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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2017 12:45:55 GMT
I am a BioWare fan from the moment Baldur’s Gate 1 was released. I’ve missed DA franchise, and never really felt like playing it, mostly due to the burn-out on the fantasy style games. But, trying to detox from my almost 3 year long stay in MMOs (SWTOR mostly), and while eagerly waiting for Andromeda's release (I really love the MET!), I've decided to play Dragon Age as well.
Here are my parting thoughts:
DA:O is the closest game to the Baldur’s Gate 2, very much how I would imagine BG2 would have turned out if it was made in 3D with more resources poured into it. My main character was an Elven Mage, thought I played all intro origins segments. The Mage fit the game well, and I have progressed through the game steadily, if without a crazy breathless enthusiasm. The worst part of the game were Morrigan’s character and the Urn of the Sacred Ashes Questline. To BioWARE’s credit, I was able to kick Morrigan out immediately, which made my play through very happy in terms of character interactions. I’ve liked, if not loved the cast otherwise. Overall, I found the setting interesting, and giving a fair effort to appear medieval, deal with the medieval problems (such as succession) and give all factions interesting dimensions. I was mostly disappointed in the Darkspwan as main antagonists, as way too generic. Especial props go to BioWARE for making the dwarves interesting and starting to introduce a new race – Qunari- subtly in the narration.
Philosophically, the game dealt with the themes of medieval interpretation of duty and honor, ethics of determining future culpability and history vs memory.
The Awakening DLC is the best part of origins for me, because all of its quests were interesting to me, and the cast had introduced me to companions I really liked, Anders, Nathaniel, Sigurn and Velanna. Unfortunately, the small scale of the DLC did not allow you to play with all of them sufficiently long.
My most memorable moment in Origins: King Cailan charging and dying, and, subsequently, finding his body at Ostagar.
Dragon Age 2 won my heart out of the three games by introducing a game that shaved off pretty much any and all things that stand in a way of having one wild ride of a game, all on one excited breath! I absolutely loved DA2! Faster, easier gameplay, cool powers, awesome looking companions all of which were romanceable independently of gender/PC’s choices and absence of any hard choices. Save for Isabela, each companion was my favorite at some point or another. It took place in a city, and did not pretend that you are going about saving the world. I disliked the “human only” protagonist restriction, and the introduction of the main character family. I have also disliked it that the game was way too familiar the second time around. I tried to resolve every quest in the opposing way… and it made not a shade of difference. DA2 did not advance the lore much, but capitalized on what DA:O built, with adding a few bits of lore, particularly on Qunari society. It moved the setting forward in time from medieval to early industrial age. Area reuse was an unexpected budget saving move, though I did not notice it till way late in Act III. DA2 made no pretense of dealing with medieval problems. It dealt with philosophical issues of free will, freedom of choice, freedom of self-expression and ethics of determining future culpability.
Legacy DLC was a lovely way to take another look at your favorite characters and see a successful transition of your Hawke to an iconic Hawke.
My most memorable moment in Dragon Age 2: The explosion of the Chantry and Anders’ throwing himself at Hawke’s mercy
Inquisition is where BioWARE lost me as a player. The changes to the game were too dramatic and affected every aspect of it too deeply, unlike the DA:O that was by far a better compromise between the two extremes of Wanderer in Wonder vs What Happens NEXT? groups of players. There is a way to cut through the exploration component to the BioWARE’s core story, but it takes a know-how. PC does not have an interesting background and get to know you sequence; s/he remains throughout the game a bland “Paragon” without a trace of Hawke’s brilliance or the Warden’s roots. Most of the quests in the game are skippable and forgettable. The game substituted epic battles with interesting people you came to love to hate with lots of killing of more or less tough random strangers. The person who invented the War Table and hid it behind four doors shall spend a portion of his or her afterlife going through an infinitely long hall to something that they really need, opening a door after door after door…
The story and game atmosphere moved to the nineteenth century costumed for a Renaissance salon. The companions/advisors cast was the only easily recognizable BioWARE creation (But Morrigan’s heavy-handed return/force join was awful). Moving back to the exacting romancing standards of the past makes you face another waddling through a puddle-deep, ocean-wide content play-through to see 20 minutes of a different content “in romance”. Speaking of another PT, props for the idea of Dragon Age Keep, that’s one innovation I did like after figuring out how to use it, helpful with seeing at least a couple more of different outcomes.
