It'd be easier to count what went right.
Mainly bad designers. It was rushed, but DA:I wasn't and was still shit, so.
Could've been a good idea (a RPG based around war and politics in a single city) if it was handled by people who weren't shit.
>>339922465
What did go right, anyway? The game was pure garbage.
>>339922606
Varrick was a pretty good character and I enjoyed his dynamic with Hawke, we got more of an insight into Qunari culture. That's all I can think of really
>>339922606
I don't know. I remember hating the armor and weapon sets, the characters, the plot, the dialogue choices. I think I remember liking that guard woman's personal story, maybe. The dwarf with the crossbow was pretty alright and Isabella was a good fap.
It also made me go back to playing Dragon's Age Origins for a while after that so there's a good thing.
>>339922606
Varric and sarcaastic femhawke.
>>339922676
> Qunari culture
All qunari culture and lore have been retroactively ruined by this scene.
>>339923286
Wait what?
Is that the same culture that does horrible things to mages? For being mages? They are now super accepting?
>>339923286
This makes no sense considering their society is built upon being what you are assigned as. Warrior, farmer, baker, etc
I can understand that Bioware writing was never great, but it was enjoyable once. Thank god they can't retroactively ruin Jade Empire for me.
Main storyline should have concluded with defeating the horned dude general. The mage plotline is hare brained and the end leaves you mourning the time of your life you invested in that drivel. "Boohoo, muh oppressed mages", when every single fucking mage in the story turns out to be a deranged blood mage, right down to the head mage, proving your white knighting wrong. Even that goddamn annoying elf bitch that you have to take into your group. "Lol the mirror isn't evil, I know what I'm doing!" The fuck she did. And if you side with templars, you also end up siding with some crazy corrupted lunatic and nazi tier organization. No option to tell both sides to go fuck themselves.
Lazy combat that teleports/parachutes in enemies from all sides, rendering tactical positioning moot. Various flat out lies during promotion stage about how you can shape the story and how the city changes according to your choices. All that marketing talk about "negative space" to explain the shit looking surroundings. Various members of your team were insufferable cunts.
>>339922413
The fact it wasn't finished probably
>>339923286
>>339922413
- Everybody is bi
- The only straight companion won't fuck you
>>339923825
There are actually three straight companions in the game, and none of them will fuck you.
>>339923898
I should've specified that I was talking about romance options.
>>339922413
They tried to make a triple A RPG in 1 year.
>>339923637
Oh, and how could I forget the level recycling. "No, dude. This is totally not the same area you've visited on the last 5 missions. Look how different patch are blocked this time! Thay even say in the dialogue it's a different area! See?". The release was also during EA's height of the "let's make 500 different promo items for liking us on facebook and buying from different vendors" phase.
Frankly, it was insulting to release this POS for full price. It should have been, at best, a mediocre addon.
>>339922413
Time and budget, I imagine. DA2 was meant to be a standalone DLC for Origins unlike Awakening but then EA took over and wanted maximum dosh from sales.
Nothing, it was a good game
>>339923392
Yes, the same culture that also has no concept of family, identity or even personal names has its very own unique name for transgender people.
>>339923392
No they're just super utilitarian. They know nothing good comes from ostracizing a huge portion of their population so they realize the most practical thing is to accept them.
>>339924070
>>339922606
The concept that the more you choose helpful/sarcastic/aggressive dialogue changes Hawke's dialogue as a whole was pretty good.
>>339923637
Really, Arishok was the best part and Qunari uprising with promise of possible invasion later on should've been the entire story of the game. The way it turned out you can clearly tell they had couple of major arcs but neither got fleshed out enough to count as the "main story".
>>339924101
>They know nothing good comes from ostracizing a huge portion of their population
Like all fucking mages?
They don't even have names. It seems like the individual has almost no value in that society. But they have a name for transgender people.
>>339924101
That's retarded.
Sten even stops in camp to speak to female wardens as to why the fuck they've got girl fighters. The entire concept is boob + sword = 404 page not found to him.
Then post DA2 you've got female Qunari warriors everywhere
>>339924257
Because mages are dangerous but trans people aren't you fucking bigot.
>>339922676
>Varrick was good character
>:|
There weren't many games I dropped because the writing got bad. But DA2 was one of them.
I forced myself up to the quest where you find out your mother has a new lover. And when that quest reached its finale it got so absurdly bad I couldn't go on. They tried so hard to go for this gruesome murder plot that your mother fell victim to, but it was to enstranging. You never felt anything for your mother, she was a shallow NPC so the entire drama-drum beating was in vain. And on top of that, this quest too, was once again "A BLOODMAGE DID IT".
I don't know how the game ended, this is where I had to hit the brakes. I heard it only got worse from here but I have zero intent to experience that myself.
Bioware can fuck off.
>>339924343
Mages also have a lot more uses. You know "utilitarians" would love them.
You are beyond retarded. The point isn't that I think transgender people are wrong. The point is that that culture is the last one that should be super accepting. Elves even dwarfs would all be better fits.
>>339924101
>They know nothing good comes from ostracizing a huge portion of their population
Qunari don't give a fuck about that, you either submit and accept your place in society or die.
They wouldn't care and much less give a unique name for MtF/FtM people, they'd be more concerned about your skills and what you can do to benefit the qun.
>If you don't play Rogue Hawke with a bow or download Sebastian literally NO ONE can equip bows
>>339922606
There were a few neat characters, the rival/friend system was cool in theory and having stones/plants be a one-and-done resource you find instead of something you need 50+ of for crafting was borderline brilliant.
But yeah, pretty much everything else is extraordinarily shitty.
>>339924101
>huge portion of their population
>mentally ill
No.
BUTTON AWESOME
DA2 was ok.
>>339922606
I like the boss fights where I have to make my characters hide behind some terrain to make them survive the boss' attacks
DA1 didn't have that
>>339922413I honestly liked DA2 the best. It could use more options in the storyline, giving more options like Origins, but at least they didn't fall for 'le old-school RPG battle system' or 'le open world' memes which crippled other games in the series. And Merrill was the best gir in the seriesl.
