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Dragon Age: Inquisition |OT2| Leave the damn Hinterlands!

The way the game is balanced, it's hard at the beginning and easy at the end. In some ways, that's very enjoyable. It's gratifying to dominate those fucking Terror demons that destroyed you at the start of the game, and gives you a real sense of build progression.

Edit: Looks like that Deep Roads DLC is happening. Biower just posted this on the Dragon Age website.

Eh, could be, could not be...
 
It was fucked up for them to give us essentially a cliffhanger for the Warden Commander's story- he/she's going on a new quest into uncharted lands... which you'll never be able to play. It honestly would have been better for the Hero to die off screen by going for their calling.

edit: I suppose the bigger issue is starting a story that one has no intention of actually completing.

Eh... if they want to keep them offscreen I guess that's fine. I'm happy they didn't kill them offscreen (yet).

Like you said, it just seems really shitty storytelling to have a past Player Character like the Warden go off on a quest that sounds not only very personally relevent but could have global implications as well... and then come back and say that no matter the outcome of that, we'll never see them again or play as them again in a game.

Then you throw on top of that how awkward its getting when BioWare keeps bringing back every other old companion including old romances of the Warden, yet they're seemingly committed to keeping the Warden off screen, even in scenarios where it would make perfect sense for them to show up on screen. Even in plotlines like the Old God Baby if you romanced Morrigan where its basically a deeply personal family drama... and you're stuck playing some random third party to it all as the Inquisitor. It would be like if in The Witcher, Geralt was not involved with Yennefer in everything going down with Ciri.

And that's the baffling thing to me. BioWare has this franchise perfectly set up to do multiple player characters and multiple POVs on different stories even within a single game or as different stand alone DLC's if they wanted. Yet at least with the Warden apparently giving them a voice is some enormous hang up. I could see that if they were leaving them as an NPC maybe but if you just made them as a temporary Player Character why couldn't you just use Origins style conversations?
 

Yeul

Member
What's intriguing about DA is that they say that it's a story about the world and not the same character but when the same companions keep cropping up (if they aren't crucial) it becomes an "it's a small world" scenario or "we're bringing them back so we can kill them off because we want to make you feel something". I mean in all honesty I don't mind seeing characters again (especially upgraded versions of themselves in Frostbite), but it's a shame when the game starts to feel congested or "something else needs to be cut over there because we're spending money over here".

As for the Warden, I can see why they wouldn't want to touch that with a 10 foot pole. There were so many written dialogue options that the variation was huge not just in personality but dependent upon your race too. They brought back Hawke and in all honesty they shouldn't have. I've only played DA2 once and as a warrior but one of my friends played a Hawke as a blood mage and to hear her go on about how bad blood magic was threw things off. There's no real avenue to ask Hawke, "well you're a blood mage and I get that your time in Kirkwall was affected by blood mages so I can see why you would say it's bad, but care to explain why you yourself are one?" There's too much meta there and Hawke was probably the most limited in terms of wiggle room for choice and his/her implementation wasn't all that great/necessary. I can see now the rage people would feel if their warden was "defiled".
 

diaspora

Member
Eh... if they want to keep them offscreen I guess that's fine. I'm happy they didn't kill them offscreen (yet).

Like you said, it just seems really shitty storytelling to have a past Player Character like the Warden go off on a quest that sounds not only very personally relevent but could have global implications as well... and then come back and say that no matter the outcome of that, we'll never see them again or play as them again in a game.

Then you throw on top of that how awkward its getting when BioWare keeps bringing back every other old companion including old romances of the Warden, yet they're seemingly committed to keeping the Warden off screen, even in scenarios where it would make perfect sense for them to show up on screen. Even in plotlines like the Old God Baby if you romanced Morrigan where its basically a deeply personal family drama... and you're stuck playing some random third party to it all as the Inquisitor. It would be like if in The Witcher, Geralt was not involved with Yennefer in everything going down with Ciri.

