Face-Off: Dragon Age: Inquisition

EG - For all their accomplishments, it's fair to say that previous episodes in the Dragon Age saga lacked something when it came to visual polish and technical acumen - but Inquisition is something different and something really special. BioWare utilises DICE's Frostbite 3 technology not just to produce a beautiful, well-optimised experience, but also to open up the gameplay.

While previous instalments in the series were limited to small areas divided by loading points, Inquisition now presents maps much larger in scale and detail. This new world is massive and ripe for exploration, complete with beautiful, detailed visuals - and as an added bonus, performance is much improved over previous BioWare console efforts. We've been spending some time with the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC versions of the game and each one offers an excellent experience worth jumping into - but there are some fascinating differences between each offering.

[jackanderson1985]

PC is the best, X1 has smoother framerates overall, PS4 on the smoother image... so PC win, Console a questionable draw seeing as framerate dips are minor on PS4... in my opinion anyways

[freshslicepizza]

you wrote pretty much what the article did yet got more disagrees than agrees. strange

[vishmarx]

id take 1:1 pixel ratio any day over minor frame drops in a 100hr slow paced game
also as far as the disagrees go
As a rule, Eurogamer's starkly contrasting behavior during PS3/360 gen and their behavior during PS4/XBO gen is very instructive. We have some of the exact same writers downplaying massive issues they never failed to bring up before now trying to pretend these issues are not important or essentially nonexistent despite reams of evidence to the contrary. Digital Foundry has consistently been embarrassing for them. Every single goddamn article they make they try to downplay massive differences in the engine between PS4 and XBO whilst propping up the few areas an XBO game might be better and trying to make some asinine middle-of-the-road conclusion about how you really can't go wrong with either version they're basically the same anyway! Last gen PS3 games would be literally eviscerated for differences, despite the fact many of the differences between PS4 and XBO are even bigger from a technical perspective than the gaps between PS3/360 titles.

i know people dont care as much about tech differences as fun...but to point them out reasonably and accurately is is literally their fkn job

[SilentNegotiator]

Except, no, he didn't, considering he doesn't mention resolution differences and makes it sound like there's a serious difference in framerates.

[Shineon]

The only reason they disagreed with u is because you said the Xbox one has a smoother frame rate compared to ps4. Its a summary people!bubble up

[SilentNegotiator]

There's not much of a noticeable difference in framerate between the two consoles and the Ps4 version is 1080p (Xbone 900p).

[MasterCornholio]

"Frame-rate drops are extremely rare, only appearing in the most extreme circumstances - for all intents and purposes we're looking at a locked 30fps."

Thats what i want hear. Ill read a few more reviews but I'm almost certain that ill get this game for my PS4.

Bioware did a great job with all platforms.

@Heman and KNWS

Talk about delusional. LOL

[rayzorn]

i got 26 hours into this game already on ps4.

if there are any frame rate drops they are either very slight that i did not notice them. or they are farther in the game. dont let this article scare you about drops. it looks and plays great.

[yarbie1000]

The quote your referencing is for the Xbox.

Performance-wise, Xbox One version that delivers the smoothest experience overall. Frame-rate drops are extremely rare, only appearing in the most extreme circumstances - for all intents and purposes we're looking at a locked 30fps.

Unfortunately, the higher resolution on PS4 comes with a catch in the form of noticeable performance dips during strenuous sequences. During a normal run of play, the game does a good job of maintaining the target frame-rate but frame-rate faltered sometimes during battle sequences and sometimes even traversal across the landscape.

[SilentNegotiator]

lol "noticeable performance dips". You mean the occasional 2 dropped frames?

[PygmelionHunter]

Yeah. I saw the game being reviewed on X1 and it looked absolutely stunning, and yet there's people complaining about the graphics even on the PC version... What the heck is wrong with these gamers??

Anyway, I'll get it on PS4 as that's what I got. I doubts a couple of slowdowns to 25fps during intense fights will hold back my level on enjoyment on this game. It'll also mark the first time I play a Dragon Age game!

[Lenrulesdaworld]

Thanks you, this I believe is how most xbox one gamers feel. The game can be sub 1080p but is the game fun, enjoyable. If not then all that bullshit doesn't matter, am i right.

[SilentSolid]

I would rather have better peformance if it means they have to sacrifice the resoultion on ps4 to 900p. I hate framerate drops below 30.

[JackVagina]

Well id rather a permanent 1080p in a 100 hour game then 1-2 super rare fps drops that you wont even notice.

[SilentSolid]

But I will notice. If I buy this game I will obviously buy the PC version (cuz I'm sensitive when it comes to things like framerate). But If I had to choose between xbox one and ps4, I would buy the xbox version if it really is performing better.

