I'm a little hesitant to post this here, because it's a non-spoiler forum... but since others have been spoiling already, whatever. Let the chips fall where they may. Just giving a heads-up here, there be spoilers ahead.
The good:
I really liked how the new banter style involves Hawke. I love the fact that Hawke doesn't just chime in occasionally, but there is actual banter between Hawke and her/his teammates. It makes me feel like Hawke is more of a character (though I can see how some would be annoyed that the Hawke they've created in their heads wouldn't say those things).
I liked the puzzles. I thought they were an interesting diversion, and I enjoyed the change of pace.
I really liked the Isabela and Aveline specific quests. It was terrific to see small character-building quests for them, and more about their pasts, as well as showcasing their wonderful personalities.
The combat was well-balanced - it was challenging and had some good tactical elements to it. I never felt overwhelmed, and while I did get my butt kicked on occasion, I never felt frustrated that it was entirely out of my control. I played on normal. I really liked the final battle; it involved new aspects of combat that felt tactical, and I liked the different things I could do to use the environment factors in the fight itself.
I greatly enjoyed how much went into the ambience of the world. Just overhearing the NPCs talking put a smile on my face (listening the du Launcets talking about ****s had me giggling), and I really liked the bits and pieces from the NPCs at the party.
I adored how there was additional effort put in to recognize an existing romance. I'm having a lot of fun going through on various playthroughs to try to see what is and isn't affected by the romance flag.
The bad:
The first (and largest) complaint I have is that the major choices felt like they didn't matter. I was presented with the option of sneaking or fighting, and that was cool. I'll talk about the sneaking later. However, the bigger choices (fight the Duke's forces or escape through the caves? Stay with Tallis or abandon her?) felt like they didn't matter. If I chose to try to fight the Duke's men, I was told "Never mind, go to the cave anyway." If I chose to abandon Tallis, I ended up doing practically the same thing as if I chose to help her. I will also echo Dave of Canada's complaint - why shouldn't Hawke be able to take that scroll from Tallis? Why would Hawke just let her go? It bothers me that it dovetails, because I didn't feel like I was really making a choice.
Tallis herself seemed to be the star of the show as well, and it didn't feel as organic. She got all of the recognition from the NPCs, and nobody else did but Hawke. It didn't make sense to me. I get that Hawke gets recognized (personal invitation, killed the wyvern, possibly Champion of Kirkwall, etc.), but Tallis is supposed to be Hawke's elf servant. What makes her more noteworthy than the other servants?
The second major complaint were the cinematics and the sense of lack of agency while watching them. When Tallis introduces herself by stabbing five or six thugs, then hangs a lampshade on the fact that Hawke and crew aren't doing anything ("What are you waiting for?"), that really bothered me. It reminded me of fanfiction where a brand new character shows up and upstages the original cast. This happens again in the caves, when Tallis runs away, then returns with a cinematic where (again) Hawke and crew stand in awe and are unable to do anything while watching Tallis do awesome things.
I really didn't feel the tension when Tallis runs off during that fight either. She left, and then comes back and there's a cinematic that makes me think there should be a bigger deal than I felt there was. There was practically no tension; I didn't feel like my characters were in any danger anyway, so it was more a feeling of mild curiosity than anything else. I'd have to contrast this with the time when Isabela ran off in act 2 - the tension there was much stronger, despite me expecting her to return. I felt it was more palpable that she was gone, and then when she returned, I felt that tension noticeably deflate.
When the Duke shoots Salit with the green stuff, I felt helpless. Hawke and crew were just standing there while it was all going on, and I don't understand why.
Finally, I didn't like how I was forced to separate from my companions during the party and sneaking section. It felt handwaved; they certainly helped with the wyvern kill, and the nobles at the group clearly had their own servants and people in attendance. Why couldn't Hawke's teammates be there?
The mixed:
I have mixed feelings about the stealth section. Firstly, I didn't like how Tallis was clearly far, far superior at it than Hawke, but didn't actually *do* anything. She dashed much faster than Hawke, appears in a puff of smoke at places Hawke has to sneak into, and could probably do it all without needing Hawke's help at all. It made me feel like I was being forced to do it. Secondly, stealth in general is pretty weird. The guard behavior totally broke my immersion. If Hawke KOs a guard, why would that guard simply get up and ignore the blackout that just happened? The guards didn't seem to care if they saw an unconscious guard. They didn't pay attention if I threw a rock. It would have made a lot more sense if they were automatons or something. Golems maybe? Beams of light I needed to avoid breaking? I don't know. I applaud the experimentation, but stealth is a very difficult sort of system to implement; I've tried creating one myself, and it was certainly no picnic. The stealth felt more like a puzzle than actually sneaking, and I'd rather it just go fully and embrace the puzzle-ish nature of it rather than try to be a stealth game.
The conclusion:
All in all, I liked the DLC. I really liked the character building moments, and the varied gameplay elements. I liked the pacing, and the opportunities to do many different things - fight, talk, explore, sneak, and solve puzzles were all interesting things to do. Overall, it's a very good DLC, and I am happy I paid for it. I just felt that there were some issues that could use massaging. I didn't feel that this DLC was as tightly built as Legacy. It clearly has a lot more content than Legacy and does a great deal of character development (much better than Legacy), but it also backslides some in areas that I felt Legacy handled much better (player agency, primarily).
Modifié par hoorayforicecream, 11 octobre 2011 - 11:53 .
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not too Basic Instinct'ish. Given the animation budget we had for the DLC, I requested that we just give her the same sort of clothes as Male Hawke to sidestep that problem, as I felt the time would be better spent elsewhere. It's a fair point, though, and as with all things there were definite sacrifices made as a result of the decision.