And that's the baffling thing to me. BioWare has this franchise perfectly set up to do multiple player characters and multiple POVs on different stories even within a single game or as different stand alone DLC's if they wanted. Yet at least with the Warden apparently giving them a voice is some enormous hang up. I could see that if they were leaving them as an NPC maybe but if you just made them as a temporary Player Character why couldn't you just use Origins style conversations?

Might be jarring, though not unpleasant. Incidentally The Warden/ Orlesian Warden have their own crew with Sigrun, Oghren, Nate, Velanna, so continuing their story on trying to cure the Calling combined with how the Architect probably isn't dead as well as Velanna's sister escaping it seems perfect to revisit.
 
What's intriguing about DA is that they say that it's a story about the world and not the same character but when the same companions keep cropping up (if they aren't crucial) it becomes an "it's a small world" scenario or "we're bringing them back so we can kill them off because we want to make you feel something". I mean in all honesty I don't mind seeing characters again (especially upgraded versions of themselves in Frostbite), but it's a shame when the game starts to feel congested or "something else needs to be cut over there because we're spending money over here".

As for the Warden, I can see why they wouldn't want to touch that with a 10 foot pole. There were so many written dialogue options that the variation was huge not just in personality but dependent upon your race too. They brought back Hawke and in all honesty they shouldn't have. I've only played DA2 once and as a warrior but one of my friends played a Hawke as a blood mage and to hear her go on about how bad blood magic was threw things off. There's no real avenue to ask Hawke, "well you're a blood mage and I get that your time in Kirkwall was affected by blood mages so I can see why you would say it's bad, but care to explain why you yourself are one?" There's too much meta there and Hawke was probably the most limited in terms of wiggle room for choice and his/her implementation wasn't all that great/necessary. I can see now the rage people would feel if their warden was "defiled".
Idk about that, bringing back Hawke in particular made sense to me. They were present at the event that started the Mage/Templar conflict + they also have a link to
Corypheus
.

Sometimes the recurring characters do seem a bit "small world" but Hawke makes sense.
 

Yeul

Member
Idk about that, bringing back Hawke in particular made sense to me. They were present at the event that started the Mage/Templar conflict + they also have a link to
Corypheus
.

Sometimes the recurring characters do seem a bit "small world" but Hawke makes sense.

Yeah that's true, there is the tie in with Legacy from DA2 but moreso my point was that the dialogue gets so diluted when they bring characters back. A better example would have been if I said Alistair, where, if you imported him as king he shows up for 2 seconds then is never seen again (vs. Warden Alistair who gets more content for the ultimate decision that they like to throw at us of
who are you willing to sacrifice
). I don't have a problem with them bringing back characters that make sense for the plot so Hawke is okay in this sense for what it was (Here Lies the Abyss mission), but when they start bringing back loads of people for fanservice purposes the costs start to add up where they could have been allocated somewhere else.

As cool as a GTA switch POV-esque game would be, I can just feel the unhappiness from people if their LI wasn't included, or a certain aspect of their backstory, or whatever. I'm of the mind that the LI's are 99% the cause of a lot of the vitriol people fling at each other in certain circles with regard to DA and ME (ME less so I've noticed). I like that addition to the game, but people start to get possessive and demanding with what should and shouldn't be included in subsequent games and I can see why Gaider said that they wish they would have sent more characters to the conclave to clear out some room of all of the interweaving plotlines.
 

Ralemont

not me
As for the Warden, I can see why they wouldn't want to touch that with a 10 foot pole. There were so many written dialogue options that the variation was huge not just in personality but dependent upon your race too. They brought back Hawke and in all honesty they shouldn't have. I've only played DA2 once and as a warrior but one of my friends played a Hawke as a blood mage and to hear her go on about how bad blood magic was threw things off. There's no real avenue to ask Hawke, "well you're a blood mage and I get that your time in Kirkwall was affected by blood mages so I can see why you would say it's bad, but care to explain why you yourself are one?" There's too much meta there and Hawke was probably the most limited in terms of wiggle room for choice and his/her implementation wasn't all that great/necessary. I can see now the rage people would feel if their warden was "defiled".

