With AC Unity ( my usual Q4 purchase) being a hot mess, I've turned my attention to Dragon Age: Inquisition. I've always wanted to get into the series ( a fantasy RPG from Bioware ticks a lot of boxes for me) but never really got around to it. The one question I have is: does the combat system in the series require a lot of micro management? I ask because, although I love RPGs, the combat system can be a deal breaker sometimes. For example, I love the Elder Scrolls and Witcher games because I feel they have immersive worlds and good combat. I also like FF X and XII for similar reasons. Diablo 3 however fails to click for me because I feel disconnected from the action on screen.

For further reference, I did enjoy the KOTOR games.

I'm really bad at RPGs, I can't micromanage worth shit, why I hate RTSs. If you play dragon age on normal or easy, you'll be absolutely fine. Now that leaves you with just the story and characters and if you are cool with that, then you are good to go. I recommend using the dragon age keep to inform you of the world you will be entering and if you have time....PC Gamer (UK I think) did a 2 and 1/2 hour video about all the choices and what they actually mean. I don't recommend anyone to jump into the 3rd game of a series that has so much lore in it, so if you are getting the game it would be your benefit to at least familiarize yourself with the world (basic concepts at least: darkspawn, chantry, mages circle and templars, who the hero and champion are and what they did).

EDIT: I also found that as I get used to the combat I will get more comfortable managing my team. I never switch between members but in the previous games (so I assume this one) you can set logic rules with your party members. I.E. set your healer to heal a party member when health is below 25%, I will change that to 50% because by the time they get around to healing me I could very well be dead or close to it.

Dragon Age doesn't have the sort of combat where you press different buttons/keys to actively swing your sword or block an attack like the Elder Scrolls games.
It's more along the lines of a diet MMO type of command (of powers/attacks) list that your character will perform once told to.
You can let your party take care of themselves (with behavior options I believe) and focus only on your character if you choose to.
You can also pause the action and control each character by giving them command to act out in a more tactical way.
How much you micromanage is up to you I'd say.
I for the life of me can't remember combat in any KOTOR game.

Buy the game. Multiple reviews are already out, if you play on easy you can basically play it like an action game. You only need to pause and use the tactical camera for boss fights or the harder difficulty settings. Nightriff is also right, you can set as many AI controls as you want if you feel like specifically managing how the AI runs your team. Also you should definitely check out Dragon Age Keep to see more details about the world and learn a bit, it runs a great video when you first start to sync that basically plays out all major choices in both games in a sort of cinematic.

Also as an aside, many of the reviews, and possibly Giantbomb's own quick look, are wrong. DA:I does NOT import your save games from the previous games, so if you have none it is fine. You log into the Keep with your Origin ID and create your "default world state". When you launch the game you log in to your Origin account and the game pulls your default world state from the keep.

Here is some links...

DA Keep: https://dragonagekeep.com

PC Gamer detailed Guide: http://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-age-keep-guide/

My default/gut feeling about anything where you are asking strangers if one should buy or not buy something, the answer is "not buy". There is no issue with letting this wait a couple of weeks or months till you are really sure either way.

While demos doesn't give a good indication of the whole game, still It is such a shame that we rarely see game demos anymore.

Ok, thanks guys. I think that's all I need to know. Definately going to pick up the game, exactly when depends entirely on whether Ubi can pull it together a fix Unity.

I know you asked specifically about the combat but if you haven't played DA:O or DA2 there's a good chance you're going to be completely lost from a story/lore perspective. I'm about an hour into the game and it does not hold your hand at all when it comes to the universe. The characters reference events and drop terms in a way that is very much Bioware expecting you to know what they're talking about already.

If you have a PS3 (may be on other platforms) there's a demo for DA2. It'll give you an idea of what it's like, minus the tactical view.

Usually on normal most fights in dragon age are not that hard or require tons of thought. Good planning and equipment is far more important than anything else. You want to make sure your party has tank and range and mage.. I've heard that every party member that joins you, you get to assign all their skill points which will help. That being said large fights, ie dragons, are hard even if you over level the dragon its hard. Dragons are suppose to be hard though, and most you don't really have to kill usually. I think one of the hardest fights was killing Flemeth.

@panelhopper: IF you liked Kotor you should like this. Problem solved!

