And there’s just a lot more actual people in it. Then episodes in the central storyline will occasionally take you away to other areas for some specific purpose, even into the world of dreams or a possible future… You don’t get quite the magnificent vistas, varied light and weather, and freedom of Skyrim, but the world still feels massive. The world isn’t truly open – it offers maybe ten or so regions you can open up and explore, but each of them is pretty damn big and beautifully realised, much less artificially enclosed than the likes of Mass Effect, and with all kinds of side quests and collections to get lost in. Inquisition makes as good a fist as I’ve seen of trying to combine the two. It’s Bethesda that have tended to do the truly huge and flexible open worlds with games like Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls, offering huge potential for exploration but less in the way of plot and personality. I guess you could say Baldur’s Gate had a pretty open world, but over time, with games like Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, Bioware tended to move towards more limited, linear game worlds with the emphasis more on story and character interactions. But can a hastily instituted new Inquisition save the war-torn and politically fractured world from enemies without and within? In the midst of a civil war between wizards and templars, a giant explosion destroys the ineffectual leadership of Thedas ( The Dragon Age Setting, believe it or not) and tears giant holes in the sky through which demons begin to pour.
I finished that review by saying, “I hope they do another, and do better with it, because the game world has great potential…” So, three and a half later, have Bioware done better with Dragon Age: Inquisition? The setting still worked and there were some good characters but it felt rushed, repetitive and decidedly un-epic. I was pretty disappointed with Dragon Age II, though, which followed only a year and a half later. Dragon Age seemed to introduce a new level of grittiness both moral and physical to the genre, with some interesting characters, dark themes, and tough moral choices.
I’d long been a fan of Bioware’s D&D based fantasy RPGs, especially Baldur’s Gate I and II. I liked Dragon Age: Origins a lot when it came out way back in 2009.
0 kommentar(er)
