Game News Dragon Age II Has the Best Writing since PS:T

[Dyspaire]

I'm so proud of this one. Also, appropriate:

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Give the guy a break. With all the bad press DA2 is getting such a review probably entitles him to at least $10k or the equivalent in blowjobs from "escorts" provided by Bioware. You can't hold wanting a blowjob against a poor lonely game reviewer, can you?

 

[Reptilian Shapeshifter]

Let out be known that 'Mask of the betrayer' was the best written RPG since Torment.

but Anachronox is very good too

Played both games around the same time (no more than a year between), and I remember much more from Anachronox than MotB.

 

[Volourn]

DA2 writing is BIO wriitng. That's as bad or as good as always. That said, there are some really good moments as well.

Just dealt with Varric's brother, and the way they handle the confrontation is fantatsic. If you try to be peacemaker and get Varric to spare his bro's life he listens but he's not happy about. Plus, as much as a bastard Bartrand was in ch1, I actually felt some empathy for him. Go figure.

And, the mage-templar is fantastically done as well.

Of course, there's silly stuff as well....

 

[Zomg]

I would have loved to countertroll this with a blog post Mary Kirby (that creative writer of Merrill, Varric, Sten, and Loghain) wrote a couple of years ago about "why Ravel Puzzlewell is a better villain than The Transcendent One, and therefore, why the story of Torment failed" but unfortunately she quickly deleted her blog after I linked to it here before and I didn't have the foresight to save the entire thing. Her belief was that TTO was grossly unsubtle and unnecessary and Ravel kept asking the wrong question when it should have been "What will make him love me?" and it should have ended with the Ravel confrontation (on that last one I agree).

agreedo. At least that TTO sucked. Doesn't help that most of the caustically bad gameplay in the game happens from Ravel -> TTO

 

[Volourn]

Ravel is awesome. Don't ffukkin' diss her, fuckface.

 

[racofer]

Re: Dragon Age II Is Better than PS:T

DA2 has better writing than PS:T.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Re: Dragon Age II Is Better than PS:T

This isn’t the same old end-of-the-world, hero-saves-us-all-from-the-apocalypse story that regularly passes for narrative in the game space. Even if the fate of the city Kirkwall is at stake, and I’m not so sure that it is, most of Dragon Age II is about the story of your character. The construction of that story does keep hinting at some greatness associated with The Champion, which presumably is you, but it’s easy to forget that you are fated toward some imbued station of quality while kicking around in the dirty, underground politics of the city.

You ignorant little dumb fuck, this game is still "derp, hero fated to save people" and you DARE compare it to PS:T!?!?!?!?!?!?






I will not be going to w/e source that pile of shit came from.

 

[Elzair]

I would have loved to countertroll this with a blog post Mary Kirby (that creative writer of Merrill, Varric, Sten, and Loghain) wrote a couple of years ago about "why Ravel Puzzlewell is a better villain than The Transcendent One, and therefore, why the story of Torment failed" but unfortunately she quickly deleted her blog after I linked to it here before and I didn't have the foresight to save the entire thing. Her belief was that TTO was grossly unsubtle and unnecessary and Ravel kept asking the wrong question when it should have been "What will make him love me?" and it should have ended with the Ravel confrontation (on that last one I agree). So just *know* she believes that, and since belief shapes reality, it must be true.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

 

[RK47]

I did voiceover for several years, and I write for a living (about cancer drugs, but still). As a result, any game I play tends to fall under my critical eye for both of those factors. It is for that reason that I am always, always attracted to Bioware games. The voiceover is always at the top of the game in terms of clarity, inflection, accent, and just plain old delivery of the lines.

And what lines! Yes, the dialogue is cliche at times, but upon replays of their games, not as much as you'd expect. And one of the things I appreciate about the Dragon Age universe is the Bioware team doesn't feel completely beholden to the typical fantasy formula. Dwarves without Scottish accents and beards? This break from convention really allows them to expand their dialogue choices.

