*Note: Wall 'O Text
@Mr. Laidlaw, Mr. Darrah, Mr. Gaider, and the DA Creative Team,
Given that I don’t have that little DAII icon below my portrait (learned from DAO, so I’m waiting for, hopefully, a “complete” edition of DAII) I don’t even know if I have the *right* to comment here; despite the fact that I have played the game. No, not illegally. I think that kind of thing is garbage and spits on the hard work good people have done; I simply played a copy owned by a fellow gamer. On the up and up, just, well, not mine. Anyway, as Morrigan says, “To the point,”
I very much enjoyed Origins. It was a masterpiece of RPG gaming in the modern medium. Likewise, though I know others did not, I very much enjoyed DAII; however, I will admit to being somewhat disappointed by certain design/narrative choices made for the game. They aren’t anything overly critical, some are even superficial at best. However, since you’ve asked for feedback (again, I doubt mine counts given that I haven’t put money in your pocket for this title specifically…) I’ll ad my meager two cents for Pros and Cons:
-The Framed Narrative: As much as I loved Varric (The Dwarven Lando Calrissian) I was not a fan of “having my story told.” I wanted to *live* my story. Every moment. Not jump ahead several years and head-cannon what happened in-between time frames. Origins “one year” narrative approach was perfect as you did, traveling all over Fereldan, feel like that amount of time had indeed passed over the course of your journey. With DAII, not so much. It was just like, “Oh, hey, two years have passed.”
-class = Companions: I know Mr. Gaider has explained *why* the choice was made to have Hawke’s siblings reflect his/her class choice. Mage Hawke couldn’t have Mage Sister because it would clash with the narrative (No Spoilers) However this never sat well with me. There had to have been another way to go about it to achieve the best of both worlds.
BioWare’s RPGs are supposed to be a personal experience, something we live vicariously though to an extent; the fact is, as someone who grew up with 6 sisters I would have really loved to have Bethany as a part of my Mage Hawke’s story as well as a companion for the amount of time she is available. It was a small thing that would have added a greater emotional connection.
Carver, however, being forced on me was consistently immersion breaking as all I could think about was A. I wish he was Bethany, and B. god this is an annoying character, and not even in a good story telling kind of way. The moment I didn’t need to have him around I did not, nor did I bother to speak with him unless absolutely required for the sake of completing a mission for the XP. Overall, Bethany was just a better written/acted character that fell more in line with how I wanted my story to be experienced.
-Blocked Relationships: This is one of those more “superficial” dislikes I mentioned. It has to do with Aveline. She was, without question, one of the most beautifully written, complex, and likable companions in the game. Her story wove in intricately with Hawke’s in a way no other character’s did, and even her impact on Hawke post the events of the core story are meaningful if you so choose.
What confused me was why she was not written as a romance option; *despite* there being “flirt” dialogue which she doesn‘t even recognize even though she will, later, ask you, “Have you ever thought about us?” Instead we were, basically, forced to pair her up with a bland NPC character unless we wanted to see her miserable and alone. Really?
Again, I know Mr. Gaider has (I believe), in the past, countered with, “Why does *every* character have to be romancible?” And I would agree with that…to an extent. However, if you’re going to create such a rich, complex, compassionate, heartfelt, and narratively important character while *also* making said character a companion it really makes no sense not to go that extra mile and have said character play a much more intimate role in the PC’s life if the player so chooses. It was a choice removed without any real justification, IMHO.
-Import Bugs: Yes, I understand, as anyone should, that these errors were not intentional. Really, BioWare was doing something other game companies had not ever really tried before, and while your ME sister series was working with the same import mechanics, I recognize that the DA team had it a bit rougher, especially after going with a more updated visual/game mechanics approach, not to mention the development of a new console experience.
Hiccups in the codes were bound to happen and, frankly, I know, could have been far worse. As it was, I did not encounter too many problems as my Origins play through was fairly Heroic and Straight Forward. However, I do think that, Starting with DAIII, steps should be taken to try to import as much as possible, but attempt to create a new import system that’s more dependable and more solid then the previous one.
-Art Design: Now here’s something I can praise and, as such, I’ll keep it brief. I understand other members of the community were…not happy, to put it mildly, with the new visual aesthetic for the DA Universe. I however, was not among them. I loved it. Thought it gave the Dragon Age world a much more unique and equally high fantasy approach.
Two redesigns on the racial level that had some fans put out was the Qunari and Elven races. With all due respect to them, I loved the new visual approach. In Origins we were supposed to be looking at two very different, very exotic races. Instead we got large grey humans with Corn-Rows and the other being Tiny Vulcans. Sorry, but that just doesn’t appeal to the High Fantasy geek within.
I loved that the Qunari appeared to have come from an entirely different world. Perhaps…literally? And the Elves appeared to have evolved from something not completely human, with a more feline/avian appearance befitting a *Woodland* species. Likewise, the massive statuary, stone edifices and lost grandeur of Kirkwall and the Deep Roads was an amazing site; all accolades to the art team.
-Recycled Environments: An old complaint, and one which always left me scratching my head. The fact is, Origins reused maps/dungeons as well, only Origins did a much better job of switching things about or adding “props” to the map to give the illusion of a new environment. Really I didn’t see much difference between DAI and DAII other then a few more reused caves. Still, I’m sure improvements on variety can be made.
-Combat Mechanics: In short, I enjoyed it. Especially as a Mage no longer meekly “pew-pew’ing” with a Stave, I felt like I was a visceral part of combat even when I wasn’t reigning Maker-Like power from the Heavens. Also love that, when some baddie got close, I could knock ‘em one. Some compare the combat to Hack ‘n Slash, something I didn’t really see. I know the Auto-Attack feature broke for the console version, otherwise I don’t think it would have been as much of a problem.
-DLC: (Sigh) I'll just say "companion" character should have been included with the game, not sold on thier own. If they weren't "ready" in time for launch, save 'em for the next game. DLC should be added adventures and never feel as though they *should* have been there already. In Origns Warden's Keep and Ostagar were good. Shale was Free which was even better, but she still should have been there from the start. Mark of the Assasian was brilliant, a new, but not permanant, character and adventure. Nicely done and worth the coin that, well, someone *else* spent. (Sorry)
-The Conclusion: The end of DAII was, to put it mildly, ambiguous. Which was, frankly, doing a disservice to what was a very enjoyable story, sans the framed narrative. Having a *complete* ending with post closure would have been rather nice. What happened to our companions? What happens to the region in light of the “events” of DAII’s culmination? While every detail can not be made it would have been nice to have something along the lines of Origin’s Epilogues but with some genuine visual accompaniment. When everything is said and done, while ambiguous, it wasn’t nearly as bad an ending as…another recent game I won’t name here…
There are other points I could touch on, but I think this gives you an idea of my mindset for DAII and what I would very much love to see in DAIII. While I’m disappointed that the complete edition (if released) of DAII will not be as…robust as Origin’s I none the less look forward to seeing what the team has coming and what *may* be previewed at PAX. My thanks to everyone for opening this dialogue.
Modifié par glenboy24, 19 mars 2012 - 10:24 .
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I'd love to see a more complex AI editor in DA3, one that allowed two different conditionals per line would be great, like If "Nearest" AND "Mage" then "use anti-mage ability". 
