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Dragon Age: Inquisition |OT2| Leave the damn Hinterlands!

DA:I had essentially the best damn combat in the series- it's main flaw is the tactics aren't fleshed out well enough.

The tactics alone is why I feel like this game has the worst combat in any DA, I feel like I have zero control over what my party uses when outside of tactical cam and tactical cam is hot claustrophobic utter clunky garbage.

Having played all 3 this year this is 100% the least fun I'm having out of all of them.
 

Ralemont

not me
The tactics alone is why I feel like this game has the worst combat in any DA, I feel like I have zero control over what my party uses when outside of tactical cam and tactical cam is hot claustrophobic utter clunky garbage.

Having played all 3 this year this is 100% the least fun I'm having out of all of them.

Yeah elevation can be a problem. There should be a button that lets you cycle through enemies in tac cam, by far the best way to maneuver.
 

diaspora

Member
The tactics alone is why I feel like this game has the worst combat in any DA, I feel like I have zero control over what my party uses when outside of tactical cam and tactical cam is hot claustrophobic utter clunky garbage.

Having played all 3 this year this is 100% the least fun I'm having out of all of them.

The tactics is a flaw with the combat, but everything else is far and away better than Origins or 2. Honestly I cannot comprehend why people struggle with the tactical cam.

edit: Maybe it's different with a controller, but I've never had to fight with the kb/m controls.

edit 2: Why don't objects near the camera become transparent? Is this an engine limitation or what?
 

Ralemont

not me
edit 2: Why don't objects near the camera become transparent? Is this an engine limitation or what?

It's likely something that Frostbite didn't have and with all the new stuff they had to develop for the engine I doubt they had time.

If you think about DA: I's tac cam it isn't actually a free roam or iso camera; it functions like the normal third-person camera but attached to an invisible character. You can't elevate off the Y axis for example (which is why navigating terrain with differenr elevation is torture): you can only rotate about a fixed point and zoom in/out. I think that's why a lot of the functionality you might expect from an iso view isn't present, such as mouse scroll on screen edge, selecting particular groups of things using the ground, transparent boundaries, etc. It's a modified third person cam instead of a camera mode built separate from the ground up.
 

diaspora

Member
It's likely something that Frostbite didn't have and with all the new stuff they had to develop for the engine I doubt they had time.

If you think about DA: I's tac cam it isn't actually a free roam or iso camera; it functions like the normal third-person camera but attached to an invisible character. You can't elevate off the Y axis for example (which is why navigating terrain with differenr elevation is torture): you can only rotate about a fixed point and zoom in/out. I think that's why a lot of the functionality you might expect from an iso view isn't present, such as mouse scroll on screen edge, selecting particular groups of things using the ground, transparent boundaries, etc. It's a modified third person cam instead of a camera mode built separate from the ground up.

I think you're probably right. Though I should hope this is fixed in the next installment which would ideally only be on 3 platforms instead of 5.
 

IvorB

Member
I'll second Shinobi saying buy Trespasser but you should but it asap for a second reason: it adds a second upgrade slot to EVERY ABILITY in the game, drastically increasing possible build variety. It also adds a unique customization slot to armor.

Trespasser also adds "mods" to the game you can play with. You can turn on level scaling, you can have elites spawn a lot more often, you can make bears demons from hell, you can double disapproval points for companions to make balancing dialogue choices more interesting. And you get unique gear for keeping mods turned on.

For all the shit the combat gets I really think the big problem (well, besides UI problems especially on PC) was that it was too easy even on Nightmare, so a lot of the mechanics you are never forced to use, never forced to really think about your build. Trespasser DLC makes things even harder, though if you have FF enabled you might have no need for that.

I'll look into the Trespasser thing. Is it a full expansion or just DLC? For the difficulty it was pretty brutal at first but things are easing off now. It's still in a good place though since I can't really get too complacent or my team starts taking heavy damage. I was binge-playing this game so hard over the holidays. :-O

The tactics alone is why I feel like this game has the worst combat in any DA, I feel like I have zero control over what my party uses when outside of tactical cam and tactical cam is hot claustrophobic utter clunky garbage.

Having played all 3 this year this is 100% the least fun I'm having out of all of them.

The tactical cam has issues with elevation for sure but it works 90% of the time for me. I do every battle in tactical cam and it's fine so far. What winds me up is having to babysit the guys all the time in case they decide to randomly wander off and get themselves axed. Or the kunari will randomly turn his back to the opponents. I really wish I could tell them to hold position and they would actually listen.
 
Finished most of the Emerald Graves and now doing the Exalted Plains. Enemies are way below my level (21) so it's a cakewalk. It's too bad, the areas look pretty nice.
 
