A DRAGON AGE THREAD

[JLSigman]

Did Wicked Heart & Wicked Lies along with Here Lies the Abyss. The former was kind of long and annoying to navigate with no Good choices though I did enjoy it all the same. Here Lies the Abyss was fun. Was nice actually seeing the Inquisition finally in action as an actual army. The choice at the end though was evil. Not sure what I'm doing next.

If you try to make any choice other than to keep who's in charge there, the game really hammers you over the head about what a bad person you are.

 

And don't imagine your f!Warden getting the notice about who died, if you kept a special someone a Warden. You will cry for days.

[Eivion]

I didn't have to worry about the case of the latter.

 

Did do Blackwall's personal quest. Was accidentally spoiled on the reveal, but it the hints are pretty widely there and it was damn good regardless. It felt like one of the more real grey moral areas in the series.

[The Man Known as Dan]

Time to go into the SPOILER WINDOW for discussion of what you guys are talking about.

Did you guys have to choose between Hawke and Stroud, or Hawke and Allistar?

I couldn't deal with the image of someone having to tell Merrill

[Brian Fowler]

So, six and a half hours in, I love this game, but the one rift on the farm is killing me every time I get near it. Grrr.

[The Man Known as Dan]

So, six and a half hours in, I love this game, but the one rift on the farm is killing me every time I get near it. Grrr.

Yeah, that's a level 8 rift. You can do some story stuff before going back to finish it. Just a tip.

[Brian Fowler]

I see. It just got me out of nowhere. First time, I literally didn't even see who killed my entire party. But since I am still level five, it makes sense.

[Eivion]

Time to go into the SPOILER WINDOW for discussion of what you guys are talking about.

Did you guys have to choose between Hawke and Stroud, or Hawke and Allistar?

I couldn't deal with the image of someone having to tell Merrill

I chose between Hawke and Stroud. I liked Stroud well enough, but there was no chance in hell I was killing Hawke. The sarcastic Hawke from DA2 was way too fun and honestly went through way too much shit to kill off like that. I honestly wonder if they only put the choice in to please DA2 haters.

[The Man Known as Dan]

Time to go into the SPOILER WINDOW for discussion of what you guys are talking about.

Did you guys have to choose between Hawke and Stroud, or Hawke and Allistar?

I couldn't deal with the image of someone having to tell Merrill

I chose between Hawke and Stroud. I liked Stroud well enough, but there was no chance in hell I was killing Hawke. The sarcastic Hawke from DA2 was way too fun and honestly went through way too much shit to kill off like that. I honestly wonder if they only put the choice in to please DA2 haters.

Even if you hated DA2, the problem was never Hawke. Or even most of the companions (Aveline, Merrill, Varric, Issbella, and Bethany all ruled). Sure the game as buggy as shit and had some odd design choices, but the characters and story were never a weakness... Save Anders and Fenris both kinda sucking. Shitty level design, lack of areas to go, rushed, all valid complaints, but don't take it out on such a kickass protagonist.

[JLSigman]

Time to go into the SPOILER WINDOW for discussion of what you guys are talking about.

Did you guys have to choose between Hawke and Stroud, or Hawke and Allistar?

I couldn't deal with the image of someone having to tell Merrill

So far it's been Hawke and Alistair, then Hawke and Stroud. Hawke all the way, even on the first one, because Anders would not live without Hawke. :-( I've made a keep state to get the last option, Logaine.

[Eivion]

 

 

Time to go into the SPOILER WINDOW for discussion of what you guys are talking about.

Did you guys have to choose between Hawke and Stroud, or Hawke and Allistar?

I couldn't deal with the image of someone having to tell Merrill

I chose between Hawke and Stroud. I liked Stroud well enough, but there was no chance in hell I was killing Hawke. The sarcastic Hawke from DA2 was way too fun and honestly went through way too much shit to kill off like that. I honestly wonder if they only put the choice in to please DA2 haters.

Even if you hated DA2, the problem was never Hawke. Or even most of the companions (Aveline, Merrill, Varric, Issbella, and Bethany all ruled). Sure the game as buggy as shit and had some odd design choices, but the characters and story were never a weakness... Save Anders and Fenris both kinda sucking. Shitty level design, lack of areas to go, rushed, all valid complaints, but don't take it out on such a kickass protagonist.

 

Oh I agree. I'm a big fan of DA2, but skimming through the bioware forums I can tell you quite a few fans unreasonably put it all on Hawke and were looking forward to an option that killed the character.

