#sam replays dragon age inquisition.

[skullmoss]

the fact that a character like vivienne got like, so much undeserved criticism and hate despite being pretty reasonable and clear that her point of view comes from a place of some privilege among those in the Circle vs solas who gets a ton of people sucking on his bald head asking for us to understand his point of view as a villain and saying he's interesting and complex and worthy of redemption is

....you know what it was never a surprise, actually.

the way ppl hated sera with 0 nuance despite her self-hatred of her own race clearly being related to the trauma of being an elf raised by humans in a racist society was also not a surprise.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

<3 Ooohhh ok hm... honestly i do not post much fic (checked AO3 and only 18), for the amount that i start writing and then leave in various stages of completion in drafts on my computer, oops. Unfortunately at least 1 favorite is in that category, but here we go!

Fallout from the Fade (Dragon Age: Inquisition): Hawke is left in the fade during the events of DAI's Here Lies The Abyss, but manages to fight her way back out. However she's left to recover from the severe side effects and trauma that come along. Ok my confession here is while i have not updated this fic since 2020, i have in fact written more of it. But since i kept going so long (months... and then years...) between chapters I decided it'd be better if i just finish writing the rest myself (at least roughly) so i know how much more there is to go and can update it on a more regular schedule in the future when i start posting again. Alas i am very slow at this bc of grad school and also bc i get distracted easily and... have less motivation to work on it when not actually getting feedback as i go. So i may change my mind about this approach eventually but it's where the fic stands now.

Like Teeth Against His Heart (Dragon Age: Inquisition): After Solas wakes up from uthenera, he has many conversations with a variety of spirits over the course of DAI. Sometimes they tell him what he wants to hear, and sometimes they don't. I typically like the recent things I've written the most and this is that. It's a prose-poem style that plays with formatting, aka its kind of Weird, and weird is my favorite. I wrote it for a charity zine which also meant i had to have a Final Version rather than endlessly tweak it forever which was irritating at the time but also good for me.

Unposted, No-Finalized-Title fic, with the file jokingly named 'Sam I Am' (Mass Effect: Andromeda): pre-Andromeda and game timeline but from the perspective of your ship's AI, who also lives inside your character's brain, and in the game admits to altering your brain/body, and hello??? the game did NOT let me respond to that to the degree I desired? One of my literary obsessions is the combination of AI (the sci fi kind not... generative art etc) plus human augmentation... what that does to both parties sense of self, their relationships, how they view and function in the world, etc. In the vein of Silently And Very Fast by Cat Valente, Imperial Radch by Ann Lecke, Murderbot by Martha Wells... and I spent soooo much time wishing Andromeda had gone deeper into that angle/thinking about it myself I wrote. Quite a long fic about it. But i only played the game once and there wasn't much fan love/fanworks for it so I never posted it or any other Andromeda stuff I wrote, it was more just for myself. I'd like to go back and finish this fic but I estimate it'd be in the 40-70k word range and i'd need to replay the game to refresh my memory so it's like, a project for when i have a bunch of free time at some point in the future, since it's mostly just for Me.

the people you love become ghosts inside of you, and like this, you keep them alive (Mass Effect trilogy): Snippets of a variety of Garrus' thoughts and memories of Shepard, and a growing realization about the nature of love like theirs. I don't expect anyone to love this one but me, because it's just a self-indulgent thing I wrote specifically to figure out the flavor of grief involved in the relationship between my personal Shepard and Garrus. It's not as poem-formatted as my Solavellan one but the prose leans hard in that direction, and they came from the same place for me. I wrote it after finishing the trilogy because I (unlike a lot of fans, i know) felt very adamant that the correct ending for my Shepard is that she is dead now, and not coming back, and needed to cry some more about that.

like the leaves after a long winter (Dragon Age II): It's the first Christmas/Satinalia since Leandra's death, and Hawke is not in the mood for festivities -- until she realizes that everyone else will be spending it alone and finds herself hosting a party without even meaning to. I'll be honest #5 spot was kind of a toss up between this one, Less A Man Than A Wild Cat, and Grief. But I've decided on this one because 1. it covers my favorite thing to write about aka grief, but is actually written as a story/proper narrative unlike others i've already put on this list. With fanfic the most important thing to me before anything else is self-indulgence. While I love writing for prompts (like this one was!), my specific joy in that is taking an idea from someone else and figuring out how to cram all the things I care about into someone else's plot summary. Fanfic for me is like... it feels weird to call it 'writing exercises' because that implies i don't care about the final project when i very much do. Writing challenges? Maybe? Idk i just really enjoy having limitations to work within. Having NO boundaries is where I do my original content writing, so writing within the bounds of an existing franchise already means there's some limits (like keeping to characterizations, plot, etc) and then adding more on top makes it a fun experience and keeps me engaged.

While these are my top 5, I definitely don't think most of them are what other people would pick as a favorite from my (admittedly very limited) amount of posted writing, Fallout from the Fade being the exception. I think my friends probably like the one where I turned Fenris into a cat best (and that was VERY fun it's just also more lighthearted which i struggle to write sooooo bad), and then every one else is in my inbox about the single Solas x F!Travelyan fic I wrote largely as an experiment in writing sex scenes. sorry to everyone who read that and then tried to read my other fics and discovered its mostly blood and loss and Yearning...

