Dragon Age

[The SheoDovah]

I was just listing the things that i dislike about DA:I along with some of the questionable decisions Bioware made. I am loving DA:I and have put in 80-100 hours in total so far! It's far, far better then the disappointing DA2(which is a great entry into the series but failed to live up to it's potential due to deadlines) and instead of just being DA2:Origins, it stands out as it's own thing.

I love the companions and they are stronger then DA2's companions but purely because there is a lot more dialogue and development put into them. DA2's companions all had potential and some did live up to that. Aveline was one of the best developed characters of 2, same with Merril, in my opinion. I'm loving the banter between them so far despite the [&@%!] bug, which thankfully, can be resolved via the audio options or mounting/unmounting horses. Bioware seem to be unable to replicate the issue with the saves they were sent so it may be a while before they can fix the bug. They have put up a list of solutions to combat the bug that destroys what makes Bioware companions so great.

http://forum.bioware.com/topic/528018-party-banter/

I'm a bit disappointed Bioware didn't address the return of the dragons but i've yet to complete the game so it's probably hidden in the main plot or buried in the sidequests somewhere. If Flemeth brought them back, then i need to sharpen my stabbing knife.

I'm a bit disappointed that the character creator on the PS3 lacks scars and freckles but oh well. Tis purely cosmetic.

Anyway, i feel the plot is a lot stronger this time around and whilst some fans have complained about there being too many cutscenes, i like the cinematic focused Dragon Age and it seems that they are making all of it from the Inquisitor's point of view. I was very surprised at who was revealed to be the main antagonist.

I like how the game is packed with content although there should have been a drinking game with the Iron [&@%!] Bull! But sadly, getting drunk with companions won't happen any time soon, it seems. Nor a tavern fight. I may be a wee bit obessed with causing bar fights in open world rpgs.

I'm undecided on the dialogue system. A part of me prefers DA2 system due to personality whilst another part of me likes the emotional responses and that we can join in with the banter. I'm glad that they didn't go back to the Origins dialogue tree as the wheel is more flexible and has more options.

I hope Bioware release a marbari warhound add-on as that should become a staple of the franchise. I mean, who doesn't want a brave mabari warhound at their side in battle and it just ate all of my cheese! :O

[Тeatime]

I like how the game is packed with content although there should have been a drinking game with the Iron [&@%!] Bull! But sadly, getting drunk with companions won't happen any time soon, it seems. Nor a tavern fight. I may be a wee bit obessed with causing bar fights in open world rpgs.

Have you killed a dragon yet?



Edit: Well, [&@%!]. I just broke my own heart.

Adamant fortress:

Spoiler:

I let Hawke die this time...
I feel so sorry for Varric but then he goes and mentions Fenris. I'm almost glad we don't get to see how he reacts.

[Unionhack]

Major Spoiler for Adamant Fortress (In Response to Teatime)

Spoiler:

My Hawkes have always been split. 2 rogues, 2 mages, 2 warriors. 2 Funny, 2 Diplomatic, 2 Aggressive. 3 male, 3 female.

So now it comes to mind to splitting them between lives and dies, and... wow. That's a hard decision. Especially since one of these will be deciding between the life of Alistair (literally my favorite Dragon Age universe character) and Eden Hawke (my comedic warrior babe who I grew to love during my playthrough of her).

The ones where Stroud is concerned are much easier since I don't feel as strong of a connection with him, but when it comes to Loghain and Alistair, it becomes a lot more difficult.

A+ Decision crafting, Bioware. A [&@%!] Plus.

[Тeatime]

Response:

Spoiler:

I had Stroud the first time and I thought Bioware were being a little silly with making it look like a big decision. I can't imagine picking Stroud over an of my Hawkes. once I realized there could be other wardens though, damn..
But I guess I'm lucky that it ended up that way the first time since it happened to be with the Hawke I cared about most as well.

I'm glad we got to meet Loghain again as well, even if he did get rid of his cute little braids. Loghain is one of my favourite characters so it makes me happy that he and Hawke apparently knew each other.

I'm unsure what exact world state to use for my next playthrough in regards to this though. It would have to be Alistair warden though since I haven't met him yet but what about the hero of Ferelden? I wonder what he has to say if they were in a relationship but she has now disappeared, or maybe I'll have her die in Denerim for that extra tragic Alistair. Choices, choices..

[Тeatime]

Some theories about the future. All the spoilers:

Spoiler:

About Solas and his goals:
(I'm currently doing a playthrough where I romance Solas so I might be finding out more stuff to add to this eventually but these are my thoughts for now. I also haven't brought him to the temple of Mythal yet but I assume he'll have something interesting to say about it when I do.)

