and another thing

maleficairn:

i get it i get it inquisition was sort of a ~return to plot~ type of game, but compared to the previous games its totally lacking in the character development department. 

not…even…touching how Vivienne and Sera were fucking one note characters who didn’t get a modicum of respect in terms of characterization…so like…besides that…there just…isn’t a lot of content. there isn’t a lot of meaningful, easily accessible content. ten fucking patches later and my banter queues are still fucked up. compare that to da2 – where every time to fucking went anywhere, you;d have banter.  

beyond banter, da2 had character moments built into the fucking plot of the game, whereas all da3 companion quests are really just random addendums that, unlike mass effect, you can totally just skip with no negative consequence. da2 had 3+ companion quests or conversations per act, whereas da3 companions maybe get a max of 3-4, the whole game? and yeah, yeah, you can just go up and talk to them about stuff – but 99% it has little to do with characters or relationships. yeah watching blackwall sweat when u ask him about warden-y things on ur second playthrough is fun for like .2 seconds, but ultimately these convos are at best trivial and they are always impersonal. the lack of cutscenes for these convos really does detract from the experience – you are literally kept at distance from ur companions

i wanted another dragon age game where your companions had some sway over the direction of the plot. in all previous games you had companions who were directly involved in the over arching plot. alistair and the landsmeet, isabela and the qunari, anders???? in both previous games you would have companions who would fucking speak up, intervene, and even try to kill you if you crossed their moral compass. yet in da3 there is nothing. Vivienne, one of the highest ranking members of the orlesian court, is paid no special attention during the halamshiral quest, no cutscenes or contents or ACKNOWLEDGEMENT she is an autonomous character in the universe.

or you know – take the one character who IS involved: solas’ true identity and stake in the course of events is all hidden half truths until the gotcha! cliffhanger at the end that is meant only for the player, there is no room for any character reaction from the companions or the pc, there is no time devoted to a betrayal or an absence or anything. you gotta cherry pick environments and do multiple play through to get the slightest hints of characterization, you gotta READ AN INTERVIEW to understand solas’ true intentions in his romance. characterization in this game is the opposite of accesible

idk the previous games had character shit and plot shit intertwined. in order to get the best outcomes you had to work to get to know the characters. in dai there is only one outcome, and in order to get it you gotta rack up completed fetch quests.