Dragon Age 2 final verdict
There's a quote from A Song for Arbonne, by Guy Gavriel Kay, that really describes how I feel about DA2: "You took him for all that he was, which was not inconsiderable, and tried not to lament how much more he could have been."
On its own, with very little connection the DA universe, DA2 is pretty good. The dialogue wheel actually works, I like the gameplay, I don't mind the storyline. Also, I love that now you actually do have something like a family resemblance, since your relatives will change their appearances based on which preset you go for and will match your skin tone. (I suspect that if a toolset is ever released, this will make things very interesting for cosmetic mods.)
Just a few things. For one, that is not Anders. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
leviathanmirror and I have decided that he is actually Anders's eerily similar-looking crazy cousin Chuck, who decided to borrow Anders's identity and spirit biffle. And bitch about not being able to have Anders's cat. So if I mention Crazy Chuck, that's who I'm talking about. The crazy hobo impersonating Anders.)
For another, it'd be nice if Fenris would, you know, learn. Maybe a litle. Just a teensy bit. He has a dialogue in which he approves of Hawke or Bethany, but it'd be nice for him to someday say, "Okay, so maybe not EVERY mage is an evil insane awful person out to hurt everyone around them who should be locked up and stuck with hot pokers."
For a third, dear god I hate the redesigns. The dwarves (except Varric, who is just that awesome) all look terrifying. The Qunari look like Orgres. The elves just look like ass (except Fenris and Merrill, who somehow manage to rock the look). And Sandal has become fucking creepy. He was a little unnerving in DAO, but dear god he makes me want to run away screaming.
Also, Cone Of Cold has been turned from a near-game-breaking crowd control spell of awesome... into an incredibly cool-looking and incredibly useless spell of suckitude. On the other hand, now I have Gravitic Ring, Fist of the Maker, and Telekinetic Burst. Suck on that, boss battles!
On its own, with very little connection the DA universe, DA2 is pretty good. The dialogue wheel actually works, I like the gameplay, I don't mind the storyline. Also, I love that now you actually do have something like a family resemblance, since your relatives will change their appearances based on which preset you go for and will match your skin tone. (I suspect that if a toolset is ever released, this will make things very interesting for cosmetic mods.)
Just a few things. For one, that is not Anders. (
leviathanmirror and I have decided that he is actually Anders's eerily similar-looking crazy cousin Chuck, who decided to borrow Anders's identity and spirit biffle. And bitch about not being able to have Anders's cat. So if I mention Crazy Chuck, that's who I'm talking about. The crazy hobo impersonating Anders.)For another, it'd be nice if Fenris would, you know, learn. Maybe a litle. Just a teensy bit. He has a dialogue in which he approves of Hawke or Bethany, but it'd be nice for him to someday say, "Okay, so maybe not EVERY mage is an evil insane awful person out to hurt everyone around them who should be locked up and stuck with hot pokers."
For a third, dear god I hate the redesigns. The dwarves (except Varric, who is just that awesome) all look terrifying. The Qunari look like Orgres. The elves just look like ass (except Fenris and Merrill, who somehow manage to rock the look). And Sandal has become fucking creepy. He was a little unnerving in DAO, but dear god he makes me want to run away screaming.
Also, Cone Of Cold has been turned from a near-game-breaking crowd control spell of awesome... into an incredibly cool-looking and incredibly useless spell of suckitude. On the other hand, now I have Gravitic Ring, Fist of the Maker, and Telekinetic Burst. Suck on that, boss battles!
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To be frank: yes, once I have disposable income again, I will be buying it. Even if I haven't yet. Thank $deity for Pirate Bay, I guess.
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It's a little unsettling sometimes. My mage Hawke is romancing him, and it's totally "Well, I don't think of you as a mage."
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Anders is just creepy. I like your theory; makes much more sense than anything in game.
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And 'Bela turns into a clusterfuck regardless, considering the end of Act 2. She gets better, but. No two romance options aren't fucked.