[thatrandombystander]

Okay so I’m kind of curious! I know nothing about Dragon Age other than a bit of what I’ve seen from you, but it looks like Inquisition is on sale on steam right now. Is it a game you’d recommend playing yourself vs watching the cutscenes? And is it like part of a continuity or mostly standalone? :D

Dang all THREE Dragon Ages (Origins, DA2, Inquisition) are on sale on Steam right now. 10AUD each. Those are good prices. Wish I only paid that much for them.

Disclaimer that I have not played any Dragon age since 2015 and may misremember some stuff or my opinions may not hold up once I get around to replaying them.

I'm incapable of being brief sorry. This is almost 1000 words. 😔 TL;DR you can play the games stand alone, and I personally would recommend playing yourself.

Are they stand alone?

So each Dragon Age game's core plots and major characters are generally independent of each other. The protagonist is also a completely different person in each of the three game. You don't need to play any of the other games but they are all in the same world occurring sequentially one after, so you do get more out of it from playing previous games.

Characters from previous games will appear (or be referenced) in subsequent games, but usually it's major characters getting a cameo, or minor characters playing a larger role. There's a few exceptions - e.g. Varric is a party member in both DA2 and Inquisition - but it shouldn't leave you too confused. Events from previous games also build into newer ones, but anything important should be covered within the game you're playing. They're designed for both returning and new fans to enjoy.

Even if you start with the first game (Origins) you're gonna feel a bit lost with the world at first, because they did a fair amount of worldbuilding during development so even in Origins they'll reference characters and events as if your character already knows about them. Ya sort of just figure it out, although I think Origins does the best job of introducing the various factions and groups in the world and how they interact with each other.

That being said, I've only ever played the games in order so I can't really comment on how well they work for new players. But at the same time I never played the DLC for Origins and DA2 either, which I later found out had relevance in later games. (I believe current Steam versions of the games come with all DLC)

Watch cutscenes or play yourself?

Each of the Dragon Age games has some gameplay problems. Origins and Inquisition are both pretty long games with some slow or annoying bits, especially if you're doing sidequests and such. Fandom jokes include complaining about pretty much every main quest in Origins (there's a even a mod to skip one section) and especially complaining about The Hinterlands in Inquisition. DA2 is shorter but also... that game was very clearly rushed out and needed more development time. Lot's of location repetition.

Personally, since I'm a character-driven person and I like fantasy, I'm happy to push through the boring bits since I like a lot of the characters in the game and I want to romance people uwu. Frankly I don't even remember that much of the gameplay or actual plot details. I remember characters and vibes.

Speaking of romance; Dragon Age is a franchise that gives you choices that effect the world and characters around you. Choices vary in the significance of their consequences, but some of those choices can carry over and effect the worldstates into the next games.

This is why I personally would not watch a playthrough of the games. I have some strong feeling about the choices I make and would be annoyed to watch a playthrough that does things differently. (Tabris is best HoF option I shall not be swayed. King Alistair players DNI, this is a Queen Anora household. Templar supporters also DNI.) It's also why I'd need to replay the other two games before I get to Inquisition, because I don't like the default worldstate.

As a new player you wouldn't have that same issue, but you do lose out being able to make those choices as a playthrough watcher. If you don't want to play the previous games and want to go straight to Inquisition I don't think it would bother you either, since you wouldn't know which choices the game has defaulted for you. But again, they're decently long games so if you're rather just watch a playthrough, that's an fair option.

Side note + conclusion

If you're interested in the Dragon Age posts I reblog, warning that they're proportionally most likely to be from DA2, although I do like and share posts about all the games. It's a love or hate game for pretty good reason (some people will just recommend skipping it) but I fall into the love camp, I think because I like the characters and the plot is on a smaller scale.

Choosing to start with Origins and play all three is valid, only playing Inquisition is valid, playing Inquisition and then maybe feeling like playing the previous games is also valid. I only wouldn't recommend starting with DA2.

Ah, also the games have mature ratings. You can look up/ask about the details on that. From memory the most distressing would be implications/suggestion/aftermath of sexual assault (I think mostly in the first two games?) and slavery being a sort of thriving institute in parts of the Dragon Age universe.

If you have any other questions or confusions about the games/characters/world at any point, you're welcome to ask me. Even if I don't quite remember the details I can check the wiki to help block you from any unwanted spoilers. ✌

[9w1ft]

omg did i hear you say

NEOPETS????

wow that was unnecessarily dramatic of me but i swear that game was my entire childhood! what other viddy games have you played/have been playing, 9wing? i'm currently on my third replay of dragon age: inquisition 😎

oh yeah, neopets 😎 it was the best. thanks to learning css i had an amazing store layout back in the day haha

whew since becoming a mom i haven’t had a lot of time to play games like i used to, let me tell you!!! these days pretty much all i play is Civilization V, or mario party/kart with the family 😆 and i’m currently helping my eldest kid play through all the humongous entertainment games that i loved as a kid, in particular the pajama sam’s.. and sometimes i squeeze in some roller coaster tycoon 2. oh recently i played through Myst Riven and Exile on my phone!! that was fun.

as for games i’ve played, well let’s see… i was really into we happy few when it was in Beta and i actually liked the challenge of the beta a lot more than the finished game, i liked aspects of bioshock (the art direction mostly), i liked watching let’s plays of the arkham games for some reason, i loved oxenfree and firewatch and gone home when they came out, heavy rain and indigo prophecy (ironically but kinda not ironically??), i love harvest moon (mostly the mineral town ones), FF8 9 and X-2, always loved all the katamari games, sakasete chibi robo, anything by will wright and that includes spore! i was really into spore! secret of mana and legend of mana games… a bunch of the kirby games… tekken and guilty gear… oregon trail III specifically?!, anyone play stuff by Purple Moon? does microsoft bob count as a game?? 😂 i saw a strange little man?? kingdom of loathing?? back in high school i was really into ragnarok for awhile but that’s the only mmo exposure i have… except for a week or so of the sims online lmao yeah, i’m never ever up to date on games but i’d say i’ve experienced more games than some, i guess!!

