614 réponses à ce sujet

[JeffZero]

Haha, oh, gotcha.

Kitty, is the Architect particularly rough? Did you find him harder than the Queen? Just curious since I joined him.

Whew, lots of unexpected academic stuff mucked up much of my day so I only got back to MotA a couple of hours ago. Finished it! And booted up my save successfully afterward too. All clear, thank the Maker.

Got a couple of minor errands to run before I do my update on it but I wanted everyone to know I didn't lose Garrett over that whole PS3 glitch debacle. Looking forward to posting shortly though! Great fun.

[JeffZero]

I like to think the approach I used with Legacy is appropriate for Mark of the Assassin as well, so I'm going two-for-two on "broad overview" approaches to the major DLCs. Feel free to request more in-depth thoughts on plot developments if you're really super-interested for whatever reason, but I believe my beaming attitude is a reasonable statement on what I thought of Hawke's encounter with one Tallis.

 

So I'm pretty sure someone slipped something into BioWare's collective DLC team beverages a few years ago. There have been some weaker outings (Arrival and to a lesser extent Omega will never win major accolades from me, er... if I ever go into the accolade-awarding business) but even they have been... decent... ish. But then I look at Stealing Memory, Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker, Leviathan, Citadel, Legacy and now Mark of the Assassin, and alarmingly inflating pricetags as of ME3's latter pair notwithstanding, I really cannot complain. There's fun tweaking, there's attempts at addressing issues fans cited with the vanilla installment, there's plot development and characterization galore, there's variety. Whoever did the slipping circa early 2010, you have my thanks.

 

Mark of the Assassin is more Stealing Lair of the Citadel than Overleviathan Omegarrival Legacy, which is a nice counterbalance to the beautifully grim affair which preceded it. Tallis endeared me to her cause pretty quickly, although a cursory search of fan reviews earlier didn't surprise me with its level of vitriol toward her. But if I spent my whole BioWare gaming experience constantly concerned with the thoughts of others, why, I'd never finish ME3 again. And that's just not the way of things around here in Jeffzeropia. 

 

If you're noticing an odd trend toward cheesy one-liners in this write-up, it's intentional. MotA excelled at this. And it is glorious for it. See, BioWare likes to lighten things up here and then. It went positively meta with Citadel, but this wasn't quite at that degree. Instead, Tallis' revelation from sneakthief to qunari and the concerns therein are brisk and intriguing, offering a great new glimpse at qunari culture post-Arishok and opening them up to further perspectives. That said, I'm aware this can be played in previous acts as well of course, but I think I'll keep pulling the trigger at this point in my playthroughs. Champion Hawke seems the right fit for this sort of crowd, even if he's still absolutely out of his element.

 

And really, that addresses this DLC's biggest strength. Being out of his element is a good thing for Garrett, because like Legacy, MotA seeks to entice with dazzling new environments of relatively substantial size. While the caverns I chose to meander through after the dungeon escape sequence felt somewhat old hat, the hunting grounds and Chateau Haine itself were magnificent. Side quests around every corner, bold new enemy varieties, proper ambiance to imbue a sense of wonder and adventure -- this all came together to take me out of Kirkwall right there alongside the Champion.

 

And Hawke was elsewhere in more ways than one. The reception sequence post-hunt was brimming with cameos and Orlesian grandeur. It might be just one little map, but it sports a slew of new assets and some genuinely laugh-out-loud-worthy exchanges. Sarcastic Hawke shines in this DLC through and through, and works together very well with Tallis especially in the first half before she's revealed to be more than meets the eye. What's more, those aforementioned cameos? Hellooooo, Leliana. Did I not just finish ranting and raving about you? Oh, I love your hair. And your shoes, ooh-ooh. OK, so I don't really ever look at your shoes (it didn't even dawn on me the elves don't wear shoes until embarrassingly recently) but the rest of you can pop up out of nowhere any day. It's like lately I've stumbled upon multiple Orlesian birthday cakes and "Sister Nightingale" is jumping out of them just for me.

 

OK, it's not really like that at all, but still.

 

I took Varric and Anders with me again; it dawned on me not long into my search for ze wee-vairn that maybe I should have brought Aveline after all, herself technically Orlesian and such. I don't know why I'm so glued to Anders, but I am; maybe it's the fact that I feel like he's rather integral to the overarching story of the game, an exemplar of mage freedom and such. As for Varric, well, I figured a framing sequence was coming (technically I was hoping it was the case) and it happened. I like having him there with Garrett for that sort of thing. It just seems sensible. Plus, he's funny. And I heard MotA was funny. And, well, he is, and it is, and Varric and MotA got along great together.

