80 réponses à ce sujet

[NerdWithBigStick]

Hmm.  This is hard to answer because my reason for playing through an area or not playing through an area will be different than yours.

 

It's always been bothersome to me that the only areas that the game's main campaign actually requires and directs you to travel to are the Hinterlands, Crestwood, and the Western Approach.  Even then you are only required to scratch them.  That means there's a whole lot that's entirely optional, and yet not optional, because you have to level up, and that is a depressing prospect when you are thinking about replaying the game.  It's probably the single biggest flaw, in my opinion, in the design of DAI.  There's simply not a lot of reason to return and do it over again when you've done it all, before, and yet you have to do at least most of it in order to reach the upper levels required for endgame and DLC, which are the most exciting sections of the game.

 

That being said, most of the areas at least have a reason for existing, even if they have their own tedium in spots.  The Emerald Graves and Emprise du Lion have some of the best "core quests" (for lack of a better term, those quests that begin with Scout Harding's objectives and take you through an area.)  The Fallow Mire has a very nice, linear story that gives you a break from the constant and overwhelming pressure to "do it all" that is present in the rest of the game, and it's also the smallest area in the game.  The Storm Coast and the Frostback Basin also have storylines, although they are scant, but at least the areas are visually beautiful, and you can at least imagine the reason for your being there.

 

However, the three areas which are completely dull after you do them one time are the Forbidden Oasis, the Exalted Plains, and the Hissing Wastes.  The Forbidden Oasis I can forgive because it's entirely lore-driven and doesn't appear except for the Oculara hunting.  I suppose the reason to visit the Exalted Plains is some feeble reasoning loosely tied to the events at Halamshiral, helping the Orlesian Army or whatever, but it's big drag and not much to go on.  The Hissing Wastes is even worse - you've already had to suffer through one desert, possibly two, and you're sick to death of hearing about Ventori, and now you have the biggest area in the game, full of ... nothing.  A lot of nothing.  No pathways, barely any guidance to get you anywhere.  It's so large that you are forced to use your mount which in itself is annoying and cumbersome (don't get me started on how pointless mounts are in this game, but maybe that's why they tossed in the Hissing Wastes.)  Maybe some people like that, but my leisure time is simply too precious to spend doing it again after I've already done it once.

 

It's sad because it makes me feel as if a lot of the game is wasted upon replay.  The question I ask myself over and over again is "Why am I doing this?  What is the point of this, really?" and that's not a feeling I like to have when I replay a game that I otherwise enjoy.  It takes a certain sort of masochistic determination to do everything, all over again.  It's quite horrible, really.

 

I really love the characters and the dialog and much of the lore stuffed into this game - I only wish they had done a better job of integrating all of the game's locales into the main story so that there was [more, or any] reason to visit these areas upon replay.

[Sifr]

I think the problem with most games is that on the replay, you often find there's a certain section that ends up being a hurdle, either because it's a chore to complete or the story bogs down, making it hard to continue the playthrough if you put it down for more than five minutes.

 

Post Ostagar, Orzammar and the Landsmeet tend to be places I end up abandoning playthroughs in Origins, the start and middle of Act 2 tend to be the character graveyard for me in DA2, while most of my Inquisition characters rarely get passed the Hinterlands or HLTA unless they've really managed to hook me in and make me enjoy playing them.

[Aetika]

Almost exactly what Nerd said.

Hissing Wastes and Forbidden Oasis being worst. Oasis for me is reduced to endless running up and down, trying to figure on what elevation exactly is the shard I see on minimap or which tunnel is the one that leads to the temple.

While Hissing Wastes make me dead inside, because I know I will once again be blindly combing through the big empty nothing, searching for journal notes and key fragments. Oddly, Exalted Plains don´t bother me as much, but the pits are horrible!

 

On the other hand, I seem to be one of few who loves Hinterlands! 

(except for the bears)

[Monica21]

<Snipped for length, but I completely agree.>

It's a problem with pacing and with areas simply being unnecessary to the overall plot. When the first mentioned the semi-open world based off of Skyrim's success, I just thought, "Oh no. That's not why people play your games." I want Bioware to get back to what they're really good at, and they're really good at story-telling and world building. Hopefully DA4 will have more story and less "go here do this."

