Dragon Age: Inquisition is BioWare's reaffirmation of what it's capable of delivering. It's a gorgeous game on an epic scale. Rich in character and story, it creates a fantasy world with plausible social rules you can get lost in. It makes you feel that you aren't just exploring a new world, but helping shape it at various levels of society. Inquisition sets the bar for what a blockbuster RPG should be.

Dragon Age Inquisition has raised the bar for storytelling. It’s the sort of game you think you have figured out after a few hours, but time
and time again it’ll surprise you. With a rebuilt combat system, an open and inviting world, 150 hours of content, and a warm and familiar storytelling system, Dragon Age Inquisition is the best RPG I’ve played in a decade.

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAMES I'VE EVER PLAYED, AND I STILL WANT MORE
This is the astounding scope I referred to above. It's no longer as simple as how your choices affect your small band of adventurers — though that can vary quite a lot as well. Dragon Age: Inquisition puts the fate of the world in your hands in a way that few role-playing games have done before. And even after another 80 hours devoted to it, it's a world I cannot wait to return to in whatever BioWare does next. I don't know what higher praise I could give.

THE GOOD
Wonderful cast of interesting and relatable characters
Overarching narrative and diverse environments create a cohesive world
Choices that lead to adventure, triumph, and heartbreak
Lots of big areas to explore, with lots of great secrets to uncover
Fantastic balance between exploration, combat, story, and customization

THE BAD
Combat requires relatively little strategy

First things first: If you're reading this, you're probably wondering if Dragon Age: Inquisition is any good. Well, is it? Yes, it is good. Fantastic, even. Is it better than Dragon Age 2? Yes, and in fact it feels like a borderline-hilarious overcorrection for every single one of that game's faults. Is it better than Dragon Age: Origins? That's probably more up for debate, but I'd say I prefer it. Short version: This game is pretty awesome. People are gonna love it.

5 hours is a lot of time to spend playing a game over the course of a year, let alone over a single week. Obviously, I really liked Dragon Age: Inquisition. Have I interrogated the game enough to have a complete opinion of it? Not quite yet. I'll have a review up soon.

When I’d finally slain my first dragon in Dragon Age: Inquisition, I felt a little sad at the thought that I was probably beginning to exhaust its seemingly endless stream of content. But then I saw the quest ticker: “Dragons Slayed - 1 out of 10.” In all my hours, I had only ever seen three. It’s a surprisingly huge, dense world, and I soon realized there were still entire sandboxes I hadn’t even set foot in. Even in my hundredth hour, I’m still discovering. Despite its less than compelling plot, I still want to go back to explore and fight through every nook and cranny of Dragon Age: Inquisition, until every dragon’s skull is mounted on my wall.

Dragon Age: Inquisition creates a massive, vibrant world on a scale far greater than its predecessors, and does an excellent job of making you feel in command. The heart of this game rests with its characters, who keep you invested in the action.

After two disparate entries with different philosophies, Dragon Age’s identity crisis is over. With a mixture of open-world exploration, entertaining combat, and top-tier characters, the team at BioWare has found a winning formula that isn’t shackled to either Dragon Age: Origins or Dragon Age II. Inquisition is not defined by the traditions it returns to, but by the new directions it forges for this magnificent fantasy universe.

Gameplay & Story – 9/10: The combat is fluid and responsive with amazingly beautiful visuals. All character classes have a brilliant representation in terms of customization to build exactly the character desired. Melee classes definitely feel underpowered in the first twenty hours or so of the game with ranged bow users (Hello, Varric!) taking the DPS meter by storm.

No other company crafts a better story than Bioware. They have exceeded themselves in DAI and have even made side questing interesting and worth doing. Each book, each relic, each sign on the wall contains a nugget in the overall story of Thedas and are so lovingly written that players will want to go find these treasures.

Visuals and Sound – 8/10: Eye candy from start to finish. The environments are so beautiful as to seem almost real, better than real in some cases. Armors and generally all metals are way too shiny and this definitely takes away from the overall portrait Bioware wants to paint. The shiny has got to go (see tidbit in polish about a known issue regarding shine).

Longevity – 9/10: Most players will shoot through the initial story quickly and subsequently want to try it out with a different character, different dialog options, and exploring Thedas along different lines. Many will want to try to explore every nook and cranny in the game. The only thing that pushes the score back slightly is the somewhat ‘grindy’ nature that that might entail. Add in the multiplayer component, the cooperative multiplayer component, and you have a surefire recipe for DAI lasting years.

Polish – 7/10: Gorgeous visuals balance out annoying texture issues and the occasional and inexplicable memory leaks that cause the game to crash. Crashes and texture loading issues occur frequently enough to lower the score slightly. In addition, it appears that Dragon Age: Inquisition will be shipping with a known issue that paints a high shine on characters’ hair, lips and skin. It’s too bad this one, a rather large and glaring bug, wasn’t finished prior to the game’s release.

Value – 10/10: Dragon Age Inquisition is available on PC, PS3, PS4, XBox 360, and XBox One. Each platform has a standard edition for $60 and a deluxe edition that includes in game items for $70. Given the massive world and story, it is the best gaming bargain this year.

