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[Googleness]

Just finished trespasser dlc last night for first time including all other dlcs and every quest in the game.

 

in my world state the warden was male mage human, hawke female rogue and inquisitor male human warrior.

 

At any rate from my point of view,

 

1. Origins was a very cinematic well made adventure in a new world. everything was polished and with all dlcs (content one, not the chessy 100 affection after lothering one) it is a superb game.

I will never forget playing for first time as Dwarf noble, it was splendid experience.

 

At any rate in Origins it was the Blight and heavy focus on the Grey Wardens.

 

So logic says that next games will elaborate more on wardens, darkspawn and general history.

 

2. In dragon age 2 I felt it was more like mini quest game in the Dragon Age universe. the mage\templar thingy felt overall like setup for the world state instead of proper plot, the ending was weird with all the psycho leaders going berserk.

 

but thing is if you ignore the dlc with coryfish then there is not much more expansion on origins of darkspawn and grey wardens, hence it felt bit disconnected from origins.

 

3. In Inquisition, beside the usual rants on MMO like environments, it seems like an attempt to tie in all the plot lines and close it all but it left us with more questions then answers.

 

The darkspawn\wardens line is total mass and left open. Also sending coryfish to the fade doesn't prove he is actually dead. numerous times during inquisitions we are in the fade in physical form without nothing happen to them, heck in trespasser learned both elves and qunari travel the fade like it's railroad.

 

The Chantry line was nice with JoH meeting the inquisitor and such shows us some nice revelations.

 

But mostly what I found weird is the elvish plot line,

In the game we learn that solas created the veil, elves had uber empire and pretty much most elves are solas drones.

 

overall my problem is that I got the feeling the plot is stretched too much.

we can ignore the gameplay issue which pretty much each game is totally different....

 

But from plot perspective we played all three games for 300-400 hours +- if you do 1 go with dlcs and there is too much division in plot sections,

I left asking myself...

"What this game is actually about?"

 

I remember some of the old bioware games even those with expansions and each one had some sort of focused main plot.

 

Let's take few examples,

1. Baldur's Gate series, 

2 games, and 2 expansions. we play as single character and the plot tellings us about the scheme of Bhaal the god of murder in Forgotten Realms universe to cheat death by creating many childrens with seeds of his power.

we learn our CHARNAME is one of those bhaalspawns and plot is focused around that. from first troubles and challenges we first meet through learning the truth then facing the outcomes.

overall the plot was focused and gameplay was coherent.

 

2. Neverwinter Nights,

original campaign took us to the city of neverwinter where we helped the city to face the "Wailing Death" and by so doing uncovering a cult with a plot to do some major damage.

in the expansions Shadows of undrentide and Hordes of the underdark we play a single characther from low levels as student of a dwarf wizard learning how to adventure facing mjor attack on his home town and going through epic adventure which includes many lands and realms. 

 

3. Jade Empire,

Wonderful game with nice setting focused around Chinese mythology. the gameplay is featuring martial arts as main mechanic and the plot revolves around us being the studets of the famous master lee which is kidnapped\killed (can't remember) and we escape to try and face those attackers all the while learning some groundbreaking truths.

 

4. KOTOR (and to extent KOTOR2),

Do I really need to expand on this two games? it's freaking star wars with awesome gameplay and one epic plot. both game are focused on the same plot line from few venues and the second game expand the gameplay mechanics of the first.

 

5. and to extent... the mass effect series.

Ok here we had 3 games and each one was more different the it's predecessor but overall the main features of 3rd person shooter, rpg, cinematic dialog and single protagonist are kept.

The plot here is very focused around the reapers threat from the start to ending with many sub plots which at the end connected very well to the main plot line.

You can say mass effect had it easier with same protagonist but if DA had at least tried to keep it's gameplay core from origins throughout the 3 games instead of dumbing it down it could tried to make the same effect ME had.

