DA:I Impressions after one run - prior to any patch

Trying to keep it as short as possible


Pros:
- Great graphics, sound and music.
- Bard songs pwn any other game with such thing, songs/poems are recorded on two languages, there is room for improvement (someone give Malukah a job!)
- Openworld similar to Risen 2 & 3, exploration on par with those games
- Puzzles ranging from very easy, easy and medium difficulty to one challenging
- Superb story with a brilliant ending with great character development (except… I'll mention later)
- Party banter is so good you'll switch party members all the time just to hear all you can (don't miss Cassandra+Varric+Dorian!), there is humor all over the place
- Optional crafting not necessary to finish the main story, but to deal with most of challenging enemies, you need it (wrote somewhere, to get the best equipment you need to kill dragons, but to kill dragons you need to craft equipment!)
- Wartable missions that just look like a filler but are in fact preventing your character to stumble upon too hard to deal with areas
- Many c&c that would make the game worth replaying (different wartable missions depending on your race, Chantry leader depending on your actions, sidekicks evolution depending on your actions, etc) if only the filler content wasn't so damned annoying.

Cons:
- Keyboard/mouse clunky, apparently it'll be "fixed", no autoattack apart from holding R/leftmousebutton, no queuing actions
- Horrible inventory system in beyond repair state
- Bad Sims 4 design choice ("No pools no toddlers") means no swimming!
- Abnormal amount of filler content (requisitions, endless respawns, timewasting on gathering herbs and ingredients)
- Endless mobrespawns have abnormal rate (kill something, another mob instantly appears), very annoying and distract you from enjoying the beautiful surroundings
- Spam V to highlight loot instead of highlight toggle, Fablelike digsites "secrets" with easily to miss minimap flash when near one (in Fable a small shovel would appear like you're looking at that spot all the time, an utter design fail IMO)
- Minimap completely useless
- Mounts utterly useless except in Hissing Wastes
- The game feels full of sex and sextalk, but… no children! well, apart from… no spoiling!
- Loot is not handplaced but is random and you won't collect all possible schematics (unless you cheat!)
- Bioware promised you'll be able to specialize/modify keeps/strongholds you claim during the game, this was cut out from the game without any notice or explanation, I thought you need to do something special for that till I finished the game and found out on Bioware forum it's actually removed feature (although the release was postponed)

Questionable if good or bad, would be definetly good as a challenge if hostiles didn't respawn like crazy everywhere except in main story missions:
- 3 slots for pots, one needed to unlock, two open by default
- No healing spells (only a nonspammable ability for certain class)

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The game currently has about 50 bugs. You might think it has more, but not really. For example a certain necro spell causes quests becoming unsolvable, so it's not a bugged this quest, that quest, etc quest, instead of 87346587364 quest bugs it's actually 1 skill bug.

Some inquisition classes (means not base classes you start with) are perhaps not thought over enough as they provide you possibility to solo (the game was not designed for that as when you use invisibility mobs freeze since they don't know who or what to attack). These classes are not really OP as you still have to carefully move and use skills in fights, but mobs should have some counters if attacked by invisible soloplayer.

Some classes are however very well made and allow you to move away from standard tank+rogue+mage+fourth_anyone party setup. Artificier for example ups critchance and shortens cooldowns and you can nail easily any mob including a dragon if playing that class with a party of 3 rogues and a mage - who needs a tank!

I've noticed a few "plotholes". Although they look more like bugs now when I think on that..
Solas mentions a certain mob before you even meet it like it's known what's that about (got me confused), later he doesn't alert a certain someone on another one's whereabouts but instead the story picks up on that after you explore Temple of Mythal (this one becomes noticable only when you finish the game and think back).
Cassandra looks impossible to please, reacts completely illogical. A quote from Bio forum (and it really happens exactly like that, not that it's impossible to get her approval anywhere, it's just odd how she reacts plotwise):
http://forum.bioware.com/topic/531079-wtf-cassandra-end-game-spoilers/
Finally Florianne if alive and recruited as an agent doesn't appear on the list of agents, but does appear if you kill her.
So, nothing criminal and IQ insulting like ME3 plotholes, just tiny bits that in the end perhaps are not plotholes but patchable glitches.


