The Dragon Age: Inquisition Thread

[alyvain]

Solas is literally Hitler. And he owes me one perfectly servicable arm.

Still can't believe the internets "girls" swooning over him.

Perhaps the fact that he is cold, detached and stupid reminds them of their fathers?

 

[alyvain]

I didn't play Inquisition when it came out. When I did play it I really thought that it was a Witcher rip-off, but with bad things made much worse.

I'm not sure whether any of these games is fun to play, but the Witcher was better done story-wise. Honestly, there is only one or two episodes of Inquisition which I was thrilled to play to, such as the first confrontation with Corypheus. It seemed Mass-Effecty, of course, but that's what I was expecting from the game anyway. The Witcher was much better in this regard, and certain quests seemed like actual stories to be told, and not some crappy excuse for introducing a dungeon location (the lame old citadel in sands frozen in time is probably the most characteristic example).

Still, I don't think I'll ever play any of these two games again. It bothers me so much that some people even on the Codex think that The Witcher 3 is good influence on genre.

 

[sullynathan]

Can't you come up with a better argument than 'more popular = better'?

It's hard to. In the larger gaming sphere, Witcher 3 is seen as good because people liked the side quests/stories. As usual, most people didn't play the expansions or beat the game. So the extent of its popularity and influence is that gamers want more side quests that they "care" about while running around and that's about it.

Which is why current Ass Creed games that were "influenced" by Witcher 3 supposedly have more side questing story stuff.

 

[Scarlet Lilith]

It bothers me so much that some people even on the Codex think that The Witcher 3 is good influence on genre.

Has it even been much of an influence on the genre though?

Controllers are inherently less comfortable than KB.

Not at all! Controllers are WAY more comfy, but they have different uses so none is better than the other, many games just aren't playable with a controller. DAI is one of those games that should be played with a controller, having a mouse and keyboard doesn't add anything, it's just clunky.

 

[alyvain]

Has it even been much of an influence on the genre though?

luckily, most studios don't have such money.

 

[sullynathan]

Has it even been much of an influence on the genre though?

Apparently, Ass Creed Origins and Odyssey are influenced by Witcher 3 but as someone whose played Ass Creed games, Witcher 3 and other action rpgs, it's difficult to pin point any specific Witcher 3 influence outside of ass creed now has rpg elements.

 

[Falksi]

Has it even been much of an influence on the genre though?

Apparently, Ass Creed Origins and Odyssey are influenced by Witcher 3 but as someone whose played Ass Creed games, Witcher 3 and other action rpgs, it's difficult to pin point any specific Witcher 3 influence outside of ass creed now has rpg elements.

The one which stood out for me was the investigative element. I've only played Origins, but the main quests often equired you too investigate certain areas, much like using your witcher senses.

Unlike the witcher senses though, you actually had to look, which made it more fun than TW3's "hold wicher senses button to win" dross.

 

[sullynathan]

Has it even been much of an influence on the genre though?

Apparently, Ass Creed Origins and Odyssey are influenced by Witcher 3 but as someone whose played Ass Creed games, Witcher 3 and other action rpgs, it's difficult to pin point any specific Witcher 3 influence outside of ass creed now has rpg elements.

The one which stood out for me was the investigative element. I've only played Origins, but the main quests often equired you too investigate certain areas, much like using your witcher senses.

Unlike the witcher senses though, you actually had to look, which made it more fun than TW3's "hold wicher senses button to win" dross.

I do not attribute the Witcher sense shit to Witcher 3 because other massively popular AAA games, assassin's creed included, had it before Witcher 3. Matter of fact, I've seen this point repeated on codex more than almost any other site probably because codexers don't play AAA games as much as mainstream gamers so they don't mention it as much.

Batman did it, Ass Creed did it, Splinter Cell and a bunch of other games did it too.

 

[Scarlet Lilith]

Has it even been much of an influence on the genre though?

Apparently, Ass Creed Origins and Odyssey are influenced by Witcher 3 but as someone whose played Ass Creed games, Witcher 3 and other action rpgs, it's difficult to pin point any specific Witcher 3 influence outside of ass creed now has rpg elements.

Everything is getting RPG elements, it's what devs do when they run out of ideas for a series. Shove in an inventory, quests, leveling and the bunch in a desperate attempt to make it fresh again, not sure that points to The Witcher 3 specifically. Though I don't play Ubisoft games so I can't really say, they waste waaay too much of your time.

 

[fantadomat]

Solas is literally Hitler. And he owes me one perfectly servicable arm.

Still can't believe the internets "girls" swooning over him.

Perhaps the fact that he is cold, detached and stupid reminds them of their fathers?

Also the literally hitler fact helps a lot.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

TW3 main influence on ACOd is how dialogs are framed/presented and color-coded.

 

[alyvain]

Also the literally hitler fact helps a lot.

What can I say, girls love bad boys

 

[Bliblablubb]

Solas: "Yo, Ima kill everyone on this world to bring back the gay elf society. That killing includes you btw."

