*SPOILERS* Dragon Age 2 Discussion

[Ailia]

Bahahaha Alistair looked shit in Dragon Age 2.
He obviously aged terribly

-snip-

I played through it once on PC as a Male Rogue, and now I'm playing through it on PS3 as a Female Mage. I look like Sophie Ellis Bextor
But yeah, I'm making a few different decisions.
Still not siding with the Templars, though.

It sometimes pains me to side with the Templars, but I just want to see how it plays out. Subsequent playthroughs will most likely have me siding with the mages again.

I refused to help him enter the Chantry, I hope that means it's not going to blow up...as soon as I saw what ingredients he needed for his "potion", I got suspicious. Come on Anders, you aren't fooling anybody collecting a flammable ore, and manure deposits! As soon as we got back to his base, I told him I wasn't assisting him any further.

Oh...
Well I was romancing him at the time, so I felt obliged to fall in with his wishes.

He black-mailed me! D: I was suspicious and was refusing to help him and he said something along the lines of, "You can't love me and then hate what I stand for," so I was like, "FINE" and helped him. Needless to say I regret it.

 

[Shycte]

I refused to help him enter the Chantry, I hope that means it's not going to blow up...as soon as I saw what ingredients he needed for his "potion", I got suspicious. Come on Anders, you aren't fooling anybody collecting a flammable ore, and manure deposits! As soon as we got back to his base, I told him I wasn't assisting him any further.

Wanna know the answer?

 

[Dragonborne88]

I'm surprised that I went from disliking the Chantry in the first Dragon Age (I dunno why, I just didn't care for them) to actually respecting them in this one. I like the Grand Cleric, seems like the only reasonable person in the town, next to the ex-Viscount. Even the Templar aren't bad, even whats-his-face from the first game...ugh, it's bothering me I can't remember his name, the guy who hates all mages..., just the Knight-Commander seems to be the only crazy dedicated Templar.

But overall, yeah. I like Chapter 2 the best, besides your mother dying. I have noticed that on the dialog I don't pick, my Hawke has gotten Snarky. It's neat that the path you took the majority of the time starts to influence your standard dialog. I LOVE Fem-Hawke's voice, I don't know if I can play a male Hawke. :/

 

[Dragonborne88]

I refused to help him enter the Chantry, I hope that means it's not going to blow up...as soon as I saw what ingredients he needed for his "potion", I got suspicious. Come on Anders, you aren't fooling anybody collecting a flammable ore, and manure deposits! As soon as we got back to his base, I told him I wasn't assisting him any further.

Wanna know the answer?

Not really, I wanna see how it plays out. My old gamer feelings suggest that he is going to do it anyway though. He tried pulling the whole "You can't be my friend and hate what I stand for!" thing on me too, but I pretty much told him that I don't need to agree with every word he says either. I'm neutral in the argument, but sway towards the Templar...there do SEEM to be quite a few Maleficarum in the stupid city.

 

[OutcastBOS]

Well, I'm in agreement that the third act was b.s., but the "say hello to my little friend" moment with Varric was awesome.

 

[Shycte]

I refused to help him enter the Chantry, I hope that means it's not going to blow up...as soon as I saw what ingredients he needed for his "potion", I got suspicious. Come on Anders, you aren't fooling anybody collecting a flammable ore, and manure deposits! As soon as we got back to his base, I told him I wasn't assisting him any further.

Wanna know the answer?

Not really, I wanna see how it plays out. My old gamer feelings suggest that he is going to do it anyway though. He tried pulling the whole "You can't be my friend and hate what I stand for!" thing on me too, but I pretty much told him that I don't need to agree with every word he says either. I'm neutral in the argument, but sway towards the Templar...there do SEEM to be quite a few Maleficarum in the stupid city.

I know... It's kinda weird. In Origins, Blood Magic was this forbidden practice only a few knew. Now it's enough to cut your wrist.

 

[Dragonborne88]

I know... It's kinda weird. In Origins, Blood Magic was this forbidden practice only a few knew. Now it's enough to cut your wrist.