There's a new interview with David Gaider with a bit of insight into the whole "Hawke as a mage" thing, actually:

The mage specific stuff was one of the later cuts that I felt a little keenly about because for anybody who afterwords thought about it closely… On the surface you didn’t talk about it, so a lot of people aren’t gonna think about it too much. But, if you thought about it, you’re like, well, I’m running around in robes and casting spells and whatnot and being fairly well known in the city, why is it that nobody pays attention to me when everybody talks about apostates, apostates, apostates? It’s on everybody’s lips. So, that was on that like, ugh.

That wasn’t one that was necessarily a content worry. It wasn’t a cut that was made because we didn’t have the resources. Not all of them are like that. It was one that the plot they revolved around was just too complicated and wasn’t really working. We keep hacking at it. And then it got to a point where it was like, its problem is not in its execution, its problem is a little more fundamental in what we were trying to do.

Because I think it involved the Fade and you getting possessed – I don’t even remember the details. But it was complicated. So we finally realized, okay, that initial idea behind the plot is not good. We need to do something a little plainer. We put together a treatment of, okay, we’ll do this. But at that point it was a matter of time. The realization came too late for us to actually go back and start over.

I think we actually had if you were a mage there were supposed to be some mage-specific plots. Like, why do Meredith’s Templars not come after you as a mage? There was a long plot that explained that, but that got cut. A lot of things got cut in Dragon Age 2.

RIP conceptually fleshed out Dragon Age 2. We never knew ye.
 
Yeah that's true, there is the tie in with Legacy from DA2 but moreso my point was that the dialogue gets so diluted when they bring characters back. A better example would have been if I said Alistair, where, if you imported him as king he shows up for 2 seconds then is never seen again (vs. Warden Alistair who gets more content for the ultimate decision that they like to throw at us of
who are you willing to sacrifice
). I don't have a problem with them bringing back characters that make sense for the plot so Hawke is okay in this sense for what it was (Here Lies the Abyss mission), but when they start bringing back loads of people for fanservice purposes the costs start to add up where they could have been allocated somewhere else.

As cool as a GTA switch POV-esque game would be, I can just feel the unhappiness from people if their LI wasn't included, or a certain aspect of their backstory, or whatever. I'm of the mind that the LI's are 99% the cause of a lot of the vitriol people fling at each other in certain circles with regard to DA and ME (ME less so I've noticed). I like that addition to the game, but people start to get possessive and demanding with what should and shouldn't be included in subsequent games and I can see why Gaider said that they wish they would have sent more characters to the conclave to clear out some room of all of the interweaving plotlines.
That's true. I can't imagine how hard it is for BioWare to try and account with the massive amount of player choice present in the games, and I agree that a lot of people seem quite defensive about LIs not showing up in later games (which I get, they don't have time to make everything they'd want to and if they brought old LIs back for just like a second-long cameo it would only add to the "small world" feeling). I do like when characters are referenced either by other characters or in writing though, as I feel that's plausible and doesn't take too much effort. Seeing as the characters the Warden + Hawke + the Inquisitor seemed to travel with are the type of people who would end up in stories or legends I feel that makes sense.
 
FYI EU PSN folks: the Jaws of Hakkon DLC is on sale - under £6 for plus members.

I just bought it but am waiting for the second DLC before playing it.. why is it taking so long:(
 

Yeul

Member
RIP conceptually fleshed out Dragon Age 2. We never knew ye.

Yeah it's a shame. I knew most of the problems DA2 had was because of time and money, as most things usually are and Hawke was supposed to be DA's "Shepard". I don't mind switching characters on a per game basis as much as it was kinda sad to see DA2 in that state. It wasn't horrible, but obviously a lot of factors weren't on their side. The years leading up to 2011 with DA2 and ME3 seemed tough for BioWare.

