Review: Expect nothing but excellence from Dragon Age: Inquisition

In this day and age of casual gaming, free-to-play games and on-rails completely scripted narrative-driven games, it’s rare to see a game offering hundreds of hours of gameplay and a hugely detailed, diverse world to explore. Where most game developers today seem to think that multiplayer should be the focus and a single player campaign is a tacked-on extra, BioWare created one of the most engaging role-playing games I’ve ever experienced in “Dragon Age: Inquisition.”

The third game in the real-time RPG series, you take on the role of The Inquisitor, who has the ability to close Fade rifts, which demons use to invade the realm of Thedas. The origin and race of the Inquisitor is up to you as is his class (warrior, rogue or mage) as well as play style.

Also, returning to the Dragon Age series in this game is the Tactical View, which allows you to pause combat and issue commands to your party. You’re still able to select other party members and utilize their abilities in real time but the option to stop time, take stock of the battle and issue commands is invaluable and should make DA:I accessible to both fans of action games as well as traditional RPGs.

In DA:I, a massive explosion kills several leaders of the mage and Templar groups, as well as leaders of the Chantry, the organization hosting a peace conference between the warring groups, which throws the entire realm of Thedas into chaos. The explosion also creates the Breach – a massive dimensional rift which allows demons to invade the human world. As a result, your character and several others establish the Inquisition to determine who was behind the attack as well as closing the Breach and restoring peace and order to Thedas.

Once the game begins in proper, you’ll venture around Thedas rallying support for the Inquisition while also sending your agents on missions to retrieve intel, gather resources and other operations which aid in growing the Inquisition. From the overworld map you choose either the Orlais or Ferelden regions to operate in and from there, you can venture to playable areas that range in size from smaller areas to (like the Fallow Mire) or much larger tracts of land (like the Hinterlands).

Each of the playable areas is meticulously crafted and a blast to explore. I’m always stumbling across new sidequests to tackle and new places to explore. Each map offers an amazing variety of wildlife and scenery as well as special settings like caves, dwarven ruins, giant palaces and more, hidden away inside every map.

As you explore, you’ll come across tons of inventory items like weapons and armor to use or sell (or destroy to clear space in your limited inventory), as well as accessories that augment your abilities. But you’ll also come across schematics which allow you to craft and customize weapons and armor. Throughout the game world, there are resources to gather of varying quality which, depending on what you use, allow you to craft much better gear than you could ever find – granted you put forth the effort to find these materials.

But even when you’re just wandering around taking on random quests outside of the main story quests, these activities earn the Inquisition Power and Influence, two experience meters which grant you special abilities (like being able to carry more potions or earning more character experience points from combat or codex entries) and the ability to scout new areas to explore and unlock new missions to send your agents on. This is a real triumph of DA:I in that no matter what you’re doing, you always feel like you’re moving closer to accomplishing your larger goals, even if you’re wandering around a map closing Fade rifts or exploring the Deep Roads.

As you explore these areas, you’ll eventually encounter NPCs who can be recruited to the Inquisition as party members or as agents. Agents can be sent out on missions while party members can accompany your character on his journeys around Thedas. I’m not sure if picking a different race or class changes your starting party, but I began with Cassandra (a warrior and high-ranking Chantry Seeker), Solas (an elven mage) and Varric, a dwarven rogue who fans of Dragon Age II know well.

Though, there are numerous skill trees to add some differentiation between characters who share the same class (like Sera and Varric or Cassandra and Blackwall), each character falls into one of three classes, so you’re essentially going to be filling out your party with who you like the most. On your adventures, your party members talk to each other and offer their opinions on your actions and the game keeps you informed of how your party members react to what you do and say.

Overall, I’ve found the characters in DA:I to be some of the deepest, most complex characters I’ve ever experienced in a game. I often have no idea how someone is going to react to what I do and say – much like the real world. This also extends to romance, in that you can often flirt with members of the Inquisition but even if you think everything is going well, they may still turn you down and you might have no idea why.

But what would a game with “dragon” in the title be if there weren’t actual dragons in the game? Throughout the world of Thedas, there are several different dragons to encounter, though you’ll want to be significantly leveled up before you try and take on any of the massive beasts. Overall, I found the battles against dragons in DA:I to be much more interesting than any dragon fight in Skyrim.

