Evaluating Dragon Age Inquisition - A Sliver of Good

If you're interested in picking up some Raycons, feel free to head over to buyraycon.com/salt for 15% off sitewide. Thanks!
Join me as I take a look at BioWare's companion quest 2014, now with bonus trinket collecting.
If you want to check out my merch: thesaltfactory.store/
The audio for this one was done by my talented wife: / cakefan220
Hey I stream on twitch: / thesaltfactory_
Twitter: / saltiestfactory
Discord server: / discord
Patreon: / thesaltfactory
Cooking channel (on hiatus): / @thesaltkitchen
Songs:
Winter - Vivaldi
Creative Commons ► Attribution 3.0 Unported ► CC BY 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Conducted by
Philip Milman ► pmmusic.pro/
Most of the Dragon Age Inquisition OST
The Merchant from the Dead Cells OST
The Templar Suite from the Dragon Age 2 OST
A couple songs off of the Dragon Age Origins OST
Krat Hotel from the Lies of P OST
DAT JAZZ by Nicholas Cheung
Cultist Base from the Doom Eternal OST
Timestamps:
00:00- Intro
07:44- Starting out
41:20- Mages and Templars (Part 50)
56:25- End of Haven, Start of Skyhold
01:07:52- Companion roundup
02:22:14- Raycon ad
02:24:07- Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts
02:46:44- Here Lies the Abyss
02:55:32- Companion questing
03:19:44- What Pride Had Wrought
03:32:01- Vanilla game end
03:40:08- Trespasser DLC
04:06:51- Final thoughts and Outro
Thanks for watching!

[@TheSaltFactory]

Apologies for the delay, I went to the UK for a week so that its weather could get me in the mood for an EA published game. If you're interested in picking up some Raycons, feel free to head over to buyraycon.com/salt for 15% off sitewide. Thanks!

[@overlordzetta7410]

Sorry for our weather we tried shouting at it for years and it just dosn't get better.

[@JayKay-on2gr]

​@overlordzetta7410 keep shouting

[@bixmcgoo5355]

i'm not buying any raycons but i just wanted to let you know that the horse sprint is literally no faster than the normal horse trot, so you were close

[@k3salieri]

The Hawke thing: On the Xbox One I remember there was a way you could import your old Hawke and the dialog does change to match what dialog path you chose in DA2. Including what he looked like.

[@christopheranderson2279]

I just wanted to say, wow. 16000 views in the first three hours, you are doing great work and I appreciate your effort to inform and entertain us. Thank you.

[@JoCat]

finally, something nice and short to watch during my lunch break

[@serherpvonderp6634]

no breaks, make more content

[@borebos4831]

:o what you got for lunch

[@Hounlaiga]

Ah, yes. The casual 4 HOURS lunch break we're all having regularly.

[@elonwhatever]

But Joseph this is not short at all (:

[@michaelguth4007]

@@elonwhatever It's 4 short rests, but not a single long rest.

[@k3salieri]

Inquisitor: "Source?" Solas: "It came to me in a dream."

[@ButIamAStick]

Warden: "Source?" Leliana: "It came to me in a vision"

[@SergioMendoza760]

You know I never realized how often this particular series utilized this really stupid writing trope. It only ever works in a story if we see the vision they saw, but considering we never do it’s just bullshit lol

[@ButIamAStick]

@@SergioMendoza760 I think i can be overused in the series, but in the case of Solas or Leliana is all right, having a vision is extremely personal and The Fade is not the most trustworthy place, yet people still believe what they saw was true, even if you as a player can tell them they are crazy for believing it so

[@mrmcawesome9746]

​@@SergioMendoza760 Did you play the game? It's not any kind of vision trope, Solas is lying to you the entire time, and every time he claims to have seen stuff in the Fade is recontextualised when we learn his identity.

[@SergioMendoza760]

@@mrmcawesome9746 right but Lilliana tells us the same thing in the first game when she initially joins you. “The maker gave me some vision and I saw dark spawn so I decided to fight with you!” And there’s literally no other building upon it besides that lol. And it really wouldn’t surprise me if someone did the same thing in dragon age 2 but I just dont remember. Its less of a trope in this game because yes it turns out Solas was in fact lying the entire time but regardless on the surface they used the exact some trope twice within the same franchise which i think is just a bit goofy.

[@justinnyugen7015]

The main vanilla story quests are even better when you let elf-spock tag along, mostly because of the unique Fen Harel nuggets sprinkled into the dialogue. Entering the fade, the Nightmare demon almost spoils Solas's secret (as well as Blackwall's) when taunting them. Heading into the ancient elf hideout, he'll correct Morrigan on the elven god lore Also, I want to applaud this game in general for the sheer amount of party banter, which have progressing conversations between different members. There's 5 hours of it!

[@Blue_Sonnet]

Solas and Cole have some really interesting conversations. Add The Bull into the mix and you've got some lore-heavy stuff. For the lulz I'd recommend Bull, Sera and Solas. The first two make loads of dirty jokes about titcicles and the second two _hate_ each other. First and third basically play chess against each other in their heads. Vivienne and Sara are interesting solve Sara keeps trying to prank her, yet Viv is having none of it. Blackwall is just DULL.

[@justinnyugen7015]

@@Blue_Sonnet Sera and Solas are basically “Ew, you’re too elfy” lolol Verrick and Cassandra are pretty funny too in regards to the Swords and Shields saga

[@suwatsaksri6534]

A shame the party banter system triggers in the worst way possible and that bioware made it even worse in andromeda when banter can get cut off by useless info dialogue from sam

[@XmrcaptainbobX]

This game is far superior to bg3 to me.

[@Blue_Sonnet]

@@XmrcaptainbobX Dragon Age Origins was made to fill in the gap after BG2 - considering that BG is based on an existing property, DA's worldbuilding is bloody impressive. I got so absorbed I ended up as a top DA answerer (or whatever it's called) on Quora for a little while!

[@daddyespressodepresso2207]

Cassandra's little "Oh, I DO sound like I'm blaming you, don't I?" is the reason I can't help but romance her in almost every playthrough I've done of this game. A lot of characters have little moments like that one but hers always stuck out to me and then the f**king book scene makes me fall in love with her all over again every time.

[@hibarikyoya854]

I love that shes a huge nerd for Varrics most shcloky book series that even he disowns

[@zakiaitslimane658]

I know....cassandra is so....wow

[@hundkebab2433]

kakuul'd

[@jesserobertson7072]

I agree with you buddy, at least for male playthroughs. Fems get Sera.

[@daddyespressodepresso2207]

@@jesserobertson7072 fems get sera unless it's an elf. Then I always go for the Egg

[@LoredanSunstrider]

23:49 fun fact, a developer admitted relatively recently that the sprint on horses doesn,'t actually change the speed you're travelling at. It just adds kinetic lines to make it feel that way. If you're on PC the best way to travel around is literally installing a mod that lets you use a movement ability at spam/without interruption, like the Infinite Fade Step for Mages. 52:43 This scene hits a lot harder when if you know that Fiona is, in fact, Alistair's mother.

[@MagikarpPower]

tbt to when they did the same thing in me1 with the sprinting

[@themurmeli88]

I F*ING KNEW IT! AHAHAHA I WASN'T CRAZY, DAMMIT!

[@pinnacleevolution1634]

They already did that with mass effect 1 sprint outside of combat, it doesnt make you faster it just changes the camera position.

[@VexedForest]

I never liked Fiona being Alistair's mother. I prefer game canon taking precedent over books.

[@kieranowens5346]

In fairness the horse is still a bit faster isn't it? You can't do the horse races in time on foot.

[@sokumotanaka9271]

The way the Wardens were acting this game I was like "Where is my warden!? He needs to take care of business."

[@nikik5567]

Right, like clearly we let things go down hill in our absence.

[@toolatetothestory]

Mine is dead And I get why Hawke isn't there, she has been through enough bs

[@CamPopplestone]

My Warden romanced Morrigan, and in the DLC went through the Eluvian with her. My head canon for Inquisition is that Morrigan made sure he stayed in some pocket world or in between world so he wasn't corrupted by the calling like everyone else was.

[@nikik5567]

@@CamPopplestone I’m fairly certain that’s her canon answer

[@CamPopplestone]

@@nikik5567 i thought it was something more vague like he was off doing something in particular that she wouldn't say. But it has been almost a decade so I don't remember. But yeah my head canon is basically that my Warden isn't too fussed with helping the world as much compared to being with Morrigan and their son, since he was effectively supposed to die after ending the blight anyway

[@Myrokordis]

The War Table is even more frustrating cause as an Elf you have a quest that involves your clan and choosing the wrong advisor for each of the different mission steps will kill off your entire clan.

[@darkness2160]

Which would be the RIGHT advisor??

[@Pendergast891]

@@darkness2160 each mission requires a different advisor so youd need to look up each mission's outcome to ensure you dont mess up

[@beccangavin]

And nobody cares when your entire clan gets wiped out. I almost missed it the first time it happened. Zero emotional impact which makes it a really poor game design choice.

[@asturias0267]

I don't remember this questline as I haven't played the games in years, but I could generally figure out what outcomes would happen with each advisor. The three advisors each have text about their plan of action on the war table quests, so it's not really a random chance thing as far as I recall.

