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Dragon Age: Inquisition; who's excited?
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Topic Started: Mar 9 2014, 03:28 PM (15,503 Views)
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Hisui
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Jan 14 2015, 08:44 AM
Post #241
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Seccy "no fun allowed" Secundum
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Well, Skyrim was the game where you DO defeat a physical god.
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Artemis
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Jan 14 2015, 08:44 AM
Post #242
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Plus Ultra
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- Asphodel
- Jan 14 2015, 08:39 AM
And I'm going to go against your wishes here and hope that DA4 makes us more of a nobody. Like Hawke. Chumps are cool. same
Also thanks for the tip, I'll try it out!
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Asphodel
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Jan 14 2015, 08:46 AM
Post #243
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Electric Indigo
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Just in case nobody has beaten Morrowind! Morrowind did that, as well. And yet you became a quasi-chosen one over the course of the main quest. You weren't suddenly the Nerevarine, like you were suddenly Dragonborn fifteen minutes into Skyrim. You grew into that role, and Caius Cosades even explained that the Nerevarine was something that one could become by passing certain, albeit grueling, trials.
No problem, Arty! I found a Reddit post containing a few tweaks a while back. I'll see if it has any more useful things to try. If I can find it, that is. =P
EDIT: Ah, here it is. This is for maxed-out computers looking to increase performance, but you could "translate" some of these parameters to your own computer's specs.
Spoiler: click to toggle Use SSAO instead of HBAO. Looks cleaner (especially on vegetation) and reduces stuttering/input lag. [Just turn Gamma down to .40ish if you dislike the change in brightness too much] Leave Meshes at least at High (instead of Ultra) = Enhances Framerate [but the further you turn it down, the worse pop in will become. Only turn this lower than High if all else fails] Terrain to High (instead of Ultra) = Less Stuttering, but also less dense ground vegetation [Bioware has stated this is somewhat buggy atm] Tesselation on Medium (instead of High) = Less Stuttering [Rocks on the ground won't get tesselated that much anymore] Textures on Ultra (instead of Fade Touched) = Less Suttering [decreases VRAM usage, still requires more than 3GB of VRAM to function properly] Post Process to Low/Medium = No Motion Blur and no Bokeh Depth of Field during conversations [Don't worry, those are the only things this setting affects] Effects on High (instead of Ultra) = Helps keep the Framerate stable, specifically during Combat. [Barely noticeably different from Ultra during normal playing, of course Ultra looks better on screenshots tho] Shadows on High (instead of Ultra) = Way more stable FPS and little change in image quality [reduces high quality shadow distance a little, worth it imo] Turn off MSAA either way. It's just to expensive in some situations and doesn't affect grasses/trees that much anyway.
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Asphodel
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Jan 14 2015, 10:29 PM
Post #244
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Electric Indigo
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Court approval -10 for nutcracker fashion sense
It is super-snazzy, though. There's a cool mod out there that paints the whole thing white and gold and keeps the sash blue. But it apparently makes it impossible to craft it with different colors later on. =\
Also What is wrong with Gaspard's EAARRRRRRRSSS
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gnik drazil
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Jan 14 2015, 11:11 PM
Post #245
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The sun no longer sets me free
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- Anrakyr The Traveller
- Jan 14 2015, 08:44 AM
Well, Skyrim was the game where you DO defeat a physical god. in dragon's dogma you become god. and then kill yourself.
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Asphodel
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Jan 15 2015, 02:55 AM
Post #246
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Electric Indigo
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WE,WH is the best quest ever. Probably my favorite so far. There's a big decision coming up and I have no idea what I want to happen, and it's awesome.
WE,WH spoilers Gaspard sans Briala is out of the question. Sorry, Cullen.
I was going to go with Celene, because my character thinks she's a safe choice over the unpredictable Gaspard. Briala, however, could be very beneficial for elves in the Orlesian Empire and perhaps beyond, so my Inquisitor was going to go with her...until she found incriminating evidence which showed that she really doesn't give two shits about the elves. Or so it appears at the moment. I may have misread that scene with the elf agent in the Royal Wing. Also, my character would really rather not be responsible for the death of an Empress just to put a usurper on the throne, even if it meant that Briala would be ruling from the shadows.
