A good game, great fun, but short of the goal in a few areas.

User Rating: 8 | Dragon Age: Inquisition (Deluxe Edition) PC

The Good: The Dragon Age series has had some great story-telling and in-depth world-building across both of the first two installments. Inquisition measures up quite well to that standard. It's a fun game with an engrossing and deep world that makes it easy to "get lost in the weeds" chasing every possible quest and discovery. It's easy to care about most of the characters and the gameplay is fun and interesting, though there are a few flaws. I don't know that it has the replay value of it's predecessors but the game has easily 100+ hours of play even for a single play through, so that may not be a problem.

The Bad: Graphic artifacts - such as characters being neck deep in the ground, characters continually popping up and down, characters having no hair whenever they wear a helmet - are common. The stop-action, strategic combat function is near worthless because of the limited angle of view and poor implementation of targeting and manipulation functionality. The tactics features available in previous games were dumbed down to the point of uselessness in the latest installment. Some of the characters are one-dimensional, which is forgivable since their one-dimension is done well, but some of them are just plain boring or annoying. Some of the story continuity is shoddy (i.e., character who was in your party doesn't have any knowledge of something they saw happen).

Summary: Overall it's a good game. A solid 8 with fun and interesting interactions, for the most part. The flaws that it sports are enough to detract from the game and can be jarring but can be over-looked with a bit of effort. The rest of the game is worth putting in that effort as it is quite enjoyable. The story is very good, though there is no "happy path" for anyone who wants a universal happily every after; this is not a game where everyone walks away pleased so don't play it if you're looking for a fairy tale. If you like moderately good character skills development, a good story, and getting to make your own choices that affect the world in real ways, you'll enjoy the game.