[@fulltimeslackerii8229]

@@darkness2160there’s a wiki with all of the advisor results if you want to min max

[@Alexor715]

Fun fact: the horse's sprint mode moves at the same speed as it's normal gallop, it's just an optical illusion. As Salt said, the game's engine is not made for speed and the game had a problem rendering the enviroment when moving fast.

[@skinscalp222]

Not made for speed? It's the same engine as the one the Battlefield games use and pretty sure there are vehicles and even horse riding in those games (Battlefield 1) The DA team just wasn't experienced with it.

[@Davidofthelost]

Just add motion lines and a slight blur to make it look like you’re going fast.

[@joearnold6881]

@@Davidofthelost same as painting stripes on your car. Makes it go faster.

[@drekwilliamton5830]

My life is a lie

[@felinemocha1995]

That’s maddening

[@sirflimflam]

I was so excited to see him get his horse with it's incredible 1x movement speed and speed lines to make you feel like you're going faster.

[@DGenHero]

It's so funny

[@azriel_macreinhart]

One of the biggest things about the Descent* dlc is that it alludes* to the idea that there is one if not more Titans still alive. The second biggest thing we learn is that their blood is actually Lyrium, and the fact that Red Lyrium exists could mean that there is a corrupted Titan, and possibly a new form of Arch-Demon. *Edit: Grammer, eludes to alludes. Spelling, Decent to Descent.

[@yullu65]

I kinda love the Descent. Classic dungeon crawling, culminating in lore about a mystery that's been there since Origins, while introducing a new mystery about the existence of titans.

[@BlackfangDragon]

Better get it also means, since Lyrium is Titans blood, that Templars have unknowingly been practicing Blood Magic all along.

[@azriel_macreinhart]

@@BlackfangDragon Haha! I didn't even think about that l, but it's true. I think it's ironic that the Titans created the dwarves and yet they're the only ones who can't use titan blood for magic as well.

[@Azombiebaby]

Yesss I was trying to remember this. I went down a rabbit hole with it lol my theory is (unless it's said somewhere I haven't seen) that at some point whether it be during the blights or something happening in the deep roads, the darkspawn blood leaked into the lyrium veins corrupting the titan (as you mentioned) potentially from the battles in the deep road, maybe from an experiment The Architect did if that stays canon, since they find the red lyrium statue in the 2nd and that's why we just start to see in DAI that it's like a fungus spreading to the surface. I could be forgetting bits xD but it was fun thinking about. Hoping it comes into play in Dreadwolf

[@smergthedargon8974]

@@BlackfangDragon That's far too cool for modern Bioware.

[@thebighoney9034]

19:34 Funny enough, that shard collectibles side quests actually leads up to THE ONLY Qunari "helmet" in the game that you can use lmao.

[@friedipar]

If Alastair is the father of Morrigans child and also stays a grey warden, their interactions in the castle is actualy realy tuching. During my first playthrough, my warden romanced Morrigan and joined her at the end of Witchhunt. And the way she talks about him in Inquisition realy got to me and made me a lot more protective of her and her (our) boy

[@RobRIPDG]

Ye, him not picking morigan for his warden romance really effects the endgame dialogue with her

[@Digger_TN]

Meh... I honestly would've preferred if they had a cutscene of my DAO Warden with Morrigan and Keiran, rather than just Morrigan saying, "He's a wonderful father, we're a happy family" when asking about him. Bioware shit the bed on that one, IMO.

[@friedipar]

@@Digger_TN Nah, not including the warden was a sensible choice. What if he didn´t sound or act like you would have imagined? With Hawke at least you could choose the tone that he/she used in conversation, since the simplified dialogue system from DA2 already played into that.

[@Digger_TN]

@@friedipar at the end of the day, the character is, by that point, effectively the leader of the Wardens (correct me if I'm wrong). The personality changing somewhat wouldn't have made much of a difference, as it would be consistent with someone having to take up new responsibilities and thus having to change their posture(s). Furthermore, if it's only one cutscene, you could simply have them record 3 sets of lines, with 3 different personality subtypes that would more or less encompass most of the significant dialogue choices one would've taken in DAO. As for the voice, that's something extremely minor, and would've been a fair trade for actually showing how a player's DAO character is doing now. Showing is always better than telling. It was extremely cheap for them to have a letter and a handful of dialogue choices for the Warden, given the significance of both the character within the world and DAO for BioWare, when the far less consequential Hawke gets a bunch of time under the spotlight.

[@MokohiChan]

​@@Digger_TN old comment, I know, but you could also even just have a cutscene of the Warden, Morrigan, and Kieran where the Warden just doesn't talk or you don't get to directly interact with them before they wander off, whatever

[@teambagel7680]

Everyone who chose the Solas route really got nothing but trauma

[@JaelaOrdo]

Worth it, made me like the story and character even more.

[@Dr.Yakub22]

Still less depressing than romancing Morrigan only to find she just wants your Warden sperm and then leaving you to die if you don't knock her up.

[@TheMemitim]

Might be in the minority here but I actually like the friendship route more even if the romance is more drama/pain, if you're romancing him, you have to be a female elf, so it's really easy to kind of excuse it away, he wants to bring back the elves, you're an elf, things are fine. He can justify it to himself like "Yeah I fell in love with her, but she's an elf, so I get why it happened" but you can be any other race and still have high approval with him, it's more challenging to his worldview when you're like "I'm a human/dwarf/quinari, dickwad (affectionately), we're friends, your whole argument doesn't work because of me. "

[@henotic.essence]

I personally think it made the story hit so much harder. Ngl I cried 😂 gut punch after gut punch, and the ending??? 😢

[@Dotmw]

That is the price for fucking an egg.

[@nektarios5291]

"Fighting the desire to complete the tasks that keep popping up because it won't be worth it" Ye that very aptly sums up the DAI experience. Once I basically sacked off everything except the main and main character side quests it's actually pretty good.

[@CeruleanRogue]

This. DAI could have genuinely been one of the best in the series if it wasn't so slogged down with pointless filler quests and MMO maps. I was talking about the DLC earlier today before I saw Salt uploaded this video and both Trespasser and the Descent showed that Bioware /was/ capable of taking a page from Origin, didn't need those maps, and could have dropped a shit ton of the content bogging Inquisition down. It feels like they had a mandated quota or were trying to salvage an MMO that they were going to make, and it just bogged down the entire experience.

[@sjh123099]

Hey upside is he didn’t touch on the online multiplayer 🤣 Or those micro transactions he figured EA forced BioWare to put in (in the online multiplayer)

[@nektarios5291]

@@sjh123099 Ye I think multiplayer in any of these types of games is something we just should never talk about, don't even let it see the light of day

[@sjh123099]

@@nektarios5291 100% agree XD

[@nektarios5291]

@@CeruleanRogue Honestly I actually liked a lot of the maps as well, the problem I had was that they felt disjointed, and didn't flow well into each other. A lot of the content in them was like you said just really weak filler. Trespasser and the descent were great I agree. It's a shame that the optional areas weren't more sort of tighter story focused maps, maybe with a couple of key characters with some kind of arc, possibly a new optional companion or something here and there. I think you're right though that a lot of it was left overs from an MMO EA tried to force them to make. I also played ME andromeda and I could feel a lot of the stuff bioware "got away with" in DAI bled through even harder into Andromeda . It's like EA thought DAI did well because of that, not in spite of it. Imo DAI was massively carried by continuing on threads from 1 and 2 and had an overall decent enough story and characters. Something sorely lacking from Andromeda

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

"The oldest bit of hardware I have is from 2021, I should be having 0 issues" IME, having newer hardware can often cause _more_ issues because software isn't always developed with future-proofing in mind.

[@tri1937]

dragon age origins is unplayable without patches on newer hardware

[@citricdemon]

Your mom is unplayable without a 30 ounce of gin

[@jimmym3352]

@@tri1937 Only thing I need is the 4GB (memory) patch. Without that, good luck.

[@rynemcgriffin1752]

@@tri1937That’s why I played it on Xbox…..literally the worst decision I’ve ever made

[@LoneGh0ste]

Deus Ex Invisible War was the game to teach me this lesson, of all things

[@Aerowarrier]

Dude playing as a Knight-Enchanter mage makes you straight up unkillable and slaughters dragons like tissue paper. Vivienne is the true dragon slayer of this game lol. Also if you’re a Templar subclass and encourage Cullen to continue being sober, he confronts you about the fact that you went against your own advice to him which is a cool little addition they didn’t need to make. The subclasses are really well done in this game

[@ZorotheGallade]

It's always nice to be called out by NPCs on these things, it helps remove the illusion that you're above consequences in the game world.

[@spartanx9293]

It also gives you a light saber

[@Gungrave123]

Artificer solos nightmare without even needing to be unkillable, as nothing lives long enough to even make an attempt on his life.

[@LostFoundling]

​@@Gungrave123 Stealth + throw everything elemental mines is such a hilarious combo

[@PaulSmith-nb6md]

Knight Enchanters are absolutely broken and I love it because they were my ideal class type from jump

[@sanield2782]

DA:I is a tremendous flawed game, but i cant help but love it anyway. Its probably the companions, they're genuinely some of my favorite from any RPG ever. Also the final DLC Trespasser had some awesome moments that still stand out to me to this day. God i hope Dread Wolf is good.

[@BradTheAmerican]

If it weren't for DAI's companions and music, I'd have written it off years ago.

