5 réponses à ce sujet

[Kaiser Shepard]

What made the previous games for me were the political 'games' you were able to play at certain parts, which really added to the experience: The Landsmeet arc was without a doubt one of Origins' highlights, especially plot, story and consequence wise. Awakening had a few nice subarcs concerning this, both on a higher level (A Brewing Conspiracy) and a somewhat lower one (A Day in Court, The Peasant Revolution).
DA2 had some politics, but most of it was either happening in the background (Orsino & Meredith until act III) or only had Hawke as a pawn (the entirety of the qunari storyline up until the end). It would've been nice if Hawke, especially because of being railroaded into becoming the Champion, had some opportunities to play some games of power (and come out on top, of course). Instead, your only real acts as the Champion are siding with someone (or not) during the Act III introduction, two fetch quests that follow and once again siding with either Orsino or Meredith at the beginning of the endgame, not even being able to stand your own ground.

While I can't say that I particularly approve of how Awakening essentially didn't acknowledge the results of Origins' politics (a few mentions if you're king/queen, none for the other titles as far as I remember, not to mention the Ultimate Sacrifice ending), the intrigue was definitely there at the time. If anything, I'd take this opportunity to show the team that there are people who enjoy playing as semi-plotting manipulative bastards, and that such an approach ending in a triumph (or blowing up in the player's face) would really elevate these games beyond what they would be otherwise.

Obsidian's Alpha Protocol really shone in this aspect, allowing the player to, depending on their choices, rise from a mere unwitting pawn to truly a magnificent bastard, complete with multiple opportunities to rub your greatness into the faces of your opponents.

[AngryFrozenWater]

Besides the obvious mage/templar conflict, there were also your dealings with the qunari, the viscount and the grand cleric. Instead of Hawke making decisions which impact the story plot (as promised), Hawke merely responds to the story. So, the potential was there, but because of the inability to make a difference none of the politics could be translated into meaningful gameplay.

Modifié par AngryFrozenWater, 12 mai 2011 - 02:31 .

[JesterPsychotica]

I think part of the issue stems from up until becoming the champion you are at the very bottom of the Kirkwall politics- a refugee from Ferelden (and an apostate on top of that- should you be a mage). While I think it would've been nice to have more of an influence in the events that took place- (ie: preventing Saemus's death, chosing an an alternative way of dealing with the Qunari that didn't involve fighting the Arishok- [example: retrieving the tome]) and still come out as Champion because you ended the Qunari threat. It would've nice to see Saemus live and either choose to live with the Qunari or step up in his father's place as Viscount- depending on how the game was played- but thats my two cents on that subject.

As far as the Orsino/Meredith situation goes, Meredith had already held the power in her hands. This is stated very early on in the game. Almost all of Kirkwall supports her, and the former Viscount was put to death for trying to reduce the Templar's influence in the city. Meredith believes and enforces that Hawke becomes champion because she allowed him/her to become Champion. Not to mention, she has the Chantry's support. Orsino on the other hand has very little influence except from the Mages of the Gallows who are loyal to him, and tries to do what he can without being seen. Although I got the impression that there was more to Orsino than we got to see, Gaider said that he felt Orsino didn't get the screen time he deserved.

Modifié par JesterPsychotica, 12 mai 2011 - 02:29 .

[darrylzero]

JesterPsychotica wrote...

I think part of the issue stems from up until becoming the champion you are at the very bottom of the Kirkwall politics- a refugee from Ferelden (and an apostate on top of that- should you be a mage). While I think it would've been nice to have more of an influence in the events that took place- (ie: preventing Saemus's death, chosing an an alternative way of dealing with the Qunari that didn't involve fighting the Arishok- [example: retrieving the tome]) and still come out as Champion because you ended the Qunari threat. It would've nice to see Saemus live and either choose to live with the Qunari or step up in his father's place as Viscount- depending on how the game was played- but thats my two cents on that subject.

As far as the Orsino/Meredith situation goes, Meredith had already held the power in her hands. This is stated very early on in the game. Almost all of Kirkwall supports her, and the former Viscount was put to death for trying to reduce the Templar's influence in the city. Meredith believes and enforces that Hawke becomes champion because she allowed him/her to become Champion. Not to mention, she has the Chantry's support. Orsino on the other hand has very little influence except from the Mages of the Gallows who are loyal to him, and tries to do what he can without being seen. Although I got the impression that there was more to Orsino than we got to see, Gaider said that he felt Orsino didn't get the screen time he deserved.

There's always blackmail.  Working with some shady contacts to find ways to influence the political process without having real influence of your own would have been really fun.

[KnightofPhoenix]

Yep, there was no rise to power at all in DA2. A huge opportunity wasted.
And to think that I once thought that Hawke could be the Free March Bismarck. Lol was I stupid.

Hawke's purpose in the story is just to kill.

Modifié par KnightofPhoenix, 12 mai 2011 - 03:05 .

[JoHnDoE14]

Agreed. While DA2 was a deeply political game, it was sad that instead of letting you take part in decision-making it simply let you choose your emotional response to the strory, as AngryFrozenWater said.