Dragon Age II: EA boogaloo

[CharlesPhipps]

Mind you, Rom doing that is galactic genocide but they're ugly so who cares.

[Winter]

Mind you, Rom doing that is galactic genocide but they're ugly so who cares.

Well the Dire Wrath's are trying to destroy every form of life there is and there's isn't a one that was seeking a peaceful solution so it was a very clear Them or Use and given that 90% of games we're usually playing as mass murders anyways I don't think anyone would mind that much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Also is it genocide given that there were a lot of dire wraiths both on earth and in that prison universe Rom zapped them into? A lot of dire wraiths would die, but their species and culture would continue.

[CharlesPhipps]

Oddball fact but Dire Wraiths are actually Skrulls.

They're Skrulls INFECTED WITH VAMPIRISM.

[AlucardNoir]

Oddball fact but Dire Wraiths are actually Skrulls.

They're Skrulls INFECTED WITH VAMPIRISM.

Vampires? so they're the good guys then. That's GENOCIDE! KILL ROM! KILL HIM!

[Winter]

So taking a break from the debate of the Genocidal robot, I finally had a chance to read Dragon Age: Knight Errant and while the story has it's issues, (it sometimes feels like I'm watching/reading an anime show/manga) I really enjoyed the comics and I'm going to go on record and say that I LOVE the main characters Ser Aaron Hawthorne and Vaea.

Aaron is pretty much Varrick if he was ever knighted and I love how open minded he is. And as for Vaea, she's pretty much Robin Hood in the world of Dragon Age. I really love these two and hope they become companions in DA4 and given they are heading to Tevinter at the end of the comic it looks like we will at least run into them.

[Winter]

Speaking of DA tie-in material, here's one more thing in the long list of the issues with DA2 which is that in the grand scheme of things, it's a sadly a minor foot note when compared to the tie-in novel Asunder. While Anders attack on the Chantry is the final straw that broke the camels back in Kirkwall, it's not what started the mage rebellion.

In Asunder it's revealed that the rite of Tranquility can be undone which, naturally, upsets the mages and they rebel. In many ways DA2 is just a minor foot note as Inquisition seems to be following the events of the Asunder more then the events of DA2. Hell the fate of Rhys and Evangeline is given more time and explanation then most of the companions from DA2, most of whom are just quickly talked about by Varric when you have down time.

Please note I started the series with DAI so I went in knowing next to nothing about DA beyond Chuck's review of the first game and I had no real issue fallowing the plot, Cole's role in it or anything that happened in the fist two games or any of the tie-in novels or comics. And DAI is my favorite of the series with DAO in second place. But back to my point which is just how annoying it all is that DA2 is a small foot note in the grand scheme of things while Asunder, a bloody tie-in novel, is more relevent to the series overall narrative.

Not helping matters is that Asunder, from what little I've read, is actually a much better story then DA2. While Lambert is a hateful SOB with no redeeming qualities he is the exception to the rule as most of the characters are rather nuanced and fleshed out and while Lambert is pretty much a male version of Meredith, in that he has a all mages are evil and must die, he is at least entertaining. Hell, Cole is pretty much a serial killer in this novel and yet he is more tolerable and likeable then Anders, Fenris, Carver and Sebastian combined.

It doesn't hurt that the characters act rather reasonable all things considering. Everyone is trying to keep the situation from getting worse and it feels like they are actually trying to find a peaceful way out of this before more innocent lives are lost. Only for things to spin further out of control and you can feel the stress getting to everyone as they continue to hold on to what little peace they have before it all comes crashing down.

At the end of DA2 all I felt was announce and frustration due to how little control I had which wasn't helped by just how annoying Anders was. While I still haven't finished Asunder yet I feel frustrated but for the right reasons this time as I want to see these characters make it out of this situation alright even though I know it will end badly for some of them.

