dragon age inquisition
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Metareview: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Yeah, we know. "Nobody expects the Dragon Age: Inquisition" and all that. News Content Director Alexander Sliwinski gave the game five stars, explaining that Dragon Age: Inquisition is "BioWare's reaffirmation of what it's capable of delivering," and that players in it "aren't just exploring a new world, but helping shape it at various levels of society. Inquisition sets the bar for what a blockbuster RPG should be." Other critics around the web were largely impressed by Dragon Age: Inquisition as well. Head past the break for a glimpse at other reviews. BioWare's latest will arrive on Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC next Tuesday, November 18. A six-hour trial of the game will reach Xbox One's EA Access service on Thursday.
PlayStation 4 firms up with 2.02 system update, available now
Hot on the heels of the PS4's 2.01 system update is - you guessed it - 2.02, available to download now. We've successfully nabbed and installed the firmware, but the patch notes currently offer little to report on what it's changed. According to Sony's support page, with 2.02 "system software stability during use of some features has been improved." Well, then. 2.02 is the second PS4 update within a week, so it seems likely that, like 2.01, it's designed to tackle some of the problems that arose after the major 2.00 update. 2.00 caused a variety of glitches for some users, such as the console not powering up from Rest Mode (as addressed by the 2.01 update). 2.00 has also got on badly with certain games, including the Evolve alpha and, as our review attested to, the upcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition. Here's our Editor's Note from the review: "The PlayStation 4 version of Dragon Age: Inquisition currently experiences severe crashing hourly, requiring consoles be unplugged and restarted. EA and Sony have told us this is due to the console's recent 2.0 firmware update. Joystiq has been informed this issue will be corrected in a day one patch. We were provided a console by Sony with an advance copy of the upcoming patch. Following that we experienced only one crash that went immediately to the dashboard. We will update this note on the game's launch day." [Image: Sony]
Dragon Age: Inquisition review: Tipping the scales
PC, Xbox One, PS4 Dragon Age: Inquisition is an immense fantasy epic, a sprawling adventure across the many landscapes of Thedas, unapologetically mature in its exploration of politics and brazen in its combat. Inquisition is also developer BioWare's redemption song. It's everything that a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins should have been, and time will slip by as players enjoy the hundred hours of escapades it delivers. The end of Inquisition's spectacular first act gave me chills. The last time I can recall that feeling is when the Normandy was reintroduced in Mass Effect 2. It's the chill of being at the beginning of a grand story and anticipation for what's to come. Inquisition is the thoughtfully conceived world of Dragon Age living up to its potential. Origins looked dated when it first launched. Dragon Age 2 lacked scope. By comparison, Inquisition's arresting Hinterlands, the first massive open area players can explore, is full of things to do and collect. There are several of these lands in the game, along with mission-based set pieces and the player's hub fortress. This is the sequel fans were hoping for all along, and new adventurers will be eased into this next generation of Dragon Age.
PSA: Dragon Age story bridge The Last Court now in session
The Last Court, a text adventure bridging the narrative gap between Dragon Age 2 and the upcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition, is now available to experience for free via your web browser. If you're ready to play the role of marquis, ruling over the small state of Serault, simply head over to the Dragon Age Keep and log in with your EA Origin account. In case you missed our previous post regarding The Last Court, the game charges you with overseeing a small fiefdom located in the country of Orlais. Major characters from the Dragon Age games will appear, and it's up to you to decide how to handle your populace and its problems. The BioWare Blog post announcing The Last Court's release states that each playthrough of the game takes an average of seven days to complete. Better hurry then, as Dragon Age: Inquisition is due for arrival just 10 days from now, on November 18. [Image: EA]
Trial six hours of Dragon Age: Inquisition early via EA Access
Fetch the comfy chair! Then, place it in front of your TV on November 13 to take Dragon Age: Inquisition for an in-advance spin through EA Access. BioWare's RPG is coming to the Xbox One-exclusive service five days ahead of its November 18 release date in North America, meaning subscribers can trial the game for up to six hours. That includes the recently revealed four-player co-op, by the by. Also, don't forget the soft cushions.