[mahalzevran]

DA 20+ Questions

Tagged by @antivan-surana​ thanks! Tagging @situationnormal​ @the-dread-doggo​ @acepavus​ @aroundofgwent​ @lakambaeni​ @kxnways​ @fuckbioware​ (no pressure ofc) and anyone who wants to?

The rest is under a read more because it’s long

01) Favourite game of the series?

Origins, only because you got less and less op as a mage as the games went on. I love all the games tbh.

02) How did you discover Dragon Age?

My friend got my sister into it. They kept talking and talking about it so finally I was like “ok lets see what the big deal is” and here I am now

03) How many times you’ve played the games?

I’ve done Origins twice fully, DA2 four times fully (omg I didn’t realize this until now lol) and DA:I just once fully. I have one unfinished playthrough of Origins with a Cousland, and I’m in the middle of maybe two of DA:I. I think I’ve gone back and replayed certain parts of both Origins and DA:I plenty of times.

04) Favourite race to play as?

Elf I guess? Though I’ve only fully played as a human and elf. I’m in the middle of a dwarf playthrough and I’m thinking of doing a qunari one in the future. It might change idk.

I just really liked playing as an elf in Origins so that’s why I got into elves. But the funny thing is, I wasn’t even thinking of playing as an elf when I played for the first time. I wanted to play as a human. I just did it on a whim.

05) Favourite class?

Mage, hands down. Realistically, they’re the most versatile class. They can do range and melee since anyone can learn how to fight with weapons. But the last two games won’t let you so :)

Also, this stems from the fact that I’ve been a harry potter fan since I could remember.

06) Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time?

In my full, proper playthroughs that I’ve finished, it’s slightly different but still the same basic ideas. Sided with mages, agreed with Anders, etc.

But I am planning to try an evil playthrough in the future so

07) Go-to adventuring group?

DA:O (I have two)

Leliana, Wynne, Shale - the OG crew; they were my main crew in my first playthrough and it was a pretty even party

Zevran, Leliana, Alistair - the elf crew; esp. with Rhian they’re all elves because I saw a theory that Leliana is half elf and I’m down

DA2

It’s a mixed bag. If I’m not playing as a mage, I usually take Anders a lot because we need a healer and Merrill can’t heal. I tend not to take Sebastian as much after I max his friendship. After Sebastian, I take Aveline the least. Other than that I just mix it up. Unless I’m romancing someone, then I take them every time.

I’d love to take Anders, Fenris, and Merrill out more often but I hate how mean they all are to each other (looking @ u bioware 👀)

DA:I

My first playthrough, I mixed it up a lot in the beginning but then I ended up bringing Solas, Cole, and Blackwall a lot near the end for some reason?

I love taking Vivienne, Dorian, and Solas out, especially if I’m playing a mage, because it’s such a pretty fireworks show

In general though, if I’m romancing someone I take them with me almost always.

08) Which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

I think it’s a tie between Rhian and Lu.

09) Favourite romance?

To no one’s surprise, it’s Zevran :3

Solas is second because I just really like that angst.

10) Have you read any of the comics/books?

I’ve read The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak, and Until We Speak (because someone gifted me the Omnibus) and The Calling.

I also have Hard in Hightown, which I should probably read lol, and the art book of inquisition.

11) If you read them, which was your favourite book?

The Calling solely because of my mom Fiona and my dad Duncan. 

12) Favourite DLCs?

Awakening because I love everyone and its also really funny that Rhian, who is 19 at that point, had to basically babysit people older than her and also run a whole arling.

I love both Legacy and Mark of the Assassin. Mark of the Assassin was really funny (though I hated the stealth part). I love Legacy specifically because when I was fighting Corypheus, both Varric and Anders K.O.’d and it was just me and Carver. It was a special family moment bringing down a whole entire magister together. I also hc that that was canon and it brought Kaia and Carver closer together.

13) Things that annoy you.

I’m gonna talk about the game bc if this is about the fandom, then that’s a whole other thing.

Anders’ writing for one. It doesn’t make sense that he’d approve of giving Fenris back to Danarius. And also that he wouldn’t tell f!Hawke that he’s bi? Then there’s the fact that Anders, Fenris, and Merrill all don’t get along when they have a lot in common.

Anything that was written by Lukas Krisdkjsdhkdk. Aveline, Sera, etc. he did a really bad job.

Also didn’t like that mages got less OP in the last two games.

There’s also the tone-deafness? Dorian, a brown man, saying slavery is ok. And also there’s the dialogue between Solas and Vivienne where Solas supposedly “owns” Vivienne. I think he says something like “may you learn”? Solas, a white person, saying this to Vivienne, a black woman, when there’s obvious colorism in Thedas? I think not.

There’s probably other but I can’t think of them right now.

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Orlais is too snooty and Ferelden doesn’t season their food. I pick Seheron and Laysh because that’s where the Asians are at.

