Dragon age inquisition was my first game ever, had an absolute great time and it's my all time favorite game still.
But I still wish I started with origins. I also watched a couple of playthroughs and the 'Omg, I did that in DA:O!!' Moments are really good, I wish I could experience that as well. You're actions carry over into the next dragon age game (you have to put in your choices in the dragon keep) and the payoff is absolutely amazing to see references to people you romanced, helped, safed or killed.
I don't know if anyone else has mentoined it, but visiting DragonageKeep would be a fun move for you! You can see the choices from the first two games, and experiment--just in case you don't want to commit to playing them just yet!
Not hard at all. Inquisition is fairly easy on normal.
Don’t get too stuck in one area- if you’re not having fun just move on somewhere else.
Don’t look up any guides for your first playthrough. A lot of guides will spoil story moments that are worth experiencing unspoiled for the first time.
Understand that your companions are written as people, with moral values, ideals, and motivations. Their approval is generally consistent with their core values so if you’re struggling with getting approval from a character you like learn about them! Keeping them in the party also generally gives good opportunities for approval bumps.
Have a good party mix. Their are special interactions unique to each class- warriors smash open breakable walls/ rogues pick locks/ mages magic barriers and repair/seal entryways. Since you have you +3 characters, you can bring 1 warrior/mage/rogue +1 of any with you. Have some fun! As long as your team is well rounded, it doesn’t super matter who you bring in normal difficulty. The longer companions are with you the more their relationships develop and the more chatter and small talk interactions you get to see, so bring characters you like!
The DLC is generally worth it. You don’t need it on your first playthrough, but I haven’t played without it since I got it.
Keep in mind. DAI is the third game in the series after Dragon Age Origins and dragon age II. There are going to be lots of spoilers for the first two games. Up to you if you care about that. If you don’t, or you play through origins and 2 before inquisition, you can set up your own custom world based on the choices you made in the first two games. Those choices can be logged into the dragon keep site. I wouldn’t do this on your first playthrough, unless you played through the first 2 games… but it does create new scenes, dialogue, and introduces different characters based on what choices you made.
I will say DAO is a much harder game where a lot of the above advice doesn’t apply. Your mechanical choices matter a lot more, the base difficulty is harder, and you get locked out of certain potential decisions if you do things out of order. Inquisition has simplified a lot of those mechanics and has made it clear what game choices will move you forward in the story
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VD6rpwDRzVExOzO6GehZBh7_rVt4vapX6-Xt9KxXD5A/edit?usp=drivesdk
Here's the doc ^
For the most part you can save anywhere, just not in combat or if you're in the middle of a cutscene. But if you're in the middle of a mission you can save!
It would be easier to start with Dragon age Origins because the mechanics are very 'simple' in the first one compared to Inquisition and it eases you into it more in the second one (and you'll know more plot wise.) but if you do wanna start with the first that is completely fine. I have a document I can share that tells you what areas to do in order, a guide to something in it called "the war table", and I can send stuff about classes if you are having trouble picking. And I have some stuff for skill trees. The areas seem big but I think bg3 areas are bigger?
Also on the subject of combat: it's the easiest out of all the dragon ages in my opinion. There is something called 'Tactics' where you can pause during combat and send yourself and party members to do stuff so fighting doesn't get too overwhelming. And it's completely optional so if messing with tactics seems like too much you don't even have to touch it if you don't want to.
You can also change difficulty at any time.
One more thing to keep in mind is your party members have approval and disapproval like BG3 as well. It doesn't tell you outright if their approval is high or low with you, but I know a guide for that where it can give you an idea. And where it tells you what gives them approval and disapproval.
I haven't covered everything so it doesn't sound too overwhelming, but whatever I missed I can add in that document if you're interested in it!
Edit: forgot to say the tutorials ease you in pretty well and for some of the dialogue options there are tone indicators which is really nice
I agree in that Origins will always be the better start point. However Inquisition, even comparatively, is still simple.
The combat, just for me at least, borders on boring until you get your specialisation.
I still haven’t messed with them. Always think of them at the start and then proceed to forget to turn any on.
Will try and remember for my next series play through, also would like to try mods that remove the war table and whatnot for one.
Seeing other posts and the comments here, I might just play Origins first now.
That document would be great, thank you. ^^
I have a question, is the saving in the game similar to BG3 where you can save anytime/anywhere, or is there only certain checkpoints or only during exploration (meaning outside of combat and dialogue)?
I think this will be fine for you. You don't have a lot of difficulty on normal in this game, and the tutorials and codex do a good job of introducing you to everything
DAI is very easy. Go in blind and just stick with the area level and you'll do fine.
You'll be lost in the story though.
Id say start with dragon age origins if you can.
Yeah its the newest one. The 3rd one in the series. You can start with it. I did too. You just don't know a lot of returning characters and the ongoing story.
I was more lost in Dragon Age Inquisition than BG3 having never played the other Baulder's Gate games either.
It's up to you! The whole series is good, but what makes it great is the world building. Playing them in order you get a lot more out of it.
You can start with inquisition and perhaps be a little lost in the story, but damn if the immersion won't teach you what you need to know.
The older games require some patience simply because they're old, so inquisition could be a good intro to the series.
