Ending was my favorite part of the game

[NCR75]

This is just my opinion, and I'm not saying the ending is flawless, but I guess said flaws bother me very little.  And the more I think about it, the more I like it, and I'm thinking its actually one of the best endings to any RPG I've ever played in a long time (for me personally).  Keep in mind that I'm looking at the ending in broad strokes, and I can't help but love it.

 

I love the feelings of powerlessness and inevitability that I felt when finally confronting Eothas (both the first time in the Ashen Maw and again at the end).  I love that you can't stop him.  You can't dissuade him.  He is set in motion and all you can do is adjust to his ending and build around it (ie, the rest of the ending slides). 

 

I've played so many RPGs where I'm this entitled, all-powerful, world-determining, Special One that I've frankly gotten sick of it.  Deadfire was refreshing to make me feel inconsequential in regards to this massive cosmic force.  Like I was just along for the ride.  This was more immersive for me than any other RPG I've played in a long time, as for once I wasn't literally the strongest being in the world.  This made Eora feel bigger, not smaller.

 

I also love not having every single minute question answered.  Why should I know the answers to every mystery and physical/metaphysical law of Eora, souls, etc?  After all, I'm just a mortal, and not even the Gods know all the answers.  I knew more at the end of Deadfire (significantly more) than I did when I started, and this was enough.  Not having all the answers allows me to speculate, as I did in PoE 1.  Again, this makes Eora feel bigger, not smaller.  I know at least Wael would agree with me.

 

And finally, I love that I could not foresee the consequences of my in-game decisions at the end-of-game slides.  I love some of the things I did actually had unintended negative consequences... like I'm not this all-powerful seer who can literally shape the future with my mind.  

 

This altogether makes Deadfire feel like a real world, and I'm just someone one in it.  I love it.

 

Besides... I still ended up having enough influence to literally determine the political landscape of the Deadfire Archipalego in deciding which faction runs the show (and in my case, even the leadership of said faction).  This is kind of power is plenty (maybe even too much).

 

This is just my opinion.  Different strokes for different folks and all that.

[E.RedMark]

really...entitled ?...

 

anyway , if you like ending 'whatever you do...you are screwed' and 'OMG!!!' kinda of ending , you should play Divinity 2 ! 

 

It got...a really unique ending 

[Tarlonniel]

Shades of Dragon Age II...

 

I loved having that last talk with your companions just before climbing Ondra's Spire. It's a fine capstone to the journey you've made with them and, of course, a call back to many classic games. Talking with the guardian is also a lot of fun - getting all that lore from its perspective is fascinating. And, uh, some of the ending slides are cool, and... um... you can go back and start the game all over again as a new character!   Those are the things I liked.

[Slotharingia]

I like your perspective. I also enjoy games where the so called hero can't actually change anything, like in DA2, but Deadfire didn't do it for me in regard to the main story (there are plenty of things I like a lot though). I can't help but feel like it's just randomly added to the game to make the Watcher being in the Deadfire make some kind of sense. Another problem that I have with it is that although people on forums will speculate, they were trying to reach a broader audience, and most people aren't going to think about it, they'll just go wtf. Also, heroes in lots of games don't really feel entitled or omnipotent to me, they tend to feel more like tools or victims of circumstance. DAO you are just some person who gets propelled into a harrowing duty due to some crappy events and a buddy who doesn't want to make decisions; also you are gonna die horribly sooner or later due to being infected with the taint. DA2, no matter what you do, **** hits the fan in the same way. DAI you are in the wrong place at the wrong time and become a victim of someone much more powerful's plans, you are no more than a pawn in their game and your power is ultimately theirs to take. The Witcher is just some dude who's been altered to be a monster killing machine and lost his memory fumbling around trying to sort his crap out and getting sucked into whatnot in the process. I'd also argue that Ciri is the real protagonist of that series. The Watcher in POE1 is some person who gets drawn into some massive conspiracy while trying to liberate themself from a condition they never wanted etc.

Edited June 7, 2018 by Slotharingia

[flamesium]

"I've played so many RPGs where I'm this entitled, all-powerful, world-determining, Special One that I've frankly gotten sick of it." 

