My first steps into Dragon Age Inquisition, a journey of customization, surprises, and deaths.

Hello, hello dear friends of HiveGaming! I’m Mary. I’ve been inactive for a while, but I want to restart my journey with this community because I recently discovered an interest I didn’t know I could have, thanks to a friend.

I’m a big fan of reading fantasy, and a few weeks ago, my friend @magicalex recommended a game he was sure I would like — Dragon Age. At first, I was a bit skeptical and didn’t want to give it a try because I had never played a video game before. I had only played small and simple games, but nothing so complex. On top of that, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it. However, after several days of persistence, he shared the game with me, and I decided to give it a chance. And here I am, rambling on just to finally tell you that I fell in love with it, and soon you’ll see why and how.

          Character Creation

When starting my new adventure in this video game, I had to create my character, which I found really interesting since it gave me the freedom to choose from the four existing races.

Human: Humans are the most common race and have an additional advantage in terms of skill points. They start with an extra skill point, making them more versatile at the beginning of the game.

Elf: Elves are known for their agility and perception, and they have a background of marginalization and discrimination in the world of Dragon Age. They have a defense bonus against ranged damage.

Dwarf: Dwarves are resilient and usually live underground in cities like Orzammar. In Inquisition, dwarves have a bonus against magic, making them more resistant to magical attacks.

Qunari: This is a playable race introduced in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Qunari are large and powerful, known for their strength and imposing presence. They have a resistance bonus to physical damage, and their story can vary depending on whether or not they follow the beliefs of the Qun.

These were the four races with their advantages. Initially, I considered choosing a human for the extra point, which would surely be useful. But upon seeing the elves and Qunari, I knew my choice would be between these two. The Qunari looked very appealing, but I ultimately chose an elf, thus giving life to my elven character.

             Class Choice

After deciding on my character's race, I had to choose a class, or the role I would be playing. This decision was quite complex since there were now 5 classes to choose from:

• Warrior: A class focused on melee combat and defense.
• Two-Handed Warrior: This seemed more like a barbarian to me, but who am I to judge the creators for calling them warriors with two-handed weapons? 😂
• Mage: Uses magic to attack from a distance, heal, and control enemies. Their primary weapons are magical staffs.
• Rogue: Specializes in quick and critical attacks, with the ability to use stealth and weapons like daggers and bows.

I went back and forth between the mage and the rogue, as these were my two favorite classes. In the end, I decided to flip a coin to help me choose. Heads for the mage, tails for the rogue. When I saw the coin land on heads, I knew instantly that the rogue was my choice. 😅😝

(I once read somewhere that when you're unsure about making a decision, using the coin method helps with its psychological background. In those few seconds while the coin is in the air, you realize which outcome you didn’t want to happen.)

             Difficulty

After choosing my character, the next step was picking the difficulty, which turned out to be the easiest decision. 😂 I just went with the middle difficulty setting. I figured easy would take away all the fun, and anything harder would just result in me dying repeatedly, suffering in the process. So, I decided on the medium difficulty and hit start.

Once I made my choice, the game presented me with a super interesting description of my elf character.

What truly captured my heart and made me fall head over heels in love with this part of the game was the stunning design of those tarot-like cards. They had a mystical, intriguing vibe that really added something special to the experience.

              Appearance

This is where they really got me—customizing appearance. It felt like I had just spent three hours in front of a mirror to end up playing for only five minutes, but now, I had the full control to personalize my character completely. 😅 Imagine being able to choose everything, from the hairstyle to the size of the lips, eyes, nostrils—literally everything! This process took me at least an hour and more to get my final result, which I absolutely loved.

            Time to Play

After several hours of customizing, the story begins as I'm transported by some mystical entity. When we come to, we find ourselves imprisoned in a cell, where a soldier is interrogating us. Here's where my new surprise kicks in: I have the ability to choose my response. And apparently, the outcome of the conversation depends on the choices I make! This was such an awesome feature, and I now understand why so many people love video games. I felt the immersion and the depth of the narrative really come to life. 😅

After trying to incriminate me for the supposed destruction of an enclave, it seems that with my response, I managed to get a chance to prove myself. They took me outside to bring me before someone important. Apparently, the mark on my hand had something to do with what was going on, and I had no idea about its significance at that moment.