 

Moving back to Tallis, though, Garrett opted to walk alongside her. I'd be rather surprised to learn leaving her ended the DLC altogether; indeed, I bet they're reunited somehow. But hey, maybe I'm wrong -- I haven't actually investigated it as yet. Regardless, her ambiguous speech about lives being endangered spoke to his developed nature to protect the many (after all, he failed to save family, but that sort of responsibility begins to expand in order to save the mind from caving in) so he's going to go where the wounded are, and he's tired of coasts. And that's another cheesy line if ever there were one, but you get the point.

 

It was nice to see a unique character model for her mentor, and sad to see him kick the bucket so rapidly. The fight with Leopold (especially as he was poisoned) was no Corypheus, but it was very well-realized and honestly I'm probably thankful it was no Corypheus. One Corypheus was enough for the weekend. I liked the presentation here all-around and it was cool seeing the qunari fighting guards for a while until they were inevitably wiped out. In the end I of course let Tallis keep the scroll. And I'd been flirting the whole way through, because Garrett's years-long affair with Isabela is ever-transient just as she is. And so why the hell not. I might have named him Kirk Hawke if I'd known things would come together in this fashion. But I didn't, so he's Garrett, and Garrett kissed Tallis and she was off. And Varric told lovely Cassandra he'd not be surprised if that wasn't the last they'd ever see of that woman, so maybe Felicia Day has a two-day stay in a VA booth in Canada for the coming Inquisition. Or maybe she doesn't, who's to say? Either way, I dig the cut of her Qun.

[caradoc2000]

That said, I'm aware this can be played in previous acts as well of course, but I think I'll keep pulling the trigger at this point in my playthroughs. Champion Hawke seems the right fit for this sort of crowd, even if he's still absolutely out of his element.

The reason why I suggested act 3 for MotA in my earlier post is that I really cannot see a snobbish Orlesian duke inviting a penniless Fereldan refugee (turnip?) into his party. Champion of Kirkwall, however, is an entirely different matter.
 

I took Varric and Anders with me again; it dawned on me not long into my search for ze wee-vairn that maybe I should have brought Aveline after all, herself technically Orlesian and such.

Aveline and Isabela have personal quests (apart from the trinket one), so try those some time.
 

Moving back to Tallis, though, Garrett opted to walk alongside her. I'd be rather surprised to learn leaving her ended the DLC altogether; indeed, I bet they're reunited somehow. But hey, maybe I'm wrong -- I haven't actually investigated it as yet.

You'll be doing the outdoor section with three party members, but she'll come back for Leopold.

[LPPrince]

So you're playing the DLCs. Hmm. I actively chose not to purchase and play them to show my distaste for DA2, which apparently worked out.

 

I wonder how they'll affect your perception of the game given its your first and you're playing it several years late(three).

[JeffZero]

Yeah, I can't really see the turnip refugee getting in with that lot. And I mean he'd look so damn suspicious if he did! Why would Tallis enlist him when everyone would think it shady that he's even there? Ha.

LP, holy crap, you posted here! That required me to do a double-take. I guess you saw the most recent thread subtitle? Well anyway, I know what you mean. Legacy and MotA have definitely served to improve my perception of DA2. Just as BDtS did when I first played ME1 and... oh my goodness, all DLC sans Arrival did when I got to ME2. (I'm a late bloomer, didn't even pick up Mass Effect until September 2010. Got to 2 the following month. Only Arrival loomed.)

In fact the only BioWare game I've gone in smelling like fresh vanilla remains ME3, which is kind of a sad one to have listed if for no other reason than the lack of EC for a few months.

But I ramble. Pointlessly. Because I'm on a walk and I ramble while walking. What's important is that I've actually enjoyed DA2 beforehand as well. But I went in having heard a lot of bad press. You went in at launch, didn't you? That too can make a big difference. I knew going in those maps would repeat themselves more times than a Jeff Zero compliments a Claudia Black. You maybe did not.

[LPPrince]

I went in thinking all the pre-alpha/alpha DA2 footage wouldn't look nearly the same in the final release, which it did. I disagreed with the art style change, hated that you went to the same places a million times, that the colour scheme is super muted literally everywhere in the game, etc etc

 

Nothing could bring me back to that game. Glad to hear you're having more fun with it though.

[Aurelet]

If you are just going to do that runscript killallhostiles

[JeffZero]

If you are just going to do that runscript killallhostiles

...?

[Rainbow Wyvern]

Kitty, is the Architect particularly rough? Did you find him harder than the Queen? Just curious since I joined him.

The Architect, for me at least, was impossible to finish. Maybe it's because I'm epic failsauce when it comes to playing Dragon Age, but I couldn't complete it.

Architect was definitely harder than any other boss I've done.

Dat Cataclysm AOE.

