Reincarnating Companions
Sept 14, 2022 0:21:37 GMT
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Gileadan, Beerfish, and 3 more like this
Post by Walter Black on Sept 14, 2022 0:21:37 GMT
All of the debates in recent threads over which characters should or shouldn't come back for DRAGON AGE 4 reminded me of the many times Bioware writers would rework previous characters into new games. For example:
Alistair is Anomen
Leliana is Immoen
Morrigan is Viconia
Oghren is Black Whirlwind
Shale is HK-47
Sébastien is Nathaniel Howe, with just a pinch of Alistair
Wrex is Canderous Ordo
Not only did they reuse certain templates, but would also subvert them, like how Avaline is Bizzaro Leliana, or how Jowan's abandoned hooks were given to Anders (renegade apostate) and Merrill (naive bloodmage).
Now yes, over relying on the same character archetypes *can* become lazy writing and nostalgia bait, but they can also be used to take new versions in different directions that old ones couldn't. So instead of DA4 rehashing previous characters and potentially resetting their development and/or happy endings, are there any characters you would want reincarnated? Characters with slightly similar personalities, tactics and/or story hooks, but still new and open to different paths? Off the top of my head, here's a few I wouldn't mind:
Saverok 2.0- a ruthlessly ambitious warrior, maybe Reaver who is romancable.
Dark Cole- starts as a demon, and we have a moral dilemma that if we make them a spirit, they leave the party.
Dagna 2.0- semi-mad scientist and the key to creating flintlocks.
Kieran/Connor 2.0-raised to be a powerful mage and former Abomination
Solas 2.0- recently awoken ancient elf, maybe even one of the Evanuris
Fake Solas 2.0- a mage who really is just a self taught commoner. Bonus points if it's a Tal-Vashoth Saarabas.
More to come later..
Alistair is Anomen
Leliana is Immoen
Morrigan is Viconia
Oghren is Black Whirlwind
Shale is HK-47
Sébastien is Nathaniel Howe, with just a pinch of Alistair
Wrex is Canderous Ordo
Not only did they reuse certain templates, but would also subvert them, like how Avaline is Bizzaro Leliana, or how Jowan's abandoned hooks were given to Anders (renegade apostate) and Merrill (naive bloodmage).
Now yes, over relying on the same character archetypes *can* become lazy writing and nostalgia bait, but they can also be used to take new versions in different directions that old ones couldn't. So instead of DA4 rehashing previous characters and potentially resetting their development and/or happy endings, are there any characters you would want reincarnated? Characters with slightly similar personalities, tactics and/or story hooks, but still new and open to different paths? Off the top of my head, here's a few I wouldn't mind:
Saverok 2.0- a ruthlessly ambitious warrior, maybe Reaver who is romancable.
Dark Cole- starts as a demon, and we have a moral dilemma that if we make them a spirit, they leave the party.
Dagna 2.0- semi-mad scientist and the key to creating flintlocks.
Kieran/Connor 2.0-raised to be a powerful mage and former Abomination
Solas 2.0- recently awoken ancient elf, maybe even one of the Evanuris
Fake Solas 2.0- a mage who really is just a self taught commoner. Bonus points if it's a Tal-Vashoth Saarabas.
More to come later..
, which could be brought back with a little of this sort of thing. There are always templates and supermodels, we are often inspired by the works of others. Why not dig deeper into what they've done well in the past?