I have a big bag of Elfroot in one of my cupboards. I say Elfroot, it’s a type of mint that I grew from a plant that looked EXACTLY like Elfroot! I’ve never used it, but when I found out that the most common health herb in Dragon Age: Inquisition had a real-life equivalent – I needed to have it in my life.
Maker’s breath! That’s just one of the effects that the game had on me. I won’t go into details of sexy Cullen’s blonde ass (or the cute plushie of him that stands over me while I sleep). I won’t talk about shipping Iron Bull and Dorian (my little dabble into the pool of Yaoi – or my statues of both of them). I’m only going to barely mention pulling off practical jokes with Sera or Cassandra’s resting bitch face.
I’m going to talk about what a great game it is. It’s a game I bought, played and completed on the XBox 360. I bought it again and completed it a second time on the PS4. Since then, I have completed it many times. It’s the game that I go back to the most. Why? I love the world, I love the characters and I love the weight that your actual decisions have.
You get to make emotional choices that carry significant weight – and can lead to permadeath (until the next playthrough) of some of your favourite characters. The way you interact with them also changes how they grow and develop alongside you. It’s like a Game of Thrones you can play – and it also has dragons!
When you play through the game, you get to choose who will be in your party – and it’s why I keep going back to it. I’ve never really been that interested in Solas, but with a new Dragon Age confirmed – I’m ready to go back in and see what the world of Dragon Age will be like with him becoming my best buddy… yeah that’s a big lie – don’t give him your good weapons! Piece-of-apostate-crap!
It’s also the pinnacle of the series. From basically corridors in the first game, to a city in the second game, it’s a whole richly detailed world in the third, with different regions, different weather and climates and different cultures to explore. While everyone else was amazed by Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I was thinking – I’ve seen this all before.
I love the Inquisitor too – great voice acting that doesn’t get the props it deserves. Real drama, real jokes, she says the F word – and a real connection forged. I love spending time with my badass elf with a tainted green arm (she’s the only thing that doesn’t change from my playthroughs – I even dusted off the 360 so I could log in and copy my characters face onto the PS4).
Are there games with better combat? Maybe, but not many. Or games with less repetitive quests? Probably. Is there a game closer to my heart (and my lower back in the form of a tattoo) than the third Dragon Age game? Definitely not. If you haven’t played it, then treat yourself. You’ll get a fun 60-80 hours of gameplay – and that’s just the first time around.
Just writing this, the more things I remember in Dragon Age: Inquisition, flood into my mind. Memories which made it so special to me, and it wasn’t just the array of pert buns on offer …there was quite a spectacular cheese wheel too!
I can’t wait for the next installment… or to play it just one more time.