Rio Hawthorne

The long awaited sequel to Dragon Age may not have had what I was expecting, but it stands up as its own game and a new perspective on Northern Thedas. It's a miracle we got this game at all, and it carries the legacy of its predecessors. As a fan since 2012, I can say with certainty this game has taken me home to Thedas. Gameplay is incredibly smooth and entertaining, I haven't found it tedious which I do in almost every other game. Each fight feels fulfilling and party combinations make switching party fun. The companions are so rich and complex and feel like a huge step up from DA2 and DAI, they exist more as their own people outside of your character. Each plot and character is compelling and seeing how your dynamic changes based on your origin choice makes replaying it exciting. The location, atmosphere, and music is all breathtaking. Every area is photomode worthy and I've found myself stopping and staring for 10, 20 minutes. While it's always going to be extremely disappointing that (nearly) no choices from former games [I'm only about 20 hours in so maybe it changes later] are carried over, it's still Thedas, it's still home, and it still carries itself in that setting beautifully. It's a fresh start to completely new areas that we've never had the chance to see before.