[The Man Known as Dan]

So I've kinda gone into multiplayer a bit more lately, and while it's not Mass Effect's multiplayer, it's still a fun setup. Got my Archer up to level 12, though most people probably wouldn't like my build as it's much. Too movement based, not enough damage. But then again those people love me when I'm picking them up after demons attack and leave them dead and I escaped to pick them up.

[Brian Fowler]

Finally left the hinterlands. I'm running out of ways to say how great this game is.

[Shadow]

After reading all the glowing reviews I finally broke down and got the game.  This game is like Skyrim on steroids.  I've only gotten to Haven I think and I'm really enjoying it what little I've played.  I like that they have a lot of Codex to give you more information about what's going on and some of them are pretty funny.  Can someone tell me what the metal colored blocks are in Cassandra's health bar?

 

The only thing I wish I had known before I started is when you start a new game to turn down my speakers.  I don't think my dogs have forgiven me yet.

[Zimbra]

The metal blocks are 'Guard,' which can be built up by certain abilities and works as damage absorption.  I wish the early game was better about explaining some of the systems and abilities.

 

I'm only about 5 hours in, just screwing around in the Hinterlands.  I mostly like it so far.  I didn't get very far in Origins, and I didn't play 2 at all so I know the story isn't doing as much for me as it could.  I dig the combat, although I wish there was a little more granularity in what you can do with party AI.

 

EDIT: DA:O is $6 on Origins so I grabbed it.  I'm not sure it'll even run on my shitty laptop, but I'll give it a try.

[supremebve]

The metal blocks are 'Guard,' which can be built up by certain abilities and works as damage absorption.  I wish the early game was better about explaining some of the systems and abilities.

 

I'm only about 5 hours in, just screwing around in the Hinterlands.  I mostly like it so far.  I didn't get very far in Origins, and I didn't play 2 at all so I know the story isn't doing as much for me as it could.  I dig the combat, although I wish there was a little more granularity in what you can do with party AI.

I've beat the first two games, and I'm pretty deep into this one, the only thing you'll miss from a story perspective is mostly fan service.  They put a lot of stuff in the game that refers to the previous games, but not really anything that will make you think you missed something because you don't know. 

 

My biggest issue is that there isn't a lot of control of your AI counterparts.  There should be a way to make your archer's automatically seek high ground, or stay out of melee range.  There should be a way to make your warriors try to defend a party member with lower health.  There should be a way to have your rougues flank enemies to take advantage of damage boosts.  Sometimes your party will just group together next to a big group of enemies causing them to take more damage than necessary.  Otherwise I don't really have many complaints.  There is so much to do, it has consumed entire days of mine and I still wanted to do one more mission.  I was trying to finish before Christmas, but I've been too social the last couple weeks. 

[Zimbra]

 

The metal blocks are 'Guard,' which can be built up by certain abilities and works as damage absorption.  I wish the early game was better about explaining some of the systems and abilities.

 

I'm only about 5 hours in, just screwing around in the Hinterlands.  I mostly like it so far.  I didn't get very far in Origins, and I didn't play 2 at all so I know the story isn't doing as much for me as it could.  I dig the combat, although I wish there was a little more granularity in what you can do with party AI.

I've beat the first two games, and I'm pretty deep into this one, the only thing you'll miss from a story perspective is mostly fan service.  They put a lot of stuff in the game that refers to the previous games, but not really anything that will make you think you missed something because you don't know. 

 

My biggest issue is that there isn't a lot of control of your AI counterparts.  There should be a way to make your archer's automatically seek high ground, or stay out of melee range.  There should be a way to make your warriors try to defend a party member with lower health.  There should be a way to have your rougues flank enemies to take advantage of damage boosts.  Sometimes your party will just group together next to a big group of enemies causing them to take more damage than necessary.  Otherwise I don't really have many complaints.  There is so much to do, it has consumed entire days of mine and I still wanted to do one more mission.  I was trying to finish before Christmas, but I've been too social the last couple weeks. 

 

 

The AI was the thing that stopped me from playing Origins.  My mage and archer constantly felt the need to rush right up next to enemies to plink arrows and spells into them.  It's better this time, but still not great.  At least when I tell someone to go to a point they tend to stay there.  I wish it had something like the gambit system from FFXII to customize some situational AI for the characters.

[JLSigman]

Working on a Hard game with a male Adaar mage (for romancing Dorian) and this is where I feel the lack of even DA2's basic tactics. You really have to micro-manage and/or control one of the other characters for the bigger battles, which can get annoying.

