swimmingtrunks

[swimmingtrunks]

I love when a meme gets so many steps away from its source material that it would be completely incomprehensible if I didn't know what today's date was

[swimmingtrunks]

Guys, I am bummed out.

[swimmingtrunks]

Sooooo I decided to pause DAV and go back and play through at least DA2 and DAI to refresh things in my mind (and also actually play through DA2 DLC), but when I went to boot up DA2 it couldn't find my DAO save so now I've gone all the way back!

I guess it's been a long time since I played Origins, and longer still since I played it on the 360. It's rougher than I remember! (Though I'm sure some of that is the 360 and controller stick drift...) I set combat to easy and I'm trying to hurry through it but also trying to take note of dialogue and maybe attempting some comics about Isadaia Tabris?

Anyway prompted to actually post about it because I was wondering about the choices for Manfred's vocalizations when I played DAV, but I just fought skeletons at Soldier's Peak in DAO and... yup. That is how Thedas skellies sound!

[swimmingtrunks]

It's been over 20 years since the Fifth Blight, and much has happened in that time.

How has your Warden fared through all these years? Have they gone to their calling, or do you think they found a cure in the end? Are they living their happily ever after somewhere, whatever that entails?

Oh, my Schrodinger's Warden, kept in a semi quantum state of existence while I hold on to the ever fading hope that Bioware will throw us another (meatier) bone in a future DA installment...

I don't feel like she's reached her ending yet, happy or not. Right now, I'm imagining that while a cure eluded her, she did find means of postponing the Calling. Ever the reluctant warden, I think she and Alistair go off the radar after Inquisition and settle down quietly in the Free Marches somewhere. It's a small, bittersweet life, but they make what they can of it.

With the events of Veilguard, they wouldn't obey the First Warden's call to return to Weisshaupt, but they would take up arms again to fight the blight in their community. I would like to imagine, for dramatic effect, that even Isadaia's means of postponement is starting to fail before the gods break out-- but maybe, hopefully, Solas's atonement will bring relief.

[swimmingtrunks]

Oh Dread Wolf, What Big Lies You Have

[swimmingtrunks]

Just played through the Inner Demons quest on my non-canon Veilguard playthrough and... (Spoilers beyond cut)

I get that losing it is a repercussion of choosing Minrathous over Treviso, losing Lucanis's trust so he doesn't let his guard down around you-- but I think there still should have been something more with Spite when you don't get this quest. Like maybe at that point where Lucanis retreats into himself, we just get Spite taking his place for the rest of the game, or at least until you free Caterina? Maybe Spite goes AWOL and goes to deal with Illario himself, and the Veilguard has to rescue him/Lucanis when it goes wrong? I can't imagine a blighted Treviso keeping Lucanis further from a catatonic episode...

Idk. It's probably just a matter of time/resources like a lot of other things in this game, but Spite feels so inconsequential in a playthrough where you save Minrathous. "I've decided to get rid of Spite so I can keep everyone I love safe" okay Lucanis whatever floats your gondola but your spirit roommate as literally didn't do anything but yell at people and give you a nosebleed I'm not sure anyone would notice if he were gone

[swimmingtrunks]

unexpected WIP

[swimmingtrunks]

It's been a long day, and it's time for Rook to get some well earned rest. But what does that look like exactly?

Does she have a special outfit she sleeps in? What does her sleeping space look like? Is it full of pillows and blankets, or are things more sparse? Does she have any sleep "quirks", like hogging the blanket or talking in her sleep?

Bonus question: Big spoon or little spoon?

Rook is one of those people who can literally sleep anywhere, and often winds up doing so. Though "anywhere" is always some out of the way nook or cranny that would be impossible to find if you weren't looking. (Crow habits.)

Bonus Answer: Backpack.

[swimmingtrunks]

Dinner time! And it's Rook's turn to cook. What does she make? Is she a good cook? Do you think the other companions look forward to her meals, or do they make themselves scarce when dinner time comes around?

Bonus question: Everyone else seems to have brought some groceries with them to the Lighthouse. What did Rook bring, if anything at all?

Rook did not do much more than simple cooking before forming the Veilguard. Inspired and obligated by her colleagues at the Lighthouse, she gets improvisational with her turns and has maybe one surprise success. After a streak of fairly inedible failures, the team makes an unofficial rule that Chef Rook requires a chaperone in the kitchen. Taash is exempt from this duty as they end up taking over in best case scenario, which even then is only after lots of yelling and drama.

[swimmingtrunks]

Totally, completely, 100% normal about my Rook, guys.

