{"id":155410,"date":"2014-11-11T02:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T07:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/review-dragon-age-inquisition\/"},"modified":"2014-11-11T02:01:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-11T07:01:00","slug":"review-dragon-age-inquisition","status":"publish","type":"eg_reviews","link":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/reviews\/review-dragon-age-inquisition\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Dragon Age: Inquisition"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dragon Age II<\/i> felt like a great action game that was outsourced to a lesser developer. It lacked the polish BioWare typically puts into its titles, and almost the entire affair felt like a gigantic step back from everything Origins<\/em> had established. What was once a promising franchise that reminded me of the glory days of RPGs such as Baldur’s Gate<\/em> became a shadow of its former self, with lazily re-used assets and no sense of scale.<\/p> BioWare went back to the drawing board with Inquisition<\/em>, the third Dragon Age <\/em>outing, and the game is all the better for it. It feels like a culmination of its predecessors’ strengths, with all of the bells and whistles that come with current-gen hardware.<\/p> <\/p> Dragon Age: Inquisition<\/i> (PC, PS3, PS4 [reviewed], Xbox 360, Xbox One)<\/strong> Almost immediately it’s easy to see that Inquisition<\/i> takes to heart everything BioWare has learned throughout the development cycle of the first two Dragon Age<\/em> games. Combat has vastly improved since Origins<\/em>, but now rather than feeling too twitchy like Dragon Age II<\/em>, it’s a mixture of the two design philosophies and feels just right. Attacks have weight to them, but you can’t just go flying through the air like a ninja and launch a thousand attacks a minute — a style that cheapened any sense of strategy the second game may have had. That tactical feel of Origins<\/em> is back, and married with the action concepts from DA II<\/em>.<\/p> Said compromise also spills into the core story, which is no longer a small-scale tale of one human’s struggles in a fortress town. While the initial creation process isn’t as detailed as Origins <\/em>— it doesn’t go all the way down to your socioeconomic status, for instance — it’s a huge upgrade from the previous game. You can choose from a pool of human, elf, dwarf, or Qunari races and pick your class from the start, whether it be a dual-wielding or ranged rogue, one- or two-handed warrior, or a mage. I would have liked more race and background options.<\/p> The tactical camera is back on all platforms (thank goodness!), and you’ll need to get used to it during some of the tougher encounters. Boss fights and even a lot of world-map encounters are legitimately difficult, and you can’t just slice your way through everything. Skill building isn’t as robust as Origins<\/i> but there are at least four trees to choose from, all of which have their own set of useful abilities; nothing feels tacked on and everything has a point to it. Customized armor is also back, and again, feels like a mix of the two philosophies. It’s streamlined, but allows you to fundamentally change the look of your party and adds a sense of importance to loot and item progression.<\/p> <\/iframe><\/p>
Developer: BioWare<\/strong>
Publisher: Electronic Arts<\/strong>
Release: November 18, 2014<\/strong>
MSRP: $59.99<\/strong><\/p>