Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Anyway, before I start, I want to clarify that this game was a filling meal after years of starving for a rigorous RPG. I mean, it even stomped modded Skyrim in terms of gameplay addiction and overall ensnarement.
Wow.
Unlike my WIWD for its predecessor, I will not be spoiling any plot details (except one cameo guest-star appearance, which you might be aware of if you searched the official screenshots) as the game is just too good to spoil. In fact, the only plot details I'm even going to reference are from the opening of the game (details you could easily learn from any of the trailers) and a very brief foray into the first major region (I need to reference a character in the Hinterlands; the very first key figure you acquire in your work for the Inquisition. Trust me, she is not a big spoiler).
Plot
First: As I was playing the game I had two issues with the plot; one being a minor distaste and the other being a little more significant. However, upon completion of the game I found my significant plot issue resolved in a most satisfactory manner, and upon doing a little research I learned my minor distaste for the one subplot was a direct result of my world-state. In short, the plot as a whole was astounding and not in need of any tweaks.
My WIWD applies specifically to the gameplay, and even then only to two highly specific elements.
Second: The Cameo Guest-Star appearance (Spoilers enclosed)
[spoiler]The Champion of Kirkwall Hawke makes an extended and satisfying appearance in the game. They even let you customize his/her physical appearance right before Varric calls on him/her.
The Hero of Ferelden, on the other hand, makes a cameo in the form of a form letter, which is entirely disappointing. I understand that the protagonist of the first game might not have survived the Fifth Blight, and so it is a waste of resources to write for him/her. I also know that there are hesitations because the Warden had so many voice options, making it risky to commit to a single voice actor for each gender.
Here is my solution to both of these problems:
1.) It's fan service. If the player went to the trouble of ensuring their hero survived the blight (as I assume most did), then they'll want to see that their hero persists in the world. The rest of Inquisition was a love letter to the fans, why not this? It is worth the extra effort to tack on a short quest sequence for players with a living Hero of Ferelden... if not in the core game then at least as a DLC.
I am aware of the war table operation to 'seek the Hero of Ferelden'. This isn't a complaint about that, though. I wanted the opportunity to see my Warden again; to customize the character as I was allowed to do with Hawke.
2.) It's been ten years in the game, and close to that in real life. Players would be willing to accept that, over time, the various voices available to the Warden would converge to a single voice; it is a reasonable concession just as changing a support actor in a film series is a reasonable suspension of disbelief. If that is not enough, throw in some minor pitch modulation when customizing the Hero of Ferelden, allowing players to slightly lower and slightly raise the pitch of the character to try to match the nostalgic sound of the original. When the limits are kept low, pitch modulation can add excellent customization opportunities (Too wide and they sound like Vader or a Chipmunk, but it's easy enough to avoid that)
In short (TOO LATE), they let me see Hawke again. I want to see Lord Aeducan![/spoiler]
Gameplay
I had a lot of little issues with gameplay that were uncomfortable during the course of the adventure. Most of these could be considered minor irritants, like a mosquito bite. I've ordered them from least to most frustrating.
1.) Access to the War Table
The War Table is an intriguing and essential component to the game, which has time-based operations. The problem is, whenever I want to ACCESS the war table, I have to drop what I'm doing, go all the way back to the home base, declare operations, and then go BACK to what I was doing before. Even setting aside the massive loading time involved in such a practice AND the risk of forgetting my goals while I go deal with the war table, this really breaks the feel of the setting as it means my character has to take the weeks necessary to travel back and forth repeatedly.
In short, I want to be able to send ravens with commands to the war table. This could easily have been triggered by a dialogue option through the requisition officer in region camps.
2.) Mounts... why?
In Origins, we stomped through the mud and we liked it! I don't understand why this game needed horses, and after I 'unlocked' them I never used them for the rest of the adventure (well, there was that one giant nug... I've said too much).
The mounts were slow, had NO combat ability, and did not add anything to the story. Why were they there? The optimist in me wants to believe that mounts were present because Orlais is crawling with Chevalier, the mounted knights of the Empress. But we never fight any Chevalier. In fact, I'm the only character who ever seems to ride a mount! The pragmatist in me acknowledges that mounts were included to pander to a larger audience, specifically that of the Assassin's Creed crowd. Honestly, that makes me sad.
Mounts didn't actually interfere with the gameplay in any way, so I've rated their removal as a minor change.
3.) War Table: Guest Forces (Spoilers enclosed)
At the war table you can direct your forces through your three advisers: Josephine, Leliana, and Cullen. But what about guest advisors?
[spoiler]For instance, Mother Gesille (spelling?) joins the inquisition as a Chantry presence. As such, she has access to agents faithful to the Chantry. Couldn't we use her as an additional tarot card to play on the war map? It would make gathering resources through the war table more practical, since often the advisers are dedicated to the important (read: time-consuming) war map tasks.
