I liked the story in DA 2, but I kind of disliked the combat. Tactics were out the window with the randomly teleprting enemies, and my rogue went from a dirty backstabber to frontliner in the Cirque du Soliel.
The combat engine in DA2 was really good but the encounter design was mostly awful. The DLCs have my favorite dragon age combat by a huuge margin.
I hated the corey fight. That... that did not seem to be a fight designed to mesh well with the engine they had, in particular how characters and the camera were controlled.
Was that the one with the rotating blades of fire that my companions were too stupid to move out of the way of? If so, I share your rage.
I at first was pretty annoyed at the combat in DA2, but that's because I was such a fan of the strategic combat in Origins. Once I got into DA2, the combat was visceral and fun, and I really enjoyed playing a warrior smashing through enemy lines and just being a general badass.
The big problem for me in DA2's combat was that I had these idiot companions who were very necessary, but also very much liabilities. In action-oriented games, companions either need to be invincible, or just be gone entirely to let me be the big damn hero on my own. Removing them would be the worst option in a Bioware game, who are well-known for their awesome companions, so at least having them be more support characters who didn't need constant baby-sitting would have been a real blessing.
I have started multiple DA: Inquisition games, and have never finished them because the combat in that game is so goddamn boring. I mean, it's not the only thing that's boring... the main villain is boring, as are the giant, open yet vapid maps full of useless collectathons... but a lot of that I probably could have dealt with if the combat was engaging because again, I love the companions in that game and there are lots of story moments that I find endearing and keep me going for a time.
I didn't like da2's combat. but in retrospect, dai's was even worse. The winnowing of the tactics (and especially the tactics menu) is my main beef, with the deeper cross class combo system being fundamentally at odds with the whole "awesome button" action paradigm. I.e. the ai was incapable of independently acting on it, even though it was (theoretically) one of the things you could program in for it. Not that you should give it that much leeway anyway, since it'd then blow all your cooldowns on the first wave, leaving you to do the aforementioned Benny hill routine while they came back up. Though to be fair, the opposite often applied if the player micromanaged everything.
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
DA thread I have a romantic dilemma
Inquisition
Just before Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, I did Dorian's personal quest, and after it was all over I saw the option to tell him that I admired him more after that fiasco, not less.
Then we kissed. Ok Dorian is as cute as can be, but I'm trying to romance Cassandra here and I don't want to lead Dorian on, I just wanted to let him know how rad he is!
I went ahead doing Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts thinking I could probably do Cassandra's romance. She didn't dance with me, but I didn't know if that was supposed to be an essential part of the Cassandra romance or not... it seems I could still flirt with her after, but then she asked if I was in a relationship with Dorian. Ugh. And Dorian seemed to think so to.
So long story short I'm reloading from just before Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts because I am not gonna play a playa, ya'll.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
(though I do enjoy the added depth of playing female elf and romancing Solas).
500% agreed. DAI occupies a unique place in my gaming history, in that I've never had a single character so strongly usurp my "head canon" as the female elf did, and she was my third playthru. All of my Commander Shepards were similar and kind of morphed into one character, but Lavellan is my Inquisitor.
Usually for these games I'll do the first go making 'my' choices with maybe a light character built around it. For DA:I, I was an older warrior who was 100% laser-focused on closing that goddamned hole in the sky because, seriously, there's a hole in the sky. Didn't even romance anyone. Shit to do here, people! Urgency!
2nd playthru, had to experience that Knight Enchanter everyone was raving about, plus I needed a mage playthru. Romanced Josephine because she's adorable and the best and I don't care what you say.
3rd time once all the DLC was out, I'd heard all the talk of the Solas romance so I went for it (so glad this playthru involved Trespasser). Went rogue (had a TON of fun with both dagger builds and a bow build), and it just fucking worked. I may actually repeat this entire playthru with the same race/class/face/name just because it was that fucking good.
I've been thinking about this game a bit more in recent days, to the point where I might buckle down and actually try to finish it for once. Most of the previous attempts I've made have been as a mage of some sort, because to me that feels like one of the few ways the story makes a lick of sense. It's difficult for me to believe, for example, that Dalish or Tal-Vashoth would have been anywhere in the vicinity of the meeting that kicks the events of this game off. My very first play-through of this game actually was as a Dalish Mage where I attempted to pick all the "I only believe in Elven Gods" choices, but by the mid-game I hated my character and her place in the story so much that I just couldn't go on.
I'm considering the Reaver again; I like the class's skill set and ability to wreck lots of enemies, but in previous attempts I've failed to find a niche for myself that kept me interested in the story events of the game. Perhaps a True Believer who really thinks he is Andraste's Herald even as he handles thinks as wickedly and violently as possible. Let's show Thedas what a real inquisition looks like.
