inherit
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Sept 6, 2016 10:00:37 GMT
September 2016
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Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 23, 2023 5:35:33 GMT
I've now completed all the male romances (except Blade of Avernus Wyll and Ascended Astarion) and I would rank them as follows Gale > Wyll > Astarion > Halsin ACT 3 ENDING SPOILERS Gale + Great story arc + Good ending with a marriage proposal + Romance allows you to gain a deeper understanding of him + Truly, deeply loves you - Mystra's looming presence - Explicit sex scene is kind of hilarious, not hot
Wyll + Really romantic + Great dialogue options for the ending scene + Good ending in general if you make him a duke - Pitiful amount of content - Poor reactivity: Mizora and Wyll's father don't have anything to say about your relationship - No sex scene
Astarion + Great character arc + Touching romance scenes + Romance gives you interesting insight into his thoughts on intimacy, sex and love - Zero story relevance - Lackluster ending that doesn't feel as emotional as previous romance scenes - Too much time spent on fixing him instead of being equals in a mature relationship - Honestly probably shouldn't be in a relationship in the first place, he is obviously not ready
Halsin + Hot as fuck + Great voice acting + Hot sex scene + Generally a cool chill guy - One romance scene and that's it - Polyamorous - Late addition to the party - Zero story arc in act 3 - Complete ass ending where you aren't allowed to stick with him to help with orphans, and he just sends you on his way - COMPLETE ASS ENDING, this cannot be stressed enough, there is seriously no payoff to romancing him
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Sept 6, 2016 10:00:37 GMT
September 2016
witchcocktor
Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 21, 2023 6:01:16 GMT
So tossing out a tip regarding the Iron Throne (for those that may not know...and can learn from my stupid arse ) I did manage to save everyone, but had to skip any looting to do so. The magpie in me was screeching! Here are some of the things I learned - and will definitely employ on my next run. 1) MEET OMELUUM! I suspect most people do, but some might not bother talking to Blerg in the Myconid colony during the Underdark section. 2) I didn't give the Gith egg to the old crone from the Society of Brilliance, and thankfully so (saw how that turned out online). If the "egg" isn't a factor, Blerg and Omeluum will come to Baldur's Gate, and you can speak to Blerg and learn that Omeluum is missing. 3) He is in the Iron Throne, and will telepathically speak to you. (He will also show up on the main map, once down in the prison.) When you get to him, he has the ability to "Blink" himself and one other character directly to the submersible. Here is where I was stupid. I had my MC rescue him, and then he and my messy Sorc just sat on their laurels for TWO TURNS! I then wised up and started sending him back down the hatch during the last two rounds to grab the hostages. I read his unique spell of Blink incorrectly, and thought it was a "one-time use" spell. Nope! I ended up using all of my relevant potions (I had tossed haste spore in a number of areas to help quicken the smaller folk), and wasted so much time. In conclusion, if you are trying to do everything you can in the Iron Throne, USE the squiddy! Next time, I am going to get that damn loot. Obviously, if you don't care about the loot, or saving more than just the main Gondian and the Duke (if he is still alive at this point), then proceed as you wish. Or if you really want to do the Gith egg thing, then go for it. Play as you want and have fun! I love Omeluum, such a bro. He definitely is a departure from Emperor, who is much more self-serving and only truly cares about his own agenda and survival, while Omeluum is telling you to disregard him and save the Duke instead. Why I think Karlach is a writer's pet is because there is very little choice on how to approach her. You are basically ride or die Karlach simp the minute she hits the camp, and there is very little room to be a complete dick to her directly. This is completely different from other companions. That's a valid point. I didn't really pay attention to that tbh. I was happily simping, lol. I guess there's so little to Karlach's story sadly that there's not that much room for being a dick to her? Also she's dealing with things in a positive way so there's not point going "don't cry about it" because she doesn't anyway. I feel like being a dick to other people is what hurts her most, lol. Shadowheart and Astarion have a childlike vulnerability to them because of the abuse. So you can mess them up the most. Still I get where you're coming from. Just weird that if the writers like Karlach so much, why did she get so little content. I mean, hell, even Minsc the super late addition gets more screen time, I think. At the beginning I really thought Kalrach would get awesome content. Her story is cool but then her problem gets semi solved and then that's it? I still have a lot to do in act 3 so I'm hoping there's SOMETHING else. Obviously the entire situation is grim. So it's even weirder this gets ignored so much. Like, well, tough luck. Can't help you there, mate. Moving on! Unless going to hell for the Orpheus business adds more Karlach content? I assume not. So far I could save everyone from dying outright, like Gale. Or fix their situation entirely. But maybe Karlach is destined to die because I guess somebody has to. Wyll is merely screwed but I hope I can do something about that too. On the other hand I like when stories require real sacrifice. In Karlach's case it would just suck though without gaining anything from her death. That is very much the issue, I suppose. Every other companion, their situation is either self-inflicted, or their actions in the situation they are can be put under great deal of scrutiny. Gale is obsessed with power and it blinds him, Wyll is a bit of a hypocrite, and the rest can be incredibly hostile to the point of being violent. Like I said, Karlach just sticks out like a sore thumb and she is written differently than the rest of the companions in my opinion, and I do not like that. I don't find Karlach interesting for that reason either, because there is no tension and it feels like she doesn't have any negative characteristics either, and everyone in the game seems to love her immediately. Thus it feels like the game is really pushing you to feel some sort of way about her. But this is a pretty minor annoyance, just something that really stuck out to me.
