#its such a shame compared to how much stuff is written about every other bioware game rly

[gothamcityneedsme]

Tbh it will always get my goat that me:a doesnt have the attention it deserves and that no one talks about it on a deeper level or examines the characters etc. like even the wiki pages suffer with like basically no info.

[theharellan]

101 DRAGON AGE QUESTIONS | not accepting

for the sake of reducing the number of ooc posts i’m answering these all in one and just @ing the people who asked the questions! thank you for them all!

if you sent me one of these btw and rbed this meme yourself and i didn’t send you something, please let me know! i want to send you things back and must have missed you reblogging the meme. this includes non-mutuals.

1. How did you get into Dragon Age? | asked by @kaaras-adaar & @dreamerlavellan​

Sort of by accident, actually. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in university (2011) and summertime is generally a time of inactivity and depression because I cannot tolerate the weather here. My dad happened to own Origins and I picked it up because??? Fantasy? RPG?

Starting the game I saw you could play as a dwarf, who have been my favourites in fantasy since a child as The Hobbit is among my favourite books. Then after that I fell in love with the worldbuilding for dwarves and Gorim, my first actual Dragon Age love. I was more or less hooked after that. DA was actually not my first Bioware game, I was obsessed with Jade Empire as a kid so like Origins appealed to me immediately despite being far less fun to play than literally any other Bioware game I’ve ever played. The characters and world more than made up for it.

I beat it relatively quickly and my dad bought Dragon Age II which had come out earlier that day, actually against my suggestion because I’d heard it wasn’t good. And in this instance my dad forgetting something I said turned out for the best because I ended up enjoying DAII more in some respects. While it took me a while to join the fandom as a content producer I was a consumer and certified DA trash from then on.

2. Have you finished all three games? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

Kskjdfs yes. I’ve beaten each at least 4 times, but probably more like 8. The only thing I haven’t played are some of the Origins DLC because as much as I enjoy my replays I am so ready to be out by the end of the game (and I have the worst luck with Awakening bugs) and I also don’t have Sebastians DLC b/c his never goes on sale individually and I refuse to spend more than like $4 on him.

3. How long did it take you to finish the series? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

I honestly don’t know. I think it took me like a week to beat Inquisition without 100%ing it, I’d say my first playthroughs all probably took about that long. I tend not to do everything in my first playthrough. Like shard collecting didn’t happen until round two, etc.

7. Favorite DA:O backstory? | asked by @dreamerlavellan & @fatefaulted

I’ve played through all of them and I enjoy them all except Cousland, but my favourite is Aeducan. I enjoy the politics, the culture, the aesthetic of Orzammar. I love Gorim Saelac and the surprising amount of depth to this character who is designed to be thrown away after the prologue. I love how it ties you to the Darkspawn threat in a bigger way than any of the origins accomplish. I love how it ties you to the Orzammar plot later in the game, and playing Aeducan first is probably one reason why I adore that branch of the game. It’s a good origin that establishes its world really well and has great characters to boot.

11. Share a pic of your favorite OC from any DA game. | asked by @dreamerlavellan

I just want to share pics of my girl and Solas’ future husband.

Ian Lavellan, non-Inquisitor written by @theshirallen

Thora Cadash, dwarven Inquisitor and default Inquisitor for this blog written by... me lmao.

22. Favorite DA2 party combo? | asked by @fatefaulted

My main Hawke is a mage Hawke, so this party is horrendously imbalanced, but: Varric, Merrill, Isabela. They all just like each other and I think that’s neat. Although in act one my favourite is probably Carver, Merrill, Isabela / Varric. Unfortunately the game doesn’t want me to have a warrior in my party.

24. Favorite main-story quest from DA:I? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

It’s hard to pick between In Hushed Whispers and In Your Heart Shall Burn. I love seeing the red lyrium’d companions and the dark future of Thedas, and speculating on what happened in the intervening year. I love reflecting on what it must do for the Inquisitor to see that and have it be undone. I think it sets up the rest of the game really well, and in ways Champions of the Just doesn’t do quite as well.