In DA2 the only characters I felt a real connection with was Varric, Aveline, Isabella, Merrill and Bethany while I have refused turned away Fenris and Sebastian in later playthroughs and the only reason I keep Anders around is because I need a healer for some missions, other wise I would kick him off my team at the first opportunity. But with Asunder, the only character there I dislike is Adrian but other then that I like all these characters and really feel a connection with them. and with Lambert at least he's fun to hate and he gets his comeuppance in the end.

[CharlesPhipps]

I felt that novel was somewhat unnecessary, honestly.

But the Lord Seeker was a complete jackass.

[Enterprising]

Ultimately, both DA & ME trilogies have one thing in common, their creators didn't write the story of the trilogy ahead of time. Meaning a lot of weird and on the fly stuff ended up happening, that ultimately resulted in a myriad of spoiled or abandoned things that could have been visited or explored more deeply.

[Alinis]

Speaking of DA tie-in material, here's one more thing in the long list of the issues with DA2 which is that in the grand scheme of things, it's a sadly a minor foot note when compared to the tie-in novel Asunder. While Anders attack on the Chantry is the final straw that broke the camels back in Kirkwall, it's not what started the mage rebellion.

In Asunder it's revealed that the rite of Tranquility can be undone which, naturally, upsets the mages and they rebel. In many ways DA2 is just a minor foot note as Inquisition seems to be following the events of the Asunder more then the events of DA2. Hell the fate of Rhys and Evangeline is given more time and explanation then most of the companions from DA2, most of whom are just quickly talked about by Varric when you have down time.

Please note I started the series with DAI so I went in knowing next to nothing about DA beyond Chuck's review of the first game and I had no real issue fallowing the plot, Cole's role in it or anything that happened in the fist two games or any of the tie-in novels or comics. And DAI is my favorite of the series with DAO in second place. But back to my point which is just how annoying it all is that DA2 is a small foot note in the grand scheme of things while Asunder, a bloody tie-in novel, is more relevent to the series overall narrative.

Not helping matters is that Asunder, from what little I've read, is actually a much better story then DA2. While Lambert is a hateful SOB with no redeeming qualities he is the exception to the rule as most of the characters are rather nuanced and fleshed out and while Lambert is pretty much a male version of Meredith, in that he has a all mages are evil and must die, he is at least entertaining. Hell, Cole is pretty much a serial killer in this novel and yet he is more tolerable and likeable then Anders, Fenris, Carver and Sebastian combined.

It doesn't hurt that the characters act rather reasonable all things considering. Everyone is trying to keep the situation from getting worse and it feels like they are actually trying to find a peaceful way out of this before more innocent lives are lost. Only for things to spin further out of control and you can feel the stress getting to everyone as they continue to hold on to what little peace they have before it all comes crashing down.

At the end of DA2 all I felt was announce and frustration due to how little control I had which wasn't helped by just how annoying Anders was. While I still haven't finished Asunder yet I feel frustrated but for the right reasons this time as I want to see these characters make it out of this situation alright even though I know it will end badly for some of them.

In DA2 the only characters I felt a real connection with was Varric, Aveline, Isabella, Merrill and Bethany while I have refused turned away Fenris and Sebastian in later playthroughs and the only reason I keep Anders around is because I need a healer for some missions, other wise I would kick him off my team at the first opportunity. But with Asunder, the only character there I dislike is Adrian but other then that I like all these characters and really feel a connection with them. and with Lambert at least he's fun to hate and he gets his comeuppance in the end.

Even that movie Dragon Age legend of the Seeker(which I admittedly did enjoy, I was quite disappointed that you couldn't be a seeker in Dragon age Inquisition after that movie and the previous games hyped them up as being feared by templars and mages.) gets mention in inquisition with Regalyan D'marcall being mentioned as the only other person that Cassandra was romantically involved with if you are romancing her and also he can be mentioned by Cole who asks Cassandra who he was.

To be honest it would be very easy to forget Dragon age II happened if it wasn't for Varric's presence in the party and Hawke's later appearance which I am still to this day not sure what I should feel about it.