My thoughts on DAI (through Patch 5) – semi-final now that I have finished one game and am on 2nd playthrough. I like it. I would post this in a blog instead, but we don’t have blogs anymore on the new forum.
Before I started writing this evaluation or synopsis, I looked around for some of my old notes on DAO and DA2. If you’re interested, here’s the link to my blog on the old forum: Thoughts on DAO, DA2, etc.. And the link to my other topic where I detail some of the things I mention here (aren’t you glad I separated them?) What I think about DAI so far (and yes, I am still enjoying it).
· DA2’s immersion-breaking opening. I still wish the Inquisitor was more in shadow until after the Character Creator, but the opening in DAI is so much better and I don’t feel the break in immersion
· The Story and side quests: I am not going to get into the plot itself, but more how it is told. My problem with DA2’s story is that I don’t think it was well-communicated. I had no problem with the idea of it. The main storylines are necessarily linear: A has to happen before B, B before C, etc. to the end. The difference is how you get to the different main plot points. DAI and DAO are more cohesive and more flexible than DA2. DA2 had too many instances of one thing having to happen before another, and I think many of them involving separate quests were unnecessary. Also, as far as I know you can’t carry over a quest from one Act to another (I never dared test this). Where I think DAI is superior to DAO is that in addition to completing things in a different order between main plot points you have some control over the pacing of the main story via spending your power points. Just because you have enough to do ‘Wicked Hearts’ doesn’t mean you can’t spend those points to open up other areas instead.
I definitely preferred DAO’s side-quests to DA2. “In DAO, there were a lot of sidequests, but some at least made sense. They were broke, and needed money to survive and build an army. And they were mostly grouped: Chantry, Mage, not-so-legal, etc. There were enough quests that you didn't have to choose all of them and what you chose or didn't was a reflection of your character. I found the Qunari threat and the mage-templar issues to be too separate and not well integrated into the story.” I have to say that I find the DAI side quests (including some from the war table) to be richer and more varied than its predecessors. Some are basic fetch quests, sure, (shards, mosaic pieces {I have yet to finish a mural}, letters on dead bodies) but they have their own story to tell whether it is a piece of Thedas history or just a bit of an individual’s life. Dead bodies and abandoned buildings because of the war, makes sense. Maybe the beverages don’t as much, but I think they’re fun. The little people disrupted by the chaos, such as the man unable to put flowers on his wife’s grave in my opinion these all add to the richness of the game and your decision about whether to do them or not helps define your character in little ways whether you get approval or not. The devs have said they see Thedas as a character and not just a place (ok, maybe that’s my interpretation) and I finally feel that. “The feels, all the feels.” You can choose to uncover so much history . . . I love it. Doing this also gives me the opportunity to level up (I’m not good in combat so like to be a little higher before engaging), so, win-win. Don’t want to do them all? Don’t.
· There was a problem with continuity in DAO’s expansions and dlc, and the import into DA2. I think the Keep is an elegant solution to this issue. Is it perfect? Not yet. And that’s perfect by my standards, not yours. If there are bugs when importing a world state into DAI, they can be fixed much more easily. I am happy to see my different world states reflected and pleased that I can make sure my choices are accurately reflected before making the world state eligible for import by DAI. In my finished game and current game I am seeing the results.
· The character creator, except for the hair texture and options and the eyebrow color being tied to hair color, is superior by far to the previous games. I expound on that in other threads so I won’t do so again, here. I don’t think they’ve quite nailed the lighting issue, but I am looking forward to the Black Emporium they’re looking into. When I play my girly-girl human female mage she will make several visits, I’m sure. I’m also happy that I have a couple of voice options.
