Just finished my first time with MotA and its really nice! I must say I was more impressed with Legacy (mostly, because its more focused on combat), but this DLC has some interesting parts too! The sneaking/stealth part is really nice, especially if you are a rogue, but my Hawke was a warrior and had no trouble at all. Tallis is a great companion, its too sad she doesnt join you as a full companion, her comkbat style and skills are very interesting, if the combat is your favorite part of the game (it is mine), then you will love her. About the challenge: its strange, the enemies you find at the beginning are tougher than those you meet at the end O_O. I had more trouble to kill the "Super Arcane Horror" and the Alpha Wyvern, than i had to kill the foes I found at the end. The Boss battle is also very cool, but not that difficult in my opinion. Well, doesnt have more to say, but I would like to see other opinions about this DLC. I would rate it 8/10 =D. Mendigobebado (talk) 23:47, October 11, 2011 (UTC)
It was alright I guess. Not as groundbreaking as legacy but not disappointing like DA2 overall. I gotta say I didnt really like Tallis, and I love ALL dragon age characters (Except Orsino and Isolde). The guild was good and all, but Felicia Day in Dragon Age? Why cant all fans be in the universe? I mean, shes already in New Vegas. Just ain't fair. My favorite part of the DLC is when the two companions that are left behind talk when Hawke gets captured. Brings back Fort Drakon memories... So I give it 8/10 too. Crimpycracker (talk) 02:33, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I thought it was pretty fun. The stealth section reminded me of sneaking into the castle courtyard in Ocarina of Time. The giant tile puzzle was... puzzling. But doable. Tallis herself was an interesting character; I liked the insight we got into members of the Qunari who aren't all about war. The final battle was misleading with the suggestions the party member were giving. Following their ideas just got all my squishy people killed. I'll have to play through on another character to see what results from the other options, but on my first playthrough I'd probably also give it a 8/10. Oh! And before I forget, I LOVE the party banter that goes on in this DLC! LOVE IT! --Atradia (talk) 03:07, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I am...very on the fence about it. I liked the gameplay and it was different. But I felt it focused too much on Tallis and as a person who had no idea who Fleica Day was until Dragon Age I am not on the OMG Bandwagon with it. I again feel like we as Hawke are just on the sidelines and only act when told to. In both my play throughs I found annoyances with the whole Qunari thing. If your a diplomatic Hawke you have to basically agree that Tallis is right about the Qunari not really being so bad when previous experiences in both games have only shown them to be zealots who are determined to spread their religion all over Thedas and enslave anyone who does not wish to convert. I know the same can be said for the chantry but when you oppose the Chantry the game makes you feel like a person who can see through the BS they put out. In MoTA when you question Tallis about the Qun...it makes me feel like I'm coming off as an intolerant asshole when in reality we really have had no positive experiences with the Qunari yet. Worse off in my aggressive play through I found out that I couldn't even ask to take the list unlike my diplomatic Hawke, which makes no sense. All in all I hope this doesn't fall into what I call Karen Traviss syndrome, were someone takes a group of people in a fantasy universe who normally act antagonistic, and try to shed a positive light on the group and anyone who disagrees is automatically a bigot despite the actions of the group in established lore.
On gameplay side it was ok, not as good as legacy since none of the minor enemies really stood out, save for maybe the ghast who I actually wanna learn more about since they live underground like the Darkspawn. The companion dialogue was eh. It was there and some of it was funny but not as engaging as Legacy's was. I felt like my two guys where just along for the ride and not actually involved like I did in Legacy.