More importantly, each ally in the game is a leader of forces.
Varric - Diplomat
Cassandra - Forces
Solas - Secrets
Sera - Secrets
Vivienne - Diplomat
Blackwall - Forces
Cole - Diplomat
Iron Bull - Forces
Dorian - Secrets
The war table might have been more interesting if the time limits were longer but you could play your allies just as you would Josephine, Leliana, and Cullen. While in play on the table they would work to complete the operation but would be unavailable in the party menu.
Food for thought.[/spoiler]
4.) Crafting
I really liked the war table and the tarot, and I wanted it to have more presence in the game. One place I could see it really having been interesting is the crafting system (which in its current form felt tacked on).
Instead of what was shipped with the game, I would modify crafting in the following ways:
First, schematics dictate the appearance of the armor: none of this 'new schematic looks the same, is more powerful' nonsense. You make schematics more sophisticated instead by acquiring duplicate copies. Each character would have one 'blueprint' for armor and one 'blueprint' for their weapons; the blueprints act as the character's default equipment (what they use when you un-equip the stuff you found in the wilds).
Second, you play cards on the blueprint just like you play them on the war table. Based on the schematic, there would be slots for metals, cloths, leathers, and masterwork components. You can play a resource card on these spots, making the resource unavailable and locking the slot for a certain period of time (probably a few hours). Crafting resources would not be 'used up' but rather assigned to a certain character's equipment, allowing players to experiment with schematics without having to save and reload or worry about materials that are too awesome to use.
Third--fewer masterwork materials, more varied abilities.
Masterwork materials are awesome. And they're also annoying, because there is a lot of overlap and the ones that give a 'chance of stat boost' just suck. The materials I used the most were the Fade-Touched Metals, and THOSE had the right idea.
Masterwork materials should do the following:
Common Masterwork stuff should grant utility abilities, such as healing per hit, Guard generation, Barrier generation, and possibly automated Poison Weapons. You know, stuff that other classes can do.
Rare Masterwork stuff should grant techniques from specializations. In the game that was released, the most memorable masterwork materials were those that granted abilities like Hidden Blades and Walking Fortress as a random trigger. I want to see more of these, like materials that trigger Lightning Flask. This should be the primary purpose of masterwork materials; giving players weird random chances to use unusual abilities and break their class definitions.
5.) Resource Management (The BIG one)
You claim quarries and logging stands like you claim landmarks in Inquisition. Bioware got this correct. The rest of resource collection, though, was entirely tedious. Instead of mining one of a million Veridium deposits I happen across in the wild, why couldn't I just claim the spot for the inquisition and have THAT increase my resources?
To that end, I would want resources to be reusable but much more scarce. You claim a Nug Hunting Ground and get one steady supply of Nugskin, which you can use in one leather slot in a blueprint (or a requisition). To use nugskin in another blueprint, though, you either have to remove it from the one blueprint or find another hunting ground for nugskin.
In other words, the resources would be in static locations, just like log stands and quarries. You therefore have a much more limited supply of them and you must choose carefully which resources are dedicated to which parts of the inquisition?
"But CJC, why does one piece of armor need an entire hunting ground?"
Because! It isn't one piece of armor. The resources are used to keep your equipment repaired and in top shape. You mark the resources, the inquisition gathers them for you, and they're used to repair your gear when you're not out saving the world (An in-game explanation of why one piece of equipment needs so many resources).
6.) Inquisitor Specializations (The REALLY BIG one, contains spoilers)
[spoiler]Okay, there's a hole in the sky and your hand has the magic mark that can close it. As you learn to use the mark, you gain a powerful ability that lets you literally vacuum demons into the Fade. But what else can you learn with the Anchor? ...Nothing. You have to go copy one of your allies, because you can't possibly have a specialization of your own.
All Dragon Age protagonists have had this problem; they are not supplied a specialization that is a reflection of their personality but rather they are fed a specialization from someone else in the party. This ensures someone in your employ always feels redundant, and I think Inquisition had an opportunity to fix it.
Rather than having the player pick a specialization, why didn't they just build one based around the mark of the rift and its abilities and have it be used by ANY Inquisitor, regardless of class? Don't get me wrong, Lightning Flask is totally awesome, but I would have preferred the Inquisitor emphasize this unique characteristic instead of copying somebody else.[/spoiler]
It might seem like I've got a lot of issues with the gameplay, but most of what I have talked about is actually part of the same system. Crafting... the crafting was introduced because it is an easy way to inflate play hours, and they certainly achieved that. But neither of the other games needed it, and I think Bioware could have made a bigger statement by changing the formula instead of following the industry norm.
Inquisition is a fantastic game. If you haven't played it, I highly recommend you do so. But be sure you have a lot of time to spare, because it will eat your life. It took me 78 hours to complete and I didn't even do everything I could (I got confused in the Western Approach and missed a camp site, and I got sick of hunting for Shards).