What's Your Favorite Companion Story

[DaisyRay]

Having finishing all the companion stories, I feel like Harding is my favorite. I'll try to elaborate without spoilers.

I feel like Harding's story is more fleshed out in this game, from start to end. Some of the other characters have too many things going on that their main story gets lost amongst everything else. So much that I often forgot about their story until it came down to do their quests. This made their overall story not that memorable.

Harding's story has been consistent this whole time and it even ties in to Solas and the Lore of the game. I absolutely was invested in what was going on with her and was excited to finish it. I was not disappointed. The visuals of her quests were phenomenal as well.

After thinking about it, I think Harding might be my overall favorite character. After Lucanis that is. I think his was good too and his comes second, but I chose Harding for first place because of all the lore bits. It was so gooood!

What's your favorite?

[Will]

Originally posted by DaisyRay:

Having finishing all the companion stories, I feel like Harding is my favorite. I'll try to elaborate without spoilers.

I feel like Harding's story is more fleshed out in this game, from start to end. Some of the other characters have too many things going on that their main story gets lost amongst everything else. So much that I often forgot about their story until it came down to do their quests. This made their overall story not that memorable.

Harding's story has been consistent this whole time and it even ties in to Solas and the Lore of the game. I absolutely was invested in what was going on with her and was excited to finish it. I was not disappointed. The visuals of her quests were phenomenal as well.

After thinking about it, I think Harding might be my overall favorite character. After Lucanis that is. I think his was good too and his comes second, but I chose Harding for first place because of all the lore bits. It was so gooood!

What's your favorite?

emmerich for sure, spoiler: helping him turn into a lich is badass.

[Naamtar]

Originally posted by DaisyRay:

Originally posted by Naamtar:

I'm torn between Harding and Emmrich, but Lucanis is pretty cohesive as well.

Part of why I like Harding and Emmrich so much is that the themes of their story arch feels like something that's worth while to the group as a whole. The people who are supposed to be saving the world from Arch Demons.

Part of it is that the overall themes are just better aesthetically to me. Necromancy and dark magic has always been my thing in RPGs, and the dwarven city the first time you step into it is probably the most visually impressive part of the game.

Their story archs just make you feel like you're doing something amazing. The other characters make you feel like you're just along for the ride while someone deals with their personal problems.

OMG right!! I admit while I enjoyed Emmerich's, his villain was just too cliche. Even down to their look and words. It really took me out of it at the end. I love the necromancy stuff though, I admit I am not that versed on it when it comes to rpgs. I just know the basics and I don't know the Dragon Age lore on it. I felt like the game did teach me some new things though.

Plus... Manfred is just the cutest!

Harding is still my number one for basically everything you said and more. I had to stop and take so many photos, I am still an awe at how beautiful it was. Everything about her mission was so special and clearly very well thought out. I'm sad there will be no dlc because I'd love a follow up on her story.

Yah the first venture into the underground during Harding's quest is genuinely the best representation of a dwarven city I've ever seen in a video game. I was super impressed with it.

[DaisyRay]

Originally posted by Naamtar:

Originally posted by DaisyRay:

OMG right!! I admit while I enjoyed Emmerich's, his villain was just too cliche. Even down to their look and words. It really took me out of it at the end. I love the necromancy stuff though, I admit I am not that versed on it when it comes to rpgs. I just know the basics and I don't know the Dragon Age lore on it. I felt like the game did teach me some new things though.

Plus... Manfred is just the cutest!

Harding is still my number one for basically everything you said and more. I had to stop and take so many photos, I am still an awe at how beautiful it was. Everything about her mission was so special and clearly very well thought out. I'm sad there will be no dlc because I'd love a follow up on her story.

Yah the first venture into the underground during Harding's quest is genuinely the best representation of a dwarven city I've ever seen in a video game. I was super impressed with it.

I agree! It was fabulous. ;p

[Solus Hunter]

Harding was my choice for the first play through. I'm now working on Bellara for the second. I'd like to work on Neve, but I can't get past her hat.

