For all the issues I had with DA2, it saddens me that we will never see the expansion. But as much as that saddens me, I'm also happy to hear the franchise is moving on to the Next Thing™, allowing me a fresh start without the baggage of DA2.
So, in the interest of providing feedback in the hopes of nudging the Next Thing in the 'right' direction, here goes :happy:
#1: Immersion
One of the things I've absolutely loved is immersing myself into the character and making her my own. Nothing beats this deep personal attachment I can get when all the factors align, it really gives me the warm and fuzzies. To that end, I like:
Customization is important; the more I can customize, the more I can make the character my own and get connected to her. This includes the choice of gender, race, background, class, looks (in great detail). The warden was awesome in this regard, but Hawke often came across as too much of a fixed protagonist.
To further the point about customization, I find it awesome whenever the game acknowledges them. Things like the big difference in how my dalish warden was greeted in human society compared to my human wardens. Every time the game acknowledged a choice I'd made in making the character mine, it strengthened my connection to her.
If the race absolutely can not be customized (and I really, really hope we get the choice), I'm hoping it will at least be a human or elf. I'm not sure I could identify with any of the other races at all.
Dialog is a big part of this as well. Being able to imagine my tone and inflection in my silent DA:O protegonist helped me build her identity and connect with her. Being occasionally waylaid by a bad paraphrase in DA2 was jarring.
While I often could find a line that fairly agreed with my character, being so explicitly railroaded into Diplomatic, Sarcastic or Jerky felt pretty gamey - sure I could alternate charming and diplomatic responses, but the engine would latch onto one of the three with an iron grip and suddenly the personality of my character would be out of my hands both in how lines were delivered, what dialog options I have and what my character says whenever I don't get to pick.
It's a double edged sword of course; things like having Hawke participate in party banter was great whenever she said something I could identify with, but would severely damage my immersion when I couldn't.
Party banter in general though, was absolutely awesome. Especially when acknowledging who I've made my character and the choises I've made - LI chief amongst them.
#2: Story
This one in a way goes hand in hand with Immersion from above; when the story is something I agree with, it increases my emotional connection and makes it feel awesome, it really hooks me deeply. Conversely, when the story breaks with my preferences, it is very damaging for my experience of the game.
In general, my preferences run towards the more classic adventure form; exploration, overcoming hardships, a clear antagonist, a (somewhat) happy ending.
I acknowledge that the Dragon Age setting is somewhat dark, that grey and grey morality is the norm. I know not every choice can be easy and not every every faction and character clear cut.
What I'm hoping to avoid in DA3 is things like the mage vs templar conflict in DA2; by the end of the game it hadn't mattered at all whom I sided with, both factions were equally zealous, comitted atrocious crimes and generally inspired no sympathy or desire in me to help them.
As the story plays out, I very much want to make a difference and accomplish something. DA2 where Hawke was largely impotent because the real story being told was about how everything went to hell, that is not something I ever desire to experience in a game again. On the other hand, my warden who foiled Loghain, united a nation split by civil war and faced down the archdemon (and lived to tell the tale) - that was much more to my liking.
I want causes I can believe in, sides I want to take. Challenges, setbacks, unexpected twists are all welcome, but in the end I should have the option to overcome them. I want to be the hero.. and if the game gives me the choice of being the hero who rides into the sunset with my LI in one playthrough, the Dark Knight (Batman style) hero in the next and the bittersweet hero who triumphs at the cost of her life in the last.. all the better.
Also, a shout-out to the epilog slides; finding out what happened to everyone, from entire factions down to a barmaid, as a result of the choices I made.. that was great!
#3: Companions & Love Interests
I'm actually fairly happy with how this is done, and mention it mostly because it is very important to me. While my emotional attachment to the game is very much centered upon a deep immersion into my protagonist, I very much enjoy companions both for their own stories and for how they related to my protagonist and become a part of her story.
Love Interests are very much a selling point of your games for me. Deep down, I'm a sucker for romance, and it just gets better by the deep emotional engagement I have when the protagonist is truly my own. The more hours you can pour into LI content, the happier I am; more LIs, more LI specific scenes and quests, more banter, and other outside acknowledgment (like Varric pulling me aside to have a chat about my relationship with Merrill). All good stuff.
If anything, it would be great to deepen the system somewhat; have LIs that actively pursue romance with the protagonist, actively flirt and take first steps (Anders had some of this). As awsome as it was to woo Leliana or Merrillit would be great with some LIs that would actively woo you.
