I've recently replayed DA:O and I've noticed a few things
It is a good game despite clunky combat with a lot of lore and love put in to it but:
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All companion dialogue is you pleasing them. You can't change their mind. This is also a problem with quests like Orzzamar. You can't for instance ask Harrowmont to keep the traditions but increase trade despite not being any issue with tradition. It's either progressive or isolationist to extreme.
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there is already signs of millennial writing with Alistair.
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Some lesbian crap that seemed rushed with Oghren's wife. It almost looked like someone tried to add a lesbian in a story that was already done. First it was implied that Oghren started drinking because his wife went to the deep roads without him and he was holding on to hope even after 2 years but apparently he feels nothing for her and she was a lesbian that took her lesbian lover with her. Made 0 sense.
In the DLC Awakening a lot of fighters you talk to are women despite having like 1 female fighter in the original. In the main game you see no female templar but now you have a woman "Ser" templar. It also tries to hammer home how the mages are just oppressed rather than walking timebombs.
It definitely looks like there was a woke escalation between DA:O and the DLC.
It would have been fine if you could convince Anders of the obvious usefulness of the chantry and templars but any form of reasoning translates to negative reputation with him making dialogue stupid.
That games attempt to be nuanced was to make the templars and mages assholes. It was the stupidest shit ever and was probably done since the nuanced version in the first game made sense and was justified. We either emotionally lobotomize this guy or he turns into a demon, is horrible but letting him become a demon is worse. At the end of the mage tower quest you learn Irving is really in charge and the templars are there just to stop them from going demon. Shale’s dlc suggest that eventually mages CAN leave the tower once demon resistance is verified.
The Templar leader and head mage hates each other but also didn’t want to murder each other.
Contrast the second game and we have a crazy lady Templar and a soyboy who at the last second tells you he knows the mage who killed your mom and made her zombie dance but didnt bother to stop him from killing because the templars would use that to justify what they’ve been doing. Game should’ve been about the Muslims invasion
Wow now I hate everyone! Good work BioWare!