 

 

 

Overall I feel like the 3 dragon age games are loosely connected and after finishing trespasser last nights it's like those 3 games are not really a series.

I suspect we may *god forbid* get the next mass effect to be something like assassins creed in tevinter with auo-dialog lines and too many collection missions.

 

anyone else got that feeling?

[TheExtreamH]

Dragon Age is really never about a single story, Its basically telling the tale of Thedas from the prospective of our PCs. 

[Zafireria]

They were never meant to be a series in the terms of something that continues that specific story, but rather about different timeline, places, and characters. Each game has its own story and timeline that isn't really connected to each other that much, other than what you hear has happen in the past by dialogues or codex.

 

Tho it sounds like the next game might actually break that a bit if they continue the story about Solas. Which I hope they do, but else the games ain't meant to be sequels to each other in that sense.  

[Chiramu]

 

Tho it sounds like the next game might actually break that a bit if they continue the story about Solas. Which I hope they do, but else the games ain't meant to be sequels to each other in that sense.  

 

They might bring Solas in like they brought Morrigan into Inquisition too. Solas could even be the bad guy who we are fighting against. Just wait and see imo . 

 

I just hope they put more of the Original Origins gameplay into the Frostbite 3 engine. The new gameplay was just irritating in comparison.

[Heimerdinger]

You're talking about continuity but here's the thing. There was supposed to be a sequel to DAO, it was supposed to be called Dragon Age Origins 2 and it was supposed to be about wardens and darkspawn.

 

But then EA stepped in and demanded a different type of game, a console action game with streamlined features to appeal to a large crowd. Oh, and they wanted it done fast, like not now but yesterday.

 

Some of the developers (like Brent Knowles) didn't approve of that plan and left. Along with them went the concept of a direct sequel and you got ...DA2 instead. Yeah..that went well.

 

They will probably answer questions about the darkspawn, blight, Black City eventually, maybe tie them to the elven lore (predictable at this point) but we won't see a game like DAO again.

[In Exile]

You're talking about continuity but here's the thing. There was supposed to be a sequel to DAO, it was supposed to be called Dragon Age Origins 2 and it was supposed to be about wardens and darkspawn.

But then EA stepped in and demanded a different type of game, a console action game with streamlined features to appeal to a large crowd. Oh, and they wanted it done fast, like not now but yesterday.

Some of the developers (like Brent Knowles) didn't approve of that plan and left. Along with them went the concept of a direct sequel and you got ...DA2 instead. Yeah..that went well.

They will probably answer questions about the darkspawn, blight, Black City eventually, maybe tie them to the elven lore (predictable at this point) but we won't see a game like DAO again.

Proof? I've seen absolutely no evidence that there was ever any further GW related plot in the works as a sequel.

Brent Knowles left over design differences, as far as we know, not plot.

[Kezza]

I must admit I miss the days of only worrying about fighting darkspawn, archdemon and the traitor on the throne.

Now we have to worry about a powerful, mad elf with delusions of the old world that had long been left behind and should be left behind.

[thats1evildude]

Origins was well-polished? Origins, with the cruddy skill system, the broken combat mechanics, the substantial rise in bugs after the Landsmeet, the mediocre DLCs (c'mon, let's not pretend Return to Ostagar was anything but), the party members that could be bought off with dog bones and the wooden PC?

You and I remember very different things about Origins.

[Iakus]

 

3. In Inquisition, beside the usual rants on MMO like environments, it seems like an attempt to tie in all the plot lines and close it all but it left us with more questions then answers.

 

The darkspawn\wardens line is total mass and left open. Also sending coryfish to the fade doesn't prove he is actually dead. numerous times during inquisitions we are in the fade in physical form without nothing happen to them, heck in trespasser learned both elves and qunari travel the fade like it's railroad.

 

Just want to point out a detail:

 

The Inquisitor (and in the case of the events at Fort Adamant, those whom the Inquisitor took with) are the only people in Inquisition who entered the Fade in the flesh.  And they are the first since the Blackening of the Golden City to do so.

