socialnuju

joined 4 years ago
[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 4 points 2 weeks ago

That's more like it!

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I hope not lol

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 8 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Left to right: saxophone, violin, transverse flute

 

I have already complained about some of the issues this game has in another post, so I'm not gonna reiterate but I just felt like venting after beating the game.

While I was absolutely overjoyed with the story of Taash, as quirky-wholesome and heartbreaking as it was, the final confrontation(s) with Solas left much to be desired. I do see that this game went a different way in telling its story, and after ten years, Dragon Age was definitely allowed to change. After all, the final message of the game is that stories change just as much as the world and people do, if you really want progress.

I'm even inclined to say that this was a nice try at beautiful messaging, but with such a contrived plot twist "Oh, Varric was dead the entire time AND NOBODY TOLD YOU BECAUSE NOBODY NOTICED YOU HALLUCINATING AND IT'S ALL THE DREAD WOLF'S FAULT" just to make (I'm guessing) new players hate Solas, and then having him trick you repeatedly just to prove he is, in fact, the god of trickery and lies? While at the same time, they constantly mention he's also the "God of Rebellion" but then he's not actually rebelling but following orders like every other servant of the elven gods? Granted, Mythal is a slightly different story, but she's still one of the gods and he just blindly followed her. And in the end, he only changes through her forgiveness? I can't even put into words how little sense the scene with Mythal and Solas made, I don't even know if this is something that everyone got to see.

The earlier parts of the game introduce you to a few of the battles Solas fought and while he was trying to do better, and you and your team learn about his biggest regrets throughout the game, he eventually has to be tricked or convinced into saving the Veil. Which brings me to the remains of your team making a fake magical dagger casually while you are stumbling around in a prison made for gods...? I have no idea how to make this sound anything but nonsensical. Now that your team has that dagger, you can trick the god of trickery into believing this is the right dagger and... be happy about tricking him...? Maybe one of you comrades can tell me how this is supposed to make sense. I don't know what else to say about this part bc it seems to me it was just there to give the player another dialog option for the end of the game.

And now, the finale itself. I'm only talking about the one where you try to stop Solas by talking him down (instead of attacking him, tricking him, or making him use the actual dagger to use blood magic to tie the Veil to his existence). The entire game suffers from the illusion of choice and then just streamlining the plot to fit one of the options. Sure, it's more of an action RPG than an actual RPG, which wouldn't have been bad, but I will never get why studios add decision moments to a story when eventually it just doesn't matter. So when you choose not to trick Solas or force him to use blood magic, all it takes to make him stop tearing open the Veil, is Mythal's ghost releasing him from her service. Solas cries for five seconds (you know, you need a moment to work through a couple millennia of war crimes and guilt) and then does the blood ritual anyway, sorry, he cuts himself with the dagger and steps into the fade. What the hell was that?

As a last (bitter) thought: If the message of the game/story is about change, why is everybody so afraid of the Veil being torn down? I thought you guys wanted change. /s

I'm drifting off into angry rambling, so I'll just leave it at this. I hope I'm not the only one who felt thoroughly disappointed.

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I decided to continue playing before I reply to you, and now after roughly 60 hours and progressing Bellara's story, I agree with you, my criticism was funny. i-cant She turns out quite alright and becomes very intriguing after a few more hours.

I honestly have to say tho, they really butchered the beginning of the game, and the more you progress, the more it seems to find it's footing, or dare I say, a Dragon Age-esque tone.

 

Looks pretty complete to me screm3

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 14 points 1 month ago

Actually, that's a good point. comfy-cool

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 25 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (6 children)

I'm playing it too rn, and I agree with the stuff you said. Also, yes, the review bombing is all-out based-ness for the most part (~90% from what I've seen). But there are other criticisms that I think are valid.

I'm personally not enjoying the game, to put it mildly, for multiple reasons:

  • the writing: the dialogs are flat, the lines are so repetitive that at some points I'm just zoning out, bc I don't want to hear again that "dwarves don't dream" or that "Elgar'nan and Ghilan'hanin" escaped their prison. I got the impression that there's little love or even interest in the stuff they've been writing. It feels heartless and lifeless, which is incredibly sad given how interesting the plot actually is (bunch of guys trying to prevent the end of the world)
  • the lore inaccuracies: it's as if they started writing this game and went like "All that lore we created for and in the first 3 games? Shredd it, we don't need that". One instance would be the "dwarves don't dream" thing. Dwarves sleep and dream. They just can't enter the Fade in their dreams. (That's just one, but there's so much more.)
  • the (voice) acting/tone of the game: I'm blaming this mostly on the dialog, but some voice lines are delivered in such unfitting tones of voice. Like, guys, how tf are you so cheery, you're trying to stop the end of the world? That's not per se a bad idea, but given that dragon age has always been so dark and sarcastic, it feels so out of place for all these characters being so annoyingly cheery. (Maybe I'll get used to this, Idk)
  • Bellara: perfect example of how to butcher a potentially amazing character. First of all, this character feels like a horrible stereotype of someone with ADHD, like "omg, sorry, I'm rambling and so random", like fr, this is not how it works. Second, her backstory is actually great which really doesn't shine through enough. And third, whoever decided to give her the Garrus line ("calibrations")??? It feels so out of place and not funny at all.

I like the combat system, it's somewhat refreshing to see an action rpg setup in dragon age, so that your mage finally doesn't die immediately in close combat scenarios. I'm also madly in love with the hair animations. I keep entering the character creator to swoosh around the hair lol.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend (buying) the game, but it definitely has its moments.

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 22 points 1 month ago

Get well soon comrade, we are here for you meow-hug I really hope you (and your dog) will be okay!

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

“It is better for them to die than to be captured and held here.”

I... these atrocities become more and more unfathomable. My brain can't process this insane disdain for human lives anymore. Reading this man saying that death is preferable to captivity is something I never wanted to read again. Nobody deserves this. Nobody.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

Fuck yes and happy birthday comrade! :crab-party:

[–] socialnuju@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you so much for sharing that piece of info!