True, I've always said that outside of the companions BioWare are generally terrible in the writing department. I always find it amusing because it's one of the main things they are lauded for.
DAO hardly fits the lore with the gameplay, even if it manages to show how powerful mages can be.
Not really, they just wanted to add additional boss fights. I think some devs even mention that, though I'm not sure.
Boss fights which make sense and if anything only add to and enhance the drama and emotions built up by the themes of Kirkwall and your companions.
I thought Loghain conspired to kill the Couslands, but I don't see the reason why they should've lied about it.
Not that DAO is necessarily better, but the game clearly portrayed Loghain and Howe as enemies. In DA2 you ally yourselves with a Meredith and Orsino, which then go crazy for...Adding another fight.
The Orsino example was especially egregious. At least Meredith has the idol excuse to fall back on.
The best (worst) part is when he tells you out of the blue that he was conspiring with the serial killer that murdered your mum. It made absolutely no sense to tell Hawke at that moment. It feels like it was just thrown in there to give the player a reason to want to fight Orsino.
They don't make sense at all. They don't have real motivations for the betrayal, they just got too crazy.Boss fights which make sense and if anything only add to and enhance the drama and emotions built up by the themes of Kirkwall and your companions.
The Orsino example was especially egregious. At least Meredith has the idol excuse to fall back on.
I wanted to romance Meredith. It would be a very interesting relationship.
Well, it Made sense if you sided with Meredith, not if you sided with him. The opposite is also true. The idol was still used as ah excuse to make her go crazy. The game would've worked fine without those things, and the final boss fight being the character you decided to not support.The Orsino example was especially egregious. At least Meredith has the idol excuse to fall back on.
The best (worst) part is when he tells you out of the blue that he was conspiring with the serial killer that murdered your mum. It made absolutely no sense to tell Hawke at that moment. It feels like it was just thrown in there to give the player a reason to want to fight Orsino.
They don't make sense at all. They don't have real motivations for the betrayal, they just got too crazy.
And DA2 had far too drama, in my opinion.
They weren't too crazy. Their inevitable fates and the trajectories of their emotions were locked in place at the very beginning. The immovable Chantry - the systems in place oppressing mages, the reasons stated again and again (and quests and things exemplifying those reasonable fears) from Fenris. The aura of religious hierarchy and impassioned duty permeating the order combined with the way Meredith's line of thinking is written - it goes beyond herself. As in history these people have serious beliefs going beyond themselves. The craziness is the inevitable chemical reaction like fire sprung from oxygen and tinder. It's catharsis, it's spectacle, it's ... drama.
The drama was good. I don't know, maybe because I grew up with theater and Broadway?
I wanted to romance Meredith. It would be a very interesting relationship.
The hate sex would be pretty ballin'.
The hate sex would be pretty ballin'.
I like drama. A game shouldn't have basically only that though.They weren't too crazy. Their inevitable fates and the trajectories of their emotions were locked in place at the very beginning. The immovable Chantry - the systems in place oppressing mages, the reasons stated again and again (and quests and things exemplifying those reasonable fears) from Fenris. The aura of religious hierarchy and impassioned duty permeating the order combined with the way Meredith's line of thinking is written - it goes beyond herself. As in history these people have serious beliefs going beyond themselves. The craziness is the inevitable chemical reaction like fire sprung from oxygen and tinder. It's catharsis, it's spectacle, it's ... drama.
The drama was good. I don't know, maybe because I grew up with theater and Broadway?
I like drama. A game shouldn't have basically only that though.
My problem isn't about the war between mages and templars. It's with the fact that you sided with one faction, which leader eventually betrayes you for being crazy. That's not good drama, in my opinion.
Yeah I see what you mean, like if you sided with the mages, why does Orsino still go crazy?
But at the same time, Orsino was already dabbling in blood magic and prepared to go crazy. And if you sided with the templars, Meredith was already dabbling in the red lyrium and about to go crazy. The blood magic existed before you made the choice and the red lyrium was already in play before you made the choice.
It also means that essentially both sides are right about each other. And that's what validates the heated opinions of everyone in the game. No one is right or wrong all the way. Fenris is right, and Anders is also right.
So I mean, yeah, if you sided with the mages, perhaps Orsino could've just not turned into a harvester - he could've just not gone through with his ritual. But then if you did that, how would you just as effectively bring home the idea that Orsino and the mages still had blood magic up their sleeve all that time anyway? That, even though you sided with the mages, the side you sided with was wrong? Would Orsino confess it, and you find incriminating letters between him and that blood magic murderer, and then decide how to react to the discovery, without the boss battle happening?
If this route were taken, the flip would also have to be true - that if you sided with the templars, Meredith wouldn't go red-lyrium-crazy (the most awesome boss battle by far). But DA:I and the remaining overall plot of the Dragon Age saga relies on understanding just how crazy red lyrium is. So if you made the choice to side with templars and the red lyrium boss battle didn't happen, you'd find out Meredith's sword is corrupted and she died... another way? Or something else happened to re-inforce the danger of the red lyrium? It wouldn't balance out.
In the end the main point is that the system is what the system is and both sides are right/wrong equally. Siding with one side isn't going to absolve anybody. Suddenly choosing to side with mages or templars isn't going to suddenly justify or make innocent that side.
I like drama. A game shouldn't have basically only that though.
