DA:Inquisition - 6 Places To Revisit

Originally Posted by you
Look (more seriously) there has to be a reason there are two sides right ? All I'm asking is why

I guess I have a couple questions for you, then… 1) Have you played the first 2 games, and 2) are you someone who reads the history/books/etc in games like this?

If you answer "no" to either question, then really, what does it matter why there is Ferelden or Orlais on the map? Just play it and have whatever fun you want (or 'grind' through it unfunly if you're Joxer).

Ferelden and Orlais share a border, and there is a heavy political aspect to this game. They are not nations colliding. They share an internal, asymmetric threat posed by dark forces. The outside threat comes from the Qunari and Tevinter, which are not represented geographically, but are very much at play here(and I'd suspect will be featured heavily in game 5). There is no requirement to dedicate resources to any side equally. If you want to focus on Orlais side missions, do it. If you have a soft spot in your heart for old times in Ferelden, do it. But the main story will force you to 'travel' between areas.

I also have to add that I'm not someone who insists on being handheld through games, but I spent the first couple of hours wondering why I was collecting shards and running around the Hinterlands, as well. That you can blame on the game.

However, I very quickly realized how the game was set up— you have your war table with side missions that will get you power and influence. You then spend that power and influence to progress further in the game. The "zones" are there to let you explore/kill/fetch in an effort to level your party so that you don't get your ass handed to you as the story progresses. You can spend any amount of time in any zone doing any side quest you want in any order. You don't have to fetch stuff. You don't have to go out of your way to kill stuff to level, you will find enough along your normal path. You can simply explore, "claim" areas, set up camps, etc. It's called 'freedom', and I love being able to prioritize the flow of my story any way I want to. There's no handholding.

The main plot missions have ominous green blobs (rifts) over them on the war table. They also have power requirements to unlock, along with a suggested level. Those will progress the story. You are more than welcome to just do those missions and avoid the 'grind'/exploration if you so choose, but IMO you'd be missing one of the best parts of what DAI has to offer.

The combat sucks on PC, we get that and I agree with that. But luckily the rest of the game is fantastic. Just… figure it out *shrugs*

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory
The main plot missions have ominous green blobs (rifts) over them on the war table. They also have power requirements to unlock, along with a suggested level. Those will progress the story. You are more than welcome to just do those missions and avoid the 'grind'/exploration if you so choose, but IMO you'd be missing one of the best parts of what DAI has to offer.

The combat sucks on PC, we get that and I agree with that. But luckily the rest of the game is fantastic. Just… figure it out *shrugs*

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Well the controls are broken (as in keys will mysteriously stop working or remap to other functions or the game will get stuck in cpu loops and hang - but that is a different matter.
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Thanks ! I saw the green blob but how the freak was I suppose to know that meant 'main plot' I have no clue but that's what it means !
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I played the first two games but the history sort of swam also it has been several years since I played them and I barely remember the main characters - cept for morigan (sp) and her mother - how could you forget them !
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I am very surprise there isn't a stronger summary of the events that explain the two nations. I do know they give a slight summary of what happened to you since DA-II as I remember the end of that game.

I was lost for maybe a hour before I figured that all out You. The game is basically a play what area you want game so long as you meet the LV requirements.

You will also face a choice of saving the mages or templars , and it affect how the game plays out. So choose carefully when the time comes to choose on the map.

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory
1) Someone comes on the thread and says, "I don't get it."
2) People try to help.
3) Joxer says "everything sucks, don't bother."
4) Thread ends.

It's like I'm stuck in a time vortex. Over and over.

This is probably the most accurate description of Joxer I've ever seen.

The logic behind TEMPORARILY leaving Hinterlands is that you don't want to over-level for the main quests, which are optimised for certain range of levels. If you are 3 or more levels above any enemy or creature, you stop getting XP altogether. Then, there doesn't remain any incentive to kill foes at all, sapping most of the enjoyment in that quest.

Another solid reason to leave Hinterlands early is that once you progress a story a bit more, explore other areas and quests, you get access to more companions. I like Vivienne, but Dorian and Iron Bull, not so much. Sera could be interesting, if you understand she was SPECIFICALLY written as some sort of chaotic good character..a bit crazy, but wants to do "Good things" etc.

Then again, certain areas in the Hinternads are not meant to be tackled on early levels at all. The region where a dragon resides, for example. One can always come back after completing couple of main quests etc.

When people advise to leave Hinterlands, they of course mean to come back later. No one is forcing you, but the game if far more enjoyable if you decide to heed that advice.

Originally Posted by you
Look (more seriously) there has to be a reason there are two sides right ? All I'm asking is why

I thought there's two sides because:

1. Orlais is politically important for the plot
2. Ferelden is for all those rose tinted glasses reason especially if you liked Origins (visit the places you have in Origins!)

Thanks for striping me naked Chaos!

Anyway… there are more than two "sides", so Bioware will probably visit evil USA…
Errr… Tevinter in DA4.

It's funny, but I read You's question as a purely mechanical question. As in why do you have to endure a cut-scene every time you choose to look at one side of the map or the other, why not just have one big map?

But it turns out the question was one that didn't even occur to me as being something anyone would care about - the game gives you two regions to explore… because the game gives you two regions to explore, not a lot more you can say about that really, I guess games need some form of barrier limit…?

Re-Visit.

Sorry I am still soured by DA:2 to even visit it.

Originally Posted by joxer
Thanks for striping me naked Chaos!

Anyway… there are more than two "sides", so Bioware will probably visit evil USA…
Errr… Tevinter in DA4.

You know I love you, Jox… But yeah, Tevinter and/or the Qun is next.

Time to go practice my blood magic.

Well the previously 3 games I played (previous to DA:I) the stories might have been arbitrary but they made sense in their context. This one just seems (at least the war room map) seems totally ad-hoc senseless voodoo.

Originally Posted by lackblogger
It's funny, but I read You's question as a purely mechanical question. As in why do you have to endure a cut-scene every time you choose to look at one side of the map or the other, why not just have one big map?

But it turns out the question was one that didn't even occur to me as being something anyone would care about - the game gives you two regions to explore… because the game gives you two regions to explore, not a lot more you can say about that really, I guess games need some form of barrier limit…?

Originally Posted by you
Well the previously 3 games I played (previous to DA:I) the stories might have been arbitrary but they made sense in their context. This one just seems (at least the war room map) seems totally ad-hoc senseless voodoo.

Well, the war room map makes sense (most of the time) it ties up the leads you find from following the story and chatting with your companions. But I have to admit the story is not the best dragon age has offered so far.

You can also learn a great deal about the game by talking to all the people in the game - they give you a ton of background. There are also ways to interact with things in the game to learn more.