Pulling my hair out, lol.
Also, Morrigan looks [radio edit]ing awesome. Never cared for her or about her at all, but she was pretty cool in that one scene early in the quest.
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Asphodel
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Jan 15 2015, 06:57 AM
Post #247
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Electric Indigo
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Lash me for all of these double-posts if necessary.
Regarding Blackwall's personal quest So that played out beautifully.
The whole Thom Rainier thing comes out, the Inquisitor finds him in jail and pulls the bleeding-heart "You lied to me! You monster! ;____;" card, and marches back to Skyhold one party member short. I use Josephine to bring him into Inquisition custody and do my first judgment so far in this playthrough. The whole thing was utterly fantastic and emotional, with Blackwall cussing the Inquisition out as corrupt and hypocritical. I love it when there are scenarios in which you don't even have to think about what your character will say, because the perfect option just makes itself available. This was one of those times.
She didn't want him in the Inquisition anymore, but she didn't want him executed. The idea was to bring him to Skyhold and just kick him out. "You have your freedom," she says. And what does he do? Trolls her and says "Okay, in that case, I'm joining the Inquisition!"
Her response? A thinly veiled "[radio edit] you." I love it.
On the one hand, I wish we could have kicked him out of the party in that scene, but then again I liked how my character's plan backfired so beautifully. I'm just probably going to leave him in the barn for the rest of the game, haha.
I love Blackwall's character. He's been a mainstay in my party for most of the game, and he was one of the best parts of "Here Lies the Abyss." This questline did wonders for his characterization. But my character now hates him and, for the time being at least, refuses to speak or work with him, so I as the player lose out. That's the kind of shit I like. Character agency, disconnected from the wants of the player. This is why I love BioWare's stories.
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Hisui
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Jan 15 2015, 07:50 AM
Post #248
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Seccy "no fun allowed" Secundum
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- gnik drazil
- Jan 14 2015, 11:11 PM
- Anrakyr The Traveller
- Jan 14 2015, 08:44 AM
Well, Skyrim was the game where you DO defeat a physical god.
in dragon's dogma you become god. and then kill yourself. In Shivering Isles you kill a god, then become one.
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Saturos
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Jan 16 2015, 10:15 AM
Post #249
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heart-under-blade
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Luckily Elder Scrolls has shit plot or I'd be made about all this spoilering outside of spoiler tags. >_>
Posting from safe mode because commenting about Inquisition is worth risking the computer boom hard drive.
Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts; Blackwall's Personal Quest Glad you enjoyed both of those, Asph! I did too, though I think I liked the Adamant plotline a bit more than this one. I really wanted to put Briala as the force behind the throne as well (I kind of read the scene with the agent as "Briala didn't expect the trap there," but I can see how you took it that way). And really, it definitely comes down to the agency. Like, it would be a willful choice on the part of the Inquisitor to let Celene die to put Briala on the throne, and that's a lot of sketchiness that I'm not sure my Inquisitor could've lived with. And she hated Gaspard, so even putting him as the public face on Orlais revolted her.
As for Blackwall's personal quest, I agree 100%. That made him go from "eh, generic warden" to "okay, that's kind of cool" in my eyes. I had Leliana do the swappy thing to get him out, then told him to go join the Wardens once we kick Corphyeus butt. Accepting character flaws/letting people self-determine for my character, etc. Plus like, it's just such a natural symmetry, you know?
Killed my first two dragons, the one in the Emerald Graves and then Stormrider in the Exalted Plains. Both fights were super ez because of Spectral Blade hax (multiple targets getting hit at once means my barrier is unbreakable, so I'm immortal), but Stormrider was just absolutely gorgeous visually. Like, what a beautiful creature. This game really does the dragon fights well.
I might amp it up to hardmode though, since I think I'm overlevelled. >_>
Bull after dragonslaying; pranking with Sera (after romancing Cullen) Getting plastered with Bull was a great scene for bringing out the Inquisitor's character, including toasting shitty drinks with her characteristic sense of humour.
