Dragon Age: Inquisition

[babaganoosh13]

I'm snowed in. Does anybody know how big Loghain Mac Tir's role is if of course you did the sensible thing and let Ferelden's biggest hero live? I assume he single-handedly takes over the Orleasian throne and renames it Sub-Ferelden, then he goes on to slay the 6th archdemon to prevent the next blight.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

 

So do the specializations make a big difference in how a class plays?

Yep

Cool, when do you get them?

[Tale]

Level 11 I hear. You can only get one specialization this time around though and they're taught by a quest.

[Volourn]

"BTW, there is also nothing stopping those giving 10 from doing so without playing the game."

 

That's just as wrong as the reverse and not a good defense.

 

A review is about hands on experience - be it playing a game or watching a movie or reading a book.

 

Anything before that is just an unproven opinion. Nothingw rong with that - we all do that. Agterall, it's how we decide what games or movies and whatever to buy. But, don't try to pretend it's a review. That's evil.

[redneckdevil]

So does anyone trust the actual gaming sites' review scores anymore? The game is getting solid scores and yet that seems almost meaningless.

Ever since fonv, i dont put much stock in it anymore. I only pay attention when things are getting mostly 50 or 60 below from both journalists and players.

[Hurlshort]

I was getting some really creepy looking lego head hair thing in my game.  I also don't like the performance, but I think my laptop is dying, because I was having trouble with some other games recently.

 

It could be a few things, I'm not sure if I want to do a small upgrade to see if I can keep it alive, or just buy a new machine.  It is 3 years old and was refurbished when I bought it.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

The stubble looks pretty bad up close, I would like character sheet options at creation, camera is confusing and should be able to zoom out further, and the tactical and character modes could be done a bit more different. Character creation itself can be quite confusing. Keyboard controls definitely aren't as good as DAO.

 

Combat speed can still be hectic, but was thankfully toned down a bit. I'm getting good performance on Ultra although load times are a bit longer than I'm used to.

 

So far, Origins had better combat and camera options, but it is better than DA2. Not very far, so grain of salt. Will post a more thorough summary later this week.

[Fighter]

So how big is the open world?

[Qistina]

 

Just out of curiosity, is there any sort of lore explanation given as to why mages can't heal anymore, or do they just ignore it? I might be able to forgive it if there's a lore reason (like, say, all the Fade craziness is causing magic to misbehave, so it's not safe to cast healing, and basically every mage is a D&D-style wild mage now), but if it's just for gameplay reasons with no explanation, that's not really acceptable as far as I'm concerned.

Most magical healing was only ever a game mechanic, with the overwhelming majority of in-setting healing being done with poultices and herbs. You didn't see mages treating wounded soldiers or anything.

 

Spirit Healers were real healers, though, but a very rare fluke that had no formal codification. Wynne didn't seem to have ever heard of it before.

 

 

"Spirit Healer" is a specialization, but in DA:O Wynne is a Spirit Healer because of she's an abomination, Anders also a Spirit Healer and an abomination in DA2. Originally we can buy "Spirit Healer book" at Wonder of Thedas in Denerim once to unlock it, afterward the tome will never again appear in the game.

 

Originally there is no way to learn "Spirit Healer specialization"  other than using that book, it means this "Spirit Healer" thing is either not common or don't exist.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Qistina

[bobobo878]

Its likely that the negative review score embargo (deal with publisher to delay negative reviews) has been lifted. Two really negative reviews have appeared on metacritic today.

 

http://www.gaming-age.com/2014/11/dragon-age-inquisition-pc/

Pity the guy who wrote this one didn't use the time between the embargoes to learn the difference between "affect" and "effect."

[Volourn]

"So does anyone trust the actual gaming sites' review scores anymore? The game is getting solid scores and yet that seems almost meaningless."

 

I don't really trust anyone opinion on stuff except my own.

 

 

 

"Originally there is no way to learn "Spirit Healer specialization"  other than using that book, it means this "Spirit Healer" thing is either not common or don't exist."

 

It means nothing except you are using giant leaps of illogic to come to a random conclusion that fits your belief.

[ShadySands]

Magical healing exists in some cutscenes so its removal was purely a gameplay decision

[LadyCrimson]

I've never "trusted" review scores. Reviews are just another source for figuring out if it's a game you'd like to take a shot on. Liking is another matter.

[Qistina]

"Originally there is no way to learn "Spirit Healer specialization"  other than using that book, it means this "Spirit Healer" thing is either not common or don't exist."

 

It means nothing except you are using giant leaps of illogic to come to a random conclusion that fits your belief.

 

 

In DA:O you buy Spirit healer tome at Wonder of Thedas once only, then it vanished, so when you play a new character there is no way to "learn" that specialization, meaning it doesn't exist. Wynne is the only "Spirit Healer" because she is an abomination similar like Anders

 

There's a cutscene when you travel with Wynne, she summon the spirit to heal everyone, that's unlock Vessel of Spirit special talent. Mass healing is a special condition.

