A) The entire storyline is very generic and cliched. Truly, there is nothing remotely original about the story, it is basically a typical story in too many uninspired RPGs. While Biowares other games do have their cliches, at least the plot as a whole or the world has some originality. DAO lacks this. It is a by the nubers story and extremely predictable, not to mention the typical human bad guy being a huge idiot and why we even have the story in the first place.
Recycled plot and characters. DAO fans must admit that the games plot and the party characters are recycled from past games. There is no doubt about this. Lets see Jedi, Spirit Monks, Specters, and Grey Wardens....tell me DAO is no different...lol. Same four midgame major quest format where you collect plot coupons for the finale. DAO easily follows the formula of every other Bioware game. This extends to their characters which strongly are recycled from past Bioware characters. Its entirely to obvious, every character is the same "Bioware archtype" revisited. There is less of this in DAII, in which only Sebastian (which is done intentionally even featuring the specific character he "copies" in his quest) and Merill (who is a Tali and ME1 Liara mix) feel like typical Bioware characters. Characters like Bethany, Varric, and new Anders break Bioware mold. Not to mention the plot of DAII is very unique for a WRPG. Before DAII, Bioware was becoming like the final Fantasy teams, who recycle their plots and characters over and over.C) Charcters are divorced from the plot (excluding Alistair and partially Morrigan, as well as Loghain). This makes the characters more window dressing than plot participants. The characters simply do not matter in the plot, either mechanically or even thematically. In my RPG experience, RPGs both Western and Japanese, either A) have them all or nearly all play a role in the story or
a significant number do while other don't (and most of these games have large casts). Leliena, my fave DAO character, does not have to be even recruited and DAO's plot doesn't change, thats how insignificant she is. Oghren and Wynne are subplot players nothing more. Zervan is introduced by plot event and then he doesn't matter. And Morrigan can easily be written out of the story with very little alteration. Only Alistair plays a role in the plot. DAII is a HUGE step forward, its too bad fanboys are too blinded to see this. Most of DAII cast plays significant roles in the plot (Varric, sibling, Aveline, Isabela, and Anders as well as in the end Sebastian) while the others like Fenris and Merrill are strongly connected to the plots conflicts and themes.D) Sidequests are divorced from the plot. This goes for the main four midgame quests (which is DAO's saving grace) and the terrible side quests that seem out of place. Lets take a look at Biowares past games and their midgames. KOTOR, while looking for Star Maps, you have to deal with the main plot elements such as the Sith and their allies such as that slaver corp on the Wookie world. Malak sends you not one but two men after you and between the third and fourth planet there is a huge main plot mission. Mass Effect...Therum, Feros, Noveria, and Virmire all deal with Saren, the Geth, and his allies. While each place has their own stories, they are intergrated well with the main plot. Now DAO....the only connection the midgame has to the main plot is some plot coupons given for an alliance, a few darkspawn and abroodmother more connected to the side plot than th emain one, and one assasin hire from Loghain. The side plots simply overpower the main plot, causing DAO to lose all focus. In DAII's sideplots, while they seem disconnected from the main story at first, eventually connect themselves to the main plot. And for side quests, a great RPG will have sidequests either A) deal with the main plot or
deal with the narrative themes of the game. Look at Jade Empire, the quests were not random, almost all deal with a break in the natural or social order, just like the main story itself. The Witcher does this well, DX; HR does this well, but DAO does not. They are just random quests and boring ones to boot. DAII however, most of its sidequests deal in both the main plot OR the main narrative themes and conflicts of the game. They are not random. This is a huge aspect that seperates the well written RPGs (Fallout New Vegas) from the poor or mediocre written ones (like Fallout 3).There are plenty more, but these are the main four problems with DAO....many which are addressed in DAII. Going back to Origins is taking a step back. What Bioware really needs to do is tell an entirely different story, different from DAO, different from DAII, and hell, different from any other Bioware game. Heavily cliched and recycled stories and characters shows flaws in wirting talent, simply put. Instead of making your work look good, it just makes the works you ripped of from look better.
The new DLC is a very bad sign.....it looks like Bioware is back to recycling their plots and characters. Look its Kasumi: Stolen Memory II....or Tallis: Recycled Memory.
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As much as you wanted to harp that DAO was cliched and DA2 was not (I said both are)...you just made the point that DA2 is also cliched. Thank you for the validation.
