‘First Impressions’ are quick recaps and reviews on video games (and, sometimes, books) that I am playing for the first time.
Well, it took over 6 years, but I finally purchased “Dragon Age: Inquisition” for the PC (and not only was it on sale for $10 on Steam, it was the Game Of The Year Edition!). With school technically on Winter Break, plus me being on vacation from work, I took a couple of days to play up to the end of the ‘Tutorial’ portion of the game.
There will be a few mild spoilers; however, I didn’t get far enough in the game to have any ‘game-ruining’ reveals.
Logistics
I play on an HP Omen, x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz, 3001 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
8 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
I didn’t change any of the default visual settings; I did change some of the key binds (I like moving with the arrow keys and ‘looking’/turning with W, A, S, and D).
Audio/Video
The game play was very smooth. I didn’t notice too many hangups or glitches that weren’t caused by anti-virus software (Avast doesn’t always play well with games, so I disabled it for this game). The animations were also pretty nice, especially with dialogue – the characters actually had expressions during conversations, such when a certain Elf snatched my hand to force close a breach: my character glared at him.
Game Play/Story
You start out choosing from one of 4 races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Qunari (I went with Human). You next choose your class: Warrior, Rogue, or Mage (Dwarves can’t be Mages); each class has a few sub-classes, with Race being a small factor. Your character’s stats are based on your Race, Class, and sub-class choices; unlike Dragon Age: Origins, I didn’t see options where you can edit your stats, such as adding points to Strength or Dexterity; I may have missed it.
You then start the game… by falling out of the sky, through a massive rift, and being taken prisoner. A ‘Seeker’ named Cassandra – I’m guessing she’s a form of Holy Warrior, maybe a Paladin? – blames you for that rift and other, smaller ones… and the deaths that have occurred from them being open. You see, it’s a breach the living world and the Fade, and Demons are pouring through the rift. You decide to help Cassandra try to close the big rift – with choices on how willing you actually are to help – and head towards a Forward Camp that Cassandra is maintaining. Along the way, you learn how to control party members, target enemies and friends, fight, and use the special Targeting Camera. I’m not find of that camera but it’s mainly due to me having never used something like it before. You also learn to use a special ability or two that you pick up; this helps a bunch.
You also meet other NPCs on the trail, including the Elf that I mentioned above, named Solas. Your newly expanded group reaches the Forward Camp and have your first big decision: how to get to the Big Rift, if you go at all. If you decide to head towards the Rift – regardless of how you get there – you are faced with your first ‘Boss Fight.’ That fight ends, you pass out, wake up in Haven, and the game “officially” begins.
Review
I had a couple of technical glitches at the very beginning. Once those were fixed, I really liked what I played! The game ran smoothly, the dialogue wasn’t ‘wooden’ or boring, and the NPCs seemed somewhat interesting, and the combat system wasn’t too difficult to get used to, although it is different than ‘Origins’.
If you already own the game, then you’ve probably finished it, at least once. If you don’t own it, and you like a hybrid RPG-Action game, you will probably enjoy Dragon Age: Origins. I seriously hope that the rest of the game is this good!
The Nexus 