I actually don't mind the Hinterlands much because I can assign a story purpose to it. You're there to help build the Inquisition's reputation, you're still a small organization, and getting your hands dirty by bringing ram's meat to the village is not really a big deal. Once I get there though, I don't leave until I have most of the agents, including the Lieutenant guy, have cleared out both Witchwood and the Templar Encampment, and gotten the horsemaster. All that requires at least one trip back to Haven to build the watchtowers.

But, that said, I understand why people find it tedious. I can't remember any other game that I've started this many times and given up out of sheer boredom. With my current character though, I had to give myself permission to avoid areas I didn't like. It's kind of like starting a book and you don't like it but you feel like you have to finish it. Well, you don't. If a book doesn't grab my attention within the first 50 pages I stop reading it. Inquisition is the same way for me, because I've never played a Bioware game that has so much in it that is uninteresting to me. I just went through the Exalted Plains and the only thing I did there was Solas' quest, the Favor of the Dalish, and the glyphs to get to the Temple of Dirthamen. I figure Orlais can take care of itself and it's not my job to take care of zombies when there are hundreds of soldiers littering the place.

I think in many areas there's no way to avoid that stuff you don't like, so I'm resigned to running around Emprise du Leon freeing slaves, but that's it. I mean, I'm already at level 16 and I've only done three major map areas and Adamant. There's still a lot left so it's not like I need to worry about leveling up.

[NaclynE]

So, I decided I'd like to see if there are others who feel this way about certain things that come with Replaying the game.

 

Now, I've started the game over close on 20 or more times, sometimes because I go a long time without playing and it's just not fresh in my mind so I just start over, or because I find that I just really don't like this character. Or the one most often reason, to make other choices.

 

But each time I do so there is always one part that honestly fills me with dread. The Hinterlands.

 

I don't know why, I have absolutely no problem redoing any other section of the game, but just thinking or replaying the Hinterlands just fills me with I dun wanna... Often leading me to turn off several times a day only to go back because I do want to play, I just hate having to do the Hinterlands.

 

Anyone else feel this way about the Hinterlands? Or anything else for that matter?

 

Frankly I just hate portal bashing. It can be tedious and rediculously hard at the same time. I find myself doing that more than playing the game to be honest. Not to mention when I do it I have to have the right potions and hope to god my group takes down the portal with no problem and the enemies don't gun for my character when I want to use the mark on the portal.

[Cute Nug]

I am afraid of playing DAI again because I'm afraid another play through might make me hate this game and lose interest in the DA story.

 

The only zone I liked was JoH. Actually the zone with the Red Pimplars lead by a demon was probably okay and actually contributed to the story.

 

Except for a few events the only thing good in the zones is the party banter which is left so painfully gamey to get it can ruin even that.

 

I agree the Orlesion civil war zone felt broken especially story-wise. We supposedly needed the Orlesions because they were powerful potential allies but we find their armies completely pinned down and have to rescue two armies with just the Inquisitor solo or with up to three companions. We shouldn't feel like we are rescuing two armies with just four soldiers and the answer to the civil war when demons are pouring into the world isn't to have a nug humping palace ball to decide what idiot wears the crown. Being an open world, time doesn't matter, game severely weakened plot points like the Orlesion civil war resolution for me. I expected someone to say, "let them eat cake" if the issue of demons pouring into Thedas was mentioned. Should have at least been some comments mocking that the Orlesion solution to invading demons and the return of one of the proto-darkspawn magisters is to have a party. Wicked Eyes and Wicked Farts  was okay but it seems like there should have been a comment regarding the irony that the royals are so amateurish at The Grand Game.

 

For some reason the game motivation to get only rebel mages or rebel templars to close the breech threatening Thedas seems worse on replay for me. Rebel mages and rebel templars would have been lower on my list for who to trust in saving the world from the sky hole. Seems like an investigation motivation would have been less incongruent if the story needed to railroad us into only working with the rebels. 

 

The oddly ignored Tranquil murder shack seems worse on replay. Can't they just delete it if they couldn't allow it to be acknowledged in game beyond a throwaway line from your companions.

 

Corybits kind of fizzled by the end but that just reminds that at least he tried until the end. The Inquisitor's dialogue seemed lifeless for me and comes in as a strong number 2 in comparison with the mediocre villain Corybits. I only remember the Inquisitor showing up after the Grey Spawn F-up and at the end of Trespasser. Actually, I also had a romance with Cassandra that gave them a soul for a bit of DAI. 

 

DAI had some great parts but the less great seems to get in the way more on replay for me.