Dragon Age 2

[drothgery]

I'm through act II so far, and mostly liking it, though any hints of the overarching plot that have leaked through into acts I and II are a bit confusing and spoilers I've seen about what one character will do no matter what have made it impossible for me to use that character unless I think my party would be in serious trouble (and after getting killed by the third wave of mooks in a sidequest or intermediate-level fight one too many times, I've given up and left the game at casual difficulty; I'm not going to micro-manage combat in an action RPG). Not a big fan your PC's love life, though.

[sblock=ooc]
Really, assuming you don't buy any DLC, you can romance...

Merrill, who looks like jailbait and is secretly crazy
Anders, who has voices in his head and is plotting the revolution
Fenris, who is openly crazy
Verric, who is a dwarf or
Isabela, who is a pirate and a thief

So Caitlin Hawke is sleeping with Isabela, and has done some things she probably wouldn't have if she were not. But really, if your PC is sane then I don't think you've got a lot of options here.
[/sblock]

 

[Sutekh]

Ive over looked it , but was there a point to Flemeth being in the game? Or Zevran or Alastair?

They could of used any god/ supremely powerful being to get you from Ferelden to Kirkwall. Any. Flemeth felt like she had been thrown in for a cameo appearance. As did Zevran and later Alastair. I get exp from meeting Al? Awesome.


The weird thing? Who the hell is Bethany? Is that the sister who dies if you arnt playing as the female? I felt no connection at all to her death.

Also, my tab key is now broken. Thanks DA2!

 

[John Crichton]

If anyone is on the fence, amazon.com is selling this for $40 as a one-day gold box deal on all platforms.

 

[Remus Lupin]

Well, as I play through the game, I find I'm liking it more and more. The party member who I thought had left me in Act II, came back at the end of the act and helped save the day, and the formerly romantically awkward character eventually got over her shyness and is now married in Act III. Actually, some of the best cross-talk is between those two characters.

 

[Mallus]

Not a big fan your PC's love life, though.

PC's should have crazy love lives. What PC worth his or her salt qualifies as "sane"? Adventures who live in role-playing games are nuts practically by definition!

Flemeth felt like she had been thrown in for a cameo appearance. As did Zevran and later Alastair.

Yup... they're cameos... although Flemeth's appearance is probably better thought of as foreshadowing.

I get exp from meeting Al? Awesome.

You get XP for encountering more story and characterization... this is a Bioware game, remember?

If anyone is on the fence, amazon.com is selling this for $40 as a one-day gold box deal on all platforms.

Damnit! Note to self... always wait for the Amazon sale.

 

[drothgery]

The weird thing? Who the hell is Bethany? Is that the sister who dies if you arnt playing as the female? I felt no connection at all to her death.

Bethany (your PC's mage sister) dies in the opening sequence if you're playing as a mage (male or female); Carver (your PC's warrior brother) if you're playing as a rogue or warrior.[sblock=spoiler]Though you lose the sibling that survives the escape from Lothering later, either for a long time or permanently, depending on some choices you make during the game.[/sblock]

 

[drothgery]

So, I finished my first play-through. Mostly liked it.[sblock]Because I'd seen incomplete spoilers about what Anders would do, I didn't trust him with many offensive spells, and he was kind of gimped as a healing / buff spell specialist. So when you get Bethany back for the final sequence, I had the party I wanted for the entire game, with all the NPCs with maxed out loyalty to my PC, in Bethany, Avaline, and Isabela. And with my archer rogue PC, that was clearly the best set up[1]; Avaline and Isabela as flanking partners in classic defender/striker mode, and the Hawke sisters hanging back and tossing arrows and spells into the fray. It was kind of amazing how much better things worked with a balanced mage (which neither Anders nor Merrill are good at being).

[1] Well, Fenris would have been more optimal than Isabela, but the SOB sided with Meredith and I never liked him; Merrill I liked but had a high rivalry score because it was impossible to convince her that she was in over her head; Varric I liked and trusted but two archer rogues in the same party doesn't work very well.[/sblock]

 

[Remus Lupin]

I'm coming to the end now, and also sided with the mages (I'd be curious to know how many players sided with the Templars), but it was actually a harder decision than I expected, given just how prevalent the whole "abomination problem" is in the Free Marches. But the high enchanter was right, you can't paint all mages based on the behavior of some, even if one of them does engage in an act of horrible terrorism (in response to which, I have to admit, I showed inappropriate mercy).

I ended up "Romancing" three of the party members in the end: Isabella, Anders, and Merrill (which was unexpected given that I maxed out my rivalry with her).

 

[JohnRTroy]

Remus, I liked that. The game is doing a real good job of blurring the lines.

Drothgery (and to anyone), if you attempt to "gimp" a companion you think might betray you, it won't work. If a companion becomes an opponent, all their skill trees are reset to a fixed default (and I think their equipment is replaced), at least according to the guidebook, so when gaming you should feel free to spec them out as you need to. I figured I should post this so people don't try to metagame that kind of stuff.

 

[drothgery]

I'm coming to the end now, and also sided with the mages (I'd be curious to know how many players sided with the Templars), but it was actually a harder decision than I expected, given just how prevalent the whole "abomination problem" is in the Free Marches. But the high enchanter was right, you can't paint all mages based on the behavior of some, even if one of them does engage in an act of horrible terrorism (in response to which, I have to admit, I showed inappropriate mercy).

I suspect that siding with the mages and killing Anders anyway is probably the most popular option. It's what I did, anyway. If Meredith had given me the option to throw him to the wolves to satiate the mob, I would have done it. Also would have broken Bethany out of the Gallows and skipped town with her and Isabela if given the option. I mean, to side with the templars you have to go against either your own sister (unless she got killed) or yourself.