· Companions and romances. The great thing about the Dragon Age games is the variety in your companions. I like the banter, I like learning about them, I like the fact I don’t like them all. To me, romances and the option not to romance at all are ways to refine the definition of your character. And the banter is good.
o I am very happy that, like DAO, you can get to know them at your own speed and inclination. There are some quest or timing related conversations, which is good, but otherwise you’re not forced into pursuing a friendship or romance along a strictly scheduled path. I’m happy that, like DA2, your relationships can’t be advanced by lots of gift-giving. In DAI, you can’t force the pace of different conversations. It seems more natural to me.
o I have learned things I didn’t expect about my DAI companions. Anders and Fenris, even Merrill and Isabela to a lesser degree, seemed to be rather one note by the end of the game. In the DA2 romances I really felt only Isabela significantly changed. DAO and DAI show you more about your companions. I chose to get to know everybody in my first playthrough, and don’t feel any of them are one-note. I am now planning beyond my original 8 games because of what I found out.
o I enjoy the opportunities to join in with some of the banter.
o I am glad I can’t romance everybody, that my companions and advisors have their own criteria (or not) for a partner. Again, imho, this adds to the richness and replayability of the game.
o The romance scene with Dorian was well done. Tasteful, without the silly underwear. I am going to assume that the rest are just as good.
o “I hate the look of the elves, except for Fenris.” I think the elves are much better looking than in DA2. I think they achieved distinctiveness without shadows of being from another planet. I have read some criticisms, even agree with some, but overall I believe this is the best of the three games.
o Each DAI companion has their own look which is reflected in almost all equipment choices. This is much better than either of the first two games where either I couldn’t change Aveline’s armor or Alistair in dragonbone plate looked like Oghren (except for height).
· Tactics are an issue in DAI. Not quite a game-breaking one, but especially annoying in some battles.
o I like to set the order and conditions under which my people employ their skills. ‘Preferred,’ ‘Enabled,’ and ‘Disabled’ settings are not enough.
o I should be able to change tactics and weapons equipped at least once, especially if I am limited to no more than 8 active at a time. This may not matter early in the game but later it becomes an issue. If you say tactical thinking is important then I should have the freedom to change my tactics and weapons according to the foe I am facing. You want us to think about our choices? Either only allow us to change once during an encounter or give us a penalty, such as movement speed decreased for a certain number of seconds. Especially when I encounter and elite or higher enemy.
o Even better, be able to set my person up with an alternate weapon they can go to, like DAO.
o I am happy that the pace of combat has been adjusted since DA2. It’s nice to see my characters actually doing something. I also like that the special effects don’t make it hard to see.
o I would like to point and click a spot and have my character move to it without using the tactical camera. Small preference.
· Leveling up: I have to say that I prefer to set my attributes and skills separately. I would rather know I need to build my dexterity up to ‘x’ points before I can choose ‘y’ skill instead of choosing ‘y’ skill and being told it will up my dexterity by 3 points. In this regard DAI falls behind DAO and DA2. However, that said, I prefer the ability trees in DAI. They are not as linear as DAO and more fluid than DA2. Everybody having only one specialty is fine with me. And I am particularly pleased that my Inquisitor’s specialty is not different from my companion with the same specialty. That always irked me in DA2. I will say that not gaining experience points from killing something several levels below you is reasonable and I have absolutely no problem with it.
· I am thrilled to be able to visit so many different areas. Caves look like caves but not the same cave. Dwarven architecture has a continuous feel without being repetitive. The colors are so much richer and more varied than DAO, which was heavy on the red and brown. Where they reuse resources makes so much more sense than DA2, “The Environment: The environment needs to be richer. There has been enough talk about recycled locations that I won't go into it again here. I have already talked about it elsewhere. Legacy is better in that regard. But remember, the environment includes the people. In the Viscount's keep there were what, 7, 8, 9 sets of twins and triplets? Even down to the clothes in many instances? DAO had a much better variety of the 'extras' in the scenes. In DA2 there was a constant undercurrent of déjà vu all over again.”
· Potion Crafting is an issue I went back and forth on between the first two D.A.s. I liked the fact that in DAO you could choose to create better quality potions. I liked the convenience of the lab and home delivery system in DA2, but ultimately feel it was rather simplistic. To me, DAI works. I can choose to upgrade the health potion I make with a one-time massive influx of ingredients, or not. Other than health potions, there is a constant cost of ingredients to refill my travel bag. It makes more sense. I can either gather the basic herbs or buy them.