Based on my interactions with him so far my main theory so far is that the veil is a construct created by the ancient elves and Solas' ultimate goal is to undo it.

Demons would obviously be a big concern but something Solas says during his personal quest came to mind. He states that removing the bindings on his friend would revert her into a spirit since it would remove the conflict against her nature. What if something similar could be true for most demons? If the fade and physical world were originally one and the same, the current state of existence could be causing this kind of fundamental conflict with their nature. Thus demons aren't necessarily inherently malicious, rather they're just deprived of their natural state of existence. Hence merging the face and physical world would turn most demons back into spirits.

As for Solas working against Coryphepants and wanting the breach closed. I figure there's a difference between just sundering and "switching off" the veil and since the former does nothing to un-demonize spirits it's obviously undesirable.

Edit: I asked Cole about the fade and he literally said it's "constrained by a construct, veiled." >.<


Thoughts on the veil and the ancient elves:
Magic comes from a connection to the fade and all ancient elves had magic. This seems logical if the fade and physical world were one. Consequently they didn't just lose magic over time, the connection was actively severed with the creation of the veil. Logically all the other races would also have had magic at this time but maybe they were too primitive too retain any records of it?

On a more purely speculative ground, what if the elven gods are simply god-like spirits that presided over the elves and the creation of the veil was an attempt at banishing them? What if the civil war that destroyed Elvhenan was a religious war between those who supported and opposed these gods? What if some of these god-spirits possessed the bodies of great dragons towards the end and managed to remain in the physical world despite the veil? Yet cut off from the veil they were weakened to the point that the elves were able to defeat them and seal them far underground?


About the blight and lyrium:
So, the fade. I'm thinking the fade itself can be counted as alive in some sense, maybe not like a person or being but still alive. And lyrium might just be pieces of fade either leaking through or that got stuck here when the veil arose. Connecting with things I said before, spirits becoming demons due to being denied the physical world, I'm thinking something similar might have happened to the fade itself. Parts of it might have become demonized, the golden city specifically and maybe more.

Following the fall of Elvhenan the Tevinter Imperium would have had tales of The Golden City taken from the empire they scavenged, not realizing it had been blackened at this point. Upon breaching it they could have been possessed, but not in the traditional sense. The fade, not being a conscious entity, would simply infect them with it's "essence", or something like that. (I dunno why the magisters were immune to the blight's mind dominating effect specifically, but maybe because they contracted it in the fade as opposed to the physical world.) Upon returning to the physical world this possession turned out to be infectious, creating the blight as we know it. Basically, the blight is a form of demonic posession and darkspawn are driven to seek out the old gods since, possibly being god-spirits, they are the largest pieces of fade in the physical world.

Upon reaching the old gods they are unfortunately just demonized and rise as archdemons. They then seek to destroy all humanoids roaming the world in a blind search for vengeance for the greatest crime wrought upon their kind, the creation of the veil. If the old gods also happen to be the elven gods it could be that "slaying" them actually just removes this demonic possession and releases the original spirit, in which case we would currently have five elven gods roaming the world.

Ohh, and red lyrium can grow because demonic possession is always seeking to spread whereas pure spirits (and consequently regular lyrium) are content where they are.

If blight=demonic possession holds true it could also mean that Justice wasn't corrupted by Anders' anger but rather by the blight within him.

[The SheoDovah]

Spoiler:

I feel that Bioware did make a mistake by using Stroud as Hawke's contact and did not develop him much as a character. Hawke had an entire game and many players are attached to him. Stroud, he's that random Warden. It would have been nice if Oghren or one of the awakening Wardens were Hawke's contact if Alistair is king and Loghain is dead. Or the HOF but that would be next to impossible due to sheer amount of choices,appearances etc... the Warden has and would have [&@%!] off some fans if they had to pick between the Warden and Hawke.

Speaking of the Wardens, where were the Awakening Wardens? I doubt they would have agreed to summoning demons. Also, did the Ferelden Commander of the Grey disappear? I'm curious as there is nothing about him/her. Fair enough if he/she is the HOF but the OW disappeared. (Being recalled is most likely a rumour. :-/ )

I may have access to the keep in a month or two thus i can have my Warden and Hawke instead of Dalish dead warden and Mage default Hawke!

[Тeatime]

I gotta say, the fandom has already produced some great art. This is some of the strictly SFW stuff I've found.

Ending spoilers:

Spoiler:

Slightly longer comic:

Hidden:

I've seen this joke a dozen times by now and it still makes me chuckle.