All in all I'll give it 7.9/10. It was fun but the sudden Qunari sympathy, lack of any real choice(again), and too much focus on Tallis made it less enjoyable then I predicted it would be. Zackaroth (talk) 03:10, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
@Zackaroth Yes I have to agree with you on the available options for responding to Tallis' Quinari banter. It was interesting, but only gave me the option to agree that it was good or come off like a bigot. I personally wanted to be able to remark about the way the Qunari treat mages, and was quite disappointed that Anders never said anything to her about it when she was spouting off. I am surprised you didn't like the party banter though. I brought Anders, my LI, and he had all kinds of funny things to say to me. He and Aveline also had some good line between each other. I'm looking forward to how it'll change with other party combos and LIs. Who did you bring with you, if you don't mind me asking?--Atradia (talk) 03:19, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
@Atradia The Qunari we saw in Da2 were the warrior class and that is their entire purpose in life. Their aggression is not surprising. They only attacked becauses of the fact they had spent years in a city where everything about the culture sickened them. By the time they attacked they had gotten so close to getting what they were after when isabela stole it from them at the last second. By that point the Arishok decided that after being forced to stay in Kirkwall away from Seheron for so long that waiting was useless and the only way to fulfill the Quns demands was to tear the city down, find the book, leave a better city that followed the Qun in ts place and leave for Seheron. The sudden attack makes much more sense in my mind than it seems to in yours.
With my Diplo Hawke I brought Fenrus and Isabella. I brought them along because I thought they would have the most say and they did but to me it didn't feel like how it was in Legacy. It somehow didn't feel natural to me. I did like Isabella's quest though. On my agressive Hawke I brought Fenrus and Varric, which again did have a few amusing lines but nothing on par with Legacy. I wanted to bring Anders but this was post game save and he wasn't available, which I think is silly since this takes place before the end game so he should still be around when I do DLC that is not after the post game. Perhaps I didn't bring the right people and I'll try a different combo next time I playthrough Zackaroth (talk) 03:28, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
"I wanted to bring Anders but this was post game save and he wasn't available, which I think is silly since this takes place before the end game so he should still be around when I do DLC that is not after the post game." Now THAT is strange. I kept Anders alive in my save and Sebastian left my party, yet Sebastian was still available to me in this DLC. I was also playing post-campaign. That has to be some kind of bug you experienced because, as you said, this story is supposed to take place sometime before the final events of Act 3. Hm, very strange indeed. --Atradia (talk) 03:44, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
It was fun and entertaining, I lol'd several times. I do HIGHLY recommend saving in the Chateau Courtyard and trying the sarcastic/funny responses on the guards. The bee-sting one is especially delightful! Anyways, on a full playthrough as diplo F!Hawke with Anders and rivalmanced Fenris was fun. I enjoyed my party members actually bantering directly to my Hawke, rather than her being a third party to the conversation (if involved at all). Their (Anders/Fenris) bickering as they searched for Hawke and Tallis in the dungeon was great and I began fondly remembering Fort Drakon (already planning yet ANOTHER DAO playthrough. Nostalgia look what you do to me!) New beasts and new areas are always a plus, though I found the final boss battle to be on the easy side (though it was a post campaign Hawke with a well built party). My disappointment was in how suddenly the Qunari were the good guys and everyone else was just warmongering bigots. Excuse me, but I seem to recall the Arishok being the violent type. Also is Tallis a name? Or is it a title? Aren't the Qunari named for their position/duty? If it is a name that seems non-canon to me, which is upsetting. The puzzles were fun, and the "stealth" was interesting. I'm glad to see the development team trying new things, though they really should have been doing work like this for the actual game (but this opens up a can of worms so I'll drop it now before the rant kicks in). Halfway through a second playthrough with a sarcastic F!Hawke with Aveline and a friendmanced Anders to try a few new things. Did anyone else feel like this DLC was much more lighthearted than Legacy? I certainly laughed a lot during my first playthrough and even more as a "funny" Hawke. Glad to see that classic humor returning. Anyways, my final verdict is that it was a enjoyable and entertaining DLC, and I score it an 8/10. GoldenNightKnight (talk) 04:06, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I just got done with my first playthrough. Wasn't really to impressed with it. Only thing I really liked was the party Banter. I brought along Anders(romanced) and Varric. That made for a few funny moments. Next playthrough I am going to bring Carver. I to had trouble in the begining with the Arcane Horror. It also felt to me that it was to focased on Tallis and Hawke was just there. But it was a good DLC. Like I said the party banter made it for me.