· The weapon and armor crafting system is good. And with the new tint table I am having way too much fun choosing colors for me and my companions. I have only two minor quibbles: I don’t know until I make it whether it includes the possibility for upgrades. This should be corrected, at least to let me know before I craft that I can’t upgrade the item. The other is that I feel there is too much discrepancy in the rune level progression between specialty (eg. Corrupting) and single-focus (eg. Spirit) runes. A top level Spirit rune isn’t much better than a basic level specialty. That just seems wrong to me.
· I think the codex and dialog wheel have been greatly improved since DA2 and show that Bioware does listen. I still wish I could review recent conversations, but that is my big complaint about the codex. (I would also like the option to ‘mark all as read.’) I think being able to choose which of 3 different codex entries to read during a loading screen is a terrific innovation. With the dialog wheel I don’t have nearly the number of misunderstandings as I did in DA2. I like how the journal, the map, and the codex entries are connected.
· There is a multi-player aspect to the game, which I didn’t want, but at least it is completely separate from the single player.
· Other features I like in DAI
o The quick target
o auto run
o run or walk toggle, which affects the auto pace
o hide helmets, (wish it could be set individually, but I’m allowed my pie in the sky moments)
o changing party members at camp sites
o auto travel to beacons outside of camps
o Yay to the storage chest in Skyhold! I wish I could also store ‘valuables’ but otherwise, perfect. Or maybe another one in my bedroom (I have two closets, use one) just for valuables.
o The valuables category name makes sense. Diamonds and pendants instead of torn trousers and moth-eaten scarves.
o Replayability
· Suggestions for further improvement
o Make use of the bedroom in Skyhold. It’s a nice big space with two closets (I’m on the PC and have already downloaded mods to change the color scheme). Dahlialynn from Nexus made a DAO mod which allows you to sleep in your tent, either alone or with your LI. Hint, strong hint.
o Use your desk (in the bedroom) for some of the war table missions. If some of them are from your companions or previous (origin-related) companions, they could easily be dealt with from there. Instead of the advisor’s card, have it more like a dialog wheel option: 1) ask Leliana to handle it, 2) ask Josephine to handle it, 3) ask Cullen to handle it, 4) table the matter for now. Maybe you don’t want to change missions that are already set, I understand that. But if you are going to be making DLCs . . .
o It’s too early for me to know if this is the case, but if you end a romance with one person, can you initiate one with another? I hope so. At which point is it too late, or is it never too late? I don’t plan on doing this for the first 8 playthroughs.
o Options for pajamas and formal attire. I currently use mods to make each Inquisitor more individual.
* The Skyhold pajamas, since they appear under some of the armors I understand the design choice better than I did. That said, couldn't we have some options? Either in our Skyhold closet, purchase from a merchant or something we select as part of the character creator? Maybe vests or tunics we can put over them? or be able to change the color via the tint table? Added 3/26/15.
* We don't spend that much time in the formal attire, but since we have the schematic . . . can't our crafting choices and tint table determine the final color when we craft armor in this style? Added 3/26/15.
o I don’t like a cluttered journal screen. If I read a letter which initiates a quest, it stays in my open quest section until I do it. Could we have a category and option to put a quest on hold?
o War table missions: If read but not done, replace yellow light with a blue one so it’s easier to find later.
o Purchasing crafting supplies: Can we get a slider instead of clicking all the time? We have one for selling multiples of an item. I would rather buy 99 pieces in one transaction than clicking 99 times to buy. Added 3/26/15.
I can't believe I forgot to say I like the puzzles. You know, like the astrariums. For me, they're a nice change of pace.
I will bring up a continuity issue: some dialogs have numbered choices, making it easy to quickly select my desired response. Others don't and I have to use the mouse. If I'm not fast enough or my mouse doesn't cooperate then the conversation fades away. Prime example: requisitions. There are 2 different requisition convos, one is numbered and the other isn't. It is a minor thing, and doesn't exactly rise to the level of annoyance but I am reminded of the differences each time a non-numbered convo appears.
If I have anything further to say I will add a reply or put it in my other topic, depending on what it is. I think I forgot something else but I can't remember what it was . . .
Modifié par QueenPurpleScrap, 31 décembre 2015 - 07:56 .
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