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Post by farferello on May 29, 2022 9:01:36 GMT
Yeah, during that Fade quest, you can get it so that everyone (except Sebastian, who refuses to go into the Fade) turns on you - it's a sign of how everyone can be tempted, presuming the right lure is presented to them. Even Anders will, if you take the deal with the sloth demon. I mean you can't exactly blame him. The others will turn on you because of the temptation, Anders fights you if you personally decide to help the demon, it's hardly a fair comparison. Though I did like that quest on one playthrough because my Hawke who'd been pretty weary and even somewhat anti Mage at that point saw how everyone turned on him but the Mage, and it opened his eyes to a lot of things. And also guilt tripped the hell out of him for how he'd treated Bethany, and gotten Carver killed in the Deep Roads for refusing to take Anders with him on it. That was a playthrough where I'd purposefully used a mod to keep Carver alive instead of Bethany on a Warrior Hawke just for extra angst. |
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Post by Scottphoto on May 30, 2022 6:24:25 GMT
I just watched today all the different versions, I am quite surprised Varric betrays you too, and his reasoning doesn't really make sense, at least to me, but everyone else makes sense. And Anders naturally being more of a betrayal. I think Sebastian would have been interesting to have, seems more of an excuse they couldn't make a scene for him in time. But him being the one companion that doesn't get tempted would have made sense. farferello so much pain that run XD. Honestly I bring Anders everywhere because he seems so essential all the time, here on the fade he was unique, on the deep roads, there's always something. |
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Post by Lee on May 30, 2022 9:35:55 GMT
Honestly I bring Anders everywhere because he seems so essential all the time, here on the fade he was unique, on the deep roads, there's always something. Plus healing husband is always useful if shit goes wrong, and it often does in that game. So many ambushes! |
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Post by farferello on May 30, 2022 13:06:16 GMT
Honestly I think Sebastian probably would have been tempted and is likely why he refused to do it along with the whole chantry good boy thing he now has going on. Maybe they couldn't think of what to do with him for it considering he was a dlc character, who knows. But I always have Anders with me unless I'm doing a meta-gaming playthrough for specific outcomes like on a Warrior I mentioned before. But otherwise I always have him, always had him in Awakening also. But he was definitely handy in Legacy and some of its bullshit mechanics in the final boss fight. Hearing him yell out for me every time Hawke went down was heartbreaking. |
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Post by Lee on May 31, 2022 2:44:53 GMT
Sebastion's act 2 quest actually has him being tempted by a Demon-so I suppose it would be kind of redundant for him to go through that twice in the same game.
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Post by Scottphoto on May 31, 2022 5:52:34 GMT
True, I suppose Sebastian did have his own little crusade journey so he could still be tempted. So I finished Act 2 and did a few side stuff of Act 3 (got my champion sexy armor yay) but not touching main stuff till I do the DlCs first. So wow what a rollercoaster of emotions this has been. I went from exploring which romance to stick with by testing both romances scenes for Anders and Fenris, to Hawke's family tragedy. It honestly crushed me, it was super dark and scarring for Hawke to see his mother like this. My Hawke kept blaming himself all the way in pain, and ultimately I chose Fenris as a romance and the fact the romance comes in later, is a very nice touch, is a really tragic moment that takes some time and I think that's great, I really wish we had this chance to have a more personal development for our protagonists in these games. I think even being a mage himself is casting some self doubt in him after this, is it truly worth defending or trusting mages. For a non-mage, it almost feels like this moment is to really convince your Hawk to not support mages. Ultimately, I chose Fenris as my romance as I felt there was more chemistry between the two in my eyes despite how much they oppose themselves, where as Anders just always looked to me like really great friends. But also with this tragic event, I don't think my Hawke the way I see him now after losing his mom, would want to be with Anders like that, knowing he is a mage with a demon, and knowing what comes next is too devastating. That said I am undecided on my choice if to help Anders or not. On the one hand, he lost a friend with Isabella, as he didn't listen to her and wanted to take the artifact to the Aristohk to try and stop a war, and then she never came back. So given that he lost a friend for not listening he doesn't want to lose another yet again. On the other hand, Anders lied to him, and he has been behaving strange, and Hawke knows at this point where this tends to lead with mages, specially Anders having Justice. I chose to help him for now, but that was my last thing on the game so I can just reroll it and think it over tonight lol. Granted, I also chose it to get some more Fenris rivarly XD. I also have Anders full friends so I don't want to lose it and see what happens. Plus Hawke being there at least keeps more an eye on him that way helping him rather than being completely blind when whatever happens. |
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Post by Scottphoto on Jun 4, 2022 18:03:53 GMT
Dragon Age 2 Game Director Mark Darrah talks in depth, for over an hour about the lessons learned from that game, very interesting information here: (Video has timestamps)
He talks about the title choice, originally being Exodus, whether it was an expansion or not, repeated environments, the ending choices, the marketing, the combat, the canceled expansion, overall quite an informative video! He also said he will do one for Inquisition, so I'll be on alert for when it happens.