 

But Dad gave me the gift card he got from work for a holiday gift, so I picked up the regular Prima guide. I will get all of those mosiac tiles, damnit!

[Eivion]

I've mostly finished up the regular areas save stuff like the mosaic pieces. Finished off my last dragon so i think I will finally continue and probably finish the main story.

[Eivion]

Beat the game. The finale was something of a let down compared to the first two games, and I have a multitude of nitpicks about characters and bits of stories throughout. Despite all that it was still a damn good game and so much fun to play. It makes me so very much interested in seeing what they do next in the series despite that likely being 3+ years away.

[supremebve]

Beat the game. The finale was something of a let down compared to the first two games, and I have a multitude of nitpicks about characters and bits of stories throughout. Despite all that it was still a damn good game and so much fun to play. It makes me so very much interested in seeing what they do next in the series despite that likely being 3+ years away.

I just beat it and this is essentially exactly what I thought about it.  I thought it was fun throughout, but there was some nitpicky things that really just shouldn't have been there. 

I thought some of the characters were flat, Solas and Blackwall didn't have enough personality to want me to keep them in my party, and I didn't really buy whatever Cole was supposed to be selling. Speaking of Solas, was there anything during the game that I may have missed to make his story at the end make any sense? It just seemed to come out of nowhere, and it didn't feel earned. Was Morrigan's story just a set up for the next game? I would have liked her story more if she was a playable character instead of an adviser. Who wouldn't want to use crazy shape shifting magic?  I guess my biggest complaint is that there wasn't enough variety between the classes. I think I used Sera, Varrick, Cassandra, Vivienne, and Iron Bull the most because they had the funniest interactions. I think Vivienne was the only one who set her self apart with gameplay though. There was no reason to keep all of the characters in the party. I guess it's a small thing overall, but if they're going to make a game with this many playable characters and over 100 hours of gameplay, I don't think it's too much to ask to make the characters different enough to vary the gameplay over that time. Oh and whoever designed the Hissing Wastes should be fired. I get that it's supposed to be a desolate wasteland, but nothing is fun about nothing.

[Eivion]

 

Beat the game. The finale was something of a let down compared to the first two games, and I have a multitude of nitpicks about characters and bits of stories throughout. Despite all that it was still a damn good game and so much fun to play. It makes me so very much interested in seeing what they do next in the series despite that likely being 3+ years away.

I just beat it and this is essentially exactly what I thought about it.  I thought it was fun throughout, but there was some nitpicky things that really just shouldn't have been there. 

I thought some of the characters were flat, Solas and Blackwall didn't have enough personality to want me to keep them in my party, and I didn't really buy whatever Cole was supposed to be selling. Speaking of Solas, was there anything during the game that I may have missed to make his story at the end make any sense? It just seemed to come out of nowhere, and it didn't feel earned. Was Morrigan's story just a set up for the next game? I would have liked her story more if she was a playable character instead of an adviser. Who wouldn't want to use crazy shape shifting magic?  I guess my biggest complaint is that there wasn't enough variety between the classes. I think I used Sera, Varrick, Cassandra, Vivienne, and Iron Bull the most because they had the funniest interactions. I think Vivienne was the only one who set her self apart with gameplay though. There was no reason to keep all of the characters in the party. I guess it's a small thing overall, but if they're going to make a game with this many playable characters and over 100 hours of gameplay, I don't think it's too much to ask to make the characters different enough to vary the gameplay over that time. Oh and whoever designed the Hissing Wastes should be fired. I get that it's supposed to be a desolate wasteland, but nothing is fun about nothing.

 

I actually quite enjoyed Solas and Blackwall. You probably missed a lot with both by using them so little. I greatly enjoyed Cole's arc, but it probably helps that I read Asunder which is where his character comes from. What you get here are more cliff notes of his time from the book so it might not come off as strong. There is also the matter of party combinations for banter. I felt Vivienne and Sera were by far the weakest companions. They basically had to retcon shit to make Vivienne work as character, and she didn't have a particularly strong character arc or play a great support. Sera was fairly annoying, hypocritical, and had the weakest reasons for being a member of the Inquisition with no real character arc at all. I imagine its why she is the only party member who you can kick out at damn near any point in the game after recruiting her. Gameplay wise the biggest problem in term of companions is that they didn't use unique specializations like they did in DA2. Its a bit annoying honestly considering Cassandra is running around with Templar abilities when the Seekers are more powerful and use a different set of abilities. Morrigan's part in the story was more about giving more info on Flemeth and settling some things like her potential son depending on which direction you went in Origins and her relationship with Flemeth. I do agree that she should have just been a party member. It would have worked a lot better.

