This handy list of mods makes Dragon Age: Inquisition short enough to play again before Dreadwolf comes out

I've clocked up nearly 400 hours playing BioWare's big fantasy RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition, which is not a stat I'm particularly proud of. I'm not ashamed either, partly because, as has been identified by artist Corey Brickley, via the Maw, there's a lot of filler. Brickley has collated a list of suggested mods to slim down Dragon Age: Inquisition from a potentially 80 hours-long epic to a trim 40 hour story-focused romp, which means you might be able to play through it again in time for the launch of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf - which is a direct sequel to Inquisition.

I find this list of mods interesting! It's a way to change the game quite substantially without exactly transforming it, and it's very in-keeping with my campaign to make games 60% smaller. Still, there's at least one item on there I'd push back on, but also this isn't really a new problem for Dragon Age as a series.

Among the mods Brickley suggests is one that makes looting instant, removing an animation of your Inquisitor bending over to pick plants which will honestly save you at least 2 cumulative hours over the course of the whole game. There's also one to boost loot, and an XP multiplier so you level up way faster. One that I would suggest is absolutely essential is the More Banter mod. Inquisition is party-based, and there are hundreds of lines of inter-party banter unique to different party combinations you might have, but in the base game they almost never trigger. This mod makes them actually happen, which is good.

I don't think removing the map Fog Of War is super necessary, although I get the appeal of having all the fast travel locations open straight away. But surely exploration is the most funnest bit of filler content in an RPG? Brickley also suggests one that makes actions at the in-game War Table all happen instantly and honestly, I think that one just makes the War Table unfun. I like the War Table! It's a decent bit of roleplayering in the game and making it all instant turns it into a dreary boxticking exercise. Might as well fuck the table out the window entirely.

People have always been trying to make Dragon Age a bit less annoying, though. Dragon Age 2, which is the cool kids' favourite Dragon Age, has the illusion of having a lot of filler because it reuses a bunch of the same cave maps when you go on missions, but because it's much shorter than the other two games, the mods are all just to give the women nicer hair. Going back to Dragon Age: Origins, one of the most popular mods is Skip The Fade, a mod that removes a chunk of the game on the basis that it is annoying to play through.

In the context of fandom I see Brickley's list, a compilation of work by different modders, as just another brick in the wall of tradition of Dragon Age fans being kind of annoyed by the series, and in that sense I welcome it. And I find it super interesting how transformative a selection of mods can be when they're not, in a sense, transformative. This list makes the game shorter without technically removing anything, which is fascinating to sit and think about.

The tradition of being annoyed by Dragon Age while simultaneously loving it looks set to continue. Dreadwolf - which could be out next March after about a decade in development - has been overhauled at least once, lost a bunch of staff (more than once) suffered some alleged leaks last year suggesting the combat could be real time action more akin to God Of War. So. That all sounds great. The stage is set for Dreadwolf's full reveal this summer.