47 réponses à ce sujet

[schall_und_rauch]

I enjoy DAI immensely, but I cannot help to wonder: Was it too ambitious?

It's obvious a lot of very good ideas and worked out concepts were left on the cutting table. The end feels kind of rushed. And yet there are things where there is simply too much, which overwhelms you.

 

So here's my "what if" take. Things that could be cut and things that should be added.

 

Cutting potential:

• Too many companions. They require a lot of work, and few people get to know ALL of them. Cut out Sera and Blackwall, they are the least important to the storyline and the setting. Not because I hate them, but because it'd free ressources for other stuff.
• Too many areas: Cutting one or two areas wouldn't hurt the game. Secret Oasis comes to mind.
• Too many gathering quests: Cut them by half. Cut out the minigames.
• Too much Hinterland: Make it smaller, more compact, or divide it in half. Cut out the level 12 rifts.

 

Suggested Improvements:

 

• Main story quests: Add both the templar and the mage quest to the main story line. Not as an alternative, but as a requirement for completing act I. Once you have secured both factions and return back to Haven, they will start a fight and you have to choose one as full alliance partner, relegating the other faction to a minor role -- kind of like the situation between Jack and Miranda, just without Paragon/Renegade option.
• An inquisition which is defined by things other than level and power. Espionage level, reputation, standing among allies, etc. All of that would be dependant on your decisions, allowing you to make a real difference on how the Inqusition is felt. Is it a pragmatic organisation that tries to close the breach or a quasi-religious order? Does it have more alliances with nobility or with non-noble fringe groups? Do you rule it with an iron fist or by consensus? None of that is really felt right now.
• Keep updates the way they were planned, with the upgrade type affecting the militairy, espionage or economic level of your Inquisition.
• Bigger differences between chosing Cullen, Leilana or Josi for your missions.
• Adding a more "mundane" conflict in addition to the big arcane one, such as DAO did with the Landsmeet. A final confrontation with the Chantry is really missing, Roderick dissapears at the end of Act I, and the chosing of the Divine felt especially underwhelming (you chat up your next Divine, offering an opinion). Playing Roderick as a major antagonist, which you have to confront just before the final Corypheus battle, and then chosing the Divine would be much more climatic.
• A battle against Cory's armies which respects the decisions you made for the Inqusition, before the final battle against him.
• Skyhold should play a stronger role in that confrontation -- right now, it's defences are never used, neither is its history.
• More "hard decisions" like the one that was cut in Crestwood.
• Oh, and give the women dresses for the Orlesian Ball, instead of a stupid uniform.

 

So it's all imagening things that won't happen, but I like playing around with such ideas.

What do you think?

[Serza]

So...

 

Yeah. Loads of bollocks, right there.

 

And...

 

YOU WOULD CUT OUT SERA.

 

Serza Greatly Disapproves.

[Nicolar91]

I like the dresses idea. Thought my f inquisitor looked very strange..

[AlexMBrennan]

Too many areas: Cutting one or two areas wouldn't hurt the game. Secret Oasis comes to mind.

Then why bother collect shards? Do you know how many hours of gameplay you lose if players don't have to backtrack and collect these things from the most unreachable places?

Main story quests: Add both the templar and the mage quest to the main story line. Not as an alternative, but as a requirement for completing act I.

I suspect that this might have been the original intent, given that the missions have very different focus (mages are about the future, Templars about the past) and that the Templar mission has a bunch of unique mechanics which you miss entirely if you pick the mages.

Bigger differences between chosing Cullen, Leilana or Josi for your missions.

How about you cut them entirely? Is the game really made better by you having to stop exploring, endure long loading times travelling back to Haven and then walking all the way back to where you were (and killing the respawned enemies again)... All to get some elfroot or trivial amount of money?

[AlexiaRevan]

 

Cut out Sera and Blackwall, they are the least important to the storyline and the setting. Not because I hate them, but because it'd free ressources for other stuff.

Nice try !

 

Sera is the only romance I get........jerk ! 

[Wolfen09]

Well, they could have upped the ante immensely if they made every single location you visit have a story mission involved.