15) Templars or mages?

Mages

16) If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

Originally, my canonverse was Rhian, Kaia, and Luwalhati. Alden and Bolin were part of an AU. Then Alden finagled his way in there, then I decided to have Bolin in there too. So now i have twin Hawkes and Bolin is part of the Inquisition (if he’s a companion or not, I haven’t thought about)

I have plenty of other OCs that I’m planning on, but they’re currently sorted into a different universe.

17) What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

Pikamon for the Origins mabari. It’s a mix between the names of my two dogs, Pikachu and Cinnamon

Cinnachu for the DA2 mabari, also a mix of Pikachu and Cinnamon.

Lu’s mount is the royal sixteen (hart), which is given to you by Clan Lavellan if you manage to keep them alive iirc, and its name is Luntian, the tagalog word for green which is her favorite color. (In a teen!Lu AU, her mount is the bog unicorn bc she’s an edgelord)

18) Have you installed any mods?

It would be more surprising if I didn’t. How else would I manage to have my characters look like the’re poc?? And also get rid of whitewashing and have some continuity. I usually just do cosmetic mods if it’s my first playthrough. Then I do like “cheats” after I finish the game fully.

Fun fact, I once spent like 2+ hrs modding Origins to have the Zev romance the way I want. I also stayed up until like 5am trying to make Solas look like his concept art lol (it didn’t really work)

19) Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?

Rhian didn’t not want to become a warden. She read about them and thought they were an honorable order, but she didn’t expect to ever have a chance to become one. Her goal was to just go up in the Circle hierarchy, maybe even become First Enchanter. Then when the time came, she didn’t really have much of a choice.

20) Hawke’s personality?

Kaia is blue and Alden is purple

21) Did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

At first, I didn’t get what the big deal was with crafting. It didn’t seem fun at all lol. Then I tried it and was hooked. I don’t have them matching, but I do tend to try to match my Inquisitor with their LI in some way.

My usual procedure for armor in Inquisition is like this. I make everyone wear heavy armor and pick the materials that have the highest attributes, not caring how ridiculous the colors are. Then I go to tint them using a guide for each companion’s color scheme. This is the same for helmet but I usually have them turned off or have no one wearing one.

The only exception is Varric, Cole, and Blackwall. I have Varric wear the rogue armor that looks like his DA2 outfit, and Cole and Blackwall wear the Grey Warden heavy armor. I tint the grey warden armor using a guide for its color scheme.

I have Bull, Vivienne, and Cole wear their unique helmets.

22) If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

Rhian - She’d probably want to re-do how she told Zevran that she wasn’t exactly dead.

Kaia - Taken Quentin’s threat more seriously and killed him before he got to Leandra

Alden - He has no regrets

Luwalhati - wouldn’t have taken Sam and Wis with her so they wouldn’t have had to have died in the conclave explosion

Bolin - None, all of his decisions led him to Dorian and he’s happy with that.

23) Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

They’re all at least part Seheron?

I also hc that neither Carver nor Bethany die because Kaia was able to cast a barrier on both of them before the ogre got them. Then they both became Grey Wardens because Carver contracted the taint in the expedition and wouldn’t join the Wardens unless Bethany came with him too.

Another hc I have is that Sebastian didn’t leave when Anders was spared and stayed to help out. But he went his separate way after because he still didn’t approve of sparing him.

Oh shoot, I almost forgot. The most against canon thing I’ve done probably? Rhian didn’t do the Ritual but she did slay the archdemon without dying. Rhian’s an arcane warrior, so when she slayed it, she was partway in the fade. Being partway into the fade was enough for her essence, I guess, to survive it. But she’s not mortal anymore and kind of a spirit now? So she periodically has to chill in the fade because being in the real world takes a toll on her.

25) Who did you leave in the Fade?

In the game, it was Stroud. I killed Loghain and no way is Alistair gonna be trapped in there. Fiona will be sad. So I made Alistair king in the game only, so Stroud was the one that was left.

This is another off canon thing I did. In my actual canon, Alistair is the warden contact. The Hawke that comes to the Inquisition is both Kaia and Alden. Alden brings Fenris with him because he doesn’t go anywhere without his Boo-Boo. Bethany and Carver also come because Weisshaupt was being weird and it seemed like they would be safer in the Inquisition. Lu + her party, Alistair, Kaia, Alden, Fenris, Bethany, and Carver all come to Adamant. Because there’s so many people, everyone was able to escape the Fade. No one is left behind.

26) Favourite mount? The nugs! All of them :) 

Though I don’t really use the mounts lol

[grishae]

tagged by: @ebrietas thank you for tagging me!!

favorite game from the last 5 years? ‒the witcher 3, final fantasy xv, dragon age saga (replaying replaying), detroit become human, uncharted 4

most nostalgic game? ‒ the longest journey

game that deserves a sequel? ‒ the wolf among us (patiently waiting!)

game that deserves a remaster? ‒ dragon age: origins!!!!!!!!

favorite game series? ‒ dragon age saga

favorite genre? ‒ rpgs and graphic adventures (click and play, old school)

least favorite genre? ‒ racing and sports game tbh, i just don’t enjoy them at all

favorite song from a game? ‒ bloodborne, unchartes 4, detroit become human soundtracks,  dao main theme as well, tales from the borderlands intro songs!