I do have a some quick questions for everyone. How do you lure a adult Wyvern and is there a page or something where I can find the solution to the fire puzzle? 216.221.96.202 (talk) 04:41, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
For the adult wyvern, I had to collect some blood, a dead dragonling, some nug remains from a pile of poo, and over hear wyvern's mating. After all that, when I went to the baiting site, I had a star option to use all the materials we found. That attracted the big wyvern. As for the puzzle, are you referring to the giant picture puzzle with the tiles that flip 5 at a time, or the puzzle in the room with the actual fire and the three tile sets? --Atradia (talk) 05:00, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I enjoyed the DLC. My main problem is that it seemed like either BioWare was a little star-struck or thought their fans would be by Felicia Day (though I had never heard of her before this DLC, her name got mentioned in every god damn article, press release, etc. that was ever written about this content). She was made out to be way more important than I think she actually is.
That said, I appreciated the difficulty of the combat, the companion banter and the party scenes. I admit I was expecting something more from Leliana's cameo than we got, though to be fair, BioWare didn't really hype that up so it may be my own fault I was disappointed.
Overall, another step back in the right direction for the series. --Wsowen02 (talk) 05:53, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
Pls but pls CAN ANY1 TELL ME(CUZ I DIDNT PLAY MOTA(AND I WILL NOT PLAY IT FOR A LONG TIME),WHOS THAT QUNARI WITH A PONYTAIL,whats he doing there,whats hes role and what is this Heart of the Many,and why are the Qunari interested in it?
P.S.I DO NOT CARE ABOUT SPOILERS!Hexlord (talk) 09:16, October 12, 2011 (UTC) -->Hexlord
- I second the request for the Heart of the Many. The more I learn of MoTA, the less inclined I feel to play it, but I'd still like to know. Thanks. --Ygrain (talk) 09:56, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I have to say I liked it. I am not a Felicia Day fanboy, and my only prior exposure to her is Dr. Horrible (and Remption, of course). I found Tallis to be an interesting companion, and I wish she was like Sebastion (and Shale) in that she was available for the rest of the game.
I liked the insight into the Qunari. For those complaining about the Qunari portrayal in DAO and DA2 as "convert or die" zealots, may I remind you that we have never actually seen that? In DAO Sten never tried to forcibly convert anybody. In DA2 the Arishok said his role was not to convert, though he never turned away those who willingly submitted. Maybe the "all Qunari are convert-or-die zealots" is propaganda spread by people like Sister Petrice?
(I also lay most of the blame for the Qunari's actions in DA2 on Isabela stealing the relic and Chantry zealots like Petrice.)
Anyway, back to the DLC itself, I took Varric (because I always take Varric) and Fenris (because I usually don't take Fenris), and played as a Female Mage Hawke. I found the stealth portions interesting and frustrating. My typical DAO Rogue Warden would have had no problems stealthing his way through, and about half-way through I wish Hawke could have whipped out her staff, and the next time I play it I may forgo the stealth options.
Tallis has quickly become one of my favorite companions, and like I said I wish she was avaiable after the DLC. Maybe she'll be a companion in DA3.
I have to say that Legacy is probably the better DLC, but Mark of the Assassin was more fun. Gruedragon (talk) 12:40, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I liked this DLC, though I'll admit it may just be for the new areas, monsters, and cameos more than the story and stealth section. I played through with my Nightmare Mage Hawke using Isabela and Varric. Only enemy I found difficult was the Alpha Wyvern, and that's almost entirely due to that stupid Bronto-like charge attack it kept spamming at me, though I also found the blow-dart Ghasts annoying since they had a habit of focus firing at Hawke.