Girls: "Okaaaaay. Gosh, he is soooooo dreamy."

 

[DalekFlay]

Dorian's whole existence and characterization is "Boohoo I'm gay" (in a very buggy mission that is), and Solas pees over elven lore and the game's plot, I don't remember the details after 6 years, but in a conversation towards the end of the game, he first ravages the elves' for being too uptight about their cultures, yet if you become critical as well, basically agreeing with him, he rails on you for being disrespectful toward elven culture.

Dorian being gay honestly very rarely comes up. I was surprised by how rarely it's even mentioned. His companion quest is where it's focused on really, and even there it makes it more about not having an heir than it does where his dick's been. Obviously if you hate gay rights shit you'll probably bristle at the mention of it, but I think it's relatively well done for "SJW" stuff. The trans character in Iron Bull's company and the "hey we're a communist dystopia but at least we like the trannies" thing is way more annoying.

I try to imagine the desperation of someone who is trying to push the argument that Witcher 3 isn't that better than Dragon Age Inquisition. That's 5-6 years after the games have been released, with their respective impact on gaming plainly visible, not to mention their general popularity, sales numbers, etc.

I try to imagine the delusion you have to have fallen into, in order to seriously claim the games are on par with each other.

Or the ignorance of being unable to see that both games set out to be the "Skyrim killer", DAI failed and fell into relative obscurity, while Witcher 3 became the new benchmark for the games that today pass for "RPG" in the popular definition. I'm not claiming it's genius in any aspect, just stating the fact that Witcher 3 is presently the benchmark.

Citing popularity and sales as a quality assessment is about as anti-Codex as you can get. I guess Skyrim is the best RPG ever made then? Come on.

That said, I'm no sure I'd say they're "on par." They have very similar problems, big open areas without much of quality to do in them outside of story quests that have you follow a marker. The main reason Witcher might be "better" is it has a looooot more story content, but I prefer DA:I's combat which at least has a hint of tactics and character building. In Witcher 3, even on the harder difficulty I played on, I just rolled around and whacky-whackied. That shit's boring to me compared to placing AoE spells, designing a tank through 5-6 skill trees, etc. They're different games in that way though, so again... "on par" is kind of a misnomer. They're both incredibly disappointing either way so it's not like I'm praising DA:I.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Can't you come up with a better argument than 'more popular = better'?

Citing popularity and sales as a quality assessment is about as anti-Codex as you can get. I guess Skyrim is the best RPG ever made then? Come on.

Ok, I was going to give the first one a pass, but when I see a second person with reading comprehension problems, I guess I have to help you.

I am not saying "more popular = better". What I am saying is that if one game is disproportionately more successful than the other, then obviously that game has qualities which the other one lacks. I would have thought that to be obvious enough.

To spell it out for you in glowing letters - popularity and sales are not indicators of "better game", but they are indicators of a game having been received better than another game. If you disagree with using those two to measure reception, please tell me what objective metrics do you prefer.

 

[DalekFlay]

I am not saying "more popular = better". What I am saying is that if one game is disproportionately more successful than the other, then obviously that game has qualities which the other one lacks. I would have thought that to be obvious enough.

To spell it out for you in glowing letters - popularity and sales are not indicators of "better game", but they are indicators of a game having been received better than another game. If you disagree with using those two to measure reception, please tell me what objective metrics do you prefer.

I agree 100% that Witcher 3 was received better by the gaming community at large. I just don't give a shit and don't understand why you do.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I agree 100% that Witcher 3 was received better by the gaming community at large. I just don't give a shit and don't understand why you do.

To prove the point. If it was received so much better than DAI was, then this must mean it's not "basically the same quality of game" as DAI.

It may be interesting to try and think about what does Witcher 3 do better than DAI, and how does it achieve it, but to try to prove they are comparable in terms of gameplay or writing quality will have to explain this disparity in their success first.

 

[moon knight]

big open areas without much of quality to do in them outside of story quests that have you follow a marker. The main reason Witcher might be "better" is it has a looooot more story content,

No, it's because it has a much better level design, the world feels cohesive and alive, it has dynamic AI and a day/night cycle, whcih Inquisition lacks. Inquisition is not even a proper oper world, just a series of MMO rooms filled with MMO content. Much of the main quest takes place in custom areas which you can't visit again.

but I prefer DA:I's combat which at least has a hint of tactics and character building..

You can't be serious. Inquistion is just an hold pressed button-awesome to awesome win every fight. You could literally die and crush your head on the attack button, and still win.

 

[DalekFlay]

To prove the point. If it was received so much better than DAI was, then this must mean it's not "basically the same quality of game" as DAI.

Yes I know that's your point, which is why I said it's stupid to use mainstream success as a quality metric. Which you said you weren't doing, yet here we are again...

 

[DalekFlay]

No, it's because it has a much better level design, the world feels cohesive and alive, it has dynamic AI and a day/night cycle, whcih Inquisition lacks. Inquisition is not even a proper oper world, just a series of MMO rooms filled with MMO content. Much of the main quest takes place in custom areas which you can't visit again.