[@dissinlol]

If i wanted to get into Da which game do I start

[@BradTheAmerican]

@@dissinlol The first one, because it's the best one and also because you can import worldstates forward for continuity. But here's a quick rundown. DAO is rough around the edges and has some jank due to its age, but it's the most in-depth RPG in the series and has the most replay value due to its versatility in class builds, race options, dialogue choices, and plot choices. If playing on PC, you will likely need a 4 GB patcher for the exe file or else the game will be very broken and crash-happy. Some might think of it as generic fantasy these days, but I think it still holds up extremely well. A completionist run is about 40 to 50 hours, packing a lot of content into a small space without wasting much of your time. There's also an expansion and a couple of other mini continuation addons that take place after the main game and add about another 15 hours of playtime. DA2 has more refined combat that is more fluid and fun to look at, and the game is really easy to just jump into and start playing, but the dialogue options are now on a paraphrased dialogue wheel like the other modern BioWare games so you never really know exactly what your character will say, and choice has less emphasis than before. It's also more streamlined and linear due time constraints during production and you're stuck in one city, as opposed to a wider country like DAO. One of the usual criticisms is that side quests often have you returning to the same cave throughout the game, but imo that doesn't take too much away from the overall experience. The plot is less focused and initially less earth-shattering, and is more about you and the other characters in your party. The last act of the game sets up some of the beginning of DAI. A completionist run isn't much longer than DAO. DAI has great music and followers but that's about it. The combat is extremely simplified with so many combat abilities and schools of magic and RPG elements from the previous games being stripped away, but there are some fun new toys riddled throughout the skill trees. The paraphrased dialogue wheel isn't as bad as it was in DA2. The plot isn't much to write home about, but it has more plot going on than what DA2 had. A completionist run might be 80 to 100 hours, but only about 20 hours of that is relevant to story content while the rest is tedious filler such as fetch quests.

[@nickthompson1812]

@@dissinlol origins is amazing. If you get bored of it, play 2. 2 is more combat focused. Both great fun.

[@radagonsoreseal3457]

Dread wolf is going to be absolute ass. Especially if you saw how BioWare fired the main writer along with its senior staff for Dragon Age lol. I have zero hope for anything with this new game.

[@Klessgang]

You really hit the nail on the head when you said that the game feels like a MMO without one M.

[@Bliss467]

Massively… Online?

[@TheKueiJin]

@@Bliss467... have you played Inquisition? It's exactly that. It's a game made in the format of an MMO, that isn't multiplayer. I.e. remove the M.

[@lewd2851]

@@TheKueiJin But...its not online either, so you'd have to remove the O, which just leaves the M. At that point the analogy breaks down. Sorry that just made no sense, i get he wanted to make a MMO comparison with how some of the gameplay works but...nah

[@edwardblake8575]

Nah, that was a very common talking point when it came out, but when you actually play it you see that it's vastly exaggerated. You *can* make your experience MMO like, by doing every fetch quest in every area, but why *the fuck* would anyone do that? (Answer is because a lot of gamers are dumb, they do tasks they don't enjoy just because there is a random prompt telling them too, and then complain)

[@edwardblake8575]

@@TheKueiJin No it's not. Not even close.

[@ETrain285]

Fun fact: locked doors can be bashed down by any ability that has the potential to knockdown enemies i.e. shield bash

[@chaotic_scotsman]

WHAT REALLY

[@ETrain285]

@@chaotic_scotsman yeah. Shield Bash, Explosive Arrow, and Stonefist are three that I know for certain. Doesn’t work on doors that require deft hands perk, but any normal locked door can be opened by a non-rogue character.

[@drugdealer-kg4ut]

If salt is going to cover every RPG I think he should do an evaluation on the whole Baldurs gate franchise

[@k--music]

That'd be great especially with bg3 now being a successor to the classic bioware storytelling focus

[@c.s.p.5103]

i got you. Balders gate is a franchise that takes all the fun and creativity of playing dnd with your friends and puts it in a linear unchanging world where the dungeon master isnt a sadistic phsychopath. The games while being a well put together, are made so that pretty much anyone can play them with zero experience and have the same experience as someone who has a ton of video game expertise (watch frodo and samwise playing the game). This focus has brought a lot of attention to the games, thought over the past year since Balders gate 3, we have seen that replayability is an oversight. For a one shot experience the game excels, though for replays it comes a bit short. The community response was also mixed, as many in the community have said and i quote "Youve got to give it a chance" -josh strife And will then go on a tirade of how the people who dislike the game simply didnt play it right. Overall, the franchise is a good, but in many cases, a solid comparison has been made to spending 60 dollars on a DnD set that you get to play over and over again, or a set of games that you play through once, but at 60 dollars a piece.

[@amythompson6431]

@@k--musicWhich sucks, big time, imo....so slow and plodding.

[@k--music]

@@amythompson6431 ok

[@Xxbte96xX]

I'll never forget romancing Iron Bull and him betraying me because I didn't save the Chargers. It really affected me because I had him in my party at almost all times, he was my heavy hitter and he was fucking tough to fight as well. It's one of the most memorable moments of any game for me.

[@angrynerdgirl]

The fact that he betrays you with a pun is peak Iron Bull, too.

[@Davidofthelost]

Iron Bull keeps getting killed whenever I have him in my party. Especially against a high dragon.

[@sjh123099]

I'm unaware if you or if anyone else made a comment on it but if you have Iron Bull and Dorian in a party together for long enough without romancing either they will get together. I think character interactions like that are just incredible

[@GeorgeKinsill]

I replayed just for that, especially b/c in my first playthrough I accidentally made Iron Bill stick with the Qun...

[@sjh123099]

@@GeorgeKinsill ngl I honestly did that my first time and it broke my heart when I played the dlc and he betrayed me (mostly because I put him in that grey warden armor that’s super good). I feel like most people don’t give DAI enough credit for the character banter

[@TheCocomunges]

Yeah, also Josephine and Blackwall(which i never let happen, Josie was my go to romance) Mass effect also had this i think with Garrus and Tali

[@bigbastard7582]

No kiddin. I gotta do that on next playthrough

[@sjh123099]

@@TheCocomunges maybe it’s a sin to admit but I never really got into Mass Effect😅 Is it worth playing

[@jackhazardous4008]

Every time I think about replaying this game, I'm reminded of the action table where you can be waiting IRL for 24 hours before an operation is complete

[@Qmoneymagic]

Makes me miss the xbox360/ps4 version when you could just change the clock offline

[@songoku6067]

Luckily PC fixes that issue with instant table completion mods console players however lol

[@_prideful_soul_5331]

​@@Qmoneymagicyou can still do that on ps5 I do it every play through lol

[@isaidarkmoon6434]

Honestly yeah. I have many gripes with this game (while still enjoying it) and the war table is the thing that keeps me away the most. I hated the mobile game irl duration missions, it made me feel limited in how I can enjoy the game. It was the same thing I hated about WoW: WoD back when that released as well.

[@Bloodletter8]

​@@Qmoneymagic"It's not a bug. It's a feature of the game."

[@vivaciousvoni7804]

I feel like the Vivienne you saw was very different from the one I played, and maybe this was because I played a female qunari mage rather than a warrior/rogue, but she does have very nuanced opinions. She does want the Circle back, but it's only when if you're a mage, she admits that the reason that she wants the Circle back is because people who don't have magic are more likely to turn on the mages because, they've been taught that magic and mages are evil and that they'll do what Anders did. She admits that the Circle is incredibly flawed and the system can be abused, but at the same time she admits that she wants mages to have a place where they can safely learn magic with safeguards in place in case abominations or demons occur. She says she was able to move quite freely in the Circle once she had the support of Bastien and was made a psuedo-noble but traveling with Cole reveals that she had to work incredibly hard to get in a place where she could even have an audience with Bastien, and had to say a lot of shit she didn't believe in in order to retain power in Orlesian society. Like, on one hand, I can absolutely see where you got your opinions on Vivienne but maybe this was just a specific result of the origin that you play, and whether or not she feels safe enough to tell the player her real opinions and thoughts as well as getting them aired out by Cole in party banter.

[@hiarus8850]

Tbf the first point could've been Vivienne just saying what she thought would resonate the best with the inquisitor depending on if you're a mage or not If you are, she plays the less harsh card, if you aren't she plays on your probable fears; she's a noble from Orlais, they're good at keeping their cards close to their chest; even when she asks you for a wyvern heart she refuses to tell you what it's for even though it's for a completely sympathetic reason

[@Digger_TN]

Vivienne has a lot of power thanks to the circle. Her wanting to preserve it could simply be interpreted as her wanting to maintain her place in the sun, especially considering that in some of the endings, she straight up eliminates opposition by force (to the point of declaring downright war against mages trying to open their own school, with a different methodology). It's as if she not so much wants "a place for Mages to learn", but more so a "place where she can hold said Mages' leash" and enjoy high society as a benefit.

[@gzapray7203]

Nope. She only wishes to restore the Circles so that she can maintain her power.

[@PaulSmith-nb6md]

I agree with you because that was my character and I got the same result. She ended up being divine in the end which made sense because the background for my Qunari she grew up out of the Qun and the Circle but was taught restraint so the Circles made sense in concept and she understood people's fear of magic.

