By Cameron M. Bray ’16
THE ROUNDUP
“Dragon Age: Inquisition”—Electronic Arts—for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One
9.5 out of 10
Words simply cannot express how stunned I was by “Dragon Age: Inquisition.”
I haven’t been so engrossed in a video game since the release of “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”—nor have I sunk so many hours.
Over Thanksgiving Break I spent hours exploring the vast and beautiful realm of Thedas, the world in which “Dragon Age” is set, searching for and completing quests.
And never once did I run out of things to do.
By the time I finished one quest, I had already received five additional ones.
In addition, none of the quests felt unoriginal, repeated or like filler.
“Dragon Age’s” story, though disappointedly simple, goes as follows: You are the Inquisitor, the eventual leader of the Inquisition.
Following a devastating explosion at the Temple of Scared Ashes, you are blessed (or perhaps cursed) with a strange mark on your hand known as “the Anchor.”
This mark grants you the unique power to close rifts, portals to a strange realm called “The Fade,” from which demons are emerging.
You and your order, the Inquisition, become dedicated to closing these mysterious portals and to restoring order in Thedas, which is currently being devastated by a massive civil war between the Mages and the Templars.
As is the case with other games developed by Bioware, the story really boils down to this simple directive: You and your party must save the world.
That’s not to say “Dragon Age’s” story is bad; it’s just simple.
The entire plot is just a framing device so you can do a variety of quests related to recruiting allies, closing portals and killing demons. All of which ultimately relates to the task of saving the world.
And, hey, it works quite well, despite its simplicity.
Gameplay, however, is definitely “Dragon Age’s” strongest feature.
Like I said earlier, the game is open-world, so there are seemingly endless quests for you to do.
The world also is not only massive, but it is also gorgeous, making it a joy to explore.
Combat is very strong, with a high emphasis on hack-and-slash fighting and maximizing abilities and tactics. In fact “Dragon Age’s” tactical view allows you to further control the battlefield, putting it to the mercy of your strategies.
Other notables: The game world is rich with both lore and intrigue.
Skyhold, the headquarters of the Inquisition, is basically your customizable castle. And lastly, after the campaign there is still more content!
After finishing hours and hours of quests, you can spend more hours and hours doing the enjoyable online co-op, which basically involves a variety of dungeon crawls.
To put it simply, “Dragon Age: Inquisition” is an unbelievably fantastic game—perhaps one of the best this year—and for that it gets 9.5 out of 10.