In Your Heart Shall burn is a simpler quest but I think the power and emotions in the quest are so raw. Playing this the first time was riveting and I was on the edge of my seat. The triumph of closing the Breach, the strangeness of your first encounter with Cole (whose appearance at the gates is another reason I prefer IHW tbh, I think it’s more tension building than Dorian’s), Corypheus, crawling through the snow. Capping it off with The Dawn Will Come and the journey to Skyhold idk, it’s just such an emotional high point in the series that every time I replay I get goosebumps.

25. Favorite DA:I place? | asked by @fatefaulted

It’s a tie between the Frostback Basin and the Emerald Graves. I love the lore in both, as elf trash I prefer the lore in the graves especially if I can include the Din’an Hanin into that category. But the Avvar lore and Ameridan is also Very Good, and while I adore the giant trees of the graves the Frostback Basin clearly was able to have more resources poured into its design, and as a result the different sections of the map have so much more character.

A close runner-up is the Hinterlands, as I think the quests there are fun and it feels like home. I enjoy returning to it. Which is good, b/c I’ve played through it... a lot... I think loving it might be a coping mechanism, but also I love the vibe of the early game that’s best captured in the Hinterlands.

32. Favorite DLC mission overall? | asked by @fatefaulted

Trespasser is up there with Shivering Isles as my favourite DLC ever produced. Its hits every emotional beat I think it needed to hit, set up the next game with greater detail and intrigue than the initial epilogue, and I’m honestly dying to get to replay it again on Thora despite what it does to my nerves. The first time I played it I could feel my heart beating faster like wtf me.

37. Blood magic: yes or no? | asked by @hopewrought​

Would I use it myself? No. Morally I think it can be reprehensible but also neutral, much like any other magic in the game. In certain characters I think even if used for good it may encourage unhealthy habits, but I think it can be learned to be engaged with in better ways.

59. Who was written really poorly? | asked by @theshirallen you can’t hide behind anon I know it was you

Oghren fucking Kondrat. When I think about the reasons Origins is my least favourite game he is among them. With Oghren there was a really good chance to portray an alcoholic abuse victim, suffering from severe mental health issues, and still mourning his wife, with the respect it deserves. Instead he just... is a gross sexist dwarf and his alcoholism is mostly played for jokes. And then he comes back in Awakening and... continues to be a gross sexist dwarf whose alcoholism is mostly played for jokes.

There could have been some really interesting stuff with Oghren, the Warrior caste of dwarves I think would suffer from issues similar to qunari warriors, where when they can no longer fill the purpose society has dictated they must serve, what then? They can’t do anything but fight. There could be comradery with Sten, or perhaps Zevran or Alistair, or any of the companions who have had the path their lives took dictated to them by societal forces they had no say in (even if they are happy with that direction). There are snippets of good stuff in here, the line “let us show them our hearts, Warden, and then show them theirs” is one of the best of the good-byes the game offers us imo. It’s a shame about what came before.

Like there are other characters, such as Sera, who I think were done dirty by their writers, but Sera at least got some growth in the DLC and there were attempts to address criticism of her character. Oghren in Awakening was just kind of a take two of an already poorly-done arc.

60. Who do you wish had been given more story? | asked by @hopewrought​

I wish Briala had more, like that she had some impact on the story in universes where Gaspard isn’t crowned with her as his puppetmaster. She and the elves reappears in that but not if you reunite her with Celene or exile her, and I think it would’ve been neat. I also wish she’d had a chance to interact with Solas in some small way given how many parallels were drawn by one of his own agents during Masked Empire.

I also wish we had more about dwarves in general in 2 and Inquisition. We get some great lore in Inquisition that was set up in 2, but with our only dwarf companion being Varric, who honestly has a relationship with his race that at times is comparable to Sera’s, it pulls a few of its punches. I really think they have dwarves set up to be important players in the next game, with their architecture featuring heavily in the dev diary, buuut no dwarves to be seen. So who knows. Just give me dwarves in the next game who aren’t Varric Bioware pls. Let me kiss one maybe.

