The feeling of being swept up by events beyond Hawke's control actually added more depth to the game, I think. No, you don't get to play hero and save the world, but on the other hand it really reinforces that it's not a game about a specific event; it's an interactive biography.
You're this dude or lady or ladydude that is just trying to live your life and deal with the shifting alliances and politics that are going on around you. You aren't always respected, your word isn't always law, and people have their own motivations that they're not always going to tell you about. That is
brilliant.The companion-specific quests really added to this: your friends have their own lives and their own stories where they are at the centre, and even if they ask Hawke for help, it's still about them, not you. That they can betray you at the end if you go against their ideals without earning their trust or respect really reinforces that. It's not necessarily
about Hawke, it's just the world seen from Hawke's point of view, and it shifts dramatically if you think, "well, what if the story is really about Merrill and we're just the one along for the ride?"
I'm about equal on feeling connected to both my Wardens and Hawkes. Partly because a good 60% of the game is happening in my own head, I don't feel like the characters are lacking in any way, even when the in-game responses to events or people are otherwise limited, I'm amending them or fleshing them out in my imagination.
Probably the biggest disconnect has hit when going back to DA:O after playing DA2 for a month. The voiced protagonist sticks out like a sore thumb now, as does the lack of a consistent personality. I can still get into the character, but conversations are especially jarring.
I know it's been argued that people feel like Hawke is someone else's character that they're just playing with due to the voice and family, but for me it was no different from playing my Warden. Hawke has a good 20 years of backstory that remains unexplored. We know a bit about the family and that they lived in Lothering for ten years, but I don't see it as being very different from having been stuck in the Circle tower for most of your life and having the game inform you that you have a history with Jowan and Cullen, and are known as a talented mage, or any other backstory.
The voice is certainly a larger issue, but, personally, after thirty hours with the human "sultry" tone, I would mother****ing
kill to get Wyatt to voice my mage Warden.
/ramble
Also:
obnoxiousgas wrote...
I'd just like to point out how much improved the murder knife is in this game. I mean, in Origins I had to basically buy that all my characters went around carrying a chef's knife with them. The murder knife is so much sleeker and classier in DA2.
I would actually pay for a replica DA2 murder knife, it's a sweet-looking blade.
Modifié par Threeparts, 12 avril 2011 - 08:20 .
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