32 réponses à ce sujet

[Revakeane]

Please note that this is not necessarily a criticism of DA2's companions. I think they were all well-written and engaging... however, I do have some gripes with regards to the overall impression I get about party relationships.

DA2's companions seem to have more intra-party dislike and bickering than the companions in DAO, and I was just wondering if this affected anyone's enjoyment of the game. For instance, there are tense conflicts between Anders, Fenris, Merrill, Aveline and Carver. The men in particular seem to be even more petulant and disagreeable than the women. It seems that the only easy-going ones are Varric and Isabela, and even they have their rough patches with the other companions. In contrast, the positive relationships are only between Isabela, Varric and Merrill. Other than that, Hawke's companions seem to hate on each other most of the time.

I found this quite depressing.

Leading around people who were constantly bickering made me want to turn around and slap them all several times throughout the game. Fenris and Anders in particular can be very dislikeable with their rude and inflexible dialogue. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but i much preferred when my party in DAO mostly tried to get along. The only real problem was Morrigan, and even then most of her barbed exchanges with the rest of my party were more witty than rude. Even Sten sort of played nice with Leliana and Shale, and didn't rub his disagreements with the rest of the party in my face all the time, like Anders and Fenris love to do.

I'm all for characters which strongly believe in their respective causes and personalities, and explosive party interaction, but I found the DA2 companions less likeable than DAO companions not because they were less well-written or uninteresting, but because their constant needling of one another was somewhat juvenile and irritating. If the companions really did know each other over the course of a decade, i would expect some form of compromise and understanding to form between them, especially since they're all saving each other's lives on a regular basis. A party that bickers all the time is not really convincing as a powerhouse that turns Kirkwall on its head, which is what the plot necessitates them to do, as I would expect the constant disagreements to really mess up party cohesion.

I would like some more cheerful companions in DA3 please. Or at least some more balanced party interactions that demonstrated common grounds as much as it does conflict.

[Jman5]

Go Fenris, Anders, and Merril and it will be 100% hatefest all game.

[Xewaka]

Varric gets along with everybody. Including the player. Use him.

[TheAwesomologist]

I never used Fenris, Anders, and Carver because of this. Aveline is actually pretty good. She gets snippy with Isabella but it never really gets mean. The fact that the others will stick up for Merrill just goes to show that Fenris and Anders are both just broody moody d-bags who will either abandon you or become a terrorist.
It only takes a few bad apples to ruin the bunch.

[mousestalker]

Merrill, Aveline, Isabela and Varric can all be mixed and matched for a minimal amount of bickering. Isabella pokes at Aveline from time to time, but that's about it.

[Ruben Thomas]

I rather think the bickering is funny, even when it gets a little cruel, like when Aveline ends up literally saying "Shut up, whøre." to Isabela I was still laughing.

Even Carver's nagging makes me laugh on occasion, it's good writing!

[ReallyRue]

Some companions get along well. Isabela and Varric get along with everybody.
Fenris seems to get along with Aveline and Sebastian too. Possibly Carver.
Merrill has a reasonable relationship with Sebastian and Carver.
Anders gets along with Bethany.
By Act 3, Isabela and Aveline's banter progresses to some kind of rivalry-friendship level.

[Jazharah]

So I'm not the only one who has a gripe with this heh.

I have permanently kicked Fenris and Anders from my party because they always, no matter what, have something to b*tch about, no matter what I do. They're both petulant, irritant and foolhardy in their judgments and the rest of the party gets the brunt of it. As for Carver... I'm not even going to go there.

On the other hand, I *love* the bickering between Isabela and Aveline. Especially when taking Isabela along on Aveline's quest in Act2 and in the quest "To Catch a Thief" in Act3, where they get some rival camera time.

As a solution I can only recommend to leave Fenris and Anders at home, that way the bickering stays on a humorous level like in DA:O.

[spudrow2005]

For some great convo i usually have merril walking around just cause her cluelessness makes me laugh some other good additions is varric and isabella i espcially love it when he offers to let isabella touch his chest hair. In DA:Awakening i always had ander in my party for healing and great one liners now i only keep him in my party when i know im gonna need a healer, all i ever hear from him is templar opression this and mages arnt all bad that. seriously i want DA:A anders back!!

[hoorayforicecream]

Pairs who don't get along:
Anders-Fenris
Fenris-Merrill
Anders-Merrill
Anders-Sebastian (kind of one-sided)
Carver - anyone except Merrill (who is too innocent to rage at) and Isabela (who likes to tease him)

Bethany, Isabela, Varric and Aveline tend to get along with everyone.

[Apathy1989]

I tended not to bring Morrigon along in DAO for this reason lol. However on my third playthough, I got tired of listening to Wynne mothering Alistair.

Its all good, but I still would have liked for them to at least grow fond of eachother as the acts go forward. By act 3 you would think they would at minimum tolerate eachother, but...

Fenris still hates Anders and Merrill (no matter how many times they heal him)
Anders still hyprocritically judges merrill constantly, not even a chat about magic or the weather

[Revakeane]

It's not so much that the companions bicker that bothers me. After all, I loved how Morrigan, Allistair and Leliana interacted with one another, spikes and all. It's just that a lot of the banter and party interaction is depressing, as they are fighting and arguing all the time, and it's not play-fighting either, but downright dislike fighting.