And on that note, going pranking with Sera was the kind of harmless fun she could get behind. There was a hilarious scene when they were trying to figure out how to prank Cullen, and Sera remarks that his desk is too sturdy to move or break. And the Inquisitor just smirks and says "Believe me, it's sturdy." (the Inquisitor and Cullen had previously fucked on said desk.)
I rofl'd and was like "ooooh, I see what you did there. And Sera didn't. 8D.
Currently going through Cullen's personal questline. Or at least, waiting for the missions to complete.
And Asphodel, I definitely agree with you in your characterizing of Inquisition's plot, and that Origin's and Hawke's structures were much better handled. As much as I would love the system you proposed for making decisions, and I think that'd be perfect, I think Bioware was too focused on taking influence from Skyrim (they said this explicitly) and focusing on exploration. As is, that one reviewer accurately described Inquisition as a bit of an escapist power trip, and I think to some extent that's true. It doesn't have the focus or moral quandaries of Origins or DA2, and while it has the archetypal flavour of Origins, so far I don't think it's handled as well -- maybe, just too much sidequesting dilutes resources that could've been spent delving into the main plot. And it's missing that humility and personability/small scale of DA2. Still very good and amazing, and oh man the cast is fantastic (better than DA: O for sure, possibly even better than DA: 2), but it definitely has some flaws plotwise.
I feel like there's some excellent plot material that could've been playable that was relegated to war table stuff (like the Clan Lavellan arc), and some stupid fetchquest bullshit that could've been relegated to the war table. Basically, everything cool should've been playable, everything tedious should've been war table. <_< >_>
Spoilers for the end of DA:2, as per your vision of what Inquisition should've been, Asph I think the scene where you try to broker peace between Meredith and Oswald or whatever his name was (trololo) was a great example of using diplomacy to solve problems/be persuasive, as opposed to everyone just differing to you. The climax of the elf arc in Origins is another great example, or of the court of Denerim.
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Artemis
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Jan 16 2015, 10:23 AM
Post #250
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Okay u shitters play this game with me
Please ;-;
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Hisui
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Jan 16 2015, 10:46 AM
Post #251
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Seccy "no fun allowed" Secundum
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GTFO PC and sure.
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Artemis
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Jan 16 2015, 10:51 AM
Post #252
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Plus Ultra
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No that's okay
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Kula Diamond
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Jan 16 2015, 10:56 AM
Post #253
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atlus tracts
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i'd play with you if this was cheaper atm ;p
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Saturos
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Jan 17 2015, 10:14 AM
Post #254
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heart-under-blade
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So. After 76 hours, I beat the game. Pretty damn pleased with the direction they took it. I shat so many bricks. SO MANY BRICKS.
For the end of Inquisition omfg, the Temple of Mythal was generally great. I made a save before allowing Morrigan to drink the Well, since while it WAS the Inquisitor's heritage, everyone wanted Morrigan to do it and it probably was super risky.
AND THEN THE PLOT TWISTS STARTED HITTING THE FAN
>MFW FLEMETH IS MYTHAL >MFW SOLAS IS ACTING SHIFTY ABOUT THE ORB, DID HE START THIS WHOLE THING THAT WOULD EXPLAIN WHY HE'S SUCH A RIFT EXPERT AND WAS CONVENIENTLY THERE >MFW HE DID >MFW SOLAS IS THE DREAD WOLF >MFW FLEMETH JUST STOLE HIS BODY
Final fight was almost disappointingly easy, just because I had so much swag equipment and level 20 power that I just streamrolled Cory completely. I'll probably redo it on Hard mode when I go back to putzing around on the game just to make it feel more epic.
On reflecting on the well choice, I'm really curious as to how things play out if the Inquisitor drinks the well. Seeing as she's Dalish elven, she might be more than inclined to do whatever Mythal says, though I get the feeling that Flemeth is planning some like, complete destruction of human kingdoms or something. I'm super curious, and I'm glad Flemeth is held out as le ultimate chessmaster but with a really interesting lore and backstory. Plus her design was super cool.