>>339924812
>Giraffe neck
>>339922413
EA
It was a great concept that was rushed
>>339924812
She was just stupid. Not in a sense "poorly written" she just made stupid decisions over and over again, and the wondered why results were shit. Let's not even get into how pandering of a WAIFU character she was.
>>339923579
>Jade Empird
>good writing
>Closed Fist is totally not just chaotic evil we swear
>it ends up being exactly that
JE is one of those games where I will never finish an evil run. Most of the time it's just edgy for the sake of being edgy.
>>339924812
This isn't the bizzaro /v/ thread, son
>>339924923
I don't see how anyone could like DA2 the best considering it did nothing better than either the first or the third game. As much as Inquisition bored the fuck out of me, it still did everything better than 2 did.
What the fuck did you find entertaining in that game anon? I'm curious.
press a button, something awesome happens! button, awesome! button awesome!!
Why can't I have lesbian incest with my sister?
what kind of bioware game is this
she and femhawke are the only best girls in this game
>>339925075
Her mentor was even dumber though.
>>339924923
Really, DA2 combat system was an improvement from the original. Problem was people didn't like how they handled encounter designs with ANOTHER WAVE out of nowhere and how they made combat animations ridiculous looking aka Mages are now break dancing while casting their spells and shit.
PURE PAZAAKPURE PAZAAKPURE PAZAAKPURE PAZAAK
>>339922413
Barely one year of development time = cut corners all over the place.
COULD A BLOODMAGE BE BEHIND IT?
>>339924101
>ostracizing a huge portion
LGBT delusion rears its ugly head, I see.
>>339922413
The characters were more interesting, the main plot was less cliche, the combat animations were less stale, mages were less overpowered.
>>339925075
>Only blood mage in the entirety of Kirkwall able to control that shit.
>Wants to help her clan regain knowledge and power.
>Entire clan hates her for being competent.
>Clan leader is a goddamn retard you have to put down.
>Have to slaughter the rest of the retards for stopping a goddamn demon from killing them.
I was happy I could take her home and spin it so she shouldn't give a shit about those morons, and it was a +Friend option even.
Now you want retarded partners, look no further than Anders.
>>339925075
Merril did literally nothing wrong.
>dao anders: i just want a girl, a nice meal, and to use my magic as i see fight. also cats are pretty cool.
>da2 anders: lol hi hawke im a pansexual terrorist now!
>>339924923
wew lad
>>339924976
CAN'T WAKE UP
>>339925147
The characters were slightly better than the cast in Origins and a whole damn ton better than those miserable excuses for comrades from Inquisition. The combat was ok, it's not the point of the game anyway. Side quests were pretty good, outside of recycled locations. Main storyline was exciting most of the time, I very much liked the 'no good guys in this city' theme. No vast (and absolutely useless) open world.
>>339925409
Almost like Bioware's decline is summed up in one character.
>>339925409
His name is Anders, what did you expect from him? Not to kill innocent people?
anyone ever noticed how Bethany has big titties?
>>339925320
>all LGBT people together
>not a huge amount
Just keep pretending.
>>339924101
>They know nothing good comes from ostracizing a huge portion of their population so they realize the most practical thing is to accept them.
>They know nothing good comes from ostracizing a huge portion of their population
>a huge portion of their population
>huge
Trannies are a tiny, tiny minority in a population as huge as ours. They would be even more minuscule among the Qunari.
This is even more retarded considering that the Qunari had strict roles for both genders in the first Dragon Age. A burly Qunari male trying to pretend he's a woman isn't going to fool anyone.
what was even a plot in this shitty game, I am not even sure if I finished it
>>339922869
>It also made me go back to playing Dragon's Age Origins for a while after that so there's a good thing.
I'm playing through it for the first time, actually. I've shuffled through some of the starts and settled on Dwarf Noble Warrior. How fucked am I?
>>339925630
> How fucked am I?
Royally. You'll see soon enough.
>>339925556
>barely 6% percent of the population
>huge amount
The number of people who hate them is far greater than that so including LGBBQ is in no way utilitarian.
>>339925630
>Dwarf Noble Warrior
My absolute favourite Origin, actually. Hope you have fun anon.
>>339925630
Royally.
>>339925737
>>339925849
I've gotten through the intro. I just left that first village place.
Now I have to decide where to go first. I want to spec into Champion as soon as I can; where do you get that?
>>339925737
>>339925849
>>339925589
>Something something gotta make a name for my family
>Suddenly horned men are fucking shit up
>And something about mages too?
>Did that guy just blow up the church??
That's all I can remember from this $60 title.
>>339925767
Nah it's way more than that, especially if you count bi-people. The world isn't as you think it is.
>>339925871
To receive champion subclass, you need to fully complete Redcliff story arc. As for the order of your missions, I strongly advice Circle -> first half of Redcliff (you'll know when it ends) -> elves - > second half of Redcliff -> Orzammar.
>>339922606
This game was still miles better than the abomination they call DA; Inquisition.
>>339923825
>everybody is bi
that's not a bad thing
Did anyone keep count how many times this piece of shit sent us into the same dungeon?
>>339926264
You can really do missions in any order whatsoever, but the second half of Redcliff and second half of Orzammar are a nightmare if you do them too early, especially the last one.
Well, well, well, what have we here? It's my husbando from the intro!...Ouch.
>>339925630
>playing female dwarf
romance scenes are the cutest
>>339926453
Way too fucking many. I remember a dungeon that was literally about nine or twelve interconnected rooms in a shape of a square. Each time a mission sent you there, some of the doors between the rooms were locked, but no other changes happened.
>>339926353
No, it wasn't.
This game was and still is broken, half-finished quests that literally stop midway through it, combat is just clicking the left mouse button while wave after wave of enemies spawn right next to you, artstyle completely devoid of any color or character and one of the worst stories ever seen on this medium.