favorite ship from a game? ‒ solas x inquisitor lavellan in dai is my guilty pleasure. but alistair and zevran from dao with the warden!!!!!! oh my good i was about to say every single otp in dragon age saga, but i’ll go for noctis and lunafreya as well, prompto and aranea... (ffxv)

favorite voice actor from a game? ‒ troy. baker. NOLAN NORTH. 

favorite cutscene? ‒ geralt and ciri’s reunion, meeting lady maria, solavellan breakup, bloodborne bosses, all of nathan and sam cutscenes, the last of us initial road trip.

favorite boss? ‒ lady maria of the astral clocktower (my waifu, i’m sorry ella i’m repeating what you just said). i hate bosses i’m a dumbass

first console? ‒ ps one or game boy color (it was yellow!!)? i can’t remember

current console or consoles? ‒  ps4 is my main console!! ibut ps3 was its predecesor. before, it was my stupid pc.

console you want? ‒ any, i want ps4 to live for ever

place from a game that you’d like to visit? ‒  emprise du lion in dragon age inquisition, libertalia in uncharted 4, road trip throught eos

place from a game that you’d like to live in? ‒ skyhold in dai, also drake & elena’s happy paradise (i’ts more.....real) :)

ridiculous crossover that would never happen but would be super fun? ‒ i don’t really have any in mind? imagine nathan drake and lara croft lmao 

book that would make a good game? ‒ SIX OF CROWS INDEED. Or even Throne of Glass series.

show/movie that would make a good game? ‒ no idea, i think about the purgue because bloodborne. maybe the rain tv series of netflix? post apocalyptic games are top.

games you want to play? ‒ god of war (waiting), ac:odyssey, shadow of the tomb raider, cyberpunk 2077, the wolf among us 2, life is strange 2...

have you gotten 100% completion in a game? ‒ i have 7 platinums hoho

have you cried over a game? ‒ always. never forget ffxv ending, or dragon age ones. detroit was heartbreaking as well.

what power-up or ability would you want in real life? ‒mages. it will make life awesome. but what about being capable of jumping and surviving and solving puzzles like lara croft or nathan drake hah.

tagging: @qeralts2 @ciriofcintras @montilyets @arimendoza @johnsseed @perishx @scraphim @evalinashryver @marttell

[catiematie]

AKA "Solas broke my heart and I don't know what to do about it" AKA "I miss the Inquisitor, but I can't go back so I'll keep replaying memories of her over and over" AKA "mutual and miserable pining"

Everyday - Phil Collins

The Night We Met - Lord Huron

Edge of Desire - John Mayer

What a Feeling - One Direction

Ocean Eyes - Billie Eilish

Lovesong - Adele

Wicked Game - Chris Isaak

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

Lay Me Down - Sam Smith

When You Were Young - The Killers

Thedas Love Theme - Trevor Morris

Dark Paradise - Lana Del Rey

Green Grass - Tom Waits

Dragon Age Inquisition Theme - Trevor Morris

A Thousand Years - Sting

[randomramblesandlearning]

10 Things I Loved About Mass Effect:Andromeda

Warning: Spoilers! And I wrote this on the spur, so there might be grammatical errors.

1.      I enjoyed the story. Yeah, people will say it recycles from the trilogy, but come on, people. Why are you surprised? Bioware recycles their plotlines all the time. It’s pretty much the same in all of their games. A protagonist gains special abilities and leads a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits team to defeat a big threat. And I’m not bothered by that. Sometimes familiarity in your franchise is good, just as long as you do new things to the formula, and I think they do.

What interested me the most was the theme of starting over. A lot of people in the Andromeda Initiative were former criminals or outcasts. The reason they joined was to start a new life, and it’s explored in the main questlines, the loyalty quests, and numerous side quests. I was worried about the game talking about colonization since humans are looking for a new home, but I was pleasantly surprised that the game made it clear that Andromeda is the angara’s home first, and humans and other Milky Way species will have to work with them. Thank god! No Mightey Whitey trope this time!

2.      Ryder as the player character. I honestly never thought I would love Ryder as much as I did when I played the game. Sure, no one will ever replace Commander Shepard, but Ryder isn’t meant to replace the Commander, rather show a different perspective in a new story. Commander Shepard is the hero we want to be while Ryder is more of a relatable character. Ryder has to learn through the entire game how to be a leader while going through the obstacles of their inexperience and youth so people will take them seriously. And it was compelling, uplifting, and at times amusing to see them become a hero in their own right and step out of their father’s shadow.

Also Sara and Scott felt like their own person. In the original trilogy, the player character is pretty much the same no matter what gender. But sometimes the dialogue can be different depending on if you play a male Ryder or a female Ryder. That’s because they are two different people who have had their own experiences and personalities. That really adds to the replay value!

3.      Female aliens everywhere! One of my major issues with the original trilogy was the lack of female Turians, krogans, and salarians. Sure we had asari an all-female race, and female quarians, but it felt weird that we met so many aliens with very few ladies. Not only do we get a female Turian squadmate, we also get plenty of lady alien NPCs gathered everywhere for random quests. We also have Kesh who works at the Nexus. And we get to see female salarians! And they kind of look the same as male salarians except with different voices. Thank god! It would’ve been horrifying to see salarians with boobs. Uh! And I’m pretty sure there were just as many female angara NPCs as there were males.

