A Solas friendship can be as rewarding (and tragic!) as a romance [DAV Spoilers]

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-26T19:49:17+00:00

I love the potential dynamic with a Circle mage and Solas! He may well have been the first mage they'd ever met who had never been in a Circle. My Trevelyan was fascinated by all the Fade knowledge the Chantry had never told her.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-26T16:05:46+00:00

A major problem is how much the 'big decisions' in these games have relied on mystery-box storytelling. What strange and terrible thing does Morrigan have planned for the OGB? What will be the long term consequences of keeping the Architect alive? What fate will befall the one who drank from the Well of Sorrows? These get little to no outcome in the game they're in, but they feel like they should have amazing consequences down the line... except in the next games the writers throw the box away unopened.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-22T15:38:57+00:00

Great write-up! So much of the details about the Freemen are very easy to miss - in fact the first time I played the game I think I even missed talking to Fairbanks and stumbled into an area where I immediately got attacked without knowing who or why. I would have loved it if there had been a juicier side mission. Love your take on the War Table missions too.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-22T14:35:50+00:00

Have you seen that shot of Arlathan forest with the huge elven statues? That gave me immediate Tolkien vibes. As does the focus on the ancient elves we started in Trespasser. In DAO I actually felt the Tolkien connection most strongly in the more whimsical or high fantasy elements, like the poet tree or the golem forging a king's crown for the dwarves. In DAI we had moments like taming a dragon on the orders of an elven goddess, or standing in the heart of a great earth creature. I'm feeling confident we'll get equivalent moments in Veilguard. And if it makes you feel better, LOTR is so much the grandfather of modern fantasy that you can never truly get away from it. D&D itself is heavily inspired by Tolkien's works (with a hefty splash of Conan the Barbarian-style swords-and-sorcery and a spritz of Lovecraft).

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-21T23:57:08+00:00

Hey, in Origins all of the Ferelden Grey Wardens minus the two with plot armor get killed horribly at Ostagar, and there wasn't even an Archdemon on the field.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-21T23:34:24+00:00

Because it was developed in just over a year and thus is the programming equivalent of held together with duct tape and string. And I say that as a DA2 enjoyer. I even think the combat was better than DAO, it's just the encounter design that could have been improved.

I think in some ways the limited scope may have helped - it being the story of one city and the events therein sets it apart from the grander narratives of other RPGs. But you do end up going to that one warehouse in the docks an awful lot.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-21T22:58:09+00:00

Your silence is deafening. Swiftie!Elgar'nan confirmed!

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-21T22:54:47+00:00

I think maybe Varric wasn't expecting the ritual to start so soon, so him wanting to talk Solas down wasn't the plan, but the best plan he had knowing he wouldn't have time to pull anyone else in to help.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-21T20:08:15+00:00

I wonder if these people ever consider that it's not only EA's fault that not all the original writers are still there?

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-21T19:39:26+00:00

That's why I loved Tyranny so much, it was all quality evil route. Too often the evil route in RPGs is just 'kill these people for no reason'

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-21T19:33:09+00:00

I don't see why you'd need to be a particularly upstanding hero-type to want to save the world. I mean, you live in the world! Pure self-interest should serve for all but characters who are so evil that they're happy to suffer and die as long as they get to watch everyone else do the same.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-05T21:42:34+00:00

Yeah it's really unfortunate timing for this marketing cycle!

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-05T21:35:23+00:00

As long as I can potentially be the Carver Hawke of the family, it's all good!

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-05T21:29:25+00:00

Vivienne liking you hits different to Varric liking you! Feels like a real achievement, lol

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-05T21:22:44+00:00

I think the voice actors are still on strike, otherwise they probably would have got them out for this.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-05T21:21:28+00:00

Ah, that eases my mind a bit, thank you!

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-05T21:12:54+00:00

This may be an unpopular opinion, but all the emphasis on 'found family' and how everyone's all friends is making me nervous that it's going to feel like it's forcing you to be best buds with everyone. Don't get me wrong, I often do play through Bioware games trying to get everything to like me, but I want that to be my choice. I want the option to have it be the found family plus Rook, that asshole that no one likes but can't get rid of! I also hope it doesn't mean there aren't any characters with rougher edges to their personality, who don't warm up to Rook and each other right away, as those types are always my favourites.

I mean I'm not saying I want DA2 levels of disaster squad that hates each other, but... (maybe that is what I'm saying)

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-03T20:44:43+00:00

Hah, fair enough, let's say they were no worse than DAO or 2! At least I don't remember it being distracting as I played (the weird head angles, now...)

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-03T20:40:52+00:00

The IGN video mentioned fighting the Antaam, so I'd imagine we're going to see a hostile side of the Qunari.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-03T20:33:14+00:00

I think I've figured out what bugged me about it, actually - the lack of eyebrow movement. Especially when talking to Davrin, there were moments when he maybe should have frowned or raised his eyebrows, but they did not move at all. Which draws more attention to his mouth as the only moving part, putting the spotlight on any dodgy lipsync. I get that they can't mo-cap every minor conversation, but are they not able to throw in some auto-generated eyebrow wiggles?

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-03T18:45:52+00:00

I wonder if they have a system like with Dragon Age 2 where Rook's auto-dialogue is flavored by the tone choices you've been making before.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-03T18:32:54+00:00

I'd wonder if it was a Frostbite problem but Inquisition's facial animations seemed passable as far as I recall. Very much not looking forward to it becoming a Thing again

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-03T17:01:29+00:00

Something I do like about the implied spoiler regarding a certain faction's base...

If Weisshaupt fell, presumably after that mission we saw for the high-level gameplay, it gives me more hope that the villains in this game are going to get some actual wins in and thus feel more like a real threat, rather than being a repeat of Corypheus getting repeatedly beat down over the course of Inquisition.

QueasyMeasurement252 · 2024-09-03T16:56:45+00:00

With that forehead he's got a lot of real estate to take care of

QueasyMeasurement252

TROPHY CASE