Oh ho! I see what you did there! I wish I could rub in people's faces that I'm a Blood Mage though, it's so much fun to play that class in both games. Worse (as in messiest) combo I did was throw the Walking Bomb on one guy, while I was controlling another with Magic. Both detonated at the same time, and pretty much one shotted a boss guy that was standing near them. Along with like 6 of the cronies surrounding them.

 

[Paxel]

I personally love it. Buy I would have wanted the main story to have a bit more drive, there is no sense of urgency until like mid-late act 2. Hawke is just drifts around doing stuff to earn money in act 1.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I'm surprised that I went from disliking the Chantry in the first Dragon Age (I dunno why, I just didn't care for them) to actually respecting them in this one. I like the Grand Cleric, seems like the only reasonable person in the town, next to the ex-Viscount. Even the Templar aren't bad, even whats-his-face from the first game...ugh, it's bothering me I can't remember his name, the guy who hates all mages..., just the Knight-Commander seems to be the only crazy dedicated Templar.

But overall, yeah. I like Chapter 2 the best, besides your mother dying. I have noticed that on the dialog I don't pick, my Hawke has gotten Snarky. It's neat that the path you took the majority of the time starts to influence your standard dialog. I LOVE Fem-Hawke's voice, I don't know if I can play a male Hawke. :/

Male Hawke does a phenomenal job with the "comedian" dialogue options; I highly suggest you try it

@OP I just beat DA2 last night (Male Warrior) and I enjoyed it a lot. Recycled environments aside, the game was pretty nice to look at and fun to travel through, and the combat was substantially improved. What really sold me on the game was the characters and the overall story, and Bioware didn't disappoint me there. The party banter is phenomenal (I'm pretty sure I heard at least 2-3 dozen conversations between my squad of Anders, Merril and Varric), and it's fun to see them change as the story progresses.

The game did lose a bit of steam in Act 3 though, with some truly perplexing story decisions (Why were the mages attacking me when I opposed Meredith at every turn?) Also, Orsino resorting to blood magic was just stupid. The actual Act 3 story was quite good though, with a heavy politically charged atmosphere and some great voice acting.

 

[Dragonborne88]

Male Hawke does a phenomenal job with the "comedian" dialogue options; I highly suggest you try it

@OP I just beat DA2 last night (Male Warrior) and I enjoyed it a lot. Recycled environments aside, the game was pretty nice to look at and fun to travel through, and the combat was substantially improved. What really sold me on the game was the characters and the overall story, and Bioware didn't disappoint me there. The party banter is phenomenal (I'm pretty sure I heard at least 2-3 dozen conversations between my squad of Anders, Merril and Varric), and it's fun to see them change as the story progresses.

The game did lose a bit of steam in Act 3 though, with some truly perplexing story decisions (Why were the mages attacking me when I opposed Meredith at every turn?) Also, Orsino resorting to blood magic was just stupid. The actual Act 3 story was quite good though, with a heavy politically charged atmosphere and some great voice acting.

I'll probably go with Male Hawke my next playthrough, and keep the Fem-Hawke as my "Canon" character. Just to date Merill, if nothing else, because she doesn't seem to be responding to my flirts with my Fem-Hawke. Gotta say though, the main character's voice actors seem to be a bit more enjoyable, to me anyway, then the Mass Effect ones.

 

[Slycne]

For everyone complaining about Orsino turning to blood magic coming out of left field, you're missing a pair of subtle details.

Quentin, the white lily killer, has a note marveling at his 'research' and it's simply signed - O. Orsino also mentions something to the effect of "Quentin was right" before he changes. This points to at least some passing interest in blood magic.

I imagine this was done to write both Orsino and Meredith out of the situation, further destabilizing the situation and simply to remove them both from the story for the next iteration. I also saw this as a further means to muddy your decision. Meredith wants to kill every mage, which in this play through included my sister, but Orsino could have put a stop to the murders and you mother would never have gotten killed.

 

[Dragonborne88]

I want to see how the story changes if your Brother joins the Templar, to be honest. I like the fact he's a Gray Warden, but I wonder if he goes stir crazy as well, or actually becomes a voice of reason. If any of you guys actually had him join the Templar, lemme know how it went!

