77 replies to this topic

[EvaineDian]

Ok, so I took a cautious look at the Bioware forums and people don't seem to be happy about DA2. That's good, I sincerely hope that they take it to heart. One can always dream.

This review at Worthplaying.com explains quite well what bothers me about combat (though I don't agree with everything). Apparently there is friendly fire, but only on Nightmare.

Now I also remember what bothers me about the new companion class system - in DA:O, you could customise the NPCs much more. Wynne was supposed to be your healer and Morrigan a shapeshifter, but as I wanted to take Morrigan along, I just turned her into a spirit healer instead. In DA:2, Anders is your healer, Merrill isn't and can't be. Their talent trees are obviously tied to their personalities/backgrounds and it might not make sense storywise to turn Morrigan or Merrill into spirit healers, but I'd like to have the option.

Oh Anders... It would kill me if I had to watch my loved one fall apart as much as Anders does.

[Daulmakan]

Ok, so I took a cautious look at the Bioware forums and people don't seem to be happy about DA2. That's good, I sincerely hope that they take it to heart. One can always dream.

There was quite a riot over at Metacritic. With several unfavorable user reviews coming in as the hours went by and the guys at BiowarEA blaming it all on a coordinated attack by 4chan.

[EvaineDian]

Hah, that describes pretty much what I thought the first few hours in! And I've read a few dev replies on the BioWare forums that reminded me why I usually stay away.

So they got rid of the silly blood you were constantly covered in in DA:O, but what's up with the ridiculous flying body parts in DA2? Why do people explode when they get hit by an ordinary bolt? I thought this might just be Varric joking in the beginning (before Cassandra's "bullshit"), but this continues throughout the game.

Edited by EvaineDian, 15 March 2011 - 03:56 PM.

[princesspurpleblob]

Trust me, I hated DA2 and Bioware with passion before I got into chapter 2. From chapter 2 I got sooo obssessed with it, I've finished the whole game in 3 days time! Couldn't stop myself.

[Kulyok]

LOVED the Arishock. And would totally sign under all words of Anders love, here and in another thread. Can't hurt him, can't romance anyone else, period.

By the way, what's that about Bioware forumers talking about Merrill killing an entire Dalish clan? Has no-one reloaded? I mean, my Hawke chose the bottom reply, the one where she said Merrill's blood magic would hurt no one else, and the Dalish stood down and told me to go. (I had a Dalish Warden import and full friendship with Merrill, but that probably doesn't matter).

I never cared about healers, because I played on casual and only used potions like three or four times at the game. And the only time Anders healed someone was during a battle with High Dragon, when my Hawke had 10% health and was waiting on a healing potion cooldown, and Anders just healed SOMEONE ELSE. I had to run from the dragon in circles.

EDIT: And no one ever mentioned in my game that the Dalish got land in Ferelden. Idiots.
EDIT EDIT: They killed Pol! Bastards!

Edited by Kulyok, 16 March 2011 - 01:29 AM.

[berelinde]

I wound up killing the Dalish and not reloading. First playthrough, I was going with the attitude "Consequences are consequences. No reloads." Of course, I broke that rule when I brought Anders into the Fade and saw how much he did not want Justice to come to the fore, but I regret doing so. I will bring him this time. I guess my resolve crumples where Anders is concerned. How much of a fangirl does that make me?

Speaking of which, when I did Merrill's quest, she never did get the mirror working. I thought she was supposed to get it up and running and then use it to go back into the Fade a second time. Did that not happen because we killed the Dalish?

[Kulyok]

I was hoping for that, too! But it never happened, no. I guess Merrill's quest ends with the murder of the Keeper: it's presumed that the demon is dead and cannot help Merrill. I think there's another thing, though: Merrill's "Questioning Beliefs" dialogue triggers BEFORE her quest in Act 3, it's bugged. And I've seen it at the forums that because of the bug, we may have missed a dialogue or two. I don't think so, though, because in Act 3 NPCs only have three banters(pre-quest, post-quest and Questioning Beliefs), and Merrill had all three.

Dragon Age wiki says Merrill would shatter the Eluvian - probably that's the missing dialogue we never got.

