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[mgagne]

I went through six playthroughs - two of which were fully completed (main story line + all DLCs) - and I think I've finally put my finger on the major elements that derailed the game as a whole.  Those became especially obvious in the last couple of PTs, where I used  several mods that granted me Tier 4 schematics and mats (so as to skip over the tedious fluff).

 

ACT I

 

- Higher power requirements would have encouraged the player to explore the Storm Coast and the Fallow Mire *before*

we could attempt to project our influence beyond the Frostback Range and Ferelden.  Specifically:

 

     * The Chantry Mothers declared the Inquisition a heretical movement yet all that was needed to be received by them in Val Royaux were 4 measly power points?!  A dip in the Hinterlands and a rift or two closed and voilà!  This step should have come *after* all the Hinterlands/Fallow Mire and Storm Coast had been secured *and* after we had gone through *both* "In Hushed Whispers" & "Champions of the Just".  It was nonsensical to force us to choose the mages or the templars before both groups had been forced into a truce.  Only then should have come the meeting in Orlais' capital.  In fact I can see Haven hosting a mini conclave where the Inquisition would have been called to arbiter between both groups - with the loosing side leaving in a huff and disappearing - to eventually returns under under Samson/Calpernia's banner for "In Your Heart Shall Burn" and the destruction of Haven.

 

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ACT II

 

- After the occupation of Skyhold and the resurrection of the Inquisition the focus of the second act should have been in ending the Orlesian civil war. One of the major problems in DAI is that we were told, very early on (too early in fact), what the plans of the Elder One were - therefore defusing the dramatic tension of discovering them.  Starting in Emprise du Lion (closest to us - and where we would have first met Blackwall), going outward toward the west (The Dales, The Emerald Graves), we would have expanded our influence, pacifying the empire until we had enough power/influence (a severely underused mechanic!) to encourage the warring factions (Celene/Gaspard) to meet at Halamshiral ("Wicked Eyes & Wicked Hearts").  It is only after exposing/killing Florianne that we would have learned the name of our enemy and the gist of his plan (corrupting the Wardens and raising a demon army).  Then Morrigan would have joined us and Varric would have come with news of Hawke and a the subsequent meeting in the Orlesian version of Crestwood (Velun, Val Firmin or Montsimmard?) where the final clues pointing towards the Western Approach would have been uncovered.  Then, since a weak antagonist is boring, the Elder One would have used the concentration of forces (Red Templars/Mages + corrupted Wardens + vanguard of demons + yoked darkspawns) massed in the western desert (merged Western Approach/Hissing Wastes) to strike at the last zone we had visited and maul the Inquisition army stationed there (with the potential loss of one companion or more).

 

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ACT III

 

- The last act would have been devoted to reducing Corypheus' hold on the western desert until we reached Adamant ("Here Lies The Abyss").  After our trip through the Fade we would have gathered the combined might of the Inquisition and the united Orlesian empire to breach the Forbidden Oasis, where the last temple of Mythal stands, still protected ("What Pride Had Wrought").  After which Corephyus, his most powerful lieutenants and his dragon would have retreated out of sight before assaulting Skyhold (*not* Haven!) unexpectedly.

 

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I feel "Jaws of Hakkon" should have happened during ACT II, "The Descent" as 'main quest' after ACT III and finally "Trespasser" as the epilogue/staging ground for DA4.

 

 

 

So what do you think of this 'rearranging of the board'?

 

 

 

[renfrees]

I doubt many would have gotten to Skyhold if a player was required to clear all 3 starting zones.

[Tigress M]

An interesting read, OP.

 

In this interview, Gaider explains how the story we wound up with is about 50% of the original plot idea.  I keep that in mind when I play and I find myself wondering what kinds of things were cut or changed.  For example, why is there a whole massive section in the Hinterlands that goes unused?  What was really supposed to happen in the Hissing Waste?  That's by far the largest map we have but so very little actually happens there.  How come?  

 

But I've never thought of the game in terms of switching the story we know around.  Now I'll have to do just that.

[vbibbi]

I agree that pacing should have been better and the implementation of the antagonists and main plot points were not used to maximum effect. I like most of your ideas, especially that we should have had more of a role in bringing about the Civil War ceasefire before arriving at the Winter Palace.

I don't know if every zone needs to be mandatory, though, just make completing the zones beneficial to the end game. So if we save our soldiers in Fallow Mire we have more troops in the final battle. If we defeat red Templars in EdL, there are less enemy troops at the end. Since the game is so large, it's in Bio's interest not to force players to complete every zone to achieve the end.

It is amazing to me that there are cut zones like the Nahashin marshes (no clue how to spell that) given how poorly implemented most of the current zones are. Bio seemed to prioritize creating as many maps as possible without having them be impactful to the story.

Really, it would have been so much better if there were a main plot to each zone similar to JOH, and if completing these plots affected the ending. It's too bad there was never even discussion of a siege of Skyhold as the end game. It seems such a logical set up

[nightscrawl]

I doubt many would have gotten to Skyhold if a player was required to clear all 3 starting zones.

 

I've done it a couple of times. You end up around level 12 or so at Skyhold if you go this route, and of course In Your Heart Shall Burn is stupidly easy.

[Tigress M]

It's too bad there was never even discussion of a siege of Skyhold as the end game. It seems such a logical set up

 

I believe this was one of the things cut, or at least it was one of the things they'd tossed around.  But I agree, that would have been fun to see.

[loyallyroyal]

I get the idea each zone was originally supposed to have a whole plotline, it is a shame that it didn't make it into the game. For zones like the Exalted Planes it would of been a great way to introduce people to the civil war and have WEWH make more sense.

 

 

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[vbibbi]

I believe this was one of the things cut, or at least it was one of the things they'd tossed around. But I agree, that would have been fun to see.

There's an interview with Mark Darrah that asks about a siege of Skyhold, and he says that it wasn't even considered based on system limitations. It was the captured keeps which had more content originally planned but scrapped.

Which is annoying, as it seems as if Skyhold was never actually planned to even be relevant to the conflict with Cory