[DaisyRay]

Originally posted by Solus Hunter:

Harding was my choice for the first play through. I'm now working on Bellara for the second. I'd like to work on Neve, but I can't get past her hat.

Lol v.v I like the hat. I can't believe so many people don't like it. I thought it was posh and cute. She does have costumes without the hat though.

[kaffeend]

Thematically, I like Harding's story the most. Partly because of the lore concerning the Titans, and partly because I love Dwarves. I'm a little disappointed with the pacing of the story's delivery and fairly drab writing, but overall I quite liked it. The rest? Meh.

[DaisyRay]

Originally posted by kaffeend:

Thematically, I like Harding's story the most. Partly because of the lore concerning the Titans, and partly because I love Dwarves. I'm a little disappointed with the pacing of the story's delivery and fairly drab writing, but overall I quite liked it. The rest? Meh.

I agree, the writing could have been a little better. Can you imagine if we had the OG writers on this story. It probably would have been the most memorable story in all of the games together. I really did love this story though, the lore and visuals was a big part of why it's number one for me.

[kaffeend]

Originally posted by DaisyRay:

Originally posted by kaffeend:

Thematically, I like Harding's story the most. Partly because of the lore concerning the Titans, and partly because I love Dwarves. I'm a little disappointed with the pacing of the story's delivery and fairly drab writing, but overall I quite liked it. The rest? Meh.

I agree, the writing could have been a little better. Can you imagine if we had the OG writers on this story. It probably would have been the most memorable story in all of the games together. I really did love this story though, the lore and visuals was a big part of why it's number one for me.

While I loved ME and its story, I wasn't the biggest fan of Mac Walters and Drew Karpyshyn, tbh. Although in hindsight, I think they were better than Trick Weekes. Personal opinion.

[SonnieSlim]

Originally posted by FearAndLoathing:

Originally posted by SonnieSlim:

Emmerich was my favorite overall. But I am partial to Necromancers too hence choosing Mourn Watch for my guy too.

Tbh I really liked Taash's questline too. I think they handled their identity well though it could have been a little better but it was beyond just their gender, it was about acceptance, family, and becoming who you want to be. Thought it was really good.

I really liked how Neve, Lucanis, Taash, also had to do with the main opposing factions too, it felt nice having companion quests that didn't feel like "why am I focusing on this when the world is in danger"

I loved the Taash character and I was glad they made their struggle one about identity. I guess I felt that they could have done it better, because there are a million ways to handle this struggle and in a magic/medieval fantasy setting it seemed a little odd to me that they had moved to a city that used ungendered pronouns, etc. That to me felt forced, like this isn't the first time people have dealt with this issue in history and our current focus on pronouns is fine - but it didn't seem to me that they had to handle it exactly as we do. That said, I still loved the Taash character and her struggle, and the voice actor for Taash did an incredible job throughout the entire game. Seriously one of my favorite companions.

They came off as strangely immature but then I realized Taash is literally like a teen or young adult lol. They just look older cuz Qunari hah. Yeah I liked their questlines tbh. For the storyline but also dragon fights and the final encounter with the Dragon King was really epic and sad.

[Mewsha]

Neve.

The reason I fell in love with the world of Thedas back in 2009 was because of the world building. Now that we're finally in the north I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to explore the politics and culture of northern Thedas. It's touched on a bit, but the main story nearly blocks it out entirely and I still think choosing to destroy one city hurt the game more than it helped.

With Neve I get a look at Dock Town's seedy underbelly, and how all the different factions struggle for control over the city. That's what I really like from my DA games. I would have liked Lucanis and his quest a bit more if he didn't have Spite. That's unfortunately more the focus for him, and not really Treviso. That city is also a bit weird. They definitely talk about racial conflict in this game from the ancient elven putting the dwarven titans to sleep and stealing their dreams, and Qunari struggling to make a home for themselves in Rivain, a culture shock compared to the Qun, but it is so weird being able to freely walk around Treviso without any altercation or confrontation from people struggling under Antaam occupation. A place with so few ignorant people? That truly is a fantasy.

