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Post by Iddy on Apr 7, 2017 14:55:33 GMT
As far as side quests go, I like DAI the most. Unlike the very straightforward quests in DAO, DAI's actually have a plot like rescuing the soldiers at the Fallowmire or dealing with Fairbanks.
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Post by Catilina on Apr 7, 2017 15:10:10 GMT
As far as side quests go, I like DAI the most. Unlike the very straightforward quests in DAO, DAI's actually have a plot like rescuing the soldiers at the Fallowmire or dealing with Fairbanks. No one would be able to say a bad word if each side mission would be similar as Fairbanks' (okay, at least me). Unfortunately, this is not the case.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2017 15:10:39 GMT
Okay, I have had enough days now to complete the review in the more distanced and less emotional manner. I have updated the first post to the final version. 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 and the 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 Apr 7, 2017 15:30:59 GMT
Iddy CatilinaI like saving the soldiers and Fallow Mire. I like that whole area. It's interesting, intense, and manages to cause me to care about where I step. There is a silly but believable "villain" at the end of it, and I save the day by getting the soliders out of there. I actually don't much care that Fairbanks is a noble in hiding. You have to talk to the girl, go chasing for clues, come back, talk to either of them. Then he gets a War Table mission and you deal with that. The two missions are totally different. And out of the three times I've bothered to find out all the evidence, I let him off the hook anyway. And if I'm not going to drag him into Inquisition business to help me out, I may as well just leave him alone.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2017 19:05:31 GMT
I thought Fallow mire was one of the worst areas in the game. Mobs, mobs, mobs, one short dialogue in the middle, even shorter dialogue in the end, weird quip in the Stronghold afterwards. No NPC comments.
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Post by phoray on Apr 7, 2017 19:58:52 GMT
I thought Fallow mire was one of the worst areas in the game. Mobs, mobs, mobs, one short dialogue in the middle, even shorter dialogue in the end, weird quip in the Stronghold afterwards. No NPC comments. The mobs actually help support the narrative that the place is overrun by the undead. Unlike the hinterlands claims that it is the heart of the mages vs templars war area yet we never find them attacking each other, only attacking us. Plus the Fallow Mire gave us the goat cinematic and the WT mission that sends them to Tevinter, which I find both to still be hilarious.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2017 23:12:58 GMT
The few hour slog through the Mires is not worth one cute cutscene. Templars and mages do fight one another in the HL.
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