Philosophically, the game deals with the nature of spirituality, the ethics of religious myth creation, history vs memory, and still touches upon the free will.
Trespasser DLC is extremely rich lore-wise, world-changing in some aspects, and sets up the most intriguing stage for the next game. The pacing of the story is excellent, until it inexplicably slows down and goes back to mowing down through the mob in a confusing and hard to navigate environment. As a revised ending of the Inquisition, Trespasser confirms BioWare’s commitment to keeping the player more interested in the world's fate and the doings of the important NPCs, rather than deeply invested into a single protagonist’s journey. The villain it introduces is by far the best take on a heart wrenchingly likable but implacable opponent. Should the next game happen, both the venerable Jonoleth Irenicus and Sarevok will be sorely challenged by him as the BioWARE’s most intriguing villain yet.
My most memorable moment in Inquisition: talking to Dorian in Skyhold about Tevinter.
If I had to express my impressions on the three games of the DA franchise in numbers, it would be:
DA:O + Awakening: 7 out of 10 DA2 + Legacy: 9 out of 10 Inquisition + Trespasser: 5 out of 10
Would I buy DA4? Probably. Likely on sale though :)
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Post by phoray on Mar 21, 2017 6:14:15 GMT
I've seen you mention that DA2 never changes based off the decisions you make. -If you make Bhelen King in DAO, Lord Harrowmont's son will ask for help fleeing the Carta in Act 1 of DA2. - Conditions I don't quite understand leads to a mission regarding the nobles of Amaranthine who tried to kill your Warden? Some of their associates have survived and made it to Kirkwall. As Hawke, you can finish the job. - If Nathaniel Howe survives Amarathine, he'll show up in the Deep Roads. - If Alistair is King, there will be a Cameo mission at Viscount's Keep where you can talk to him for a couple minutes. - If Alistair is a wandering Drunk, you get to see him too. - If Alistair/Loghain is a Grey Warden, he will replace Stroud as the Act 2 brief conversation. - If hawke's sibling is a Grey Warden, he will be there with Stroud/Alistair/Loghain - If you tell Cullen that Keran the Templar might just be possessed, and maybe he shouldn't be a Templar, the follow up missions on him change. His family becomes destitute and he becomes a drunk. - If you spare Idunna the Blood Mage, she gives up her wicked ways and either a codex can be found or a letter sent to you in thanks. But you can also kill her. - If the werewolf curse was lifted in DAO, then ex-werewolves will show up on the Wounded Coast. You can side with eitehr elves against them, with the wolves against the elves, or a DIplomatic Hawke can diffuse the situation and everyone lives. - If you Blackmail Ser Thrask, then ask him at Enemies AMong Us mission who he is, he'll say, "Oh really?Forgotten the man you've blackmailed already?" It was friggen hilarious. - You can actually side with that Racist bitch Patrice. - If you don't win the respect of the Arishok, he won't fight you in single combat and it's quite the bloody affair. -If Isabella comes back with the book, you can give her up to the Arishok. - Regardless of relationship with Fenris, you can sell him back into slavery to Danarius. Later, you get a letter, maybe even with money, about how he's all mind wiped and subservient again, just like the good ol' days. (I've never done it, but reading the letter on the Wiki made me cry for twenty minutes.) - If an Aggressive Hawke Rivals Aveline, she will punch the crap out of you in Act 3. - Isabella's friend Quest in Act 3, you can punch her out cold. The first time I ever got this mission I was playing Evil Hawke. Horrible and hilarious. - If Hawke doesn't get enough points with Aveline, she will side Templars. Then later, when you encounter, throw her sword down with an epic speech. "A life for a life." - Who gets kidnapped by the mage/templar underground depends on who is alive and how many points you have with them. Similar to the final goodbye on the Evac site of ME3. - You don't actually have to get Aveline with Donnic. The dialogue changes in Act 3. - If you have him, Sebastian will try to annex Kirkwall or push for an Exalted March in DAI if you don't kill Anders on the spot in DA2. Other people you can kill either intentionally or by game choices: - A lord that is a friend of Sebastian's IF you worked for Meeran in the Prologue
- Javaris Tintop
- Idunna
- Ser Thrask
- The Entire Dalish Clan
- Ella
- Fenris's sister, Verania
- Fenris
- Anders
- Merril
- Your own sister, Bethany (in three different ways.)