REVIEW DISCLAIMER: Dragon Age Inquisition was reviewed for PC using a mouse and keyboard configuration. Scores are appropriate to this platform only.  The version of Dragon Age Inquisition utilized for the purpose of this review was provided by EA-Bioware and is the standard edition of the game. PC set up includes an Intel Core i5-2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz 3.30GHz, 8GB RAM, Windows 8.1 64-Bit OS, and a Nvidia GeForce GTX-670.

Even with its heaping helping of bugs, Dragon Age: Inquisition is very likely the best game of 2014. It’s a rich, expansive, and beautiful fantasy RPG that meets virtually all the expectations gamers have collectively heaped upon software made for eighth generation consoles.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is an epic experience that haunts you between play sessions, enticing you to come back for more. It may not hit the lofty heights of Skyrim, but it comes bloody close and, unlike its most obvious comparison, boasts consistently fantastic characters, a memorable and compelling storyline, and breathtaking visual fidelity out of the box.

What we liked
Visually incredible
Engaging storyline with big decisions
Fantastic characters
Diversity of locales and quests
Tactical approach to combat
Addictive gameplay
A fantastic collection of facial hair

What we didn't like
Sporadic graphical oddities
Multi-screen unfriendly
Sparse soundscape during exploration
Iffy enemy AI

While BioWare is well known for their strong role-playing games, it’s perplexing how they were able to reach this level of quality with Dragon Age: Inquisition. It’s one of the most overwhelming experiences on the market, containing not only the best character development found in any RPG, but an open world that’s actually polished. The artistic and visual fidelity help with the immersion, but it’s the branching, player driven storyline and exquisitely layered combat system that create something special. Even with the staggering amount of dialogue and lore, newcomers to the franchise will have no trouble hopping right in, while old school fans will undoubtedly grin at the various call backs to past events. There’s even an enjoyable small multiplayer mode to participate in that’s entirely separated from the main campaign. Like a good hundred hour long novel that never lets up, Dragon Age: Inquisition is so engrossing you won’t be able to put it down.

What BioWare has done better than most in the past is just as smooth and well-tended here. Characters are well-realized beings of desires and complications. The world of Thedas is an inviting glimpse into complicated fantasy, now with that new-generation gleam and polish. Add to that the Inquisition, a central narrative mechanic that will turn the speediest of speed-runners into an obsessive-compulsive herb picker, and the game is a worthy addition to a spectacular Western RPG franchise, only barely surpassed by Dragon Age: Origins.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is perhaps the surprise of 2014. It is not only a very solid RPG, it simply contains an immense world that knows both content and appearance to impress. In addition, the combat system back to a decent level and is again very much customization available. The Inquisition and its impact on the world are the icing on the cake. This is not the only RPG where we have been waiting for years, it's the big comeback that had Bioware needed.

Positive
Immense world (80 to 100 hours)
Bioware makes comeback
Customisation asset
Challenging and strategic combat system

Negative
Sometimes repetitive peripheral activities
Some bugs

The Good
A lot of content to explore
Tactical combat
Side quest design

The Bad
Main antagonist design
Some battles are just grindfests

Conclusion
Dragon Age: Inquisition is a great game, with a mostly engaging story and some impressive battle moments, and the development team at BioWare has managed to outdo itself when it comes to character evolution, graphics quality and world building.

The biggest criticism that can be leveled at the title is that it is a little too conservative in its approach to the role-playing and action genres and fails to introduce something entirely new.

At the same time, the developers have managed to carefully polish the core tenets of Dragon Age and fans of the series will be happy to discover how easy it is to tailor Inquisition to their own play style.

Newcomers will be quickly drawn in by the core story and might then reel once they realize how big the game is and the amount of hours required to explore everything that it has to offer.

Dragon Age: Inquisition can be completed in 30 hours in order to see the core narrative and experience the most important battles, but it’s also easy to spend double that time crafting, looking for secrets, dealing with all side-quests, playing multiplayer and then planning for the inevitable second playthrough and the new decisions that it requires.

As it stands now, this is one of the biggest and best experiences that BioWare has ever created, and all fans should pick it up as soon as possible and clear their gaming schedule for a few weeks.

Dragon Age: Inquisition Review-in-Progress: Bob and Kat Enter the Breach
We'll have our full review ready on Thursday, but until then, check out our thoughts so far on BioWare's latest fantasy RPG.

We'll have our full review ready on Thursday, but until then, check out our thoughts so far on BioWare's latest fantasy RPG.

For the most part, Dragon Age: Inqusition is one of those games that gets better as it goes along, which is definitely something I would not say for its sequel. It sounds like we're on the same page in that regard, Bob.

In any case, I feel like I'm getting close to the end, so you can expect a full review (with multiplayer impressions!) very soon. Suffice it to say, we've both enjoyed what we've seen so far. We'll see you Thursday!

Dragon Age: Inquisition didn’t work for me at first, but then I realized I’d been playing it too much like Dragon Age II, mashing through battles and racing between to-dos and ignoring the filler because why would Bioware know anything about riveting world design? Then I slowed down, and in slowing down discovered how wrong I’d been–how much more the design team managed to fill this iteration with. Sometimes gaming’s as much about the caught-you-off-guard zen moments as the lunatic action ones, and sometimes the workmanship’s enough.