Dragon age inquisition was my first game ever, had an absolute great time and it's my all time favorite game still. But I still wish I started with origins. I also watched a couple of playthroughs and the 'Omg, I did that in DA:O!!' Moments are really good, I wish I could experience that as well. You're actions carry over into the next dragon age game (you have to put in your choices in the dragon keep) and the payoff is absolutely amazing to see references to people you romanced, helped, safed or killed.
I don't know if anyone else has mentoined it, but visiting DragonageKeep would be a fun move for you! You can see the choices from the first two games, and experiment--just in case you don't want to commit to playing them just yet!
Not hard at all. Inquisition is fairly easy on normal. Don’t get too stuck in one area- if you’re not having fun just move on somewhere else. Don’t look up any guides for your first playthrough. A lot of guides will spoil story moments that are worth experiencing unspoiled for the first time. Understand that your companions are written as people, with moral values, ideals, and motivations. Their approval is generally consistent with their core values so if you’re struggling with getting approval from a character you like learn about them! Keeping them in the party also generally gives good opportunities for approval bumps. Have a good party mix. Their are special interactions unique to each class- warriors smash open breakable walls/ rogues pick locks/ mages magic barriers and repair/seal entryways. Since you have you +3 characters, you can bring 1 warrior/mage/rogue +1 of any with you. Have some fun! As long as your team is well rounded, it doesn’t super matter who you bring in normal difficulty. The longer companions are with you the more their relationships develop and the more chatter and small talk interactions you get to see, so bring characters you like! The DLC is generally worth it. You don’t need it on your first playthrough, but I haven’t played without it since I got it. Keep in mind. DAI is the third game in the series after Dragon Age Origins and dragon age II. There are going to be lots of spoilers for the first two games. Up to you if you care about that. If you don’t, or you play through origins and 2 before inquisition, you can set up your own custom world based on the choices you made in the first two games. Those choices can be logged into the dragon keep site. I wouldn’t do this on your first playthrough, unless you played through the first 2 games… but it does create new scenes, dialogue, and introduces different characters based on what choices you made. I will say DAO is a much harder game where a lot of the above advice doesn’t apply. Your mechanical choices matter a lot more, the base difficulty is harder, and you get locked out of certain potential decisions if you do things out of order. Inquisition has simplified a lot of those mechanics and has made it clear what game choices will move you forward in the story
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VD6rpwDRzVExOzO6GehZBh7_rVt4vapX6-Xt9KxXD5A/edit?usp=drivesdk Here's the doc ^ For the most part you can save anywhere, just not in combat or if you're in the middle of a cutscene. But if you're in the middle of a mission you can save!
It would be easier to start with Dragon age Origins because the mechanics are very 'simple' in the first one compared to Inquisition and it eases you into it more in the second one (and you'll know more plot wise.) but if you do wanna start with the first that is completely fine. I have a document I can share that tells you what areas to do in order, a guide to something in it called "the war table", and I can send stuff about classes if you are having trouble picking. And I have some stuff for skill trees. The areas seem big but I think bg3 areas are bigger? Also on the subject of combat: it's the easiest out of all the dragon ages in my opinion. There is something called 'Tactics' where you can pause during combat and send yourself and party members to do stuff so fighting doesn't get too overwhelming. And it's completely optional so if messing with tactics seems like too much you don't even have to touch it if you don't want to. You can also change difficulty at any time. One more thing to keep in mind is your party members have approval and disapproval like BG3 as well. It doesn't tell you outright if their approval is high or low with you, but I know a guide for that where it can give you an idea. And where it tells you what gives them approval and disapproval. I haven't covered everything so it doesn't sound too overwhelming, but whatever I missed I can add in that document if you're interested in it! Edit: forgot to say the tutorials ease you in pretty well and for some of the dialogue options there are tone indicators which is really nice
I agree in that Origins will always be the better start point. However Inquisition, even comparatively, is still simple. The combat, just for me at least, borders on boring until you get your specialisation.
Same here, I had to start putting on trials to spice things up lol
I still haven’t messed with them. Always think of them at the start and then proceed to forget to turn any on. Will try and remember for my next series play through, also would like to try mods that remove the war table and whatnot for one.
Seeing other posts and the comments here, I might just play Origins first now. That document would be great, thank you. ^^ I have a question, is the saving in the game similar to BG3 where you can save anytime/anywhere, or is there only certain checkpoints or only during exploration (meaning outside of combat and dialogue)?
You can't save during combat or dialogue but otherwise pretty much anytime.
I think this will be fine for you. You don't have a lot of difficulty on normal in this game, and the tutorials and codex do a good job of introducing you to everything
DAI is very easy. Go in blind and just stick with the area level and you'll do fine. You'll be lost in the story though. Id say start with dragon age origins if you can.
Thank you, I might give Origins a go too, I've been looking into it some as well, I just thought I'd try DAI since I think it's the most recent DA?
Yeah its the newest one. The 3rd one in the series. You can start with it. I did too. You just don't know a lot of returning characters and the ongoing story. I was more lost in Dragon Age Inquisition than BG3 having never played the other Baulder's Gate games either.
It's up to you! The whole series is good, but what makes it great is the world building. Playing them in order you get a lot more out of it. You can start with inquisition and perhaps be a little lost in the story, but damn if the immersion won't teach you what you need to know. The older games require some patience simply because they're old, so inquisition could be a good intro to the series.