I finally finishedDragon Age: Inquisition, and not a moment too soon. With just days left to go untilThe Veilguardhits our screens, I powered through the final moments of BioWare’s third instalment of its iconic fantasy RPG series and defeated Corypheus once and for all.
I enjoyed the latter third-to-half of the game a lot more than the opening hours for reasons well documented on this very website. I’m glad I powered through, and feel ready for The Veilguard with a perfectly-timed Dragon Age obsession well and trulyreigniting. Like a dragon’s breath, I am ready to burn.
Dragon Age: Inquisition Is A Game Of Two Halves
A brief explainer for those of you who don’t fancy readingfive full featuresdetailing my issues with Dragon Age: Inquisition’s core gameplay loop. The first half of the game is filled with busywork, fetch quests, and so many goshd*rn collectibles. Why do I have to repeat the monotonous closing of a dozen Fade Rifts to progress to the next story mission? Why do you direct me to pick up a dozen shiny pieces of light in order to open a door that gives the most incremental of upgrades?
Put simply, the open world sections of Dragon Age: Inquisition look great, but are mechanically dull. Exploration is forced, you’re following quest markers rather than uncovering wonderful stories naturally, and it’s a big turn off. I expect that picking up the game eight years after release (and after I’ve explored such incredible open worlds as Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring) didn’t help, but the design felt archaic even when compared to Dragon Age Origins, which still feels ahead of its time in terms of world and quest design.
Even The Witcher 3, which launched just six months after Inquisition, has a far better open world. I felt like I was stumbling across side quests incredibly naturally in the Continent, that my attention was constantly being diverted by mythical creature tracks or an overturned cart. In Inquisition, exploration was just about collecting arbitrary currency required to unlock the next story mission.
What We Know About Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Since finishing Inquisition, I’ve moved onto researching The Veilguard. Who will be involved? What decisions will carry over? What will the gameplay feel like? And, most importantly, what willexplorationlook like? Inquisition’s open world sections held a great story back, and I hoped against hope that The Veilguard wouldn’t tread the same, collectible-strewn path.
Luckily, I stumbled upon an IGN interview with director Corinne Busche, who confirmed that exploration would be a little more linear and a lot more curated than the previous entry.
“So it is a mission-based game,” sheexplained to IGN writer Kat Bailey. “Everything is hand-touched, hand-crafted, very highly curated. We believe that’s how we get the best narrative experience, the best moment-to-moment experience.”
This is music to my ears. The more linear levels of Inquisition were those that resonated with me most, or the open levels that were contained in smaller areas like themystery at the Winter Palace.
“However, along the way, these levels that we go to do open up, some of them have more exploration than others” Busche continued. “Alternate branching paths, mysteries, secrets, optional content you’re going to find and solve. So it does open up, but it is a mission-based, highly curated game.”
Perfect. More linear, more focused levels that offer openings to roleplay and explore naturally are exactly what I’d want from a Dragon Age: Inquisition follow-up. I’ll never forget the excitement of seeing the Storm Coast (still my favourite area of Inquisition thanks to the rolling waves, terrifying dragon set pieces, and Giant’s Causeway-esque geology) compared to the drudgery of actually exploring it. Hopefully, The Veilguard can recapture that initial magic while spinning a Fade-touched yarn to make the subsequent exploration feel just as good.
“I do want to emphasise that hand-crafted and curated is our approach,” Busche said to end. Without risk of sounding like a broken record, this is what I want to hear. Inquisition’s curated moments – following Kieran through the Fade, fighting your way through an ancient elven temple, or uncovering the truth behind an assassination plot at a masquerade ball – were every bit as impressive as those in previous entries. It was all the bloat in between that bogged things down. If The Veilguard can sort the wheat from the chaff and serve us a loaf of fresh Tevintan sourdough still warm from the oven, I’ll happily chow down on a buttered slice.