The dates really, really don't work: if Merrill had the mirror in her possession in Year 4, shatters it in Year 7, and Alistair says the Hero of Ferelden(who went through the mirror in my game) should be in Denerim in Year 7, then when do Hero and Morrigan walk through the mirror? The only explanation I have for that is "bad import flags", because "Finding Nathaniel" quest doesn't seem to work for this import, either.

Anders Romance Start:
Funny thing about Anders: I experimented with his dialogue in Act 1, and it turned out that all those guys who scream: "Anders flirted with me even though my Hawke did nothing to encourage him!" - they may have been sort of right, actually. Anders flirts with my female Hawke, even if she never flirted with him before. (It's the dialogue that triggers after Karl's quest; the one you get when you click on Anders again after his post-Chantry dialogue). Regardless of what Hawke says. It's the dialogue when Anders says he will hurt Hawke.

[Darziak]

So I met Zevran and he was like.

Edited by Darziak, 17 March 2011 - 05:59 AM.

[Daulmakan]

So I met Zevran and he was like.

He becomes a frog encased in ice?

[Darziak]

The dates really, really don't work: if Merrill had the mirror in her possession in Year 4, shatters it in Year 7, and Alistair says the Hero of Ferelden(who went through the mirror in my game) should be in Denerim in Year 7, then when do Hero and Morrigan walk through the mirror?

Doesn't Merril have the mirror that's found in the Dalish Origins which Duncan shattered and Morrigan found another intact mirror?

He becomes a frog encased in ice?

I just finished and so my excitement for the game started off on a deadline but rose to the top when I got to Kirkwall and then was at midpoint after the Qunari until the last fight which was pretty awesome.

Kinda confused when Cassandra says he's gone just like the warden even though my Warden took out the Archdemon himself making him dead.

Holy crap Anders you blown up the Chantry with a giant lazor, now I'm gonna kill ya. Well I felt like that anyway.

I sided with mages since I didnt want my sister or Hawkes love Merril to be killed. Fenris sided with templars which I guess I saw that comin.

Final party Male Rogue Hawke, Aveline, Bellany, Merril.

[EvaineDian]

The dates really, really don't work: if Merrill had the mirror in her possession in Year 4, shatters it in Year 7, and Alistair says the Hero of Ferelden(who went through the mirror in my game) should be in Denerim in Year 7, then when do Hero and Morrigan walk through the mirror?

Doesn't Merril have the mirror that's found in the Dalish Origins which Duncan shattered and Morrigan found another intact mirror?

Yes, that's what I thought and the Dragon Age Wiki says so, too. As I understand it, the Warden uses a shard of the Dalish Origin's (=Merrill's) mirror to find Morrigan who in turn has found a different Eluvian which she then steps through. How and when the Warden's shard gets to Merrill is a mystery to me, though, it still doesn't work out properly. The Wiki says Witch Hunt is set "more than two and a half years since the death of the Archdemon"... which doesn't really work with the timeline in DA2, does it?

Kinda confused when Cassandra says he's gone just like the warden even though my Warden took out the Archdemon himself making him dead.

I was lucky, but some people report that they have problems with flags not being set correctly, maybe this is such a case?

Edited by EvaineDian, 16 March 2011 - 02:05 PM.

[berelinde]

Continuity? Never heard of it.

[princesspurpleblob]

Of course, I broke that rule when I brought Anders into the Fade and saw how much he did not want Justice to come to the fore, but I regret doing so. I will bring him this time. I guess my resolve crumples where Anders is concerned. How much of a fangirl does that make me?

Oooh, what do you mean Anders didn't want Justice to come out?? I want to know! I'm about to do quest soon as well. Do you leave Anders outside of Fade or take him with you?

[Darziak]

I was lucky, but some people report that they have problems with flags not being set correctly, maybe this is such a case?

Most likely the case.

Oooh, what do you mean Anders didn't want Justice to come out?? I want to know! I'm about to do quest soon as well. Do you leave Anders outside of Fade or take him with you?

Well Justice takes control of Anders while in the fade.

I would recommend not to bring Merril or she'll betray you, rather upsetting my lover joined the demon side. Yet she never died in the real world.


Speaking of love my Hawke does alot of loving offscreen as merril finds it uncomfortable while the dog is staring.