Origins was so interesting because of how people would treat you depending on your background. Elf, Dalish or from an alienage, or if you were a mage or not. A lot of that is missing in the semi-open world and kept strictly to quest dialogue. That lack of tension and Rivaini politics definitely takes away from Lucanis and and the Crows. Like I said you get a little of it with the mayor, but he's so cartoonishly evil.

I won't lie, I am still disappointed that we got to know so little about the Imperial Chantry and the Black Divine/"True Divine". Considering that's such a major plot point for Inquisition, and the Andraste chantry schism is fascinating topic in general, I think that was another missed opportunity and what I was most excited for when I saw we had a companion from Minrathous.

[DaisyRay]

Originally posted by SonnieSlim:

Originally posted by FearAndLoathing:

I loved the Taash character and I was glad they made their struggle one about identity. I guess I felt that they could have done it better, because there are a million ways to handle this struggle and in a magic/medieval fantasy setting it seemed a little odd to me that they had moved to a city that used ungendered pronouns, etc. That to me felt forced, like this isn't the first time people have dealt with this issue in history and our current focus on pronouns is fine - but it didn't seem to me that they had to handle it exactly as we do. That said, I still loved the Taash character and her struggle, and the voice actor for Taash did an incredible job throughout the entire game. Seriously one of my favorite companions.

They came off as strangely immature but then I realized Taash is literally like a teen or young adult lol. They just look older cuz Qunari hah. Yeah I liked their questlines tbh. For the storyline but also dragon fights and the final encounter with the Dragon King was really epic and sad.

Tbh, I found the Dragon King a little lacking. I wished they had found out more about his reasons early on and delved into that more than what Taash identified as and their story might have been more compelling for me.

[DaisyRay]

Originally posted by Mewsha:

Neve.

The reason I fell in love with the world of Thedas back in 2009 was because of the world building. Now that we're finally in the north I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to explore the politics and culture of northern Thedas. It's touched on a bit, but the main story nearly blocks it out entirely and I still think choosing to destroy one city hurt the game more than it helped.

With Neve I get a look at Dock Town's seedy underbelly, and how all the different factions struggle for control over the city. That's what I really like from my DA games. I would have liked Lucanis and his quest a bit more if he didn't have Spite. That's unfortunately more the focus for him, and not really Treviso. That city is also a bit weird. They definitely talk about racial conflict in this game from the ancient elven putting the dwarven titans to sleep and stealing their dreams, and Qunari struggling to make a home for themselves in Rivain, a culture shock compared to the Qun, but it is so weird being able to freely walk around Treviso without any altercation or confrontation from people struggling under Antaam occupation. A place with so few ignorant people? That truly is a fantasy.

Origins was so interesting because of how people would treat you depending on your background. Elf, Dalish or from an alienage, or if you were a mage or not. A lot of that is missing in the semi-open world and kept strictly to quest dialogue. That lack of tension and Rivaini politics definitely takes away from Lucanis and and the Crows. Like I said you get a little of it with the mayor, but he's so cartoonishly evil.

I won't lie, I am still disappointed that we got to know so little about the Imperial Chantry and the Black Divine/"True Divine". Considering that's such a major plot point for Inquisition, and the Andraste chantry schism is fascinating topic in general, I think that was another missed opportunity and what I was most excited for when I saw we had a companion from Minrathous.

I admit, I don't know that much about the lore, but I can see from someone who is fully invested in that would be disappointed. The game, while taking so long to complete, is still very small and limited. I think they did it that way because many people (me included) thought DAI was too much of open world. It's why I usually only replay DAI once a year.

As far as the reactions to the different races, I think that was mostly because everyone's world is flipped upside down right now. It would be crazy for someone to scoff at an elf while their city is being overrun by big scary Qunari. It's still a plot hole, but it makes sense to me.