WARNING: If you have not finished the game, don't read this post. It's one big SPOILER about the Solas romance.
Dear Game Devs:
I completed 1 playthrough, 108 hours worth of gameplay. I romanced Solas. He hooked me right away. The way he looks at the inquisitor, like he is looking right down into her soul? Wildly disarming. Great job with that. But the thing that was amazing to me is that there was so much interesting dialogue right from the beginning. His words were like poetry. I loved listening to him talk. That was my favorite part of the romance: asking him questions, him being baffled and pleased that I was interested, and then, finally, him using the term of endearment when he greeted me: "my heart."
Since I knew I wanted to romance him right from the get-go, I completed many of his personal conversations while still in Haven. I was thrilled! So much to talk about. I thought: surely, since there are these extra convos that we can have outside of cinematics, then we will get to have more overall conversations throughout the game.
Boy was I disappointed.
I completed the cinematic with the kiss in the fade immediately after arriving at Skyhold.
Around 33 hours of gameplay, I completed the cinematic with the kiss on the balcony.
Then?? DRY SPELL.
I figured out early on that the mural on his wall grew in completion as the main quests were completed. I thought that was brilliant and beautiful, and a truly witty design choice. Do you know what would have been another terrific choice? Adding casual little conversations each time the main plot progressed. TALKING and SHARING are Solas' love languages...he loves telling his tales to the Inquisitor. He loves that she is interested and engaged. I know this, because you gain approval anytime you ask him to talk. It would have been EASY for the writers to come up with more scripts that would be sprinkled throughout the rest of the game, and that would show up as main quests were completed.
When Solas tells you about his journeys in the Fade, those little tid bits were like poems. I cherished them. More of those would have been amazing.
I understand that adding cinematics would have been more work, but would one or two more of them would have been greatly appreciated, as well. Especially after you take Solas physically into the Fade, in Here Lies the Abyss. It seemed like EVERY character had something to say about that experience. Except Solas. That made no sense to me.
In Dragon Age 2, I appreciated that there were personal convos with EACH character in each act. That way I knew when to expect more personal interactions, and it helped me be patient and pay attention to the rest of the quests. I understand that Dragon Age Inquisition is structured more organically, but there are still major defining moments in the plot, and you could have made it so that an Inquisitor friend or romance option unlocks those interactions only after progressing the main story.
This is what the Solas romance is like:
- Talk a lot
- Kiss in Fade, followed immediately by Kiss in Real Life
- Lots of waiting
- Very brief dance on a balcony
- Lots of waiting
- Romance completion & Breakup
I felt like I was just pining. Waiting for someone who was never available in the first place. That's awful.
In my ideal version of events, the romance would have followed the archetype of Miyazaki's film Spirited Away, where the characters part, but there is an understanding of unconditional love and sacrifice. I get it, I get it, Solas' plot had to be a tragedy. I understand. But if you create a DLC to revisit this plot, I want to be able to save him. I want to be able to tell him I never stopped loving him. I want to forgive him and set him free.
As for the rest of my complaints about the lack of dialogue mid-game, I know it's too late to change things for DAI, but please PLEASE when you make future characters in future games, PLEASE don't omit the "middle part" of a relationship. It's torture, and not the good kind. It just makes me feel cheated, like you didn't want to spend the time or resources to flesh the character out properly. Because, even though Solas is a hard one to open up and he spends tons of time detached from the group, he also is moved deeply by the inquisitor, and it makes no sense that he wouldn't want to interact with her more.
Thank you for reading.
Erin
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