[berelinde]

Of course, I broke that rule when I brought Anders into the Fade and saw how much he did not want Justice to come to the fore, but I regret doing so. I will bring him this time. I guess my resolve crumples where Anders is concerned. How much of a fangirl does that make me?

Oooh, what do you mean Anders didn't want Justice to come out?? I want to know! I'm about to do quest soon as well. Do you leave Anders outside of Fade or take him with you?

Pretty much what Darziak says. Anders knows that he barely has Justice under control in the material world. He is not sure what will happen in the Fade, but he knows it won't be good. When you get there, Anders is gone. Completely gone. He is 100% Justice. From what Kulyok says, the followup converstion makes the whole thing worthwhile, but if you are going to take Anders with you, it might be a good idea to save before you go talk to Ariana in the Alienage.

[princesspurpleblob]

I did take Anders into Fade in my first playthrough, but I don't remember any dialogue from Anders before we entered the Fade. Justice was the only one who didn't betray me in Fade. Both Fenris and Aveline did. They did not like being in Fade at all =\

[berelinde]

Hmm, I had 2 people betray me, Isabella and Fenris. Probably because I brought the 2 I used least. This time, I think I'll use the console to make sure that Anders has less friendship than Varric so I can see what happens if he betrays me. I tell you, when it happened last time, I really freaked. I remembered that if you die in the Fade, you're tranquil forever. Guess that doesn't happen if you aren't a mage... but Anders is a mage! Oh noes! Yeah, methinks I'll save first.

You don't remember Anders saying "I don't know what's going to happen to me in the Fade?"

[princesspurpleblob]

Ah, yes I do remember. I took Anders to Fade anyway, but I didn't try out all dialogue options. Aveline actually had highest friendship with me when I took her into Fade she still betrayed me. Maybe they all betray you, except for Justice?

EDIT:

I just looked up rivarly path romance with Anders (since I can never do it myself). It makes NO SENSE. Basically, the dialogue options are pretty much same, except for the cutscene that triggers passionate kiss between Anders and Hawke. If you've been romancing Anders in rivarly path, he is on his desk writing menifesto to convince you to see how mages suffer, instead of putting out milk for cats. Anders basically says he hates you but can't stop thinking about you at the same time. How does that even make sense? After that, he kisses you and everything is same as friendship path romance. He says he will come at night if your door is open etc. That's rather silly. It seems Bioware is just trying to give a chance for everyone to romance all 4 possible romance options regardless of what gender you play and friendship/rivarly.

Edited by princesspurpleblob, 16 March 2011 - 06:21 PM.

[Daulmakan]

He becomes a frog encased in ice?

You probably can see your image, but this is how your post looked to me:

[princesspurpleblob]

Conducted some experiment in Fade.

Isabella, Merrill and Varric - Varric didn't betray me.

Aveline, Fenris and Varric - again Varric didn't betray me. Funny tho. In my 1st playthrough when I took Fenris he was mad at me saying part of it is my fault to take him to Fade. This time he didnt. Must be something got to do with rivarly/friendship.

Fenris, Merrill and Isabela - Fenris didn't betray me.

Fenris, Aveline and Anders - Anders didn't betray me.

Only time when Varric betrayed me was if Anders is with me. Anders never betray you unless you take up offer from Sloth demon.

So it seems Isabella, Merrill and Aveline are the easiest target.

Varric and Fenris can avoid betrayal depending on who you take.

So you get decent amount of friendship if varric or isabella betrays you. Fenris I'm not too sure about. You can get whole heap of friendship from Merrill if she betrays you, but you gain more rivarly depending on dialogue options you choose in Fade. You get some friendship with Aveline if you decide not to take Sloth demons offer, but I don't think its really worth it since you gain rivarly no matter what you choose when she betrays you.

EDIT: wiki says Aveline and Isabela is the only ones getting tempted by Desire while Fenris, Merrill and Varric gets tempted by Pride.

I wonder what will happen if you take say Isabela, Aveline and Anders - no one gets tempted by Pride then? Who will easier target between Isabela and Aveline?

And if you take Merill, Varric and Fenris then no one gets tempted by Desire? I know Merrill is easiest target for Pride but Between Varric and Fenris, I wonder whos more easily tempted.

Edited by princesspurpleblob, 16 March 2011 - 09:07 PM.