[swimmingtrunks]

I finished Veilguard around midnight last night and, honestly, I liked the game a lot! When the trailer came out I mentioned the sort of accidental rhythm the series has had-- I was talking about the art style then, but coming back to it I think the second and fourth installments are both really solid games that can't hide the time and budget constraints of their (very different) production cycles.

In DA2, it was a smaller scope of story and reused assets. Veilguard isn't quite as straight forward: it's visually stunning and ambitious, but everywhere I look I see writing and gameplay features that must have been cut, pared down, or underdeveloped at some part of the process. Branching choices are expensive, and Veilguard had exponentially more of them to contend with going in. I'm sad that they weren't able to accommodate more of them, but I understand why. A lot of us played BG3 which gave a buffet of rpg choices we haven't seen from Bioware since Origins, and I do think a lot of us coming from that with ten years of expectations built up around Veilguard gave it a high bar to clear.

I know EA is a trend chaser, so I'm VERY interested to see what influence BG3 might have on the next mass effect game.

More (rambling)thoughts with (front-loaded)spoilers below the cut.

To get this out of the way: I played a cheeky elven Antivan(?) Crow Rook. She saved Minrathous at the expense of Treviso, romanced Taash, lost Davrin and Assan after returning the griffons to the wardens, and with the help of a blighted Bellara, begrudgingly convinced Solas to take notes on his course of action.

I friggin love my Rook, and I'm not sure how much is me leaning into the tone of writing for this game and how much is the robust customization, good animation and excellent voice acting. I ended up playing her having a tonal shift in act three and it worked out really well. Also, my Inquisitor was all the way up Solas's ass and it was so much fun to play Rook having none of his shit.

As far as the companions, I generally liked them? Like, I ended up feeling affection for all of them, even if they weren't exactly the most interesting set we've had. They don't necessarily compel me as characters. I think Taash was the stand out for me. Loved them, liked their storyline-- the straight up use of "non-binary" was super jarring though, very modern terminology in a world that thus far has been good at representing queer identities without using labels.

I honestly feel like I missed a Lucanis quest that established his relationship with Spite. Was there something between his recruitment and the Minrathous/Treviso choice I missed? He's got the set up for this interesting internal-ish conflict but all his development seemed to focus on the external stuff. Idk.

Factions were a little toothless. Agree that Crows were far too nice, and the Wardens.... When Blackwall talked about them in such idealistic, rose colored terms I thought it was because he was talking out of his ass, but then Davrin has the same idea and they're just like that now? Antoine and Evka are rad though, but I feel like they should feel a little more like outsiders-- give us some contrasting wardens besides the first warden, cuz everyone hanging out in the anderfels seems generally decent.

The main storyline was good, though. Act three was amazing. Bioware did a good job remedying criticisms from their last couple of entries. The Evunaris were great villains, present and threatening throughout the game. Facial animations and body language were good too. (Those quest giving conversations with flat lighting and stiff animations seemed like something they repurposed from the live service iteration) Side quests, when not just going to a place and having a conversation, were varied and interesting.

It's not a perfect game by far and I wish the same as everyone that they'd incorporated more world state stuff, and that there'd been a little more meat on the bone writing-wise for the titular cast. But I had a great time playing it, am looking forward to another go around and am sad that there's not dlc in the pipeline.

[swimmingtrunks]

Hey! Long time follower here 👋

I'm doing a thing where I go around and ask people about their Rooks every Friday, usually regarding little details about their character like sense of style, hobbies, food preferences etc. I was wondering if it would be okay if I sent you some? There's no pressure to answer literally any of them, but I don't want to spam you with ask you don't want 😅

Hope you're having fun with the game!

Absolutely! I know I've been less present around here lately, but you know I'm always up for questions I'm under no obligation to answer! Ask and ye shall maybe receive! 😆

[swimmingtrunks]

THIS is my Rook, and I am enjoying her quite a bit, even when I'm finding other areas of the game lacking. She's a cheeky lil' shit of a crow who's trying her best.

[swimmingtrunks]

Lol I just looked at the original time stamp on that Shepard art I reblogged for N7 day. November 2016, you say? Haha, hahahaha, hahahaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[swimmingtrunks]

Not my favorite piece I've done, but certainly the one most in line with my mood this N7 day. Stay safe out there my friends.

Anxious

[swimmingtrunks]

I hope none of you disappear in the coming days. Seriously don't do anything that can't be undone.

[swimmingtrunks]

Not sure how I feel about this cc (the melding faces thing that ends up choosing the eyes and mouth shape is....certainly a system), but it does have one thing going for it: it does a pretty damn good job making my bioware baby girl!!!!