- You own brother, Carver (in two different ways)
- That Orlesian Assistant of the mage who kills your mum (you can kill in battle, Varric will kill him, or you can find him later, torture him a bit, then knife him.)
- Samson (although retconned in DAI. I've had him hung by Cullen. )
And that's just what can change based off the top of my head. Not to mention all the flavor dialogue changes based on if you rival or friend someone. Also, if you do Fenris's missions in a different order, he will come to sex you differently. (the aggressive push vs the more consensual conversation.)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 13:23:04 GMT
I guess, I had to replay DA:O in a different way to start seeing the differences early on. I started replaying DA2, and it just did not feel different the way Paragon and Renegade did. Then, again, I did start the Renegade run right from the beginning. But replaying a DA:O in a dark way means a male romancing Morrigan, and I'd rather not touch another game till the day they cremate my dead body than meet Morrigan on purpose again, let alone romance her....
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Post by phoray on Mar 21, 2017 16:41:22 GMT
I guess, I had to replay DA:O in a different way to start seeing the differences early on. I started replaying DA2, and it just did not feel different the way Paragon and Renegade did. Then, again, I did start the Renegade run right from the beginning. But replaying a DA:O in a dark way means a male romancing Morrigan, and I'd rather not touch another game till the day they cremate my dead body than meet Morrigan on purpose again, let alone romance her.... Did you know that in Witch Hunt you can stab her? She survives to show up in DAI, but you may like that cinematic on YouTube regardless. I played a Hero siding mages, a hypocrite mage siding Templars (felt different with Carver and turning mages over and ugh) but then I played Evil Hawke. E made Karan's family destitute. He honestly liked killing people and he liked money. Totally different PT playing an aggressive person who took the Gold Coins dialgue Options. Punched Isabella and green punched by Aveline. killed everyone who could be killed Except companions. He saw them as possessions. Which is why he killed Anders- his property obviously wouldn't do as he said, so he was no good as a possession anymore. Stab. (I cried/was upset half an hour from stabbing Anders but he was specifically created to be the one Hawke who killed him.) Romanced Fenris because his killing and Anger issues matched his own. Fucked up relationship. He rivaled everyone but Isabella, who liked him being a jerk. People are usually shocked to hear about a rivalry with Varric.
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Post by thats1evildude on Mar 21, 2017 16:43:57 GMT
Zevran and Alistair also appear in DA2 depending on your choices. Notably, Alistair can appear in three different ways: King Alistair, Warden Alistair and Drunk Alistair.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 16:46:31 GMT
I guess, I had to replay DA:O in a different way to start seeing the differences early on. I started replaying DA2, and it just did not feel different the way Paragon and Renegade did. Then, again, I did start the Renegade run right from the beginning. But replaying a DA:O in a dark way means a male romancing Morrigan, and I'd rather not touch another game till the day they cremate my dead body than meet Morrigan on purpose again, let alone romance her.... Did you know that in Witch Hunt you can stab her? She survives to show up in DAI, but you may like that cinematic on YouTube regardless. I played a Hero siding mages, a hypocrite mage siding Templars (felt different with Carver and turning mages over and ugh) but then I played Evil Hawke. E made Karan's family destitute. He honestly liked killing people and he liked money. Totally different PT playing an aggressive person who took the Gold Coins dialgue Options. Punched Isabella and green punched by Aveline. killed everyone who could be killed Except companions. He saw them as possessions. Which is why he killed Anders- his property obviously wouldn't do as he said, so he was no good as a possession anymore. Stab. (I cried/was upset half an hour from stabbing Anders but he was specifically created to be the one Hawke who killed him.) Romanced Fenris because his killing and Anger issues matched his own. Fucked up relationship. He rivaled everyone but Isabella, who liked him being a jerk. People are usually shocked to hear about a rivalry with Varric. yeah, that's what I was playing on my second Hawke, but I guess Act I was not far enough to see any consequences. The DA:O set up was the same, because I only have one complete PT for that.
