72 réponses à ce sujet

[Corwyn]

The darkspawn were always pathetic because Bioware wussed out by depriving them of their scariest and most devastating feature: the Blight sickness. Anyone who isn't a Warden is asking for a horrible, lingering death every time a darkspawn gets into melee range. The fact that non-Wardens can prance through oceans of darkspawn guts and gore without a hitch in all three games is and always has been silly, so the less of them I see the better.

 

Really, game devs, don't give your monsters a neat feature like this in the lore, only to utterly ignore it in the game mechanics. It's just a big hard kick in the teeth for immersion.

They do address this somewhat by stating that some people are naturally resistant it just like any other disease, Leliana is the example they use.  

 

But what exactly would you have them do?  Randomly have your party members permanently die from something you couldn't stop or control?  People would either constantly reload the game or be on the forums complaining endlessly.  I'm not trying to come off as rude I'm legitimately curious if anybody has a good way this mechanic could work that wouldn't kill gameplay.

[In Exile]

Agreed. The art design for Darkspawn in DA:O was great. I have no idea why they felt the need to make major changes. All that was required was recreating them in the new engine.

The darkspawn in DAO were heavily armed and armoured zombies. Not only did their appearance not make sense in light of their own lore, but it also didn't seem even remotely intimidating. The alpha hurlocks had armour more ornate than King Cailan.

[errantknight]

Yeah, I hated this. I  just thought they were humans (with grandma bonnets?) until I hovered over them. I'm also bummed that we didn't get a long, involved deep roads quest. I mean there were a few short quests with bits of deep road that were in a surface cave or where they were exposed to the surface by an earthquake but noting creepy and long and suffocating and awesome.

I regret the lack of long quests in general. They're pretty much day trips. The deep roads in Origins was terrifying. Thing is, people whined a lot about long quests and they seem to have listened to that, unfortunately People should be more careful in what they ask for.

 

That being said, the darkspawn make sense. There's no archdemon calling them to mass in a group or directing their actions. They're basically mindless, purposeless drones only ending up where they are by chance. If we had reason to go into the deep roads, there'd be more, but we really don't have that reason in this particular story and since none of the group can sense them or resist the taint, it would probably end horribly.

 

Also, normal setting is very easy. I'm finding everything unthreatening and will be playing on hardmode or nightmare next time around.

 

Heh, now I'm thinking about those darkspawn tunnels and how awesomelly horrifying and scary they were. Gonna have to do that again soon. Well, once I've done another playthrough or two of inquisition.

[Nefla]

I regret the lack of long quests in general. They're pretty much day trips. The deep roads in Origins was terrifying. Thing is, people whined a lot about long quests and they seem to have listened to that, unfortunately People should be more careful in what they ask for.
 
That being said, the darkspawn make sense. There's no archdemon calling them to mass in a group or directing their actions. They're basically mindless, purposeless drones only ending up where they are by chance. If we had reason to go into the deep roads, there's be more, but we really don't have that reason in this particular story and since none of the group can sense them or resist the taint, it would probably end horribly.
 
Also, normal setting is very easy. I'm finding everything unthreatening and will be playing on hardmode or nightmare next time around.
 
Heh, now I'm thinking about those darkspawn tunnels and how awesomelly horrifying and scary they were. Gonna have to do that again soon. Well, once I've done another playthrough or two of inquisition.

I agree, I missed the longer quests from KotOR, Origins and Mass Effect 1. The super short quests were one of the things that really disappointed me about DA2 (and to a lesser degree DA:I). I was never one of the people who complained about the deep roads or the fade (loved those parts) I'm sad that everything is so short now

[Natureguy85]

Why are there so many comments justifying the low number of darkspawn when the OP was about their appearance and presentation?

[herkles]

curious if they changed from da2 to daI?

[Kirikou]

I was really surprised when my sibling suddenly got the Taint and died. I am fine with this happening but it should have been set up, perhaps showing the sibling getting sick over the course of the trip, rather than a sudden cutscene death. I always assumed Wesley got it because of the injury he took, like getting it directly from the blade or because of an open wound, but I usually argue that things like that need to be explained and not left to the player to assume.

Um they did, it was a subtle thing but it was there.

https://m.youtube.co...h?v=LwuSP8shzb4

Notice how Bethany pauses and rubs her head?

P.s. I loathe the deep roads and am happy we didn't return.

[Mr.House]

I miss the darkspawn running animation in DA2. That was so lulz.

[Chuvvy]

I didn't even realize they were darkspawn at first. In DAO they were this frightening swarm, now they look kinda meh. 

 

It's almost like there was a blight or something.

[Altima Darkspells]

Wasn't there a potion in one of the earlier novels that would prevent (but not cure) someone from getting the Blight?

I believe BW thought about implementing it at some point in DAO's development but though it would serve to annoy the player from a gameplay perspective. I assume the person who made that decision is no longer with BW.

