Inquisition brings back the most divisive quest in the game

I'm trying to finish Dragon Age: Inquisition before the release of Veilguard at the end of the month. Fourth. I originally started playing it after Dragon Age 2, but crashed hard. I've played Origins and its sequels, but Inquisition was nothing like it.

Origins cemented itself in my mind as an instant classic. I loved the subtle storytelling, the clever adventure mechanics that made Ferelden feel bigger than the actual parts of the game, the characters and the relationships between them. The fact that every decision I made had consequences, where it was not immediately clear which option was the quote-unquote 'best' option, added to my surprise. I immediately played it again from a different perspective, opening up my understanding of this world beyond the little layman's perspective of my first game.

Dragon Age 2 completely revolutionized combat, but BioWare's approach to storytelling and gameplay remained the same. I didn't mind exploring the Kirkwall-focused areas or moving around the map to get between them, and the game's important story decisions felt just as important. before him.

You Lost Me In The Inquisition

Dragon Age: Inquisition lost me. It was fun, and the dragons finally felt worthy of the title of the series (despite all the reasons for the title), but the open world was vast and empty. Too much action and not enough character development. Why do I need to find a bunch of collectibles and find random places to advance the main quest? There are gems to be found in these open spaces through heart-warming side quests, but for every great story there's a bunch of meaningless chaff that bogs you down.

I was frustrated with the blurry world and not being able to communicate with my party members. But that all changed when my Inquisitor was called to spy on the Winter Palace in Val Royeaux. My mission is to save the life of the Empress and return the nobles to the city so that Corypheus does not profit from the chaos that may arise after the assassination. I'm not going to lie, it all seems pretty bleak. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be the most interesting quest in the game.

The Winter Palace is a beer. There were many guests and servants and otherswandering around where I spent a long time looking and mingling before taking in my surroundings and assessing my upcoming mission. It was a little distracting, but it offered an immediately impressive setting that reminded me of the games I love. I was in my element.

I won't describe the whole mission – I'm sure you've played it – but it looks like old Dragon Age. It's not perfect, I'm always stressing about my approval rating (which is already knocked due to the elven heritage), but it's an interesting story with a lot of twists and, most importantly, really good characters at the center.

How Dragon Age: The Last Inquisition Made Me Care

The power struggle between Gaspard, Celene and Briana was negotiated and I never expected who was behind it all in the end. I was forced to rethink my strategy for building a partnership between Celene and Briala when a three-party truce came to the table. Gaspard can be a little – how can we say it without Google punishing us? – no meaning, but the others are bad. Maybe they can balance the worst emotions.

I like the mix of detective work and combat, and I didn't mind the collection in a smaller, more focused area. But what I really liked was that I got to know the main character very well. Leliana, Josephine, and Cullen all put on their best clobber to attend the ball with me, and now it's time to get close to them that I haven't seen during the first half of the game so far.

However, I was surprised to find this to be one of the most polarizing quests in the game. When I did a cursory Google to make sure I wasn't missing anything important, I found countless social media posts complaining about missions, about clothes, about boring politics. But I like it. It wasn't perfect – I hated having to change back into war zone armor – but I felt like I was finally able to begin to understand and relate to the people around me. Leliana slowly softens her exterior, Josephine slow dances on the balcony, and Cullen… he's just Cullen.

The combination of smaller maps, great characters, and a brilliant narrative focused on trickery and deceit made Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts one of my highlights of Dragon Age: Inquisition so far. Although I accidentally backed out of the window while pulling a Jump Shot.