They should optimize all games for best possible framerate. Not the other way around, Just because they can and sacrifice other things instead.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

The frame rate drops do not affect gameplay at all. A drop of 1 to 2 frames is insignificant when you consider the fact the PS4 version is actually running at 1080p which causes the PS4 to actually work harder than the 900p xbox one version.

It's like having two cars, one a 16 valve DOHC 4 cylinder and the other 20 valve DOHC 5 cylinder and the 5 cylinder car has four people in it and the 4 cylinder car has 1 person driving it.

Which one will run smoother?

Duh the 4 cylinder because it's doing less work.

[Robearboy]

Resolution or frame rate, which is more important? Agree for res, disagree for frame rate

[SilentSolid]

I will not upvote. But I will say framerate

[SilentNegotiator]

If it's ~2 frames vs ~600,000 pixels of resolution?

Resolution.

[u got owned]

Frame rate all day.

[GTgamer]

Why not both why should we have to choose :/ this is next generation their should be a standard set y'all wanna go back and forth with this nonsense.

[u got owned]

Maybe because this consoles aren't powerfull enough.

[SilentSolid]

That means the game will not look as good. (Overall Graphics). And since we are talking about consoles with limited hardware... I don't think many developers want to sacrifice the overall graphics and push the resolution and framerate. They should If you ask me, But that doesn't happen often.

[Xsilver]

@ugotowned
@silentSolid
yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh righttttttttttttttttt you know why games are getting sooo many goddamn patches is because DEVs know they can fix what they didn't get to fix in development later on back when game problems couldn't get patched in later Devs made sure they made an altogether product and that's the cold dark truth because if you say the consoles aren't powerful enough then your saying inquisition maxed out the PS4(which it didn't) in time you'll see bigger games than inquisition because of better optimization that's how consoles work and that has yet to change.

[SilentSolid]

@Xsilver

Don't expect too much from the consoles. They are consoles after all with limited and outdated hardware. Sure they can optimize games and get different results. But that doesn't mean they won't have to sacrifice other things. Even in the future, cuz u know.. It's still the same hardware inside the box.

[AsheXII]

I think in this case we are splitting hairs either way. If you have to put two pictures side by side, zoom in and stare at them for a while before noticing a different it means you're splitting hairs.

If you have to have a videograph to notice a few frametrate drops it means you're splitting hairs.

[Father__Merrin]

Ps4 version overall looks and plays better, hit that reply/enter key all you want you can't change anything

Can't wait to read your replies few years down the line.

[Volkama]

.

I hit enter quite a lot. But you're right, the N4G comment system just edits out the bad formatting :(

[windblowsagain]

PS4 is pushing more then 31% more pixels,lol.

1920x1080

vs

1600x900 is 44% difference.

Plus PS4 is doing higher quality tessellation.

It'll be patched to smooth frame rate some more.

[ultralow]

lol so the fps is locked on xbone and up and down on ps4....that somehow is not an issue for the ps4 crowd when months ago they where all are xbone games that dropped frames...hmmn

[yewles1]

Missing highlights and certain fixed 30fps animations on PC at 60fps, while cutscenes have performance issues on all platforms. Maybe this game needed a little extra time to cook...

[ShowGun901]

well, since i have to look at the screen the ENTIRE time i play Dragon Age, and i've only noticed one time it POSSIBLY dropped some frames (i think, it was only for a split second), i'll take HQ tessellation and 1080p all day long... frame rate drops are occasional, rez and tesselation are FOREVER LOL!

[DOMination-]

I'm playing on ps4 and notice when i move the minimap goes all fuzzy. Not sure if thats an intended effect but its quite jarring.

Haven't noticed any frame rate drops though. Great work ang great game from Bioware

[purp13m0nk3y]

Disable motionflow (or what ever it's called on your TV) and/or set your tv to "game mode" if you have the option.

Fixed this issue on my SONY W800B. I usually have the TV set to "animation" present for most games as this offers the highest level of motion smoothing and post processing.

It usually work wonders in smoothing out 30fps motion but on some titles it causes artefacts and weird shimmering some HUD elements.

Switching to "Game Mode" eliminates any of these issues due to it disabling any post processing normally carried out by the TV's hardware. Game mode is also awesome for competitive multiplayer as it reduces input lag to approximately 20ms.

[CaptainObvious878]

I thought graphics didn't matter to the xbone crowd? A few dropped fames on the PS4 version on rare occasions and they scream victory at the top of their lungs.

Like a few other sensible have been saying here, I'll take 44% more pixels and higher tessellation over the occasional frame drop.