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Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 19, 2023 6:01:56 GMT
I finished Astarion's questline. And it was everything I had hoped for. NOTHING like the train wreck that was (romancing) Fenris. What a relief! I didn't expect to hate Fenris' bitter ass even more all those years later, lol. (Sorry all Fenris fans, I mean no disrespect, but we'll never be friends, lol.) I'm not even mad anymore that I couldn't romance him, although I wonder how your influence over him shapes the romance. I think I like it even better this way. Helping him without wanting anything in return. Feels good. So yeah, I managed to blast Cazador off the platform with Eldritch Blast. Only had to reload once to get the angle right. After that my druid set most of the monsters on fire, Laezel too. Couldn't be helped. She slayed a bunch before the fire killed her. So totally worth it! Astarion then got loose on his own and helped kill... bats. Lol.
Then I spent embarrassing 10min looking for Cazador's coffin in the mansion. Had to look it up up online. It was right on the friggin platform, LOL. I didn't see it! So he somehow teleported into his coffin after falling while everyone was still there? OK then, that's bizarre but whatever.
Seeing Astarion cry after stabbing him to death was quite touching and felt real. Excellent character arc. I'm really impressed with the writing in this game. This might be one of my favorite companion arcs ever now. The stellar voice acting combined with the animations, just amazing. And I'm not just saying this because I'm thirsty for this pretty boy sad puppy. Kinda makes you feel bad even for wanting to get into his pants after you learn how his life's been.
Then I convinced him to not become the next Cazador and he thanked me for it. In fact, back at camp he showered my girl with gratitude for believing in him. Very sweet. I almost teared up. Seeing him become the person I wanted him to be after all. Very satisfying. Shadowheart and him are two sides of the same coin of abuse to me. Two very different but equally believable ways of coping with it.
If you play evil and make them worse, you basically keep abusing them. And if you romance them will they even realize it? I'm not sure I can go through with corrupting those two further but if I replay as an evil monster I might do it and then hate that character as much as I hated psycho renegade Shepard who shot Mordin in the back...