[@LaigledeMeaux]

The first time I played this game I was basically trying to 100% the hinterlands. Not intentionally mind you, I just for some reason thought that was entire map for the game. It's such a large map, with as you said so much random bullshit you can do, that I stayed there for like 20+ hours doing everything. When I finally went to go close the fade portal I actually thought I was at the end of the game. My mind was blown away when the game just kept going and going and going.

[@Deuzen_FIN]

55:55 I too remember being absolutely gobsmacked at how early the game had you tackle the Breach - only to reveal that you've basically just cleared the tutorial and the "game proper" is just about to begin, with the Elder One now having taken notice of you personally. "Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty!" is such a great line (even if I wish it was delivered with a bit more emphasis) 2:47:50 A correction to the caption: An Old God is *NOT* one of the Magisters that breached the Golden City, but an ancient dragon said Magisters (and ancient Tevinters in general) worshipped at the time. You may remember Corypheus calling out to Dumat upon his awakening in DA2: Legacy - Dumat was in fact the first Old God to get corrupted into an Archdemon. 3:08:05 There is in fact a variety of outcomes if you tell Cullen to pick up Lyrium again. You can encourage him to only use it until you beat Corypheus, after which you'll help him find a better way to shake it than quitting cold turkey. This choice can be even more impactful with unique dialogue if you yourself picked up the Templar specialization, and/or are romancing Cullen. If you order him to go back to lyrium without helping him shake it later, however, it'll ruin both him and any potential romance with him. 3:38:55 The post-credits meeting between Mythal & DreadWolf was indeed there at launch. And hoo boy did it set the fandom theory train in motion before we got answers in Trespasser.

[@BradTheAmerican]

I really disliked the early Breach-closing scene. The Breach was painted as this world-devouring crisis but it was treated with such triviality. There's so much of the plot that could be chopped up and moved around to make a much more compelling story, even if the substance of the subpar plot itself remained the same. Unfortunately it would still suffer from awkward pacing. Something that was only brought to my attention recently was that in the post-credits scene while Flemeth is touching one of the eluvians, it has the whole light spectacle going on indicating that she sent something through it, possibly a piece of her soul like she did with the amulet in the beginning of DA2. I have no idea why I never even considered the glowy light effect to mean anything.

[@gzapray7203]

55:55- Bioware could have created a build-up, like establishing the background of your PC and their motivations to enter the Conclave. They could have told us the situation of Mage-Templar War and what can we do about it. But instead we immediately went to action. Origins and DAII laid down the foundations first before we went into action. Act I should have focused on the Mage-Templar War. The Breach and Corypheus should appear after the crisis was over or at least it was now in control. This is why compared to the Warden and Hawke, I'm not close and quite connected to my Inquisitor too much. If there ever be another Here Lies the Abyss situation where I would sacrifice someone or the Inquisitor, I might be able to sacrifice the latter without skipping a beat. And I already feel nauseous at the possibility of sacrificing Hawke (I did that once and I feel bad). My eyes went hot went I sacrificed my Warden.

[@EmperorGladiatuss]

@@gzapray7203 The whole Mage-Templar war was supposed to be an DAII Expansion, ala Origins' Awakening, called Exalted March, sadly it never came to pass.

[@asherking159]

2:25:40 he doesn't mention it here, maybe he does later, but if Alistair *isn't* King of Ferelden and is still with the Grey Wardens by the end of Origins, he is the Grey Warden friend of Hawke that you meet here, and it makes this quest and all subsequent ones with him significantly better in my opinion, as the stakes are raised drastically. Ah he does mention it later, nice

[@fulltimeslackerii8229]

I make Alistair king solely so I won’t have to choose between Hawke and him.

[@kamenrideraquarius]

And if you let Logain join it's him and he sacrifices him self in a bad ass way

[@Davidofthelost]

@@kamenrideraquariusI choose Logain so he redeemed himself.

[@red_cosplay]

3:26:26 Corypheus going "eugh" and menacingly flying at us using the energy of the black farts is infinitely funny for some reason

[@zubirhusein]

Lmaoooo That's must have been why it took so long for him to get there, he must have been taking a massive shit or something. Why couldn't he just fly to the well or something?

[@AzureRoxe]

I can already see Dreadwolf being in a video like this with the subtitle of "WTF even happened".

[@legitplayin6977]

You can drop kick as a knight Idc, it’s an instant 10/10

[@Dr.Yakub22]

If anyone at Biowere and EA had 2 brain cells they will cancel Dreadwolf before it bombs and capitalize on Nostalgia and Baulders gate 3 success with a Dragon age Origins and a Baulder's gate 1&2 remake.

[@mathc856]

Praying Dreadwolf doesn’t end up a disaster but I have little hope right now

[@latima123ify]

I think people are going to be surprised at how good dreadwolf is going to be

[@Dr.Yakub22]

​@@latima123ifyeveryone who made Biowere great left and after Andromeda and Anthem flopped and years of delays and the pressure from EA shutting down studios and games raising the barfor RPGs like Baulder's gate 3 and the Witcher 4 being just around the corner you think Dreadwolf has any chance of being good ? Lmao

[@stellarchaos]

Another 4 hour Dragon Age video. It’s going to be a good day today.

[@x0PALUNE]

2:43:50 HEY SO FUN FACT ABOUT THE VA OF KIERAN; hes actually Morrigan's va's son and i think thats the cutest thing

[@vexile1239]

Truly? That is cute

[@bluzo9499]

Bioware has always had a way of making companions feel like people and i feel that inquisition had some of the best. I had a different reason to love every character and even the ones i didn't like i loved to hate even Sera had her place for me with her interactions with characters like solas and cole.

[@germyforev4495]

Seras character really shines if you romance her as an elf mage. It kinda forces her to acknowledge the aspects of her world view she takes for granted.

[@nickthompson1812]

People always talk about the characters in inquisition, but I feel like they were just GIVEN to me. I didn’t earn their companionship or loyalty, they just decided to follow me because I had some weird power. They didn’t feel like friends. They felt like pawns from dragons dogma. Weird to me coming from mass effect and first two dragon age games…

[@Foggfjw]

Im quite surprised dai was the game where most bioware characters started to bore me. Maybe its because i missed da2 but they ranged from ok to "ignore for the rest of the game."

[@adeptdamage3669]

Nah the Origins had much better characters.

[@Truck-kun11]

If there's one thing I loved about the story, it's how your character gradually gains the respect of the people. They at first see you as a Messiah, bowing in your presence, but as you help the Inquisition's influence expand people begin to respect you not as a religious symbol but rather for your actions as a leader, until you are officially declared the Inquisitor.

[@PlasmaPony]

I actually felt the opposite. They give you way too much power and deference early on. They don’t just use you as a talking head, they have you calling the shots and giving orders to the leaders at the war table almost right out the gate when you’re just some nobody with bo experience. I strongly feel that the opening chapters should have been shorter and Skyhold become available sooner, and only then have the war table and such become available when you’ve earned it and shown you’re a hero.

[@OwOudoge]

​@@PlasmaPonyIt's explained in game why that is though, you sealed the breach and walked out of the fade. The people believe you're essentially Moses, the herald of Andraste. Not only that but the entire chantry is in bits and there's holes in the sky with demons pouring out of them. The Inquisition are the only people trying to restore order so people, obviously, look to the inquisition and you as it's leader for the support they desperately need.

[@MorganTheGorgon]

@@PlasmaPony I 100% agree, that’s part of why I just never got into Inquisition despite really wanting to. I don’t like everyone deferring to me and respecting me right off the bat. The thing I liked about DA2 is that in the beginning, you’re a broke-as-hell refugee just trying to get by, and so when you do end up with a house in High Town, it feels like real progress for the character. Skyhold was visually impressive, but it just didn’t feel earned, I guess, for me.

[@PlasmaPony]

@@OwOudoge there’s a difference between being a figurehead and being a leader. I don’t mind that the masses see the MC as the messiah. What I don’t like is that the people actually in charge defer to you immediately. They don’t know what your actual deal is, but they do know you are useful and give them legitimacy. Just because you can close the rifts doesn’t make you qualified to tell the spymaster or warmaster how to do their jobs, or to manage excavations and supply lines. It would have made much more sense for you to be more on a leash to the people in charge, treated like an equal at best, and then be given the job of actual leader when you save everyone and then find Skyhold. Sending you out on cake runs to smile and look heroic to get support and trust you with real responsibility when you’ve shown you really are the hero they can turn to.

[@OwOudoge]

@@PlasmaPony They don't though? Roderick the cleric guy wants you arrested, the Templar knight commander wont even speak to you. It literally tells you that the reason the Knight Commander will speak to you when you go there is because you have the Orlesian nobles backing you so he can't ignore you. You get their backing by helping the refugees and from the order of Divine Justina and Cassandra, Leliana, the right and left hand of the Divine, and the order from her to reform the Inquisition It's literally explained in game and your actions gain you the respect of the nobility. Then Haven is attacked and you rescue all of those people and lead them to safety. You're pretending like you walk straight up to the Templars and you don't. You're acting like the chantry wasn't telling people you were a heretic until you proved otherwise and there's war table missions dealing with people in the chantry talking shit about you. >Cake runs Saving a whole bunch of refugees from rebel Templars and Mages having a war, closing fade rifts. Sure thing. You're complaining you don't do anything to earn power then complaining about doing things to earn power. You earn the backing of the nobles who *can* and *do* force other people to recognise you because that's how a feudal government works.