By the way, I totally missed mentioning the name of my elf! Ellana is what I decided to call her, so now you know, whenever I mention that name, I'll be talking about my character. 😂

I was really impressed by the game’s visuals, it looked like an animated movie, and it really transported me to those fantasy books I love so much. Everything looked amazing."

The vortex in the sky seemed to be the cause of everything, and I suppose that’s what they were accusing me of, and it probably had something to do with the destruction of that group they mentioned.

While Cassandra, the soldier escorting me, was taking me to that place, we were attacked by some sort of demons that emerged from a small rift. Luckily, my captor was skilled in combat, and with a little help from me after I managed to grab a couple of daggers, we got through.

After all the suffering those monsters caused me since I didn’t fully understand the controls, this female wanted to take my weapons. Thankfully, I convinced her to trust me, and she took it quite well, admitting that if she disarmed me, I could die at any moment.

As I progressed, more of these specters appeared, and they granted me some new abilities or powers. One allowed me to become invisible, and the other was a sort of jumping attack. They weren’t spectacular, but I found them quite useful. I guess the rogue style in the game leans towards stealth, and I’m eager to see what other abilities I’ll unlock later to make combinations. I’m really looking forward to experimenting with all the potential skills I can acquire as the game progresses!

The invisibility ability in Dragon Age: Inquisition is definitely a game-changer! It's really useful for stealth gameplay, allowing you to slip past enemies undetected, but like you said, the downside is that attacking or taking any action cancels the effect. Still, it’s great for setting up ambushes or avoiding fights altogether when needed.

As you progressed, you encountered a group of people fighting these enemies, including a mage and an archer. These characters tend to be pivotal to the story and often join your group, offering their unique skills and powers. The mage likely brings spells for offense and defense, while the archer would specialize in ranged attacks, adding variety and strategy to your team. It’s always exciting to see which characters will become part of your party, as each adds their own strengths to your squad!

After the battle, the mage took your hand and performed an action on the small rift from which the monsters were emerging. This marked an important turning point, as it revealed that your mark had the ability to close these breaches. This gave your character a newfound significance in the story, as it connected your abilities to the larger events unfolding.

Understanding this power opens up new possibilities for decision-making. Now that your character holds a key to controlling these rifts, it not only provides potential solutions to future conflicts but also makes your character central to resolving the threats plaguing the world. This sense of importance adds layers to the story, ensuring that you, as the player, are more involved in the outcome and the consequences of your choices.

A little further ahead in Dragon Age: Inquisition, you are introduced to a mechanic called "Tactics" (or tactical pause), which allows you to stop time and organize your attacks strategically. This becomes very useful in more complex battles, as it lets you observe the battlefield, assess the weaknesses of enemies, and assign actions to each member of your group without the stress of real-time action. Through this pause, you can coordinate movements, position your characters in key places, and execute synchronized attacks.

As for your experience, this mechanic initially helps you analyze the strengths and weaknesses of enemies. Even if you haven't fully mastered it yet, with some practice, you will be able to use it to coordinate your attacks more effectively. This type of mechanic is key for players who prefer a more tactical and calculated approach, adding a layer of complexity and satisfaction to the combat. With more practice, it will definitely give you a significant advantage during the tougher battles.

After all this, we arrived at the location where a religious leader, or something similar, was holding a big political-religious debate. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for us, but Cassandra and the mage intervened on my behalf, as it turned out that I could be the key to closing the breach.

And that’s the end of today’s post.

Those were my first three hours in Dragon Age: Inquisition, filled with customization, deaths, and awe.

I’ll see you all later with the continuation of this journey that has captivated me. Special thanks again to @magicalex for introducing me to this incredible game and unlocking a new passion in my life. His posts made the world of video games seem even more fascinating!