119 réponses à ce sujet

[Rowan]

I feel like I played a different game here. Considering just the romance arc, in my opinion Cullen came out less passionate, less active than Alistair. I found him awkward, not in a positive way (Alistair was awkward too, but that was more believable). Even Anders was way more involved. I guess it's this hit heart - hit hear - hit heart -> romance scene mechanic.

 

As a character I think Cullen is very well written and developed, but as a friend he's way more forgettable than Alistair.

 

Obviously this is just my experience and the fact that opinions are so different means the writers did a very good job bringing these characters alive. I'm on my second playthrough and I'll try to engage a different character romance to see what they have to offer. Maybe my opinion will change then.

[ghilbrae]

I think I'll join the people who picks Cullen over Alistair but I don't really know if they are comparable. 

 

The difference in age and experiences are something that cannot be forgotten. If I were to compare Cullen in DAO with Alistair they may have been more similar, at least in terms of shyness and awkwardness.

 

In DAI we have a Cullen that has gone through a lot and has discovered a few things about himself and his principles that are absent from DAO's Alistair because he is simply too young and things are happening too fast. In DAI my Warden Alistair talks about his relationship with my Warden and you can see that he has matured along with the relationship.

 

Anyway, I prefer a more mature relationship, one in which issues and fears are openly discussed, like addiction, mage-templar dynamics or elf-human relationships (I'm playing a Dalish Mage). A relationship in which both have a level of maturity to be sweet and caring but also professional, or serious when needed. Having said all that, I don't think I would have chosen a twenty something Cullen over a thirty something Alistair, but with the information I have I choose the older Cullen.

 

BTW, I don't think Cullen is a virgin, he may not have tons of experience but a virgin does not smile as he does, he knows how things work all right

[Diamond131]

I have to say Cullen. He was still extremely awkward and inexperienced when it came to relationships, but his romance was much more passionate and endearing than Alistair's. Plus he he got over my Amell.

I'm not going to dismiss Alistair though , because he was my favorite DAO romance. He was also new to relationships, (and younger) which made it really sweet and cute, but it lacked the passion that Cullen had.

In the end, it's a win-win for my PCs: Serenni has Alistair, and Shoshanna has Cullen.

[kalasaurus]

I would normally say, "Alistair!!!", but then I played DA: I.  So now, it will always be

 

Solas.

 

Though, I haven't tried Cullen's romance yet, so I can't really (fairly) judge .

[Ajna]

I would normally say, "Alistair!!!", but then I played DA: I. So now, it will always be


Though, I haven't tried Cullen's romance yet, so I can't really (fairly) judge .

Bah, Cullen schmullen

Join me in eternal Solas-ing!

[kalasaurus]

Bah, Cullen schmullen

Join me in eternal Solas-ing!

 

You know I'm already there XD

[MadameQuizzy]

I love that Cullen is not as awkward as Alistair, and the whole first kiss scene was hmmmmmmnnnnnnngggggg. But Alistair has his very own charm and I don't think I could ever choose one over the other, ever. The Alistair romance did have a different feeling to it, he was my companion for so long and my canon Cousland and him are still happily ever after...

 

But. I somehow managed to lose my heart to that smooth fadewalking nerd. 

[Carmen_Willow]

Alistair's was a young man's first romance. Very sweet, very poignant, but not necessarily one that would last.

 

Cullen's is a mature man's romance. He's a guy who knows himself well enough to know what he wants. His inexperience stems from outward circumstance,  i.e., the fact that he was a Templar and devoted to his career, not from being too young to know himself.

 

Cullen became the sort of man I knew Alistair could become someday with luck and the right people in his life.

 

So, it depends. Is my character twenty? Alistair's voyage of discovery would be heady indeed.  But if my character is older, or more experienced, I want a man who knows who he is and what he wants,. Cullen would be that character's cup of tea.

