jackrabbit
N2
Flammable! ...Or inflammable? Forget which- doesn't matter!
Posts: 78 Likes: 89
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jackrabbit
Flammable! ...Or inflammable? Forget which- doesn't matter!
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December 2016
jackrabbit
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Post by jackrabbit on Jan 7, 2017 21:13:19 GMT
My issue isn't that Hawke sticks around in Kirkwall. It's that I find the plots of each act disconnected from one another. I'd be fine with the story if it seemed like one coherent plot. It doesn't. It's more like three separate main plots with the only connecting factor being Hawke's involvement. So... Hawke is Kirkwall's Batman now? He/she is just the person that takes care of trouble in the city when it arises? Okay, fine. Tell me this, though. Would this be a good Batman movie? Act 1: The joker attacks Gotham with joker toxin and Batman stops him! Act 2: Scarecrow kidnaps Robin and Batman stops him! Act 3: Mr. Freeze wages a war on Gotham and Batman stops him! As three separate plots in a shared universe those are fine. If that were the structure of a single Batman movie it would be a mess. That's my point. DA 2 has no coherent, unifying plot. It's just: stuff happens in Kirkwall, Hawke steps in. Yes: the coherence is Hawke, the people (companions and NPC-s) and Kirkwall. This is an introduction for the Inquisition, and a It connects the story of the blight with the Inquisition's story. The frame is Cassandra's investigation. Unfortunately shows, that it's unfinished, hasty action... Blame the EA! I do blame EA, not Bioware. I think they wanted to capitalize on the success of DA:O and didn't give DA:2 enough time. They wanted to treat it like a yearly franchise. It's telling that DA:O was a sleeper hit while DA:2 sold very well initially then sharply dropped off in sales as word spread. Of course, EA is pretty well hated and I'm willing to blame them for ME3's rushed finale as well- although we also know that Casey Hudson and Mac Walters hashed out a really underdeveloped ending and didn't even run it by the other writers because it made sense to them.
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Sifr
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Aug 25, 2016 20:05:11 GMT
August 2016
sifr
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire
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Post by Sifr on Jan 9, 2017 0:22:14 GMT
I do blame EA, not Bioware. I think they wanted to capitalize on the success of DA:O and didn't give DA:2 enough time. They wanted to treat it like a yearly franchise. It's telling that DA:O was a sleeper hit while DA:2 sold very well initially then sharply dropped off in sales as word spread. Of course, EA is pretty well hated and I'm willing to blame them for ME3's rushed finale as well- although we also know that Casey Hudson and Mac Walters hashed out a really underdeveloped ending and didn't even run it by the other writers because it made sense to them. Yeah, the idea that ME3 was rushed before the ending was properly done does make sense if you imagine that EA wanted a sure-fire hit to combat the negative reception that DA2 got, due to them again forcing Bioware to meet an impossible deadline. The complete clusterfrack that resulted (and got them voted worst company in America) did at least seem to get EA somewhat with the program, that they should let Bioware operate on their own schedule and offer them extensions if they feel they need it.
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Nov 26, 2017 12:37:49 GMT
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fylimar
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Aug 16, 2016 18:31:34 GMT
August 2016
fylimar
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire
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Post by fylimar on Jan 9, 2017 18:18:48 GMT
My issue isn't that Hawke sticks around in Kirkwall. It's that I find the plots of each act disconnected from one another. I'd be fine with the story if it seemed like one coherent plot. It doesn't. It's more like three separate main plots with the only connecting factor being Hawke's involvement. So... Hawke is Kirkwall's Batman now? He/she is just the person that takes care of trouble in the city when it arises? Okay, fine. Tell me this, though. Would this be a good Batman movie? Act 1: The joker attacks Gotham with joker toxin and Batman stops him! Act 2: Scarecrow kidnaps Robin and Batman stops him! Act 3: Mr. Freeze wages a war on Gotham and Batman stops him! As three separate plots in a shared universe those are fine. If that were the structure of a single Batman movie it would be a mess. That's my point. DA 2 has no coherent, unifying plot. It's just: stuff happens in Kirkwall, Hawke steps in. The main plots do connect: You have the mage/templar problems from teh beginning. You get introduced to it in Anders quest to save Karl and again in two or three side plots involving mages and templars. You get, that there are problems, that need to be addressed. If you talk to different people (like that city guard in the prologue) you even get to know, that Meredith claims much more power than she should have as a knight commander. Same with the Qunari: the conflict between chantry and qunari is tehre from act 1 onwards with the qunari friend of Seamus, who got killed, then you have SIster Petrice and her scheming and if you talk to the Arishok you get his disdain for Kirkwall. The killing of Viscount Dumar in act 2 helps Meredith in her rise to power, which causes the problems in act 3. The indifference of grand cleric Elthina causes trouble throughout the game. The idol, that changes Meredith for the worse is found in act 1 ...
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Sifr
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Aug 25, 2016 20:05:11 GMT
August 2016
sifr
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire
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Post by Sifr on Jan 14, 2017 5:11:31 GMT
^ Precisely, to say that the plot of DA2 is disjointed isn't really paying attention to the events, because the game shows us the various cause-and-effect actions that carry throughout the game and the various acts. If Hawke had never met Javaris and decided to hunt the Tal-Vashoth, as well as never have dealt with the Saarebas, they'd never have gotten the Arishok's attention or impressed him. The Arishok wouldn't have requested Hawke serve as mediator between the Qunari and the Viscount, putting them front and centre during the breakdown of relations, leading to them becoming Champion of Kirkwall after they resolves the conflict. My issue isn't that Hawke sticks around in Kirkwall. It's that I find the plots of each act disconnected from one another. I'd be fine with the story if it seemed like one coherent plot. It doesn't. It's more like three separate main plots with the only connecting factor being Hawke's involvement. Couldn't you throw that same accusation at Origins, as various separate plots all connected by Warden's involvement? What do the Werewolves have to do with the Circle Tower? What does the Urn of Sacred Ashes have to do with Ostagar? What does Orzammar have to do with Soldier's Peak? Save for the overarching plot thread of the Warden trying to find allies to unite to combat against the Blight, there's little really tying certain events in Origins together. You can even apply it to other fictional settings. What does Dany's Dragons and the Night's Watch have to do with the War of Five Kings in A Song of Ice and Fire? For multiple books those plot threads have remained relatively separate from each other, only slowly becoming more intertwined as the novels have gone along. Multiple narrative threads running throughout a work isn't a bad thing or even something unique to DA2?
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