Conclusion:
There is a moment in Dragon Age: Inquisition in which one is absolutely anonanado the massive amount of content that has the game, in which you have to really stop, look back and assimilating all that has been there before accepting still much to discover. Each arrival in a new area is a spectacle, especially when you take a look at the map and start to envision that yes, we have come to a completely different from the previous but also huge, full of activities and things to discover. Those who have to pitch the series after Dragon Age 2 cross, deserve accept this touching letter of apology from Bioware and treat yourself to an experience that will make them forget for ever the troubles that happened in Kirkwall, the Canadian study because it really has gone " beyond duty "in a game that never tires of offering adventures and can go quietly campaigning 80 hours that we allow ourselves to just divert the road-probably can easily be completed in less, but it is difficult to measure the time a title that is so easy to get distracted on the road and has side missions as jugosas-. Inquisition is one of the best and most dedicated work of the history of the Canadian study, the sequel to a game like Origins should have had and one of those games that really seem very cheap, but paid a launch price. All it does, it does well or very well, and no expense spared, a real waste of resources and effort which has been used all they had available to meet the objectives. The even transition to Frostbite 3 has been flawless and has certainly helped to deliver the quantity and variety of open environments, but do not forget that an engine is just a set of tools, how important are the "workers" and the conditions under they can work. Inquisition is what it is because EA has allowed Bioware to be. There are no magic formulas, if you concede a little over a year to play a talented group out one thing. And if you take more than four, sale-much better one in principle, except disaster-. It's a lesson too obvious to forget it again, which hopefully will not happen in the future. At present, we can only conclude that the vast Bioware is back with the biggest and most epic adventure in this 2014. 

The best   
Massive and varied amount of content
Large open spaces and many hours of adventure
Fantastic characters and relationships with them
Outstanding details such as the Codex
Audiovisually the highest level
The Origins sequel really deserved

The Worst
The camera on tactical mode should be able to move further
Just over control of AI in combat would have been welcome

Dragon Age: Inquisition‘s beautiful world isn’t just a theme park looking to entertain with pre-built rides, it makes you feel like a part of the equation with major choices to be made, and often.  Its combat system is a great mixture of its two predecessors, offering means to play in both action and strategy modes. Although, CPU controlled characters don’t exercise good judgement, making strategic play the better choice in most scenarios. There are also some low points in the narrative path which may hinder some from completing the lengthy journey, but it delivers interesting quests often enough to keep the ride going.

In an era where it’s uncommon to see an open-world RPG, let alone one equipped with an engaging story and fun combat, Dragon Age: Inquisition has appeared to remind everyone that it’s still possible, even with remarkable graphics.

BioWare has clearly listened to, and learned from, the criticisms levelled at Dragon Age 2. It has also cherry picked some of the best elements of its Mass Effect series - most notably the more exhaustive dialog options - to create a role-playing game of sweeping scale and often surprising impact.

It might be conventional as far as visuals and monsters go, but its overall appeal rests in its provision of a living world that can be sculpted and altered in ways both subtle and explicit. So long as you're prepared to put the required time in, Dragon Age: Inquisition has plenty to give.

To put it in as few words as possible: Inquisition is a splendid game as the next-console-generation successor to BioWare’s catalog of great action RPGs. It looks excellent. The story and characters are memorable. The gameplay lets you be almost as tactically minded as anyone could ask for. And it’s all tied together by a typically beautiful soundtrack and Hollywood-quality voice acting.

If you are looking for a time sink of an RPG with a strong sense of setting and character, then look no further, because Dragon Age: Inquisition is a Game of the Year candidate.

-The Final Word-
Nevertheless, BioWare's four years spent developing Dragon Age: Inquisition have paid off, as it's easily the company’s greatest achievement. The expertly crafted story and the massive world meant for your exploration are just the tip of the iceberg. Dragon Age: Inquisition is not only one of the best games to come out this year--it's easily the best RPG of the year.

(positives)
Massive and gorgeous world to explore
Meaningful consequences to your decisions
Diverse combat options for series veterans

(negatives)
Minor bugs and glitches
Missed opportunities with mounts
No storage space to store inventory items

With a huge, breathtaking world, an epic story, and choices that leaves a significant mark on the world around you, Dragon Age: Inquisition embodies everything that makes the series so popular. There are times when the game could feel too big, and that there might be too much to do, but that's hardly a complaint. It's a reason to be completely immersed in this world. Multiplayer has its moments, especially if you can get together a nice team, but it does have a perceivable grind and the loot system has a very high sense of unpredictability. Still, there's so much content in the campaign that even if you decide to skip out on multiplayer entirely, there's enough to keep you occupied until the inevitable DLC expansions start releasing, and perhaps enough to last you to the next full game.

Eager to redeem after a second decried pane, BioWare took time to realize what was probably listed as one of his most successful productions. Between its sublime environments that it takes ages to explore, quests, main as annexes, often exciting and bristling with difficult decisions, hundreds of secrets, dashing its captivating characters or fighting it is possible to modulate at will, Dragon Age: Inquisition can reach the peaks of pleasure for anyone to booze was Dungeons & Dragons or Tolkien. RPG exception that should not be missed.
by Gianni Molinaro

+ WE LOVE
A comprehensive content dizzying.
Endearing characters, quests generally interesting, rich writing and good manners.
A complete fantasy world and delightful.
Beautiful and huge environments.
May agree to "nag" for as tacticians.
The idea of ​​a multi 4 players aperitif.

- WE DO NOT LIKE
Inventory not very well done.
Movements sometimes complicated because of the terrain.
AI ally not always lunée.
End not as spectacular as expected.