I chose Leliana as the Divine, which should be interesting in the time to come. People are already really nervous about it, but the mages are doing really well for themselves, and even if her methods are questionable, Leliana's working towards the things that really matter: equality for all under the eyes of the Maker, for every race, and charity. Cassandra, meanwhile, will rebuild the Seekers like a boss.
I was genuinely touched by everyone's sentiments during the celebratory dinner. I really think this is the best Dragon Age cast yet, and I was touched by how many of them wanted to stay with me. Dorian and Cassandra especially, but also Blackwall and Iron Bull, too. Cullen romance was super sweet. Definitely a good choice.
- omfg Sera calling the Temple of Mythal a bunch of ruins and demons, I could've killed her. Instead my Inquisitor just settled for a seething "You're dumb," because you can't win an argument with Sera. She just drags you down to her level and then beats you with experience. [radio edit]ing Sera.
- Morrigan vs. Archdemon battle was epic.
THE PLOT THICKENS
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UltaFlame
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Jan 17 2015, 10:55 AM
Post #255
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Thanks Poui.
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inb4 play with Arty
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Artemis
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Jan 17 2015, 11:18 AM
Post #256
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Plus Ultra
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He can't, he's a console asshole
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UltaFlame
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Jan 17 2015, 12:28 PM
Post #257
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Thanks Poui.
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Hah. Rek'd
EDIT: Last time played: January 9th.
Sadfish.
But I'm testing to see if my compy crashes... been three or so days. Might as well jack in, check and see.
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SeaMonkeyFarmer
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Jan 17 2015, 03:02 PM
Post #258
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Wifey
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Ending spoilers Yeah like Satty I found the end bosses super easy. Which is 1 million times better than Legacy omg, but meant that I was waiting for an extra twist / another boss, but then the game ended ;-; Need expansion now please thank you.
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Asphodel
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Jan 17 2015, 05:42 PM
Post #259
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Electric Indigo
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Response to Satty Actually, I did a little research after that quest and discovered that you can, in fact, reconcile Celene and Briala so that they can rule together, or nearly so. Nethalla would have found that solution ideal, but I had progressed too far to commit to that route. I'm still happy with how it turned out. It was cool because I have a very pragmatic, if not cutthroat approach to politics in a video game context, whereas that all soars over my character's head, as she's easily fooled by appearances and first impressions.
But the best part of that quest was Solas. Guy gets introduced as the Inquisitor's serving elf and spends the whole night in the guest wing. I went to go speak with him and he's all tipsy with the "I do adore the heady blend of power, intrigue, danger, and sex that permeates these events!" Dancing with him at the end was sweet in a completely dorky way, but that hat he was wearing clipped through his face and made the whole thing hilarious.
Yeah, I completely missed that sequence with Iron Bull. It's okay. My character's pretty weirded out by him and was just all "sorry, but I think you're on your own." He was totally cool with it, though.
And that Sera pranking sequence! That's definitely the kind of humanization (elvenization?) the Inquisitor needed, and I wish there were more events like that in the game. That whole thing was completely accurate to how I had established my character early on in the game. I still headcanon Nethalla as the clan Second (kind of a head-in-the-clouds sidekick to the stoic and no-nonsense First) so to see her act in a sort of excitable accomplice role was perfect. I've grown to really like Sera for this reason. I'll probably wind up romancing her on my second play through as this character, see where that leads. =P
And holy shit @ that Cullen [radio edit]ing reference.
And yes, the Meredith/Orsino conflict was a great example of NPC agency. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Granted, DA:I has some characters who will act independently of the Inquisitor, such as Leliana on numerous occasions, but it's not ideal. That's why I often have my character defer to other party members in conversation: to foster that feeling of equality among the core cast.
Holy shit typing on mobile is tedious.
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Saturos
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Jan 17 2015, 09:53 PM
Post #260
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heart-under-blade
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Ending @Els When my Inquisitor got super excited about tiny cakes, I thought of you. 8D
Also guys, I seriously can't wait for Asphodel to reach this part. Given his attachment to Solas and the fact he's romancing him, I wonder how he'll react to all the Mythal stuff, and particularly the Solas stuff in the ending?
Man, now that I know who Solas actually is he seems a lot less air-headed and oblivious than before. Still #noregrets, but yeah.
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