That's true. I can't imagine how hard it is for BioWare to try and account with the massive amount of player choice present in the games, and I agree that a lot of people seem quite defensive about LIs not showing up in later games (which I get, they don't have time to make everything they'd want to and if they brought old LIs back for just like a second-long cameo it would only add to the "small world" feeling). I do like when characters are referenced either by other characters or in writing though, as I feel that's plausible and doesn't take too much effort. Seeing as the characters the Warden + Hawke + the Inquisitor seemed to travel with are the type of people who would end up in stories or legends I feel that makes sense.

Oh definitely. I like when they get referenced too, since the pattern usually ends up being that at least one companion carries over from the previous games to the new game. But yeah, incredibly tough job I'm sure. BioWare make some of my favorite games, I give them props.
 
Hello guys, I was wondering if those of you who played Jaws of Hakkon felt the DLC was worth the price. I'm sure this has been debated before but this thread is pretty long so I'd appreciate it if some of you could give me some insight.

I'm a PC player and, more that concern about the money, I'm concerned about wasting my time. I like the game, I'm over 100 hours in in my second walkthrough but I'd really want to know if there's some meat to JoH and not just an above average Emprise du Lion/Emerald Graves/ Hinterlands area based on busywork. How does it compare to Crestwood, for example, which is usually regarded as the best non-story area/mission of the game?

If you can, may you summarize your thoughts in one or two lines? Please don't just tell me "If you like the game you'll like it, if not you won't" :p I know that might be it in a nutshell, but I'd appreciate if you could give a little bit of spoiler free couple of reasons why you think it was or wasn't worth it. Thank you.
 

diaspora

Member
I liked it, good overall plot as well as quests that felt natural and organic to the area.
So really, well worth the buy imo.

Edit: gives you a lot to think about with regards to the lore surrounding spirits and gods too.
 

Punjicide

Member
BioWare put up a trailer for the new singleplayer DLC, titled The Descent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_L4qyvxAFI

Description:

Descend into Dragon Age's deepest dungeon! In this story, a perilous journey through darkspawn-infested caverns awaits the Inquisition. Venture underground to solve one of Thedas’s greatest mysteries.

Dragon Age: Inquisition – The Descent releases on August 11, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
 

jonjonaug

Member
BioWare put up a trailer for the new singleplayer DLC, titled The Descent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_L4qyvxAFI

Description:

From what Mike Laidlaw has been saying on twitter, it sounds like this will be a long, multi-level dungeon type of DLC, instead of the wide open area from JoH. It can be accessed any time after you reach Skyhold and isn't set post-game. It also sounds like it'll start out easy and get harder as it goes along, so for new players/characters they make progress on it bit by bit throughout the game.

Given that it isn't set post-game, we probably have at least 1-2 more serious single player DLCs coming our way in the future.
 

Melchiah

Member
From what Mike Laidlaw has been saying on twitter, it sounds like this will be a long, multi-level dungeon type of DLC, instead of the wide open area from JoH. It can be accessed any time after you reach Skyhold and isn't set post-game. It also sounds like it'll start out easy and get harder as it goes along, so for new players/characters they make progress on it bit by bit throughout the game.

Given that it isn't set post-game, we probably have at least 1-2 more serious single player DLCs coming our way in the future.

That's a welcome change. My anticipation is definitely growing for the DLC.
 

Ralemont

not me
From what Mike Laidlaw has been saying on twitter, it sounds like this will be a long, multi-level dungeon type of DLC, instead of the wide open area from JoH. It can be accessed any time after you reach Skyhold and isn't set post-game. It also sounds like it'll start out easy and get harder as it goes along, so for new players/characters they make progress on it bit by bit throughout the game.

Given that it isn't set post-game, we probably have at least 1-2 more serious single player DLCs coming our way in the future.

It's also a seamless dungeon, which explains dropping last gen.
 