Inquistion is better because that game is, at the very least, finished.
>>339926578
tfw half the romances in Dragon Age Inquisition are suddenly racist against dwarves.
>>339926453
Literally every quest sent you to the same house, beach or cave, they only changed what doors you could and could not open, hoping that nobody would notice.
>>339926013
>Nah it's way more than that, especially if you count bi-people.
Are you one of those people who unironically believe that no woman is 100% heterosexual or something? That's the only way I could see your statement being statistically possible.
>>339926689
Inquisition suffers from the opposite problem. The developers fell for the open world meme and somehow got the idea that huge but empty locations are better. All of those sidequests that are literally "fetch me this" with no dialogue options whatsoever, just because they decided that a larger amount of quests is better than a small number of meaningful quests.
Still better than DA2, though, by miles, but I simply prefer Origins to both. Just like how I prefer ME1 to increasingly shallow sequels.
Reminder: LGBT keep making up conditions to increase the size of the block the same way blacks add in all the hispanics, asians, polynesians, and everyone else to outnumber white people then promptly forget all those other people exist when it comes to equality talks.
>>339927041
Reminder: This is /v/, not /pol/.
At least I look properly Dwarven now, even if my husbando married some plebshit surface family.
>>339926854
Seems like Bioware can't find a middle road, everyone complained about DA 2 being empty as shit so they filled DA:I with useless collectible shit and fetch sidequests like an AssCreed game.
I'm interested to see if they learned their lesson with Inquisition and if Andromeda is any different, but with the old guard gone and if that survey design "leak" is real with collecting resources around the galaxy and claiming outposts, I'm not exactly holding my breath tbqh
>>339927176
>he didn't get the dog mod
>>339927216
I have the dog as a recruitable party member, if that's what you mean. If not, do tell. I immediately picture my dwarf riding around on a mabari, which is a hilarious visual.
>>339927279
it makes the dog like a Ranger's summoned creatures so it can still join the party if you already have 4 people in your party. I think it also adds more skills to the dog
>>339923579
Just because their society is one thing, doesn't mean there aren't outliers that go against it nor reason to have a word for such people. There's nothing confusing or hard to understand about it unless you're a retard.
loghain dindu nuffin
>>339925407
Merril is the stereotypical Mage hungering for a forbidden power if that Mage was litterally retarded.
>litterally everybody she's known her whole life tells her it's a bad idea to mess with the obviously evil mirror
>does it anyway because muh history (that none of her other people even think is worth it)
>ends up betraying you to a demon when you go to the mirror world (he doesn't even try that hard to tempt her if I remember right)
>ultimately gets her entire clan killed. WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING?
She probably would have been a good character if she just wanted power and the whole retard thing was a act to manipulate people.
>>339927485
This.
Loghain did nothing wrong.
>>339927485
>>339927561
I killed him anyway so I can be king
>>339924101
>Sten has difficulty understanding the concept of women fighting, because it's not the natural way of things
>mages are persecuted even more than they are by the chantry, due to them perverting the natural order
>but trannies are fine
Are you taking me down a Rotterdam race course?
Inquisition sucked because it didn't let you hook up with the best girl just because of guider's weird dwarf bias.
>>339927968
>can't fuck dwarfes because short people are icky and something something pedophilia
>can fuck the giant bara bullman because that's Gaiders fetish
Fucking biased cunt
>>339927771
Sten doesn't understand the idea of women fighting because they aren't good at it. ie it wouldn't be practical.
It has nothing do with what's "natural" whatever that means.
>>339926383
Only when characters are actually attracted to both men and women. But when it's only the player character they want to fug, it becomes stupid.
>>339927431
Did you purposely miss the point, or are you just hard of understanding?
>>339928747
No xer is shitposting
>>339925343
It was literally all her doing/fault, how are her victims the retards?
>>339928905
Not ousting her in the first place
>>339928112
Either
1) Actually play DA:O and listen to his lines
or
2) Stop talking bollocks.
>>339929131
Well, yeah, good point.
I concede, all knife-ears are retards.
Anyone found Alistair to be really fucking annoying in origins? I think its the voice that just makes him come off as whiny and annoying.
>>339929728
eh.
He more was an rather boring character for beeing the most important one after the warden.
Shale, Morrigan and Leliana was cool tho
>>339928539
Yeah, that is illusion breaking.
>>339929728
I fell in love with him tho. Too bad the romance skene was creepy af.
>>339929914
All he does to me is whine about becoming a king I mean i realize that its a huge decision but holy shit shut up and tell your uncle no.
>>339930834
You can harden him, just look it up.
>>339930942
I did then he threw a whole temper tantrum about me wanting to use Loghain as a sacrifice and rage quit taking my bitchin armor and weapons with him.
Bethany, Hawkes mom and Varrick were the only person i ever gave a shit about
That frankenbride quest still stingsI love you mom
>>339922413
Look at the vicious evil capitalistic grin this guy has. That's the same grin of a crazed barbarian at the collapse of Rome as he ran through the city slaughtering everything he saw. This is the type of man who ruined DA2.
>>339931697
Oh please DA2 story being a piece of shit is all because of the writers. In an rpg i can forgive many things if the writing is good. They spent more time pandering and fixing what wasn't broken than writing a good story
>>339931697
Cant ruin what is already shit
>>339932169
Then what happened to make the writers go mad in between DA1 and DA2?
>>339932812
Time constraints, people with skill being fired, people without skill being promoted etc.
Like how they fired the guy responsible for the dwarven noble origin and most of the orzammar political scenes, then kept the hack responsible for the deep roads on
>>339932939
>Time constraints, people with skill being fired, people without skill being promoted etc
Who decides all this? See >>339931697
>>339932939
Hamburger Helper? Why would you want her still on board?
