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Five Days In
... fifty hours of Dragon Age: Inquisition later, I think I'm about half way through this marathon.
(Yes, I have been playing ten hours a day. No, I am not sorry.)
My anticipation for the game was ludicrously high, and I kept telling myself not to expect too much ... and yet, in many ways I'm enjoying it more that I hoped. It has its imperfections, sure, but I just love being in Thedas so much, and this time around you can see so much MORE of it. And I have never fallen in love with the ENTIRE cast of a BioWare RPG quite so badly. Even Cullen has won me over, after years of Cullen-neutrality.
I made the cutest dwarf in Thedas (seriously, I should post a picture) and in between stabbing people in the kidneys and collecting elfroot, the story is exactly what I was hoping for. Today alone, I experienced one of the most heartbreaking moments in the series and two of my happiest.
First of all: Hawke stayed in the Fade.
I didn't even have to think about it. Never mind what my Inquisitor would do, there's just no way my 'canon' Hawke would let someone else stay and fight Nightmare. She'd have shoved Stroud out of the rift and gone back.
Only then I had to tell Varric what happened.
I don't think I have ever felt so bad about doing something in a game. The look on his face, the way he just turns and walks off ... perfect work from the writers, the cinematic designers and the wonderful Brian Bloom. And then the reaction scene back at Skyhold where my Cadash just hugged him and listened to his story. (I have always wanted to give Varric all the hugs. I did not want that to be the reason.)
And I just keep thinking of all those letters Varric had to write - to Sebastian, and Aveline, and Merrill. Worst of all, to Bethany. Even to Isabela, even though she and Hawke parted on bad terms. To all those people who are going to be thinking that they could have saved her if they were just there - only her best friend was there, and he couldn't do it.
But then, a few hours of gameplay later, I went to talk to him to see how he was doing ... and he was deep in conversation with a female dwarf. My neighbours are probably still wondering why I shrieked 'OH MY GOD BIANCA YOU ARE ALIVE!!!'
I was expecting her to turn up somehow, but the context was unexpected and everything about her interaction with Varric was delightful - even the painful bits. I am still a little sad that he's not a love interest, but at least now I completely understand why. Bianca is just as great as the brief glimpse of her in the comics made me hope she would be, and fingers crossed we will get their full backstory some day, somehow.
Unfortunately for my neighbours, it was midnight when I discovered the warmest and funniest moment in the game so far. Watching almost the whole inner circle of the Inquisition sit down to play Wicked Grace together? Totally worth fifty hours.
(Yes, I have been playing ten hours a day. No, I am not sorry.)
My anticipation for the game was ludicrously high, and I kept telling myself not to expect too much ... and yet, in many ways I'm enjoying it more that I hoped. It has its imperfections, sure, but I just love being in Thedas so much, and this time around you can see so much MORE of it. And I have never fallen in love with the ENTIRE cast of a BioWare RPG quite so badly. Even Cullen has won me over, after years of Cullen-neutrality.
I made the cutest dwarf in Thedas (seriously, I should post a picture) and in between stabbing people in the kidneys and collecting elfroot, the story is exactly what I was hoping for. Today alone, I experienced one of the most heartbreaking moments in the series and two of my happiest.
First of all: Hawke stayed in the Fade.
I didn't even have to think about it. Never mind what my Inquisitor would do, there's just no way my 'canon' Hawke would let someone else stay and fight Nightmare. She'd have shoved Stroud out of the rift and gone back.
Only then I had to tell Varric what happened.
I don't think I have ever felt so bad about doing something in a game. The look on his face, the way he just turns and walks off ... perfect work from the writers, the cinematic designers and the wonderful Brian Bloom. And then the reaction scene back at Skyhold where my Cadash just hugged him and listened to his story. (I have always wanted to give Varric all the hugs. I did not want that to be the reason.)
And I just keep thinking of all those letters Varric had to write - to Sebastian, and Aveline, and Merrill. Worst of all, to Bethany. Even to Isabela, even though she and Hawke parted on bad terms. To all those people who are going to be thinking that they could have saved her if they were just there - only her best friend was there, and he couldn't do it.
But then, a few hours of gameplay later, I went to talk to him to see how he was doing ... and he was deep in conversation with a female dwarf. My neighbours are probably still wondering why I shrieked 'OH MY GOD BIANCA YOU ARE ALIVE!!!'
I was expecting her to turn up somehow, but the context was unexpected and everything about her interaction with Varric was delightful - even the painful bits. I am still a little sad that he's not a love interest, but at least now I completely understand why. Bianca is just as great as the brief glimpse of her in the comics made me hope she would be, and fingers crossed we will get their full backstory some day, somehow.
Unfortunately for my neighbours, it was midnight when I discovered the warmest and funniest moment in the game so far. Watching almost the whole inner circle of the Inquisition sit down to play Wicked Grace together? Totally worth fifty hours.