Xbox Game Pass has just added Dragon Age Inquisition to their PC catalog, but instead of merely announcing the addition, the official account opted for a lighthearted approach. Their tweet went: “It’s always ‘the dragon is blighted’ and ‘slay the beast’ or ‘the dragon ate my homework,’ and never hi. How are ya? Cast any good spells lately?” coupled with the Dragon Age hashtag. I must say? The replies are far more entertaining than the original tweet.
For starters, the gaming community is wildly shattered over this. On one side, you have CrazyJ5, who’s writing with a smile, “This game is severely underrated, much better than the hate it receives. Give it a shot! ☺️,” which is sweet and optimistic. In stark contrast, you have people like AshlanderZ who simply typed in “Nope Im not playing it.” No rationale, no nothing, just straight-up rejection. The spectrum is wild.
Next is the…feel that BioWare is losing touch with their fanbase? Capt_NVM gave us “It’s almost like people have just given up on BioWare..” which, well, that one’s a little painful. And with jedi72_t saying “I’m pretty sure I was told this game isn’t for me by the developers,” which like, what does that even imply? Did BioWare tell customers straight-up they are not their audience? That seems like… terrible PR.
I see the Dragon Age fans commenting on everything have made their position clear per usual. Azureye96 stated to someone “I don’t care if it’s good enough. It’s still not better than Dragon Age: Origins. 🤷🏼♂️” which is the typical “the first one was better” attitude most ongoing franchises receive. No one company can seemingly measure up for the nostalgia overflow for Origins, and it is like the gold standard.
Attempting to draw attention to their own post, Xbox Game Pass replies with “hiiiiiii how are ya?” and “cast any good spells lately? 👀” but the gamers weren’t feeling the pretend. Shadows_0w replies with “Give Us #AchievementsonPC first then i’ll play it,” which is from a completely different issue—there’s a rumor that EA games on PC through the Xbox app don’t have achievements functioning properly? That is… no bueno.
There’s some random Polish gentleman (tomaszsudol1) who commented in Polish, “nie grałem nigdy. Nie mam sprzętu i czasu do grania. Wolę filmy i seriale.” which in English is, “I never played. I don’t have equipment and time to play. I prefer movies and series.” Like… why are you even here then my dude? Just to tell us you don’t game? Weird flex but okay.
The conversation took a more abstract turn — Fellow_Platypus went on about how the Ancient Dragon of Dark Souls 2 just wanted to sleep and that it’s cruel to kill him. Then BuffedPotatoOne replied, “He’s a deep fake of a real dragon, no wonder he’s so weak and wants to sleep all the time.” Deep fake dragons? What on earth is going on in this discussion?
There’s also straightforwardly hating. With “Wokeguard? No thanks,” MapacheLoco8 is shut down by Gremmin, who says, “Ah, Dragon Age: The Failguard.” The nickname game is ruthless, and the simplicity of DeadBatteryRed saying “Stop” is oddly potent.
Wait, there are several rational opinions. For instance, Stratos_Labakis shared a more relevant feedback that reads; “It does have some modern bad things and marvel writing but I enjoy its gameplay and combat. It is different from the classic DA formula to the extent that it’s like a different more hack ’n slash IP but don’t let reviewers predispose you try it for a few hours I have fun playing it,” which is quite a handful but readable.
With that in mind allows gamers actually try a game instead of getting dismissed by reviewers. On the other hand, Midge’s take, “If they’d simply let you be mean or rude in dialog, I would have given the game a chance. The fact your options are super agreeable, agreeable, and slightly less but still definitely agreeable ruins any excitement I had to play,” is a valid critique of RPG’s dialogue choices.
Maybe the most baffling is how many people are suddenly discussing dragons being misunderstood. SkySpiderGirl remarked, “Come live in my worlds, where Dragons are Godlike with sentience both good and evil,” which sounds pretty cool. Alma_lorien said, “The Dragon ate the script of this game so they had to improvise,” which is actually a pretty good burn.
Having Dragon Age Inquisition on Xbox Game Pass should be a positive thing — it’s a notable RPG that a lot of folks can play now for free, which is something to be excited about. But it doesn’t seem to be a positive thing if you pay attention to the replies, there’s an underlying concern here. They no longer say “hey, here’s a game.” Instead, they say “here’s a game, and it comes with all the baggage of expectations, past experience, developer reputation, and even broken achievements.”
Ultimately, this is yet another title that’s been added to Game Pass that people can check out if they want. Their is proclaimed acceptance ranges from enthusiasm to total disregard, but that seems to be the gamer mindset of 2024. Every individual carries an opinion, and they’re gladly shouting it out with emojis and no filter.
Could the true dragon be the friendships we forged? Maybe that’s a bit much. Seriously — if you’re a Game Pass subscriber and haven’t tried Inquisition, you should. Ignore the Twitter rants and form an opinion yourself. Well, unless you happen to be a stranger like me, because in that situation, you should trust my word. Completely forgetting my line of thought here, but dragons are amazing, games are subjective and the Twitter reaction is difficult to manage. Irrelevant to important matters.
