ipgd wrote...
As for the topic: I didn't hate any of the companions. The only one I actively disliked on a personal level was Sebastian, whom I still believe is a well-written character with an interesting narrative role, and that is the primary rubric by which I grade the worth of a character.
Fenris was kinda a case of an interesting character concept executed in a way that was... timid? He was, in a sense, just so damn reasonable given what he had been through that I had trouble being really engaged by his character in any meaningful way. He was potentially interesting when he was angry or lashing out, but then he would... apologize for it, and it was just like, "well, you know, I really can't blame you for any of this". He could have been so much more unhinged, given his history, that he just ended up like 'slightly troubled but ultimately harmless' which I guess is okay, but not very interesting to me, and something I personally think was an opportunity for a much more engaging character wasted.
He was not connected to the plot in any way, which I found myself missing quite a bit given how much more involved the other characters were. He had strong opinions, but was remarkably passive about them -- he was like that old war vet that sits around being passively racist but whom no one actually gives two ****s about, because he is the way he is because of something awful he had been through and everyone just gets it. I wanted to find fault with Fenris's views, but his character falls into that grey area of "his life sucked so much that I guess he's entitled to be a bit of a dick", especially given he never lashes out against anyone who is innocent or takes any measures to actually act against mages. I would have liked to see him do something like turn Anders and Merrill into the templars, anything to make him more plot relevant, give him more to develop away from and make me feel like there's a point to challenging his views.
His romance specifically disappointed me on two levels: one, that it was structured in a way that seemed like a better fit for Origins than DA2 (Hawke can't talk to Fenris about their hanky-panky for three years, really?), and two, that there was remarkably little conflict for a mage romance. I was a little put off by the fact I could essentially roleplay Danarius (which I actually tried to do when I romanced him!) and he wouldn't think it was, you know, a bit weird -- engage in some self-loathing or something, gosh. I mean, I get why such a huge variable couldn't be implemented in any satisfactory way, but it was a bit jarring. I felt a bit like Fenris would have been better off with not falling under the normal friendship/rivalry system at all, and instead prejudicially "friended" only rogues and warriors and "rivaled" only mages -- his character changes so little between the two paths (or even within one path; it was as if his post-slavery societal "rehabilitation" was for the most part already done before the beginning of the game, and I was speaking to a character whose significant developmental arc was already behind him) that I don't think anything would really have been lost if his friendship/rival paths as written were condensed into one and he were able to have free reign with his ****ry towards a mage Hawke.
Quoting ipgd for truth, as usual.
My two least favorite characters are Sebastian and Fenris. Sebastian is a good
character, so I can appreciate his presence in the game, but I want to smack him in the mouth for no real reason. He just bothers me. ::shrug:: And Fenris just bores me. I am indifferent towards him and think he's a pretty poor character.
His romance is also remarkably boring, since there's no
real tension between a mage Hawke and Fenris. And it really pales in comparison to the other romance, since the rivalry and friendships paths don't really differ. Besides being a little quicker to apologize when he gets pissy, there's not much difference between his friendship and rival path, romance or not. Merrill, Isabela, and Anders all have interesting character developments when you rival vs. friend them. With Fenris, it's just not present.
Volver arriba
).