>>339924821
yeah in da2 you had to get out of the way of an attack. of *felt* like actual hit detection was involved.
in da:o if the dice roll hit you could move out of the way and still take damage.
the combat was a bit more polished but it was lackluster in the customization dept. pretty much da:o was better in every other way.
>>339932939
Know what the craziest thing is Origins wasn't even that good, 9 years development time and the world is fucking Barren and characters disappear with no explanation and a lot of filler like what the hell was the fade mission in the circle of magi
The dialogue for playing different races is non-existent.
If you become a blood mage no one reacts.
For some reason people know the details about the joining even though its a highly regarded secret.
The landsmeet was short as all hell
and fighting the archdemon was boring and easy
How do you manage to make it worse in the sequel
>>339922606
At least it was short.
Did the Witcher 2 redefine expectations for the RPG genre?
>>339922413
This game changed /v/ forever.
>>339931629
>Bethany
did you side with the mages then, anon?
>>339933916
It taught /v/ how to hate, how to suspect, how to be cynical. It taught /v/ that devs did not always have their best interests at heart, and that marketing filled the breach for many, but not them.
>>339922413
It should have been a handheld/Ipad game. The standards are a low lower for handhelds (especially graphics and area design), it would have been right at home.
>>339931697
Dragon age 2 had the same development time as Fallout new vegas. Why was New Vegas so good but 2 such shit? Obsidian is competant
>>339934138
It also started the SJW craze, arguably
>>339923637
>No option to tell both sides to go fuck themselves.
There actually is, near the end of the game where you have to make the final decision to ally with either the mages or Templars. If you choose that option, Meredith cuts you off and says, "no, Champion, you have to choose," and then it returns you to the same dialog options for Mage and Templar, with the "both of you go fuck yourselves" option removed. Thanks, Gayder, for the agency.
>>339934041
If you side with the Templars you can actually convince the Templars to spare any mage who refuses to fight back.
Cullen straight up tells the Templar to stop listening to Meredith and start taking prisoners and treat them with respect.
>>339934423
So in the end DA2 is a JRPG, where you can't choose not to help the king
>>339934304
yeah it was amazing seeing EA and Bioware deflect all hate to 2 saying the only reason people didn't like was because they're bigots
I get that it's a regurgitated joke, linear verbatim dungeons, cringe inducing joss whedon-esque writing and biowares typical animation quality, but DAII didn't completely drop the ball.
Gaining disapproval from companions isn't a strict negative. Enemies spawning in waves fixed the obvious spawn/line of sight issues with the first game that broke most of the designed encounters. Rework balancing, like fixing haste and healers.The more tabletop-orientated adventure narrative; characters grounded in a place beyond some static campsite.
Don't get me wrong, it's a shit game, but fix some obnoxious shit from DAO and probably would've been better if it wasn't for the production troubles.
>>339934640
So /v/ became bigots to prove them right ;)
>>339934698
>/v/ was the only forum to despise the game
wew lad
>>339930748
I did absolutely nothing to lead Alistair on, chose friendship at every possible opportunity, but everyone thinks we're married.
>Anora: You're okay with the idea of me marrying Alistair?
>Well, yes, it's my idea.
>>339935212
You just look good together.
>>339934669
>Rework balancing, like fixing haste and healers.
Rules Fixpack is essential for all DAO / PC users.
I didn't like the helmet tweak, though. Luckily it's perfectly modular.
It's always bothered me how shit modern Bioware is at doing introduction segments. They have good ideas, but to be properly done, the intros need to be 2-3 times as long as they are. Bioware either just doesn't know how to properly execute a good intro, or they feel their audience is so ADD-riddled that they can't go more than 20 minutes or so without a fighting sequence, so they cut the intro for that reason.
Take DA2, for example. The game starts with you running from Lothering with your family. You spend maybe 15 minutes with them before one of your siblings is killed, which is treated like some highly dramatic event that I should be affected by. Each of the siblings gets roughly 2 lines of dialogue before this; I don't know them and have no attachment. A better intro would have been to start the game pre-Blight, showing Hawke's life in Lothering. You could go around doing quests for each member of your family, helping each of them with domestic issues, and allowing the player to get to know and connect with them in the process. That way, when Carver/Bethany dies, you actually feel something, because you spent the last few hours with that character.
DA3 is the same. They missed a big opportunity by not letting you play yourself at the Conclave. It would have been a great opportunity for them to introduce new players to the world through action. You would see each of the different races and factions present at the Conclave, could talk with your boss and receive background info on the mage/templar conflict, and perhaps even talk with someone from each side to learn their perspective. Shit, if you wanted to go all-in on "yer the chosen one," you could meet the Divine and spend time talking with her, so that the players actually becomes aware of the significance of the Divine later being killed in the blast. Then the proceedings finally begin, and the place explodes. Instead, the game opens cold, with Cassandra yelling at you, and it's hard to care.
>>339934827
I assume crpg heavy sites disliked it but there aren't too many of those. Who else hated it?
>>339934518
That seemed to be the best ending, at first, but then the game's outro doesn't seem to recognize that. Regardless of whether you kill the mages or spare them, Varric at the end talks about how the Champion violently put down the mage rebellion and became a loathed figure for all mages to rally behind. I remember being indignant at that, because I went out of my way to spare any mage that wasn't actively killing innocent people with blood magic.
>>339935826
That was something that really bothered me about both of those games. Origins gave you a chance to see your character's normal life and react with you friends properly.
Having Carver die on me in DA2 was the biggest "oh that happened, well shit I guess?" Spending all of Act 1 with Bethany helped give some feelings towards her. (In fact she was my favorite character followed by Varric)
>>339936231
Ya it would have been nice if the ending covered that possibility better. But to be fair, the champion DOES put down the rebellion violently. It also gets a passing reference in Inquisition that Hawke spared any mage not performing blood magic
My problem with DA2 was that the mage/templar conflict, the biggest plot point, was so badly implemented. You could tell that they wanted you to side with the mages. Many apostates or circle-escapees were initially portrayed as a lamb, and most templars you talk to came across as literal Nazis oppressors. The one templar even had a final solution where he planned to kill all mages. Then Bioware realized how slanted it was in favor of mages, and decided to make a number of mages into blood mages, to give you some plausible incentive for siding with templars. Problem is, they went overboard and made every mage in the game except for the Hawkes and that Orlesian virgin into blood mages and/or evil betrayers. So my choices effective boil down to (1) side with a group of people who willingly use forbidden magic that almost certainly will result in the deaths of innocent people, or (2) side with Nazis. Sounds great.