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Post by Catilina on Mar 21, 2017 16:56:26 GMT
Did you know that in Witch Hunt you can stab her? She survives to show up in DAI, but you may like that cinematic on YouTube regardless. I played a Hero siding mages, a hypocrite mage siding Templars (felt different with Carver and turning mages over and ugh) but then I played Evil Hawke. E made Karan's family destitute. He honestly liked killing people and he liked money. Totally different PT playing an aggressive person who took the Gold Coins dialgue Options. Punched Isabella and green punched by Aveline. killed everyone who could be killed Except companions. He saw them as possessions. Which is why he killed Anders- his property obviously wouldn't do as he said, so he was no good as a possession anymore. Stab. (I cried/was upset half an hour from stabbing Anders but he was specifically created to be the one Hawke who killed him.) Romanced Fenris because his killing and Anger issues matched his own. Fucked up relationship. He rivaled everyone but Isabella, who liked him being a jerk. People are usually shocked to hear about a rivalry with Varric. yeah, that's what I was playing on my second Hawke, but I guess Act I was not far enough to see any consequences. The DA:O set up was the same, because I only have one complete PT for that. The playthrough does not show so significant difference, yes, but the reactions and the feeling are different, as I see.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 17:01:24 GMT
Oh, forgot to add. I know you can stab Morrigan in a DLC but after death scenes for companions in Mass Effect it's far from satisfying or sufficient. Kaiden's or Ashley's death, shooting Wrex, rocks falling on Miranda, Tali's saying: Sometimes you just need to kill a friend" after shooting Legion, Thane's death, Mordin's song not finished... aww, yeah, a stab just doesn't measure up to what I have seen there. I am spoiled by MET, I know.
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Post by phoray on Mar 21, 2017 17:05:07 GMT
CatilinaWhat do you mean by significant? Even in ME2, which I think domi loves, Shepard is Shepard (with all the relationships that brings) is brought back to life by Cerberus, has to work for cerberus while everyone and the galaxy expects Shepard to help with their personal problems, and has to stop the Reapers by getting a bunch of people to help. I guess the only difference is that the game allows a failstate where Shepard can die but it's not like you can import that into ME3 and keep going. In DA2, Hawke is Hawke (with all the family that brings), has to get money to go to the Deep Roads, everyone and the city expects Hawke to help with their personal problems, and in the end, the Chantry explodes and you can either be Viscount (an underwhelming position) or an apostate on the run. (more likely considering the mess.) ME2: Be Shepard and Stop the Reapers and only the feeling and relationships in between can change. DA2: Be Hawke, and survive Kirkwall, and only the feeling and relationships in between can change.