Editorial verdict

Dragon Age: Inquisition: Michael Graf: Before I get to the Inquisition, I have to get rid of an easy: 87 points for Dragon Age 2 are for me one of the most absurd votes, the Gamestar has ever awarded. I found the game, although not nearly as abysmal as it is often made, but the simplified game mechanics, the flat Kawumm fights, the criminal dungeon recycling and the main story, which really is only in the last game third to bear - all that was the magnificent Dragon Age: Origins is not worthy. Dragon Age 2 was a game where you painfully clear remarked how little time and love Bioware wanted to invest his time. Or was allowed. The Inquisition is at different here felt plugged time and love it, especially in the game world. Compared with Dragon Age 2, it is undoubtedly the better game. Nevertheless, it gets a worse score, how can that be? Because we believe in Gamestar, that we must not ever carry around with us even mistakes. Because we are of the opinion that an overvalued predecessor must not serve for all time as an excuse that we value his successor better. The only thing that can justify a good review, are playful qualities. And Inquisition has unquestionably his qualities, especially its sheer size, his adventures flood. In a time in which you have to be lucky not to get sold individually as DLC every quest, makes such a colossus more grateful. Reason alone it already pays to buy Inquisition. There is - apart from the menus - anything that I would describe as outright "bad". The story maintains that motivate quests, the dialogues are neat, the characters and stories more sophisticated than in most other games. And the dragons are just terrific! Yes, Inquisition is an all around excellent game. Point. But just not as outstanding as Origins, the series-grandfather had even better stories, even more memorable moments, even more memorable characters, he had real tactics battles and a character system, such as it is damn for a classic RPG heard again. And he was, by the way, also on the PC without finger cramp operated. Sure, Inquisition also has new strengths - but those are not the strengths of Dragon Age. I like it anyway, very much, and I will be happy to play it after the test to also snatch their past history, their final reward, their last dragon this fantastic world. And I will regret any second of it.

Dragon Age: Inquisition: André Peschke: Dragon Age: Inquisition is a good game. Significantly better than Dragon Age 2, no question. But it is for me deep in the shadow of Origins. Bioware seems to think that Game of Thrones was the political intrigues brand that fascinated me at the time. This is wrong. It was hard, dirty fantasy world and its many small stories with tough decisions of real emotional value. Between hundreds of quests and collecting high-gloss browser games which is felt only in some exceptional cases. This Dragon Age looks polished and calculating. You can feel like Bioware is trying to imitate Ubisoft and Bethesda to raise Dragon Age on Skyrim- or Assassin's Creed sales. This also fits the combat system, that more than ever tries to marry action and tactics while no play is fully accessible. With big eyes to explore the absolutely fantastic game world to listen to the terrific soundtrack and get to know my companions, makes up for a lot. But if in doubt, I'd rather load-gene-optics accepted, if I could be sure so captivated by the stories in the game again as it was then.

Dragon Age: Inquisition: Benjamin Dannebergplatz: For me, the Inquisition is a double-edged sword. On one hand, I have finally found that those developers forge it, I almost religiously for Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age: Origins did not have worshiped. Bioware is no longer capable, emotionally disturbing to write, epic stories. The history of the Inquisition is okay, but nothing more. The companions are faded and interchangeable throughout the entire time. I have often asked myself: What if one of them now finally write the spoon? The answer was horrible for me as a role player. In Baldur's Gate or the Origins was quite different, there I was so emotionally fused with my companions, that their suffering my suffering was very real reinvented. In Inquisition me they are not completely matter, but Bioware is no longer able to build an emotional connection. There are also blunders such as the partly violent konsolige operation (love for PC? Haha!) And the completely inconsequential Hack & Slay action combat system that makes the poorly implemented tactics view totally unnecessary. The other blade of the sword, that is the new Bioware. One that throws the currently most grandiose staging, the most egregious venues, the hottest areas in the gamblers ring that I have ever seen. Insanity-landscapes with amazing weather effects. Brutal battles against fantastic homemade kite. Caves and dungeons, like we have never seen in such detail such sharpness. The world of the new Dragon Age is a visual treat and does anything ever before in the shade. She is so good that it makes almost forget the shortcomings mentioned earlier - and that has surprised me the most. Teasing me just the hero and his domesticated packed in cotton wool dialogues, I go in the next moment when you look over vibrant valleys, vast deserts or mountain ranges on the eyes. Bioware has built its product streamlined and after market aspects. No scandals (no, damn it, homosexuality is not a scandal!), We plug in anywhere, nowhere, we are shocked, never opens a discussion about morality - that emotion level remains moderately nice. Dragon: Age Inquisition as Pirates of the Caribbean: beautiful, bombastic popcorn cinema with rich frosting, but without any depth. With a laughing and a crying eye I go play again. Because: The old Bioware is dead! Long live the new Bioware!

...this is one of Bioware's best, easily my favorite Dragon Age title, and a game I encourage anyone to check out. Just be ready to put up with some technical weirdness along the way.

Pros:
Gigantic and gorgeous world to explore, masterful combination of real-time and tactical combat, great writing and story.

Cons:
Cumbersome menus, lots of visual and environmental glitches, tactical camera fails in tight environments.

Bottom Line:
Some clunkiness only detracts a little from one of Bioware's best RPGs in years.