How did you guys deal with the 7000 angry spawn? I set then all free and got shit from everyone for it, understandably. My druid is just the kind of well meaning idiot who'd do something so dangerous out of misguided kindness. Realistically this should be a very bad move and get a lot of people killed. The ones you can talk to even say they probably can't control their hunger. The kids might eat their parents. But since this is a game maybe it'll be fine. We'll see. Astarion at this point agreed with everything I said so he too thinks they deserve a chance. It's settled then! What did my heroic freeing of Astarion get me, you wonder? Well, I rose in his esteem from neutral to glorious MEDIUM! Seriously, this has to be bugged. This does not match his opinion AT ALL. I'm basically the greatest person in his life now. As I should be after what I've done for him. Completely broken ridiculous. Shadowheart basically worships the ground I walk on now. THAT makes sense. If you give Astarion what he thinks he wants, does THAT give you super high approval? That would be funny... I lOVED Karlach's reaction to completing Astarion's mission. Basically everyone reacts the same. And it's so heart warning. Btw I don't see Karlach as a writers pet at all. That's Shadowheart and Astarion imo. They get all the juicy tragic story. Helping Karlach was a quick thing. Now I'm waiting for a bad ending there. In between there's nothing more. She does get good reactions to certain people. Like her enthusiasm for Misnc. Adorable. Sorry I just love the woman. Such a positive attitude. Also, I resolved the Nine Fingers buisness. That conversation between her and Jaheira and Minsc was hilarious! Gosh, I love this game to bits. Starfield will be such a disappoinment after this masterpiece. My hype is totally deflated. BG3 will be the game all other RPGs will have to compare to and none will for years, I feel. Same as with Witcher 3 at the time. I'm so in love with the game and the characters. Gah! Why I think Karlach is a writer's pet is because there is very little choice on how to approach her. You are basically ride or die Karlach simp the minute she hits the camp, and there is very little room to be a complete dick to her directly. This is completely different from other companions. This kind of '' push '' whether intentional or not, makes me like a character less. The game should allow me to make the decision to care or not care about the characters. You can decide to turn on Astarion and help the Gur if he ascends. And during the ascended Astarion romance conclusion, you can kick him in the balls where he leaves the camp and you for good. And you can just... continuously tell off Astarion regarding his visions of grandeur of gaining power and how he is going to abuse it for his (and yours) own good. There's also a dialogue option when you meet the Gur in Baldur's Gate where you can basically say '' if you want to burn Astarion at the stake, be my guest lol. ''
Shadowheart you can be really distrustful of, and make her completely uncomfortable by asking too many questions. You can just really disregard her faith and tell her off about it. YOu can intrude on her prayers and not let her do the trials in the Gauntlet of Shar, which she really disapproves of. During the Nightsong scene, she can turn on you if you don't let her do what she wants. And her finale quest, after everything you have done to redeem her, you can be a horrid person and just let the cult take her away.
Gale and Wyll are kind of so-so as well, but you have a lot of disapproving, dickish and dismissive dialogue options with them. Lae'zel you can just fuck up in multiple ways and she is always ready to stand against you. Oh, and you can just let Shadowheart kill her lol.
Compared to all these companions, Karlach just sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I do agree with the Astarion remarks about how the non-romance path actually works better than the romance one. But that's more so the issue with '' I can fix him '' type of relationships: you spend all the time just trying to help your loved one, and in return you get... a person who opens up about their feelings and is loyal to you. So a normal relationship, really, but often that relationship is still marred with '' how are we going to continue fixing this person '' instead of it feeling like a truly equal relationship. I think that the romance path is too much fixing him, and too little seeing the change in action. Friendzoning Astarion is actually very nice. He basically says that he has had a parade of lovers, but can't think of any friends, until you. Honestly, he is very Dorian-like to me, a guy who is obviously not ready for a relationship, and is much better as a friend.
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September 2016
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Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 18, 2023 18:02:09 GMT
Genuinely starting to hate Karlach. If you recruit her, the game really forces you to suddenly care about her IMMEDIATELY, and she is the only character who is handled with goddamn kids gloves. You can be an atrocious ass to every companion throughout the entire game, but her dialogue options are always really tame in comparison. There is no way to be truly neutral with her, and you are put into this position to care about how her story ends. Shit, it's complete bollocks that she gets a whole cutscene at the end while other companions only get something if you romance them, if that. This reeks of favoritism and being a writers pet. I detest that, especially when some companions feel kind of unfinished. Hopefully the patch this week fixes some other characters as well, but doubtful. Also, do not like her coming onto me. She always does it. At least she takes it fine when you reject her. Though sometimes the game sneak romances Karlach and I suddenly get a dialogue option to turn her down even if I have never shown any interest in her. I also really didn't like her emotional outburst after killing Gortash, especially when many of my companions have pissed off gods so death can be imminent, or have suffered hundreds of years of torment like Astarion. I understand what they were going for, and I am fine with her having her moment, but it's still annoyed me, mostly because the dialogue options again were pretty tame. You can thankfully tell her to suck it up I suppose, but then you are railroaded into giving a damn about what happens to her in the end.
But thankfully, I have found the perfect route for Karlach: making her a mindflayer, and I'm going to keep doing that every singe run from here on out.
