Dragon Age: Inquisition

[213374U]

The 3 ending being basically identical but with a different color explosion in ME3 was quite pathetic, but that wasn't the worst part of it.  What was the biggest kick to the balls was that the entire time during ME3's development, right up until just before launch, BioWare was touting how all the choices you made in ME1 and ME2 and during ME3 will have an impact on the trilogy's ending and you will get a "personalized" ending, then delivered the polar opposite of that by making all your choices, previous to choosing what color explosion you'd like to see, completely and utterly irrelevant.

 

So you'll have to forgive me if I don't take BioWare's claims on the endings of DA:I at face value.

 

To be honest, that didn't bother me—I guess I'm glad they decided to scrap that frankly stupid idea, if they ever considered it seriously and it wasn't just marketing BS, and just stick to WHAT IS UP WITH THE ANCIENT MACHINES HELLBENT ON KILLING EVERYONE. I think that keeping the consequences of choices made in previous games really low key was the right call.

 

But even assuming it's true this time around, is it really important if the ending accomodates the decision I made early on in the 100-hour long journey of helping some barmaid back in the ass end of nowhere to get rid of the rat infestation problem in her cellar (or nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure)? I'd much rather they focused on writing a credible and internally consistent plot with sensible choices along the way, even if that means a smaller variety of ending cutscenes. The whole choices/consequences thing isn't about the number of endings increasing exponentially with the choices presented. Also, how many people actually replay the game a sufficient number of times to experience a fraction of that? What exactly do they want to accomplish?

 

This was my reaction when I read the "40 endings" line.

[Keyrock]

^ I wouldn't have expected every little decision to have an impact on the endings, like whether generic female crew member (Ashley) or generic male crew member (Kaidan) dies, or whether you choose Udina or Anderson, or whether you kill the terrorists or save the scientists, but I figured some of the major choices may be reflected in the endings.  Did you cure the Genophage?  Doesn't matter.  Did the Gith make nice with the Quarians?  Makes no difference.  More importantly, they advertised the importance of the choices on the ending right up until launch, it was one of their major talking points and they went out of their way to stress it every time they pimped ME3 then delivered something completely different.  BioWare flat out lied to their customers.  Not to mention that the ending was complete and utter nonsense.  "Hey, you sentient being always wind up making machines that will ultimately kill you, so to solve that problem I made these machines to kill you."  That's like some **** straight out of a Douglas Adams book.

[Tale]

That's like some **** straight out of a Douglas Adams book.

The Leviathans noticed the other races of the galaxy creating thinking computers that inevitably lead to their own destruction. In order to address this issue, the Leviathans built a thinking computer of their own because they lacked the appropriate fear and reverence for irony.

 

Those computers still exist today, committing acts of galactic genocide in an effort to preserve all life.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

In all honesty, I would prefer for them to assume a canon for the background story and just focus on making each individual game have the most reaction to PC actions, rather than worrying if a Warden dp'ed the slutty pirate and the bard chick with the horny elf dude or whether Hawke helped butch guard shag up her underling.

[HoonDing]

 

If only I had known you could shoot that dumb kid, I just went Michael Bay on the universe.

[213374U]

Did you cure the Genophage?  Doesn't matter.  Did the Gith make nice with the Quarians?  Makes no difference.  More importantly, they advertised the importance of the choices on the ending right up until launch, it was one of their major talking points and they went out of their way to stress it every time they pimped ME3 then delivered something completely different.  BioWare flat out lied to their customers.  Not to mention that the ending was complete and utter nonsense.  "Hey, you sentient being always wind up making machines that will ultimately kill you, so to solve that problem I made these machines to kill you."  That's like some **** straight out of a Douglas Adams book.

 

I've already expressed my thoughts on the ME3 endings in other threads, no point hijacking this one further. Still, how the player resolved the major plot arcs had much weight on the EMS rating, and therefore (before the Extended Cut DLC which lowered the EMS requirements), those decisions determined which endings you could achieve, albeit indirectly. Options available to resolve those situations, in turn, were determined by decisions made in previous games. I'm not disputing that they lied about having sexual relations with that woman or that the actual writing for the endings nearly cost me a laptop screen. I'm simply saying that, to me, the way those decisions affected how the game ended (indirectly as opposed to IN YOUR FACE) was the right way to go about it.

[Bryy]

And if this game is actually good, the butthurt will be tremendous.

[Keyrock]

And if this game is actually good, the butthurt will be tremendous.

I take that you are implying some people actively want Dragon Age: Inquisition to fail?  Undoubtedly the Shandenfreude Faction does indeed exist, though I wouldn't count myself among them.  I will be thrilled if DA:I winds up being spectacularly good.  I would much rather have a great game than whatever erection I could get from schadenfreude.  I'm just not giving BioWare the benefit of the doubt.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Keyrock

[Bryy]

Yeah, tons of people want it to fail, either to "punish" BioWare or to... well, punish BioWare, really.

 

I'm just wondering, can they really pull off 40 different endings? It would be fantastic if they could, but right now it just seems like PR spin to go after TW3. 

[213374U]

 

And if this game is actually good, the butthurt will be tremendous.

I take that you are implying some people actively want Dragon Age: Inquisition to fail?  Undoubtedly the Shandenfreude Faction does indeed exist, though I wouldn't count myself among them.  I will be thrilled if DA:I winds up being spectacularly good.  I would much rather have a great game than whatever erection I could get from schadenfreude.  I'm just not giving BioWare the benefit of the doubt.