 

The Crossroads are not the Fade, as Morrigan explains it, but some sort of artificial in-between realm that doesn't belong in any world.  Think of them as being like the Ways from the Wheel of Time series.  With Eluvians as Waygates.

 

Corypheus is almost certainly dead.  The Fade is a world shaped by thoughts and ideas.  A being of flesh and blood simply can't exist there long without powerful magic shielding them (like the Anchor).  It would take an inhuman amount of focus and sense of self to retain your individual identity there, and not be torn apart by your own doubts and uncertainties.  And at the time Corypheus was defeated, his will had been broken, no longer certain of his power or divinity, or even if Dumat was alive or not.

[Donquijote and 59 others]

Dragon Age is really never about a single story, Its basically telling the tale of Thedas from the prospective of our PCs. 

A convenient smokescreen,Dragon age is about the story of certain npc ,mages for the most part  the rest was created just to be their personal red carpet.

[Zafireria]

They might bring Solas in like they brought Morrigan into Inquisition too. Solas could even be the bad guy who we are fighting against. Just wait and see imo . 

 

Oh trust me, I am waiting to see. I am one of the those people who wants to save Solas, so there better be an option to do so XD

[Qis]

"What this game is actually about?"

 

This game is actually about making money...and win awards....

 

I doubt they actually have the whole story after DA:O, like it being mentioned "the warden adventure end when he/she pull his/her blade into Archdemon" something like that in the epilogue slide. DA2 and DA:I stories are made after the first one, and it does look like they want to detached from DA:O as much as they can for reason....

 

It is like they want to detach KotOR 2 for reason...SW:TOR completely ignore KotOR 2...and that's why you get Meetra Surik and none KotOR 2 character returned or even mentioned

 

Maybe because of sentiment...? I don't know...

[vbibbi]

You're talking about continuity but here's the thing. There was supposed to be a sequel to DAO, it was supposed to be called Dragon Age Origins 2 and it was supposed to be about wardens and darkspawn.

Source?

[Heimerdinger]

Proof? I've seen absolutely no evidence that there was ever any further GW related plot in the works as a sequel.

Brent Knowles left over design differences, as far as we know, not plot.

 

Older interviews with Knowles, his blog posts and his answers in the comments.

 

Design includes plot, new lead designer - new plot. Knowles left before any of his ideas had the chance to be put on paper. DAO wasn't even finished at that time.

 

He didn't approve with the fixed protagonist in an RPG, said he would rather do a shooter instead.  He wanted to take the player to other places in Thedas but keep the Grey Warden theme. The Warden's return was also considered.

 

If Brent Knowles remained as lead then we would have got a different sequel to DAO.

[Almostfaceman]

*snip*

 

Overall I feel like the 3 dragon age games are loosely connected and after finishing trespasser last nights it's like those 3 games are not really a series.

I suspect we may *god forbid* get the next mass effect to be something like assassins creed in tevinter with auo-dialog lines and too many collection missions.

 

anyone else got that feeling?

 

Not for me. The codex from the first two games was full of murky history from limited perspective. I was hoping that more light would be shed on what really happened, and what's really going on. 

 

It has, while still keeping me hooked on what's going to happen next.  

[In Exile]

Older interviews with Knowles, his blog posts and his answers in the comments.

Design includes plot, new lead designer - new plot. Knowles left before any of his ideas had the chance to be put on paper. DAO wasn't even finished at that time.

He didn't approve with the fixed protagonist in an RPG, said he would rather do a shooter instead. He wanted to take the player to other places in Thedas but keep the Grey Warden theme. The Warden's return was also considered.

If Brent Knowles remained as lead then we would have got a different sequel to DAO.

Do you have any links? Again, I don't have any recollection of Knowles speaking about the plot.

And while I appreciate his talent as a game designer, if it is true he wanted more darkspawn plots, we should all count ourselves fortunate. That was by far the weakest and worst part of DAO.