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September 2016
witchcocktor
Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 9, 2023 21:25:25 GMT
Finished the game (instead of stopping at act 3 and making a new character) I liked the tension between Tav and the Emperor in Act 3. After banging him, the Emperor gets increasingly frustrated with my decisions and he gets really pissed at me for getting the Orphic Hammer. I didn't really want to use it, I just wanted to kill Raphael, ally with Yurgir, and have sex with Harleep transformed into Raphael, that's all. But either way our love-hate relationship was worth it in the end, as I let him feast on Orpheus' brain and we take on the Netherbrain together. Also no one has to transform into an illithid this way so that's good.
Gale's romance ended at a really rough place. He wants the crown of Karsus even at the cost of his boyfriend becoming and illithid. I want him to ascend to godhood I do, I actually agree with his goals about besting the gods for being completely useless, but he becomes so obsessed he starts being kind of manic. In the end the crown of Karsus fell into the ocean and Gale leaves me in search for it, suggesting he'll come back once he has reached godhood and then will help me ascend as well. Not even a kiss goodbye... Not really what I was hoping for to be quite honest. I appreciate the thought of him wanting to ascend with me, but I would like some wholesome family life first.
I liked seeing all the allies you've gathered along the journey during the final fight(s), but otherwise the ending was definitely rushed and lacked an epilogue. Doesn't feel like there's proper pay off in the end.
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September 2016
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Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 8, 2023 21:30:32 GMT
There is also the option of having sex without putting a penis into the vagina, like mutual masturbation or oral sex. Probably more foreign to straight people, understandably I suppose.
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 8, 2023 17:07:26 GMT
So why exactly did the Emperor want me to kill Minsc, and not put him under his protection? Is he just super paranoid?
I really like Halsin, Jaheira and Minsc. I like them more than the other companions because they feel like good people with some wit, humor and charm to them so they are not completely banal and boring like Wyll, without feeling too overbearing with tropes. The other companions are just too much for me sometimes, like I'm a babysitter looking after hooligans, twats and edgy teenagers (while Wyll is the otherwise nice kid who puts a crayon up his nose).
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September 2016
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Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 8, 2023 12:39:57 GMT
All they need to do for their marketing strategy is to be proud of being a high budget dating sim.
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 2, 2023 13:09:10 GMT
The tieflings at the grove are some of my favorite characters in the entire game, I could never kill them even if I was promised the hottest piece of man ass to ever walk on Faerun. Minthara will stay dead and out of my party forever until there is an alternative route to recruiting her. Though even then I might just kill her. On that note, I want to recruit Rolan, Alfira, Zevlor and Dammon into my party. Genuinely I'd love if you could have all the tieflings just stick around your camp for rest of the game (if you rescue them). Also give me Barcus as a companion as well.
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Post by witchcocktor on Sept 1, 2023 21:10:27 GMT
Just some '' fun facts '' about the infamous twin drows from Act 3. Wyll: Won't agree to a foursome (or fivesome if you include Halsin since he is always down to fuck) and you can't persuade him. He seems the most vanilla, well, fits his romance really, since you can only bang him after agreeing to marry him lol.
Gale: Won't agree initially but can be persuaded to attend the orgy if it's FOR SCIENCE. He conjures a mirror image of himself to do all the work for him. The narrator says that despite Gale frowning in the corner, his orb is definitely excited and reacting. I think we have a cuckold in our hands..
Funny thing is, Gale is monogamous, and he won't approve of you and Halsin getting together, so you have to turn Halsin down (unless you want to go for Halsin instead). If you stick with Gale, and you persuade him to join the sex party (for science, of course), during the scene you can order Halsin to bang you. So it all works out in the end! You can be in a monogamous relationship with Gale but still get to bang Halsin.
Astarion: Won't agree to it before you finish freeing him from Cazador, but afterwards he is more than delighted to participate. If you are romancing both Halsin and Astarion, it's nice since they interact during the scene.