 

The stuff I'm talking about as far as nitpicking to death relates more to several of the main plot lines, the ending, how various characters were handled, etc. One of the things I think they kind of screwed you on was purposely keeping out good choices. I understand wanting things to have weight, but they went a bit too far with it. Stuff like the handling of the Mage/Templar War, the Fade choice, and the Orlesian Civil War just weren't really done as well as they should have been. Also feels like characters involved in all of them should have probably played slightly bigger parts post initial arc beyond simple war table operations. Another particularly annoying bit is they spent time building something up in an Origins DLC, a DA2 Character's arc, and the last third or half of book to having some importance in the game and then went on to do absolutely nothing with it. Overall I love the game, but I don't think it really hit its full potential story wise or gameplay wise.

[The Man Known as Dan]

I like Sera a good deal, and thought her character development was handled very well personally. You start really understanding how she thinks and what she's looking for over time. Vivienne though... Yeah, they didn't handle her very well. Her story thing wasn't bad, but then you feel that it changes nothing about her. Everyone else the character actually... You know, alters a bit.

I kinda hear you about not having outright good options, but to me, that's what Bioware wants DA to be. DA2 was basically a story that can be described "People in Power Fucking Up in Glorious Fashion", and that sets the tone here, except you aren't fucking up, your just making the hard calls you sometimes have to make. There was going to be no perfect conclusion to the Mage/Templar war. And even if there could be, the entire opening of the game is used to set up why it can't happen: the last chance died when the Conclave blew up. The Hawke/Warden Commander decision suuuuucked, but let's also be honest here: if you left Hawke in there, they are coming back at some point. They never say they are dead for good. And look at what Hawke has killed in there life: you really think one giant spider is killing them? Pfft.

As for the Orlesian thing, I think you can make a "happy" ending there. You can help Celene and Briala, which I thought as as good as you could get. There was just no conceivable way to have all 3 working together without it feeling off.

Now, as far as them not having enough of an impact on things from then? That I'll agree on.

Also, the Solas Fan'Harel revelation was freaking fantastic.

[Eivion]

Maybe its due to how I handled Sera's personal quest, but I didn't see a bit of change/development in her at all. I know in her quest I basically shut her down for trying to get me to kill a noble for pulling the same type of shit she does. My Inquisitor actually still got along with her well enough, but I just never really felt she was a particularly good/strong character. She was ok and entertaining at times, but still mostly pointless. Never used her much as a result.

 

As far as good outcomes go, i wasn't necessarily expecting a perfect solution to any of them as there are complex complications all around, but the idea that you basically have to completely screw over either the Mages or the Templars was kind of bs. There should have been a middle ground in there somewhere even if it was a rough one.

 

I mostly hate the Fade decision because it felt forced. it felt like they put it in there purely just have a tough decision for the player rather than pushing a strong story moment.

 

In terms of the Orlesian thing the problem is the entire ballroom peace situation was bs in the first place. Gaspard actually outright committed treason having attempted to kill Celene several times already, including one attempt personally. The reason Briala was even a power was because she actually has control of the Eluvian network in Thedas, and it never really came into play at all. I feel they kind of screwed over plot just to try something different with politics and The Game of Orlais. I understand wanting to do it, but I feel they went the wrong direction completely considering how things were built up in the Masked Empire. It should have been a mixture of both war and politics. Would have made the plot longer, but I think it would have been better for it.

[Brysynner]

I think the Fade decision is interesting because, at least for me, it was Hawke and Loghain.

Hawke's story involves bad shit happening because of the Wardens, I mean a Warden started the Mage-Templar War right in her new hometown where she became the Champion.

Loghain's story involves the Wardens leading him to redemption. From believing the Wardens are irrelevant to knowing why they're needed to save his home country.

So it makes sense that these two butt heads once they're forced to work together after seeing the creature Hawke allowed escape corrupt the Wardens. Hawke blames the actions of a group she feels has no concept of morality and Loghain blames the actions of the Wardens on the creature Hawke allowed to escape.

Now you have to leave one behind, do you leave Verric's friend behind whom most of your party has knowledge of or do you go with the former King-Regent and father of the Queen of Ferelden.

I went with Loghain. I get why Hawke had the feelings she did but I went with the fourth wall breaking reason that I, Brysynner, had more of a connection with Loghain's character throughout the series than I did Hawke.

[Brian Fowler]

Meanwhile, I'm over here all  "stupid Envy demon won't fucking die."