[Xeyska]

Cullen. Alistair's romance was sweet, but it didn't give me the same satisfaction as with my Lavellan/Cullen.

[ERINII]

You can't really beat Alistair. He always joked around with my Warden, but could be romantic and serious when need be. Am I the only one who actually misses the long answer choices of the silent protagonist? There were a lot more choices and you always knew exactly what you were going to answer; the dialogue wheel is a bit misleading sometimes, at least in my opinion.

[Xx Serissia xX]

I really enjoyed the Cullen romance and I think he's a good match for my mage inquisitor but Alistair and my HNF Warden will always be my favorite.

[Nyctyris]

No, I miss the long answers too. 

 

Plus most of the wheel "choices" aren't really very different. 

[Riverway_Inca]

Oh my, you're not the only one at all, ERINII. I miss the long dialogue choices so much, and I'd be in favour of bringing them back and having them voiced.

 

I've been lamenting the loss of the more complex interactions for awhile now, and sadly I don't think Bioware will ever listen.  All part of their progressive dumbing down to make their games more palatable to a wider audience, I guess.

[ERINII]

Having the long dialogue choices voiced would be a dream come true, but honestly I don't really mind a silent protagonist - though I doubt BioWare will go back to that. But yeah, I hope they'll think of an alternative to the dialogue wheel; also how your choices change the flow of conversation. I feel like most of the time you'll get the same result no matter what you choose, ignoring the + / - approval...

[rak72]

I miss the long answers too.  I remember the shoe conversation with Leliana - my F!Warden was into the shoes and I played it in my head like she was really enthusiastic about them.  With my M!Warden, I chose the same answers, but I played it in my head that he was humoring/trolling her.  I think she might have ningamanced me after that, but I miss that too, because sometimes people mistake your friendliness for something else - added to realism.  I hate the giant hearts, really dumbs everything down.

 

Then I'm talking about the fade with solas, and I pick what I think is a pretty neutral response, and my Inq starts reaming him out about demons and blood magic.

[Rekkampum]

Sorry if this has been asked before but the cullen thread is ridiculously long!

 

I very much liked the Cullen Romance but ... damn that Alistair ... cant be beat.

 

So sad they didn't give him much importance in DAI

Alistair is funny, but Cullen is also. He's also a bit mischievous if anyone who's seen that infamous moment with Iron Bull remembers.

[Elanor]

I would love to have more dialogue, scenes with Cullen. I think there was much more those with Alistair. Or maybe it's because he is not a companion. 

Anyway, it's hard choice. I enjoyed both romances. 

[Luckyanna]

Cullen is great, but I'll pick Alistair over anyone. Alistair just does it for me and I particularly get the whole deflect with humor thing. He's been my favorite LI for more than 4 years and you can't just swoop in, do some battlement kissing and take that away. 

 

But oh, the battlement kissing.... I can only imagine what Alistair's romance would've looked like with the new engine.

 

 

[mireisen]

I gotta post again...Two things that made me go Cullen > Alistair...

 

1. His smirk. Once I saw it after Skyhold my husband laughed "OOOOOOH" and I exclaimed, "OH YEAH BABY IT'S ON!" Whether he is a virgin or not is irrelevant to me-a sexually confident person doesn't have to have experience. I'm fairly sure as a guy (and around soldiers all the time) he won't need that much imagination to know how that works.

2. He is a boss character. When he discusses a personal issue (lyrium), leaving him very vulnerable, he takes it matter-of-factly and his "I can endure it" told me that this here was a MAN. A hot, smoldering MAN.

3. He's a commoner. Nothing special. Born from a typical Ferelden famly. No secret story there really. I like normal.

 

I like Alistair, don't get me wrong. I sort of headcannon that my Trevelyan's parents would push her towards King Alistair for a marriage. Poor Cullen would have to endure two lovely mage ladies getting Alistair if that happened. But that's not the case...I went Morrigan for DAO.