Gale also approved of me, the drow pair, Halsin and Astarion having an orgy. That guy is something else I tell you. Though I wonder if everyone gives you approval if you have an orgy/foursome.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 31, 2023 15:47:48 GMT
I am on my knees begging for a better party selection method. I don't want to be sassed at by 90% of the companions just because I need them to stay in the camp while I pick someone else up because I need to do their quests which requires to bring them along (if only to get the most content out of them). It's infuriating and I need to at least know that they are looking into it.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 30, 2023 14:43:31 GMT
The classics.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 29, 2023 10:26:52 GMT
Solas looking a bit Emet-Selch-y there.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 28, 2023 16:40:05 GMT
If they rebooted the combat because of pissy turn-based truthers they are deader than dead, there is no way they can rework the whole thing from ground up and end up in a satisfying place. We are going to be in another half-assed DA:I style combat mess. Good grief.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 24, 2023 18:04:17 GMT
I personally understand that it can be hard to justify a veteran writer and their salary, especially when the '' writing '' is already done and rough outlines for the future are drafted, and I dislike the idea that new blood can't be equally as good as the veteran writers. But, veteran writers will have tons of expertise on the franchise and it's fanbase, so of course their knowledge will cost more. What sacking respected veteran writers also means to me is that Dragon Age as a franchise doesn't matter to the suits, and that Dragon Age will be whatever the suits decide it will be, since they do not seem to fully grasp the benefit of a veteran who has been writing for the game since it's inception. And that, that is rough.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 24, 2023 5:40:12 GMT
I really really REALLY hope they patch Gale's horniness. It's becoming kind of a nuisance. I like him a lot but I want to peacefully romance other characters without him getting the wrong idea that I was ever interested in him just because I am kind to him and I'm racking up approval with him for being a decent person. I had my romantic dance cutscene with Wyll and suddenly Gale is all '' the eyes that once sparkled for me now sparkle for someone else :-( '' like no, no friend I never saw you that way.
And this is really only an issue with Gale and Gale only. It's so weird.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 23, 2023 22:07:18 GMT
An area where BG3 is clearly better: lighting in the character creator! Between early access and the game I have made a dozen characters and not once have I been surprised by how they looked when I actually got into the game. More of this in RPGs in general, please. However, I do prefer having face sliders to the pre-set system BG3 has got going on. It's jarring to run into characters out in the world who have the exact same face as my PC. (Not to mention the same face as each other. I swear I ran into three of the same dwarf in one pub.) Not to mention that I'll never like having a mostly silent protagonist in games where everyone else gets to talk. I think I agree with most of what you wrote, with a couple caveats here: I actually prefer silent protagonists unless I am playing a mostly pre-set character like Shepard, Hawke, or Geralt from the Witcher games—it tends to result in more dialogue options and more freedom to imagine your character's voice. And I also prefer pre-set faces over sliders. They look better, and even in games with sliders I usually just pick the pre-set I like best and tweak the hairstyle and coloring a bit. BG3's party management is definitely a pain in the ass, though, companion banter is alright but DA does it better, and I do find Thedas slightly more interesting than the Forgettable Realms, though they're both fairly generic fantasy settings. The pre-sets are really bad though. I genuinely cannot play a male tiefling because damn are the faces bad. Well, muscular tiefling is workable, but skinny male tiefling? Nu-uh. Male drow faces are also pretty horrendous, you genuinely have to go for a half-elf drow if you want some decent options. Perhaps the preset faces for women are better?