>>339936675
>not wanting to side with the nazis
I fail to see how anyone could side with the mages after they were portrayed in DA2 and DA:I. The DA:O mages were fairly sympathetic figures, and you got a sense that while they were inherently dangerous, most of them just wanted to live their lives in peace. The mages in the two other games say that, but as soon as life gets slightly inconvenient for them, they activate the nuclear option and start slinging demons around, resulting in many deaths.
>>339936832
>not playing Mage master race in every fantasy game
>>339937078
Don't you know?
Any group that's perceived as oppressed has the right to destroy anything and anyone in their path to equality.
You literally can't be prejudiced against non-mages :)
>>339937306
Mages are the tumblrest thing ever? They are a minority opressed by evil religious nazis just because they were born a certain way. And they get powerful if they cut themselves.
>>339937306
Half of my fucking team got pissed at me when I told Fiona and her mages that while they could join the Inquisition, they would have to be prisoners. They fucking aligned with Tevinter mages, who made it clear that they were going to help Corypheus take over the world and kill everyone. "But Fiona didn't have any other choice." She had plenty of fucking options, but she choose to side with people that are recognized as evil by pretty much every person in the DA world. So yeah, excuse me for not giving unquestioned Inquisition access to people who, 15 minutes ago, were my knowing and willing enemies.
>>339935917
mostly everybody who wan't a paid critic or a diehard bioware fan
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/dragon-age-ii
>>339937784
If you ally with the mages, the other half of your team gets pissed. The same with the templars - you can either ally with them or conscript them into Inquisition, and half of your team doesn't like your decision.
>>339937765
>because they are born a certain way
also because they can open portals where literal evil flows through?
though the same can be said about jews
>>339922413
Not as much as people act like went wrong, really. Yeah, the graphics were not stellar, but that really wasn't my issue.
Constantly re-used environments, some annoying characters, more linearity than people hoped, enemy combat waves, less tactical/strategic planning involved in the combat and other aspects were rather serious issues. As were parts of the story forcing you into things that were too obvious for the character not to see coming.
However, and I know few people agree, DA2 is my favorite DA.
Hear me out. Listen, I like DA:O's Origins. The main game of DA:O always felt like it was tearing me away from stories I'd rather play out to completion. The origins were the part I actually liked.
DA2 is essentially one big origin. It's not generic clusterfuck of the good guys versus the evil overlord (archdemon) and its dark army.
Yes, the concept of DA2 could have been done better, but I prefer it massively to the shit that is DA:I any day.
So, DA:O's origins > DA2 > DA:O after the origins > DA:I would be how I see the DA series.
I realize that is not what most people think, but the idea of living in a dark fantasy city and working your way up from nothing appeals to me more than, "evil dude ripped a hole in the sky, go stop him." Now, don't get me wrong, I am FULLY aware that DA2 did not execute this concept perfectly, nor even to its full potential. It could have been done massively better. I'm not saying it's some gold standard, I'm just saying how it stands for me within the DA series, not in the realm of gaming as a whole.
If we're talking gaming as a whole, give me Storm of Zehir, Arcanum, VtM Bloodlines, SaGa Frontier, Legend of Mana and games like those over DA2 anyday.
>>339922606
Varric and fem hawke
>>339927561
>>339927485
Loghain did sumthin
>>339925767
>6%
Try 3% at most
>>339925556
>3% of the pop
>huge
>inb4 you count bi people
>>339940350
you can like a setting but admit the story that and gameplay that takes place in said setting is trash and almost origin has a completion within the main game.
Human noble
Dwarf noble/commoner
Human Mage
and the whole plot of origins is getting power and support accumulating in installing your own ruler
>>339940350
>"evil dude ripped a hole in the sky, go stop him."
that happens in inquisition not origins get your shitpost right
>>339941405
Yes. It does take place in Inquisition. And? I wasn't talking about Origins when I mentioned that bit.
>>339941303
The little bit of content in the main story of DAO provided the origins that actually have anything of substance within said main game is minimal. It's not enough. It fizzles them out instead of allowing the full exploration they need. My opinion of course.
>>339925556
You're completely missing the point.
Iron Bull in that scene is specifically talking about transgendered people, which is completely retarded coming from their culture, but in any case, trans people are entirely separate from gay, lesbian and bi people, and they (the trans) only make up between 0.01-0.1% of the population. They are thousands of times more rare than the other 3 LGB people, which make up between 3%-7% of the population.
>>339941994
They all have arcs sorry its in the background of monster apocalypse though
> Playing Dragon Age Inquisition
> Iron Bull wants to join? Fuck you, and keep your degenerate ways and transfaggots out of my holy order.
> Sera wants to join? Sorry, we don't allow mentally retarded children to hold weapons over here.
> Cole wants to join? Go fuck yourself, tumblr waifubait and never come back.
> Only good, spiritually healthy people in my Inquisition.
>>339943712
Coles a great character though. Simply because his sole purpose in creation (he is a Spirit after all) is to make the lives of your soldiers better increasing their morale.
>>339922413
Pretty much everything, I wouldn't know where to begin.
>>339924017
this was the worst
>>339922413
I thought it was okay.
Combat was sort of shit, but it was flashy enough that it fooled me that I was doing something for like half the game. The rest of the things people complain about things I give a shit about. Repetitive dungeons? So what. It's not like Origins had any good dungeons other than the Deeproads either.