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Post by phoray on Mar 21, 2017 17:11:48 GMT
Oh, forgot to add. I know you can stab Morrigan in a DLC but after death scenes for companions in Mass Effect it's far from satisfying or sufficient. Kaiden's or Ashley's death, shooting Wrex, rocks falling on Miranda, Tali's saying: Sometimes you just need to kill a friend" after shooting Legion, Thane's death, Mordin's song not finished... aww, yeah, a stab just doesn't measure up to what I have seen there. I am spoiled by MET, I know. Well, DAO came before either ME1 and ME2, and way before ME3, the cinematics just are way better. On top of the fact that writers knew ME3 was the end, and they wanted it to be a tear jerker. In Witch Hunt, you can literally hunt the Witch to try to put an end to her and stab her in the stomach- very very personal. Despite the fact that I personally hate Jacob and Zaeed, my Shepard Cinematic will put a hand on their coffin and look at it in sadness because writers of the scene makes Shepard give a fuck whether you did or not. You can only kill your companions indirectly by metagaming (or ignorance) in ME. The Warden will NOT look sad when they personally stab Morrigan.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 17:12:09 GMT
CatilinaWhat do you mean by significant? Even in ME2, which I think domi loves, Shepard is Shepard (with all the relationships that brings) is brought back to life by Cerberus, has to work for cerberus while everyone and the galaxy expects Shepard to help with their personal problems, and has to stop the Reapers by getting a bunch of people to help. I guess the only difference is that the game allows a failstate where Shepard can die but it's not like you can import that into ME3 and keep going. In DA2, Hawke is Hawke (with all the family that brings), has to get money to go to the Deep Roads, everyone and the city expects Hawke to help with their personal problems, and in the end, the Chantry explodes and you can either be Viscount (an underwhelming position) or an apostate on the run. (more likely considering the mess.) ME2: Be Shepard and Stop the Reapers and only the feeling and relationships in between can change. DA2: Be Hawke, and survive Kirkwall, and only the feeling and relationships in between can change. I do like the para-Rene meter and the facial alterations for the Renegade. The letters and reactions from Cerberus and Counsil, Admirals, etc. The sort of consistent feel of your Shepard when he is a renegade that is distinctive from Paragon. There are the heart -wrenching scenes, while with Hawke I felt it was isolated descision every time, and nobody knew about it save for her companions. I dunno, if I played Act 2, I would have seen Isabella's content, I guess, which would have been different, and saw more divergences when Rivalries and Friendships became more pronounced. Overall though, the Renegade PT felt so different than the Paragon one, that I felt I was playing with a different main and a different game.
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Post by phoray on Mar 21, 2017 17:14:41 GMT
A lot of the stuff that can change in DA2 change from act to act.
Take siding with Orsino vs MEredith at start of Act 3.
If you side with Orsino, he gives you a mission. If you side with Meredith, she gives you a mission. If you side with neither, the game will take into account points? of whether you've sided with mages or Templars on quests thus far, and side you with whomever you've been leaning towards.
The punchings are all Act 3 things. And the lack of loyalty mission completion doesn't have an effect until you're taking sides at the end of Act 3. The mages in the party will not kill mages for a hawke that isn't their friend and didn't help them, and same for the Templar folk, Fenris and Aveline.
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Post by Catilina on Mar 21, 2017 17:16:19 GMT
Catilina What do you mean by significant? Even in ME2, which I think domi loves, Shepard is Shepard (with all the relationships that brings) is brought back to life by Cerberus, has to work for cerberus while everyone and the galaxy expects Shepard to help with their personal problems, and has to stop the Reapers by getting a bunch of people to help. I guess the only difference is that the game allows a failstate where Shepard can die but it's not like you can import that into ME3 and keep going. In DA2, Hawke is Hawke (with all the family that brings), has to get money to go to the Deep Roads, everyone and the city expects Hawke to help with their personal problems, and in the end, the Chantry explodes and you can either be Viscount (an underwhelming position) or an apostate on the run. (more likely considering the mess.) ME2: Be Shepard and Stop the Reapers and only the feeling and relationships in between can change. DA2: Be Hawke, and survive Kirkwall, and only the feeling and relationships in between can change. Yes. I just mean: the quests are similar not exactly same, except 1-2. And there are different if Hawke supports the templars or mages at the beginning. @domi didn't felt so much difference at Act 1, and this is right. Act 1 seems similiar, or not?
