The World of Myth Magazine

Throughout the long-life span of video games, there have been a healthy number of titles with story-lines and world-building ideas that allowed the developers to give their fans not just one fantastic game but also a dedicated series to explore different aspects of story-lines. Off the top of my head, I think of the Final Fantasy games, which I believe there are about two hundred titles, Assassins Creed, which spawned plenty of spin-offs, and who can forget about Resident Evil?

I know there are many, many more game series out there, and I've played my fair share of them. But one series I hold dear to my heart is the Dragon Age series. Here is a series that started as a role-playing type of game that grew large enough to dig its talons into nearly every form of media beyond just the video game itself.

For example, there are four video games, two books, several comics, and graphic novels, a movie, seven full-length novels, and even a tabletop role-play version. And of course, every great game has the anticipation of add-ons and DLC's, which, of course, the Dragon Age offered as well. But let me admit a few honest facts about myself as a gamer. For one, I was not a fan of Dragon Age: Origins, but since the game is not the topic of the review, I can spare you the reasons why. What I really fell for was Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Drawing upon my lust-filled love of RPG games, a fellow friend and gamer suggested the title and promised I would instantly form a cyber crush on the characters. Ok, I admit, it didn't go that far, but I did fall deep enough into the story that I lost count of how many hours played. My wife, of course, remembers full well because we unfortunately only had one TV in the house. I'm still reminded of my selfish domination of the television and how she was forced to watch DVR'd shows after I finally would fall asleep.

As I always do, I played the game with experiencing the story-line in mind. Yes, that meant I played it on the easiest level, which one has to admit is the most convenient way to experience the world without the constant frustration of consistently dying. What I found was a game that was fun and unique but landed short of blowing my mind. More than a few times, I grew bored and had to grind my way to more exciting experiences. I also found that the ability to upgrade armor and weapons were slightly short of frustrating. But I'll admit that the frustration was because I like to create a god-like character with no fear and spits on the grim reapers boots (how's that for dramatic!)

But let's take a step back for a moment to explore what I think is the games' dominant feature, the story. It begins one year after the conclusion of Dragon Age II, dropping the player character into the midst of a civil war. With the Circle of Magi rebellion against the tyrannical Templars, the continent known as Thedas falls dangerously close to experiencing all-out war. However, spurred by the hope of restoring peace, a woman known as Divine Justinia V, urges the ambassadors to attend a peace summit to end the war.

Unfortunately, as the Conclave commences, a cataclysmic explosion kills all those attending the meeting. But, the tragic death of the Conclave is just the beginning of the troubles, as the blast opened a tear in the Vale, which serves as a sort of barrier between the mortal world and the Fade. Why is this bad? Well, I'm glad you asked. This is no good since the tear allows Fade rifts to emerge randomly around the continent, letting nasty demons through unhindered. As the main character of the game and the sole survivor of the explosion, you come to possess an artifact known as the Anchor, which grants you the power to close the rifts.

I will stop the story description here because I hate reviews that throw out spoilers like candy at a parade. First, I can say without ruining the story that there is a wide variety of casted characters. I found them to be pleasantly unique, and their attributes and personalities add tremendous experiences to the game. Although I have such hatred for spoilers, I feel compelled to alert you to the fact that finding all of the companions you can get is not so easy. I've played through the game several times, and I have yet to gather them all. Anyway, moving on.

One feature I found to be a bit taxing is how combat plays out. If you are by chance a monthly reader of my reviews, you would note that I typically don't have glowing opinions. I'll be honest here; part of the reason is that so many games utilize the controls differently. Yes, I agree; I sound like a spoiled newb who is about to throw my controller through the TV. But I place no blame on the developers unless their format is so outrageous that one would need eight extra fingers to make it work.

The combat format for Dragon Age: Inquisition is not the worst I've ever experienced, and it offers two different ways of playing out the limitless amount of fights you'll find yourself in. One way, which is the way I chose to approach combat, is to maintain control of the main character while allowing the AI to basically control the other two members of the party. The other way will allow you to basically freeze time as combat begins, so you can lay out strategic attacks that are dutifully carried out when you un-pause the game.

So, there it is the nutshell version of my review. Dragon Age Inquisition is a huge, semi-open world experience that favors a decent plot and rates high on my replayability list. Knowing I risk being a bit over-generous, I'll give Dragon Age: Inquisition a solid four stars. It's a title I know I can enjoy playing every so often and still be entertained.

That's it for this month, for those who have yet to play it; I hope I've enticed you to try it. As always, you can find me on Xbox One and the PS4 under the tag wickedwisdom66. And if you feel the urge to request a game or offer your own thought to the review, you can email me at wickedwisdom66@outlook.com.