I think I posted in this thread (or maybe the first OT) a year ago. I had put the game on hiatus as I was stuck on DECISIONS.
I didn't know who the hell I wanted to make Divine, but now I'm aiming for a softened Leliana!
Recently picked it up again, but decided to start all over from the beginning. Bought the Trespasser DLC too, as I do plan to beat this game, so I'm getting those nifty new rewards from war table missions. Also picked up that one free DLC pack that has the mirror to change your facial features! I can't tell you how many times I've replayed the first 30 minutes of this game only to then reroll my character because aaaarghthefaceiswrong.

I still really enjoy the trek to Skyhold, cheesy inspirational mass singing and all.
 

jonjonaug

Member
Anyone here played on hard or nightmare? How much more difficult is it compared to normal?

Outside of a few encounters Normal is kind of braindead easy to begin with. Hard works better as a "default" difficulty setting. Nightmare can be pretty challenging at points, but honestly isn't THAT difficult. Basically with Nightmare the use of potions, grenades, and knowing exactly what effects your skills have is actually required, compared to Normal where you can just button mash or Hard where you can scrape by just knowing how to use skills properly.
 

diaspora

Member
There are other options you can turn on to modify difficult such as Even Ground that ensures that enemies are at least your level. There's also other ones that empower enemies with additional skills. Combined they can offer a better challenge.
 

diaspora

Member
Thanks, I didn't know about Even Ground. I assume the loot scales as well? Getting all these unique/rare items that are useless.

Sorta, the loot drops don't change much but you do get really good armor/weapons/schematics sent to your chest in skyhold's smithy. The more things you turn on, the better and more frequent the loot gets sent to your chest.

Incidentally, I was always curious as to why DA:I never had day/night cycles as well as ambient tunes or an option for a closer cinematic camera. Mods were able to get a camera approximating the cinematic camera so it's not impossible.
 

Maledict

Member
Sorta, the loot drops don't change much but you do get really good armor/weapons/schematics sent to your chest in skyhold's smithy. The more things you turn on, the better and more frequent the loot gets sent to your chest.

Incidentally, I was always curious as to why DA:I never had day/night cycles as well as ambient tunes or an option for a closer cinematic camera. Mods were able to get a camera approximating the cinematic camera so it's not impossible.

Because it's a cross gen game. A huge amount of the issues with DA:I can be summed up by that fact. Cramming it onto the old consoles cost them a huge amount in terms of performance and options.

(Still looked amazing on the current consoles thanks to Frrostbyte!)
 

jonjonaug

Member
Because it's a cross gen game. A huge amount of the issues with DA:I can be summed up by that fact. Cramming it onto the old consoles cost them a huge amount in terms of performance and options.

(Still looked amazing on the current consoles thanks to Frrostbyte!)

Well, the ambiance of certain areas is improved by a locked time of day as well. Particularly in Crestwood and the Fallow Mire.
 

nortonff

Hi, I'm nortonff. I spend my life going into threads to say that I don't care about the topic of the thread. It's a really good use of my time.
Does the Deluxe Edition include all released DLC? It's on sale rigtt now on PSN for 14,99
 
Does the Deluxe Edition include all released DLC? It's on sale rigtt now on PSN for 14,99

I don't think so—I think that was the special edition at release. I believe you'll want the Game of the Year addition for all the DLC (and even then, it comes with it as DLC codes rather than on disc).
 

nortonff

Hi, I'm nortonff. I spend my life going into threads to say that I don't care about the topic of the thread. It's a really good use of my time.
I don't think so—I think that was the special edition at release. I believe you'll want the Game of the Year addition for all the DLC (and even then, it comes with it as DLC codes rather than on disc).

Ok, thanks. I'll wait to get the GOTY edition on disk for my collection ;)
 
Yeah, so Even Ground and more options are restricted to Trespasser. Guess I'll go kill all the high dragons and then wait for a sale on the DLC.
 
FINALLY went back and finished Trespasser

Why o why was that not the actual end of the game??

Super satisfying ending. Loved everything that went into the characters for this DLC. Just a great job all around.

The Iron Bull moment was the biggest o shit moment for me.
 

diaspora

Member
FINALLY went back and finished Trespasser

Why o why was that not the actual end of the game??

Super satisfying ending. Loved everything that went into the characters for this DLC. Just a great job all around.

The Iron Bull moment was the biggest o shit moment for me.

They didn't actually start making it until months after the game was already out IIRC.
 
They didn't actually start making it until months after the game was already out IIRC.