 

You are still that in Deadfire to a very large extent. Deadfire just asks you to form an opinion (re Eothas' actions) with none of the required information on which to base it.

 

I think the faction side of things works very well, because while you don't know exactly how the future will play out, you are given enough context to weigh up the pros and cons and make an informed decision. They are also all 'grey' enough to make it an interesting dilemma. 

 

With Eothas, the player is kept in the dark about the basic functionality of the setting to such an extent that the implications of his actions could be anywhere between totally and immediately catastrophic, to not really that big a deal at all. I think that makes for a bad foundation for then asking the player to decide how they want to influence the future: I don't know how I want to influence the future because I don't even have an approximate idea of the ramifications of what just happened.

 

You will likely choose the same way to influence Eothas at the end of the game as you would have chosen if asked at the beginning of the game. Unlike with the factions, Eothas' actions during the game and the consequences of those actions are not explained clearly enough to add any particular nuance to the decision.

[Noctoi]

I despised the ending of DA:2 so I hope it's not like that. I play games to escape from the daily drudgery of  "my life is essentially a meaningless grind of 6 day work weeks that will never make a splash in the great pond of life because I'm merely a pawn to a higher power of assholery and spite...". 

 

Not that I want my characters to be 'omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and have the answer to every single woe that ever existed ever'... but if 'my choices matter'... let them matter! 

Edited June 7, 2018 by Noctoi

[Tarlonniel]

Honestly, I can't see any reason for my Watchers not to go on home after Ashen Maw. They got their soul back and, as I think Atsura points out, there's no way to stop Eothas from doing what he's doing - might as well go on about your own business. Ukaizo can stay lost. But then the in-born curiosity of an adventurer kicks in and it's off into the storm...

 

It's a good thing the Watcher does go, though, because Eothas really needed someone to turn off the storms and report what happened at Ukaizo for his plan to have a good chance of working.

[Slotharingia]

I despised the ending of DA:2 so I hope it's not like that. I play games to escape from the daily drudgery of  "my life is essentially a meaningless grind of 6 day work weeks that will never make a splash in the great pond of life because I'm merely a pawn to a higher power of assholery and spite...". 

 

Not that I want my characters to be 'omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and have the answer to every single woe that ever existed ever'... but if 'my choices matter'... let them matter! 

 

Da2 is a lot worse if you hate that kind of thing ... but yeah.

 

Honestly, I can't see any reason for my Watchers not to go on home after Ashen Maw. They got their soul back and, as I think Atsura points out, there's no way to stop Eothas from doing what he's doing - might as well go on about your own business. Ukaizo can stay lost. But then the in-born curiosity of an adventurer kicks in and it's off into the storm...

 

It's a good thing the Watcher does go, though, because Eothas really needed someone to turn off the storms and report what happened at Ukaizo for his plan to have a good chance of working.

 

My watchers don't want to go "home" at all. They want to stay in the Deadfire. xD

[Tarlonniel]

My watchers don't want to go "home" at all. They want to stay in the Deadfire. xD

Why does your Watcher go sailing away from the Deadfire in the ending slides then, huh?

[Slotharingia]

 

My watchers don't want to go "home" at all. They want to stay in the Deadfire. xD

Why does your Watcher go sailing away from the Deadfire in the ending slides then, huh?

 

 I DON'T KNOW??! xD

[Tear~]

I think the ending is quite an upgrade to DA2. At least you get to push history into some direction... (Also I as well am a fan of the 'i can't fix everything' kinda stories).

Also I love the way you can just go 'fu** u' and go to Ukaizo by yourself. Would have loved something like that for the first game. Even if it would be harder to achieve than simply asking a god for help.

And an open 'to be continued end' is fine, too, as long as they do not pull an MassEffect Andromeda and cancel anything that could follow up.

And also, I want them to do something with the part-of-your-soul-seperated-for-quite-some-time stuff  but that is more 'next game' than an ending thing...

[bugarup]

 

 

My watchers don't want to go "home" at all. They want to stay in the Deadfire. xD

Why does your Watcher go sailing away from the Deadfire in the ending slides then, huh?