61. Favorite NPC? | asked by @kaaras-adaar​

I’m not going to count advisors even though they kinda are NPCs and I’m going to answer one for each game so uhh...

Origins - Anora

DA2 - Feynriel

DA:I - Krem

Bonus - Lord Woolsley, the only unproblematic DA character

63. Best story moment? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

It’s a tie between the journey to Skyhold and the talk with Solas at the end of Trespasser and the resulting disbanding of the Inquisition (if you so choose). I really can’t separate them because I think the reason Trespasser works so well is how it calls back to the very beginning of Inquisition and that moment with Solas in the snow. It’s triumphant and sad, something’s ending, the fellowship is breaking, but you know all of you will continue to work towards a better world apart.

In DA:O I think it’d be saying good-bye before the final battle and in DA2 I think the moment where you can tell the Arishok he was right to take in the elves who killed that guardmen is good. Probably one of the reasons why I think Hawke-Arishok work so well as a protagonist-antagonist combination.

81. Favorite fanfic? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​

I don’t read a lot of fanfic, actually. Save what I read on here, which I do count, but idk if other people do.

My favourite writers to read are @theshirallen​, obviously. Joly wants to tweakIan’s personal quest but I think the version they have written now is still very good and you can find it here. I love reading Peace’s stuff and find their smut especially spicy in the best possible way, you can find a Merrill/f!Mahariel piece here! Gaia doesn’t write on Tumblr much these days, but she wrote a wonderful Tug/Sketch (the companions from Leliana’s Song) that you can find here.

I follow so many talented writers and I can’t list them all but here are a few I can fire off real fast: @theshirallen / @ghilannainguideme / @seahaloed / @sabraelin / @valorcorrupt / @mercysought / @hopewrought / @ofrevas / @skyheld have all moved me with their words at some point, be it in fic or rp.

82. Favorite fanart/fanartist? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

Again I just can’t choose jsdfks.

The easiest way is to just link my Solas fanart tag. Obviously this favours Solas artists, however, so also here’s a link to thedaswlw where there’s a boatload of amazing fanart all of wlw.

Of people I’m mutuals with I know @abracafockyou, @kaaras-adaar, @dalathin (currently inactive but I gotta link them), and @syntharts​ are all very talented artists.  I’m also a big fan of destinyapostacy, nipuni, elbenherzart, starscollected (on twitter), and many more.

97. What’s your favorite DA mod? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​ & @hopewrought​

I’ll chose one as many as I want to apparently from each game again, b/c why not?

DA:O - I have to admit I find this game hard to mod because nothing can really salvage the gameplay or look of the game. I need Better Dwarf Model so I don’t have to look at the odd dwarf proportions in the game (the women have arms for days). Mostly I have armour mods. I like Grey Wardens of Ferelden so I can match Alistair in the final batte and have everyone in uniforms in Awakening. I do like Kirkwall Exports because I can put Zevran in the robes of the notorious pirate tho. I haven’t used this mod yet but I also love this mod I retweeted this morning.

DA2 - Again, I don’t mod 2 very much. You could probably make some kind of chart for correlating my enjoyment of a game versus my urge to mod it, with the more I love a game means I want to mod it more. With 2 I enjoy the combat and overall design of the characters more so I mostly use a couple of tweaks, my favourite is Ishs Scarf for Merrill which just adds a cute blue scarf to Merrill and hides the fact that elves in this game have weirdly long necks. Oh and a mod to fix the weird hand dirt.

DA:I - Equal Opportunity Solas mod, I bought the game again on PC just to use it. Being able to play Solas/Ian for screencaps was everything tbh. Other mods I enjoy are More Banter, which while I have better luck with banter it is nice to be able to count on it. I installed it this latest pt and I have heard location comments that have never triggered before. Black Hair for Everyone has changed my life because finally Thora doesn’t have grey hair. No Dirt Buildup is also amazing, as the dirt can cause some really weird blotting on PCs that’s especially noticeable on dark-skinned Inquisitors.