As for my playthrough, I did Mark of the Assassin and I really enjoyed it! It was a nice change of pace and break from all the suffering with a more fun adventure, I also just love the mini quest of the coins in the fountain because of what it means for Hawke. And the fact we get to flirt with a male character as a male, as a way to progress the main quest, was so great. Overall, had a ton of fun and worth the price, now I will move on to legacy.
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Post by Scottphoto on Jun 10, 2022 16:48:42 GMT
Finally finished Dragon Age 2! What a ride, a bit disappointed with Act 3 but expected, that it felt really rushed the main plot, specially at the end, and weird decisions. Like the whole Anders thing, maybe because I was already spoiled, I was expecting that moment to be a bit more dramatic tense, but the fact he just sits there and you have to make a choice, just felt anti-climatic to me lol. I will say though the Hawke VA did a really great job during the reveal. I wanted Anders to fight me or something there, it just didn't feel right to like: Kill him while he is just sitting there, killing him made sense if you decide that he has to go because you feel the demon spirit took over him, and Merrill's story with the keeper very much prepares you for that, but it just felt weird to make that choice that way. I know you can let him free and he comes back later to fight you, but that is if you choose templars, I chose mages, so your only choice is to reject him and he goes away. I think also would have been nice if they had given a way to help Anders, the change to suddenly I am going to lie to you and hide stuff from you is sudden with him on Act 3. Alternatively, I think given that you kill Corsino, they should have just made Anders go after you and saw you guilty or something. Mind you, Corsino betraying you made 0 sense, but I understand they only made it cuz otherwise that last mission wouldn't be lengthy enough. I did like the Meredith boss fight though, I was not expecting her to suddenly summon all the statues of kirkwall, that was pretty insane. A bit crazy video gamey sure, and goes against her morals a bit but at the same time, it was the only way to justify her change. The game never really convinced me that she was actually evil with good reason, and at first she seems doable to negotiate, suddenly she tells Corsino no, im just gonna do it, and it just made no sense, till later is revealed her corruption. I feel without the corruption, there's just no explanation to her change of heart, even if the script constantly tells you that the people will want retribution, is like what people? Whole debate was very rushed, but I think ultimately Kirkwall was just too corrupted to really maintain a balance. They should have still give you the choice not to get involved in dialogue, and keep the rest of everything the same, where your focus is saving people. That said I still had a really great time. I loved the legacy dlc too, I actually got emotional and teared up with the end bit. I didn't feel I would attach much with Carver and hawke's brother bonding cuz I found Carver annoying at first, but I ended up really appreciating it, and playing legacy just before the last missions of act 3 was rather fitting because of it. The dlc's do a really good job at filling act 3. I do think the way the game just kinda ends without any proper finale for Hawke with his companions is off, even if saying farewell to them, is a bit weird it just doesn't happen. Also I messed up at first not filling the rivarly on Fenris, literally just needed like +5 more points and had to reload a little bit back on act 3 because a choice gave me friendship for him and screw me over XD. But I got it in the end. I'm happy with the romance, but I do wish we could see post campaign more of the romance. I maxed out Avaline, Varric, Anders, Sebastian and Fenris. I wish I maxed out Carver, but it almost feels like the story is not meant for him to be maxed, as is still made sense but I am curious to see the difference if you do. Fenris kiss cuz why not: |
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Post by Andrew Mancer on Jun 10, 2022 20:13:33 GMT