[Sexxibrunette]

https://www.youtube....h?v=mGGOTimETHA

 

alistair vs zevran 

*sigh good times

[Moriaena]

I definitely miss the silent protagonist too. My character got her foot stuck in her mouth in DA2 quite a bit, because I didn't always know what Hawke would end up letting out of her mouth. Luckily, I'm not having that trouble quite so much in DAI. 

[IncendiarySheep]

Cullen.  

 

However, I share the view of other posters that my preference is probably mainly because Cullen is older and more experienced than Alistair, and so I am these days.  I like that he's mid-30s, he's confident in his professional capabilities, he knows what we wants and he can be pretty hard arsed about getting it. I also love that he stands up to the inquisitor at the war table ("No. This is ridiculous").  I also like that he has some flaws but he openly admits his mistakes and works on them.  He's by nature a conservative kind of guy, further jaded by some horrific experiences, but he sees the problems with the world, be empathizes with those hurt by it, and he is trying to be open minded and come up with a compromise.  Sure, he's not very experienced in personal relationships, but I don't mind that either.  He takes them seriously, like everything else he does, which is a plus in my book because you know he's in for the long haul.

 

True, the Cullen-relationship doesn't have the passion of Hawke-Anders.  But Cullen is neither as needy nor as batshit insane as Anders.  The Anders relationship is the kind of thing I love in games (especially when playing an equally crazy free-the-mages Hawke), but would flee from in real life.  Too much DRAMA.  

 

I still love Alistair.  I adored every moment of that relationship, and he was the perfect partner for  my young and idealistic warden.  No doubt he grew into a lovely man (if not the world's greatest king) and I am sure that he and my lawful goody-two-shoes warden are very happy together (with her doing most of that annoying ruling stuff while he charms people and looks dashing).  But during the play through they were do young that I can't really relate to that relationship like I can to the one with Cullen.

 

All that said, Garrus is still my number one Bioware boyfriend.   I enjoyed watching Sheppard and Garrus go from an uneasy working relationship to close work colleagues to friends then good friends then best friends then lovers.  It's always seemed both the most stable and the realistic of the Bioware romances - at least if you can overlook that he's a big blue dinosaur and they can poison each other with their bodily fluids.  

[amber2403]

Cullen because I've been waiting to romance him since DAO.

If he was an option back then, I'm not sure Alistair would have stood a chance with my Warden. But I do love Alistair.

[nightscrawl]

I like them both, but for different reasons. I actually think it would be interesting to see the 30-year-old Alistair now. We've got a taste of it in the comics, but those were so isolated to the events in the story that it's hard to gauge him accurately. He still has his flippancy, which you can see in his war table letters, but he seems to have matured a great deal. I haven't imported a Warden Alistair save, so my only interaction with him was with the minor scene in Redcliffe at the end of that mission. I liked that Alistair and would like to see more.

 

Alistair and Dorian are similar in that they both have a light and a serious side. They both deflect with humor and veer into biting sarcasm with people they don't like. But, their serious side is very serious and is really great to watch. This duality is the main reason I like these characters so much. When these characters show you both of their aspects it just seems like we're getting to see something special that they only save for a few.

 

Cullen... what can I say about him? He was broken, and it shows, but he can still laugh. He chuckles at various points throughout DAI and I always enjoy hearing it. I would say that he is an opposite of Alistair in personality. Alistair deflects with humor whereas Cullen just retreats into himself, Alistair is gregarious whereas Cullen is shy and somewhat anti-social. I could see the two of them being friends for the same reason many people are friends with those of opposing personalities; they compliment each other.

[Solbranthius]

I play male characters so unfortunately I never had the opportunity to romance either of them. I do have a fondness for both of them, however, and I won't post about what I consider happening with them in my head-canon. 

 

If I had to choose one, however, I'd go with Cullen. I love the strong, cautious, competent, reserved and slightly socially awkward traits when it comes to knightly characters.