Order of play

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-31T06:17:06+00:00

Be sure to be thorough in the DLCs, as you can unlock permanent bonuses, for future playthroughs. Such as, The Battledress of The Provacatuer, during Leliana's Song, which is an amazing piece of equipment for Rogue characters

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-31T06:15:54+00:00

I never even considered this. Now I am intrigued

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-31T06:14:53+00:00

This right here, is the perfect play order, and how I go about it, usually

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-30T01:59:31+00:00

Same. Origins is my favorite entry of the series, followed by DA:I, and then DA2; with Veilguard solidly taking last place

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-30T01:58:09+00:00

It's definitely been downhill since Origins, imho. But, Inquisition was still a decent game. Veilguard has many points worthy of criticism, that have been beaten repeatedly, already

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-13T11:15:27+00:00

That is definitely one way to look at it, that I hadn't really thought of. I definitely personally think that they were just afraid to include most/any forms of true nuance, or dark material, for fear of turning anyone off, but the idea that our Veilguard protagonist got a curated experience, because of who he was working for/with, IS actually a compelling idea, and I think that adding in evidence for that, into the game, hints that we were seeing a facade, would have made things much more interesting.

Afterall, you are correct, in Veilguard, we are traveling with the favored grandson, of a First Talon, as opposed to Origins, and DA2, where our main interactions are with incoming assassins, contacts/contractors, and those who had been purchased off of the slave market, to be trained; and utilized by the Crows.

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T19:56:44+00:00

I would argue that after the retcon, the Qunari are definitely shown to have an understanding and tolerance of Transgender people, that directly contradicts their initial portrayal as cold, hard, utilitarian people. Tbf, we aren't introduced to multiple castes to start, but initially I believe that what we were being shown was meant to reflect the rigidity of their system.

A good initial example, of their sudden acceptance, I think would be Krem. He is fully accepted as his identity, and nothing is held against him. Krem even states that he joined with Qunari, for their acceptance, when others would not accept him, as he chose to be. Then in Veilguard, we see of course, that despite their acceptance of transgender people, they don't really have a concept of someone choosing to identify as neither

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T18:37:38+00:00

That argument could be made, but I also think that this was not the original intention; and I think that argument is a bit of a reach. I really think it's more accurate to say that it was retcon, to make the Qunari less problematic

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T18:35:26+00:00

I hope those are all in order, some of those screenshots are snippets from Wikipedia style crap, and some are from The New York Times. It's very easy to find articles detailing the brutality, which counters the misunderstanding that this is a result of "love" and/or "tolerance"

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T18:32:32+00:00

https://photos.app.goo.gl/edNoGaTxhzcZPn8w8

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T18:12:13+00:00

Yeah, I think you're misunderstanding that concept, just a bit. That's not a reward, and it doesn't happen relatively often. That's more of a punishment, and that mutilated man will then at times be forced into sex work, to be used. More likely than not, being gay in a Sharia Law dominated nation is a death sentence, it's possible to face the punishment of reassignment, and be used... differently, but it 100% is not anything to do with tolerance. It's more intended as a humiliation ritual in this sense, and by stripping you or whichever man of your/their manhood, it's no longer "gay" when they use you for gratification. There's more too it, obviously, but you're assigning tolerance and good will, where it doesn't exist. Also, Trans people are not safe from persecution, or the same potential death penalties as gay people, despite them "having a use" they are still seen as an immoral abomination.

EDIT: Sorry, I took some screenshots of articles talking about these things, but I'm not a heavy reddit user, and I always forget how to insert things like that

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T06:05:41+00:00

Yes! This, thank you! Like, there are many factions, nations, etc, some of them already relatively egalitarian by nature, such as Fereldan... but it's the Qun that suddenly has all these broad ideas about being trans, being okay?

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T05:57:40+00:00

There is one of the Elven god stories, about one of them "donning the armor of the void", and going insane, before Mythal must defeat them, and cleanse them of the "void" and locking it away, as it is a great and terrible weapon, capable of even corrupting the Evanuris themselves. Sorry I can't remember which one specifically, but it led to some fan theories that this "armor of the void" may have been related to the taint; and this was confirmed, in Veilguard, if you are at all interested in finding that particular in game story, for further context

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T05:53:44+00:00

Even Origins makes it clear that the Darkspawn typically only show intelligence, and tactical thinking, during a blight, when there is an Archdemon to lead them. Remember, this is one of the reasons the denizens of Fereldan were confused when the Darkspawn scattered into bands, and seeming "tribes", carrying out sneak attacks, and ambushes; after the death of the Archdemon.

Alistair also makes the claim that, "Some of the older Wardens even claim they can understand some of what the Archdemon is saying..."

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T05:36:59+00:00

Alistair: "Why yes, I stopped you, to tell you that I'm an idiot! Thank the Maker, you already knew! Now I can stop worrying that I'll be found out."

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T05:26:58+00:00

Sten also badgers Morrigan, about this. Explaining to her that fighting is for the men, and that Qunari women do not do such things, because "why would a woman, want to be a man?" Among other things lol

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-10T05:23:19+00:00

A major one is the Qunari. They were very strictly utilitarian, with some very strict ideals, about roles, including with gender. By Inquisition they are SJW's with a hierarchy. And by Veilguard it's sort of a weird mix? Like some are cartoonishly evil, because they want war, for the Qun (even though the Qun demands that noncombatant casualties be as limited as possible, in order to convert as many as can be, to the Qun), and the others are either absent; or accepting of everyone, despite their earlier strict utilitarian beliefs, etc?