4.      The romances. Especially the queer ones. One of the things I love about Bioware games are the romance paths. Bonus points if there is a queer option. And as of patch 1.08, this game has the most number of queer romances in any Bioware game. I think my two favorite romance paths are with Sara and Vetra and Jaal and Scott. While representation for the LGBT community is improving in media, there’s no denying we still have a long way to go. And after again the crap year 2016 where we had a huge number of queer women characters die in tv shows, it was so wonderful to have a healthy and happy relationship between two women when I first played the game. And even if it wasn’t added until the patch, the romance between Jaal and Scott is absolutely sweet since we see two men show a lot of love and affection for each other which is rare to see in media.

5.      The Tempest Family. I adore every single character on the Tempest, and they really did feel like a family once you played further into the game. I am a sucker for found families, and to see these people who are trying to find a home ending up finding a home with each other just gives me so many feels!

Since there’s not really a huge crew in the ship like in the original trilogy when Shepard had an army of humans. In Andromeda, we have six squad mates, four additional crew members, and Ryder. And I think it made the family more intimate. It’s like our own little family lives on the Tempest.

Also I liked how there were more quests spread out throughout the game with the squad which I think was lacking in Inquisition. Plus. Movie Night is the best scene ever!

6.      In my opinion, the side quests were fun. I think this was one thing they improved from Inquisition. Inquisition side quests just felt like a bunch of fetch quests that got kind of boring pretty quick, and didn’t really add to the overall story. Some highlights from Andromeda were: Kadara, the angara reincarnation questline, the Turian jailed for murder, the anti-AI group, meeting Zaeed’s son, and those kids sending out a distress signal for a new light for their weed plant. HAHA!

They were compelling in their own right and included cut scenes instead of the Inquisitor going to some location like in Skyrim to do a thing come back to the quest giver saying, “I did the thing.” “Ok, good.”

7.      Unlike in Inquisition, there’s actual payoff for some of the quests you do. I don’t mean to be mean to Inquisition, I still love the game, but remember when we were promised that you had to build your forces up in order to defend against the main threat. Yeah, you built forces to get influence points to gain perks, and that’s it.

In Andromeda, while, yes. It’s not the same level as Mass Effect 2. When you actually complete quests and help out leaders, you can get different results during the final battle. Like, there’s a chance Captain Dunn may not survive.

Also, when you get 100% viability on all the planets, you get a special surprise on Habitat 7- being told that it will one day be habitable because of our efforts. Sure it was a side quest, but it just felt so rewarding!

8.      The climax was actually fulfilling and exciting. Again, something else Inquisition was lacking in. Seriously, when I first played Andromeda, I legit gasped when the archon was taking control of SAM node. The villain was actually living up to his threatening nature!

Just when we think we got everything under control, and are about to find Meridian, the Archon fucks shit up, and our sibling has to step up to save the day. Then we have to gather people we helped out and prepare for a final battle, and Ryder can finally prove themselves as a true Pathfinder and kick the Archon’s ass once and for all. People are saying the ending was as disappointing as ME3’s? Pfft…What are you even talking about?

9.      The angara. Bioware never fails to make me love an entire fictional species. Yeah, it feels a bit off that they pretty much have the same faces and the same 3 voice actors, but I really do love their culture. And I appreciate that they were clearly coded as POC while Andromeda didn’t go through with the whole Mighty Whitey Trope. The game wants you to respect their culture and to respect their home.

I love the angaran people are open about their feelings, I love how their religion believes in reincarnation, I love how we see angaran scientists, soldiers, merchants, mercenaries, and civilians. Also Aya and Hivraal are absolutely gorgeous!

And when Jaal finds out his people were created by the Kett, I was worried it was going to go the Dalish elves route, but Jaal points out that it doesn’t change anything about the angara. They are still their own people. And that was such an uplifting message.

10.  The overall light-hearted tone. I wrote a small post that got a good number of notes. (Probably the biggest number I’ve ever gotten), so to quote: “There was always this sense of hope and optimism about finding a new home. ‘Yeah, things may have gone totally wrong, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make them better’ was the overall message I got.

And really, with so many bad things happening in the world right now and too much of our entertainment supposedly being our escapism being dark for the sake of dark, this was something I think a lot of us needed.”

Mass Effect 3 had its light-hearted moments, and I love it, but man, that game was emotional draining.

It’s a bit discouraging to love something so much and get recommended videos on youtube pointing out the same flaws of that certain game, and why they thought it was a huge disappointment. Do I agree with some of their criticisms? Sure. Does the history behind the production explain the flaws? Oh absolutely.

           But people seem to forget that the original Mass Effect trilogy wasn’t without its flaws. I mean, sure everyone can agree on the Mass Effect 3 ending, but I could make a list of all the issues I have with the other Bioware games including Dragon Age: Inquisition (which despite winning Game of the Year, kind of suffers the same problems Andromeda had).

           So yeah, after the crap year of 2016, I was so excited to get a newly-released game that made me happy. And still makes me happy, and makes me in the mood to play another Ryder.

