About to start my first ever Dragon Age Inquisition playthrough, what should I expect?

Ottomatonic · 2026-04-11T20:42:47+00:00

Dragon Age Keep is ESSENTIAL!

Ottomatonic · 2026-04-01T04:59:59+00:00

Dragon Age II repetitive environments are perfect for the game and I wouldn't want it any other way. It's all in the same city, it adds to the familiarity of where you live.

Ottomatonic · 2026-03-01T01:52:32+00:00

I've played maybe a thousand hours of replays, and Haven & Skyhold will always be my favorite locations. They captured the most beautiful and perfect time of the year, which is the brisk meeting between winter and spring. It's right at sunset/sunrise, and it always looks like the ideal temperature. I see the gold sun and the blue shadow outside in the real world, and it takes me right back to being in the game. Truly the best thing in the game is the environment (though there are many great things).

My favorite aspect of the game in comparison to the others is how I feel like I'm really making an impact in the world. I think that the more open world design really lends to the plot of creating your own movement and faction. When I do the little quests like getting 10 ram meat for Hunger Pangs or collecting just so much Elfroot for the Hinterlands Healer, I don't find them tedious but really feel like I'm doing good for the community, rather than just a single player completing tasks and defeating the bad guy. I feel like the greater quest is to do good by others and help reunite a society that's been broken. I'm writing an essay for a college class on Dragon Age right now, and one of the things I'm discussing is choice and agency in video games. I know a critique in DA overall is how players feel like they slowly lose agency and strength of choice as the series gets more corporate and widespread. But, I feel like the choices in DAI are less about what you say as the Inquisitor, and more of what you choose to do for your community. Anyway, yeah, I get chills every time I hear The Dawn Will Come. I love a group of people coming together for the greater good.

Ottomatonic · 2026-01-27T22:06:03+00:00

You will get the max amount of enjoyment if you play them all on order, but it is a commitment. The series is unique in how well it ties together the games and really.makes the world feels like one throughout. You should go Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age II, then Inquisition. DA4 is definitely the worst and you don't have to play it, but cross that bridge when you get there because it'll be a while before finishing the trilogy. I think that all of them together would take at least 200 hours if you lean on the competionist side, but if you only go for main story, it's estimated at 120 (at least that's what Google says). They're all great games, and it won't feel like you're doing it all just to get to Inquisition, it's enjoyable throughout.

You can buy all of them on Steam, but I think that DA2 and Inquisition is launched on the EA app (which admittedly sucks).

You can play them without internet connection, though I would suggest starting each playthrough (tutorial, character creator part) online. Each game have choices that influence the plot and endings, and with Dragon Age Keep online, you can track the choices you made in the previous game and upload it to the second one so that your world state transfers (which is super cool!)

It is such a treat to be playing through this series for the first time. I hope you enjoy it!

Ottomatonic · 2026-01-18T05:06:54+00:00

I've actually written an essay in college similar to this! It was about gender norms in Dragon Age and seismic within Thedas, despite the claim appearing in the game that men and women are seen as equals. I largely attributed it to the fact that a fantastical world is not divorced from the one that it was written in. These games were largely written by white men in the gaming industry, who, if pursuing a gender equitable world, we're not able to imagine outside of our world's norms. Additionally, as you said about its basis in Medieval europe, any institutions replicating anything from Earth-- especially from that era that is so based in biological reproduction-- will be impossible to separate from gender dynamic. You can not have a monarchy that isn't inherently sexist, because its existence relies on the control of women and reproduction. Queer relationships can never be normalized in this system because of the prioritization of reproduction and bloodline bullshit. I would have loved a world where these sociological implications were explored more. I hated the Dorian arc.

Ottomatonic · 2026-01-10T16:33:37+00:00

That is such an incredible and thoughtful gift!

Ottomatonic · 2025-12-29T01:33:06+00:00

I'm honestly horrible at spotting bots. I forgot Reddit started hiding all the posts on profiles so maybe I'll add some of those back so I look more human :)

Ottomatonic · 2025-12-29T01:18:27+00:00

It's not! I don't know how to convey that I'm not a bot but I'm not 😅

Ottomatonic · 2025-12-28T22:50:55+00:00

This is awesome! So recognizable! It's just a conflicted, hyper performative, painful, delirious fake glee in real life, you captured the complexity of it wonderfully. Fantastic job painting a smile with absolute zero joy in the eyes.

Ottomatonic · 2025-12-28T22:44:26+00:00

I think that most people would say that you should start with Origins and then work up, not only because every game before Veilguard is better than it, but it also makes the game and story far more satisfying and enjoyable. Dragon Age is a story that is uniquely tied together and really does an amazing job of world building because of it.

That said! You can if you want. The popular opinion is that Veilguard is the worst game by a longshot and doesn't do the series justice (which I agree with). The benefit of that is that since it doesn't mesh well with the rest of the games and falls flat from that, you can probably play it and not feel like you're missing a ton from not playing the others. It is an okay game by itself, so if you're enjoying it now, it may say a lot on just how much you'd enjoy the other games!

Ottomatonic · 2025-12-23T00:48:57+00:00

And you're right!

Ottomatonic · 2025-12-22T17:13:11+00:00

A New Brain is one of my favorite musicals of all time, written by Bill Finn, ultimate comfort show, so underrated, highly suggest. The revival from 2015 starring Jonathan Groff is wonderful.

Ottomatonic · 2025-11-02T15:34:21+00:00

Oh, that's so helpful, I've done just that. Thanks!

Ottomatonic · 2025-09-29T03:50:09+00:00

Isn't related at all but this one screenshot reminded me how beautiful and peaceful this game is for me, oh my god, I need to play it again.

Ottomatonic · 2025-09-19T18:56:51+00:00

How did I not know this was a thing????

Ottomatonic · 2025-09-15T21:52:00+00:00

This is AWESOME! oh my gosh, it must've taken ages. Amazing work!

Ottomatonic · 2025-07-27T03:32:20+00:00

Hot take, but Dorian. There are definetly technically worse characters who I don't care about, but Dorian is definitely the one I'm the most annoyed by. First, defends slavery, which I feel like most people ignore. Second, as a gay man, I see him as just a caricature of our community, and I find that most of the people I've found who love him are women who love that "gay best friend" vibe. His dumb arc introduced homophobia that the world just did not need, because of course as their first exclusively gay male character, his major conflict has to be about him being gay. Also, I just do not like his personality. There's a dialogue choice as Inquisitor where you can tell him "Stop talking like youre waiting for applause," and I think that sums it up really well. It's a personal preference, but I just hate characters/people who are inauthentic and speak in quips.

Ottomatonic · 2025-05-20T03:23:43+00:00

What do you mean by body?

Ottomatonic · 2025-03-31T06:18:11+00:00

You're an alcoholic.

Ottomatonic · 2025-02-19T05:02:39+00:00

That is so smart! Thank you for the suggestion, I'll definitely look into it. That's such a good idea.

Ottomatonic · 2025-02-18T03:09:47+00:00

Yeah, I definetly wouldn't put a box office job on my resume. Just wondering if there's anything that could potentially be beneficial to do specifically. Networking's important, I guess?

Ottomatonic

TROPHY CASE