[@riemaennchen]

Sera has easily the funniest romance in the series. You have to ask around about what you could give her as a present. Vivienne says, in a very annoyed tone, you should just shave something obscene into your lower areas. If you agree with that statement you get a cutscene where Sera falls out of the bed because she is laughing so hard.

[@Hounlaiga]

"It represents how we came together, I think?"

[@kaidorade1317]

@@Hounlaiga”I’ll show you coming together “

[@shailennanu5491]

I'm sad that she was only into girls. It's not fair that straight dudes only get two romance options and you can only bring one into battle with you lmao.

[@mentallyeeling]

@@shailennanu5491 That applies to any gender and sexuality combination unless you're playing a straight female elf or human, who have 3 as a human or 4 as an elf. Gay men only have two. Straight women that are not an elf or human only get two. Gay women only get two.

[@lordjustinian2913]

@@mentallyeeling That's actually really good because most games that do limited romance options tend to focus on just the straight options, while you do get 4 as a female Elf, every single other group gets 2 or 3 and that feels really reasonable for players. Because it means while you might like the look of a certain guy, if you are a gaymer basically you can only truly date two other members of the group and having 2 is actually an option more than most games that have limited romance options provide, take Pathfinder Kingmaker as an example, the only guy you can romance as a gay man is an incredibly optional and missable character who is Chaotic Evil and I'm just like "Why can't I have another option, I don't necessarily want to romance a Chaotic Evil guy." And that is also a problem in Baldur's Gate II, the Beamdog option for gay men to date is again Chaotic Evil and it annoys me because I like to play genuinely good characters and I want a boyfriend who is at the very least going to be happy with my decisions that I make.

[@akosbalogh9684]

I love the Solas - Anders foreshadowing. I remember first seeing the twist with him, and was like "aw shit, how could have I not seen this?". I love how Bioware handled him.

[@smergthedargon8974]

One of my biggest problems with this game that doesn't get talked about enough is that they absolutely NERFED the Qunari design. They look _so_ cool in II but so _boring_ in Inquisition.

[@genevievew.5837]

DAI retcons the fuck out of the Qunari to make them more palatable.

[@smergthedargon8974]

@@genevievew.5837 Sad!

[@comyuse9103]

i still prefer them just being slightly weird dudes.

[@smergthedargon8974]

@@comyuse9103 You _prefer_ them being boring-looking?

[@SolarityVision]

@@smergthedargon8974he means like Sten from DAO probably

[@dustinkilburn]

Honestly really like this game. I go back to it quite a bit for some "comfort food gaming"

[@sanield2782]

Same. And "comfort food gaming" is a perfect way to describe it.

[@Gelato41_]

so its mid

[@spectreagent00]

I always think Salt has already covered every RPG and there is nothing left and then he reminds me I forgot something

[@hunterkaye2168]

*laughs in persona series*

[@samreddig8819]

​@@hunterkaye2168and Xenoblade, Dragon's Dogma, Baldur's Gate, Divinity, and Elder Scrolls 1 & 2

[@hey_its_me_ur_brother]

I also got reminded that DA:Inquisition even exists lmao. Very impactful game.

[@mr-turtle-m8118]

If this is an RPG then I'm a flying pig

[@Horvath_Gabor]

@@hey_its_me_ur_brother Sad, but accurate. I adored Dragon Age: Origins, and I even liked Dragon Age 2, warts and all, so I was really hyped about Inquisition. Then it came out, I played it for about twenty hours, and I just... stopped. And then, after not touching it for months, I needed space on my old hard drive, so I uninstalled it, and today, I can't even remember anything about it. It was just... forgettable, and that's the worst word than can be used to describe a traditional epic fantasy RPG. Well, that, and "broken".

[@wonkatar2813]

the horse thing is actually a more recent discovery, the engine couldn’t handle the horse going faster, so they pulled a few tricks and added speed line effects to make it seem faster, where in reality it is the same speed as the horse walking. I think the war table was meant to make it seem more like a large organization with connections, and making it seem like actual time is passing besides the whole game feeling like the story is taking only a few days to occur. This also could’ve been a better system when you include their original idea of attacking encampments like leading actual forces.

[@joshuakim5240]

It's weird how base camps can be established, but they literally only have 2 random jobbers. For a so-called big organization, almost no one seems to do anything which could have easily been remedied by having a few calldowns/special abilities to call in squads of randos. Feels a lot like Fallout 4's Minutemen.

[@wonkatar2813]

@@joshuakim5240 yeah like a lot of potential for the war/organization aspect that feels off without all the other content they planned to implement. You hear of all these forces the inquisition controls and the pies and stuff, but outside of war table stuff, it is rarely visible in-game. The set pieces are alright, but sometimes feel like their pacing is off, and when you leave a cutscene like in the forest, you expect to see your troops charging with you and fighting enemies. Instead you rarely see active units which help you fight, opting for a staged and forced fighting experience.

[@Ralinor666]

Recent my ass. It immediately felt slow when I played the game on release.

[@wonkatar2813]

@@Ralinor666 well yeah im just saying they recently figured out it moves at the exact same speed and how they do it

[@2010topdog]

​@wonkatar2813 how many games have actually had a large amount of npcs in a large battle, and it actually works and feels immersive? The only one that I can think of that remotely does this is the latter Assassins Creed games.

[@cord113]

One of the things I always loved about classic BioWare is that they were capable of giving a complete ending for a game but leaving me want to see more in a sequel. That ending cutscene after the credits with Solas did exactly that for me. :)

[@zawarudo58]

Me: "Ah, I have the whole day to do whatever I want-" TSF: *uploads new Dragon Age video* Me: "Welp time to order pizza."

[@BradTheAmerican]

You should be ordering pizza regardless!

[@Cyber1zed]

The reason Vivienne is happy with the idea of the Mages being chained in the circle is that due to her nobility she's actually allowed to leave the Circle premises. She isn't restricted while her fellow mages are.

[@Rhoen13]

I do remember that, she stands to gain the most since she has what could be described as the best possible experience from the circle. I think that keeps up if she becomes divine.

[@sssryzor4646]

She's not a noble. She could leave because she was an enchanter. She's not the only Circle mage we met who could leave the Circle, Wynne also just decided that she was gonna travel with the Wardens and just up and left. Finn in the witch hunt dlc. That mage that was collecting herbs in Awakening. Even Bethany got leave in Legacy. Obviously that's not the case for every mage and Circles are still basically prisons but Vivienne's case isn't some ultra rare best case scenario. She's just what happens when the Circles function as they were supposed to.

[@i.cs.zamodits]

​@@sssryzor4646Eh, questionable. Keep in mind that Dragon Age went trought some retcons over the years, especially between DAO and the rest, plus the games somethimes sacrifice lore integrity for gameplay purposes. DA lore unfortunatelly isn't consistent. One thing what seems to be treated differently between DAO and other games is the position of mages.

[@sssryzor4646]

@@i.cs.zamodits not sure what retcons you mean. DA always had a lot of "unreliable narrator" stuff going on in codices and dialogues so some of the "retcons" might just be that. Point is, mages were leaving Circle since Origins, so Vivienne really isn't special in that regard.

[@i.cs.zamodits]

@@sssryzor4646 Oh yeah, DA doesn't have retcons, it has "unreliable narrators" (aka, fans convincing themselves that plot holes are actually features, and good). The rules regarding circles do appear to be different between games. And tbh, even with the lighter treatement innmind, what was present in DAO, Viv is special, as you could only leave the circle with permission or if you were in a priviliged status (being first enchanter, or being a hero of a rebellion).

[@michaelharlan2531]

Had to start another play through after this came out. One of the things i noticed was how well the writing was for Blackwall. Even with knowing his secret, it was hard to spot it in his early dialog. He would give just enough info and remain vague enough to not expose his ignorance of the wardens. It was really well done.

[@davidvaughan5512]

"Ah, the Wardens?" every time you ask him a question.

[@ProphetTruth95]

FYI: EA actually FORCED Frostbite down BioWares throat which led to the delays & problem as they essentially had to rebuild it from the ground up to be use for RPGs. Hence why Andromeda & Anthem used it. It was literally mandatory for all EA studios to use Frostbite regardless of genre.

[@davidvaughan5512]

And I'm pretty sure they're using it for Dreadwolf, too, aren't they? I think I remember there being hope that the next Mass Effect game *won't* use it and will return to Unreal ... assuming the company doesn't fold before then. :/

[@alexanderkesterson6338]

Didnt see you using Dorian but his necromancy mixed with the fire magic tree is super OP it causes crazy fear effects as well as chain reaction explosions

[@titanjakob1056]

Not to mention if your knight enchanter with sera tempest archer you basically stun lock and or wipe the floor of large groups of enemy’s

[@user-ps6do9lu3n]

I love the fair shake you gave the game, would've like to see more about the DLCs as JOH expands Avaar lore and the Descent expands dwarven lore a lot. Also the environments are so pretty.