The last boss played out a lot like my fight with Corypheus in that at one point the battle field just kind of exploded and only Hawke was left just barely alive, forcing me to finish the fight by myself. Which is fine because it was doable, it just got annoying when Prosper kept targeting my Dog with that green Wyvern goo so I couldn't even lure his pet off the cliff or into a wall.
As for the "insight" bit into the Qunari, well, I don't feel as though they all of a sudden got the "they're not zealots they're misunderstood boo hoo" treatment. Tallis does make a point by saying all you encountered so far was part of the Army, and armies aren't exactly known for being nice. And it just makes sense to me that someone who follows the Qun would want to defend it, so her behavior doesn't stick out as a sore point to me. What does though it that you can't even rebuke her "the Qun is for the good of all" line (not her exact words) with a "what about the mages" (or something along those lines).
Probably gonna try another play through with Aveline and Carver, or maybe Fenris, but I'm curious if most of the Companion quests are like Varric's (kinda just there), or Isabela's (in that there was actually a pay off... she even threw the dagger away when it was left up to her. Consistent character evolution!).--174.3.106.2 (talk) 14:54, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
An awesome DLC. I'd give it an 8.5/10. Legacy was better story-wise but Mark of the Assassin is better gameplay wise. They should incorporate some of the stealth into DA3. The Dread Wolf) 11:22, October 12, 2011
In bullet points:
- (+10) for the emphasis on Qunari as religion as opposed to a race (am I the only one excited about the possibility of Qunari sleeper cells?).
- (-5) for lack of impending focus: are we supposed to be worried about a war between Orlais and Ferelden, a Qunari invasion, or the Mage-Templar War? Because as realistic as a bunch of overlapping awful events is, it makes me fear a very unfocussed DA3.
- (-20) for Tallis, both as a character and a plot device (Baron: “She’s an assassin!” Hawke: “Oh…was that a big reveal? Because this was one of the selling points in the advertisements”). I feel like a lot of this DLC was hanging on being in love with Felicia Day--which I am not--and not on…being good. And I needed a lot more character for something that was really a character story, because throwing knives is cool and all, but I’ve seen flirty/snarky done a lot better.
- (+5) for new monsters. (Or (+10) for wyvern/ghast, and (- 5) for “seriously? Little goblins?” factor.)
- (+5) for cameos at the party (a tie between Teagan’s exasperated sighs at Isolde and just seeing Leliana, who makes everything better, even if her presence makes no sense at all).
- (-5) for Serendipity cameo (non-)joke.
- (+5) “Leliana’s Song DLC” music cameo. I don’t care if it was lazy, I liked it.
- (+10) for Orlesian-ness. I’m less afraid of all the pretension and weird accents clogging up DA3, after the fun of the party.
- (+10) for BioWare’s self-deprecating “Every cave we go to looks the same to me” Varric banter.
- (-10) for BioWare’s cheap-excuse “Every cave we go to looks the same to me” Varric banter.
…is what I think. HELO (talk) 15:46, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I won't lie; that Sky Arcane Horror caught me by surprise. I had Sebastian with me and one minute he was all "my arrows are rightous!" and then "X_X" DEAD! I enjoyed the battles, though.
I am starting to wonder what future Hawke has in this world he/she is shaping. DA2 as a whole, you were there when the Mage/Templar war sparked, so now the Chantry's after you and Starkhaven if you let Andy live AND if Sebastian actually keeps good on his word. The Warden's probably want to kick your ass after the whole thing at the end with Corypheaus. And, now, you've managed to piss off Orlais. And, technically, the Dalish could come after you for what happened to Merrill's clan. Fenris didn't mention to Merrill that the Dalish clans were going to met up again soon during the DLC. At this rate, Hawke could end up like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB8TNMBqrpA
- ROFL! I do hope Hawke gets caught! --Ygrain (talk) 15:59, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
- There's one a wee more fitting interpretation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRMSo36LF2A&NR=1 Dorquemada (talk) 07:20, October 13, 2011 (UTC)
I was terribly disappointed with the DLC, particularly in the wake of Legacy. The new monsters were far too reminiscent of Fable's Hobbes, right down to the way they stood on each other's shoulders and squeaked. The story held promise, particularly when dealing with an elf Qunari, but the execution was poor. The opening "meet Tallis" scene, to me, was clumsy. The idea of Hawke willingly traipsing into someone's estate to... steal something? Not only did this remind me of the Kasumi mission in Mass Effect (a complaint I know has been going around since the add-on was announced), but I had a hard time with the premise simply because I had done my best to play my diplomatic Hawke as an ethical personality.