I’ve put an immense amount of time into DA:I so far (over 30 hours) and I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. But it keeps me coming back thanks to the fact that as the game progresses, you’re constantly being introduced to new mechanics, quests and new things to do to keep the game feeling fresh and engaging. For instance, once you reach your new base of operations at Skyhold (after leaving Haven), you can customize the castle to fit your tastes as well as outfit it with new features. After a time, you’re given the option to pursue a specialization to give the Inquisitor more powerful abilities. Also, as the leader of the Inquisition, you’re eventually able to judge criminals and other outlaws captured by the Inquisition, which can have an effect on how others view you as well as the course of the game itself.

There’s even a manner of multiplayer included in DA:I, though I have yet to actually try it out myself. Apparently it is a self-contained story in which you take on the role of pre-created characters during the time of the Inquisition. It’s an interesting prospect for a real-time RPG that I’m looking forward to trying – if I can ever tear myself away from the campaign.

Even with a number of other games I’ve barely touched, I can’t seem to bring myself to play anything but DA:I right now. There’s so much to see and do, people to talk to, dragons to fight, locations to explore as well as stopping whoever continued to instigate the war between mages and Templar that you could easily play this game for 100 hours and probably still have more to do.

If you’re a fan of BioWare’s traditional RPG style (like Knights of the Old Republic, for instance), you’re going to be completely absorbed by DA:I.

A guide to Destin'y raid, "The Vault of Glass"

I’ve played a lot of Destiny. My Titan is level 29 with exotic chest armor, multiple exotic weapons and legendary everything else. I’ve played every story mission, strike, daily and weekly mission what feels like hundreds of times over at this point. I’ve even delved into the Crucible and Iron Banner playlists a few times – enough to get my Crucible rank up to three (as well as my Vanguard rank being at 4). Like I said – I’ve played Destiny a lot.

But the only thing I hadn’t done in Destiny was experience the Raid – the Vault of Glass.

That was until this past weekend when my usual strike team finally found a few more teammates on DestinyLFG.com and managed to tackle the monstrous task of completing the Vault of Glass.

Luckily, two of the people we teamed up with had run the raid before and weren’t against playing with first-timers. While my usual strike team didn’t really know what to expect from the raid, I had watched a YouTube video of people playing it and had an idea of what to expect – but I still wasn’t completely ready for what was to come.

Opening the Vault

The first section was simple – defend three zones and don’t allow a certain Vex enemy into it while a door opens. Since everyone in the party was level 28 or above, this was a piece of cake.

Also, it should be noted that the Vault of Glass is entirely populated by Vex enemies, meaning you’ll want to have weapons that do Void damage to deal with the larger Vex’s shields.

After entering the Vault and making our way inside, I realized just how much loot there is to be had. You’re rewarded with items after each section (sometimes weapons or raid armor, but mostly ascendant materials) but there are also chests to be had, if you can find them. Some are on your way to the next objective, but some are hidden.

I should also point out another factor that makes the raids in Destiny so much more different from any other aspect of the game. Unlike the missions and strikes, you get practically no direction in the Vault of Glass. You’re usually given an objective to accomplish or a direction to travel but in the raid, you’re on your own. The first section of the Vault wouldn’t have been too hard to figure out but without the help of experienced players or the internet, I don’t think we ever would’ve figured out how to proceed through the rest of the raid.

The Templar

With the first section complete, we ventured deeper into the Vault. Eventually, you come to an area where you fight the Templar, which looks like the boss at the end of the Nexus strike. When you first enter this area, the Templar can’t be harmed. Instead, you must defend several confluxes from Vex trying to sacrifice themselves. If too many sacrifice, you have to start over. During this time the Templar will send Fanatics at you, Vex enemies that, when killed, leave behind a pool of green slime and if you touch it, you received the Mark of Negation. Every so often the Templar will perform the Ritual of Negation, killing any marked players and the only way to remove it is by entering a glowing area in the center of the map.

