Dragon Age 2 Incoming. - Part 1

[Matt]

I think so. Well, Awakening I can take or leave. It gives insight into Dark Spawn and introduces some interesting characters (Anders and Justice are both party members in Awakening, though Anders is much less whiny). What I don't like is that I MUST play as my Warden to carry the file over to Witch Hunt. Becoming the governor/Warden commander makes no sense for my warden....but I wanted all the stuff to carry into DA2 so I made him do it.

Witch Hunt, while short and revealing almost nothing, does give some great closure to the Warden (especially if Morrigan is your LI).

 

[Wolfwood]

I dunno, but I'm about to find out lol. I bought the PS3 version that comes with Awakening and all the DLC. I already owned the 360 one, but this was cheaper than buying the expansion and all the DLC. Really looking forward to replaying it.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Play Awakening, skip the rest unless you are romancing Morrigan and MUST know how that turns out.

 

[Soapy]

I guess what I'm getting at is it worth the $30 I would pay for it if I bought the Ultimate Edition?

Against my better judgement, I've also been thinking of revisiting Dragon Age.

 

[iamlegend]

MAkes sense, though he never really seemed as important. He just fought off a small army of Dark Spawn.

Eh, they kind of had to Band-Aid that situation in order to make it fit DA2's plot.

I honestly think that in Bioware's mind, the "canon" ending has the original Warden surviving Origins and then mysteriously disappearing. Whether it's with Morrigan or of their own choosing.

 

[El Bastardo]

Neat to see some life here again.

I just started modding DAO again in preparation of some more playthroughs after beating ME3 Insanity, before eventually going back to that for a full trilogy playthrough.

 

[Matt]

Out of curiosity, who do you romance in DA2 as a male Hawke? I play as the male Hawke. In Origins it feels like Morrigan is the very clear cut, main love interest. Leliana's makes sense I suppose, but Morrigan's more so. She is more important to the plot, the way to survive the finale involves sleeping with her, and the finale epilogue of the Origins story involves finding her. She makes the most sense.

In DA2 though, there really isn't a clear cut one. Merrill isn't that important to the story....she is just kind of there. And Isabella isn't really a one guy kinda girl (plus the fact that she can be involved with Fenris implies to me that she isn't meant for Hawke). So what do you ultimately choose?

 

[Swordmaster]

I romanced Isabella, because it fit my Hawke. And she does admit she fell for Hawke, even going on the run with him, so yay character development.

 

[Matt]

Yeah, I picked Merrill, just because....I romanced Isabelle in Acts 1 and 2, but after she betrayed Hawke, it was over. The friendship was saved....but that was it. Then I went for Merrill, just for the hell of it. I didn't really feel much of an emotional connection between Hawke and his L.I.. Nothing even close to that of Morrigan (or even Lelianna). It, like many things in DA2, was an afterthought. Which is kind of odd considering how front and center characters were in DA2.

 

[Wolfwood]

I gotta agree, the love interests in DA2 were probably the worst of any Bioware game. I just couldn't really "care" for any of the possible interests. So I just went with Isabella cause of...well... Dat Ass.

 

[Matt]

From what I've read about it, Anders almost seems like the canonical/logical/most fully fleshed out L.I. (much in the same sense that Morrigan is in Origins). Does that mean the "canonical," (I use that term loosely) Hawke is female? If so, why use male Hawke for almost all of the promotional material?

 

[X Knight]

do you think we will hear anything about DA 3 at PAX this weekend??

 

[Swordmaster]

Or canon Hawke is gay. That'd be interesting.

But I agree, the romances weren't all that fleshed out. Which is a shame, because Morrigan's probably my favorite BioWare romance. The last scene of Witch Hunt gets me every time.

 

[Soapy]

do you think we will hear anything about DA 3 at PAX this weekend??

They'll probably talk about their plans for it in vague terms the way they have been since DAII came out. I wouldn't expect anything big though.

 

[iamlegend]

Out of curiosity, who do you romance in DA2 as a male Hawke? I play as the male Hawke. In Origins it feels like Morrigan is the very clear cut, main love interest. Leliana's makes sense I suppose, but Morrigan's more so. She is more important to the plot, the way to survive the finale involves sleeping with her, and the finale epilogue of the Origins story involves finding her. She makes the most sense.

In DA2 though, there really isn't a clear cut one. Merrill isn't that important to the story....she is just kind of there. And Isabella isn't really a one guy kinda girl (plus the fact that she can be involved with Fenris implies to me that she isn't meant for Hawke). So what do you ultimately choose?

