Coming off the heels of a slightly mixed response to Dragon Age 2, BioWare's Dragon Age: Inquisition managed to revitalize the series with some much-needed updates. The award-winning sequel was a success, garnering critical acclaim and becoming one of the developer's best-selling titles as Dragon Age: Inquisition helped put the series back on the map. Adding in features like ridable mounts, new playable races, and expanding the semi open world that players could explore, the third installment built upon the foundation of its predecessors in interesting ways, and has paved the way for the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
However, although most fans were pleased with what Dragon Age: Inquisition had to offer, there were a handful of criticisms as well. Areas didn't scale depending on the level of the player and their party, so sometimes gamers were completely overpowered and found that certain regions barely presented a challenge. Or they could have stumbled accidentally into a location they weren't prepared for and were swiftly annihilated by common enemy types. Some fans felt that the overhauled battle system didn't quite live up to expectations, while others thought the narrative wasn't as original as Dragon Age: Origins'. Players were also disappointed to learn about some of the content that was cut from Dragon Age: Inquisition prior to release – some of which could have had major consequences for the fate of Thedas.
Dragon Age: Inquisition's Love Interests
In many BioWare games, the potential love interests that players can romance tend to get a lot of attention from fans. This popular element of RPG series like Mass Effect and Dragon Age has the potential to divide or unite players, depending on which characters they favor, and even if there is a varied selection it's almost guaranteed that there'll be an unavailable NPC or two that gamers wish they could have gotten cozy with. Dragon Age: Inquisition provided players with plenty of options when it came to choosing who to romance – especially if they were a female elf – but this element could have been even broader if it weren't for a few scrapped aspects.
The Inquisitor's adviser Cullen wasn't originally intended to be a romance option, but thankfully the developer changed its mind and added him in for female human or elf protagonists. However, Cullen could have been a choice for male Inquisitors as well judging by some cut dialogue. Solas faced a similar fate, and is only romanceable by female elves. But due to the revelation of his role as an antagonist in the final moments of Dragon Age: Inquisition, BioWare wanted to avoid the harmful tropes of the villainous bisexual character and decided to limit his romantic interests. Many fans are hoping that the romance options will be expended even further in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, with more queer and varied representation than they've seen in previous titles.
The Fate Of Dragon Age: Inquisition's Protagonist
Over the course of Dragon Age: Inquisition's narrative, players go from an amnesiac prisoner to the leader of one of the most powerful political forces in Thedas. It's quite a journey, and it's fascinating to see how the Inquisition grows from a ragtag group of well-meaning outcasts to a massive organization that has helped shape the history of the continent. At the end of the Trespasser DLC, players can decide if they want to reduce the size of the Inquisition after it becomes too unwieldy and corrupt, or even disband it altogether. This is just one of the decisions that will likely affect the world state going into Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, but there's one choice that could have had a greater impact if it was kept in the game.
Depending on a number of actions and dialogue options, gamers can have a hand in influencing who becomes the next Divine following the death of Divine Justinia V. In Orlesian Chantry tradition, it is customary for a Divine to name who she wants to be her successor before she dies, but given Justinia V's untimely end, this wasn't possible. In Dragon Age: Inquisition, the choice is between Vivienne, Leliana, and Cassandra, with gamers able to play a part in the decision.
However, at some point during the game's development, it was going to be possible for the Inquisitor themselves to be named as the next Divine. This was later cut, as Divines are always female, and although it would have been made harder for male protagonists to attain the role (especially male qunari characters), it was decided this would be too much of a departure from the franchise's established lore.
Changes To Dragon Age: Inquisition's Quests And Characters
During the long cycle of development, lots of avenues end up getting abandoned or characters' prominence is diminished as the game takes shape. While not all of these ideas are completely fleshed out or would have made it into the game as initially intended, it's still interesting for fans to hear the development team talk about them after a title is released and wonder what could have been. Players might be disappointed that an appearance from rebel mage Anders was scrapped, or that Cole could have had more of a part to play in the final battle with Corypheus, but one of the biggest cuts relates to former companion Solas and how his disappearance is handled.
In an interview following Dragon Age: Inquisition's release, writer David Gaider spoke about some of the major changes that the game underwent during its development. In a surprising revelation, Gaider admitted that there was originally going to be a playable epilogue where the Inquisitor would search for Solas.
Instead, what eventually made it into the game following the final battle was the cutscene between the elven mage and Flemeth that revealed the actual driving force behind the events of the game and set the scene for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This scene worked well as a cliffhanger for the next installment, and a playable epilogue may have unbalanced the pacing of the game's closing chapter, but players can't help but imagine what this cut content could have played out like.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is available for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