[@precisamesmo]

What really made me love the game and fascinates me the most is how well the different races, backgrounds, and specializations integrate with how the companions/advisors/world respond to you as the Inquisitor. Romancing Cullen as a mage or as a templar has interesting ramifications (he's actually really pissed at you for becoming a templar, and is super cold for a while afterwards), and forcing him to take lirium causes him to straight up break up with you and any romantic options are removed from the wheel. Romancing Bull and asking him to kill the Chargers is actually addressed in the Tresspasser, and even if you didn't romance him, Dorian talks about feeling betrayed. Romancing Solas as a mage is entirely different than romancing him as a rogue/warrior, since you can talk about things from a mage standpoint, and choosing his specialization has him and others remarking upon it. Drinking from the Well with a romanced Solas will also earn you a slap on the wrist. Romancing Cassandra as a Dwarf Rogue leads to interesting banter, and it's different from romancing her as a Noble Templar. Josephine's romance is also different if you're not a human, and if you took the long or short route in her personal quest. Leaving Hawke in the Fade and talking to Varric afterwards is straight up heartbreaking, and he's actually a lot more cynical in the party banter from then on. Having Alistair as the Warden leads to a convo between him and Morrigan in Skyhold that's so easy to miss, but really sad if your Warden died in Origins or if Alistair is Kieran's father. Choosing pro-Chantry answers when talking to Cassandra can lead to her becoming the Divine, whereas being anti-Chantry makes it so Leliana becomes Divine instead. I also really like the War Table since it allows for more background on the world and expands on different characters. Some War Table quests only show up when you actually go out of your way to talk to people, like in the Hissing Wastes, where if you simply liberate slaves you get nothing out of it, but if you talk to a few of them after killing their captors, a new quest appears in the War Table where Cullen employs them and you're rewarded some experience and power alongside a letter from a former-slave to his family talking about having a chance at helping the Inquisition. There's also quests involving nobles and arranged weddings, Sebastian being a jerk, the whole Sutherland & Co questline, orlesians bards and assassins, Cullen being really Ferelden in his no-bullshit "absolutely not" approach, and so, so much more. I'm aware that there's no real repercussions if you miss them (even if they provide some nice equipment) but it's a nice touch and helps making you feel like you're acting change in the world around you.

[@truvonic1263]

I've tried to beat this game like 6 times but have never even managed to get past that one ballroom mission because i just get too burnt out by then. For some reason my brain tells me i need to do literally everything i possibly can each time i get to a new region so by the time i even got through the Hinterlands i usually had been playing that file for at least 20 hours and just couldn't take any more and took a break for like 7 months amd would make a new file upon reloading the game

[@RabbitShirak]

Trust me, the rest of the game isn't anything to write home about.

[@kidanmo]

i have the same problem. this game proved to be much more fun when i denied my need to tick every box. it becomes so tedious.

[@xy-te9db]

I still believe it was reasigned from a mmo to a singleplayer game and they just went the lazy way about it

[@themurmeli88]

I managed to beat it once, and I've tried to beat it like 5 times since, but I can't get past the warden-desert section before I just can't keep going. It's too boring.

[@zappbrannigan83]

are you using the tactical camera?

[@MappaDoji]

A fantastic video. You made me remember why I love this game. I've noticed a few lore things you got wrong, though. 2:47:50 The Old Gods are NOT the original Magisters. The Old Gods are dragons that slumber in their underground prisons and become Archdemons when the darkspawn find them. We don't know what they actually are, where they come from, and who locked them up. After the Fifth Blight (DA:O), there are two more left. The original Magisters, aka The Magisters Sidereal, were High Priests of the Old Gods. They were allegedly seduced by their respective gods to breach the Golden City. Corypheus was the High Priest of Dumat, and the Architect was the High Priest of Urthemiel. The names and the ultimate fates of the others we don't know. 3:58:29 He never "awoke" as the Dread Wolf. He was the Dread Wolf and was fully aware of that (as was Cole, btw) from the start of the game. What Solas means in the dialogue is that he was in Uthenera for millenia. Uthenera is a special elven sleep technique. It was what the ancient elves from the Temple of Mythal used to stay alive for so long. He awoke from his slumber a year before the events of the game, too weak after sleeping for so long to unlock his Orb. If you romance him, he nearly reveals his true identity to the Inquisitor in the final romance scene, but gets cold feet at the last moment and doesn't, only revealing the truth about the vallaslin.

[@2010topdog]

Have you seen some lore speculations on what they Old Gods could be? Some think they're some of the Ancient Elves. Which is kind of related to the thought that the Golden City was Arlathan.

[@MappaDoji]

@@2010topdog I've seen a lot of speculations on that, including that one. I also think that they're related to the Evanuris somehow. I hope we'll find out the truth in Dreadwolf.

[@Hounlaiga]

​@@2010topdogmy money still on them being the Forgotten Ones, basically the rivals of Evanuris.

[@harleyhowl4271]

@@Hounlaiga this makes a lot more sense than Evanuris, and plus the Forgotten Ones, must be prisoners in darkness, or Void? which suits them, interesting

[@trollwar3256]

I find your view on the companions and advisors interesting mainly because some of my favorite are your least favorite. Whenever i play DAI i always look forward to speaking with Blackwall, Josephine and Cullen and they are some of my favorites mainly because they are "normal" and a little more less important story wise then the others. I'm all for companions being super intricate and having deep story and History behind them like Iron Bull And Dorian i think they are absolutely fantastic but i just love when a companion is simple and just a average person compared to the rest its refreshing makes me appreciate them alot and they end up being some of my favorites.

[@BradTheAmerican]

41:25 What always prickled me about the time travel bamboozle with Fiona is that Main Character remembers meeting Fiona in Orlais. One could presume that Main Character remembered the pre-changed timeline simply because of the anchor on their hand, which is directly associated with the same Fade magic involved, but that's never even suggested or hinted at and the other members of your party also still remember meeting her.

[@blackomega34]

Didn't Dorian literally tell you Alexius messed with time to take control of Redcliffe to arrange a meeting with you?

[@sindelscorpio]

30:49 Sera speaks like how I imagine English sounds to people who don’t speak it or speak it as a language other than their primary one

[@pinnacleevolution1634]

Sera is the only english speaking character in a videogame that has made me turn on subtitles just to know wtf she was saying and even with subtitles I struggled.

[@djinnxx7050]

Well, you sir, or madam, have just greatly offended my people. Our accent is of no laughing matter, it is a serious affliction, just like our teeth and public transport. Joke aside, Sera, or rather the actress that voices her, is from my neck of the woods and has what is a proper English accent, none of that fake or fancy posh shite. Salt of the earth dialect that is. I love that she barely changed it, it's nice to hear an actual English accent for once, as in not RP or London related.

[@Robsta12344]

I don't think they're saying they couldn't understand her, more that she speaks such gibberish its hard to know what she actually means

[@toolatetothestory]

And if you play an elf and she get's racist at you (like, probably more racist than any other character in the game) you feel like you recruited a hillybilly

[@JediHobbit89]

It's also what British English sounds like to us Americans.

[@DisturbedBroski]

I romanced Cassandra and made her the new Divine and I thought it was a pretty cool way to leave off their relationship. Both in high positions of power and unable to be with the one they love. Their interactions in Trespasser was really well done i thought.

[@mirrorsandstuff]

I wasn't massively rich growing up and my tendancy was to play every game into the ground - notably trying to finish every quest in Inquisition that I could. I ended up feeling... fatigued, in a way that the quality of other parts of the game seemed incongruent with. Thanks for helping me pin why I felt that way.

[@aziz506x]

Yes the game had plenty of flaws, and yet I remember it with fondness. The music, voice acting, characterization, and the conclusion at the end of Trespasser make it a journey worth taking 👌 I also loved the ability to play with my own teammates because it prevented my respec-loving tendencies from getting in the way 😅

[@MrMorkh]

By old gods in deep roads they meant not old magisters but tevinter dragon gods turned archdemons by blight brough back by the magisters from Black City. Like i think archdemon from DA Origins used to be dragon god of beauty or something before corruption.

[@alemander_01]

Yes, the Old Gods were the original "gods" of the Imperium. The Magisters who traveled to the Golden City were the high priests of each of them and had learned that they weren't gods at all.

[@cthulhu888]

The art and design was always my favorite part of this game! The tarot cards didn't seem to have any semblance in the overall story but man did they look amazing 😍🔥

[@nwalsh3]

Others have probably said it, but that ending with Solas was there before Trespasser was even announced.

[@jacobknitter80]

I played a female elf and romanced Solas in my playthrough and man did the finale hit me so hard when everything was revealed

[@BigR62]

Oh the betrayal

[@LuteaNelum]

Same, genuinly one of the most....impactful(?) RPG moments I have ever experienced. God I hope Dreadwolf is good.

[@mattbernacki9282]

​@@LuteaNelumi wouldn't get my hopes up. Everything we've heard about the development has been troubling and all of the people who made Bioware the kings of Western RPGs are long gone from the studio. One can hope but I definitely won't get hyped for it.

[@LuteaNelum]

@@mattbernacki9282I know, feels bad man 😔

[@davidvaughan5512]

@@mattbernacki9282 I sorely think you're right, and if/when it tanks, I can't see the company continuing beyond that point. It'll be another EA aquisition smothered to death by the corporation.

[@hunterkaye2168]

It’s been 84 years since a dragon age video. Im glad to see it return. One last timer before i die of old age.

[@PurpleNim]

About the cutscenes being choppy - by default they lock to 30 fps and if you want it to feel better you have to add a command line to the shortcut. As for the war table timer you can just move the windows clock forward to progress.