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Post by Catilina on Mar 21, 2017 17:18:32 GMT
Oh, forgot to add. I know you can stab Morrigan in a DLC but after death scenes for companions in Mass Effect it's far from satisfying or sufficient. Kaiden's or Ashley's death, shooting Wrex, rocks falling on Miranda, Tali's saying: Sometimes you just need to kill a friend" after shooting Legion, Thane's death, Mordin's song not finished... aww, yeah, a stab just doesn't measure up to what I have seen there. I am spoiled by MET, I know. Well, DAO came before either ME1 and ME2, and way before ME3, the cinematics just are way better. On top of the fact that writers knew ME3 was the end, and they wanted it to be a tear jerker. In Witch Hunt, you can literally hunt the Witch to try to put an end to her and stab her in the stomach- very very personal. Despite the fact that I personally hate Jacob and Zaeed, my Shepard Cinematic will put a hand on their coffin and look at it in sadness because writers of the scene makes Shepard give a fuck whether you did or not. You can only kill your companions indirectly by metagaming (or ignorance) in ME. The Warden will NOT look sad when they personally stab Morrigan. My Warden followed her, because he loved her, and wanted to see his son, didn't want to stab her! (My characters usually don't want to kill their lovers...)
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Post by phoray on Mar 21, 2017 17:31:36 GMT
@domi
Diplomatic Hawke smiles and auto dialogue asks people if they need help all sweet.
Humorous Hawke smiles a lot! And asks, "what brand of crazy are you? Need me to be crazy too?"
Aggressive Hawke
Nearly never smiles, and tells everyone to hurry up and get to the point. They don't got time for your crazy.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 17:33:10 GMT
I have a trouble right now expressing what specifically feels different for me in Shepard vs DA Triumvirate, so let me think about casting it in words, and I will re-post.
One thing I want to note that as I was chatting with you, I have observed that while on the whole, Origins was by far a smoother sailing game for me than Inquisition, in the end of the saga, Inquisition did manage to shape Sin Fell into something I "see" in my mind's eyes as a "pixel person" (Revel got there really fast), while my Warden forever remained "the female Elven mage").
Okay, lemme think about it, and I will try not to write an essay :)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 18:35:52 GMT
Definitely not an essay:
So, here is the best I could offer as to why my second MET PTs felt so drastically different and exciting, while DA2 ones did not last past Act I.
Aside from the obvious problem: I did not start at Origins that would have accounted for a different world state, what it boils down to is this.
To make a second PT for MET I did what I have always done in the games with strong polar choices. I rolled a Paragon Girl first time, I rolled a Renegade Boy second time. Both those Shepards resulted in awesome looking characters with great voices and personalities/choices that made a lot of sense and were really, relly cool. And, yes, some renegade choices were hard to swallow till you got into pragmatic anti-hero and started loving his badasstitude.
When I tried the same tack with Dragon Age2, well, my first Hawke, Revel came through with flying colors. He was a gorgeous lovable rogue with a pleasant voice that wanted everyone to be his friend, and did the best he could.
The inverse for the second PT? No brainer... An aggressive girl. Well, her appearance sucked no matter how much I tweaked her, her voice was like nails on the glass, and she did not favor anyone but her boyfriend and her BFF with her friendship. So, every time she did something, it felt like a case of “Revel would have…”
Maybe if I went with a different protagonist, that was more appealing (aka my Ebon Hawke Paladin protecting his damsel in Merrill) I would have been more invested in the second PT and stopped thinking Revel was the “real deal”.
That switching protagonists to something I simply liked better did work for me in Inquisition, as going from Dusk Fell (that was an awkward, hacked add-on to Solas) to Sin Fell (whose character build up easily and nicely as an exact opposite to Dorian) was what got me through despite all the rage-quitting moments.
TL:DR: I’ve loved my opposing Shepards to bits, and they both felt like a great character in his and her own right and kept me interested in what happens next to them. I perceived them differently, and verse through their eyes felt unique as well. Blaze Hawke was a dud of a character (for me), so only Revel’s story felt unique and worth pursuing.
