DA 2 Spoilers Ahoy!
Mar. 12th, 2011 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valiasedaiThis Post Contains Major Spoilers!
I'm about 12 hours in and I love this game. I've spoiled myself for just about everything, but I seriously, seriously love it. There seems to be a lot more complexity in good/bad choices for side quests and companion quests. Anders initial quest left me wibbling and sadfaced, and having to decide the fate of others has been... intense. I love having a voiced character, and I like the images which are indicative of the sort of thing you're going to say. The romances don't feel nearly so rushed, manage to be hotter (despite less sex-type positions) and there's no damn buckskin underwear. (May I also say just how much I approve of Anders topping male Hawke and their tangled legs on the bed? And the wall kisses with Fenris? Daggers with Isabella? Love it.)
Templars are a LOT more nuanced in this, which I appreciate (mage-lover, though I am). Ser Thrask is my fucking hero and I never expected to respect Cullen for being reasonable (especially considering what he's gone through.) Though I still have a very strong "support the mages!" I do feel some empathy for the good Templars.
One thing I particularly love: there are horrible things that you absolutely cannot change in the game. You can't change having a sibling die, or your mother being murdered, or the other sibling meeting one horrible fate of another. There are situations where you simply can't win. I feel like Hawke is more human because of this - there aren't bad decisions that can be made to save people you love/care about, you simply can't do shit.
I love the rival system. As much as I want to smack the little shit when he's an ass, I seriously love Carver. I love that he doesn't agree with everything I say, that he resents me, that he wants to do his own thing and then runs out and does it like an adult instead of an NPC in a game. I love that you can't please everyone, and that your NPC's have interactions outside of your party and are either adorably doting (Varric re: Merril) or at each other's throats (Anders/Fenris, Isabella/Aveline). It gives a lot more depth to them and it makes it feel like you're not the only one who matters in the dynamic.
The characters have me so damn happy as well. Isabella isn't just a walking pair of tits (even if I can't keep my eyes off them) and as much as I usually hate the archetypal chaotic-good rogue, I find myself loving Varric's character. (Seriously, I want to punch Han Solo's smug face, but Varric? Varric has charmed me to pieces.) Merril is just... adorable. I wish she'd get a clue, but then she looks at me with those big eyes and I want to hug her. I am not a sucker for female woobies (though male are a different story) but I'm enjoying her, AND her accent. Anders is still very... not-Anders, but I love him anyway. The man talks about his cat when you first meet him - crazy cat mage who runs a health clinic for the poor? Yes please! Fenris (aside from having a voice that is pure sex) is proving... interesting. I haven't had him overlong, and I'm a mage, so the path is going rivalry, but the conflict of running around with a mage who helped him and hating mages due to his former master arises in conversations with him. And fuck it, I love the broodiness (which Varric comments on in a way that is borderline 4th-wall awareness). It's a nice change of pace from sadpanda virgin Alistair and having-a-hard-time-but-hiding-it-well Zevran. The people are flawed, yet there are things to like about them. And Aveline! I was 100% convinced she would be a lawful good, but she's not (thank you Bioware) and has a sense of humor I appreciate.
I expected combat to be... too flashy? Too fast for the PC? I don' t know. But it's NICE to have a mage who doesn't sit and sway back and forth with a giant stick for the entirety of battle. It definitely is flashier than DA:2, but I find myself enjoying it. It's dynamic as well - you can rush across the battlefield, instead of jog over, you can dodge rocks and charging ogres instead of running away and getting hit when you're on the otherside of the goddamn room. And you can summon your dog instead of having them take up a whole damn slot. And the dog is amazingly useful for drawing aggro - I've had nearly a dozen times low-level baddies have swarmed my dog while the party takes on the big bad in a matter of seconds. Healing is not as... extensive as I would have liked, unless you have Anders' Panacea on, but the primal spells are fucking amazing. Apocalyptic Inferno is fantastic, and cone of cold is a ring of icy death. Mind blast has proven oddly useful, and chain lightning makes me happy.
I'm not entirely happy about the darkspawn redesign or timeline issues, but eh, fuck it. I love the game and I love having Flemeth and Cullen and Bodhan and Sandal (BOOM!) Harrowmont's hideous nephew there. It's fantastical :D
I'm about 12 hours in and I love this game. I've spoiled myself for just about everything, but I seriously, seriously love it. There seems to be a lot more complexity in good/bad choices for side quests and companion quests. Anders initial quest left me wibbling and sadfaced, and having to decide the fate of others has been... intense. I love having a voiced character, and I like the images which are indicative of the sort of thing you're going to say. The romances don't feel nearly so rushed, manage to be hotter (despite less sex-type positions) and there's no damn buckskin underwear. (May I also say just how much I approve of Anders topping male Hawke and their tangled legs on the bed? And the wall kisses with Fenris? Daggers with Isabella? Love it.)
