Dragon Age Series

[Formalhaut]

I agree with Pike: Inquisition is a humongous time sink with large areas (yay!) with rather tepid sidequests (boo!). I mean, the Hinterlands is a prime example of that sort of grindy time-sink sort of design that was fun for a while, then you kinda just get bored. The main quests are great, but outside of those, there's less of an opportunity to enjoy rich sidequests with a colourful array of characters. That's what Dragon Age II excelled in.

I also felt that you couldn't do as many dialogue choices in Inquisition either. You can't bribe, lie or talk your way out of things nine times out of ten. Your companions don't chirp up as much during cutscenes, which is disappointing.

I actually liked the gameplay. That was one of the best bits. Maybe provide a bit of variety. I appreciated every companion having their own unique tree, which helped differentiate them from others in their class. But in Inquisition, your specialisations are those unique trees, which lessens the effect.

They're the main things. Still a good game, but it worsens with age (and length of play). From the fourth game, aside from obvious 'good story' and 'good characters', I'd like a more fleshed out array of sidequests, and better customisation options. Especially the hair: my goodness you basically choose from 'shaved', 'slightly less shaved', 'short' or 'weird hairstyle I've never seen before'. Not many long hairstyles.

[Forsaken Lover]

I'd also like the combat to be slower and tactical rather than faster and more console-friendly, but I know that's not going to happen so I've written off the possibility.

You can't get slower than Inquisition....

I've played Inquisition once and I refuse to play it again because the gameplay was literal torture. And there's so much of it. To try and enjoy other views of the story, I'd have to suffer through all those hours of collecting Power and I refuse.

Inquisition had the best use of the Dialogue Wheel to date and you had so many options for characterizing your PC. That was awesome. I liked most of the companions, although the Approval system sucks.

So what do I want in DA4? More of the same in terms of dialogue/charactrization options, gameplay more like 2 or at least more like Origins. ANYTHING but like Inquisition.

Also how about this - a nice, slow, build up of a prologue. You realize the last time a BioWare game had something like that was DA Origins? And it was a smurfing great! I loved the Dwarf Noble Origin which I just did for the first time.

But nooooo, everything has to blow up! The game has to start in the middle of chaos. (SPOILER)Even though it would have done Inquisition a huge service to actually let us go around the enclave instead of starting with it blown up.

[Pike]

Yeah the origin stories and slow buildup is something I miss. I never really cared about the Inquisition the way I cared about the Wardens or the Hawke family. I want a reason to care about whatever I'm saving.

I never really look forward to Inquisition the way I look forward to playing the other two games. It's just something I have to do to complete a full Dragon Age run.

[Pumpkin]

I STILL DUN HAVE IZABELA OR WHATEVER HER NAME IS DID I LOSE THE GAME

[Pike]

I forget how to find her but I'm replaying the game right now so I'll report back

She leaves you anyway unless you a.) get her approval up really high or b.) romance her. (I mean she leaves either way but she only comes back if you meet at least one of those two criteria)

[Pumpkin]

[Pike]

UPDATE: I found her just by walking into the Hanged Man. You do a quest for her and then I think she joins up.

[Pumpkin]

Oh oki, thank you

[Pumpkin]

Mkay so I got Isabella and have decided to romance her, although she doesn't like me much so far and got -5 friendship twice :/. I'm also finishing up Act 1 and almost starting Act 2 and AM TOLD I'M GOING TO LOSE BETHANY ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WHY SHE IS MY FAVOURITE

I'm legit super sad about this you guys

[Pike]

Mkay so I got Isabella and have decided to romance her, although she doesn't like me much so far and got -5 friendship twice :/. I'm also finishing up Act 1 and almost starting Act 2 and AM TOLD I'M GOING TO LOSE BETHANY ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WHY SHE IS MY FAVOURITE

I'm legit super sad about this you guys

You have a couple "ideal" ways to lose Bethany. One is to take both her and Anders with you when you go into the Deep Roads. She's going to get the Darkspawn taint but Anders knows how to take her to Wardens and she'll become a Grey Warden. Then she'll come back at the very end of the game, at least! You can also leave her behind and she'll still leave the party until the very end. In that case she becomes a Circle mage instead of a Warden.

Whatever you do, do NOT bring her into the Deep Roads without Anders. Or she will die.

[Formalhaut]

Yeah, the secret I was keeping is out. Your sibling companion is guaranteed to leave at the end of Act 1. They remain gone until the end of Act 3, though that is not guaranteed, depending on what happens during the expedition.

No matter where you are in the story, starting the 'Legacy' DLC involves your sibling. In the 'Mark of the Assassin' DLC, you can also choose your sibling as well, no matter where in the story.

As for Isabela: getting her approval is generally more difficult because she has no strong opinion on the Mage/Templar debate, though she probably leans towards mages, as she believes in freedom. She's also a mite tricky because she's pretty much the only companion who sometimes disapproves if you go out of your way to help people. She's probably the most difficult member to befriend.

[Forsaken Lover]

I always want to bring Isabela along just for "someone needs a good spanking!"

[Pike]

I've been really focusing on Isabela on my current playthrough and I'm doing better with her approval than I ever have before. I'm not even out of act one yet and I'm already almost 50% friendship with her.

She is still probably the most difficult of all of them I think. She likes when you bribe/trick people. Good thing my Purple Hawke loves doing that.

[Pumpkin]

I'm at Act 2 now and I need help deciding on my main party. I had three ideas:

1. Isabela, Merrill, and Aveline

2. Isabela, Merill, and Fenris

3. Isabela, Anders, and Aveline

[Pike]

What difficulty are you playing on? If it was me I'd go #3 for best Healer/Tank combo but on easy difficulty you could probably brute force your way through the game pretty easily without either.

Honestly DA2 is the game where I mix up the party the most. With DAO/DAI I usually had a set party that I used at all times but with DA2 I mixed it up a lot more.