[ SECRET POST #1534 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1534 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 108 secrets from Secret Submission Post #219.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 2 3 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 - too big ], [ 1 2 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[shinshokuinsane.livejournal.com]

Act 3: Should have been resolving the qunari problem. As for the Act 3 we got, .... uh. It just felt incredibly underdeveloped. And Anders. God. I don't even know what to say about that. Also, the companion quests got kind of weak. Sure, Anders got his and everything, but I felt the ones for Varric, Fenris, and Aveline were disappointing, which is a shame because those were definitely my three favorite characters.

ENDING: The fact that you don't get the equivalent of the post-coronation scene in DAO is, I think, one of the biggest failings of this game. I wanted a bit more closure, even if it's just a few goodbyes. One last chance to solidify/break a romance, characterize a friendship, what have you. At the very, very least there should have been one last discussion with Varric, and ideally the results of that conversation should have impacted the conclusion to Varric's tale. (Even choosing one of a list of pieces of advice from Hawke to Varric. That alone would have been cool.) Also, disappearing into the wilds? Not only did this not really make sense and seem unnecessary, but a better option would be to have the reason for the disappearance be specific to the companion who went with you (maybe just "left" if Hawke didn't have anyone else somehow.) Like, "He went off to visit the Ferelden Dalish with Merril" or "she and Isabela went off sailing". Varric could end with, "Of course, we never expected it'd be this long... in fact, we don't even know if that's where s/he really went." That would have been more satisfying to me. Still just dialogue, so it shouldn't have been that hard to include.

---

NEXT POST: Companion thoughts (the fun stuff)!

Oh my god this is so long, I'm sorry!

[case]

I'm reading! The only part I disagree with is the reversals of Act2/3, the mages/templar thing sort of HAD to be the final breaking point after all the buildup. I do think they should have tied the Qunari dilemma into the mage/templar thing more, though, since obviously that was the main plot, and the Qunari thing ended up feeling like... one huge sidequest instead of something that added to the chaos. The only thing it impacted is Meredith taking over after the Viscount died, and... that's it.

And yeah, the assumption that you'd played DA:O made up a lot of the fail. There was a lot of stuff you'd never have known if you hadn't played the first game and while yeah, DA2 was a sequel, it's still shitty writing. The epilogue was so short and disappointing, just wtf "they all left" well OKAY GREAT, that's it? You don't even get to talk to them after? Flemeth randomly being there then NEVER BEING MENTIONED AGAIN EVER was completely random/disappointing, too.

DW, I really like the game too so I know where you're coming from - if you didn't LIKE it you wouldn't see how much better it COULD have been

[shinshokuinsane.livejournal.com]

Hmm, yeah. I can see that, definitely. Well, I guess my main thing was that somehow Act 2 and Act 3 needed to tie together better. I didn't feel like I'd particularly saved the city, just that I'd restored an earlier save or something and now everyone was kissing my butt. (Also I love how the city spontaneously lights itself on fire whenever drama's afoot.) The quanri barely accomplished anything noteworthy, as you mentioned. Seriously, the viscount could have died of old age or the flu or an infection or whatever and seriously nothing would have been different. Same power vacuum, same old same old.

The epilogue still... rubs me the wrong way so bad because it SHOULD have been one of the EASIEST things to add. Just write some more lines and have the VAs read them! You didn't even have to make a new dungeon (hah), or a new creature, or even any new characters. All you had to do was have your companions standing around--as you did before the big fight, or as they used to, just around town a few weeks later or something--and make them converse!

Also, I didn't even see why Flemeth was there. I was convinced she could survive my killing her in DAO, magic amulet or not, because she's some massive amazing magical force. That was the LAST thing I needed explained. However, as I noted, she could have been an awesome questgiver and added a lot of richness to the world, adding her ancient and wise/crazy/evil perspective on matters.

As I said, I enjoyed this game a ton, I just... I just wish they'd had more time and smoothed out some of the writing issues. It ended up a guilty pleasure, but it COULD have been truly great.