The extreme focus on Tallis as a character was a major problem for me. Not only is Felicia Day not a good voice actress, but her character was portrayed as flat and aesthetically awkward. I found her character vague and annoying, particularly when I had much better companions I would rather play around with. While new party banter is always a plus (particularly with a romanced Anders or a Warden Carver), there isn't much time to hear them, as much of the gameplay is one-on-one with an unploished Felicia Day.
To me, this DLC was nothing more than an excuse to demonstrate the fact that Internet celebrity Felicia Day is a Dragon Age fan. Her name is everywhere, and I believe the add-on would have been better-served if they forewent Felicia Day altogether instead of cranking it out with her webisodes.
The length of the DLC was much too short, the enemies were tired and rehashed, and the "final boss" was easy for me, even on nightmare mode. Even so, I am grateful that new content is being worked on by the developers. This thing barely scrapes a 5/10 from me.--Nettie Amell (talk) 19:06, October 12, 2011 (UTC)
I rather enjoyed it, but for different reasons than I did Legacy. In Legacy it was nice for Dragon Age II to return to its roots so to speak with all the Wardens and as the title implied we went back to quite a few people’s origins. Hawke and Carver learned a little bit more about their father. Anders learned quite a bit about the Wardens and the source of the mages strife i.e the Magisters and first darkspawn and finally Varric learned a bit about his family’s oldest ancestors. I enjoyed the combat of Legacy (mainly the traps and for me toughness of the fights), return of the variety of darkspawn and in the end the lore and banter.
In MotA Tallis would be a nice mix up if I were playing a new game file. Her voice acting can be disputed but I think it’s a battle of preference if anything. What I truly loved about MotA were the new(ish) systems mainly the stealth that to be honest I think needed to be a little more punishing but then again this was just an experiment and in future content could end being greatly expanded upon to make it better. The puzzles were a little challenging specifically the picture puzzle, but fun and not impossible if you sat there and really thought about it…or filmed yourself and slowed it down. Like previous posters have said the battle scaling seems a little…off. While some of the first fights are pretty difficult they become a lot easier as they go and in the final fight are I’d say a little too easy something I feel also happened in DA II.
Where MotA shines is in its art work, Chevaliers were described as wearing purple tunics and feathered hats in Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne so when I saw that transferred into the game itself I found myself quite excited. Looking at them I began hoping for an elite guard to show up in DA III something akin to musketeers to match my initial thoughts of them. The armored variants were on par with what I expected although I wish they had been a little more distinguished due to the sheer variety in armors (though who said variety is bad, right?). The areas themselves were beautiful and I often found myself just staring at the areas or the ornately designed characters.
Like another poster I was a little worried about what DA III may hold if the vast majority of characters had heavy accents, but I was actually quite impressed with what I heard and can’t wait to have another Orlesian in my party or maybe be one.
So in the end I give them a
Art: 10/10 Environments: 9/10 Follower: 8/10 Story: 7/10 Combat: 6/10 New Enemies: 10/10 Quests: 8/10 Overall: 8.5/10
173.62.132.147 (talk) 20:33, October 12, 2011 (UTC)The Other Warden
I'll add in my two pennies worth. I'm a sucker for new DA content so downloaded on Tuesday and spent the last couple of evenings slowly working my way through with my canon Female rogue Hawke. While I enjoyed MotA, I did not love it as instantly and thoroughly as I did Legacy. It felt slightly like Bioware ran through a tick-list of all the fans' wishes for DA2, and shoved them into one slightly disjointed DLC.