 

In DA:O only two character have Spirit Healer skill, one is Wynne and another is a mage you meet in the Fade to learn Golem form. other than these two, no mage ever have Spirit Healer skill

Edited November 19, 2014 by Qistina

[Humanoid]

What's the use of healing magic in a world where you regain full health by hiding in a corner for 20 seconds sucking your thumb? :D

[ShadySands]

I don't mourn the loss of health regen but I do miss the healing spells if for no other reason to keep some NPCs up

[ManifestedISO]

Just opened it. Was busy with Brazilian supermodels ... mostly true story. Not that kind of busy. Yet.   

 

[Bryy]

So how big is the open world?

It's ten areas of various size. Some are small (which is still a comparable size), but there are three that are gigantic.

[Qistina]

I have said it's a SWTOR with sword and magic...a single player "MMO"

 

Bioware is going down....

[archangel979]

After this game, I am beginning to look at PoE in a more positive light, even with all its problems it just seem to be a proper RPG when compare to DAI.

[prodigydancer]

After this game, I am beginning to look at PoE in a more positive light, even with all its problems it just seem to be a proper RPG when compare to DAI.

Exactly. Constructive criticism is OK but petty squabbles over combat mechanics or sources of XP should not make us forget that PoE is being developed for us and the alternatives right now are poor console ports like DA:I and equally poor MMOs like TES Online.

 

That's why I also defended WL2 on inXile forums when people attacked it with bad reviews. WL2 may have minor flaws (very minor if you'd ask me and some bugs (like every game) but it's a game I can really enjoy. And why would I give a low rating to something that I like?

Edited November 19, 2014 by prodigydancer

[Azure79]

I have around 10 hours played. Currently in the first large area the Hinterlands. I am playing with KB&M setup. Just some general thoughts. 

 

1: Combat control is clunky

-There is no autoattack for the character you currently control.  You either have to mash or hold LMB1 or R. Oftentimes, the character I was controlling would do nothing because I would keep forgetting to hold a button, being accustomed to auto-attack as I am.

 

-If enemies move out of attack range, you don't automatically follow, probably because there is no auto attack. You have to manually stop attacking and move closer. It is annoying.

 

-There is no 'click on the ground' to move to that spot outside of tactical camera mode.

 

-I've found Tac-cam(TC) mostly useless. First off, it doesn't zoom out anywhere near where it would be useful. Unlike DAO where TC is simply the most pulled out view and you can stay in TC and play normally, in DAI once you enter TC, the game automatically pauses and goes into the TC system. From there you can issue orders etc. The problem is once you resume time, you can't stay in TC mode to watch events unfold. It kicks you back to the system where the rules are different. Therefore you can't reissue orders on the fly but have to re-enter TC mode. More often than not, it kicks you back to the over the shoulder angle you had before, so you immediately lose track of every order issued. I eventually stopped using TC altogether. I remapped the pause function to spacebar and play at the zoomed out level right before TC. Then its almost like regular pause and play but with the annoyance of having to hold down a button to autoattack. 

 

-Taken together, combat feels unwieldy and is pretty frustrating. Really, all they had to do was just copy DAO's TC and enable autoattack and most of these problems would be non-existent. 

 

2: The tactics menu has been gutted considerably. Granted I didn't use it much in the previous two games, but it was useful to set up frequently used tactics for smoother unpaused gameplay. I'm still early in the game, so perhaps more options unlock as you play.

 

3: It's not all bad though. I think the art design, music and overall atmosphere are really great. The map I'm currently exploring is huge and has a lot of twists and turns with various quest objectives. I've found all the NPCs I've met so far to be likable and the dialogue system has been improved and expanded from the usual nice/****y/aggressive choices from DA2.

 

Just my 2 cents. I have tinkered with the controls and have found a comfortable compromise when it comes to combat. If Bioware patches in auto-attack, I think I'll be able to overlook most of the shortcomings that currently exist. The core of combat is still fun and the combat animations have been improved. Cross-class combos are still there and I do enjoy the tactical aspects of party-based play. I just completed a rift battle where my level 4 party faced off against level 8 demons. It was challenging and fun. I had to use all my skills accordingly to stun dangerous enemies, focus fire on weaker enemies and then use cross class combos to take out powerful enemies quickly. 

 

Here's hoping for a good patch by Bioware. 

Edited November 19, 2014 by Azure79

[Qistina]

It is fun to watch the Bioware forum now...

[Malcador]

It is fun to watch the Bioware forum now...

Lots of trolls ?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

 

It is fun to watch the Bioware forum now...

Lots of trolls ?

Promancers squeeing.