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I can finally take Trespasser off my blacklist! Went through it at max speed so a more measured replay is in order, but at least I know how the dang story ends now.
Some of the major elements of the DLC rubbed me wrong, but I liked enough of the details that it was still a lot of fun.
I’m certain many before me have already made this exact complaint, but I was disappointed that they decided to dismantle the elvhen belief system so thoroughly. It’s not simply that their gods were revealed to be not entirely divine, but that they were revealed to be assholes. That the Dalish, who have built their culture in defiance of slavery and assimilation, have been conclusively proven to have been worshipping slavers all along. It’s almost cruel, and one more slap in the face from a game that has already dealt them a lot of unnecessary slapping. (See: the hasty re-write of their attitude towards mages so that their mere existence doesn’t continue undermining the mage vs templar conflict Bioware has such a hard-on about.)
It’s also exasperating when the entire main game sits there going, “Are you sure you don’t believe in the Maker? Are you sure? Are you really sure? How about now?” and then swings around at the last second to go, “PSYCH, the Chantry is the only religion that might actually have a god!” Piss off, Bioware, honestly. I was raised religious; the issue of faith in the face of an absent deity is something I’ve already lived through and is therefore not something I particularly care to dive into in my fiction, and that they’ve steadily stripped away the alternatives from their fantasy world to further cram their Christian rip-off down my ex-Christian throat is maddening.
Of course, this is yet another case of “I hate this stupid game! [has devoted hundreds of hours to it]” so take my whining as you will.
I did love a lot of the details! The scenery was gorgeous, the gameplay was fun, and there were a lot of sweet moments with the various companions. I’m not sure what to make of Cole/Maryden; I am 110% on board with Sera/Dagna. I actually loved a lot of what they did with Sera? She’s grown, and her high friendship with the Inquisitor continues to bring me a ridiculous amount of joy.
I was a bit squint-eyed at some of the things with Dorian, since apparently encouraging him to follow his dreams in Tevinter means he doesn’t even write to you for two whole years, which is then rather jarring when it’s still accepted you’re a happy couple. I’m probably going to tweak that around a bit via handwaves and headcanons. The sending crystal is still very cute.
And, of course, there’s everything about Solas. I really have to hand it to the voice actor, they did a fantastic job throughout that entire scene. I also appreciate it’s still a very emotional scene even if you’re just approaching Solas as a friend and not a lover? His entire plan is, of course, complete bollocks, albeit the sort of complete bollocks I can understand coming from a being that has lived for thousands of years and only walked amongst this world for approximately four. Apparently he and my Dalish Inquisitor really needed to have that discussion about how Lewen identifies as Dalish, not old elvhen, and finds value and happiness in his current traditions regardless of where they came from.
The arm-stealing scene was a tad confusing. There has apparently been outside confirmation that Solas removed it, but…how. Did he wrap it in a magic cocoon and it slowly disintegrated away? Did the entire thing immediately rift itself out of existence two seconds after the scene ended? Was there blood?? I kind of figure no on the last thing because leaving the Inquisitor to risk blood loss would rather defeat the purpose of saving their life, but really, it was very ambiguous. I still masochistically enjoyed the entire issue with the Inquisitor slowly dying and the companions’ varying reactions to it, heh.
In conclusion, my Inquisition story ended thusly:
Some of the major elements of the DLC rubbed me wrong, but I liked enough of the details that it was still a lot of fun.
I’m certain many before me have already made this exact complaint, but I was disappointed that they decided to dismantle the elvhen belief system so thoroughly. It’s not simply that their gods were revealed to be not entirely divine, but that they were revealed to be assholes. That the Dalish, who have built their culture in defiance of slavery and assimilation, have been conclusively proven to have been worshipping slavers all along. It’s almost cruel, and one more slap in the face from a game that has already dealt them a lot of unnecessary slapping. (See: the hasty re-write of their attitude towards mages so that their mere existence doesn’t continue undermining the mage vs templar conflict Bioware has such a hard-on about.)
It’s also exasperating when the entire main game sits there going, “Are you sure you don’t believe in the Maker? Are you sure? Are you really sure? How about now?” and then swings around at the last second to go, “PSYCH, the Chantry is the only religion that might actually have a god!” Piss off, Bioware, honestly. I was raised religious; the issue of faith in the face of an absent deity is something I’ve already lived through and is therefore not something I particularly care to dive into in my fiction, and that they’ve steadily stripped away the alternatives from their fantasy world to further cram their Christian rip-off down my ex-Christian throat is maddening.
Of course, this is yet another case of “I hate this stupid game! [has devoted hundreds of hours to it]” so take my whining as you will.
I did love a lot of the details! The scenery was gorgeous, the gameplay was fun, and there were a lot of sweet moments with the various companions. I’m not sure what to make of Cole/Maryden; I am 110% on board with Sera/Dagna. I actually loved a lot of what they did with Sera? She’s grown, and her high friendship with the Inquisitor continues to bring me a ridiculous amount of joy.
I was a bit squint-eyed at some of the things with Dorian, since apparently encouraging him to follow his dreams in Tevinter means he doesn’t even write to you for two whole years, which is then rather jarring when it’s still accepted you’re a happy couple. I’m probably going to tweak that around a bit via handwaves and headcanons. The sending crystal is still very cute.
And, of course, there’s everything about Solas. I really have to hand it to the voice actor, they did a fantastic job throughout that entire scene. I also appreciate it’s still a very emotional scene even if you’re just approaching Solas as a friend and not a lover? His entire plan is, of course, complete bollocks, albeit the sort of complete bollocks I can understand coming from a being that has lived for thousands of years and only walked amongst this world for approximately four. Apparently he and my Dalish Inquisitor really needed to have that discussion about how Lewen identifies as Dalish, not old elvhen, and finds value and happiness in his current traditions regardless of where they came from.
The arm-stealing scene was a tad confusing. There has apparently been outside confirmation that Solas removed it, but…how. Did he wrap it in a magic cocoon and it slowly disintegrated away? Did the entire thing immediately rift itself out of existence two seconds after the scene ended? Was there blood?? I kind of figure no on the last thing because leaving the Inquisitor to risk blood loss would rather defeat the purpose of saving their life, but really, it was very ambiguous. I still masochistically enjoyed the entire issue with the Inquisitor slowly dying and the companions’ varying reactions to it, heh.
In conclusion, my Inquisition story ended thusly:
- The Inquisition is disbanded, as it has completed the goals for which it was formed and is already proving to be vulnerable to the dangers that plague many institutions of such size;
- The new underground movement intends to try and sway Solas from his path, since the man clearly has doubts;
- A merciful Leliana remains Divine, with Cassandra her advisor;
- A Circle has sprung up in opposition to the College, thanks for nothing Vivienne;
- Cullen’s off running a rehab centre and Josie’s off running the family ship-building business;
- Lewen and Dorian rekindled their thing;
- and I’m pretty sure Lewen more or less lives in Kirkwall with Sera when one or t’other of them aren’t ducking off on individual adventures.
- Interested to see where the next game takes things.