[@BboyEasySteps]

Finally, someone who is finally taking his time and giving Inquisition a chance. A solid video! 🙌👍 Most of these creators I see reviewing Inquisition just breeze through the game and just talk about how lackluster the gameplay is compared to DAO. Like my guy Mattyplays, I appreciate the guy but beating Inquisition under 50 hours is egregious. Did you really actually experience the game? Or they straight up just say "I dropped the game" "I didn't even play it" "It's not DAO so it's automatically bad". As long as Dragon Age has a plethora of choices, a variety of well written characters, consistent lore, and great worldbuilding that respects the current story, then the franchise will be fine. Everything else doesn't really matter as much in the grand scheme of things. Inquisition brings in a whole lot of good which outweighs the bad and Trespasser is the best narrative DLC in the franchise. It completely flips the entire lore and changes your entire perspective of what the Fade is, what demons are, where magic comes from, what the Evanuris are, how the current world state came to be, etc. And it does so without ass-pulling and contradicting current lore. I also feel like people tend to overlook the Descent as well. Titans, Lyrium, Darkspawn? The Titans predate the Blights and existed during the days of Arlathan, Primordial beings who secrete Lyrium. The progenitors of the Dwarves. Huge lore implications. When the fade is torn down Thedas itself will reawaken. Also, I hope Awakening's ending will come into play soon. That is, IF you spared the Architect.

[@g3neralrevan27]

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts about Solas on a replay - certain parts of his character show through a bit more, and if you tick him off for disapproval, you find out a lot more about his views towards others - would be curious if you liked him as much

[@ImaXXeatXXyeh]

The best part about Inquisition is that Iron Bull is played by Freddie Prinze Jr. who played Fred in the live action Scooby-Doo.

[@sporkles7427]

How did I not realize that???

[@arknark]

I had no idea, holy smokes

[@Nickulator]

He's also James Vega in Mass Effect 3.

[@Tvdiet]

Definitely enjoyed it, the dawn will come and finding Skyhold are some of my favourite cutscenes ever, But I do think it really starts to drag and becomes a bit too long for me which makes it tough to replay

[@sporkles7427]

For real. At the beginning, I was playing hardest difficulty, upgrading armor, exploring everything, etc. but by the end, I was so bored that I just set Inquisition to its easiest setting and stopped upgrading my team just so I could get the game over with. If you think about it, Inquisition’s story is actually pretty short, it’s just filled up with so much unnecessary padding that it almost feels like a chore to play.

[@dylanjwagner]

25:56 I’ll never forget watching the two swordsmen at the bottom right doing that animation the first time and thinking “oh, cool, they might cycle through all the sword combat animations and show off a bit.” Only to groan as they just cycled through the same animation over and over again.

[@asturias0267]

Joesphine is one of my favorite characters and was my first romance. (Rip Lace Harding. You would've been a great romance if it were implemented.)

[@patrickschulz2193]

I hear part of the reason why the sidequest writing is so poor is because most side-quests were alotted a very limited "word count budget". Like, if you imagine all the possible texts that could spruce up such quests, that budget would be used up fast; I THINK it was something like 250 words *per quest*.

[@daveTHEdirty]

Fun fact: the elven lady leading the refugee mages is actually Alastairs mother.

[@WinterWerewolf]

As for Cole - I chose him to become spirit again. His forgetful, scattered nature was because he was neither human nor spirit. Being spirit again he could help in his own way and did not forget stuff. He was more focused and very dedicated to helping people using things he learned along the way.

[@davidvaughan5512]

I prefer the human ending for Cole, but ... if Solas gets his way and tears down the Fade, destroying the world, Cole having returned to the Fade (as the spiritified Cole does int he epilogue) might be more of a mercy for him.

[@dambuk0]

If you pick an elf, you can beg Solas to let you join him, but he refuses, since he knows you are too far removed from what his people were back then to be able to understand and bear the things he's about to do. Hell, you can even learn that the tattooes hippy elves wear actually used to be slave marks, back before Dreadwolf's actions. There's a lot of such small actions and plot points that i love this game for but i'd never replay it due to the mechanics

[@Rhoen13]

😂 I love Dorian to Thedas and back and his companion quest pulled my heartstrings but holy crap I SO glad you brought up his gear cuz I turned back to this tab, saw Dorian, looked at the Salt logo and just thought "Uhhhhhhhhh" 🤣🤣🤣

[@antoniobrown247]

I actually liked this game. I enjoyed some of the locations we were able to visit such as the : Storm coast Crestwood and the flood caves The fade and adamant fortress ( fade looked way better, which that is to be expected) The exalted plains and the lost temple of Dirthamen Winter palace Deep roads (descent dlc) Frostback Basin (Jaws of Hakkon dlc) Skyhold The locations of the trespasser dlc ( all of them). Reading the notes of those areas and history added a lot of information. The dlc's all had great storytelling with lore that built upon previous games and history. My favorite was probably the Jaws of Hakkon. Seeing the old Inquisitor and that dragon was bombastic. Hearing of what happened and how things played was just chef kiss. This game combat was also enjoyable to me, I played as a rogue (daggers) and warrior ( sword and shield). Being able to block/parry was nice too. The companions were are also cool ( well a few ). I liked Josephine as she was different than a few characters in the series. And ironically she was right about the stuff in the last dlc ( trepasser). The Inquisitor is 7/10s the problem in Trespasser and Josephine and Teagan were right. I'm curious about how other people view the politics in Trespasser and what happens to the Inquisition. I've been replaying Trespasser recently, and am realizing a part of the problem at the Exalted Council is the Inquisitor whether you play as aggressive, humorous, or polite. The Inquisitor could have come out on top in the Exalted Council if they were more present in it and more willing to actually work with Orlais and Ferelden. The underlying issue is the Inquisitor continues to assume the right intention trumps the methods to some extent even while debating disbanding the Inquisition. Bioware presents a lot of evidence that the Inquisition and Inquisitor fail to really politic well and they've created this impossible position for themselves. Bann Teagan and Cyril Montfort are somewhat complicated characters, but they both bring very good points especially around being able to trust the Inquisitor to respond to their concerns. They treat the council as a formality instead of accepting that the people they're supposed to protect feel threatened by an independent militia. In failing to really address this The Inquisitor ultimately shows little willingness to be politically mindful of the Inquisition's interests, Ferelden's or Orlais while undermining some of their investigation of the Qunari. Instead of being present they assume "Josie can deal with it" and that sends a message to these nations that the Inquisitor does not respect their nation's autonomy/interests (*...and is also super unfair to Josephine. The Inquisitor better have gotten her good wine after this...or at least the crappy stuff that gets people F'd up quick*). They do a really good job of making it feel like you, Cullen, and Leliana are dealing with the real threats while everyone else squabbles, but as it goes on it becomes clear that the biggest threat may yet be the Inquisition. Teagan points out that the Inquisition acts like the only power capable of solving these problems alienating these nations who have every right to fear the massive army on it's borders and in it's lands. They actively demonstrate that the Inquisition has over stepped their bounds, and even if they are right in the reasons for doing so they won't share information with people who could be their peers and allies. However, it's not because this is just an impossible situation. If things were handled differently, and more aptly, if the Inquisitor delegated more and gave adequate response to Teagan and Monfort, there could have been a better response. The Inquisitor is in active pain for most of Trespasser so that definitely impacts tolerance for certain arguements, and situations too. But ultimately the Inquisitor fails at recognizing the hubris in their own actions and this is somewhat encouraged by the hype, by Cullen, Leli, and Josephine the one often behind the curtain is the only one to fully grasp the weight at first. And she is the most politically savvy. When she yells about the Inquisitor leaving in the middle of the council later, it is hard not to look back and think she's right. You're in an Orlesian palace keeping their security out of the loop. You're giving no explanation. You're acting like you don't care about the fact that two nations have no reason to not see you as an occupying force or eventual threat no matter how well intentioned you are. To be blunt, to the Fereldens you're Sophia Dryden at best, threatening the nation. To Orlais you're a threat...and a tool but they can't trust you to stay restrained especially if the INquisitor constantly undermines them Next would probably be Sera and Iron Bull ( yeah the characters, while a bit interesting wasnt better than the previous. The game could have made Corypheus a lot intimidating and smart. Same for the darkspawns, I really loved the look of them in Origins. And it's weird to me that the genlocks are about as rare as ogres and emissaries when the genlocks are supposed to be the largest group of Darkspawn because they come from dwarven broodmothers.Hurlocks got turned into generic skeletors. I was hoping after fixing skyhold, he would attack again. Killing a few characters or something. I will say this, this game is a lot more soft compared to origins. It's not dark or anything. A big reason why I enjoy the witcher 3, so much is that the world wasn't weak( funny that it came iut the next year😂). The characters could die and suffer other horrible acts done to them. Solas being the next big bad or whatever isn't something I expected until going back and listening hard to his dialogue. Also I want my gear back, you bald headed bastard🤧. Fighting the dragons was always fun to me. Only time I truly didn't have fun was when the kids were called. Little fuckers would turn a battle from 8mins to 30 mins of attrition. Just to keep things short, this game was pretty awesome to me. Even playing it now despite it's many flaws. Hopefully the next dragon age game actually hire some amazing writers, who can make a better story than the writers currently at bioware. Stop with the kid gloves and give us some intriguing world with grim designs (basically orgins). I want the combat to be even more immersion like the witcher series ( ik the witcher doesn't have the best combat, but I dislike soul combat, so stop whining 🥴). This could be the last game for dragon age if they don't get their shit together. Also the soundtrack is far better than most fantasy games. Loved the video Salt. Don't ever stop creating man.

