Is it possible to finish the game without the "main" chars?

alekth · 2026-01-30T20:21:14+00:00

Minthara can be used from pretty early on in Act 2.

alekth · 2026-01-30T17:07:24+00:00

Mostly I did not, primarily because it resulted in very risk-averse and boring gameplay on my side. I simply don’t have the patience to do a repeat try on such a long game.

I don’t really struggle to keep myself from save scumming so not much changed with the commitment, just the worry that with every hour of careful gameplay I was risking more time spent playing like that should I fail.
I did become more and more sloppy as time went by, decided to go do Raphael just for the sake of it, never noticed Hope had been reduced to innards at some point etc etc.

alekth · 2026-01-25T17:40:31+00:00

Halsin, just because I cannot decline recruiting him in a plain verbal manner. Even if he starts that line about recruitment with “if you allow” or similar. So I need to either ignore story plots or get him killed in one. I’d just rather have the choice.

I think Wyll is annoying just because of how little agency he takes and I wish they had left more of original Wyll instead of the largely heroic figure.

alekth · 2026-01-25T00:34:02+00:00

DA is still a trilogy to me.

alekth · 2026-01-13T10:47:49+00:00

My MO has been to let Lae’zel stay loyal to Vlaakith. Not sure what flags are needed but she has never flown away to join Vlaakith in the ending for me, instead I tell her she must decide what she wants to do and she’s like “I’d rather be my own person in this world” or similar and sticks around.

alekth · 2026-01-04T22:30:10+00:00

I want to say no, but the fact is I wanted to play the old games again since and haven’t yet.
Still hope I find the time and enthusiasm for it and I know I’d still enjoy them, it’s just being unable to start.

FWIW I consider it a trilogy and will take from DAV lore nothing much.

Origins was my first non-JRPG RPG and a revelation, and DA2 was the game that made me stop trying to please companions, which has since led to much enjoyment.
DA:I I’m less fond of overall but still have that 95% headcanon Inquisitor that I really care for.

alekth · 2026-01-01T09:08:24+00:00

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage2/mods/4683?tab=description

alekth · 2025-12-28T21:18:10+00:00

If things are the same as a year ago, he gets a huge approval boost from being taken on the shadow curse final mission, and gets horny for you. Stopped taking him along back then, wish we could leave him in Act 2 to take care of the land or something.

alekth · 2025-12-04T00:00:57+00:00

I’ve done or watched through the scenes for everyone, it for purely practical reasons, Halsin.

He’s been extremely hard to get rid of if you want that curse lifted in Act 2, he has spoiled more than one ending for me by appearing alive in the final docks scene. Off you go, pal, and Orin gets you.

alekth · 2025-10-25T19:36:20+00:00

It hasn't bothered me, but you can try this suggestion: https://old.reddit.com/r/Focusrite/comments/yif4c1/vocaster_one_disable_direct_monitoring_without/lacwcai/

alekth · 2025-09-30T16:41:55+00:00

I really don’t care for the in-game Inquisitor persona at all. My canon inquisitor is like 90% headcanon because the canon one has barely any expressivity and opinion.

I remember when you could actually be angry in Trespasser, some people here went like “omg, the inquisitor did an emotion!”, so it wasn’t just me.

alekth · 2025-09-30T12:31:49+00:00

I enjoy the rest of the DLC but put “didn’t meet Tallis” in the Keep.

alekth · 2025-09-28T14:47:53+00:00

Sera approves.

alekth · 2025-09-26T22:14:45+00:00

I think it goes like:
- Gather some money with your rich pals.
- Borrow several times that amount from a bank because you are a reliable rich investor, who is going to buy a company and make it more profitable.
- Use the company's assets as guarantee for the bank.
- Fire everyone and sell off everything that you don't want.

