Dragon Age Inquisition (Microsoft Xbox One, 2014)

The third entry in BioWare's high-fantasy action RPG, Dragon Age: Inquisition takes place in the midst of an ongoing war between mages and templars, and charges players with tracking down those responsible for sewing cataclysmic chaos. Gamers choose their character's sex, select from the Dwarf, Elf, Human, and Qunari races, and pick between the powerful melee attacks of a Warrior, the stealthy arrows and daggers of a Rogue, or the elemental magic of a Mage. They then form a party of four and set off on an adventure across the varied environments of the continent of Thedas.

Though not truly an open world, the lands of Thedas were designed to be larger and much more varied than in any previous Dragon Age title, so much so that mounts have been included for the first time in the series. There are 12 potential companions from which to choose, each with unique skills and aspirations, and as the story unfolds players will begin to form complex and possibly romantic relationships with other characters. The action finds gamers capturing forts to open new areas for exploration, setting up new camps to deploy troops, fortifying strongholds, and engaging in battles against all manner of creatures, including dragons so massive players must attack their limbs and tails individually to fell them.

Combat occurs in real time from a third-person perspective, gamers can switch between party members at any time, and they can also pause the action and view the current battlefield from a top-down perspective to deploy traps and strategically place their characters. The spoils of war, found loot, and crafted items can then be used to customize weapons and armor, and upgrade more than 200 spells and abilities. The choices made in conversations and in battle can have far-reaching implications on future missions and interactions with other characters in the single-player mode, but Inquisition also includes a separate, four-player co-op mode that focuses less on narrative, and more on crafting, loot, and dungeon crawling.