Dragon Age Inquisition is not a common RPG, Bioware is furious yelling, loud enough to rattle windows and walls. It is a demonstration of skill and power that proves that the Canadian home, even tossed from a game engine and not his many commitments, still knows how to put heart and brain in their projects. If you love RPGs do yourself a favor and let yourself be seduced by this colossal work, and keep in mind that it is not the end, but only a great new beginning for a house that still has much to give to his fans.

Despite the small issues with the horses and the lack of items players can buy from merchants, I can still safely say that Dragon Age: Inquisition is the best console RPG I have ever played. The beautiful graphics grabbed me, the detailed characters reeled me in, and the open areas and numerous quests made me fall in love with the game. Overall, I spent around 55 hours on the game, and while I only recently finished the main story line, I still have many more side quests that I can play. If you’re an RPG fan,you  owe it to yourself to play Inquisition, and somehow, I don’t think you’ll regret it.

+
Amazing visuals
Immersive gameplay, story, and characters
Great crafting system

-
Merchants are somewhat useless
Horses could be improved

I am floored by how much work BioWare have put in to ensure Dragon Age: Inquisition is the best game it could possibly be. It is obvious the studio took fans’ feedback onboard, working in what they wanted in a Dragon Age game, while making strides to drive the franchise forward in the way those at the top envisioned. And the game’s all the better for it. The story is epic in scope, with a massive world to explore that’s literally bursting at the seams with content, all of which is wrapped nicely around the titular Inquisition. Despite some technical issues, this is perhaps the best game BioWare game have ever produced, and a game Dragon Age fans rightly deserve.

Overall Dragon Age: Inquisition is exactly what these new systems needed: an open-world RPG that puts the world, and its decisions, at your fingertips and just says go. With hundreds of hours of game play, stories worth fleshing out, and Companions that you really start to feel a bond with, I'm not sure what more I could have asked for in this tremendous RPG experience. With Romance, Intrigue, Desperation, and Victory, Dragon Age aims for your sense of wonder and does its best to rope you in and leave you desperate for more. If you have been waiting for an RPG experience like no-other, then I'm glad to tell you that it has finally arrived.

Dragon Age Inquisition is the new pride of BioWare and eminently the best RPG that was released in time. The game simply has everything: a good portion of good gameplay, stunning graphics quality and a story that Dragon Age Origins aims beyond. The multiplayer co-op is a nice touch, though no one will actually buy the game there. In short, be prepared for an addiction that will cost you hundreds of blissful hours.

The plus and minus
+ Hundreds of hours of gameplay
+ Open world gives infinite freedom
+ Super Exciting story that engages you immediately and does not let go
+ Graphic amazingly beautiful
+ The bond that you build with your companions and advisors adds much to the story
- Companions with their unique skills slightly out of balance
- You have a beast of a PC needed to run it on ultra

Its not-so-fatal flaw is that in offering so much, both in terms of player choice and in going for peak-BioWare in every aspect of the game, those individual moments, characters, activities and plot beats often don't benefit from the focus and importance needed to unlock their full potential. Still, that's hardly a crime, and one more than made up for by the many high points that I can't name directly for fear of spoilers, the hours and hours both adventuring in Thedas as it was always meant to be, and sitting at the highest levels of its politics. The true power of the Inquisition may be illusory, but that doesn't stop it being satisfying to wield while it lasts.

All in all, I’ve had a great time leading the Inquisition. It’s unusual to be able to look back at a game like this and have such fine memories, despite being so underwhelmed by its opening hours. For some, it may well feel like too much of a grind to begin with, and for time-poor players those 15 hours may be far too much of an investment.

Persevere, however, and there’s a story that’s worth being part of here. Once it does get going, Dragon Age: Inquisition offers a number of very welcome surprises for those of us invested within this series, with even the briefest nods to decisions that we’ve made and the characters that we’ve encountered in past games feeling crucial.

Its greatest strength, however, is that it also manages to make the Inquisition itself feel extremely important to the world of Thedas. Almost everything you do (even the monotonous side quests) feeds into this idea that your forces are expanding and your influence growing. By the end of the game, it becomes clear that you’re not just going to save the world, but change it irreversibly. And that’s a pretty powerful feeling.

A fantastic campaign and massive open environments, soured only slightly by minor, persistent flaws.

Dragon Age: Inquisition not only feels like a fully fledged role-playing adventure, but it's also packed with fun things to do that will keep you busy for weeks. Having played well over 100 hours, I'm still finding things to do, working on my multiplayer characters, and plotting another playthrough to handle things a bit differently. Inquisition is a triumph and proves that despite some missteps along the way, BioWare hasn't lost its touch.

After the misstep that was Dragon Age II, Inquisition is a triumphant return to what made Dragon Age so popular in the first place boosted by a huge injection of Skyrim-flavored additional gameplay. If you enjoy what Bioware has done in the past or if you’re a fan of RPGs with exciting combat and rich stories and characters, here’s the game you’ll be playing over and over again until a sequel is released.

The good
Huge vibrant world.
Tons of side quests.
Crafting.

The bad
No Quick weapon swap.
A few issues doing squad management/potion selecting.