Templars are a LOT more nuanced in this, which I appreciate (mage-lover, though I am). Ser Thrask is my fucking hero and I never expected to respect Cullen for being reasonable (especially considering what he's gone through.) Though I still have a very strong "support the mages!" I do feel some empathy for the good Templars.
One thing I particularly love: there are horrible things that you absolutely cannot change in the game. You can't change having a sibling die, or your mother being murdered, or the other sibling meeting one horrible fate of another. There are situations where you simply can't win. I feel like Hawke is more human because of this - there aren't bad decisions that can be made to save people you love/care about, you simply can't do shit.
I love the rival system. As much as I want to smack the little shit when he's an ass, I seriously love Carver. I love that he doesn't agree with everything I say, that he resents me, that he wants to do his own thing and then runs out and does it like an adult instead of an NPC in a game. I love that you can't please everyone, and that your NPC's have interactions outside of your party and are either adorably doting (Varric re: Merril) or at each other's throats (Anders/Fenris, Isabella/Aveline). It gives a lot more depth to them and it makes it feel like you're not the only one who matters in the dynamic.
The characters have me so damn happy as well. Isabella isn't just a walking pair of tits (even if I can't keep my eyes off them) and as much as I usually hate the archetypal chaotic-good rogue, I find myself loving Varric's character. (Seriously, I want to punch Han Solo's smug face, but Varric? Varric has charmed me to pieces.) Merril is just... adorable. I wish she'd get a clue, but then she looks at me with those big eyes and I want to hug her. I am not a sucker for female woobies (though male are a different story) but I'm enjoying her, AND her accent. Anders is still very... not-Anders, but I love him anyway. The man talks about his cat when you first meet him - crazy cat mage who runs a health clinic for the poor? Yes please! Fenris (aside from having a voice that is pure sex) is proving... interesting. I haven't had him overlong, and I'm a mage, so the path is going rivalry, but the conflict of running around with a mage who helped him and hating mages due to his former master arises in conversations with him. And fuck it, I love the broodiness (which Varric comments on in a way that is borderline 4th-wall awareness). It's a nice change of pace from sadpanda virgin Alistair and having-a-hard-time-but-hiding-it-well Zevran. The people are flawed, yet there are things to like about them. And Aveline! I was 100% convinced she would be a lawful good, but she's not (thank you Bioware) and has a sense of humor I appreciate.
I expected combat to be... too flashy? Too fast for the PC? I don' t know. But it's NICE to have a mage who doesn't sit and sway back and forth with a giant stick for the entirety of battle. It definitely is flashier than DA:2, but I find myself enjoying it. It's dynamic as well - you can rush across the battlefield, instead of jog over, you can dodge rocks and charging ogres instead of running away and getting hit when you're on the otherside of the goddamn room. And you can summon your dog instead of having them take up a whole damn slot. And the dog is amazingly useful for drawing aggro - I've had nearly a dozen times low-level baddies have swarmed my dog while the party takes on the big bad in a matter of seconds. Healing is not as... extensive as I would have liked, unless you have Anders' Panacea on, but the primal spells are fucking amazing. Apocalyptic Inferno is fantastic, and cone of cold is a ring of icy death. Mind blast has proven oddly useful, and chain lightning makes me happy.
I'm not entirely happy about the darkspawn redesign or timeline issues, but eh, fuck it. I love the game and I love having Flemeth and Cullen and Bodhan and Sandal (BOOM!) Harrowmont's hideous nephew there. It's fantastical :D
no subject
on 2011-03-12 05:48 pm (UTC)I have to agree with you on Isabella, she's been very surprising, and pleasantly so. The lack of pants is still a bit... well, odd, but she's got an amazing ass and the personality has been so much fun. I haven't taken her around much since I got her last in Act 1 and I just started Act 2, but I'm starting to and I'm very happy so far! I don't have to babysit her in combat the way I did with Zevran.
Broody Fenris is getting my next character AND another mage for hatesex rivalmance. It's just too good a scenario to pass up!
no subject
on 2011-03-13 04:00 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-03-13 01:03 pm (UTC)