After defending the confluxes, we then had to face the Oracles. These aren’t enemies in the traditional sense, since they stay in one spot and are just a glowing ball of light. But you’ll need to kill them as quick as possible because if you don’t, the entire team receives the Mark of Negation. Seven different Oracles will appear on the map with increasingly difficult waves of enemies, such as Fanatics and Hobgoblins on floating platforms outside of the map. Also, the Templar is shooting at you all during these waves.

Once the Oracles are dealt with you can finally fight the Templar itself. While the battles up to this point needed every player to be doing his part in killing enemies efficiently, the fight with the Templar requires everyone be on the same page since killing the Templar requires precise timing and teamwork.

At this point in the fight, a relic spawns (which looks like a shield) and wielding it allows the player a third person view of the action. The relic replaces your weapons with powerful melee attacks but also allows you to cleanse teammates of the Mark of Negation. But its most important function is taking down the Templar’s shields. The relic holder’s super meter will charge (and charges more quickly by killing enemies) and once charged, can fire a projectile that takes down the Templar’s shields. When the projectile lands, some players will be surrounded by a bubble shield that must be destroyed before they can fire on the Templar. Make sure you use small arms to take out the bubble shield – if you try to fire a rocket when the Templar’s shield goes down and you get locked in a bubble shield, you’ll just kill yourself.

The Templar’s shields will only stay down for a limited time and he’ll eventually teleport. But you can block this teleport by standing in a specified zone, leaving him open to attacks for a longer period of time. Though if you do this, the Templar will spawn Minotaur enemies.

Once we finally beat the Templar I got another awesome item – the Suros Regime, an exotic assault rifle. I’d been using a legendary AR up to that point but always wanted the Suros. Though, it’s hard to decide between using that and my Icebreaker sniper rifle, since Destiny only allows you to use one exotic at a time.

The next two sections of the Vault aren’t based on combat but still took us a hell of a long time to complete.

The Gorgon Maze and The Pit

The first is the Gorgon Maze. All you have to do in this area is find the exit. Sounds pretty simple right? Except for the fact that there are several Gorgon enemies roaming the map and if even one member of your squad is seen by them, your entire team dies and sent back to the beginning of the maze. Like killing the Templar, the Gorgon Maze requires a huge amount of teamwork to navigate correctly.

There are a couple chests to be found in the maze but we only found one – which can be found if you hug the right hand side of the map when you first enter the maze.

In the maze, Gorgons will kill you on sight are also attracted by firing your weapon and double jumping. It’s easy to avoid them if you know their patterns and jumping isn’t necessary. I’d suggest looking up a video or checking out this link to the map above. The first time we tried the raid, we were stuck here for a long time – not just because one of us (me) broke down and looked up a video to find the exit but because our team wasn’t staying together and kept being seen by the Gorgons.

After the maze is a short platforming section. Several platforms appear over a vast chasm which requires carefully timed jumps and uses of your double jump to clear. Make sure you also keep in mind that there is fall damage because even if it seems like you’ve cleared it, it’s easy to fly to high and crash and burn.

Once you’ve successfully navigated the chasm, you’re in the home stretch but a long battle still awaits – especially if you’re unfamiliar with the final boss, Atheon.

The Vault of Glass

Once you get to the actual Vault of Glass itself, you’ll want to make sure everyone is grouped in the doorway with a sniper rifle equipped. Directly across from you is a Nexus-like enemy called the Gatekeeper. If you’re all firing in sync, the Gatekeeper will go down quickly but if you don’t kill him fast enough, he’ll move out of sight and you’ll need to find him and take him out before the next section begins.

Inside the Vault there is a floating platform in front of where you enter and on either side, there are two portals powered up by a sync plate on the floor in front of them and in the middle of each sync plate is a small pillar. Across from the entrance door is a larger area where a conflux will spawn (eventually) in front of a massive staircase where the final boss, Atheon, spawns. Keep this layout in mind as I explain the rest of the fight.

The next section is actually a little more difficult than the final fight with Atheon, in my opinion. Each portal takes you to a version of the room that’s either in the past or in the future. The past version looks like Mars (dusty and brown) while the future version looks like Venus (green and full of plant life). After killing the gate keeper, you’ll need to activate the portals and enter them (one at a time) and retrieve a relic.