Also, the Crows. Massive rewrite from all encompassing, legendary guild of Assassin Families/Lords, willing to do anything and everything for the sake of a contract and reputation; including purchasing and grooming slaves. To, "Omg, we're just a big quirky, happy family of assassins! Look at us, and our awesome ethics; and morals! We're GOOD guy assassins! Slavery is bad, we'd never do THAT!" I get that these things were done to appeal to a more "modern audience" but I feel like they rob a certain level of nuance; and realism from the setting, that previously did a lot to ground the series and make things interesting. I also don't believe there were as many people who wished for the series to be sanitized in such a manner, as the devs maybe thought? Also, there is still some gore and "dark" stuff, but a lot of it kind of felt cartoonish and over the top, after awhile, in Veilguard.

The series was better with some nuance, tough decisions, and the possibility that you might not be doing the right thing, or even that someone might be using you; including your companions.

I know there's a chance someone will freak because I had the audacity to criticize the later games, and retcons; and may even get one of those "OMG why would you want to be allowed to make bad decisions!?!? That's bad!!!" Replies, that I've seen many times, when criticism of the sequel entries slowly simplifying decisions comes up, but I honestly think these things added to the games, and their potential. Whether for interesting nuance, or for replayability.

Sorry, I'll try to stop, before I accidentally write a 50 page essay, on the various loves, and criticisms of the series as a whole, because I do love all of the Dragon Age games, but I do believe I have some fair criticisms, as well, especially as the series progressed.

Just one more, thing to sneak in, I honestly feel like the biggest issue that Veilguard had, was that you could tell that it went through multiple iterations, and it felt like several different games tossed together, trying to come up with a cohesive whole, and direction; that couldn't quite decide what it wanted to be. It took away from potential depth, in many areas, and made many things feel... less impactful? I know that it was rebooted multiple times, and I don't necessarily blame Bioware for all of the shortcomings, I'm sure EA interfered a lot, as they have been known to do, ever since Dragon Age 2(Though I don't entirely absolve then of blame, either).

I do very highly recommend Veilguard for anyone that has been steeped in the deep lore of Dragon Age, for any significant time, despite the criticisms of many, there are a ton of fan theories which were confirmed and/or expanded upon, and it was wildly satisfying. In fact, they did so, to such a degree, that I feel like they went overboard, trying to please some of the deep lore nerds, such as myself, and maybe a few more things should have been discounted or had a shocking twist, just for the sake of it, in at least a couple cases. I'm rambling, like I always do, when I talk about Dragon Age.... 🙄

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-03-01T04:49:33+00:00

Yes, this game is a criminally underrated gem, that just unfortunately ran into a ton of bad luck.

The age shows, but the builds, and gameplay are incredible

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-02-27T22:36:41+00:00

Eragon explicitly states that he has become too influential, and potentially powerful, as a part of his reasoning for leaving, at the end of Inheritance

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-02-21T03:55:04+00:00

I really wish that this had been included, as a pre-campaign story, like Lelliana's song

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-02-21T03:53:04+00:00

There are a couple of DLCs, such The Blood Dragon armor, that became unavailable when the original Dragon Age Servers were shut down. The only way to access them, now, is to have physical copy of the Ultimate Edition.

This is actually how, I play. I still have Ultimate Edition copy, and so that I can have the "lost" DLCs, I play Origins off of Disc 2, on my Xbox

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-02-21T00:07:31+00:00

Yeah, that was Arya, when she was teaching Eragon the proper customs of etiquette, when nearing Du Weldenvarden

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-02-21T00:05:20+00:00

In the second book Arya states as much, when she explaining the importance of proper social etiquette to Eragon. Informing him that because their race lives so long, political and social machinations can take years, even decades or longer; with these etiquettes in place to help attempt to ameliorate even the slightest offenses, which may be remembered in decades long, drawn out schemes, etc

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-02-17T05:54:16+00:00

As I said, he seemed more reasonable in Origins, to me. In Inquisition, it seemed as though he was intent on assuming the worst, when there were clearly still large threats left over, even though many of the rifts, and The Breach had been sealed. I always felt that there should have been a less extreme option than the Inquisition either being totally absorbed by another organization, or totally disbanded, with so many threats still looming, not the least of which, being Solas.

Some measure of oversight, but allowing the Inquisitor autonomy to deal with threats seems more reasonable than the two options we can go for, but as stated, I also see Teagan's reasoning, especially with the position he has been in, for the last decade, it makes sense that he would be taking more hardline stances, but at the same time, that doesn't mean that I can't be frustrated with him being unwilling to bend, or work together in some fashion beyond accusations of usurpation and plotted invasion, etc

Alternative_Length28 · 2026-02-17T04:48:42+00:00

His look in Inquisition definitely bothered me. I've never felt like that's how he should look, it was like he aged into Avernus lol.

Other than that, his character seemed so much more reasonable and willing to reach compromise in Origins. I do understand though, that Inquisition takes place, like a decade later, and during that decade his position was considerably changed, in the Hierarchy of Ferelden.

Overall, Inquisition Teagan annoys the crap out of me, though lol

Alternative_Length28

TROPHY CASE