Scottphoto Reading your posts reminds me of why DA2 could have been one of the greatest RPGs if it hadn't been so rushed. There was just so much potential for this more personal story that spans a decade and also having it tie in better with the overall franchise as a whole. The end was definitely rushed and I think all the loose ends were because we were SUPPOSED to get an expansion (WHERE VARRIC DIED AND WOULD HAVE MADE ME SO HAPPY) but of course that got cancelled...and we got the mess that was Inquisition. I remember being so disappointed and confused when I jumped into DAI for the first time after DA2 left me so excited for what was coming for Hawke and (possibly) the Warden with how it ended and it mentioned they both disappeared... It really felt like Inquisition was supposed to continue Hawke's story and I wish they hadn't dropped it the way the did because even as rushed as it was DA2 was soooo good and these companions and Hawke deserved better closure/continuation to their story. But what's done is done and now I just have to headcanon a lot of stuff for my Hawke (and his husband Sebastian LOL) and hope DA4 does better. I'm glad you enjoyed the game and Fenris and thank you so much for sharing! 
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Post by Lee on Jun 11, 2022 10:25:38 GMT
Carver was meant to be rival maxed. There aren't enough points to friend max him. You can do it with the dlc, but it changes almost nothing. (I can't remember anything to be exact) I think perhaps it changes a bit of the dialogue during the end of the Legacy dlc , but maybe not even that. someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I do know it takes an epic effort and a mage hawke that hates mages to do it.
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Post by farferello on Jun 11, 2022 15:52:02 GMT
I've managed to friend Carver fully with the dlc and shenanigans maybe it doesn't change anything but I like it much more over rivalry especially given their caustic relationship at the start of the game. Going against that is a lot more fun for me, even if it is much harder to do. (I love Carver okay. XD) Though after the first few runs and several playthroughs later I did eventually just use console commands to change approval to what I wanted just so I didn't have to keep meta-gaming decisions or come off as a maniac from one choice to the next.
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Post by Scottphoto on Jun 11, 2022 17:15:07 GMT
Andrew Mancer Thank you! I agree is a shame that it got incredibly rushed toward the end, as I was loving every minute of it before that, although I still did and didn't affect me, I know that it did hurt the overall reception for the game. I wish we could have seen that expansion, although Varric dying would be yet another tragedy for Hawke. Granted I know Varric is a bit of a forced friend that's not for everyone, and should have had more of a choice to not be a forced bestie haha. Also I did love Sebastian in the end, I'm not sure why people think he is boring, I mean yeah he's the least crazy of the group, but I think that's why he stands out and his banter with the comps makes it more fun. I feel Seb and Fenris got a pretty good friendship by the end of it so I was happy about that. I am a bit of a mixed bag on continuing with Hawke now, while I definitely wish I had way more Hawke content because is by far my favorite bioware protagonist now, I'm not sure he could bring too much to the table in terms of new content for a new game. Like I wouldn't want to do a new romance, potentially lose Fenris or all other comps he could be with. He's story arc growing also is fulfilled a fair bit with him becoming champion. But I guess that's why the whole thing would have been an expansion instead of a completely separate new game, which one would have made more sense to continue his story that way. I do wish we had learned more about his father, I feel we barely got a glimpse of it, and what he did with Corypheus was more an obligation rather than something he did for his own sake ,I want to know more about his life as a mage. farferello I almost ended up using that console thing if I could not fix my Fenris mistake XD, but thankfully I did. I just had to piss off Meredith. Is annoying because I was going to take that choice but then I decided the first time not to piss her off, cuz I'm trying to make a good mage impression XD. I should have listened to my instinct. As for Carver, the last convo you have during the Corsino break (which I almost missed these convos because I'm stupid), I thought they really came together as brothers and felt like they were past their rivarly, and I think thanks to the dlc done before that, it really does now feel like that arc evolution for him makes sense. And I love Carver too honestly hahaha, sorry Bethany.