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
I'm playing as a Tal Vashoth true believer right now. If non-horned people can convert to the Qun, I don't see why Tal Vashoth couldn't convert to Andraste.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
Not Tal-Vashoth. Just Vashoth.
As for why they're there, Adaar's specifically there because IIRC someone decided some muscle that didn't have an agenda was needed as security. And it's not hard to see why the Dalish might be interested and send reps to see what the dominant power on the continent says about apostate mages.
I'm playing as a Tal Vashoth true believer right now. If non-horned people can convert to the Qun, I don't see why Tal Vashoth couldn't convert to Andraste.
That was basically my Inquisitor.
His parents were fascinated by the study of foreign religions. They came to believe in a higher power, and they wanted to share their beliefs with their son as he grew up. But under Qun doctrine, it is heresy to believe in any power higher than the collective, any figure more worthy of worship than the state. Rather than risk persecution, the family fled the Qun and became Tal Vashoth.
Dragon Age Inquisition made me not pick an entire class specialization because it would have made my ingame boyfriend sad.
Dragon Age Inquisition is perfect.
What's the class/boyfriend combo here? Cullen/mage?
Cullen/warrior.
If you help him kick the habit then tell him you're considering taking lyrium and becoming a templar he freaks out. Justifiably, it turns out, after I thought about it and his perspective.
So I told him he was right then went and drank dragon blood.
Dragon Age Inquisition made me not pick an entire class specialization because it would have made my ingame boyfriend sad.
Dragon Age Inquisition is perfect.
What's the class/boyfriend combo here? Cullen/mage?
Cullen/warrior.
If you help him kick the habit then tell him you're considering taking lyrium and becoming a templar he freaks out. Justifiably, it turns out, after I thought about it and his perspective.
So I told him he was right then went and drank dragon blood.
That's amazing enough that I might play the game yet again just for that scene.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Picked this up again after a couple of years and I'm struck by how well the game handles being put in the background by the hypervisor. I've yet to have any glitches or forced logouts. It just happily picks up right where I left it. I'm actually a little worried that I'm going to get into bad save habits and lose progress if it ever decides to log out while it's backgrounded.
Edit: playing on the Xbox.
Edit 2: probably the most well behaved game in that regard that I've played on the One.
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GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
I haven’t tried it myself by I remember a Templar build a youtuber put together that basically nuked everything with spell purge and wrath of heaven. Seemed pretty effective and looked fun.
It was a fun build in coop, but honestly not terribly effective past a point. The cooldowns and costs made you useless once you used it and some of the more dangerous enemies were stun immune, which which would kill the combo. The real hotness was archers longshotting rooms multiple times, or elementalists with 100% uptime on rain of fire. And also my secret caltrops archers that nobody else was brave enough to try.
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GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
I may give the two-handed templar spell-splosion a shot. Either that or just respec Cassandra and run her with that build. Not sure.
Been thinking about playing this again for a while. I always thought this game was pretty strong, frankly. I liked the combat, I enjoyed the story. It's not the best game I've ever played, but it's a nice romp, and I always enjoyed the Dragon Age setting.
He's previously done other Bioware games, including DA:O, if you're curious. One of the things I like about his reviews is that he does his research, so the first part of the review is talking about the ridiculously short development time for the game.
Edit: Added bonus, he plays as fem Hawke as ALL GOOD PEOPLE SHOULD and there are some inside jokes if you watch his Star Trek reviews.
Cambiata on
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
OK, that review talks about something I've heard people complain about before, but I never had happen to me in game.
DA2 spoilers
Anders starts a relationship with some people without them doing anything? I played DA2 pretty recently, and I made sure to never pick any flirts, and Anders never flirted with me or tried to get in a relationship. Is this like an Xbox bug or something? I've even flirted with Anders in past games and didn't have him start a relationship there, either. Maybe it's an unpatched version of the game?!
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Sarcastic Femhawke is the best auto-fill protagonist ever made. She brings a level of troll to a world that's clearly not equipped to handle it and it's always always wonderful seeing characters try to parse it.
Sarcastic Femhawke is the best auto-fill protagonist ever made. She brings a level of troll to a world that's clearly not equipped to handle it and it's always always wonderful seeing characters try to parse it.
I'd pay a lot of money for BW universe crossover title that was the misadventures of Purple Hawke and Dork Ryder.
OK, that review talks about something I've heard people complain about before, but I never had happen to me in game.
DA2 spoilers
Anders starts a relationship with some people without them doing anything? I played DA2 pretty recently, and I made sure to never pick any flirts, and Anders never flirted with me or tried to get in a relationship. Is this like an Xbox bug or something? I've even flirted with Anders in past games and didn't have him start a relationship there, either. Maybe it's an unpatched version of the game?!