[AlanC9]

So logic says that next games will elaborate more on wardens, darkspawn and general history.

Bio never thought that. Neither did I, FWIW.
 
 

3. In Inquisition, beside the usual rants on MMO like environments, it seems like an attempt to tie in all the plot lines and close it all but it left us with more questions then answers.

Isn't that a good thing? Gives us stuff for the next game.

[Dai Grepher]

I understand your meaning. It seems like the series is not really following a specific plot or leading to some kind of ultimate goal. It seems like a collection of stories, some linked, some not.

 

I think the main problem is that the main plots are not done in enough detail. Plots from old games get dropped, and plots from the current game are left open-ended and not expounded upon.

 

I think that the story of the Hero should be more connected to the current events, as should that of the Champion. And after playing through Inquisition somewhat a second time, I think the game is too short regarding main story content. Stop the Breach from spreading, get mages or templars, escape Haven, meet Hawke, stop the Wardens, stop the Nightmare, pick a ruler in Orlais without getting kicked out of a party, go to an elven ruin and drink some water, beat the villain.

 

Not such an interesting game unless you use headcanon to explain why all the filler levels and quests matter to your success (when in fact they really don't).

 

I think my main problem with Dragon Age is that it could be so much more than it is right now. I'm worried its full potential won't be realized by BioWare.

[Abyss108]

I'm also gonna need some links talking about how DA2 was supposed to be about darkspawn and wardens, since that is the complete opposite of every interview I have ever seen.

 

It would also be terrible. The darkspawn/wardens are the least interesting plot I could ever think of. 

[Dai Grepher]

Except that it was about fleeing the Darkspawn and Corypheus getting released by Wardens. Also the Deep Roads and possibly Nathaniel. Oh, and Anders of course.

[Googleness]

If you take sera to the library level in Trespasser she rants "Not the fade! Not the Fade! please anywhere but here !!!" so it's likely the fade.

The spirits there also refer to her as honored elvhen.

 

At any rate,

My problem is when I am going to play a game having it connected to other game take its toll. it's too damn heavy on a player to keep coherent memory of what happened and how much time and effort was spent.

When I finished ME3 for first time it was after I played the first one and second one with all dlcs for 4-6 times each until I got it "right". then the ending of ME 3 brought me to the state of mind of "****! it's over...." like I just finished some very long journey.

 

I like games like NWN or JE style where 1-2 games will wrap up the story and you can try it from different directions or classes. in dragon age its... never over.

Its like a mess of a story, non coherent gameplay and overall experience which is like "taking out the trash".

 

I got that vibe after Assassins Creed revelations, first one was cool... second one was nice and brotherhood was intriguing but then they started spamming new games one after the other non - stop. 

I just stopped caring and ignored that series.

 

To me DA:O was polished as an experience. Yes the game had bugs and it was clunky at times but the gameplay... level design and story were top notch. DLCs like the stone prisoner and watchers keep had very good story to them and if you read the books expanded very nicely.

It was also first DA game so we are lenient toward it as we could not know how the newer DA games will be like.

 

Bottom line,

for me,

imho,

DA series became a series a titles in which each game is different in:

1. Gameplay style - totally different gameplay experience each game.

2. story focus - each game focus on different story in same settings.

3. there is no ending.

 

and last point is what's worst....

we play around 250 hours (with side quests of course) to finish DA:I then there is no ending at all.... mother of all cliff hangers.

in Dragon age 2 we had the notorious dual psycho leaders ending where the mage turn to corpse demon and templar to lyrium statue.

 

DA:O was the one to do it right, sort of.

Main game concluded all plot line except morrigan's kid if you bothered to create him.

Awakening showed us the truth about this new thinking darkspawn and we could handle this threat and finish it.

Witch's hunt showed us what morrigan did and we could find her but gave us the first treatment of "no ending" in the series with obvious cliff hanger.

then we had to wait until inquisition to get that line concluded.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

In more specific way,

As a very old school rpg player I like the story.