I definitely recommend watching the quick look for getting a feel for the game. From the outlooks the game looks like it is probably a hybrid between Dragon Age 1 and 2 with it giving players something more of the presentation side of the first one (create your own character, lush and different settings) and keeping the more action orientation of the second game (you get more of a third person behind the player side view and you could probably play the game without pausing). I for one enjoy both of the previous Dragon Age games but I have to admit the top down D&D, pause the game when in a jiff combat is probably more of my forte. It's cliche to say but the game does definitely remind me of the Mass Effect / Witcher rpg action style

Game looks great though and people I know who are coming from a kotor / elder scrolls fanbase did really enjoy at least the first Dragon Age game. The reviews have kinda confirmed for at least me that this is worth a pickup.

@i_stay_puft: @humanity: Awesome! That was my gut feeling anyway to be honest. I've watched the QL twice now, I really like what I'm seeing, I think the character creator might suck me into a vortex lol

This is a great representation of my current thoughts.

@thebluthcompany: Yeah, I'm kinda there too. I was hoping Unity would keep me entertained over this week/weekend. I got it from Gamefly yesterday. Haven't played much, but it just doesn't seem anywhere near as fun as Black Flag. I'm not having much desire to turn it on.

@thebluthcompany: I was like that about AC Unity...until it became the nightmare it currently is, so I bumped Inqustion from number 3 on my list of excitement to number 2 (first place belongs to The Witcher 3 until further notice.)

@panelhopper: I feel kinda bad for Far Cry 4.. I'm picking it up Tuesday but I probably won't play it for at least two weeks.

KOTOR.

You like it?

Probably you will like this. So far as combat anyways. It's a slightly more actiony KOTOR but in broadstrokes the two systems are extremely similar.

The Economy is counting on you.

I really thought I was going to love DA:I but the early access trial has me reconsidering. Sure, you don't have to mess with the other party members but the combat is not overly exciting if you dial the difficulty back and ignore the strategy. The story and world seem cool but it is not focused on action like a Diablo type RPG. Like the OP, I don't care to micromanage and do the turn based strategy stuff and to ignore it leaves the game feeling a little less robust.

LotR Mordor is supposedly very similar to Batman and Assassins Creed but in a fantasy setting. I think I may go with that title instead as it will be more action orientated and I have heard nothing but good things about the "Nemesis" system as well. That or rebuy Diablo on next gen - probably more RPG elements than Mordor but maybe not as fluent a story. IDK - I am just not feeling DA:I at this point.

If you enjoyed any of the previous Dragon Age games or the Mass Effect games, then yes you should get Inquisition.

Wait a minute.... You don't like the combat on hard because it requires you to pause, actually plan, and is ... hard so that takes too much effort. You also don't like the combat on lower difficulties because it is easier and doesn't require all the micromanaging and pausing? So basically you don't want the game to be hard, but don't want it to be easy cause that's boring? Maybe the problem is you just don't like party based RPG's. The other games you mention have almost nothing in common with DA:I but all share similarities with themselves in some ways. Why anyone would want to rebuy Diablo 3 is beyond me though.

As an aside Mordor is not an RPG by any stretch of the imagination. It's gameplay is like the Arkham games... only in Mordor, with swords, and lots and lots of Orcs. It has basically 0 RPG elements.

Buy Final Fantasy XII instead.

@fredchuckdave said:

Yep. Easily the game with the best and most control over the characters you're not controlling directly. I wish more developers would just blatantly copy the gambit system.

I hate these threads where people ask if they should buy something or not.

Here let me solve it for you: Do you like Bioware RPGs?

Did you like the first Dragon Age?

Do you like the fiction of Dragon Age?

If you answer yes to all three buy the game immediately if you have the money. If you answered yes two question than wait for reviews/word of mouth. If you answered yes to only one than wait for a discount. If you answered no to all three than don't buy.

I definitely agree with this, I never felt like I was lacking control over my characters in FFXII.

I never finished Origins nor played II but the massive environments this game supposedly has won me over and I bought it. The combat looks way more action-y than Origins anyway and I can use a controller on the PC version! Also, the combat in Origins isn't that far off from the combat in KOTOR and Inquisition looks like it's not too far from the combat in Origins, so you shouldn't have a problem with combat.

Diablo 3 isn't a game that I would describe as "micro-management". It's more like "rapidly clicking on things until your mouse or your finger breaks".

Anyway, there are plenty of Dragon Age Inquisition gameplay videos kicking around the internet if you want to see how it plays.