Text adventure The Last Court ties Dragon Age 2, Inquisition
Failbetter Games, the studio behind Sunless Sea and a virtual cornucopia of text adventure games, has partnered with BioWare to create The Last Court: a text-based game that promotes you to ruler of Serault, a small township located within the nation of Orlais. As the marquis, you'll need to manage threats both physical and fiscal, forging alliances and interacting with major characters from Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. Players will be able to choose the Huntress or Scholar archetype for their character, giving themselves a boost to physical or mental stats, respectively. If you're not too keen on playing the medieval fantasy version of Parks and Recreation, here's some added incentive: The Last Court will connect the events of Dragon Age 2 to the forming of The Inquisition, the driving force behind Dragon Age: Inquisition. Failbetter did not announce precisely when The Last Court would go live, but when it does, you'll be able to access it via the Dragon Age Keep - a website where you can sync and customize your personal saga through BioWare's universe. A first-look video is available after the break.
Dragon Age: Inquisition pre-loading now available on Xbox One
The Xbox One version of BioWare's action-RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition is available for pre-ordering and pre-downloading on the Xbox One starting this week, EA and Microsoft announced. Players who pre-purchase Inquisition on the Xbox One can download the game in full and have it primed to unlock immediately at launch. PlayStation 4 pre-order customers will automatically download the game in the days leading up to its release while the console is in standby mode, and PC pre-loading via Origin will likely be available soon. Digital versions of Dragon Age: Inquisition will unlock when the retail edition launches on November 18. [Image: EA]
Meet the followers backing you up in Dragon Age: Inquisition
There's no Twitter in Thedas, so it's no surprise players of Dragon Age: Inquisition will have a handful of followers rather than thousands. Still, if each of the nine potential allies are as helpful and have as much personality as the three shown here, we doubt the Inquisitor will mind. [Image: EA]
Dragon Age: Inquisition 1080p on PS4, 900p on Xbox One
Dragon Age: Inquisition will run at 1080p on PS4 and 900p on Xbox One, BioWare announced in a tweet. The disparity between platforms wasn't a concerted design choice, the message said. "We maximized the current potential of each platform," the tweet said. The capabilities of the PS4 and Xbox One have been under extra scrutiny this week, following comments from Assassin's Creed: Unity developers that "you don't gain much" from maxed-out framerate and resolution. Assassin's Creed: Unity is locked at 900p and 30fps on Xbox One and PS4. Historically, the PS4 has proven to be more consistent than the Xbox One in running games at 1080p and 60fps. PC requirements for Dragon Age: Inquisition are also out today, with a minimum of 4GB RAM and a recommended 8GB RAM, minimum DirectX 10 and recommended DirectX 11, and a necessary 26GB hard drive space. See the full specs below. Dragon Age: Inquisition launches on November 18.
Customize your 'stache in Dragon Age: Inquisition
While a thick handlebar mustache, like the ones frequently seen in the above customization and crafting trailer, won't directly increase the power of your character in Dragon Age: Inquisition, it has been proven that dragons are far less likely to flash-fry a person sporting an impressive horseshoe-shaped bush of whiskers on his (or her) upper lip. [Image: EA]
Joystiq Weekly: Free upgrades for Destiny, Hatoful Boyfriend review, PAX Prime and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. PAX Prime 2014 ended on Monday, but we're still recovering. Not from the marathon of appointments or swimming through an ocean of people – we've got those parts down pat. If you've ever heard of the PAX Pox though, just know that it's ... definitely a thing. It seemed every morning of this week brought news of another staff member falling to Prime's crowdsourced super virus. Laptops still work on death beds, of course, so we kept churning out content from Prime while we tried to remember what clear airways and normal body temperatures feel like. You can dig through our featured content after the break worry-free though – we slathered it in hand sanitizer, so you shouldn't catch anything from going near it. There's always the rest of this week's content that wasn't staged in a biological hazard, of course. We've got good news for Destiny fans planning on upgrading hardware at a later date, release dates for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and Mortal Kombat X, a review of pigeon-on-human dating simulator Hatoful Boyfriend and much more after the break!