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 23, 2023 21:37:52 GMT
As if my expectations couldn't get lower.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 23, 2023 14:38:23 GMT
I don't necessarily agree because my interest in finding homosexual characters (not bisexual, not pansexual, not playersexual) in video games greatly precedes my interest in having all options available for me in terms of romance. Now, granted, there are many characters in same sex relationships in the game, but ultimately everyone might as well be bisexual in the world of Baldur's Gate 3. This is why I appreciate what DA:I does, despite being locked out of my favorite romances. It is nice to know that at least some fantastical video game worlds acknowledge the existence of homosexuality, which is hard to confirm without meta knowledge. But I suppose beggars can't be choosers in this case, so I'll take what I can get. I understand your position. What I am saying is different. When a player rolls a character in the next DA game (if Bioware does it the Larian way) then the game world is immediately shaped towards you. It's never said that the npc you romance is bi. If you romance them then the sexuality they are is what you define it as meaning if you are in a homosexual relationship with them then as far as that play through goes the game world is acknowledging you. Does that make sense? This has never worked for me. No matter how much I want to interpret something in a certain way, it's merely an interpretation that isn't canon. The whole '' if you think this character is x, then they are because it's YOUR GAME '' train of thought doesn't work. Especially when several of the companions have opposite sex attraction which is explored through past relationships and flirtatious banter with other companions. But like I said, beggars can't be choosers. I like a lot of what BG3 does, but would enjoy the companions and the game much more if it gave each companion a set sexuality that isn't for me to mold to my own interests.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 23, 2023 12:56:02 GMT
I don't think there was ever any chance of DA:D news at Gamescom, because it would have indeed been marketing suicide to unveil the game between the releases of BG3 and Starfield. I'm not sure what the Bloodlines 2 marketing team are thinking, though I suppose the troubled AA sequel to a cult classic doesn't need quite the same buzz. If DA:D is releasing next year, we might see something at the Game Awards. The event may be particularly meaningful for DA in light of DA:D sort of being announced there five years ago (!) and DA:I being the winner of the inaugural awards back in 2014. I must say that, with all the talk of BG3 and Starfield duking it out at the Game Awards, I'm surprised and a little amused that everyone already seems to have forgotten Hogwart's Legacy. I don't know if I agree. I think revealing it now (especially since Gamescom showing was W-E-A-K otherwise) would've probably propelled a discussion of '' damn, a lot of western RPGs to look forward to right now! '' further especially with a lot of players now having played through a lot of the BG3 and maybe completed their first run, having a more tame, nuanced take on the game's quality. During VGA we might see BG3 and Starfield gobbling awards, which will probably put DA:D under the microscope on how well it'll do as it's being revealed during a time when RPGs are getting legit awards. But marketing is tricky, there is no guarantee things will go your way no matter how much research you do beforehand.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 23, 2023 12:37:22 GMT
At the risk of incitement by bringing up BG3 again, let me just say that Larian did handle the sexuality/sex thing fairly well. They didn't really gate any of the companions and you can have a relationship with any of them and it tailors to your wish for how you want to orient yourself in the game. In this way it's easy to imagine that you and Astarian, for example, are in a perfectly gay relationship if that's how you want to roll and you're not forced to do anything. Honestly if you aren't interested in any sexy fun times you can play the game and decline every single advance from an npc you are given! I sort of feel BioWare could and should take notice of this. I realize it isn't realistic but it's a fantasy game and players have to have their fantasies too and the more choice and agency you give a player the better. I don't necessarily agree because my interest in finding homosexual characters (not bisexual, not pansexual, not playersexual) in video games greatly precedes my interest in having all options available for me in terms of romance. Now, granted, there are many characters in same sex relationships in the game, but ultimately everyone might as well be bisexual in the world of Baldur's Gate 3. This is why I appreciate what DA:I does, despite being locked out of my favorite romances. It is nice to know that at least some fantastical video game worlds acknowledge the existence of homosexuality, which is hard to confirm without meta knowledge. But I suppose beggars can't be choosers in this case, so I'll take what I can get.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 23, 2023 7:26:00 GMT
Other stuff Dragon Age unquestionably does better: companion and inventory management. Swapping party members in and out in BG3 is incredibly tedious and involves going back to camp and opening the dialogue interface twice. And inventory management is just terrible in general, especially since you have to have companions in your party to even see what they're carrying. Oh my god this. The whole process of managing your party is absolute ass. The worst thing is that your companions SASS BACK AT YOU for leaving them behind, or get a bit pissy about it. Who thought this was a good idea? It's horrible, and it's especially frustrating because you do need to be switching out companions for their quests, and in general to get approval from them if you want that. And yeah, the fact that you can only use your companions inventories if they are in your party, holy hell what a load of bull. So inconvenient. Dragon Age Inquisition in comparison is just effortlessly easy to manage your party. You want to leave Haven/Skyhold and do some