![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
I plan to reply later, but I wanted to do this quick since I just finished it and didn't want to forget anything, a review of the new DA:I DLC, The Descent without major spoilers:
The description for The Descent makes it sound very "haven't I done that before?" as it's pretty much deep roads, darkspawn, blah, toss in a nug for good measure. However, it far exceeds this and decides to delve into aspects of lore previously untouched by the series and connects the red lyrium aspect of the main plot of DAII/DAI. (Those abbreviations seem so backwards, since it looks like DA2 and DA1 when it's reverse... )
The good -
--Dragon Age: Origins focused on human, elven, and dwarvan religion about equally as it was introducing you to their unique cultures.
Dragon Age II focused mainly human religion, as most of it is the Chantry trying to control people.
Dragon Age Inquisition also starts with an emphasis on the Chantry, but elven religion becomes very important about 2/3rds though the game.
See who is missing there?
The qunari you say? Well, that's very true, they're never focused on. Tevinter? Well, yes, as they're humans, but have a different religion, and-- I mean--
the dwarves. Aside from some random jumps into the deep roads in II, we haven't really even seen much of dwarvan culture since DA:O. The descent covers this well, as the main focus of the DLC is about the origins of The Stone. In the process, we also get to learn a lot more about lyrium and its origins.
-- The two new characters are pretty interesting and likable.
-- Unlike JoH, the first DLC, the equipment you get in this is actually useful and some of it looks pretty awesome (there's a DLC staff I have equipped on the last blue photo below)... I went crazy with crafting and didn't expert to find anything better than what I had, but was pleasantly surprised.
-- The atmosphere is amazing. Maybe it's because I transferred over from the ps3 where the game looked awful, but a lot of the scenes were just amazing. For example:
(Gruesome, but it really helps set the kind of menace darkspawn are supposed to have but haven't since DAO)
There's also a beautiful area that looks nothing like that after it but it's highly spoilerly and somewhat... wtf. That's another thing this DLC does very well. It starts very normally - oh just ANOTHER deep roads expedition - but then gets increasingly more eerie as it takes you from the well known, to that which only a few (wardens, legions of the dead, etc) experience, to that which was previously unknown. For awhile you're also in complete darkness, with only slight... what looks like bright blue eyes in the distance (thankfully it's a linear path so you can't get lost) and the way it feels really helps you feel like you're diving into unknown, dangerous territory.
-- Cassandra trying to get into professional gear climbing
The meh-
-- The gameplay is... the same as ever in DAI. There are a few battles which are more artificially tougher than anything, as they don't really require tactics so much as... they just throw MORE enemies at you, or in the case of the final boss... the final boss battle was actually really annoying since... with the gear I crafted for Cassandra, she could take down even the toughest high dragon on hard without getting much of a scratch due to double +guard on hit gear.
Here? she could get 1hit koed if I just didn't move her in time. Yeah, the final boss pretty much is just a gimmick where you have to make your whole party run around in circles to avoid being 1hit koed which is more frustrating than anything since you can only control one character at a time and the tactics screen in this game is nowhere near as useful as the ones in DAO and DAII were.
I can imagine some might like this better, since hey, more enemies, but if you're like me and much preferred the previous battle systems...
-- I now have even MORE questions! I mean, I can now make assumptions about the existence of things like red lyrium, but I have so many more questions.
The bad-
-- GUNS. I shit you not, there are enemies with machine gun lyrium or some nonsense. This really bugs me for a lot of reason, but further these enemies seem to just be mindless slaves to lyrium anyway, so ??? how did they develop such technology. I'm guessing we won't see the likes of them again, or at least, I hope not.
-- Why are there lifts where you just stand around while waiting for it to go down, didn't people hate those enough in ME?