- Do you want DA:O cameos? Look, here's Bann Teagan, and Isolde, and Leliana!
- Do you want to feel like Hawke is important? Look, here's every NPC in the game telling you just how important the Champion is!
- Do you like puzzeles? Every room is a puzzle!
- Don't like the DA2 elf design? Here's an elf that looks like a normal human with pointy ears!
Also, I agree with the comments above that this really feels like it's the Felicia Day DLC. I'd never heard of Ms Day until this DLC was announced and so got no particular excitement from watching her play Tallis.
Finally, the Ghastings (sp?) were awful little enemies (the comparison above to hobbes in Fable in spot on) and Wyvers look just wrong. Also, why can't we ride the wyverns? --NickyStuu (talk) 07:38, October 13, 2011 (UTC)
Slightly off topic, but does anyone have any input on which companions are the most relevant to bring to the DLC? Rathian Warrior (talk) 11:41, October 13, 2011 (UTC)
- I took Aveline and Merrill. There was a little side-quest for Aveline that involved finding bits of Orlesian poetry, and Aveline learns a bit about her family history. Surprising, there didn't seem to be much involvement for Merrill. I though that as a female elf, she might be an interesting companion to have alongside Tallis, but was a bit disappointed. --NickyStuu (talk) 12:44, October 13, 2011 (UTC)
On the whole, it was a few hours' worth of mindless fun, but the story didn't provide the engrossing experience of Legacy (maybe that's just the Warden nerd in me talking). Mind you, I'd buy a DLC just to hear the new party banters, so I'm easily pleased. Overall, however, the greatest weakness to me was the fact that the story and Tallis both came across like they were written by committee. Make up your mind, writers! What am I supposed to care about here? There are these fragments of plot and characterisation, like they couldn't make up their mind about what to use, so decided to just throw everything in the pot. The outcome was bland, to say the least. Ultimately, I'd have loved an option to just destroy the scroll outright, Tallis and the Duke be damned (What? Mage Hawke could have lit that sucker up at thirty paces). The "You don't have it, I don't have it, the Orlesians don't have it - now stop rocking the boat" scenario would have made for a better ending to the story, in my opinion.
And I'll add my voice to the people noting that this felt like a Felicia Day vehicle, rather than a Dragon Age story. Tallis' intro alone was enough to cause a deep and heartfelth meh. "Look at me! Aren't I acrobatic and awesome? Love me, dammit! Also, go watch Redemption." Maybe it's just me, but characters become so much more engaging when I don't have their supposed awesome shoved down my throat every five seconds. Virodhi (talk) 13:59, October 13, 2011 (UTC)Virodhi
I thought over all that the DLC was well done, with nice varied gameplay, new enemies and creatures, and revealing some backstory behind the Qun. Two of the gripes that I had with the game were: 1) I don't think Felicia Day as Tallis really fit in the Dragon Age universe, being literally the only one with an American accent, and looks very out of place since she doesn't entirely look like an elf or a human. 2) The courtyard conversations were too short. Lelianna had around five lines, mainly with Tallis, and never referred to again. Bann Teagan and the others had even less, and you basically said hi to them and then left. Overall, I think it is a step in the right direction, and the should keep up the good work.--Stwsdv (talk) 20:14, October 13, 2011 (UTC)
All told, I thought it was a decent adventure, but not great.
Gameplay: I played with a level 27 (post-Legacy) Rogue Hawke with the Assassin and Shadow specialties; I brought Aveline and Anders along as my other two companions. Most of the fighting was only of moderate difficulty (on Normal), although the Sky Horror battle took me about six tries to win and required lots of potions, one or two Mythal's Favor bombs, and micromanaging Anders a bit. The final battle was a bit of work, too, but fortunately the Duke isn't quite so good at dishing out total party kills as the Horror. (Throughout my playthough, taking down tough enemies with Assassinate was critical to victory, so I'm not sure how things would go for a different class or build.)
