The fact that the user community had to fix the UI is in no way a point in favor for a game.
Agreed.
Anyone else having occasional issues with targeting? Most of the time it’s fine, but every once in a while I’ll get the wording, but not the little targeting circle on certain things, most often rifts. The first time I had a horrible time of it was the rift in the cave in Hinterlands (I think that’s where it was.) Now I’m trying to close the rift on the frozen river in Emprise du Lion and it’s the same - I’ll get the wording “Disrupt Rift” but I have to circle around and around in able to get the circle to actually close it.
And this time, I can’t resurrect dead chars either. My warrior died during the battle, and I moved over to try to stand next to him to res, and I never could get the circle to show up. Very annoying.
I finished this up this weekend; at around 78 hours, I did all of the big stuff and most of the little stuff. The only notable miss was that I never managed to open Dorian’s last quest, not sure whether he never quite liked me enough or it was a bug (which some people on the internet have mentioned). I was short a couple of Bottles of Thedas, and I didn’t end up completing any of the mosaics, because seriously. Other than those I did and grabbed everything as far as I can tell, and I finished up level 24.
A couple of spoilery thoughts re: the end:
[SPOILER]1. Looking at some other ending-sequence spoilers on the 'net now that I’m done, my DA world-state is pretty drastically different from most/canon, and I had quite a different version of the last set of events. No Old God Baby and Inquisitor drinking the Well seem to be the big ones (my Morrigan Trust Level has been negative since the beginning). The resulting events (or lack thereof) seem to glaze over Mythal/Flemeth to a degree, which makes more sense when the internet spoilers basically make it clear that the whole thing was an excuse to clean up the Old God Baby situation.
- Outside of that, I ended up with a surprisingly dark ending that I really liked. The stuff that wasn’t great was pretty clearly a result of decisions where I probably should have brought the hammer down harder than I did (Mages and Orlais in particular). I loved the Solas twist, and liked that I got to be about ten percent less clueless because I was paying attention.[/SPOILER]
Overall I still disliked a lot of the stuff at the end that I disliked after messing with it for a few minutes at the beginning. In particular, the combat was a big disappointment, and there’s a ton of UI and design decisions that I could have lived without. That said, it clearly wasn’t enough to keep me from keeping on, and I was really happy with the story and world. The romances (both that I did and that I’ve checked out on YouTube) are still silly, but they’re a big improvement on the last few BioWare games IMO. I care about the lore a lot more than most of the other (mechanically better) RPGs that have come out this year, and I enjoyed the experience more than those games because of that. Can’t wait for the next DA.
Yeah I noticed this just today. I have no idea why, since there wasn’t a patch as far as I know, unless they are doing stealth patches or something.
What was Dorians last quest?
My experience and feeling about it was very similar to yours. I read the Hinterlands has a bugged mosaic piece. After reading that I figured I wouldnt bother with them any more.
The ending of DA:I was just a little off. You spend all that time amassing an army and fortress and never do anything with it. In contrast, DA:O was more of a “scrappy companions” tale but the game takes pains to let you know that the battle at Denerim is a real fight with armies clashing, not four people on a dungeon run. Inquisition’s ending felt like me and my three best friends could have knocked that out ages ago if we just knew where to head to.
I’ve no idea why they made the ending that way and didn’t focus more on the mass army aspect of it even if it was just cosmetic. I mean, I don’t want to play Medieval: Total War in the middle of my Inquisition game but they could have at least had you make some “Send the archers to the cliffs and run the spears up the middle” style decisions with a “The pikes were wiped out by mages (sad face)” or “The Red Templars were caught between our archers and never had a chance (happy face)” report at the end. Something to make you feel like all the previous army building was for a reason.
Still enjoy the game very much, mind you. Just found the ending sort of baffling given the run-up to it.
(very very minor spoilers about how things work, for anyone else reading this!)
Last Resort of Good Men - Other than Cole everyone has a BioWare Standard quest setup: one general quest with few/no requirements to get them to like you, and one major quest that caps their storyline that you can only get if they like you quite a bit. I missed out on Dorian’s second.
The other thing I really disliked about the mosaic pieces is that they’re useless if you don’t complete a set, and the way they’re set up makes it improbable that most people playing without a guide will get all the pieces. 11/12 (which I have in a few zones) is just as pointless as 0/12. For all that I am against the jumping puzzles and the pinging, the shards and bottles are both handled much better.
Agreed. I think they were trying to do that with the Arbor Wilds, but it never really felt like armies were involved. I’m not sure if it was a tech thing about getting too much on the screen in a non-FMV situation; I know that I had some major frame rate issues in the last few High Dragon fights in Emprise on my PS4.
