I would be interested to hear from people who went into DAI totally blind and also went with the templars the first go-'round. Experiencing Cole in that way would be interesting.
That was my experience. It was an initial mix of wariness and bewilderment, but despite the tense horror-like atmosphere I wasn't alarmed by him because he looks so unassuming, and his comment about hammers and nails had clearly startled and annoyed Envy. So I was cautiously inclined to believe he was indeed on my side -- though there was the nagging worry that this was a trap. A harmless-looking, soft-spoken, supposedly helpful Envy-puppet like this could have lured the Herald into a false sense of security and made her hand Envy the keys to her mind almost willingly. But that suspicion faded quickly, mainly due to James Norton's incredible voice acting which made me want to believe and trust Cole, "weirdness" or no. By the time he showed up physically to help us fight the demon and in fact tried to talk it down first, I was totally sold on this character. Nothing wins me over faster than kindness and caring, and his "weirdness" had already become a source of fascination and wanting to understand him.
I've mentioned this in other threads...
While I understand why they didn't do this, it's a shame that Cole can't really read the Inquisitor in the same way he does the other followers.
It bears repeating. The "brightness" is a cop-out, really, especially seeing as how Cole can read Solas and Corypheus. It's the most glaring example of Bioware's frustraing tendency towards one-sided PC/NPC interactions in which we constantly play unpaid therapist but don't get a moment's genuine concern or curiosity in return. That really is my frequently-stated number one annoyance with their writing, even more so than the shallow treatment given to the main villain and many fascinating story hooks.
You can ask how you "feel" to him, but I tend to feel that that is really generic.
I liked it -- the "you are theirs" line was dead in the black for my Inquisitor -- but yes, the backgroud-dependent stuff he says is quite bland and impersonal.
There are several instances where you can express fear, doubt, stoicism, etc in response to other NPC questions, and I think it would have been fun if the game could have somehow called on the responses to those answers and have him say stuff to you based on them.
I remember that suggestion from one of the other threads -- it's a really good one that would make the protagonist feel more real, more of an actual character, the world more "dynamic" and our supposed friends feel more like actual friends. A huge and IMO much-needed improvement.
Still though, there just seems something lacking in the player interaction with Cole because it's missing this element that he has with everyone else.
The templar path is really the only time that you get to experience Cole on a personal level, which is a shame.
Exactly, that is part of what I love the mission. I would pick it over IHW anyway for various reasons, but that very personal experience of Cole helping to, in Envy's words, "keep you whole" seals the deal for me.
You would think if you become an Assassin he would say something, but he doesn't even react.
My Inquisitor is a Champion and I was hoping for a comment from him about that because being the one who puts herself in harm's way for others and take hits so that they don't have to is something that he would surely approve of. (He does have brief banters with both Blackwall and Iron Bull about this.) Given his background, Templar is another specialization that he'd likely have an opinion on. I wish all the companions had more to say about specializations.
I really like the combo. Near the beginning I enjoy seeing Dorian's friendliness and curiosity toward Cole. You can really tell by Dorian's tone that he doesn't mean his questions in a malevolent (as in, what can I gain from this, path to power) way, nor is it creepy, but he just has a genuine curiosity that leads him to ask his questions.
I do think there is a touch of "how could this be replicated and used" in the banter about whether Cole could change his form, but the way Cole reacts to that immediately makes Dorian realize it was out of line. I appreciated that. Despite the abuse he got for his orientation and intregrity, Dorian is still used to having an immense amount of power and privilege at the expense of other beings -- but unlike many, he can recognize and examine that given the "right" motivation. His reaction to Cole's question what a slave is, and to the offer of drinking from the Well later on shows how much self-reflection he must have engaged in over the course of the game. I do want to see where his "Redeemer" role takes him.
But what always draws me is the personal banter later on which is so very revealing, not only in the content of the banter itself, but in how Dorian responds to it. While initially upset, he does understand that Cole doesn't understand and keeps that in mind when he tries to explain. Everything about the whole sequence is so wonderful on many levels.
I've seen others who disagree, but I also think that it does help Dorian just a bit. Dorian tends to keep a lot of his personal issues in check and lets those influence his responses to people, like the post-Adamant romance dialog. Instead of talking about it he explodes. So I think that, even if Cole's prodding did hit a raw nerve, that having to explain it also helped him work through some things as well. Perhaps this was intentional on Cole's part, perhaps not. I think we've actually seen that he can be more crafty than he's normally given credit for.
Very well said, all of this. I share the impression that trying to explain it, hard as it is, does help him a little. Parent/child issues go so damn deep, and while it's one thing to rage about them, admitting to the vulnerability and the sadness and the sheer depth of the betrayal is something else altogether. It takes a lot of courage, but it can bring some relief too. And it is definitely much healthier than acting out by exploding at others or hitting the booze.
That said... there IS a point during the banter series where Dorian gets really upset, Cole knows it, and why, but doesn't really know what to do about it and can only apologize. I would really like to be able to tell Cole that sometimes all someone needs is time,
Yeah, timing and slowing down are definitely two lessons that Cole needs in order to avoid "tearing the tangles". Regardless of the outcome of his quest, I think he's getting there.
I think this is also partly the result of the context and reason we go into the Fade in DAI in the first place. In DAO the whole thing was a puzzle and working through it to find our companions was part of that. As an aside, I was always irked we couldn't discuss the various Fade scenarios with our followers, some of which are pretty dark. But in DAI the primary purpose was to learn what actually happened at the Conclave, and to you know... force the Inquisitor to off someone >.>. (I joke, but the whole Fade thing had a huge impact on my Inquisitor.)
True, it's just that the Nightmare is kind of a failed Chekhov's Gun in my book. It was built up as this ultimate fear demon, so I expected and wanted to give the lot group the ultimate personal horror trip. Talk about wasted potential.
Good point about not being able to talk to people about the Origins scenarios -- or the gravestones and the Nightmare's taunts in Inquisition, for that matter. Blackwall would have had fun trying to explain that one.
Retour en haut
) He's a dwarf who's permanently cut off from the Fade (and is always thoroughly weirded out whenever magic gets him there). A tear in the Veil that has angry spirits raining down on innocent people is the Inquisition's whole reason for being. If he's worried after the Inquisitor makes him more spirit, well, he should be. 