As a party member, Tallis struck me as overrated and underpowered. Her abilities seemed nice, but I didn't find them all that useful in practice, and her damage-dealing capability was heavily overshadowed by my Hawke's. She also had far too few HP; if I play through this DLC again, I'll bring a Maker's Sigh so I can put more of her attribute points into constitution. I'd have also appreciated the ability to re-spec her as an archer, since I felt I had too many melee characters, though I guess only parties with a non-tank melee Hawke will have this trouble.
As for non-combat gameplay, the stealth section seemed reasonably well-done, but fell somewhere in that odd middle ground between "boring" and "mildly amusing" for me; the puzzle-solving in the vaults was mostly fun, although the tile portrait puzzle was on the difficult side. The side quests were straightforward; most of them were neither particularly engaging nor annoying for me, but I did like the companion quests, especially Aveline's. (I particularly enjoyed the snarky comments about people leaving revenants in phylacteries lying around...)
Story: I found it interesting to see a different side of the Qunari, but I would have liked more subtlety in Hawke's available responses. What I really wanted to do is pick away at Tallis' belief in the Qun -- the way she went off trying to do what she thought was right, rather than what her fellows expected of her or what the Qun explicitly dictated, struck me as a very un-Qunari thing to do, and I would have liked to encourage that independent streak. Tallis struck me as a very uncertain character (and again, uncertainty isn't a very Qunari thing to feel), and it seemed like there might have been a chance to urge her to leave the Qun. (Maybe this is available through a romance option? I didn't flirt with her because I wanted to stay faithful to my LI from the main game.) I ended up siding with Tallis and sending the scroll home with her, but it was a tough decision based partly off compassion and partly off a desire to cultivate goodwill with the Qunari. As for the voice acting, I thought Felicia Day's performance was a bit flat, but that may have been a deliberate part of the character.
I was actually rather put out by the new monsters, the Ghasts. Every race we've seen before in Thedas (and these seem to be sentient beings, not just another type of beast) has had a well-thought-out history and interaction with the others; the Ghasts seemed too much like a joke thrown in from nowhere. If they've always been around, why haven't we heard of them before? Is their native range so limited? They seem to be a real nuisance, so why haven't the Orlesians driven them out? Do they have any connection to the Darkspawn? Their main purpose seems to just be to give us something new to fight, but the dev team could have done that just as well with some kind of variant wyvern.
Overall ... I'd give it about a 7.5/10. Not bad, but not as good as Legacy. Diyartifact (talk) 23:01, October 13, 2011 (UTC)
- I fully agree with what Diyartifact said about Tallis as a party companion. My Hawke is also a melee rogue, and I found Tallis to be a much less useful version of my own spec. In particular, her hit points and Stamina were about half of what I was carrying in Hawke. She dieid first and in almost every fight of any difficulty. I thought from the trailers (and the cut-scenes) that there would be some new archery-style specialism that involved throwing knives / darts from distance. --NickyStuu (talk) 07:44, October 14, 2011 (UTC)
I liked it. Agree that it was not as groundbreaking as Legacy, but the locales were different and beautiful, I liked the new gameplay choices. I would say Legacy was better but I dislike Legacy for 3 reasons 1. It was in the Deep Roads 2. It took place almost completely in one location and 3. I wished it was longer. Plus it had a lot of bugs still not fixed (my romance banter never came up).