That’s the best I’ve got.
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Wildfire
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Wildfire on Mar 21, 2017 18:42:31 GMT
- You can actually side with that Racist bitch Patrice. - Isabella's friend Quest in Act 3, you can punch her out cold. The first time I ever got this mission I was playing Evil Hawke. Horrible and hilarious. Not to mention all the flavor dialogue changes based on if you rival or friend someone. Also, if you do Fenris's missions in a different order, he will come to sex you differently. (the aggressive push vs the more consensual conversation.) A pretty extensive list, especially if it's just off the top of your head! Slightly offtopic, but during my current PT, I derived a great deal of pleasure from siding with Petrice against the Qunari. I think I've really gotten into playing evil characters after my last run of Origins Petrice's and Ser Varnell's reactions are quite priceless when you side with them And it gains you a handy amount of rivalry points for Aveline and Sebastian. Also, punching Isabela was pretty sweet. It would have been even sweeter in a rivalry romance, with Hawke putting all her frustrations into that blow. Isabela sounded so panicked and kinda cute, too, when you told Velasco to kill her Made me want to kiss her right there. I think that DA2 has almost infinite replay value provided that you love the characters. There are just so many scenes and different paths with all the characters. I'm currently on my fourth PT and I keep discovering new exciting stuff. About the DA2 and MET comparison... I'm currently on Act3 of my fourth DA2 PT, while I've only played MET once plus one isolated PT of ME1 and ME2, of which I remembered little when I played MET as a complete package in early 2016. So I'll use this as the basis of my biased judgment. My only MET playthrough was with a female Paragon. I've got no idea how a renegade PT would have looked like, but in general I strongly disliked the whole Paragon/Renegade system, because it rewarded always choosing the nice/badass options in dialogue. I like to mix out different replies and dance in the grey areas of morality, and in my isolated ME1 and ME2 campaigns I got punished for not choosing consistently. I never liked to think of my characters as being purely Renegades or Paragons, but getting some points in both was simply not smart. In DA2, I love the way your personality (diplomatic, humorous, aggressive) influences your game experience and dialogues. They don't dominate the way Para/Rene does in ME2, but they are still significant because they do give you some special options and of course a very different feel to the character through dialogue. I've played mostly humorous and aggressive characters and the game experience is radically different. I do understand that you might start to like some version of Hawke and start considering them the "best" one, in fact that happens to me at the end of each PT, but whenever I start a new Hawke I just fall in love with the new one as well. I really hope BW would bring back the personality feature and I pray to all divines that MEA doesn't have the Paragon/Renegade system. The Inquisitor is just so boring when your dialogue choices are completely irrelevant and they are always their boring self.
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Post by phoray on Mar 21, 2017 19:46:26 GMT
Zevran and Alistair also appear in DA2 depending on your choices. Notably, Alistair can appear in three different ways: King Alistair, Warden Alistair and Drunk Alistair. So long as Zevran is alive he will cameo in 2. However, his dialogue will change if he was romanced by the Warden. He refuses to have sex with Isabella or Hawke, even if the Warden died. Which causes some people to argue that he is the most devoted of all the LIs.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 21:53:22 GMT
But Hawke, let alone Inquisitor never really go consistently evil, like Renegade, and do not have awesome glowing facial scars to prove it. ME:A does not have Para/Rene, and I really miss Renegade in both games. I guess I did not get to killing anyone much, or something. But Shepard was chilling when he drowned the Rachni queen in acid or shoot unarmed kneeling Asari in the back of her head. All for good cold reasons. Anyway, I am counting down till I get home and get Andromeda and see how Ryder is and if it feels like a second PT is a good idea eventually, or if MP is the place to be.
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Post by phoray on Mar 22, 2017 11:26:04 GMT
Changes continued:
If Zevran was romanced, he just plain isn't killing Crows during events of DAI. He's with the Hero of Fereldan.