99. Where would you live (Ferelden, Orlais, Free Marches etc?) | asked by @heysales​​

Probably Ferelden. It is fantasy England and hey if I make it past Inquisition maybe nothing will ever happen there again. Somewhere in the Free Marches might also be chill. Not Kirkwall. Maybe Starkhaven? Honestly tho I just want to live in the Frostback Basin. Have a spirit friend. Shake hands with nugs.

101. If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say? | asked by @dreamerlavellan​

If I met Thora I’d tell her I’m proud of her. She’d be confused, but that’s ok.

[iblameashley]

12 Hours In: A Mass Effect Andromeda Review

Note: I’ve never written a review before – not for a game, movie, etc. I don’t generally like doing them because I’m always unsure what to say; but Mass Effect Andromeda has broken this barrier with me, and I feel the need to put my thoughts down regarding this game.

Now, most of you are likely sitting there thinking “Oh fuck, another complaint about the M/M romance BS.” While I will touch on that issue later, I really do want to review the game so far, 12 hours in.

Character Creator:

The bane of this games existence, and also one of the major issues that has been brought up with the Dev’s and company. I tried to make my own custom Ryder to play, but it was nearly impossible to get a face I liked. I felt the creator was fighting me every step of the way, and after a good thirty minutes of effort, I simply went back to the main menu and selected Default Scott Ryder to play.

The Dev’s have already acknowledged this issue and say they are working on it, so for now I will stick with my cutie-pie Scott. I would have to give the creator a 3/10 right now though.

Tell me I’m pretty. (Image from Pintrest)

Pros: Default Scott and Sarah are well made, so starting with them isn’t a problem.

Cons: The creator sucks and you have fight with it. If you managed to make a good character: good for you.

Visuals: 

Mass Effect Andromeda is eye-candy. There is no doubt about it; the dev’s went above and beyond to make the Arks, Nexus, Tempest and worlds breath-taking. They’ve done a great job setting the tone for each location, and I get excited to explore new areas as they open up to Scott. 

If I had to name my favorite place right now, it would be Voeld (The Ice world, I believe). Riding around in the Nomad in the snow and Ice really brings me back to Noveria in the original trilogy, and I think that’s really important for this new game – there needs to be some connection to the old games, while making its own way. 

The galaxy map is also very attractive and, due to there being no Mass Relays in this game, designed with FTL travel in mind. The transition from system to system is fluid and appealing, though sometimes I found the transition from planet-to-planet tiresome and unnecessary. 

Genuinely one of my favorite scenes so far.

Pros: Well-designed maps, transitions and vessels. Feels like a brand-new experience, like it should be.

Cons: Transition from planet-to-planet takes longer than necessary.

Controls: 

The characters are easy enough to move around, and I really enjoy the addition of the jet-pack to boost yourself in this game. I cannot tell you how often I use the jet-pack, its just fun. I find it extremely useful during combat to dodge attacks and sometimes gain an advantage over the Kett. I usually play as a biotic, so the adept profile has been working very well for me in conjunction with the jet-pack. 

The one thing that does bother me is running and stopping. I found that Scott doesn’t come to a complete stop and kinda flows forward for a second for two after you release the control. It was bad the first time it happened when I had used a jetpack to jump on a rock, moved forward and then fell to my death because he didn’t stop in time. At least it was funny to watch. 

That should probably read “Trophy earned! Dipshit!”

Aiming and firing guns with the control is familiar, it took no time to adapt to, and aside from minor changes to the look of the targeting system, it felt very Mass Effect-y. 

The Nomad on the other hand… Bioware, you lied to us! You said it would handle better than the Mako! It so doesn’t. But that aside, I still enjoy my adventures in the thing, and the banter between squad mates that you get to enjoy as you move from place to place. The benefit to the Nomad is the ability to switch between a high and low gear, with an added boost from a rear-mounted thruster. It can also make small jumps, but I found it lacking compared to the Mako. 

