Dragon Age: Inquisition Reviewed on November 11 In the modern age of gaming, a question has been on the minds of many RPG players and developers: can the old, traditional tenets of the genre be upheld in today’s triple-A market? Dragon Age: Inquisition does more than just answer that question with a resounding “yes;” it raises the bar of design excellence for all large, open-world games. It would be difficult to go back to the fruitless waypoint-hunting, and tedious collect-a-thons that many other open worlds offer after spending over 100 rewarding hours getting lost in the realms of Ferelden and Orlais.Breathtaking vistas, excellent design, and deep RPG systems would mean little if they existed in a hollow world filled with one-dimensional characters, but Inquisition’s are anything but; the level of care that’s gone into fully-realizing its people and places is beyond impressive. Nuanced issues of race, faith, gender, and sexuality are woven skillfully and tastefully into one of the most elaborate tapestries of fictional history gaming has ever seen.Yet, for as deep as it mines, Dragon Age: Inquisition manages to be pleasingly approachable, and eminently playable. On the surface, it’s simple enough to bring less experienced RPG players along for the ride, yet complex enough that a seasoned veteran can still be discovering things well after the credits have rolled. It’s an extraordinarily rare case of having your cake and eating it too, and just one more reason why Dragon Age: Inquisition is IGN’s Game of the Year for 2014.