Inquisitor is a role-playing video game developed by Czech company Cinemax. The game was originally released in 2009, and was in development for almost 10 years. Three more years were needed to translate the game into English and it was released on GOG.com on September 5, 2012. On June 1, 2013, Inquisitor was greenlit on Steam.
Gameplay
Inquisitor plays similarly to Baldur's Gate series, being a top-down role-playing game. Firstly, the player chooses his character from the classes of priest, paladin or thief. The player then travels throughout the world, fighting against monsters along the way. The player also investigates crimes against God and the king by finding evidence against the suspect, after which they may be arrested, tortured, and, after conviction, burned at the stake. It is, however, possible to mistakenly arrest innocents should false evidence be found.
Evidence in Inquisitor includes the testimony of other characters in the game, as well as items found at location where the crime was committed. It is also possible to draw conclusions from seemingly unrelated information. Found evidence is recorded in character's notebook.
The game has an estimated playing time of 100 hours. Inquisitor includes more than 200 weapons, 80 spells and 7 types of magic, alongside over 90 types of monster to combat.
Plot
The setting of Inquisitor is the fictional kingdom of Utherst, in which the omens of the Prophecy of Saint Ezekiel have started to appear, foretelling the end of the world. The game chronicles the efforts of the titular Inquisition to fight against heresy in light of this. The main character Maxmilian Conti is an Inquisitor who is sent to the town of Hillbrandt to investigate the murder of a local merchant.
Maxmilian finds out that the merchant was murdered by Linda von Callagan a wife of a local noble. At first she refuses her guilt but later she confesses due to fear of murder by bishop Vallarian a highest ranking Inquisitor in area. It is revealed that Vallarian is a plotted all problems in Hillbrandt to retrieve an artifact found by the murdered merchant. He used the artifact to summon a demon Arthamon. Vallarian is executed but there are clues indicating that he was a member of an ancient cult trying to bring an apocalypse.
Maxmilian leaves Hillbrandt and continues his investigation in Glatzburg. There he seeks a help of a local priest Trevorius. When he gains his trust Trevorius is murdered. In the end the protagonist tracks down another member of the cult who is no less than Cardinal Truncquillius. Truncquillius is also arrested an executed but not before he summons a demon Bafomet to the world.
Maxmilian then goes to Alvaron, the capital of the kingdom. He gets there just a short time after death of the king. His investigation leads to his fight to all summoned demons and finding the actual leader of the cult - archbishop Lauentius. When he finds him, player can choose if he wants to join the cult or to stop it.
If he joins the cult, Laurentius is killed by a knight who shows up and attacks the player. When the knight is killed player has to defeat Archangel Gabriel. Player then revives the crown prince Louis who has to create a new world order.
If player decides to stop the cult he kills Laurentius but has to fight a fallen angel Azrael. When he defeats Azrael, the crown prince Louis is revived and becomes the new king. In outro it is revealed that pope sent a crusade against the kingdom and Louis has to lead his armies to defend the kingdom. Conti's fate is left unknown.
Development
Inquisitor was in development since 1999 when a company Wooden Dragon was founded. The project was financially supported by Cinemax. The game is inspired by Umberto Eco's works such as The Name of the Rose. The original release date was scheduled for 2001. In 2001 the game was delayed to 2002. The new release date wasn't scheduled.
In the end the development took 10 years and the game was finally released in November 2009. Developers started to focus on fixing bugs and translation to English. In 2012 the English version was released on GOG and in 2013 on Steam.
Reception
The game received average to positive reviews. It was praised for its story, atmosphere and scope, but was criticized for the quality of its graphics and its high difficulty.