[CuriousArtemis]

There's a secret little boss in MOTA, during the wyvern hunt... did you manage to find it??

[LostInReverie19]

There's a secret little boss in MOTA, during the wyvern hunt... did you manage to find it??

 

Oh yeah, that one. Did I say the secret boss in Legacy is the worst? I meant the secret boss in MotA is the worst! 

[LostInReverie19]

Basically, secret bosses are way more badass than regular bosses apparently. Ha. 

[JeffZero]

Whoever these secret bosses are, Garrett's not very good at finding them. And I'm not very good at guessing who they are, either, so here's another attempt at figuring it out retrospectively: was it a big wyvern? Tallis said the five things I assembled to lure one to us were sufficient but they wouldn't haul the really big loads.

By the way, making nice progress tonight! Meeting tomorrow at noon though so the new update'll be later in the day again, but I'm having a time of it assisting various companions and wiping out various bases and so forth.

[BevH]

Whoever these secret bosses are, Garrett's not very good at finding them. And I'm not very good at guessing who they are, either, so here's another attempt at figuring it out retrospectively: was it a big wyvern? Tallis said the five things I assembled to lure one to us were sufficient but they wouldn't haul the really big loads.

By the way, making nice progress tonight! Meeting tomorrow at noon though so the new update'll be later in the day again, but I'm having a time of it assisting various companions and wiping out various bases and so forth.

No it wasn't a bigger wyvern. Or a wyvern at all. I'm not sure if you want anyone to tell you what it is, so I leave it at that.

[JeffZero]

Oh, I don't mind folks telling me.

[caradoc2000]

The Sky Horror at the Avvar altar, I wouldn't call it hidden, as you can find it with normal looting.

As a side note: you did loot the duke's treasury, didn't you?

[teh DRUMPf!!]

 I'm also not sure what all the hate for Tallis (or Felicia Day) is all about. BioWare fans are just a rare breed of sick! 

 

 

But yeah, both DLCs Mark of the Assassin and Legacy are great fun. I initially didn't get them when I first started playing DA2, now I'm replaying the DLC missions alone from older saves while going for a new set of companions each time -- well worth the money.

[Helios969]

Speaking of Felicia Day, I just caught the latest round of The Guild on Netflix.  Gee, I wonder where the idea for that came from;)

[JeffZero]

Oh. I actually fought that thing but didn't find it especially challenging so assumed there was something else, believe it or not. I mean, looking back it was definitely the hardest fight of the DLC actually, but aside from its teleporting out of range I didn't think the problem was anything but me not being on the ball.

[caradoc2000]

The sky horror is also an optional fight. You can loot the dagger and the belt, which will conclude the quest. It will only come out if you loot the book.

As to the fight itself, apart from its AoE attacks, it is not very difficult.
 

I'm also not sure what all the hate for Tallis (or Felicia Day) is all about.

No problem with Ms Day. The main problem with MotA is that it is impossible to play an anti-Qunari Hawke. Even if you leave Tallis in the caves, she will reappear in the end and take the list with her and you can't do anything about it.

[JeffZero]

Well in any case I'm excited to talk about my most recent experiences later. I'm nearing the end... and this time there's no sequel lying around waiting for me to make another topic on another board.

"This... is it, isn't it?" -Liara

[Xilizhra]

 I'm also not sure what all the hate for Tallis (or Felicia Day) is all about. BioWare fans are just a rare breed of sick! 

 

 

But yeah, both DLCs Mark of the Assassin and Legacy are great fun. I initially didn't get them when I first started playing DA2, now I'm replaying the DLC missions alone from older saves while going for a new set of companions each time -- well worth the money.

Well, Tallis is kind of evil and makes a fool of Hawke because the game doesn't let you not let her, so I can definitely see where the annoyance rises.

[wright1978]

No problem with Ms Day. The main problem with MotA is that it is impossible to play an anti-Qunari Hawke. Even if you leave Tallis in the caves, she will reappear in the end and take the list with her and you can't do anything about it.

 

I like Tallis and really enjoyed both DLC. However i do find that the forced nature of the end of both dlcs(Tallis makes off with list of spies) and Corypheus(implied making off in new host) frustrating. The Tallis one is worse though because Hawke has option to rail against Qun at various points and then does nothing. Hopefully they were set up that way because they wanted the plot points to have an impact in future.

[Hellion Rex]

Well, Tallis is kind of evil and makes a fool of Hawke because the game doesn't let you not let her, so I can definitely see where the annoyance rises.

Hardly. Tallis wasn't evil at all. She was honestly trying to save innocent members of the Qun from being killed.

[JeffZero]

Ha! I had wondered if that was possible re: Corypheus but neglected to mention my suspicions in the write-up.