Dragon Age Inquisition

[botfly10]

Kind of bizarre approach to this game.

DAI is a story driven game. Combat is more action oriented than tactical. It is absolutely not necessary to worry about min/maxing in this game. You don't really have to worry about gear other than what you find as the story naturally progresses. Roll with whatever is most fun, the companions you like the best, and whatever combos are the coolest to you. There are lots of ways to set up a viable party.

Its is great advice to not get bogged down in the Hinterlands. The place is huge. The idea is to leave and come back multiple times. Thats true of many of the areas. Basically, just keep an eye on the main quest line. Do other shit as it comes up. But if something is frustrating, leave, do something else, and come back. There isn't much grinding at all. Mostly you want to immerse in the story. Do shit in the order that is interesting.

 

[remydat]

If you are just playing on normal difficulty combat is more action oriented than tactical but I always play games on the hardest difficulty first. My first playthrough took 160 hours because on Nightmare you pretty much have to constantly be in the tactical combat screen to control your party or they end up getting themselves murked hella fast. That and my first playthrough is where I take the time to read all the lore and explore all the dialogue options and the like.

My second and third playthroughs on Hard took like 50 hours but yeah what I posted was more for anyone that wants to get the best gear and level up faster while playing the game. It's definitely not required if you only care about just enjoying the story and play on normal difficulty or lower.

 

[botfly10]

I have been playing the shit outta this game lately, and ****, there is so much to do. I like clearing EVERYTHING. But ****, I am starting to get worried about being overleveled. Maybe there is diminishing returns with XP when you are above level, but damn. Level cap is at 30 or something and that seems low. And I am nervous about getting so overleveled that shit just becomes stupid easy.

 

[policeman]

I have been playing the shit outta this game lately, and ****, there is so much to do. I like clearing EVERYTHING. But ****, I am starting to get worried about being overleveled. Maybe there is diminishing returns with XP when you are above level, but damn. Level cap is at 30 or something and that seems low. And I am nervous about getting so overleveled that shit just becomes stupid easy.

I felt over leveled around 21. Finished killing all the dragons and then the main storyline game, but there are still a ton of side missions to do. I'm contemplating trying them solo to see if it brings the challenge back.

Sent from under the tree of Yggdrasil.

 

[remydat]

What level are you guys playing on? Once you get to level 17 or 18, the game is pretty easy on normal or hard. The only way to get a challenge back is really nightmare difficulty. If you still want team members to hear their conversation/banter then just play on Nightmare without using the tactical pause screen. Most of the time your party goes down fairly quick and you are left trying to solo which if you are a Knight Enchanter Mage is still pretty easy because you can keep your barriers up infinitely.

 

[botfly10]

I'm playing hard and am level 14. The balance curve has already seemed to level off a little. Right now, dragons are the only thing challenging me. I am not that far in the game and am already 2 or more levels over some the the areas I haven't even started yet. Kind of lame. Maybe I will turn it up to nightmare. Or maybe a balancing mod will come out.

 

[remydat]

What area are you in? The areas basically go like this in terms of difficulty.

1. Hinterlands
2. Storm Coast
3. Fallow Mire
4. Forbidden Oasis
5. Western Approach
6. Crestwood
7. Exalted Plains
8. Emerald Grove
9. Emprise Du Lion
10.Hissing Wastes.

So once you hit level 14 pretty much all the areas except 7-10 will have foes at or below your level. Now there are some particular fade rifts or missions that may be harder but for the most part that's how it works.

That's why once I get to Skyhold, I normally go to Crestwood immediately and from there I go to Hissing Wastes/Emprise Du Lion to get the best gear but also so I can fight enemies 2 or more levels above me. I pretty much only ever go to the Storm Coast for Iron Bull and to fight Vinsomer (Dragon). Otherwise, I hardly ever do any missions there. Same for Fallow Mire and Forbidden Oasis which don't even have dragons. I only visit those places when the I have done pretty much everything else or to run specific missions that interest me like to recruit an Agent for the Inquisition or finish an inner circle quest.

Otherwise, I would say 7-10 are you best bets for a challenge with the added bonus that those areas also have all the best gear so should go to them as soon as you have enough shards to do so (both areas are 20 shards a piece). I tend to do those before I don Wicker Hearts and Here lies the Abyss (main story missions).

 

[botfly10]

I do all the missions everywhere cause I like them.

 

[remydat]

Well sure you can do whatever missions you want. Just telling you why you end up feeling over-leveled.

 

[Monsieur Tirets]

Put a lot of time into Origins but eventually playing it just felt like a chore... so much about it is so generic; the plot, the locations, etc. And the level design and art direction was repetitive as ****. In the end the game was simply bland. Therefore Inquisition hasnt been on my to play list. Seems like outside of the Mass Effect games(though I only played the first) Bioware has gone down hill since KOTOR. It may be telling that the mass effect team is different than the DA team. And the fact that the founders of the company have left.

A number of gamer reviews for Inquisition suggest that it feels like a single player MMO, or in other words generic and bland and that was the vibe I got from game play videos. Ill likely give it a go someday to see for myself, but for now it can wait.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[remydat]

The gameplay can certainly get repetitive but not sure how the locations are generic. Pretty much every location looks pretty different and unique to me but to each his or her own.