I can only imagine how much sillier it would have felt if I had anything left to do in between Arbor Wilds and the final sequence. “We can’t send you the armies for backup because they’re on their way back from Arbor Wilds!” “What, that fight I did thirty game hours ago?”
Why not!? That would be awesome!
Ah, that one. There is actually one more involving him and Mother Giselle as well.
Well, I’m late in the game now, and I find that Bioware really didn’t expect me to do what came naturally to me and exhaust each area I came to one at a time until I actually had to move on. It’s clear now that I was supposed to go to Adamant in mid-game. Table quests had dried up, only to be unlocked when that mission was over. And I put off a lot of running around asking people if they had any quests they’d like me to do, because I found Skyhold large and somewhat labyrinthine.
So, I now have just a few main quests left and a lot of table quests that have suddenly started unlocking. Now it’s like one of those phone games where I have to issue orders and then turn it off for a few hours of real time before checking back in to issue more orders.
Otherwise, I’m quite happy with the game. I could complain about the interface. I have a second monitor, so the system where I click-and-drag the world to simulate the free-look that I take for granted in other games (I had to stop and think how it normally works, i.e., you just move the mouse) ran me into trouble when the pointer had wandered to the second screen and I then have to wait until the game regain focus. I’ve seen some evidence that some games can have their viewing areas spanned across multiple screens, but I’m hoping one day somebody will think to just let me use the secondary monitor to have my map up at all times.
But again, a great game. I’m feeling very forgiving about Dragon Age II, which I replayed recently in preparation. That game, which I have long asserted had about $20 worth of content for only $60, is in fact a nice story with characters I could never hear enough from. Really, it’s worth the $20 they’re even now charging for it. But I do resent that the Big Bad in Inquisition has been pulled from Dragon Age II DLC, which even now costs the same as it did when it was new. When it was new, it was like asking me to pay again for the stuff they cut from the $60 game I already bought.
Other than that, great game. I’m tempted to play the game again soon, this time working with the pace the designers thought I’d take the main quest. But it seems like a mistake to do so before any DLC comes out, because in games like Oblivion and Skyrim I had mostly burned out before the DLC, and therefore had no desire for it. So far, no DLC has been announced, which assures me it won’t be just stuff cut from the game, but it means that I need to pace my own self and save replaying for later.
Alright. I’ve finished the game. And I watched past the end of the credits.
Well, damn.
Frankly, I don’t expect to spend a lot of time being strung along by the final twist, but I am curious about what I’m even supposed to think happened and for that matter why.
What was the orb, why did Solas give it to Corypheus, and why did its shattering doom Flemeth, only with enough delay to give them a parting scene together? Also, I don’t remember Solas talking about the orb at all, much less telling me he very much wanted to preserve it, but the dialogue seemed to assume we had such a discussion. I had exhausted topics with him, but it could be one of the many things I must have missed
– for example, I didn’t see where the hell I was supposed to be given a chance to unlock a hart mount, much less choose from among an array. And some potions and tonics never unlocked. Clearly, I’m going to have to replay at some point, but I might as well wait until DLC starts coming out. Speaking of which, I’m probably now going to run out and get the DLC for Dragon Age II just to get the whole saga.
Solas mentions that the Orb is of elven make, and is worried that others will learn of it’s origins, this discussion happens right after you meet Corypheus and before you arrive at Skyhold.
Not sure why he was so worried about it. No one, except him, would know an ancient elven artifact from a dragon’s ass if it hit them on the head.
I don’t recall him going all “we MUST get that orb” until the very last couple of missions. Apparently he also has a lot to say in the temple of Mythal.
I don’t know if you got this from the end or not, but just in case: it’s pretty clear Flemeth IS Mythal and Solas is Fen’Harel, the wolf… who, in contradiction to what modern elves belief, was actually Mythal’s friend.
Why does he give Corypheus the orb? Who knows. I’m guessing that will be revealed in Dragon Age: Prohibtion - now with less interesting quests and more filler.
I liked that bit of storytelling twist there… still doesn’t make up for the crapfest that was most of the rest of the game though 
[spoiler]More specifically, it seems that Flemeth was the lady from the old tale who took a bard lover whom her husband killed and that the spirit that helped her get revenge was actually Mythal. What I don’t get is the deal with Morrigan now. I had let Morrigan drink from the pool, and now she’s apparently bound to Flemeth/Mythal. Flemeth/Mythal took the Old God soul out of the boy, and let him and Morrigan go. What was the rest of her plan?
Well, there are answers swimming around, and I certainly take more interest than I did in the question of what the hell was Morrigan’s deal with the God Child or her Eluvian. The idea that she was trying to preserve old nifty shit seems a little too thin, and none of that was revealed about her character until the end of Inquisition where it mostly comes about as her con job until it’s briefly brought up again when it doesn’t stand to gain her anything.
