A day before PAX Aus, Xboxworld was invited to a preview of Dragon Age Inquisition at the very cool venue of Rutherglen House in Melbourne, down one of the city’s many laneways. Decked out like a hunting lodge with wood panelling walls and paintings covering every available surface and toilets and other rooms hidden behind seemingly innocuous panels, the portraits of the characters of the game blended in well with the surrounds.

My first shock was there wasn’t an Xbox One version of Dragon Age Inquisition playable. So this preview is based on the PS 4 / PC version. My second shock was just how nice the Playstation 4 controller was to use. This is why I don’t have either incidentally – every time I make up my mind to buy one or the other another reason crops up to change my mind. I’ll probably save up and get both during the inevitable Boxing Day stocktake sales.

Diving into the game, I was impressed by the depth of the character creator. I could have spent hours sculpting my Qunari Warrior, but instead I just pressed random because I wanted to jump straight into the game. And starting the game, it felt instantly familiar. The familiar ancillary characters from other games look better than ever thanks to the Frostbyte Engine, the sweeping orchestral sound track, and the wonderful environments took me to a place I have wanted to explore and learn more about since first setting foot many years ago.

But Dragon Age Inquisition didn’t grab me like it should have. Nothing immediately leapt out at me, shook me by the shoulders and said “you must rush out and pre-order this game”! Maybe I’ve spent too long in the mobile /indie space, where the market is so competitive you need to be grabbed by the balls right from the get go, otherwise you’re likely to wander off.

Maybe it’s because I chose to play a warrior, when my usual class is mage. I did this to get through the preview tutorial as quickly as possible, but now I kind of regret it. Don’t get me wrong, the combat felt nice, and I loved switching between real time and tactical battles so smoothly, but I found that I was sticking with my party caster more than my main character, with the melee combat not feeling as visceral as I would have liked. Magic has always been a far better mechanism in these games, and I’m definitely going to roll a mage when the game comes out.

And maybe it’s because I’m tired of the “Misunderstood Hero Trope” fantasy games so often use to tell their stories. Not giving too much away, you start out as a prisoner with a mystical ability and at the end of the tutorial wind up a hero, but then have to continue to prove yourself again and again and again. You know, just once I’d like to play a fantasy game where everyone realises, after I do something bloody awesome that no one else has been able to do, that I am actually bloody awesome, and everyone should love me, and stop double guessing me.

However, this criticism was short lived, because after the tutorial portion, the game opens up immensely and I got a glimpse of the variety of missions available, the fairly comprehensive crafting system, and a small hint at something darker within the storyline through some of the characters I met. It feels like there is great depth to the game, and it’s clear with the slow start this is a slow burn kind of game, as I do keep thinking about things I experienced during my brief time with the game, and I’m keen to get back to it.

I absolutely loved Dragon Age Origins. I’m one of the few people who enjoyed Dragon Age 2 for what it was. Hell, I even liked the Facebook game Dragon Age Legends! And from the small amount of time I spent with Dragon Age Inquisition, I know I’m going to be spending a lot of time with the game.