Thoughts on the DA2 companions (Spoilers)
By FLStyle 21 Comments
- BioWare's improvements to the combat system make me want to use her more than I ever wanted to use Alistair or Loghain.
- Her companion mission with Guardsman Donnic is my personal favourite of the entire game.
- Haven't tried her as a love interest yet, will do at some point.
- Voice actor ( Joanna Roth) does a great job with what I believe are few standout moments. Maybe that's not the point with Aveline, she's exactly what she's there to be, a hard as nails woman who rarely tells a joke outside of sarcastic comments.
Isabela
- Much better design than her Dragon Age: Origins version.
- Now that the dual-wielding warrior no longer exists I keep a close eye on Isabela for when I play a rogue in my third playthrough.
- Don't blame her for looking after number 1, was a little angry when she just left a note and never appeared again in Act 2 though.
- Currently my love interest in my second playthrough, looking forward to anything I might have missed with her in my first playthrough.
- Voice actor ( Victoria Kruger) is one of the best performances in the game, if she's not nominated for Best performance by Human Female at Spike Awards 2011 I'll be shocked. "Tits and arse," should be right up their alley.
Merrill
- Had zero opinion of her from the Dalish Origin in Origins, the new design has worked wonders
- Not being able to use creation spells AKA Healing plus buffs is very damaging when picking a party
- Liked her innocence regarding Blood Magic but thought she got what was coming to her at the end of her companion mission
- Felt like an inferior version of Mass Effect's Tali'Zorah. Not sure if they meant to go that direction or not.
- My first love interest, I suspect the most likely to stay with Hawke longterm considering she has nothing to return to.
- Hope the eluvian is resolved in DLC, maybe with Hawke and Merrill travelling through and meeting The Warden and Morrigan? I can dream I suppose.
- I literally just found out the voice actor of Merrill as I'm typing this. Eve Myles who fans of Doctor Who and Torchwood will recognise did a brilliant job bringing an also-ran character from Origins to life in DAII.
Fenris
- Unique design and background story, those are positives right?
- Complete ass who I don't want following me around moaning about mages and whatever else he's angry about.
- If I need a warrior I'll use myself as a two handed sword user or Aveline any time.
- I'll use him more when I go on a evil playthrough, siding with the Templars and other bad descisions.
- Gideon Emery is the voice actor responsible for me playing through Final Fantasy XII for as long as I did, his performance as Balthier was that good. If I don't use Fenris more in future playthroughs I'll feel like I've done the man a disservice.
Varric
- Best all-round for design, playstyle and party banter in my opinion
- Brian Bloom is the best male voice performance for me
- Hope Varric returns in DLC
- A pity his companion missions fell into the Dragon Age II reuses too many areas for missions flaw.
Sebastian
- For a religious Chantry guy he wasn't as annoying as I was expecting, but that is probably due to his royal background more than anything regarding the Chantry.
- I'll never pick him over Varric unfortunately.
- His companion mission was responsible for meeting and chatting with Leliana so thumbs up for that.
- I wish I had his armour for Hawke, best designed in the game.
- I'm not familiar with his previous work but for a 36 year-old to be described as a veteran actor/ voice actor as he is on his GB page, Alec Newman seems to be doing well for himself and it shows in his work as Sebastian. Though I wasn't convinced about Sebastian's loss when Anders blew up The Chantry.
Anders (+ Justice)
- Wasn't impressed by the changes made to Anders, his design was better in Awakening I think.
- The Justice union wasn't really fleshed out enough for me to care that much, maybe if there was a boss fight against Vengence Anders.
- The underground mage who blew up The Chantry and started the whole mess didn't have to be Anders, the Anders I know from Awakening certainly wouldn't have done it
- The change in voice actor only cements the dislike I have for DAII Anders, Greg Ellis will always be Anders for me, not Adam Howden.
- Had we spent more time in the Fade I would've liked to have a chat with Justice, see how he's himself in the Fade, what his opinion is on his Vengence self that's inside Anders. For the little dialogue he had Adam Leadbeater (He needs a GB wiki page creating) was perfectly competent.
Bethany/ Carver Hawke
- No interest in either of these two due to them only being playable in Act 1 which is a pity as it would've added a little replay value.
- Carver looked a little bland, Bethany looked a bit better.
- No knowledge of anything Nico Lennon or Rebekah Staton have done previously. They did what they could I guess, wasn't really interested in anything either of the characters had to say.
- Lots of different choices with their outcomes which was a nice change from everything else in the game which felt as if your choices in situations never really mattered.