 

Pretty much. Also, the butthurt is going to be tremendous regardless of whether the game is good or bad, so...

[WorstUsernameEver]

Yeah, tons of people want it to fail, either to "punish" BioWare or to... well, punish BioWare, really.

 

I'm just wondering, can they really pull off 40 different endings? It would be fantastic if they could, but right now it just seems like PR spin to go after TW3.

Mark Darrah clarified in the BioWare forums that "unique endings" are limited, and 40 is the number of combinations for large/important choices. Also, there's apparently a large number of minor choices that have minor mentions/changes in the ending.

 

Sounds rather ambitious, but doable, and a lot less PR-y than how it came off from that summary.

 

Source: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/497884-large-number-of-endings/page-8?do=findComment&comment=16312201

[Volourn]

was my reaction when I read the "40 endings" line.

 

IMPORTANT NEWSFLASH: Not everyone is Numbers U and thinks like him. I know, horrible creatures, you avoid them whenever you can.

[Gromnir]

multiple endings is neither difficult nor unique. by definition, is nothing that comes after the end. therefore, one need not be concerned with bifurcations or continuity in creating such endings. wanna make an end wherein the hero dies unexpectedly 3 yrs down the road?  on way back from 7-11 after buying a dr. pepper big gulp, the protagonist finds self caught in a seeming spontaneous and epic dragon v. nun battle and ends up a pointless casualty-- is never determined whether cause of death is 3rd degree burns, or strangulation with rosary beads... or diabetic stoke from all the sugar in the big gulp. make small changes to scenario to add to ending total. depending on important choices in game, the nun in question were either a catholic or buddhist nun-- important difference. has one ending wherein protagonist lives happily ever after w/o suffering nun homicide. for male protagonist in happy-ever-after, wherein he romanced with a female companion, the joyous couple have children... which would be different than same-sex happily ever after 'cause no kids would be included in that ending. one ending has protagonist ruling tyrannically over some fief til he gets murdered in sleep by a chambermaid who were terrorized once too often. another ending has saintly protagonist helping the poor of calcutta, only to be murdered in sleep by a homeless man who wanted the hero's shoes. etc. 

 

depending on how minor the differences is in the 40 endings, we see nothing nothing significant in such a number save that once again bio gets to be misleading.   

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Malekith]

 

 

 

Next gen game indeed.

 

It'd be too much work to incorporate all these complex colours for BioWare, they'd have to add more auto-dialogue, railroading & remove romances. D:

 

Look again. Many of these colors are very similar to one another. Or did you believed the claim that the 50 endings will be "wildly different" from each other?

[Maria Caliban]

As people are talking about the endings, Mark Darrah, the producer chimed in:

 

 

Hey guys,

I just want to clarify the endings in Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age Inquisition's endings variations come in three levels

1. Minor variations based upon choices you make in the game or previous games. There are HUNDREDS of these variations. 

2. Major variations based upon larger decisions in the game. There are about forty of these

3. Completely unique endings. There are a small number of these

[Bryy]

That's hot.

[licketysplit]

multiple endings is neither difficult nor unique

 

They are both difficult and unique, and demand a ton of extra content by the devs. You have no idea what you're talking about.

[Maria Caliban]

He's probably talking about end game slides like DA:O had.

 

Also, screenshot:

 

Edited March 29, 2014 by Maria Caliban

[Volourn]

"They are both difficult and unique, and demand a ton of extra content by the devs. You have no idea what you're talking about."

 

No.

 

If theya re so difficult and unique why do hundreds if not thousands of games have multiple endings?

 

Do you even know what the word unique means?

[Meshugger]

The new screenshot looks like something from Skyrim, and in a good way. 

[Volourn]

Does. not. compute.

[Nepenthe]

So, I realised I was just one trophy away from having a Platinum on PS3 DAO (I was bedridden for a few months when it came out, so my initial playthroughs were on the console) and decided to get my rogue to level 20... Having just played DA2 I had a good opportunity to compare the two. DAO is, absurdly, the better looking of the two, frankly I hadn't really noticed how disastrous DA2's art direction is. Also DA2 is a game of flat floors and ground with a few stairs thrown in, when the caves - and yes, there are several caves in DAO as opposed to the... two? in DA2. So yeah, level Design DAO 100 - 0 DA2.

 

However, character progression and combat in DAO are, IMO, both disasters. DAO combat is like that Finnish extreme sport, swamp soccer, in comparison to the real one of DA2. The characters also just have too many abilities in DAO with minimal differentation between them.

 

Also, the DAO DLCs are SHORT. DA2 DLC represent the best missions of the game (IMHO, of course) and are of what I'd consider ~ideal length (vs. Amgarrak and Witch Hunt).

 

Also, I'm a bit confoozled about the relative chronology of the two games. Early DAO -> DA2 Intro -> rest of DAO + Awakening -> rest of DA2... but when does witch hunt take place? The references to the Warden's disappearance might suggest that it takes place around the end of DA2, but...

[Nepenthe]

As usual, I got either ADHD'd or changed my mind in the middle of a post and can't edit it any longer, but yes, the cave floors in DAO have actual threedimensionality.

[TheChris92]

Started playing Origins again and if there's one thing I always found annoying about the game, then it's the occasional bug during combat, when my party members decides to just freeze and do nothing, like floor decorations, they don't move or attack or anything. It's quite distressing.

Edited March 31, 2014 by TheChris92

[Sarex]

New screenshot http://i.imgur.com/UcctKtS.jpg