>>339928905
Inquisition proved that she was right about literally everything. It's not her fault she was surrounded by retards.
>>339934423
You're playing a character, not yourself. If it's not something Hawke would do, it shouldn't be an option.
>>339946581
>If it's not something Hawke would do, it shouldn't be an option.
whats the point of it being an rpg if my choices don't matter?
>>339922413
Some of the original designers left because of what it was becoming. Not as shit as inquisition andfunif you pretend it's a standalone game
>>339943712
So how many characters did you get in your party?
>>339924213
Why can't they be real? So sexy
>>339946719
You role-play someone vs you role-play yourself interacting with a setting.
Different paradigms. I prefer the first.
>>339941994
On my second playthrough attempt, I picked a female commoner dwarf, gave her modded pink her and pretended that the only reason she wasn't a prostitute like her sister is because she was really obnoxious/obvious. It was amazing, but fizzled out when I had to pick from the same conversation option as my human noble.
My third playthrough attempt was an elf mage who was a huge prick. That also fizzled out because I realised too many of his important decisions would be the same as the first playthrough.
Dragon Age games just aren't made for replaying. Even in II, it only really hits you how little influence you have over the story when you're on the second go-through.
>>339940350
>DA2 is essentially one big origin. It's not generic clusterfuck of the good guys versus the evil overlord (archdemon) and its dark army.
But it IS a clusterfuck.
The three arcs are barely connected due to writer incompetence, the themes are an absolute mess, and the time skips serve to utterly break all flow over your knee.
For example, we HEAR that Hawke is a self made hero, but we never see it, because the fucking time skips cover those part, and his agency gets tossed in the bin in what gameplay we do see.
Tell me, outside gathering money to go on an expedition, what precisely does Hawke do to establish himself in the city? A grand total of fuck all, that's what, yet in act 2 he's already firmly entrenched.
It's the ME2/3 vs ME1 problem all over again. Like Shepard in the later games, Hawke is a reactor, not an instigator. He's always told what to do by everyone else and never takes any initiative outside deciding who he's going to get told to do stuff by
>It's not generic clusterfuck of the good guys versus the evil overlord (archdemon) and its dark army.
DA:O follows the heroes journey to a T. Original? not particularly, but it does
1) Give the player reasonable agency within the confines of a video game
2) Keep a firm plot thread throughout "Enemy is here, Nation is divided, sort that shit out"
That's not getting in to how even the gameplay works to sabotage the narrative in 2.
Example; Evil Templars are shaking down a poor innocent mage, we fight, they pull another 30 Templars out their ass, some of whom are elite warriors.
This sabotages the narrative every time, because the player constantly has to ask why the fuck they brought along so many people when it's clear they don't believe her to be a threat, or any number of illogical actions.
>>339947191
But Hawke isn't an established character like say Geralt idiot for intensive purposes Hawke is blankslate.
>>339947206
>we HEAR that Hawke is a self made hero, but we never see it
What are you talking about? You get to play the deep roads expedition.
>>339947206
>2) Keep a firm plot thread throughout "Enemy is here, Nation is divided, sort that shit out"
That one is bullshit. The enemy waits until you sort everything out, and it doesn't matter in what order you do the regions. It felt disjointed, and it felt pointless. There was no urgency.
It wasn't as bad as Inquisition though, and I'm not saying Origins was a bad game, but that point is not one of its strengths.
>This sabotages the narrative every time, because the player constantly has to ask why the fuck they brought along so many people
Is this the first time you've played a game with random encounters.
>>339947396
But he isn't? You do get to pick one of three Hawks and his situation (human/mage), but the rest was fixed.
>>339947589
And that one expedition somehow justifies him a place with the ears of the nobility, pots of cash and influence in the city.
We never get to see HOW Hawke used the expedition to secure that, we just hit a time skip and he gets it handed to him on a platter
>>339947648
>Is this the first time you've played a game with random encounters.
>random encounters are good
their relics of a bygone ere where it was only made due to technical limitations.
>>339947206
I think Hawke gains so much money from the expedition that Hawke becomes like one of the richest people in the city. Hence the estate literally being at the entrance to the palace. ((Money we dont see a fucking dime of)
I dont agree with you first part but I agree with your second part of the post.
In fact you can take your example one step further. You just murdered 30 Templars, many of them just doing their job, several of them are elites including an officer. Yet no one in the city makes a single comment about how suddenly 30 Templars are lying dead in an allyway.
>>339947648
>That one is bullshit. The enemy waits until you sort everything out, and it doesn't matter in what order you do the regions. It felt disjointed, and it felt pointless. There was no urgency.
you still get random Darkspawn encounters though when traveling the overworld and the starting city where you met Lelianna is destroyed
I just have to fucking ask this goddamn question because I just don't know the answer and it had been boggling my fucking mind ever since I saw the box art case back in 2011 the fucking dragon in the background under its fucking wings where it kinds has like little strands of blood in the back, that's fucking characters of the series right? Or am I just wrong I need to fucking know
I wish more RPGs just followed the entire life of your dude. Dragon age 2 failed bad and the only thing I've played that did it ok was dragon quest 5
>>339947648
>The enemy waits until you sort everything out
congratulations on missing the point.
The prologue town gets wiped out, and you see encounters. You get visions of the darkspawn, and they are gathering in Orzammar.
>Is this the first time you've played a game with random encounters.
A random encounter is, as the name implies, an encounter that is random.
Not some random assholes having a small army on you for no reason whatsoever.
I accept being jumped by thieves in BG2.
I do not accept a thief gang, after having 5 of their number cut down, suddenly decide "You know what guys, let's throw 15 more at them!"
>>339947768
>but the rest was fixed.
No it isn't
Nothing about Hawkes personality, goals, motivation is shown until you get to say anything
>you choose who to romance
>you choose your friends and who to dick over
>you choose your responses
>you choose your fighting styles and spec
>you choose who to save or die
>you choose who to side with
>>339947894
>So much money that he buys a really expensive house
>He's broke after
Realism!