-- A couple of times the new guys just stood there and acted like they were deciding to pretend the battle didn't exist instead of helping:
-- The biggest negative; however, is definitely the same complaint I had with DAI's sidequests in general. The party never talks? The new two talk, but usually only Varric would chime in with a joke occasionally otherwise. No comments about something /that/ big at the end? REALLY GUYS?! I'd expect all 3 of the characters I brought to be pretty blown away from that, albeit for different reasons. Considering how characters would comment a lot in DAO and on just about everything in DAII, this has always made DAI feel a bit more lifeless to me... and this time I don't even seem to have the banter glitch! Characters now even yell in battle, I didn't even know they could do that! (I have to give Cass props, every time my Inquisitor's health got low, Cassandra was the one yelling "help the Inquisitor!" while Solas said nothing... thanks, great already highly questionable boyfriend you are. Er, wait..)
Seriously, the characters are what people usually love the most about the Dragon Age series, so I don't get why they'd decrease their greatest strength. I've read Cole talks about as much as Varric in it (which isn't much, but more than the others), so it might be worth turning the difficulty down and taking two rogues with you if you want more dialog.
-- It also ends kind of... suddenly, which is rather frustrating, especially when combined with how no one comments on it.
In total:
If you're a fan of Dragon Age to the degree I am or if you're curious about dwarves in particular, I'd recommend it. I'd also say it's good for fans of old school dungeon crawlers, as it often feels like that gameplay wise, and those who just really like killing darkspawn. However, if you want something like the Citdal DLC for ME (which is what most of the fandom wants, from what I can gather), definitely avoid it. Part of the reason I play DA is for the lore, so this actually exceeded my expectations and provided the best atmosphere I've seen in DA yet, despite how I'm not sure how I feel about the big reveal at the end. It's rank it as a good DLC, but sadly not the great type I'd replay multiple times like DAII's Legacy and Mark or the Assassin (DAI really needs a humor DLC like that imo, I want to crash an Orsleain party instead of trying to fit in!)
As an aside, I know everyone is always KNIGHT ENCHANCER KNIGHT ENCHANTER but... hey, I can make an Ogre fight for me! A FRIGGIN OGRE
The description for The Descent makes it sound very "haven't I done that before?" as it's pretty much deep roads, darkspawn, blah, toss in a nug for good measure. However, it far exceeds this and decides to delve into aspects of lore previously untouched by the series and connects the red lyrium aspect of the main plot of DAII/DAI. (Those abbreviations seem so backwards, since it looks like DA2 and DA1 when it's reverse... )
The good -
--Dragon Age: Origins focused on human, elven, and dwarvan religion about equally as it was introducing you to their unique cultures.
Dragon Age II focused mainly human religion, as most of it is the Chantry trying to control people.
Dragon Age Inquisition also starts with an emphasis on the Chantry, but elven religion becomes very important about 2/3rds though the game.
See who is missing there?
The qunari you say? Well, that's very true, they're never focused on. Tevinter? Well, yes, as they're humans, but have a different religion, and-- I mean--
the dwarves. Aside from some random jumps into the deep roads in II, we haven't really even seen much of dwarvan culture since DA:O. The descent covers this well, as the main focus of the DLC is about the origins of The Stone. In the process, we also get to learn a lot more about lyrium and its origins.
-- The two new characters are pretty interesting and likable.
-- Unlike JoH, the first DLC, the equipment you get in this is actually useful and some of it looks pretty awesome (there's a DLC staff I have equipped on the last blue photo below)... I went crazy with crafting and didn't expert to find anything better than what I had, but was pleasantly surprised.
-- The atmosphere is amazing. Maybe it's because I transferred over from the ps3 where the game looked awful, but a lot of the scenes were just amazing. For example:
(Gruesome, but it really helps set the kind of menace darkspawn are supposed to have but haven't since DAO)
There's also a beautiful area that looks nothing like that after it but it's highly spoilerly and somewhat... wtf. That's another thing this DLC does very well. It starts very normally - oh just ANOTHER deep roads expedition - but then gets increasingly more eerie as it takes you from the well known, to that which only a few (wardens, legions of the dead, etc) experience, to that which was previously unknown. For awhile you're also in complete darkness, with only slight... what looks like bright blue eyes in the distance (thankfully it's a linear path so you can't get lost) and the way it feels really helps you feel like you're diving into unknown, dangerous territory.