Punjicide

Member
From what Mike Laidlaw has been saying on twitter, it sounds like this will be a long, multi-level dungeon type of DLC, instead of the wide open area from JoH. It can be accessed any time after you reach Skyhold and isn't set post-game. It also sounds like it'll start out easy and get harder as it goes along, so for new players/characters they make progress on it bit by bit throughout the game.

Given that it isn't set post-game, we probably have at least 1-2 more serious single player DLCs coming our way in the future.

The multi-level dungeon seems like it might be a nice change up.

And as you said, there's definitely at least one more coming out after this. I'm looking forward to the post-game DLC that was described in the survey a little while back.
 

Nere

Member
My gf bought it as a present for me so finally going to start Dragon Age. Any advice for a newcomer except leave the damn HInterlands?:D Also a super important question, I can't make my mind for what class to play mage or rogue archer? Warrior is out of the question. I played an archer in dragon age origins and I found him really boring. I won't play a melee rogue either. So whats more fun mage or rogue archer???
 

jonjonaug

Member
My gf bought it as a present for me so finally going to start Dragon Age. Any advice for a newcomer except leave the damn HInterlands?:D Also a super important question, I can't make my mind for what class to play mage or rogue archer? Warrior is out of the question. I played an archer in dragon age origins and I found him really boring. I won't play a melee rogue either. So whats more fun mage or rogue archer???

Depends on what you're going for, they're both fun. Archery in this game is a lot better than in DA:O, there's a lot of good skills that you can pop off one after the other to do tons of damage. Mages are also really fun to play with some quite varied gameplay depending on your specialization choice later in the game. Archery+Tempest spec lets you spam the Archery tree's most powerful attacks, Mage+Knight Enchanter lets you be an indestructible melee mage. They're my two favorite classes to play as.
 
I'm really hoping there are some really difficult sections in the new DLC, since my main party is really OP, even on Nightmare. Cass, and Blackwall are borderline unkillable and my Inquisitor can crit for 13k on full draw. I'd rather not be able to breeze through it.

I haven't played Jaws of Hakkon yet either so maybe that one had some difficult sections. Can anyone confirm?
 

jonjonaug

Member
I'm really hoping there are some really difficult sections in the new DLC, since my main party is really OP, even on Nightmare. Cass, and Blackwall are borderline unkillable and my Inquisitor can crit for 13k on full draw. I'd rather not be able to breeze through it.

I haven't played Jaws of Hakkon yet either so maybe that one had some difficult sections. Can anyone confirm?

Jaws of Hakkon has a couple very difficult fights. One optional fight against a Frost Giant, and the second to last fight of the main quest of the DLC. In general it's tougher than the main game to begin with, but those were the two fights that gave me the most trouble.
 
3.4 GB update is up in front of the dlc tomorrow. Looks like it added some MP stuff too but it isn't unlocked server side yet

was wondering what this was, i am guessing mainly multiplayer stuff and getting ready for the DLC.

how is jaws of hakkon? i haven't finished the main game yet but am tempted to pick up the first DLC as it's on offer right now.
 

diaspora

Member
Jaws of Hakkon has a couple very difficult fights. One optional fight against a Frost Giant, and the second to last fight of the main quest of the DLC. In general it's tougher than the main game to begin with, but those were the two fights that gave me the most trouble.

Jaws of Hakkon kicked my ass on Nightmare ;_;
 

Dead

well not really...yet
I forget, did Jaws of Hakkan have different/additional dialog if you complete it after end game?

Replaying the game, and not sure whether to do that DLC during the story or after.
 

jonjonaug

Member
I forget, did Jaws of Hakkan have different/additional dialog if you complete it after end game?

Replaying the game, and not sure whether to do that DLC during the story or after.

From what I remember a couple of lines are changed around, but nothing so major that it's worth putting it off until after the end.
 

Melchiah

Member
It's out whichever day your PSN/XBL updates. PSN updates Wednesday in Europe, I believe. At least, it does in the UK.