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Post by dgcatanisiri on Jun 13, 2022 20:22:50 GMT
You know, at this point, I'm really ready to say that the whole Solavellan ship needs to be thrown in the trash. Just a complete dumpster fire of the fandom, indulged and allowed to make themselves believe that they're the center of the fandom. As a whole, they're just obnoxious and... just kinda the worst.
Like if you did a venn diagram, there's probably a lot of overlap with what I tend to refer to as the Straight Female Player™ (the capitol letters and trademark symbol used to distinguish them from a player who is straight and female), the people who are outright disdainful of gay people trying to celebrate their representation in fandom and fighting for better - the kind who are all "oh, but I don't see [x] as GAY, so HE'S NOT FOR YOU!" and reducing a character like Dorian to a sassy pet gay BFF who couldn't POSSIBLY be in a consensual relationship with Bull, Bull clearly got him drunk and raped him!
And they're the ones who are happiest about the whole "Dreadwolf" title thing. Kinda puts things in perspective, don't it?
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Post by disgustednoise on Jun 19, 2022 12:39:05 GMT
When you're finished with both WEWH and HLTA only to find out the vanilla world state loaded when you started this file last summer and now you're locked out of getting your favorite armor schematic...
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Post by dgcatanisiri on Jun 19, 2022 22:36:33 GMT
When you're finished with both WEWH and HLTA only to find out the vanilla world state loaded when you started this file last summer and now you're locked out of getting your favorite armor schematic... Do you use the Golden Nug? That lets you carry over any schematics you've picked up between Inquisitors. |
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Post by disgustednoise on Jun 21, 2022 0:04:50 GMT
When you're finished with both WEWH and HLTA only to find out the vanilla world state loaded when you started this file last summer and now you're locked out of getting your favorite armor schematic... Do you use the Golden Nug? That lets you carry over any schematics you've picked up between Inquisitors. I was playing it on my Xbox X whereas I used to play on PS4. |
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Post by Lee on Jun 21, 2022 3:59:13 GMT
I was playing it on my Xbox X whereas I used to play on PS4. It really should transfer over since it's tied to your ea account. (or at least it should be since you have to be online to use the nug) I hate how messy EA can be with such things. |
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Post by disgustednoise on Jun 26, 2022 21:32:36 GMT
Just had Vivienne snatch the Divine vote out of nowhere just like she always does. I do not look forward to trying to get a canon save for DA4 only for her to do it to me again after 80 hours when I'd rather have any other outcome.
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Post by farferello on Jun 27, 2022 18:50:13 GMT
Just had Vivienne snatch the Divine vote out of nowhere just like she always does. I do not look forward to trying to get a canon save for DA4 only for her to do it to me again after 80 hours when I'd rather have any other outcome. Simplest solution to that is to just not pick her up as a companion anymore. XD I've had her snatch it from Leliana a few times now which is always weird when I do everything to get Leliana into power instead, I just end up editing the outcome on the Dragon Age Keep if it's a character I want to use as a possible future Import. |
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Post by disgustednoise on Jun 28, 2022 0:41:40 GMT
I've probably played DAI at least a dozen times at this point and I've gotten Cassandra once, Leliana twice, and Vivienne every other time.
I love her as a companion though! I just don't want that internalized mage-phobia on the throne after my characters have all been trying to liberate mages.
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