 

[BigTom]

I finally got around to finishing my playthrough of this. I was really torn throughout it how I even felt about the game. I went back and forth several times from really enjoying it to being bored and it feeling like a chore. It started out great and I spent way too long in the Hinterlands. Like close to 20 hours. I wanted to complete as many quests as possible and started getting bored. So I finally jumped on the main story and really started enjoying it again. The first couple missions were good. Then it started to drag and I got bored again. went back to side missions and finding new armor and whatnot. The story just ended up being pretty uninteresting to me. Took me 4 months to finish because every time I'd put it aside i couldnt get myself to start playing again.

I'd say its an average game. Theres definitely worse ways to kill time. It was game of the year in a year of bad games.

 

[remydat]

Well I would say the most interesting part of the game to me was the stuff about the Dread Wolf especially once you get the after credits scene. Sheds a whole new lime on the lore of the game.

 

[botfly10]

Put a lot of time into Origins but eventually playing it just felt like a chore... so much about it is so generic; the plot, the locations, etc. And the level design and art direction was repetitive as ****. In the end the game was simply bland. Therefore Inquisition hasnt been on my to play list. Seems like outside of the Mass Effect games(though I only played the first) Bioware has gone down hill since KOTOR. It may be telling that the mass effect team is different than the DA team. And the fact that the founders of the company have left.

A number of gamer reviews for Inquisition suggest that it feels like a single player MMO, or in other words generic and bland and that was the vibe I got from game play videos. Ill likely give it a go someday to see for myself, but for now it can wait.

Just my 2 cents.

1. I fucking loved origins as did the vast majority of ppl that like rpgs. Your experience is def in the minority.

2. Inquisition is not like a single player mmo. Inquisition is exactly a blend of Origins and DA2. Its like Mass Effect fantasy, except with more open world content. Or like a blend of skyrim and origins.

 

[botfly10]

I finally got around to finishing my playthrough of this. I was really torn throughout it how I even felt about the game. I went back and forth several times from really enjoying it to being bored and it feeling like a chore. It started out great and I spent way too long in the Hinterlands. Like close to 20 hours. I wanted to complete as many quests as possible and started getting bored. So I finally jumped on the main story and really started enjoying it again. The first couple missions were good. Then it started to drag and I got bored again. went back to side missions and finding new armor and whatnot. The story just ended up being pretty uninteresting to me. Took me 4 months to finish because every time I'd put it aside i couldnt get myself to start playing again.

I'd say its an average game. Theres definitely worse ways to kill time. It was game of the year in a year of bad games.

If you don't get invested in the story, the game is gon drag for sure.

But its also critical to realize very early that the zones are huge and not intended to be cleared completely one at a time, in a linear progression. The best advice I got about DAI is to get the **** outta Hinterlands before you get bored of it. Come back later if you want, or not at all.

The game is a transition to a lot of open world content where you can choose whether or not to complete side quests. Its big enough that if you compulsively do every last quest, it can drag you down. Something I learned playing the elder scrolls games is that you gotta avoid making yourself grind. For one, it absolutely is not necessary to do, and 2, it can ruin the game.

 

[MassHavoc]

I had the same experience with origins. Still have it unfinished.

 

[Monsieur Tirets]

1. I fucking loved origins as did the vast majority of ppl that like rpgs. Your experience is def in the minority.

2. Inquisition is not like a single player mmo. Inquisition is exactly a blend of Origins and DA2. Its like Mass Effect fantasy, except with more open world content. Or like a blend of skyrim and origins.

While a number of people enjoyed Origins others have expressed similar complaints as I have, especially those that enjoyed Biowares earlier work. But in the end I dont give a shit whether my experience is in the minority or not, my opinion is what it is and that of others has no bearing... I dig RPGs and didnt care much for Origins.

I put like 70 hours into it and at that point the idea of playing it a second more felt like a chore, everything had become so repetitive. The game simply didnt have substance enough to carry it for such an extended length. Would have been a better game with far less filler IMO and a 50 hour or so completion time. So much of the game is spent trudging your way through bland monotonous environments slaying enemy after enemy and it completely ruins the balance and pacing. It obviously had some things going for it considering the time I put into it, but when a game comes to a crashing halt before I can complete it that really hurts it in my eyes.

Like I said, Ill probably give DA:I a go eventually to see for myself, but as of right now based on my experience with Origins there are a lot of games ahead of it on my to play list. Currently I need to finish up the original campaign of NWN2(which Im digging quite a bit) so I can get into Mask of the Betrayer.

 

[botfly10]

Yeah, wasn't knocking you. Serious games are a very personal experience. As far as DAI is concerned, its pretty standard bioware fare. I probably wouldn't recommend it to you.

 

[botfly10]

If you like NW2 and BG2, you should check out divinity original sin.

 

[botfly10]

OH! And have you heard about Pillars of Eternity!? Looks fucking awesome.

[video=youtube;bHsYvnGVVkE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHsYvnGVVkE[/video]