I remember Anders being a romance trap kind of like Jacob was in ME2. Unless you go negative early on him, he ends up just sort of assuming the two of you are dating.
The closest thing to that I remember is out of the blue he'll offer you a gift. The top option is clearly romance intended showing a heart and the wording on the right. The middle option just says thanks but is also a heart and does seem to try and progress a romance. The bottom option has an X and basically goes "keep your horrible gift" and I think insults him further. I was always confused by it every time I played and I think I started just picking the rejection one.
He's previously done other Bioware games, including DA:O, if you're curious. One of the things I like about his reviews is that he does his research, so the first part of the review is talking about the ridiculously short development time for the game.
Edit: Added bonus, he plays as fem Hawke as ALL GOOD PEOPLE SHOULD and there are some inside jokes if you watch his Star Trek reviews.
The bugs must have something to do with save import, unless he's just wrong or didn't patch? I could always change my name on Xbox 360. And Anders works like any romance option, if you DON'T CHOOSE the dialogue options with the heart on them, he won't automatically assume you're dating. It might be that he goes too fast compared to other options or something, but he never got the wrong idea in any of my playthroughs...
OK, that review talks about something I've heard people complain about before, but I never had happen to me in game.
DA2 spoilers
Anders starts a relationship with some people without them doing anything? I played DA2 pretty recently, and I made sure to never pick any flirts, and Anders never flirted with me or tried to get in a relationship. Is this like an Xbox bug or something? I've even flirted with Anders in past games and didn't have him start a relationship there, either. Maybe it's an unpatched version of the game?!
I remember Anders being a romance trap kind of like Jacob was in ME2. Unless you go negative early on him, he ends up just sort of assuming the two of you are dating.
That kind of happened to me with Alistair in DA:O -- I was playing a lady warden and had my heart set on Leliana, but I missed her romance trigger (she complimented my hairdo, but my character was bald so I thought it was sarcasm or something) and then later I just kind of tripped and fell under Alistair.
Personal opinion:
Alistair king
Morrigan and Alistair fathered a child (they have a conversation I liked a lot. Same for Morrigan and Loghain if you would like to go that direction, but I like Alistair/Morrigan convo a bit better.)
Hawke's romance did not have that much influence IIRC (none of the love interests shows up). Same for the Warden (though you do get some comments out of Leliana about that, should they have been in a romance).
Don't think any of the other choices made that much of a difference.
I thought that if she died, in DA2 she just says that she was knocked out and got better?
She has a bit of a speech about it in Haven(a really good one) in DAI, she legit died.
Trespasser spoilers
One potential Dead Leliana epilogue has her disappear into a cloud of ravens, never to be seen again.
Rainfall on
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Custom SpecialI know I am, I'm sure I am,I'm Sounders 'til I die!Registered Userregular
edited November 2017
Does anyone play this multiplayer? I was just explaining how fun it is to my brother-in-law and now I want to play it more. I bought the game solely because the multiplayer stuff was so neat, haven't ever touched the single player.
My only regret with regard to Inquisition was there was no way, no matter how saves were set up, to lock all of the Orlesians in a room with Loghain until every last one of the masked ****s was dead.
I hated Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts so much. So very VERY much.
I mean, I am allowed to pass judgment on corpses, or boxes of corpses. So technically Alistair should be able to set me up here.
There is no aspect, no facet, no moment of life, that cannot be improved with pizza.
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Was that the one with the rotating blades of fire that my companions were too stupid to move out of the way of? If so, I share your rage.
The big problem for me in DA2's combat was that I had these idiot companions who were very necessary, but also very much liabilities. In action-oriented games, companions either need to be invincible, or just be gone entirely to let me be the big damn hero on my own. Removing them would be the worst option in a Bioware game, who are well-known for their awesome companions, so at least having them be more support characters who didn't need constant baby-sitting would have been a real blessing.
I have started multiple DA: Inquisition games, and have never finished them because the combat in that game is so goddamn boring. I mean, it's not the only thing that's boring... the main villain is boring, as are the giant, open yet vapid maps full of useless collectathons... but a lot of that I probably could have dealt with if the combat was engaging because again, I love the companions in that game and there are lots of story moments that I find endearing and keep me going for a time.
Inquisition
Then we kissed. Ok Dorian is as cute as can be, but I'm trying to romance Cassandra here and I don't want to lead Dorian on, I just wanted to let him know how rad he is!
I went ahead doing Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts thinking I could probably do Cassandra's romance. She didn't dance with me, but I didn't know if that was supposed to be an essential part of the Cassandra romance or not... it seems I could still flirt with her after, but then she asked if I was in a relationship with Dorian. Ugh. And Dorian seemed to think so to.