 

[Danik93]

I loved DAII and the fight against Meridith was one of the best boss battles I have ever done!
When the statues came to life I was like Really... statues! -.- but when they started to spin around with their 4 arms I was like THIS IS SO AWESOME! and when you ahd to fight the slave statues at the same time as the other statue and Meridith. So frekkin awesome! When the upper half of the statues came to life and started to fire spray everything I was in a state of Euphoria!

 

[Etherlad]

I hated the first Act because it was basically nothing but boring fetchquests and no Mainplot i could grasp, it got better though later.
At hindsight i think the story was pretty good, about two warring factions, a opressed race (calling the mages a race for a lack of a better word), how the Champion was pretty much just swept up in a larger conflict that has been building up in Thedas for decades instead of being THE CHOSEN ONE. I think the game did a poor job of communicating this during playthrough though, at least i had serious problems at time to be actually motivated.

The Qunari are becoming more interesting with every Game, love them, i hope to see them more often in the future (a DLC set in Par Vollen would be awesome). Pretty much the Saracens with their exotic Religion and advanced technology.

At first playthrough i roleplayed a eeeeevul Bloodmage working up his way to power over Kirkwall and was sorely dispointed when i wasnt able to become King (apparently you cant support the rebelling Mages and still become King, something that slowly dawned on me when Leliana mentioned the possibility of a Holy War against Kirkwall) =(

On my second playthrough now as a Warrior, just arrived at the third act.

(Okay my post now came over as quite a lot of whining. I think the game has a lot of flaws in storytelling, but i enjoyed it anyway because the gameplay is pretty good overall)

 

[Dragonborne88]

That sucks! Thank god I had Anders with me then. To be honest, Carver seems happier now that he's part of the Wardens. He was a spiteful little guy before that, but his letter says that he feels like he is part of something now, and he actually told me that I did everything I could when I mentioned what happened to the mother. So, it seems to have been the better choice to make him a Warden.

 

[Heartcafe]

I liked it Though personally, it did feel a little bit rushed compared to DA:O. The overused environments were like a slap in the face everytime I was loaded into one and Kirkwall never really changed that much overtime -_- After a few hours in, I was totally depending on story and gameplay to keep me going.

BUT THAT ENDING CLIFF HANGER. GOD ANDERS. REALLY?
Hawke: Okay guys, let's just be friendly and settl-WHO BLEW UP THE CHANTRY??!?
Anders: *Trollface
Hawke: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
I was THIS close to killing him, but I changed my mind >.<

 

[BanZeus]

Also, playing a Mage (Blood, of course!), and it sucked seeing my Brother get drafted into the Gray Wardens. I didn't take him at first, died because of the Dragon, and didn't save so I got dragged back to the beginning and decided to take him with. Apparently he joins the Templars if you don't take him, I would have liked that better, I think.

Huh. I somehow managed to get Carver tainted and killed in the deep roads in my current (mage) playthrough. Now I wonder how many people who died-in-a-cutscene or decided to throw themselves on my sword in my first (warrior) game would have lived if I'd made different choices.

Anyone try spending so much money that they couldn't afford to pay for the expedition?

EDIT: In hindsight, leaving the grey warden healer behind in favor of a pirate does seem a bit
silly. Ugh: Ancient Rock Wraith...

 

[Etherlad]

My Brother died at first playthrough, i left him back on 2nd playthrough and he became a Templar just to spite me, that ass.

BUT THAT ENDING CLIFF HANGER. GOD ANDERS. REALLY?
Hawke: Okay guys, let's just be friendly and settl-WHO BLEW UP THE CHANTRY??!?
Anders: *Trollface
Hawke: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
I was THIS close to killing him, but I changed my mind >.<

Heh yeah, i was WTF when that cutscene came, didnt see that coming. Then i said to myself "Oooooooooh, so THAT'S why he sent me to the sewers to get ammonium nitrate for him DUUUUUURRRRRR" and i literally facepalmed.

Edit: Actually, with DA2 first mentioning things like Dynamite (Isabella also mentioned Qunari Ships have something that breathes fire, so basically Cannons) i wonder if we'll see more of that in the future. Made me think of Fable 1-3 where you basically see the change from medieval Europe to the Industrial Revolution, or the old RPG Arcanum where Magic competed with a World first introduced to technological advancement.