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Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser DLC (2015) | game review
A bridge between franchise instalments.
DLC summary: After saving the world of Thedas by closing the Breach, your next mission determines the future of the Inquisition itself. Win a race against time to defeat a great evil that could devastate Thedas. (EA.com)
BioWare did it again. After hiding Dragon Age: Inquisition's main antagonist in the paid Legacy DLC of Dragon Age II, they do the same again here by doing most of the set-up for Dreadwolf again being restricted to paid DLC. Fine, it's pretty cheap nearly all the time now - mainly due to Inquisition coming up on its tenth birthday! - but it'll still be fucking annoying if they do the same again in the next game.
I do wonder how people who haven't played Trespasser will be introduced to the story though? I imagine there'll be some extensive dialogue or maybe a cutscene to fill in everyone on what happened in this piece of DLC, which is far more narrative-heavy than either The Jaws of Hakkon or The Descent. I have to say that this practice by BioWare has put me in the mindset of leaving Dreadwolf at launch (unless it gets a truly spectacular reception) and picking up a Complete/Ultimate edition further down the line.
And make no mistake, Trespasser really is vital to the ongoing story as it definitively closes the book on Inquisition's story - although the Inquisitor themselves are still around for a potential future appearance - and sets up Dreadwolf, and possibly more. A lot happens in this DLC that will surely have a significant impact on the world of Thedas - I'm hoping it doesn't lead to yet another over-stuffed, bloated disappointment of a game.
Again, the gameplay isn't really any different from before, although your Inquisitor should be powerful enough by this point now to practically solo encounters - which is a good thing, as the team-mate AI is still terrible and results in companions being taken out of battles just as easily as ever. Something else I hope improves in Dreadwolf.
The focus on narrative and steering clear of open world locations, giving the player a more focused experience is what ultimately elevates Trespasser well above the rest of Inquisition's content, and - knowing that this DLC received pretty great feedback - I hope that's something BioWare took on board, although it seems like there have been some development issues with the next game as there was with Inquisition, so I'm not too hopeful.
I do have to recommend Trespasser though, as I just can't see how you go from Inquisition to Dreadwolf without it - I honestly think brand new players to the series who start with Dreadwolf and have absolutely no expectations of any continuing story will be better off than anyone who beat Inquisition and both/either of the other pieces of DLC, but not Trespasser, as there are some pretty significant moments here that really do need to played through for the next game's story to make any sense.
Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser DLC is a case of saving the best for last as far as Inquisition's content goes, but still isn't anything to shout about and it sucks that the biggest piece of set-up for the fourth main game in the series is gated behind paid DLC. At the very least, this does offer hope that Dreadwolf might be something of a return to form for the franchise.