My problem isn't about the war between mages and templars. It's with the fact that you sided with one faction, which leader eventually betrayes you for being crazy. That's not good drama, in my opinion.
I would much prefer one boss battle at the end. First time through, I almost rage quit before the second boss battle.
Orsino was a joke, and cannot be taken seriously. I always skipped the conversation with him by mashing buttons on my 2nd playthrough onward.
At least Meredith had some villain qualities before the idol. I think she is the actual villain with Anders being the anti-hero, unless you play a very pro-mage Hawke. Since they are lines in the game that Hawke can choose to say that makes Anders pale in comparison, but they are just words.
And yeah, there's the question "well then what the hell did Hawke do if the world is stuck in its ways and Hawke can't really influence the world?" Well DA2 is an unusual balance between a small and personal sphere of influence that, by contrast, enhances the largeness of the surrounding world. By focusing on Hawke's impacts on companions' personal lives (by the end of the game, the only definitive influence you have is on those individual companions), while the larger forces which were set on their own trajectories outside your sphere of influence (no matter what, Anders goes ahead and dismantles the chantry and no matter what, both mages and templars go full crazy).... it's an establishment of scale by comparison.
Taking a photograph of a man standing next to a building is going to give a better assessment of the relative size of the building than just taking the photograph of a building by itself.
That's great...except Bioware marketed Hawke as the most important person in thedas, who would've shaped the world with his choices.And yeah, there's the question "well then what the hell did Hawke do if the world is stuck in its ways and Hawke can't really influence the world?" Well DA2 is an unusual balance between a small and personal sphere of influence that, by contrast, enhances the largeness of the surrounding world. By focusing on Hawke's impacts on companions' personal lives (by the end of the game, the only definitive influence you have is on those individual companions), while the larger forces which were set on their own trajectories outside your sphere of influence (no matter what, Anders goes ahead and dismantles the chantry and no matter what, both mages and templars go full crazy).... it's an establishment of scale by comparison.
Taking a photograph of a man standing next to a building is going to give a better assessment of the relative size of the building than just taking the photograph of a building by itself.
It's not about the side you pick being innocent. I said a lot of times I'd have preferred a third neutral option for that particular situation.
I don't think the red lyrium was necessary with Meredith. It was already introduced. And if they wanted to, they could've show how dangerous it is without involving her. I also disagree that the boss fight was awesome, but DA doesn't really have good boss fights.
My point is that if wouldn't have been necessary to make Orsino and Meredith go crazy. It'd have been better for me to make you side with one faction, and have the opposite leader as the final boss. The endings would work in this scenario as well. Again, I don't mind drama, but the final part was badly implemented (as the whole staff 3) and it wasn't needed, considering how much we already had.
And I always prefer to have the choice myself to how tragic and dramatic a playthrough can be. I made some pretty tragic ones in the ME trilogy, and given the chance I'd have done in DA2 as well. But I like to have the choice of making some less dramatic ones.
I think the harvester is a stupid boss, but if Meredith is going to go crazy as she did, I see why Orsino also must go crazy. A different form would've been welcome though.
But yeah, I really liked the statues coming alive =/ I just have a ... fear-kink? What you call it... regarding statues.
The most frustrating thing about DA2 is that both sides are bad and they force you to pick one no matter what, so you can't keep your own hands clean. If you can't stop what's about to happen because everyone is rotten, then why be forced to take a side and ruin your own rep because of it?
That's great...except Bioware marketed Hawke as the most important person in thedas, who would've shaped the world with his choices.
They did that in the beginning of DA:I, but in DA2 he/she was just a local champion. Like even defeating the Arishok, yeah he gets a mansion and becomes baller but I didn't get the impression he or she should rule or do anything outside of Thedas. Like a football player, really. Grab some drinks and cheer at the tavern then go home and retire.
Which is another thing that bothered me about DA:I... why is Cassandra so intent on getting Hawke? They're not a leader, they're a champion. A champion isn't a leader necessarily.
Perhaps the promotional or marketing material outside the game spoke differently? I must have missed that.
Evacuating Elcor civilians
Previous mass effect engine didn't support exploration one bit.
Frostbyte has a lot of rectification to do.
It's like asking Michael to be governor of Los Angeles in GTA V.
No, dude. Just chill. Having crazy adventures. Watching your buddies do crazy things. Involving yourself in sinister activities. Making some gains for yourself.
None of these attributes indicate governor material in the slightest.
No, but it's no worse than DAO, where Howe just simply was evil and Loghain was supposed to be mind controlled. Do you know that Bioware to this day insists Loghain didn't conspire with Howe against the Cousland's? It's pure nonsense.
They weren't too crazy. Their inevitable fates and the trajectories of their emotions were locked in place at the very beginning. The immovable Chantry - the systems in place oppressing mages, the reasons stated again and again (and quests and things exemplifying those reasonable fears) from Fenris. The aura of religious hierarchy and impassioned duty permeating the order combined with the way Meredith's line of thinking is written - it goes beyond herself. As in history these people have serious beliefs going beyond themselves. The craziness is the inevitable chemical reaction like fire sprung from oxygen and tinder. It's catharsis, it's spectacle, it's ... drama.
The drama was good. I don't know, maybe because I grew up with theater and Broadway?
If DA2 was good at anything, it was downsizing. Go from saving the world in DAO to a person who's stuck in the middle of a city, who never gains political power or saves the nation?
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy DA2, I very much did. It just took some re-adjusting my priorities.
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