Dragon Age II: EA boogaloo

[cambiata]

And Dwarves are American!?

Honestly, I loved that for once Dwarves aren't Scottish. Considering Dwarves are more or less cut off from the rest of Thedas, it makes sense for them to have a wildly different accent from everyone else.

[hammerofglass]

And Dwarves are American!?

Honestly, I loved that for once Dwarves aren't Scottish. Considering Dwarves are more or less cut off from the rest of Thedas, it makes sense for them to have a wildly different accent from everyone else.

DA actually does have a justification for it. The common language was a Dwarf trade language originally, which other cultures adopted over time but with accents reflecting their older languages (although how Tevinter got to the Queen's English from Latin I have no idea). The purest version of the language is of course the one the creators of the game use; thus, Canadian Dwarves.

The "Dwarves are Scottish" thing is so random anyway. German or Norse (where the legends are from), sure. Semetic to follow Tolkien (which the movies outright ignored), why not. But why Scottish?

[Madner Kami]

The "Dwarves are Scottish" thing is so random anyway. German or Norse (where the legends are from), sure. Semetic to follow Tolkien (which the movies outright ignored), why not. But why Scottish?

It's transporting an image or stereotype. Stereotypical Scots are wild, hard-drinking, stubborn and proud people, who are easy to upset. Your stereotypical dwarf is ... yes, exactly.

[Dînadan]

The "Dwarves are Scottish" thing is so random anyway. German or Norse (where the legends are from), sure. Semetic to follow Tolkien (which the movies outright ignored), why not. But why Scottish?

It's transporting an image or stereotype. Stereotypical Scots are wild, hard-drinking, stubborn and proud people, who are easy to upset. Your stereotypical dwarf is ... yes, exactly.

Dwarves are also miners, so if anything they should be Welsh. Although Tolkien based Sindarin on Welsh and Elves are archers, so I guess if anyone should be Welsh it’d be Wood Elves rather than Dwarves, so maybe Scots are a consolation prize?

[Nevix]

This review is enjoyable thus far, and the "Hawke Wants Money" running gag is hysterical!

[MithrandirOlorin]

Being Miners also fits well with a Hillbilly accent.

[Asvarduil]

Thanks. Nice to know that people hate watching this review as much as I hate doing it.

I hope this is sarcasm... I really love this review, and I've loved a lot of your Bioware-themed game reviews. Doing the "Janeway voice" for Flemeth is in particular a gag that always makes me laugh. The use of the Shaft theme was fucking on point. (this is coming from someone who adores Varric though, so ymmv)

I actually came to post here because I was curious about the "Anders comes on to you" thing. I had heard people complain about that before, but I've never experienced it in game. In fact, I recently replayed DA2 (and I appreciate it a lot more now than I did when I first played it - but I always liked the game, especially for the character work) and I kept my eyes pealed for any flirting from Anders, and there was none. I didn't flirt with him, and he never initiated anything. Maybe it only happens if you do a flirt first? I was actually wondering if maybe it was an Xbox bug, because I only play the games on PC. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

Chuck - I think you're doing a great job on the review.

What I'm seeing is proving to me that - once again - this is an EA game that should not be bought by me...but still. You're making the story interesting.

In other news, I have bought and played some of Inquisition. I wish I hadn't, but hopefully next year rolls around and you do a review of Inquisition. I look forward to seeing what you can do for that game.

Also, cambiata - Varric is by far the high point in DA:I. His snarky asides in my opinion can't save the game, but they do elevate what's there (In Voyager terms, he's The Doctor). Also, Varric's hobby of Cassandra-trolling is useful, and worthwhile. If she would defrost a little, she wouldn't be so unbearable.

[Asvarduil]

The purest version of the language is of course the one the creators of the game use; thus, Canadian Dwarves.

I'd love to hear stereotypically Canadian Dwarves in a videogame.

Hey there hoser, there's kobolds in the Mythril mines dontcha know? Yous all be careful down there. Oh and come back up quickly, we're about to have a hockey game!

[Xaios]

The purest version of the language is of course the one the creators of the game use; thus, Canadian Dwarves.

I'd love to hear stereotypically Canadian Dwarves in a videogame.

Hey there hoser, there's kobolds in the Mythril mines dontcha know? Yous all be careful down there. Oh and come back up quickly, we're about to have a hockey game!

"Bob and Doug McKenzie, but dwarves" sounds like the greatest thing that could possibly happen, ever.

[cambiata]

Also, cambiata - Varric is by far the high point in DA:I. His snarky asides in my opinion can't save the game, but they do elevate what's there (In Voyager terms, he's The Doctor). Also, Varric's hobby of Cassandra-trolling is useful, and worthwhile. If she would defrost a little, she wouldn't be so unbearable.

Varric is in fact a bit toned down in DA:I. In 2 he's like, your bestest bud in the world, your wingman, your copilot, your shotgun, etc. He's a reason to play DA2, and that's in a game that perhaps has the best cast in a DA game.

In DA:I he's more standoffish, he's more an observer, he likes you and he's still a friendly bloke, but he's not your lieutenant the way he is in DA2.

As for Cassandra: I love her to bits. You should try teasing her more if you want to see her defrost. She's might be the best romance in DA:I as well.

Actually all the characters in DA:I have the fascinating quality that if you get to be friendly with them, you find out what's likable in their character, but if you're on their bad side, you'll only ever see the bad parts of their character. I think Vivienne exemplifies this. I took her as being the worst person ever the first couple of times I played, but on my last game I decided to play the game trying to see the points she's making and agreeing with her verbally. It's shocking how much nicer she is - instead of raking you across the coals for not being prepared at Haven, she sympathizes with you and worries that you don't look well. She's still the power-grasping alpha bitch she always was, but she's not the poisonous two-faced snake she appeared when you set yourself up as her enemy.

Although I still feel they didn't do near enough with the characters in DA:I, I do love that little touch of reality that's given by them treating you differently when you treat them differently. For the most part, they avoid the "must romance to get the full story" trope, but the one area where that's not true is if you manage to romance Solas, and even then I think that's completely justified. If you do manage to defrost Solas, you should get a little more of the mystery unveiled.

Either way, I don't think I've ever played a game where the in-game characters attitudes managed to change my own playing as much as DA:I. And not in a, "gaming affection" sort of way, either. Someone told me recently that playing as a warrior and romancing Cullen actually got them to change their choice of advanced class. Because Cullen doesn't want to see his girlfriend addicted to lyrium, you see. That's amazing to me.

Of course, the downside is that DA:I has a really boring combat system. I'll chalk that down to using the Frostbite engine for the first time and hope for better things on the next game.