Dragon Age: Inquisition multiplayer builds on Mass Effect 3 legacy
I remember when BioWare and EA announced that Mass Effect 3 would feature a multiplayer mode. Multiplayer? In a Mass Effect game? It was blasphemy! It was sacrilege! It was ... pretty fun, actually. The squad-based third-person shooter/RPG formula used throughout the previous games in the series was tweaked just enough that facing down increasingly-difficult waves of enemies became an addictive weekly event for me. And I know I'm not the only one. Like its sci-fi predecessor, Dragon Age: Inquisition is the third game in a traditionally single-player series and, like its predecessor, it will feature a four-player co-op mode. BioWare is no doubt hoping to once again draw players into an addictive spiral of late nights and weapon pack unlocking, and based on my experience at PAX Prime this year, they stand a good chance of succeeding.
Joystiq Weekly: Amazon buys Twitch, Madden 15 review, Early Access feature and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. PAX Prime 2014 is already underway, but as fun as joining a swarm of people buzzing around video game displays can be, you don't even have to leave the house to get this weekend's highlights. Well, unless your house is a black hole for Internet and phone reception ... The point is, Joystiq is on the front lines of PAX Prime, ignoring sensible limitations to bring you a slew of news and previews. With this morning's proof that survival in numbers is a relative concept in Don't Starve Together and a reminder that thinking every MOBA is interchangeable is a mistake when it comes to Gigantic, the good stuff is already underway. There's always yesterday's reveal of Xbox One and PS4 versions of Saints Row 4 too, as well as a new, standalone expansion called Saints Row: Gat out of Hell. Stick with us until PAX Prime's conclusion on Monday, September 1, and in return we'll tell you all about the show's highlights without subjecting you to the dreaded PAX Pox. For now though, we've got a full recap of this week's news, reviews and features. Amazon's surprise acquisition of Twitch, Nintendo's new 3DS models, reviews of Madden NFL 15 and The Walking Dead's season finale, an examination of what makes Early Access such a valuable space to developers ... it's all arranged neat and orderly-like for you after the break!
Dragon Age: Inquisition 4-player co-op revealed, separate to campaign
BioWare revealed the third Dragon Age game mirrors the third Mass Effect by introducing four-player online multiplayer on top of the single-player experience. An IGN preview reveals the co-op in Dragon Age: Inquisition runs separate to the main RPG campaign, with players ditching their Inquisitor robes to team up in randomly generated mini-dungeons that take around 20 to 30 minutes to complete in total. There'll be three multiplayer campaigns at launch, each generating a level made up from 5 of 10 smaller, pre-designed areas. Players will see different areas in different orders, with variables like the types of enemy encounter changing across different sessions. Also, rather than playing as the Inquisitor, you and your buddies are lackeys for the main hero. As Bioware's Mike Laidlaw told IGN, the studio's attempted to infuse the mulitplayer heroes with personality: "They're kind of like mini followers, and they banter among themselves." Update: Check out the reveal trailer below the break.
Expect the Keep in future Dragon Ages, maybe other BioWare games
As introduced this time last year, Dragon Age Keep lets you carry over story choices from previous games in the fantasy RPG series. Rather than importing a save game file, Keep asks players to select the choices they made. We imagine it's something along the lines of "Did you choose to get busy with Morrigan, yes or no?" and so on. It's a tool that cleverly solves the issue of moving from Dragon Age 2 on one platform like Xbox 360 to Dragon Age: Inquisition on another like PS4. With the tons of choices players can select in Keep, it sounds like a whole lot of work for designers. Despite that, Dragon Age: Inquisition producer Cameron Lee told Joystiq he's sure the Keep system will feature in future games in the series - not that any have been announced yet - and he also thinks it'll come to other BioWare games.