I don’t really like the system they set up where you have to press and hold the triangle to open doors or crates. I know it only adds a second or two to the game, but its wasted time, damnit! Let me click and open shit, I wanna loot and get back to killing things.

Pros: Now that I’m more use to the control, it seems more fluid. I get the Mass Effect feeling from it. The Nomad reminds me of the Mako in some ways.

Cons: I fell off a cliff. Ma—I mean, the nomad reminds me of the Mako in some ways. Fuck you press-and-hold triangle setup! 

Animations (general): 

There has been a lot of fuss about the animations not being polished in the game, so I won’t linger on this topic very long. My install already had 3 patches attached to it, and while I haven’t looked closely at the details, there wasn’t much in the way of animation (so far) that has really jarred me, though there has been some. 

I find the movements of the mouth to be a little too exaggerated which seems to pull me out of what’s being said. It’s a minor annoyance that I’ll get over, but I would hope in the future they’ll look more closely at that. 

Aside from that, when I was recruiting Jaal there seemed to be some pixilation when he was speaking with another character that only happened when they moved in close to each other. There are also the eyes… people have mentioned it before, but they have the crazy-ex-girlfriend look to them. These bitches be out for blood! This could (I hope) be fixed with a patch. 

Not nearly blood-thirsty enough.

Pros: Eh… its Mass Effect, there’s always something off about animations, and that’s just a part of the experience. 

Cons: Its an experience I would live without going forward.

The Story: 

While I am enjoying the story of the Initiative, let’s be honest here. Bioware may not have intended to, but they wrote themselves into a corner with the original trilogy and couldn’t go any further in the Milky Way Galaxy without defining an ending to the trilogy. That being said, I still feel like it Bioware had simply said that the initiative was done as a back-up plan to the Reaper invasion, people would have just ran with it. 

I don’t know where the story will go yet, I am only 12 hours into the game, but the idea that they just wanted to explore a new galaxy doesn’t really seem like it’s worth the financial effort required. Most of the Milky Way was still unexplored thanks to many Mass Relays being inactive. 

I can’t really say much on the story, but I am eagerly awaiting more of it opening up as I play. There was only a need for minor tweaks to the story to make it fit in with the original trilogy nicely; it’s a shame they chose not to go that direction. 

Pros: It gives us a whole new galaxy to explore, especially if they decide to open up the rest of Andromeda in future installments. 

Cons: The reasons for going were not well thought out.

Romance, Or: Wheres my tentacle porn, damnit?! 

Finally, I want to address the romance stuff. I already know how this will play out as a gay-male, playing a gay-male in the game. Bioware fully let me down with this game, to a point where I seriously considered canceling my pre-order of the game. 

To have only one real romance option (Gil from engineering) who is an NPC only, and then to only get a fling with another guy (Reyes) who is also an NPC was a slap in the face. To add salt to the wound, you get approximately 1/3 of the time to build these “romances” than you do with other romance options such as Cora.They then took it a step further and used the Mass Effect go-to of fade-to-black for sex, but they will gladly do full frontal for the heterosexual romances. 

It’s clear that gay-men were an afterthought in this game. Others online have mentioned that Jaal, an alien squad mate was intended to be bisexual, and available for Scott (they pulled audio files from the game, or something), but chose to change that last minute. 

This has caused an uproar online that I really hope Bioware seriously addresses, and doesn’t just try and placate us with “no no! we’re looking into it!�� for months, only to be let down again. If they don’t fix it in this game, I will be genuinely pissed with them. If they don’t fix the underlying problem in the future games, I will drop Mass Effect completely. If you can manage well thought-out lesbian relationships, you can to the same for gay men. 

If it’s an issue of straight dev’s not wanting to, or not knowing how to write and shoot gay scenes, hire better, more mature devs.

Sometimes pictures help... so I give you this:

Image via: megarevolution.tumblr.com

Overall, for the 12 or so hours I have played Mass Effect Andromeda, I would give it a 6/10. While there are still issues to be addressed, the game is pretty solid and enjoyable. 

Updated: 03/25/2017 @ 5:58am