For all of you who hate respawns like I do, there are several known exploits - I didn't use them.
But if Bioware will cheat on us, why wouldn't we cheat back? I believe we should be better than Bioware and not cheat, but then again, some will think differently:

-
Hopefully I didn't miss something.
If I did, forgive me.

Overall, after DA2 crap, Bioware took the right direction with everything except inventory and respawns. This is still not a mustbuy game, I suggest waiting for a patch (so they at least fix the odd gender bug, dx crashes caused by forcing the game into 30 FPS and some bugged skills/stats like bleeding).

Just as in case of other above average games, wait till you get a nice discount somewhere (20-25% at least). If the game was a masterpiece I'd suggest buying it immediately. Sadly, it's not a masterpiece as no grinder can be that.
If you'll buy, go for standard edition, deluxe edition provides useless crap equipment, horsearmor and mounts you don't really need for 10 more bucks.
Instead, you can use these 10 bucks to grab ME1, ME2 and ME3 that are currently discounted on Origin (4, 3, and 5 bucks respectively) for many hours of fun or something else that doesn't have overblown price.

8/10


Note that this is only about singleplayer campaign and the release version on PC.
I don't care for multiplayer and for all I care it can be 0/10 or 10/10 in DA3, I'll never touch it.
The number/10 can go higher depending on EA's decision to patch/not_patch different "cons" I've numbered.

good points.
Im going to play it, but waitng to buy until a PC centric patch is released

/C

I actually thought to wait for a patch before writing this, but well…
There is no official ETA on patch yet, they're working on patches on more than one platform at the same time, and some platforms can't be patched instantly because some petty control crap, long live Steam and their patch system!

Xbox 360 version is in bad shape, there are many performance problems on it impossible to reproduce on other platforms, even not on PC since the game won't run at all if your hardware doesn't meet min. req except if you trick it to think otherwise. Crashes tend to be so bad on it, players lose their savegames. I believe they'll be mostly concentrated on the patch for that platform now as on other platforms buyers can at least play the game without crashing, stutters and slowdowns every single minute.

Waiting for at least one patch is a good decision, there are so many great (and cheaper!) games to buy and play recently released, polished completely or almost completely.

yeah, my backlog is a mile long anyway..

I just managed to finish DA2 and find myself having the itch.
I try to have a policy of waiting 6 months before buying/playing a game, but sometimes its hard.

Two more insane weeks at work so I should probably wait with DA:I
(but looking forward to it)

hm, replay DX:HR, continue with Assasins Creed 4 or start Fallout 3/NV
all those hard decisions.

C

or dishonoured!
installed but not played

Crilloan said:

hm, replay DX:HR

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Yes!

Crilloan said:

, continue with Assasins Creed 4

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WTF?!
Uninstall and remove from library if possible, pretend you never saw it!

Crilloan said:

or start Fallout 3/NV

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Yes number 2!

Crilloan said:

or dishonoured!
installed but not played

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OMG what are you waiting for?!
Yes number 3!

Damn you guys.......... I think I will pick it up tomorrow =.= was going to wait till it hits bargain bin....

joxer said:

Trying to keep it as short as possible

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Agreed with most of the pros/cons points, except for the main story, which I´ve found rather uninspired.
Speaking of which, I´d say that in my book probably the game´s biggest general flaw is main story parts´ separation from the open world zones. The way exploration and sidequesting in those open zones feed into the main story progression is somewhat cool and all, but I don´t like that most of the game´s cinematic storytelling is reserved for self-contained and a lot less open missions. Utilizing the open world for more main plot parts would make the game more organic and would likely help with the feeling of filler overload the open world comes with.

When it comes to the game´s pros, I think it´s worth mentioning the level design that delivers a lot of detail and variety and is particularly impressive considering how big the game is, relative lack of level scaling which is fairly unseen in AAA production and at times delivers good old Gothic situations, and reactivity to pc´s race as well as the inclusion of dialogue skills, both of which are mostly cosmetic, but cool additions nevertheless.

My personal experience put the game somewhere around 6.5/10, particularly due to repetitive quest design in the open world and the main story which I´ve found lacking both in length and inspiration.
I think the game is an impressive effort overall, but at the end of the day I can´t say I´ve enjoyed playing it all that much and as it is I prefer more focused experiences provided by DA: Origins or Mass Effects, when it comes to BioWare games.
There´s a good chance that patching and DLCs (which will likely help with the content balance via infusion of meatier quests) will notably improve the overall impression though. I´m shelving the game till then.