It doesn’t matter which portal you enter first but three should go in to retrieve the relic while three stay outside to defend the sync plate. Once one team goes in, Vex will begin to spawn (with Hallowed Praetorians) to try and close the portal. If the Praetorian gets to the plate, the portal closes and must be reactivated before the team inside can exit.

The team inside has their own set of problems. One person must pick up the relic while the others fight through Vex to reach the exit. While inside the portal, you’re constantly hit with the Mark of Negation and your vision will continually be obscured into darkness until cleansed. Both teams really have to work together to both keep the portal open and exit the portal quickly.

Once the portal team is back, the conflux will spawn and must be protected. But it must be protected while the same process as above is completed for the second portal. Since there are two areas to protect and only three players outside the portal to protect them, this portion is where things generally start to break down. It’s a good idea to have the player with the relic protect the conflux, one player stay at the sync plate while the third player floats in between, giving support where needed.

If you manage to bring the second relic through, they both disappear back into the portals and Atheon is summoned. Depending on how good your teamwork is, this fight can be completed in a matter of minutes or it can take much, much longer.

Once Atheon is on the field, you can shoot at him all you want but you won’t do much damage to him at all. And keep in mind he is a Vex, so his weak spot is in the center of his body.

After a minute or so, Atheon will teleport three players at random to either the Mars or Venus location. The teleported players will need to let the other three know where they went so the ones outside can activate that portal. (Before a patch, Atheon would teleport the three players furthest away from him, allowing your team to dictate a home and away team, so to speak. But, of course, Bungie changed it up to keep things fresh/be jerks and now Atheon teleports people at random.)

The players outside will need activate the specific portal while also dealing with explosive Harpy enemies (whose name escapes me at the moment). This is where the small pillar in the center of the sync plate comes into play, allowing you to stay out of the blast radius of the Harpies while also keeping the plate active.

The team inside has a similar task as before only now there are several Oracles which must be dealt with before exiting the portal. The player with the relic should concentrate on killing the Vex ground units while the other two focus on the Oracles. This allows the relic bearer to charge the relic and cleanse the team to exit the portal.

Once the final Oracle is killed, you have a 30 second window to do damage to Atheon. Once the relic is out of the portal, everyone should head to that center, floating platform in front of where Atheon spawns. The relic bearer pops open his shield which, unlike a Titan shield, allows you to fire through it so you can damage Atheon but he can’t hit you. To end the fight quicker, make sure that you have at least one Titan in your party who has Weapons of Light equipped in the Defender subclass to power up your weapons and open this shield behind the relic bearer’s. During that 30 second window, you’ll want to dump all the Heavy ammo and sniper rounds into Atheon that you can.

Once the 30 seconds is up, the relic disappears. This process continues until Atheon (or your party) is dead. So as you can see, if your party is equipped properly and working together, you might be able to kill Atheon in 3 maybe even 2 teleports. But the longer the fight goes, the more chance there is to screw up inside the portal or to have sync plate defenders die and those inside trapped in time forever.

The Vault of Glass raid is unlike any other challenge that Destiny presents. It requires great timing, skill, communication and teamwork from everyone in your fireteam and it’s easy to sink several hours into the raid and still not complete it. Luckily, after each portion of the raid is completed you’re rewarded with ascendant materials, raid gear or raid weaponry. In my first raid I got a piece of raid gear for my Titan as well as the Suros Regime assault rifle and in another run, I got a legendary scout rifle that has a perk which allows me to do extra damage to Oracles.

The raid is basically what everything in Destiny builds towards and all players should try to experience it at least once. If time is an issue, know that at the end of each segment you hit a checkpoint which allows you to exit the game and resume it at that point another time (though, only if the same person is the fireteam leader as was when you hit the checkpoint). The website www.DestinyLFG.com (which stands for Looking For Games) is a great place to find other players looking to complete the raid, since Bungie did a less than stellar job of giving players the tools to do this in the game itself.

The Vault of Glass is no joke and one of the hardest trials I’ve ever faced in a video game but completing it gave me a sense of accomplishment like no other game has ever provided.