[thegeminisage]

9 14 19 27 39 41 69 70

pls you sent me so many thank u ilu

9. Most regrettable purchase?

it’s a tie between 1. the white knight chronicle games & 2. the tron legacy video game - but for very different reasons. i LOOOVED white knight chronicles and the online play was PERFECT it was like not a full mmo so not #cursed (sorry mmo players but dont boo me for being right) so it was really great to play with my pal @skillethelm but then RIGHT after i got into it they SHUT THE SERVERS DOWN and so like i wasn’t allowed to sort of move on naturally and i always feel really bitter and resentful when i think of it. the tron video game, on the other hand, was just super awful. unplayable. i tried real hard to like it bc i love the movie more dearly than any other movie on god’s green earth but…i couldn’t. im sorry sam flynn

14. Favorite game music?

all of it? there are games i have played JUST BECAUSE the soundtracks were so good i couldn’t stop listening and i got curious - these include chrono trigger, ff6, UT, and mirror’s edge (kinda). like, my favorite of all time will always be zelda music, & my favorite zelda track is oot’s title screen theme, but like…i just fucking love game music man. i love sonic’s buttrock and dragon age’s elven emo pop and zelda’s grand orchestrations and ff13′s/mirror’s edge smooth synth-y stuff and all the catchy tunes of Ye Olde Game Era and dishonored’s  goth harpsichord steampunk shit…like i could never really TRULY pick - actually the very first time i ever used a computer it was to visit websites about zelda and listen to the music online - and before that i used to run chrono cross and kingdom hearts on the title screens/opening cinematics for hours just to listen, like before i really knew there was like, online music. man. so much. i love everything

19. Favorite handheld console?

gameboy advance sp, hands down. gameboy advance had the best/most games that i love, could also play regular gameboy games, and the sp had a BACKLIGHT so you could play in the dark. i used to play the original tetris every night to fall asleep on mine. 3DS is a close runner up but you just can’t fit that thing in your pocket the way you can an SP

27. Game that makes you rage?

i fuckin hate super smash bros melee. YEAH I SAID IT LOL like… ok everyone says it’s sooo good and they RUINED smash after that but like, i main pikachu? and they nerfed the FUCK out of pikachu in melee. so i could never win. and it was a horrible teenhood i had growing up playing that shit. brawl was like ten zillion times better. i still lost a lot but i was because i sucked not because the game sucked. melee worshippers can kiss my ass

also, as i was recently reminded, the fight sections of mirror’s edge. fucking bullshit

and a special award to life is strange for having the WORST ending to a NEARLY PERFECT GAME of ALL TIME

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?

UNDERTA– no sorry. sorry. sorry i’m not gonna say it

ok uhhhhh honestly? my main answer is: any zelda sequel. like all the games take place hundreds or thousands of years apart with different characters and timelines…save for like the oracle games, mm & oot, and then like TECHNICALLY phantom hourglass…i would really just like to see an honest to god sequel in the same continuity. more throwbacks. i lost every bit of my shit when [someone from skyward sword] sorta-kinda made a cameo in botw. it’s everything i want

my other answer is: golden sun 4. we had to wait a literal decade for golden sun 3 and then it ENDS ON A CLIFFHANGER ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? im still lowkey mad abt it. idk if it’ll EVER happen

41. A genre that you just can’t get into?

i’m actually pretty flexible when it comes to genre? i’ve tried & liked: platformers, adventure games, open world, dating sims, stealth, shooters, QTEs, RPGs, racing, music/beat timing, whatever the hell genre animal crossing and harvest moon are…but like the one thing. i cannot do. is real-time strategy. it’s just too boring rip

also, i dislike playing online against other people bc they are usually jerks lol

69. In your opinion, best game ever made? 

that’s such a hard one!! it’d be easy to say ocarina of time because it holds such a special place in my heart, but just because it’s special doesn’t mean it’s the most fun or satisfying to play. the best game EVER made would have to have it all - great gameplay, a good amount of story that isn’t too sparse, a catchy and memorable soundtrack, lovable characters, lots and lots of replay value, and excel in online/dlc if that’s a thing, good voice acting/graphics if that’s a thing, no ragequit sections…like i could easily just name the zelda game that comes closest but i wanna be as objective as possible here…

ok i’m gonna go with two categories - 2D games & 3D games - bc they are such different beasts

for 2D im gonna have to say chrono trigger…some places are really frutstratingly hard, but not ragequit hard, and level grinding can be a BIT repetitive but the story, characters, cast, & music are all top notch, and with all the different endings + new game plus you could play it over and over and still have things to do

then for 3D…mmmm see this is hard because like nothing meets ALL of those requirements…portal 2 and okami both have very satisfying stories and wonderfully addicting gameplay that varies up often, but not a lot of replay value…breath of the wild and dragon age inquisition both have amazing story/gameplay balance and near-infinite replay value, but i have a few major nitpicks with both stories, and none of the games i mentioned have online play. i think in the end my nitpicks with zelda’s story and direction are pretty minimal + i have a personal loyalty to the series, so i’d go with breath of the wild.

70. Very first game you ever beat? 

you know, i actually can’t remember for sure! i suspect it was either majora’s mask or link’s awakening - funnily enough it was years before i first beat ocarina on my own.

[forever-dreaming-cullen]

10 Questions Meme

A few days ago I was tagged by two lovely ladies, @ladynorbert and @princessvicky01 to answer 10 questions, then ask 10 and tag 10 people.  Thank you, both for thinking of me. Sorry for being so late!

Lady Norbert’s questions:

1) To which fictional character do you relate the most? Why?  Cullen, actually, because he’s shy and a little awkward (or a lot awkward, depending). He seems like someone who is introverted and has a hard time in personal situations with a lot of people and doesn’t want to impose his company on anyone.

2) Is there a color which holds particular meaning for you? Not really.