While all of the characters were great on their own, none of them were all that tied to what as going on... because there honestly wasn't a lot going on. Yeah, Anders get tied in at the end with the beginning of the Mage/Templar war, but for most of the early stages of the game he's just kind of hanging around complaining about how Mages are treated.

I thought all the characters were likeable in their own way, but they certainly didn't have the story ties that the DA: O characters did.

That said, I went Merrill for my male Hawke. Just too adorable.

 

[Fading]

I'm thinking that I may replay Origins in the near future. Dunno which character I'll pick though. My first play through I was the human noble. I'll probably end up doing the same thing. I've considered being an elf, but it looks weird for my main character to be a foot shorter than everyone else.

Romancing Morrigan felt so wrong with my Elf, she dwarfed him, the sex scene looked like she was molesting a teen. That said, evil Elves are a bit satisfying. Threatening every human that's racist towards you, mocking the King with a human overlord joke....I did like the above mentioned Dwarf noble intro. It's my second favorite behind human noble.

I think my least fave was female Elf in the alienage due to feeling weak. Some spoiled human backhands me knocking me out, and tries to have his way with my friends...yet I can stop a Darkspawn army, and a twisted God? I guess we should be lucky an army of horny arl's sons don't attack, or we'd be screwed...literally.

 

[Soapy]

My favorite thing about being a Dwarf Noble was getting to act like a pompous ass to everyone.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I just kept hitting the, "Why is this person speaking to me," options.

 

[Matt]

The Bioware panel at PAX didn't give a teaser but it did give some good information:

Summary of PAX Dragon Age Panel

Some highlights (and the panel emphasized these are not promises....I guess BW sent out a company wide memo of writing checks with your ass after Hudson's Mass Effect debacle ):

- They are considering bringing back armor changes for all party members, but the armor will look different depending on the character to reflect their personalities (for example, a set of iron armor may look different on a Grey Warden than it would a Seeker).

- The choices from the previous two games will play a more prominent role in DA3

- Environments and dungeons will not be reused in the frequency of DA2

- The game will take place "Somewhere new....somewhere a little more French" hinting at the setting being Orlais.

 

[Drz]

Thank you Matt for sharing this! <3

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

- They are considering bringing back armor changes for all party members, but the armor will look different depending on the character to reflect their personalities (for example, a set of iron armor may look different on a Grey Warden than it would a Seeker).

So does this imply that we're going to be able to choose "origins" again?

edit: oh wait it's in reference to party members! NVM.

 

[X Knight]

The Bioware panel at PAX didn't give a teaser but it did give some good information:

http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/2012/04/06/bioware-the-next-dragon-age-wont-reuse-levels-will-have-decisions-that-matter/

Some highlights (and the panel emphasized these are not promises....I guess BW sent out a company wide memo of writing checks with your ass after Hudson's Mass Effect debacle ):

- They are considering bringing back armor changes for all party members, but the armor will look different depending on the character to reflect their personalities (for example, a set of iron armor may look different on a Grey Warden than it would a Seeker).

- The choices from the previous two games will play a more prominent role in DA3

- Environments and dungeons will not be reused in the frequency of DA2

- The game will take place "Somewhere new....somewhere a little more French" hinting at the setting being Orlais.

awesome!!

but I won't believe it until I see it!! lol

I do look foward to the game being in Orlais. Hoping that the PC will have an Orlesian origin ( I want to be an Orlesian royal/noble )!!

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

So will the main character sound french?

This is crucial information.

 

[X Knight]

So will the main character sound french?

This is crucial information.

now I'm imagining my female Orelsian royalty Templar PC with sexy french accent.

 

[Fading]

I think I'm gonna put AC Rev on the shelf for a bit and finally run through DA 2. All the DA 3 talk is getting me hyped again.

To get ready I went ahead and got Golems, and Witch Hunt, plus all the DA 2 DLC outside of the item packs. Just finished Golems, and Witch Hunt too, so I should be set. I know this is a very outdated conversation since the DA Origins DLC has been out forever, but I'm glad I finally finished them.

Golems was disappointing. Plowed through it in about 44 mins, and didn't care much for the story. Plus the foggy multi-colored haze was annoying. Witch Hunt on the other hand was great, and renewed my hope in an awesome pay off for the God child arc. Maybe even a cameo for my warden and Morrigan down the road .