Dragon Age: Inquisition (Discussion)

[Rath Darkblade]

...I tend to be more of a power gamer, so to me getting every ability or perk is more important than playing a character. That's why the events not revolving around me is fine, but having to placate my idiotic party members is extremely annoying.

There's a very simple solution to this in DAO. Simply go to Bodahn, buy a few Thoughtful Gifts, and give them to whoever you please. They'll be happy with you, and you'll be able to concentrate on power-gaming.

I also tried to max my character while playing DAO, but only within one skill tree (e.g. a mage with only the Mage skills and Primal spells, i.e. fire/frost/lightning etc., or a fighter with only warrior skills and sword-and-shield skills, etc.) Which skills I picked depended on what kind of character I wanted to play - i.e. a fighter with a two-handed weapon or with weapon-and-shield, a mage focusing on a specific "school" of magic, etc. Worked like a charm.

[DeadPoolX]

...I tend to be more of a power gamer, so to me getting every ability or perk is more important than playing a character. That's why the events not revolving around me is fine, but having to placate my idiotic party members is extremely annoying.

There's a very simple solution to this in DAO. Simply go to Bodahn, buy a few Thoughtful Gifts, and give them to whoever you please. They'll be happy with you, and you'll be able to concentrate on power-gaming.

Yes, I know you can give them gifts. However, there's the problem of diminishing returns, so after a while, the gifts won't do nearly enough to offset disagreements.

Even with gifts, you need to placate the characters, as there's no way just a gift or two is getting each character to their max (in terms of liking you).

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm... really? *shrug* I'm not sure why that's the case for you, but the "Thoughtful Gifts" always gave everyone in my party a +10 in disposition per person per gift, no matter how many gifts you give them. (This only works for "Thoughtful Gifts", mind you).

There's no way in the game to make everyone in the party love the PC, but as long as their disposition towards the PC is at 100, that's all you can do.

[Luinath]

If you get 2 copies of each companions specific gift from Bodahn (1st from your visit after Lothering, and 2nd from going back to the camp), you can easily max their approval, and it doesn't have any diminishing effects on the gifts found in Origin, and the ones in Awakening for a returning character.

If you want Dog's plot skills to appear, you need to use a gift from Feastday Pranks in order for get them.

[Rath Darkblade]

So... update... we now have some details about the Inquisitor's companions for DA3. Here's the lowdown. Cullen, Morrigan, Alistair, Anora and Leliana (from DA1) will return as NPCs, as will Varric and Cassandra (from DA2).

We'll also be able to visit will be Arlathan (the original home of the Dalish elves), Orlais, and the Tevinter Imperium, among others.

Is anyone looking forward to all this? What are your thoughts?

[Tawmis]

Holding judgement. I was excited about DA2 before it came out. Don't get me wrong, I still managed to enjoy it, but it did not (to me) even come close to measuring up to DAO. If DAI goes back to a DAO type style, I will be happy.

[Luinath]

Not sure what to think about DAI at the moment, seeing as DA2 wasn't as impressive as DAO.

I do like some of the characters from DAO returning in DAI, assuming they aren't only mentioned like in DA2.

[AndreaDraco]

DAI has got me pretty excited. However, I'm trying to be cautious, since -- after the initial excitement -- DA2 proved to be quite the disappointment.

[DeadPoolX]

From everything I've read, it seems BioWare is trying for something that's somewhere between DAO and DA2. That's a good compromise, as both games had their positives and negatives.

I like the fact that in combat, DAI allows you to be tactical but also control your character in combat. So you can assign actions easily to party members (like in DAO), but you can into the thick of battle (like DA2).

I just hope DAI isn't going for the same old boring and cliched "there's a great evil and you're the only one who can stop it" bullshit of a story.

That was one thing that really shined in DA2: you weren't a world hero and the entire universe didn't revolve around you. There was no "great and powerful enemy" and everything took place on a smaller, more local scale. It was a very welcome change to the extremely worn out and tired Tolkienesque plots that've been recycled for years.

[Rath Darkblade]

From everything I've read, it seems BioWare is trying for something that's somewhere between DAO and DA2. That's a good compromise, as both games had their positives and negatives.

I like the fact that in combat, DAI allows you to be tactical but also control your character in combat. So you can assign actions easily to party members (like in DAO), but you can into the thick of battle (like DA2).

I just hope DAI isn't going for the same old boring and cliched "there's a great evil and you're the only one who can stop it" bullshit of a story.

That was one thing that really shined in DA2: you weren't a world hero and the entire universe didn't revolve around you. There was no "great and powerful enemy" and everything took place on a smaller, more local scale. It was a very welcome change to the extremely worn out and tired Tolkienesque plots that've been recycled for years.