I think Witcher 3's word is cooler, but DA:I is more interesting visually for me. Either way I agree DA:I's biggest issue by far is MMO quest design outside of the main quest and companion quests. However Witcher 3 has Assassin's Creed style "quest design" of getting a story segment, then following the marker to whacky-whacky combat section or "press F to investigate" section, then seeing another story segment. For me personally, that's not much better.

You can't be serious. Inquistion is just an hold pressed button-awesome to awesome win every fight. You could literally die and crush your head on the attack button, and still win.

I said "a hint" for a reason, and would never compare it to something like Pathfinder, the game I played before this. However this is silly hyperbole. On hard difficulty when facing enemies roughly your level or above you absolutely have to put some basic thought into it. Whether that's at the character design stage to make a decent tank, or in the battle where you have to barrier your DPS characters at the right time or plan a class combo on a damage sponge, whatever. It's very basic, but it's there. Witcher 3 is all action, roll around and mash LMB at the right time, and I find that a looooot less interesting on every level. It's probably better executed action combat than DA:I is tactical combat, that's for sure, but when you're 1,000% more interested in the latter, then meh.

 

[Quillon]

I was in my second run of DAI when Witcher 3 came out, after I beat Witcher 3 I tried to return to DAI, just playing it felt like shit, never played it again but beaten W3 several times since. They are definitely not same quality gamezzz

 

[Doktor Best]

There were good reasons to endure Witchers 3 flaws. There was almost no reason to endure the ones of Inquisition.

Honestly, anyone who thinks they're on the same level or even close has highly questionable taste in my book. Its like saying Transformers is on par with Terminator 2. Yeah, theyre both pretty mindless action flicks, but there still is a world of quality difference between them.

And if you spammed dodge roll on Witcher 3 that just means you didnt understand the combat system, just saying.

 

[Danikas]

I think Witcher 3's word is cooler, but DA:I is more interesting visually for me. Either way I agree DA:I's biggest issue by far is MMO quest design outside of the main quest and companion quests. However Witcher 3 has Assassin's Creed style "quest design" of getting a story segment, then following the marker to whacky-whacky combat section or "press F to investigate" section, then seeing another story segment. For me personally, that's not much better.

What is the main feedback you took from players on Dragon Age: Inquisition?

It would be just the players want to see the exploration areas sort of incorporated a lot more tightly into the story, have a bit more fleshed out writing. I was playing The Witcher 3 recently and I think they actually did a really good job with their side quests, sort of making them feel alive, have interesting characters, and things like that. People are accustomed to BioWare games just being sort of chock-full of story, and I think that's going to be the team's main goal. I'm not on Dragon Age anymore myself, I passed it off to Patrick Weekes, he's another senior writer who works with the company and I think they're very excited about the direction that they're going to go next; we all learned a lot from Inquisition.

https://www.gamereactor.eu/david-gaider-storytelling-dragon-age-and-bioware/

 

[DalekFlay]

The bloody baron quest is good because the writing, story and choices are good. The quest design is still "go to marker and fight or press F" though. DA:I when it tries has pretty good story missions too, but they're WAY too rare and also play follow the marker.

Anyway, I never said the games are equal, I said they have the same problems. The exploration in both is big open worlds with nothing interesting to do in them outside of story quests. Leveled loot, leveled monsters guarding leveled loot, crafting materials you don't really need, etc. The combat is different, but I don't think either game is a great example of its genre style and I prefer meh RtwP to meh whacky-whacky. However yes, Witcher 3 is "better" because it has mostly better and more of the only reason to play either game... story quests.

 

[GreyWardens Rock]

Solas doesn't like modern Elven culture because thousands of years later they extol the negative parts of their ancestors (his people) as their history when he tried to free them from this future.

Repeating him won't make it good.

Dorian being gay honestly very rarely comes up... His companion quest is where it's focused on really... The trans character in Iron Bull's company ... is way more annoying.

We're not talking about SJW annoyance here (as in right now), it's just that Dorian has nothing rememberable besides his mustache, being gay and having father issues.

... I think it is better than the visual directions of Origins and DA2

For Origins, you're just wrong, the game is not a masterpiece visually (or anywhere else), but it's leagues ahead of Inquisihit's mish mash of copying whatever's popular. For II, it's more of a time/budget thing rather than direction, as it did some things better than Origins, for example elves and qunari are more defined and differentiated from humans rather than simply being leaner/stronger RPG cliche versions of them, which DAI goes back on, though more in characterization than in art.

Everything is getting RPG elements, it's what devs do when they run out of ideas for a series ... not sure that points to The Witcher 3 specifically. Though I don't play Ubisoft games so I can't really say...

Which is funny, as AssCreed games up to Syndicate, were kind of unique despite all the copy/paste design and UbiCollectathon crap.

I will always remember DA:I for killing my toaster. The french area made my CPU eat so much power, it melted my cheapo PSU's plug. Merged with the mainboard like a transporter accident.

Really? That just sucks.