Dragon Age 2 does have some aspects that are formulaic, and overall I'm enjoying it less than Dragon Age: Origins (but that's like saying I enjoyed sex with Megan Fox less than Scarlett Johansenn). Admittedly, I'm only at the end of act 1 (right before the deep roads expedition) and I heard it gets better after this. But overall I'm very, very happy with DA2 and expect to replay it soon.

I'm very glad that the RPGcodex is impartial to the bullshit game journalism out there which gave DA2 only 8 out of 10. Which voice-overs have you done? I personally found Fenris the most intriguing character among the cast. Merrill is a close second with her infectious personality and amazing plot twists.

Many things in Dragon Age 2 replicates what Planescape Torment did. Limited customization to the recruited NPC armor and weapons for instance, which reminds me of upgrading Dakkon Zerth Blade and new tattoos. But I'll stop now because I have a LP to complete.

 

[Jaesun]

I would have loved to countertroll this with a blog post Mary Kirby (that creative writer of Merrill, Varric, Sten, and Loghain) wrote a couple of years ago about "why Ravel Puzzlewell is a better villain than The Transcendent One, and therefore, why the story of Torment failed" but unfortunately she quickly deleted her blog after I linked to it here before and I didn't have the foresight to save the entire thing. Her belief was that TTO was grossly unsubtle and unnecessary and Ravel kept asking the wrong question when it should have been "What will make him love me?" and it should have ended with the Ravel confrontation (on that last one I agree). So just *know* she believes that, and since belief shapes reality, it must be true.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

 

[Lesifoere]

I would have loved to countertroll this with a blog post Mary Kirby (that creative writer of Merrill, Varric, Sten, and Loghain) wrote a couple of years ago about "why Ravel Puzzlewell is a better villain than The Transcendent One, and therefore, why the story of Torment failed" but unfortunately she quickly deleted her blog after I linked to it here before and I didn't have the foresight to save the entire thing. Her belief was that TTO was grossly unsubtle and unnecessary and Ravel kept asking the wrong question when it should have been "What will make him love me?" and it should have ended with the Ravel confrontation (on that last one I agree). So just *know* she believes that, and since belief shapes reality, it must be true.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

hahaohwow.gif

Farcical. It's rich that she calls TTO "grossly unsubtle" when she wrote Loghain, one of the thinnest, most incompetent antagonists to come out of Bioware's bowels. And of course a Bioware writer would want to reduce a complex character into a monodimensional love interest obsessed with nothing but a dude's affection. Die in a fire, Kirby.

 

[CrimsonAngel]

I would have loved to countertroll this with a blog post Mary Kirby (that creative writer of Merrill, Varric, Sten, and Loghain) wrote a couple of years ago about "why Ravel Puzzlewell is a better villain than The Transcendent One, and therefore, why the story of Torment failed" but unfortunately she quickly deleted her blog after I linked to it here before and I didn't have the foresight to save the entire thing. Her belief was that TTO was grossly unsubtle and unnecessary and Ravel kept asking the wrong question when it should have been "What will make him love me?" and it should have ended with the Ravel confrontation (on that last one I agree). So just *know* she believes that, and since belief shapes reality, it must be true.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

hahaohwow.gif

Farcical. It's rich that she calls TTO "grossly unsubtle" when she wrote Loghain, one of the thinnest, most incompetent antagonists to come out of Bioware's bowels. And of course a Bioware writer would want to reduce a complex character into a monodimensional love interest obsessed with nothing but a dude's affection. Die in a fire, Kirby.

OH i god dam hate Loghain becaus of the potential he had and how it was wasted by bioware and there so called "writing" team.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

I still can't figure out what Loghain was supposed to be. He feels like a bad use of the 1. XXX 2. ??? 3. Profit joke. Did Bioware ever try to explain him or did his whole story arc just slip through the cracks?

 

[Arcanoix]

I still can't figure out what Loghain was supposed to be. He feels like a bad use of the 1. XXX 2. ??? 3. Profit joke. Did Bioware ever try to explain him or did his whole story arc just slip through the cracks?

