What did you do today in DA? [Spoilers]

DAO Sten was originally supposed to have horns but there were graphic issues so it was left out. Or so the devs said. *shrug*

Qunari, the word, does not refer to the race with horns. It's a name for people who follow the Qun. So Gat, even though he's an elf, is a Qunari because he follows the Qun. DAO Sten, since he has no horns, is likely a human.

 

Ah thanks Deadly Dwarf. That's a real shame, I liked Sky Watcher and had hopes of him becoming a regular companion. Glad you mentioned it otherwise I would have wondered what had happened to him.

Heard something about that but never looked into Kosith.

*

... I swear I heard the chiming of clock bells, dogs barking and birds chirping while I was in the midst of tinting armor. Clock bells? I don't see no bells at Skyhold though I wouldn't put it to someone being appointed as the times keeper going about dinging hand held bells on the hour except that the chimes sounded too deep.

As for dogs, there are no dogs. 

We got a pseudo "aeroplane" horse. How else to explain the contrails when it gallops?

Btw, here's my magic key to entering Unadin Grotto.   Recorded 20 mins ago.

I've never looked into the multiplayer. I don't know anything about it. But Sky Watcher would be fun to play as.

WHOA!! I've just visited the Redcliffe Chantry. An unusual Mage was inside fighting a Rift. We helped him out and closed it and then the story just span in a whole new direction.

I wish I had some popcorn right now. I'm just really loving these developments.

The campy Mage took off after he and Felix told us about time control and other strange stuff. I was not expecting this.

Hi good folks.

So, here is my five years too late “I’ve just finished the DA2, and…” I am going to try for concise and brief, but that’s hard!

First of all, thanks to this board for guidance without spoilers! I feel that Revel’s play-through turned out perfect in terms of the story and character development.

I did not look at the last save’s clock, because the game crashed instead of going into subtitles after the last custcene with Cassandra and Leliana. At a guess, I ended up in low 30’s.

Plot:

Slight cheesiness with possession aside (and a rather sudden flip with Orsino that I did not quite get), the plot was extremely well-laid out, and the connections and foretells were all there. It’s probably the first video-game where I got who is who, and who is doing what and why right away, without the replays. The moral & philosophical theme of the inner demons was all there. The companions were tied into the theme, and each presented a take on the issue. Well done, BioWARE!

Companions:

Very strong, but slightly uneven development in Act 3, with a sudden and heavy emphasis on Aveline. Not that I’ve minded it, but other companions felt sidelined in comparison, even Anders.

Anders’ story and character was exceptional for me, and I am glad that the decision was made to make the character player-sexual, because the romance adds a strong dimension to his eventual act of nihilism. In the time and place I grew up, he’s as close as it gets to the heroes of my girl-dreams (yeah, I did not grew up with movie actors/pop-stars as my trial cases for sighs, I grew up with a laundry list of angsty revolutionaries who lived crazy, burned for the cost, and died young, mainly executed). I know it is a fantasy game, so Justice’s addition was the ‘fantasy’ element there, but to be honest, his story would have been even more poignant as a strictly human story.

Aside from Anders, huge props to bioWARE for managing companions in a dignified way without making any of them obnoxious. Fenris casually informing Anders aboiut his intent to kill him, if he hurts Hawke, was sweet. Well, I did dodge Isabela, so the potential is there…

Varric’s role as a fond story-teller is fantastic. If Anders is the game’s life-blood, Varric is its beating heart.

My biggest complaint is that nobody ever uses PC’s name in the dialogues, but I guess that’s because the subtitles are optional, and something they started doing once they went with full voicing.

Family Connections:

I think they did not go far enough for how many characters they introduced in the Hawke clan. Liandra’s death was almost glossed over. I expected the cutscene that went through all the companion reactions, or mentions from each of them. The Uncle Gamlen subplot in Act 3 was equally weak. Bethany as a bargaining chip was slightly better.

Overall, for forcing the protagonist to be a part of a specific family, they did not use it to its full potential, so it's neither here, nor there. They almost had me at Liandra, but I still prefer no family protagonist way, way, way more.

Combat Roles vs Story-importance:

Three available mages, three available fighters, and two available rogues… bad for business; basically a set-up that favors the main as a rogue, which I did play, and enjoy. Yes, I get it that Bethany and Carver become unavailable very soon, but given Bethany’s plot prominence, I would have almost just went with sister-mage no matter what, made her unavailable asap and skipped Carver. Given how well the companions play into the story, Bethany/Carver interferes with the other guys’ plot participation. I know, I have not seen the reasons Isabela is there, but I am sure she contributes her two sovereigns. Two of each would have been perfect for the game of this length, and gear distribution, providing that each class has two distinctive specs.