On the whole, Inquisition was worth the wait if you’re an unwavering fan of the series. The tactical combat and stunted conversation animations conspire to make the third game feel like the first, and not necessarily in a good way, but you really can’t knock the breadth of scope here. Mountains of content and a ton of replayability make Inquisition undeniable value for money for any RPG fan, but at times there’s arguably too much going on, which leads to a lack of focus, a certain amount of uninspired filler and a feeling that, generally, it’s all been a little bit overstretched.

There’s no denying that Dragon Age: Inquisition is a good game, but people expecting true greatness will be slightly disappointed. A worthy offering and an improvement over Dragon Age II, Inquisition nevertheless plays it too safe, and relies too heavily on Origins’ better elements to succeed. Still, if you’re looking for a vast, complex, multi-branching, old school RPG epic, there’s currently nothing else on next-gen consoles to top it.

There is a ton to do, it’s just not all fun. There will be those that love this game though.

Dragon Age: Inquisition lacks the impact that it might otherwise have had if BioWare had imbued it with the same sense of purpose that its predecessors carried. Dragon Age 2 was criticised for its relative lack of scope but at least it had a strong sense of identity and knew what it was trying to achieve. Dragon Age: Inquisition, on the other hand, offers an embarrassment of things to do but sometimes forgets to provide the motivation to do them.

Dragon Age Inquisition may not be able to beat the first part and is not without flaws, but is a very enjoyable and perfect adventure to get lost exploring the huge world , fulfilling missions, solving problems, battling demons, discovering every corner and unraveling their secrets.

While we missed most charismatic characters, more elaborate and inspired side quests and a world with all its interconnected regions, the good times and the many hours of enjoyment you have given us in return compensate their shortcomings have been known widely . So now I just ask you one question remains: are you ready to turn you into the new hero of Thedas?

Dragon Age: Inquisition has rightfully received praise for its scope, its collection of open worlds that individually feel like complete, standalone games that taken together feel impenetrable and exhausting. But what I haven't seen discussed as thoroughly is what that scope allows for, which is a staggering amount of complex politicking.

Despite its shortcomings, Inquisition and its wide-open world is a great improvement over the clipped, small-scale experiment of Dragon Age 2. Though the familiar conversation wheel is starting to show its age this time around, the game has just enough thoughtful character moments and meaningful choices to draw you back into the fantasy for at least one more outing.

The Good
This game is long but not bloated. It's a slow, character-driven burn that earns its length.
A full, beautiful open world makes the sluggishness of exploration worthwhile.
Once again, BioWare delivers characters worth getting to know over 100 hours worth of exploration—geographical and personal.

The Bad
Exploration may be rewarding, but it's also clumsy.
The vagueness of the conversation wheel is starting to outlive its usefulness.

The Ugly
A horse, crumpling under its own weight after a 300-foot drop and standing back up again, is terrifying.

Dragon Age: Inquisition has some utterly amazing moments, but they're padded out by a fair amount of ho-hum filler.

Fundamentally you want to know if Dragon Age Inquisition is right for you, there are three core questions I think will tell you whether or not that’s the case.

1. Do you have an extra three to four hours a day for the next 18 days? If not, purchasing this game will be torturous. You’ll find yourself on the bus wondering what was in that last alcove you missed, or how to find another rune for your super staff.

2. Are you easily distracted? If you’re a critical path gamer, Dragon Age will be a much empty experience, the protein of this inquisition meal is living in Thedas, amongst the Nugs and Silverite deposits.

3. Are you patient? Many of those really compelling and thought-provoking quests don’t give you the emotional pay off until your about three or four hours in.

Play this game, but Go all in, don’t parcel it out and it will be an experience you never forget.

So yes, the game has bugs. Are they game-breaking? No. Are they even annoying enough that I would say, “Don’t pick it up till it gets patched,”? No, not even that. If you get upset about these things, okay, yes, maybe give it a little while to get patched up (EA tell us that BioWare are working now on a day one and a week two patch). But honestly, I don’t even notice them anymore, I am just having too much fun. There is just too much to do and too much to see (and too many people to talk to) to get hung up on the occasional graphical bug.

And the game is pretty. Oh so pretty. Maybe you won’t even notice the odd bug because you’ll be admiring the detail in the footprints you left in the snow.

My final advice: Watch out for bears.

Our impression of Dragon Age: Inquisition is very positive: Obviously, developers Bioware has not only taken the criticism of the players to the heart, but also their wishes and suggestions. Technically, the role play is very strong thanks to Frostbite. However, it is still a little fine-tuning of distress, to eliminate the last impropriety - albeit under Direct X and below Mantle. However, it lacks even customized driver of graphic card manufacturers, which could probably grind some of the not yet existing technical edge - this is especially true for AMD's Mantle, because so far appears here optimized drivers can align very much. Last finally made the Catalyst 14.2.2 compared to 14.2.1 the difference between the liquid and constant gameplay lag plus crashes in Civilization: Beyond Earth from.

Even for someone without the time or care to develop my choices through Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, Inquisition hooked me with its mysterious opening and almost immediate thrust of narrative responsibility on the player. BioWare does this incredibly by setting your own expectations of heroism and the very world of Dragon Age against you, either for the purpose of the relationships you'll form with new faces or to get you on the road to action.

I'll have at least two more review logs for GameRevolution's readers before we publish our final score. Stick with us all week for livestreaming gameplay and impressions of multiplayer, combat, sound design, and art design.