So long story short I'm reloading from just before Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts because I am not gonna play a playa, ya'll.
I may be biased.
What's the class/boyfriend combo here? Cullen/mage?
500% agreed. DAI occupies a unique place in my gaming history, in that I've never had a single character so strongly usurp my "head canon" as the female elf did, and she was my third playthru. All of my Commander Shepards were similar and kind of morphed into one character, but Lavellan is my Inquisitor.
Usually for these games I'll do the first go making 'my' choices with maybe a light character built around it. For DA:I, I was an older warrior who was 100% laser-focused on closing that goddamned hole in the sky because, seriously, there's a hole in the sky. Didn't even romance anyone. Shit to do here, people! Urgency!
2nd playthru, had to experience that Knight Enchanter everyone was raving about, plus I needed a mage playthru. Romanced Josephine because she's adorable and the best and I don't care what you say.
3rd time once all the DLC was out, I'd heard all the talk of the Solas romance so I went for it (so glad this playthru involved Trespasser). Went rogue (had a TON of fun with both dagger builds and a bow build), and it just fucking worked. I may actually repeat this entire playthru with the same race/class/face/name just because it was that fucking good.
I'm considering the Reaver again; I like the class's skill set and ability to wreck lots of enemies, but in previous attempts I've failed to find a niche for myself that kept me interested in the story events of the game. Perhaps a True Believer who really thinks he is Andraste's Herald even as he handles thinks as wickedly and violently as possible. Let's show Thedas what a real inquisition looks like.
As for why they're there, Adaar's specifically there because IIRC someone decided some muscle that didn't have an agenda was needed as security. And it's not hard to see why the Dalish might be interested and send reps to see what the dominant power on the continent says about apostate mages.
That was basically my Inquisitor.
His parents were fascinated by the study of foreign religions. They came to believe in a higher power, and they wanted to share their beliefs with their son as he grew up. But under Qun doctrine, it is heresy to believe in any power higher than the collective, any figure more worthy of worship than the state. Rather than risk persecution, the family fled the Qun and became Tal Vashoth.
"I may not fully believe but if acting like i do brings solace to so many so be it."
Cullen/warrior.
If you help him kick the habit then tell him you're considering taking lyrium and becoming a templar he freaks out. Justifiably, it turns out, after I thought about it and his perspective.
So I told him he was right then went and drank dragon blood.
That's amazing enough that I might play the game yet again just for that scene.
THE PAIN, THE PAIN
Edit: playing on the Xbox.
Edit 2: probably the most well behaved game in that regard that I've played on the One.
Been thinking about playing this again for a while. I always thought this game was pretty strong, frankly. I liked the combat, I enjoyed the story. It's not the best game I've ever played, but it's a nice romp, and I always enjoyed the Dragon Age setting.
http://www.sfdebris.com/videos/games/dragonage2.php
He's previously done other Bioware games, including DA:O, if you're curious. One of the things I like about his reviews is that he does his research, so the first part of the review is talking about the ridiculously short development time for the game.
Edit: Added bonus, he plays as fem Hawke as ALL GOOD PEOPLE SHOULD and there are some inside jokes if you watch his Star Trek reviews.
DA2 spoilers
I'd pay a lot of money for BW universe crossover title that was the misadventures of Purple Hawke and Dork Ryder.
I remember Anders being a romance trap kind of like Jacob was in ME2. Unless you go negative early on him, he ends up just sort of assuming the two of you are dating.
The bugs must have something to do with save import, unless he's just wrong or didn't patch? I could always change my name on Xbox 360. And Anders works like any romance option, if you DON'T CHOOSE the dialogue options with the heart on them, he won't automatically assume you're dating. It might be that he goes too fast compared to other options or something, but he never got the wrong idea in any of my playthroughs...
That kind of happened to me with Alistair in DA:O -- I was playing a lady warden and had my heart set on Leliana, but I missed her romance trigger (she complimented my hairdo, but my character was bald so I thought it was sarcasm or something) and then later I just kind of tripped and fell under Alistair.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Alistair king
Morrigan and Alistair fathered a child (they have a conversation I liked a lot. Same for Morrigan and Loghain if you would like to go that direction, but I like Alistair/Morrigan convo a bit better.)
Hawke's romance did not have that much influence IIRC (none of the love interests shows up). Same for the Warden (though you do get some comments out of Leliana about that, should they have been in a romance).
Don't think any of the other choices made that much of a difference.
I thought that if she died, in DA2 she just says that she was knocked out and got better?
She has a bit of a speech about it in Haven(a really good one) in DAI, she legit died.
Trespasser spoilers
Edit: I'm on Xbone
I mean, I am allowed to pass judgment on corpses, or boxes of corpses. So technically Alistair should be able to set me up here.