Wednesday 11 August 2010

loose ends

I'm slightly tempted to go back and see if I can pull off the "best" DA ending... the one that would allow me not to violate my own character's principles without losing Alistair completely. It seems like it may be possible, if I back up enough. It requires a lot of compromises on a lot of parts... but isn't that a good thing?

(heavy spoiler)
That being - Harden Alistair on his personal quest. Make him marry Anora. Make Loghain a Grey Warden and convince Alistair not to flip out (which is apparently possible if you've married him to Anora, although he still leaves the party). Possibly still be his bit on the side, which is possible if you've married him to Anora but I'm not completely sure if it's possible if you did that AND Loghain. Then get Loghain to sacrifice himself in the end. End result: my character still alive to carry on her political goals and NOT having executed a surrendered enemy, no lurking demon-baby in the future (although *my* character doesn't actually care about that, Morrigan's request was NOT the moral dilemma that gave her pause), Loghain feeling like he's accomplished something, Alistair having learned to grow up, and the country enjoying what it probably thinks is the most stable ruling outcome.

To the game's credit, I think it offers a better experience for the female player. I haven't *played* as a man romancing Morrigan, but it seems that a woman involved with Alistair has a more complex plot with more possible outcomes. This is worth commending, since certain games of the past have had a tendency to balance the content much more in favor of the male player. (While it would be nice for the paths to be EQUAL, it's still better to have some games better-male and some better-female than all better-male.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, I'm not sure it's possible to harden Alistair and spare Loghain. I tried that, and he insisted on killing him. The only way to spare Loghain after hardening Alistair was to choose Anora as queen.

I didn't try making them marry first, though. Maybe that would be a way out of that situation.

That's sort of the downside to hardening Alistair. You teach him he should put his own wants above others, and so he does.

Whiner said...

What I wanted wasn't 100% possible - but very close. I am content.