I actually like the way the romances were handled. Yes, it took me a moment to adjust to not being able to talk to my companions whenever I wanted. At first this actually bothered me quite a bit. Now I understand it more. Your companions speak up more during quests. There's more banter. They react to your decisions more. You don't see all of this up front, but by the middle of Act 2 I definitely no longer felt like conversations were lacking.
As for the romances specifically, I thought they were handled well. I loved the inclusion of the flirt icon so I knew exactly when I'd be putting the moves on a character. I also thought the arcs were really well written. Anders' in particular ties perfectly into the main storyline. I felt more connected to him, particularly with the moving in aspect, than to the LIs in Origins. Another reason for this is the reactions by your companions and family members. Leandra, Isabela, Aveline, Sebastian, Merrill, Varic, and Gamlen all have something to say about your LI. This was a change from Origins where Al and Morrigan were noticed but Leliana and Zev were largely ignored except for a handful of dialogues. I felt like other characters noticed my romance, that it mattered to them, and thus it mattered more to me.
I didn't miss the exclusion of a kiss animation wherever I wanted, because I didn't get this in Origins. I tend to play same-sex romances, and this was missing from both Leliana and Zevran's vanilla romances. And, frankly, the kiss animations in DA2 were handled far better. They were steamier, there was more emotion in the blocking. I don't miss the awkward sex scenes, either. The DA2 love scenes might not have been explicit, but they were engaging. Pushing Fenris against the wall, leading Anders to bed, disarming Isabela. They were all very different moments and very in keeping with the particular characters.
All that being said, I wouldn't say no to more dialogue with our LIs and other companions. This is not a bad thing. I love the writing and characters of this game (and most BioWare games), and it always leaves me hungering for more. They could probably double the word budget and I would still thirst for more interaction. That's a sign of good writing.
Edit: I forgot to address the timing issue, as so many people feel the romances are rushed. I think this depends on your play style. I tend to bring my LI with me everywhere, and the way this game works, companions have a lot to say on different quests. It's part of how you get to know them. So I hauled Anders everywhere with me during Act One. Plus there was his companion quest, Tranquility and a reaction dialogue after it. Then Act 2 comes around and I repeat the pattern. He talks during any quest even tangentally related to mages. He also has dialogue at the begin of the act, before Dissent, during Dissent, after Dissent, and during his Questioning Beliefs. That's 5 dedicated conversations not to mention his comments during quests and banters with companions. By the time he kissed Hawke during Questioning Beliefs and asked to come spend the night, I felt like I knew him just fine.
Plus, Hawke's known him for 3 years at this point. That's quite a long time to get to know someone. If you look for ways to interact with your companions, you can find them. It's just a bit more work than clicking on them repeatedly by the campfire until they have nothing new to say anymore.
Modifié par highcastle, 01 avril 2011 - 03:58 .
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(If you are romancing him probably is more like "Hawt psycho emo whiny mass murderor")