O ya, it showed. Took a lot of shortcuts that you could see the seams a little bit. In the days of the old expansion packs this would've been a really nice follow up, but now it's stuck in this weird no man's land of DLC not being substantial enough but getting it in on time for the main game would be too time consuming.

The after credits reveal was dope, but would've gladly traded that for a proper ending and setup for sequel like Trespasser as the denouement/third act.
 
Beat it yesterday. It was a tough decision in the January PSN sale between this and The Witcher 3. I never played a single DA game and I only played an hour of The Witcher 1 before dropping it due to the battle system. While The WItcher 3 gets all the praise, I decided to go for the GOTY edition of Inquisition since it was only 2 dollars more expensive, had all DLC and I was really hyped for the idea of a Mass Effect type experience in a fantasy setting.

My goodness. For me, it hit all the marks it needed to. I LOVE this game, adore it even. Similar to my first jumping into ME2 without playing the first game, I was out of place with the lore at first, not completely sure what the hell was going on. But, as with ME2, I focused on the characters and allowed to lore to slowly sink in. When it did, I never really finished my first male Human Rogue since I noticed many of my decisions felt off as I got to learn more of the world. So I rolled with a badass redhead fem Elven Mage which proved to be a wise decision since both Mages and Elves have an interesting place in the world.

I was intrigued both by the setting, even if it was a very typical fantasy beat, and the story set in it.
The after Haven/Skyhold intro scene sequence in particular is breathtaking.
Loved the diverse characters as well. Sera, for one, is one of the funnest and quirkiest characters I have ever seen in a video game.
I cannot even describe how much my stomach hurt when they announced her as "Maya Balsitch of Korse". Also, her being the romance choice for my otherwise stern inquisitor was a nice way to show her other side, especially since Sera not loving Elves or Mages proves to be an interesting dynamic. I really loved what they did to Solas in Tresspasser too.

The gameplay itself was just fine. I rarely needed to use the Tactical view so the point of it, other than seeing the monster weakness, was kind of off to me. But the rest makes sense. The crafting is basic but effective (even though the whole Masterwork calculation thing pissed me off), the battle system is fun and does its job and there is a lot to do in the world. According to many, too much. While I can see why people are disliking the game on the basis of the MMOish side quests, I am not particularly bothered by it since they are nowhere near mandatory as people claim and you basically get Power handed to you on a regular basis. To me, it's far from being absolutely awful and keeps me positively busy.
I loved building up the Inquisition, although, as Angry Joe said, you don't really get to see the on screen payoff of amassing such a huge force to fight for you. I was hoping the DLCs might solve that but they didn't. That's the only gripe I have, honestly.

Now I want to replay the game on Nightmare and do a "perfect run". I haven't touched a lot of the DLCs and didn't even visit some areas as I wanted to have the incentive of a second full playthrough. I have no plans to play either Origins (even though people say it's excellent) or DAII but I did read up on them extensively (as well as watched some pivotal scenes online) so I can mess with the Keep and get a different "world" that makes sense. I do have difficulty deciding on what type of character I want to go as though. I know the class is going to be Warrior but I am breaking heads between a friendly Dwarf Male, who I am not sure where I will take as the Dwarf backstory makes it a bit difficult (and I am never satisfied with the look of any Dwarf I make) and a gold haired Qunari female
for who I have an interesting idea of becoming an Andraste faithful compared to my other mostly agnostic chars but don't really want to since I played a female last and the most glaringly obvious romance choice, due to her Qunari fetish, is once again Sera.

All in all, along with Undertale, my favorite game of recent memory.
 
Any tips for making the short list perk work in the hissing wastes on ps4?
I've gone from skyhold to the merchant, then completely closed the game app and started again about 20 or so times now and only once has it worked, which was for a schematic I didn't care about.
 

Yeul

Member
So David Gaider has left BioWare. This is really sad since he wrote some great characters: Dorian, Cassandra, Alistair, Morrigan, Flemeth, etc. and a few of the origin stories in DA:O. I know he had already moved on to a new BioWare IP and Weekes took over (I like Weekes a lot too and have confidence in him as the lead), but usually what would happen is that the writer for the certain characters would return to write them for "voice" so to speak. I don't know if this will be the case here since he's left the company, but who knows considering the fact that it's obvious some characters are going to return for DA4. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Dorian, Fenris, Flemeth, Morrigan, and Cass in some capacity. So who knows? Sad either way. I wonder what happened.
 

diaspora

Member
So David Gaider has left BioWare. This is really sad since he wrote some great characters: Dorian, Cassandra, Alistair, Morrigan, Flemeth, etc. and a few of the origin stories in DA:O. I know he had already moved on to a new BioWare IP and Weekes took over (I like Weekes a lot too and have confidence in him as the lead), but usually what would happen is that the writer for the certain characters would return to write them for "voice" so to speak. I don't know if this will be the case here since he's left the company, but who knows considering the fact that it's obvious some characters are going to return for DA4. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Dorian, Fenris, Flemeth, Morrigan, and Cass in some capacity. So who knows? Sad either way. I wonder what happened.

