INTRODUCTION:
Like its predecessors, Dragon Age: Inquisition released multiple pieces of story DLC. Unlike them, however, only the first of the three was released for all platforms. Gamers who played on a Playstation 3 or an XBox 360 were denied the latter two expansions... which in Trespasser's case, arguably denied them the game's true ending. An odd choice, given that neither DLC seemed to have technical demands that outstripped those of the base game; if the rest of Inquisition could run, albeit with long load times, on an XBox 360, then surely those DLC packs could have.
In any case, as with the previous releases, I will break down the three expansions individually - though for best value, gamers would be advised to just pick up the Game of the Year edition that includes the base game along with a code to download all expansions.
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| A quest for the first Inquisitor leads to startling revelations. |
JAWS OF HAKKON:
Release Date: March 24, 2015
A scholar uncovers clues in the Frostback Basin regarding the long-lost resting place of Ameridan, the first Inquisitor. The party arrives expecting a hunt for academic research. Instead, they find themselves caught between two groups of Avvar: the comparatively peaceful tribe at Stone-Bear Hold, and the "Jaws of Hakkon." At first, the Hakkonites seem to be just particularly aggressive bandits. Soon, however, the Inquisitor learns that the group plans to awaken an ancient evil in order to launch a full-scale invasion!
There's a lot that's good about The Jaws of Hakkon. The Frostback Basin is a well-designed area, with a terrific contrast of environments. The quests at Stone Bear-Hold are engaging, and the conflict with the Hakkonites makes for a reasonably interesting mini-campaign.
Unfortunately, it takes a long time to really get into that conflict, with about half of the DLC's 8 - 10 hours (too long, by the way) spent in the usual pursuit of collectibles and side quests. Engagement is further hampered by Bioware's decision to present almost all of the story only through the game engine. You would expect to get a cut scene when arriving in Stone Bear-Hold, or when first speaking with the chieftain there. You would be wrong - You are left to watch these interactions, no matter how long, from a distance. This design decision doesn't even carry throughout the expansion; in the final 1 - 2 hours, major dramatic scenes suddenly are represented by cutscenes, making it all the more bewildering that the rest of the story avoids them.
Ultimately, the good bits outweigh the bits that test gamer patience... But like Dragon Age: Inquisition itself, I'm left thinking that this would be better at half the length, with less pointless trudging and more emphasis on story content.
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| A journey into the heart of the Deep Roads, and the unexplored depths beyond... |
THE DESCENT:
Release Date: Aug. 11, 2015
The Deep Roads are experiencing persistent earthquakes, leading to collapsing mine shafts and renewed swarms of darkspawn. The Inquisition agrees to help, with the Inquisitor joining Renn, a Legion of the Dead lieutenant, and Valta, a dwarven Shaper. But as the group descends ever further, it becomes clear that these quakes are more than natural disasters, and that dwarven history is hiding some deadly secrets...
The Descent has been widely acknowledged as the weakest of Inquisition's expansion. It's hard to argue, though it is at least more interesting than Origins' Deep Roads DLC, The Golems of Amgarrak. The Deep Roads are less repetitive than in earlier games, and there are even some eye-catching visual moments and a pretty good final boss battle (though that battle becomes very easy once you figure out its gimmick).
Even so, it never rises above the level of "modest diversion." Both the story and the guest characters are unmemorable; and even if you decide to be a completist with the collectibles quests (and there's really no reason to), the whole thing is over in less than four hours. If you have the Game of the Year edition, there's no reason not to play it... But if you somehow ended up with the vanilla release, then this expansion is not worth an additional purchase.
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| The Inquisition is summoned to a council that will decide its future - if it even has one! |
TRESPASSER:
Release Date: Sept. 8, 2015
It's been two years since Corypheus's defeat, and the Inquisition's influence has begun to wane. Neighboring kingdoms worry that they could become a threat, and even past good deeds are being reframed as potential staging grounds for invasion. An Exalted Council is called to decide the Inquisition's future - whether to disband it or to subject it to outside oversight.
The council is soon interrupted. Qunari are using eluvians to attack the Inquisition as a prelude to a holy war. The Inquisitor's party must pursue the assassins through the magical paths. It's a pursuit that brings the group ever closer to an unexpected reunion - and it won't be a happy one!
Though Trespasser is not the largest of the game's expansions, it is by far the most substantial. Your choices determine whether the Inquisition ends or whether it continues in a weakened state; either way, the status quo left at the end of the main game is toppled. The Qunari are advanced as a genuine threat to Thedas's stability, their attitude recalling the Arishok from Dragon Age II as they move closer to an official decision to impose the Qun across Thedas. Finally, a new threat is introduced, presumably paving the way for Dragon Age 4.
I'll admit to wishing this expansion did more with the political situation, an intriguing thread that is left frustratingly underdeveloped. That's more than made up for, however, by all the things this expansion does right: the sense of catching up with old friends and learning a bit about how they've moved on in the intervening years; the engagingly surreal fantasy element of traveling through the mirrors; the strong emotion of the final scenes.
In the end, Trespasser provides Inquisition with the one thing the main game lacked: a genuinely satisfying ending.
OVERALL:
The Dragon Age: Inquisition story expansions are a bit of a mixed bag. Trespasser is essential, in my opinion, to the point that I'd say the game feels actively incomplete without it. The other two DLC packs are basically filler. Jaws of Hakkon offers a good story, but questionable presentation choices and a fair bit of needless bloat make it less than it should have been, while The Descent is utterly expendable for any but Deep Roads enthusiasts.
All of the expansions are at least enjoyable. But given the excellent DLC that was prepared for Dragon Age II (DLC that was in some respects better than the main game), I couldn't help but be disappointed in just how "extra" the first two of Inquisition's expansions ended up seeming.
If you have the Game of the Year Edition, you should obviously play all three. But if you have to buy the DLC packs separately, the only one that is truly worth an extra purchase is Trespasser... though Trespasser absolutely should not be missed.
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