Being completely honest I didn't particularly enjoy the game at first, it was such a huge offset of the first two games that I had a hard time getting into it. I begrudgingly forced my way through around 20 hours of it before eventually letting it fall by the wayside while I was playing other games and keeping myself busy with other hobbies. Then in August of 2015 some part of me got the itch to pick the game up again and continue my righteous march to save Thedas once more.
Now, I'm not going to attach my usual spoiler warning tags to this one because I'm not even going to attempt to try and summarize the monster that was my 150 hour campaign play through into a plot summary outside this (all of this happens at literally the begining of the game btw): After everything in the first two games, the war between the mages and templars comes to a pinnacle and the Chantry has to step in and call a Conclave to begin negotiations to end hostilities at The Temple of Sacred Ashes. Divine Victoria is killed when an explosion occurs that your character is the only survivor of granting you a mark on your hand allowing you to control and affect the veil (a magical barrier between the physical and dream world). You must reestablish the Inquisition to find out who is behind this attack and the massive fade rift that now looms over The Temple of Sacred Ashes. That's it. That's all your getting. Everything else story wise you're on your own for.
One of the things that really stands out to me, and has historically stood out to me is the quality of music that Dragon Age games have, and Inquisition not only lives up to its predecessors, but makes them seem like they were just a child playing on a keyboard. Seriously, everything fits the game, and while some of it may seem off at first, once you start to get more into an area it really builds upon the ambiance of it. And its not just the music, but even the sounds have a way of making this game come alive. One of the things you can do is click the right thumb stick you can scan for nearby items and the sound it makes when found just gives you a good feeling.
The other big part I'd like to hit here is Bioware and their near consistent attention to character details in the game. This is one of their strongest aspects, and inquisition really shows it. Not only do you get to interact with series staples like Leliana, but you get introduced to new characters like Iron Bull and Dorian (who make the most adorable couple btw). Now, I personally wont say I enjoyed every character, but that doesn't mean they aren't all charming in their own ways, and their loyalty missions will leave you wanting more, much more (looking at you Iron Bull). I'm also hoping that they will make a comeback in the next entry just because some of them I feel would fit well into the setting.
And of course it wouldn't be a Dragon Age game without customization and replay ability built into its core. From the 3 base classes, to the 9 specializations you can play the game multiple times and never have the same experience, and what adds even more to it is that you can take an already established character and switch their fighting style mid game to make them more adaptable to whatever the situation is at hand, for example I did this with my inquisitor (who was a rogue) because my in-your-face dagger style wasn't cutting it so I went to a bow build and started making my enemies regret every adult decision they ever made (and trust me, they had much to confess). Other fun builds are the Knight Enchanter mage build, and pretty much anything that is also an Alchemist Rogue.
Finally, the last big thing here is the multiplayer. Bioware took a page out of Mass Effect 3's book for this one, took an already great base formula and somehow made it better. It's harder forsure, but the nice thing too is that difficulty is nothing that can't be overcome with just a bit of teamwork. Pretty much the multiplayer takes place in a randomly generated dungeon with 5 different "zones", each offering a different challenge. Different enemy factions, and random bonus rooms help to mix things up. Yet again you are limited to healing items like in Mass Effect, but the progression based system really makes it feel like you are actually accomplishing a mission, rather than deploying to a hot spot, and running after collecting some data. Overall it's very well done and something I hope than Andromeda can play on in the next few weeks when it launches.
Overall if you like the Dragon Age series so far you're going to love Inquisition, and while it isn't a perfect game, it is one that I feel does a good job at offering a lot of content for not a whole lot of price (maybe $40 for the game of the year edition with all DLC). It does mix things up a bit, and doesn't seem like a Dragon Age game at fist, but after the first couple of hours you get pulled right back in again. That is why I'm giving Dragon Age Inquisition eight and a half High Dragons, out of ten.
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