questing? Just pick your three mates by clicking their card and let's be on our way! Oh you want to change your party composition while questing? No problem, just fast travel to the nearest camp and change it up! This is how it should be. I don't know what Larian was thinking, but I can only assume it's about immersion. A lot of my issues with BG3 actually boils down to immersion vs convenience, where immersion, or the attempt in being immersive as opposed to being convenient is ruining a lot of the fun and (re)playability for me. I think in terms of romances, Larian did pretty decent, or at least the culmination of the romances feel extremely sweet and worth it. But because of the quest design for companions and romances, holy hell is it a mess. For instance, I can proceed with Gale's romance, and he is 100% monogamous, but he still will have flirtatious dialogue with some companions regardless how he feels about me. It feels like the game doesn't really know when the romance flag with each companion is reached, so the companion dialogue isn't affected. In general there is no telling WHEN you are truly in a romance with a companion, where the game actually recognizes that yeah, you are definitely a couple now. In Dragon Age Inquisition, it's definitely more obvious, you clear the romance quest and have coitus (maybe), your companion's tarot card changes, the Orlesian nobles will start gossiping about the two of you and other companions have banter about your relationship. It's also pretty frustrating to have to wonder and wait when you can proceed to the next step in the romance, and in some case you can miss it entirely. And always having to long rest at the camp to proceed with many of the companion quests is just annoying. Sometimes there might be several cutscenes you need to get through, so you need to do several long rests before the content you were hoping for appears. I much prefer DA:I's way of advancing companion storylines and romances through doing main story quests. That's convenient and it makes sense, and you are not prone to missing out on content because the pattern becomes very obvious. There is some cutscene bottlenecking in Inquisition as well, but leaving Skyhold and coming back is pretty painless. Generally you'll have to leave Skyhold to do side content and main story quests anyway so you don't really run into the problem of missing cutscenes or important steps in companion romances or quests. How the romances start is awkward all around as well. The tiefling party at your camp is just a mess. I went to Gale, wanted to have magical alone time with him, and already Astarion is pissy and jealous about me choosing Gale over him, and few other companions are talking about how sparks are flying between me and Gale. WHAT? We are just getting to know each other, this is the start of the damn game, how are people already this invested in my romantic life? The game is really bad with just platonic relationships as well. If you try to befriend someone or have gained a lot of approval by them, chances are they are going to flirt with you or you are given a cutscene that has several flirtatious dialogue options and one or two options that tell them pretty aggressively to bugger off. Dragon Age's '' heart '' option might be game-y, but it's good for not having to turn people down and having them sadface all over you which makes you feel kinda bad. It broke my heart having to turn down Wyll after such a great heartwarming dance cutscene, but I don't think I never hinted at wanting to initiate a romance with him since I was very aggressively pursuing Gale. I'm rambling, but in general BG3 gets a lot of the roleplaying, questing, gameplay and exploration right, but companions, romances and the story aren't on the same level as Dragon Age. Dragon Age has a lot more convenience, though perhaps losing out on immersion because of it, but BG3 is only really immersive when it comes to the core gameplay. The rest is give and take.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 23, 2023 2:07:19 GMT
Honestly, Dreadwolf trailer would've probably been the highlight and all people would talk about if it was shown here, I think they should've went for it now, as opposed to perhaps Video Game Awards that's probably going to be more stacked, and at least more talked about in general.
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 22, 2023 14:45:53 GMT
Lae'zel had a hard time with me. First she puts a knife on me and I attack her back because fuck off with that. But the cutscene bugged I think and instead of me killing her or otherwise damaging her, the cutscene ended abruptly, and we are back at camp and I can see her approaching me, but then nothing. Her tent is gone and she was just standing there as if nothing happened next to the bedrolls, and I'm able to speak to her about new things that happen. The game thinks she is gone but she isn't or something lmao. I can ask her to join my party and she agrees, but she never actually joins it.
Well, afterwards Shadowheart and Lae'zal (who is supposed to be gone) have a fight, and instead of stopping the two, I thought '' eh, Lae'zal is supposed to be a strong warrior, she can wiggle out of this by herself '' but no. Shadowheart just cuts and stabs her throat and she's dead. Now officially dead lmao.
I genuinely thought if you stay out of their fight they would just calm down after trading a few stabs or punches but nah, Shadowheart genuinely goes straight for the kill. And afterwards the companions just are like '' she was nice, gonna miss her, Shadowheart is something else huh '' like it's so awkward. Lae'zal's dead body is there in the camp and everyone acts so whatever about it lmao.
It's hard to take this game seriously sometimes. RIP Lae'zal.
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Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by witchcocktor on Aug 19, 2023 5:18:09 GMT
If Minrathous isn't massive and full of things to explore and do, I will be a bitter bastard. They cannot afford another flop like with Val Royeaux, especially with Baldur's Gate being as impressive as it is (despite the lackluster performance and bugs I encounter). I'm salivating at the thought of exploring that den of degeneracy and killing slavers.
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