I wonder who they're going to replace him with for the new IP.
 

Melchiah

Member
So David Gaider has left BioWare. This is really sad since he wrote some great characters: Dorian, Cassandra, Alistair, Morrigan, Flemeth, etc. and a few of the origin stories in DA:O. I know he had already moved on to a new BioWare IP and Weekes took over (I like Weekes a lot too and have confidence in him as the lead), but usually what would happen is that the writer for the certain characters would return to write them for "voice" so to speak. I don't know if this will be the case here since he's left the company, but who knows considering the fact that it's obvious some characters are going to return for DA4. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Dorian, Fenris, Flemeth, Morrigan, and Cass in some capacity. So who knows? Sad either way. I wonder what happened.

Damn. I really liked Dorian and Cassandra. Can't say about the others, as I haven't played the other games in the series.
 

Ralemont

not me
I know the class is going to be Warrior but I am breaking heads between a friendly Dwarf Male, who I am not sure where I will take as the Dwarf backstory makes it a bit difficult (and I am never satisfied with the look of any Dwarf I make) and a gold haired Qunari female
for who I have an interesting idea of becoming an Andraste faithful compared to my other mostly agnostic chars but don't really want to since I played a female last and the most glaringly obvious romance choice, due to her Qunari fetish, is once again Sera.

Between those two I'd go dwarf, myself. I like the American accent VA for him and Qunari armor options are pretty limited.

Plus dwarves swinging around giant clubs just doesn't get old.
 

DeviantBoi

Member
I have the regular Dragon Age installed.

If I buy the GOTY edition that's on sale right now, do I need to redownload the game or do I just download the expansions (I don't own any).
 

X-Frame

Member
I have the regular Dragon Age installed.

If I buy the GOTY edition that's on sale right now, do I need to redownload the game or do I just download the expansions (I don't own any).

I did the same around Christmas time and I didn't have to re-download the game, just the new DLC.
 
So like most people I am currently torn on whether I should get the GOTY edition from the PS Store, it's only about €25. I just have a few questions I hope someone can answer:

- Is this game hard? Can I put it on normal without worrying about things?
- How much does the game need me to strategically approach fights on normal difficulty? Can I breeze through fights or is every encounter like a chess game?
- How much backtracking is there in the game? I usually combine sidequests well with main quests, but I heard this game forces you to do farming sidequests in order to proceed with the main storyline. Can someone elaborate on this?
- Is multiplayer still crowded and is it accessible? In other words, should I look forward to it? I did love Mass Effect 3's multiplayer.
 
So like most people I am currently torn on whether I should get the GOTY edition from the PS Store, it's only about €25. I just have a few questions I hope someone can answer:

- Is this game hard? Can I put it on normal without worrying about things?
- How much does the game need me to strategically approach fights on normal difficulty? Can I breeze through fights or is every encounter like a chess game?
- How much backtracking is there in the game? I usually combine sidequests well with main quests, but I heard this game forces you to do farming sidequests in order to proceed with the main storyline. Can someone elaborate on this?
- Is multiplayer still crowded and is it accessible? In other words, should I look forward to it? I did love Mass Effect 3's multiplayer.
1. Not really, at least on normal difficulty. Some of the bosses and tougher enemies require some strategy but honestly you should have no problems getting through it playing like a typical action RPG.

2. See above. You can play like an action RPG on normal and not worry about how to approach each encounter other than healing or casting magic spells.

3. Backtracking...no real backtracking...the game's not split into a linear form of progression. There are a dozen open world'ish regions that you get to explore, each with their own little story to them, and the game lets you know what missions are main narrative missions to move forward, you won't be lost. Missions require a certain amount of "power" to 'unlock' so to speak, and you get power by completing tasks, side quests, main quests, etc. Some side missions are filler (collect 10 skulls, close all the rifts, kill all bandits in the area, etc) but you don't have to do them all.

4. I don't think it's as fun as ME3's at all, but it's fun to try for a few hours. The single player is so huge and takes so long I really saw no need to dabble in MP that much.
 