But I liked the main story, honestly. Especially the villain evolution
For main plot/areas I believe devs who did those knew exactly what they were doing. Unlike big maps devs. While openworld zones are grind-o-rama filled with godlike mobs, do you remember anyone or anything respawned in main story missions? No, right? No filler!

While you're hoping DLC will fix... I don't want gamechanging DLC.
I want to see what happens next with Mythal and Dread Wolf in DA4. Hopefully, in a world where no trashmob is godlike.

All in all, this is very similar to how I feel. The bottom line is that it would have been a truly fantastic game with better PC controls and less filler stuff.

And now we eagerly await a proper expansion or even DA4, not a two hour DLC. I can tell you one thing though: I will be more than a little frustrated if BioWare makes a mess of it, as I'm pretty excited about what's going to happen.

I'm still early into the game but I know the major spoiler at the end already about Flemeth.. Which is a clear indication of either DLC or DA4. I agree with Maylander, here's hoping Bioware will expand on that and hope it won't be some disappointing bullshit.

Yea cpt Janeway appears in DA3 too.
Don't spoil more!!!

Swimming with armor is generally a bad idea.

You don't have to use armor in this game.
It's happening in Mass Effect universe. Instead of armor, you can rely on barrier. In fact you *will* use barrier all the time.
Luckily, mobs still didn't learn warp and throw.

joxer said:

While you're hoping DLC will fix…

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I´m not sure "hoping" is the right word, considering my fairly low score (which means I´m not really sure if I´ll ever get back to the game anyway), it´s more in the suspecting/guessing vein .
Regardless, I think patches might infuse the game with a better quality on systemic level, while DLCs might do it on a content/presentation/pacing basis - as in, basically, resulting in a better meaty content/filler ratio, potentially making the game more enthusing on a replay front.

Can´t say I´m interested in an "expansion" or whatever as these tend to just add content after vanilla parts end, not making playing through vanillas themselves any better, unless Night of the Raven-like addition is on the table, which I doubt.

Finally done - 93 hours, with a fair amount of side exploration (but not that much - got tired of it). For me - ~ 7/10.

Things I liked:

- world: very pretty, open and immersive (esp on my GTX 980 ;-)
- story: it was OK, and seemed to tie in nicely with the other game(s)
- no parachuting enemies: yay
- lore: as usual, interesting
- setting: tevinter etc - interesting
- war table/power: interesting (at first)
- crafting: interesting, but why did I enever find such good equipment?

Things I didn't like:

- spawning and re-spawning … grrr!Hiss!^$@!! (-2 points!)
- character dev mechanics: I do not like being constrained in the way I build my character - why could I not allocate stat points at level up? Now its tied to
abilities your choose. no!
- stupid limitation on abilities I can use ('load out') in combat. monumentally stupid.
- no healing school - sure, I shoud manage my potions better, but I alway used spells in a pinch to heal, now I simply can't (well, not without some special focus abilties etc).
- focus: useless in large boss battles. Use it once and then fight on for 20 minutes. I wasted 3 tiers on that. Mostly I didn't both using focus abilties - seemed overrated, even maxed out. Unless you had weak enemies.
- PC UI: atrocious. Found tactical view confusing and hard to use. Idiot camera in tactial mode that get's stuck behind things etc. Sometimes it was unresponsive.
- grindy combat: Hold down R and watch…. Sure, you can play on 'hard'..so more hp and resistances…more grind. fun? I think not. I preferred DA2 combat to be honest.
-dragon killing: optional mostly - but you needed to munchkinize your party to avoid grinding away for 20 min. I am not a munchkin. I had , I think, a reasonable party, and it was a grind.
- Guard abuse: C'mon. Over-powered and adds to grinding. So basically, you're giving every creatured with guard x2 HP => longer combats. Thanks. And it doesn't decay with time like a barrier? Way to many creatures had it.

I enjoyed tha game, but the UI and certain game design decisions ticked me off and reduced my enjoyment significantly. I have no desire to play it again any time soon. Just sad Witcher 3 is delayed Well, back to LoX…