Oh, and Rafa Rech, the guy who looks like a RL Dorian, is a piece of art by himself.

Hidden:

He dose nude modelling as well, FYI.

[Unionhack]

Your sig makes that pic of the model quite funnier, Tea.

[Тeatime]

Well, it's not like it's untrue.

Oh, and some Solas romance spoilers:

Spoiler:

Seriously, [&@%!] that guy. I mean, I like the romance arc as a whole but the part about the vallaslin was just cruel. I'm curious to see how this will factor into any DLC though, he seems to genuinely care for the inquisitor after all.

[Lord Frivolous]

I've got 2 questions for well-informed DAI players.

What's the deal with player being able to participate in party banter? It was announced I think but I've not seen a trace of it in my PC playthroughs. No awkward silences either, where Inquisitor's participation would fit. Is it there or is it not? If it should be there, could anyone tell to what extent?

Is there an armour for Dalish warrior in the game? I know mages can get High Keeper's robe (and some other as random loot which shares apperances with it) and rogues get Dalish Scout armour. Haven't yet found anything for warrior, though. I prefer my Lavellan to look like Dalish.

Spoiler:

Mihris robe is adorable. It is the same as keeper's robe for women? I have yet to advance to level where I can afford keeper's robe for my Dalish mage girl. I wish there was an option to tell Mihris 'don't worry about the amulet. Now, undress!'

[Dirty Spaceman]

So, with DA:I still on schedule for Christmas, I've unfortunately not progressed too far in Origins, mainly due to school, work, sports, and other games taking up my time. I kind of lost interest for a while after struggling in the Tower of Ishal, but I got through it eventually and I left off a couple of days ago after arriving in the first village (L-something I think, can't exactly remember). I won't be able to finish the game by Christmas, but with any luck I'll make some more progress and get more familiar with the world.

[Тeatime]

I've got 2 questions for well-informed DAI players.

What's the deal with player being able to participate in party banter? It was announced I think but I've not seen a trace of it in my PC playthroughs. No awkward silences either, where Inquisitor's participation would fit. Is it there or is it not? If it should be there, could anyone tell to what extent?

Is there an armour for Dalish warrior in the game? I know mages can get High Keeper's robe (and some other as random loot which shares apperances with it) and rogues get Dalish Scout armour. Haven't yet found anything for warrior, though. I prefer my Lavellan to look like Dalish.

Spoiler:

Mihris robe is adorable. It is the same as keeper's robe for women? I have yet to advance to level where I can afford keeper's robe for my Dalish mage girl. I wish there was an option to tell Mihris 'don't worry about the amulet. Now, undress!'

I've gotten a few of those participatory banter occasions but they seem pretty rare. No idea about the armour though.

[The SheoDovah]

I've finished DA:I and here are my thoughts on the ending.

Spoiler:

That was disappointing. Corypheus was too easy and as a villian, he was a bit of a failure. I mean, after Skyhold, he didn't really do anything towards us untill the end. It would have been nice if he assaulted the keep with his remaining forces or did so during the battle of adamant to catch us off guard. He cames off as the weakest villain in the franchise so far imo.

But the twist with Sola being the dread wolf was excellent and i did not see that coming! And Flemeth being a part of Mythal was an excellent explaination to what she was. I do wonder if she is truely dead or if Mythal left her and the old hag that talks too much will be back. I can see Solas being the villain for DA4 as he had a [&@%!] off look but i think Bioware intends to resolve that via DLC.

Shame that the epilogue didn't go into much detail but it was nice to have them. But overall, DA:I is excellent. In terms of story, DA:O remains my favourite and i think the open world setting did affect Bioware's ability to tell a story.

I used the Keep yesterday and hopefully, by the end of today, i can import my world state of the goody good heroes of being good! Unless Anders decides to blow up the Keep out of the belief that it's oppressing mages. or Sir Pounce a lot gets possessed and threatens all of THEDAS!

[Тeatime]

I've finished DA:I and here are my thoughts on the ending.

Spoiler:

That was disappointing. Corypheus was too easy and as a villian, he was a bit of a failure. I mean, after Skyhold, he didn't really do anything towards us untill the end. It would have been nice if he assaulted the keep with his remaining forces or did so during the battle of adamant to catch us off guard. He cames off as the weakest villain in the franchise so far imo.

But the twist with Sola being the dread wolf was excellent and i did not see that coming! And Flemeth being a part of Mythal was an excellent explaination to what she was. I do wonder if she is truely dead or if Mythal left her and the old hag that talks too much will be back. I can see Solas being the villain for DA4 as he had a [&@%!] off look but i think Bioware intends to resolve that via DLC.