Hmm... I agree with you that the "aah!! You're the only one who can stop the evil" is a cliche by now. However, I'm usually prepared to overlook this cliche if the story is done in an interesting way, or if the side-quests are also interesting, etc. If the main quest is a cliche, that's disappointing, but it won't ruin the entire game for me.

Now I'm curious about your use of the word "Tolkien-esque". I can see what you mean, but Tolkien was hardly the originator of this idea - was he? As far as I'm aware, that idea is as old as time itself.

[DeadPoolX]

From everything I've read, it seems BioWare is trying for something that's somewhere between DAO and DA2. That's a good compromise, as both games had their positives and negatives.

I like the fact that in combat, DAI allows you to be tactical but also control your character in combat. So you can assign actions easily to party members (like in DAO), but you can into the thick of battle (like DA2).

I just hope DAI isn't going for the same old boring and cliched "there's a great evil and you're the only one who can stop it" bullshit of a story.

That was one thing that really shined in DA2: you weren't a world hero and the entire universe didn't revolve around you. There was no "great and powerful enemy" and everything took place on a smaller, more local scale. It was a very welcome change to the extremely worn out and tired Tolkienesque plots that've been recycled for years.

Hmm... I agree with you that the "aah!! You're the only one who can stop the evil" is a cliche by now. However, I'm usually prepared to overlook this cliche if the story is done in an interesting way, or if the side-quests are also interesting, etc. If the main quest is a cliche, that's disappointing, but it won't ruin the entire game for me.

Now I'm curious about your use of the word "Tolkien-esque". I can see what you mean, but Tolkien was hardly the originator of this idea - was he? As far as I'm aware, that idea is as old as time itself.

No, you're right, Tolkien wasn't the originator of that idea, as he based his concepts on mythology and folklore.

That said, just about every entry into high fantasy, regardless of the media used (books, TV shows, movies, video games, etc) has "borrowed" from Tolkien. Because so much is based on Tolkien's works, I used the term "Tolkien-esque" because he did use the "there's a great evil that only you can destroy" plot and invented, or at least widely introduced, many ideas that would become fantasy tropes later on.

BTW, just for reference, I'm not a Tolkien fan. In fact, I usually despise fantasy, including Tolkien and D&D (which itself is heavily influenced by Tolkien). The Dragon Age series is one of the very few fantasy universes that I actually enjoy.

[Rath Darkblade]

I'm just wondering if it's worth the hype. Does anyone know? Have you tried it? I'm well aware of the dangers of early adoptions - bugs etc... is it buggy? Is it not buggy? What are your impressions thus far of DA:I?

Please feel free to spill the beans. I'll gather them up and make a bean casserole later.

[AndreaDraco]

I'm playing it and liking it. The side quests are a chore, but at least the scenery is often breathtaking, while the main quest seem -- I'm still at the early stages -- challenging and captivating. The supporting characters are, as usual, the real treat, and I'm quite fond of this new group. In general, I think it's a huge improvement on DA2.

[Tawmis]

Well, pretty much anything is an improvement over DA2.

As Andrea said - the side quests may make you feel like you're playing a single player MMO ("Our people are cold! Go kill 10 goats and bring us their fur!") - and the areas are pretty huge. There's a few fights that are VERY, VERY tough. There's also a Dragon you can encounter; tried to take it on when I was level 9. It was clear I wasn't going to win; but it was an epic 15 minute battle (and they did Dragons beautifully! At least this one dragon!) It took me a LONG time to feel like I was into the game. I have to say, however, nothing yet tops Origins. I don't feel like I am making much of an impact in "every day" lives. In Origins you'd encounter people and talk to them and influence their choices. In this one, there's Templars and Mages, and everyone's fighting, and it's kill on sight as you roam the lands. (I was sure when I got the quest about the brother mage and the brother templar wanting to fight it out; that I was going to arrive and do some dialogue with them... needless to say, I was, very, very, very disappointed).

Still playing the game, currently. It's good. Better than DA2 by miles. But still miles behind Origins.

EDIT: Merging this with the existing Dragon Age Inquisition thread.

[Rath Darkblade]

Whoops. Sorry for missing the pre-existing thread. I'll give the game a try then. Thanks for your opinions.

******EDIT******

Well, I've started the installation... and I'm a bit concerned. What is this Origin thing but simply a game delivery system, like Steam? Do I need it? And another thing - why is it even there? DA:O didn't need it; DA2 didn't need it. Why does DA3 need it?

I'm not complaining, I'm just confused. Any ideas?