 

 I DON'T KNOW??! xD

 

 

Maybe you do not go to Durrwood, but to your land of origin -- White that Wends, Old Vailia, ixamitl Plains? My Watchers for sure ain't coming back to the Pitchfork-and-Torch-Mobland as they weren't even planning to stay there anyway (As soon as you arrive backwards savages murder the entire caravan because some other dudes in some other place possibly maybe peed on the wall in one of their countless sacred ruins. Then the encounter with creepy cultists leaves you slightly mad and your companions very dead; you roll into town and first thing that greets you is stench coming from the army of hanged decaying corpses swaying gently in the wind, a group of angry drunks is harassing a lone foreigner and a local dude cheerfully informs you the town lynched his boss and he is next. Yeah, cannot wait to settle down here. )

 

As for the Chosen One thing, the Watcher really isn't that special. Obsidian generally does not do Mary Sue McWishfullfillment the World Saviour protagonists, the closest one would be IMO NWN2's Charname at the end of MotB. Compare, say, to DA:I's Inquisitor who is a shmuck in the wrong place, wrong time, yet gets worshiped like a second coming of Andraste all the time and cannot even tell the slavering masses to tone it down a little (and yet has to pick their herbs by themselves).

[Yria]

Why does your Watcher go sailing away from the Deadfire in the ending slides then, huh?

 

I just skipped the final slide completely. Nothing can force me go back to the Dyrwood. NOTHING.

 

Maybe you do not go to Durrwood, but to your land of origin -- White that Wends, Old Vailia, ixamitl Plains?

 

How about a Watcher who is from Deadfire? What "home" do they go back to? 

[Porcelyn]

I only romance Aloth now because of that stupid sailing "home" slide. At least he stays with you.

[Slotharingia]

Maybe you do not go to Durrwood, but to your land of origin -- White that Wends, Old Vailia, ixamitl Plains?

I just wanna stay in the Deadfire ya know. I even say in the game "my home is the open road" (don't get why you can always pick you are from Deadfire, even when you aren't). I wanna rescue imps and sing sea shanties, not go back to wherever I came from initially or fall into a hole trying to rebuild caed nua ... again.

[Yria]

I only romance Aloth now because of that stupid sailing "home" slide. At least he stays with you.

 

My ending claimed that I somehow saw Maia and Xoti together often, with Xoti staying in Neketaka and Maia going back to Rauatai. So I now have a headcanon that the VTC managed to master proper teleportation, and we can all jump all over the world whenever we want  

[Slotharingia]

 

I only romance Aloth now because of that stupid sailing "home" slide. At least he stays with you.

 

My ending claimed that I somehow saw Maia and Xoti together often, with Xoti staying in Neketaka and Maia going back to Rauatai. So I now have a headcanon that the VTC managed to master proper teleportation, and we can all jump all over the world whenever we want  

 

Are the ending slides bugged? My last ending had the Huana get more divided than ever but Tekehu united them more than ever at the same time o.O

[Yria]

Are the ending slides bugged? My last ending had the Huana get more divided than ever but Tekehu united them more than ever at the same time o.O

 

I think they aren't really bugged, just inconsistent when it comes to companions. 

[bugarup]

I only romance Aloth now because of that stupid sailing "home" slide. At least he stays with you.

 

Yeah, but only if you encourage his codependency and it's a harmful thing and huge issue for him already. I felt seriously uncomfortable when I read what's required to make him stay. Kind of like telling a heroin addict that using is totally fine as long as it makes him happy and the best solution to his problem is you paying for his drugs.

[Verde]

You have no choice if he destroys it or not...for that reason it disappointed me. However Eothos is one a very memorable "villain".

[Dant3]

Honestly, I can't see any reason for my Watchers not to go on home after Ashen Maw. They got their soul back and, as I think Atsura points out, there's no way to stop Eothas from doing what he's doing - might as well go on about your own business. Ukaizo can stay lost. But then the in-born curiosity of an adventurer kicks in and it's off into the storm...

 

It's a good thing the Watcher does go, though, because Eothas really needed someone to turn off the storms and report what happened at Ukaizo for his plan to have a good chance of working.