When I play paladin I won't open containers in people's houses and I will help the injured. As an evil mage for new scroll or spell I'll burn a village.

in Origins and to some minor extent in DA:2 I felt I could roleplay a character but in inquisition (trend started for me in 2) I felt all roleplay options were off the table.. 

You couldn't really be evil and being good had its limits and most quests and content didn't really had something in them which made me feel it's RPG, I felt like playing assassins creed with dialog wheel.

 

The really big shame here is that such excellent games by themselves are becoming lessers as they are presented as part of a series of games. Fact is save import in DA2 and Keep system in Inquisition makes them a series of games yet when you play all 3 it's giving you the "meh" treatment.

 

Totally makes me worried about ME:A.

[In Exile]

Except that it was about fleeing the Darkspawn and Corypheus getting released by Wardens. Also the Deep Roads and possibly Nathaniel. Oh, and Anders of course.

 

But those are side plots (not to mention Corypheus is released by Hawke, not the Wardens). And seeing as how the obvious original plan was Hawke => Inquisitor, the influence of Corypheus on the plot is exactly what we saw it to be in DA:I, i.e., far more about a thematic contrast with Solas. 

 

The blight seems to be a backdrop/red-herring, all part of how DA as a setting tries to subvert the usual fantasy tropes. 

[TheExtreamH]

A convenient smokescreen,Dragon age is about the story of certain npc ,mages for the most part  the rest was created just to be their personal red carpet.

Origins was never really about Mage's. DA2 was mainly about the politics of Kirkwall. DA3 was about stopping a crazed magister. But of course each game has elements to them to show other things are happening in the world. Up until 3 we didn't even know who or what Flemeth was and what shes been up to, We still don't for that. We don't know what Solas is truly planning or how he intends to do it (We know he wants to destroy the veil but how and why is he waiting?).

We don't always need a cohesive story line in video games or a single hero.

[In Exile]

Origins was never really about Mage's. DA2 was mainly about the politics of Kirkwall. DA3 was about stopping a crazed magister. But of course each game has elements to them to show other things are happening in the world. Up until 3 we didn't even know who or what Flemeth was and what shes been up to, We still don't for that. We don't know what Solas is truly planning or how he intends to do it (We know he wants to destroy the veil but how and why is he waiting?).

We don't always need a cohesive story line in video games or a single hero.

 

I think people underestimate how large the mage issue loomed in the minds of the devs. Way back when, DG once explained that the idea of magic in DA:O broke out from a discussion about how really creepy mind-control spells in D&D could end up being IRL. And now that we have Jessica Jones, I think we have a pretty good portrayal of what blood magic means in that way. 

[ShadowLordXII]

But those are side plots (not to mention Corypheus is released by Hawke, not the Wardens). And seeing as how the obvious original plan was Hawke => Inquisitor, the influence of Corypheus on the plot is exactly what we saw it to be in DA:I, i.e., far more about a thematic contrast with Solas. 

 

The blight seems to be a backdrop/red-herring, all part of how DA as a setting tries to subvert the usual fantasy tropes. 

 

Red-herring?

 

How about how the Blight and it's destructive nature and pawns are the central conflict of Origins? 

 

Or that the magister who brought the Blight to Thedas is the central villain of Inquisition's storyline?

 

Then there's Red Lyrium, lyrium corrupted by the blight which plays a heavy role in DA2 (for better or worst) and in Inquisition?

 

Or how major aspects of Thedas such as the status of the Dwarves; the Chantry's existence; Tevinter's fall from dominance; and the Grey Wardens themselves are all somehow connected to the Blight?

 

The Blight may not be the most important aspect of Thedas, but calling the Blight a red herring is the equivalent of calling the Black Death insignificant. Especially when the stuff consistently has consistent impact and effect on each and every game in the Dragon Age series and plenty of supplemental material.