[@cagataytoprak1770]

Been a few years since I played this game, it is one of the few games which I completed all of the Steam achievements. I remember appreciating all the side characters and romances, looking at clips of the alternate paths that could have been taken, this is something Bioware excels at. Also I really appreciated previous game choices impacting this one (Loghain or Alistair instead of stroud, Morrigan's kid etc.). However, I HATED the quests given by regular npcs which didnt zoom into the conversion. It may sound small but not zooming in conversations (closer camera angle is what I mean) threw me off but it is mostly on those boring repetitive quests. It is the companion quests that where the good stuff is, roaming around is fun. I really also didnt like how you were a hero after the tutorial, in previous games you started small but became a hero.

[@Spartacusj23]

Fun fact about THE Iron Bull its the same voice actor as james from me3, also known as fred from the live action scooby doos of the eary 2000's

[@guardian5274]

From what i recall from Trespasser the Qunari leader is actually working separately from the Qun taking matters into her own hands like the Arashok from DA:2

[@davidvaughan5512]

You are correct. The Inuisitor comes across a letter from Josephine enquiring as to why the Qun is waging war on the Inquisition, and the reply explaining that they hadn't, and that they were trying to bring their rogue forces back into line. If I remember correctly, the letter was crumpled up into a ball and never sent back to Josephine.

[@Ilwenray85]

Once I knew that Dorian could romance Iron Bull if you unlock enough banter by having them together in the party, I always do it. Because it is an interesting conflict of interests when thinking about the next game: Tevinter vs Qunari. Edit: And they are cute together of course XD

[@angrynerdgirl]

Yes! I love them together! And Josephine can date Blackwall (he brings her flowers for her desk!!!) which is also very sweet.

[@kingofcarrotflowers5364]

@@angrynerdgirl Josie breaks up with Tom after his questline tho, but it was very sweet while it lasted, the banter about it was 10/10

[@rorylastname7635]

Fun Fact! The Horse's sprint just adds speed lines, it doesn't actually go faster.

[@pufftarts9586]

as a dragon age fan, i was always blown away with how much content from the books was included in inquisition, like plots from the books continuing in the game and letting you interact directly with characters from the books, cole especially.

[@cypher787]

Best part of the war room is if you play in on consoles you can just manually set the date and never have to wait for the missions to be done

[@themanofconstantsorrowelia1929]

That never crossed my mind

[@Vicstier]

An absolute behemoth of the video. I am truly grateful I stumbled across your channel so long ago and you continue to make quality content. I’ll be enjoying this for the next few days as I make use of it to put me to sleep.

[@RSATT01]

Having Loghain become a Warden and then sacrifice his life in Inquisition is maybe my favourite character arc in the series. Also, Cole's friend Rhys is actually Wynne's son, and she dies in Asunder when she transfers the spirit keeping her alive into Rhys' love interest Evangeline to save her.

[@artemsverhunov7413]

You are the men! What a masterpiece from you. I was watching videos about the DAO and DA2 on the background because I played them. Bit this one I watched with full immersion in it. It seems to me that you are the only one on KZbin who managed to do so detailed video about DAI plot. I really appreciate you for that.

[@FunkStyles]

It is a huge boon to your sanity when you realize the real time requirements for the war table operations go by your PC clock. You can take the mission, manually set your clock an hour forward, turn in mission, set the clock back. When the game first launched, I didnt mind as much, because I would take missions and then head over to the multiplayer for an hour. That eventually died so manipulating your PC clock is a nice cure-all for that ail.

[@azriel_macreinhart]

I have been waiting so long for this! Thank you so much for taking the time to go over this game.

[@Maj0r_Malfunction]

Same I clicked it immediately once I saw the title!

[@gavinjones]

Aha, i am glad you modded the looting and skip wait time. I did the same

[@arvidmarkoff9608]

I love Inquisition, and have spent way too much time discussing the game with friends. I also really enjoy these "retrospective" long-form vids. I do have some thoughts about the vid I want to share though. Firstly, when traversing the maps not being able to jump-glitch and slither around at full freedom is to the benefit of the game and would only feel restrictive if your entire idea of exploring is moving from point A to B. Inquistion uses terrain well to separate maps into smaller areas, display the well crafted environment, balancing game pacing, and even to help the player follow the narrative. About the wartable, yes I agree, it sucks and I too use the mod to skip wait times. But if I'm not misremembering the idea behind it was simply an incentive to follow the gameplay loop of 1. Explore and gain 'power', gather materials and schematics 2. Come back to base to sell, upgrade your equipment, and use the wartable. That idea really doesn't work that well when the wartable is super boring and the loadtimes really long though. So yea, to sum up. Great vid. I disagree about character movement. And I really love this game, I could talk about it for ages. (also the dlc's are excellent!)

[@brandoncooper2909]

Annnnd now I have to go and install this and play through it again because it's been too long. Inquisition is a comfort food game for me like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, The Division 2, and The Witcher 3. It was my first intro to the Dragon Age games and I honestly loved it. It's far from perfect, but I still install this and play it on PC yearly and I've put hundreds of hours into this game.

[@Aaron067]

You know the video is going to be good when it starts with Vivaldi

[@seventhshin0bi864]

I beat the final boss of this game with a bug lmao. I’m not very good at games like this, and I have no idea how it happened, but it was funny as fuck. I made Iron Bull use his whirlwind attack that drew people in and it spun the boss so fast that he flew off the cliff and died in 30 seconds. My favourite cheese though was when I used Sara and Dorian’s time stop abilities at the same time and pulled off a complete time stop and used that to kill the DLC boss. It was so hard normally so I didn’t mind.

[@thomasyoung2201]

I remember in my second playthrough, after all of the dlc's came out, realizing how well they foreshadowed Blackwall. It was super neat and gave me spoilery feelings.

[@azriel_macreinhart]

Another thing that she explains here if I remember properly is that the trial that she went through the become a seeker was the trial of tranquility. Correct me if I'm wrong please. 1:28:16

[@john-doemcalias4759]

Nah you got it. Shes technically tranquil. Part of the final stages of becoming a seeker, allowing them to perform their duties without emotional attachment. Thats why shes so tilted about it being reversable. She doesnt know wether her decisions were her own or pure clinical logic influenced by the ritual, hence her mid game identity crisis.

[@azriel_macreinhart]

@@john-doemcalias4759 thank you, I couldn't remember exactly.

[@Truck-kun11]

Inquisition was my first contact with Dragon Age (It was on GamePass and was the only one with the option for my language) and I LOVED it. Later I picked up Origins to play, which I also loved (after getting used to the gameplay being a bit dated for my taste) and it helped me appreciate Inquisition even more as I now had a better understanding of the characters and the lore.

[@kimhunziker1971]

super late but dropping in to say that descent blew my mind with the whole lyrium can have the blight therefore it is alive --> lyrium is the blood of titans --> titans are literally right there underground still alive thing? the implications for the old gods and the blights and what it all MEANS? You get some additional titans lore in trespasser from one of the murals as well. just. the titans man.

[@11679MRT]

Epic video! I liked Solas from the start - he never left my party and finding out he was the DW hit me hard.

[@adamp6320]

There's one zone in the game that I think works. It's been too long to remember the name, but it was the zone where you actually change it entirely by completling the quest - you drain the water, get rid of a curse and eventually the whole zone turns sunny and happy. I love games where you can permanently change the land by doing quests and enjoy the results. More like that. But overall DAI was not a great or memorable game. It was better than DA2. That's all the praise I can give it.

[@socialyawkwardandrew7673]

I disagree I think DA2 is better than DAI

[@wig.snatcher]

I think that's crestwood

[@titanjakob1056]

Crest wood and yes that area was 10/10 memorable and has a really messed up quest once you find out that crest wood was flooded Spoiler bellow* Crest woods mayor flooded the town because the dark spawn board attacked and kept on infecting people so he took the drastic measure of kill everyone in the town while hauling the hoard before and the infected become part of the hoard

[@adamp6320]

@@socialyawkwardandrew7673 that's a hot take, but I admire your gusto! DA2 certainly has fans, the biggest problem for me was the reused maps, dull as dishwater Kirkwall, and how you couldn't do strategic combat properly when enemies would parachute in from thin sky

[@fabiorosolen]

@@socialyawkwardandrew7673 The only good things about Dragon Age 2 is the story and some characters. The rest is trash.

[@xnyrd692]

I went with a Qunari Mage my first time through. There are some cool dialog options but otherwise doesnt effect a lot

[@pinnacleevolution1634]

Iirc the extra races were added mid development that might be why it doesnt affect much besides some dialogue fluff. I did like playing a Qunari a lot tho, theyre so fucking badass.

[@Drag0nk1ngmark]

Gotta admit, love Salt's retrospective of this series, a lot of what he said also was how i felt about some characters and story bits too, now i wonder about what else will he do a video on now that he finished Inquisition.

[@Comuniity_]

A very minor but cool thing you missed about Grand Enchanter Fiona the rebel mage leader is she is Alistars mom and if Alistar is the king in your world state, she has a few lines about wondering what hes like and hoping hes happy. Tbh i dont remember if any part of the game tells you thats who Fiona is but it is mentioned in The Calling book where we learn her story, which is so sad and fucked up