Dragon Age III: InquisitionFollow

I was originally trying to romance Bull, so I ended up killing a LOT of Venatori with him, hoping he'd talk to me more. But it didn't happen until I took him dragon killing. And by then I was irritated by how few the conversation options were, so I went with Dorian.

But then Dorian had very little after that, too.

I got everyone's personal quests, I think. At least, poking around the wiki doesn't show me personal quests I missed. I just don't think there was all that much to actually get.

I appreciate DA2's issues. They're bad enough I never managed to finish a replay of the game. I like the cast of characters, and I like how well they actually fleshed out those characters. And the fact that they bothered to actually weave them into the story line and quests, so you'd get character development from most of the non-MMO-style quests.

That said, the repetitive environments, abrasive colors, poor main story, uninteresting combat, lack of isometric camera, and meh score really weighed on me too much for repeat play-throughs.

But, realistically speaking, I couldn't help but feel like the DAI environments were just as repetitive. Yeah, they were huge and you weren't necessarily in the same place over and over. But the elements were so reused that it felt that way. Seeing a Dread Wolf statue the first time? Was cool - made me wonder about ancient elves and whether or not I might see Dalish in the zone.

Seeing it the 47th time? Literal thought - "Ugh, not another wolf statue..."

Really, I'd say DAI has all the same issues, just manages to do it while being prettier and having slightly better combat (at the expense of WAY WORSE of a tactical camera), and a better central story (which I think would have been good if it was better written/executed).

But it also does way worse in the character department.

And one personal grudge - Dorian is clearly, 100%, written for a straight audience. SpoilerHe's the gay friend in a sitcom, who has that one episode with the really painful, tragic backstory, and is otherwise completely undeveloped and exists solely for sexual comments and banter. The kind of character that makes straight people feel bad for a few minutes, for some sympathyporn effect, but is otherwise around for comic relief. The one where you pair them against the parents-who-did-wrong-and-feel-bad and then show how everything is just so much better with forgiveness, lalala.

It's ********* and I'm actually pissed at David Gaider right now for that. It was so unnecesary - of ALL the things they could have made Dorian's personal arc about, all they could have done with the Tevinter aspect, they choose to make his character arc about his sexuality. And not just his sexuality, but about how straight people feel about his sexuality.

Ordinarily, when media pulls this stuff, I don't care so much. That's normal. But Gaider should know better, and the young, gay fanbase for the DA series is big, and that's so ******* disempowering and I'm angry with him right now.

I feel the same way about Dorian as Idiggory. However not to the extent. He is a comic relief character much like Varric and Isabel in 2. However I do not feel he is watered down excluding the scene with his father. That seen with his father couldn't of been more cliche and token if it tried. It felt like the developers want to acknowledge the struggles of the gay community but it plays out like how a rich kid would try to do a show calling interest to the poor. It showed a very limited understanding of the nuances and just glazed over the whole thing. However I felt the rest of the scenes and chatter Dorian has still make him solid.

I feel like the open world thing is just not a good fit for a dragon age game. I think a lot of the points of the story would of had more impact if they weren't stretch to far apart across you just exploring and being properly leveled. So much distraction in the game you loose focus. I feel like they tried to hard to exonerate the failings of two the completely forgot the good bits.

While characters being strong already been brought up I wouldn't necessarily call the story in 2 bad. Just on a much smaller scale then Origins and the Inquisition. However I think the characters had more impact because of the smaller scale.. The fact the main character was just a friend instead of a prophet.. It almost felt like a lot of the character stayed quiet during major decisions because, hey, we can't go against Andreste's chosen now can we. Having one character say "Hey I disagree with this" is fine but the fact that all the characters despite having clear objections to some of your decisions all politely and out of character say to you hey I don't like that in every situation just feels off.. Feels like a cult.

Also while the areas were repetitive the quests themselves all were fine tuned in terms of dialogue and purpose.. Added a little something to main story or the people around or at the very least to just the place your in. The quests in this game feel like a grab bag.. Ranging from I lost my animals to I can't get to my wife's grave... The grave one sticks out in my mind hte most.. What a missed opportunity. All it really said was the situation was crappy and people were afraid to leave safe spots. A point driven home about 10 times before you can ever reach him in the hinterlands. What new layer did that quests add to the conflict of the war between the mages and templars making the commoners' life hard? Nothing. It was a basic delivery quests with barely any dialogue worth mentioning. Some of the minor or quest only characters in 2 could eclispe some of the playable characters in inquisition.. And that's says more about both games then anything else.

I was a little weirded the first time someone called me "Your Worship".

I liked old Lel better than new vampire Lel. When I did the mages side on my second run it was right after the patch that turned some face textures to 300 years old. The part of that with Lel was really disturbing. She looked like the crypt keeper the entire quest.

Still holding out for Alistair to be a same sex romance option...

What?

It isn't - two of the origins endings involve that.

SpoilerThere are three options if you make Anora the sole monarch - Alistair becomes a drunk, Alistair stays with the Wardens, Alistair is executed.

He won't stay with the Wardens if you recruit Loghain. I'm pretty sure he's executed if you hardened him, because he refuses to back down, and becomes a drunk otherwise, because he'll give up all rights to the throne instead.

And if he stays a Warden, you can sacrifice him to the Archdemon.

I had wondered what Adamant would be like if I made Alistair the Warden (which I never did, because gotta get that King D).

I just realized one of the things that really irked me about the game - no big decisions. It was basically just Templars vs. Mages. Everything else was pretty small, which really increased the issue of how short and disappointing the epilogue sequence is. Not only do you get nothing about companions, but there aren't really world choice decisions to follow up on, either.

Those "red arrow" choices were so, so rare. And when you got them, it was usually just about companions... so big pity they didn't get epilogues.

My GUESS is that they're trying to avoid the Leliana thing where they want to retcon events later. But how hard is it to give an "interim" sort of epilogue ending? Cool, Dorian's going back to Tevinter... eventually. But does he change anything? Does he come back? C'mon now.

Is it a good place to whine about PS3 version ( got it as present ) sucking as much as a black ho(l)e?

Edited, Dec 30th 2014 6:34pm by angrymnk

Can't say I'm surprised. The game was pressuring my PC on high settings. Mostly in load times, but still.

Wait wait is this the part where we play "Is it racist?"

Also wow at that video.

I completely Blanked on he can sac himself to the dragon hahaha. I should of remember that. My excuse for execution is I never recruited lohgain due to the fact I could not stand to play 1 again. Not because of the story but the glitches in the 360 and the foreign controls to me on pc.(I don't keyboard and mouse well)

That ball really pissed me off.. It wasn't until after I already made the decisions I made that night did I realize the weight and effects of picking who I picked. I ended up saving Selene solely on the fact she seen the least douchy and that's what coryphious was trying to do!

After you brush the sand out of your ladyparts, you'll notice that I specifically addressed the PS3 version (even posting a comparison video). It's the attention to details that matters most

I think maybe you're just a surly little monkey about your game and taking things a little too seriously. Sorry someone hurt your feelings in your time of need