What you'll be doing in your 150 hours of Dragon Age: Inquisition
At EA's Gamescom's press conference, BioWare's Aaryn Flynn said that in testing, a recent completionist playthrough of Dragon Age: Inquisition clocked in at 150 hours. That's a mighty big number, even for a Western role-playing game, so we checked in with producer Cameron Lee to see just what would be taking up all that time.
Joystiq Discussion: How much would you pay for EA Access?
From aggressive downloadable content campaigns to Online Passes, EA has never shied away from trying new ways to make cash with games. Following the success of programs like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Games With Gold, EA is embracing the subscription gaming model with EA Access on Xbox One. For $30 per year or $5 a month, Xbox One owners can access a buffet of full games like EA Sports UFC and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare gratis. EA also says it has "no plans" to remove games from the service, so provided you maintain your subscription, the games will stay in your library just like they do on PS Plus. Even when paying for Xbox Live Gold on top of EA Access, there's readily apparent value. Intrepid Redditor Hidesquadron1 broke down the value of paying for a year of XBL Gold and EA Access and his math found that the annual $90 cost of both equated to roughly $672 in goods and services. Many players, however, may not value the things offered by these packages. Collectors and archivists, for example, may not want to pay to maintain access to Dragon Age: Inquisition forever even if they may want to sample other titles. For that player, the perceived cost of EA Access is more than just an annual fee. The question then: How much would you pay for EA Access? Is it a bargain? Would you pay more? Or do you not want to pay anything for this type of subscription? Take the poll and discuss in the comments. How much would you pay for EA Access? [Images: Electronic Arts/Moby Games]
Dragon Age: Inquisition combat trailer burninates the countryside
A new trailer for Dragon Age: Inquisition doesn't offer new info on the game's combat, but it's encouraging to see BioWare focus on the level of strategy offered by its real-time-with-pausing system. To see more combat in action, watch our new video preview which comes with even more dragon - that's really what it's all about, right? No? As you probably already know, BioWare's upcoming RPG is now due on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 18. What you may not know is there's also a delay to Dragon Age Keep, the tool that will let you set up story choices from previous Dragon Ages to carry over in Inquisition. As explained on the BioWare blog, the delay is in keeping with the one for Inquisition, and it'll result in an extended beta program that'll drag on for testers. [Image: EA]
Joystiq Weekly: Battlefield delay, Dark Souls 2 DLC review, Dragon Age preview and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. This week hosted a smattering of high-profile release date changes. You thought you'd be playing Dragon Age: Inquisition in October? Nope! Figured you'd prowl through Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor on that same day? Wrooong. What about upholding the law in Battlefield: Hardline sometime in October? Sorry, criminals will go unchecked until next year. We suppose we'll persevere through the frightening uncertainty that is this dose of video game release dates, but we're not sure our frail hearts can handle any more excitement in this crazy life. Actually, we're fairly certain that frailty would combust into a five-story blaze if Destiny or Super Smash Bros. slip out of 2014. There was plenty more to this week than release-date musical chairs, though! There's details on how to get The Last Of Us: Remastered for cheap, when we can next expect Sonic Boom to break our hearts go fast, a review for Dark Souls 2's first bout of DLC, a video preview for DA: Inquisition and much more, all waiting for you after the break!
Video preview: Nobody expects the Dragon Age: Inquisition
EA and BioWare's Dragon Age: Inquisition would like to go big and go home when it launches this November - which is to say it's getting ready to show off environments much larger than those seen in previous Dragon Age games, and it would very much like for you to buy it and take it home. The shelves of a store are so cold and lonely, you see. In this Joystiq video preview, Editor-in-Chief Ludwig Kietzmann and Community Manager Anthony John Agnello explore the continent of Thedas in search of dragons and adventure, and find instead a game that teaches them the value of trying something new. Also, jumping. Dragon Age: Inquisition begins its hunt November 18 on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC.