Bioware has caught a lot of flak in recent years, some of it deserved, some of it a little over the top. It is clear that BioWare is conscious of all of this, and is actively trying to please their fans. The fact that they’ve been so transparent in the Dragon Age: Inquisition development process, the new implementations to the game’s systems to combine elements of both of the previous games, and the new emphasis on exploration all promise good things in the Dragon Age series’ future.

+
Solid, entertaining, beautiful, good controls, great soundtrack, lots of opportunities for exploration, exciting history, its own castle and throne you can customize at will, dragons, explosions, FREEDOM!

-
Class Restrictions on armor and clothing, designed for Sera and Cole are just plain ugly, there is a danger that the side quests are boring after a while since you have to make so many, the number of assignments and opportunities feel a bit overwhelming at times.

When I role play my way through Dragon Age: inquisitions  many and varied stories, I find myself thinking in other courses. The values ​​and the preconceptions I sit on in real life does not necessarily have any bearing on Ferelden and Orlais. It is a world where being human, or at least humanoid, asserts itself in another way than in our own.
Footnote: We review the Windows version of Dragon Age: Inquisition.
+
A whole world of its own
Great
Free
Human

-
Buggy
annoying load times

Dragon Age: Inquisition lined up for me in the top league of genres. The small technical flaws can not detract from my enthusiasm - my winter vacation I will spend in Thedas.

PER (positives)
good German dubbing ...
enormously large
Beautiful environments
very detailed in love
great dialogues
interesting characters
excessive character editor
nice soundtrack
abundant skills and skills with synergy
good crafting system
own castle with expansion possibilities
countless quests
many decisions
Four co-op
varied story branches
successful combat system
seamless switching between tactics and action-view mode
many epic moments
possible to manually save

CONTRA (negatives)
... With a few weak exceptions
sporadic, non-reproducible crashes
some minor bugs in graphics, AI and interface
a bit too many or too similar (optional) collection tasks
long loading times for zoning
Micro-transactions in multiplayer
sporadic pop-ups
after charging time may get slightly delayed loading of textures
Inventory could be just a tad bit more comfortable
occasional errors in the dialogue interface
less emotional than the first part

Dragon Age: Inquisition is an amazing game. There really is something special about it. I know a lot of people were down on Dragon Age II, but this game redeems every issue you may have had with the last game. The open areas of Thedas never looked better, the story is one of epic scale and done with some fantastic characters, the combat is easy to pick up and challenging to master and the sheer amount of things to do and see is beyond massive. You think it’s large to begin with, but then a point in the game opens it up even more. My mind was blow when I saw this. BioWare has said this is the game they always wanted to make, and for me, it’s the best game they have ever made. RPG fans shouldn’t think twice about picking this up, and people looking for a fantasy setting full of things to explore and do should look no further. Dragon Age: Inquisition hits every RPG itch I had, and on top of that, creates yet another world I want to get lost in for hours. Do yourself a favor and pick up the best RPG of the year.

What we liked:
+ Massive world and fantastic story
+ Beautiful visuals
+ Superb voice acting
+ Fun challenging combat and multiplayer
+ Multiple hours of content

What we didn't like:
- A few open world hitches that may hinder combat

Dragon Age: Inquisition is a major show of force by Bioware, which not only fails to give new luster to the franchise, but offers a very personal and innovative management tactics for RPGs. Even starting from basics well known, the original combat system is revealed in his ability to alternate action and strategic aspects of adapting effectively to different audiences and platforms. Add to all this a quantity and quality of content offered by very few rivals in the genre, the result is an exceptional RPG, complex, profound and written with great skill. The major downside is the Frostbite engine which is confirmed not easy to bend to certain requirements, although the long years of development have allowed a decent filing of the edges, which relegates the corners not rounded to marginal positions all in all for the enjoyment of 'work itself. In other words, we face the real surprise of this year, output must for all fans of the genre, and a great starting point for those who are curious facts from the classic RPG, but prefer to deal with it in a version more modern and in step with the times.

Dragon Age: Inquisition isn't just a return to form, it exceeds expectations across the board. It is better than both Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, building off the mechanics and structure that made each game a success. Thedas is quickly becoming the gamingworld's Middle-earth, due to the outstandingly rich lore and narrative of Inquisition. The politics and conflicts between the races, the castes, the empires, and good and evil are impeccably well-defined, but shared in a natural manner through casual conversation that  lends itself to both empathy and excitement.

I want to give Dragon Age: Inquisition an outstanding final verdict, and perhaps the PC version of the game deserves that. On Xbox One, however, Dragon Age: Inquisition's strengths are unfairly limited by technical issues. It's still a great title and Dragon Age and fantasy fans will adore it, but they deserved something more polished.

If you are a Dragon Age fan and haven’t secured a copy of Inquisition yet, correct your oversight immediately.

Dragon Age reaches a defining moment. This is the first game in the series that can seriously stand comparison with the company’s greats, and while it’s a little slow and systems-focused to start off with, superb settings, rich characters and an intriguing plot soon turn gripping. It’s sometimes a little too vast and ambitious for the centre to hold, but when it’s at its best, with personalities and situations that you care about and combat to the fore, Inquisition is Bioware at its very best. 

Pros
Vast and ambitious
Balances exploration with story-led action
Beautiful and detailed graphics
Grows more compelling as it goes on

Cons
Can lack focus and seem overwhelming
Slow to properly engage

An excellent return to form for the Dragon Age series, and the biggest and most ambitious Western role-player since the new generation began.