The Antivan quest chain on the War Table won't be there but he gets a mention in the HOF letter.
It's better and worse to Zevran lovers. Letters from a single Zevran kicking ass vs knowing he's still at your Warden's side watching their back while they search for the cure to the Calling.
Well, vs Zevran being dead and not present at all. The dead are rarely mentioned in Dragon Age. Leliana, Morrigan get lines for if the Warden tried to commit murder upon them in DAI. Alistair is either in DAI as King or Warden or not at all. And Anders gets a line in DAI if executed I believe.
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Post by phoray on Mar 22, 2017 11:32:47 GMT
There is a single Morrigan with Dialogue about being stabbed by the Warden and I think says something mean.
A single Morrigan who s was refused the Dark Ritual but sounds sad about the parting this caused
A romanced Morrigan gets romanced and gets pregnant anyway, except no Dark Ritual means Kieran is just an average boy with no old God soul. May be single (because ultimate sacrifice Warden) or has been with the Warden until recently.
A romanced Morrigan where Dark Ritual was performed. Only change here is Kieran has old God soul and makes weird comments and Flemeth takes it out.
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Post by phoray on Mar 22, 2017 11:37:23 GMT
DA2 again:
During Blackpowder Promise in Act 1 Aggro Hawke gets a special option with Tal-Vashoth- you can ask him to fight with your group.
If you spared Avernus in DAO DLC, then there is a Grey Warden Body to loot on the Wounded Coast that gets you access to an extra battle.
The scene in the Gallows with Fenris making comments on the Mage Circle system in the South is modified by two companions. if Anders is present, they will debate it on the spot. If Merrill is present, I think they actually end up arguing about the Dalish. This scene can also occur in Act 2, not just Act 1.
If Fenris and Isabella are both present to speak with Flemeth on the quest Long Way Home, she will speak to both of them. She is not very complimentary to Isabella.
During Varric's narration scenes with Cassandra, if you play.. I'm guessing requirements here, but I'm guessing either a very mercenary murdering Hawke, or perhaps it's based on whether you rivaled Varric, Cassandra's dialogue responses will change mild to moderate from all out fan girl ism to some disgust.
Fenris is willing to torture people with his glow fist at your request on two different people. Danzig the slaver and the blood mage assistant. He will outright kill Kelder the child molester if you ask him to. In the same vein, Aveline can be used to threaten the Merchant on Athenaril's prologue quest and the blood mage assistant as well.
*Just recently found this out. In Act 3, a new path mission, the Keeper can actually stab Merrill in the gut. She doesn't die, just injured though.
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Post by phoray on Mar 22, 2017 12:00:08 GMT
Iron Bull can die one way, indirect gamer choice, and Blackwall can die two ways- leave him to be hung by Orlais or romance him and tell him to stay a Warden and he'll die I'm relatively certain. I think the latter is BS though, if true. because non romanced Warden Thom Rainier lives. If,Before the events of Adamant, you encounter that girl who wants to join the Wardens. And you encourage her to do so, which gets you points with Blackwall...She will be Clarel's Sacrifice instead of her "old friend". smack in the face to the player and also makes me think Clarel's is a bitch on too of being an idiot. Because she spared and Old Warden to sacrifice a new recruit instead.
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Post by phoray on Mar 22, 2017 12:13:21 GMT
DA2 and Murder. When you kill Javaris Tintop he doesn't know you're going to kill him. Bring Fenris for extra effect.
Hawke: just leave *Javaris turns around to leave* *knife to the spine*
*Fenris shakes his head at Hawke in "wtf is wrong with you" way*
Hawke: What? He annoyed me.
When you kill Lord Harrimond, Hawke says, "it's just business."
When you kill the blood mage assistant... It's just delicious revenge all the way and I think Dialogue supports this feeling VERY well.
Side Templars and let Meredith kill Bethany before your very eyes. You can also tell Meredith to spare her, so this counts as a murder to me.
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