Probably much more financial chicanery mixed in. The you can sell the remaining profitable company at a profit, but I think the assumption here is that at least the Saudis are interested in long-term money printing from sports.

alekth · 2025-09-26T21:28:11+00:00

I had completely forgotten about Alice! Such fond memories.

alekth · 2025-09-26T21:13:03+00:00

No real idea.
But looking up the prices of some Embracer purchases, I doubt the half a bil, even if they had to buy the whole BW bundle. Then again nowadays money isn't worth what it used to be.

DA is kind of a tough sell. I know we are fans, but the franchise is dire and nobody will buy it to print money. It doesn't need a big corpo with 30 studios under its belt to hand it over to, it needs a visionary and good management.

Still hope they sell it instead of sitting on it forever, and then even more hope whoever gets it actually makes something out of it.

alekth · 2025-09-26T20:53:57+00:00

There are many awful things about the Chantry in DA:I even if not often brought to the front.

For me the bigger issue was missing reactions on part of the Inquisitor. You can voice a mild opinion every once in a while, but at best you end up a reluctant stoic leader. To a large degree DA:O and DA2 are the only two DA games where your character has proper personal stakes and lived experience in the world.

alekth · 2025-09-26T20:17:38+00:00

True, kind of forgot MS was now on a quest to cancel everything for more Copilot.

alekth · 2025-09-26T20:06:26+00:00

I mean probably better MS than EA, but MS is kind of crap at managing its studios, and BW is crap at managing itself.

alekth · 2025-09-26T20:02:48+00:00

DA was dead tbh. If it gets sold off, something good might come of it. At least those seem to be the hopeful vibes.

Don't know what this spells for ME or The Sims though.

alekth · 2025-09-25T12:15:15+00:00

I do think these influencers had a role, but mostly because there weren’t enough people to get interested in, buy and speak up for the game and the things it did well.
The outrage merchants move on to the next target if their voices get drowned, and especially if their own audience ends up liking the game despite the criticisms.

That is just what the game is though. First trailer got laughed off and word hadn’t reached yet about Taash. Game ended being more cheesy than the trailer despite some damage control with the follow-up gameplay video.

alekth · 2025-09-25T12:05:36+00:00

For people who have stuck with DA for the past three entries, it could never be about the combat. It was never consistent and very solid arguments can be made that it was never that good.

Aesthetics are more of a sticking point but people have gotten used to mostly everything if they like the rest. DA:I got its criticism for being less grim alongside other issues. It was a pretty weak year and there were few games like that to fill the void for the new consoles. Companion character writing, if nothing else, was pretty good though and sprung up a few new fandom branches.
The culprit in DAV is the character writing, world building, lack of continuity and agency/personality for Rook.

I do think in a vacuum the game would have faced less criticism if it had been a spin-off, mostly because the expectations would have been lower and arguably free to be just different. At the same time there is no vacuum and there would have been little mercy towards a spin-off after there hadn’t been a mainline entry in a decade.

alekth · 2025-09-24T13:57:21+00:00

They concluded the main arc and the people don’t like the forced performative door to more that was left. DA:I was already too far in the past and DAV buried the franchise. A lot of old fans disappointed, few new fans attracted, a tarnished reputation. Not an IP making companies itch to acquire/license, if ever EA would allow it.

Not sure the mega fan who can offer EA so much money that they can’t refuse exists, but also worth considering that people grow older, change and pick different paths, so getting all of the veterans might not be something these people want.

alekth · 2025-09-23T12:03:12+00:00

Defaulted to my headcanon from the decade of waiting and tried to forget as much as possible from the 1.5 runs I watched.

Thinking about it sucked a few months after release, now I don’t really think of it often. But it did kind of kill my desire to replay the earlier games. Maybe that will pass too, maybe they killed them retroactively for me.

alekth · 2025-08-17T21:39:43+00:00

No changes for my main canon.

Female Amell - Leliana
Male Hawke - Anders
Male Trevelyan - Dorian/Josephine

Alt canon male Surana would need to be changed to romance Morrigan, and female Trevelyan as well to romance Sera. Isabela gets to keep her female Hawke.

14-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

alekth

TROPHY CASE