Even though PC gamers have been able to enjoy the latest fixes and content additions in “Dragon Age: Inquisition” for a while now, the contents of Patch 3 and 4 were not yet released on the game’s console editions until now, even though fans have been requesting the patches quite vocally. And now, the wait is finally over, as BioWare have released an update for the game on consoles, bringing it up to date with the current state of the PC version.
The patches are mostly focused on fixing bugs, though they do introduce some new minor gameplay mechanics that make the overall experience smoother and more refined. In addition, the studio has made improvements to the game’s atmosphere that should improve its level of immersion, something that has been criticized due to certain small issues. For example, party banter has been made more responsive and frequent, avoiding the problem where parties would go for long periods of time without any conversations.
The game’s multiplayer has been improved as well, fixing some exploits that have been reported by the community, and improving the online experience as a whole. Balance has been improved too, particularly with regards to key drops; it should be noted that BioWare have stated that they’re still aware of several issues with the online experience and are continuing to track them, though it’s not known when they will possibly be fixed. Among those is a problem where monsters can sometimes get out of the playable area.
So far, players have been reporting an overall much smoother and more balanced experience, both online as well as in the single player parts of the game, although there still seems to be some room for improvement, particularly with regards to online play. BioWare still have some work to do and are well aware of that fact, however.
Also, players should get new gameplay effects on their shields even if they’ve crafted them before the new patch, as the update’s changes have been retroactively applied to items crafted before Patch 3. In general, players should not reach any situations where recent changes to the properties of an item leave them in an unfavorable situation, as any positive changes to items are applied to their older copies as well.
Meanwhile, the success of “Dragon Age: Inquisition” has prompted some gamers to ask BioWare to copy features from the game into their upcoming “Mass Effect 4”. However, BioWare seem to have no intention of doing that, at least not so directly, as the studio has stated that they’re trying to make the new “Mass Effect” as original as possible, and don’t want to resort to copying their other titles.