-- Cassandra trying to get into professional gear climbing
The meh-
-- The gameplay is... the same as ever in DAI. There are a few battles which are more artificially tougher than anything, as they don't really require tactics so much as... they just throw MORE enemies at you, or in the case of the final boss... the final boss battle was actually really annoying since... with the gear I crafted for Cassandra, she could take down even the toughest high dragon on hard without getting much of a scratch due to double +guard on hit gear.
Here? she could get 1hit koed if I just didn't move her in time. Yeah, the final boss pretty much is just a gimmick where you have to make your whole party run around in circles to avoid being 1hit koed which is more frustrating than anything since you can only control one character at a time and the tactics screen in this game is nowhere near as useful as the ones in DAO and DAII were.
I can imagine some might like this better, since hey, more enemies, but if you're like me and much preferred the previous battle systems...
-- I now have even MORE questions! I mean, I can now make assumptions about the existence of things like red lyrium, but I have so many more questions.
The bad-
-- GUNS. I shit you not, there are enemies with machine gun lyrium or some nonsense. This really bugs me for a lot of reason, but further these enemies seem to just be mindless slaves to lyrium anyway, so ??? how did they develop such technology. I'm guessing we won't see the likes of them again, or at least, I hope not.
-- Why are there lifts where you just stand around while waiting for it to go down, didn't people hate those enough in ME?
-- A couple of times the new guys just stood there and acted like they were deciding to pretend the battle didn't exist instead of helping:
-- The biggest negative; however, is definitely the same complaint I had with DAI's sidequests in general. The party never talks? The new two talk, but usually only Varric would chime in with a joke occasionally otherwise. No comments about something /that/ big at the end? REALLY GUYS?! I'd expect all 3 of the characters I brought to be pretty blown away from that, albeit for different reasons. Considering how characters would comment a lot in DAO and on just about everything in DAII, this has always made DAI feel a bit more lifeless to me... and this time I don't even seem to have the banter glitch! Characters now even yell in battle, I didn't even know they could do that! (I have to give Cass props, every time my Inquisitor's health got low, Cassandra was the one yelling "help the Inquisitor!" while Solas said nothing... thanks, great already highly questionable boyfriend you are. Er, wait..)
Seriously, the characters are what people usually love the most about the Dragon Age series, so I don't get why they'd decrease their greatest strength. I've read Cole talks about as much as Varric in it (which isn't much, but more than the others), so it might be worth turning the difficulty down and taking two rogues with you if you want more dialog.
-- It also ends kind of... suddenly, which is rather frustrating, especially when combined with how no one comments on it.
In total:
If you're a fan of Dragon Age to the degree I am or if you're curious about dwarves in particular, I'd recommend it. I'd also say it's good for fans of old school dungeon crawlers, as it often feels like that gameplay wise, and those who just really like killing darkspawn. However, if you want something like the Citdal DLC for ME (which is what most of the fandom wants, from what I can gather), definitely avoid it. Part of the reason I play DA is for the lore, so this actually exceeded my expectations and provided the best atmosphere I've seen in DA yet, despite how I'm not sure how I feel about the big reveal at the end. It's rank it as a good DLC, but sadly not the great type I'd replay multiple times like DAII's Legacy and Mark or the Assassin (DAI really needs a humor DLC like that imo, I want to crash an Orsleain party instead of trying to fit in!)
As an aside, I know everyone is always KNIGHT ENCHANCER KNIGHT ENCHANTER but... hey, I can make an Ogre fight for me! A FRIGGIN OGRE
no subject