Bought GOTY since it's on sale on PSN. I heard bad things about this on GAF but knowing GAF are usually hyperbole when it comes to negative opinions so I decide to give this a shot. I played all Souls games. While I'm not a person "But it needs to play like Souls", I need some challenges otherwise cakewalk may make me bored. Does normal difficulty have challenges or should I play on hard?
 

diaspora

Member
Bought GOTY since it's on sale on PSN. I heard bad things about this on GAF but knowing GAF are usually hyperbole when it comes to negative opinions so I decide to give this a shot. I played all Souls games. While I'm not a person "But it needs to play like Souls", I need some challenges otherwise cakewalk may make me bored. Does normal difficulty have challenges or should I play on hard?

There are some extra modes you can toggle that empower your enemies like Even Ground (minimum your level) and other modes that offer enemies more abilities. I definitely know these are on PC, less sure about PS4.
 
Still haven't got Trespasser, though I want it I really don't feel like sludging through the entirety of SP again (I don't have my old profile).
 

Ratrat

Member
Bought GOTY since it's on sale on PSN. I heard bad things about this on GAF but knowing GAF are usually hyperbole when it comes to negative opinions so I decide to give this a shot. I played all Souls games. While I'm not a person "But it needs to play like Souls", I need some challenges otherwise cakewalk may make me bored. Does normal difficulty have challenges or should I play on hard?
I'm a Dragon Age noob that only played Origins for a few hours years ago. I have 50 hours on Inquisition now on Hard and I wish I started on Nightmare. The game is the worst when you can get by mashing the attack button which will happen soon enough.
 

JeffG

Member
There are some extra modes you can toggle that empower your enemies like Even Ground (minimum your level) and other modes that offer enemies more abilities. I definitely know these are on PC, less sure about PS4.

They are there for the XBox 1, so I think it is safe to say they are on the PS4. I would skip the Fair Weather Friends though.
 
What's the general consensus on The Descent ?

I'm going through and moderately enjoying Jaws of Hakkon right now. Already bought Trespasser.

Wondering if I should by The Descent...
 

jonjonaug

Member
What's the general consensus on The Descent ?

I'm going through and moderately enjoying Jaws of Hakkon right now. Already bought Trespasser.

Wondering if I should by The Descent...
The Descent is a long dungeon crawl and not much else. If you like the combat it's pretty good, but otherwise it's a slog with very little payoff.
 
I'm a Dragon Age noob that only played Origins for a few hours years ago. I have 50 hours on Inquisition now on Hard and I wish I started on Nightmare. The game is the worst when you can get by mashing the attack button which will happen soon enough.

A simple solution is to change the difficulty to Nightmare in the menus and continue your playthrough. Option 2 is to use less than optimal armor and weapons.
 

LightInfa

Member
Just picked up Inquisition pretty cheaply pre-owned and am loving the game so far! Hopefully the DLC go on sale soon so I can pick them up. Anyway two questions- 1) do any of the DLC add any mechanics/features that augment the main story? 2) Playing on normal what is the earliest level I can start tangling with dragons?
 

Megauap

Member
Just picked up Inquisition pretty cheaply pre-owned and am loving the game so far! Hopefully the DLC go on sale soon so I can pick them up. Anyway two questions- 1) do any of the DLC add any mechanics/features that augment the main story? 2) Playing on normal what is the earliest level I can start tangling with dragons?

Don't know about question number 2 but there's 3 DLCs for this game. The most important one that expands the story after the end of the game is called Trespasser (DON'T play it until you have finished the main game). Then there are 2 more DLCs, The Descent which doesn't add much (it takes place in the Deep Roads) and the Jaws of Hakkon which is better than the Descent and adds a new area.
So the only must have is Trespasser but Jaws of Hakkon is fun too. Just play the Descent if you combine it with the main story, otherwise it can get boring.
 

diaspora

Member
The first Dragons you should fight are the ones in Emprise, you can probably do it around level 8ish
don't do this
.
 

Ralemont

not me
Just picked up Inquisition pretty cheaply pre-owned and am loving the game so far! Hopefully the DLC go on sale soon so I can pick them up. Anyway two questions- 1) do any of the DLC add any mechanics/features that augment the main story? 2) Playing on normal what is the earliest level I can start tangling with dragons?

Yes to #1, Trespasser DLC adds a second upgrade to every ability in the game, drastically increasing your options (you can take both upgrades to an ability and toggle the active one) and also trials that mod the game in some way, usually making it more difficult but giving special rewards for keeping them on.

If you are loving the game definitely consider getting Trespasser. It's worth $15, adds nice gameplay touches as I mentioned above and is pretty much an essential 7-hour story follow-up that takes place after the vanilla game ends.
 
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