Realmzmaster wrote...
I do not understand the need for epilogue slides if the story answers all the points in game. The letters in DA2 served that purpose except it did it at different points in the game instead of the end.
The letters do not compare, in the least, to epilogue slides. Even if they give the exact same information, have the exact same outcomes and reflect the same amount of choice (rarely the case, the letters/emails for ME and DA2 are usually shallow fan service/hero worship) there are three major problems with them that the slides do better.
1) Not all outcomes are addressed. To be fair, this is also the case with slides. However, volume wise, the case makes itself - there are dozens of slide outcomes in DA:O, while you receive, at most, five to ten letters/emails in the other games. Unless the post man is banging down your door after every quest or interaction, there doesn't seem to be a realistic way to have this many letters.
2) Letters are, inherently, limited, from a narrative perspective. In the case of DA:O, how would anyone know where to send such letters? If the Warden could be found that easily, Loghain would kill him with no problem at all. In addition, not everyone would write the PC. Or, lest we forget... even be ABLE to write the PC! One slide I loved from DA:O was from Redcliffe where you borrow a sword from a family and return it upon defending the town. The slide says that the boy you spoke with tells of how the boy grew up and became a hero in his own right. But what reason would a young child have to write the Warden? And, given that he was so young and a peasant, what chances are there that he could read and write? And, outside of his thanks (which was already shown in game) and maybe a vague statement about wanting to grow up and be a hero, it would come off as just a child's wish... as opposed to the slide, which tells us, years down the road he WAS successful. Which leads me into...
3) Letters are, simply put, in the wrong part of the game. It's simple psychology - if you have sunk dozens of hours playing a game, you are ready for an ending that is cathartic, that reviews your successes, that makes you feel it is worth it. Again, as I stated above, even if the letters give the exact same information, they aren't as enjoyable. Because putting the (narrative, psychological) reward and outcome of your choice at the end is what is most satisfying for the narrative-driven human psyche. To put that kind of closure in the end scenes themselves is also silly - having NPCs from nowhere show up and make comments that tie up loose ends stretches the realms of believability (Fergus in DA:O pushed this concept) and don't make much sense. However, putting up slides that are outside the scene itself, but give us details on our choices gives the player the most closure.
Slides, inherently, aren't the end-all-be-all of endings, mind you. But understanding why they are effective could go a log way in improving endings if you aren't using them. The reason DA2 ditched them, to me, is probably one of the reasons why people found the ending so jarring and unappetizing (aside from the poor narrative in Act 3 in general).
Modifié par Fast Jimmy, 04 novembre 2012 - 05:36 .
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The choices presented are bad, but only because of the logic of a character introduced in the last ten minutes. If you want to give poor attempts at ethical questions as your choice ultimatums in your Deus Ex machina... at least have the common sense to not do it with a character you just conjured up out of thin air. The Catalyst was a terrible character, because of his last minute appearance, his lack of logic with the rest of the games' plots (why did Saren need to hijack the Citadel, exactly?) and the very real possibility that he had no idea what he was talking about.
