't disappear even after you've completed them: Draconology in the Western Approach, for example, or the horse quest in the Hinterlands. Locked door symbols sometimes remain even after you've unlocked the door with the "Deft Hands, Fine Tools" perk. EDIT: After an update, this was fixed in my game. It may persist in others or non-updated copies.
I'm not sure if this is by design, but some of the agents you can get for the Inquisition CAN BE MISSED, permanently it seems. This might hamper your accumulation of perks. The ones I know about (minor spoilers):
1 Bring Solas with you to Crestwood! He will allow you to convince Jana to become an agent of the Inquisition. Otherwise, it seems that she disappears to join the Grey Wardens.
2 Talk to Sky Watcher IMMEDIATELY after completing Lost Sous in The Fallow Mire or he will disappear.
3 Ser Michel in Emprise du Lion is easily missable: talk with him about the creature he hunts before you go anywhere near it.
There are others; I will update this list, too.
-------Conclusion-------
If you like RPGs and especially if you've ever enjoyed anything about the Dragon Age universe, you should BUY THIS GAME. Don't spend your time comparing it to other games: enjoy it for what it is, not for how much better or worse it is than another game. However, I would not at all be surprised if it were GOTY: it's certainly been mine.