Shame that the epilogue didn't go into much detail but it was nice to have them. But overall, DA:I is excellent. In terms of story, DA:O remains my favourite and i think the open world setting did affect Bioware's ability to tell a story.

Spoiler:

I agree that Bioware got a little overenthusiastic with the open world thing. I would've been fine with trading the Hissing Wastes for another story mission.
I can also see Solas returning as a antagonist but I think he could be the kind of villain who ends up doing bad things for the right reason. He just seems very sincere. But I will be disappointed if Flemeth is truly dead though, she's just too large a character to go out like that. I keep seeing different interpretations of that scene but one interesting point is that she's seems to be sending a soul, her own or the Old God one, through the mirror at the start.

[The SheoDovah]

Spoiler:

I can see Solas being a tragic villian but it'll be interesting to see what Bioware does with him. I agree that Flemeth should not go out like that and i will admit, i'm surprised that she didn't attack Corpyheus or played any major part apart from popping in just to tell us how to defeat Cory.

I feel very underwhelmed during the Inquistion's march to the Arbor Wilds. It didn't feel like i was marching an army to stop an insane darkspawn from becoming a god. Compared to the march to Denerim, it just felt weak. Denerim, it was the last march for everyone. You had no choice but to march with what forces you had available and if you failed, Ferelden would fall. And Eamon's narration did a lot to set the mood for it. But i'm just nitpicking at this point.

It would have been nice if the dragon turned out to be an Old God as red lyrium is kinda lazy imo. It's seems to be the new choice for dismissing explainations. "It's red lyrium, nuff said." Shame we didn't get to fight someone with Merdieth's capabilities or were forced to deal with an army of harvesters due to the Warden accidentally releasing them at the end of GOA but i could be wrong.

If i'm able to connect my PS3 to the net, i'm importing my world state and shall play a two handed warrior dwarf. It'll be interesting to see how the world reacts to a carta thug becoming their hearld. All shall kneel before Cadash! Unless you are a bird. Then you will die at the hands of our stone cousin.

[Тeatime]

Ending spoilers:

Spoiler:

Came across this on Tumblr:

WAIT … WHAT

Here we have an image of the red lyrium idol from DA2 and an image of Solas/Fen’Harel and Flemeth from the post-credits scene of DA:I. In both images, a woman in a crown with a point on the forehead appears to be being embraced by a bald elf.

In DA we read about the Canticle of Shartan, an elf who fought alongside Andraste’s during her campaign against Tevinter. Shartan’s verses are considered heretical and the Andrastian Chantry doesn’t recognize them. Part of the reason why is because Shartan’s writings suggest that he was Andraste’s lover. And also the “Andraste was a powerful Mage” theory.

The fact that these poses are similar lends credence to the Solas is Shartan is Fen’Harel and Flemeth is Andraste’s is Mythal theory.

It makes me wonder if Solas’ “sleep” wasn’t actually an uthenera state, but his consciousness asleep in the mortal known as Shartan.

[DikaSmausha]

I have DA:I but haven't gotten to it yet. Still dragging myself through a playthrough of Dragon Age 2. I've watched my brother play, however, and all I can say is the gameplay looks way better than the previous games.

[umber hulk]

will i've clocked 240 awesome hours for my first playthrough, with plenty still left to discover.

my only real complaint is that for all the choice you get in character creation you just end up playing commander shepard all over again, to be expected I suppose, but it highlights how much of a difference the origin stories made in the first one.

[Dirty Spaceman]

Well, I'm still not even close to finishing origins (basically at the end of Redcliffe quest, which I decided to get the Mages' help for so now I'm basically at the end of their quest too), but I used the Keep to save my decisions, as well as the decisions I would have made later on, in order to use that world-state in Inquisition.

Yes, that spoils the rest of the game as well as DA2, but honestly it's probably better in the end: I am the most indecisive person I know, so it's good to have all of my decisions laid out for me when I go back to Origins rather than having to make them on the spot. And at the moment I'm not planning to get DA2 anyway.

Either way, long story short, today is finally the day I will start Inquisition!

[Тeatime]

I don't know how to verify this kind of stuff but apparently someone on reddit found the designer notes in the game files regarding the post-credits scene. I guess this is kinda a double spoiler since it spoils the final scene and possibly the intent behind it.

Spoiler:

Original page.