I liked the way the whole side story changed depending on what companions you took, it adds for a lot of replayability in my book. I took Fenris and Bethany so I'm sure my first time was quite a bit different in some areas than people who took say, Sebastian and Carver. Overall, it felt polished and a good length and I can't really say anything that would have been better besides maybe having my companions around more. For what it is, it's good, better than I was expecting and I will enjoy replaying it a lot, but I would rather do more main story related stuff in the future. Also, I like Felicia Day a lot better. She didn't suck nearly as much as I thought she would and Tallis' model was pretty well done. But overall I would like to see less Tallis and more other people, though I very much enjoyed hearing my witty/sarcastic Hawke's one liners again. She's so cheesy I can't help but laugh.
Side note: I was NOT happy with what my Fem!Hawke was wearing. I like the throwback to noble styles of the middle ages and I'm glad she wasn't in a froofy dress, but it didn't quite suit my characters style. This is shallow, but I would have liked at least 2-3 choices to pick something to wear or at least an actual reason for why I was the only female not wearing something remotely feminine (though those pants were pretty tight--dat ass on fem!Hawke is something!) Xelestial (talk) 19:11, October 14, 2011 (UTC)
- The best thing: Isabela saying she saw Flemeth playing cards at the Hanged Man (It was so funny to picture that)!
- Great things: The environment and the new NPCs' models.
- Good things: The combat and the soundtrack.
- Indifferent: Tallis.
- Bad things: The Plot... and the fact that Hawke's actions were quite autonomous... and those puzzles, which I generally like, but this time they were so boring...
- Awful things: The [worst] dialogue [ever!] and a considerable amount of glitches.
I found Legacy way better than this, but it's a good DLC, nonetheless. Perhaps it even introduced important concepts and characters (I didn't read those codex yet) in DA universe... I just hope they don't come out with more of these kind of "random" DLC. Alaraph (talk) 03:53, October 15, 2011 (UTC)
Now a lot of people are saying about how much they preferred Legacy, but I actually found this a bit more entertaining. This DLC reminded me of Fallout New Vegas's Old World Blues DLC with all the hilarious dialogue. I mean Fenris saying Hawke stepped in the poopy is goddamn hilarious! 9/10--TheRageMage (talk) 08:28, October 15, 2011 (UTC)TheRageMage
Well, this one was thoroughly unremarkable DLC. Sure, liked how hopeless romantic Anders gets upset when Hawke croaks, how Hawke is a kinky bugger who has a nickname with Rose's hookers on top of that or how Fenris is prone to juvenile humour and other bits of banter, but when the best liked thing about the game is its background noise, well, it's pretty telling by itself.
- Cassandra. Why do you always have to be so rude, Herr Comissar?
- Tallis (I constantly want to call her either Taris or Telos). Kind of okay save for few things - appearance (they should stop trying to transfer real people's faces into digital ones. Never works), plus how do you call the trope opposite to "Cutscene incompetence"? You know, when a character kicks all sorts of arse in cutscenes and goes down first and fast when real fighting happens?
- Story. Oh I'm sorry, was there supposed to be one? I thought is was just a bloated fetch quest.
- Environments. Rather pretty.
- Leliana. Please go away.
- Teagan. So, Hawke is a spitting image of the Hero of Ferelden? Like, short, pigtailed, dwarven and female? Also, dead.
- Alpha wyvern: wuss. The Horror took me by surprise, but as long as you remember to keep out of that blue goo you'll be fine. Goblins were annoying, especially the shaman type who'd build sort of damage dealing dome around himself if left unattended. Comte le Whatever fight was drawn out and tedious; dunno how it goes if you don't give Leopold diarrhea beforehand?
- Stealth. Exercise in tedium.
- Puzzles. More or less okay save for the portrait one. Looked it up on internet, because I got no patience for that type.
- Loot. Went straight to the pawn shop.
- Conclusion: meh.
And it seems that apathy is more or less common reaction to this DLC. Not many reviews. RPG-oriented sites don't rush to cover it. Not much discussion at forums other than BSN. Even Bioware itself seems to be apathetic about it, given how underplayed its marketing campaign was vs their usual over the top boombastic style. Not a good sign. Dorquemada (talk) 08:51, October 15, 2011 (UTC)