 

The only reason that comes to mind to keep chasing Eothas is because Berath (+ the other gods) asks you to try and reason with him: you might have recovered your soul, but the chime that she can use to control/destroy you is still there and not complying to that last request means death/suffering at her hand.

 

IIRC it's Eothas that frees the Watcher from Berath's influence after the last talk with him, so before then you're stll in her grasp. Basically, it's just a matter of self preservation.

[FecklessFool]

 

Honestly, I can't see any reason for my Watchers not to go on home after Ashen Maw. They got their soul back and, as I think Atsura points out, there's no way to stop Eothas from doing what he's doing - might as well go on about your own business. Ukaizo can stay lost. But then the in-born curiosity of an adventurer kicks in and it's off into the storm...

 

It's a good thing the Watcher does go, though, because Eothas really needed someone to turn off the storms and report what happened at Ukaizo for his plan to have a good chance of working.

 

The only reason that comes to mind to keep chasing Eothas is because Berath (+ the other gods) asks you to try and reason with him: you might have recovered your soul, but the chime that she can use to control/destroy you is still there and not complying to that last request means death/suffering at her hand.

 

IIRC it's Eothas that frees the Watcher from Berath's influence after the last talk with him, so before then you're stll in her grasp. Basically, it's just a matter of self preservation.

 

 

Yeah, but she clearly had other options. Not just the Watcher. As evidenced if you say no at the start.

 

So why is Berath so dumb that they don't send any backup plans? What if the Watcher drowned during the storm? What is their contingency then?

 

Oh right, nothing would change and the game's main story would play out essentially the same just without the watcher being a feckless fool. 

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

My ending had Xoti and Eder become really good friends because the Watcher helped her overcome some of her issues, after which she went on a killing spree in the south of the Deadfire. 

[Dant3]

That the gods don't have contingency plans and that she might have other options are a different issue. I'm just saying that either the Watcher says no at the start and gets killed (aka you don't play the game) or he/she decides that staying alive and doing what Berath wants is the best course of action, all things considered.

 

Once the Watcher decides that it's better to live, why give up at the last second after going through so much trouble only to be very likely killed by Berath in the same way as they would have been at the start? Might as well finish what they started, if only just out of the same self preservation that made them decide to live at the start of the game.

 

In short, the question was: "Why should my Watcher go after Eothas in Ukaizo?", the possible reply imho is "because the Watcher is still under Berath's thumb and she will kill them if they don't do as asked".

[E.RedMark]

 

 

Honestly, I can't see any reason for my Watchers not to go on home after Ashen Maw. They got their soul back and, as I think Atsura points out, there's no way to stop Eothas from doing what he's doing - might as well go on about your own business. Ukaizo can stay lost. But then the in-born curiosity of an adventurer kicks in and it's off into the storm...

 

It's a good thing the Watcher does go, though, because Eothas really needed someone to turn off the storms and report what happened at Ukaizo for his plan to have a good chance of working.

 

The only reason that comes to mind to keep chasing Eothas is because Berath (+ the other gods) asks you to try and reason with him: you might have recovered your soul, but the chime that she can use to control/destroy you is still there and not complying to that last request means death/suffering at her hand.

 

IIRC it's Eothas that frees the Watcher from Berath's influence after the last talk with him, so before then you're stll in her grasp. Basically, it's just a matter of self preservation.

 

 

Yeah, but she clearly had other options. Not just the Watcher. As evidenced if you say no at the start.

 

So why is Berath so dumb that they don't send any backup plans? What if the Watcher drowned during the storm? What is their contingency then?

 

Oh right, nothing would change and the game's main story would play out essentially the same just without the watcher being a feckless fool. 

 

Dumb ?

 

really?

 

I personally , always felt like Berath well..wasn't ok...but...compared to the others Gods who were going bipolére about stopping him or killing him...and accusing each others...she seemed so zen about it . That's like Hades being zen knowing the underworld is about to get new design interior and be all Barbie pink..it's so very very weird . 

 

So maybe the ending doesn't touch them ..or the effect will take so long...she know there is no point in spazzing in front of the inevitable..

 

Or she always had a plan....

 

Or she is welcoming this..'ending' ...