Designer's Notes: This is Flemeth from the previous two games. In this game, Flemeth's story comes to a head -- she knew that Solas would summon her, and that he would need to steal her power to further his plans. She knew that because they are both elven gods...yet Solas has slept for a thousand years and his power dwindled, while she was killed long ago and a spark escaped from her into the body she now holds. She has nurtured that spark, and knew that Solas would need it. He was once her oldest friend, but she knows in his drive to save the elven people he will kill anyone -- even her. She intends to let him have the power, so long as she can pass the essence of her god-hood onto Morrigan, a gift Flemeth had always planned for her daughter yet one Morrigan misunderstood as hostile possession.

[Kerr]

Another Dragon Age, another Elven Mage companion voiced by an actor who was in Torchwood. Well, Ianto was my favourite character in that show.

I've been avoiding any Dragon Age discussion since the game came out in case spoilers, but I just finished it and I thought it was really damn good. Had problems with it but still, enjoyed it a lot. Played a female Qunari Mage with the Necromancer specialisation. Haven't played multiplayer yet but I'm sure I will.

I'm glad that they didn't go back to the Origins dialogue tree as the wheel is more flexible and has more options.

What? How does the wheel have more options? It has less options, the options are vague and not always reflective of what my character will say, encourages disinterest in conversation as you just pick the top right because it's the 'nice response' or middle because it's the 'funny' response. Less thinking about what you should say. If Bioware wanted to keep the wheel they should have done what Human Revolution did where if you hover over the option it shows you the whole thing. They had something like that a few times but I would have liked at least having the option to see what my character is going to say.

I did like it more than the DA2 system though. I liked the inclusion of Inquisition perks to get more dialogue options like having underworld knowledge or knowledge of history and the ball was pretty enjoyable. It was better but still not as good as it could be. If you like the wheel fine, but I don't see why seeing what you are going to say can't be an option. It isn't like Alpha Protocol where you're on a time limit.

Spoilers! Spoilers for everything!

Spoiler:

For me it was save Stroud, who I thought was alright or save Hawke. Yeah, that was an easy decision, Hawke.

Ah my clear Cronyism in Bioware games. Making Anderson Councillor, Alistair King and Leliana Divine.

Going to the ancient Elven temple to stop a mage becoming a god reminded me of Baldur's Gate 2.

It was really cool meeting Morrigan and Kieran. Also nice to see they followed through on her character development in Origins. Apparently he was played by Claudia Black's son .

[The SheoDovah]

It is a bit flawed and there is one thing that is missing that DA2 did well. A personality. The inquisitor seems to lack a defined personality. They should have used DA2's set personality wheel and expanded on it. I am kinda going back on my intial thoughts of the wheel. It's good but it's not clear what the Inquisitor will say. If they can combine the tree and the wheel in DA4, it could be a lot better. But i suspect Bioware want to approach all PC dialogue via the ME style wheel.

Spoiler:

I do wish that Skyhold was attacked by Corypheus and the rest of his forces for the finale. They could have done a semi-sucide mission approach. For example, if you haven't done x's personal quest, he or she may die. Put them in the wrong place, they may die and so forth. And it would have made Corypheus be a big threat. Instead of just go to floating temple, kill him, celebrate, dance, find a cake and be smug.

[Kerr]

I just played a few games of multiplayer (I'm playing on PS4) and died, a lot. I was playing as the keeper, with only two spells so far it's not quite as enjoyable as my mage in single player.

I was pretty meh towards including multiplayer but the microtransactions come across as really miserly. First off the game isn't free to play, it's being sold at full price. Purely cosmetic stuff I'm usually fine with, like hats in Team Fortress or character skins in Uncharted. In game items and classes are one thing, but the potions? This isn't far off the idea of charging you for bullets. In the games I played I didn't want to use my potions because then I'd have to buy more and I want to have potions for when/if I play with friends. I also want to be able to use that money so I can unlock one of the other characters like the Arcane Warrior or the Necromancer. But then by not using the potions I die when I could have saved myself and not only that, now I'm that [&@%!] who made the team lose because they didn't use their potions.

[Тeatime]

Luckily, once you gain a few lvls and get into the swing of things you should have more potions than you can use. At least it's worked out that way for me, I bought one potion crate early on and since then I've been sticking with large chests and I've never run out of healing potions.

[Kerr]

I don't know how much multiplayer I'll end up playing. I remember the levelling system with random unlocks mixed with microtransactions annoyed me in Mass Effect 3 too. Before I got it I liked the idea of playing as a Turian soldier or an Asari Adept but when I got the random crates I got characters I had no interest in playing, I think Salarian and Quarian engineers. Didn't play long enough to unlock the characters I'd wanted to play as.

At least here the multiplayer doesn't tie into the single player game.