3) Dream car? Corvette

4) Favorite breed of dog? Cocker spaniel

5) Who is your hero? Why? I have two heroes: my mother and my husband. My mother is a hero to me because she raised my siblings and me alone for the most part and sacrificed a lot to give us a stable and loving home. My husband is my hero because he grew up with a disability and has never let it define him. He accepts his limits without complaint (mostly) and just lives his life.

6) Who was the last person to whom you said “I love you”? My husband.

7) In which art medium do you consider yourself most skilled? This includes things like writing, photography, and music as well as traditional art forms. Writing. I have always been writing something since I was a small child and have a deep love of words and language.

8) What’s a skill you don’t have and wish you could cultivate, but consider to be beyond your ability? Drawing/painting

9) Baths or showers? Why? Showers. They’re quick and feel good.

10) If you could have dinner with three living famous people, who would you invite and what would you discuss?  Neal DeGrasse Tyson, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins. We would discuss free will, morality, and why so many people deny that evolution is a fact.

  Princess Vicky’s Questions

1) What was your first pet? If you’ve never had one is their one you would like? A miniature collie/cocker spaniel mix named Freckles.

2) If you could only replay one game forever, what game would it be? Oh, damn. I can’t pick just one. It would have to be a three-way tie between Dragon Age: Inquisition, Skyrim, and the Sims 2

3) What was/is your favourite subject at school?Why? English. It included all the things I enjoy: reading, learning new words, and writing.

4) Do you prefer to be too hot or too cold? Too cold

5) Do you have any hobbies? If not is there any you want to try? Writing fanfic, reading, and playing video games

6) Whats your favourite restaurant/eat out food - Italian, Chinese, Mexican ect Mexican. I grew up in California, so Mexican food is everywhere there, and the real authentic stuff, too.

7) Mages or Templars? Why? Mages because they are obviously oppressed, and it’s wrong to oppress anyone, especially for something innate. But, having said that, Templars have their place too — I just wish the Chantry wasn’t so controlling of them  (cough lyrium cough)and that they, in turn, weren’t the jailors of mages.

8) Favourite film/movie genre? Romance

9)  Whats your spirit animal/daemon aka the one that represents your personality?  Dragon, maybe? I don’t really know, but I like dragons, so dragon it is.

10)  Cullen Rutherford shows up at your house. What do you say/do?  After I fainted dead away, I would hopefully invite him inside and offer him something to eat and drink. I would ask him how he is doing and talk to him about normal stuff (or as normal as you can get when talking to a fictional character that comes from a world with magic and dragons in it). Also, I’d ask him about his lip scar. Curious Windy is curious!  And if he offered sex, I wouldn’t say no.

There you have my answers! That was a lot of fun! Because I am answering this so late, I am not going to tag anyone, but I will put one question out there for anyone would like to answer:

 You wake up in Cullen Rutherford’s bed at Skyhold. Naked. And Cullen is lying fast asleep beside you, naked as well. What do you do?

[skullmoss]

did not expect to come out of dragon age inquisition replay with sera brainrot but im.........

shoving her into my mouth

[apheliavampire]

Im literally using this to keep track of games i need to finish

To complete

Ps4: Watch_dogs 2 Mafia 3 Assassins Creed Syndicate Lara Croft Temple of Osiris Witcher 3 Little Big Planet 3 Dragon Age Inquisition Goat Simulator Stories: Path of Destinies Journey Collectors edition Assassins Creed: Ezio collection GTA V Horizon: Zero Dawn Uncharted 4 Uncharted lost legacy Agents of Mayhem Unravel Murdered: Soul suspect Tales from the borderlands Life is Strange Tearaway Odinsphere Ps Vita: Azkend 2 From Dust(?) Code: Realize Uncharted: Golden Abyss Lego Star wars Force Awakens The wolf Among us Tearaway Lego: Hobbit Lego: Batman 3 Lego: The movie

Psp: Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Medieval Death Jr Thrillvill Off the rails Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Assassins Creed: Bloodlines

Xbox One: Skyrim remastered Fallout 4 Recore Rare Replay (Only a select few games)

Xbox 360: Fable 1 Fable 2 Overlord 1 Overlord 2 Saints row 1 Saints row 2 Witcher 2 Killer is Dead

Wii: Skyward sword Yoshi's wooly world Super Mario World Trauma center Sonic unleashed Mystery case files Sam and Max

Wii U: Wind Waker

3ds: Fantasy Life Cookin Mama New Style Boutique New Style Boutique 2 Paper Mario Sticker Star Pokemon Moon Ravenhearst Return Ravenhearst Azada Jewel Quest Ever Oaisis Two esp games that I forgot

Ds: Pokemon typing adventure Harvest Moon ds GTA China town Rooms Professor Layton Assassins Creed

[skullmoss]

this is not the first playthrough where solas HATES my inquisitor but this is the first where blackwall does lmao the fuck dude stop judging her she’s being honest and doing her best as a former carta girly

funny how the two liars of the group hate her!!!!!!

[skullmoss]

sera saying she's not used to people accepting her without question i just /hand to heart/ baby come here i fucking love you

[skullmoss]

DORIAN HATES MY CADASH RN TOO prob because of the whole templar thing

gildred WILL get you to like her. mark my words.

[skullmoss]

there’s an IC reason why gildred cadash keeps the templar order as free allies and doesn’t disband them despite being sympathetic to the mages (it’s because she’s a drug dealer why get rid of the carta’s biggest clients………??) but the pure undiluted OOC reason is for ser barris content