12th it is then. They really should have all the release dates presented in their trailers, as I thought that the 11th was the global date, when it was only for NA.
 
Has anyone ever figured out what the perfume dialogue in the Hissing Wastes is about?

When I look online, it seems like it's supposed to be some kind of romance related dialogue with Solas but he wasn't in my party and I got the dialogue with Cass, and Dorian.

Cassandra: "Is that perfume I smell?
Dorian: "You must be imagining it, I don't... Wait, now I smell it too."

It just seems really random, with no follow up. My Inquisitor is with Cassandra, so I doubt it's romance related like others have stated.
 

diaspora

Member
Has anyone ever figured out what the perfume dialogue in the Hissing Wastes is about?

When I look online, it seems like it's supposed to be some kind of romance related dialogue with Solas but he wasn't in my party and I got the dialogue with Cass, and Dorian.

Cassandra: "Is that perfume I smell?
Dorian: "You must be imagining it, I don't... Wait, now I smell it too."

It just seems really random, with no follow up. My Inquisitor is with Cassandra, so I doubt it's romance related like others have stated.

I think it might have to do with the creepy as fuck Chantry Sister in the Wastes that somehow appears at random far-flung areas at the map which seems to spook both Cassandra and Solas.

edit: Now that I think about it, the more certain I am that's the case. Have Bull in the party when you see her for the 4th time.
 
I think it might have to do with the creepy as fuck Chantry Sister in the Wastes that somehow appears at random far-flung areas at the map which seems to spook both Cassandra and Solas.

edit: Now that I think about it, the more certain I am that's the case. Have Bull in the party when you see her for the 4th time.

Ah, that could be it. I've only met her three times, and had Bull in my party the second time I met her. His response to her was pretty funny. I do wonder exactly what she is though, since it's odd to see Solas so unnerved by what I assume is some kind of spirit.
 

Yeul

Member
Has anyone ever figured out what the perfume dialogue in the Hissing Wastes is about?

When I look online, it seems like it's supposed to be some kind of romance related dialogue with Solas but he wasn't in my party and I got the dialogue with Cass, and Dorian.

Cassandra: "Is that perfume I smell?
Dorian: "You must be imagining it, I don't... Wait, now I smell it too."

It just seems really random, with no follow up. My Inquisitor is with Cassandra, so I doubt it's romance related like others have stated.

Yeah it's not romance related. If you have Vivienne in the party she says something along the lines of it being due to some of the trees there and it was used to make a perfume in Orlais that is very "last season" and lost popularity for also being poisonous.
 
Any impressions? I just got Jaws of Hakkon, so I won't be playing The Descent for a couple of days.

I'm assuming that the lack of people coming in here to complain is a good thing.
 

jonjonaug

Member
I finished the main part, there's a couple of bits of extra content left I'll explore later probably.

Main verdict: ....eh, it's OK. It's basically just one long gauntlet of fights capped off with a decent boss fight. You get a little bit of lore on Dwarves. There's a bunch of stuff off of the beaten path with high level loot and some easter eggs (
the Tower's of Hanoi puzzle makes a return
). It's very low on story content, hopefully a future DLC will have more interesting stuff in that category.
 
I finished the main part, there's a couple of bits of extra content left I'll explore later probably.

Main verdict: ....eh, it's OK. It's basically just one long gauntlet of fights capped off with a decent boss fight. You get a little bit of lore on Dwarves. There's a bunch of stuff off of the beaten path with high level loot and some easter eggs (
the Tower's of Hanoi puzzle makes a return
). It's very low on story content, hopefully a future DLC will have more interesting stuff in that category.

So nothing that will change the history of Thedas forever of all time?

Like every other DA game and DLC.
 

jonjonaug

Member
So nothing that will change the history of Thedas forever of all time?

Like every other DA game and DLC.

End spoilers:
A bunch of weird stuff happens at the end that's all pretty vague. A dwarf learns magic by touching the heart of a "Titan", which you spend half the DLC inside of...or something like that.
 
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