WORDPLAY, y’all. That’s what I’m bringing to the table today. Also, some minor spoilers for the very beginning of Dragon Age: Inquisition—so if you’re looking to stay pure, leave now (and then come back later once you’ve gotten past the introduction).

So last Thursday I found out all about the existence of a six hour early access deal on Dragon Age: Inquisition, if only I could be bothered to throw down five bucks to join EA Early Access or whatever it’s called for a month (Early Access membership would also give a five dollar discount on a copy of the game, and as I’d decided that this installment of the series would, as with its previous installments, be initially bought on something I knew could run it, I basically wound up paying full price for a game but got to play it early. Not a bad deal, if you ask me). The deed done, I fired up the game to see if it was, in fact, going to live up to the rather effusive reviews I’d seen sprinkled around the internet—Polygon with a 9.5, Rock Paper Shotgun with a “yeah this is good,” etc.

A bit of background: I’m a huge fan of the series—I wasn’t thrilled by Dragon Age 2, but I was willing to meet it on its own terms and came away having enjoyed myself (plus, the character interaction between party members, and indeed Hawk’s interaction with the various members of the party, were very strong regardless of the frankly inexcusable reuse of dungeons and environmental assets (the DLC was pretty good too)). I liked being caught in the middle of something over which I had very little control beyond trying to keep my companions safe through the madness—it was a nice counterpoint to the story of Origins; in one, you saved the world, and in the other, you couldn’t even manage to save your family, much less keep a city safe. It’s a topic I’ve written about before, so I won’t bother getting into it here.

I went into Inquisition having largely attempted to ignore much of the lead up to its release—beyond knowing that Morrigan would show up at some point, and that Varric would be back, I know very little about what’s going on. The game starts off in a very interesting manner—while Origins begins with a massive defeat and dishonor, Inquisition quite literally begins with saving the world. It’s a neat little spin on the way games usually start, and as my dwarven rogue groggily exited the cabin in which he’d been holed up in, post-world-saving, to find a crowd surrounding the cabin, and people claiming he was the Herald of Andraste—some holy woman dwarves don’t even believe in, much less give a shit about, the whiplash was palpable. The game, blessedly, realizes the fact that this situation is ridiculous, so my dwarf has, on several occasions, pointed out that he doesn’t even really buy into the whole Maker/Andraste thing, much less that he’s the herald of anyone, though he is, of course, more than willing to do what he can to prevent demons from running amok (especially because that helps keep the mark on his hand from getting any larger, and subsequently killing him).

The six hour deal did not allow me to really advance the plot (it literally locks off everything but the first zone), but the first zone is so massive and chock-full of people to help, rifts to close, and ruins to explore that I burned through my allotment of time having hardly scratched the surface. One side-mission in particular, involving a missing Inquisition scout, was particularly amusing. I even managed to have several conversations with my newfound allies, all of which hinted at larger, more in-depth character arcs to be had as the game progresses. So far, I am most partial to Varric and Cassandra’s nigh-constant back-and-forthing, as Varric can’t seem to help but vex his one-time captor. He seems determined to not allow her to forget that she was his captor at one point, though the two seem to slowly be fumbling their way into something not entirely removed from friendship—though endearingly, Cassandra’s attempts to inquire into Varric’s personal life and the state of his friends from DA2 have suffered from a lack of tact on her part and a prickliness on his that outlines the fierceness with which Varric feels loyalty to his allies, which in time I’m sure will include our merry band of heretics (because the Chantry declared us heretics for declaring an Inquisition). I HOPE THEY BONE. I’m a bit less certain about the new mage fellow, although he seems harmless in his way.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT, HOW DO THE CONTROLS FEEL?

Pretty damn good, as it turns out! The tactical combat view could do with the ability to zoom further out than it does (it is difficult sometimes to see what is going on, especially when you’re fighting among trees), but it quickly became something I thought I’d only use a few times to something I’ve used in nearly every fight. It’s quick and easy to switch between characters, program in their next move, and then move on to the next thing. The AI is smart enough that you can kind of let it run for the most part, although potion use remains frustratingly difficult for them to grasp—even when you program them to use potions at x% health, they don’t always seem to do so (or maybe I just was burning through potions too quickly and didn’t notice). Fighting in real time is suitably chaotic, and while I opted to go for real time battle in smaller skirmishes (say, getting attacked by a few wandering Templars or apostate mages), I found myself dying with a stunning swiftness in larger battles. That may just be my poor situational awareness, of course, but I really do recommend learning to love the tactical view because it adds a depth to the combat that real time fighting just can’t match up to. Plus, people shout in slow motion, and that’s always fun.

IS IT BROKEN LIKE EVERYTHING THAT RELEASED THIS MONTH?

Nope! I ran into a bugged quest (the NPC refused to talk to me so I could give him the item he’d asked for), but a quick detour to do something else seemed to fix it. It was a minor frustration which I haven’t seen anyone else mention, so I’ll take that as a good sign. EA’s six hour limit also tended to crash the game as it attempted to launch, but then had to bring up the screen telling me I was down to x hours at the worst possible time, but, as I mentioned, that was part of the Early Access wrapper fucking things up and probably not indicative of the fully unlocked experience (it’s also possible that my Xbox was just being a piece of shit, as a cold restart seemed to fix everything). If the few bugs I ran into do happen to be something that happens for multiple people, that’ll be a real bummer, but I’m choosing to be optimistic about this.

Anyway, the takeaway from all this? Inquisition hits the ground running narratively-speaking, looks gorgeous, controls well, and promises to devour very large chunks of my life. I’m super-curious to see where the story goes (I know Morrigan’s involved somehow (I think she might’ve been the person who pulled me out of the fade), and my Origins playthrough had her knocked up with a god baby, so that could be super-interesting). We’ll see, in a month or two when I’ve finally finished the game and can have a think and write about it all.

AN: Yes, a day late this week. I blame my friends’ wedding, thus necessitating a later recording of our podcast, which really just threw everything out of whack. WAY TO GET MARRIED, FRIENDS OF MINE. GOD. Also did I mention I do a podcast? You can hear me ramble a bit more about Inquisition there.