 

Hinterlands/Redcliffe:  Mages Quest

 

Western Approach:  Wardens Quest

 

Those are the only two that have story missions tied to them, the rest of the places: Storm Coast, Fallow Mire, Hidden Oasis, Emerald Graves, Exalted Plains, Hissing Wastes, and Emprise du Lion all dont have any story missions tied to them.  If they had given you a reason, besides gaining power, to visit those locations, i think the people who wanted more story would be happy and the people who have issues with the story itself would have been happier.  Still love the game, but nothing we can do about it now.  So just enjoy it, if not... sorry you wasted money

[Raquncica]

Cut out Sera? Are you insane? well everyone has their tastes, but for me (and I think many others) she is the most sane, fun and honest person in the whole game and I like her very much.

[schall_und_rauch]

Nice try !
 
Sera is the only romance I get........jerk ! 

They could've re-arranged the romance part, for example opening up Vivienne as romance.
Also, I don't understand why you can't get Josephine as romance.

But thanks for calling me a jerk. It's always nice to have personal insults directed at you.

[Serza]

They could've re-arranged the romance part, for example opening up Vivienne as romance.
Also, I don't understand why you can't get Josephine as romance.

But thanks for calling me a jerk. It's always nice to have personal insults directed at you.

 

Yeah, sure.

 

The Ice Queen, a proper good b*tch instead of an incredibly funny and playful character.

(Although the fact I hate Vivienne with such a passion means Mrs. Kirby and Mrs. Varma did a GREAT job)

[Raquncica]

Probably because Josephine is a tight ass, aristocratic opposite of fun traditionalist - Vivienne also - no way for me. Different people also have personal tastes for physical attractiveness. Your stance about the insults thing explains a bit, why you would dismiss Sera. Some of us react emotionally on more occassions then rationally.

[Wanderlust14]

 

•  Playing Roderick as a major antagonist, which you have to confront just before the final Corypheus battle, and then chosing the Divine would be much more climatic.

 

I disagree with this one. You have no idea how many people were like oh Roderick, totally another Udina, better watch out for him. If they made yet another bureaucrat a major antagonist it would have been cliche. I know a lot of people were waiting for him to cause problems and that is why I was so pleased when he died helping the inquisition (less that he died and more that they made him into a minor hero in this story). 

[schall_und_rauch]

Your stance about the insults thing explains a bit, why you would dismiss Sera. Some of us react emotionally on more occassions then rationally.

I would dismiss her because I find she is the companion who has the least attachment to the storyline and to the lore.
I don't think she's a bad character. I also don't mind her. I would prefer other things in the game, rather than a character who is well characterized, occasionally fun, but who's involvement in the Inquisition or attachment to the cause is minor at best.

[Darth Volus]

You realise that it's already done, so cutting something out makes no sense. The resources and time were ALREADY invested into the project. 

[schall_und_rauch]

Sure I do. That's why I called it a "what if" line of thought.

[Raquncica]

I would dismiss her because I find she is the companion who has the least attachment to the storyline and to the lore.
I don't think she's a bad character. I also don't mind her. I would prefer other things in the game, rather than a character who is well characterized, occasionally fun, but who's involvement in the Inquisition or attachment to the cause is minor at best.

 

That depends on how much your "real" attachment to the character affects your decisions. That's why I love Bioware games. In Mass effect it was Tali for me, here it's Sera. On many occasions I have to think even harder, because I want to please Sera, but I also want to do the right thing for the world. The funny thing is, that most of the time, when I think about what is good for the majority of the worlds occupants, is also what she approves uppon.

 

I do agree on some of your points though. Oasis has some level design issues. Hinterlands level 12 rifts should definitely go out, and some fetch quests make you wish your horse had an autopilot. On some I can't comment, since I havent fineshed the game yet.

 

BR, Rakun

[ryno113]

• Adding a more "mundane" conflict in addition to the big arcane one, such as DAO did with the Landsmeet. A final confrontation with the Chantry is really missing, Roderick dissapears at the end of Act I, and the chosing of the Divine felt especially underwhelming (you chat up your next Divine, offering an opinion).
• A battle against Cory's armies which respects the decisions you made for the Inqusition, before the final battle against him.
• Skyhold should play a stronger role in that confrontation -- right now, it's defences are never used, neither is its history.

These are the things I agreed with.

 

Exploring the huge Hinterlands was one of the best moments in the game for me. As were the other areas, rather than cut them put more story related content in them give us more reasons to explore them.

 

Also the idea of cutting companions seems completely absurd, getting to know all of them properly (even the ones you end up hating ahem, Vivienne) is for me the reason I enjoy Dragon Age games. If I had to rally against anything it would be this.

