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zhaoly · 2 years

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HMMMM i'm not sure how i feel about da2 i've finished act 1 and a tiny bit of act 2 i have a lot of mixed feelings and i know im like 10+ YEARS too late but whatever

first of all.... where are the companion interactions?! huh??? why don't we get to talk to our buds? you get sooo few dialogue options with them i'm kinda shocked i feel like you had so many in comparison in dao and that was a huge draw of the game

and the maps are so... repetitive and boring? they're recycled copies of each other and it's just dull and not an exciting environment to be in. especially considering you can only go to the various layers of kirkwall and just a couple of areas in the wilderness. i have to say that i'm really disappointed by the environment variety and (lack of) design

the lack of armor customization for companions is very weird. i don't mind it that much because it makes it easier to manage party members and this way i can actually swap more easily between each companion since i dont have to keep up with gearing all of them. so that aspect im mostly fine with but it's also kind of weird

also i didnt realize this until i did seb's personal quest (at least the one where you go to harriman estate) but the side stories aren't that compelling or interesting to me? i guess this is also a bit unfair considering dao was about darkspawn and the blight and da2 is about mages vs templars and is also less about the MC having to be a hero

but when i did seb's quest it hit me like whoa, this actually has that "dao vibe" that i havent been getting from other da2 quests. like dark and sort of mysterious and ominous. the stories in da2 are very straightforward with what's going on which is fine i guess but they dont leave you with a sense of curiosity or desire to find out more about what's going on because they just put everything out there.

like in dao, every single major story had some mysteries that you had to uncover yourself. what's going on w redcliffe + connor + eamon, where tf is branka and what is she going + what is the anvil for, what the hell is going on in haven with the cultists, wtf is happening in the chaos at the circle tower, what's the real story behind the werewolves and the dalish. so many things!!!

... whereas da2 so far has kinda just been life as a mercenary. yep. go do this task. let's raise some gold to go on this deep roads expedition. cool we have a manor now! and i KNOW that's basically like... the point, that you're not some hero or anything, you're just trying to make a life after leaving lothering and you just get caught up in this mages vs templars thing. but god all the mystery and joy of discovery really isn't there. even the final part in the deep roads was disappointingly short and uneventful?

i dont hate the game so far even though i probably sound like i do but i'm starting to understand why da2 is generally viewed less favorably out of all of the games in the series. and it makes me appreciate more just how damn good dao was in terms of story.

i do think the personality thing is actually pretty cool and that you get certain options based on your personality and that hawke will respond to certain situations differently based on her personality. now that's neato.

i do think the mages vs templar story is actually decently interesting because it actually is a choice that i've been torn between in all three games. i think the fact that i struggle with the decisions is good. it's a more interesting conflict than, say, skyrim's nords vs imperials thing.

it's all subjective but ig i just way prefer the story of dao as well as the want it's presented. i would absolutely kill for dao to have a voiced protagonist because i actually love having a voiced protag even though apparently a lot of people don't. i think it actually gives the char life instead of just being a mute MC the entire time. anyway i need to go to bed

#game ramblings #and the review no one asked for #da2

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