>>339947880
They still existin JRPGs
>>339948089
forgot to add there that, regardless of what you see or are shown, the plot remains the same.
The reasons for your actions remain the same, unlike in 2 which bounces your motivations all over the place.
> There was no urgency.
Now I have to ask if this is your first RPG, because bugger all outside a few tend to punish you for scouring the map.
>>339948213
>They still exist in JRPGs
only in dungeon crawlers which makes snse because of technical limitations and rng
>>339948089
That was the most boggling design decision. Like, a bunch of dudes jumping in from nowhere right after you killed everybody would be barely tolerable in a beat-me-up let alone a RPG with cooldowns.
>>339922606
Female Hawk
Varric is pretty solid but he can get a bit annoying since they really try to sell him as your bff
Rivalery/Friendship isn't bad in theory since you don't just have to suck your companions dicks all day
>>339948428
Not to mention how it pissed all tactical thinking up a wall.
In DA:O, you could position your party to best suit your playstyle, be you in the mood for melee rushes, stealth/traps, selective use of immobilisation spells, AOEs, etc.
In DA2, you couldn't do anything but cluster round the tank, because any second might lead to the game pulling an elite rogue out its ass and one shotting the mage
>>339948213
>Realism
I agree, it was pretty idiotic. But that is a problem in like every RPG though it is usually the other way around. (Cast acts like they have a limited amount of money, a companion may give some coins to another character claiming it is "all they have." Meanwhile I physically cant find things to spend on this money on)
>>339923637
>teleports/parachutes in enemies
Still mad about that one
And yeah the only thing I even remotely liked about Cisquistion was that they acknowledged that Kirkwall was full of assholes and mages are total hypocrites
>>339948176
Some amount of choice is normal in games where you roleplay a character. That doesn't mean the character is you or some sort of "ideal you".
The game organically asks you whether you want to play a sarcastic Hawke, a nice Hawk or a dickhead Hawke.
Maybe this depends on how you played it, but as a mage I never felt like "siding with the templars" was ever an actual option. The rest of the game was the same.
>>339948812
>but as a mage I never felt like "siding with the templars"
and that was...wait for...your stay wothe me now CHOICE
>>339924213
I remember a lot people wishing they could side with the Arishok and burn that degenerate city to the ground
>>339948176
One thing that pisses me off about they way DA2 is told is that the game heavily implies Hawke sides with the Mages during the Cassandra /Varric scenes.
It was really strange hearing Cassandra goes like "Aww it all makes sense, Hawke fled Felderan with her mage sister and they then met Anders" when in actuality my Hawke is constantly stating the Templars are justified and right. (I always saw it that Hawke was a hypocrite when dealing with Bethany because family. Like an actual character flaw)
>>339948770
>In DA2, you couldn't do anything but cluster round the tank
In DA2 my main party was Merril or Varric, Anders and Fenris. It was always a flashy clusterfuck, but I never needed a tank.
The real shitty thing was that you could leave Hawke autobattling and go make a sandwhich, there was absolutely no difficulty.
>>339949149
Varric edited that out.
Rival Isabella wasn't that bad. IIRC she just isn't pardoned of all wrong doings and whore ways but she actually understands she has to work to make things right
Merril was a tard though and Aveline's saving grace is that she wasn't awful not particularly good just not awful
>>339926492
Man Orzammar is great but the Deep Roads were such a chore. Mage's Tower as well if you don't know what exactly to do and when
>>339927216
Man I love Barkspawn but having him as a full on party member was a mistake and DAII went the wrong way of the spectrum by having it be a souless summon that never does dog things out in the world
>>339949471
>going on Mr Fade's wild ride
>>339929728
He can get quite bitchy and preachy but overall not too bad
>>339949471
I was indifferent to the deep roads thought it was neat exploring cities ravage and destroyed by the darkspawn and how they're made etc.. what i despised was the fade who thought that was a good idea?
>>339949471
The Mage Tower itself was shit, but the fade part of it made the game for me. It was a 10/10.
I liked the Deeproads too.
The biggest chores were the two forest maps. I fucking hate wandering through open-worldy forests.
The best thing DAII did was allow to you toggle off helmets
>>339949325
Which would make sense except the fact that a templar siding Hawke sides with the Templars should be known by Cassandra. Yet she acts like Varric telling her in the room was the first time she heard of the results of the city. Which is probably the one thing she should already know
>>339937171
FemMage Renegade siding with Templars is the best playthyrough though. Hell its almost an enjoyable play through is you have netflix running too
>>339949375
>Isabella
>gypsy slut who probably game me an STD
>of course she steals the best chance to save the city and runs away.
Fucking bitch. Never again.
>>339950253
Gotta rival her to make her slightly less of a gypsy
>>339950253
If you friend her or rival her she comes back.
I was shocked when I found out after the fact she doesnt come back for some people.
Who is the best waifu in Dragon Age?
>tfw can't romance Leliana in Inqusiiton
>>339923286
>that look of concern on the blonde guy's face
>>339926013
Nah it's not that much. The world isn't as you think it is.
>>339922413
The biggest gripes are
>dialog wheel
>all the companions are varying degrees of boring
>Carver is an asshole and Bethany is only available if you don't play the best class. Doubly stupid since mage Hawke is clearly who the story was written for
>Aveline is alright. A bit bland, but still a good character
>Varric is alright, feels kinda forced but still the best companion with the best banter
>Isabela's banter makes her seem cool. I never got far enough to run into her though so idk
>Anders, Fenris and Hawke exist
>Qunari chapter exists for basically no reason
>Mages vs Templars chapter is very clearly designed to make the mages the good guys. The entire plot of Dragon Age thus far has foreshadowed and built up to this conflict, and the entire thing says very firmly that "This is wrong. Mages are oppressed and something needs to change."