Aside from LIs, keep up with building other relationships and bonds with your companions please. Like how Varric got to be a close friend/drinking buddy.
The friendship/rivalry distinction introduced in DA2 was pretty good as well, allowing me to earn respect with those companions I didn't quite agree with. However, for those companions where I would agree with some things and disagree with others (Like Fenris when you side with mages but hate slavers), the result was that they would fail the relationship checks despite me spending a lot of time with them in my party building relations.
The idea about having homes for the companions and giving them a life outside what they did in my company was great. But I hated how every relationship (LI especially) was slaved to advance in measured stemps according to the progress in the main storyline regardless of whether it made sense or not. I missed the ability to get to know my companions at my own pace, to move faster in the beginning with those I was interested in, to be able to talk and interact with my companions at other times than when the next companion quest popped up like clockwork.
#4: Artistic Style
I have to admit, I'm a sucker for high fantasy. That said, DA:O had a good style, and I was fine with it for the most part. I really did not appreciate the drab palette DA2 seemed limited to, and the redesign of darkspawn and especially elves did not sit well with me at all. I did love all the wonderful details in the art and models of DA2, but being confined to Kirkwall for so long was dreadful.
I liked the feel of combat in DA:O a lot. It may have been slow, but artistically it felt very authentic, and the flair like finishing moves felt awesome while still fitting in with fairly realistic combat. On the other hand, while there was something empowering about backflipping across the battlefield, the style of DA2 felt like a cheesy kung-fu movie - it was just over the top to the point of being silly and killing immersion.
#5: Combat
I'm actually pretty divided here. I've always loved the tactical RPGs all the way back to Baldur's Gate, where I'd play out the fights in almost turn-based isometric, where I'd order every character around, manage all their abilities, strategize around chokepoints, crossfire, aoe, etc. Where I could scout ahead with a rogue, set traps and plan engagements ahead, approaching encounters somewhat like puzzles to be solved.
On the other hand, I'm fond of (some) action RPGs as well, and DA2's combat grew on me when I played a dagger rogue (as opposed to mage where the lack of overhead cam to aim spells and strategize really annoyed me). I always found it a shame though, that it's paced in a way where you can't expect to control more than one character, which means most of the time you're just playing by yourself and hoping the AI doesn't fail spectacularly. And when the AI does fail (like the gimmicky boss fights), combat becomes an excercise in frustration.
I've come to realize that as long as combat is about stats and abilities (as opposed to timing and reflex/twitch skill), it's probably fine for me, and won't detract from the experience. And no matter how cheap/cheesy it is, I've absolutely fallen in love with DA:O/Skyrim/Amalur style finishing moves & kill cams.
#6: Stats, Talents, Loot
I'm an old school munchkin and number cruncher, but with the familiar system of AD&D left behind and something largely opaque in it's place, it's not something I've done in DA. Truth be told, I could be perfectly happy with a system where it was obvious which items and stats are upgrades, and the choices made are more like obvious tradeoffs (Damage vs resilience vs movement speed or whether to invest in a playstyle favoring direct damage vs aoe).
DA2's skill tress excelled in letting you expand on abilities and build up to more advanced moves, while also for most play styles always having enough interesting talents to make me look forward to the next talent point. On the other hand they did not always feel deep enough; particularly mages could finish a tree by the halfway point, and starting over from scratch in a new tree felt awkward.
I've had a lot of mental dileberation on the subject of companion armor; while my first inclination is to prefer DA:O, I have to admit that not constantly keeping track of gear for 8 companions was a relief, and I didn't get into the awkward situation from DA:O where I suddenly had to play with a character I'd neglected to min/max gear for and have them woefully underpowered. I also do appreciate the detailed stylistic outfits tailored for each companion.. but having them always wear the same stuff visually and never equip more than weapons/jewelry kinda killed the sense of progression for them.
I think the ideal is somewhere inbetween DA:O and DA2; give the companions default armor with levelled stats so they are always ready to go, but allow us to equip them and keep them ahead of the curve for the sense of progression and satisfaction of obtaining great loot for them. Keep the tailored companion specific looks, but make 3-4 for each companion so they can progress through the story (like Aveline did, but more).
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![=]](https://lvlt.forum.bioware.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sideways.png)
I was really hoping there would even be an Awakening-sized expansion. I enjoyed Hawke and was looking forward to more.
) all have magical gear, it (yawn!) leaves one a bit jaded.
