K1LL STREAK wrote...
For me, I think the fact that you can customise Hawke so much makes the things you can't customise stick out so much - and if you didn't like those things ie. Their voice doesn't sound like something you would ever give yourself, then you tend to dislike it more. A game like the witcher actually casts you in a set role, which is far easier to settle in to as straight away you accept that you are roleplaying a different person, like when reading a book, or watching a film. Their voice is then simply their voice, rather than with DA2, you feel like you are stuck with something you would quite like to change.
Saying this, I felt whilst playing Mass Effect which has a similar approach to DA2, that I was roleplaying Shepard, and his character was easily accepted too - so perhaps the problem I have with Hawke "not feeling like myself" stem from the way the game introduces him as a character(as in trying to make him more personal to you). It is either that, or that Hawke himself is simply not that great a character. For me, he doesn't have a past before the silly prologue, he doesn't really show much drive and ambition compared to his very well written, well fleshed out companion characters. His emotions seem pretty hollow unless I make him angry all the time, and even then I feel he isn't angry enough. My sibling has just been beaten to death by a huge Ogre right in front of me, my face shows a slight furrowing of the brows whilst I calmly stand and inform my distraught mother that "at least father won't be alone anymore" in an unenthusiastic voice.. Thats the joky option, whilst the angry option lacked emotion and the nice option did too..where is the bursting in to tears, or embracing your mother in order to console her, where is the rage and fist clenching anger that fate has been so cruel? wait..of course, we do not even know the person who had died yet because we have only been playing for three minutes - so we don't really care either..
It is emotions that cause us to relate to our on-screen persona, if their emotions do not seem natural or not genuine then you feel alienated and it has the exact opposite effect. Hawke never really expresses what he thinks, or feels, or wants, he doesn't speak to other charcters at length about himself - and this is to allow the player the freedom to choose for him and to roleplay as they wish.. but his character can only half do that, as he is also set as Hawke. My interpretation is that in DA2 you play as half Hawke, half own character hybrid - but instead of enriching the experience it means that Hawke isn't as well developed as he would be without all the customisation and the own-made character isn't capable of being fully what you want, or a proper extension of yourself.
Despite this, I still like DA2 a lot - and I cannot really comment on the Witcher 2 yet as I haven't played it enough.
there are several problems with Hawke... for one, there's nothing inherently unique about him/her
-a Warden is somebody who has nightmares and will either die in the deep roads or die killing an archdemon, that is their fate
-a Spectre is somebody who is above the law and given power to decide the fate of billions of people doing things people will never know about, in addition Shepard is given visions from the prothean beacon
-a Witcher is a genetically engineered mutant warrior who can't procreate and is generally considered an outsider/freak to all normal society but their job anyways is to defend humans from monsters
Hawke is... some dude/gal, who in the pursuit of money is granted power which is later taken away
if there's anything remotely unique about Hawke, other than good luck and bad timing, is a hint at the end which will likely only be explored in a sequel
another problem with Hawke is how they're introduced, we never truly get to see what Hawke has lost, again using examples from other games...
-the Warden's origin story is a story of loss, betrayal or deadly mistakes no matter which direction you go with, you as the player get many chances during this time point to connect with the Warden
-Shepard experiences a great deal of bad luck on Eden Prime, at the beginning you really have nothing to connect with Shepard but by the end of Eden Prime you're really anxious to clear your name and learn more about what the visions mean to Shepard
-Geralt of Rivia is a little more cliche with amnesia, but it works well enough that you always feel like you're the one steering this second take on life and interested in learning more about his past
Hawke well... does anybody really care what Hawke did in Lothering? as far as i'm concerned Kirkwall is the best thing to ever happen to Hawke himself, the family in this case serves as the "interest" point for "loss" in Hawke's origin story but that loss never felt connected to Hawke because we never get to role play that scenario
finally... as you said, getting a taste of influence over a story really makes it less immersive when you don't get real influence over a story... such things as the 2-3 year time skips are really detrimental, especially skipping the first year in Kirkwall and later on when current events are so chaotic it makes no sense that Hawke should sit doing nothing... the inability to shape the story hurts as well, sure we can shape our relationships but the story happens the same way no matter what, and as interesting as it is to change the look of Hawke no matter what we play the first battle as someone else, the fact that playing as a mage doesn't do anything to the story is dumb as well
i don't think any of these things taken by themselves is what detriments the role playing aspect of DA2, but i think taken all together they do
PS: i don't think Dragon Age 2 as a role playing experience is BAD at all, but i think compared to better examples it demands improvement
Modifié par 88mphSlayer, 26 mai 2011 - 11:31 .
Retour en haut