Combat:

Overall, I am not fond of the combat system, that is an awkward hybrid of an action system with pause, point and click. By level 20, I was also getting abilities overload.

Warriors, imo, got a short end of the stick in terms of cool gameplay, they are really slow, boring and their animations are meh (but I did not main a warrior, just base this awesome opinion on Fenris and Aveline).

The overload of the waves of enemies makes it hard to appreciate the combat, because at times, the battlefield is completely messy with adds. It does keep you on your toes, but it’s neither a solid trinity game, nor it is a DPS race. Messy.

I ended up playing mostly on Normal, and had to drop to Casual for a few battles, and that’s probably as good as I could manage, even if I tried my uttermost. Hats off to anyone playing on harder settings. Unlike Mass Effect, I do not feel the need to increase the difficulty setting every subsequent play-through, as I feel it is just going be frustrating, not fun.

Crafting/Gearing:

What crafting? By the time the game ended, I still did not have enough ingredients to craft a single thing, despite picking up each available gathering spot. Consequently, I have used the runes I could pick in the earlier weapons I then replaced, and since they could not be removed once inserted… annoying.

Second Play-through:

I feel that Revel is my canon run, perfect for the story-line, gay rogue, deeply in love with Anders and throwing his lot with Bethany and him. I felt he should have laughed in Meredith face when asked to choose a side. Here Revel stands, robbed by war of all his family, save for his mage-sister, and openly a lover to a mage who blew up the Chantry…. Do you truly think he’s going to destroy the last of what he has in the world in the name of anything? I should have tried harder to move Fenris… erm… Leto (oh, how Obsidian of you, BioWARE) to a rivalry track, but excuse me for my inability to resist the need to comfort the visiting JRPG angst-onslaught.

I am going to try a second play-through with an inverse character, a Mage who is single-mindedly committed to Fenris, rivals Anders, believe she is special, and all other mages should be eliminated or committed (I guess she is a total hypocrite), and (gods help me) will try to swap Varric for Isabela (eww). I think to her will fall the mother-of-all tough decisions, executing Anders.

Sorry for a long, long post!

Τhat unsual mage is meant to be one of bioware's best for me.
Inquisition in general has some pretty milestone characters.
you are nearing the point where your PANTS/BREECHES/SOCKS are about to be blown off

Riya would gladly lend her steampunk dress to Iona

About Blackwall: I guess, you are right, he probably didn't have many ways to find out more about the wardens. I think, I will make him a warden this time in Riyas playthrough, he might like that.

phoray


I didn't find the banter that bad (probably because I had Sebastian in that group too and him constantly trying to convert Fenris was the most annoying thing in the whole game, nightly bandit groups and big spiders included)


I didn't do anything really in the DA universe, but I ordered an omnibus with all DA comics, so I can finally catch up with the reading. Next might be Asunder, I'm purely chosing for favorite protagonists and teh comics have Varric and Isabella and Asunder Wynne and Cole . I will probably read the other novels too

Thanks! I am going on a business trip for a couple of days tonight with a crappy laptop, so I will play Act I on Blaze Hawke. If feel like I've bonded with her over that period of time, I will replay DA2. If I don't really feel attached to her, and the game feel too much the same-y, I will just take a Vanguard through ME2/ME3 & play ME3MP after I am back on my home rig with my beloved Razer mouse. OMG, I am going to play on the left hand for two days... I have not done it in a few months now.

I think she will be very much like Merrill in attitude, thinking she is an exception among the mages, and all other mages are dangerous (save for her BFF Merrill) and Fenris is hawt, therefore he must be right. She herself will be very shallow, so maybe Isabela as a frenemy will make sense.

No, Isabela's only presence in my game was a short cutscene when I entered the Hanging Man to talk to Varric. Then she moved to the corner with the exclamation mark. I did not talk to her, and she disappeared next time I came to the hanged man. The gear for her appeared in the stores. Other than that, there was no sign or mention of her at all. My understanding is that both Fenris and her just disappear from the game if you do not recruit them.

heh, yes, I think I have a good idea about Fenris' affections. I think I might even pull off friendship with Merrill while at it. When he walks out on her, Blaze would pout and do everything Merrill wants and asks for, that mirror can't be eviel... because she is her only friend in the whole world (sniffle, sniffle, sniffle)....

You know the reason, I used to like Anders? He looked a bit like a young Charles Dance, one of my favorite actors, and had nothing to do with the tormented possessed mage thingy (this, I find annoying tbh). But I moved on to Fenris and Isabella.
And Fenris works surprisingly well as a romance for  mage Hawke. If you choose friendship romance, he will shove you as a good example in every mages face, who isn't in his opinion (mainly Anders and Merrill of course). I didn't play the rivalmance yet.