Just picking characters that get along doesn't solve the problem, because in party-based game, I would think the player would want to experiment with all sorts of companion combinations. Similarly, as this is a Bioware game, I personally want to plumb the writing as much as I can and experience every bit of dialogue just because it's so darn good. It's still good, but in DA2, it was frustrating and made me dislike the characters rather than understand them.

Would have been nice to chart an evolution of relationships; there is some, like how Isablea and Fenris may hook up in Act 3, but for the most part the relationships are stagnant. Anders and Fenris hate each other all the way (and Merrill too), Varric loves Merrill all the way. I think some development in intraparty relationships would include bad relationships becoming good, or good relationships hitting a bump in the road. That would make things much more interesting I think.

[rma2110]

Hawke's story is depressing enough without the companions being mean to each other. That's why I love Varric, Isabella, and Merill. Aveline snipes at Isabella from time to time, but they end up being friends. Isabella also takes Aveline's jabs with good grace.

[kea_spicy]

Yeah, I took Fenris and Anders along for Merrill's last Act3 companion quest. Those two just s**t on her the entire time. :[

Aveline and Isabela take jabs at each other, but don't break down and **** each other out.
Most of Merrill's "I missed something dirty/ I'm so flighty" lines seem to go with Varric and Isabela.
A few of Varric and Fenris' conversations sort of remind me of Oghren and Zevran, in that they poke fun at the dwarf/ elf relationship.

I miss Oghren. Here's hoping he shows up in Dragon Age 3. Just think how much fun Oghren/ Varric/ Isabela could be in a party. ^___^

[Velociraptus]

Varric was a mainstay in my first play through, I really enjoyed his witty comments and how we was basically looking out for everyone in the party during the banter.

I hated all the interactions between any mage and Merill save Bethany, who both share a bit of naivete in terms of adult life and magic. Fenris was just moody and brooding, which is a shame since he had so much potential as a character.

Aveline and Isabela do appear antagonistic to each other in the first two acts, but after the years went by, they eventually warmed up to each other. Though some of my favorite bamter is when Bela learns that Bethany is a virgin and that Aveline hasn't spent a night with a man for 4 years, hilarity.

I've been putting off playing my mage Hawke mainly because Carver is such a prat. Any conversation involving him is almost unbearable, it's as if he barely gets along with any of the other companions. Debating on whether or not I should allow him to perish in the deep roads once I eventually get there.

[Icy Magebane]

The only party I really use is Varric, Aveline, and Fenris. They all get along very well... I don't think they ever insult one another, and they kick butt on top of that. Win-win.

[Gnoster]

In my opinion DAO companions hardly had any worthwhile party banter, so with the exception Alistair's Morrigan hate and her deliberately annoying him being the only things I really enjoyed, I think really think DA2's party banter is awesome.
As I see it, Hawke is the one who brings the companions together, and some of them get along while others tolerate each other. Quite realistic actually, I know I have friends in different groups, whom I sometimes invite to the same party and they hardly speak because they have nothing in common.
Anyway this is not real life, this is DA2! :-) I enjoy the biggering from time to time just like I enjoy the good humored stuff. Haven't really tried out Fenris much since I myself can't stand his attitude. so to answer the question: It doesn't bring my experience down, rather it adds to it, and I would love more of the same in DA3.

[Maria Caliban]

All the male companions save one are douches. Remember how cool Zevran, Sten, and Oghren were? How they had a sense of humor about things and disagreed in an interesting or witty matter?

Not a single dude in Origins would treat Merrill like Anders and Fenris do during her last quest. Even if they disagreed with her or blamed her for events.

[Icinix]

Varric is the only character that isn't an **** or has some massive personality flaw...

[Nukenin]

Icinix wrote...

Varric is the only character that isn't an **** or has some massive personality flaw...

Varric is also the narrator of the tale.  Coincidence?  

[Teknor]

Maria Caliban wrote...

All the male companions save one are douches. Remember how cool Zevran, Sten, and Oghren were? How they had a sense of humor about things and disagreed in an interesting or witty matter?

Not a single dude in Origins would treat Merrill like Anders and Fenris do during her last quest. Even if they disagreed with her or blamed her for events.

Their differences were never put to test in DAO. Everybody hated the Blight so they got along and the differences were treated in a dismissive manner, in DA2 such dismissiveness can't be tolerated.

Modifié par Teknor, 29 mars 2011 - 03:27 .

[Nevara1013]

I actually really enjoyed the bickering. I found it amusing when someone would get a good zing on the other. Also, especially for Anders, Fenris and Merrill, it enhanced the political and philsophical conflicts that are the core of the game.

Varric likes everyone. Keep him in your party for some feel good and amusing banter.

[GeorgeZip]

Bring Isabella along on Avalines date. The claws come out.

[LadyJaneGrey]

Yeah, the only time it really bothered me was a few Anders/Fenris ambiant dialogue lines.  During some plots and conversation interactions, each character could acknowledge a different view point and show some growth, then: BAM; I AM NOTHING BUT AN INFLEXIBLE IDEOLOGY AGAIN.  It was jarring.
I still loved Fenris calling Anders out after Anders' quest though.  

Format Edit

Modifié par LadyJaneGrey, 29 mars 2011 - 05:04 .

[thegrimfandango]

I never found the needling too much, partly because it entertained me quite a lot, and partly because I mix up my party a lot to hear different interactions. I'm loving hearing a lot more of Isabela now, I didn't have much use for her when I was a DW rogue, because I had 2 other rogues that had archery.

Fenris stays at home a lot though because he's such a miserable bollix all the time.