His intent is explained when you find a letter at Ostagar between Cailan and the Empress of Orlais. It's hinted that Cailan kind of had a thing for her, given their informal tone. Loghain acts like he doesn't know what you're talking about, and then admits he feared Cailan would have set his daughter aside and she'd lose her rights to the throne.

Of course, Return to Ostagar is paid DLC with textures that have an internal date around the time the PC version would've released. (before the 6 month delay) More proof of cut content being put into the game for an extra price. :/

 

[mondblut]

[Perception] So DA2 is a JRPG? Could figure that, that's exactly what biofags crave for.

...and Ravel kept asking the wrong question when it should have been "What will make him love me?"

Bitches. Bitches never change.

 

[Toffeli]

And, the mage-templar is fantastically done as well.

Fuck you.

 

[Shannow]

I would have loved to countertroll this with a blog post Mary Kirby (that creative writer of Merrill, Varric, Sten, and Loghain) wrote a couple of years ago about "why Ravel Puzzlewell is a better villain than The Transcendent One, and therefore, why the story of Torment failed" but unfortunately she quickly deleted her blog after I linked to it here before and I didn't have the foresight to save the entire thing. Her belief was that TTO was grossly unsubtle and unnecessary and Ravel kept asking the wrong question when it should have been "What will make him love me?" and it should have ended with the Ravel confrontation (on that last one I agree). So just *know* she believes that, and since belief shapes reality, it must be true.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

hahaohwow.gif

Farcical. It's rich that she calls TTO "grossly unsubtle" when she wrote Loghain, one of the thinnest, most incompetent antagonists to come out of Bioware's bowels. And of course a Bioware writer would want to reduce a complex character into a monodimensional love interest obsessed with nothing but a dude's affection. Die in a fire, Kirby.

OH i god dam hate Loghain becaus of the potential he had and how it was wasted by bioware and there so called "writing" team.

For me Loghain's writing wasn't so bad, not even his motivations and behavior. The problem to me was that the player was never able to call Loghain on his bullshit. You could never point out all the holes in his justifications. That made me

 

[Volourn]

"Fuck you."

You ain't my type. Sorry.

 

[attackfighter]

I still can't figure out what Loghain was supposed to be. He feels like a bad use of the 1. XXX 2. ??? 3. Profit joke. Did Bioware ever try to explain him or did his whole story arc just slip through the cracks?

His intent is explained when you find a letter at Ostagar between Cailan and the Empress of Orlais. It's hinted that Cailan kind of had a thing for her, given their informal tone. Loghain acts like he doesn't know what you're talking about, and then admits he feared Cailan would have set his daughter aside and she'd lose her rights to the throne.

Of course, Return to Ostagar is paid DLC with textures that have an internal date around the time the PC version would've released. (before the 6 month delay) More proof of cut content being put into the game for an extra price. :/

So you have to buy DLC just to give the antagonist a motivation?

 

[Pelvis Knot]

Re: Dragon Age II Is Better than PS:T

DA2 has better writing than PS:T.

I saw you posted this before, and no one gave you any recognition for such a great gif. It really is a great gif.

:clap:

 

[Alec McCabe]

For me Loghain's writing wasn't so bad, not even his motivations and behavior. The problem to me was that the player was never able to call Loghain on his bullshit. You could never point out all the holes in his justifications.

If you don't kill him and talk to him, you can, and he'll agree.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Re: Dragon Age II Is Better than PS:T

DA2 has better writing than PS:T.

I saw you posted this before, and no one gave you any recognition for such a great gif. It really is a great gif.

:clap:

What's the gif from? Obviously a basketball match, but where?

 

[Marsal]

Re: Dragon Age II Is Better than PS:T

What's the gif from? Obviously a basketball match, but where?

Aussies cannot into sport?

It's handball, probably international match involving Germany. The pissed off guy is/was the coach of German national team.

 

[Gosling]

So you have to buy DLC just to give the antagonist a motivation?

Antagonist motivation DLC. Brilliant.

What's next? A DLC that explains me why I should feel motivated to play the game?