Pros: Gigantic game world filled with genuinely interesting things to do. Gradually increasing inquisition powers are handled well. Complex crafting and character customisation.

Cons: Wishy-washy combat system and glitchy camera. Constant stream of other minor bugs. Game does a poor job of explaining its back story.

The Good
Rich, immersive setting • Varied items and crafting system • Loads of content • Tons of replayability

The Bad
Graphical fidelity can be hit or miss • Item search system can be annoying • Voice acting can be mediocre at times

The Bottom Line
Dragon Age: Inquisition is BioWare at its best: an absolute triumph in storytelling and gameplay marred only by a few bugs. A game that players will find themselves coming back to again and again.

Dragon Age: Inquisition will please a lot of people, and I would strongly encourage gamers jaded and put off by Dragon Age 2's departure from depth to pick up a copy. The sense of exploration has returned, the replay value is enormous and the perfect blend of BioWare uniqueness and RPG expectation is one of the game's finest achievements.

This is also a game that gamers new to the franchise will enjoy, although reading up on the backstory would be advised. You'll be presented with lots of terminology such as the Chantry and Andraste, as well as scenarios from the past that concern major plot themes. Throughout the game these become clear, but initially it may feel like you're at a party none of your friends have shown up for yet.

It's not perfect, but as a role-playing adventure to enjoy over the forthcoming holiday period we can't think of many better ways to lose 100 hours or more to your consoles.

Inquisition gets under your skull like red lyrium. Objectively, you know your followers singing the theme music to raise morale after a great loss is cheesy, but you still find yourself humming it on the way to work. Then you spend all day at work thinking if you can find 20 elfroots you can improve your potions sufficiently to beat one of the 10 dragons. That truly will be a good day in what is a truly monumental game.

Regardless of how you feel about Bioware, you owe it to yourself to give Dragon Age: Inquisition a try. It’s a great game from start to finish, one that lets you do just about whatever you want, and then rewards you for just about all of it. While it does have some minor problems, they don’t detract from the quality of the whole. The way the world responds to, and builds itself around, your character makes Inquisition a must-play for any RPG enthusiast.

Pros:

Dragon Age is back, and it’s really good
Plenty of lore tie-ins for fans of the series
The world is beautifully realized and filled with large, diverse environments
Choices have weight and feel important
Includes a little something for everyone, from exploration to intrigue
The cast of characters is diverse and endearing
Crafting is fun, and drives you to collect resources for cool upgrades
Changes to healing in combat provide a strategic challenge
Co-op mutliplayer is a fun addition
The (optional) tactical camera returns, giving this modern RPG an old-school feel…
Cons:

…but it still has issues with how well the camera works
Long loading times can be annoying
A few small bugs, but nothing gamebreaking
Targeting in combat can be a little wonky
Requires a lot of horsepower to max out on PC
Early on, the barrage of lore can feel daunting to those who aren’t series veterans
Final Score: 89/100

Dragon Age: Inquisition is a great, thrilling, enchanting adventure that can stand confidently compete with any competitors. This is a game full of momentum and embarrassing its scale and richness of those who profess to games with big, open world. When in February to debut the third Witcher, will have to jump over the bar really high just hanging by the Inquisition. A months separating us from that moment every self-respecting RPG fan should spend in Thedas, leading to a victorious battle Inquisition. Decisively.

+ Beautiful artwork
+ Unbelievably great, extremely rich, exciting world
+ Great storyline and plot led Inquisition
+ Fantastic gallery of characters associated
+ Fortunately no microtransactions
+ And even a co-op multiplayer
- A surprisingly slow start game
- Poorly executed tactical mode in battles
- Hardware and a lot of technical errors

The Good: Large, diverse landscape and wonderful atmosphere. Excellent soundtrack and great voice acting. Balanced, challenging combat. Fantastic lore and a shifting story that reflects your decisions. Effective, reliable AI. A gigantic amount of content. Involving and even emotional. A complete, robust role-playing experience with all the requisite frills.

The Bad: Multiplayer isn’t all that impressive. Camera isn't perfect.

The Ugly: “‘Ugly’ is in the past. This is the future.”

Massive, Entertaining, Beautiful, Great controls, Sweet soundtrack, Lots to explore, Exciting story, Your own hold and throne to customise to your own liking, Dragons, Explosions, Freedom!
-
Class restrictions on armour and clothes, The design of Sera and Cole simply isn't good, There's a risk the side quests grow tedious with time as you have to complete a lot of them, The number of quests and opportunities can feel overwhelming at times.

Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
You've got skills,
So join my Inquisition, maybe?

I'll have a full review out next Monday, but so far my initial impressions are favorable. Today alone I've spent several hours in the game and just don't want to step away. The game has a immersive quality that has hooked me in deep already.

I won't get too specific until the embargo's up Tuesday, because we're definitely going to have stuff on Kotaku then, but BioWare made a lot of smart decisions with the game's general structure. Since every sidequest and accomplishment gives you Power, a commodity you use to progress the story and unlock new areas, it winds up feeling rewarding and meaningful even to just wander around exploring and checking off tasks that might otherwise feel tedious. Helps that there's a lot of variety, too, and I've always been a sucker for games that let you run your own castle (miss u Suikoden). So, yes, it's engaging.