If people were getting sucked into the mystery of Morrigan at the end of Origins, or Witch Hunt, I didn’t follow it. But already I find the rabbit hole goes pretty deep on the latest revelations. Must… not… get… sucked in!
Anyway, as I said I liked the game a lot. I didn’t find the tactical camera useful at all. I played in Normal mode and rarely needed to do much beyond stand back and arch with any random bunch of tag-alongs. I wouldn’t even know how to optimize anybody’s build because it just never became necessary. One thing I did learn rather late in the game is to use the Rename function in the Crafting menu to summarize the abilities of the item – e.g., Bow Grip Guard 42 Armor 21, etc.
Finished most everything at 96 hours. There are a handful of shards and mosaic pieces left, and herding the stupid druffalo back home which I wasted far too much time on and never finished.
Good bits:
Romanced Sera, her dialogue was endless fun.
Dorian was good chatter and a genuinely touching story.
Skills were powered appropriately, and bullet-sponge enemies were kept to a minimum.
Many great visuals and scenic environments.
Dragon battles were fun.
Nug chasing never gets old.
Palace-intrigue sections were a nice fun change of pace.
Star constellation puzzles made me feel stupid, in a good way. Yay puzzles!
Complainy bits:
Crafting/inventory menu system was so cludgy that I preferred to just buy/sell everything. “Spiked hilt of muckymuck III” wasn’t worth the brain cells trying to optimize. Playing dress-up and crafting is supposed to be fun, not a chore.
Upgrading the palace was nonsensical and confusing. Again, playing dress-up with my castle should be fun, not obscure.
Too much trash loot. If 99% of everything is vendor trash, then just have the baddies drop coins, why make me ping for it?
The vendors had boring unchanging (mostly) inventory. Not once did I feel like I found something epic and cool, just more variations of bland.
I also romanced Sera. She was a hoot, although often revoltingly trashy. She felt like a character out of a Jonathan Waters film sometimes. But she caught my heart when she referred to Varric as ‘third ass’ whatever the hell that means. I mean, the classic brooding Beardzilla would have been a good choice in the right mood, but I didn’t get hooked. I was the wrong gender for Zorro the Gay 'Stash. I hated the way Iron Bull’s head was too small for his body, and his skin was the wrong kind of waxy pale and his muscles looked like rolls of fat when he slouched. But next to Sera he did have some of the best lines. I loved the way he started freaking the fuck out in the fade.
I’ll own that the crafting interface was less than optimal, but the pieces could be mixed and matched was pleasing. It’s actually rare that I find crafting systems in games interesting enough to mess with. I do think it was stupid that everything you collected was worth so little, and your crafted equipment was worth less than the materials it was made of even though it was superior to anything you could find. But in the previous two games I thought money was way too scarce, and I didn’t feel that way this time. I was annoyed that the best medium armor schematic was a rare inventory item at one shop that only had its tiny chance to appear if you’d purchased the right perk, with a 5+ perk pre-requisite. Never did get it. I had to settle for being 24th level with all my own gear made entirely out of dragon parts.
What I really want to do is play this same character again, but I think instead I’ll play a Qunari female mage and see what the world looks like from her perspective. I actually got so attached to my human rogue, I can’t imagine it not being her story. But I keep seeing people’s clips online with the same voice coming out of random assholes.
Oh, and why the hell do game designers feel they should try to reign in my hoarding. Just give me a storage space. Story-wise, I hate selling off items marked as unique, or which were given to me as a gesture on the part of somebody I did a favor for. Don’t give me such items if I can’t fucking stash them. Remember how Origins had DLC that boasted a box you could actually put shit in? The box was just outside a remote mountain redoubt that you could never enter again once you’d finished its quest, but I did make that long snowy nearly vertical trek by God over and over you bet.
I have this problem, too! Finished the game after 75 hours with my Inquisitor, starting a new game with a different character is singularly weird. I don’t feel anywhere near as connected the second time through.
I didn’t care too much for Sera but I did craft her a kick-ass bloodstone bow and named it Andraste’s Flow knowing that (if she were real) she’d get a good laugh out of the blasphemy.
I had actually configured Sera as a dagger rogue, since I already had me and Varric as ranged rogues. But the dialogue kept making reference to her as an archer. Never did get around to switching her back to archer, though I kept one of my second-tier bows with that plan in mind.
It turned out that as an archer, I could use Shadow Strike to punch with my bow, which I enjoyed in general, especially when it actually knocked a big bruiser ass over teakettle. Every time somebody threatened me I wanted a dialogue option to say, “I have met Fear itself, and I punched him in the face several times.”