 

Mass Effect 2 had 14 potential companions (13 in one playthrough) and getting to know every single one was the best part of the game by far, each one was interesting some more than others but still interesting in their own right. 

[Serza]

 

• Adding a more "mundane" conflict in addition to the big arcane one, such as DAO did with the Landsmeet. A final confrontation with the Chantry is really missing, Roderick dissapears at the end of Act I, and the chosing of the Divine felt especially underwhelming (you chat up your next Divine, offering an opinion).
• A battle against Cory's armies which respects the decisions you made for the Inqusition, before the final battle against him.
• Skyhold should play a stronger role in that confrontation -- right now, it's defences are never used, neither is its history.

These are the things I agreed with.

 

Exploring the huge Hinterlands was one of the best moments in the game for me. As were the other areas, rather than cut them put more story related content in them give us more reasons to explore them.

 

Also the idea of cutting companions seems completely absurd, getting to know all of them properly (even the ones you end up hating ahem, Vivienne) is for me the reason I enjoy Dragon Age games. If I had to rally against anything it would be this.

 

Mass Effect 2 had 14 potential companions (13 in one playthrough) and getting to know every single one was the best part of the game by far, each one was interesting some more than others but still interesting in their own right. 

 

 

Ash, Kaidan and Liara are not companions in 2. They're cameos.

[ryno113]

Ash, Kaidan and Liara are not companions in 2. They're cameos.

 

Grunt, Thane, Kasumi, Zaaed, Jack, Miranda, Legion, Mordin, Garrus, Samara or Morinth, Tali, Jacob and briefly Liara. I count 14.

[(Disgusted noise.)]

You lost me at cutting Sera and Blackwall (the first thing you said). I play these games for all the characters I'm able to get to know and actually care about, unlike almost every other video game on the market. I want more of that, not less.

[Yinello]

I want more companions. I want a gay knight who uses a 2-hander, I want another Dwarf (Dagna? Harding? ), I want to get to know everyone better!

[keyip]

I would rather they not have too many companions. The risk of having too many is less depth, and using the ME2 example above companions like Kasumi and Zaeed definitely suffered from a lack of depth imo.

[Tarvesh]

I agree that Sera has nothing to do with the story. No links no ties no anything. She also has a limited, extreme view point of the world sand wants to force it down everyone's throats. She's well written, but she's more like some forteen year old girl whining about the way the world is.

Then it's like bring that same girl into a board meeting where professionals are trying to conduct business and she starts shouting about how their employees don't get gourmet meals for lunch.

The rest of the Inquisition is living in the real world and she's so fixated on her extreme idealism that she can't see that she's doing the same things that she's punishing nobles for. She also doesn't see that her actions may make a few people happy, but they also impact the less fortunate that said nobles employ.

She and my Inquisitors do not get along. She has nothing to do with the story and if someone could have been cut, it is her.

[Raquncica]

I agree that Sera has nothing to do with the story. No links no ties no anything. She also has a limited, extreme view point of the world sand wants to force it down everyone's throats. She's well written, but she's more like some forteen year old girl whining about the way the world is.

Then it's like bring that same girl into a board meeting where professionals are trying to conduct business and she starts shouting about how their employees don't get gourmet meals for lunch.

The rest of the Inquisition is living in the real world and she's so fixated on her extreme idealism that she can't see that she's doing the same things that she's punishing nobles for. She also doesn't see that her actions may make a few people happy, but they also impact the less fortunate that said nobles employ.

She and my Inquisitors do not get along. She has nothing to do with the story and if someone could have been cut, it is her.

 

In my opinion the real world (in game and out) is run by to many of these so called "professionals" with rules that only suit them in short and long run, while they manipulate masses to think that is not true. So I agree with Sera, the "Nobles" need to GTFO and professionals should allow the "not" professionals to influence decisions in equal measure.

[TEWR]

While I agree that DAI wastes a lot of the potential it had, I disagree with the original post's ideas. Well, some. Didn't bother to read them all.

 

I'd mark off my own ideas for what DAI should've done, but my hands are so ****** cold in my room my fingers are locking in place.

[MagisterMaximus]

 

Suggested Improvements:

Keep updates the way they were planned, with the upgrade type affecting the militairy, espionage or economic level of your Inquisition.
Skyhold should play a stronger role in that confrontation -- right now, it's defences are never used, neither is its history.

 

Granted I'm not that far into the game's main plot, but these are the only things I was really intersted in.