The darkspawn in DAO were heavily armed and armoured zombies. Not only did their appearance not make sense in light of their own lore, but it also didn't seem even remotely intimidating. The alpha hurlocks had armour more ornate than King Cailan.

And you know what? I bet between the choice of generic fantasy orcs and armored zombies or the putty patrol from DA2 (and to a lesser extent, DAI), I'm fairly certain that the vast majority would choose DAO.

At the very least, they were presented as scary in DAO. In DA2, they were albino humans with running mascara.

And DAI could've been the perfect opportunity to introduce us to an elven or qunari broodmother.

[Natureguy85]

Um they did, it was a subtle thing but it was there.

https://m.youtube.co...h?v=LwuSP8shzb4

Notice how Bethany pauses and rubs her head?

 

Ah, very cool. I wasn't thinking of something that subtle and in the background but that is still neat and better than nothing. Thanks!

 

 

It's almost like there was a blight or something.

 

Augh! What does that have to do with their appearance? Why do people keep saying this?

[Mark of the Dragon]

I was hoping with a new engine that they would go back to the scary looking Darkspawn from DAO. I was wrong. Iknow it was not a blight but if they were not going to use them in a satisfying way then why add them? I like fighting darkspawn but I want them to be unique or it just feels like a gimmick.

[In Exile]

I was hoping with a new engine that they would go back to the scary looking Darkspawn from DAO. I was wrong. Iknow it was not a blight but if they were not going to use them in a satisfying way then why add them? I like fighting darkspawn but I want them to be unique or it just feels like a gimmick.

 

The darkspawn are anything but unique. They were grelims and zombies in armour or almost naked muscled giants. Plus shrieks, but we barely saw those. 

[Lokiwithrope]

I'm disappointed that's the case. I like the darkspawn's design in DAO, despite how unoriginal it was.

[Vortex13]

Well I'm still on my first play through; just finished up "Here Lies the Abyss" but I would have to say that the overall Darkspawn design is a little underwhelming. I do love how BioWare made them less 'putty patrol' in terms of animations, but in terms of appearance they look almost exactly like your run-of-the-mill bandits unless you zoom in on their faces.

 

 

I am more saddened by the apparent lack of the Awakened though (and Golems, Sylvans and Werewolves); then again I haven't gotten very far into the main storyline yet. I hope that these creatures do make an appearance later in the story, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

[Degs29]

Yeah, I hated this. I  just thought they were humans (with grandma bonnets?)

 

Lol, yep.  I found them comical looking actually.  They reminded me of Asian rice farmers.

[Obadiah]

I hope to get some news from Orzammar and the dwarves on how the war with the darkspawn is going. As we learned from DAO, when the Blights are over topside, the war still rages underground.

[ent1]

@Natureguy85 and Cuthlan: Simple, I wouldn't put this sort of glaring contradiction in a game in the first place. It's their own setting, so it's not like they were strongarmed into using someone else's source material -- they chose to describe the darkspawn in a certain way and then ignore that feature, and in doing so eliminated half the reason why Wardens are even needed. When it comes to lore versus game mechanics, lore always wins in my book, but I know not everyone agrees. I'd gladly sacrifice gameplay convenience for a greater sense of immersion, for exploring how X affects the world (and my character), what really Y means and what Z feels like..

 

Lore usually wins, but I sure do miss being able to play a blood mage. It never made any sense for the protagonist to be a blood mage, but it was still fun to work out in your own mind how you got away with it. And it was really fun to play.

 

Now my mage Hawke keeps whining about blood magic, and I'm like YOU WERE A BLOOD MAGE! Hypocrite.

[Obadiah]

I remember what a plot twist it was to get Blood Magic from a demon in DAO

Spoiler

(poor Connor)

or the Reaver specialization. Then Awakenings was released, and you could pick them up from a book.

[RedWulfi]

Darkspawn here and there is normal. But there is no blight so they have no reason to come out.

[CrimsonArgie]

They changed enemies a lot, and not in a good way. Save a few exceptions (Shadows, Behemots) and demons, of course, every enemy kind of feels the same. You have the big shield guys, the archers, the alpha type (big guy with a two handed weapon), the dual wield rogue, etc. I get it for the human enemies, but they actually applied the same concept for the darkspawn. Where are the shrieks?! .

 

It was like that in Origins too, but I expected them to actually come up with some better designs, instead of simply having 3 types of enemies and changing the textures to suit each faction.

[Jester]

Where are the shrieks?! .

Somewhere deep underground? 

It's not a Blight, Darkspawn are rare.

 

People in Farelden before the Fifth Blight thought that Darkspawn were a myth.

[Fishy]

They were so much more terrifying in origin. I agree

 

[Obadiah]

They are more terrifying when they're overrunning your position, or destroying the city, or encountered in the deep roads with that creepy haunting deep roads music from Origins.