>Despite this, the mages are shoehorned to be just as bad so they can justify the temllar route or something
The game was obviously intended to build up to Inquisition and provide a background for the mage templar war. It tried to be more than that though, and that was the problem. If they had made it a sort of spinoff or intermission instead of trying to make it Dragon Age 2, then it would have been fine.
>>339950646
Why would you want to steal the Wardens girlfriend? Same for people who want to romance Morrigan.
dragon age 2 is best played being a cuntbag choosing all the sarcastic answers.
I thought about being evil as being the best possible choices for a playthrough but that seems so unrealistic for the series that its hard to believe.
>>339950867
There was nothing wrong with Hawke.
Hawke has a lot of roleplay potential actually. Also a hell of a lot better character then the Inquisitor sense you have a backstory and family members to bounce off of
>>339950830
Does that even matter though?
I'm thinking just now, since Qunari used to basically be muslims, maybe they're like that one muslim country where being gay is allowed only if you undergo gender-reassignment surgery. They think a gay guy is woman who was accidentally born as a man, so if he wants to fuck another man and not go prison, he has to physically turn into a woman first.
I think it was Iran, not sure though.
Maybe Qunari society is like that. It would explain them being okay with transgenders while still thinking women are beneath them.
>>339950973
Warden+Morrigan romance is by far the best option for DA:O.
Alistair is second best, but I still think Morrigan is better. It builds up her character so so much, and it's also an extremely important plot point that matters even in Inquisition.
I went into DA:O expecting to romance Zevran since he was the only gay option, but Morrigan's route ambushed me.
>>339951493
Same here. I still romanced Zevran, but I romanced everyone and Morrigan was first. If I didn't want to see what the others were like I'd have staid with her.
Why does /v/ always want to be the villains?
>>339951345
I dont actually think they are okay with it. Iron Bull was but his entire thing is that he spends so much time away from the Qunari he losses touch with it.
I think he simply states that they have a word for Trans but that doesnt mean the Qunari culture support it. Its impossible for them to support it when their feelings are farmers becoming soldiers is that the farmer is just a farmer who is pretending to be a soldier.
>>339951493
I went with Leliana because Morrigan, though i really liked her character, was not the type of character I wanted to romance.
I thought about trying an Alistair one but getting him married to the Queen made too much sense for me to ever attempt it.
>>339951673
The bad guys look better
>>339951673
it isn't /v/
there is a serious lack of alternate choice games out there because it is super easy to pick something that is "normal" "safe" and "guaranteed to sell" so at least myself, want a different path and ending for chaotic, or possibly evil choices. Most companies won't bother because of what they call a "small subset" of the audience who want choices that matter.
>>339951819
>getting him married to the Queen
God no. Anora is a terrible terrible person. Almost worse than Loghain. I would never make Alistair marry her. It's even worse than making Loghain a warden.
>>339924976
DA2 had necks.
DA3 had "WHERE TO BOOBS GO ON THE HUMAN BODY?"
>>339952254
Its about politics. The people love her and it helps add some legitimacy. It also turns support away from Loghain.
I also never had an issue with her. I know she can be a total bitch in some playthroughs but Ive apparently never picked the options that cause that
>>339952258
No man deserves those sights
The thing that really pisses my off about how shitty DA2 is was how good the concept behind it was. Focusing on family politics in a centralized location, seeing how the city and it's denizens change over the course of 7 years, the mage v templar political controversy, it all could have been a very compelling game. Too bad bioware had to be the ones to make it.
>>339952610
Well she executes Alistair if you put her in charge, and her intent with the rescue mission was to get Alistair and the warden killed. She's beyond bitch mode. She's just evil.
>>339952992
Oh yeah I remember.
They hyped DA2 up as this epic rise to power over a course of ten years.
Nothing changed. Nothing hinted at a time span of ten years. EVERYTHING was static.
Hawke never bothered to remove that shitsmear on his face over ten fucking years.
The city didn't change. The characters and NPC didn't change or age. And holy fuck in ten years Fenris had not even started to attempt to think about not living in a junkyards house.
There was nothing hinting at the progress of time. The game might as well have taken course over a weekend.
>>339922606
the actual mechanics of the combat were better than origins ie. you could actually kite shit
>>339953116
She does? Does that only happen if you let Loghain live? Because Ive never understood how that result is suppose to occur.
Weird because I just dont see those things in my playthrough. She was more then happy to wed Alistair and I didnt get the impression she was trying to get the Warden kill in the rescue mission (but then again, I always broke myself out)
>>339953337
I hear companion AI customization was better to but I didn't monkey with it
It crystallized everything wrong with modern gaming. In promoting it, Bioware has even managed to coin several phrases that define the industry's rot.
>We want the call of duty audience
>Press button and something awesome happens
>Button to skip gameplay
>We decided to go with a more stylized artstyle like anime
>Make it more action packed and hectic for consoles
>>339953298
>Hawke never bothered to remove that shitsmear on his face over ten fucking years.
>started character with a clean-shaven face
>gave him a beard and a scar over the nose in the second arc
>gave him stubble in the third arc
>assumed the shitsmear was Varric's embelishment
Felt good.
>>339953702
>Assumed
It is straight up confirmed in one of the DLC that it is. (Legacy, the important one that is actually pretty decent)
Hawke gets on Varrics case about why Varric always tells the story making it sound like Hawke has a smear on their face and Varric responds basically with "Its funnier that way"
>>339923286
>>339923819
>>339923392
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvIFm6sNrxU&list=FLDWGJjU8fOq8rhqPVYsVybQ&index=13
>>339922606
The combat was good
DAO is the only Dragon Age game worth playing.
And with current Bioware, it will remain so forever.
>>339954718
epic meme
I played dragon age 2 andhad fun
>>339955034
I actually enjoyed it more then Inquisition.
Its not a good game but I dont think its terrible. I had fun with it
My only problem with DA2 was locations. They looked the same.
I also really liked combat system.
>>339954830
Also truth.
>>339955034
Yeah its fun going through the same areas over and over again, you autistic fuck
